“Don’t make me embarrassed by staring like that,” he said with a mix of complaint, although he knew he had been looking at me just as intently.
“You were the one who complained about not being looked at properly. Yet, when I do, you get flustered and tell me off.”
“What’s there for you to be embarrassed about?”
I murmured softly.
“It’d be strange if things were normal between us.”
Jun replied, a bit more composed now. He was right.
Our relationship was complex. We were past lovers, yet not light-hearted enough to meet simply as a director and writer. It was an awkward relationship, too laden with lingering feelings and emotions to cleanly draw a personal line.
As I looked at him again, Jun’s face seemed to regain some calmness. Our complex relationship hovered between the past and the present, not easily definable.
So, simply making eye contact was enough to make one of us flustered and the other’s heart ache in this relationship.
I felt like I understood a bit more about the faint anxiety I feel when I’m alone with you.
“Still, we met quickly this time.”
Suddenly, Jun caught my gaze, which had been aimlessly drifting across the floor. Puzzled, I looked at him.
“We saw each other in Japan, and it’s been barely a week since then.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“It was worth waiting nine years. To meet this easily.”
“Don’t be sarcastic.”
“It’s not sarcasm. I really feel fulfilled right now.”
I saw Jun’s lips curve slightly. His relaxed expression put me at ease, so I responded.
“Yeah, we did meet. Just like this.”
Then, Jun repeated what I had just said under his breath, as if to himself. “Yeah, just like this.”
Silence often filled the spaces between our conversations. Each word was uttered and then savored, like people who don’t want to miss the lingering taste of their own words.
Then Jun brought up something as if he had just remembered.
“That day in Japan, I was too out of it to say it, but…”
“What?”
“You became a broadcast writer. That’s what you wanted, right? Since nine years ago.”
“Yeah.”
I wasn’t sure what to add, so I simply responded. I remembered the conversation we had on the night we first met, in the living room.
My worries about pursuing a career as a broadcast writer due to my introverted and timid nature, and your words that you’d be interested in any program I would create, understanding the intricacies of someone’s heart slowly.
Those words anchored me whenever I was swayed, wondering if this path was right for me or if I was needed at the broadcast station.
“Your words back then were a huge encouragement. You probably didn’t know.”
“Yeah.”
“Really, they were.”
Thanks to you, I became a broadcast writer, and because of that, I met you again.
If it weren’t for you, and thus if I hadn’t become a broadcast writer, I wouldn’t have planned this program, wouldn’t have been chosen as the first story, and thus wouldn’t have met you again.
But, the words I swallowed hurt my heart.
“You became a famous film director. A very famous one.”
“…”
“You always liked making movies, so it’s not surprising.”
“Do you know what kind of famous director I am?”
I was at a loss for words.
“I guess I should thank you too. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have made those movies.”
“…”
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not trying to say things like ‘since you left me, I could only think of making those kinds of movies,’ or ‘making them felt like my heart was being ripped out.’ The point is, I’m thankful to you.”
It seems I misunderstood the meaning of ‘thank you.’ Even while saying it, that word was the most meaningless among all you had just said to me.
“Sincerely.”
‘Sincerely’ looked different from what I knew. I swallowed the breath that was about to burst out and tried to clarify your words more distinctly.
“For making you feel that way, and thus you’re thankful.”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m thankful.”
Suddenly, my eyelashes fluttered. I felt a sense of emptiness as your clear response left no room for me to hide. To avoid showing you my state, I quickly changed the subject.
“Should we start working then? You called me today for the screenplay work, right?”
“That’s correct, but before that, there’s something I need to clarify.”
I felt suffocated even before hearing what you were about to say. Jun then said:
My Arch-enemy Sealed My Memory and Said That He is My Husband
This is an incredibly captivating story that you absolutely shouldn’t miss! I’ll give a brief introduction here, and below you’ll find a detailed synopsis of the plot.
The female lead is a fierce and powerful demon king. The male lead is a once-in-a-millennium celestial lord, admired by the entire cultivation world.
They are equally matched, legendary rivals who have battled for centuries.
In the final duel, the female lead is gravely injured. The male lead saves her, seals her memories, and hides her true identity. He tells her that he is her fiancé. His entire life has been flawless—except for the one thing he never expected, never controlled, and never wanted to control: falling for his greatest enemy. She is his inner demon, his obsession.
When the female lead regains her memories, she is furious at his deception.
She makes his life a living hell.
And somehow, the male lead—possibly a total masochist—doesn’t mind at all. In fact, he’s happy she’s paying attention to him.
Yep, we’re back to my favorite trope: male lead suffering. If you love this kind of story, jump into the pit with me now!!!
Intro
Dong Xia lost her memory.
Her handsome and extremely powerful fiancé Li Qing comforted her: “It’s okay if you can’t remember. I’ll always be with you.”
Everyone thought Dong Xia’s ancestors must have burned incense to get such a perfect fiancé. He was the number one person in the immortal realm, yet he remained chaste and only loved her.
…
The day before marrying her fiancé, Dong Xia finally remembered everything.
She wasn’t suffering from memory loss at all.
Her arch-enemy had made her fake her death, destroyed her cultivation, replaced her memories, and pretended to be her deeply in love fiancé.
No wonder he said, “It’s okay if you can’t remember”!
Dong Xia laughed coldly as she pulled out her long knife: Li Qing, prepare to die 🙂
*
Li Qing, as the supreme being of the immortal realm, was the people’s shining beacon.
The only unknown stain in his life was his affection for Dong Xia, the ruler of the demon realm.
In the final battle of the war between immortals and demons, the sky collapsed and the earth shattered. The ruler of the demon realm was finally slain under the sword of the supreme being of the immortal realm, and everyone in the immortal realm applauded.
The cultivation world lost a ruler of the demon realm.
And in the back mountain of Li Qing’s cave dwelling, he secretly hid away a fiancée.
Notes:
1. The female lead is white on the outside, black on the inside, and the queen of flattery; the male lead repeatedly tests the edge of darkness, a VIP guest at the crematorium.
2. Fantasy cultivation world setting.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
