I know I shouldn’t be doing this. That I should hide my feelings.

I shouldn’t like him.

Because they are a family that has graciously accepted and sponsored my mother and I.

When I think of the chairman, I shouldn’t be like this.

But I couldn’t push Ga Eul away.

Because it felt like my whole body would melt away at the unfamiliar sensation of his lips touching mine and our bodies intertwining.

The kiss we shared was so maddeningly sweet that I closed my eyes instead.

Since when did it start?

This one-sided love that slowly melted into me over a long time.

* * *

“A graduation exhibition?”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“That’s great. It feels like only yesterday that you entered this mansion, Ga Eul, and now you’re already graduating. After graduating, come work and shine at TS Gallery. Hahaha!”

“……Yes, Chairman.”

Ga Eul nodded, showing a faint smile.

At the head of the long table was Chairman Han. On either side of him sat his eldest son and daughter-in-law, Dae Gyun and Mi Jeong. They continued their meal peacefully, as if accustomed to this scene.

Occasionally having meals together at the chairman’s request. The only one who was always stiff was Ga Eul.

‘Now I have to show results.’

To hide her trembling hands, Ga Eul put down her spoon, pretending to have finished eating.

Then, Chairman Han bluntly presented what he wanted.

“Just do as your father did. Sign an exclusive contract with TS Gallery and prove your skills there. Ga Eul, you’re Yoon Dae Ho’s daughter, so if you just showcase your abilities, attracting attention will be no big deal. Yoon Dae Ho was always someone who drew buzz wherever he went.”

Chairman Han’s eyes narrowed, emanating an even sharper light.

“The operations are being handled well by Gi Tae, but… there has been no one who has elevated the gallery’s status as much as Yoon Dae Ho.”

Mentioning Yoon Dae Ho, Chairman Han clicked his tongue as if expressing dissatisfaction.

“There hasn’t been a painter as skilled as your father, Ga Eul. They were all suspicious.”

Master Yoon Dae Ho.

Chairman Han always mentioned him whenever the gallery came up in conversation. Even though it had been 9 years since he became a star in the sky, there still hadn’t been anyone with as much buzz and skill as him.

Although it sounded like praise, Ga Eul didn’t have the heart to be simply happy about it now.

Because now she had to prove that she was as valuable as her father, or even more so.

“Ga Eul.”

He called her name with particular emphasis.

“Y-yes…?”

“I’ve given you plenty of time, so you should be able to do it.”

“…Yes. I can do it.”

Right, after all the support you’ve given.

Those final words pierced her sharply.

9 years had passed since she melted into this family under the name of sponsorship.

Although she had already anticipated that many things would change after graduation… When he gave her a direct order, she began to realize it anew.

Han Baek Ho had acted like a benevolent grandfather to Ga Eul, not wanting anything from her, but in truth, he was not someone who invested without reason.

She had to show some kind of result, whatever it may be.

Ga Eul, who habitually picked up a brush every day, had at some point become able to paint pictures very similar to her father’s. She occasionally heard herself called a genius, but it wasn’t perfect.

No matter how long she had been painting, she was just a fresh graduate and new member of society, incomparable to her father.

In Ga Eul’s mind, she was always lacking compared to her father.

Whenever Ga Eul felt her limitations, she missed the distant childhood days of painting with her father, not knowing much.

‘I miss you, Dad…..’

She still hadn’t forgotten the memory of that day.

Her harmonious family that she thought would last forever, and her kind and pure-hearted father. And……

Her father’s suicide.

The sudden bad news was a painful blow for fourteen-year-old Ga Eul.

It was at her father’s funeral that Chairman Han Baek Ho came to her.

Late at night, long after everyone had left. Ga Eul unknowingly took a step back upon facing the grandfather who exuded charisma.

At first, she didn’t know who he was. She was puzzled to see her mother treating him with the utmost respect, more than anyone else. He was the first to strike up a conversation with her.

−So you’re Ga Eul.

−……?

−Oh my. Looks like you don’t remember me.

−……

−Well, it’s understandable since you last saw me when you were very young. I was very close with your father. We were inseparable friends, not feeling the age gap at all.

He posed a question to her.

−So Ga Eul, do you like painting too?

It wasn’t simply a question of whether she liked painting or not.

Realizing this, Ga Eul carefully observed him.

Having already lost a place to return to, she and her mother needed a protective fence.

His gaze, which had deeply settled, meticulously examined Ga Eul. He was gauging whether this girl could display skills like her father.

Even knowing what he wanted, Ga Eul had no choice but to nod.

−Yes…, I like it.

There was no other option from the start.

He willingly extended his wrinkled hand.

−Painting. Why don’t you paint to your heart’s content? This old man will help you. Let’s go together.

And so, after her father’s funeral, she entered the mansion.

Ga Eul’s mother, Hee Sun, volunteered to be a housekeeper as she couldn’t bear to send Ga Eul alone to Chairman Han’s mansion.

Chairman Han gave Ga Eul and her mother a whole annex of the Hannam-dong mansion. The annex was small compared to the main building, but it was more than enough for the two of them to live in.

He supported her in every way possible, and thanks to that, there was no hindrance to her life of painting.

It’s something to be truly grateful for, but… why does a corner of my heart feel uncomfortable?

“I’d like to see a painting you’ve done recently.”

Ga Eul, who had been reminiscing about the past for a moment, was startled by Chairman Han’s words and immediately answered.

“Yes, Chairman. Shall I come to your study after the meal?”

“Let’s do that.”

Ga Eul answered politely, straightening her back again. Although it was something she often went through, presenting her paintings to him still made her tense, as if proving her usefulness to remain in this house.

.

.

.

Ga Eul knocked on the study door a couple of times, holding two of her recent paintings.

Entering the study, she placed the paintings on the brown wooden table where the wood grain was clearly visible, and took a step back. Then, Baek Ho, who had been sitting silently in the wooden chair, lifted his upper body and began examining the paintings.

His sharp gaze shone coldly, unlike at the dining table. His attitude while examining the paintings was serious to the point of being blunt.

“I was busy preparing for the graduation exhibition this month, so I could only paint two pieces. I’m sorry.”

“Is that so?”

While Baek Ho savored the paintings, she became unnecessarily tense and turned her gaze away from the paintings and him.

The chairman’s study had several painters’ works hung on the walls, befitting his love for art, and among them were a few paintings Ga Eul had done as a child. Fortunately, those were the ones that had caught the chairman’s eye.

On the small table next to them, there was a blue porcelain piece that she had never seen before.

‘This is the first time I’m seeing that….’

His interests seemed to have shifted to porcelain as well. Chairman Han liked anything beautiful, without discrimination.

Perhaps it was thanks to his eye for beauty that the gallery operation, which began as a hobby, was able to firmly establish itself among the many galleries with long traditions.

Thanks to him recognizing her father’s potential early on, her father was able to hold grand exhibitions at the TS Gallery and gain fame, while the gallery also greatly benefited from it.

Come to think of it……

‘You said you two were… friends…?’

Since she hadn’t heard anything from her father, she occasionally became curious, but the favors the chairman bestowed were not something he could generously give to someone he barely knew.

So, that’s why he takes such good care of me…? Because I’m my father’s daughter.

Even amidst the pressure to produce results, Ga Eul knew that the grace she had received was not small. It was clearly an investment that would lose money to support the young Ga Eul, who had no skills to speak of. So even while feeling burdened, Ga Eul wanted to meet Chairman Han’s expectations.

Meanwhile, Baek Ho looked back and forth between the two paintings before his eyes. They depicted a landscape of a moonlit lake and a painting of flower petals scattering hazily.

‘Oh…? Not bad.’

The moonlight subtly melted into the lake, making it beautiful, and the flower petals left a strong impression with their intense colors.

The painting, with added texture from the thickly applied paint, felt three-dimensional. Yet, it wasn’t discordant either.

‘My eye for talent was accurate.’

The child, who had a talent for painting like her father, was now creating unique paintings that made one curious about how she viewed the subjects, to the point of wanting to know.

Just as Yoon Dae Ho had boasted about his daughter’s paintings.

‘I like it.’

The day he first saw the paintings of the young girl who had learned to paint solely from her father without any other teacher, his eyes sparkled.

Not having a teacher played a big part. It would have ruined her talent instead.

Where else could you find a better teacher than that?

Dismissing it as Yoon Dae Ho trying to show off his daughter’s paintings, that day when Yoon Dae Ho first proudly showed him his daughter’s paintings, Chairman Han had made up his mind to bring Ga Eul into his gallery.

Because as a child, her paintings were identical to Yoon Dae Ho’s.

This child had never disappointed him even once.

“Alright. You worked hard. You may go.”

“Yes, Chairman. Thank you.”

This painting was to his liking as well.

It would also be helpful to his grandson, who would be returning soon.

Chairman Han smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the door Ga Eul had left through.

Just as Yoon Dae Ho had been to him.

.

.

.

Ga Eul let out a sigh of relief and left the chairman’s study.

Fortunately, it seemed like the chairman liked the paintings this time as well.

Although it was a routine that had been repeated countless times, this inspection was still not something she had gotten used to.

Even though her love for painting remained unchanged… somehow a corner of her heart always felt uncomfortable. To the point where sometimes picking up a brush felt like shackles.

“Sigh……”

Ga Eul heaved a deep sigh as the tension left her body.

Only the sound of Ga Eul’s footsteps echoed in the quiet main building.

The main building was home to Chairman Han’s eldest son and daughter-in-law, Han Dae Gyun and his wife Shin Mi Jeong, and their two sons were currently living their own lives. The eldest, Han Gi Jeong, had gotten married and become independent, while the second son, Han Gi Tae, had inherited Chairman Han’s gallery business and expanded overseas, so their rooms had been empty for a long time.

‘Will I run into him if I join TS Gallery?’

Han Gi Tae, who had expressed his desire to inherit the smallest of Chairman Han’s galleries, was in the process of expanding to 8 branches domestically and even more overseas. He had even been selected as one of the 6 individuals with great influence in the art world, so anyone who was in the know would be aware of him.

He had become a very busy person, so seeing his face was as rare as plucking a star from the sky. Even she had only seen him a handful of times.

Nevertheless, he remained vivid in her memory. Especially that brief moment when she first encountered Han Gi Tae.

The fleeting gaze that passed over her, the intense eyes beneath it, the strong bridge of his nose, and his low voice.

The fact that those moments occasionally came to mind… was it because that day was deeply etched into her brain?

Or……

Ga Eul shook off her thoughts and immediately turned her body to leave the main building.

“Ga Eul!”

At the sound of someone calling her name, Ga Eul turned around to see Mi Jeong coming down from the second floor. She called out to Ga Eul cheerfully and elegantly descended the stairs, approaching her side.