Sun Woo’s gaze was perfectly focused on one place. His mind went blank, and the ringing of the bell on the table was all that filled Sun Woo’s world.
Even today, I can’t count how many times your face has flashed in my mind.
Whenever the bell rang, he reflexively turned his head, hoping, and he couldn’t let go of his phone all day.
Have I been waiting for your name to appear like this?
Even in this confusing situation, like an instinct, the nerves that were drawn to the woman left Sun Woo flustered.
The bafflement, the absurdity, the ridiculousness he had felt just moments ago were long forgotten.
He wasn’t exactly sure what the root of this emotion that was reaching out to the woman was, but he’d verify later. The urgent thing now was to hear what the woman had to say.
Without further thought, Sun Woo’s hand reached out unhesitatingly towards his phone.
Whether it was an affirmative response or not. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter now.
“Take the call later.”
For the first time, Hyun Ji plucked up the courage. As Sun Woo tried to pick up his phone, she reached out and blocked his phone.
“Let’s do it, Sun Woo.”
If it had been the usual Yoon Sun Woo, his eyes should have already turned cold.
What are you doing, put your hand away. He should have poured out his frustration.
However, Sun Woo’s silent gaze was strangely only warm.
“Why, why are you looking at me like that?”
So that she couldn’t hate, couldn’t resent, couldn’t cling.
She felt like she had already heard his answer. Hyun Ji held back her tears, along with her miserable feelings.
“You’re too sincere for someone who’s always talking about the situation.”
“Why. If I’m sincere, is it not okay?”
Meanwhile, the noisy ringing of the bell subsided. Sun Woo stared at his phone, blocked by Hyun Ji’s hand.
“I need to go.”
“Where to?”
To the woman who would break this tiresome cycle of meeting.
“I thought I wouldn’t see you again, but it seems your mind has changed.”
To the woman who would bestow the blessing of connection upon me.
“I rather liked you.”
Sun Woo, who let out a faint smile, unfolded the napkin before him. The napkin fluttered and fell onto Hyun Ji’s hand.
Lifting up Hyun Ji’s hand along with the napkin, Sun Woo picked up his phone that was underneath.
“If you marry me, you’ll have to live like this forever.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Go on a blind date. You’re capable and beautiful.”
By the way, I have high standards. Smiling, Sun Woo added on, as Hyun Ji bit her lip till it bled.
“I’m not rejecting your proposal because of this woman. From the beginning, my answer was no.”
Sun Woo held the napkin and slowly, yet attentively, wiped his phone.
As if he was buying time to converse.
You’re always like this. Normally indifferent and grumpy, but occasionally, you act so affectionately, as if not wanting any response or rebuttal to your words.
I’ve been hovering around him for quite a while. I thought, as I looked at the vacant spot by his side that he had never offered to anyone.
Maybe that place could be mine.
It was a delusion.
You simply couldn’t touch anyone, that’s why.
I wasn’t any different from anyone else.
“You and I, it’s been 10 years. I don’t want to lose a capable colleague like this.”
Colleague… a word I never wanted to hear from his mouth flew at me and pierced like a dagger.
The bitter smile spreading around my lips was not pleasant.
“13 years.”
The time I’ve been in love with you.
After having buried such a long time, I wanted to be honest in front of you at least once. But that one time was never permitted for me.
“Yes, 13 years.”
I, Yoon Sun Woo, have never once thought of you as a friend.
From the first time I saw you in front of the school gate, from the time I knew we were in the same department, from the time you casually handed me a canned coffee.
You probably don’t even remember, but from that time, I liked you.
“You said you wouldn’t have a marriage like your parents.”
“……”
“You know very well why I want to do this marriage.”
Hyun Ji’s parents had an arranged marriage. There was no affection between them, and not long after Hyun Ji was born, they finally turned their backs on each other.
So, I wished the person next to me was you.
Then, I thought I would be happy.
“I am not the person who can make you happy.”
Sun Woo, who stood up without lingering, gradually moved further away from me, and his retreating figure was sadly blurred in Hyun Ji’s eyes.
The call ended hollowly.
Should I try calling again?
“No, what if he’s purposely not answering.”
No, maybe he’s busy. He might not have been able to pick up.
Eun Jae, who was frantically coming and going in front of the man’s officetel front door, stopped in her tracks and started biting her nails.
Lost in her thoughts, she repeatedly constructed and erased various scenarios about the situation he could be in.
Complex thoughts and feelings intertwined. Eun Jae used the clean glass door, with no fingerprints, as a mirror to fix her hair, and then pulled her hat low again to refresh her thoughts.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
