Acts We Shouldn't Do (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
Could he finally be starting to take an interest in women?
Tae Seo briefly pondered, then dismissed the thought. He’d already been interested—in a woman, specifically—ever since he first met Yoon Jae In long ago at the Bali resort. So the premise needed adjusting.
Was it now impossible to keep ignoring his feelings for Yoon Jae In?
Faced with this highly probable proposition, Tae Seo’s expression turned grave. If it were truly the case, he needed to leave this place quickly.
He couldn’t afford to give the impression of being forward or pushy. Yoon Jae In was the only woman who had ever drawn his gaze and his heart. He certainly didn’t want to get slapped by someone like her.
“Um, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“No matter how I think about it, you seem familiar. Sorry if I’m bothering you.”
Tucking her long, flowing hair behind her ears, the woman smiled. Her plump lips curved gracefully upward, etching the sight vividly into his mind like a scene too lovely to forget.
“Oh.”
Only now did Tae Seo realize he’d freely thought of her as “pretty.” Come to think of it, even back at the office, when he’d told Executive Director Jang to save the flowers, he’d remarked that the person who gave them was pretty.
“Man, I’ve really lost it.”
Muttering to himself, Tae Seo lifted both hands to cover his eyes.
Why did he keep acting out of character around this woman? Had something gone wrong with his brain?
But he quickly changed his mind.
What else could he say when something pretty truly was pretty? He hadn’t gone so far as to think she was adorable or that he’d give her his liver, so there was nothing strange about it.
“Huh…?”
Through the gaps between his fingers, Tae Seo saw Jae In’s large, catlike eyes widen like a startled rabbit’s. Finding it utterly endearing, he let out an involuntary puff of air—laughter escaping his lips.
“Oh—no, nothing. But… what’s the matter?”
Seeing her delicate eyebrows furrow in confusion, Tae Seo tensed his lips to suppress the rising smile. It was time to focus on reality.
“You… don’t remember me?”
“Hmm…”
Caught completely off guard, Tae Seo concentrated harder than ever before. This required caution.
Jae In had approached him first, acting as if she recognized him. He was glad yet surprised—after all, he’d seen her build impenetrable walls against the endless stream of men who’d hit on her in Bali.
So why? Why was she pretending to know him?
Narrowing his eyes, Tae Seo stared intently at the woman, trying to read her intentions.
“We’ve met before.”
“Yes.”
Tae Seo hesitated. Should he play along enthusiastically, matching her lead to spark a connection? Or should he hide his interest and pretend he didn’t know her? Was this an opportunity—or a trap?
From what he’d learned beforehand, Jae In disliked men. After so many bad experiences, she’d grown thoroughly fed up. If she sensed his interest, she’d likely feel burdened—or even terrified.
After intense deliberation, Tae Seo raised one eyebrow. He’d decided to treat Jae In just like any other woman who’d approached him before.
“Isn’t that a little too cliché?”
“No, really. A few days ago, didn’t you accidentally enter the wrong hospital room?”
“Oh… Ah, the bouquet?”
“Yes! Exactly!”
Relieved that Tae Seo finally remembered her, Jae In beamed with a bright smile. That smile shattered Tae Seo’s resolve to pretend he didn’t know her, and his withheld laughter burst out.
Her smile alone lit up the entire café. To Tae Seo, it felt as if all that radiance poured straight into his head, tickling him deeply.
As they grinned at each other, Tae Seo suddenly wondered if someone had started playing Christmas carols in the café—because he could clearly hear the jingle of bells: ding-ding-ding. Yet the music playing in the café was gentle classical.
When had he last heard that bell sound? He was sure he’d heard it before.
“Ha…?”
Jae In looked at Tae Seo with puzzled eyes as he sighed in sudden realization.
Tae Seo recalled that ringing—like tinnitus—in his ears. Back then, everything had gone white, his heart had pounded abnormally fast, and cold sweat had broken out. And just like now, Yoon Jae In had stood right before him.
That day in Bali, the wind had been unusually calm. Disappointed after checking the gentle waves, Tae Seo turned away with his surfboard. With nothing left to do, he wandered slowly through the resort until children’s loud chatter caught his attention.
{Jane, I’m trying to focus, but Ethan keeps bothering me!}
{Ollie started it first!}
Jae In stood among the group of kids. It was their third encounter—or rather, not really an “encounter” at all. The previous two times had been fleeting glances he alone remembered.
He’d simply thought, “Oh, I saw her again. Guess I see her often,” and turned to leave. But that day, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Jae In—she kept pulling his gaze back.
Unlike the two previous times, when she’d frowned coldly at men, she didn’t scold or stiffen her expression at the rowdy kids.
Instead, her face relaxed completely as she spent time with them—laughing freely, making silly faces, and rolling around comfortably with the children.
She looked utterly at ease, caring for them openly and warmly without a hint of guard.
{Enough, enough. Are you two planning to keep fooling around during yoga class again tomorrow? Because you’ll regret it if you do.}
{Why?}
{Because I’m about to hand out lemon madeleines I baked myself—and I guarantee they’ll be the best you’ve ever tasted.}
{You’re not giving any to us?}
{No—everyone gets madeleines. But hugs and smiles? Those go only to the ones who don’t make things difficult for me.}
{Hugs and smiles…?}
{That’s the secret to making lemon madeleines taste even better. So—what’ll it be? Keep messing around tomorrow?}
{No way!}
Jane handed each child a neatly wrapped madeleine, hugging every single one and flashing a radiant smile.
Tae Seo remembered glancing around, startled, when he’d first noticed the faint chime of bells in his ears that day.
Even as the privileged son of a wealthy family, he hadn’t escaped racially biased looks and remarks. Though hired staff tended to his daily needs, they never offered emotional comfort.
Young Tae Seo had no one to spoil him or listen as he cried out his frustrations. He’d had to bear everything alone. Growing up and studying in England and America, no adult had ever held him close and soothed him.
He’d been slapped by his parents when he misbehaved—but he’d never received a lemon madeleine.
The only person who’d ever reached out her hand to him was his grandmother. But while studying abroad alone, he’d seen her at most once a year.
So he’d watched Jae In hug and smile at those kids for a long, long time. And that image had stayed with him ever since.
The next day, when he learned through a report that she was his actual fiancée, he’d been utterly shocked—so shocked he kept pressing his chest, unable to stop smiling. It was a strange, thrilling flutter he’d never felt before in his life.
“Can you… hear it too?”
“Hear what?”
“The bells.”
“…What? Is there a church nearby? Well, it is Christmas Eve, so maybe you’re hearing church bells. I don’t hear anything—must mean you’ve got really sharp hearing.”
Church bells, my foot. It was clearly a chime only he could hear. Tae Seo rubbed his brow and chuckled.
Looks like I’ve been utterly smitten with this woman—both back then and now. And of all ways to realize I’m head over heels for a woman named Yoon Jae In, it had to be this corny.
And to add insult to injury, she clearly wasn’t smitten with him. Yet despite the bruised pride, it didn’t feel bad at all—so he laughed again.
“Ha, I never fall for anyone else…”
Still chuckling, Tae Seo noticed Jae In—who’d been quietly watching him—narrow her eyes slightly and slowly lean back.
Well, he supposed a man who kept muttering and laughing to himself must seem odd. If he thought he looked crazy, she probably thought he was even crazier.
But he couldn’t just let her go like this.
Tae Seo pushed off the stool he’d been perched on and stood up. Straightening his back and squaring his shoulders, his tall, commanding frame cast a shadow that enveloped Jae In completely.
He found it oddly satisfying that she fit entirely within his shadow. Unable to hide his rising smile, he extended his hand without hesitation.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Tae Seo.”
Jae In looked at his outstretched hand, then decisively raised hers.
“I’m Yoon Jae In. Nice to meet you. Ah—”
The moment their fingertips touched, Tae Seo unconsciously tightened his grip, clutching her hand firmly. Her already round eyes widened even further.
But instead of pulling away, she stared up at him with dark eyes full not of disgust or fear—but surprise and curiosity.
“…”
Just as Tae Seo was about to apologize for his rudeness while Jae In glanced down at their joined hands—
“…”
—he felt her hand squeeze back firmly, and his molars clenched. A jolt shot from his toes straight up his spine, tingling deep inside his chest. His heart began pounding wildly.
He nearly scratched his throat and groaned like an overexcited pet reuniting with its owner.
Barely clinging to his composure, Tae Seo exhaled deeply. This wasn’t the time for that.
“You were wearing hospital scrubs the other day. Are you feeling better now?”
“Yes, I’m perfectly fine.”
He’d already confirmed through reports that Jae In was fine. But seeing her in person and hearing it from her own voice felt entirely different.
“That’s good to hear. Since we’ve met like this, it must be fate.”
Commonplace lines deserved equally commonplace replies. Tae Seo slowly lifted his gaze from her small, fair hand—so delicate it fit snugly in his own—and their eyes met again.
In those deep, dark eyes—so intense they seemed to pull him in—only he existed. A satisfied smile curved Tae Seo’s lips.
“How about dinner? If you haven’t eaten yet.”
“Well, I…”
“It’s Christmas Eve, after all.”
Jo Yuri’s words echoed in his mind: “On Christmas Eve, you should eat with your fiancée.” Of all the nonsense she’d ever babbled, that had turned out to be the only useful bit.
Releasing Jae In’s hand as if it meant nothing, Tae Seo continued casually,
“It’s a sad day to eat alone. Shall we?”
“I guess…?”
“Let’s go.”
Tae Seo strode to the café door, opened it, and nodded toward her. Before Jae In—who’d absentmindedly agreed as if under a spell—could even regret her hasty decision, it was already too late.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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