Chapter 1.1

“My life lacks depth.”  

Like the heroine of a novel she had once been obsessed with, her boss shouted one day.

“I refuse to live a life where I do nothing but follow orders, without any depth or substance to plant even a mustard seed, only to end it all with an arranged marriage!”  

As always, Ji Su-eon ignored her boss’s nonsensical ramblings, which sounded like sleep-talking. And as a result, here she was.  

“……”  

Ji Su-eon, a member of the World Hotel’s Planning and Coordination Office, currently stood in a stall of the Han Kyung Hotel restroom wearing nothing but her underwear. This was because her boss, Chief of the Planning Office, Jung Cho-ah, had stolen her clothes and ran off just minutes before her arranged marriage meeting. Su-eon, her face cold and expressionless, picked up her phone.  

– Yes! Secretary Ji!

Jung Cho-ah answered the call in a bright and cheerful voice.  

“Where are you right now?”  

Su-eon asked, suppressing the urge to strangle her boss, who had just played a massive prank on her.  

– I’m not telling!

A deep frown formed on Su-eon’s forehead. It wasn’t the answer itself that annoyed her, but the deliberately teasing tone of Jung Cho-ah, who giggled openly as she spoke.  

“Come back immediately.”  

– Nope. Why should I? How much will you pay me?  

“……”  

What are you, a child? 

Su-eon took a deep breath to suppress the anger rising from the pit of her stomach.  

“Stop joking and come back. Do you not remember what today is?”  

Today was unlike the other blind dates that the eldest daughter and troublemaker of the World Hotel, Jung Cho-a, had ruined and disrupted countless times before. This time, the other party was K.U. Group, a company that avoided political marriages to steer clear of governmental influence. It was a meeting painstakingly arranged by Cho-ah’s mother, Assemblywoman Yeo, after much effort.  

The chairman of K.U. Group, who adhered to the principle of passing the company to the eldest son, had adopted his brother’s son after his own son died in an accident at a young age. That adopted son was none other than Ki Seung-jo, the Executive Director of K.U. Electronics and Cho-ah’s arranged meeting partner for today.  

• I know! My dear assemblywoman Mom has finally gone crazy enough to shove me into a Confucian household with two mothers-in-law. That place is a graveyard, Secretary Ji.

Jung Cho-ah sneered.

“Well, I don’t know about that.” 

Su-eon replied in a businesslike tone.  

“But I do know that if you ruin this meeting, you’ll get kicked out of your house.”  

– Oh my, really? So, does that mean you will take me in,  Secretary Ji?  

“No, why would I? How much will you pay me?”  

Su-eon replied mechanically, mimicking Cho-ah’s earlier tone, before adding coldly.  

“If you get kicked out, I can finally quit and move on to a better job. It’d actually be a good thing for me.”

– Wow, so heartless. I’ve followed you around like a real older sister since I learned to walk, and now you’re going to abandon me?  

“And yet, here you are, stealing your so-called sister’s clothes and running off. Do you really think that’s something you should say right now?”

Utterly dumbfounded, Ji Su-eon looked down at herself, feeling pathetic for having trusted the wrong person and ended up in this situation.  

“Do you even remember what kind of state you left me in, locked in this restroom?”

Jung Cho-ah had followed along quietly all the way to Han Kyung Hotel, the location of the arranged meeting, until the car reached Namsan. Suddenly, she had rushed into the restroom, claiming she had just started her period and making a big fuss. Su-eon, ever prepared, calmly handed her a pouch containing organic pads, tampons, and menstrual cups.  

‘Why are you so prepared for everything? It’s seriously exhausting.’ Cho-ah complained, grumbling as she rummaged through the pouch. Then, she caused another commotion, claiming her dress had been stained with blood. Su-eon immediately started arranging for a replacement outfit. However, it was impossible to get one on such short notice, and Cho-ah began whining, saying she couldn’t stand being stuck in this state in the restroom of their rival, Han Kyung Hotel. She insisted they swap clothes.  

Su-eon should have suspected something at that moment.  

But as Cho-ah pressured her, saying there wasn’t enough time, Su-eon ignored the uneasy feeling and did as she was told, taking off her clothes and handing them over. That’s when she realized her mistake. Cho-ah snatched Su-eon’s clothes, left her in the restroom, and ran off.  

And so, Su-eon was now stuck in a stall in Han Kyung Hotel’s restroom, wearing nothing but her underwear, unable to move.  

“Achoo.”  

Su-eon sneezed. Although it was scorching hot outside due to the early summer heatwave, the restroom, with its air conditioning blasting, made her pale skin break out in goosebumps as she stood there exposed.  

Hearing Su-eon’s sneeze, Jung Cho-ah quickly shouted,  

– Oh, oops! Sorry, sorry. Open the door quickly. There’s some clothes in front of it.  

“Well, that’s awfully quick of you to say.” 

Su-eon muttered sarcastically as she opened the door. Just as Cho-ah had said, there was a large paper bag placed in front of the stall.  

Opening the bag, Su-eon let out a dry laugh when she saw the contents: a light pink dress. Jung Cho-ah had stolen Su-eon’s plain black business suit and left behind the dress she had been wearing.  

The bright-colored mini dress was, of course, spotless and freshly fitted from the store earlier that day. Clearly, everything Cho-ah had said about her period was a lie. Su-eon’s pride stung at having fallen for such a cheap trick. She had let her guard down because Cho-ah had been behaving herself at recent arranged meetings.  

“Why on earth would you steal my suit and run off when you had perfectly fine clothes like these?” 

Su-eon asked in a tone of utter disbelief.  

– Because you were the one freaking out next to me, saying there wasn’t enough time and to hurry up and change!” 

Cho-ah retorted.  

There was no time to spare for venting anger at such shameless words. Time was running out. The arranged meeting partner would arrive soon.  

“Stop acting like a child. If you don’t want to go through with the meeting, come here yourself and state your position clearly. Do you realize how rude and irresponsible this behavior is?”  

Ji Su-eon tried to appeal to Jung Cho-ah’s sense of responsibility and guilt, emphasizing basic decency and morals. However, such reasoning never worked on someone like Cho-ah.  

– Have I ever cared about that, even once?

“In the past, even when you caused trouble, it was manageable. But not today. The other party is K.U. Electronics.”  

– All you ever talk about is K.U., K.U. You’re just like Mom.  

“Don’t use personal terms during work. It makes you seem unprofessional.”  

– Oh, there you go nagging again! Seriously, I’m so sick of it.  

Su-eon wanted to throw those words right back at her. Truly, she was utterly fed up with Cho-ah’s endless messes.  

– If you’re that scared of K.U., why don’t you go in my place? Oh, wait, that’s a great idea!

Cho-ah suddenly exclaimed.  

“Please, think rationally. Isn’t that why you went abroad for an expensive education?”  

– Well, I learned that flexible thinking is important in business. 

Deciding there was no point in responding to Cho-ah’s nonsensical suggestion, Su-eon pulled her phone away from her ear and began typing a message to the driver. She had already contacted him in the lobby as soon as Cho-ah had disappeared.  

<Did you find her?>  

<I’m in the lobby right now, but I don’t see her.> 

Unless Cho-ah was a complete fool, she wouldn’t leave through the main entrance. With more than three exits in the hotel lobby, it was impossible for the driver to find her alone.  

<Check the taxi stand.>  

If she intended to leave the hotel, she would need to get into a car, so the taxi stand was the most likely spot. In this sweltering weather, it was unlikely that Cho-ah would do something as foolish as walking down Namsan.  

– Let’s do it like this, Sis. Just go there, don’t say anything, and sit down to eat. Everyone knows I’m a psycho, so they’ll just assume it’s normal.  

“Wow, what an impressive level of self-awareness. For the last time, that’s fraud.”  

– As long as you don’t get caught, it’s fine, isn’t it? There’s no way someone like the heir to K.U. Electronics would recognize the face of someone like me, who isn’t even from a chaebol family. He won’t notice. And you’ve got that cold beauty look, like a cat, so just staring at him will intimidate him. You won’t even need to talk.  

Throwing out insults disguised as compliments, Cho-ah pushed her absurd idea as if it were some brilliant plan, shamelessly urging Su-eon to commit fraud.  

– Think simply, just simply. It’s better for you to go out and handle it now rather than me causing a scene and leaving you to clean up the mess later. This is the most perfect way to end things without complaints.  

Ji Su-eon ignored her and continued exchanging messages with the driver.  

– And make sure to say this before dessert: ‘Your face is so annoying that I can’t even bear to stay for dessert.’  

“…….”  

– Then, the ones with high self-esteem will just shut up and leave, while the ones with low self-esteem will throw a tantrum like a child and storm out. Either way, it’ll probably just seem cute to you.  

Jung Cho-ah burst into laughter as if just imagining it was amusing. Su-eon felt her blood pressure rising.