In the blink of an eye, all the scenery fell silent.
From the moment of returning to Jeju Island, all the excitement and anticipation had suddenly come to a halt.
It felt like standing in an empty space with nothing around. Your surroundings were in darkness, but far in the distance, there was a faint light.
You were only following that light, but the distance seemed never to close, and impatience crept in. The hand holding the shopping bag’s handle was now filled with cold sweat.
“What do you have in your hand?”
The voice of Sangju brought Hyukju back to reality.
At the same time, the sounds that had disappeared from the surroundings echoed in his ears.
“It’s some chocolates and cakes.”
Hyukju placed the shopping bag on the dining table and said.
“Oh, they must be delicious! Did you come here right after getting off the plane at the airport?”
“Yes, it’s quite close.”
“Even if it’s close, it must have been a hassle.”
Sangju placed the chocolates and cakes that she took from the shopping bag into the refrigerator neatly.
Hyukju moved to the living room. Looking out the window, he saw the sunset.
They were probably coming over right after dinner.
As the sky and the sea glowed like the changing colors of autumn leaves, Hyukju’s gaze shifted to the cold watch on his wrist.
Suddenly, there was a sensation as if the clock’s hands were moving slowly. It was evident that yesterday, today, and now all passed at the same speed, but it felt differently.
Waiting for someone feels this agonizing, doesn’t it?
Hyukju let out a weak, self-pitying laugh at the strange emotion he was feeling.
“Assistant Manager.”
“Yes.”
When Sangju called him, Hyukju turned his head.
“What about dinner?”
“It’s fine.”
“Did you eat before coming?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t eat anything special today, but I didn’t feel hungry. It seemed like eating something in this state would make me uncomfortable. So, Hyukju lied that he had dinner even though he hadn’t eaten.
“Well, I’m going to go out and eat.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“They said there’s a famous clam kalguksu restaurant nearby. Samo’s friend told me, and ever since then, I’ve been salivating.”
Sangju took off her apron, looking enthusiastic. She then picked up a small handbag and stood in front of the entrance.
“I’ll be back then.”
With a hearty laugh, Sangju went outside.
Alone and left at home, Hyukju sat quietly on a dining chair.
After a while, he looked out the window and let out a bitter laugh. The outside, which he thought would be dark by now, was still bright.
“Time… really doesn’t seem to pass.”
With a long sigh, his face hardened.
Suddenly, Inwoo Hwang’s words about going around with Eunsu and trying different places came to mind. Then, he even reached the point of imagining Eunsu and Inwoo eating together.
Just imagining the two of them together filled him with a sense of longing and his eyes welled up.
“Ha.”
His insides churned.
Hyukju got up from the chair and walked to the refrigerator. He took out cold water and drank it in one go.
He had clearly drunk water, but his thirst didn’t go away.
Brushing his hair back with his hand, he sat back in the chair.
Anxiety, restlessness, fear, despair… all kinds of negative emotions stabbed at his heart.
Was it karma, they called it?
When he had told Eunsu about the Seoyeonji story, Eunsu must have felt these emotions too. And now, he felt like he was paying for it.
“Have you ever thought that what you ended with just a few words became a pain that Eunsu had to endure with her whole body?”
Hwang Inwoo’s words to himself when he was with Seoyeonji flashed through his mind. Now, his advice felt urgently, painfully piercing his heart.
“Eunsu.”
Hyukju chewed on his lower lip.
“Maybe you had it even harder than me.”
He was furious at his past self for being so insensitive. The thought that he had ruined the future where Eunsu could have been happy with his own hands was driving him to the brink of madness.
Hyukju wiped his dry face with his hand.
Swallowing dry saliva with tightly closed lips, he regretted the past.
With unfocused eyes, he stared at the floor, not knowing how much time had passed. Suddenly, a sound broke the silence, and Hyukju raised his head.
It was the sound of the door lock being opened.
It seemed like Mrs. Sangju, who had said she would come back after having a meal, had returned. However, the person who entered after opening the door was Eunsu.
As Eunsu entered the house, she stopped when she saw Hyukju.
Although he had heard that she would come today, he didn’t expect their eyes to meet as soon as she opened the door.
“…You’re here?”
Breaking the silence, Eunsu spoke first.
“Yes.”
“It seems like the work ended faster than expected.”
“I thought I could organize things here.”
“Do as you please, Mr. Hyukju.”
Eunsu’s composed voice made Hyukju tense. Her calm tone seemed to convey the feeling that whatever he did didn’t matter to her.
What if Eunsu just entered the room like this?
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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