“Really?”
Hyunju’s face lit up with excitement, and she quickly asked Siwoo,
“Siwoo, would it bother you if Jiwon comes?”
“Huh? No, why would it? Isn’t he Ina’s friend? It’s fine.”
However, Siwoo’s expression subtly changed, which Hyunju failed to notice.
“Then it’s okay to call him over? Let’s just meet him for a bit and then leave.”
“Okay, sure.”
“Did you hear that? Tell Jiwon to come quickly.”
Before even needing to say it, Jiwon, who had been listening to the whole conversation over the phone, spoke first.
[Siwoo] Then I’ll leave right away. Send me the address.
“Huh? Oh… okay.”
Ina responded absentmindedly and after hanging up, stayed dazed. Hyunju quickly took Ina’s phone and sent the address of the restaurant to Jiwon.
She then smirked and set the phone down.
‘Wow, I’m going to see Jiwon sooner than expected. How extraordinary must this guy be to completely captivate our Ina?’
Hyunju took a sip of her soju, trying to suppress her excitement.
“Why is your friend suddenly coming?”
Siwoo asked while pouring water for Ina.
“Oh? That’s because… he said he’d take me home.”
Ina hesitated, and Siwoo’s gaze sharpened.
“He’s coming to take you home?”
“…Yeah.”
Siwoo looked at Ina with an unreadable expression.
Meanwhile, Hyunju, who was excited about seeing Jiwon, thought to herself,
‘I’m thrilled about seeing Jiwon, but for Siwoo, it’s like facing a rival, huh?’
“It seems like you’re quite close, especially since he’s coming to take you home even though we’re here.”
Siwoo asked with a smile but emphasized the word ‘we.’
“Oh? No, it’s not like that, just that he thought I was drunk…”
Saying this, Ina herself felt strange.
Why would he come to pick me up just because I’m drunk if he’s not my boyfriend?
Contemplating Jiwon’s intentions, Ina’s eyes suddenly widened.
‘Could it be…?’
Her face, already flushed from alcohol, turned even redder with the thought.
Seeing Ina’s reaction, Siwoo’s smile faded, and his lips tightened.
Hyunju, observing their contrasting expressions, silently took a sip of her soju.
After a while, the restaurant door opened, and someone entered.
It was Jiwon.
As he quickly scanned the interior and spotted Ina, he strode towards them.
Seeing Jiwon approaching, Hyunju’s eyes shook as if in an earthquake.
As Jiwon stopped in front of them, the soju Hyunju hadn’t swallowed dribbled down.
“Hyunju.”
Startled, Siwoo quickly handed her a napkin.
“Ah, sorry, sorry.”
Hyunju wiped her mouth while gazing up at Jiwon, who stood tall in a dark gray suit with a tie, looking like a sculpted figure.
‘Wow…’
She felt a jolt as if hit hard on the head with a hammer.
“Ah, Jiwon. You, you’re here?”
Ina, seeing Jiwon in front of her, couldn’t make proper eye contact and spoke in an awkward voice.
Looking down at Ina, Jiwon’s expression wasn’t very pleasant.
His face, which was hard to distinguish whether it was a human face or a ripe persimmon, gazed at Ina. Then, he changed his expression and looked at Hyunju and Siwoo.
He slightly bowed his head to greet them.
“Hello, I’m Jiwon, Ina’s friend.”
“Oh, hello. Please, take a seat.”
Hyunju, who had been dazed, quickly came to her senses and offered Jiwon a chair.
After Jiwon sat next to Ina, Hyunju promptly extended her hand and said,
“I’m Ina’s best friend, Park Hyunju.”
Jiwon shook hands with Hyunju and then looked at Siwoo next to her.
Siwoo stared at Jiwon with a cold gaze, and Jiwon returned it with an equally sharp look.
In the silence, their gaze felt like lasers shooting out, reminiscent of two lions facing off over prey in the wild. Hyunju swallowed nervously.
“Hello, I’m Kim Siwoo, Ina’s high school classmate.”
Siwoo extended his hand first, breaking the tense silence.
Jiwon silently extended his hand to shake Siwoo’s.
“Hello, I’m not a classmate, but I’ve known Ina since the ninth grade.”
Jiwon emphasized ‘ninth grade’ and looked directly at Siwoo as he spoke.
Siwoo let go of his hand and gave a polite smile, to which Jiwon responded similarly.
However, both men were only smiling with their mouths; their eyes held no warmth, like a Siberian tundra.
Despite the icy situation, Hyunju kept glancing at Jiwon and marveled internally.
‘Wow, really… he’s incredibly handsome. Ina hit the jackpot. A real jackpot.’
Overwhelmed by Jiwon’s otherworldly appearance, Hyunju struggled to contain her excitement.
With the fresh-faced Siwoo on the right and the statuesque Jiwon in front, Hyunju felt like she was experiencing the greatest visual feast in her 29 years of life.
In contrast to the excited Hyunju, Ina, sensing the tense atmosphere between the two men, reached for her soju glass.
Just as she was about to drink, Jiwon reached out and grabbed her hand.
Hyunju and Siwoo’s eyes widened at this action.
Siwoo watched tensely as Jiwon’s hand remained on Ina’s.
“You’re very drunk. Stop drinking.”
Jiwon’s low voice caused Ina to blink and then nod quietly.
“Okay… alright.”
Jiwon gently removed Ina’s hand from the soju glass but kept his hand on hers.
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.”
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
