Hambaek Flower Restaurant - Chapter 7
Less than 5 minutes after departing, Choi Yoon suddenly said.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Should I pack some salad? You don’t eat rest stop food, elder brother.”
Taking advantage of Yoo Ji Ho entering the store, Choi Yoon quickly moved to the driver’s seat.
He drove out of the parking lot.
Immediately, a call came in.
– Where are you? The car is gone?
“I’ll be back.”
– What are you doing? Turn the car around, quickly!
“I only needed your consent. There’s no need for you to come along.”
– This isn’t a game…
“If I said I was going down alone, you wouldn’t have let me go. Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”
– Be careful. I have a bad feeling.
Yoo Ji Ho tends to have good intuition. As he predicted, as Choi Yoon got closer to Jangcheon alone, everything began to spiral out of his control.
The sun had set, making the view pitch black with nothing visible ahead.
To make matters worse, as soon as he entered Jangcheon County, the navigation started pointing to strange places.
So when the phone suddenly rang, Choi Yoon was extremely on edge.
– Where are you now.
Lee Kang Woo was calm as always. He never raises his voice. That’s what angered Choi Yoon.
“I don’t have to report everything to you.”
– Looks like you’re going to the countryside.
Choi Yoon unknowingly let out a sigh.
– You snuck out like a little rat, and if you’re still driving, it’s obvious.
Lee Kang Woo’s voice faded amidst the engine noise.
– While others are desperate to meet people, you’re out there causing trouble and gallivanting around.
He checked once more if the call was being recorded.
– And Jangcheon County? In this situation, the tabloids would love a celebrity sneaking around there. They’d even kindly post it on SNS. Now you want to plaster your name all over the political pages too? Or…
A road sign flashed by Choi Yoon’s view.
Jangcheon County Office 5km
Ghost Concentration Area
– …are you going to lay flowers on a grave?
It was pitch black all around. Only a span ahead was visible.
– Did you suddenly develop filial piety, or are you protesting because you don’t want to work? Which is it?
He gripped the steering wheel tightly. He pressed hard on the accelerator.
“I refused because I judged it to be unfair.”
– I spent my youth raising you preciously, and this is how you stab me in the back? Eating away 25 years and acting out like a 5-year-old makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something?
He spoke through gritted teeth.
“It’s not something a person should do. It’s ethically unacceptable.”
– So? Now that things are a bit better, you’ll do whatever you want? You’re getting spoiled.
“It’s not that I won’t do it because I’m well-off now. I don’t want to be involved in something that’s not right. Is that what the government should be doing?”
– The one who makes the decisions is me, not you.
“Don’t proudly talk about manipulating people.”
– That’s why you’re no good. You think you achieved popularity and money all on your own? Look at yourself now. If I let go of you, you’ll be grateful for cheap photoshoots, let alone dramas, in an instant.
Lee Kang Woo continued softly. His intonation was so flat it sounded almost mechanical.
– Apologize to the congressman.
“Are you crazy? I should be tearing down all those damned promotional posters on the streets right now!”
Silence fell.
As much as Choi Yoon despised Lee Kang Woo’s controlling manner of always looking down on him, he listened intently, hoping for a finite response.
However, the voice that followed was cold yet gentle.
– Wasn’t the star live tomorrow? If you didn’t want to do it, you should have said so earlier.
So you’re going to be like this after all.
Choi Yoon stared ahead with wide eyes.
A strangely distorted hierarchical relationship had always existed between Choi Yoon and Lee Kang Woo like a norm.
“Why is that coming up now?”
– Weren’t you going down to the countryside, flipping off congressmen and ministers because you want to quit being a celebrity? Let’s cancel tomorrow’s broadcast. Withdraw from next month’s drama too. I’ll tell them.
A curve. He jerked the steering wheel roughly. The car tilted sensitively.
– I’ll tell people you refused because you’re fickle.
“Stop making things up!”
– I give you good opportunities on a silver platter, but you don’t appreciate it and go around smearing my face. Then how should I deal with you?
“You think that’ll make me grovel and apologize to that bastard Jeon Min Seok?”
– I should look for a new manager who’s more responsible. You’re making a lot of work for me now. I’m busy, so let’s end this.
“Leave Ji Ho alone!”
Splat!
A red flash burst in his vision.
Choi Yoon reflexively slammed on the brakes.
The car responded quickly.
Screeeeech!
A sudden stop.
Choi Yoon lurched forward, nearly hitting his nose on the steering wheel. He froze in place.
Even after the car had completely stopped, the sound of something soft and moist bursting roughly continued several more times.
Then silence.
Choi Yoon slowly opened his eyes.
The windshield, which had been perfectly clear, was now smeared with red.
His tense chest suddenly relaxed with relief.
It wasn’t blood.
Amidst the red pulp, a vivid green stem stood out.
As Choi Yoon stared blankly, the tomato clumped together and slid down the windshield.
Through it, he saw someone on a bicycle rushing towards him at lightning speed.
…A woman?
Choi Yoon narrowed his eyes.
The woman was as swift and flexible as if she were one with the bicycle. Her luscious hair flowed like ink in the night sky. The front basket was half-filled with tomatoes.
Choi Yoon reflexively checked if the car doors were locked.
An overzealous fan? An anti-fan?
If neither, just a local lunatic?
Whichever it was, throwing tomatoes at a moving van clearly indicated this was no ordinary person.
The woman, pedaling the bicycle skillfully as she approached, wore an ivory blouse with a matching long skirt, and a brown apron over it.
With each pedal, worn sneakers peeked out from under her skirt. After seeing the mud-covered sneaker toes three times, the woman jumped off the bicycle.
The bicycle fell limply, and the tomatoes in the basket spilled and rolled about.
The woman ran right up to the side of the car.
She didn’t bend down, so her face wasn’t visible. Only the rough, simple linen blouse gently rose and fell with her rapid breathing.
The woman’s palm tapped on the car window.
Her fingers, so slender they looked like they might break if gripped tightly, were strangely determined. Old scars were layered on top of that delicate skin. She was clearly someone who made a living with her hands.
His father’s hands had been like that.
Hands like knives. Tempered by fire and water.
The woman clenched those hands.
Her knuckles, transparently protruding, tapped on the window again.
Knock knock.
Then she bent down.
Knock knock knock.
The blouse tilted and came down diagonally.
The first button was undone, revealing a slightly exposed neck, delicate chin, parted lips, and hair that cascaded down like a waterfall in the night.
The woman swept back that moonlight-streaked hair with one hand, squinting her eyes.
Her face was fully revealed.
Ah.
He had seen many beautiful women in the entertainment industry. But this was strangely different.
A chill ran down his spine.
It was unfamiliarly beautiful, as if a strange world hidden behind a curtain existed nearby, and the night wind had suddenly blown that curtain aside, allowing an unexpected glimpse.
A slightly frowning face, breathless.
Choi Yoon directly met those eyes, surprisingly clear and shining with a desperate light, peering inside even though there was no way she could see in from outside.
Suddenly, the woman stood up straight.
As those eyes disappeared, Choi Yoon realized he had been holding his breath.
Just as he managed to exhale, the woman this time put her hands on her waist.
With those slender hands placed firmly on her apron-tied waist, the woman once again pressed her face close to the window.
With pursed lips tightly bitten from the inside, she now struck the window hard with her fist.
Bang.
Choi Yoon finally came to his senses.
He reached out urgently to feel around while trying to lower the window. Even as he searched for and put on his mask, he couldn’t take his eyes off the woman.
He lowered the window.
He wanted to lower it completely. The desire to see her clearly without even a layer of glass was suppressed, stopping at just one finger’s width, not because the urge to see the woman deeply had lessened, but because of the ridiculous incidents he had experienced simply for being a celebrity.
But the next moment, Choi Yoon almost lowered the window all the way.
The woman had smiled brightly, as if in relief.
Despite the small gap, the woman’s smile blew in refreshingly with the night breeze.
The woman, still resting one hand on her waist, pointed to the front windshield with her other hand.
“I’m sorry. You must have been surprised.”
Then she laughed out loud again.
While her words were apologetic, her cheerful face looked quite proud, and Choi Yoon stared at it in a daze.
Asking if he was surprised? Is that even a question?
His heart was beating roughly.
This woman shouldn’t be going around so freely.
For the sake of everyone’s heart health, she should at least ring a bicycle bell while going around.
Caution, I’m a bit pretty, brace yourselves, she should be going around alerting all directions, and even that wouldn’t be enough.
“Ah.”
His response came out strangely.
However, the woman didn’t seem to mind.
As if all that mattered was that he could hear her well, the woman spoke vigorously.
“You can’t go this way right now. You see up ahead, right?”
The woman took her hand off her waist and lightly pressed it against the window, as if covering Choi Yoon’s face.
It was just barely leaning against the solid car window, but Choi Yoon tensed up as if that hand had touched his face.
Pretending to be calm, he turned his head to look ahead. But it was all covered in tomato stains.
“Ah, you can’t see ahead. I’m sorry the car got dirty.”
In a tone that didn’t sound sorry at all, the woman poured out words.
“There’s a forklift parked right after the curve. If you drive without knowing, there’ll be a big accident. That’s why I threw it. To make you stop.”
Choi Yoon opened his mouth reflexively, then cleared his throat with a fake cough. He didn’t want his first words to come out in a cracked voice.
Even so, all he could do was ask again. And the word choice was terribly uncool.
“…A forklift?”
“Yes. It suddenly stopped, so it’s just sitting in the middle of the road now. The village chief asked me to keep watch here until he calls Mr. Chun Bae. We can’t have an accident, right? Oh, Mr. Chun Bae is the car repair expert.”
Choi Yoon tried to focus on the woman’s voice. But her face was distracting.
“It’s going to take some time. The old man doesn’t answer his phone well, so someone has to go call him in person. His house is a bit far. The old man even parked his cultivator to stop incoming cars before he left. But of course, you couldn’t see it, so you drove like that.”
Choi Yoon finally managed to take his eyes off the woman. He turned his head slightly to look ahead.
Now he could see the cultivator.
It was placed across the road, serving excellently as a safety sign. Except that it was hard to see in the dark.
“I’ve been waving my hands and everything, but you didn’t see, right? I even shouted, but you didn’t hear, right? You must drive a lot usually. It’s dangerous to drive like that on these rural roads.”
The woman made a playful scolding expression, then immediately smiled gently with her eyes.
My Arch-enemy Sealed My Memory and Said That He is My Husband
This is an incredibly captivating story that you absolutely shouldn’t miss! I’ll give a brief introduction here, and below you’ll find a detailed synopsis of the plot.
The female lead is a fierce and powerful demon king. The male lead is a once-in-a-millennium celestial lord, admired by the entire cultivation world.
They are equally matched, legendary rivals who have battled for centuries.
In the final duel, the female lead is gravely injured. The male lead saves her, seals her memories, and hides her true identity. He tells her that he is her fiancé. His entire life has been flawless—except for the one thing he never expected, never controlled, and never wanted to control: falling for his greatest enemy. She is his inner demon, his obsession.
When the female lead regains her memories, she is furious at his deception.
She makes his life a living hell.
And somehow, the male lead—possibly a total masochist—doesn’t mind at all. In fact, he’s happy she’s paying attention to him.
Yep, we’re back to my favorite trope: male lead suffering. If you love this kind of story, jump into the pit with me now!!!
Intro
Dong Xia lost her memory.
Her handsome and extremely powerful fiancé Li Qing comforted her: “It’s okay if you can’t remember. I’ll always be with you.”
Everyone thought Dong Xia’s ancestors must have burned incense to get such a perfect fiancé. He was the number one person in the immortal realm, yet he remained chaste and only loved her.
…
The day before marrying her fiancé, Dong Xia finally remembered everything.
She wasn’t suffering from memory loss at all.
Her arch-enemy had made her fake her death, destroyed her cultivation, replaced her memories, and pretended to be her deeply in love fiancé.
No wonder he said, “It’s okay if you can’t remember”!
Dong Xia laughed coldly as she pulled out her long knife: Li Qing, prepare to die 🙂
*
Li Qing, as the supreme being of the immortal realm, was the people’s shining beacon.
The only unknown stain in his life was his affection for Dong Xia, the ruler of the demon realm.
In the final battle of the war between immortals and demons, the sky collapsed and the earth shattered. The ruler of the demon realm was finally slain under the sword of the supreme being of the immortal realm, and everyone in the immortal realm applauded.
The cultivation world lost a ruler of the demon realm.
And in the back mountain of Li Qing’s cave dwelling, he secretly hid away a fiancée.
Notes:
1. The female lead is white on the outside, black on the inside, and the queen of flattery; the male lead repeatedly tests the edge of darkness, a VIP guest at the crematorium.
2. Fantasy cultivation world setting.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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