Tae Hoon reluctantly dialed Do Han’s number.
‘Ji Woo says you’re dating Sa Rang.’
Even as he spoke, Tae Hoon let out a dumbfounded sigh.
‘True.’
‘What?’
‘We are dating.’
‘No way!’
From then on, Tae Hoon kept repeating these words.
Tae Hoon, who was shaking his head as he walked to the student union restaurant after taking the same lecture with Do Han, said,
“What’s so ridiculous about it.”
What’s so ridiculous about Sa Rang dating.
Do Han furrowed his eyebrows, wondering why it was so absurd.
On the other hand, Tae Hoon looked as if he was genuinely clueless.
“To be honest, you two don’t match at all.”
“Where? How?”
“Sa Rang is nice and kind.”
“Do I sound like a bad and nasty guy?”
“Wasn’t it a fact that you knew too?”
When Tae Hoon became stern, Do Han let out a dry laugh.
There was nothing he could say, being treated like this even by his closest friend.
“Anyway, it’s absurd that Sa Rang, who is so kind, is dating you. And you are her first boyfriend. Why would she choose the thorny path from the start, that young lamb.”
Tae Hoon genuinely felt sorry for Sa Rang.
He felt more for Sa Rang, who was a junior but a friend of Do Han, than for Do Han himself.
“I’m sorry. That I’m such a terrible guy.”
Do Han couldn’t deny that Sa Rang had already been hurt several times because of him.
“Wait a minute. When Sa Rang said she confessed to the guy she liked, that guy told her to like another man. Don’t tell me it was you?”
When Do Han didn’t respond, Tae Hoon held his forehead.
“And when I offered to set Sa Rang up on a blind date that day, you just sat quietly. You’re really a scumbag.”
“I have a conscience.”
“Ha, so you were rude to Jae Sung? Because Jae Sung said Sa Rang was not his type?”
Do Han kept his mouth tightly closed.
No matter what he said, it would only make him look worse.
Feeling it was too late to stop Sa Rang from liking such a guy, Tae Hoon let out a deep sigh.
“The end is too predictable. What will become of Sa Rang.”
“We just started dating. Do you really have to talk ill of it.”
“Think about what you’ve done so far. Why are you dating an innocent freshman who doesn’t even tell his girlfriend he loves her. Why don’t you just meet someone like you.”
Because Sa Rang was Ji Woo’s friend, Tae Hoon became more excited.
Until now, he didn’t care who Do Han was with, but this time was different.
Even he, a close friend, sometimes felt upset by Do Han’s cold personality, let alone how Sa Rang must feel.
He wouldn’t have been so harsh if it wasn’t Sa Rang’s first relationship.
But Sa Rang, who had such high expectations for dating that she might have come to college to get a boyfriend, chose a difficult partner, and he felt sorry for the kind junior.
At Tae Hoon’s endless grumbling, Do Han stopped in front of the student union stairs.
Tae Hoon, who was climbing the stairs next to him, stopped and looked at Do Han, who was now at eye level.
With such an expressionless face, it was impossible to tell whether he was angry or not.
As he was about to apologize for his harsh words, Do Han spoke first.
“I thought I might be able to do it.”
“What?”
Tae Hoon found Do Han strange.
It was the first time his eyes looked sad.
“I thought it might be possible with her.”
It was also Do Han’s hope.
The curse that he couldn’t utter the word ‘Sa Rang’ began when he turned thirteen.
When his mother passed away, his father called out for a woman named Chae Sa Rang every time he got drunk.
With his twisted tongue, he kept calling out ‘Sa Rang, Chae Sa Rang’.
The woman who was my father’s first and only love.
A woman who had to separate due to the opposition of her parents.
A name he still called out in longing, even after marrying my mother.
No matter how awful the voice, Do Han was able to read aloud the word “love” whenever it appeared in a textbook.
The moment that word stopped coming out of his mouth was when the woman named Chae Sa Rang became his stepmother.
One day, Kyung Cheol brought home two women and introduced them to Do Han as his new mother and sister.
Less than a year after his mother passed away, Do Han clenched his fists and held back his tears.
Then, his new mother approached him and greeted him.
“Hello, my name is Chae Sa Rang. Nice to meet you.”
Hearing her name, Do Han let out the tears he had been holding back.
He sank to the floor and sobbed bitterly, not knowing exactly what emotion he was feeling.
Only after a long time did he understand the meaning of those tears.
It was longing for his mother rather than a sense of betrayal towards his father.
He desperately missed his mother. He didn’t want to give her place to that woman.
And not just any woman, but a woman named Chae Sa Rang, who had caused his mother so much pain.
At that moment, Do Han made a promise to his deceased mother.
He would never call this woman “mom.”
That was the only thing he could do for his mother.
It was only later that Do Han realized that the vow he made that day had turned into a curse that prevented him from uttering the word ‘love’.
“I really hope so.”
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
