Chapter 17

After hearing everything that had happened to Seoyun, Hana kept letting out heavy sighs, unable to contain her anger.

“Hey, hey, forget it. A whole lifetime thrown away over a measly few hundred million won? Wow, he may not be holding a knife, but he’s basically a robber. Where did his conscience go?”

“…….”

“Hey, don’t tell me…. You’re not actually thinking of listening to that perverted bastard, are you?”

When she had first heard Changseok’s proposal, Seoyun had hesitated and agonized over it, but not anymore.

When Seoyun, who had gone quiet long enough for Hana to misunderstand for a moment, finally spoke again, Hana had no choice but to be shocked all over again.

“Cha Ijun from Daejeong Electronics? Cha Ijun…. Wait, no way, that Cha Ijun? The favorite of everyone in the business department and your first love, that Cha Ijun?”

Seoyun nodded.

Hana, still staring at the ceiling with her mouth hanging open, lifted her beer can and gulped it down.

“No, seriously, I wander around for a few months and come back, and this turns out to be some trashy soap opera…….”

“I was shocked and flustered too.”

“How did you end up meeting him like that on the very day Go Changseok was spewing nonsense…. And honestly, you’ve got some nerve too. How did you even think of going into a hotel room with him?”

“I just thought if I left him alone, he’d collapse right there on the street….”

Seoyun’s voice trailed off as she tried to defend herself.

As if to say there was no way that ‘Cha Ijun’ could be like that, Hana shot her a look.

“But didn’t Cha Ijun have a fiancée? That flashy-looking woman, what was her name again? Anyway, there was that woman who was your high school sunbae.”

“He said they broke off the engagement.”

“Ha…. Breaking off an engagement, fine, that can happen. But why is he asking you to marry him? If you add up all the time the two of you have spent talking, has it even been an hour? What do you even know about each other for the son of the Daejeong Group to ask you of all people…. Ah, I’m not looking down on you, Seoyun. It’s just that people like them live in a completely different world from us….”

There was nothing offensive about Hana’s words.

Because Seoyun herself had thought exactly the same thing.

Still, they had met a few times and even eaten together once, so it was probably more like two hours altogether…. 

Seoyun found herself pointlessly calculating even that.

Perhaps because the news was so shocking that there was nothing to say, silence hung between them for a while.

Chewing the stir-fried gopchang that was steadily growing cold, Hana finally finished a long bout of thought and set her chopsticks down with a sharp clack.

“Just do it!”

“Huh? Do what?”

“Marry Cha Ijun, obviously. Since he said it himself, it’s not like he’ll just take it back right away, right? Ugh, you should have at least recorded him saying it.”

Hana sounded regretful even though she was not the one getting married.

Not knowing what to say, Seoyun only fidgeted with her fingers.

Maybe, in truth, this was what she had wanted to hear from Hana.

Maybe if someone gave her a push from behind, she would find the courage to answer Ijun.

“Look, think about it. You’ve had two men ask you to marry them. But neither of them is doing it because they love you, because they’re mad about you and can’t bear to part with you. Ah, well, I don’t actually know what Cha Ijun is thinking, but….”

“Well…. that’s true.”

Hana had always been easygoing by nature and blunt in the way she spoke, so she did not soften even this kind of issue.

“Then who should you choose? That lecherous, conscience-rotten pervert old man? No, obviously your first love, Cha Ijun. You marry your first love, all your debts disappear, and you get to become a chaebol family’s daughter-in-law like some drama heroine. How many wins is that?”

“But still, how could I……”

“Of course it won’t be an easy road.

Like you know, they really do live in a different world from us.

But you can handle some contempt, a splash of water in the face, and an envelope full of money from people in that world.

Now imagine marrying that old fossil Go Changseok and having to raise two kids who aren’t even yours for the rest of your life.

Which sounds better?

Obviously being a chaebol daughter-in-law!”

It was simple, but clear.

Was it really this simple a problem?

With her lips parted slightly, Seoyun listened to Hana as though entranced.

“And even if you can’t endure it long, and bluntly speaking, even if you don’t last long and end up divorced, wouldn’t the alimony from a chaebol family be beyond anything ordinary people like us could imagine? You take that and start a new life too.”

“I see……”

“So if it were me, I’d reel Cha Ijun in before he changed his mind. Honestly…. It hurts me so much seeing you live like this. It’s not like you’re stupid, lacking in education, lacking in looks, or lacking in character. Your father really was a good man, but he left far too heavy a burden on you. Even Jiho’s life ended up becoming your responsibility too.”

When even the story of Jeonghun, her stepfather, came up, Seoyun bit her lip.

Even so, she had never resented Jeonghun.

In the more than ten years that he had adopted her as his own daughter and treated her with sincerity, he had given her a love she could never repay in her lifetime.

And he had also left her Jiho, the younger brother who was more precious to her than even herself.

“If it weren’t for that horrible debt, you too could have met a good man, dated beautifully, and gotten married and lived an ordinary life like everyone else….”

Hana, more than the person actually involved, became so emotional that tears welled in her eyes.

Even that concern from Hana filled Seoyun with gratitude.

She knew that even the blunt things Hana said were all spoken out of worry and care for her.

“So just marry Cha Ijun. And get out of this situation.”

“… Would it really be okay to do that?”

“Of course. And honestly, what is it you lack? You’re far better than a hundred chaebol daughters. Once they realize your true worth, even the Chairman and his wife will come to love you.”

She had never even gone so far as to think about being looked down on by anyone, or being loved, the way Hana did.

She had only hesitated because she could not understand Ijun’s feelings.

And because she was not sure whether it was right for her to use Ijun like that.

But it felt as though Hana was telling her, plainly and exactly, that even such hesitation was a luxury for someone in her position.

Thanks to that, the wavering heart that had gone back and forth now finally settled somewhat to one side.

“Hey, honestly, just living your life seeing Cha Ijun’s face and body every morning and night is already a massive win.”

Sniffling, Hana scrubbed at the corners of her eyes hard with her fist.

The remark was so true that Seoyun let out a small laugh.

“But why is Cha Ijun your first love? Since when?”

“Uh…. Didn’t I tell you?”

“Have we ever really talked about Cha Ijun? Wasn’t it just back in freshman year or something? You saw Cha Ijun passing by and casually let it slip that he was your first love.”

At Hana’s question, Seoyun smiled faintly.

When had it been?

It was already a long time ago, yet the feelings she had experienced when she first met him still lived vividly inside her.

***

It was probably around her first year of high school.

A lot had happened.

Even after her mother Jingyeong died, Jeonghun cherished Seoyun as if she were his own daughter.

By one turn of events or another, Seoyun ended up enrolling in a private high school attended by the children of the most prominent families, and she had a hard time adjusting to school life.

At the time, Jeonghun’s company, K-Cell, was in a dazzling period of growth, posting record sales year after year.

With its lead-acid battery technology that had dramatically extended battery life, it had firmly held its place as Daejeong Electronics’ foremost partner company in both name and reality.

Perhaps that was why.

When Jeonghun was invited to Daejeong Electronics’ founding anniversary party held at the Daejeong family residence, he brought Seoyun, then still a high school student, as his guest.

It was a garden party held in a garden so vast it was hard to believe.

It was not an official event, but one where the owner families of companies with personal ties or business relationships had been invited.

“Chairman, CEO. Congratulations.”

“Oh my, look who this is. Haven’t good products from our Daejeong Electronics sold so well thanks to K-Cell?”

“You flatter us. It is thanks to Daejeong Electronics that our employees take pride in their work and work so hard. Truly, thank you.”

Chairman Cha Suung and Daejeong Electronics’ then-CEO Cha Ganguk welcomed Jeonghun warmly.

Standing beside Jeonghun, Seoyun hid her shyness and bowed politely.

The expensive dress and shoes Jeonghun had bought for her at the department store felt unfamiliar on her.

“Is this your daughter?”

“Yes. She has just become a high school student.”

“Well now, she looks so modest and bright. There must be many families eyeing her today as marriage material for their sons. Haha.”

“Thank you for thinking so kindly of her.”

Even though Suung and Ganguk treated Jeonghun as if they were close to him, the nature of their relationship was plainly visible to the eye.

In front of them, smiling yet subtly looking down on others, Jeonghun, who kept bowing his head again and again, looked terribly diminished.

Standing beside him, Seoyun forced a smile.