“Siwoo, let’s split the bill. It’s too much for you to pay alone.”
Siwoo smiled and said, “No, I wanted to come here, so I’ll pay for it.”
“But… it’s too much for me to just be treated to. Let’s pay together.”
Then Siwoo rested his chin on his hand and looked intently at Ina.
“Ina, I’m not a man who can’t afford this. I can pay for this much.”
“But… you already treated me to the movie. It doesn’t feel right to let you pay for such an expensive meal too.”
“Ah? No… I mean, you already paid for the movie, and it doesn’t seem right to have you pay for such an expensive meal too,” Ina hesitated.
Siwoo coughed lightly and joked, “Hmm, this might sound a bit arrogant, but… Ina, I earn quite a lot more than you might think.”
“Uh… what?” Ina widened her eyes in surprise.
Siwoo chuckled, “So, I can afford this. Let me pay for it, okay?”
Before Ina could respond, Siwoo stood up and headed to the counter.
Hurriedly, Ina followed, but Siwoo was already comfortably settling the bill.
Ina bit her lip softly in frustration and followed Siwoo out, looking apologetically at him.
“I feel like you’re spending too much…,” she said.
“It’s fine. I wanted to come here, so it’s okay,” Siwoo reassured her.
“But I still feel bad…”
“How about you buy me a nice cup of coffee then?”
“Coffee?”
“Yes. Let’s go somewhere near your neighborhood for coffee.”
They headed to the parking lot, Ina trailing behind with an awkward expression.
Soon, they arrived near Ina’s neighborhood and entered a nearby coffee shop.
After placing their order, Siwoo brought over the coffee.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks,” Ina said, warming her hands on the hot coffee cup, when Siwoo spoke up.
“Ina, there’s something I really wanted to talk to you about today.”
Ina swallowed hard, anticipating something significant.
“I never imagined we’d meet again after 12 years, especially since we weren’t even close in school,” Siwoo began.
“Yeah, that’s true,” Ina nodded faintly.
“I was really glad and happy to see you again,” Siwoo continued.
“Me too, I was glad,” Ina replied, though the word ‘happy’ didn’t come out as easily.
“So, I thought we could make up for that time and slowly get to know each other now,” he said.
“Okay.”
“And once we’re comfortable, I planned to tell you this…,” Siwoo’s voice trailed off.
Ina braced herself for what was coming next.
“That I used to really like you,” Siwoo revealed.
Ina’s eyes widened in shock.
It felt like something heavy had dropped in her heart.
Frozen in surprise, Ina stared as Siwoo smiled gently.
“Surprised, huh? Well, you wouldn’t have known,” Siwoo said, noting her flushed face.
“Siwoo, you’re saying I was your first love?”
Ina stammered, blinking rapidly in disbelief.
Siwoo laughed softly, “Sorry, I dropped a bomb without warning.”
“No, it’s just… I’m so surprised,” Ina managed to say.
“Sure. If someone you weren’t even close to in school suddenly says, ‘You were my first love,’ it’s natural to be surprised. I would be too. Sorry about that.”
“No, no need to apologize… It’s just so surprising to hear that I was your first love.”
“Why? What’s so surprising about it?”
“Well, back then, you were popular and always so bright. And I was… quite gloomy and depressed. So, it’s baffling to me that someone like you would have liked me.”
Siwoo leaned his chin on his hand, gazing deeply at Ina.
“You were really pretty back then… Didn’t you know?”
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.”
