Past 6 PM, the lengthening summer day kept the office fairly bright.
“So, we barely managed to postpone this milk advertisement for three days due to the actor’s health issues. But the problem is whether Se-kyung’s facial troubles will subside in three days.”
Sitting in his chair, Yu-gun twirled a pen around his fingers while listening to the report from Secretary An.
Wang Se-kyung of EM Entertainment, a cute actress of small stature beloved for her incredible acting, was personally scouted and nurtured by Yu-gun, becoming the first star of EM Entertainment. However, she had one issue.
“So, she drank alcohol the day before the advertisement shoot?”
“According to Se-kyung, it was just one drink two days before.”
Her fondness for alcohol always resulted in acne flare-ups. Once they appeared, they took a while to subside, leading the company to constantly make excuses to maintain her image.
Disappointed with her for drinking despite knowing the consequences, Yu-gun still had the responsibility to manage her activities until her contract ended.
He leaned back in his chair, exhaling deeply.
“Get her on the phone.”
“She turned off her phone for three hours to avoid getting scolded by you.”
Seeing Yu-gun’s frown, Secretary An cautiously added, “She must be upset too, with such sensitive skin.”
“The problem isn’t the skin; it’s the attitude. Knowing the consequences, why drink?”
At his sharp remark, Secretary An bit her lip.
“Should we look for a dermatologist again? This time we’ll make sure the hospital staff keep it confidential.”
“It’s not the hospital staff that need to make promises; it’s Wang Se-kyung.”
“Ah… Right.”
Yu-gun set down his pen with a thud. As the situation required a cool-headed solution, he considered consulting a trusted dermatologist.
Thinking of Jung Hyuk, a psychiatrist friend, he suddenly remembered Chaewon. If she agreed, it would be a good choice given the distance from the actress’s residence and her trustworthiness.
He picked up his phone to call Chaewon. Before the phone could ring, it connected to a cacophony of noise.
“Hello? Is this still connected?”
Double-checking Chaewon’s number, Yu-gun asked in confusion.
“I called for Kim Chaewon.”
“Wow, that’s the same name as that guy who came to our hospital before! Are you Teacher Kim’s boyfriend? I was the nurse who guided you that time!”
Puzzled by why a nurse was answering and repeatedly greeting him, Yu-gun learned they were in the middle of a party.
“Come over, please. Our teacher is a bit tipsy and needs a guardian.”
Was Chaewon so drunk that someone else had to answer her phone?
Yu-gun wanted to inquire about her condition, but the nurse’s excited tone left no room for him to speak.
“Ms. Lee, stop that. You’ll regret it tomorrow. Chaewon will be angry.”
A man’s voice suddenly intervened.
Yu-gun’s eyes narrowed slightly as he listened.
A company dinner implies everyone there is a staff member, regularly interacting with Chaewon… but are there any male staff members?
“Where are you?”
The woman, about to end the call, brightened up at Yu-gun’s question and informed him of their location.
‘Chaewon is upset.’
It sounds a bit affectionate for just a coworker relationship.
Thinking hard, Yu-gun recalled seeing a man in a doctor’s coat at the hospital, but he hadn’t paid much attention.
Yu-gun, gazing at his now-ended call, soon stood up, grabbing his jacket.
Secretary An, watching, asked with a puzzled expression, “Where are you going, sir?”
“Home.”
“Now? At this hour?”
As he turned back, Secretary An chuckled as if she expected it. “You and your jokes, sir.”
But as Yu-gun picked up only his car keys and left, her smiling face froze in confusion.
“He’s acting strangely… addicted to work?”
His symptoms were odd:
Suddenly smiling during work.
Staring at his phone and chuckling.
Leaving work at 6 PM sharp.
Not working on weekends.
The usual stern look in his eyes hadn’t been seen for a while.
“Is he sick? Or in love?”
Secretary An thought hard, recalling how Yu-gun had always maintained a strict professional boundary, even with stunning female stars, and shook her head in disbelief. “What’s gotten into him? It’s unsettling.”
People shouldn’t change too abruptly.
Determined to stay more alert, Secretary An resolved to keep her mind sharp.
Jaemin was fidgeting, staring at his phone.
[What are you doing?]He’d seen that Hee-ju had read his message, but there was no reply.
“Why isn’t she replying…”
Despite waiting, no reply came, an unusual occurrence in their five years of marriage.
Had she fallen asleep or was she busy with work? He quickly figured it out.
“Aha!”
Realizing, he snapped his fingers. “She’s doing it on purpose to get my attention.”
Jaemin chuckled. “She’s really trying hard. Got some coaching on not replying immediately, huh?”
He found her effort cute and chuckled to himself.
“Always getting caught, Hee-ju. But I’m not that easy.”
Probably staring at her phone, waiting for his text.
Should he text her again?
As Jaemin smirked, his phone beeped.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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