Eun Jae frowned, both because his voice was too close to her shoulder and because the man remained expressionless even as he uttered words that made her blush, words she had never heard before.
“Ja, jagiya?”
“Shh.”
His whispered words, mixed with his breathing, tickled Eun Jae’s ear. Even in the darkness, his milky white skin shone smoothly.
Pressing down on Eun Jae’s trembling shoulders, Sun Woo whispered as if confiding a secret.
“Don’t worry. I’m here, aren’t I?”
As soon as Sun Woo straightened his back, he conspicuously interlaced his fingers with Eun Jae’s, erasing any remaining doubts Kwon Seung Chul had as he looked at the two with a displeased gaze.
Warmth seeped into their hands, tightly interlocked without any gaps. Eun Jae’s hand, which had been shaking with unease, gradually found stability as if by magic.
“Let’s go.”
Sun Woo smiled brightly at Eun Jae.
“Go where?”
Kwon Seung Chul, who had been standing across from them, blocked Sun Woo’s path. In an instant, Sun Woo’s expression changed.
The warmth from just moments ago disappeared without a trace, leaving only a cold, indifferent air.
“From now on, if you have business with my woman, go through me.”
Sun Woo took out a business card from his jacket’s breast pocket and flicked it at Kwon Seung Chul’s chest as he stepped aside.
The business card brushed past Kwon Seung Chul’s chest and fluttered into the flower bed.
“Come to that address tomorrow with proper documents. I’ll give you what you want.”
As if he didn’t want to exchange any more words, Sun Woo looked at the two retreating figures. Kwon Seung Chul let out an absurd snort.
It wasn’t the first or second time he had received such a gaze.
“That young punk doesn’t know how to respect his elders.”
As he brushed his hair with his fingers, some white roots that he had missed while dyeing peeked through.
Bending over and leisurely picking up the business card, Kwon Seung Chul recalled the retreating figures, or more precisely, the man who had been standing in front of him just moments ago.
He had just passed his early twenties.
Having started from the bottom with no education and been immersed in this field for over 20 years, Kwon Seung Chul prided himself on having an incredible nose for money.
The man who had stood before him exuded a different air from the start.
The man’s appearance, scanned in that brief moment, was imprinted in Kwon Seung Chul’s mind as vividly as if he had been placed in front of him again.
From head to toe, he could name all the brands the man was wearing.
A person who could never cross paths with someone like him who dealt with petty cash in the underworld. A man whose unit of counting money seemed to be on a different level.
The scent of money had been wafting off him from the moment he walked over from a distance.
“I knew this would happen.”
If there was an unchanging truth, it was that a fairly good-looking woman always had a man by her side, and the man beside Eun Jae, if he had to classify him, was a diamond.
A rare FL grade diamond with absolutely no inclusions.
“Eun Jae has caught herself a real golden rope.”
He could have easily captured a small girl like that if he wanted to.
Pushing her to the edge of a cliff over and over again, he would occasionally encounter unexpected individuals like this, sometimes even coming across rare diamonds.
It was about 20 years ago when he had briefly encountered one like that.
Ruminating on the events of that day, Kwon Seung Chul flicked off the dry dirt that had gotten on the business card as it fell into the flower bed.
Then, giving the picked-up business card a once-over, he flashed a sardonic smile.
“Oh ho. A professor at Yeolim Hospital?”
Grinning, Kwon Seung Chul carefully tucked the business card into his shirt’s front pocket and tapped it twice.
“I wonder how much this one is worth.”
As Kwon Seung Chul snapped his fingers and started walking, two men who had been standing next to him followed close behind.
[This is the timeline separator]Eun Jae tried to pull her hand out of the interlocked fingers, finding it uncomfortable. The man whispered.
“They’re still behind us.”
When Eun Jae tried to look back for a moment, the man’s large hand turned her head back to face forward.
“Don’t look back like an amateur.”
Chuckling, Sun Woo lowered his head and brought his face close to Eun Jae’s.
“At times like this, you just look ahead and walk.”
Why did you help me again when I haven’t done anything for you, when I so adamantly said I couldn’t do what you wanted?
She wanted to ask but couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth. The more she thought about it, the more her eyes stung.
The man’s voice echoed in her ear.
“Did you wait long?”
While hoping he would just pass by, it was ironic that she felt relieved to see the man who had come to rescue her.
Eun Jae swallowed her words and didn’t answer his question.
“I came really quickly though.”
As the man continued speaking, tears finally welled up in her stinging eyes.
Lifting his lowered head and straightening his body, the man tilted his head quizzically.
“By the way, how did those guys know to come here? Ah, is it because of me?”
Because I keep calling you here? He joked lightheartedly and smiled faintly. Eun Jae stopped walking at the sight. Then, she forcefully pulled her hand out of the man’s grasp.
She felt inexplicably angry at this man who had helped her out of a crisis.
At this foolish man who was blaming himself even in this situation.
“Why would it be because of you? It was my choice, I’m the one who came. Why did you say you’d give that man money? I refused that offer. I said I couldn’t do it!”
Was he trying to take advantage of her by making her feel so unbearably grateful and sorry?
Even though she knew he didn’t have bad intentions in helping her, she couldn’t help her thoughts from veering in that direction.
The man met Eun Jae’s eyes, brimming with tears.
His eyes were too deep to read, the pupils too dark.
“I don’t know either, why I said I’d give the money.”
Sun Woo shrugged as if he really didn’t know.
“I was just angry, I don’t know the reason.”
I really don’t know either, so that’s why.
In front of you, everything is always impulsive. I act more emotionally than rationally.
Eun Jae, do you know? Why I’m like this?
Unable to bear his gaze silently boring into her, Eun Jae averted her eyes first.
“Still, I can’t do what you want. You decided to give the money on your own. It’s not what I wanted.”
She resented this man for arriving faster than expected, felt sorry, and grateful.
The complex tangle of emotions made Eun Jae feel even more distressed.
“…Well, since you said you didn’t ask for it, let’s leave it at that.”
Eun Jae widened her eyes at the man who was taking the issue too lightly.
“What did you say?”
“I said I didn’t ask for anything in return. I did it because I wanted to, so don’t worry about it.”
The man laughed lightly as if he really meant it, slipping his hands into his pant pockets as he walked slowly.
Eun Jae trotted after him and asked.
“No, how can I not worry about this?”
Sun Woo glanced at the woman tottering after him and chuckled again.
When he said he didn’t want to worry about it, she said not to worry, and now she’s worried again.
They say you may know a person ten years but not a moment, so what in the world is in that tiny head of yours?
I want to go in and see. What are you thinking right now?
Walking ahead, Sun Woo lowered his head and glanced back, asking.
“Then, will you marry me?”
“No?”
“What do you want me to do then.”
Sun Woo quietly looked down at Eun Jae, who was looking up at him with eyes that seemed on the verge of tears.
“At times like this, you just say thank you. Even elementary school kids would know that much.”
“……”
“Eun Jae, you’re also unnecessarily stubborn. You know that?”
Turning his body to face her, Sun Woo asked as he walked slowly.
“Why did you call?”
“……”
“I was dying of curiosity.”
Although he usually drove at a leisurely pace, it had taken at least 10 minutes to get there.
Arriving at that distance in 5 minutes said it all.
As he was about to pull into the parking lot near the building, he clearly saw Eun Jae standing in front of the lobby.
Judging by the number of men surrounding her, they seemed to be the same men he had encountered before. The moment he realized that, he parked the car without hesitation and ran over.
Thinking about it now, from the moment he recognized it was Eun Jae to the moment he stood in front of her, there was not a shred of hesitation.
There was no time to think and act, his body reacted and moved before his mind.
“Let’s move the car first. I was in a bit of a rush earlier.”
As he said, there were signs that the car had been parked in a hurry. When he pressed the smart key in the direction of the white car parked crookedly on the shoulder, the same sound he had heard over the phone rang out as the folded side mirrors unfolded.
“Get in for now. Let’s talk upstairs.”
Sun Woo opened the passenger side door for her and immediately headed to the driver’s side, circling the hood.
Eun Jae, who got in the car almost simultaneously with Sun Woo, pulled the seat belt and lowered her head. Tears that had risen to their limit fell onto the back of Eun Jae’s hand, gripping the belt.
“Actually, I… sob… am… hic… you know….”
Why the tears came suddenly, she didn’t know.
When my father abandoned us and ran away, when my mother suddenly collapsed, when the loan sharks trashed our house, when I was unfairly fired from my job, I was so numb that I felt nothing.
I didn’t even shed a tear then.
“Hic, the reason I… sob… contacted you….”
“I can’t understand a word you’re saying, so talk after you’ve finished crying.”
Eun Jae clenched her hands on her thighs, trying to hold back the emotions that kept welling up rudely.
“So….”
As she bit her lip, trying to stop the tears that kept flowing down her cheeks,
“Cry, don’t hold it in.”
“……….”
“There’s no one here who’ll say anything just because you cry.”
Drip, drop. The teardrops that had reached their limit spilled onto her lap at the man’s words.
The days of struggling to make ends meet, though not abundantly, flashed before her eyes like a panorama.
Eun Jae collapsed, burying her face in her palms and wailing.
Now I think I know the reason I didn’t cry back then.
Because even if I cried then,
There was no one who would see me.
[This is the timeline separator]Eun Jae sat on the living room sofa in the man’s house, rubbing her reddened nose.
Had she ever cried like that in her life?
Had she ever cried so freely?
He waited silently by her side until she stopped crying, and even when she did, he started the car without a word.
Not a single word of comfort, but strangely, she felt at ease.
It bothered her a bit that she kept showing her worst sides in front of this man.
“Are you a bit calmer now?”
“Yes….”
The man, who brought two steaming cups of tea, handed a mug to Eun Jae.
“Drink this, it’s good for calming the mind and body.”
Chamomile tea, he said. Eun Jae carefully took the mug with both hands, white chamomile flowers floating in it. Sun Woo, who was sipping his tea, chuckled softly.
Eun Jae, who had been silently watching Sun Woo beside her, asked.
“You’ll give those men money when they come tomorrow, right?”
“Why? Should I not give it?”
At Eun Jae’s silence, the man laughed again.
“I’m kidding. Since it’s a mess I made, I’ll take care of it.”
Eun Jae took another sip of tea, following the man’s lead.
“I’ll make sure to pay back that money.”
“Okay.”
Sensing a strange hint of amusement in the man’s curt reply, Eun Jae looked up at him.
“Why? Why are you laughing? Do you feel sorry for me? Should we write up a contract? You like writing contracts, don’t you, Professor?”
“I was just thinking it would take a really long time. Does that mean I can keep seeing you, Eun Jae?”
Unable to gauge the meaning behind his words, Eun Jae blinked at Sun Woo, met his perpetually radiant face, then quickly looked away.
“You were lying about having mysophobia, right?”
“Why would I lie about that?”
The man’s brows furrowed slightly at Eun Jae’s words.
“You touched that man’s hand earlier. I saw it all.”
“I touched that man’s hand?”
He looked surprised as if he hadn’t been aware of it at all, so it didn’t seem to be a lie.
“What, are you a goldfish? Why is a doctor’s memory like that?”
The man, who ran straight to the kitchen to wash his hands, squeezed a generous amount of hand sanitizer and rubbed it in. Eun Jae laughed.
Feeling the warmth emanating from the mug, she brought the tilted cup to her lips with both hands. Unlike the first sip, the fragrant aroma of the herbal tea gently brushed the tip of her nose and tongue.
There was no exchange of words, but the air flowing in the living room was warm. Her heart felt at peace. It was always like this when she was with this man. Both then and now.
Maybe it would be okay, if it’s you like this.
I don’t know if I deserve it, but,
If you truly need me, I want to be that kind of person for you, even just once.
Gulp.
Eun Jae slowly parted her lips after swallowing the herbal tea.
“I’ll marry you.”
__________
“Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!”
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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