Resigned, Hyeju spread her arms and stood still. Juwon’s lips gracefully drew a curve from the side of her mouth.
“As expected, our Hyeju is kind.”
Clothes gathered naturally from top to bottom like flowing water, and they fell onto the floor with a thud, making a particularly loud sound in the quiet room. Hyeju’s face flushed even more at the echoing sound.
‘Ah…’
As it was already dawn, when the mother-in-law was exposed in the bright light, it was not just embarrassing. Hyeju, who had become completely naked, covered her body loosely with the disheveled blanket and turned away.
“Is it done now? Pack your clothes in the suitcase.”
“But Hyeju.”
At that moment, a large shadow covered her forehead. As if wrapping around her chest with his long arms, the blanket rose at once.
“Eek!”
Thrown onto the bed just like that, Hyeju let out a small scream.
“What is it? I said I would only bring your clothes!”
As if taming a wild beast, Juwon’s palm touched right next to her face. With a leisurely rise, Juwon, who had risen above her, grinned.
“I never said my feelings would change.”
“This scammer…!”
“Thanks for falling for it.”
A smile spread across his lips as he entered the red space. The roughly spread blanket was so inadequate that it slipped away with his touch.
‘Why wasn’t he wearing clothes until the flight time got closer? Kang Juwon, you pervert!’
Hyeju’s grumbling thoughts gradually faded away. It was because Juwon’s bold touch calculated the remaining time after glancing at his wristwatch.
“We don’t have time; I can’t be calm.”
Contrary to the order of undressing, his lips passed by. Red traces, like scars, were left wherever they touched. Due to his force, stronger than usual, Hyeju’s chest rose rapidly.
“Even so, this is too much…!”
Hyeju’s forcefully uttered protest was immediately absorbed by Juwon. Juwon whispered while kissing her forehead covered in sweat.
“I’ll treat you better when I return.”
Even the occasional grumbling disappeared.
The bed was filled only with the morning sunlight coming in through the window and the damp sound of breath.
[Star icon]While working after going to the office, a message arrived that Juwon had departed.
Although she was suddenly worried that they wouldn’t be able to contact each other for a few hours, Hyeju did not show it and just left a message saying to contact her as soon as he arrived.
‘I hope he returns safely without any trouble.’
It was the first time she had worried about someone like this, even though she was not a child.
If the nightmare resurrects from that distant place, it would be not only frightening but also difficult to cope with that despair.
‘He’s a strong person; he’ll endure it well.’
Hyeju tried to suppress her anxiety and spent the day.
After returning home from work, Sucheol was there. It wasn’t sudden, as Miok’s mother had contacted her in the afternoon, saying she would bring seasoned marinated crab.
“Wow, Dad, did you cook too? It’s been so long since I smelled the scent of home-cooked food.”
As soon as she opened the door and entered, Hyeju recoiled at the rich scent. Although it seemed narrower than usual due to staying in that palace-like house for a few days, it was still comfortable because it was her own home.
“Come and sit here.”
Sucheol’s complexion, which would usually be bright, hardened. Feeling the chilly atmosphere from Sucheol, Hyeju felt a sense of guilt for some reason.
‘Maybe he found out that the house was left unattended for a long time? If I say I lived like I was living together at my lover’s house instead of leaving a perfectly fine house…’
Of course, there was a reason, but she couldn’t bluntly explain it to Sucheol. Kang Juwon, who already had an ugly shadow at their first meeting, who would look kindly at her if he heard about ghosts!
Quite conservative, Sucheol undoubtedly wouldn’t understand why his daughter, who had been raised so carefully, would be wandering around a man’s house before getting married.
Moreover, if the other party was unpleasant, even more so!
“Why…?”
Hyeju sat across from Sucheol, her legs fidgeting. The atmosphere between the two women facing each other across the table was somewhat serious.
Rustle, rustle.
When Sucheol retrieved something hidden under the table, Hyeju was taken aback.
“What’s this men’s underwear? I found it while cleaning the balcony and almost tripped over your dad. Is this rascal’s stuff?”
Gasping, Sucheol presented Juwon’s underwear, neatly wrapped in a black plastic bag.
“Ah, that! I was going to throw it away but forgot. Give it here.”
“Why is men’s underwear lying around the house? Did that rascal go back and forth in my place?”
“No! The person who lived here before forgot and left it. I forgot to clear it out. I’ll throw it away right now.”
“Isn’t this a women-only studio apartment?”
“Uh, it’s not?”
“When you got this house, you said it was a women-only studio apartment…”
“I got it here so Dad could come and go comfortably!”
Her voice unintentionally raised when she tried to lie. Before Sucheol could say more, Hyeju quickly tossed the plastic bag into the trash.
“Okay?”
Tapping her hands and turning around, she suddenly noticed the protruding band part.
The black thread, as if the lock had been opened, was untangling, bothering Hyeju. She squinted and peered closely.
‘What’s this?’
When she saw it last, the underwear was neat and new. It had been left on the balcony for a few months, but could the thread unravel like this?
It seemed strange.
“Dad, what characters are these by any chance?”
“Characters?”
At Hyeju’s gesture pointing to the characters engraved on the band seam, Sucheol approached.
Juwon’s boxer briefs had a clean design with a waistband. Other than the product logo on the band, there were no other patterns.
The characters etched on the band seam were slightly crinkled, smaller than a child’s fingernail, and almost invisible due to their black color. At first, she thought it might be the signature of the person who gave it as a gift, but now it seemed a bit peculiar.
If it were to reveal the gift, it would have been written more prominently or in a noticeable color. The characters on the seam were inconspicuous and almost invisible unless you looked closely, as if someone were hiding them.
“Let’s take a closer look.”
Sucheol took out a magnifying glass from his outer pocket.
Examining the band’s seam closely, he suddenly pinched Hyeju’s forehead.
“Oh, you ignorant! Didn’t you learn Chinese characters for a few years when you were young? Wasting money, wasting money!”
“Is this Chinese characters?”
“Have you never received a wedding invitation in your life? It’s ‘hon (婚),’ marriage! Hon for getting married!”
A chill ran through her entire body.
To marry… Marriage?
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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