“You learn quickly, so you’ll be able to do this well in no time. Right?”
A couple’s bedroom activities should take up a significant part of their relationship. However, I had only thought about a marriage in name, so I didn’t have time to think about that.
I finally became aware of the distance between Nam Do Hyun and I as he took off his shirt.
Do Hyun didn’t miss that and lowered his head.
There was nowhere else for me to back away to, but Nam Do Hyun gradually ate up the remaining space.
Shin Joo’s wide open eyes trembled greatly before settling on Do Hyun’s lips.
“Trembling in fear over something like this.”
Do Hyun’s sweet breath tickled Shin Joo’s plump lips.
“Saying you’ll do everything for me.”
His leisurely flowing voice was scolding Shin Joo.
The two arms that were blocking Shin Joo fell away.
“Leave out that line when you propose to someone else.”
“……”
“Don’t blurt things out recklessly when you don’t even have the courage.”
Do Hyun, who had only spoken the truth, entered the bathroom inside the bedroom.
Shin Joo plopped down on the floor, bending her knees.
She was so confused that she forgot what to do, her mind elsewhere.
“Seductress.”
Muttering in a small voice, she mulled over what Do Hyun had said.
Then she suddenly realized.
“He didn’t seem like that kind of person.”
Without knowing it was something he said to push her away, Shin Joo pondered seriously.
Can I learn to be… a seductress?
“What am I saying?”
No matter how desperate I am, that’s not it.
Slapping her own cheek with her palm, Shin Joo stood up from her spot.
[This is the timeline separator]The aftermath of the seductress comment was significant. Shin Joo, who had been waking up repeatedly in the early morning, went into the bathroom, put a toothbrush with toothpaste in her mouth, and roughly moved her arm.
‘What do I do now?’
No matter how she looked at it, marriage seemed out of reach.
She didn’t know how long she could freeload at Do Hyun’s house.
Even if she had stayed a few days out of goodwill, Do Hyun could tell her to leave the house at any moment.
She couldn’t fall to rock bottom like this.
Now that her last lifeline of marriage had been cut off, she had to grab onto even a piece of rock on the cliff.
‘I have to do whatever I can.’
Brightening her hazy eyes like stars, Shin Joo regained her energy.
Shin Joo went to work at the company and only waited for lunchtime. As soon as it was 12 o’clock, she skipped lunch and went to the bank on the 1st floor of the company.
There was only one method left.
If this company loan also failed, there was no way for Shin Joo to live.
Holding the white waiting number paper desperately, Shin Joo jumped up from her seat when she saw the number appear in front of her eyes.
Afraid the number would pass by, Shin Joo quickly moved and sat in front of the bank employee.
“What brings you here today?”
“I’m here to inquire about a company loan.”
Shin Joo’s voice was trembling thinly as she anxiously rubbed her hands together.
The bank employee looking at Shin Joo from across the monitor asked,
“Did you bring your ID?”
Shin Joo held out the resident registration card she had prepared in advance.
The bank employee compared the photo on the resident registration card with Shin Joo and typed on the keyboard. Shin Joo tensed at the typing sound hitting her ears.
The bank employee’s fingers that had been clicking the mouse stopped.
Swallowing with a gulp, the bank employee parted her lips.
“You already took out a 30 million won loan 6 months ago?”
“Yes. I came to see if an additional loan is possible.”
When her father, Young Hun, reached out to Shin Joo saying he could resolve things to some extent, Shin Joo had no choice but to take out a loan, including Jung Hye, thinking it would be the last time.
They gathered a total of 60 million won and gave it to Young Hun, but it was impossible to settle and the money vanished.
“Because of that external loan, your limit only comes out to 30 million won.”
The mouse that had been moving busily on the mouse pad stopped.
“You know you were late on your loan interest last month, right?”
“…Yes.”
“You have almost no spending, and your credit score is low because you already have a lot of loans.”
She had come to find a way to live, but it felt like they were looking right through her situation.
The bank employee who had been staring intently at the monitor pulled the time before opening her mouth, as if it was difficult.
“Originally, with your years of service, a company loan of up to 50 million won is possible. But your credit score is too low and you’ve already maxed out your external loans, so further loans are difficult.”
“…Would a small amount not be possible?”
At this rate, there would be a problem with next month’s hospital bills that she had to pay.
“It’s difficult right now.”
It felt like she had missed grabbing the rock while trying to hold onto it.
It made her dizzy, as if she could see the bottomless cliff below.
“Thank you.”
Shin Joo uttered the empty words and stood up from her seat.
Even after leaving the bank, Shin Joo couldn’t immediately move somewhere else.
Shin Joo placed her hand on her empty stomach.
Without having anything, her stomach was hungry again.
It was natural to be hungry when it was time, but today, her clueless stomach seemed mean.
‘Should I go to sunbae’s house and at least eat?’
There were side dishes she had made yesterday in the refrigerator.
But there wasn’t much lunchtime left to go home. She had no choice but to have lunch near the company.
The cheapest cafeteria meal was 5,500 won, and the exact balance in her account she checked today was 84,700 won.
One meal changed the first digit of her account balance. She had to save somehow.
Shin Joo went into a convenience store, picked out a single triangle kimbap, and came out.
She took a seat at the outdoor table of the convenience store, tore off the transparent packaging, and took a bite.
Rrrrr―
At the sound of her cell phone ringing, Shin Joo roughly chewed and swallowed the kimbap in her mouth and answered the phone.
“Yes, Mom.”
Her bright voice pushed away the gloom as if it had never been there.
[Did you eat?]“I’m eating right now.”
[Where are you eating?]Shin Joo looked down at the triangle kimbap in her hand, the rice crunching because it wasn’t fully microwaved.
“I’m at the company cafeteria eating with my co-workers.”
[Was there any tasty food?]“Yeah. There’s bulgogi today.”
She could see minced bulgogi inside the triangle kimbap she had bitten into.
She couldn’t say she was inquiring about a loan because she had absolutely nowhere to go and was having lunch with a triangle kimbap.
She could bear the difficult situation alone.
[That’s a relief. You never used to eat well if there was no meat side dish.]“I’m all grown up now.”
Now was the time to be grateful for not starving.
“I’ll go see you after work today, Mom.”
[Why are you coming when you’re busy?]Jung Hye refused, but Shin Joo strongly insisted.
“I have time to see you.”
[If you’re busy with work, you don’t have to come. Okay?]“Okay. I got it.”
[I love you, daughter.]“I love you too.”
The warm and affectionate call ended.
After hanging up, the numbed sense of reality returned.
The triangle kimbap that had turned cold, the plastic convenience store table alone, the words shabby and pitiful suited Shin Joo the best right now.
Shin Joo, who had been looking at the empty chair across from her, shoved the triangle kimbap into her mouth.
“Our company cafeteria even has parasols, it’s nice.”
“C-CEO.”
Shin Joo’s eyes widened when she suddenly saw Do Hyun enter her field of vision.
Do Hyun, who had heard the entire phone conversation, sat across from her and unbuttoned the jacket he was wearing.
“Can I sit?”
“No!”
“Why not? It’s not like I’m sitting on an employee’s lap that only you can see.”
“Cough!”
Shin Joo, who didn’t buy water because it was a waste of money, hit her chest with her fist.
Do Hyun placed a plastic water bottle he bought from the convenience store in front of Shin Joo.
Unable to say ‘thank you’, Shin Joo unscrewed the cap with a flushed face and drank the water.
“Are you barely having lunch with just one kimbap?”
Shin Joo, who had come back to life, sighed and answered.
“I don’t have time. And I don’t have money either.”
Now that she had even clung to him begging for marriage, there was no need to hide it from Do Hyun anymore.
“If you get a loan, will your current situation change a bit?”
“…You saw?”
“Yeah. I spotted you.”
On his way back from having lunch with an external company, he had spotted Shin Joo entering the bank.
Seeing her sit at the loan counter, he could tell she had gone to the bank to get a loan.
“I need a place to go if I get kicked out of sunbae’s house.”
Just by listening to her powerless, sinking voice, he could tell she had been rejected for the loan.
Do Hyun looked at the triangle kimbap in Shin Joo’s hand that was perfect for suppressing appetite.
He could understand why she had become so thin lately that she looked like she would break if touched.
Do Hyun pushed back his chair and stood up, and Shin Joo’s chin lifted.
Do Hyun’s brows furrowed, creating wrinkles between them.
Even though Shin Joo was the frustrated one, Do Hyun was acting even more exasperated.
“You really know how to make people worry about you.”
“It’s not my fault the situation is like this.”
Shin Joo grumbled as if it was unfair.
She thought a scolding would pour out, but unexpected words flowed from Do Hyun’s parted lips.
“I won’t kick you out. Leave my house when you find a place to stay.”
“Re- really? Is it really true? Are you serious?”
Shin Joo sprang up like a spring, and the chair behind her fell over.
“Don’t ask again. I’m already regretting picking you up.”
“Yes. I’ll keep my mouth shut tight.”
The sun rose radiantly over Shin Joo’s gloomy face.
“Thank you, CEO.”
Leaving Shin Joo, who was continuously bowing her head, Do Hyun entered the building. As he crossed the lobby, Do Hyun had to agonize over what he had just done.
His calculations were always accurate and quick. There was no reason to keep Shin Joo, who was eating for free at his house.
But he couldn’t kick out Shin Joo, who ran to him several times a day asking to marry him.
Just for one reason, that he was concerned about her.
It was a situation he couldn’t even convince himself of.
“What have I done?”
Now it seemed he had to worry about himself instead of worrying about her.
He was worried that he might want to even marry her because she looked so pitiful.
__________
“Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!”
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.”
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