Is it going to get complicated someday? Unlike that day when my appetite had completely disappeared without touching any of the food laid out, today I felt hunger coming on.

Just as I was about to send Kang Jae Kyung away, thinking I’d have to buy something to eat if he took the sandwich back…

“You should go for today. After thinking it over a bit…”

Zing, the phone placed on the sofa vibrated briefly.

I knew it was a message from Madam Bae Jung Soon from the name I glimpsed, but as if knowing I was pretending not to read it, the vibration continued again urging me to check.

Zing, zing,

“Excuse me.”

The man leisurely picked up a strawberry and put it in his mouth, leaning back in the chair and crossing one ankle over his leg.

His generous expression was a bonus, as if saying to take all the time I needed.

“…”

Da Hae pressed her temple firmly with her index finger and thumb. It was after seeing content sufficient to induce a headache.

“You don’t look well.”

Kang Jae Kyung’s hatefully inquiring voice fell on deaf ears.

The thread of reason I had barely been holding onto was in danger of snapping due to the message that just arrived.

“Mr. Kang Jae Kyung.”

A calm tone drew out the three syllables of his name.

Da Hae’s eyes flashed as she roughly brushed up the messy hair that had fallen over her lowered head.

“Whether it’s rash or whatever, let’s do it. What the hell.”

Jae Kyung gently stretched the corners of his mouth and held out his hand to Da Hae, just as he had at the matchmaking meeting.

It was a kind of sign announcing the conclusion of a contract.

Unlike the handshake she had absent-mindedly taken at the matchmaking, this handshake had strength behind it.

Bae Jung Soon’s actions had finally made her cross the river.

[List_Kye Da Hae Matchmaking Plan.xls −Madam Bae Jung Soon−]

The Excel file neatly organizing the year’s matchmaking schedule and events to participate in was reminiscent of a business plan.

It was too much to confirm on a mobile phone.

Seeing such a blatant display of determination made her long-suppressed antipathy surge up.

Just thinking about the forced march of matchmaking starting from tomorrow made her feel suffocated.

Da Hae set up a dangerous rationalization for deviation, saying this was all due to pressure from Chairwoman Bae Jung Soon.

While Da Hae was fighting with her inner self, Chairwoman Bae received a reply from someone else.

After checking the message, her finely wrinkled face smiled with satisfaction.

[Thank you, Chairwoman. −Kang Jae Kyung−]

* * *

Early morning. The Kang Cha Dol Chairman’s mansion, also Kang Jae Kyung’s family home.

The soft sunlight streaming through the wide windows shattered cleanly.

The space based on white created a modern atmosphere with the warmth of wood and linear lighting blending together.

The ivory tiles of gray marble continued in one tone with the terrace, further accentuating the sense of volume.

Thanks to the glass-finished front wall, there was no visual obstruction.

In the dining room, which looked as good as new, all family members filled the headcount for the first time in a very long while.

With Chairman Kang at the head of the table, eldest grandson Kang Jae Kyung and his father, Vice President Kang Chul Won, sat in a row with their backs to the window, while Chul Won’s second wife Bang Mi Mi and her son Kang Pil Seung sat across from them.

“Let’s eat.”

Chairman Kang’s low, quiet voice scattered the awkward air.

Though he said to eat, somehow Chairman Kang’s chopsticks only grasped at empty air.

Jae Kyung, sitting with an expressionless face, just stared at the untouched spoon lying intact.

The young man with a buzz cut, alternately looking at the food filling the table and Cha Dol’s face, reproached his mother awkwardly.

“Mother, really… I’m already 23 this year. With grandfather here too…”

The second son of Sammyeong Group. Kang Pil Seung.

Kang Jae Kyung’s half-brother, born between Kang Chul Won and his second wife Bang Mi Mi.

The reason the family gathered from the morning was to welcome Kang Pil Seung back from his military service, but Bang Mi Mi’s thoughtless actions ultimately made the table atmosphere cold.

The problem was the breakfast prepared at her direction.

On the classic dinner plates sat chicken mixed with mayonnaise and red seasoning, while another plate was occupied by pizza topped with plenty of toppings.

A pungent and spicy smell emanated from the Chinese soup dish being boiled.

All the greasy and colorful food was too much to fill the empty stomach of Chairman Kang Cha Dol, who was approaching his 80s.

“It’s what the grandson who returned after hardship likes. Grandfather will understand too, right, Father?”

Bang Mi Mi, with her glamorous appearance, smiled uncomfortably towards her father-in-law.

Chairman Kang nodded and gestured towards Pil Seung. As if telling him to go ahead and eat.

Kang Chul Won, who had coldly pushed away his first wife, was helpless when it came to Bang Mi Mi.

Even after 22 years of bringing that woman into this house, his foolish love remained unchanged.

Chairman Kang Cha Dol just watched as his son lost his mind, buried in the skirts of a young woman.

Even as Jae Kyung’s mother was driven out by Bang Mi Mi’s schemes.

Perhaps it was giving up.

He quickly acknowledged that his only child’s upbringing was a poor harvest, and that poor harvest had absolutely no possibility of rehabilitation.

So he chose his eldest grandson Kang Jae Kyung as his successor.

Bang Mi Mi must know that there are too many intertwined issues to immediately announce the next chairman, so they’re waiting for the right time.

How fierce must the petticoat influence of Bang Mi Mi, backed by her wealthy Chinese family, be for even Chairman Kang Cha Dol to avoid confronting her head-on.

He also didn’t want to stir up the noisy family history again and admit they were a bean powder household with another divorce.

Screech, chair legs rubbed against the tiles. The eyes around the table followed the movement of Jae Kyung as he stood up.

Entering the kitchen, Jae Kyung naturally turned on the induction stove and placed a frying pan on top.

Aware of the eyes focused on him, he smiled lightly.

“My stomach’s a bit upset. Auntie, is there any rice left?”

“Please sit down, young master! I’ll…”

He was thinking of making some scorched rice soup.

He couldn’t let the pitiful old man, who had become increasingly quiet due to his daughter-in-law’s mood, go hungry, even if he himself was fine.

Bang Mi Mi’s eyes sharpened fiercely.

Her fingers, laden with rings, clenched into a fist.

Her venomous gaze flew towards Lee Cheon, the live-in housekeeper.

“Lee Cheon! Didn’t I tell you to prepare something separately for the Chairman to eat? Why are you making me out to be the bad person?”

“Ye-yes? No… That, madam…”

“Again, again with the backtalk! When a superior says something, you should just accept it, but you’re so argumentative. We need to change the maid.”

Lee Cheon looked like she had a lot to say, but she didn’t have the ability to overcome the scolding from the mistress who was much younger than her.

Only after seeing her bow her head did Bang Mi Mi’s eyes, now somewhat subdued, turn towards Jae Kyung.

“You too, Director Kang. Being an owner of a company, what will the subordinates learn if you act so undignified? Hm?”

“Mom, please stop. Jae Kyung hyung. Let me apologize instead…”

“Yes. I’ll be careful.”

Cutting off Pil Seung’s words trying to defend him, Jae Kyung smiled gently.

A wall could be felt in his polite voice.

More than anything else right now, what upset Bang Mi Mi’s mood was the treatment that disregarded her son.

He should have just openly shown his annoyance. Maintaining politeness while subtly mocking was also Kang Jae Kyung’s talent.

That dark insides must be boiling with desire for revenge, yet he always wears that smiling face.

And he’s never used the term ‘mother’.

Whether he takes after his birth mother or not, unlike his dull father, that cunning guy was difficult to read.

When he asked for Sammyeong Entertainment, which they were trying to dispose of cheaply, she thought he had properly grasped his place, but she let her guard down, fooled by his smiling face.

Kang Jae Kyung, who returned after 5 years, was no longer a novice.

Perhaps every moment was an act.

Pretending to be a reckless playboy, pretending to be a naive good student unaware of the ways of the world, sitting in front of a computer until nearly 30 years old and claiming his dream was to be a PC bang owner, pretending to have no ambition.

Looking back, everything was a ploy to induce the complacency of his main enemy.

That habit resembled an adult jaguar lowering its body and waiting for the moment to hunt.

She had only thought he was a mere fox cub.

Kang Jae Kyung’s footsteps were cautious yet agile enough that she didn’t notice at all as he gradually tightened the noose.

It wasn’t just because of Sammyeong Entertainment’s growth that her suspicion turned to certainty.

“Director Kang should start preparing for marriage soon too. T Textile’s eldest daughter has a good appearance and gentle personality that I really like, but our Pil Seung is still young… What do you think? Shall I set up a meeting?”

Just yesterday.

According to information brought by a spy she had secretly planted, Kang Jae Kyung had met with the granddaughter of Chairwoman Bae Jung Soon of Youngson Group, and afterwards they had become close enough for her to visit the company with a packed lunch.

That was the reason for rushing the breakfast celebration of Pil Seung’s discharge.

To sound out Kang Jae Kyung.

For Kang Jae Kyung’s match, the eldest daughter of T Textile, a Sammyeong Group partner company, would be just right.

She had managed to drive out his mother and even manipulate his father into becoming just half a person, but forming a marriage alliance with such a prominent family must not happen.

At least until her son Kang Pil Seung gets his degree and reaches the age to receive management training, things that would give wings to the snake-like Kang Jae Kyung must be blocked in advance.

If Kang Chul Won is pushed out of the next chairman position, that place should undoubtedly go to Kang Pil Seung.

While waiting for an answer, a savory smell crept up to the dining table.

Jae Kyung placed the steaming scorched rice soup in front of Chairman Kang and only then gave his answer.

“I’m seeing someone.”

Slurp. Ah, how savory.

A voice as warm as the scorched rice soup was heard like a rhythmic accompaniment.

Like exclamations of “Bravo!” or “Hurrah!”

“We’re planning to hold a simple ceremony. That’s what the bride wants too.”

“Ceremony…? Marriage? You’re getting married?! Young…”

Bang Mi Mi’s excited voice stopped abruptly.

She barely managed to swallow the words she was about to shout, asking if he was really going to marry the Youngson Group’s granddaughter.

She almost revealed that she had been following him.

Mi Mi tried to calm her trembling hands and adjusted her hair. It was a habit that came out when she was flustered.

“Couldn’t you discuss something like that a little? The marriage of a family like ours isn’t something to be decided unilaterally…”

“I told him to do it that way.”

“Ah, Father…”

“If it’s the Youngson Group’s granddaughter, isn’t that an unbeatable match for Director Kang?”

Overwhelmed by Chairman Kang’s charisma, Bang Mi Mi could only purse her lips that had closed on their own. Moreover, it was all correct, so there was nothing to pick at.

“Isn’t that right?”

His mouth stretched into a warm smile as he asked. Yet he quietly sighed, finding Kang Chul Won pitiful as he looked to Bang Mi Mi.

While the daughter-in-law was still glamorous, his son alone was growing more wrinkled.

How did his spirit become so utterly broken? It was quite pathetic to see him acting like such a fool, buried in his wife’s skirts.

Age also played a part in their vastly different appearances.

Bang Mi Mi was a full zodiac cycle older than Kang Chul Won, and a full zodiac cycle younger than Kang Jae Kyung.

As if cursed by the twelve zodiac signs, the 23-year-old Kang Pil Seung and 35-year-old Kang Jae Kyung were also a full zodiac cycle apart.

“Father. Don’t you think the decision is too hasty? It’s a time when he’s already very busy with company work.”

Kang Chul Won finally advised Chairman Kang, unable to resist his wife’s nagging.

Chairman Kang, without even glancing at that face, called out gently.

“Chul Won.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Could you pass me some scorched rice soup?”

“What? Yes…”

That fool! Just when I thought he was finally speaking up, he lowers his tail over a mere bowl of scorched rice soup.

Kang Chul Won, who does business quite well but is completely hopeless in family matters.

It was truly exasperating how her father-in-law treated his lacking son as if giving him an extra rice cake.

After Jae Kyung finished up by saying he would give more details later and left his seat, Pil Seung, who had been holding his breath until then, followed after him.

“Jae Kyung hyung!”