As Yerin sat down in front of him, Ihyeon picked up the menu with an expressionless face.
‘I’m here for the first time today. I need to act naturally.’
It was a continuous sequence of awkwardness.
Ihyeon spoke in a soft voice, “What would you like to eat?”
“I’ll have something light, like the ricotta cheese salad.”
Ihyeon’s brows furrowed slightly.
Then he called a waiter and placed the order.
Besides what Yerin had mentioned, a variety of dishes soon adorned the table.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll enjoy the meal.”
Sitting face-to-face with Ihyeon for a meal felt incredibly surreal.
Especially since meeting him so closely again wasn’t part of the plan after their one-night stand.
She was tense, uncomfortable, and had no appetite.
Ihyeon, noticing Yerin’s lack of appetite, asked, “Why aren’t you eating?”
“I’m not very hungry…”
Just as she said that, her stomach embarrassingly growled.
“Looks like I’m hungrier than I thought.”
Stammering, Yerin pricked a piece of steak with her fork.
Although it was surely delicious meat, regrettably, she couldn’t savor it due to her intense nervousness.
After a few attempts, she eventually put her fork down.
Ihyeon, too, hardly touched his food, leaving most of it uneaten.
“Secretary Han, I hope you can complete the task I assigned without any issues.”
“But what happens if I can’t find that woman?”
Ihyeon slightly furrowed his brow.
“It will be quite problematic for you, Secretary Han.”
“Why is that?”
“You’ll probably understand why tomorrow.”
She didn’t want to know.
She wished tomorrow wouldn’t come, or better yet, she could turn back time to that night.
‘Should I just confess that I was the woman from that night?’
But looking at Ihyeon’s cold face, she dismissed the thought.
‘What if he tells me to compensate for the alleged damage he suffered?’
No, that couldn’t happen.
No matter what, she had to keep it a secret.
She didn’t plan to leave the company, so Ihyeon must never discover that she was the woman he spent that night with.
Ihyeon glanced at the remaining food, then said in his pleasing baritone, “Secretary Han, if you’re not eating anymore, shall we leave?”
“Yes, that would be best.”
Upon reaching the lobby, Yerin stood up straight to bid him farewell, not getting into the car.
Suddenly, the passenger window rolled down, revealing Ihyeon.
“Aren’t you getting in?”
“What?”
A car behind honked loudly.
“It would be better if you get in quickly.”
Reluctantly, Yerin got into Ihyeon’s car.
“Director, are you returning to the office?”
“No, I’m going home.”
“Ah, okay.”
Yerin couldn’t understand why he asked her to get in the car.
If he was going to the office, she thought he might drop her off, but that wasn’t the case.
Was he driving her because the subway station was far from the hotel?
But if he cared so much for his secretary, why did his previous secretaries not last even a week?
As Yerin pondered, Ihyeon touched the navigation system.
“Your address.”
“What?”
“Enter your home address, Secretary Han.”
“……”
Bewildered, Yerin stared at Ihyeon.
He looked back as if wondering why she was so surprised.
“Director, you’re not seriously taking me home, are you?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
“Secretary Han, did you bring your car?”
“No.”
“That’s why.”
What did he mean by ‘that’s why’? It’s not typical for a boss to drive their secretary home.
Moreover, being alone with Ihyeon in this situation felt utterly unfamiliar to Yerin.
His overwhelming presence kept her in a constant state of tension.
His cologne permeated the car, involuntarily bringing back memories of that intense night.
Yerin hesitated, unsure of what to do.
Meanwhile, Ihyeon slightly frowned.
“Secretary Han, do you realize we’ve been circling around the same spot several times now?”
“Ah, sorry.”
With no choice, Yerin input her home address.
“I’d be fine being dropped off at a nearby subway station…”
“What if you have an accident on the way?”
“Excuse me?”
“If you can’t come to work tomorrow because of it, I think I’d be in quite a bit of trouble.”
It was an utter pretext.
Yerin put on a business smile and replied softly, “That won’t happen, Director.”
“Secretary Han seems too sure about everything.”
No, what are the odds of having an accident on the way home to warrant this?
But Ihyeon was really obstinate.
His car steadily headed to Yerin’s home address as entered in the navigation.
It would have been less awkward if she had driven him home instead.
No, that probably wouldn’t have been comfortable either.
“If Secretary Han can’t come to work, we won’t be able to find that woman. And then I’ll have to wait another day.”
Was that really the reason he was dropping her off?
But even if it wasn’t, there was no way to confirm Ihyeon’s true intentions.
Ihyeon’s car eventually stopped near Yerin’s modest villa neighborhood.
“Director, you can drop me off here, thank you.”
As the car slowed down, Ihyeon leaned forward and scanned the surroundings through the car’s windshield.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
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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