“A personal staff. The first month is shooting here, but the second month is filming in Busan. You’ll need someone to help you.”
“Oh, that’s okay. My friends have agreed to help.”
Hye Yoon answered lightly and stabbed her fork into the food. As soon as she put it in her mouth, she made a sound with her nose and her eyes widened. Ji Ho also smiled faintly at her reaction.
“Friends? The ones we saw in the parking lot that time?”
He quickly lowered his gaze. It felt a bit awkward to look directly at a woman who seemed to be reading his thoughts at this moment.
“Yes. But Ji Ho, you saw Woo Jun too?”
“…From a distance.”
His gaze, which he had lowered for fear of revealing his true feelings, coldly rose at the warmly called name of Woo Jun. Fortunately, she seemed to have no other thoughts, perhaps due to the delicious food in her mouth.
“That’s right. That friend also agreed to help occasionally. And one close friend is likely to always be with me. He’s a friend who is taking a break from work.”
Ji Ho nodded slightly. Knowing Hye Yoon’s firm thoughts, it was excessive to advise further.
“It has to be like this until the end of the show. Of course… if we break up before that, the work will receive more attention.”
“Ah….”
And he brought up a difficult topic that he didn’t want to discuss. It was something that had to be addressed anyway. His mouth became bitter, and as he wet his throat with a drink, he looked at Hye Yoon, whose mouth had been busy eating but was now paused, wide open.
It just had to be at this time, when he wanted to anticipate.
He shook off the rising emotions and shook his head abruptly.
“But getting attention like that is something the writer wouldn’t want.”
“….”
“It’s a bit awkward for me to say this… but I want to show people why I chose this work among all the pouring scripts. How great your writing is.”
“Wow… I’m touched.”
“Huh?”
He asked back when Hye Yoon, who had been silent, mumbled something. It was too soft to hear clearly.
“I’m… really touched.”
“Hehe. That much?”
Holding her fork like a trident, Hye Yoon’s eyes were sparkling. As she nodded vigorously, the previously heavy atmosphere seemed to momentarily float away. That’s why he decided to pretend not to know the impending sense of regret.
“So let’s live like this… at least until the end of the show.”
“Yes, I’m fine with that.”
“I’m relieved.”
He gave a cheeky smile to Hye Yoon, who was still holding her fork upside down. To eat adorably again. Only then did she take her eyes off Ji Ho.
Hye Yoon put a little more strength into her hand. She was grateful for her eyes at such times. They hadn’t given away that she was about to cry for real.
“And when there are many people, let’s just pass it off like before. Pass it naturally, accept it.”
“I was really awkward earlier.”
“Yes.”
Hye Yoon bowed her head as she watched Ji Ho chuckle in response. He was natural in every situation, probably because he was an actor, but it would be challenging to follow that.
“So… you were beautiful. Made me want to tease you more.”
Ji Ho said this as he handed her the salad he had prepared. It was something he had always wanted to say from the moment he first saw her. His warm gaze, befitting the compliment, looked at Hye Yoon softly.
“Uhuh, I know you’re still teasing me now.”
As soon as she received the salad, she seemed embarrassed, jabbing it with her fork. A satisfied smile played on Ji Ho’s lips at her reaction.
“Don’t you, the writer, have anything you want to say or are curious about? It feels like I’ve been doing all the talking.”
He pushed the plate in front of him slightly to the side. In fact, from the start, the meal had also been an excuse.
“Hmm…”
Hye Yoon’s fork, which had been mistreating the salad, stopped, and she locked eyes with Ji Ho.
In truth, she had many questions. What aspects of this work did he like so much, why did he want me to play Heesoo, and how could he so generously accept and carry on with the fake love affair that stirred up the world. But the thing she was most curious about now was one.
Did he always look at people with those eyes? With those eyes that seemed so loving.
“Your eyes have so many things they want to say….”
As always, Ji Ho easily understood her heart.
“Hmm… in fact, there’s so much. When I talk with Mr. Ji Ho, it feels like I have one more thing every minute.”
Ah, her honesty was beautiful. Ji Ho quietly appreciated her face.
“So, shall we talk here all night?”
Despite not avoiding Ji Ho’s soft gaze, Hye Yoon vigorously shook her head at his words.
“I just… have to say this.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
Like the leaves piling up outside the window, she had an abundance of things she wanted to say, but she carefully chose the one thing she wanted to say the most.
“Thank you, Mr. Ji Ho. For protecting… what I want to protect, with me.”
Instead of answering her questions, Hye Yoon chose to convey her sincerity. Thinking about it, she had never said these words to him, who she was most grateful to.
Her moist eyes were full of earnestness, focused on one person. Although there was a playful spark in her eyes, there wasn’t a speck of falsehood.
“Ah… I’m a bit moved too.”
“You know it’s sincere, right?”
“I know. You’re not a woman who says unnecessary things.”
And he knew too well that she was a woman who only spoke beautiful words.
Ji Ho filled his eyes, which were rippling with the regret of the setting sun, with Hye Yoon. And perhaps, he had a premonition that there could come a moment when he couldn’t control his emotions, because of the woman in front of him.
“Mr. Ji Ho, let’s get along well from now on… for two months.”
“…Okay.”
Despite the warm words they shared, both felt as if they had lost something in a corner of their hearts. So they smiled more. This time, nobody showed their true feelings.
And ten days later, it was the first day of filming.
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
