Ji Ho asked, pressing down on Lee Soo’s shoulder as she tried to stand up.
“Yes.”
“Then let’s rest a bit longer before we go.”
“But we might miss the train if we don’t leave now.”
“I’ll pass your train ticket to Ha Joon and you can rest here before riding my car up.”
Ji Ho sat down next to Lee Soo.
“I’m afraid you might get hurt if you descend like this with your legs all weak.”
To be honest, Lee Soo did not have the confidence to descend right away.
However, she hesitated, not feeling comfortable suggesting they should go separately, just the two of them.
“Or should I really carry you down?”
Lee Soo shook her head weakly with a faint smile.
“I’ll call Ha Joon and let him know. Don’t push yourself, let’s do it this way.”
((()))((()))
Ae Ra, who had been tossing and turning in the room alone for hours, couldn’t take her eyes off the clock.
Her stomach, which she thought would keep hurting, had settled down after taking medicine and visiting the bathroom a few times.
“Why is it taking so long? If I knew it would be like this, I would have followed, even if it was late.”
It had been over an hour since she received a text message stating that Lee Soo had arrived safely and that they would depart soon.
Tired of waiting, Ae Ra left the accommodation and walked towards the entrance of the hiking trail.
Dong Woo was the first to be seen.
“Dong Woo!”
“Why are you out here?”
“I was so bored waiting alone.”
“Is your stomachache all better now?”
“Yeah, I’m okay now.”
Just then, Ha Joon came down the hill, talking on his phone.
“Okay. I got it, Ji Ho. I’ll pass it on.”
Ha Joon hung up the phone and approached Dong Woo.
“Dong Woo, Lee Soo and Ji Ho will come separately. They want us to go first.”
“What?”
“Really?”
“Why?”
Everyone at the spot asked one after another, hearing Ha Joon’s words.
“Lee Soo was too tired to come down right away. She was resting and started to come down a while ago.”
“Ah.”
Dong Woo let out a sigh that sounded like a groan, gritting his teeth.
‘Until the end, with Ji Ho……’
He felt a burning sensation rise within his chest.
“Wow! Why is Seo Ji Ho treating Lee Soo so well? They were together when they came up too……”
Joo Hee narrowed her eyes and pouted her lips.
“Did they plan from the start to go separately? They went out alone last night and came back after a long while. When have the two of them been so close?”
With her arms crossed in front of her chest, Joo Hee craned her neck, her face screwed up in a frown.
Joo Hee was all the more disappointed because she had secretly hoped to ride Ji Ho’s car when going back to Seoul.
“Joo Hee, Lee Soo is closer to Ji Ho than you.”
Ae Ra spoke with a broad grin.
Though there was no immediate way to ask Lee Soo, Ae Ra was increasingly convinced that her intuition was not wrong.
“Ha Joon, don’t you know anything? You’re close to Ji Ho.”
“No such thing. It’s just that Lee Soo was struggling today, so he took care of her. Ji Ho may look cold, but he’s actually very caring.”
Ha Joon avoided Joo Hee’s gaze and shifted the topic.
Ha Joon seemed to know for sure why Ji Ho, who had no interest in club socializing, had come to the MT.
Ji Ho had been by Lee Soo’s side since last night, and although the hike wasn’t Ji Ho’s plan,
Did they not say that heaven helps those who help themselves?
He wondered if the reason Lee Soo was struggling so much today and couldn’t come down in time was because heaven was helping Ji Ho.
((()))((()))
Lee Soo, sitting in the passenger seat, kept nodding off.
It had been a truly long day.
Fighting off sleep next to Ji Ho, who had been driving for an hour, Lee Soo was filled with a faint scent of Ji Ho that seemed to make her body even more tired.
Lee Soo’s body, covered with a soft blanket, sank heavily into the comfortable seat.
‘I keep closing my eyes. But I shouldn’t sleep.’
Her head kept bobbing due to drowsiness.
Struggling to lift her heavy eyelids, Lee Soo was fighting a losing battle.
“Lee Soo, feel free to sleep.”
Jiho, unable to bear the sight of Lee Soo struggling to stay awake, spoke.
“I’m sorry I fell asleep while you were driving.”
Jiho then turned on a calm piano melody.
“Sleep comfortably while listening to this. It worries me more when you do that.”
Despite struggling for a long time, Lee Soo eventually fell asleep.
After confirming that Lee Soo had fallen asleep, Jiho lowered the volume.
The sound of Lee Soo’s regular breathing could be heard.
“I told you to sleep comfortably from the beginning.”
Jiho glanced at the deeply asleep Lee Soo and chuckled lightly.
On a Sunday afternoon, the cars entering Seoul from the suburbs were numerous, so Jiho’s car could not speed up and had to stop repeatedly.
The congested road showed no signs of clearing.
“Hmm.”
Lee Soo, who had awakened from sleep, opened her eyes as she stretched lightly.
“It’s Seoul.”
The familiar landscape was visible through the window.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. How long have I slept?”
“About an hour?”
“That’s a long time. I thought I had only dozed off. I’m sorry for only sleeping while you’re driving.”
“You can sleep more if you’re tired.”
“I’m sorry I fell asleep alone, and now you want me to sleep more? I’m completely awake now.”
Lee Soo was worried that Jiho, who had been driving for several hours, would be very tired.
“Are you very tired?”
While staring straight ahead, Jiho said he was fine, but Lee Soo was looking at him out of the corner of her eye.
When he remained silent and expressionless, he seemed cold due to his sharp jawline.
He had a hardtoapproach aura, but his charming smile could melt a person’s heart in an instant.
He always looked relaxed and full of confidence.
A slim body with wide shoulders.
A beautiful face that captured people’s attention.
A sweet and mellifluous voice.
Lee Soo couldn’t believe she had the heart of such a man.
The memory of last night was still so vivid that it felt like a dream rather than reality.
It was a feeling Lee Soo had never experienced before.
Each moment Jiho’s lips touched hers, a wave of indescribable sensations washed over her, making it hard to regain her composure.
A momentary memory was enough to make all her nerves rush back to that moment, her heart beating rapidly.
Feeling a rush of heat in her face, she slightly lowered her head.
A lot has changed since last night.
She no longer had to hide her feelings, she could say she wanted to see him, she could stare at him to her heart’s content like this.
“Lee Soo, aren’t you hungry? We haven’t even had lunch.”
Upon Jiho’s words, she suddenly felt hungry.
All she had eaten since morning was a few mouthfuls of ramen and water.
Despite that, she had done a lot of exercise.
“Shall we have dinner?”
“Yeah, sounds good. I’ll pay for dinner today. I have to repay you a bit for all the things you’ve done for me.”
She should have bought a meal a long time ago.
Why hadn’t she done this before?
“There’s no need… Is there something you want to eat?”
At Lee Soo’s cool answer, Jiho asked warmly.
“I eat anything well, so let’s go eat what you like.”
“Alright. Let’s go eat something delicious.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiho sped up.
It was the beginning of their first date.
lu lu lo la ▪️ net (lululola.net)
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
