Why was it so difficult to extend a hand, let someone lean on my shoulder? The simplicity of doing so emerged as a difficulty.
Living as neighbors, we even shared the door lock password, but Jianne did not guard against me.
So, it was harder to cross the line. I didn’t want someone I trusted to be disappointed.
Why did it have to be a “family-like” friend? I thought it was a good thing, but it turned out to be a nasty saying.
Since the past time couldn’t be rewound, Ha-Jun thought it was truly over now.
When Jianne stopped walking, Ha-Jun expressed empty thoughts, grabbing her arm, then letting go, and finally lightly hitting her with a fist.
“Take care. If it’s hard, call anyone, except me… I’m busy.”
“I’m doing well. Stop worrying. Say your concerns until we part ways. Hurry and go if you’re busy. And, cut back on work a bit.”
“Concerns… You’ve always lived alone. If it doesn’t work out, I was thinking of calling So-Min. I’ll go to the hospital. Don’t worry.”
When Jianne disappeared into Lake Tower, Ha-Jun turned his steps only then. There probably wouldn’t be a reason to come here again.
To Jianne, who seemed to have already cut off the casual meeting, it looked like it was my turn to cut this time.
Returning home, Jianne sat at the end of the bed, shoulders relaxed with a sense of relief that Jiyoon’s funeral had ended well.
In the mirror of the dressing table across, the neat dress for a date with Danwoo was reflected. Only then did Friday night come to mind.
‘There will be another chance.’
Being alone in the silent space, the vitality that had been holding on escaped in an instant.
The effort to look okay, the determination not to act rude while sending Jiyoon off—all vanished, leaving a void as if everything had emptied out.
However, Jianne made an effort to gather strength and entered the bathroom. Raising the shower, she stood under the falling water for a while.
Suddenly, severe fatigue rushed in, and strength drained from her hands and feet. Not having slept properly for the five days of the funeral, drowsiness overwhelmed her.
On limbs from which energy had drained, the burdensome reality gripped Jianne heavily and deeply, pulling her down.
Entering the bedroom as if dragging her legs, Jianne collapsed onto the bed, murmuring softly.
“I miss you, Dad.”
A few hours later, Jianne’s deeply sleeping body twitched. She groaned laboriously, as if she was struggling against a nightmare.
Regaining consciousness in the moist air, Jianne moved her stiffened body. The moment cold moisture touched the tips of her toes, her body stiffened instantly, and consciousness sank terrifyingly.
At that moment, beyond the dark vision, her dad stood alone in the silent space. Jianne, overcoming a melancholic sadness, took hesitant steps.
Dad.
No matter how hard she tried, her voice wouldn’t come out. She reached out as if it would reach, but the more she did, the farther it seemed.
As she took another step, for a moment, her gaze fell into a distant abyss. The moment her breath caught, she fell into the abyss again.
Then, standing up again and walking, she still couldn’t reach her dad.
In the stifling dream, Jianne wanted to scream with all her might. Her earnestness turned into a sob, flowing through her lips.
“Dad!”
Jianne, soaked in sweat, opened her eyes wide.
Upon waking up, she looked at the ceiling with sorrow and grief. Raising her collapsed body, Jianne sat on the edge of the bed and silently stared into space.
Tears that had welled up to the throat choked her dry throat. Jianne, feeling suffocated, struck her chest tightly with her fist.
In that moment, the image of her grandmother’s house flashed through Jianne’s mind.
With tangled curls, she opened her phone and checked the messages exchanged with Jiyoon.
There were pictures of the changed color of the outer wall and the removal of cement from the yard, replaced with gravel.
There were also pictures Jiyoon sent of the day he replaced the window and put in a new sink, and pictures he sent to choose the wallpaper he liked.
Then, the address Jiyoon sent appeared on the screen.
At that moment, Jianne wanted to go to her grandmother’s house in Goyang, so she immediately stood up.
She went straight to the powder room, grabbed the first piece of clothing that came to her hand, and as she quickly put it on her shoulders, she realized it was a dark brown cardigan.
Carrying only her phone and feeling restless, Jianne rushed to the emergency exit, not willing to wait for the elevator on the first floor.
What might Dad have wanted to say once the family gathered?
Jianne felt her heart pounding wildly, thinking that there might be traces left there when Jiyoon closed his life.
“I’m trying to go to Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Here’s the address.”
Getting into a taxi, Jianne showed the driver the village name and address displayed on her phone.
As the taxi started, Jianne anxiously looked out the window at a slant. The black ripples of the river in the dark night and the streetlights passed quickly.
Jianne’s thoughts about Jiyoon filled her mind.
As the taxi sped up on the highway and entered a quiet rural village, it began to slow down according to the navigation guidance.
After paying the fare and getting out of the back seat, the taxi quickly disappeared, rotating in the open space.
Receiving the call about her grandmother’s passing and remembering the time when Jiyoon came with her, Jianne looked back at her house. It had been over ten years since she was a student preparing for exams.
That was the last time.
Due to the late night, the surroundings were pitch dark, and the wind that had passed through the desolate field made the spring weather seem dull.
Jiyoon’s single-story tile-roofed house, built with the savings from working at a major company for five years, had transformed into a beautiful house like the ones on postcards.
Approaching the front gate, Jianne grabbed the long handle. Without exerting much force, the front door pushed open.
Carefully taking a step inside, the gravel in the yard made a crunching sound under her feet.
She took a deep breath and took another step.
A sorrowful word escaped Jianne’s lips against her will.
“Dad!”
Why didn’t he come running every time she sent a photo? Why did she believe the words telling her to come by when spring came?
She could have rushed here like this.
Jianne sat down in front of the entrance, clasping her hands together, barely managing to catch her breath. Forcing herself to stand up, she looked at the doorknob, and her lips twisted sadly.
Her grandmother would scold her for doing something unnecessary if she saw.
Touching the black screen, Jianne felt overwhelmed when she saw the numbers that appeared all at once.
“I should have taught him this.”
Worried that it might not be appropriate to wake up Uncle Jonggu at this hour, Jianne cautiously tried entering the numbers.
Beep, beep, beep. Beep.
Jianne, who had pressed Jiyoon’s birthday, pressed the numbers corresponding to her own birthday when the door did not open.
Then, with a click, the door lock was released, accompanied by a sound.
Holding the doorknob, Jianne took a deep breath. As she pulled the doorknob down and closed the door, the ceiling sensor light came on.
Jianne’s eyes teared up at the sight of the entrance guarded by a pair of sneakers. They were the sneakers she stubbornly wore to live as a couple with her dad.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
