When Yuin returned to her seat, she realized that the alcohol’s effect had completely worn off.
Instead, she couldn’t stop her heart from racing and her face from burning up like a ripe apple, as if she had secretly done something naughty. She deliberately acted more stiffly to hide it.
Her friends, misunderstanding Yuin’s behavior as their fault, quietly focused on their meal. After finishing their food and engaging in some meaningless conversation, they left the restaurant.
While Jihan went to retrieve the car they had left with valet parking, Jaehui suddenly left due to some urgent business, leaving only Yuin and Jihan in the car, surrounded by awkward silence.
“Jaehui seems to have gone to drink, right?”
“Just leave her. It’s better she doesn’t ask us to join.”
Yuin’s attempt at a conversation topic clearly didn’t appeal to Jihan, whose white face showed discomfort.
It seemed he hadn’t fully made up with Jaehui. They always ended up together despite such moments, so Yuin didn’t worry but chose not to engage further, turning her gaze out the window instead.
As she looked at the scenery, trying to recall what they had argued about and then being reminded of the man who had abruptly appeared at the restaurant, Jihan called out to her.
“Yuin.”
His voice sounded much heavier and more serious than usual, prompting Yuin to slowly turn her gaze towards him.
The car had stopped at a red light, and their eyes met. Jihan looked unusually off – his usually uplifted lips were downcast, and his lively eyes were drooping.
“Did you… feel bad earlier?”
“About what?”
“About me asking about that director.”
Ah, so that was it. Yuin relaxed immediately.
She couldn’t tell him everything about her involvement with the director, so her evasive responses must have seemed like she was upset about being questioned.
“No, I wasn’t upset about that.”
“……Were you okay?”
“Yeah. But when did you go drinking with girls? Why didn’t I know?”
Seizing the opportunity to clarify the truth, Jihan made a face as if he was disgusted.
“Do you believe that? After all these years, don’t you know me? It’s all because of Jaehui.”
“Not true?”
“Of course, not.”
Yuin knew Jihan had been popular since high school and famous in college, yet he never seemed to be in a relationship.
Once, Jaehui even joked that maybe Jihan preferred men.
Yuin decided to drop the subject and not delve deeper into his love life. After all, if meddling helped, Jihan wouldn’t still be single.
As the conversation ended with her looking out the window again, they remained lost in their thoughts until they reached her home, where they exchanged a longer than usual goodbye.
“Make up with Jaehui tomorrow, okay?”
“Do I really have to? I don’t think we can be friends anymore.”
“You’ll show up together at the café tomorrow, I know it.”
“Absolutely not. I can’t be friends with someone who exaggerates like you.”
“……Yuin, even if it’s me, you can’t compare me to her, right?”
Jihan protested with a wronged expression, but Yuin remained unmoved and got out of the car.
As Jihan rolled down the passenger window and called out to her with a sorrowful look, “Nam Yuin,” she was unfazed.
“To me, both of you are the same. Make sure to apologize. Drive safe!”
Leaving a lingering Jihan behind, Yuin went up to her home. Once inside, she quickly changed and washed, feeling a sense of peace returning as she lay in bed.
“Ah. Really tired…….”
Yuin felt overwhelmed by the fatigue from wearing uncomfortable clothes and the unexpected encounter with someone she hadn’t thought she’d meet. The tiredness crept up from her toes, enveloping her entirely.
Although her body was too exhausted to even move a finger, her mind became more active, replaying the scene with that man at the hotel a few hours earlier. It was strange how she, who rarely went out, always ended up meeting him whenever she did go somewhere. From the first time at the club to today, it was always like that. Now, she wondered if she should check for his presence wherever she went.
She couldn’t believe all these were mere coincidences, yet they were happening right before her eyes.
The biggest issue for Yuin was that this man easily crossed the boundaries she had set for everyone else.
Zzzzzing. The vibration next to her pillow caught her attention. It seemed like the tiger she spoke of had indeed come, as it was a message from Director Do Giyeon.
[Have you reached home?]Just like that. Why was he curious about her being home? Why were his sporadic messages so easy and simple?
He even correctly guessed Yuin’s tendency not to initiate contact first.
It’s almost like he had a natural talent for these things, like the big-hit productions he chose himself.
Another vibration interrupted her unrealistic thoughts. Another message from Director Do Giyeon.
[Don’t be upset because I couldn’t contact you today. Respond tomorrow, please. Sleep well.]“Upset? Who’s upset! Ugh, really.”
Yuin pushed her phone aside and buried her face in the pillow. Then, she reached out lazily to read the message again.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
