Wow, what a surprise. Hayan suppressed her inner thoughts and smiled lightly.
“Thank you. It’s a very timely gift.”
“This isn’t a gift. It’s an offering.”
With Minje’s words, Hayan burst into laughter.
“Thanks for your efforts today. This is an offering in appreciation.”
Hearing his words, the gloomy mood that lingered until a moment ago seemed to vanish. Hayan opened a beer can and took a sip.
“Cheers, it’s good.”
Seeing Hayan’s reaction, Minje also opened a beer can and took a drink.
I didn’t know that drinking beer on a cool night while sitting on a bench could be so charming. The two of them quietly drank beer without saying anything for a while.
“To be honest, I asked for your help, but I didn’t expect you to be so considerate.”
Minje calmly revealed his inner thoughts. Watching Hayan, it felt strange. She seemed to show that the world didn’t revolve entirely around money.
“I guess I inherited it from my father.”
Hayan laughed with a bitter expression, saying that being overly considerate was also hereditary. Minje, who had been silently observing her expression, asked cautiously,
“Are your parents not around…?”
She left the family section blank when submitting her resume. He seemed to remember that.
Hayan thought it was something she would have to face someday, so she spoke as calmly as possible.
“They passed away. Both of them, in a traffic accident.”
“…”
Minje’s response stopped abruptly. Hayan felt a little bewildered as it was the first time something like this had happened.
Whenever she talked about her parents, people usually followed a set pattern.
‘What a pity at such a young age.’
Sympathetic type.
“Even if it’s hard, if you live diligently, your parents in heaven will be happy.”
Hope-injecting type.
“Must be tough. Is there anything I can help you with? Just let me know.”
Con artist type.
Since her parents passed away, Hayan learned to be careful in choosing friends and not to trust blindly.
But someone like Minje, who said nothing at all, was a first for her. Hayan didn’t know how to react and gently examined Minje’s face. His face was surprisingly stiff.
“Sorry. I’m not good at comforting.”
Despite his stiff face, his words seeped into Hayan’s heart like spring rain. Why did his words feel more sincere than any plausible words?
“Oh, don’t say that kind of thing.”
Hayan laughed heartily with a casual expression. Otherwise, tears seemed like they would well up.
“I also don’t have parents. But I don’t feel particularly sad, maybe because I don’t know what my parents look like. Until I become an adult, there will be many memories with my parents, so I can’t imagine that sadness. Moreover, to have them gone in an accident…!”
“Director, your parents are also not around?”
Wide-eyed, Hayan interjected into Minje’s words.
“But…?”
Looking at Minje’s clear gaze, Hayan wanted to tear her hair out.
Magazines and articles mainly focused on Kang Minje’s actions and achievements as the director of the Liam Art Museum. Hayan had only scraped such data, and she had never thought of looking into his family history or personal life.
Moreover, not knowing the faces of his parents. Not knowing their faces and not feeling sad.
“What does that mean? The one who should receive comfort is you, not me, Director.”
Minje couldn’t understand Hayan’s words. Furthermore, he couldn’t fathom why she looked so sad.
Never once had Minje been on the side that needed comforting. Since she had never expended her emotions significantly, everything felt indifferent and free, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.
Perhaps that’s why people like Hayan, who cried and laughed earnestly, were fascinating. She poured all her strength into things that weren’t even her own, yet she smiled happily. Her appearance was so unfamiliar that Minje didn’t even notice the attention she garnered.
In some ways, she seemed like a moth rushing toward a flame, and in others, she seemed like a butterfly. Still, despite that, Minje was curious about what emotions this woman, who made him feel things he couldn’t feel himself, would evoke in the future.
“I’m really fine. Seriously.”
Minje hurriedly replied, not knowing that he was explaining himself. Otherwise, tears might have quickly fallen from Hayan’s eyes.
“Then, when you were very young, your parents passed away?”
Seeing Hayan, who asked the question with a tense face, Minje regretted making unnecessary remarks. It was a story that should have caused no emotional disturbance at all.
“Well, something like that. They said I was abandoned in front of an orphanage when I was a baby.”
Thump, thump. Eventually, thick teardrops fell from Hayan’s eyes.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
Surprised at herself, Hayan quickly wiped away her tears, but it was futile. The tears, clearly written on her cheek, quickly stained Hayan’s clothes.
Damn it, Minje muttered a low curse at himself for creating this situation. His fingertips trembled unknowingly.
The situation where he couldn’t wipe away the tears. It was as dizzying as if his head were spinning.
In life, this might be a moment so embarrassing that he could count it on one hand. While Minje hesitated like this, Hayan was the first to come to her senses.
Hayan, who wiped her face with her sleeve, smiled with a truly apologetic expression.
“I’m sorry. It wasn’t good to hear Director’s circumstances, and I got too carried away as if meeting a comrade, so my tears got out of control. I don’t usually cry so well in front of others…”
Her words sounded as if she were saying she cried well alone, so Minje stiffened his face. His mind became as blank as a white sheet of paper, and he couldn’t come up with anything to say.
Jeez, Minje cursed again, lowly complaining about himself for making the situation like this. He was surprised at himself too.
He wanted to wipe away her tears, but in the current situation, he couldn’t move hastily. It was as if his head were spinning round and round.
“In a way, I was planning to invite you to the gallery tomorrow. If it’s okay, I’ll send a car, so come with Jiho.”
In the end, Minje chose evasion. He didn’t want to continue this awkward topic, and he didn’t want to see more of Hayan’s tears.
“Wow, really? If you invite me, I’ll be grateful.”
Hayan smiled, as if asking when she had cried, and the gap between them felt insanely nerve-wracking. It was unclear why her insides were bubbling so much.
“Then, I’ll get going first. See you tomorrow.”
“Yes, I’ll go in soon too. Sleep well. Goodbye.”
Minje got up with a composed face and walked into the house. With a thud, he closed the front door, standing there with clenched fists as if trying to control the fingertips that had been twitching involuntarily since a while ago.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
Link to read
