The Man Who Shakes Me (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
I had never found Min Hye’s face, sparkling under the lights just moments ago, this infuriating before. At the sudden boyfriend question, Ji Na swallowed dryly.
“Uh……? Yeah, boyfriend…….”
She couldn’t bring herself to say she had broken up because he cheated with a new employee at the company. Was there any woman more pathetic than that? How unattractive must she be. Ji Na forced an awkward smile and waved her hands.
“My boyfriend is doing fine, I guess.”
Was it just her imagination that Jin Woo’s eyes flashed for a second? More than anything, Ji Na wanted to escape this situation as quickly as possible.
“If you’ve been dating for five years, marriage talks must be coming up soon, right?”
Min Hye was persistent.
“I wonder…… if marriage is really necessary. It’s always the woman who loses out.”
At Ji Na’s words, it felt like she could hear Bo Ra and Yoon Ji blinking. Min Hye blinked her big eyes a few times before letting out a soft laugh.
“Wow, come on. Why would the woman lose out? He’d treat you like a queen for life.”
Min Hye’s proud nose bridge glistened under the light.
“If you keep dragging things out like that, your boyfriend will get snatched by another woman. You.”
For a moment, Ji Na nearly poured her water glass right over Min Hye’s perfectly arched eyebrows and long eyelashes that she had clearly put extra effort into.
“Haha……. Well, then it just wasn’t meant to be.”
It was miserable. Her own pathetic situation, sitting here talking about fate.
Ji Na bit her lip hard after speaking.
“They say if it’s real love, the guy begs to get married first.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“We’re turning thirty next year already. My mom told me not to go past thirty, but my boyfriend freaks out about it even more than she does.”
Their giggling was so annoying.
Ah……. Why did I ever become friends with her? Seriously, why? When did we even become friends?
Ji Na seriously wondered if she needed to think about the damn starting point of this friendship.
“Hey, that’s why the guy has to like you for dating to happen.”
Min Hye acted all knowing and smug.
“You should be grateful I stopped you back then. Lee Ji Na.”
“Huh? Stopped me from what?”
All eyes turned to Ji Na again. Unlike the curious gazes, Ji Na stared wide-eyed at Min Hye. Her eyes clearly said don’t say it, but Min Hye opened her mouth anyway.
“It’s an old story, but Ji Na used to have a crush on Jin Woo.”
“Oh my god, no way!”
“For real?”
Her friends’ over-the-top reactions made Ji Na even more uncomfortable.
“Who didn’t have a crush on Jin Woo back then…… He was super popular.”
Ji Na hurriedly explained. Her face was burning so much she could barely stand it. She wasn’t a teenager anymore.
“I told you not to even look at a tree you can’t climb. People should live within their means. Otherwise things go wrong. That’s why we can still hang out comfortably like this with Jin Woo now. If things got awkward back then, it would’ve been awkward with him too. Right, Jin Woo?”
Min Hye’s infuriating voice ended as she rested her chin on her hands and looked at Jin Woo.
“Ah……. So Senior Min Hye said that.”
Jin Woo’s voice came out low, somehow scraping the floor.
“Lee Ji Na, this girl. Without me, you’d have been single forever. You should appreciate having a friend like me.”
Min Hye glanced at Ji Na while taking full credit.
It was a very long time ago, but it still remained vivid in Ji Na’s heart like it happened yesterday.
When Ji Na started liking Jin Woo, when Min Hye found out about her feelings, and when Min Hye told her to give up on Jin Woo.
And finally, when Jin Woo confessed to Ji Na.
Everything was clear. Etched in her heart like an old photograph.
Soon the food arrived. The friends eagerly ate and chatted away, but Ji Na felt like she was alone on a deserted island.
It hurt on one side of her chest as if an old festering wound had burst open again. Her nose stung, her eyes burned, and she couldn’t properly use her fork.
“Guys, I need to go to the bathroom.”
Right before tears could fall, Ji Na ran to the restroom. She absolutely didn’t want to cry in front of her friends, especially not in front of Park Min Hye.
After splashing cold water to calm her emotions, Ji Na stepped out of the bathroom. Jin Woo was leaning right in front of her.
“Oh? You came to the bathroom too.”
Since the men’s and women’s restrooms were next to each other, Ji Na casually said that and tried to pass by Jin Woo. But Jin Woo’s business wasn’t the bathroom—it was Ji Na. He grabbed her wrist and headed to the emergency stairs next to the restrooms.
“Did you like me?”
Jin Woo’s dark eyes wavered. They looked reproachful, as if asking why she never said anything. Ji Na’s eyes trembled slightly as they met his directly.
If I had said something back then, would things have been different? Would I not have stayed single forever like Min Hye said?
Standing close face-to-face in the dark emergency stairs, Jin Woo’s unusually tall height and build caught Ji Na’s eye. She felt an indescribable pressure from him. Ji Na spoke as calmly as possible, pretending to be unaffected.
“That’s ancient history.”
Then Jin Woo slowly smiled. A beautiful smile like an angel’s.
“For me.”
Every time Jin Woo opened his mouth, a sweet scent hit her.
“It’s still the present.”
She wasn’t unaware. Of course she knew. But. Min Hye’s words kept echoing in Ji Na’s ears.
‘Know your place.’
Ji Na’s flustered eyes shook aimlessly. Jin Woo’s face came so close their noses could touch.
“I still like you. Noona.”
Her heart pounded uncontrollably at Jin Woo’s breathtakingly sweet confession.
The silence of the emergency stairs where only the two of them were felt cruelly loud with her heartbeat. What if Jin Woo could hear it too? Ji Na could only bite the inside of her cheek and say nothing.
“I’ll wait. Just like until now.”
Jin Woo was sincere. Even in the darkness, his eyes shone desperately.
“I was so happy earlier hearing that you liked me in the past. But why didn’t you say anything? I’m so sad that we missed all the time we could have loved each other more.”
“I told you. It’s just the past.”
Ji Na suppressed her tightening heart and looked at Jin Woo.
She was happy to see him again.
And honestly, she was happy when she found out he still liked her.
“You can’t be tied to the past.”
“Why not……?”
That was. Ji Na took a brief breath.
Her breath felt especially heated today.
“I had a boyfriend until recently.”
At Ji Na’s words, Do Jin’s eyes lowered. Wait, no—Jin Woo’s eyes lowered.
“If you still can’t forget him…….”
“No, it’s not that.”
She no longer had any feelings for Do Jin. To the point where their five years together felt meaningless.
“I just don’t have confidence.”
The boyfriend she dated for five years had abandoned her.
He chose a much prettier and younger woman.
Any man would do the same.
Even the Jin Woo standing in front of her right now. Maybe just because he couldn’t have her before.
If he did get her, he might throw her away without regret just like Do Jin.
“Ha…….”
Ji Na’s train of thought was cut off by Jin Woo’s rough sigh.
Jin Woo ran his hand through his hair with a somewhat angry expression.
“I’m different from that jerk.”
The way Jin Woo spat through clenched teeth made it seem like he was barely containing his anger. Ji Na, whose thoughts had been read, wanted to hide somewhere.
“I’m going back in first.”
Jin Woo could no longer hold onto Ji Na as she hurriedly opened the emergency stair door and left. The warm breath he had felt from her moments ago now felt like an illusion.
Why are you making that expression with your pretty eyes, noona.
Ji Na’s pretty and lively eyes were now scared and shrinking.
The confident and bright Ji Na from when they were younger was definitely different from now.
He liked the current Ji Na who had become more feminine and mature, but he hated seeing her lacking confidence and looking at others’ reactions.
Jin Woo clenched his empty fist tightly and eventually left the emergency stairs.
His adam’s apple bobbed like waves as he held back burning anger.
“Why now.”
Min Hye welcomed Jin Woo as if she had been waiting for a while. Ji Na, who had returned to her seat earlier, was cutting her portion of meat with a knife.
“I had to take a call, sorry.”
Jin Woo smiled gently and sat back in his seat.
“Jin Woo, want to go on a blind date?”
So that’s why she was looking for him. Ji Na stabbed a piece of steak that was practically bleeding with her fork.
“A blind date?”
When Jin Woo repeated it, Min Hye leaned forward with sparkling eyes.
“Yeah yeah. I have a really pretty friend.”
“I already like someone.”
At the unexpected words, Min Hye’s eyebrows shot up.
“Huh? Really?”
Her expression clearly showed disappointment.
“Aww come on. So you’re not actually single.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t she date you the moment you say you like her?”
“Well…… it’s difficult.”
Jin Woo’s voice resonated low. Ji Na chewed the piece of meat in her mouth. Her face inexplicably heated up at Jin Woo’s sudden coming out. She had to distract herself as much as possible.
“Why is it difficult? Does that girl have really high standards? Wow.”
“It can’t be that she’s married…… right?”
“Ew, no way.”
Min Hye and the friends chattered while letting their imaginations run wild.
“What kind of person is she? Is she pretty?”
When Min Hye persistently asked, Jin Woo smirked.
“She is. She’s pretty.”
Kyaaah, the friends screamed. In contrast, Ji Na was now practically massacring her meat. She knew exactly who Jin Woo was talking about, so she couldn’t look up.
“Amazing.”
“What does she do?”
“Hmm…… I’ll introduce her if things work out later.”
At Jin Woo’s attitude of not saying more, Min Hye pouted slightly with a disappointed face.
“Whoever it is must be so lucky.”
Ji Na, experiencing some mysterious cuisine that she couldn’t tell if she was chewing meat or rubber bands, continued cutting her steak with a still-red face.
“Lee Ji Na, did you drink all the wine by yourself? Why is your face so red?”
Min Hye, with her national-athlete-level perceptiveness, shot out. She clearly knew Ji Na hadn’t touched the wine, so her intention was obvious. When Ji Na looked up, her face was indeed red as if wine had been poured on it.
“What, did Jin Woo confess to you or something? He said he likes someone, so why is your face red. Don’t overreact.”
Min Hye sneered at Ji Na. Ji Na stayed silent like a mute who had eaten honey, unsure what to say. She wanted to retort but couldn’t say anything.
All sorts of thoughts were tangled together blocking her throat. And this damn meat too. No matter how much she chewed, it wouldn’t break down.
“Wow, seriously Lee Ji Na, you’re hopeless.”
Min Hye giggled. Her skill at embarrassing people under the guise of joking never died. It had been her specialty since school days.
“The meat…… is too tough.”
Ji Na barely swallowed the meat and said. She really shouldn’t have met Min Hye. Maybe cursing her out would make her feel better. As Ji Na lifted her water glass, a heavy voice rang out.
“You’re right.”
In that moment,achos Ji Na’s hand and Min Hye’s mocking eyes stopped.
“The person I like is Ji Na noona.”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
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