Shin Ji waited for a long time, crouched on the cool emergency stairwell, before finally stretching out her knees.

The feeling of blood rushing backward made her dizzy, and she had to grip the wall with her hand to steady herself.

It felt like someone was pressing a fist against her solar plexus, making it difficult to breathe.

Her steady breathing became erratic.

She wanted to cry, but no tears came out.

It was because of her mother, who would be the most anxious if Shin Ji broke down.

Holding back tears was something she was exceptionally good at, to the point of being sick and tired of it.

Regaining her composure, Shin Ji entered the hospital room with a pale face.

“Who were you on the phone with?”

Jung Hye’s voice came from the bed, though Shin Ji had thought she was sleeping.

Closing the curtain, Shin Ji asked Jung Hye, who was looking up at her.

“Did I wake you up?”

“No. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

Sitting on the cot, Shin Ji massaged Jung Hye’s hand.

Jung Hye quietly looked down at Shin Ji, who was pressing firmly on her stiff left hand.

“Ji, don’t you have anyone you’re seeing?”

“No, I don’t.”

She barely had the strength to get through each day, how could she have time for dating?

Right now, expanding her human relationships was the most useless thing for Shin Ji to do.

Jung Hye’s eyes seemed somehow disappointed, as if she had been hoping for it.

“You never used to ask about things like that before. Why are you suddenly curious about it now?”

“How much longer will your mother live?”

Shin Ji’s fingers, which had been massaging Jung Hye’s wooden hand, lost strength.

“I want to see you get married while I’m still a little healthy.”

The lifted eyes were as empty as if they had lost even a single ray of light.

“Mom, I told you not to say things like that.”

“I get scared the most when our daughter makes that expression.”

Shin Ji pursed her lips and put Jung Hye’s hand under the blanket.

“Go to sleep now.”

“I wish a prince on a white horse would appear and take our Ji away.”

“Mom, there are no princes on white horses in reality.”

Even if there were, would a prince on a white horse take a woman with less than a million won in her bank account unless he was crazy?

“When are you going to get married? Or do you at least have someone you like?”

Park Young Ran’s voice echoed like a reverberation in Shin Ji’s ear as she lay on the bed.

There’s no way that crazy prince would be Nam Do Hyun, so why did he come to mind?

She snorted. Wouldn’t that only be possible if one was wearing really thick rose-colored glasses?

Shin Ji shook her head from side to side, trying in vain to bring on sleep that wouldn’t come.

Today was Saturday, so at least Shin Ji wasn’t constrained by having to go to work.

She left the hospital at dawn and got on a bus.

The landlady had told her to move out immediately, but she had nowhere to go. She intended to meet with the landlady to buy as much time as possible.

By the time the blue dawn had faded and the sun had risen, Shin Ji was able to get off the bus.

Just as she was about to take a step toward the numerous stairs that were too many to count, it happened.

Beep―!

The sound of a car horn honking right behind her made Shin Ji’s upper body flinch slightly.

An expensive car that didn’t match the hillside village was parked on the narrow roadside.

Until three years ago, it was the kind of car her father used to drive. Though there was no way her father could come back to life, Shin Ji stared blankly at the car.

A man in a black suit got out and approached Shin Ji, who was standing in front of the stairs.

“Are you Shin Ji?”

“…Yes, I’m Shin Ji. What’s the matter?”

Her heart pounded whenever a stranger asked for her name.

It was a feeling of anxiety. The people who asked for her name like this every time were the ones her father had borrowed money from.

‘Dad, where did you borrow money from this time?’

Judging by the expensive car they brought, it didn’t seem to be an ordinary case. She was even afraid that she herself had been traded for money.

Unknowingly taking a step back, Shin Ji put some distance between herself and the man. Just in case she needed to run away.

“You need to come with us now.”

“And who are you?”

The heavily tinted rear window rolled down halfway.

A middle-aged woman turned her head toward the half-open window.

“Get in.”

She suddenly told her to get in.

Even though she was wearing sunglasses, Shin Ji could tell that she didn’t recognize the woman at all.

“Who are you?”

The woman took off the sunglasses she was wearing at Shin Ji’s question.

The woman, who appeared to be in her late 50s, lifted the corners of her red-painted lips.

“I’m Do Hyun’s mother.”

There was no room for doubt.

The smiling eyes were the spitting image of Nam Do Hyun.

She was a little relieved. At least it wasn’t a loan shark. At least it wasn’t someone her father had borrowed money from.

But relief wasn’t what she needed, she had to run away.

So as not to get deeply entangled with Park Young Ran. So as not to be fooled by those red lips.

The place Park Young Ran took Shin Ji to was a quiet cafe not far from her house.

Young Ran didn’t say a word to Shin Ji in the car. It was the same after they arrived at the cafe.

She was just elegantly drinking coffee with her pinky finger raised.

The uneasiness caused by that composure was also similar to Nam Do Hyun.

“Why do you think I called you here?”

At the gentle question, Shin Ji’s lips quivered.

Could it be that she had been caught staying at Do Hyun’s house due to her unimpressive hide-and-seek skills?

But she had no memory of encountering Park Young Ran, so she didn’t think that was the case.

“You have an idea, don’t you?”

“… I don’t know.”

She deflected for now.

She didn’t want to make the mistake of being presumptuous and offering her own neck.

“I see. You should say you don’t know, that would be correct.”

Young Ran, who had been looking down at her coffee cup, lifted her eyelids.

For a very brief moment, a cold light seeped into her brown eyes.

“But cheap tricks won’t work in front of me.”

“Pardon?”

“When I went into the bathroom yesterday, the shower stall was wet. I thought it was strange. If Do Hyun had showered, there’s no way he would have put on the clothes he wore to the office again, right?”

Shin Ji’s pupils quietly dilated.

Young Ran had not come looking for Shin Ji without certainty.

She had come to tear into Shin Ji with precise evidence.

“Sure enough, when I asked security, they said a woman had gone up.”

Shin Ji’s heart felt like it was dangling from the tip of Young Ran’s sharply rising lips.

Even her fingertips on her lap seemed to grow cold.

“I checked your background early in the morning.”

Young Ran ran a hand over her rough skin and tilted her head to one side.

“I didn’t know your father was the president of the White Star travel agency. This must be fate, he had some dealings with my husband a few times.”

Young Ran waved her hand as if to change the subject before the story took a different turn.

“But that’s not something I need to worry about. What I need to worry about is your relationship with our Do Hyun.”

Young Ran finally revealed her true intentions after a long preamble.

“Do you and Do Hyun use birth control?”

“Excuse me? What did you just say…?”

Did I hear that wrong?

Birth control?

She had never heard anyone directly mention the word ‘birth control’ to her before in her life. And she never imagined that the first time would be from Nam Do Hyun’s mother.

Park Young Ran smiled at Shin Ji, who looked dumbfounded as if she had been hit on the head.

“Pretending not to hear? Or just being coy?”

It was a meaningless smile with no emotion attached to it.

Sorting out her confused mind, Shin Ji quickly came up with an answer.

“It’s not the kind of relationship you’re thinking of.”

“Not mother, call me madam. Address me that way.”

Young Ran politely corrected the form of address before adding:

“I don’t mind even if you’re seeing our Do Hyun.”

“……”

“Men, you know how it is. They need to let out their desires periodically to relieve stress and keep their minds sharp. No matter how strict I am, I have no intention of blocking Do Hyun’s outlet.”

Outlet.

Without raising her voice once, without frowning once, Young Ran dug into Shin Ji’s insides.

Every word she uttered was like a landmine, ready to make her disappear without a trace if she stepped on it.

“I understand you’re misunderstanding the relationship between the president and me. I can’t explain the situation in detail, but what you’re worrying about didn’t happen that day at his house.”

Even if she said it was all a misunderstanding, Young Ran didn’t even pretend to listen.

“How many times do you think I’ve done this? Out of a hundred, a hundred of them say the same thing as you.”

Shin Ji’s nape tingled at the sound of her laughing.

“Do you know why I’m leaving you alone?”

Park Young Ran spoke in a friendly tone after finishing her laughter.

“Because you’re not even worth pushing away.”

“….”

“You’re the worst out of all the women Do Hyun has dated so far.”

She looked Shin Ji up and down, from top to bottom, in her clothes that probably wouldn’t even cost 10,000 won at cost.

She had lost her father, lost money, and the only thing she had was a pretty face.

It was enough to pique her son’s interest. He must have felt a protective instinct and brought Shin Ji into the house.

After all, how can a person just eat rice all the time? It’s natural to crave this kind of instant food occasionally.

Having said what she wanted to say, Young Ran got up from her seat, pressing on the table.

“Don’t block Do Hyun’s future path just because you want to live a little better.”

Young Ran shuddered as if the mere thought disgusted her.

“Getting pregnant is the most troublesome thing to deal with, you know.”

Young Ran, who had been twisting her toes, urgently reached out to Shin Ji as if she had forgotten something.

“Oh, and don’t tell Do Hyun that you met me today. Absolutely not.”

A kind mother. An affectionate mother. A mother like a friend.

That’s how she wanted to remain by Do Hyun’s side.

But if she acted too soft, it would be difficult to drive away the flies perched on Do Hyun’s shoulders. So she had no choice but to quietly wave her hands behind his back.

Having even silenced her, Park Young Ran left the cafe with light footsteps.

Shin Ji, sitting in front of the round table, felt numb.

It really wasn’t right to go to Do Hyun’s house that day.

She had gotten involved in something she shouldn’t have and only lost energy.

‘How pitiful.’

The daughter-in-law who will marry into that family.

“Look who’s worrying about whom.”

I’m about to be kicked out of my house.

Shin Ji let out a deep sigh and looked up at the blue sky.

“It’s clear.”

While I’m getting so tanned and tired.

The weather is annoyingly clear.