As expected, she filled her basket first. Jiho, feeling good about the result, washed the strawberries in the sink. Holding the dripping basket, he ate strawberries until red juice stained his nails.
“I feel like my stomach is going to burst. If I laugh, strawberries might pop out.”
Still patting her flat belly, La Jin said.
“Do you want to walk to the entrance of the back mountain? It’ll help with digestion.”
“No. Not walking.”
Seeing that she seemed to have something she wanted, Jiho gestured for her to speak quickly.
“Jiho, would you like me to give you a bike ride?”
“I think I heard wrong. Who’s giving a ride to whom?”
“I want to give you a bike ride for exercise. I may have a car license, but I’m good at riding a bike.”
Someone like her with such an idea. Should I say it’s refreshing or creative? A small, slender woman who doesn’t even fill out her chest saying she’ll give a ride to a man over 190 cm.
Jiho couldn’t just stand there in the face of La Jin’s confident expression. He kissed her flat cheek until it became flatter, then kissed it again and laughed heartily.
“Are you doubting my driving skills?”
“I believe you. I do… but I ate a lot of strawberries earlier, so I feel heavy now.”
Unable to pour cold water on her confident suggestion, Jiho came up with a good excuse.
“Try it, and then we’ll talk. If you really can’t do it, we can give up then.”
“Sure. Okay. If La Jin finds it tough, I’ll give you a ride.”
“Don’t find it amusing and ask for more rides.”
La Jin, who got on the bicycle with a basket, gestured.
“Sit in the back.”
“Like this?”
“Yes. Absolutely no feet on the ground.”
As if promising to follow the rules of riding, Jiho nodded. Then, he touched on the most important point.
“I’m afraid I might fall. Can I hold onto your waist?”
“Waist?”
Either worried about her belly or not caring, La Jin lightly stroked her stomach with a sigh. She won’t refuse to give a ride now, right? Quick-witted Jiho took the lead.
“It’s scary to fall. Can I hold onto your waist?”
“Like this?”
“Is this okay?”
As if seeking permission, Jiho lightly put his arms around her waist, trying not to make her uncomfortable. In response, La Jin pulled Jiho’s arms forward to ensure his arms weren’t uncomfortable.
“Did you lift your foot?”
“Yes. I did.”
As Jiho lifted his foot, La Jin glanced down and began to pedal. She put in so much effort that the veins popped up on her white neck.
“Hey! It’s really moving.”
“See? I told you I can ride a bike well.”
“But we’re only going half a wheel. We have to play in the water too.”
“Promise is a promise. Let’s go all the way. Hold tight.”
Tightly, as she said. Jiho, hearing the most exciting words he’d heard, lightly slapped La Jin’s back.
La Jin’s heart, beating fiercely like a drum. Uh, the moaning sound bursting out like a cry felt like a sweet song to Jiho.
“La Jin, is it not too hard?”
He asked as La Jin raced at a considerable speed.
“It’s tough, but fun.”
“The seventh time. Only three more to go.”
“Okay. Got it.”
With the burden seemingly quite heavy, La Jin’s breath became faster, as if she might run out of breath. Jiho subtly put his foot down and pedaled quickly.
“Oh, putting your foot down is cheating.”
“Must have seen it wrong.”
“Lies. I clearly saw it. The foot rolling like this.”
“I’ve told you before. If necessary, I lie too.”
Smiling mischievously, Jiho hid his face behind La Jin. She insisted on going around once more, and Jiho openly pedaled.
Amid several skirmishes and playful laughter, Jiho’s phone rang.
“La Jin, I’ll take a call from Hojin.”
“Oh! Okay.”
La Jin, with the destination ahead, quickly hit the brakes. Jiho, rising from the back of the bicycle, pressed the answer button.
“Oh, Hojin.”
[Are you enjoying your vacation?]“Just resting at home. Are you at the office?”
Unable to rest alone, I gave everyone on the team a vacation, but Hojin seemed to have come to work.
“Well done. If you need anything, let me know.”
[I heard that there’s a search warrant for La Jin’s agency.]Instantly, Jiho’s eyes sparkled sharply. It was rewarding to support another department discreetly to ensure the warrant wasn’t rejected.
“When?”
[We gather tomorrow at 8 a.m., and the execution starts at 9 a.m.]“We need to focus on security. What does the International Crime Investigation Unit say?”
In a frustrating situation where he couldn’t directly intervene, Jiho felt more than a little helpless. With O Jong-hyuk in custody, he had to find a connection with Myung-jin somehow.
A rare opportunity, Jiho’s nerves tightened.
“If we’re going for a second search, we need results this time.”
[Sure. I’ll coordinate closely with my colleague.]Considering the distance to Seoul at 4 p.m., they needed to move now before the traffic got worse.
“If possible, I’ll try to arrive before dinner.”
[Come tomorrow morning. The only thing you can do now is provide information.]“But we still need to do what we can.”
Before Jiho could finish his sentence, Hojin’s affectionate nagging poured out. Efforts to capture a woman’s heart required more, warnings of becoming a lonely old man if he failed here. Well, this was more than a friend’s little sister; it was more than family.
“Okay, okay. Got it. I’ll score big with La Jin.”
[Don’t come early at all!]Hojin’s advice to stay together today and leave in the early morning was not only sensible but also sweet. Still, Jiho had a conscience; he couldn’t let his junior suffer alone.
“Take care, see you later. Ending the call.”
With the end button, Hojin’s nagging abruptly stopped. La Jin, standing at a distance, couldn’t come closer and just stared at the ground.
“La Jin.”
Approaching her, he gently enveloped her, who only whispered to her lips without asking anything. Seeing her like this made him feel sorry, so he embraced her tenderly.
“Do you have a schedule tomorrow?”
“No, but I have a historical drama shoot on Tuesday.”
“…”
“What’s wrong…?”
Looking up at Jiho, the careful she stared at him.
“Don’t be surprised, just listen. Tomorrow, the agency might get a bit noisy.”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
