This was the first time Ha Joon decisively declared Jian as a friend, so Yeon Woo looked at him with surprised eyes.
Although Jian had suddenly moved and Ha Joon’s behavior was strange, Yeon Woo did not think much of it, considering that he was guarding the seat at Jae Yun’s funeral.
Yeon Woo had vaguely thought that the two might be more than friends, so she was both surprised and secretly upset.
“Aren’t we just friends? Very old friends. There is also a connection with Jian’s father. More than that, it’s a position I held as a legal consultant for the Genesis agency. I also understood the person I was seeing.”
Ha Joon lied casually about having someone he was seeing, and without any change in expression, he silently looked at Yeon Woo.
He felt not guilt for lying but hoped his mother would believe his words.
If Yeon Woo knew that Jian had someone else and that Ha Joon knew about it, she would be saddened.
When Yeon Woo occasionally asked, ‘When will you two get married?’ it reminded him of the moment, and a bitter smile appeared on Ha Joon’s lips.
It would have been better if you had thought about that seriously without delay.
While Ha Joon briefly regretted, Yeon Woo nodded understandingly.
“Parents are on their child’s side. If the child is happy, I’m happy too. …If that’s your decision, Mom knows it that way.”
Yeon Woo made a meaningful remark, smiled with pursed lips, and laughed.
When Ha Joon got up and picked up the tie hanging on the chair, Yeon Woo approached closely and extended her hand. To align with Ha Joon’s eye level, Yeon Woo stretched her legs sideways.
Examining Yeon Woo’s complexion, Ha Joon asked in a lonely voice, “Mother, what do you find so appealing about Jian?”
“Me? Well, with only three sons. Can’t I be biased?”
Yeon Woo gave a common answer and finished tying the knot of the tie. Then, stepping back, she added, “At first, when you said you liked her, I took notice. I heard that she was alone at the daycare, so I brought her home, but she was too conscious. Then, our eyes met, and she smiled brightly. I didn’t know how beautiful that face was.”
“…”
“When Jian comes to our house, she only did what you liked and played. Dinosaurs, heavy machinery, spinning tops, things like that. Do you think other girls would do that? But she never once said she didn’t like it.”
Since Jian lived as a neighbor cousin and focused on her preferences, Ha Joon already knew the fact.
Whenever Jian asked for something, she went so far as to act sweet, even expressing distaste, as if it had become a habit. Why on earth did she habitually say that there’s no free lunch to Yoon Ha Joon!
“You don’t have to worry too much about Jian. You know that. She’s good at things even on her own.”
“That’s true. What about the lady you’re dating? Is she also a lawyer?”
“Yes. She’s my colleague, and we met at the training institute.”
When Yeon Woo asked about the woman he was dating, Ha Joon hastily fabricated a lie. Then, quickly finishing his preparations for work, he left the house.
A little later.
Ha Joon’s sedan slowed down in front of Lake Tower. When the car stopped, he muttered in a disappointed voice, “Why did I come here!”
Contrary to his words, Ha Joon couldn’t start the car and turned his head toward the sidewalk block. He thought Jian might not have gone to work around this time if she had returned to her house.
Without calling Jian or visiting her rural home, he wanted to know if she had returned.
As Jian didn’t reveal herself, he became anxious and eventually took out a cigarette.
Until just a few months ago, Jian, who lived as a neighbor and saw him off with a shy face, still lingered in his mind. He used to look at her with pitiful eyes.
“There’s no other crazy person like me.”
Feeling melancholic about Jian, Ha Joon checked the dashboard’s clock and started the engine. Since she hadn’t gone to work, it meant she hadn’t come back.
Turning the steering wheel to enter the road, Ha Joon’s belated realization of driving to Lake Tower was absurd. To clear his complicated thoughts, he pressed the radio button.
In the lyrics unexpectedly flowing from the radio, the moment his heart was torn apart.
Squeak. Thud.
“Oh, darn it.”
Ha Joon, who suddenly stepped on the brakes, cursed while biting back his swear words.
At the lyrics saying, “If love hurts too much, it’s not love,” his heart trembled, and a bitter laugh erupted.
“I didn’t love Kim Jian. I just drifted apart from you.”
Despite insisting that it wouldn’t hurt at just one line of the song lyrics, my heart ached to the point where I lost my mind.
The moment I unconsciously uttered the word parasite and casually called it a mistake, the self-esteem that eventually decided to stay as a friend came back sharply.
I should have begged desperately. I should have cried out that it had to be you. I should have clung to you as if I would die without you.
What right do I have to be hurt over something I didn’t do?
During the rush hour, Ha Joon, who had stopped in the middle of the road, couldn’t move even though the honking sounds echoed from all directions.
Having spent an extra day at the hotel, Jian and Danwoo had breakfast and lunch and then went for a walk. The ginger tea they had brought with them warmed Jian’s stomach.
Danwoo suddenly thought of Mr. Kim, the roommate he had placed to monitor me.
Mr. Kim, who used to monitor my daily life and report to Woosunho, had ironically made me feel that I wasn’t alone because of Mr. Kim.
Danwoo, who had experienced firsthand that having someone with you was the greatest comfort, thought of Mr. Kim.
“How about living together in the penthouse for a while when we go back to Seoul?”
Danwoo, looking at Jian, affectionately smiled and cautiously revealed his inner thoughts.
‘Wasn’t I alone before?’
Trusting those words and leaving Jian alone, Danwoo regretted his trip to Jeju Island. The fact that he left her alone, knowing that it was a time that she couldn’t endure alone, tormented him constantly.
“It will be better than being alone. Let’s stay together until you feel relieved.”
“…”
Jian, who was about to refute, swallowed the words and closed her mouth.
She knew better than anyone else how she had been for the past few days. Crying in her dreams, waking up and sitting alone. The time when she felt helpless, contrary to her will, was actually burdensome and difficult.
If Danwoo hadn’t awakened her, she would have cried and worn herself out in the dream on the night three days ago.
Yet, Jian, who never thought about a decision she hadn’t considered before, looked at Danwoo with a tense face, unable to make a decision.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
