Thump, click-clack. A stack of documents along with a tissue box fell in a fan shape.

“Hehe, sorry.”

Lajin hurriedly knelt on the floor, causing a commotion.

“It’s okay, Lajin. Leave it.”

“I just keep causing trouble for you. Heh.”

Lajin, shedding tears over the documents, picked up the fallen tissues. She wiped the tear-smudged papers and skimmed through the contents.

‘J, V, Won, 25, M, G, 100M ↓.’

How useful the skill of memorizing scripts was, it stuck in her mind as if she had taken photographs.

Lajin, trying to remember other people besides the familiar man, rapidly flipped through the next page and then the next. Her heart was so impatient that she kept fumbling.

People who wouldn’t stand out much except for wearing glasses or not, being older or younger. She etched the names of a few with distinctive facial features in her mind.

‘I have to stop here.’

Before arousing the chairman’s suspicion, it was time to tidy up the commotion. Lajin headed towards the cover to discover the mysterious nature of the documents.

―’H’ Trend Report.

Lajin, her head filled with an overwhelming amount of information, put the documents back in their original place.

“Sorry about bringing up stepfather, Chairman.”

“It’s not your fault. Your pretty face is all messed up.”

Chairman Kim’s rough hand wiped away the tears hanging at Lajin’s chin, as if dealing with a pitiable child. Lajin, looking down, grasped the chairman’s hand.

“Can I come to see you like this occasionally?”

“I’ll let the secretariat know, so call ahead if you want to visit.”

A visitation right that wasn’t contingent on Kim Yoo-jun’s invitation.

Smiling at the thought of more opportunities to find out something significant, Lajin knew it was time to change her approach. From a tearful melodrama to a heartwarming weekend serial. Lajin quickly switched genres and got up from her seat.

“This isn’t the time for this.”

“Did you forget something?”

As Chairman Kim groaned while getting up, Lajin moved along with him.

“Lajin, it’s been a while since you visited. I should give you some pocket money.”

“No, Chairman. I earn a lot.”

“Even if you earn, what’s left after paying for your mother’s hospital bills and buying clothes?”

The exchange between a declining Lajin and the chairman insisting on why she refused money continued. A non-argument argument. The chairman soon chuckled, finding Lajin’s detailed explanation cute.

“Oh, if the advisor was still alive, you wouldn’t have to suffer like this.”

At Chairman Kim’s muttered self-talk about why the advisor had to leave so early, Lajin could no longer refuse.

She simply stepped back, closed her mouth, and eyed her new prey.

Myungjin Group Future Strategy Business Report, Myungjin Bio Organization Restructuring Plan, Myungjin Securities Legal Response Strategy?

‘Ah! That’s it!’

Within arm’s reach.

If only a breeze through the slightly open window… Lajin’s fingers twitched with the desire to at least see the first page.

“Oh, the advisor was so proud of having an unexpected daughter.”

“Father was always the best.”

“I joked that if only our Cheoljun hadn’t turned out that way, I would’ve wanted you as my daughter-in-law.”

A dark shadow fell over Chairman Kim’s face at the end of his words.

The only misfortune and the biggest risk of the thriving Myungjin Group.

The accident of the successful eldest son. Clearly an accident to anyone, but everyone blamed Kim Yoo-jun. It happened on the way to pick him up. That was also when he started becoming uncontrollably strange.

“How is Cheoljun brother doing these days?”

Instead of answering, the chairman let out a sigh.

“Can I go see Cheoljun brother?”

“Go ahead. Cheoljun must be feeling suffocated being with his mother all day.”
A heavy sigh brought a sudden silence.

Even though she had entered with a purpose, Lajin knew all too well the sense of loss Chairman Kim was feeling. It wasn’t any different from what she felt towards her own mother.

Standing at the edge of the desk, Lajin gently touched the long rays of sunlight draping down.

“As you age, you should learn to let go of attachments. But it’s different when it involves your children.”

Clearing his throat, Chairman Kim opened a desk drawer.

A mix of pity and bitterness.

Even in that moment of mixed emotions, Lajin instinctively peered into the drawer. A fountain pen in a black velvet case, a white envelope, a small bunch of keys, and a photo of Kim Cheoljun commemorating his hole-in-one.

She hadn’t expected anything special, but the first drawer, frequently accessed, was surprisingly sparse.

“Here, take this.”

The moment Chairman Kim lifted the white envelope, a yellow envelope peeked out from beneath.

‘What’s that?’

The envelope, seemingly sealed and tied up with white string, appeared quite thick.

If only she had 5 minutes, no, just 1 minute alone, she would open that envelope first. Lajin’s eyes, full of longing, closed along with the slowly shutting drawer.

“You should accept what an adult gives you. Put it away.”

“I should be the one giving you allowance, Chairman.”