After being led to a private room, Juwon ordered for them.
Ina wiped her hands with a wet tissue and glanced at Juwon.
She kept recalling the smile Juwon had given when the owner called her a ‘beautiful lady’.
‘Yeah. He must have smiled like that out of courtesy. He can’t just snap at the owner for calling someone not pretty, right?’
While Ina was lost in her strange thoughts, Juwon handed her a glass of water.
“What are you thinking about so intently?”
“Huh?”
Ina snapped out of her thoughts and asked back.
“I’m asking what you’re thinking about so deeply by yourself.”
“Oh? It’s nothing. I wasn’t thinking about anything.”
Ina replied and quickly brought the glass of water to her mouth.
As Juwon stared at Ina, there was a knock on the door.
Shortly after, the door opened and an employee served salad, broth soup, and a Japanese-style tofu dish called mochiri-dofu.
Ina thought she had lost her appetite because of what happened today, but seeing the appetizing mochiri-dofu topped with pine nuts, saliva suddenly started pooling in her mouth.
“Try it. The mochiri-dofu here is delicious.”
Noticing the change in Ina’s eyes, Juwon gestured for her to eat it quickly.
Ina gently picked up her chopsticks and put the mochiri-dofu in her mouth.
The chewy and dense texture filled her mouth.
“Mm. It’s really nutty and delicious.”
Ina’s eyes sparkled so brightly, it was hard to believe she had lost her appetite earlier.
“Here. Try some of mine too.”
Juwon handed over his plate, urging her to have some.
“Oh? No, it’s okay…”
“You said it’s delicious. Eat it.”
When he urged her again, Ina pretended to give in and picked up some mochiri-dofu, popping it into her mouth.
As expected, the nutty flavor filled her mouth and Ina smiled brightly.
Seeing that, Juwon chuckled, and soon after, an assorted sushi platter served on an elegant plate arrived.
Seeing the sushi lying like a work of art, each piece topped with different ingredients, Ina unconsciously picked up her chopsticks, ready for battle.
Seeing that, Juwon said with a laugh,
“Eat slowly. I’ll order more if it’s not enough.”
“No, this is plenty already.”
Despite her words, Ina quickly reached for the salmon sushi.
She then made a blissful expression as the sushi melted in her mouth.
“Mm. It’s really delicious.”
“Yeah? Have this too.”
Juwon picked up a piece of salmon sushi from his plate and placed it on Ina’s.
“Oh? No, you eat it.”
“It’s okay. Girls like salmon, right? You have it.”
Ina stared at Juwon intently, chopsticks in hand.
“What?”
“Oh? No, I just thought you seem really considerate… It feels a bit unfamiliar compared to how you were in middle school.”
“Really? Then should I act prickly like back then so it’s not unfamiliar?”
Juwon joked.
“Oh? No way. No no~ This is perfect right now. Totally perfect.”
At Ina’s words, Juwon chuckled.
“But, isn’t it totally unfair to be this handsome and considerate too?”
“What is?”
“Your face alone is already worth a hundred points, but if your personality is great too, you’d be insanely popular with girls…”
As she spoke, Ina suddenly stopped and stared at Juwon.
“What?”
Ina abruptly put down her chopsticks and made a surprised expression.
“Oh my. My gosh! How did I not think of that?”
“Think of what?”
Ina asked, staring intently at Juwon in concentration mode.
“You… have a girlfriend, right?”
“What?”
Juwon narrowed his eyes at the sudden strange question.
“No, I never asked you if you have a girlfriend. But it would be weird if you didn’t have one with that face, right? You have a girlfriend, don’t you?”
Juwon put down his chopsticks and looked at Ina.
“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”
“Oh? Well… Now that I think about it, even if we’re friends, I’m not the same gender as you. So if you help me this actively, your girlfriend would probably dislike it…”
Juwon rested his chin on his hand and looked at Ina with an intrigued expression.
“Really? You think she’d dislike it?”
“Of course. Even if it were me, I’d probably dislike it if my boyfriend helped a female friend to this extent…”
“Hm… But I even slept over at your place last night.”
“Gasp.”
Ina held her cheeks and made an expression like ‘The Scream’ by Munch.
“What should I do? What if your girlfriend found out you slept over at my place? Oh no! What do I do? Did you two have a huge fight because of me?”
As Ina’s eyes the size of large marbles wavered, Juwon couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.
“Hahaha.”
Ina stared at Juwon with round eyes as he suddenly burst out laughing.
“Why, why are you laughing?”
“You’re really good at being a one-woman show, aren’t you? You’re like a one-person artist. Haha.”
“What? What does that mean?”
As Ina tilted her head, Juwon said with a laugh,
“Why are you screaming about a girlfriend that doesn’t even exist?”
“Huh?”
Ina blinked and stared at Juwon, then suddenly covered her mouth with her hand.
“What! You… don’t have a girlfriend?”
At Ina’s reaction, Juwon made a dumbfounded expression.
“What the heck? Just a moment ago you were shocked that your girlfriend might have found out, and now you’re shocked that you don’t have a girlfriend?”
“Why, why don’t you have a girlfriend?”
As Ina asked with her mouth covered, looking shocked, Juwon laughed in disbelief.
“Is it that shocking that I don’t have a girlfriend? Why do you look like that?”
“Of, of course. For someone as tall, handsome, and with a great body like you…”
As she spoke, Ina suddenly stopped and stared at Juwon with a startled look.
She bit her lip, not having intended to mention his body but the words slipped out before she knew it.
Juwon then placed his hand on his chin and lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Body? When did Miss Seo Ina see my body?”
But as Ina kept her mouth tightly shut as if taking a vow of silence and just stared at the table, Juwon chuckled.
“Ah… You saw it last night? Come to think of it, the clothes that supposed cousin of yours were wearing were really tight.”
Seeing Ina staring holes into the table as if honey had been smeared on it, Juwon felt like laughing again.
“But, was my body really that great? I’m honored to hear that.”
Ina gulped once then lifted her head to look at Juwon.
“No, Juwon. That’s not what I meant… I just think it’s such a shame for someone as amazing as you to not have a girlfriend… That’s what I meant.”
“Really?”
Juwon asked, holding back the laughter that threatened to come out.
Ina nodded and awkwardly brought the glass of water to her mouth.
Watching her, Juwon pushed the laughter that was about to spill back down.
“Okay. I got it, so let’s eat for now. You’re hungry, right?”
When Juwon gestured for her to go ahead and eat, Ina finally picked up her chopsticks again.
The two ate slowly while talking, and enjoyed the steamed abalone, grilled eggplant, tempura and udon that came out in between.
As Ina took a spoonful of the sweet and refreshing yuzu sherbet that came out for dessert, Juwon spoke in a serious tone.
“That jerk Park Jeonghun, send me his contact info, company name, department, and home address, everything you know, by text.”
“Huh?”
Ina, who was about to take a second spoonful, looked at Juwon with round eyes.
“He crossed the line. That bastard. We can’t just leave it like this.”
“Wh-what are you going to do?”
“My cousin is a lawyer. A pretty capable one.”
“La-lawyer?”
Ina’s eyes widened at the word lawyer.
“He even came to your company and caused that scene, are you going to just let it slide?”
“Oh? No, that’s not it, but…”
“With all the evidence of his obsession with you, dragging you away while drunk, and causing a scene at your company, we can make it so he can never appear in front of you again.”
Instead of answering, Ina sighed with a troubled look.
“I want to handle it myself directly, but I feel like my fists would fly first if I do, so my cousin who’s a lawyer can probably handle it more easily than me. And he’ll resolve it within the legal scope, so don’t worry too much.”
“No, it’s not that I’m worried… I just feel so sorry to you… How did I end up dating a guy like that and having to make such a shameless request to you…”
“But if it weren’t for that jerk, we probably wouldn’t have met again, right?”
“…”
Ina stared at Juwon with round eyes.
Was it Ina’s imagination that the smile hanging on Juwon’s lips looked meaningful?
Looking at that smile, her heart suddenly started pounding.
“Well, that’s true…”
Ina lowered her head and answered, then quickly reached for the sherbet.
Filling her mouth with the cold sherbet, her pounding heart finally seemed to calm down.
Soon after they finished the dessert, Juwon picked up the bill.
“Oh? Give it here. I’ll pay.”
As Ina reached out in surprise, Juwon picked up his jacket and stood up.
“Why do you always say you’ll pay? Today is my turn to pay.”
“Oh? No, still…”
As Juwon opened the door for her to go out quickly, Ina reluctantly got up from her seat.
After paying, they stepped outside the restaurant and a cool breeze blew.
“That was delicious. I’ll treat you to something tasty tomorrow.”
At Ina’s words, Juwon laughed and put on his jacket.
“You keep saying you’ll treat me to delicious food, it’s like we’re on a food tour or something.”
“A food tour? That’s not a bad idea.”
Ina’s eyes sparkled as she followed Juwon to the car.
After getting in the car, Juwon put on his seatbelt and said to Ina,
“You must be tired, so go in and sleep early. Don’t think about what happened earlier anymore.”
“Okay… Thank you.”
“I’ll call my cousin right away, so keep that in mind.”
“…Okay.”
“Then let’s go home now.”
Juwon drove towards Ina’s house.
Shortly after, the car stopped in front of the villa where Ina lived, and Ina got out of the car, thanking him.
Juwon rolled down the passenger window and gave Ina a wink.
“Don’t think about anything and sleep well. See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Okay. You go in and rest too.”
“Alright. Hurry up and go.”
Ina waved goodbye and went into the villa, and soon after, Juwon’s car started again.
* * *
The next day, when Ina went down to leave for work, fortunately Jeonghun was nowhere to be seen. She got off the bus and walked towards the company, getting nervous again, but Jeonghun was still nowhere to be seen.
Ina let out a sigh of relief and entered the company’s main entrance.
As she walked past the entrance towards the many people waiting for the elevator, she saw Lee Daeri standing among them.
Just then, Lee Daeri turned this way and their eyes met.
As Ina immediately bowed her head in greeting, Lee Daeri also hurriedly bowed.
Standing next to Lee Daeri with an awkward smile, Lee Daeri also gave a sheepish smile.
As they waited for the elevator in silence, Lee Daeri cautiously asked,
“Did you… get home okay yesterday?”
“Pardon? Ah. Yes. Thanks to you.”
Lee Daeri hesitated for a moment, then scratched his head and said,
“Um… Miss Seo. I think I went a bit overboard yesterday.”
“Pardon?”
“Asking if you two are very close. It’s not something I need to be curious about… I think your friend might have felt offended.”
“Oh, no it’s okay. You can ask. And well, we are close. We’ve been friends for a really long time.”
“Ah… You’ve been friends for a really long time…”
Feeling a strange impact from the word ‘really’, Lee Daeri nodded.
__________
“Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!”
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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