Eun-su stared at the laptop screen.
The translation was clean and concise. While slowly checking the data, Eun-su suddenly felt someone’s gaze and looked up.
There stood Hyuk-ju at the entrance of the kitchen.
“You’re awake?”
“…Did you do this, Hyuk-ju?”
“Yes.”
Hyuk-ju replied nonchalantly and soon walked over to the induction stove. Watching him turn it on, Eun-su closed her laptop.
“It’s my job.”
“I know.”
“Next time…”
Eun-su trailed off, suddenly unsure whether to use the word “next.” She bit her lip slightly, to which Hyuk-ju responded.
“The doctor told you not to overdo things.”
“…”
“I did it because it seemed urgent. And skimming through the content, it was a subject I’d learned about before.”
Hyuk-ju added, implying she shouldn’t feel burdened.
As the pot on the induction began to boil, he turned it off and ladled bean sprout soup into a bowl. Carrying the bowl with both hands as if it was precious, Hyuk-ju walked over to the dining table.
“I’m not sure if it’s to your taste.”
“You made this, Hyuk-ju?”
“Yes. I thought having some warm soup would be good, but the only thing I knew how to make properly was bean sprout soup.”
“…”
Eun-su looked at the bean sprout soup placed in front of her.
It wasn’t a dish that required exquisite ingredients or exceptional culinary skills. But knowing it was personally made by Hyuk-ju made her feel peculiar.
“I think I added the right amount of water, but the rice turned out strange.”
The rice had the consistency of porridge.
The rice was so soaked that when scooped with a spoon, it would just run off.
Hyuk-ju looked at the side dishes he’d prepared on the table, and shook his head in self-deprecation.
“I tried to make them following online recipes, but they all turned out a mess. I wanted to grill mackerel for you, but I ended up burning it.”
He rambled on, seemingly wanting to convey that he’d tried.
Looking at Hyuk-ju sitting across from her with the soup and rice, Eun-su tilted her head.
“Haven’t you had dinner?”
“I didn’t want to eat alone.”
“But waiting until this hour…”
“It’s better to eat together.”
Eun-su just gave a short nod in agreement. It was indeed better to eat with someone than alone.
She scooped up some of the strange-looking rice and mixed it into her bean sprout soup.
The soup was surprisingly good. The warm broth seemed to settle the queasiness she had been feeling.
While eating, Eun-su looked up to see Hyuk-ju, who was sitting still, his face tense with a spoon in hand.
“Aren’t you eating?”
“Why didn’t I realize?”
Taken aback by his sudden statement, Eun-su’s eyes widened.
What was he talking about not realizing?
With a bitter smile that seemed to express regret, Hyuk-ju continued.
“How wonderful it is to sit face-to-face and share a meal like this.”
“…”
“I always thought of it as a given when we ate together every day. But now, I understand how incredible and precious this act is, and I feel foolish.”
Listening to Hyuk-ju’s words, Eun-su put down the spoon she was holding.
She took a sip of water, and with a neutral voice devoid of emotion, she said,
“I always felt it was special. The days I spent with you.”
“…”
“Because I cherished them. But now, I feel uncomfortable. I’m finally trying to find happiness for myself, and when I see Hyuk-ju suddenly appearing like this without permission, I think of that.”
Hyuk-ju stared intently at Eun-su’s face with tense eyes. It seemed he anticipated what Eun-su was about to say, tension forming at the corners of his lips.
“If only it had been sooner.”
Eun-su’s calm words made Hyuk-ju’s smooth forehead crease. Deep regret shone in his firm eyes.
“It wouldn’t have ended so messily. I can’t deny my part in how things turned out, but your mistakes, Mr. Hyuk-ju, are far greater.”
“Eun-su.”
“It wasn’t because I misunderstood the relationship between you and Seo-yeon. The cold glances you gave me, your icy words, and reactions close to indifference… Maybe I couldn’t bear those more than the shadow of Seo-yeon that seemed to follow you.”
Eun-su stood up. Holding her laptop in both hands and as she was about to move away from the table, she paused.
Back to back.
An angle where they couldn’t meet each other’s gaze.
Perhaps it was because she avoided Hyuk-ju’s eyes, eyes that incessantly admitted his wrongs and promised to try harder.
Reiterating her resolution wasn’t difficult.
“That’s why I said I’d end it.”
Eun-su bit her lip once, forcing back the rising wave of emotions.
She held onto her laptop tightly.
Perhaps, in that moment, she felt she should at least thank him for the meal.
Heading out of the kitchen, she said, “The meal was delicious, thank you.”
From Hyuk-ju, no response came. Silence filled the spacious house, inhabited only by the two of them, until Eun-su walked into her room.
Hyuk-ju remained by Eun-su’s side until she moved to her new home.
Whenever Eun-su refused his help, he would remind her of the strain of early pregnancy and insisted on assisting.
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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