Chapter 1 (Part 6)

A little later, In-ah, Jinwon, and the factory workers gathered around. They were in the middle of dinner with the delivered food.

“Are we going to redo all the colors?”

“It seems so. I’m sorry. Please bear with us.”

In-ah was glaring at Jinwon without him noticing. It was absurd how sweetly and politely he spoke to the factory worker.

“Thank you for the meal. I’ll get going first.”

Jinwon got up from the table first. In-ah shot lasers from her eyes at his retreating back.

Sensing In-ah’s mood, the factory worker patted her shoulder.

“Are you upset? You must have put a lot of thought into the colors.”

“Exactly~ Even you know, but that person doesn’t seem to.”

The worker chuckled warmly.

“Try to understand. Jinwon was just like that when he first came here.”

In-ah looked at the worker, wondering what he meant. He wore a nostalgic expression as he watched Jinwon’s distant figure.

“He was so meticulous with every process for days on end, I thought it was for a competition or graduation project.”

“And then?”

“He said it was a gift for his girlfriend.”

“……!”

In-ah was at a loss for words. If it was Jinwon’s girlfriend during his college days, it meant her.

***

“Why are you looking at that again?”

In-ah’s sister, In-kyung, looked at her with a puzzled face. In-ah, who had visited her family home, was staring blankly at an old chair in the dimly lit storage room.

“Why didn’t you throw this out?”

“Are you blaming me right now?”

“Yeah. I said to throw it away when we moved.”

Seeing In-ah’s face full of anger, In-kyung let out a deep sigh.

“I’m your sister, after all.”

“What are you suddenly saying?”

“Do you think I can’t tell when you’re serious and when you’re not?”

“So, you’re saying I wasn’t serious about throwing this chair out?”

In-kyung turned and left the storage room, tossing her reply over her shoulder.

“Why are you looking for it if you thought it was thrown away?”

In-ah looked at the chair with a resentful face. It was the chair Jinwon, whom she loved more than anything in the world during her college days, had made for her birthday.

The object of affection that Jinwon had painstakingly crafted for days, according to the factory worker’s memory. After the breakup, it became an object of hatred that made her heart ache whenever she saw it.

Resolute, In-ah picked up the chair and carried it outside the storage room.

As she set the chair outside the house and came back in, her phone rang. It was a call from her brother, In-woo.

• Where are you now?

“Home.”

• Bring my name tag to the hotel. It’s on the desk in my room.

“Do you think I’m your errand girl? I’m hanging up.”

• Wait, wait! You’ll regret it.

In-ah, who was about to hang up without hesitation, paused. She decided to listen with a somewhat smug expression.

“Speak.”

• Version 3 model.

“No, no. Version 4.”

• Oh, okay. Deal.

“Deal done!”

A victorious smile spread across In-ah’s face as she ended the call.

Her younger brother, In-woo, worked at the prestigious Jinseong Hotel. On his night shift today, he seemed to have left his name tag at home after washing his uniform.

It wasn’t the first time, so in such cases, In-ah always had the upper hand. It was too obvious that her older sister, In-kyung, wouldn’t agree to do the delivery.

After getting out of the taxi, In-ah nodded slightly to the hotel staff holding the taxi door. As she entered the lobby, the floor was so polished it practically shone.

The hotel completed its reputation as the finest in the country with luxurious decorations throughout. The interior decor exuded a sophisticated atmosphere that was calming rather than dazzling.

In-ah looked up at the high ceiling of the hotel, which she could only see by tilting her head back. She had always thought the highlight of the hotel was this lobby ceiling. To be precise, it was the crystal sculpture that seemed to cascade like a waterfall from the ceiling. The elegance of filling the ceiling’s space with a work of art was remarkable.

After admiring her favorite hotel lobby ceiling, In-ah called In-woo. But for some reason, he didn’t answer.

“What’s the point of calling me here if he won’t pick up?”

Sighing, In-ah turned her gaze and caught sight of an unexpected figure.

She spotted Jinwon stepping out of the elevator that had just arrived in the lobby. The reason she couldn’t take her eyes off him was right behind him.

A woman who had followed Jinwon out of the elevator was clinging to his arm with a bright smile. She was a stunning beauty at first glance. The kind of beauty that didn’t need expensive clothes or jewelry.

Yet, she had it all, from a designer dress and handbag to dazzling earrings and a necklace.

In-ah’s eyes naturally drifted to the woman’s hand hooked onto Jinwon’s arm.

That was definitely the elevator coming down from the guest rooms. Not the one going to the hotel bar or restaurant. In-ah, who had visited the hotel several times because of her brother, knew this.

She didn’t realize her eyebrows were furrowed deeply. She was just annoyed by her pupils, which refused to detach from Jinwon and the woman regardless of her will. 

Ignore it. Why should it matter?

Jinwon, with an indifferent expression, turned his head toward the woman and stopped walking. The woman slowly released her grip on his arm.

Only then did Jinwon resume walking, and his gaze met In-ah’s. Without hesitation, Jinwon walked straight toward her.

“Why are you here?”

“There’s no need for you to know about my personal life, is there, Team Leader?”

“Seo In-ah.”

At that moment, the woman, who had scurried over, reattached herself to Jinwon’s arm with a surprised expression.

“What did you just say? Seo In-ah? Is that right? Are you Seo In-ah?”

Jinwon coldly shook off the woman’s arm. The woman’s interest seemed to have shifted entirely to In-ah. She scanned In-ah from head to toe and then snickered.

In-ah didn’t like it. The rudeness of a woman she had never met before was anything but pleasant.

***

The woman’s name was Shin-hye. She met Jinwon during their study abroad in Finland. With a straightforward personality, Shin Hye had aggressively pursued Jinwon, whom she had feelings for. But Jinwon was a fortress then and even now.

During their study in Finland, Jinwon got drunk and lost himself just once. Shin Hye, who had taken him home, learned In-ah’s name for the first time. Jinwon, in his drunken state, repeatedly and earnestly called out, “In-ah…”

That wasn’t all. She witnessed the remnants of Jinwon’s memories of In-ah filling the house. Old photos and writings of unexpressed feelings proved that to Jinwon, ‘Seo In-ah’ was his world.

Shin Hye felt her feelings deepen upon seeing those things. The pure love of a man for a single woman made her even more covetous. So, she decided she had to make him ‘her man.’

And she immediately put her plan into action. She attempted to kiss the sleeping Jinwon. She succeeded in placing her lips on the unsuspecting Jinwon.

For most men, the next step in such a situation would be as predictable as a formula: accepting the stroke of luck that fell into their lap.

But Jinwon was different. He roughly pushed Shin-hye away. And Shin-hye’s pride was thoroughly shattered. But Shin-hye was not an ordinary woman. She didn’t care about pride that had fallen to the ground.

The next morning, she calmly lay next to Jinwon, pretending to be a woman who had spent the night with him.

‘I can’t believe it. I couldn’t have done that.’

‘So you’re saying I’m lying? How could you say that?’

Shin-hye buried her face in her hands and sobbed. She didn’t stop until she got the answer she wanted from Jinwon. And she obtained it. Jinwon’s indefinite leniency.

She was satisfied with the intimacy born half from Jinwon’s suspicion and half from his guilt, never abandoning the desire that she would eventually win his heart.

***

But to think she’d meet the biggest obstacle to her goal in person like this!

In-ah turned away immediately from the unpleasant encounter, but for Shin-hye, this moment was just the beginning.

It was as In-ah was leaving the hotel after handing the name tag to her brother.

“Seo In-ah!”

She turned around to find the rude woman from earlier approaching her.

“Why don’t you leave me your business card?”

“Why are you speaking informally when we’ve just met?”

“What? Seo In-ah, you’re quite cheeky, aren’t you?”

“I don’t intend to give my business card to someone like you, so don’t just throw my name around.”

As In-ah turned away without hesitation, Shin-hye suddenly yanked back In-ah’s hair, pulling her head back sharply.

In shock and disbelief, In-ah turned around, her mouth agape. Shin-hye shrugged her shoulders and pouted with a brazen face.

“Oops! Sorry~ I was just trying to stop you because you were leaving before I finished talking.”

In-ah let out a hollow laugh, too dumbfounded to respond.

“You laugh a lot, don’t you, Seo In-ah? That’s a good thing. But you should learn some manners. I’m not trying to pick a fight with someone who’s treating me kindly.”

Shin Hye held out a business card in front of the stunned In-ah. Reflexively glancing down, In-ah saw the card read ‘Conners Hotel.’

“My hotel. I’m thinking of replacing the hotel furniture, and I heard you’re a designer, Seo In-ah. So take my card. This should be a big deal for your company.”

“Don’t you know what a designer does? Contact the company directly.”

As In-ah turned away again, Shin Hye shouted, “Hey!” and grabbed In-ah’s handbag. But as if she had anticipated it, In-ah fiercely shook off Shin Hye’s grip on her handbag.

Shin-hye, caught off guard by the added force, ended up sprawled on the ground. With eyes blazing, Shin-hye yelled.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing!”

When they say “timing is everything,” this must be what they mean. Jinwon appeared at the perfect moment.

“Jinwon…”

Shin-hye was exactly as In-ah expected. Her face quickly turned pitiful, and she began playing the victim, sprawled on the ground.

“She told me not to hang around you, Jinwon…”

Jinwon silently helped Shin-hye to her feet.

“What did she say to you? What did she do?”

“Huh?”

Shin-hye’s eyes widened at Jinwon’s probing question. Jinwon stared at her as if urging her to answer.

“Oh! I think I sprained my ankle.”

Flustered, Shin-hye clutched her ankle and put on a pained expression.

Then Jinwon supported Shin-hye and walked her toward the entrance. As the two passed by In-ah, Shin-hye whispered in her ear.

“Stay away from my man.”

Then she clung to Jinwon in a most pitiful pose and exited the hotel.

In-ah stood there, watching the two walk away, and then let out an incredulous snort.

“Living in this world, you see all sorts of… what kind of person is that?”

A taxi pulled up in front of the dazed In-ah. Snapping out of her thoughts, she apologized to the driver and walked away from the taxi.

Instead of taking a taxi, In-ah chose to walk. It was a measure to quell the anger that kept rising.

As she angrily descended the hill, In-ah suddenly stopped.

“But why am I so angry? Why? At what point?”

Lost in thought for a moment, In-ah began to ask herself questions.

“Because he misunderstood? Why does that matter? Because he didn’t take my side? So what?”

She shook her head vigorously as if to shake off her thoughts.

“It’s just that it’s been a while since I’ve seen such a ridiculous, pretentious person. That’s it.”