Chapter 9.2

Despite her earlier polite refusals, the tomato curry ramen was irresistibly delicious.  

“Goodness, no one’s chasing you. Eat slowly. Anyone watching might think you’re eating for two.”  

“Cough!”  

At Ms. Kim’s words, Eun-sol choked and reached for water.  

“What? Back then, you said you were quitting the department store to get married. Isn’t half a year after marriage the perfect time to have a baby?”  

Even as she handed over the water, Ms. Kim’s excitement was evident.  

“A baby? Not at all.”  

Although she wasn’t using contraception, her hormonal balance hadn’t fully recovered due to the aftereffects of the car accident. Her menstrual cycle was still irregular, so she was naturally waiting for her body to recover first.  

“I’m still not fully recovered from the car accident, so I’ve been cautious.”  

Eun-sol gave a vague response. With Hae-seong sitting nearby, it wasn’t the kind of conversation she could go into detail about.  

In any case, after eating to her heart’s content, she felt much better. The three of them continued their conversation over persimmon leaf tea.  

“Ms. Kim, did you close the ramen shop because of your health?”  

Eun-sol was curious about her mother’s story, but she decided to ask about Ms. Kim’s wellbeing first.  

“Oh, it’s not exactly that. There’s another reason. But… should I even be talking about this…?”  

Ms. Kim’s hesitant reaction only made her more curious.  

“The truth is, someone offered me 700 million won on the condition that I close the ramen shop.”  

“What? 700 million won?”  

The ramen shop was likely the culmination of Ms. Kim’s lifelong efforts, but 700 million won was still a large sum of money.  

“Yes. They wanted me to sell the rights to the ramen shop and the exclusive recipe for the tomato curry ramen. They claimed to be from a large corporation, so at the time, I thought they just wanted to acquire the shop and turn it into a franchise.”  

Eun-sol and Hae-seong nodded. Anyone would have thought the same.  

“My health kept deteriorating, and with all the chaos caused by COVID-19, I decided to accept the offer… but as time goes on, something doesn’t feel right.”  

Ms. Kim’s expression grew darker.  

“If their goal was to launch a brand, they would normally consult me for advice, but there’s been none of that. Plus, thinking back, the clause in the contract that says I’d have to pay double the penalty fee if I disclose the contract details… that’s really strange.”  

“You don’t know the name of the company that proposed the contract?”  

It was Hae-seong, who had been quietly listening, who spoke up.  

“No. They said it was corporate confidentiality and refused to tell me.”  

“Huh? The more I hear, the more suspicious it sounds. Should I look into it for you?”  

Since Hae-seong dreamed of running the most famous bar in South Korea, he had a keen interest in these kinds of matters.  

“My mom’s a high-ranking government official, and she knows a lot about big corporations. I can’t guarantee anything, but if you give me the name of the contractor, I might be able to find out which company they’re affiliated with and whether they’re preparing to launch a ramen brand.”  

Ms. Kim opened the drawer beneath the TV stand and pulled out the contract.  

“The… contractor’s name was a bit unusual…”  

After flipping through the contract, Ms. Kim placed it on the table and pointed to the signed name.  

“Yes, here. My memory was right. The contractor’s name is Woo Ju-seon. It was easy to remember because the full name sounded like a spaceship.”  

Woo Ju-seon?  

For a moment, it felt as though Eun-sol had been struck on the head.  

“Wait, that… that name… I think I know it…”  

Both Ms. Kim and Hae-seong turned their gazes toward Eun-sol.  

“Our house’s butler. I’m pretty sure Housekeeper Woo’s name is… Woo Ju-seon. That’s why the staff said he hates being called by his full name…”  

Still, it seemed impossible that that Woo Ju-seon could be this Woo Ju-seon. There was no reason for Housekeeper Woo to spend 700 million won to purchase the exclusive rights to a ramen recipe.  

“Ms. Kim, is there anything else you remember? About this woman named Woo Ju-seon?”  

“Oh, she was about the same height as you, Eun-sol, and had a neat demeanor. Ah! Her phone’s ringtone was a hymn. You know, the famous one that goes, ‘Glory, glory, hallelujah.’ That one.”  

* * *

Eun-sol returned home immediately.  

“Welcome back, Ma’am.”  

Housekeeper Woo greeted her warmly. Though she seemed her usual self, today she felt unfamiliar.  

Instead of replying, Eun-sol took out her phone and called Housekeeper Woo. Her phone vibrated.  

“Housekeeper Woo, could you change your ringtone for me?”  

“Pardon? Oh, sure.”  

She called again.  

– Glory, glory, hallelujah. 

The hymn ringtone that Ms. Kim had mentioned echoed through the mansion.  

What she had thought impossible turned out to be true—the person who had approached the ramen shop owner was indeed Housekeeper Woo.  

“Ma’am, why are you suddenly asking about my ringtone? Oh, should I start preparing dinner now?”  

“…I… I already ate dinner. I’d like to rest, so please don’t disturb me.”  

Eun-sol hurriedly retreated to her bedroom.  

Mong-mong jumped around excitedly, seeking attention, but nothing registered in her mind.  

She simply collapsed onto the floor and, like a broken robot, repeatedly petted Mong-mong. It felt as though she had lost something significant, but she couldn’t even figure out what it was.  

‘Calm down. Let’s organize my thoughts calmly.’  

Housekeeper Woo didn’t even like kitchen work, nor did she have plans to quit. With her skills, she could easily find other opportunities.  

There was no reason for her to spend such a large sum of money to acquire the rights to a small ramen shop. Moreover, the penalty clause for disclosing contract details was far too suspicious.  

‘It seems like Housekeeper Woo was just running an errand for Jeong-hyeok….’  

But even that didn’t make sense. Sowon Construction had no logical reason to suddenly launch a food service brand. If it were an official matter, they would have sent Chief Cheon.  

The fact that he sent Housekeeper Woo instead meant that this was a personal matter.  

‘Why? Why go through all this trouble for a ramen shop?!’  

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand.  

‘What could possibly be the reason for shutting down the ramen shop?’  

Although she didn’t know why, she was certain that the ramen shop, being her regular spot, must have some connection to her.  

Suddenly, Chu Seo-jin’s warning flashed through her mind.  

“What if your father-in-law is actually your biological father? Do you think you could still love Kwon Jeong-hyeok?”

If, as Chu Seo-jin suggested, she was Chairman Kwon’s daughter, then it would mean her mother was either Chairman Kwon’s lover or in an extramarital relationship with him. Ms. Kim, her mother’s hometown acquaintance, might know something about this.  

‘Could it be that Jeong-hyeok hid the shop owner to cover up the truth?!’  

The pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit together, albeit roughly. To confirm, she called Ms. Kim.  

Her hands slipped several times, causing her to misdial repeatedly before she finally managed to connect the call.  

“Ms., Ms. Kim. I didn’t get a chance to ask earlier, but where is your and my mom’s hometown?”  

– Seoan County in Chungcheongnam-do, near the western coast. Your maternal grandmother was a haenyeo (female diver).  

“Seoan… Seoan County?”  

She almost dropped the phone she was holding.  

Seoan County in Chungcheongnam-do was the coastal area where she had been living until a few months ago. It was a region dominated by Sowon Construction, practically Jeong-hyeok’s little kingdom.  

And now, she learned it was also her mother’s hometown!  

“Um, my mom… how long did she… live there?”  

– Your mom lived there until her early twenties. I still remember your maternal family handing out rice cakes to celebrate her getting a job at a credit union. Back then, working at a bank was one of the best jobs for women.  

Cold sweat began pouring down her face like rain.  

“A credit union…? Could it be Sowon Savings Bank?”  

– That’s right.  

Sowon Savings Bank. That was her father-in-law, Kwon Gi-jo’s, company.  

“By any chance, do you know anything about my mom’s… lover? For example, if she had a boyfriend…”  

Eun-sol’s voice trembled uncontrollably.  

– Actually, your mom did have someone she liked. One time, when I went into her room to return a book, I saw letters she had written to a man.”  

Ms. Kim swallowed dryly before continuing.  

– But that man already had a fiancée. I wondered what she was thinking.  

“……”  

– I pretended not to know, but not long after, she eloped with him in the middle of the night. I don’t know much about what happened after that. I moved to Seoul shortly after.”  

“By any chance… that man….”  

‘Was that man Chairman Kwon Gi-jo?’ Her voice cracked, breaking apart as she tried to ask. Although her vocal cords moved, no sound came out.  

– That man was none other than the son of the CEO of Sowon Savings Bank. Now, he’s probably the Chairman of Sowon Financial Group.  

Eun-sol collapsed to the ground.  

‘It’s true. My mom and… my father-in-law… were lovers!’  

She couldn’t breathe. This meant there was a real possibility that she was indeed her father-in-law’s biological daughter.  

– Eun-sol? Eun-sol!

She couldn’t even hear Ms. Kim’s voice. The phone slipped from her hands and fell to the floor.  

Crash!  

The sound of the phone screen shattering echoed clearly. It was also the sound of the world she had known until yesterday breaking apart.