As soon as the meal was finished, Young Ja and Jae Min disappeared somewhere in the house.

Chae Won stood in front of the coffee machine in the kitchen, thinking of having a cup of coffee.

Overall, the areas that were out of reach were extremely clean, while the lower areas that were frequently touched were surprisingly dirty.

“This couldn’t have all been done by elder sister.”

Chae Won caressed the small name tags attached to the identical spice containers.

She could sense how meticulously and delicately the household had been managed, but the house that would have been clean by her touch was completely disorganized after she had left.

Leaving behind the delivery food garbage that had been mixed for days, Chae Won brewed a cup of coffee and headed to the living room sofa.

“Elder sister, are you here?”

Woof woof! Jenny approached Chae Won, holding a dog in her arms.

“Oh, that’s really pretty! Elder sister, I’m planning to go on a hotel vacation with Ho Tae soon. Can I borrow this outfit then?”

Chae Won smiled brightly, took a sip of coffee, and then said,

“No, you can’t.”

“What? That’s so stingy.”

Not understanding why this was considered stingy, but not wanting to talk at length, Chae Won just drank her coffee.

After savoring another sip, Chae Won looked up and met eyes with the bulldog that was staring at her, drooling.

“By the way, was there a dog in the house?”

“No, this is Toto, the pet dog that our Ho Tae is raising! Isn’t he super cute?”

He’s drooling a bit, but he is cute.

Chae Won smirked as she looked at Toto, who was panting with his tongue out, seemingly hot.

“Oh right, elder sister! Since you’re here, make some kimchi stew. You know, the one with pork in it. You know how to do it well anyway. Make it ready to eat right away!”

“You make it yourself.”

Jenny, who was turning away, jerked her head back.

“Huh?”

Everyone in this family must have bad hearing. Why do I have to repeat myself for them to understand?

Chae Won inhaled the coffee aroma and spoke with precise pronunciation.

“If you want to eat it, young lady, make it yourself.”

“…Me? I should?”

“Yes.”

“How could I?”

“Then how could I?”

As Chae Won turned her head with a noble gaze, Jenny blinked with a dumbfounded expression.

“What’s this, really. How hard is it to make some kimchi stew!”

Clank. Chae Won put down her teacup and stood in front of Jenny with an expressionless face.

“Hey.”

As she stood uncomfortably close, Jenny stepped back in bewilderment.

“What? Elder sister, why are you acting like this?”

“Do you think your new elder sister is a pushover because I’m polite to you?”

As Chae Won approached once more with a cold expression and tone, Jenny stepped back again, widening her eyes.

“No, elder sister, why are you…”

“If you really want to eat, either ask sincerely or order delivery if you can’t cook. How old are you to dare order your sister-in-law to make stew, so ill-mannered. Huh?”

“No, I…”

“Speak respectfully while I’m still being nice.”

“Why, why are you suddenly like this, elder sister.”

Woof woof! As Chae Won glared fiercely at the barking dog in an aggressive stance, even Toto lowered his eyes while licking his lips.

“When an elder speaks politely to you, you should show respect on your own, at least if you have any thought.”

“Ah, that…”

As the fierce gaze that had made even the dog lower its tail turned back to Jenny, she swallowed dryly.

Grin. Smiling as if nothing had happened, Chae Won gently placed her hand on Jenny’s shoulder.

“Let’s be respectful to each other.”

“…Yes, yes.”

“See? Doesn’t it sound nice when we’re both polite?”

Feeling terrified by Chae Won’s completely different expression as she smiled, Jenny gently lowered her eyes.

*

Yoo Gun, who had come out of Lady Kim’s room, looked at the hotel voucher in his hand.

This was not a ticket that would be passed with just a “Did you have fun?” “Yes” greeting.

It was obvious that she would check if it was actually used for accommodation, so it was clearly a homework that could only be completed by spending one night at a hotel with Chae Won.

“This is crazy.”

He had apparently underestimated the condition of dating the arranged marriage candidate for a month.

“Brother, you come to the main house often?”

Ho Tae entered in a suit, basking in the sunlight shining through the living room window.

Yoo Gun looked at Ho Tae’s tight beige suit pants, which were as tight as skinny jeans, with an uncomfortable gaze before meeting his eyes again.

“Yeah, we do see each other often.”

Ho Tae soon grinned with a mischievous expression.

“As expected, even you can’t help it when grandmother’s gift is coming up, right? I guess one house in Seongsu-dong isn’t enough?”

How annoying, always blocking the way like this.

He’ll interpret it however he likes no matter what I say.

Although there had been intense rivalry over the position of company owner, Yoo Gun remembered Ho Tae’s family subtly smiling at the news of his father’s death, and passed by with an indifferent face.

“See you later.”

“Oh, brother!”

Ho Tae, who called out urgently, ran to Yoo Gun again.

“Brother! Have you gone on the arranged marriage meeting by any chance?”

Yoo Gun stopped at the mention of the arranged marriage and turned to look at Ho Tae with an expressionless face.

It didn’t seem like he was suspicious of Chae Won or asking because he knew something.

“Why do you keep asking about that?”

“Ah. Well.”

Ho Tae grinned and scratched the back of his head.

“Actually, I was going to talk about it today.”

“About what?”

Ho Tae moistened his lips with his tongue and stepped closer to Yoo Gun.

“The other day, I was on a date with our Jenny and we passed by that Seongsu-dong house. Jenny said the location was good and she wanted to live there. I was thinking of tearing down the Seongsu-dong house and rebuilding it as our newlywed home… How about exchanging it with the Mokdong building I’m supposed to get? The value would be similar if we sell it anyway!”

Tear it down and rebuild.

Not only is that point unpleasant, but this stupid expression of speaking without knowing what kind of wounds the other person might have is even more displeasing.

“You really like destroying things, don’t you?”

“Huh?”

The seemingly innocent eyes that had grown larger soon trembled slightly as they recognized Yoo Gun’s car that Ho Tae had driven out and crashed in the past.

“Haha. Brother, you’re not cool. Back then, I had been drinking… Anyway, it’s in the past, so just forget it. Haha.”

As Yoo Gun was looking at Ho Tae rolling his eyes pathetically, Lady Kim came out supported by Butler Gong.

“Is that Ho Tae?”

Ho Tae turned his head and ran over with wide eyes to support Lady Kim’s left arm.

“Hello, grandmother! I have a business trip today so I won’t be able to see you for a few days, so I came to greet you on my way.”

“You’ve been coming to greet me quite often lately.”

“Oh, of course I should greet you often, it’s a grandson’s duty. Hehe.”

Lady Kim’s eyes drifted to Yoo Gun as if to say ‘You’re still not gone?’

“Grandmother, you know that Seongsu-dong house…”

Lady Kim’s face turned back to Ho Tae at his voice.

“Ah, perfect timing! Since brother is here too, let’s sit down and discuss it together!”

“I’m busy.”

Yoo Gun bowed slightly to Lady Kim.

“I’ll be going now.”

Ho Tae’s voice calling “Brother” echoed several times behind his back, but Yoo Gun returned straight to his car.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Yoo Gun looked at the blue-roofed main house in front of him, imagining Ho Tae who would be begging for the Seongsu-dong house by now.

Unlike others, Lady Kim knows that the only thing Yoo Gun wants is the Seongsu-dong house, so she will never hand it over to Ho Tae.

That is, if it’s not discovered that this romance is fake.

Yoo Gun’s gaze drifted to the hotel voucher in his hand.

If he’s going to do it, he’ll do it properly – that’s his principle.

He won’t waste time by getting caught awkwardly.

Yoo Gun sent a text message to Chae Won about today’s meeting place and started the car.

*

Of the two people who disappeared after the meal, Young Ja showed up first.

“Hey.”

She approached with her chin raised and said, folding her arms.

“I need to do the laundry that’s piled up and make some side dishes. Take down the curtains and wash them by stepping on them in the bathtub, and take out all the dishes from the cupboard and wipe them once. And mop the floor once, no, three times, it’s filthy.”

Her expression and cold voice were completely different from earlier.

“Ah, are we having a family cleaning day today?”

“What does family have to do with it? It’s your duty as a daughter-in-law. And how is this a big cleaning? These days we have washing machines and dryers, machines do everything! If you’re not going to divorce, do your job properly like you used to!”

“This is the duty of a daughter-in-law?”

“Of course.”

“Ah, so it’s obvious.”

As Chae Won laughed and sneered, Young Ja deeply furrowed her brow.

“What’s with you now, are you ignoring what I’m saying?”

“How could I?”

Young Ja looked at Chae Won with suspicious eyes before raising her chin again.

“I want to eat some freshly made kimchi too. Buy a few heads of cabbage and salt them, I’m going to take a nap. Work diligently until I wake up, okay? Don’t just sit there drinking useless things like coffee!”

Young Ja shot a fierce glare before going into her room.

Chae Won, who had been staring in the direction Young Ja disappeared, soon picked up her phone at the text message alert sound.

After confirming today’s date location, Chae Won checked the remaining time.

Just as she was calculating roughly what time she should leave, a small bell sound was heard.

Turning around, she saw the dog that Jenny had been holding earlier, with its leash undone, boldly going out through the slightly open front door.

As the dog’s owner seemed to be sprawled out sleeping following her mother, with no sign of coming down, Chae Won had no choice but to put on her sandals.

“What’s the use of putting on a leash? The dog is running wild on its own.”

Chae Won just slightly closed the open gate to prevent the dog from going outside as it ran around the small garden, panting.

As she was about to go back inside, Jae Min’s voice was heard from somewhere.

“Baby, don’t get excited.”

It was a voice coming from outside the gate.

Chae Won tilted her head and opened the door again.

“No, where are you coming? Nothing will be solved by you coming. You know that, right?”

Confirming that the owner of the voice was Jae Min, Chae Won quietly turned her body and focused.

“First, calm down. You know how much I love you. Please calm down, okay?”

The words flowing endlessly from his mouth.

The endearment ‘baby’ and love.

Remembering his unnatural behavior of quickly hiding his phone earlier, Chae Won laughed in disbelief.

“No, that’s not what I mean, you know how hard I’m trying to get a divorce right now. Yes, yes, of course I understand your position too. That’s why I’m trying so hard right now.”

As expected, he had a woman.

Perhaps, did elder sister know this fact on the day of the accident?

It wasn’t that she couldn’t divorce because she loved him, but that she couldn’t easily give in because she felt wronged.

Chae Won, who had been thinking with her gaze half-lowered, neatly tucked her falling side hair behind her ear.

“Ah, so that’s how it is.”

She tightly tied her hair into one with the hair tie on her wrist and stared straight ahead with sharp eyes.

“So that’s what it was…”

Listening to Jae Min’s helpless phone conversation, Chae Won walked straight towards the house.

Bang, the front door closed loudly.

Soon, Young Ja, who had been lying in bed, sat up startled by the crashing noise of something breaking.