Impure Among Friends (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
‘I’ll make you give up today, no matter what.’
‘I’ll endure it somehow today.’
Lost in their own thoughts, a quiet stillness filled the car.
Without even turning on music, Sa Jun focused on driving while Tae Hee fixed her gaze out the window.
As they left the quiet outskirts and entered the bustling streets of Seoul, Sa Jun’s low voice broke the silence.
“What’s your schedule like today?”
Only then did Tae Hee ask Sa Jun once again.
“You’ll really do exactly as I say today?”
“Whose orders do you think I’m following? I’ll even pretend to die if you ask.”
Pretending to die? That’s way over the top.
Seeing Tae Hee eyeing him suspiciously, Sa Jun lifted the corners of his lips into a faint smile.
What’s with that effortlessly charming smile? What’s he plotting this time?
Though captivated by that smile, Tae Hee felt uneasy inside.
Thinking back, Kang Sa Jun was the kind of person who, whenever he gave up something, always took back even more.
Recalling recent events, it was when Sa Jun had bought a heap of macarons and come to pick her up in Ilsan.
He’d suddenly kissed her, claiming it was just a “test,” made her take over driving, and nearly dragged her into his grandfather’s house to use her as a shield.
All of it had happened against her will—all because of a single macaron.
So, what would she have to give Kang Sa Jun in return for yielding the entire day to her?
She was scared, but she didn’t want to back down.
It was Tae Hee’s everyday routine to read others’ moods and, when necessary, even flatter them a little.
But Kang Sa Jun had never once cared about anyone else’s opinion or compromised himself.
Naturally, he’d never experienced situations that were bothersome, inconvenient, or unpleasant.
Therefore, it had to be Kang Sa Jun—not her—who gave up today.
Having made up her mind, Tae Hee replied.
“Let’s watch a movie first. Movie first.”
Nowhere was busier on weekends than a cinema, and the tightly packed seats would surely be filled to capacity. So, just stick to the original plan.
“And after the movie?”
“We’ll either have tea or drinks—depends on the mood then.”
In short, their schedule wouldn’t really change. After all, couples didn’t necessarily do anything special.
To be honest, Tae Hee didn’t really know either.
Both she and Sa Jun were equally inexperienced—Sa Jun, a lifelong single, and she herself, who’d only had a brief three-month fling with Je Hyeon back in college.
Yet she’d suggested this pretend-couple idea because she wanted Sa Jun—who lived however he pleased in a world of abundance—to experience something extraordinary:
An ordinary person’s life, a daily routine helplessly swayed by others, and situations difficult, bothersome, and uncomfortable—things he’d never once faced.
Through those experiences, she hoped Sa Jun would finally understand:
While friendship between them might have been possible, a romantic relationship was absolutely impossible—even as a display in a shop window.
[This is the timeline separator]They decided to leave the car parked at Tae Hee’s apartment and take the subway instead. Sa Jun insisted, saying he’d have to drive her home anyway, even though Tae Hee told him it was unnecessarily troublesome.
Walking side by side toward the subway station, Tae Hee found this familiar path unusually awkward and uncomfortable today.
It was because of Sa Jun walking right beside her—more precisely, because of their arms occasionally brushing and their fingertips nearly touching.
Wait, but hold on—what’s the big deal if our hands brush a little? Why am I making such a fuss over nothing?
Thinking how everything suddenly bothered her now, Tae Hee quietly swallowed a sigh.
When they reached the main street, Sa Jun stopped, and Tae Hee halted beside him.
Right before Kang Sa Jun lay his first quest.
A lively weekend afternoon, the street bursting with people, crowds endlessly flowing in and out of the narrow subway entrance.
Would Kang Sa Jun—who’d never ridden the subway, never pushed through such dense crowds, and never had his body touch strangers—really manage to get through that throng?
Tae Hee glanced sideways at him.
Just as expected, faint annoyance was already visible in Sa Jun’s eyes as he surveyed the bustling crowd.
Trying to hint gently at giving up, Tae Hee casually asked,
“Kang Sa Jun, should we just turn back?”
At those words, Sa Jun strode forward decisively.
He stuffed his long arms into his jeans pockets and walked ahead with the confident stride of a runway model.
Impressed by his boldness, Tae Hee followed behind, suppressing a laugh—though, of course, that admirable courage came to a halt right before the subway turnstile.
Why did she feel like laughing again at the sight of Sa Jun frozen like a statue?
After watching people pass through the turnstile for a moment, Sa Jun turned to Tae Hee and asked,
“Can I just tap any card?”
Tae Hee clenched her lips to hold back a smile, pulled out a credit card from her wallet, and handed it to him.
“Use mine. Today, this noona’s treating you to the full experience.”
She deliberately tapped her card and passed through.
Though giving her an exasperated look, Sa Jun mimicked her and tapped the card through the gate.
Inside the subway, the crowd was even denser than on the street.
Leaning against the wall in the standing-only section, Tae Hee wrinkled her nose slightly.
It was because she was surprised at how well Sa Jun was enduring it all.
Even when shoulders bumped against him, even in the stuffy, poorly ventilated space, even with everyone’s eyes drawn to his tall frame and handsome looks—Sa Jun remained completely composed.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He wasn’t supposed to handle it this well.
Suddenly feeling her cheeks warm, she turned her head, only to find Sa Jun staring straight at her.
The moment their eyes met—his dark, unreadable gaze locking onto hers—the noisy surroundings seemed to fade away, as if they were the only two people on the train.
Startled by the brush of Sa Jun’s fingertips against her cheek, Tae Hee snapped out of her daze.
She straightened her back from leaning against the wall and glared at him as if to ask what he was doing.
Sa Jun gave a soft chuckle.
“Are you already hungry? Why are you chewing your hair?”
A few strands, blown by the overhead air conditioning, must have drifted into her slightly parted lips.
Normally she’d have noticed immediately, but she’d been lost in thought and hadn’t realized.
She would’ve brushed this off loudly in the past, but couldn’t now.
Flustered, her face heating up, Tae Hee quickly averted her eyes.
Annoyed, she swept her hair back with both hands—just as the subway abruptly came to a stop.
What terrible timing. As her body swayed sideways with one foot lifting off the ground, Sa Jun also leaned slightly to the side.
And so, Tae Hee found herself snugly nestled against Kang Sa Jun’s broad chest.
Looking up with startled, rabbit-like eyes, she met Sa Jun’s half-lidded gaze—was he amused? Teasing? Or just exasperated?
Sa Jun let out a quiet chuckle and murmured,
“You’re so weak.”
Weak? Just because she’d momentarily lost her balance?
Gritting her teeth, Tae Hee tried to regain her footing—but a large hand settled firmly on her shoulder.
She shot him a sharp warning look: Take your hand off me, right now.
But Sa Jun only tightened his grip on her shoulder and replied with maddening calmness,
“Manners hands.”
“I don’t need your ‘manners hands.’ Kindly move them before I say something nice.”
Just then, Sa Jun pulled her closer and whispered softly into her ear,
“Look over there, Min Tae Hee.”
In her unwitting glance, she saw a man holding a woman just like Sa Jun was holding her—
except he had his arm around her waist, not her shoulder.
He’d seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings—when had he even noticed that?
“Kang Sa Jun, they’re obviously a couple.”
“And we’re a couple today too.”
His narrow, half-lidded eyes sparkled with amusement.
Only then did Tae Hee realize:
Sa Jun wasn’t struggling or feeling uncomfortable—he was thoroughly enjoying the situation. With that amusement, he was breezing through these unfamiliar, awkward experiences as if they were nothing.
Though this wasn’t how she’d wanted things to unfold, she had no counterargument.
After all, she herself had proposed playing couple for the day—on the strict condition that she’d be the one in charge.
“Okay, you’re right, but do we really have to copy that too?”
“Yes. I do. Since I’ll have to date eventually, might as well try everything in advance. And if I get to do it with you, all the better.”
Wow, so he’s seizing every little opportunity to flirt?
Stunned, she stared at him—only for Sa Jun to grin, revealing a dimple on his left cheek.
Completely disarmed by that refreshing smile, Tae Hee sharply turned her head away.
She really ought to start calling him Kang Fox instead of Kang Sa Jun—
why did he have to act so sly?
“Aren’t you practicing this fake relationship a little too realistically?”
“A fake relationship might just become a real one.”
Seeing Tae Hee’s shocked expression, Sa Jun looked back as if to say, “What’s so wrong with that?”
“It’s not impossible. We pretended to be friends, and ended up actually becoming friends.”
“You can’t compare friendship and romance—they’re completely different!”
“To me, they’re the same.”
At Sa Jun’s calm reply, Tae Hee inwardly snorted.
It was the first time in thirteen years that Sa Jun had acknowledged her as a friend—but she felt no joy at all.
Why did he have to say something like that right now? And how could friendship and romance possibly be the same? Was this another one of his schemes?
Only Sa Jun knew the truth—but it was Tae Hee whose mind was spiraling into chaos.
Because his words—that their pretend relationship might become real—had shaken her heart once again.
She absolutely hated it. The thought of Sa Jun pretending to date already made her furious—how would she ever bear seeing him in an actual relationship?
Should she just blurt out right now that she wanted to date him for real—even if it meant her heart would be ripped apart or crushed later?
Lost in a whirlwind of thoughts, Tae Hee had no idea
that Sa Jun’s persistent gaze was boring into her face—or that it wasn’t him, but herself, who was already wavering before their “relationship” had even properly begun.
[This is the timeline separator]The cinema was on the ninth floor of a multiplex shopping mall.
The moment they stepped into the elevator connected directly to the subway station, Tae Hee regretted it.
She should’ve taken the escalator, even if it was inconvenient.
With every floor the elevator stopped at, more people squeezed in, pushing the two of them—standing front and back—closer together.
Why wasn’t the “over capacity” alarm ringing today, of all days?
By the time the elevator reached the fifth floor, it was already packed.
Yet more people stubbornly pushed in, causing everyone inside to sway unsteadily.
Just as Tae Hee hunched her shoulders to avoid the back of the man in front pressing against her chest,
she felt her shoulders grabbed and her body swiftly turned—suddenly, Kang Sa Jun’s firm chest filled her vision.
Stunned by the sudden switch in positions, she barely processed what happened before the elevator alarm finally rang.
The swaying man barely regained his balance after bumping into Sa Jun’s solid frame like a fortress wall.
Impressed—or intimidated—by Sa Jun’s height, build, looks, and overwhelming aura, the man glanced nervously at him and offered an apology.
“I’m really sorry.”
Sa Jun replied without even turning around,
“It’s fine.”
His eyes remained fixed solely on Tae Hee.
From Tae Hee’s perspective, this was clearly a situation that should’ve made Sa Jun furious—but his expression remained oddly calm.
Only then did others start complaining for the newcomers to take the next elevator, and the elevator chaos finally settled.
As the elevator resumed ascending, it remained packed, and Sa Jun couldn’t avoid body contact with the crowd.
But Tae Hee alone remained comfortably sheltered within the protective space Sa Jun had created around her—as if it were perfectly fine for others to touch him, but absolutely unacceptable for anyone to touch her.
Now, something else began bothering Tae Hee.
She deeply regretted wearing push-up underwear earlier that day just to enhance her silhouette.
Their chests, facing each other, were perilously close—almost touching.
Yet Sa Jun’s arms, firmly braced against the elevator wall, held steady and maintained that precarious distance.
Why did his forearms—so visibly toned and veined beneath his short sleeves, so unlike his refined, aristocratic face—look so undeniably sexy?
Her heart, once quiet, now pounded wildly under the sheer arrogance of those arms.
Tae Hee slowly placed her palm somewhere between Sa Jun’s chest and abs and gently pressed.
Avoiding his questioning gaze, she murmured softly,
“Ensuring safe distance.”
Right now, that distance was absolutely necessary between them.
My Ex-Girlfriend Is The Regent In The Female-dominant World (Male lead transmigrates to the matriarchal world)
Two years ago, Gu Sui picked up a homeless woman in ancient costume from the street.
Apart from occasionally claiming to be a princess from a female-dominant country due to illness, her figure, appearance, intelligence, and martial arts skills were impeccable.
Naturally evolving from roommates to girlfriends, as time went on, Gu Sui found it increasingly difficult to tolerate her queen syndrome.
“Mu Jiulu, can you stop controlling me inside and out? Let’s break up.”
Gu Sui made a breakup call, and since then, he couldn’t find any trace of her.
A year later, Gu Sui, who was planning to move, woke up the next day and found himself in a different place.
“Young Master, today is the day you choose your Wife-master through martial arts competition at Jade Dew Pavilion. Please get up quickly.”
Gu Sui: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
As the only son of a general’s mansion in a female-dominant dynasty, the young empress personally issued a decree allowing Gu Sui to select his Wife-master through martial arts competition. Whoever could defeat him could marry him.
Gu Sui: “……”
He didn’t inherit the original owner’s martial prowess, so anyone could defeat him! And what the hell is a Wife-master?
Forced to come to Jade Dew Pavilion, the densely packed women below made Gu Sui’s agoraphobia act up, and his face was full of resistance.
Until he saw the Regent sitting on the second floor, with a smile on the corner of her lips, her eyes wicked and nonchalant.
Hmm… she looked a little familiar.
It turned out that the Regent also found him a little familiar.
Mu Jiulu fiddled with her bone clasp, her deep gaze locked on the man who was out of place in this world.
“Finally, I found you.”
Male transmigrates into female-dominant world
One-sentence summary: What goes around comes around, taking turns in the crematorium
What mother isn’t charmed when she hears someone speak so lovingly of her child? Irresistible.