“……”
There seemed to be a brief buffering moment in her mind. It took her a while to gather her thoughts amid the sporadic interruptions.
The CEO said he liked her. And so, he proposed to marry her……
“About……”
“About?”
Her eyes, lost in thought, blinked a few times. Se Kyung, with a troubled, kittenlike expression, looked up at Tae Jo.
“First take the saliva from your mouth before you lie……”
Tae Jo, holding his chin, laughed lightly. Se Kyung, her lips pouting slightly, bit off a piece of the baguette and chewed thoughtfully.
“I’m serious about wanting to marry you. I’m saying it for the second time, aren’t I?”
“But you’re lying about liking me.”
She was almost fooled by his sweet words.
Could he say he liked me all of a sudden, just overnight? It must be a lie to convince me, who said I wouldn’t marry him.
“Well, I don’t think that’s necessarily true.”
Se Kyung narrowed her eyes at his cryptic words.
“What does……that mean?”
“Se Kyung, you’re certain that I don’t like you.”
“Well, of course……”
……isn’t that so?
She had received help from him and had been drawn to his handsome looks, but… There was no reason for CEO Jin to like her.
“But it’s not like that. I like you more than you think.”
Se Kyung, gently biting her lower lip, fidgeted with her toes. It felt like someone was tickling the soles of her feet with a feather.
Truth be told, she didn’t expect to hear such words from Tae Jo, so she didn’t know how to respond.
“But just because you like me……it doesn’t mean you love me, does it?”
“If I say it’s love, will you believe it?”
“Hmm……”
Se Kyung, who had been contemplating for a moment, answered resolutely.
“No.”
She wouldn’t readily believe him, who would say such things even under normal circumstances. In a situation where she was pregnant, she wouldn’t just believe the words of a man proposing marriage because of the baby.
Tae Jo chuckled as if he expected her reaction.
“If you’re asking if it’s love, I don’t really know yet. Because I didn’t look at Se Kyung as a love interest all this while.”
As expected. I knew it.
The corners of Se Kyung’s mouth drooped. Tae Jo scrutinized her expression and continued speaking.
“So I’ve been thinking these past few days. The fact that I hugged Se Kyung when I was drunk, and that I’m more worried about the future than being angry about the pregnancy. I wonder if that might be because I like Se Kyung.”
“……”
“So that’s why I proposed marriage. But go ahead and say no if you don’t want to.”
“But the reason you proposed to me, CEO, is because of the baby.”
“So what if that’s the catalyst? There’s a saying, isn’t there? Marry first, then fall in love.”
Marry first, then fall in love.
Was it because CEO Jin said those words? It felt strangely fitting, yet awkward at the same time.
“Where did you hear……such a thing?”
“I’m a CEO of a content production company. I can’t fall behind the trends.”
But there’s no need to apply that trend to yourself, is there?
“Or, Ms. Se Kyung, do you go about dating in order? Gathering feelings, confessing, physical contact. And finally leading to marriage?”
“That’s usually how it goes.”
“Usual, huh.”
Tae Jo mumbled in a soft voice, then he met Se Kyung’s eyes and pulled up the corners of his mouth in a smile.
“But what to do? Ms. Se Kyung and I already have our sequence all mixed up.”
With a mischievous smile, he was fully prepared to tease Se Kyung.
“Without confessing, not only did we sleep together, but we also have a child.”
Tae Jo kindly listed the jumbled sequence.
“Uh, that, that’s……”
Se Kyung’s mouth was sealed shut. Then, her face flushed, she covered it with her hands.
“But if you liked me, why didn’t you confess?”
Thinking about it now, it was a bit unfair. If I had known earlier that Se Kyung liked me, would Mun Seok Ju have accused me of being a drunkard?
“President… You don’t like to get involved with entertainers in the company.”
Se Kyung peeked at Tae Jo’s face through her fingers.
“So even if you received a confession, you refused.”
“Who told you that?”
“Just around and about. It’s a rumor.”
Did I say something wrong? Se Kyung, her face covered, lowered her hand a little and gauged Tae Jo’s reaction.
“Is that not the case?”
“Well, it’s not wrong.”
Tae Jo stroked his chin as if thinking about something.
“Is that all Ms. Se Kyung heard?”
“Is there something else?”
Se Kyung, her eyes full of surprise, tilted her head.
What I heard was that Tae Jo had received confessions from several actresses and ruthlessly rejected them.
So, in the past, some of the actresses affiliated with Jin Entertainment did not renew their contracts, and some left the company midway.
“No. Well, it’s nothing.”
As if he didn’t want to mention it, Tae Jo didn’t say any more.
“But that’s interesting. You didn’t confess to me for fear of rejection, how did we end up sleeping together?”
“It’s clear that I would be rejected, so why bother confessing? I didn’t want it to be awkward with the President either. And, I think I was a bit tipsy that night……”
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
