“Sit down, elder brother.”

Sung Hyuk initially complied with Ah Rim’s words. He thought he should hear the whole story.

As soon as Ah Rim sat down with a beaming smile, his tightly closed mouth opened.

“A blind date?”

“Yes.”

“You and me?”

He didn’t even want to say “us.”

“That’s right. We’re having a blind date today.”

Sung Hyuk burst into a hollow laugh. It was so absurd he couldn’t even get angry.

Though the situation was a bit different, he wondered if this was how Young In felt when she suddenly had a blind date with him. He found himself in a moment of empathy.

“How did this happen?”

“I heard rumors that your mother was looking for a marriage partner for you, so I begged my mom. To let me meet you formally.”

“I guess you knew you’d get rejected if you talked to me directly.”

“…”

The tips of Ah Rim’s ears turned slightly red. She knew, but hearing it from his own mouth was a bit embarrassing.

“Did your mother contact my mother directly?”

“No. There’s a matchmaker called Mrs. Jin who helped.”

Sung Hyuk, not knowing the true meaning of “helped,” asked irritably.

“Why did you do this nonsense?”

Ah Rim wasn’t bothered that he treated her actions as “nonsense.” She hadn’t done this without knowing Cha Sung Hyuk’s personality, and she was prepared for this much.

“I wanted to meet you properly in a formal setting.”

She had never met him outside before. She had never shown him a face with proper makeup or a prettily dressed appearance. So she wanted to surprise him by appearing perfectly groomed.

“I thought you might see me as a woman, not just a friend’s sister. We need a change in our relationship, elder brother.”

“Don’t say ‘we.’ I have no desire to be grouped with you.”

The only person besides family he used the word “we” with was Young In.

“And wake up. It’s not about the place or situation, I’m just not interested in you. Stop this delusional thinking.”

“Wouldn’t I be a good match for you?”

Sung Hyuk’s eyebrows twitched irritably.

“Where does this confidence come from?”

Ah Rim quickly changed her attitude as if she had never been confident.

“Tell me what I’m lacking, what you don’t like. Then I’ll fill in and fix it. I’ll become a woman suitable for you.”

Right now, Ah Rim’s mind was filled with the thought that she had nothing to lose and should try everything she could. If she could have a man in the top 0.01% of South Korea, groveling and pleading was nothing.

“Can you really change?”

“I can. I’ll do anything. Just tell me, elder brother.”

Sung Hyuk stared directly into her eyes sparkling with expectation and bluntly spat out emotionless words.

“Can you fix being rotten to the core?”

“…”

“Wouldn’t you need to be reborn for that to be possible?”

Ah Rim, barely regaining her dazed senses, bit her lip and muttered.

“Aren’t your words too harsh?”

Her body trembled with humiliation and shame.

“Did you expect kind words from my mouth? Did you think I’d praise you for secretly arranging this meeting? If you started this on your own, you should have been prepared for harsh words. Don’t play the victim.”

“No matter how angry you are, you don’t have to choose only words that hurt on purpose.”

“I’m being sincere.”

“What?”

“I’m not saying things I don’t mean because I’m angry. This is what I’ve always thought.”

“…”

Blood rushed to Ah Rim’s eyes. It felt as if her head had been plunged into mud.

“My little remaining affection for you is gone, so don’t do this again.”

Apart from being displeased and uncomfortable, Sung Hyuk was grateful to Ah Rim for one thing.

For setting the stage for him to pour out harsh words.

It was a kind of revenge.

He had been frustrated that he couldn’t openly tell her not to bother his woman, so he took this opportunity for punishment. Although there was intent for revenge and punishment mixed in, he hadn’t deliberately spoken more harshly. It was sincere without any exaggeration.

“I won’t. I’ve lost my affection for you too.”

Ah Rim felt like she would go crazy thinking about the money she spent for this meeting. It was no different than buying humiliation for 30 million won.

“Then I’m grateful.”

“I’ll see what kind of amazing woman you end up marrying.”

“By all means.”

Sung Hyuk mocked Ah Rim, who was glaring at him with venomous eyes, and stood up. But as soon as he left the restaurant, a call came in.

The caller was his mother.

He answered the phone with a serious expression.

“I was just about to call you.”

-Did you meet?

“Are you really going to do this?”

-Did you meet that Chae Ah Rim or whatever girl?

Sensing something was off, a question arose in Sung Hyuk’s eyes.

“I met her.”

-It’s not her.

“What do you mean?”

-The one who was supposed to meet you for a blind date today wasn’t her. I was trying to set you up with the daughter of the Hong Eun Group I mentioned before, but that Chae Ah Rim girl hijacked it.

He couldn’t understand what she was saying at all.

“Hijacked?”

-There’s a woman named Mrs. Jin who arranges meetings…

“I know.”

-Oh, you know. Anyway, it seems Ah Rim’s mother and that woman plotted this together. I just happened to meet the Hong Eun Group’s daughter at the shop, and she knew nothing about today’s appointment. I immediately called Mrs. Jin, and she confessed everything while crying. I was really dumbfounded…

This was clearly a situation where one would say “unbelievable.”

“What was Mrs. Jin thinking when she did this? Did she think she wouldn’t get caught?”

-Mrs. Jin said that Ah Rim’s mother promised to handle everything if she just arranged the meeting. She needed money urgently, and when she received a large sum, she momentarily lost her mind. She’s begging for forgiveness.

“They’ve all lost their minds.”

-She said she believed there wouldn’t be any problems because you were very fond of Ah Rim. Is that true?

“How could it be?”

-My goodness. What a truly creepy family.

“…”

Sung Hyuk agreed with his mother’s words, but at the same time, he couldn’t agree. After all, Chae Young In was also from that family.

-Son, is it also not true that Ah Rim’s elder brother is your best friend?

“It’s not. We meet occasionally, but…”

-Don’t even meet occasionally. I told you not to associate with Beom Jun, didn’t I? I don’t want you getting involved with that family.

It was something he had heard three years ago. But he still didn’t understand why his mother suddenly told him not to hang out with Beom Jun after being friends for over 10 years.

“Tell me the reason.”

-I just don’t like it. Can’t you just listen to me without asking for reasons?

“You don’t listen to me either.”

-When have I ever?

“I told you I would choose my own marriage partner, but you secretly arranged a blind date and even deceived me into coming here. Just because someone else showed up doesn’t erase your mistake.”

-Sung Hyuk, I…

“I’ll say it again, I’ll choose my own woman.”

-Even if you choose, we have to approve.

What Sung Hyuk needed now was not his parents’ approval, but Young In’s.

The reason he was keeping Young In’s existence a secret was not because he was afraid his parents wouldn’t approve, but because he hadn’t gotten Young In’s permission.

He was waiting because he couldn’t arbitrarily expose Young In to the world when she wasn’t ready.

“Don’t ever arrange something like this again. For the time being, I won’t meet you even if you ask, so keep that in mind.”

-Sung Hyuk.

“I’m hanging up.”

After saying his piece, Sung Hyuk hung up and entered the elevator that had arrived.

Young In, who was trudging across the darkened yard, suddenly stopped in her tracks.

It was the moment she heard the sound of the front gate opening behind her.

“Hey.”

The slurred voice stabbing into the back of her head created an illusion of smelling alcohol.

Young In suppressed the urge to pretend she hadn’t heard and go inside, and slowly turned around. Then she quietly watched her elder sister stumbling towards her, drunk.

“Guess who I just met?”

Ah Rim, swaying back and forth unable to stand still, answered her own question.

“Elder brother Sung Hyuk.”

“Is that so?”

Young In was only slightly shaken internally, maintaining a poker face on the outside.

“I had a blind date with elder brother Sung Hyuk today.”

“Ah, I see.”

This time she couldn’t stop her pupils from shaking.

Fortunately, Ah Rim was too drunk to notice.

“You’re at the level of having blind dates with guys like Oh Chang Geun, while I’m at the level of having blind dates with men like Cha Sung Hyuk. Do you understand?”

Ah Rim’s unnecessary show of pride in front of Young In was to fill her shattered self-esteem and self-confidence. Since childhood, Ah Rim had always comforted herself by looking down on Young In whenever something happened.

“Stop walking around with your head held high and know your place.”

Ah Rim poured out all the humiliation she had suffered from Sung Hyuk today onto the innocent Young In.

Young In didn’t know that Ah Rim had been drinking alone on her way back, or that her eyes were swollen and red because she had been crying her eyes out in anger. She was just perplexed by the fact that Sung Hyuk had a blind date with her elder sister.

“No one knows their place better than I do. You don’t need to worry about that.”

A bitter smile appeared and disappeared on Young In’s lips.

“That’s good.”

Ah Rim raised one corner of her mouth and passed by Young In. However, Young In couldn’t move a step, trying to sort out her complicated thoughts.

Was he on his way to a blind date when he said he was driving?

-I’ll tell them when you accept me.

-I can be even more childish if it’s for you.

-Yeah, don’t try. I’ll do it.

His voice was still vivid in her ears.

She even felt betrayed by him for shaking her with such affectionate words that made her heart ache, while on his way to a blind date with her elder sister.

She briefly suspected it might be an attempt to provoke jealousy, but quickly dismissed that suspicion. If his intention was to make her jealous, he would have boldly stated he was on his way to a blind date.

She became more confused, wondering if he really intended to marry her elder sister. Imagining the two of them standing side by side made her breath catch.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to call Cha Sung Hyuk her brother-in-law.

Young In looked up at the sky, as black as his eyes, with a troubled expression.