Whispers of Autumn Wind (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 2
Ga Eul went to the sink behind the partition. Drinking was the president’s job, but cleaning up was hers.
It seemed she’d need to do a full office cleanup to erase all traces of the drinking party. Of course, before that, she’d have to fling the door wide open to ventilate the room—which meant waking up the president first.
Ah—she’d almost forgotten something important. There was something she absolutely had to do before waking him. Ga Eul crept quietly toward the president.
At first glance, he appeared to be fast asleep. Still, to double-check, Ga Eul waved her hand in front of his eyes. He didn’t budge at all.
Ga Eul silently backed away and placed a chair beneath the wall clock. It was now 9:17. Since work started at 9:00, resetting the clock to 8:58 should do the trick.
She’d do that first, then wake the president. She’d use cleaning as an excuse to get him out of the office. Afterward, she’d reset the clock to the correct time. That was Ga Eul’s plan—and it would’ve worked perfectly, if only…
Standing on the chair, Ga Eul lifted the wall clock to adjust the minute hand. As a final check to ensure the president was still asleep, she turned her head—
—and locked eyes with him. The president, still sprawled in the same position, was watching her intently. *Hiiik.* Ga Eul froze breathlessly.
“What are you doing?”
The president asked in a nonchalant tone. Since when had he been awake? That shameless guy. At times like this, couldn’t he just pretend not to see?
“What do you mean, ‘what am I doing’? Haha, hahaha.”
Buying time with laughter, Ga Eul hurriedly added,
“The clock seems off—I was just going to fix it.”
“Oh?”
The president sat up casually, checked his phone for the time, and then glanced at the wall clock.
“The time is ridiculously wrong. It was perfectly accurate just yesterday.”
His tone carried a heavy, suggestive weight.
“Right? Must be a defective product, huh? Haha, hahaha.”
Blaming the innocent clock, Ga Eul let out an awkward laugh. Of course it was off—she’d just spun the minute hand forward while he glanced at his phone.
But almost instantly, she realized she’d shot herself in the foot: now the president’s full attention was on the clock.
“Hmm. It’s 9:18 now.”
He deliberately emphasized the “18.” Ga Eul flinched—meaning she’d overslept by a full 18 minutes.
But she wasn’t the type to shrink at that. Quickly regaining her composure, Ga Eul adjusted the clock to the time he’d just announced, looking utterly clueless, then stepped down from the chair.
“President, today…”
“Yep, you’re late. Again.”
Ga Eul’s attempt to subtly divert his attention had failed. She’d been about to explain she needed to cover a shift at the convenience store since their part-timer couldn’t make it today.
“You know what?”
Here it came. Next would be: *“You guard your quitting time like your life depends on it.”* Ga Eul rolled her eyes inwardly.
“You guard your quitting time like your life depends on it.”
Then: *“Do you even know how much 20 minutes is worth in money?”* followed by *“How can someone who does practically nothing still collect a steady paycheck yet fail to show up on time?”*—the president’s repertoire never changed.
“How much do you think 20 minutes is worth in money? You barely do anything, yet you still collect your salary punctually every month. How can you not even manage to be on time?”
Ga Eul quickly shook her head. Her real thoughts swirled furiously in her head: *Just one verse, President—please stop at one verse.*
“That’s absolutely unacceptable.”
Her mouth moved independently of her brain. Of course it was unacceptable—but she had no choice. Ga Eul *had* to protect her quitting time like her life depended on it.
Because after work, she had to earn extra through private tutoring. And there *was* a reason she sometimes couldn’t make it on time: some days she taught until late at night, others she had to start early in the morning for extra lessons. Either way, she certainly didn’t *choose* to be late.
“But I’m not doing nothing and just collecting a paycheck. I manage all three convenience stores, after all. I’m the one who fills in whenever part-timers call in sick. And the odd jobs you assign me? They’re easily worth a full secretary’s workload.”
“Hmph.”
The president snorted dismissively. At least the scolding—rebuke, reprimand, nagging, whatever it was—had paused for a moment.
Seizing the opening, Ga Eul devised a way to recover her footing. She quickly fetched a hangover cure from the fridge and placed it before him—an item always kept on hand for the frequently inebriated president.
“And how much does this cost?”
He asked with a sour expression. Was a single hangover cure too weak a bribe to mitigate her tardiness?
“Of course it’s free. Do you really think I’d charge you for it, President?”
“Yeah. You have, every time. Amnesia much?”
His merciless reply hit home. How meticulous he was—not forgetting a thing.
“Haha, you really do have an amazing memory, President.”
With both guilt and a favor to ask weighing on her, Ga Eul couldn’t afford to upset him.
She *had* to convince him somehow—recalling how Woo Jin’s Mother had tearfully begged her to prove that Woo Jin had someone he was seeing: *Just date me. If real dating’s impossible, fake it under contract. Or if even that’s too much, just pretend to be dating—please.*
“Go make me a warm, damp towel.”
President Gi Dae Woong waved his hand dismissively, like swatting away a fly. Relieved, Ga Eul scrambled to the sink behind the partition before his words even landed—apparently, the scolding about her lateness was over.
Gi Dae Woong watched, amused, as Ga Eul disappeared behind the partition. *Han Ga Eul offering me a free hangover cure? Impossible.*
He’d be lucky if she didn’t overcharge him. Yet the impossible had just happened—Han Ga Eul had *herself* offered it for free.
*She must want something.*
Instinctively, Gi Dae Woong’s expression hardened. There was only one thing Han Ga Eul ever asked of him: *Would he date her—again?*
He knew Ga Eul had a boyfriend named Woo Jin; she’d even been introduced to him by Woo Jin’s Father, who’d explicitly called her his son’s girlfriend.
Ga Eul had claimed she wanted to end things with Woo Jin—to show him someone new had entered her life, so he could finally let go of his feelings for her.
While Gi Dae Woong mulled this over, Ga Eul hesitated slightly behind the partition,
holding a towel in one hand and a rag in the other. Thanks to her meticulous cleaning habits, the rag looked nearly identical to the towel—there was no way the president would tell the difference.
She slipped the towel back into the drawer, soaked the rag in warm water, and brought it to him. By now, the president had returned to his original sprawled position on the sofa. He took the damp rag and laid it over his face.
“I need to recover. Order me some breakfast.”
“What would you like?”
“Whatever. You decide.”
What a lazy man—so lazy he wouldn’t even think for himself about what to eat, always just eating whatever Ga Eul ordered for him. She scowled fiercely at his towel-covered face—
—but quickly changed her mind and called to him in the sweetest voice she could muster.
“President~?”
Ga Eul decided she’d need to gather her courage *while* his face remained covered.
Without seeing his face, asking him to date her might come easier—and without meeting his mocking eyes, accepting rejection might feel slightly less painful.
“I have something to discuss with you.”
“What? You want to date me again?”
His immediate reaction startled Ga Eul. Had he learned reverse psychology?
“Did Woo Jin’s Mother call again? Begging you to break up with her son? Every time that happens, you come to *me* and ask me out. Claiming the neighborhood needs to hear that Han Ga Eul is dating someone—just how many times has this happened?”
“The ninth time. And this time she didn’t call—she came in person.”
“No. How can you ask your company president to date you? Nine times, no less. Do I look *that* pathetic to you?”
Though his voice remained calm and grumbling, Gi Dae Woong’s face hardened dangerously. *Clueless Han Ga Eul. You shouldn’t do this to me.*
*Are you deliberately torturing me? Asking me to date you—for the sake of your boyfriend’s future?* he raged inwardly.
*Just quit. It’s not like I’m asking you out because I actually like you.*
Ga Eul silently echoed the thought in her own mind. Seeing the president’s undisguised aversion sapped her courage—but remembering Woo Jin’s Mother kneeling before her, Ga Eul steeled herself once more.
“I already explained my reasons. Do you think I enjoy doing this to my company president? But given the rapport we’ve built, I was hoping you might accommodate me just this once.”
“Rapport?”
The rag over Gi Dae Woong’s face twitched slightly. Finding her use of the word “rapport” utterly ridiculous, he let out another disdainful snort.
“Just three months. Can’t we make it work for three months?”
Ga Eul kept her tone as humble as possible.
“If I had anyone else around me—or even time to meet someone—I wouldn’t be asking *you*. As you well know, the only men near me are the kids I tutor and convenience store part-timers, and they’re practically babies. Asking *them* out would be criminal.”
“Then why *exactly* three months? Is that precisely how long it takes for Woo Jin to get over you once he hears you have a new man?”
Whether he was being naive, foolish, or just overly confident—it infuriated Gi Dae Woong how lightly Ga Eul seemed to treat Woo Jin’s feelings. He shot upright, causing the rag to slide off his face.
“It’s how long it takes to prevent Woo Jin from returning to Korea. I have to help him get over me before the fall semester begins.”
Since the president hated commitments, she thought clarifying that this “relationship” wouldn’t be permanent might increase his willingness to agree. Yet unexpectedly, he fixated on the *three-month* timeframe.
“Then wouldn’t that be a *contractual* relationship—or just pretending to date?”
“That won’t be enough. Do you think I haven’t considered that? You’ve lived in this neighborhood for a year—you know how it is here. Especially among longtime residents—they even know how many spoons each household owns. To convince *them*, we need something authentic. Contracts or faking it won’t cut it.”
“True. This damn neighborhood is full of bloodhounds—why do they keep sniffing around like that?”
Grumbling, Gi Dae Woong reluctantly conceded. After moving here, he’d personally suffered the residents’ excessive curiosity.
“Besides, we’d still eat together, watch movies, visit nice places—it’s all the same. Why insist on calling it a ‘contract’? We can just call it dating. And honestly, I like you, President. You like me too, right? I know it.”
Gi Dae Woong was momentarily speechless, his mind racing: *Have I really been that emotionally transparent?* *Know what, exactly? How can you toss around “like” so easily?*
*You don’t know anything.*
*You don’t know the dark history tying us together—you don’t know how I truly see you.* Gi Dae Woong screamed silently inside.
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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