The aroma of delicious food filled the newlyweds’ home.
Tae Yeon and Do Jun, now in comfortable clothes, entered the kitchen.
Mrs. Choi’s prepared dishes were on the table.
“Enjoy your meal.”
Mrs. Choi intended to leave to give them privacy.
“Mrs. Choi.”
Do Jun stopped her.
“Yes, Director Cha?”
“You can do the dishes when you come tomorrow. Please, leave for today.”
“But I need to serve fruit too…”
“It’s okay. We want to relax alone tonight.”
Do Jun said this while giving Tae Yeon a tender look.
Tae Yeon nodded in agreement, despite not fully understanding his intention.
“Right, Mrs. Choi. You’ve worked hard for us all weekend.”
“It’s my job. Just move the dishes to the sink, please?”
“We will.”
Mrs. Choi bowed and left the house.
The door closed with a thud, and Tae Yeon asked, “You have something to say?”
“You’re perceptive.”
Despite Mrs. Choi being unlikely to eavesdrop, Do Jun seemed cautious.
“Another photo delivery?”
“Exactly.”
Do Jun praised Tae Yeon’s keen observation and presented a photo from among various documents.
Tae Yeon examined the photo.
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
Tae Yeon pointed to a watch on the man in the photo.
“It looks familiar.”
“I feel I’ve seen that watch before too.”
“Chances are high we both know the man Tae Jin met that day.”
“Right.”
Sadly, neither Do Jun nor Tae Yeon could remember who owned the watch.
“Let’s eat first.”
Even during the meal, Tae Yeon’s eyes were fixed on the photo.
Do Jun shared his conversation with the courier.
“He’s meticulous, isn’t he?”
“Such people make mistakes sometimes.”
Tae Yeon smiled lightly.
“I’ll check what Tae Jin is doing this weekend.”
“No need to force it.”
“I have ways to find out without contacting her directly.”
“Really?”
“Just trust me.”
“Do Jun, that’s reassuring.”
They looked at each other and laughed together.
Just being together in these moments felt so good.
“But couldn’t we have talked about this after eating upstairs?”
“That’s true.”
“Why did you insist on…”
“Sending Mrs. Choi home early?”
“Yes.”
Tae Yeon laughed at his answer.
“You said you wanted to relax intimately.”
“….”
“What’s with that look?”
Tae Yeon still seemed incredulous.
“Really, that was the reason?”
“Of course. It’s our honeymoon.”
“Well, yes, but…”
“We missed out on enjoying it properly because I was sick all weekend.”
At that, Tae Yeon laughed in disbelief.
“Do Jun, what exactly did you miss out on enjoying?”
She rolled her eyes at Do Jun, who feigned ignorance.
“I just remember being sick and resting after taking medicine.”
Tae Yeon shook her head as if conceding defeat.
“I think our physical affection is too frequent and excessive.”
Her words wounded Do Jun, who now looked hurt.
“We are a married couple.”
“Is that typical for couples…”
“You’re suggesting one-sided love by pinpointing that?”
“Do Jun, that’s not what I meant…”
Frustrated, he put down his chopsticks.
“I know, you don’t love me as I do you.”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying…”
“I’ve been holding back, even though I was curious.”
Do Jun leaned back in his chair and asked, “Still?”
“About what?”
“Do you still not understand your feelings for me?”
Tae Yeon bit her lip slowly.
She knew her feelings but couldn’t express them with the same certainty as Do Jun.
Perhaps they shared the same type of feelings, but doubts and fears held her back.
Do Jun didn’t know their relationship had a deadline.
She thought about staying blindly by his side but realized it would harm him more.
Jin President would exploit Do Jun for money.
That’s why she always concluded to hide her feelings until their inevitable parting.
Tae Yeon gently lifted the corners of her mouth and looked at Do Jun.
“We’re compatible partners, right?”
Do Jun’s eyes wavered at her words.
“Do you dislike me, Tae Yeon?”
“No, of course not.”
“Do you like me then?”
“…”
Yes, she liked him, overwhelmingly so.
“Let me ask again. Do you like me?”
“Do we have to be so binary…”
“I’m asking if you like me.”
Do Jun’s voice was unusually deep.
Hesitantly, Tae Yeon opened her lips.
“I do like you but…”
“Good.”
“Hold on.”
“But you just said…”
Do Jun was uncharacteristically insistent.
“You just admitted…”
“Yes, I like you.”
Her suppressed emotions unexpectedly surged.
“I’m scared because I like you too much.”
“Why?”
“It feels like a dream.”
Tae Yeon’s candid feelings caught Do Jun off guard.
“Afraid it will disappear when I wake up.”
“…”
“That your feelings might change first.”
She hadn’t planned to reveal so much.
But the absence of Mrs. Choi and Do Jun’s relentless questioning played a role.
Do Jun intently observed Tae Yeon’s earnest expression.
“Fear of emotions changing since they’re invisible.”
“So you think that way.”
“Yes, so the easiest is to hide my feelings…”
Before she could finish, there was a sliding sound, and Do Jun stood up.
He walked around the table and stood beside her. Tae Yeon slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze.
“Hiding your feelings, how is that comfortable?”
“I just find it easier…”
“Really?”
Do Jun gently grasped Tae Yeon’s chin with one hand and leaned in, quickly closing the distance. Tae Yeon’s eyes flickered rapidly.
“Even now, you’re showing your true feelings.”
“That’s because you suddenly came so close without warning.”
“If I warned you…”
“Yes?”
“Would you not be surprised?”
“Hold on.”
Tae Yeon tried to retreat, but Do Jun moved even closer.
“It hasn’t been comfortable for me at all.”
“…”
“Is it because feelings of love are hidden?”
Tae Yeon bit her lip in frustration.
Yes, it had been hard. Pretending not to like him, maintaining a calm facade while her heart raced uncontrollably near him.
“Let’s be honest with each other.”
“I…”
“I know. There are countless excuses you could make.”
“Yes.”
“I want to start by assuring you that all your concerns are baseless.”
Do Jun looked at her affectionately and gently stroked her lower lip with his thumb.
“It won’t disappear when you open your eyes.”
It seemed he intended to address each of her earlier concerns.
“Are you still upset about my sudden trip to the U.S. right after our wedding?”
“No?”
That really wasn’t the issue.
Do Jun seemed not to believe her denial.
“I regret that time so much, I want to be by your side every day.”
“What? No, I didn’t mean that…”
“And you worry if my feelings will change first.”
He moved on to another topic before finishing the previous one.
“I’ll reassure you every day.”
Tae Yeon quickly shook her head, adding hastily to avoid any misunderstanding.
“It’s okay. I see now…”
“No, I want to.”
Do Jun caressed her cheek with one hand and smiled.
“You know how much I’ve held back?”
“Held back?”
Really?
He had always been eager to kiss and never hesitated to express sweet words. Where was the restraint in that?
“I wanted to whisper ‘I love you’ more than ten times a day, but I held back.”
“Do Jun…”
It seemed he, too, was ready to bare his heart as Tae Yeon had done.
“Tae Yeon, from now on, do as you please.”
“What do you mean…”
“Hide your feelings if you want to.”
“Hold on.”
“Push me away if you feel like it.”
Do Jun’s face was filled with certainty.
“I’m not sure if you can do that, though.”
He pulled his face even closer with a sly smile.
“This feeling towards you, it won’t change. Never.”
Do Jun’s gaze deepened even more.
“I’m not going to hold back anymore.”
“…….”
“I love you. Jin Tae Yeon.”
Tae Yeon’s heart uncontrollably raced at Do Jun’s confession.
“Madly in love.”
With those words, a warm breath poured over Tae Yeon’s lips.
“I wonder if you know how much I feel this way.”
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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