Seo Yoon ripped open the long seaweed bag and poured the contents into a stainless bowl.
This was definitely too much.
Tilting her head sideways while trying to estimate the amount, Seo Yoon eventually removed about a handful of the expanded seaweed.
It might have overflowed as it swelled up in the water.
Unnoticed, Kang Hyun had come in and was preparing to go to work.
It had been timed for his birthday, so it was done.
Seo Yoon fried the marinated beef sweetly, poured in the seaweed, mixed it appropriately, then added water again.
“I should have boiled it in advance.”
She took out the saved ribs and put them in the steamer, looking at the seaweed soup that was bubbling and foaming.
Even with ten hands, she felt like she wouldn’t be enough to mix the japchae with the ingredients she had prepared last night.
But it was his last birthday by her side.
She wanted to do at least this much.
For now, she set the table with the prepared dishes. She filled the rice bowls and ladled the soup onto the table.
The japchae was no problem, but the braised ribs needed time.
She hoped Kang Hyun’s preparation would be delayed, but soon the bedroom door opened.
Kang Hyun, who glanced at the busy Seo Yoon, went straight through the kitchen and headed for the front door.
She felt pathetic for being a little excited because she thought he knew.
He had been busy with work recently and seemed to have forgotten his birthday.
Seo Yoon pushed away the rising sadness and followed him.
“Can’t you eat breakfast before leaving?”
“I have an important meeting.”
“Then at least dinner. I’ll wait even if it’s late, I have something to tell you.”
“Next time.”
Kang Hyun, who kissed her large eyes looking up at him for a long time, left the house without any hesitation.
Trudging back into the kitchen, Seo Yoon turned off the induction and sat in front of the cooling rice and soup, spending time blankly.
Fortunately, no tears came out, perhaps because she cried out after meeting Kim So Ye.
The early dawn when no one was walking down the street. Time flowed aimlessly towards 3 a.m.
Seo Yoon, who had been waiting for Kang Hyun, who didn’t come back for a long time, rubbed her heavy eyelids and picked up a spoon.
Thud, thud. The sound of the second hand echoing in the empty space once again tormented her ear.
Seo Yoon, who bit her lips out of habit, finally threw the clock.
The broken glass sparkled in the light.
“It’s tasteless.”
There was no way it could have taste.
Oil floated on the cooled soup and braised ribs, and the cold japchae and rice were hardened.
The birthday had already passed.
Yet, Seo Yoon continued to eat with difficulty.
The greasy foods all at once bothered her stomach and made it churn, but she didn’t stop.
And she realized.
Ah, I really am at my limit.
I can’t endure by his side anymore.
Once again, as I resolved to part ways, I felt as if my esophagus and windpipe were simultaneously blocked.
I was afraid of a life without Kang Hyun.
Halfway through her meal, Seo Yoon started coughing, hitting her chest when the door lock released, and the sensor lights in the long hallway sequentially brightened.
As Kang Hyun was naturally about to pass by the dining room, he turned his head following the bright lighting.
Weighed down by fatigue, Kang Hyun, rubbing his dry eyes, scanned the prepared meal and approached Seo Yoon.
“It was my birthday. I’m not sure if it’s the actual day I was born, but still.”
The steps moving at a steady pace came to an abrupt halt. He had forgotten about it completely.
“I’ll prepare something, so go shopping when you’re free tomorrow.”
Kang Hyun, having brushed off his slightly cracked face, hammered the final nail into Seo Yoon’s heart with his words.
I wanted to ask if I was now a bother.
What was I to him? I wanted to ask if I was truly nothing more than a comfort doll.
But knowing that such clichéd words had no meaning to Kang Hyun, I asked the same substantial question as before.
“Do we really have to get married?”
“Why do you keep bringing up this marriage? I told you it has nothing to do with you.”
“Why doesn’t it concern me? Are you saying you’ll still be hanging around the house like this after getting married? That you’ll keep me by your side like a doll even after marriage? That from beside a married man, I should continue to love you?”
Seo Yoon’s small clenched fist trembled as she was at a loss for words.
“That side also knows about your existence. We’ve agreed not to interfere, so don’t worry about it.”
“How do they perceive my existence? An impudent orphan? A leech clinging to Kang Hyun and refusing to let go even in death?”
Unable to contain her resentment, Seo Yoon’s voice rose. She had no way to express her frustration. She felt like tearing at her hair.
“Who’s been saying such things to you.”
“You’re making me like that!”
“I’ve never done that, why are you doing this so late at night. Just go to bed.”
Even with Seo Yoon pacing like an erupting volcano right in front of him, Kang Hyun was as serene as a still lake.
“I have something to say.”
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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