Eun Jae’s eyes blinked slowly open and closed, needing a moment to organize exactly what was happening.
So, he had put the ring from that box on my finger, proposing marriage?
My goodness. Is this a proposal? Just like that, so sudden?
Cutting off her burgeoning questions, Eun Jae looked at Sun Woo with a somewhat dazed expression.
“We are married…”
“When did we ever get married? We only registered our marriage.”
“It’s all the same.”
Acknowledging her tepid response, Sun Woo took hold of Eun Jae’s waist and pulled her up to sit on his thighs, facing him.
“Do you not like the setting, or do you want to reject it? Or is it both?”
She wanted to say it was unbelievable, but the words didn’t come easily.
As Eun Jae remained silent, Sun Woo snapped the box with the remaining ring shut irritably.
“Forget it, if you don’t want to do it.”
“Really?”
At Eun Jae’s words, Sun Woo’s head, which had been turned away, swung back around to face her.
“What, what’s wrong? Should we start over from the beginning?”
Watching his reaction brought an involuntary laugh from her. What started as a small chuckle grew into fuller laughter. Sun Woo looked at the giggling Eun Jae with a displeased expression.
“Why are you laughing?”
Throughout their entire journey from first meeting to this point, he had never been a person to take things slowly.
Wasn’t he the man who had pushed a marriage contract on her not long after they met, and almost immediately took her home upon accepting it?
“You told me to take it slow. And then you go ahead and propose? Who does that?”
“Ah, that means my heart is far ahead of yours. Even if the feelings you have for me aren’t as strong as mine, I’m willing to wait until they are. There’s a condition, though—you’re not to look at anyone else.”
“How would Yoon Sun Woo know that? Whether I’m ahead or behind.”
“If that were the case, the person proposing would be different, wouldn’t it? Don’t I seem more anxious to you?”
As Sun Woo finished speaking, his lips moved towards Eun Jae. They touched hers slowly and then parted.
“So, what’s your answer?”
“Who gives an answer before their lips meet?”
Why are you rushing? Eun Jae, rolling her eyes playfully, opened the ring box that Sun Woo had shut earlier.
She took out the remaining ring and placed it on the ring finger of Sun Woo’s left hand, smiling brightly.
“It’s perfect. The place and this ring.”
She hadn’t realized until she could no longer hide her feelings; she actually loved him more than she thought.
Her feelings for him seemed to explode as soon as she confirmed his. Without knowing it, she wanted to touch him, to hug him, to bury herself in his warm embrace. Being in his arms felt like all worries would melt away.
It might still take some time to reveal everything about herself. But she didn’t want to hide these small tokens of affection anymore.
Eun Jae followed her heart and gently pulled Sun Woo’s cheeks toward her, lightly pressing her lips to his.
“Thank you.”
She conveyed her heartfelt gratitude and stretched out her fingers.
Looking down at the sparkling ring on her left ring finger, Eun Jae smiled contentedly.
“The ring is so beautiful. How did you know the size―”
No sooner had Eun Jae felt Sun Woo’s hands encircle her nape than her lips were swiftly enveloped. The soft kiss began to grow warmer.
It was perhaps the umpteenth kiss they had shared, yet the sensation of his mouth boldly claiming hers still felt new.
Eun Jae’s lips tensed up in a moment of hesitation, prompting a low chuckle from Sun Woo. With their noses brushing against each other, he briefly pulled away and whispered,
“Relax, let go of the tension.”
As she unconsciously relaxed her pursed lips, Sun Woo, who had expertly held her chin with his thumb, easily coaxed her mouth open.
It didn’t take long for the small spark between them to ignite into a blazing fire.
As if by agreement, they held each other until the dawn light turned a pale blue. And then, without realizing when it ended, they fell deeply asleep.
Eun Jae awoke to the soft touch on her lips. It was also the familiar scent that reached her nose and the tickle of his hair falling across her forehead that roused her.
“Sleep more.”
Through her bleary eyes, she saw Sun Woo, already neatly dressed. Even in moments of intimacy, he maintained his composure.
“Are you going to work today too?”
“Yes.”
Sun Woo, as if to prevent her from getting up, gently pushed her back down and lightly sucked on her lips before letting go. With a hint of reluctance to part, he kissed her again and whispered,
“Are you going to the academy today? How about taking one more day off?”
“I need to go.”
Even after parting their lips, Sun Woo continued to tease her, stroking her cheek and ear.
“I’ll come pick you up later.”
“Okay.”
Sun Woo’s head, intent on returning to Eun Jae’s lips, halted mid-motion. He then increased the distance between them, standing up while adjusting his tie.
“I don’t think we can go any further here.”
“Why not…?”
“I won’t feel like going to work.”
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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