The next morning.
Isu slowly lifted the heavy eyelids.
Rubbing her still sleepy eyes, she checked the clock, and it was a little past 7 a.m.
“I only slept for two hours.”
Isu had come home around the time when the world was beginning to dawn, not yesterday, but today, in the early morning.
Her muscles felt stiff, as if the time when her heart was about to burst with warmth was still vivid.
From morning until this early dawn, it had been an extremely long day.
“It was the happiest birthday of my life.”
Recalling the words Jiho whispered a few hours ago when they parted in front of the house, Isu’s lips curled up.
Yesterday was a happy day for Isu as well.
She wanted to reciprocate the happiness that Jiho provided.
Closing her eyes again, not fully awake, Isu remembered last night.
Was it just a vivid dream?
Every moment that came to mind was so romantic that her face blushed involuntarily.
There were moments that were strangely ambiguous, like the softness of cotton candy on her body. But when she thought of Jiho’s touch, so sweet that her heart tickled, she couldn’t help but smile.
Knock, knock.
Just when Isu was deeply immersed in thoughts of Jiho, there was a knocking sound on the door.
“Isu, are you awake?”
“Yeah, Mom.”
Hyejin opened Isu’s door and entered.
“What time did you come in yesterday?”
“Pretty late…”
Isu couldn’t bring herself to mention that it was this early in the morning today.
Considering Hyejin usually goes to sleep before midnight, she could easily pass this off.
“Were you out with your friend for so long?”
Hyejin, narrowing her eyes, looked at Isu with a sly smile.
“Yeah. After dinner, we went around here and there. We went to the park, Tower Bridge, and when we went there, there were still a lot of people even though it was late at night.”
Isu’s excuses to avoid Hyejin’s inquiries grew longer.
Hyejin, who had her first love and failed marriage, often spoke conservatively about dating to Isu.
She had said many times in the past that you shouldn’t fall too hard for a man you met when you were young or regret falling for good looks just by seeing them.
All of these were words stemming from Hyejin’s experiences.
Although falling for Jiho wasn’t just because of his good looks, if Hyejin were to meet Jiho, Isu could see her worrying from the moment she saw him.
Jiho’s excessively handsome face sometimes brought about such unfair prejudice.
“Yeah, it’s good that you had a lot of fun…”
“Ah, I should get up now.”
Just as Hyejin was about to start nagging, Isu removed the blanket and stood up from the bed.
She didn’t have the confidence to keep lying even more now.
“Mom, I need to get ready and eat breakfast quickly.”
“Sure, I got it. Get ready and come out.”
Thanks to Jiho, who reserved a morning train to Paris because he wanted to go as soon as possible, Isu had to hurry.
She had roughly organized her belongings before going out yesterday, but she checked once again to make sure nothing was missing.
A single suitcase and a shoulder bag were all the luggage.
Moving the luggage to the front door, Isu went to the dining room to have breakfast.
**
The morning Jiho departed for Paris.
Ever since yesterday, Yumi, who had always been cheerful and lively, continued to lower her shoulders and look listless. It was pitiful to see.
However, there was nothing Yumi could request from Jiho, and the situation was such that she couldn’t step forward herself.
While pushing the side dishes that Yumi ate well towards her, Yoonsu said, “Yumi, have breakfast, and let’s have a good time today as well.”
That was all Yoonsu could do.
“Yes, Aunt.”
Yumi thought it might be better if Jiho didn’t see her.
Yumi’s complexion seemed darker today.
Since Jiho left early yesterday morning, Yumi sighed with a lost expression.
While Jiho wasn’t cold during his stay in London, apart from breakfast, it was difficult to see his face, and even if they happened to meet, all he did was greet her.
From tomorrow, she wouldn’t be able to do even that.
Jiho treated Yumi like a guest who came to his house.
There was hardly any difference even though they were in the same house.
Yumi, who had anticipated and excitedly thought of this trip as a significant opportunity, now found herself foolish and pitiful.
‘What am I doing here?’
During the five days, there had been no progress in Jiho and Yumi’s relationship.
“Jiho is going to Paris today, right?”
Sumin asked Jiho while having breakfast.
Sumin intended to ask if Isu would be going with him but decided not to provoke Yumi any further.
She didn’t want to sprinkle salt on Yumi’s wounded heart.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Have a fun trip, and let’s meet again in Seoul later.”
“Yeah. Be careful when you go to Seoul, Aunt.”
“Sure. Thank you.”
“Yumi, you be careful too.”
It was the first time during Yumi’s stay in London that Sumin spoke to her first.
Whether she liked it or not, Sumin had no intention of spending the time with Isu and Yumi in a bad mood.
‘If Yumi were Isu’s real younger sister, she would have treated her well.’
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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