Ba Ha hurriedly left the house with her bag upon receiving Tae Un’s message. As usual, Tae Un was waiting in front of the car for Ba Ha.
“Did you wait long? Where are we going so early in the morning?”
Ba Ha approached him quickly with a faint smile, admiring his long legs as he stood there in his coat.
“You’ll see when we get there. Let’s go.”
As Ba Ha got into the car at Tae Un’s words, he once again handed her the herbal tea he had prepared.
It was warm.
The herbal tea he gave her, and this thoughtful gesture he was showing.
Everything felt warm to Ba Ha.
“It’s the weekend, how can you not sleep in?”
“I know. But it’s okay. I’ll spend this weekend with you, Tae Un.”
“Thank you.”
Tae Un smiled, lifting one corner of his mouth at Ba Ha’s playful yet coy demeanor. Amidst their banter, Ba Ha and Tae Un soon arrived and parked in front of a house.
Getting out of the car, Ba Ha was surprised to see a house that felt like the one she had casually mentioned during their conversation when leaving the Tae San family. She looked at him in amazement.
“Vice Chairman, you’ve arrived?”
“Yes. It’s been a while, Manager Oh.”
A warm-looking middle-aged woman came out of the house with a bright smile and greeted Tae Un. He bowed politely and naturally entered the house where Manager Oh had emerged from.
“Hello. You must be the bride-to-be!”
“Hello.”
“You know, I was so surprised. A few days ago, the Vice Chairman suddenly contacted me saying he wanted to check the house in the morning. He described the feeling he wanted in detail…”
Manager Oh whispered into Ba Ha’s ear behind Tae Un, who had gone in first.
‘I want it to be warm. With sunlight filling the room in the morning…’
Hearing Manager Oh’s words, Ba Ha felt a lump in her throat as she recalled their conversations in the car.
“What is all this…”
The house Tae Un had brought her to was a brick house built on stone foundations. It gave off a warm feeling, and inside, just as Ba Ha had told Tae Un, sunlight filled the rooms.
It wasn’t so big that it would feel lonely, nor so small that it would feel cramped. It was truly a house full of warm comfort.
“What do you think?”
Tae Un had come to Ba Ha’s side and was gazing at her intently.
“…”
Ba Ha’s eyes had become slightly moist, and as she looked at Tae Un with those damp eyes and smiled gently, Tae Un quietly took her hand.
“Manager Oh, we’ll look around by ourselves from now on. I’ll contact you later.”
Even after Manager Oh left, Tae Un didn’t let go of Ba Ha’s hand. He continued holding it as they explored every corner of the house together.
“…”
With each step, Ba Ha gripped his hand tighter, trying to hold back the emotions welling up inside her.
“Look at me.”
Tae Un brought Ba Ha out to the yard, stood in front of her, and wiped her still moist eyes with his hand.
“Tae Un, how… How did this happen?”
“Do you like it? I hope you do.”
“…”
“I want to have a warm married life with you in this house. Eating breakfast with you in this warm home, and of course, having dinner together too. I won’t promise we’ll always be happy. We’ll probably fight and make up. But I want to do everything with you in this house.”
Ba Ha’s heart was overflowing.
The emotions she had been trying to suppress surged up again, filling her eyes with tears that soon rolled down her cheeks.
“You know, Ba Ha, I can’t tell you how happy I was when you said you’d marry me.”
“…”
“I know how hard it was for you to find the courage, and I know it might still feel rushed, but I can wait. Ba Ha, will you… marry me?”
This was different from the mere words of proposal before.
Tae Un’s hand trembled slightly with overflowing emotion. Feeling his hand shake, Ba Ha gripped it tightly and looked at Tae Un, trying to smile.
“Hic… What is this? I already said I’d marry you. Sniff… Why are you making me cry again?”
Tears flowed endlessly.
Not tears of sadness, but tears of happiness.
Tae Un found Ba Ha, crying uncontrollably, both lovable and pitiful, and he held her in his arms.
“I love you, Ba Ha.”
[This is the timeline separator]She was happy.
A smile never left Ba Ha’s face the entire way back after leaving that house. To Ba Ha, Tae Un was someone who effortlessly turned the vague word ‘marriage’ into a clear reality.
“Tae Un, where are we going now? Do you have any plans after this?”
“I do. Being with you.”
“Then come with me somewhere.”
Ba Ha took the curious Tae Un along without telling him where they were going, heading towards Roo Mi’s cafe.
She hadn’t had time to meet Roo Mi since that day due to everything that had happened, and she wanted to see Roo Mi, who must have been very worried. She also wanted to introduce Tae Un to the person she loved most.
They were such good people.
They were such good, grateful people that she felt sorry for always making them worry. So Ba Ha wanted to show Roo Mi, who was always worried, that she had now decided to accept rather than just push away.
That because he was such a good person, she wanted to believe in happiness again.
That with him, she really felt she could be happy now.
So there was no need to worry anymore.
She wanted to ease Roo Mi’s worries, even if just a little, like this.
“Did you want to go on a cafe date? You should have said so…”
Ding-!
“Roo Mi!”
“What! Why is it so hard to see your face these days!”
As Roo Mi approached Ba Ha, who had suddenly appeared, and gave her a welcoming pat on the back, Ba Ha smiled brightly and accepted the welcome ritual she performed today as well.
“I’m sorry. You see…”
Ba Ha seemed to forget that Tae Un was beside her as soon as she saw Roo Mi, appearing to have no intention of leaving their own little world.
“Ahem…!”
At the sound of Tae Un clearing his throat, Ba Ha and Roo Mi shared an awkward smile and emerged from their private world.
It was such a beautiful smile.
Tae Un saw Ba Ha showing the most comfortable smile since he had met her, and while he felt a bit disappointed that he wasn’t the one making her smile like that yet, he was happy.
It meant she wanted to introduce the person who could make her smile like that.
“Roo Mi, I’ve decided to get married. This is Woo Tae Un. The person I’m going to marry.”
“Hello.”
At Ba Ha’s introduction, Roo Mi, as if her earlier excited behavior had never happened, changed her expression to act composed and bowed politely.
“Tae Un, this is Kang Roo Mi. My most beloved friend.”
“Hello. I’m Woo Tae Un.”
Tae Un also greeted Roo Mi. At Ba Ha’s sudden formal introduction after being in their own world until now, Tae Un and Roo Mi simultaneously burst into laughter, finding her adorable.
“Please have this.”
After the successful introductions, Roo Mi brought warm drinks for Ba Ha and Tae Un and took a seat.
“So where are you coming from?”
“Huh? We went to see our… newlywed home.”
When had the word ‘newlywed home’ become such an embarrassing term?
Ba Ha’s face gradually turned red at the words ‘newlywed home’ that had left her mouth.
She wanted to speak.
She wanted to say out loud the expressions he had used, the things that had happened with him.
While it had been natural to hide things about Lee Han, trying to suppress them internally, Tae Un was different from Lee Han.
She wanted to tell Roo Mi about this happy event.
“Newlywed home? Tell me about it.”
“It was such a beautiful house. It looked so warm, and you know. That’s the kind of house I wanted to live in. Not a house so big it would feel lonely.”
“Ba Ha…”
Ding-!
“Welcome. I’ll have to hear about this later. Sorry.”
“Roo Mi, sit down and rest a bit. I’ll go! Tae Un, please look after Roo Mi.”
As evening approached, customers started coming into the cafe one by one. At this sight, Ba Ha sprang up instead of Roo Mi and headed towards the kitchen as if familiar with it.
“She’s always like that… That’s just how she is.”
As Tae Un couldn’t take his eyes off Ba Ha in her new appearance wearing an apron, Roo Mi looked at him fondly and spoke.
“I know. She’s kind.”
As soon as Tae Un took his eyes off Ba Ha and responded to her words, only awkwardness remained at the table where only Roo Mi and Tae Un were left.
“Ba Ha is pretty, isn’t she?”
“She is. Especially when she smiles, it’s really beautiful.”
Tae Un answered as if it were obvious, without a trace of embarrassment. Roo Mi looked intently at Tae Un, who spoke such emotions without hesitation, with a smile, as if she had something to say.
“Do you have something to say? If you look at me like that, Ba Ha might misunderstand.”
“Haha. Ba Ha won’t worry about that.”
Tae Un, wanting to dispel the awkwardness at the table, joked with Roo Mi, and Roo Mi, seeming to understand, continued with a faint smile.
“By the way, how much do you know about Ba Ha?”
__________
Men In The Royal Harem All Yearn For Her (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The men (young empress, young empress dowager, crown prince) in the harem all yearn to become her consort.
Synopsis:
The female protagonist is a wildly popular heartthrob with a natural halo.
The male protagonist is a crazily obsessed and self-abasing loyal dog.
Qiu Shu, the top scholar’s daughter, is pure, elegant and incomparably enchanting, captivating countless admirers.
Being favored by the eldest prince, the most handsome man in the capital, and becoming his wife in a single move is truly the pride of a poor student.
However, what they don’t know is that the seemingly bright and splendid female protagonist lives in a battlefield of jealousy every day.
The cute and adorable young empress is unusually attached to her.
The gentlemanly and upright young empress dowager has an ambiguous relationship with her.
Even her aloof and proud eldest prince is actually a gloomy and petty jealous husband.
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.