Between Us is X - Chapter 23
“Let’s ride it once.”
“Are you serious?”
“I’m serious. We’ve already crossed the line.”
Joo Han passed the signboard from earlier and began climbing the stairs. Eun Soo furrowed her brows, filled with doubt, and followed Joo Han’s steps.
While she was still unsure, the line quickly dwindled and before she knew it, they were right in front of the boarding area. With a loud noise, the roller coaster arrived, and the people who had been riding got off on the opposite side. Now it was truly their turn to ride.
“Are you really going to be okay?”
“I said I’ll be fine.”
Joo Han and Eun Soo sat side by side in the middle seats. The safety bar came down from above their heads and locked firmly in place, and soon the staff’s lively commentary announcing the departure was heard.
“Sun Eun Soo.”
“What.”
What should I do with him? Eun Soo, who had been looking at Joo Han’s side profile with those eyes, answered absentmindedly. Joo Han continued.
“Actually, I have something to confess too.”
“Confess?”
Eun Soo flinched, not realizing that she had started with the same word earlier. Joo Han added, holding the safety bar tightly in a stiff posture.
“If you had said it first back then, I would have said I like you too.”
Thump.
As the roller coaster began to move, Eun Soo’s eyes also shook greatly.
“If you had said you like rides first, I would have said the same. If you had asked me to ride together, I would have ridden no matter what.”
Joo Han, who took a deep breath, muttered with his eyes tightly closed.
“…Like now.”
Eun Soo, who had been blankly looking at Joo Han’s pale side profile, suddenly turned her head. Her heart was pounding loudly inside, her vision was dizzying, and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the thrill and tension or for another reason.
Clack, screech.
The roller coaster, which had climbed the increasingly steep slope, stopped at the highest point. Joo Han, who had slightly opened his eyes in surprise, caught a glimpse of the wide open sky and the distant view of Lotyland that had become as small as toys.
“…!”
The moment Joo Han opened his mouth without even being able to scream, the roller coaster began to plummet downward.
[This is the timeline separator]“Excuse me, are you alright?”
Something white appeared in front of Joo Han’s eyes. His blurry focus gradually became clearer. Realizing that the white thing was Eun Soo’s face staring at him, Joo Han blinked.
“You’re still not back to your senses?”
Eun Soo, who had raised her hand right in front of Joo Han’s face and waved it back and forth, clenched her fist tightly.
“This won’t do. If you get some strong physical therapy, it should be solved…”
“No. I’m back to my senses.”
Joo Han quickly replied.
He didn’t remember well how he endured the few minutes of rushing through the Blizzard Rail. Anyway, he had ridden it, seemed to have gotten off on his own two feet, and crucially, he was still alive.
Eun Soo said,
“If you’re back to your senses, can you let go of my hand now?”
“Hand?”
Following Eun Soo’s chin gesture, Joo Han looked down and was startled to see his hand tightly gripping Eun Soo’s.
“When did I grab it? Why did I grab it?”
“You grabbed it and didn’t let go from the moment the Blizzard Rail started to fall.”
“Sorry. Are you okay?”
“I’m not okay. The blood isn’t flowing.”
Eun Soo lightly turned her hand and turned her body.
“Let’s go now. That was fun.”
Joo Han stood side by side with Eun Soo without a word and took a step.
The entrance they had come in earlier was getting closer. Seeing Eun Soo fiddling with her headband, Joo Han asked,
“Do you feel disappointed?”
“Am I a kid? To feel disappointed that I couldn’t play more.”
Eun Soo gave an absurd chuckle. Joo Han shrugged.
“I’m not disappointed either.”
Then he added casually,
“I was disappointed that I couldn’t come here for a field trip with you in our senior year of high school. Now it’s done.”
Eun Soo stopped as if she was frozen in place.
Field trip.
Since they were in the same class for 2 years, there were a few opportunities to participate in such school events together. However, Eun Soo did not go on the field trips in their second year, the fall picnic, or the spring picnic the following year.
Eun Soo, who quietly swallowed something welling up inside, turned to look at Joo Han.
“That’s right. I didn’t go and you didn’t go either. I had forgotten that this was the place.”
Her expression was nonchalant, but Eun Soo’s words trembled slightly at the end.
“But honestly, I skipped out because I had no money and no friends. Why didn’t you go?”
Joo Han stared intently at Eun Soo. His gaze contained a temperature that was hard to gauge.
“Why are you asking when you know?”
Joo Han, who blurted it out after a long time, began striding ahead. Eun Soo, who had been frozen for a moment, silently followed behind him.
Her cheeks felt hot for no reason. As Joo Han said, she actually knew everything. She knew the reason why Joo Han became one of the two people who didn’t go on the spring picnic, the last luxury of their senior year, and came to school to self-study instead.
‘But what kind of answer did you want to hear by asking such a thing?’
She didn’t understand herself either. Maybe because it was an amusement park, because they were wearing unusual clothes, she got so excited that even her mouth became light and fluttery.
The two who exited headed towards the uniform rental shop from earlier. The staff looked a bit surprised to see the two coming back to return after only a couple of hours.
Coincidentally, there was also a slightly awkward atmosphere flowing between the two, so they seemed to be suspecting if they had fought or something.
Before parting to the changing rooms with their own clothes, Eun Soo lightly grabbed the hem of Joo Han’s uniform.
“What?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
Joo Han asked with innocent eyes. Eun Soo moved her mouth, flustered, and rolled her eyes.
“Why are you asking when you know?”
A strange smile appeared on Joo Han’s lips.
“I don’t know? You have to say it specifically for me to know. Like this, ‘Joo Han, I know you actually wanted to go on the spring picnic in our senior year but didn’t go because of me, thank you.'”
Eun Soo, whose cheeks and ears had turned red at some point, widened her eyes.
“That’s not it! If everyone had gone on the picnic to play and left me alone in the classroom, I would have gone to Seoul National University!”
“Ah, so the reason you couldn’t go to SNU was me? Because I kept distracting you and you couldn’t study when it was just the two of us in that classroom that day?”
“…Are you crazy?”
Eun Soo, who blurted it out while huffing and puffing, quickly turned around and went into the changing room.
Joo Han covered his mouth with one hand, pretending to touch his chin, as he looked at the door that had slammed shut. The hidden corners of his mouth went up and down in a chuckle.
[This is the timeline separator]The two, who had changed back into their original clothes, headed to the suburban cafe recommended by Jae Rim. Even though they had only slightly left Seoul, the greenery was much richer.
The cafe building wasn’t as big as they thought. Instead, it had a rather spacious yard, making it look wide and refreshing. Joo Han and Eun Soo went inside.
“Welcome.”
Perhaps because of the nice weather, the few groups of customers were all seated at the outdoor tables, and there was no one inside. Thanks to that, the two were able to order their respective drinks and a slice of cake and comfortably look around the interior.
Since it also served as a gallery, the overall interior was simple, probably to make the artworks stand out, but the props placed here and there were unique.
“I like this lamp.”
Eun Soo pointed to the floor lamp in the corner. The iron stand with spring joints to adjust the angle had natural rust marks here and there.
“It’s American vintage, right?”
“Yeah. It looks like a 1960s re-issue model.”
“I think I saw it in a movie. What was it? Was it ? Was it ?”
“It must have been .”
After looking around the store, they sat down and an employee brought over two cups of coffee and a cake.
“Wow, the tableware is so pretty too.”
Eun Soo admired softly. The employee smiled and explained.
“The owner likes to collect vintage props. Sometimes she takes them all out when there’s no exhibition.”
“The atmosphere must be different every time you come. Is the owner not here by any chance?”
“No, she’s always here, but she had something else to take care of for a moment. She’s meeting someone in the backyard.”
“Ah, I see. Thank you.”
After the employee returned to the counter, Joo Han asked,
“Why are you asking about the owner?”
“I’m curious. I’m curious about the other collectibles, and I’m also curious if she’s not interested in collecting furniture.”
“Your business spirit is strong.”
“Where else can you find such a competent director like me. Right?”
Eun Soo rummaged through her bag and took something out. It was a decorative candle in the shape of the number 1 and a matchbox.
“Look, we’re on a 1st anniversary date right now. You know what I mean, right?”
“Yeah.”
Putting one sparkling candle on the slice of cake created a cute atmosphere. Eun Soo lifted the plate and handed it to Joo Han.
“Hold this and look here.”
“Yeah.”
Joo Han obediently held the plate under his face and looked straight ahead. Eun Soo took a few photos of Joo Han and then handed over the phone camera.
“Now switch.”
“Yeah.”
Joo Han handed the cake he was holding to Eun Soo and took the phone. Eun Soo, with the cake placed in front of her, showed off a variety of poses, smiling brightly, closing her eyes, turning her head to show her side profile, and then stood up.
“Move a little to the side.”
“Yeah.”
Eun Soo, who moved from across to Joo Han’s side, stretched out her arm holding the phone far away.
“Get closer.”
Joo Han leaned his body towards Eun Soo without a word. The two, close enough for their shoulders to touch, were side by side in the selfie frame.
“Smile.”
The corners of their mouths went up simultaneously and returned to their original positions as soon as the click sound was heard.
“Done. We look somewhat like a couple. Eat.”
“Yeah.”
Joo Han, who had been listening to Eun Soo’s words to the point of almost abandoning his ego, reached for the cake with a fork and came to his senses.
“What? What did we just do?”
“What do you mean what. We just completed the second mission.”
Eun Soo, who responded as if it was no big deal, put a piece of cake in her mouth and made a satisfied expression.
As they were having a light conversation, the door opened and someone came in. The employee habitually started to say welcome, but smiled sheepishly.
“Owner, are you all done?”
“Yes, thank you for taking care of the counter alone.”
A middle-aged woman with an easygoing impression entered, and someone followed behind her and spoke.
“It was such a great interview, owner.”
“I enjoyed it too.”
Eun Soo, who had been looking that way with sparkling eyes at the word “owner,” had a strange expression on her face. The man who had come in with the owner looked familiar. The other person also widened his eyes as soon as he saw Eun Soo.
“Ms. Sun Eun Soo?”
That bastard Gye, no, not bastard but it is Gye.
Eun Soo nodded her head towards Team Leader Gye with an awkward smile.
“Hello. What a surprise to see you here.”
“I had an interview.”
Team Leader Gye said something to the owner and approached right in front of the table. His gaze, filled with blatant curiosity, examined Eun Soo, who was obviously dressed up, Joo Han sitting across from her, and the table with traces of celebrating something.
Eun Soo, who couldn’t pretend not to know him, reluctantly stood up from her seat and opened her mouth.
“This is Team Leader Gye Hoon from the magazine company I used to work at.”
Joo Han, who stood up following her, lightly bowed his head in greeting.
“And this is…”
“You’re CEO Kim Joo Han of , right?”
Team Leader Gye, who initiated the acquaintance first, held out a hand to Joo Han.
“I’ve seen an interview you did somewhere else before. I remember it because the photo looked like a celebrity, but you look even better in person.”
Although he politely declined most of them now, when he first became the CEO succeeding his father, he had done a few interviews.
Joo Han, who thanked him with a smile, lightly grasped Team Leader Gye’s outstretched hand and stared intently at his face.
So it’s you, Team Leader Gye.
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.”
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