A corner of his mouth twisted unpleasantly beneath his intense gaze. Should he commend the succinct phrasing? Each short sentence, each phrase, was deeply etched into Ji Ho’s eyes and heart.
“….I saw too much to pretend I didn’t.”
Hye Yoon quickly lowered her phone and looked back at Ji Ho. The process of the temperature surrounding a person turning cold was clearly visible. Even his efforts to prevent it from happening.
“Ah, it’s a friend… I think he’s just unnecessarily worried. …Really unnecessary.”
“I see.”
Where in this situation could there be cause for concern? Just between friends. No matter how much Ji Ho thought about it, he couldn’t understand, but his understanding seemed to be of little consequence.
“….If you say now that you want to change the scene back to the original, I’ll talk to the director. I can do at least that much.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“It seems you don’t even want to meet my eyes… Can you bring yourself to kiss?”
To suppress his rising emotions, Ji Ho slightly shook his head. Hye Yoon conveyed her painful sincerity at his words.
“I don’t dislike it….”
Unfortunately, it probably didn’t reach Ji Ho.
“Of course, I don’t like it either.”
Though he was smiling faintly, his smile was so cold, so unfamiliar, Hye Yoon couldn’t bear to look any longer. Her head, as lifeless as her small voice, sagged deeply.
“….I’m sorry for making mistakes over and over.”
Ji Ho also averted his gaze from Hye Yoon. Seeing her body curling in more as if to avoid his gaze made him feel uneasy.
He disliked everything about this situation that had unfolded without knowing why, but among all of it, he disliked himself the most.
Himself, who couldn’t embrace that childlike woman just a little more, dozens of times more, more generously.
“I thought I could appease you overstepping the boundaries…. But it seems I can’t.”
“….”
No matter how hard he tried to crack a joke, the cool words slipped from his lips.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I hope you separate work from personal matters.”
“….”
“Author Jang Hye Yoon.”
Hye Yoon bit her lower lip hard. She could clearly feel what Min Woo had said about Ji Ho’s boundaries. The fact that she felt it herself, not just seeing it from the side, was too upsetting.
She bit her tender lips hard enough to draw blood, and just then, the footsteps of several people were approaching from behind her. Looking up, she saw Ji Ho also looking behind him and bowing his head, with a faint smile.
The drawn line of kindness. It was the same as he had shown to her a little while ago.
“Ah….”
And then, finally, Ji Ho let go of the wrist he had been holding. It was just a wrist, but it felt as if Ji Ho had let go of his heart, and it stung. The slight head movement as he moved aside. Hye Yoon walked her way without saying a word. Her small feet were too heavy.
“Hye Yoon, have you eaten well?”
“Yes.”
“….Are you a bit better now?”
In the set after the afternoon shooting preparation was over, Min Woo examined Hye Yoon’s face. He thought she would be better after a rest, but somehow her expression looked sadder.
“….Yes.”
Why was it so hard to tell a oneword lie? Min Woo knew she was not okay but nodded his head. It was not something he could keep looking out for. After all, it was literally a job done by professionals.
“Alright. Shall we go in for the shoot then? Just a light lip touch. We don’t need a onetake, we can piece the parts together. Let’s just get one important scene done for now.”
“Yes.”
As he patted her now smaller shoulders, Ji Ho walked into the set. He scrutinized Ji Ho, wondering if there was a problem between the two, but it was a useless action. Because he always wore a gentle expression.
“Mr. Ji Ho, we’re starting the shoot.”
“Yes, let’s go.”
With a simple greeting, Ji Ho lay down on the bed. When his eyes met with Hye Yoon for a moment, he gave her a slight smile. Of course, she knew at once. The smile wasn’t what she was used to seeing, it was purely out of courtesy.
“I hope there are no more NGs (bloopers).”
And he muttered quietly toward Hye Yoon, who was about to walk toward the door. The tone of his voice pricked at the back of her head, seeming warm. She looked back subtly, but he had already closed his eyes.
“Ready, action!”
‘Just count to three. No more, just three.’
Hye Yoon repeated this endlessly to herself. Walking to the bed, standing for a moment looking at Ji Ho’s closedeyed face, and until the moment she bowed her head.
With each inhale, his comforting scent rushed in, making her feel distant. Getting closer, getting stronger, driving her crazy.
And the moment her lips touched his red lips.
The moltensoft touch made her breath pause momentarily. The scent of Ji Ho, already filled in her closed lungs, lightly shattered what she had painstakingly built up. Rationality, vows.
“Haa….”
My Ex-Girlfriend Is The Regent In The Female-dominant World (Male lead transmigrates to the matriarchal world)
Two years ago, Gu Sui picked up a homeless woman in ancient costume from the street.
Apart from occasionally claiming to be a princess from a female-dominant country due to illness, her figure, appearance, intelligence, and martial arts skills were impeccable.
Naturally evolving from roommates to girlfriends, as time went on, Gu Sui found it increasingly difficult to tolerate her queen syndrome.
“Mu Jiulu, can you stop controlling me inside and out? Let’s break up.”
Gu Sui made a breakup call, and since then, he couldn’t find any trace of her.
A year later, Gu Sui, who was planning to move, woke up the next day and found himself in a different place.
“Young Master, today is the day you choose your Wife-master through martial arts competition at Jade Dew Pavilion. Please get up quickly.”
Gu Sui: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
As the only son of a general’s mansion in a female-dominant dynasty, the young empress personally issued a decree allowing Gu Sui to select his Wife-master through martial arts competition. Whoever could defeat him could marry him.
Gu Sui: “……”
He didn’t inherit the original owner’s martial prowess, so anyone could defeat him! And what the hell is a Wife-master?
Forced to come to Jade Dew Pavilion, the densely packed women below made Gu Sui’s agoraphobia act up, and his face was full of resistance.
Until he saw the Regent sitting on the second floor, with a smile on the corner of her lips, her eyes wicked and nonchalant.
Hmm… she looked a little familiar.
It turned out that the Regent also found him a little familiar.
Mu Jiulu fiddled with her bone clasp, her deep gaze locked on the man who was out of place in this world.
“Finally, I found you.”
Male transmigrates into female-dominant world
One-sentence summary: What goes around comes around, taking turns in the crematorium
