Heaving breaths broke the silence.
Ki Joo, his lips smeared with lipstick and passion, swiped his thumb across them. His thirst remained unquenched despite fervent kisses.
The parking lot was desolate. The hum of cars and footsteps had long ceased. Or perhaps they had never noticed.
Ki Joo gazed down at the woman whose breathing was ragged from the intense moment.
Even in passion, her clear eyes had hinted it – pretending as if nothing happened was now impossible. Her words about this being the last chance were clearly sincere.
Ki Joo walked to the car, opening the passenger door, gesturing to Eun Chae. She, after a moment’s hesitation, got into the car.
Closing the door, Ki Joo pondered where to begin.
He’d concealed his identity as a national intelligence agent, infiltrated to target Chairman Song Myung Hwan, a hotbed of corruption. He had even contributed to Eun Chae’s oppression.
Such trivial reasons, he mused, now seemed ridiculous.
He started the car, leaving the parking lot amidst the awkward atmosphere, with Eun Chae also silently looking ahead.
The tension in the air was palpable.
Crossing Hannam Bridge, Eun Chae broke the silence.
“……Your lipstick…… it’s smeared.”
Ah.
Ki Joo exhaled shortly, making no effort to fix it.
Eun Chae sighed, removed her silk gloves, and carefully wiped the lipstick off his lips. He calmly let her, then she asked, though lightly, the question was anything but.
“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“……I like you.”
His low murmur made her stiffen.
That wasn’t what she meant. She was urging him to confess any secrets.
“More than you can imagine.”
Feeling her ears heat up, Eun Chae pulled back her hand and straightened her posture. Her heart throbbed foolishly.
Ki Joo had always been adept at handling women, expertly pulling strings.
Eun Chae cleared her throat, speaking sternly.
“Not that. I mean…”
Ki Joo raised his eyebrows as if asking, then?
“I never thought of you as just a bodyguard. You knew exactly what my father needed, what I wanted, and served it up on a silver platter.”
“…….”
“The reason you left two years ago, and your insistence on stopping my marriage. It must be connected to your true identity.”
“…….”
Glancing at the silent man, Eun Chae added coldly.
“If you plan to hide again, I’ll make sure you get hurt this time.”
Ki Joo’s face turned slightly askew, clearly affected by her words. Eun Chae seized the moment.
“Consider me, not just Ki Joo.”
After issuing her warning, Eun Chae closed her eyes in relief as Ki Joo abruptly pulled over to the side of the road.
The screeching halt was followed by his low voice.
“……Did I hear you wrong?”
He turned his head, looking at her with disbelief and disdain.
“You heard me right.”
Upon hearing her bold words, Ki Joo scoffed, leaning his head back against the seat rest. Apparently not satisfied, he twisted his tie with his finger, smirking maliciously.
Eun Chae was not intimidated.
Instead, she looked him straight in the eyes and said, “It’s true.”
“…….”
“I got it right. Kwon Ki Joo’s weakness.”
Seemingly annoyed, Ki Joo avoided her gaze as he replied.
“……I didn’t tell you this to be exploited.”
“You said to believe in your feelings for me.”
“…….”
“Don’t make a fool out of me anymore.”
Silence engulfed the car. It was time for the truth.
With a humble expression, Ki Joo placed his clasped hands on his thighs.
“Two years ago…”
“…….”
“……I left out of cowardice.”
Eun Chae frowned openly. She had asked for clear answers.
“I told you last time. It wasn’t a lie.”
If that was all he had to say, she didn’t want to hear more. Eun Chae reached for the car door handle roughly. But instead of restraining her, Ki Joo continued.
“My eyes went crazy.”
His self-mocking laughter had a chilling edge. Eun Chae felt a shiver down her neck. Still, she had to confirm.
“Did you pity me?”
“No.”
Turning his head to look at her, Ki Joo muttered,
“I loved you. That’s why I ran away.”
“Why did you come back then?”
This time, Ki Joo fully turned his body towards her, his large frame pressing against the car seat.
He grabbed her face, looking at her contorted face impassively, and scoffed.
“I went mad because of this.”
“……!”
“I’m not Chairman Song’s dog.”
“Then what?”
Eun Chae’s words were muffled by the contorted position of her face. Ki Joo’s expression remained dry.
As she waited for his response, she felt her heart sinking.
Could he be an enemy?
Some twisted Romeo and Juliet story?
But it didn’t matter to her anymore.
She was ready to embrace him, whatever the truth.
“……I work for the nation.”
Her heart stopped at his unexpected words.
A cop? A prosecutor?
But such roles wouldn’t require secrecy.
Pondering over the vague statement, Eun Chae realized something.
Intelligence. An agent.
She swallowed the exclamation that almost escaped her lips.
That meant he came for Chairman Song Myung Hwan.
She was breathless for a moment.
The hope that the seemingly invincible chairman could fall.
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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