The attending nurse, having received a call in the lobby, opened the ICU ward door for Je Ho. The ICU rooms, designed with full glass fronts for constant monitoring, lined the hallway. Je Ho entered the last room at the end of the corridor.
Despite hearing the door open, the woman by the bedside didn’t turn around. Je Ho approached and gently embraced her shoulder.
“Mother, please go home and rest. I’ll stay here.”
“No, I’ll stay a bit longer. Once the doctor says father is okay… then I’ll go.”
Je Ho’s mother, Yun Ji Sun, wife of Vice Chairman Kwon Je Woong, gently patted her son’s hand and shook her head. She was afraid to leave, even for a short while, worrying she might miss her husband’s last moments.
A few days ago, Vice Chairman Kwon had a heart attack, and Yun Ji Sun, who was visiting another state, had to rush back on a private jet. Fortunately, he survived the critical phase, but he was still not completely out of danger. There was always a possibility of another heart attack, which could be his last.
“…Huk.”
Yun Ji Sun, always showing strength, now bowed her head, her shoulders shaking.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I should have stayed by your side.”
“No, you have nothing to be sorry about. Don’t say that. Your father’s condition hasn’t been a matter of just a day or two. All I wish for is that your father leaves peacefully without pain. That’s all I want.”
Je Ho remained silent, tightening his embrace around his mother, who had grown thinner. It pained him to see her like this.
“I’ll be here, so can I ask you for one thing? Can you host tomorrow’s charity party in my stead? It’s been planned for months, and I’m concerned about it.”
“I will.”
Returning home, Je Ho went to his father’s study instead of his bedroom. He sat at his father’s desk, trying to recall the scent that was now gone.
When he first heard about the accident, he believed his father would recover. But as the coma prolonged, his hope thinned. And a few days ago, his anxiety burst.
“Hu.”
Je Ho rested his elbows on the desk, covering his face with his hands. His father was fighting death, and he had given up an opportunity to threaten Min Woo for Yul Li.
Even amidst all this, he was dying to see Yul Li. He couldn’t bear hearing her voice, so he turned off his phone and stuffed it in his suitcase.
What a mess I am.
Just then, the landline phone on the desk rang. Hoping against hope, Je Ho quickly picked up the receiver, but his face fell in disappointment.
“Hello.”
[Jay? I just heard from Mom. You’re hosting tomorrow’s charity party instead of Auntie, right?]It was Claire, the daughter of his parents’ friends, whom he had known since childhood.
[Can you bring me an album tomorrow? Mom said she left it in your study when she visited Auntie last time.]She described it as a green album with gold trim. After talking to Claire, Je Ho found the album between the books on the shelf. As he pulled it out, he accidentally dropped a book next to it.
“Oh no.”
As he bent to pick it up, he noticed a slightly different colored patch on the floor near the desk. Without much thought, he touched it, and with a creak, a side opened, revealing a secret compartment about 5 cm deep.
Inside was a teddy bear figurine, the size of an adult’s thumb.
Could it be?
Je Ho retrieved the teddy bear figurine, pressing its belly button, which made a USB connector pop out. Instinctively, he knew this contained important information, undoubtedly hidden by his father.
He quickly connected the USB memory to his computer. Inside were various files, mostly audio recordings. Je Ho played one of them.
[Hey, it’s been a while. How are you?]The voice of Assemblyman Chae flowed out.
[Stop this. Don’t dig any deeper. You’ll get badly hurt. I warned you.]What’s this?
The more Je Ho listened to the recordings, the darker the shadow grew on his face.
“Unni, Min Woo is here.”
With a knock, the door opened, and Yu Ri peeked in with a nonchalant face. It seemed Min Woo had come to the house since she wasn’t answering his calls. Resigned to meeting him eventually, Yu Li went downstairs. In just a few days, Min Woo looked significantly gaunt.
“Let’s talk on the terrace.”
They moved to the terrace, and Yu Ri followed with coffee cups. After giving Min Woo a sharp look, she gestured to call her if anything happened and went back inside. Min Woo hesitated to start the conversation, just staring at his coffee cup.
Assemblyman Chae had relayed his recent conversation with Min Woo to Yu Li. If you want to marry, win her heart first. Hah, as if that would ever happen.
“I’m sorry it turned out this way.”
Yu Li spoke first.
“But we weren’t planning to marry out of love anyway. Now neither family wants it. Chairman Kwon will oppose the marriage first, right?”
“That’s just Grandfather being momentarily angry. He doesn’t mean it.”
Rumors were already circulating.
“I heard there’s talk of marriage with Taemin Group again. Follow your parents’ wishes.”
“Damn, I don’t need that kind of woman. The only one I need is you, Chae Yul Li!”
Unable to contain his anger, Min Woo yelled. However, Yu Li remained unfazed, sipping her coffee.
“You’re doing this to break up with me and go to Je Ho Hyung, right? Wake up. You can’t be with him anymore. What kind of family shares a woman between cousins?”
“Don’t yell. I know very well.”
Yu Li glared at him coldly, and Min Woo instinctively quieted down.
“I have no intention of being with Je Ho. So don’t worry about that.”
“Really? You have nothing with Je Ho Hyung?”
Min Woo incredulously asked again.
“Je Ho is in the States, right? I don’t even know which state he’s in. Do you?”
“…Ah.”
Of course, Min Woo knew. He had already sent people to track Je Ho’s whereabouts.
This is getting interesting.
A smile crept onto Min Woo’s face at this unexpected turn of events. He pulled out his phone, typed something, and showed it to Yu Li.
“He’s in Palo Alto right now. Attending a big charity party there, with his ex-girlfriend.”
Min Woo extended his phone to Yu Li, displaying a picture of Je Ho smiling while facing a beautiful woman. The way he looked at her was filled with affection.
Yu Li pressed her palm against her chest without realizing it.
Her heart stung as if pricked by an awl.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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