Chapter 2 (Part 7)

When he had looked into Yoo Seok-young before, he was surprised at how ordinary he was.

He wasn’t hired through connections or family ties but solely based on his good education and credentials, ending up in the Chairman’s secretary office.

He had lost his parents early, and his wife was not working, so he was the sole breadwinner.

Although his salary wasn’t small, it was quite burdensome to comfortably support his wife and child as a single earner.

“So while I’m serving you, Managing Director, I will prioritize you above all.”

A quick judgment from someone who has something to protect.

And he was willing to keep him as his own person, having made such a difficult decision.

Of course, making him an ally would make things easier in the future.

“Once I consider someone as mine, I never treat them carelessly. I keep them by my side until the end.”

Seok-young nodded and bowed a little deeper.

“I look forward to working with you, Managing Director.”

“Yes. And since you have your own position, you can continue to report my every move to the Chairman as you have been.”

Seok-young slightly lifted his head to look at Do-jin.

“And bring back to me any conversations you have with the Chairman.”

“Yes, I will do that.”

“Good. So, what did the Chairman say today?”

Seok-young, slightly relieved, adjusted his stiff posture and replied.

“He first asked if your stubbornness about the second granddaughter would not break.”

“And you said no?”

“Yes, I told him there seems to be no room for compromise.”

At Seok-young’s answer, Do-jin let out a short laugh.

“And he also asked me to look for an artist who could replace Artist Lee Hwa-woong.”

Do-jin absentmindedly stroked his chin as he thought.

Seonghan Group, the main company, had grown alongside the country and its ideology since the South Korean government was established.

As times changed, the company’s conservative image became too strong, so they wanted to focus all their efforts on cultural and artistic projects that had gained interest among the younger generation to revamp their image.

Bringing in Hwa-woong, who was famous as a painter and communicated actively with the MZ generation through social media despite his age.

However, there were likely many who could replace Hwa-woong.

The problem was.

“He must have asked you to find someone who is discreet and willing to follow the Chairman’s wishes, right?”

“……Yes, that’s right.”

“What does he plan to do with the paintings?”

“I can only guess, but he’s been meeting with Congressman Park Won-sang frequently.”

“Is he providing financial support?”

“That, I’m not sure….”

If illegal funds were provided during the presidential election, what better way to hide and manipulate the source of the money than through something like paintings?

“Is the old man interested in politics?”

“That too, I’m not sure… He doesn’t confide in me about those things.”

“I see.”

Do-jin said he understood for now and stood up.

“You may leave.”

Seok-young buttoned his jacket with a slightly more relaxed face and bowed to him.

As he was about to leave the office, Do-jin called him back.

“Can you find out more about Lee Seo-hye? Everything from how she ended up in that house. I heard she didn’t originally live there.”

“Oh, yes. I will find out everything.”

The next day, just before midnight, the gate of the house in Cheongun-dong swung open violently.

Seo-hye, who had been staring blankly at an empty sheet of drawing paper for three hours without producing anything, flinched and turned her gaze toward the window.

She saw Hae-mi staggering and crawling up the stairs on all fours. Seo-hye immediately lost interest and turned her attention back to the desk.

Mr. Kim must have gone out, as Hae-mi’s noisy humming was no longer heard.

A few minutes later, there were several thumping sounds from the second-floor stairs, and Mr. Kim’s labored breathing was heard repeatedly.

At that, Seo-hye sighed.

Despite having an alcohol allergy, why does she drink until she’s completely drunk?

I hope she doesn’t start causing a fuss in the morning, demanding I get her medicine again.

Already picturing Hae-mi’s tyranny, Seo-hye tightened her grip on the brush.

“Ugh—let go, it’s so itchy, I’m dying here!”

“Miss, you’ll get scars. Please stop scratching.”

As expected, Hae-mi seemed to be scratching her body as if she had hives, and Mr. Kim was trying to stop her.

Knock, knock—

“Miss Seo-hye!”

At Mr. Kim’s strained voice, Seo-hye closed her eyes tightly and swallowed her irritation.

Then she pushed back her chair, got up, and opened the door.

Mr. Kim was sweating profusely, holding Hae-mi’s arm as she lay sprawled on the floor.

And he asked for a favor.

“It seems Madam is asleep. I’m sorry, but could you change Miss Hae-mi’s clothes? We need to put her to bed quickly.”

“…Alright. Let’s take her to her room first.”

Seo-hye bent down and placed Hae-mi’s left arm, which wasn’t held by Mr. Kim, around her neck.

Then she straightened her knees and stood up.

With two people supporting her, Hae-mi had no choice but to be dragged to her room.

“I’ll be at the door. Let me know if you need help.”

Adjusting his disheveled clothes, Kim asked Seo-hye to handle it.

After agreeing, Seo-hye entered the room and tried to take off Hae-mi’s clothes.

“Sister. Let’s start with the coat—”

Thunk—!

Hae-mi hit Seo-hye on the head hard.

“Ah, what the hell? Huh? You’re a shitty little sister, aren’t you?”

She glared at Seo-hye with unfocused eyes and pointed her finger.

“Don’t touch my body, okay? Heh, heh, you know.”

Suddenly remembering something, Hae-mi gestured for her to lend an ear with a sly smile.

When Seo-hye ignored her, Hae-mi jumped on the bed, causing a commotion. Reluctantly, Seo-hye leaned her head toward her.

“Do you know what Grandpa promised to do? Huh?”

She giggled.

Not knowing what she meant, Seo-hye didn’t react and tried to lift Hae-mi’s shoulder to remove her arm from the coat.

“Now I’m going to marry Won Do-jin… that’s it. Before I get married….”

Suddenly, her slurred speech became clearer.

She looked at Seo-hye with a rather lucid gaze and said.

“Want me to tell you a secret? Heh heh, you don’t know how pitiful your mom is, do you?”

Seo-hye’s brow furrowed sharply.

“But being pitiful doesn’t change the fact that she ruined another family. Right?”

Suddenly, Hae-mi changed and grabbed Seo-hye’s arm tightly. Then she started pressing her sharp nails, shaped by nail art, into Seo-hye’s tender skin.

“Ah! What are you doing!”

Without even having time to ask what she was saying about her mom, a stinging pain made her scream.

The more she tried to pull her arm away, the deeper Hae-mi dug her nails. The drunken woman’s grip was too strong to shake off.

Noticing the commotion, Mr. Kim knocked twice and quickly entered to separate Seo-hye and Hae-mi.

With Mr. Kim’s help, Seo-hye barely escaped from Hae-mi and asked, panting.

“Sister! Say what you just said again. Why is my mom pitiful! Huh? Do you know something? Huh?”

When Seo-hye tried to close the distance again, Mr. Kim blocked her this time.

“Miss Seo-hye. You know that Miss Hae-mi talks nonsense when she’s drunk. At this rate, both the painter and madam will wake up. Let’s not cause a disturbance and return to your room.”

He forced her out of Hae-mi’s room.

Holding her forearm, marked deeply by nail scratches, with her other hand, Seo-hye looked at Mr. Kim with displeasure.

Asking for my help, and now he’s pushing me away?

However, he avoided her gaze and stood guard at Hae-mi’s door. As if trying to bury whatever secret Hae-mi might reveal.

Feeling uneasy, Seo-hye turned back several times as she headed to her room.

But Mr. Kim didn’t give her an inch.

What did Haemi mean by saying Mom was pitiful? Could she have visited my sick mother and harassed her?

Seo-hye massaged her temple, where a headache was forming, and opened the door with her other hand. Then she lay down on the bed.

“Sigh.”

In truth, her mother was pitiful because she was her mother. It was true that she and her mother were unwelcome beings from an outsider’s perspective. She had no intention of denying it.

To Chae-seon and Hae-mi, she was probably an unwanted guest they wanted dead, and she felt a little sorry for her half-sister, so she accepted her anger as it was.

Thinking that today’s painting for her mom was a lost cause, she closed her eyes.

The painting in Do-jin’s hands felt even more desperately needed tonight.

***

It was a gloomy morning.

Looking out the window, raindrops began to stick to the glass.

Was there rain in the forecast today?

She opened the window and reached her hand outside.

The humid air wrapped around her hand, and soon, light raindrops fell on her hand.

I want to go out.

Her low murmur filled her eyes with emptiness.

She liked stepping on leaves wet with rain.

Leaves that would crumble easily if dry, but stood firm after soaking up some water, she liked that.

It gave her hope that someday, a rain shower would come that would allow her to endure like that.

However, faced with a situation where she was banned from going out until Hae-mi’s wedding day, the despair that no rain would come in her life grew.

She decided she couldn’t let this continue and opened the door to go downstairs.

It was right to talk to Hwa-woong again.

She’d paint Oriental paintings as he wanted, so she could go out once every two weeks. She would say she only wanted to see her mother.

The moment she set foot on the first-floor ground.

The smell of food wafted into her nose, and she involuntarily looked toward the kitchen.

Everyone was sitting and eating.

Even though she was treated inhumanely at home, she had always had meals together due to Hwa-woong’s pretense.

It seemed that today, she was excluded from even that.

It wasn’t particularly sad. It was only natural, and she thought it was something she should have experienced sooner.

She thought she’d come back down after the family finished eating to meet Hwa-woong, but then she met his eyes.

When he let out an awkward cough, Hae-mi and Chae-seon turned around.

They didn’t show any embarrassed or apologetic expressions.

“Did you come to eat? But Hae-mi’s been feeling unwell lately. We decided not to have anything that would upset her until the wedding. Our meal time is 7:30, so you can come down around 9.”

Why so specific?

“Seeing me must bother Sister. Alright. Enjoy your meal.”

Without emotion, Seo-hye said and turned her back.

Then she noticed something and stopped.

Looking closely, Hwa-woong had his right arm in a cast.

“By the way, Grandpa. What happened to your arm?”

She wasn’t worried about him. She was wondering how much he would make her work under the excuse of being injured, even though he didn’t paint in the first place.

“I fell while going down to the yard early in the morning. I’ve been to the hospital since dawn.”

Suppressing her inner annoyance, Seo-hye turned around. Just as she was doubting whether he was really injured, she heard Hae-mi whining.

“Gosh, it’s frustrating. Of all things, the right arm, so you can’t paint! I told Do-jin yesterday that you’d do it, and now I have to retract it in a day. I really hate this situation.”

“Hae-mi.”

Chae-seon scolded Hae-mi, but she continued to grumble.

Come to think of it, what were they planning? Yesterday, Hae-mi, drunk, said, “Grandpa decided,” as if her marriage was confirmed.

“Grandpa will talk it over well so that it doesn’t affect the wedding. Stop whining and let’s eat.”

Not knowing what it was, but realizing Hae-mi and Do-jin’s marriage was more certain, Seo-hye moved her steps bitterly.

**

Since breakfast, Hwa-woong had been bedridden. Mr. Kim said he had caught a cold from exerting so much force when he fell.

In the end, Seo-hye had to spend a quiet day in her room without having any conversation with Hwa-woong.

Maybe because she had been sitting at her desk for so long. Just as she thought her back was starting to ache, she stood up.

The phone rang. It was an unknown number.

“Hello.”

• Were you waiting for the call? You answered really quickly.

Startled by the familiar voice, Seo-hye hastily pressed the call end button.