A Light Contract (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
“You were right after all. Yes, this is it. Yura, you really are beautiful.”
“Hehe, thank you, Mother.”
Watching Yura smile brightly, Lee Hyun again thought how truly lovely she was.
Yura was a natural beauty, but Lee Hyun had never placed much importance on whether someone was pretty or not—she’d always just been his friend’s younger sister to him. Yet the Yura standing before him now was as elegant and beautiful as a swan by a lakeside.
Lost in admiration without even realizing it, Lee Hyun was snapped out of his daze by Mi Hee’s scolding.
“How can you act like this toward a bride as lovely as her?”
Flustered by his mother’s reprimand and unable to find words in reply, he answered with an unnecessarily cold tone.
“That’s enough meddling.”
“Who said anything?”
Mi Hee shot him a playful glare, then picked up her outerwear and added,
“Well then, I’ll be off now. Yura, make sure you feed him something delicious—something nutritious. He looks a bit thin lately; must be from being so busy.”
“He’s always been thin.”
“Then you need to take even better care of him. Juggling a job and wedding preparations must be exhausting.”
Lee Hyun recalled Yura’s increasingly tired appearance in recent days. Slowly, he nodded in reluctant agreement, and she promptly excused herself, asking him to pass along her greetings before leaving the room.
Lee Hyun absentmindedly reflected on the time that had slipped past.
Yura had kept up with her work, dealt with Oh Se Jin, and never neglected wedding preparations either. Seeing her push herself relentlessly day after day made him genuinely worry about her health.
Meanwhile, Yura reappeared after changing clothes and glanced around.
“Where’s Mother?”
“She already left.”
“It would’ve been nice if she’d stayed for a meal.”
He quietly observed Yura gathering her outerwear and belongings. Just as Mi He. had said, she looked a bit thinner—the sharpness of her jawline more pronounced than before.
He’d rushed the wedding to keep Oh Se Jin from getting any ideas, but had the schedule been too much for her? Yura seemed unusually drained, and it kept nagging at him.
“Let’s go. Time for dinner.”
“Aren’t you busy?”
“I have time for a meal.”
Lee Hyun checked his watch and moved to call a restaurant, but stopped at Yura’s next words.
“I don’t, though.”
Frowning slightly—was she really so pressed she couldn’t spare even one meal?—Yura slipped her arms into her coat and replied as if it were no big deal.
“I’ve got a lot on my plate with the second-half concert planning. Let’s have dinner another time. That’s okay, right?”
“I’ll drive you.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Was refusing everything just a habit of hers? It disappointed him how she turned down every offer he made.
“Get some rest on the way. You look tired.”
Yura glanced at her reflection in the mirror, brushed her cheek with the back of her hand, and murmured, “I’m not that bad off.” Then, with a resigned sigh, she followed Lee Hyun out the door.
[This is the timeline separator]Things were progressing more smoothly than expected, and time was flying by.
Lee Hyun had noticed that Yura hadn’t seemed in a good mood for the past few days.
He wondered if Oh Se Jin had stirred up trouble again, but according to reports, the two hadn’t crossed paths recently. The only notable update was that she’d visited her family home not long ago.
Ever since her falling-out with Jin Kang Soo, Yura had stopped going back home. This recent visit—her first in years—was only because she’d informed them of her upcoming marriage.
Though it made sense for a bride-to-be to visit her family home, that was true only in ordinary cases; knowing Yura, this situation clearly wasn’t ordinary—which only made him more concerned.
Lee Hyun pressed Jin Yoo Gun for details about what had happened, and the information he received was far from pleasant. He concluded that some timely mediation was necessary.
“Is everything to your liking?”
At Lee Hyun’s polite question, Jin Kang Soo surveyed the neatly arranged dishes and smiled contentedly.
“Excellent.”
“What about you, Hyung-nim?”
Yoo Gun, reaching for his chopsticks, flinched slightly.
In all his life, he’d never imagined hearing “Hyung-nim” from none other than Baek Lee Hyun. He’d always been the type who couldn’t care less about formalities, so the title felt both strange and uncomfortable.
“Baek Lee Hyun, that sounds awkward. Just be yourself.”
“Oh now, we’ll soon be family—proper manners are even more important.”
At Kang Soo’s nagging, Yoo Gun finally set down his chopsticks. He’d completely lost his appetite. Though his father’s rigidity had been a lifelong constant, lately it had begun to feel increasingly burdensome.
“Father, you can save that lecture until after the wedding. For now, can we just eat comfortably?”
“Are you starting to take after your sister? Tsk.”
Lee Hyun watched Yoo Gun’s unusually cold eyes and smoothly offered Kang Soo some reassuring words.
“They’ll get used to it quickly. After all, they learn things exceptionally fast. Please don’t worry too much.”
“Hmph.”
The meal resumed in silence. Remembering his purpose for arranging this meeting, Lee Hyun turned his gaze back to Kang Soo.
“I heard you plan to bring Yura back home.”
“Did Yura say that?”
Kang Soo’s brow furrowed into a displeased frown.
A few days earlier, Kang Soo had summoned Yura home. With wedding preparations in full swing, he believed it was crucial to bring her back under his roof and properly mentor her—especially to avoid drawing CH’s displeasure.
He felt a wife’s duty was to support her husband quietly at home, not waste time working at a company.
To that end, there was much to teach her: polish her manners, instruct her on proper conduct at public events—if not, she’d surely tarnish his reputation.
But Yura had reacted with immediate irritation.
“You want me to move back home? Why all of a sudden?”
“You need to prepare for the wedding and learn how to manage a household.”
“I’m already handling the wedding just fine, and I’ll manage my own household—so it’s none of your concern.”
Her unwavering defiance frustrated Kang Soo, who’d initially tried to speak gently but soon raised his voice again.
“So you plan to keep working even after marriage?”
“Yes.”
“Jin Yoo Ra!”
“Dear, calm down. Yura, don’t keep provoking him like that.”
He couldn’t figure out who she’d inherited it from—this stubborn streak that never yielded—kept grating on Kang Soo’s nerves.
“My mind hasn’t changed. Don’t call me back home over this again. I’m busy, so I’ll take my leave now.”
“How dare you walk out while elders are speaking—so disrespectful!”
“Do you really not care if this wedding gets called off?”
“What?”
“You’re only marrying me off to secure investment for that new department store.”
“Yura, why would you say something like that?”
Young Eun quickly stepped in. Kang Soo had assumed she paid no attention to company affairs, so hearing Yura so clearly grasp the marriage’s true motive made him inwardly flinch.
Truth be told, Yura hadn’t been his first choice. Initially, he’d been scouting matches for Yoo Gun with Dongho Industry’s second daughter.
But Dongho Industry’s eldest son took a liking to Yura, and they preferred to marry off their eldest son first.
Just as Kang Soo saw an opportunity to marry off Yura and simultaneously secure funding for the new department store, CH unexpectedly proposed a marriage alliance.
“We’ve already secured CH’s investment—if we break off the engagement, finding another investor will be extremely difficult. Are you certain you’re okay with that?”
Kang Soo’s thoughts immediately turned to Yoo Gun at Yura’s next words. There was no way she could know such details unless Yoo Gun had told her—surely Baek Lee Hyun wouldn’t have divulged such business matters to her.
Confronted with Yura’s clear understanding of the company’s situation, Kang Soo found himself speechless. Trying to force her compliance risked derailing the marriage entirely—a disastrous outcome he couldn’t afford.
Moreover, knowing Yura’s character, once she made up her mind, she’d follow through no matter the cost, making him even more cautious.
“If you truly want to use me to expand your business, then stop saying things like this.”
Her sharp glare and disrespectful words made his blood boil—but Kang Soo held his tongue until the end.
Even now, recalling the incident made his head throb, and his face remained tense and unreadable. It was Yoo Gun who finally broke the heavy silence.
“I told her.”
“You—why go meddling unnecessarily? Tsk tsk.”
Kang Soo clicked his tongue in disapproval at Yoo Gun. He’d suspected Yoo Gun leaked the company details to Yura, but never imagined he’d reveal something this sensitive—it felt like a trusted axe had sliced his own foot.
Amid the sharp tension between them, Lee Hyun stepped in once more as mediator.
“I actually like that Yura works. That’s exactly the part of her I fell for.”
“Ahem.”
“She’s already doing more than enough for me—please don’t worry.”
“Well… if you say so.”
Thankfully, Kang Soo dropped the matter for now.
Of course, he’d likely stay quiet for the moment, but later he’d need to find a firmer way to lock that mouth shut. Personalities didn’t change easily, so for Jin Yoo Ra’s own freedom, such measures were unavoidable.
The dinner ended amid lingering coolness. Lee Hyun saw Kang Soo out, then headed with Yoo Gun to their usual spot—the bar at Grand Garden Hotel.
“So that’s why you suddenly invited me to dinner.”
Though officially meant as a belated greeting for Yoo Gun, who’d missed the engagement meeting, Lee Hyun’s real intention was to curb further interference regarding Yura.
“Because someone kept looking visibly irritated.”
“What did Yura say?”
Lee Hyun simply drank his whiskey in response to Yoo Gun’s question.
Yura wasn’t the type to openly share what was happening in her life. Even the reason behind her shocked expression when he’d visited Oh Se Jin’s practice room recently remained a complete mystery.
He’d ask her a hundred, even a thousand times if she’d just tell him—but knowing her, she wouldn’t, so all he could do was endure it.
“She really is something else.”
Yoo Gun shook his head knowingly. He clearly understood Yura’s reserved nature.
Though Yura’s mysteriousness was part of her charm, her secrets about Oh Se Jin were increasingly eating away at Lee Hyun.
All he could do was investigate her surroundings more thoroughly and closely follow her, hoping to guess at the truths she refused to voice.
He desperately wanted to pull her out of that performance—but feared doing so might truly cancel the wedding, so he couldn’t act recklessly.
“Did you really fall for her because of that?”
Lee Hyun, swirling his whiskey glass, gave a quiet chuckle.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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