Thump, thump. Thump, thump, thump.
Seung Won’s heartbeat rings in his ears. The subtle tremor felt from the arms that embrace him. And a gentle scent like that of a puppy.
“What is this? Why… is it me?”
Hye ju’s eyes caught sight of Seung Won’s fallen glasses on the floor. In the urgent situation where every second counts, Seung Won, without hesitation, prioritized her, leaving Hye ju bewildered.
“He must have done it because he was right next to me. Da Hee was a bit farther away….”
Even if she tries to comfort her heart by telling herself that he instinctively pulled the person next to him out of surprise upon seeing the flames, the heart that had already started pounding wouldn’t settle down.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump, thump.
It was the same for Seung Won as his heartbeat pounded heavily in his ears. The two people, huddled together under Ddaji, sat as if they were stone statues, silent.
As the flames that had soared up like foam subsided, the owner quickly managed the situation.
“Oh, I’m sorry, guests! The pork belly barbecue area tends to have a lot of oil, so this happens occasionally. You were startled, right? Hehe!”
Once they calmed down, it turned out to be nothing serious. It seemed that the flames had erupted suddenly due to the wind blowing off the oil while grilling the pork belly skewers. The owner, who had skillfully handled the incident, still holding onto Hye ju and Seung Won, clasped his hands together to apologize.
“I apologize for startling you. You’re our regular customers at this cozy restaurant. As a service, I’ll bring you some chicken wings and salted intestines skewers.”
Finally regaining her composure, Hye ju quickly separated herself from Seung Won. Seung Won, feeling embarrassed as well, grabbed his glasses and jokingly said,
“Boss, we thought there was a real fire. Shouldn’t the fire truck be called for something like this?”
“Oh, I should remove pork belly from the menu or something if it causes headaches like this. But when did you two start dating?”
“What?”
“There aren’t many people who take care of their girlfriends in moments like this. It’s nice to see. You’ve been sticking together for a while now, so I knew something like this would happen someday, haha!”
A moment of silence passed.
Hye ju thought someone had placed an ice cube on her forehead. She raised her head to the chilling gaze, only to see Da Hee standing there, tears streaming down her face.
“Da Hee, are you okay?”
Seung Won tried to console her belatedly, but Da Hee’s face had already turned into a tearful mess.
“I’m not okay at all.”
“Da Hee.”
“You’re both so cruel… You’re both so cruel!”
Da Hee abruptly ran out of the shop. Seung Won, realizing too late, couldn’t even grab his bag as he followed her.
Finally realizing his slip of the tongue, the owner broke into a sweat, repeatedly muttering, “What should I do?” But it was already spilled milk.
In the blink of an eye, something happened that lasted only a few seconds, but it left Hye ju’s head spinning.
“This is crazy, really…”
It wasn’t intentional. None of this was what Hye ju had wanted – the collision of the four people in the restaurant, the fire on the grill, Seung Won prioritizing someone else over her.
But ultimately, it ended up hurting Da Hee. Who wouldn’t feel heartbroken seeing their partner take care of someone else in a critical moment?
She was worried that this incident would be a significant blow to Da Hee, who was already delicate and timid. If she had known this would happen, she would have quickly changed seats and sat next to Seung Won. It felt like sitting next to him unnecessarily caused this situation.
“Well, Kang Seung Won sure knows how to cause a commotion over nothing.”
I couldn’t help but resent Seung Won, but the uncomfortable feeling didn’t go away.
“Are you okay?”
Suddenly, Ju Won spoke up. Hye ju curtly retorted while awkwardly touching her shoulders, as if there was still lingering heat.
“You were still there? I thought you left.”
“I’ve never heard anyone say they have no presence wherever they go.”
“You were always a good student, weren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“You were flying around your workplace at a young age?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s why everyone praises you. What presence? Bullshit.”
It wasn’t intentional to sound so curt, but for some reason, her words didn’t come out smoothly to Ju Won. It seemed like their relationship was tangled from the very beginning, causing her instinctively to reject him.
She slightly regretted her intentionally chilly tone, but Ju Won seemed unfazed. He pretended not to hear Hye ju’s grumpy words and brought up the main topic.
“It’s quite surprising. I didn’t expect Seung Won to be the one to take care of you in that situation.”
Ju Won clearly saw the moment when Seung Won embraced Hye ju.
At the same time, he saw himself rushing towards Hye ju.
When Seung Won took the first step and embraced Hye ju, it was as if… a giant curtain enveloped the two of them.
That sight didn’t look like that of friends. It was understandable why Da Hee got so angry and left.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
