Kang Hyun watched Jian, who was joyfully playing in the snow like a child, and cracked a fleeting smile.
However, despite the soft curve of his lips, his dark eyes sunk deep as if into an abyss.
His unblemished face brought relief, yet there was a void in his heart, as if a large hole had been punched through it.
“Vice President, what are you doing over there!”
Jian, having wandered a fair distance, stretched her arms above her head and waved.
Kang Hyun paused in his steps, following Jian’s gesture to come inside.
The snow spread around was too white, and the garden lights too bright.
And Jian blended harmoniously with the warm atmosphere they created.
What would happen if he approached?
Could he seamlessly blend into that scene?
Or would the nearly perfect landscape shatter into pieces?
His gaze slowly fell to his feet, slightly staggered.
Even if that day’s accident hadn’t happened, he would have ended up ruining Seo Yoon with his own hands.
It felt like a dark shadow, coloring the space around him, whispered in his ear.
“Again with the low pressure. It was at 10 earlier, but now it’s dropped to 1.”
In front of Kang Hyun’s hesitating black shoes, a pair of white sneakers, caked with snow, neatly gathered.
Kang Hyun, who had been silently watching the small approaching feet, finally lifted his head.
“What is.”
“Your mood, Vice President. You said to go in first, but why are you just standing there? Even if you don’t want to step on the snow, let’s go.”
Kang Hyun grasped Jian’s offered hand and stepped onto the soft snow.
The warm body heat, victorious over the cold weather, transferred between their clasped palms.
Four sets of footprints cheerfully marked their way to the entrance.
“Why are your feet so big?”
“You’re the one who’s small.”
Jian, following in the large footsteps of Kang Hyun, smiled broadly, noting the size difference when his footprints left a lot of space around her shoes.
Like stepping only on the white paint of a crosswalk, Jian diligently followed Kang Hyun’s footprints to the front door, hopping along.
“Excuse me.”
Jian carefully stepped inside through the door unlocked by the door lock, took off her damp sneakers, and put on the slippers prepared for indoors.
Kang Hyun, following her in, also took off his shoes.
With a long corridor ahead, the two stood side by side as the door slowly clicked shut behind them.
The indoor temperature, pre-arranged with the caretaker two days ago, was comfortably warm, creating an eerily quiet atmosphere.
“Ha ha ha, it’s really quiet.”
Jian smiled awkwardly, looking at the end of the dark corridor where the sensor lights hadn’t yet turned on.
It was fine in the garden, but inside the enclosed space, sweat had formed in their still-clasped hands.
Feeling tense, Jian sneakily glanced at Kang Hyun and then pulled her hand away.
The blush that had just faded from Jian’s cheeks returned.
Her heart pounded, sending blood coursing rapidly through her body.
“Vice President, speaking of which, our luggage…”
“I’ll bring it up, the second floor would be more comfortable.”
“Sure, any place is fine with me.”
Jian flashed a bright smile but quickly cast her eyes down.
“I won’t bite, you know.”
Kang Hyun gently tapped Jian’s protruding forehead before pushing open the front door and stepping out.
“……I’m shaking too much.”
Calm down, just calm down.
Jian, finally able to breathe, tapped her chest area to settle her racing heart.
Kang Hyun looked unaffected, but why was she the only one like this?
Why am I the only one without composure!
Jian, with a forlorn face and slumped shoulders, straightened up quickly as the sound of the electronic lock clicking sounded.
“Come down after washing up on the second floor; there’s a nice restaurant nearby for dinner.”
“Yes!”
Jian responded energetically, quickly grabbing her bag and disappearing down the hallway.
Kang Hyun had intended to help her with the luggage up to the second floor.
He watched where the bag had disappeared, then let out a helpless laugh.
[Star Icon] [Star Icon] [Star Icon]“Vice President.”
Jian called out to Kang Hyun with a stunned expression.
Her legs felt like lead as they approached the entrance of a sophisticated fine dining restaurant, located at the top floor of the hotel.
“Uh-huh.”
“Couldn’t you have told me where we were having dinner in advance?”
The uneasy premonition that Jian had felt since the car slid into the hotel parking lot had become a reality. Whether it was Omakase, a hotel Chinese restaurant, or fine dining, she knew Kang Hyun’s habit of just saying ‘a decent restaurant,’ but why…
Why did she choose to wear a tracksuit like a fool?
“Or at least when I came down wearing this outfit…”
Feeling embarrassed, Jian pulled her hood over her head and tightened the drawstrings to hide her face, resenting Kang Hyun.
“You look cute.”
Sitting at a window-side table directed by the staff and after placing their order, Kang Hyun casually complimented her.
Removing her hood and revealing her peachy blushed cheeks, Jian tried to suppress her rising smile by lifting her glass of water.
Before the food arrived, Kang Hyun reached his hand across the empty table.
Jian, looking at his palm facing the ceiling for a moment, eventually placed her hand on top of his.
Kang Hyun firmly grasped their overlapped fingertips and leaned back in his chair.
“It feels like we’re on a date, not just handling work.”
Jian, curling the corners of her eyes sweetly, looked around the nearby tables.
Even though the vast hall was filled with no empty seats, it wasn’t overly noisy.
“Let’s have wine back home.”
“At home, you mean?”
“Yes, there’s a screen, so we can watch a movie too.”
Jian nodded her head, stiffly like a malfunctioning robot.
Outside, she could easily hold hands, talk, and laugh, but the mere thought of what they might do alone inside the house made her breath quicken inexplicably.
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.”
