Kyung Jun had never had such a long conversation with Seo Ha. At most, it was just childish and trivial arguments like “You came up again without contacting?”, “As you know, I’m the CEO’s precious daughter.”

So he should have just passed by after seeing her. Why did he run over to this woman who was walking in the rain, which didn’t suit her at all?

“What happened to your car? That convertible you drive on the open road with the top down.”

Yoon Seo Ha replied with an expression that said ‘Why are you curious about that?’

“I gave it to someone else because it’s raining.”

“Then come with me.”

Kyung Jun turned around abruptly and started walking with big strides. But after walking for a while, he didn’t feel like anyone was following him at all. When he turned back again, he saw Yoon Seo Ha’s back of the head quickly moving away in the distance, getting drenched in the winter rain.

“This woman, really!”

He ran through the crowd and grabbed her shoulder, but she shook it off roughly as if she had encountered a criminal. Unbelievably.

“Let go. What are you doing?”

“What are you doing? It’s raining like this in winter, where are you going without an umbrella?”

“Don’t cut me off so casually. You think I’m using formal speech because my tongue is long?”

Yoon Seo Ha retorted fiercely. Although he could have responded just as fiercely if he wanted to, Kyung Jun couldn’t and just stood there looking at Seo Ha.

She was a mess. Let’s put aside her hair that was soaked and frozen for now. Her eye makeup, smeared with either rainwater or tears, and her lips, pale to the point of being purple, were beyond a mess – it was a pitiful sight.

“Alright, Ms. Yoon Seo Ha.”

Kyung Jun said as politely as possible, swallowing his disbelief.

“Let’s go together for now. If you catch a cold like this, the CEO will be very worried.”

“… Mom?”

Mentioning Kang Hae Sun seemed to have an effect. Kyung Jun emphasized once more.

“Yes. Ms. Yoon Seo Ha’s mother.”

Yoon Seo Ha’s mascara-smeared eyelashes blinked a couple of times, and suddenly big droplets rolled down.

Unlike Kyung Jun, she was a woman who lived off her own charms, raised only receiving love. He had wanted to see her flustered or crying at least once, but not like this.

Instead of an open-top sports car, he really didn’t want to see her silently shedding tears on the street with winter rain drizzling down.

“No, hey. Ms. Yoon Seo Ha.”

Feeling unsettled for no reason, Kyung Jun quickly pulled out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and held it out. Of course, Yoon Seo Ha didn’t take it.

“Stop crying, please. People will think I made you cry.”

Indeed, passersby were all glancing at the two of them. Kyung Jun could feel gazes treating him like trash.

He couldn’t explain to each person that he didn’t make her cry and that this woman was just crying on her own, so it was extremely unfair for Kyung Jun.

“Who told you to be here, Mr. Secretary? You should have just continued on your way. You can still leave quickly now.”

She speaks well despite not being able to stop crying. Kyung Jun clicked his tongue in disapproval and turned around. But before he could take a few steps, the sound of people whispering around him to look at that stopped him in his tracks.

“Ah, damn it.”

He had no choice but to stride back and firmly place the umbrella he was holding into Yoon Seo Ha’s hand. While she hesitantly accepted the umbrella, he quickly wiped her hair and face with the handkerchief, which somewhat improved her appearance.

“At least use this when you go. Don’t catch a cold and bother the CEO.”

“Mr. Ryu.”

Yoon Seo Ha, who had fortunately stopped crying, said in a slightly hoarse voice.

“Could you not say anything to my mom?”

“Sure.”

He had no intention of saying anything anyway. What did it matter if Yoon Seo Ha cried on the street or did headspins while busking? Even giving her an umbrella instead of pretending not to see her was an unnecessary meddling that Kyung Jun couldn’t understand.

But Yoon Seo Ha thanked him as if he had done her some great favor.

“Thank you.”

With her lips frozen purple. Even flashing that annoyingly perfect smile.

Suddenly his heart pounded irritatingly. He was curious why this woman, who lived off her own charms, was crying so pathetically on the street.

If only she would follow him obediently, he felt the urge to take her somewhere warm, change her into dry clothes, and feed her a sweet cup of hot chocolate.

How could this be? What am I thinking?

Kyung Jun hurriedly walked towards the opposite direction before his mind became even stranger. He barely resisted the urge to look back several times as his back of the head kept pulling him.

Soon, Kyung Jun’s head, which was a span taller than others, and the fluttering coat tails disappeared into the umbrellas of various colors. Seo Ha stood there holding tightly onto the umbrella that still held Kyung Jun’s warmth and muttered softly.

“… How embarrassing.”

Of all times, she was caught in the most miserable moment of her life. What’s even more miserable and embarrassing is that the umbrella he gave her was a little bit comforting. While her actual husband, Lee Seung Oh, was too busy having an affair to even wonder if his wife had an umbrella.

“I didn’t get it.”

Ji Soo held out her phone weakly. There was a long, cliché rejection message that started with “Thank you for applying” and ended with “We hope to meet you again in a good relationship.” Seung Oh inwardly felt relieved but frowned unnecessarily.

“Why didn’t you get it? Did Yoon Seo Ha deliberately block you?”

“The young lady wouldn’t do that. I just wasn’t good enough, that’s all. It’s okay.”

Her eyes were brimming with tears despite her foolish grin and saying it’s okay. At times like this, he thought it might be better if she was like Seo Ha, arguing point by point at every turn. Wouldn’t that be less pitiful?

“I told you to just hold off on design for a bit. I could easily get you into another department.”

“But I want to be a designer. Even if I try my best, I probably won’t be as good as the young lady…”

“Stop calling her ‘young lady’. Are you a maid?”

“I am a maid. The young lady and I are of different status.”

“This isn’t the Joseon era, what status are you talking about?”

“There, there are still social classes in Korea too. The young lady is the young lady, you’re the young master, and I’m… just a maid.”

Ji Soo put her phone in her handbag. Seeing that bag with its shiny synthetic leather and clumsily printed luxury logo, Seung Oh’s face crumpled.

“What’s with that bag? Where did you get it?”

“Isn’t it pretty? I bought it at the market yesterday. It was originally 25,000 won, but ah, the lady said there was only one left and asked for just 18,000 won, so I bought it right away.”

“…”

When he was very young, Seung Oh’s mother used to buy exactly these kinds of cheap bags and proudly carry them around. Of course, young Seung Oh didn’t know they were cheap. If Kang Hae Sun hadn’t been alarmed, he probably wouldn’t have known for a very long time.

−’Seung Oh’s mom, where did you buy this?’

−’I got it at the market. The owner said she’d give it cheap. Isn’t it pretty?’

−’It’s pretty, but…’

Seung Oh could tell from Kang Hae Sun’s hesitant expression that the bag wasn’t pretty at all. An expression that showed she disliked it but couldn’t show it, sympathetic but unable to speak up readily to protect the other’s meager pride.

−’Look, the stitching is wrong here. This will tear as soon as you put something in it. I’ll give you a sturdy one, so return this. Everyone knows you’re part of our family, if you carry around something this damaged, I’ll be the one criticized.’

The bag Kang Hae Sun brought out from the dressing room was made of softly shining leather, not shiny vinyl synthetic leather.

The gap between Ok Soon, who kept asking if it was really okay to receive such a thing while being overjoyed, and Kang Hae Sun, who handed over the bag and smiled as if it was nothing, remained deeply etched in young Seung Oh’s mind like a tattoo.

As Ji Soo said, it was a difference in status. There was probably no clearer expression than the word ‘status’.

That’s why Ji Soo bothered him from the start. Because the tenacity and innocence ingrained in her whole body was just like his mother’s. Because he felt he had to protect this bright and cheerful woman who was desperately poor.

“This is driving me crazy, really.”

Ji Soo overheard his muttering to himself and shrank her shoulders.

“Did, did I do something wrong again?”

“Throw it away right now. I’ll buy you one as a gift.”

“What? No!”

Ji Soo’s eyes widened.

“Is it because it’s not pretty? I won’t carry it out next time. Don’t buy me such things, oppa.”

“Your birthday is next week. It’s a birthday present.”

“Oppa…”

Looking quite touched, Ji Soo gave a shy smile. Seung Oh chuckled and gently kissed her forehead in time with the traffic signal. Instead of the elegant perfume that Yoon Seo Ha always wore, a fresh soap scent tickled his nose.

By the way, how should he buy the gift?

Yoon Seo Ha managed all the household income. It was unthinkable to withdraw hundreds of thousands in cash from the bank account, and using a credit card would surely lead to questioning the moment the statement arrived.

The corporate card was the same. If a transaction from a luxury store showed up, it would cause an even bigger issue than using a personal card.

“I have nothing I can do for you. How can I just keep receiving like this?”

Ji Soo cautiously asked Seung Oh, who was lost in thought. Even her dejected voice was lovely.

“What do you mean you have nothing to give? What’s for dinner tonight?”

“I made soft tofu stew. With clams and green chili peppers.”

“Nice and spicy?”

“Super spicy, and really refreshing.”

He had never even tried to get breakfast from Yoon Seo Ha. She was a princess who thought she’d be in big trouble without a helper and had to buy even her underwear from department stores, so he never even thought of asking her to prepare meals.

But Ji Soo was different. She didn’t know how to be extravagant, so she bought things from the market instead of large supermarkets and always accommodated everything for Seung Oh.

These days, the happiest times for Seung Oh were when he finished the dinner table that Ji Soo had prepared with care, and then cuddled while eating an apple she brought for dessert and drinking a cup of instant coffee.

Today was like that too. He went to Ji Soo’s house and enjoyed a delicious dinner of spicy soft tofu stew, then watched TV on the sofa. After that, they went to bed as the mood struck, and after their passionate time ended, they fell asleep holding each other tightly until he woke up at dawn.

Leaving behind his reluctance, he quietly returned home, which was as silent as a mouse. Seung Oh opened the dressing room door first to change his clothes when a brilliant idea suddenly struck him.

“There were so many here.”

One side of the dressing room, which was much larger than Ji Soo’s living room, was full of various bags and shoes.

Seung Oh opened the built-in closet and pulled out all the numerous bag boxes. Most of them were items that Seo Ha had used once or twice and then put away for various reasons.

“She’s so extravagant. She doesn’t know the value of money.”

While criticizing Seo Ha’s extravagance as he opened the boxes one by one, Seung Oh discovered a familiar item.

“This was here.”

Yoon Seo Ha had probably forgotten about its existence.

Seung Oh put the bag back in the box and hid it in the corner of the study. So that he could take it out on Ji Soo’s birthday and surprise her with the gift.