“I’ve never had a day where time didn’t pass like today.”
In response to his words of wanting to see her, Kang poured out her heart.
Although he simply pulled her into his arms as his body wanted, San belatedly felt a little sorry.
She must have waited a lot, and he couldn’t bring plausible news.
So,
“Are you okay?”
He just asked a light greeting.
Kang replied.
“What?”
“I heard that Jane is a mongma.”
It was a question expressing concern about her wounded heart, her anxiety, and her worries.
Understanding that sentiment, she forced a smile and nodded.
“I’m fine.”
San couldn’t figure out what words to use to comfort or reassure Kang.
“Sorry. I’m not good at comforting.”
So, she genuinely smiled in response to his apology.
It meant it was okay, but he still wanted to comfort her in some way.
And when the answer is ambiguous like this, I thought that getting the answer directly is not a bad way.
“How do humans find comfort?”
“Huh?”
“I asked Romi, but it wasn’t much help.”
“What did Romi say?”
“…….,”
As San remained silent, she recalled the advice Romi might have given.
Would Romi have told her to go find and bring a bag of eyeball candies dried with mongma’s tears?
Or maybe handed her the skull of a mongma she used to play with, urging her to launch a bribery campaign.
Perhaps she suggested trying delicious food together.
Thinking of cute ideas that Romi might have suggested, Kang smiled quietly.
Since San didn’t answer, the truth could not be known, but at this moment, it was clear that he wanted to comfort her.
“Humans are not so different from mongmas.”
Like you said once.
“We only eat differently; in the end, we feel the same emotions.”
“…….,”
“In the end, isn’t what you know the answer?”
He changed the question to her in response to her answer.
“Then, when you’re holding me, do you get the greatest comfort?”
“Huh?”
“I do.”
“Well, you had a meal then…….,”
“Of course, your nightmares are excellent, but you, yourself…….,”
After a brief pause, he looked at her squarely and continued.
“You make me happy.”
To me, whose only goal in life was to survive, you became a reason to live.
And,
“I stupidly just realized that.”
The feeling of reaching the limit couldn’t be ignored anymore; the truth that could no longer be hidden had become apparent.
The gluttony that suddenly appeared when meeting you wasn’t something that had just happened; he simply became greedy for you.
And that was the same for Kang.
The obsession with life disappeared at some point, and at the point where she felt that living and dying were not so unfair, San was there.
It was like encountering the essence of happiness that she had never experienced or known.
Meeting you was enough to be happy, and so the word “thank you” was the most sincere among the words she had said to him.
It was the moment when she suddenly realized that she was already a happy person.
Her heart swelled.
“Well, come to think of it.”
Kang spoke seriously, pretending to ponder.
“I also feel relaxed and comforted when I’m holding you.”
The cohabitation with him, which she thought was ridiculous, had now become so familiar.
And she genuinely felt the greatest comfort and stability when she was under San’s protection, in San’s arms.
“When I’m holding you?”
But the words she heard through his lips again were embarrassingly awkward only after she said them.
Blushing slightly, Kang hastily added.
“Well, small compliments become wonderful comforts too.”
“…….,”
“I’m weak to compliments.”
Compliments can make even whales dance, you know?
I thought it would be a suitable topic change, but he stared at her intently.
It seemed a bit warm for Kang, so she turned around first, fanning herself.
“If you’re not going to keep standing, let’s go in and talk now.”
With that, she entered the living room, grabbing her hair as if tying it with both hands.
“Is it a bit hot in the house? Oh, where did I put the hair tie?”
Without noticing the hair tie on the table right in front of her, she struggled.
San quietly picked it up and approached her.
Then, standing behind her, he extended his long fingers.
Feeling the touch that barely touched her neck, Kang stopped walking as if frozen.
He gathered her long hair, tying it up, and said,
“I said you get comfort from compliments.”
“Yeah.”
“And you.”
“…….,”
“Looks good and tastes good.”
Normally, she might have squinted at him, but today, she just laughed.
Upon that, San, who was also smiling, lowered his lips and kissed her neck.
“Don’t get hurt.”
Kang, with a shivering shoulder, said,
“I don’t have any painful spots.”
“I’m worried you might be emotionally hurt.”
For some reason, it was a word conveyed with the wish that she wouldn’t be hurt or disappointed.
And that feeling was entirely transmitted to Kang.
The “It’s okay” she halfheartedly said earlier now felt like a completely powerful statement.
It felt like her heart was becoming stronger.
Now it didn’t matter who was a mongma by her side.
Because you were by my side.
And you’re a mongma too.
Nothing else mattered.
What mattered was whether she was prepared to handle the future she wanted now.
A cold shower was desperately needed.
“I’ll shower first and come back.”
She thought she needed some time alone to organize her thoughts slowly.
“Okay.”
After answering like that, San sat on the sofa, leisurely waiting for her.
It was difficult to endure hunger beyond the limit, so she ate nightmares on the way back instead of waiting too long.
It wasn’t a satisfying meal, but it was a choice to treat Kang somewhat gentlemanly.
He didn’t say that he filled her stomach with a different nightmare when she asked if she was hungry.
Even if not explicitly expressed, he knew what she disliked.
She hoped she could be satisfied only through her nightmares. And seeing Kang like that was quite enjoyable for him.
Even if she tied a rope around his neck, it seemed like a crazy thought that wasn’t so bad.
But at that moment…
A faint sound of water dripping from the shower was heard.
Swoosh [Dash]
San’s slowly turning gaze looked toward the bathroom where Kang was.
It seemed like his superior senses were more keenly exerting their abilities today.
The sound of water droplets falling from the showerhead, rubbing against smooth skin, stimulated his imagination violently.
It felt like a small stone had been thrown into his relaxed mood.
“…….,”
A storm began to brew in his heart.
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.”
