“I should go to your house later. If I go now, something serious might happen.”
Even her pouting lips and twitching nose had reddened. Tae Seo’s smile didn’t fade as he looked down at Jae In, grumbling against his chest.
“No matter how much I think about it, it feels like I’m volunteering to walk into a tiger’s den. Or maybe a fox’s. Or possibly a wolf’s.”
Tae Seo had no intention of refuting Jae In’s comparison of him to an animal. He had come to a recent realization without even knowing it himself – Kang Tae Seo was a beast. A beast constantly on the prowl, waiting for an opportunity.
“This might be the time.”
“Hm?”
“How about living in the tiger’s den?”
Tae Seo spoke casually as he kissed the top of Jae In’s head. She stiffened up with wide eyes, but he didn’t need to look to know.
“To get used to the tiger’s den.”
“Are you suggesting we live together right now…?”
“If you stay here, the same thing that happened earlier could happen again. Let’s not see people we don’t want to see. Let’s just see what we want to see, us together.”
Before entering Jae In’s house, Tae Seo had finished a brief call with Manager Jang. He had given a simple instruction and got the whereabouts of Jo Dae Hoon and Jung Jae Hoon while he was on his business trip and even checked their movements for today.
Next time, it might not be Ji Seung Hee who barged in, but those men.
Ji Seung Hee, who pretended to be cultured, and Jo Dae Hoon, who feigned dignity, were relatively easy to deal with. The greatest danger was Jung Jae Hoon, who had already once kidnapped Jae In.
“Even so, cohabitation, that’s preposterous…”
“I’ll respect your privacy. It’s a two-story house. I’ll stay on the first floor, and the second floor will be entirely yours, Yoon Jae In. Think of it as having a good-looking, reliable male neighbor, okay?”
Facing his first romance past the age of thirty, Tae Seo was sincere. Until now, he had simply acted as his heart willed, hoping that the person he liked would smile back a bit more.
But when the safety of the person he liked was at stake, it was a different story. Tae Seo wanted to protect the peaceful days of Yoon Jae In, who had chosen him.
“But it’s not that simple to consider.”
“There’s a door between the first and second floors. I won’t open that door without permission.”
It was a gate of mesh, but a door nonetheless, so it wasn’t a lie.
“Even so…”
“If we’re going to date, let’s cause a stir, remember what I said? I plan to do everything that other people do, and even things they don’t, myself.”
Tae Seo smiled as he gently caressed Yoon Jae In’s shoulder with his fingertips.
“Think about it. If you don’t decide, we’ll end up discussing this issue all day today. We’ll reach a conclusion before we part today. In the direction I proposed.”
“…”
“I’m good at negotiation and persuasion. Are you sure that’s okay? I won’t hold back in trying to bring you to the second floor of my house.”
His words implied he’d use his charm and negotiation skills to sway her. Whether it was his good looks or his enchanting tactics, he intended to shake her resolve. Yoon Jae In’s voice softened, perhaps sensing the persistence in his advance.
“What about my respect?”
“I respect you, that’s why I’m offering you the second floor. Otherwise, I would have suggested my room.”
“What does that even mean…”
“You must be wondering, why suggest cohabitation after only a few days of dating? You might think I’m crazy. But to be honest, I’m anxious. I worry that someone might bother Yoon Jae In again.”
He had no intention of giving the people who were lurking around Yoon Jae In any opportunities. He wanted to get her consent quickly and remove any irritants.
“I know. Yoon Jae In is smart. Yoon Jae In will handle her own matters, but let the boyfriend have a say too.”
With a sunny smile and eye contact, Jae In bit her lip softly. He was already looking forward to it, feeling eager to shake her up even more.
“I don’t like you crying when I’m not around.”
“I won’t cry.”
“I’d prefer if you only cried in front of me.”
He wasn’t one to talk, having been the one to make her lips swollen from seeing her cry so prettily. But Tae Seo shamelessly whispered sweetly, running his fingers through Yoon Jae In’s hair.
Yoon Jae In, to him, was endlessly beautiful upon every look.
“The tiger’s den is quite comfortable. If you want, I can show you around right away.”
“How can I go anywhere looking like this?”
“There’s someone here who’s gone mad over that look.”
“…”
They were close enough for a kiss to not be surprising. Tae Seo felt like a real tiger as Jae In blushed quietly, her cheeks flushed. His not-so-sharp canines itched to bite.
“Let’s talk about us first.”
Possibly sensing instinctive danger, Jae In changed the subject. Tae Seo had already resolved to be patient for Jae In’s sake, especially after she was startled by Ji Seung Hee’s appearance.
“What should we talk about?”
Her small voice was low and resonant. Maybe it was because she had just finished crying. Jae In naturally closed her eyes to the sound of that voice.
“I think we need to talk about me. Um, where should I start?”
“Anything is fine, just talk to me.”
After pondering for a while, Jae In began to speak. Tae Seo also closed his eyes, listening to her gentle voice emanating from his embrace.
“I used to tremble at the thought of men.”
“And now?”
“Now too. Except for Kang Tae Seo.”
“Ah, I like that.”
Jae In laughed as Tae Seo tightened his embrace. It tickled right around her heart, like a soda pop bursting. Tae Seo took a deep breath and savored the feeling of Yoon Jae In in his arms.
“Keep talking.”
“Until I met Sang Hwa, my mom was everything to me. And I was fine with that. She wasn’t the one who taught me about lack but about fullness.”
Tae Seo listened to her story, laughing together at the happy memories of her childhood and offering a comforting hand down her shoulder and back as he heard about her mother falling ill and coming to Korea alone.
The terrible accident, her mother’s death she had to face alone. Although Tae Seo knew all this from reports, hearing it directly from Jae In was entirely different. They sighed together, sometimes they both held back words.
Gradually dozing off as he listened to Jae In pour out her story, Tae Seo held her close so she wouldn’t feel desolate or empty. Not having to make eye contact seemed to make it easier for her, and Jae In’s story went on for a long time.
“…So I’m sorry. I’m ashamed I thought of using Kang Tae Seo.”
“Uh…”
“Actually, I was also scared. The person named Kang Tae Seo was slowly occupying my mind…”
The large hand patting Jae In’s back and shoulders maintained a steady rhythm. Tae Seo felt the tension slowly drain from her body as she confessed her initial intention to use him for revenge.
“Whether I could ever share my heart with someone… that thought scares me again… but then when I see Tae Seo… that’s why I keep…”
Her words began to trail off and break apart, and soon there was no more speech, only the sound of regular breathing tapping against Tae Seo’s chest.
Tae Seo, who had been imprinting the sound of her breathing in his heart, finally spoke after a while.
“Sleep well.”
His own low voice was also heavy with drowsiness. The fatigue from the business trip couldn’t have been cured by just a few hours of sleep.
Over the sleeping figures of Tae Seo and Jae In in his embrace, the winter afternoon’s sunlight spilled gently. It was a kind and generous light wrapping around the new couple.
My Ex-Girlfriend Is The Regent In The Female-dominant World (Male lead transmigrates to the matriarchal world)
Two years ago, Gu Sui picked up a homeless woman in ancient costume from the street.
Apart from occasionally claiming to be a princess from a female-dominant country due to illness, her figure, appearance, intelligence, and martial arts skills were impeccable.
Naturally evolving from roommates to girlfriends, as time went on, Gu Sui found it increasingly difficult to tolerate her queen syndrome.
“Mu Jiulu, can you stop controlling me inside and out? Let’s break up.”
Gu Sui made a breakup call, and since then, he couldn’t find any trace of her.
A year later, Gu Sui, who was planning to move, woke up the next day and found himself in a different place.
“Young Master, today is the day you choose your Wife-master through martial arts competition at Jade Dew Pavilion. Please get up quickly.”
Gu Sui: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
As the only son of a general’s mansion in a female-dominant dynasty, the young empress personally issued a decree allowing Gu Sui to select his Wife-master through martial arts competition. Whoever could defeat him could marry him.
Gu Sui: “……”
He didn’t inherit the original owner’s martial prowess, so anyone could defeat him! And what the hell is a Wife-master?
Forced to come to Jade Dew Pavilion, the densely packed women below made Gu Sui’s agoraphobia act up, and his face was full of resistance.
Until he saw the Regent sitting on the second floor, with a smile on the corner of her lips, her eyes wicked and nonchalant.
Hmm… she looked a little familiar.
It turned out that the Regent also found him a little familiar.
Mu Jiulu fiddled with her bone clasp, her deep gaze locked on the man who was out of place in this world.
“Finally, I found you.”
Male transmigrates into female-dominant world
One-sentence summary: What goes around comes around, taking turns in the crematorium
