Chapter 2.2

Ignoring the stunned Jung Cho-ah, Su-eon walked past her, opened the fridge, and pulled out a beer. She cracked open the cold can and took a long, deep gulp. The refreshing chill cleared her head and left her feeling alive again.

Ah, this is life. 

Su-eon let out a loud burp into the air and then turned to look nonchalantly at the still-dumbfounded Jung Cho-ah.

“A week from now, same time, same place. This time, you’re going yourself to explain everything to Executive Director Ki Seung-jo.”

Jung Cho-ah’s face twisted into a grimace, the same expression she used to make whenever her tutors came over and assigned her mountains of homework.

“…Do I really have to? It’s already over. It’s not like we’re ever going to see each other again.”

Instead of replying, Su-eon simply raised one eyebrow. With someone like Jung Cho-ah, the queen of scheming, giving her options was out of the question.

“So, you don’t want to?”

Perhaps realizing she’d be kicked out on the spot if she said yes, Jung Cho-ah didn’t answer immediately and only scrunched up her face. Su-eon began counting silently. One, two, three. As expected, the impatient Jung Cho-ah nodded before she could even reach ten.

“…Fine, I’ll do it. I’ll go, okay?”

Her face was full of resentment, as if she’d been terribly wronged. It was the kind of pouty expression a mischievous four-year-old might make. That was exactly what Jung Cho-ah looked like. Su-eon sighed, feeling like a parent dealing with a nonexistent troublemaking child.

“What’s your problem? You live your life doing whatever you want.”

“Wow, that’s so unfair. When have I ever? All I do is whatever you tell me to do!”

Jung Cho-ah argued back with a brazen attitude.  

“I didn’t even want to study abroad, but I worked hard and went anyway. I didn’t want to, but I still show up at the hotel every day to learn the job properly. Do you have any idea how hard that is for someone like me, whose dream is to live off my parents’ money forever and just laze around?”  

Truly, how admirable. Su-eon looked at Jung Cho-ah with an expression full of disdain.  

“You’re not going to manage the hotel?”  

“There’s Jung No-ah, isn’t there? Let him do it.”  

“If No-ah takes over, are you saying you’ll give up on the hotel and live your whole life off the allowance he gives you?”  

Jung Cho-ah grimaced, as if she didn’t like that idea either. Su-eon clicked her tongue and continued.  

“No-ah is still a student. He has to finish his military service, return to school, and graduate—it’s going to take a long time. And you, as his older sister, are just going to sit around doing nothing until then?”  

“Why do you always pick on me? You’re supposed to be on my side. We’re practically real sisters.”  

“You act so immature all the time, no wonder the adults keep scolding you. And how are we sisters?”  

“We’ve lived in the same house since I was six. It’s been over 20 years—if that doesn’t make us sisters, what does?”  

“It’s only 12 years. I left your house after I graduated high school.”  

“Ugh, fine. I guess cutting eight years off makes you happy. Bleh.”  

“……”  

Jung Cho-ah, now sulking, flopped down onto the sofa. Su-eon shook her head as if to say she wouldn’t bother arguing anymore. 

Jung Cho-ah wasn’t a four-year-old child. She was a 26-year-old adult and, one day, the future Chief Strategy Officer of World Hotel.  

Su-eon knew she couldn’t indulge such childish behavior. Yet, whenever she thought of the younger Jung Cho-ah, who used to tug at the hem of her clothes with her tiny hands, calling out, “Sister, Sister,” and following her around, her heart softened out of habit.  

Jung Cho-ah had lost her father early and, with her mother’s love focused on her younger brother, there weren’t many people she could turn to for affection. It wasn’t that Assemblywoman Yeo didn’t love her daughter, but her affection was far more inclined toward No-ah, who had been born posthumously.  

Chairwoman Wang, the cold and calculating manager of World Hotel and Jung Cho-ah’s grandmother, wasn’t the type to dote on her grandchildren either.  

In the end, young Jung Cho-ah had no one to cling to but Su-eon. The image of Jung Cho-ah, sitting on the ground with scraped knees, crying out “Sister Su-eon” at the top of her lungs, was one that always lingered in Su-eon’s mind, evoking pity and sorrow no matter how much time passed.  

To say Jung Cho-ah was pitiable was absurd. Jung Cho-ah had been a strong person since birth, and now she was Su-eon’s boss, while Su-eon remained a perpetual subordinate. To feel sympathy for her was nothing less than arrogance.  

Whenever she felt this way, Su-eon wanted to take her weak heart and throw it into a blazing fire, as if tempering steel. If that could make her stronger, she would gladly leave it in the flames forever. She wanted to turn away and ignore everything.  

“It’s late. Just go home.”  

Su-eon put down her can of beer and started washing the dishes. Scrubbing the pot of ramen that Jung Cho-ah had eaten and left behind, she thought about how she wanted to scrub away the stains in her heart just as vigorously.  

After finishing the dishes, she dried the wet plates with a clean dish towel and placed them back in the cupboard. With that, her heart felt a little calmer. When she turned her stiff back, she saw that Jung Cho-ah had come down from the sofa and was now sitting at the dining table, sipping the beer Su-eon had left unfinished.  

Su-eon sighed again. Despite all the nagging, she wouldn’t leave and clung on so persistently. Yet, seeing her like that, Su-eon’s heart softened once more.  

Jung Cho-ah drained the last drop of beer from the can and grabbed a new one. Watching her fumble twice in a row, Su-eon finally opened the can for her and handed it over.  

“You grumble but still do everything for me. Such a tsundere.”  

Jung Cho-ah grinned as she took the beer.  

“You’re too easy, Sister.”  

“What are you saying? You’re the fool who gets drunk off one can of beer.”  

“It’s because I take after Mom. My mom, with her stern face, can’t handle alcohol at all.”  

With her eyes half-closed, Jung Cho-ah mumbled.  

“Dad could drink like a fish, though. Why couldn’t I take after him?”  

Jung Cho-ah watched Su-eon open the refrigerator and take out another beer, her words seemingly ignored.  

“Was Ki Seung-jo really that good?”  

Resting her chin on her hand, Jung Cho-ah asked with a childish, sulky face. Her voice sounded hazy, whether from her posture or the alcohol.  

“If he were weird, I would’ve cut him off right away.”  

Su-eon rummaged through the nearly empty fridge and pulled out some dried snacks.  

“But you rescheduled with him? That means he passed.”  

“He seemed well-raised.”  

Closing the fridge door, Su-eon stood up and took the wobbling can from Jung Cho-ah’s hand, placing it firmly on the table.  

“Thankfully, he hasn’t changed for the worse or anything like that.”  

“To get that kind of evaluation from the Ji Su-eon… That’s high praise.”  

Jung Cho-ah pouted her lips dramatically.  

“Ugh, so annoying.”  

Su-eon popped a honey butter almond into her mouth.  

“Think of it positively. He’s the one you’re going to marry, after all.”  

“Marriage? Ugh, gross.”  

Su-eon ignored Jung Cho-ah’s exaggerated reaction and opened a can of beer. Reacting to Jung Cho-ah’s every word would only lead to high blood pressure.  

“It seems our dear Assemblywoman wants to use me to make the biggest business deal of her life. But aiming for K.U.? That’s just too much. No matter how confident I am in myself, if I go to that neighborhood, I’ll just be labeled as the daughter of a motel owner. And yet, she wants to make me the lady of the K.U. Group?”  

Jung Cho-ah sneered as she spoke, but Su-eon let the words wash over her, gulping down her beer. That white wine from earlier had been really delicious. She’d noted the label and looked it up on her way out of the hotel, only to find that it cost half her monthly salary.  

If Su-eon were to buy a bottle of that wine, she’d have to survive until next month’s paycheck without food, coffee, or anything else, living off the taste of her own fingers. When it came time to pay for dinner today, Director Ki Seung-jo hadn’t even glanced at the bill.  

Jung Cho-ah might call herself the daughter of a motel owner, but her life wasn’t all that different from Ki Seung-jo’s.  

“Ki Seung-jo’s wife? That means being the next lady of K.U. Group. They’re basically asking me to become the eldest daughter-in-law of a conglomerate. And in a family where there are two sets of in-laws.”  

Some people did refer to the wife of Ki Seung-jo in that way. Su-eon sipped her beer and thought about it calmly. But the fact that Jung Cho-ah had brought it up herself was problematic.  

“Don’t talk about that where others can hear.”  

At Su-eon’s advice, Jung Cho-ah merely snorted.