Yeoreum walked lightly over and sat across from him. A refreshing floral scent brushed past him. It must be her shampoo; she didn’t use perfume. That distinct clean scent made him turn around once more. It was the same that day.
Three years ago. Hong, the manager, said he was drinking with a college friend. Tae-seok joined them late.
Entering the bar, he spent quite some time looking for Hong, as there was no table with just two men. He finally found Hong sitting with a woman, realizing only then that his friend was a woman.
Approaching them, he heard her high-pitched laughter. Wearing a fluttering mint dress, the woman was laughing beautifully across Hong. As he got closer, a cool, verdant floral scent filled the air.
“Seo Tae-seok is really Min-woo’s friend? I’m so excited… Oh my!”
The woman, who hadn’t noticed him approaching, was startled upon realizing Tae-seok was right beside her. Her clear eyes, tinged with a hint of blue, widened.
“Hello, I’m Seo Tae-seok.”
At that moment, Tae-seok fell for Yeoreum at first sight. It was the first time he saw a woman eat so prettily without caring about her figure. But he didn’t plan to fall for it a second time.
He coldly addressed Yeoreum sitting across from him.
“Aren’t you going to apologize first?”
Yeoreum replied quickly, maintaining her composure.
“Breaking up is possible when feelings fade. I don’t think it’s something to apologize for.”
“Bold. Not knowing your place.”
“And if we have to keep meeting like this, I’d appreciate it if you maintained manners. I’d prefer we use formal language with each other.”
Her comments seemed well-prepared. Tae-seok smiled skillfully.
“Like social distancing. I like it.”
“Using formal language to each other…”
“But before that.”
He wanted to know many things. How she had hidden herself away, why she reported tax evasion, why she took the money, why she returned.
Did she ever love him?
His solar plexus ached. Choi Yeoreum still looked beautiful and innocent.
He had decided not to be fooled again, yet facing her clear face, he got confused again. Perhaps there had been some misunderstanding. The Choi Yeoreum he knew wasn’t cruel enough to commit such deceit…
Damn it.
Tae-seok cursed softly. He kept forgetting that the naïve one was not the con artist, but himself.
“Why did you do that to me?”
Yeoreum replied upright.
“What do you mean?”
“Everything.”
“…”
“Everything you did to stab me in the back.”
Yeoreum exhaled softly. Her face, usually so expressive, was unreadable today.
It’s scary how work changes people. The innocent job seeker had become a sly snake in just two years. Probably thinking of more lies.
“…I said I didn’t like you anymore and you wouldn’t let go.”
An unexpected answer hit his heart.
“Love needs mutual affection, but a breakup ends with one side changing. I’ve changed, I don’t like Seo Tae-seok anymore, but you kept insisting, so I had no choice but to…”
“You tried to cut me off.”
“Yes.”
“Until the day before, you whispered love in bed, and the next day you hated me to the point of shaking.”
“…Yes.”
Her mask of slyness didn’t come off easily. But eyes can’t wear masks, so the confusion in her eyes reached Tae-seok.
“So, what you’re saying is, it wasn’t premeditated, it was a crime of passion?”
“Yes.”
She answered without even understanding the question. A sneer escaped him.
“Don’t you have anything you want to ask me?”
There were things she wanted to ask.
Did he really believe she did that ridiculous thing? Did he ever reflect on why she had to turn away so suddenly? Did he never think of finding her and asking? But she kept quiet.
“Nothing at all.”
If they started talking, it would never end. It was not worth rehashing each other’s wounds. Yeoreum firmly closed the gates of her heart and stood upright, using the most rigid tone possible.
“Not at all.”
Tae-seok’s eyes, which held a hint of kindness, suddenly hardened. Even without looking, she could feel the change in the air’s density.
“Understood, writer Choi Yeoreum.”
Yeoreum suggested it, and he accepted it. A clear social distancing was established.
“But.”
His voice was filled with coldness.
“As I said before, I never agreed to break up. So behave nicely as I tell you to.”
“I already said that a breakup is possible when one person changes…”
“Don’t try to educate me.”
Tae-seok showed a cold smile. Yeoreum shut her mouth.
“The breakup will happen my way, when I want it. Writer Choi, just listen to me and wait.”
“Stop being unreasonable.”
“Do you have the script?”
Tae-seok maintained formalities and suddenly asked another question.
“No. You didn’t ask me to bring it.”
“From now on, when I call you again, always bring the script. You may leave.”
Tae-seok gestured towards the entrance without standing up. Yeoreum felt uneasy ending the conversation this way but wanted to leave even more. She bowed and headed to the entrance.
A low curse was heard from behind.
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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