“Wake up, Yoon Ga Eul.”

Gi Tae called out to her again, but there was no reaction to his words.

However, she didn’t seem to have any intention of lifting her head.

Thinking it was a useless thing to do to someone who was busy crying, Gi Tae turned his body.

“Sigh…”

But soon, he turned back around again.

What are you doing sitting in the flower bed? It’s making me concerned.

Gi Tae let out a sigh and had no choice but to grab Ga Eul’s arm and make her stand up with his strength. He automatically frowned at how she followed along without resistance.

She really doesn’t fit in with his family.

The barren Taesan Group. The lonely mansion.

Just like how he had vaguely thought at their first meeting that she wouldn’t be able to easily blend in.

The memory of her infinitely small, delicate appearance as she hurriedly tried to read the room, those teary eyes were still vivid.

The reason he couldn’t just pass by today was because he found out the inside story.

He was doing this for his own peace of mind.

He was going to leave right after making her stand up.

Gi Tae spoke to Ga Eul, making up a reason.

“Lift your head.”

“…Hic.”

Finally calming down, she lifted her head and as expected, her face was a mess with tears.

But…

“…Why.”

Gi Tae narrowed his eyes upon seeing Ga Eul’s expression.

The woman he thought would only cry weakly was glaring at him with tears hanging on her lashes.

Thinking he saw wrong, Gi Tae looked over her face again and she still answered as if glaring at him.

“You could have at least looked at my painting once before rejecting it.”

What does that…

Ah, is she talking about the graduation exhibition?

Gi Tae was momentarily flustered by her abrupt way of speaking and the boldness he was seeing for the first time, but he nodded his head signaling for her to continue.

As if that signal lit a fire, Ga Eul nitpicked at him as if she had never been intimidated by him before.

“It’s not that I wanted to enter that gallery, but that the Chairman instructed me to do so. You keep opposing it without even looking, so it’s making the Chairman more uncomfortable. All I can do is work hard at painting to repay his grace. If you had rejected it based on skill, I would have tried to repay his grace in another way that the Chairman wanted. But with both of you not backing down and only fighting over me… It’s hard being torn in the middle.”

“So.”

“…Yes?”

“I’m asking if you have more you want to say.”

“Ah, that, well…”

I shouldn’t laugh. Gi Tae suddenly felt like laughter was going to burst out.

With her eyes reddened like flower petals, her glare wasn’t threatening at all.

As if she had been hiding her claws all this time to appease the adults, she had an unexpectedly bold side.

Rather than her doll-like appearance of firmly shut lips and only doing as told, this side was better to see anyway.

Maybe that’s why. He found himself lending an ear to trivial things he wouldn’t usually listen to.

After hesitating and fumbling her words for a moment out of fluster, she wiped her tears and opened her mouth again. Perhaps having him lend an ear eased her misery a bit as she returned to her usual self.

“Of course it’s up to you whether to accept it or not. I know well too that the Chairman is forcing it on you, but…”

“…”

“Anyway… I’m not taking it for granted either.”

“Okay.”

As if acknowledging that part, Gi Tae nodded briefly then turned around after placing something in Ga Eul’s hand.

If he was going to just listen and leave like this, why did he even ask…?

Ga Eul was dumbfounded, not even noticing that something was placed in her hand.

Forget an apology or asking if she was okay, not even hurtful words asking what she wanted from him came.

Right.

He really only said “Okay”.

Ga Eul blankly stared at his back.

Thinking he would directly leave the mansion, he unexpectedly said something strange belatedly.

“Come to my office tomorrow.”

Leaving only those words behind, he went farther away.

Reaching his sedan in just a few steps, he got into the driver’s seat.

By the time the dazed Ga Eul came to her senses, the black sedan had smoothly left the main building. Ga Eul thought she might have imagined it.

Left alone, Ga Eul abruptly regained her senses and checked what was placed in her hand.

A handkerchief…?

A clear red mark visible even in the darkness.

A handkerchief with a red stain was grasped in her hand.

* * *

“After directly asking Ms. Yoon Ga Eul’s mother, I was told they had about 400 million won in debt.”

“What did they do to take on that much debt in an ordinary household?”

When Gi Tae pointed that part out in disbelief, the secretary standing in front reporting answered with difficulty.

“When I asked, she kept crying as if sensitive about that story… So… I failed to find out. My apologies.”

“It’s fine, so?”

“Yes. Ms. Yoon Ga Eul’s mother said she tried to pay back even a little, but as you can see, it’s not an amount easily paid back by the two women. Anyway, most of the debt was paid off by the Chairman. He didn’t explicitly tell them to pay it back. So she thought maybe they don’t have to pay it back, but felt it’s only right to do so and thought they could slowly pay it back.”

“How much has been sponsored so far?”

“From when Ms. Yoon Ga Eul was 14 until her college graduation now, roughly 200 million won has been invested as far as I know.”

So that’s how it was.

The puzzle pieces seemed to fit now.

Gi Tae waved his hand and dismissed the secretary.

“…I see. You may go.”

“Yes, Director.”

Right after arriving at the department store, he had instructed his personal secretary to find out about her financial situation. Hearing the report, it was quite pitiful.

Gi Tae twirled his fountain pen, recalling the report from earlier.

He’s my grandfather, but really… He was nasty.

Under the pretext of sponsorship, making a 14-year-old girl accumulate another debt until now.

He must have created a legal basis too.

A total of 600 million won.

It’s not a small amount, but Gi Tae didn’t think his grandfather’s anger was just over money.

He’s not one to kindly help someone without compensation, so there must have been utility value in bringing her.

What does he want to get out of that kid?

…Even if I ask, he’s not one to nicely tell me. What scheme could it be?

He has as much money as he wants, so rather than money, he focuses more on honor and outward appearances.

What did Yoon Ga Eul show his grandfather that allowed her to stay at his house for 9 years? Gi Tae became curious about that.

I wonder if she knows she got caught up in something wrong. Yoon Ga Eul.

He had never been curious about her even once, but these days it felt like they kept getting entangled in this and that. It was as if she was determined to get on his nerves, constantly hovering around him.

Gi Tae’s head turned towards the clock.

Soon, it would be time for Yoon Ga Eul to arrive.

Well, I’ll find out if I ask the person herself directly.

Gi Tae turned his gaze back to the documents, grasped the fountain pen, and pressed the tip to the paper.

* * *

At that moment, Ga Eul was looking at Taesan Department Store.

The golden department store equipped from the 7th basement floor to the 14th floor above ground was dazzling. After examining the department store, Ga Eul walked towards the headquarters building right next to it. The headquarters handling clerical work was located right next to the department store, making it easy to find even on the first visit.

With the help of the information desk employee, Ga Eul got on the executive elevator.

His office was positioned at the top of the headquarters building, and even then, an opaque glass door blocked the way again after getting off the elevator. The security procedures seemed quite strict.

The kind employee who had accompanied her from the desk spoke nicely to Ga Eul who was still hesitating to enter.

“If you go inside, the secretary will guide you.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

It wasn’t that, but that I was hesitating to enter…

Ga Eul bowed in thanks to her, firmly grasped the strap of the cross bag she had on as if it were a safety device, and went inside.

Going in, a woman jumped up to greet Ga Eul as the employee said.

“What brings you here?”

“I… came to see Director Han Gi Tae.”

“Ah, yes. Are you by any chance Ms. Yoon Ga Eul who notified us of your visit at the first floor lobby?”

“Yes. That’s me.”

“Please come this way.”

“Yes.”

Everything went smoothly the moment she said Han Gi Tae’s name. Knock knock, Ga Eul waited for his answer standing behind the employee knocking.

“Come in.”

“You can go right in.”

Soon, the voice she heard yesterday flowed out from inside. Ga Eul bowed her head to the secretary who guided her as a last gesture and entered pushing the door with a small deep breath.

Entering the unfamiliar office timidly, a classic interior immediately filled her view.

Unlike the Chairman’s study full of a wealthy feeling, the furniture matched in a modern black & white was sophisticated but simple. The very spacious and clean office interior, seemingly furnished with only necessary items, was quite empty. Even at a rough glance, his personality of disliking messiness showed.

However, even in that clean space, a few paintings were hung here and there.

The single small glass artwork placed on the black desk also caught the eye. The sunlight filtering in through the full-length windows beautifully scattered across the desk.

Right next to it, a black name plate firmly bearing “Han Gi Tae, Head of Planning & Strategy” was placed.

He had been looking only at documents since she entered.

When Ga Eul was done looking around the office interior and stood blankly, he spoke without even lifting his head.

“Sit there for a moment.”

“Oh, yes.”

Ga Eul left the head seat empty and went to sit on the long sofa placed to the side with discretion.

A while later, he lifted his head and went to sit on the sofa across from Ga Eul, not the head seat. Ga Eul straightened her back seeing him sit.

Because unlike herself, a rookie in society, his manner made him feel like an impressive CEO, giving her a sense of intimidation.

Also…

It’s embarrassing that I whined to Mr. Han Gi Tae yesterday…

I had never done that before, why did I do that yesterday? I should have endured a bit more…

Once the crying erupted, it was uncontrollable. In the end, I acted quite emotionally.

Ga Eul deeply lowered her head in shame over yesterday’s incident, and he nonchalantly held out a sheet of paper he had in his hand to her.

“What… is this?”

“The schedule for this exhibition.”

Exhibition schedule…?

As he waved the paper once as if telling her to take it, Ga Eul unknowingly received that paper.

To Ga Eul who was looking at it questioningly, he pointed at one side of the paper with his finger in lieu of an answer.

Ga Eul read what was written under that finger.

It was about an exhibition being held roughly in the spring.

“The Seoul Cultural Foundation is planning to hold an exhibition. They proposed first to collaborate with our gallery. Although the Seoul Cultural Foundation is involved, it will practically be run by our gallery so it will seem no different from a TS Gallery exhibition.”

“…Ah, yes.”

But why are you telling me that…?

Not understanding why he was suddenly informing her of TS Gallery’s future exhibition schedule, Ga Eul just fiddled with the edge of the paper.

Why in the world is he telling me this?

With that question, this time Ga Eul threw out a question first.

“Then… will only artists belonging to your gallery participate…?”

“Most of them. But not necessarily.”

“Then…?”

“The Cultural Foundation is planning the exhibition around then to discover and support new artists.”

“…”

“Our affiliated artists will participate heavily, but anyway, one side of the space will display and promote the works of artists selected through an open call and sell them.”

“Ah, yes… Um, then the competition will be fierce there…?”

He nodded.

As Ga Eul opened her mouth to ask again, this time his words were faster.

“Participate in that. Prove your abilities there.”