‘Yes. The house is so pretty. Is there a problem?’
After an anxious silence, the answer she wanted to hear came.
No. There’s no problem. You’re lucky. This is a confirmation call. The front door passcode is 3579. Did you take a note?
‘Am I lucky? Thank you. But, is it far from the city?’
Did you check the precautions on the site? You need to rent a car to get in. It takes ten minutes to the mart.
‘Thank you. I’ll call you again once I arrive in Jeju.’
Yes, please do that.
Ji An turned the ignition and tried the number again, but the call didn’t go through.
“Since I have the address, let’s just start for now.”
Starting the car, her mood improved considerably, perhaps because of the open roads of Jeju.
The sky was ashcolored and the wind blew strongly, but it didn’t matter.
Would it be like this for the entire month?
She mumbled while looking at the milestones starting from the Miniature Theme Park and ending at the Thought Garden.
“Since there’s a lot to see, I’ll forget about Ha Joon and have a good time. I can do this on my own. Why can’t I? I can!”
The red compact car passed through the center of Jeju and entered the seaside village of Ha Do Ri.
As she spotted the basalt fence she had seen on the website, she hit the brake and gradually reduced her speed.
With a shawl around her shoulders, Ji An exclaimed in an emotional voice.
“It’s beautiful. I’m glad I came. This is when I should praise myself. Well done, Kim Ji An!”
The house she had contracted looked even better in person.
It was a modern house with large windows that allowed plenty of sky and sea, and a spacious yard that harmoniously combined with the charming stone wall.
Ji An, who entered the yard after pushing the low gate, stepped on the stepping stones leading to the entrance.
The yellowed, dried winter grass rustled in the wind.
“It’ll be prettier in the summer.”
When she pressed the four numbers, the door lock was released.
She brought the carryon into the living room, tilting her head at the disheveled cushions on the sofa and the documents stacked zigzaggedly on the table.
While Dan Woo was examining the building register, a black SUV driven by Tae Yun stopped in front of the vacant building.
“Let’s get out, Mr. Representative.”
As the deeply tinted window was lowered, the hazy sky filled the view and a nearly completed building came into sight.
“What about the completion inspection?”
“We didn’t pass, but there are no issues.”
While Dan Woo was getting out of the car and moving, Tae Yun added.
“The location is good and the building was designed as a shopping mall from the start, so we could open earlier.”
“How did it fall through?”
Tae Yun interjected as Dan Woo put down the documents he was holding.
“Jeju is an island, right? I guess Jeju City stopped it because of the sewage treatment capacity issue. But I think a company like Ace could have room to negotiate.”
“They must have something else they want.”
“Yep. They do.”
Dan Woo nodded as if he understood.
Ace, a USbased shopping mall specialist company, was operating Play Round, a shopping mall complex, in 24 major cities worldwide.
Play Round Korea had its first store slated to open and was planning for the second store.
Chairman Michael wanted Jeju for the second location, and Dan Woo was in charge of this project.
Tae Yun touched the tablet lightly.
“Look at the layout. It wouldn’t be a loss to open as Play Round, right?”
“Well.”
“The person who received full authority is Representative Woo Dan Woo, so you make the decision.”
Dan Woo, with his hands stuck in the pockets of his jeans, looked up at the building.
Tae Yun also looked up at the building with him and added.
“Kid, I thought you could do it.”
“The real thing starts now. It took over 10 years to get this far.”
The pupils of Dan Woo, recalling past memories, darkened deeply.
The day he received a phone call from his father saying he would be away, a fire broke out in the house where he lived with his mother, and he first met Woo Sun Ho, who introduced himself as his brother.
The document that he presented, citing his mother’s critical condition, was a consent form for liver transplantation.
In his urgency, Dan Woo, who signed without even reading the documents, ended up donating his liver to his son, Woo Jung Hyun, who was suffering from liver failure.
There were many implications in Dan Woo’s lonely words.
“It’s a day I regret everything. Such a pathetic and foolish guy.”
Had his father not had an accident that day, Woo Dan Woo would have become a shareholder owning 5% of Haesong’s shares.
He would have never known the truth if it were not for Michael, who investigated him.
Looking back at Dan Woo, Tae Yun asked,
“Where could it be? The 5% share.”
“One thing’s for sure, it’s not with Woo Sun Ho. It might be the reason he kept my mother and me alive. It’s a secret my father held.”
Tae Yun, with an unknowing expression, mentioned Michael.
“Chairman Michael, even if he knew Chairman Woo Soo Ho, it was an absurd proposal.”
Dan Woo, with his index finger raised, spoke with determination to clear this up.
“He said I resembled my father. What Michael demanded was the latest version of Eagles, which was not made public. He incited revenge, but I watched.”
“He’s quite an odd man.”
At that moment, the gray sky far away flashed and split with a thunderous sound.
Dan Woo, swallowing a bitter smile, walked towards the car.
“Let’s go. Check the weather.”
“A forecast of heavy rain with thunder and lightning. We heard it together.”
“In winter?”
“This is Jeju Island. It’s an island.”
Tae Yun, always parking in front of the basalt wall, slowed down his black SUV and briefly expressed his question.
“Huh?”
It was because of the red compact car that contrasted with the gray wall.
Dan Woo’s head tilted in the same direction as Tae Yun. It wouldn’t be strange if there were other houses nearby, but that wasn’t the case either.
Looking at Tae Yun, Dan Woo asked,
“Was someone supposed to come?”
“No.”
“But then?”
Although his boss’s question was expected, Tae Yun couldn’t answer.
Thud, thud.
Rain fell, engraving water lines on the windshield along with the sound striking the roof of the car.
A flash of light occurred in the sky over the distant ocean, and thunder immediately followed.
Opening the driver’s seat door, Tae Yun spoke.
“They must be tourists who came to see the sea. There’s a small beach not far from here.”
Dan Woo, who got out of the car and stepped into the yard, looked back at Tae Yun. His hand pointed at the brightly lit living room.
“Even so?”
“Eh! Who could it be?”
“Let’s go in first.”
Upon entering the code 3579, the door lock was released and Dan Woo stepped inside, stopping abruptly.
It was simultaneous with Ji An, who broke the egg yolk and was lifting ramen, turning her head.
Startled eyes that collided in midair were directed at each other.
Dan Woo, with his foot on the living room threshold, and Ji An, who was sitting slightly turned on a stool, faced each other forgetting what to say.
“We meet again here,” Dan Woo, who was about to say these words, swallowed them and lifted his other foot into the living room.
The voice of Tae Yun, who followed in, broke the silence.
“Who are you?”
Ji An, who put her chopsticks back into the pot, swallowed her saliva.
Ah! This isn’t right.
She grabbed the chopsticks again, divided them into both hands, stood up from her seat, and took a defensive taekwondo stance.
“What are you guys doing?”
Who should answer?
Astounded, Dan Woo shoved his hands deep into his pockets and sighed towards the ceiling.
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.]
