Both his body and mind were tired. The desire to leave this place quickly overwhelmed him.
Jinwook spoke to Hongseok, “I’ll go out after taking care of work at the company. I’ll go in first.”
“You don’t have to come if you’re busy. Yeah, go in quickly.”
Jinwook, bowing his head, left the hospital room.
⭐⭐⭐
Exiting the room, Jinwook passed through the corridor and headed to the elevator.
His head throbbed. The air in the hospital felt more stifling than in the company. Meeting with people here who had nothing good to offer each other was worse than burying himself in documents at the company.
[Floor 7.]Jinwook entered the elevator. Perhaps it was late, but there was no one inside the elevator.
Standing on one side of the elevator, he pressed the button for the 1st floor. The moving elevator stopped abruptly before going down a few floors.
[Floor 5.]The elevator door opened on the 5th floor. Jinwook looked ahead. Outside the open door stood a woman.
A white shirt with a navy tie. A gray skirt that comes down to the knees. A black backpack. It was a familiar outfit.
For a moment, the scene when entering this hospital came to mind.
“Please, save my mom.”
It was that female student who had desperately cried out in the rain.
She was wearing her school uniform in the elevator. Despite the door closing, she stood still, looking down as if she couldn’t do anything. She seemed like someone who couldn’t speak or move unless someone helped her.
Even as the elevator announced, “[The door is closing],” the female student remained unchanged. It was as if she were a person who couldn’t do anything without someone helping her.
As the elevator door slowly closed, the image of the female student gradually disappeared. Her black hair, wet up to the shoulders, the moist school uniform, and neatly tied sneakers gradually faded from sight.
“……. ”
At the moment when the door was almost closed, Jinwook reached out his hand. And he pressed the open button.
The door opened again, revealing the female student. Jinwook spoke to her.
“Aren’t you getting in?”
Only then did the female student lift her head and face him directly. Her face, which he couldn’t see properly because it was lowered, became clear.
Large brown pupils, a small but firm nose, lips tinged with crimson.
Her skin was as white as transparent, and her wet hair had a brownish tint.
It was a beautiful face. At the same time, it was a face filled with sadness.
Moisture was on her face, and her pupils were also moist. She looked frail and vulnerable, like a fawn that had lost its mother.
On one side of the moist school uniform, a name tag was attached.
[Kang Yeonju]Jinwook gazed at the female student as if he were captivated. He didn’t know the reason. From the moment their eyes met, strangely, he couldn’t take his gaze away.
The female student, realizing belatedly that Jinwook had held the door for her, bowed her head slightly.
“Thank you.”
Even her voice was delicate. The female student boarded the elevator.
And she stood a little away from Jinwook. A mix of rain and the scent of shampoo emanated from the female student.
Standing close, her height was quite impressive. Honestly, if she hadn’t been wearing a school uniform, he wouldn’t have known she was a student; she exuded a mature atmosphere.
The elevator that both of them boarded began to move again. Jinwook stood at the back of the elevator, and the female student stood near the door.
Her shoulders came into Jinwook’s sight. They were trembling, either from the cold or fear. The thoroughly wet backpack dripped moisture onto the floor.
How long could she have been in the rain…
“Please, save my mom.”
“I’ll do anything. Please don’t give up. I’ll repay the money later.”
Considering the words he heard at the main entrance and the floor she boarded, probably her mother’s condition didn’t seem good. It seemed like a situation where someone’s help was needed.
Her shoulders kept trembling. It looked pitiful, but there was nothing he could do.
Helping out just because it seemed pitiful was not something he would do. He had learned that baseless kindness could be poisonous.
She was a female student he had never seen before, with nothing known about her except her name. He had no reason to show her kindness or to help her. It was because there was nothing to gain by helping her.
It wasn’t indifference; it was realism. He had lived his whole life like this and survived in this harsh world. Petty sympathy was nothing but a luxury and a waste of time.
[1st floor.]When they arrived on the 1st floor, the female student got off, and Jinwook followed suit. Her steps were heavy, and her strides were small.
Jinwook passed her and walked ahead. As they left the lobby and looked outside, it was still raining.
There was a chauffeur waiting at the front gate, having received prior notice. The chauffeur put an umbrella over Jinwook and escorted him to the parked car.
Jinwook took a seat in the back. The only wet part of him from the front gate to this place was the tip of his shoes. After the chauffeur got into the driver’s seat, he asked, “Where shall I take you, sir?”
“To the company.”
“Yes, understood.”
The car slowly moved, leaving the front gate. Jinwook immediately focused on work documents on his tablet.
Squeak, squeak. The wipers were busy wiping the rain-smeared windshield again. Glancing up from his tablet, Jinwook heard the chauffeur mutter, “I don’t know when the rain will stop.”
Jinwook lifted his gaze to the window. Thick raindrops were pattering against the ground outside. And in the rain, the figure of someone walking caught his attention.
By the heavy footsteps and the small, delicate figure, it seemed like someone he knew.
It was the female student he had encountered in the elevator.
She was walking along the road without an umbrella. It seemed as if the entire world’s rain was pouring down on her. The only wet part of Jinwook was the tip of his shoes, in stark contrast to her completely drenched appearance.
For some reason, her appearance irritated him. He didn’t want to see her, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
As the car moved forward, her diminishing figure became faintly visible in the rearview mirror.
That was the last image.
Until four years later, before he would encounter Yeonju again.
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.]
