The snowy soup with floating ice arrived.
“Perfect timing.”
Ji Hye looked resentfully at the noodles, then resignedly picked up her chopsticks.
“We can’t let the noodles get soggy! Eat first, then tell me!”
“Alright.”
Without hesitation, both Ji Na and Ji Hye picked up their chopsticks. With the first bite, the rich and refreshing taste of cold soybean soup spread intensely.
After voraciously devouring their cold soybean noodles, they left the restaurant, patting their full stomachs. Their lunchtime chatter seemed endless, especially since they hadn’t dined together in a while.
“Oh, right, I went to a club with friends a few days ago and saw Yoon Ju there.”
“What?”
Ji Na was shocked. A pregnant woman at a club…?
“I wasn’t sure at first, but I was convinced when I heard her friends call her name.”
Ji Hye glanced around and lowered her voice.
“She must be really stressed. We sat near her, and I could hear her complaining about her in-laws and husband. Seems she’s not happy in her marriage.”
Ji Na recalled the weary eyes of Yoon Ju, who had wanted to meet her separately. Ji Hye’s words only confirmed the apparent stress.
“They seemed inseparable.”
Puzzled, Ji Na murmured, and Ji Hye shrugged.
“Exactly. They should either keep it discreet at work or not. She used to flirt with guys without a partner, but now she got her comeuppance.”
Ji Na chuckled softly at Ji Hye’s words.
“Let’s see those hollowed-out sides.”
“Too much hollowing has got me fattening up just to fit into the clothes I splurged on.”
Their conversation returned to its cheerful tone.
“Now, tell me. The. Boy. Friend.”
Entering a café, Ji Hye, full of determination, asked again.
“Well…”
Just as Ji Na was about to speak, she spotted Kim Do Jin and Heo Yoon Ju in the café. Frustrated as if they were following the same route, Ji Na suggested leaving.
“Why? The Einspänner here is good. The café next door is not that great.”
The refreshing feeling at the noodle place was gone, replaced by a lump of crumpled paper in her chest.
“So, who’s your boyfriend?”
Ji Hye persisted, and Ji Na bit her lip.
Seeing Do Jin made her think that keeping the office romance a secret might be better for now. She didn’t intend to hide it, but… Jin Woo was soon leaving for the U.S. Revealing their relationship could wait until his return.
“Actually, he’s not my boyfriend. Manager Kim was mistaken.”
“What?”
Ji Hye looked deflated, and Ji Na playfully smiled.
“Really?”
In disbelief, Ji Hye asked again.
“Yeah… I’ll be the first to tell you when I get a boyfriend.”
“Oh, I got my hopes up for nothing.”
Ji Hye laughed off her disappointment.
“Excuse me, I need to use the restroom.”
As Ji Hye left, an unwelcome yet familiar voice reached Ji Na’s ears.
“Lee Ji Na.”
At Do Jin’s call, Ji Na responded with a strictly professional face.
“Yes, Manager Kim.”
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“It’s lunchtime now. Can we talk during work hours?”
After smoothly deflecting his approach, Do Jin chuckled wryly.
“It’s a personal matter.”
“Ah, I don’t have any personal matters to discuss with you, Manager Kim.”
Ji Na’s firm response left Do Jin observing her for a moment before he sighed and finally walked away, possibly because Yoon Ju had just come out of the restroom and left quietly.
“Lee Ji Na.”
Startled by a voice significantly different from before, Ji Na turned to see Jin Woo, who had just entered the café.
A wave of happiness surged through her, almost making her run and hug him. Dressed in a light-toned suit, Jin Woo seemed particularly dazzling today, perhaps even more so after seeing a dismal man just moments ago.
“Hello, Executive Director.”
Ji Hye, who had just come out of the restroom, approached and greeted Jin Woo warmly.
“Yes, hello.”
Jin Woo smiled and greeted Ji Hye back. Even in front of the company, the chance encounter made Ji Na’s heart flutter.
“I’ll be leaving first then. Take care.”
Unable to show her joy in front of Ji Hye, Ji Na watched Jin Woo leave with a coffee in hand, her eyes filled with longing. His departure seemed to dim the café’s brightness.
“That was energizing. Now I feel like working.”
Ji Hye murmured with a hint of regret in her voice. Understanding each other’s feelings, they laughed and chatted while walking back to the company lobby.
As they waited for the elevator, Ji Hye suddenly spoke.
“You know, you and the Executive Director smell the same.”
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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