Ju Won greeted her politely and until he disappeared, Hye Ju doubted her own ears.
‘Could this really be the end? Did he really just leave like that?’
There was a time when she had imagined introducing Ju Won to Su Cheol.
If she introduced Ju Won to Su Cheol, who always said that even if a billionaire asked for his precious daughter’s hand, he would find it hard to agree, how would he react?
She imagined Su Cheol, watching with hawk eyes, as he observed the potential husband Hye Ju had brought.
Finding faults in Ju Won, who was handsome, smart, from a good family, and talented, wouldn’t be easy. Yet, picturing Su Cheol scrutinizing him, wondering if he truly was worthy of his daughter, made Hye Ju smile internally.
But what was this?
[Dash] “I work at the same company as Miss Oh Hye Ju.”Is that all he had to say from his mouth?
Hye Ju, beyond disbelief, started to get angry.
‘If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have mentioned love at all!’
He made her heart flutter and then backstabbed her. She never thought he’d act like that in front of her father.
“Wow… Kang Ju Won… I never saw him that way, but he’s such a jerk!”
The usually confident Hye Ju couldn’t easily calm her anger.
The clueless Su Cheol worried about his daughter, noticing steam practically coming out of her head. He kept checking her forehead, asking if she had truly not hurt her head and suggesting she needed a thorough examination.
Only after reassuring him about ten times that she was perfectly fine did Su Cheol finally relax.
He was startled to hear she’d fallen down the stairs. He had left his store unattended to come here and felt uneasy thinking he had to return soon.
“Can you go home alone? Should I come back tomorrow?”
“Why do you keep coming up leaving the store? I’m totally fine. I just need to see the doctor once and then I can be discharged. Don’t worry. If someone sees me, they’d think something is seriously broken!”
Hye Ju cheerfully saw Su Cheol off and then lay down under the covers.
With her fever subsiding a bit, she began to think more calmly about Ju Won’s earlier behavior.
‘A few days ago, he said he hadn’t been sleeping properly. Was it because of where he went today?’
She remembered his evasive demeanor when she’d asked where he was going.
She remembered his face turning pale at the sight of the injured Hye Ju and how sensitively he reacted to her health and safety.
‘What the heck is going on? It’s so frustrating.’
His unusual behavior made her uneasy.
“Sigh…”
Hye Ju deeply covered herself with the blanket and sighed. Her already aching ankle throbbed more.
“Patient Oh Hye Ju, the doctor will see you shortly.”
Right then, a nurse called out to her. After the doctor’s afternoon rounds, she was told the last thing to do was check if the treatment went well and then she could be discharged.
“Yes, understood.”
Fortunately, the treatment was successful and the swelling in her ankle had considerably reduced. Since no bones were broken, there was no need for hospitalization. She was told that outpatient treatment for a week would suffice.
Hye Ju picked up her mobile and coat and left the treatment room. The incident had blown up when Ruby, having seen her fall on the stairs, made a fuss. But when she thought about it, it wasn’t a major accident.
‘I should’ve come after work. What a waste of time.’
Hye Ju chuckled bitterly as she moved on.
As she limped through the hallway, she noticed a familiar silhouette. It was Ju Won, sitting in a lobby chair facing the entrance. Just by his distinct broad shoulders, she could tell it was him.
‘I thought he had gone home, why is he still at the hospital?’
She felt both elated and somewhat resentful.
‘Still, it’s better than him leaving abruptly.’
Oh Hye Ju approached him with a slight pout.
“Mr. Kang. Ju. Won. What are you doing here?”
It was a sarcastic remark, referencing how he introduced himself as just a company colleague in front of Su Cheol earlier. Normally, Kang Ju Won would have had a witty comeback, but this time all he did was slightly raise an eyebrow.
“Did your father leave?”
“Yes, he left a little while ago.”
Given the atmosphere, Oh Hye Ju couldn’t tease him any further.
“I thought you had gone home. Why are you still here?”
“I came with the car to take you home. Let’s go.”
Kang Ju Won added as he took Oh Hye Ju’s coat,
“There’s also something I want to discuss.”
On the surface, it might seem like an excuse to take his injured girlfriend home, but Oh Hye Ju knew the real intention was in his last sentence.
‘What on earth does he want to talk about…?’
From her limited relationship experience, with such a stern expression, there were a few possible discussions.
Either a breakup announcement, a breakup suggestion, or a breakup decree.
However, it didn’t seem likely that the man who whispered love to her just yesterday would suddenly talk about ending things. Determined not to be shocked by whatever he would say, Oh Hye Ju took steady steps forward.
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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