Dong Woo pulled out his cell phone to check the time.
It had been 20 minutes since he reached the top of the mountain, but Lee Soo and Ji Ho hadn’t come up yet.
Even considering the break time in the middle, they should’ve reached the top by now.
Dong Woo suddenly began to worry if something had gone wrong.
They could have lost their way, or gotten hurt.
“Ha Jun, Ji Ho said he was coming up, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, I saw him coming up from behind with Lee Soo a while ago.”
“Is that so?”
“Lee Soo must be the reason we’re late.”
As the hiking leader, Dong Woo, who was leading the pack, couldn’t look out for Lee Soo who was trailing behind.
Even last night, he was bothered that Ji Ho and Lee Soo had gone out and come back late. They were together again?
Dong Woo recalled the image of Ji Ho tightly holding Lee Soo’s hand.
How long had it been since he met Ji Ho?
Lee Soo wouldn’t easily do that…
Dong Woo let out a stifled sigh.
He had started off first, thinking that Lee Soo would follow soon after taking care of Ae Ra.
He regretted not waiting and coming together.
“I’ll call.”
Dong Woo looked for Lee Soo’s number and pressed the call button.
“Hello?”
“Oh.”
[But aren’t you with Lee Soo?]Ae Ra asked with a puzzled voice.
“All the kids came up, but Lee Soo didn’t, so I called to ask where she might be.”
[So is Lee Soo alone on the mountain right now?]“… Ji Ho hasn’t come up yet either.”
His voice was tinged with annoyance.
[That’s good, as long as they’re together. It would be a big problem if Lee Soo lost her way alone, especially without a phone.]“I’ll call Ji Ho.”
After hanging up, Dong Woo’s face hardened.
“Lee Soo left her phone in the room?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll call Ji Ho.”
Ha Jun pulled out his cell phone and casually glanced around.
“Oh! Dong Woo, I see Ji Ho and Lee Soo over there!”
He saw a wornout Lee Soo struggling to climb the final staircase to the mountain peak.
Ji Ho was following behind her.
Lee Soo walked, swaying as if she might fall, unable to even straighten her back properly.
Dong Woo ran to the foot of the stairs where Lee Soo was coming up.
“Lee Soo, are you very tired?”
Lee Soo, her face halfawake, raised her head.
Her face was flushed bright red.
Just by her expression, one could tell how tired and exhausted she was.
“Ah…… I…… really…… feel like…… I’m going to faint.”
Lee Soo spoke, her voice breaking with every heavy breath she took.
Having climbed the last of the stairs, Lee Soo collapsed on the ground right there.
“Hu……. Hu…….”
Leaning against a rock, she closed her eyes and took heavy breaths.
She had struggled and made it up here on sheer willpower alone.
“If it’s this hard, you should turn back halfway. Stay in the accommodation with Ae Ra.”
Sitting on his knees on the ground, Dong Woo looked at Lee Soo with concern.
“I didn’t know climbing would be this hard as it’s my first time.”
“How will you manage if it’s this hard.”
“Just need a rest.”
Lee Soo smiled faintly, telling him not to worry.
She didn’t know if it was a stamina problem, or if it was because of the hangover, even Lee Soo was confused.
Her stamina couldn’t be this poor.
Everyone else had come up fine, looking around at the view, busy taking pictures, while she was struggling alone, she felt embarrassed.
“Dong Woo, don’t worry about me, go do your thing.”
Dong Woo had a sorry look on his face, as if he felt responsible for Lee Soo’s hardship.
From a distance, Ji Ho looked at Dong Woo and Lee Soo while leisurely taking in the view.
Dong Woo was on his knees, looking at Lee Soo with a helpless expression, as if he didn’t know what to do.
‘And he dares to pretend to be friends with Lee Soo. And she doesn’t even suspect a thing.’
Ji Ho frowned and ran his hand through his hair.
((()))((()))
“Lee Soo, we haven’t had much rest, what should we do? We need to go down now.”
Dong Woo spoke, worriedly looking at Lee Soo sitting with her shoulders drooped.
“Why? Can’t we leave after resting a bit more?”
“On Sundays, train tickets to Seoul are sold out two weeks in advance, so we bought ours in advance.”
“Ah……. What time is the train?”
“1:30. We need to start going down now if we want to catch it comfortably.”
It meant they couldn’t rest any more if they wanted to catch the train at the designated time.
“Got it. Then we better hurry up.”
“I guess we should’ve booked for a later time. I thought we’d have enough time.”
Dong Woo hesitated, saying that he had to leave but couldn’t muster the courage to set out immediately.
Lee Soo gently patted Dong Woo’s shoulder with a reassuring expression.
“It’s okay. Call the kids quickly and tell them to go. We’re going to be late at this rate. I’ll follow at the end.”
With no other choice, Dong Woo straightened his legs and stood up.
A moment later, everyone started to descend one by one, leaving only Ji Ho and Lee Soo.
“Lee Soo, are you still struggling?”
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
