Taeseok urged impatiently, but Director Hong was very relaxed.
“Hey. Does the signal change just because you shout? Take it easy.”
“You’re going too slowly.”
“Okay, okay.”
Then, suddenly, he started reminiscing, lost in memories and began to recount old stories. About how close they were in their second year of high school. While Taeseok and K competed for first and second place in the whole school, he competed for last place. At that time, their mother hoped that his grades would improve because of the two of them, but he, being a thick-headed guy, never let that happen.
“Okay, and step on the gas.”
With Taeseok’s jab, Director Hong chuckled.
“But that kid, overthrowing a well-established large company and becoming a hacker or whatever, is truly amazing. Being a white hat hacker is cool, but still, it couldn’t have been easy to submit a resignation.”
Taeseok only glared and didn’t respond. His thoughts were solely on Choi Yeoreum. Why did Ji Hyeonjeong go to meet her, and what did they talk about? He was on the verge of anxiousness, wondering if she hadn’t been hurt.
“But still, seeing K helping you out with your work, he’s quite a loyal guy. He doesn’t forget a favor. Back in high school, did you help him that much? He was poor, with no money to eat, and you fed him and took tutoring together.”
“Did I?”
Strangely, his heart didn’t calm down, and he couldn’t respond properly.
“Don’t just let K call you a benefactor and leave it at that. By the way, that kid is already a building owner. Envious.”
Both of them remembered K’s first office. A shabby 10-square-meter store located at the end of a worn-out shopping mall. A very old sign that read, “.”
K was a white hat hacker. He was famous for never touching innocent people, no matter how much money they offered. Thanks to that, he gained the trust of clients and quickly established himself.
In this way, he earned a lot of money, and in less than two years, he became the owner of a building in Gangnam. In the end, it was a much better choice than a large corporation.
They arrived at that building.
As Director Hong approached to press the elevator button, Taeseok pressed his temple slightly, making a strained expression. As anxiety rushed in, his head became dizzy, and a headache overwhelmed him.
A few days ago, he had taken a nerve stabilizer and made frequent mistakes, so he had decided not to take the medicine with determination. Perhaps because of this, anxiety and sensitivity reached an extreme level.
They took the elevator and went down to the third floor. Although he could earn more if he raised the rent, K, for some reason, used the entire third floor alone, like a show-off.
As they opened the glass door and entered, a voice could be heard from somewhere.
“Long time no see, everyone!”
He waved his hand, smiling, in the middle of the large office with dozens of desks. Director Hong approached him with a big smile.
“It’s been a long time. Hey, how much are you making? How much is the monthly rent for this building? What about taxes?”
But Taeseok didn’t have the luxury for that.
“Let’s get started.”
With a face that seemed like the thread of reason would snap at any moment, Taeseok spoke. Even after warning not to act recklessly several times, K pressed the play button after saying, “I clearly said it. If Seo Taeseok causes trouble, I won’t help again.”
Summer, captured at an angle like a scene from a denunciation program, appeared on K’s desktop. K played a 4-minute and 30-second video that he had edited, cropping only the essential parts.
Taeseok held his breath.
“Did you intentionally create such misunderstandings? Why? We broke up, that should be it!”
In Summer’s voice, tearfully tangled, Taeseok’s eyebrows deeply distorted, revealing his frustration. Pressing the button felt like triggering an exploding time bomb.
“Speak clearly. Seo Taeseok is falling because of you.”
4 minutes and 30 seconds passed in an instant. Ji Hyeonjeong taunted Summer in a haughty tone that Taeseok had never heard before. At first, Summer tried to endure, pressing down her emotions, but eventually, she exploded, causing an accident and leaving.
Director Hong wiped his chest and muttered to himself.
“Wow. This… What is all this?”
Taeseok just stood still. Without any change in expression, he stared at the monitor that had finished playing.
“Once more.”
In a somewhat eerie voice, K and Director Hong glanced at Taeseok, but there seemed to be no visible reaction. K played the video again with a pitiful expression.
“…I see.”
Taeseok said dryly.
Despite being aware of Ji Hyeonjeong’s involvement, hearing it directly was shocking. The older sister he had known all along was neither kind nor trustworthy. Taeseok had unreservedly taken all trust.
He clenched his teeth until they creaked.
“Taeseok.”
Feeling like he had to stop even though he hadn’t done anything, Director Hong grabbed Taeseok’s arm. Taeseok brushed him off gently and spoke quietly.
“I need to organize my thoughts.”
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
