Youngseon Group Fashion Division. Shoe Design Team Office.

Team members gathered around the table, eyeing the colorful snacks on it and Team Leader Kye alternately, trying to gauge the situation.

Macarons received by quick delivery a little while ago.

Sent by the one-day puppy of Kang Jae Kyung’s group.

She had sent enough for all team members to share, along with a note apologizing for what happened that day.

The team members said they later heard from an employee there that the one-day puppy was originally quite unreasonable.

That if Representative Kang Jae Kyung hadn’t stopped her, Manager Choi would have been in more trouble.

“Go ahead and eat.”

Anyway, since we can’t just receive something like this, I was pondering what to send back as a courtesy when my phone vibrating in my back pocket.

Seeing it was an unsaved number, I hesitated for a moment before swiping to answer.

“This is Kye Da Hae.”

-How are you doing? Are you busy?

“…Who is this?”

-Oh, I’m hurt.

A voice that seemed familiar yet completely unrecognizable. Just as I was about to hang up, thinking it might be a prank call to the number in the car:

-It’s me. Pil Seung.

Da Hae gripped her phone tighter upon hearing the caller’s identity. Her expression was peculiar.

As she entered the office for the call, Manager Choi cracked open the frosted glass door and offered macarons.

Da Hae waved her hand to decline and perched on the edge of the desk.

-Were you surprised?

“A little. What’s the occasion?”

I wish it had just been a prank call.

-Do I need a reason to contact family?

“Usually there is a reason to contact, even between family.”

There was no attempt at subtlety. Unlike the cheerful voice, the words had an edge to them. Implying not to act friendly when it’s uncomfortable.

Though he hadn’t done anything particularly offensive to her, an instinctive defense mechanism kicked in, partly due to the atmosphere of the Kang family, but it was really just a simple intuition.

An intuition detecting a gloomy psycho whispering to stay away from him.

A snickering breath came through the receiver after a moment of silence. As expected, he seemed unaffected.

-I called because I have a concern. You can give some advice, right?

“I’m not sure. My empathy skills are severely lacking.”

-I think my girlfriend has changed.

Without even agreeing to help, Kang Pil Seung began his story.

It’s hard because his mother opposes him dating a celebrity, and now even his girlfriend is making him uneasy.

She’s using her schedule as an excuse to contact him less, and in just a few days she’s become so cold that he suspects she might have found someone else.

So his heart is really struggling but he has no one to confide in, which is frustrating.

Da Hae, who had been listening indifferently with her head down, rubbed her stretched-out nape.

Kang Pil Seung and Yoon Si Ah had already been involved in scandals big and small. To the point where it seemed they might as well admit it rather than play dumb.

While Da Hae hesitated to respond, Pil Seung’s voice continued as if he’d decided to keep talking on his own.

-Um, is it okay to ask this?

…You’re going to ask even if I say no.

-Do you share phone passwords with Jae Kyung hyung? Do you read each other’s texts?

Sensing something trap-like about the question, Da Hae considered how to answer.

“Is there really a need to look? We know each other well.”

-But there’s a reason, isn’t there?

Da Hae’s brow furrowed noticeably. It sounded as if he knew something and was fishing for information.

-Ah, that came out a bit strange, didn’t it? I was just envious. Envious.

“Listen, young master. I’m a bit busy with work right now.”

-Hyung is doing alright, isn’t he?

The conversation was being led by him. At this point, it could hardly be called a conversation anymore.

No wonder your girlfriend is ghosting you when you’re like this. Barely swallowing the words on the tip of her tongue, Da Hae asked in an artificial tone:

“What could be wrong? Young master?”

It was asking what issues he thought he knew about. Though he understood the meaning, Pil Seung paid no mind.

-Then I’ll have to ask differently. With hyung… everything’s alright?

“There’s a lot of work. I hear that’s normal for newlyweds.”

Snicker. A voice laced with laughter responded without missing a beat.

Though the intent behind the slightly altered question was rather irksome, she didn’t show it.

She didn’t want to react and give him something to latch onto and wield against her, which seemed to be his clear intention.

-Wow. You two must really get along well.

“Well, Jae Kyung is very affectionate.”

-Still, have some doubts now and then. A relationship that never changes, that’s quite difficult, you know.

…Unless it’s a contract. A chilling murmur seemed to float past her ear.

Saying he’d taken up too much time and would hang up now, the guy muttered softly.

-Don’t get caught. By anyone else.

“…”

Da Hae froze for a moment. Whether he knew something and was acting this way, or was just going off suspicions, she needed to remain calm.

“What do you mean?”

-You know, sister-in-law.

Hmm…

-I have obsessive tendencies. So I’d like people to stay in their proper places, like objects… but you keep disrupting that order, sister-in-law.

And that, to me, is so, so, so… His voice trailed off, repeating the same word without finishing the thought.

The breath-like laughter at the end sounded innocent yet chilling.

When no response came, Pil Seung said he’d see her soon and hung up.

“…Obsessive, huh.”

Da Hae couldn’t easily move from where she sat.

Though the afternoon sun was blazing bright, her whole body felt sticky and uncomfortable, as if all her energy had been drained.

He’d said not to get caught. By anyone else.

He wanted people to stay in their proper places like objects, but she was disrupting that.

Putting the two together, it seemed he knew about her contract marriage with Kang Jae Kyung for financial reasons.

No matter how meaningful he tried to sound, it was just suspicion. There was no evidence, so it wasn’t something to worry too much about.

Besides, her ultimate goal would be achieved tomorrow.

After successfully getting through the shareholders’ meeting and obtaining what she wanted, even a contract marriage wouldn’t be able to hold her back.

Who would object to divorce due to personality differences?

That’s what she thought, but for some reason her mouth felt bitter.

…Is he preparing well? Though she’d been holding back even encouraging texts for fear of interfering, she felt a bit hurt.

It became clearly apparent that theirs was a relationship where they had to be cautious even about sharing important matters.

Da Hae shook her head slightly. There was a mountain of work to do. A mountain, yet that brat’s antics kept replaying in her mind, which was infuriating.

If he’d been her real brother, she would have grabbed him by the collar and shaken some sense into him.

Her unfocused eyes blankly gazed at the scenery outside the window.

As she turned that gaze away, her legs moved as if possessed towards the office door.

What she desperately needed now was one thing:

“Are there any macarons left?”

A massive amount of sugar to make her blood vessels tremble.

* * *

The new chairman of Sammyeong Group made his way through the gathered executives. An aura befitting one who rules was accompanied by dignity.

Thunderous applause and congratulations poured out, reminiscent of an election scene.

It was already a decided matter, and nothing would change as long as no variables arose.

For instance, a server crash at Sammyeong Entertainment, where Kang Jae Kyung was the representative, or some kind of incident that would cast doubt on his capabilities.

Chairman Kang Cha Dol plans to step down from the frontlines next year.

Though Jae Kyung, who took over a large portion of Chairman Kang’s shares, was essentially pegged as the successor, he decided to focus on his current business for now.

He announced that he would appoint talent from outside the owner’s family to management positions in the future.

His management philosophy and ambition was to build a system where the company wouldn’t falter even without an owner.

This marked the beginning of Kang Jae Kyung-style management, which excelled at utilizing talent.

This implied that existing personnel needed to be on their toes.

It was a harbinger of bloody winds, warning that even family members would be cut loose without mercy if they lacked ability, so don’t even dream of coasting by without skills.

Moving to a quieter place, Jae Kyung turned on his phone that had been off. As it powered on, the number of received messages increased.

Work reports from employees, low-interest loan ads. Scrolling through slowly, the name he’d hoped for still wasn’t there.

Even after obtaining what he wanted, a corner of his heart felt empty.

Toxic, seriously.

Yet a smile inevitably spread across his face as he thought of her. He’d been waiting for just this day. The day he could go to her unburdened.

His fingertip hovering over the screen tapped a message at the top.

[Dear customer, were you satisfied with our service? Citizen Bank 123-12345-00 Account holder: Oh Se Dong -Oh Se Dong-]

The extraordinary genius hacker who suddenly became a dentist.

Though his whereabouts were unclear and it would be difficult to find him immediately, the developer had lamented that finding this person would be like gaining an army of thousands.

From the moment he believed Oh Se Dong’s tip, it had been an adventure, so Jae Kyung bet the rest of the adventure on him as well.

He said if the issue was resolved, he would pay the equivalent of the cryptocurrency he would have had to give the hacker in negotiations.

The developers who formed a team under Se Dong’s command protected the server.

The interruption of a service awaited by users worldwide would have led to massive losses as well as damage to the company’s image.

The shareholders’ meeting might even have been postponed.

Who could have been behind it?

Bang Mi Mi isn’t clever enough to use her head in this way.

If so, there was one person who came to mind.

Someone with the means to do such things, who would gain the most benefit from it.

Bang Mi Mi’s son, Kang Pil Seung.

As he slowly walked, thinking of the likely suspect, his dress shoes suddenly stopped as he spotted someone.

“Congratulations.”