Seated on a stool, Kangwoo’s eye wrinkles became faint as he looked up at Minyoung. However, he soon stood up and bowed.
“Unexpectedly meeting in a place like this. Mr. Cha.”
Draped in a perfectly fitting black suit that enveloped his tall yet balanced frame, Kangwoo exuded a captivating restrained movement. Minyoung stared at Kangwoo as if dissecting him. He hesitated before responding.
“How did you manage to find the time? Originally, it was an impossible schedule for me, but there were requests from the branch manager and such.”
Daniel Oh, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, glanced momentarily, his expression neutral, though there was an unspoken tension in the atmosphere.
“Is that so? Please, have a seat.”
Naturally, Kangwoo thought he would take the seat next to Daniel Oh, but Minyoung chose to sit on Kangwoo’s left.
Since one couldn’t simply avoid their business counterpart or an unexpected visitor, Kangwoo decided to take a seat first. Minyoung casually grabbed Kangwoo’s empty glass.
“This is mine.”
Kangwoo held up the glass by the rim. He immediately ordered the waiter to bring an empty glass.
“Oh, I thought it was mine because it was empty. Branch manager, didn’t you prepare my glass? You called people here, but you didn’t even set up the glasses. You seem to lack a lot of sense.”
Daniel Oh’s expression became uncertain, not understanding the words, but the atmosphere seemed tense.
“I’m sorry. Mr. Cha.”
“It’s a joke; Daniel Oh is serious about everything.”
As Minyoung placed her clutch bag on the table, she picked up her glass. The liquid swirled within as she twirled it on her dainty wrist.
“We’re finally starting production from next week. Both of you have worked hard during this time.”
“Thank you.”
While Kangwoo responded with polite acknowledgment, Daniel Oh nodded appreciatively. The festive mood of the drinking party had already dissipated, so Kangwoo checked the time, pulling up his shirt.
“You’re not planning to run away as soon as I arrive, are you?”
Turning his head diagonally, Kangwoo looked at Minyoung. Once again, he threw a joke, smiling broadly.
“But it’s not a joke. Daniel Oh seems to avoid me even during a drinking party… Maybe it’s because I’m a woman. Not as a business counterpart.”
“If you were offended, I apologize.”
While responding with polite courtesy, unlike Kangwoo, Daniel Oh subtly tilted his head. Minyoung, still smiling, subtly pushed Kangwoo’s shoulder.
“Both Mr. Cha and Daniel Oh can’t seem to make a joke. They’re too serious.”
Quietly sealing her lips, Minyoung nudged Kangwoo’s shoulder. Lost in thought, Kangwoo considered that Minyoung’s words had a point. In principle, there was no reason to avoid a meeting with Minyoung, a business counterpart.
Even if he were to get drunk, he wouldn’t appear as a woman. Moreover, avoiding even a private meeting between the three would be disrespectful to the other party.
Drinking alone with a woman was a habit he had maintained for a long time. He had refrained since his university days, blocking it altogether due to the turmoil caused by alcohol.
Seaea was the only exception. However, that day, if Mother hadn’t left the seat first, this exception wouldn’t have occurred.
So, it seems it was fate.
“Why are you smiling while lost in thought?”
Daniel Oh, filling up Kangwoo’s glass, asked.
“I’m thinking about my wife. I wonder what she’s doing right now.”
It was a smile tinged with longing. Minyoung couldn’t help but bite her lips.
At that moment, Seaea showed no sign of slowing down in her manuscript writing. She sat on the couch, leaned forward, and readjusted her laptop on her knees.
“Yawn.”
While letting out a long yawn, her eyes glanced at the calendar on the desk. Her birthday was approaching. The anticipation for spending her first birthday with him was already making her heart flutter.
How was her last birthday?
On the night before her birthday, she looked at him with eyes full of anticipation as he returned at midnight. She was expecting him to suggest spending the evening together since it was her birthday.
However, he fell asleep right after taking a shower. Even as he helped her on her way to work the next day, she couldn’t shake off her lingering regrets. She couldn’t boldly make demands and could only send subtle glances. Perhaps he felt burdened.
“Do you have something to say to me? If you need anything, just let me know.”
It felt as if she became a student needing protection rather than a wife. No matter how she tried to speak and walk with a calm manner, trying to discard any hint of coquetry, it seemed insufficient to capture his heart.
However, when it came to seeing her as a woman, he was passionate. It didn’t happen frequently, but when it did, it was intense.
“I have nothing to say. Have a good day at work.”
After a brief response, the front door closed. Only later did she discover various presents on the sofa. The square card, seemingly written by Secretary Choi, had a brief message wishing her a happy birthday.
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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