Ki Joo glanced at the cloudy sky as if predicting rain. Dark clouds were moving.
His gaze turned towards the rearview mirror. Song Eun Chae was sitting in the back seat, as if she was there yet not there.
Suddenly mentioning the appointment place and then showing clear signs of fatigue. As he followed the lines of her face, which gave off a soft feeling like oil painting, with his eyes, he soon averted his gaze.
Soon after, he parked the car in front of a modern building. Eun Chae, about to get out of the car immediately, stopped and looked at him as if reprimanding, then spoke.
“Go ahead.”
Without a word, she added with furrowed eyebrows,
“Or wait.”
Without waiting for an answer, Song Eun Chae got out of the car. She did not go straight into the building but instead fixed her clothes, reflected in the side mirror.
Ki Joo chuckled and opened the driver’s seat door to get out. As he discreetly handed the keys to an approaching valet, Song Eun Chae’s eyes widened as if questioning his actions.
The reason was beyond the window. Han Seung Yoon, who was engrossed in his mobile phone as if stuck to a telescope, discovered her and reluctantly put it back into his shirt pocket.
Immediately after, their eyes met. The guy frowned openly. He muttered something, his lips twitching. Judging by his reaction, it seemed like an excuse.
Can a person be so transparent? As Ki Joo approached Eun Chae, brushing his hand against his neck, Han Seung Yoon simultaneously came out and pretended to welcome her.
“Did you arrive?”
“Yes.”
Eun Chae looked at Han Seung Yoon, who was unusually kind, and made a nervous face. Seung Yoon smiled deviously.
“But, since I did ask for a date….”
As he said this, Seung Yoon’s eyes were pointed at Kwon Ki Joo. One didn’t need to hear his implied message.
In fact, she looked like she wanted to ask why he had followed her out, but she said something else.
“This man is my bodyguard. Think of him as if he’s not there, though it may be uncomfortable.”
How could one consider a present person as nonexistent? That’s what Han Seung Yoon’s expression said.
But that’s it, surely.
Requesting a woman to assign a bodyguard, he’d just be seen as an ailing patient. The thought of his reaction to being kicked out due to his pathological surveillance of Song Eun Chae is scary. In the end, he’s a vacillating fool who can’t choose either side.
The woman came tired all the way from the ski resort, for such an engagement. And that too, she was followed by a socalled bodyguard. Recently, there wasn’t a better excuse.
Ki Joo ran his hand over his eyebrow and lowered his gaze. A scornful laugh erupted from the corner of his mouth.
He was enjoying the satisfaction of interrupting a date with such trash.
An immature kid.
Even the selfridicule felt fresh and amusing. He put an end to Song Eun Chae’s discomfort with a wrinkle in her brow.
((())) ((())) ((()))
What is he doing?
Eun Chae stiffened her face and clenched her knife. It was an awkward situation as it was, and she felt sick to the point of death having to see two faces she despised right in front and beside her.
“The young lady has a shellfish allergy.”
Kwon Ki Joo looked at the lobster that was just occupying the table and deliberately scrunched his eyebrows, clicking his tongue.
In the meantime, he cut his steak into bitesized pieces as if to show off. At that moment, Han Seung Yoon’s expression became incredibly sour.
Eun Chae swallowed a dry breath and glared at the side. Even though it was a different table, it was right beside her. Moreover, Kwon Ki Joo didn’t seem to have any intention to hide that he was with her.
He must be doing his job this time as well, but Eun Chae was irritated. She sent a warning look not to meddle unnecessarily. Then, she tried to focus back on Han Seung Yoon.
“I didn’t know you had such an allergy. Sorry about this.”
Han Seung Yoon’s forced smile was visible.
It was regrettable. The date was already obligatory for both of them, and now they even had a watcher. She was used to it, but for Han Seung Yoon, it was like being a mouse trapped in a poison jar, so he felt morally sorry.
“I’ll have a salad.”
At her words, a barely audible laughter infiltrated her ears. It was a sound so small it could be concealed by the conversations and clattering of dishes from the other tables.
Eun Chae firmly closed her lips. She knew whose laugh that was. And yet she calmly put a piece of steak in her mouth, noticed by her keen senses.
In truth, she doesn’t go out of her way to eat things like salads.
At home, too, the lady of the Ham Ahn household nags her so much about not being picky with food. On top of that, she told a lie that a salad would be enough, that must be why it’s funny.
Eun Chae felt her ears heating up but feigned ignorance. Han Seung Yoon had recommended pasta or risotto, but out of pointless stubbornness, she vehemently declined. She even unnecessarily added a lame excuse while mindful of Ki Joo.
“I just fancied something light.”
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
