Ji Ho, having finished his business, brushed past Lee Soo and left the club room.
At that moment, a unique scent pierced through the coffee aroma and crept into the tip of her nose.
This scent…
Surely, she had smelled it somewhere before.
The scent was a jolt to Lee Soo’s mind that had momentarily gone blank while she was trying to organize her tangled thoughts.
Once she regained her senses, she realized that she hadn’t even been able to thank him because she was so flustered.
“Hey, wait a minute!”
Lee Soo belatedly ran out.
Had he already taken the elevator in that time? The numbers on the empty elevator screen were changing from 2 to 1.
“Don’t you remember me?”
She was confused at the thought of Ji Ho’s face, looking at her with an absurd expression.
No matter how much she thought about it, she had no memory of meeting Ji Ho.
All she could recall was the perfume scent left in the spot where Ji Ho had left.
Where did she smell it?
Lee Soo felt stifled as if she was clogged up inside.
((()))((()))
Despite it being the weekend, Lee Soo woke up early in the morning.
Lying in bed, she was staring blankly at the sky beyond the window when suddenly, Ji Ho crossed her mind.
Everyone was in chaos because of the application form he left behind yesterday.
Would he show up at the club meeting next week?
Where did he find the student ID?
His absurd expression and scent from yesterday.
Ugh. She didn’t know.
After thinking thoughts with no answer, Lee Soo got up and headed for the bathroom.
After finishing her shower and getting dressed in the dressing room, a bag that was carelessly placed in the display caught her eye.
Lee Soo furrowed her brows.
If you’ve used someone else’s belongings without permission, you should at least put them back properly.
Even if she tried to ignore it, it bothered her every time it caught her eye.
“Lee Soo, I trust you to get along well with Yumi because you’re understanding and dignified. She’s your younger sister, so look after her kindly. But if you ever have a hard time, feel free to talk to your father.”
It was something her father had said when she had returned to this house five years ago.
Where does the hardship end and where does tolerable begin?
The word ‘trust’ weighed heavily on Lee Soo’s shoulders.
Even if it’s not okay, she felt like she had to say it was.
To get some fresh air, Lee Soo stepped out onto the terrace connected to her bedroom.
Then, with a bang, the door swung open.
Yumi, still groggy from sleep and in her pajamas, stumbled in.
She didn’t see as far as the terrace, but as she dragged her slippers, she looked around the bedroom and the study inside, then naturally entered the dressing room.
“Where on earth is it.”
“…why are you looking for me?”
At the sound of Yumi grumbling, Lee Soo went in and asked.
“Ah, you surprised me! Were you in the room?”
Yumi, who was coming out of the dressing room, turned her head in surprise.
“On the terrace. What’s up?”
“The relatives from the inlaws’ side are coming for lunch.”
That was why Yumi had come to find Lee Soo early in the morning.
Yumi, who sneaked a glance at Lee Soo, shrugged her shoulders and left the room.
It was a morning that let out a long sigh.
((()))((()))
The school library was quiet.
Lee Soo picked out a novel and sat down by the window.
She left home abruptly before Yumi’s extended family invaded the house.
She wasn’t in the mood to meet friends and hang out, and she was tired.
As she thought about where to go at times like this, she chose this place.
It was quiet and she could stay for a long time, and it was a place where she wouldn’t feel awkward being alone.
Lee Soo stared blankly at the leaves fluttering in the wind beyond the window.
Seeing that Lee Soo was leaving, her stepmother, who was busy preparing food, smiled and told her to go.
She might have been waiting for her to leave, since she even sent Yumi away.
On weekends when her father was away all day, her stepmother often invited her family over.
There was a time when Lee Soo, who had just moved into this house, unknowingly stayed at home and encountered them.
They greeted each other with awkward faces, and Lee Soo went upstairs.
“Is she going to live here permanently?”
“Why suddenly does she want to live with dad?”
“If her mom had decided to take her, she should’ve taken responsibility till the end.”
“Raising someone else’s child isn’t an ordinary job. Besides, she’s in puberty.”
“I don’t even know what kind of lightning this is. There’s no peace in a married life. She’s really an eyesore.”
The whispering sound from the living room on the first floor vividly reached the second floor through the open window.
It was the first time she realized the sincerity of her stepmother, who always had an angelic smile.
The stepmother probably hadn’t imagined that her conversations on the first floor would be so clearly audible.
Given the relationship between the stepmother and the former wife’s daughter, it was understandable, but at the time, Lee Soo was only 15 years old.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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