The two spent several days filming outdoors. And in the slightly early evening, Ji Ho watched a group of joyously laughing women from a distance. More precisely, he watched one among them.
A woman whose smile caught his attention and made him lose his train of thought.
The red shimmer spread by the evening sun over the deep blue sea. Hye Yoon’s eyes were filled with that fiery gleam.
‘One may never realize who shines brighter.’
Ji Ho showed a smile to Hye Yoon, who was walking towards him, leaving the female staff behind. Her joyful steps reminded him of fluttering snowflakes. She truly looked stunning in white.
“So, can you act in this upcoming scene?”
“Hm? Why?”
“It might be hard to keep a neutral face, don’t you think? You seem too elated.”
“Hehe. Look over there. It’s truly beautiful.”
Ji Ho followed the direction of Hye Yoon’s cheerful voice. He looked where the sky and sea merged seamlessly, then moved his gaze along the horizon. The people on the sandy shores seemed to share Hye Yoon’s emotions.
Taking pictures of one another, running around. Though he couldn’t see their faces, they surely looked joyful.
“That’s true. I’ve seen the sea many times… but never one like this.”
“This kind of sea?”
Hye Yoon looked up at Ji Ho with a puzzled expression. His faint smile and somewhat vacant eyes – she had seen that look a couple of times before.
Those eyes weren’t focused on the sea in front of them.
“Yes. A sea where everyone is laughing, happy, and only seeing beauty.”
“…”
“The sea I knew wasn’t like this.”
The tone of his voice matched her intuition. Her entire focus was drawn to the tone, as somber as his gaze.
“The sea you knew was… how?”
“Really rough and dark. Everyone struggling day by day… Yeah, that’s how it was.”
Sshhh[Dash] Sshhh[Dash]
The sound of waves scattered behind his words. The rosy hue of the setting sun was just right to hide the slight reddening of his eyes. A face that swiftly concealed the haze of distant memories looked back at her.
Their eyes, filled with similar emotions, intensely locked onto each other.
“So, I’m a bit worried.”
“…About what?”
“The world the writer sees is like this sea, but the world I see is a different sea.”
Eyes filled with sincerity and eyes yearning to grasp the truth behind that sincerity intertwined quietly.
“In both the world and… in love.”
“…”
Then Ji Ho gently smiled. His refined face, illuminated by the fading light. Hye Yoon silently captured his visage.
“I might lose some points for saying this… but consider this a gift for recovering from your cold. Remember this when you evaluate.”
He then gave a slight nod. She wanted to return his smile, but the profound sentiment in her heart made it impossible.
One might not realize that what they’re best at is love and still doubt oneself so much.
“Prepare for the shoot!”
The excitement of the crowd, eager to watch the shoot, seemed to have calmed down. Ji Ho turned his head towards the booming voices of the staff. However, Hye Yoon’s gaze remained fixed on him.
The last shooting day of the week. While last week’s weather had been quite temperamental, this week had been gentle throughout the shooting days. The forecast predicted clear skies for the weekend. Hye Yoon could see staff members sharing their weekend plans during breaks.
Those who decided to stay in Busan seemed more lively than those who planned to visit Seoul. Words like sea, alcohol, and sashimi seemed to hover around each face.
During the preparation for a new scene’s shoot, a stylist was fixing Ji Ho’s tousled hair due to the light breeze. Once she left, Hye Yoon timidly approached Ji Ho.
“Tomorrow… you haven’t forgotten our appointment, right?”
“Of course not. We agreed to meet in the writer’s car by 9 o’clock.”
There was a hint of hesitation in his voice, as evident as his shuffling feet. Ji Ho tried to meet her gaze which was directed towards the ground. His voice also contained an uncharacteristic uncertainty.
“But… the decision you made before I came, it hasn’t changed after I arrived?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Wow, that’s assertive.”
Ji Ho let out a low exclamation upon hearing her voice, which seemed to have shaken off its earlier shyness. Confidence and vitality flashed in his brown eyes.
“Hehe. I did give you some bonus points, but nothing changed.”
“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ji Ho mirrored Hye Yoon’s innocent smile.
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.”
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