“You came from Kang Yoon? They have a separate pattern room there. Of course, I did it myself when the company was first established.”

Master Park gave a doubtful look over his glasses.

“Yes. I came separately because I really wanted to ask for your help.”

“Such flattery. Just show me the work.”

Seo Ha handed over the work order and fabric swatches she had brought to Master Park. As he examined them one by one, Master Park muttered to himself.

“Nice. It’s like Kang Yoon’s design.”

“Thank you.”

Master Park looked up and massaged the back of his neck.

“Is President Kang doing well there? He was doing so well but I haven’t heard from him at all. Just a few years ago he would send gifts and call during holidays, but it all stopped about three or four years ago. Tsk, how ungrateful.”

Master Park seemed to have no news at all.

Should I say something or not?

As Seo Ha hesitated, Kyung Jun politely spoke up instead.

“President Kang’s health has been poor for the past three or four years. He should recover soon, but until then I will take care of your holidays, sir.”

“President Kang is sick? What’s wrong?”

Master Park took off his glasses swiftly and asked loudly. The wrinkles on his seemingly gruff forehead were clear.

“He’s been going through some personal difficulties. He’s slowly getting better, so please don’t worry.”

“Then, what about the company? His daughter must not be ready yet?”

“His daughter is also ill. Currently his son-in-law is in charge.”

“Oh my, what a situation. And I didn’t even know.”

How foolish, I should die when I get old, Master Park mumbled self-reproachfully.

Seo Ha looked around the old and cluttered pattern room.

The company had been established for over ten years now, and she was newly impressed by her mother who had personally taken care of the pattern room they used to work with every year.

“Forget what I said earlier about doubling the unit price. How can I ask for more money when President Kang is sick? Come back at this time tomorrow to pick it up.”

“Really? Thank you, thank you so much!”

Seo Ha’s face immediately brightened as she bowed repeatedly. Kyung Jun also awkwardly gave a slight bow beside her.

“Well then, we’ll be going. Thank you for your help!”

Master Park waved his hand without answering. Still, Seo Ha politely backed out while closing the door and then happily came down the stairs.

“Did you say Master Park?”

As they twisted through the complex alleys again on their way out, Kyung Jun suddenly asked.

“Yes. He’s probably been doing this the longest in Dongdaemun. He’s received tons of scout offers from famous brands but rejected them all.”

“You know a lot.”

Seo Ha gave a slight smile and got into the passenger seat of Kyung Jun’s car. The car still smelled of soap, and a comedy show that airs at 2 PM was playing on the speakers.

“Hey, Secretary Ryu.”

“Yes.”

“When President Kang returns and Yoon Seo Ha wakes up… What will you do then?”

The person who took such devoted care of Hae Sun, and who locked away Yoon Seo Ha’s designs in a drawer saying they must never be touched. The person who skipped lunch to accompany a designer all the way to Dongdaemun.

The Taeyang Group spy who somehow protected and operated Kang Yoon when its core had collapsed and only thieves remained.

Kyung Jun silently drove for a moment. The traffic light at the intersection changed from yellow to red, then to green.

“This Master Park person. It’s my first time hearing about him.”

Kyung Jun eventually murmured softly.

“If it wasn’t the company sending gifts, and the secretary didn’t know, then President Kang must have personally sent gifts every year.”

“He probably took care of everyone who helped establish the company himself.”

“… That’s the kind of company Kang Yoon is.”

There was no answer to Seo Ha’s actual question.

**

“Seo Ha, did you get the pattern?”

Se Hee asked Seo Ha, who was busy draping on a mannequin.

“No. It’s fine… I have a lot of 3D patterns anyway. I feel more comfortable doing it myself.”

“Wait a moment. I have a pattern similar to your design, so I’ll get it for you. It’ll be better to modify that than to make one from scratch.”

They didn’t say anything because they were wary of Ji Soo, but the design team members actually pitied Seo Ha a little. So they naturally divided up tasks that would have been passed on, making Seo Ha’s work much easier.

“Really? Thank you! I was planning to pull an all-nighter tonight.”

In fact, the pattern was much better completed than what came out of the company’s pattern room. Seo Ha was really doing the draping because she needed to.

But there was no need to say that. Seo Ha thanked Se Hee several times as she received the pattern. Even if the kindness stemmed from pity, kindness was still kindness.

That pattern full of kindness had completely disappeared by the time Seo Ha came to work the next day.

“Where did it go?”

It wasn’t misplaced somewhere. She wondered if someone had taken it by mistake, but that wasn’t it either.

Ji Soo glanced at Seo Ha from afar. With a smile at the corner of her mouth that said she was having so much fun.

In fact, it doesn’t matter whether that pattern exists or not. But it was important that Ji Soo had erased something that Se Hee had deliberately found for Seo Ha out of personal grudge, regardless of its usefulness.

Ji Soo stood up from her seat with a very pleased expression. Judging from the pouch in her hand, she seemed to be going to the bathroom. Seo Ha followed her to the bathroom naturally after a short interval.

One, two, three, four, five.

Five out of six stalls in the bathroom were empty. Seo Ha quietly locked the entrance door and turned on both faucets. The sound of rushing water drowned out the noise from outside.

-Click.

Ji Soo, who came out opening the door, looked a bit surprised to see Seo Ha leaning against the sink, then smirked.

“What are you looking at, Jo Seo Ha?”

“It was you, right?”

Seo Ha unfolded her arms and took a step towards Ji Soo.

“What are you talking about?”

“The pattern on the desk. You stole it.”

“Why? Want to know where it is? You should have kept it safe.”

“You’re trying to sabotage me like this so I can’t finish the sample by the review, right?”

“Why ask the obvious? Did you think I’d just sit back and watch some beggar with no education muddy the waters in the design room?”

Ji Soo giggled. Seeing her laugh with pleasure made Seo Ha desperately want to hit her.

So she did.

With all her might, with her palm, on the back of the head, smack.

“…?”

Ji Soo rubbed the back of her head, wondering if she had been hit.

“Hey, Jo Seo Ha!”

Seo Ha caught Ji Soo’s hand in mid-air as she was about to swing back with all her might.

“Let go! Let go! Hey!”

“Our Ji Soo. You’re really a golden bitch.”

“You, you think you’ll get away with this? I’m going to report you to the police right now. You’re finished!”

“Go ahead, try it. They’ll really believe that a new designer hit the team leader in the bathroom, right?”

Seo Ha grabbed Ji Soo’s other wrist as it flew towards her cheek and warned in a low voice.

“I absolutely won’t tolerate it. Ji Soo, if you keep acting up, I’ll have no choice but to act up more. If you’re curious how far I can go, keep trying. Learning only how to be a bitch when you have no skills. Maybe I should just pack you in a post office box #1 and send you to Teacher Eun Young by quick delivery.”

Seo Ha, who had spoken without hesitation, threw away the wrist she had been holding and opened the bathroom door. Ji Soo wanted to chase after her and grab her hair, but there were already people crowding the corridor outside the wide open door.

“That, crazy, bitch…”

She was the craziest woman Ji Soo had ever seen in her life. She felt like she would get sick from the anger bubbling up below her chest.

What was even more infuriating was that this incredibly crazy woman went around pretending to be normal, pretending to be pitiful, receiving sympathy from everywhere.

“Good work.”

“I’ll go in first!”

As it passed 9 o’clock, the designers started to leave one by one.

Soon everyone had left and only Seo Ha and Ji Soo remained in the office. Ji Soo put down the sample she had been working on and stood up from her seat.

I’ll unmask you. I’ll show oppa how vicious and evil you really are.

She didn’t forget to check if the recording function was working well.

“Seo Ha. Aren’t you tired?”

Jo Seo Ha turned her head while sticking pins into a mannequin.

“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern, Team Leader.”

Pretending to be docile until provoked, huh.

“No need for thanks. You’re working hard because of me.”

Ji Soo approached Seo Ha with a silent smile in her eyes. Then she raised her hand high and swung it hard towards Seo Ha’s face.

-Smack!

“Huh…?”

Ji Soo blinked with her tingling hand still raised.

She hadn’t meant to actually hit her. Of course, she had swung expecting her wrist to be grabbed, for her to be called a hussy or whatever.

Jo Seo Ha, with a red handprint on one cheek, twisted the corner of her mouth into a grin towards Ji Soo.

At that moment, Ji Soo thought.

This crazy bitch, again.

“Why… Why are you doing this to me, Team Leader?”

As Jo Seo Ha’s voice trembled faintly, footsteps approached.

“What are you doing, Ji Soo?”

Of all people, it’s Ryu Kyung Jun’s voice. No, maybe it’s better that it’s Ryu Kyung Jun. If it were oppa, I’d have to take the blame for this situation again.

Ji Soo turned around abruptly with a “whatever happens, happens” attitude, but froze.

Kyung Jun’s eyes were different from usual. They had always been cold, always dismissive of Ji Soo, but never this chilling.

“I, I wasn’t trying to hit her.”

She tried to sound confident, but her voice kept shrinking. A mouse before a cat, or a tuna swimming before a shark. Ji Soo urgently urged Jo Seo Ha, who was just lowering her head with a hand on her slapped cheek.

“Jo Seo Ha, tell him. Tell him I wasn’t trying to hit you!”

“I just saw you hit Jo Seo Ha, Ji Soo.”

The moment he said “hit Jo Seo Ha,” something sinister flickered in Kyung Jun’s eyes.

“Either admit it here. Or I call the police.”

“Po-police? Why?”

“Because it’s assault. I don’t just cover up and ignore assaults that happen within the company.”

She felt like crying from the injustice. I was hit too. I was hit first. In the bathroom, that crazy bitch even locked the door and hit the back of my head!

“Seo Ha hit me first. This afternoon, in the bathroom!”

“Jo Seo Ha. Did you assault Ji Soo?”

Seo Ha shook her head hard. She had an expression like she was too scared to even answer.

“This is… Not even middle school bullies act like this.”

Kyung Jun let out a very small, ha, a scoff.