Eun Chae fell silent for a moment as she deliberated her response.
In the meantime, the stranger approached her until he was close enough to fix his gaze upon her. Despite his flustered expression and hurried departure, she watched him until he was out of sight.
The face he had just shown was now gone.
She knew that cold gaze. He had the same expression when they first met. He seemed indifferent, whether she was his employer or not, and greeted her casually.
Eun Chae swallowed the memory that rose without warning, and watched him.
She had deliberately avoided sharing the same space with him, but it wasn’t as if he was clueless enough not to notice that.
Despite her blatantly obvious feelings, Kwon Ki Joo seemed unfazed.
“What brought you out here?”
Without hesitation, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her frozen shoulders, which Eun Chae allowed.
There was no need to react to every single thing. Kwon Ki Joo was just doing his thing. Eun Chae nestled into the oversized jacket, wearing it like a blanket and hugging herself tightly.
“I didn’t come out to see Mr. Kwon Ki Joo.”
Ki Joo responded in a low mumble.
“I know.”
She nodded as if to acknowledge his statement. For a moment, she felt like a child throwing a tantrum. Eun Chae furrowed her brows and asked sullenly.
“Where did the other person go?”
“I sent them away.”
“……”
“I had a schedule from the beginning and couldn’t accompany you. Did you hope I wouldn’t come?”
“Then why did you bother coming in the middle of it?”
“Just because I wanted to.”
Ah.
Speechless for a moment, Eun Chae glared at him.
Kwon Ki Joo returned her gaze calmly.
Looking into his eyes, which seemed all black but exuded a peculiar color, she felt strange. The moment she felt as if she might become entrapped if she didn’t escape soon, Eun Chae spat out the words that rose in her throat.
“Is being inconsistent your specialty? You said you’d follow the schedule. Didn’t you plan to tie me up until we got married?”
“I was going to wait a little longer, but I changed my mind.”
“You said the reason you returned was because of the return order. That was all. You said you never changed your mind?”
There were already so many contradictions coming to mind. Hurry up and explain with your smooth tongue. Eun Chae’s eyes bulged.
“Unlike Ms. Eun Chae, I’m good at lying.”
Although it seemed straightforward, he still skillfully dodged the core issue. Eun Chae did not point this out. She twisted her lips into a smirk and responded in the same manner.
“What if this is all a lie?”
“You should know well that I hate your wedding.”
With that statement, the missing puzzle piece falls into place.
Interest and affection.
These two reasons satisfy everything.
But can she trust his words? Such a fickle man like Kwon Ki Joo.
Eun Chae didn’t suppress her sneer.
“Marriage is my choice. Don’t interfere.”
At that moment, she thought she saw a sharp light flash across his eyes. By the time she regained her senses and looked again, it was already gone. Instead, Ki Joo spoke in a calm, nonchalant voice.
“So how far will you allow me?”
Her response to his desperate words must have been a delusion. Eun Chae turned her gaze away and coldly retorted.
“Try harder. Who knows? I might be moved and change my mind.”
“……”
“The kids will be looking for me. I’m going in.”
Leaving those words behind, Eun Chae walked into the building. She could feel the heat at the back of her head. Without even looking, she knew that he was still standing in the same place, watching her with an unwavering gaze.
As Eun Chae climbed the stairs, she sighed heavily, almost as if the stairs would disappear. It was then that she felt the forgotten phone vibrating in her cardigan pocket.
She stopped in her tracks on the staircase and looked at the flashing light on her phone. It was an unsaved number.
She hesitated for a moment, but couldn’t resist the implicit pressure and answered the call. She couldn’t speak right away and just pressed the phone quietly to her ear, listening carefully.
At the low voice that came through, she felt goosebumps rise from her earlobes.
From now on, don’t contact other places. Contact me at this number.
Click.
The call ended. Eun Chae let out a chuckle in disbelief. She stared at the screen, displaying an unfamiliar number, and laughed hollowly.
“Don’t even think about contacting anywhere else. As if to say that, he gave his contact.”
True. This man is impossible to measure with common sense.
His attitude of questioning when and how far she would permit a marriage with another man, should she return as Chairman Song’s dog, was just the same.
If he continued to want her, thirst would only arise. Would it go according to her intentions?
A sudden glimmer appeared in Eun Chae’s eyes, paused as she was about to put her mobile back into her cardigan pocket. She quickly stored the unfamiliar number of Kwon Ki Joo in her contacts. It was a capricious sense of joy.
((())) ((())) ((()))
Even though his stamina was weak.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
