At my words, Ji Seo Joon, who was fiddling with his phone, nodded and asked me.
“Are you okay?”
“With what?”
I held the straw stuck in my coffee with my mouth and looked up at Ji Seo Joon.
“There are also people asking me what kind of relationship I have with you…… you don’t have to do anything more.”
“Are you giving me the disease and the cure?”
“… Don’t keep your mouth shut like in high school, if anyone bothers you, tell me. Got it?”
He spat out those words casually and headed towards the office entrance. And then he ran into Baek In Ha, who was just coming in.
“Oh, hello.”
“Ah, yes.”
After a quick nod, Ji Seo Joon hastily exited.
“Assistant Manager Moon, why did Researcher Ji Seo Joon come? He came to see you, didn’t he?”
“He came to bring me coffee.”
“Wow, that’s so sweet.”
I gave her an awkward smile at her comment.
The day before Ji Seo Joon left for his business trip to Japan. I had called him to a place where people from the company rarely visited, to have lunch.
“How did you find such a place?”
“I also knew about it because our team leader told me.”
“Did you get along well with him?”
“Yeah. He mentored me when I joined the company, and he’s really nice. He’s on parental leave now.”
“A woman?”
“No, a man. Is parental leave only for women? You’re really behind the times, having come from the U.S.”
As I shook my head, he just slightly lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile and ordered Janchiguksu (party noodles).
“I’ll have the same.”
I ordered the Janchiguksu as well, and while I was pouring water into my cup, I heard the sound of an old iron door opening with a ‘creak’.
“Oh? Assistant Manager Moon! You’re here?”
“Baek In Ha?”
I stopped pouring water and put down the cup at the arrival of Baek In Ha.
“Oh my! What a coincidence!”
I wondered who Baek In Ha came with, so I looked behind her, but she was alone.
“How did you…”
“A friend of mine said this is a great place to eat, so I wanted to come with the assistant manager, but he had an appointment today and left, so I came alone.”
Was this place that great of a restaurant?
This was the place that the department head had brought me to when I had a falling out with the team leader, suggesting that we should go somewhere without anyone from the company. It was located off the main street in an alley, making it hard to find, and it was always difficult to find company people when we came here….
“Researcher Ji Seo Joon, you’re here too? Hello. I’m Baek In Ha, a junior colleague of Assistant Manager Moon Da Yul.”
“Ah, yes. Hello.”
Ji Seo Joon nervously greeted her.
I was worried that Baek In Ha might feel bad about Ji Seo Joon’s attitude, but luckily, judging by her expression, it seemed she didn’t.
“May I join you for lunch?”
She asked with sparkling eyes, and I vacated the seat next to me.
“Yes. Please, have a seat here.”
Ji Seo Joon kicked my foot under the table, but I couldn’t say ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t.’ here.
“I’m sorry. I hope I’m not disturbing your meal?”
She wore an apologetic expression and spoke to Ji Seo Joon.
“No. It’s fine.”
Ji Seo Joon replied without even glancing at Baek In Ha. If he was going to respond like that, why did he kick me? This time, I lightly kicked Ji Seo Joon’s shin.
Thus, subtle skirmishes were happening under the table.
“What did Researcher Ji and the Assistant Manager order?”
“We ordered Janchiguksu.”
I paused my attacks for a moment to answer her.
“Then I’ll have that as well.”
She raised her hand and ordered Janchiguksu from the lady. Not long after, Ji Seo Joon’s and my noodles arrived first.
“Don’t mind me and start eating.”
She said as she placed the chopsticks in front of Ji Seo Joon and me.
“Alright, since the noodles shouldn’t get cold, we’ll eat without hesitation.”
It was a simple Janchiguksu based on anchovy broth. I felt awkwardly uncomfortable as he only focused on consuming his noodles without uttering a word, so I initiated a conversation.
“Does it taste okay?”
“Yeah.”
A short response. Ji Seo Joon was on high alert around strangers. It was a habit that developed after the Han Tae Yi incident in middle school.
In middle school, Ji Seo Joon was happy to have made a friend other than me, to whom he could open up. That friend was Han Tae Yi.
The issue was that Han Tae Yi didn’t regard Ji Seo Joon as a friend. That betrayal had Ji Seo Joon quite troubled, and he ultimately decided to transfer schools.
Since then, Ji Seo Joon found it hard to open his heart to people and struggled. When he, like today, abruptly found himself sharing a table with a stranger, he tended to become so cold that it could cause misunderstandings.
When asked how he worked, he said he made his own guidelines.
However, when meeting new people outside of work, he admitted that he couldn’t help but become stiff.
Though I hadn’t done anything wrong, I, out of guilt, placed the Kimchi in front of me into Ji Seo Joon’s noodle bowl.
“This is tasty. Eat.”
“Mm.”
He put the Kimchi I had given him in his mouth and chewed diligently.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
