After hanging up the phone, Ina and her university friends chatted for a bit longer before getting up together a while later.
Coincidentally, a text arrived from Juwon saying he had almost arrived, and Ina left the coffee shop with her university friends.
After greeting her friends, five minutes after parting ways, Juwon’s car arrived and stopped. Ina got in the front passenger seat.
As soon as Ina sat down, Juwon smiled and touched Ina’s cheek.
Ina smiled back and held Juwon’s hand.
“Juhee got really excited about meeting you. She was making a fuss because she’s pregnant, so I barely managed to calm her down before coming.”
As the image of Juhee making a fuss came to mind, Ina burst into laughter.
“I feel like I might make a fuss too when I meet Juhee.”
“You’re fine. You’re cute.”
Juwon said, caressing Ina’s fingers.
“…”
For a moment, chicken skin appeared on Ina’s arm under Juwon’s touch.
Juwon’s unabashed expression of affection, which occasionally surfaced, left Ina amazed and fascinated.
Seeing Ina’s embarrassed cheek, Juwon stroked it as if finding it cute, then started the car.
“But what should we eat for dinner later? What does Juhee like?”
“You don’t have to worry about dinner. The helper ahjumma has prepared everything Juhee likes.”
“A helper ahjumma? She came to our house?”
“Twice a week.”
“I see. Still, I want to buy something delicious for Juhee.”
“You still have plenty of time.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Since we meet all the time, you should buy a lot of delicious things for Juhee.”
“For me?”
“Yeah?”
“I won’t meet you?”
“Huh? Of course, the three of us should meet together.”
“Exactly… Even after just starting to date, he comes over like this.”
At the mention of “this,” Ina burst into laughter.
“What kind of ‘this’ are you talking about? It’s your father’s birthday, so he’s coming, right?”
Ina’s words were correct, but Juwon, who looked displeased, quickly returned to his original expression.
A little later, Juwon’s car arrived at the apartment where Juwon lived.
From the entrance gate to the exterior, and even the landscaping within the complex, it was a luxurious apartment that left Ina’s mouth wide open.
Looking at the upscale apartment that differed from the villa Ina lived in, she couldn’t help but admire.
“Wow… You really live in a nice place.”
Ina asked with her eyes slightly widened, and Juwon responded nonchalantly.
“Thanks to my father. Since Juhee used to come to Korea once every two or three months before she got married, he told us to live comfortably while she’s here.”
“Wow, indeed. The scale is different because he’s in business.”
Ina nodded her head in agreement and admired internally.
After Juwon parked, he got out of the car and took Ina’s hand.
Taking Juwon’s hand and riding an elevator that exuded a luxurious feeling, Ina felt a strange sensation.
Pressing the 24th floor button, Juwon held Ina’s hand and caressed it.
“Um, but…”
Ina cautiously opened her mouth.
“Yeah?”
“Are you going to tell Juhee that we’re dating?”
Juwon’s eyes narrowed.
“So, are you not going to say it?”
“Huh? No, we should. But… if we suddenly say that when we meet her, Juhee might be too surprised.”
“What, it’s not like children of enemy families are dating.”
“Still… If we suddenly talk about it, Juhee might be too surprised. Let’s talk about it slowly.”
“How slow?”
“Well, maybe when Juhee goes back?”
“Just a few days, right?”
“Still, it feels a bit awkward to talk about it right after we meet.”
Juwon pondered for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright. If that’s what you think, let’s do it that way.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
As the elevator door opened and they walked toward Juwon’s apartment, Ina’s heart started to flutter.
When Juwon held the key card to the entrance door, Ina felt like her heart would burst with a thump-thump sound.
Click The sound of the door opening, and upon entering, Juhee, who was waiting outside the shoe rack, came into view.
As Ina followed Juwon inside, she saw Juhee with her eyes wide open.
What on earth… How many years has it been?
Ina’s friend, Juhee, who was like her doppelgänger, eating a plate of tteokbokki and chatting about everything at the age of 16.
Now, after 13 years, the long hair Juhee had in middle school had turned into short hair, and Ina, who had short hair back then, now had long hair.
As they looked at each other with enlarged eyes, the two friends, who had changed as much as their hairstyles, gazed at each other like grown-up women, both amazed at the sight.
And soon, tears welled up in Ina’s eyes as she looked at Juhee.
Juhee also raised her hand to cover her mouth, and that hand was trembling slightly.
“Ina!”
Juhee called Ina’s name first and pulled Ina into a tight hug.
Ina also reached out and hugged Juhee’s shoulders.
“Juhee, huhu.”
Tears mingled in Ina’s trembling voice.
“Hu-eong. Ina. I missed you so, so much.”
As Juhee, who had been sniffling, began to sob uncontrollably, Ina also started to cry.
“Hu-eong. I missed you so, so much. Juhee.”
As the two women wept with the solfege syllables ‘do-re-mi-fa-so-la-sol,’ Juwon, who was standing behind them, furrowed his brow.
Although he couldn’t understand the feelings of meeting after 13 years, he found the sight of Ina, who had raised her head a lot to match the 175cm tall Juhee while standing on her tiptoes, uncomfortable.
In his heart, he wanted to lift Ina up and match her height by hugging her.
But doing so would likely surprise Juhee, so Juwon silently waited for the two women’s tears to stop while Ina’s awkward posture persisted.
However, when the crying, which he thought would end soon, continued, Juwon, who thought it was getting out of hand, stepped forward and gently separated Ina from Juhee.
“Enough!”
As Juwon did so, Juhee, who was crying like a child who had lost a toy, tearfully extended both her hands, but Juwon hid Ina behind him.
“Stop crying. Why are you crying so much, even sobbing like this? The baby in your belly might get startled.”
“Hu-eong. Juhee, he’s right about that.”
Speaking from behind, Ina said hesitantly.
When Juwon turned around, he saw Ina, whose tears and nasal mucus had become a mess, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.
Certainly, even Juhee, who had spent 10 months together in her mother’s womb, was sobbing, but for some reason, Ina’s tears falling from her large and beautiful night-colored eyes seemed more heartbreaking.
The phrase “blood is thicker than water” seemed to apply to everyone, Juwon thought.
“Stop crying.”
Unconsciously, Juwon reached out and wiped Ina’s tears.
At this, Juhee, also with tears and nasal mucus all over her face, widened her eyes.
“What’s this, Juwon? Why are you wiping Ina’s tears?”
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
