Upon reaching that thought, Eun Seo closed her eyes and shook off the idea.

Why on earth am I acting like this? What relationship do I have with Kwon Tae Ha?

“What about Chae Won?”

At the repeated question, Eun Seo finally came to her senses. Her shopping partner for today, Choi Chae Won.

Feeling a hint of reproach as if wondering where Chae Won had gone off to, leaving her alone shopping.

“I sent her away. She’s preparing for job interviews, it didn’t seem right to keep her too long.”

Jung Woo answered instead.

“But what brings you here? You don’t usually come to places like this.”

“Just passing by.”

“Just passing by…”

Jung Woo trailed off, then glanced at Ha Eun and roughly guessed they had come out shopping.

Also, Ha Eun didn’t seem to recognize Jung Woo whom she had met at the airport. He shouldn’t have spoken to her, but knowing she was Tae Ha’s partner, he had acted impulsively.

“Whose ring is that? It looks like a couple’s ring.”

Tae Ha asked warily.

“Mother.”

“Aunt?”

“I wanted to get matching rings with Mom. But trying to be filial after so long, it’s surprisingly difficult. What about you? Why the sudden interest in rings?”

Jung Woo smiled meaningfully, nodding towards Ha Eun behind him.

“Me too, for Father.”

Tae Ha and Jung Woo bought rings side by side, and the employee carefully wrapped three rings with a perplexed expression.

“Please enjoy, customers.”

The four of them left the store, leaving the employee’s farewell behind.

“Tae Ha, where are you heading now? Seems like you have company.”

“What about you?”

“Going to get dinner. She helped me choose a ring, so I should at least treat her to a meal.”

When Jung Woo glanced at Eun Seo, she smiled brightly. Without any resistance.

Tae Ha couldn’t tell if that soft smile was because of Jung Woo, or simply because of the delicious dinner she was about to have.

“Then, let’s eat together.”

* * *

The four of them went to a restaurant in the department store that had private rooms, so it was quiet.

They sat at a round table. As Ha Eun sat down, she moved her chair about two hand spans closer to Tae Ha.

“But who are you? Seems like there are a lot of new faces here, we should introduce ourselves.”

Jung Woo pretended not to notice Ha Eun’s intentional movement and asked Tae Ha.

“This is Yoo Ha Eun. She’s receiving my father’s generous support. And this is.”

Tae Ha furrowed his brow and continued. He didn’t have a perfectly fitting introduction, so.

“Song Eun Seo, my employee.”

Song, Eun Seo?

At the unexpected name, Ha Eun’s hand, which had been enjoying the prospect of dinner together until now, suddenly trembled.

No way.

Ha Eun’s eyes snapped open, scrutinizing Eun Seo thoroughly as goosebumps rose.

No way, are you Song Eun Seo?

Come to think of it, she seemed to remember that face from childhood. An exceptionally pale complexion with innocent, delicate eyes.

Is it really Song Eun Seo?

She had left that house when she became a middle school student. The house where she lived with the grandmother who had looked after her until elementary school, and her granddaughter.

That dirty, smelly house infested with insects.

Her foster mother, Housekeeper Jang, rarely visited, and Ha Eun had lived in that wretched house for years.

Fortunately, the money Housekeeper Jang gave to the grandmother was quite substantial, so even in the countryside, they had nice clothes, good shoes, and ate fancy food without envy.

Ha Eun never yielded anything to Eun Seo. She disliked her.

Eun Seo, who did whatever she was told, was just a dirty fool, neither a friend nor a sister.

She hated the time spent living in that boring countryside. In her glamorous life, the time in Dohwa Village was a blemish she wanted to erase.

Her life belonged with Tae Ha, absolutely not with Eun Seo.

She felt a piercing gaze. Eun Seo didn’t avoid Ha Eun’s wary stare.

The moment she heard the name, it brought back memories of a time so painful and difficult that she wanted to cut it out entirely.

Could it be that ‘Yoo Ha Eun’ she lived with as a child? No, surely not in this big world.

It can’t be. It won’t be.

Ha Eun had always tormented Eun Seo terribly while they lived together. Even in a recent dream.

* * *

In the countryside at the height of autumn, children who had been shaking persimmon trees with poles on their way home from school suddenly rushed towards two girls.

“Eat it. Eat it, you beggar!”

Ha Eun, her hair neatly braided in two, grabbed one child fiercely and pointed to somewhere on the dirt ground.

A round, white plum-flavored candy.

Her shiny pink shoe crushed the candy bit by bit, then kicked it towards the child.

The captured child was the small Eun Seo, her black hair tightly tied with a single yellow rubber band.

Everyone in the village knew the owner of those worn-out sneakers, now too small with the heels falling apart. The fool, beggar, idiot who never spoke loudly. Eun Seo was called these names more often than her own.

“I heard you eat things like this? Ha Eun says you eat these because you’re a beggar.”

Eun Seo, without a word of reply, clenched her fists tightly and bit her lip hard, trying not to cry.

“Hey, don’t lie. Even if she’s a beggar, would she eat something off the ground?”

“She is quite poor, you know. If told to eat it, she probably would.”

At this, the other children sided with Ha Eun and chimed in.

“Try it. Hey! Try it.”

“I heard you even eat things with pee on them?”

“…I won’t eat it.”

Eun Seo’s dejected lips finally parted with difficulty.

“Okay. So you won’t eat it, is that right?”

Ha Eun took out a chocolate from her pocket. Swiss chocolate, hard to find in the countryside.

Ha Eun unwrapped the silver foil and broke off a square piece of chocolate inside, tossing it at Eun Seo’s feet.

“Want to eat this? It’s tastier than the candy you stole.”

“My mom says if you take something that’s not yours in secret, that makes you a thief.”

“That’s right!”

“I don’t want anything she’s touched, it’s dirty. Hey! Eat it while I’m offering. I said eat it!”

“Yeah, stupid, try it.”

“Let’s make a bet. Whether she eats it or not.”

Eventually, the children even took sides, and amidst the chorus of ‘Eat it! Eat it!’ echoing through the farm road, Eun Seo’s small shoulders trembled, and soon chicken-pea-sized tears began to fall.

“What’s this? Why is she like that? Did we hit you?”

No sooner had Ha Eun finished speaking than all the children burst into laughter.

“Hurry up and eat it. You thief*.”

Sniffling, Eun Seo shook her head, but the children showed no signs of stopping, determined to see it through.

“Looks like she won’t eat it today. Eh, how boring.”

“No, she will. I know. I’ve seen it. Want to watch?”

All the delicious things at home were Ha Eun’s share. If Eun Seo asked, “Grandmother, what about me?”, a stern rebuke would follow.

[That’s for your elder sister! Your sister’s mother sent it for her. It’s not yours. Don’t covet your sister’s things, that’s not right!]

So at some point, Eun Seo stopped asking for her share and never touched Ha Eun’s things. Then she saw the candy that Ha Eun had accidentally dropped in the yard.

Just that one piece.

At first, she pretended not to notice. But that white, round candy gradually grew to fill her eyes like a full moon.

Imagining the sweet taste sliding down her throat became unbearable. So when Ha Eun went to the bathroom, she quickly picked it up, shook off the dirt, and popped it into her mouth.

[Are you a beggar?!]

She heard that voice, but even though her cheeks turned red, her mouth was sweet. She was only eight years old.

“That’s why your mom and dad abandoned you too. You know? She’s an idiot.”

“Yeah! My little sister said she can’t even do addition and subtraction, so the teacher scolded her earlier.”

“But you know what? Her grandmother is stupid too, just like her. She loves me more than her. Isn’t that stupid? She only gives me Vienna sausages. Never gives any to her. What an idiot.”

At those words, Eun Seo’s fists, which had only been crying until now, clenched tightly. It was true, but it shouldn’t have been said like that.

To the grandmother who loved and treated Ha Eun better than her own flesh and blood granddaughter.

Eun Seo, overcome by a surge of hot anger, tore open the milk carton in her hand and poured it straight over Ha Eun’s head.

Splash splash splash splash. The white stream flowed down both of Ha Eun’s cheeks, soaking her expensive dress and quickly reaching her pink shoes.

“Aaah! Oh no, ugh. What do I do! Waaaaaah”

Ha Eun, eyes tightly shut and drenched in milk, screamed and cried furiously. Then, hissing with anger, she lunged forward with her nails out. As she scratched wildly, there was no one on the child’s side.

“Hey, you crazy*!”

When Ha Eun kicked Eun Seo hard in the shin, the other children rushed in as if on cue.

That day, Eun Seo was beaten more by her grandmother than by the children. The grandmother, who beat her thoroughly with a stick and a club, said,

“I should just go out and die to avoid seeing this! Who do you think you are to talk back to your elder sister!! Do I have to die for you to come to your senses?”

Still not satisfied, she stopped beating Eun Seo and started hitting her own arms and chest with the club.

It really seemed like grandmother might die.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, grandmother. I won’t do it again. Don’t, grandmother. I, I won’t do it to elder sister again. Okay? Grandmother. Don’t die.”

Eun Seo clung to her grandmother’s arm, crying and begging until her cheeks were swollen.

“Tch. See that.”

Ha Eun’s scornful words went unheard. The grandmother’s reddened wounds were more frightening than the snake coiled around her own calf.

“Grandmother, please! I really won’t do it again. From now on, I’ll do whatever elder sister says and never talk back to her, okay?”

“How can I believe you! All you do outside is bring shame to your elder sister! Look at your sister’s condition! How could you do that to her, how! Are you in your right mind!”

Grandmother cupped Ha Eun’s face, covered in dried milk, and examined it with concern.

“I’m sorry, elder sister. I was wrong, elder sister. I won’t eat your candy anymore. I really, really won’t do it again. Waaah.”

Eun Seo kept apologizing, clasping her small hands like maple leaves and begging for forgiveness.

That day, the milk she had saved without drinking a sip, intending to give it to her grandmother, disappeared like that, but Eun Seo couldn’t remember a single drop of milk.

“You promised. Never do that to your elder sister again.”

“Yes. I won’t do it.”

Eun Seo nodded her small head and made a firm promise, and grandmother stopped the beating.

“That’s enough then.”

“Grandmother, are you okay? Let me see your hand, okay?”

Eun Seo wiped her tears with her cracked hands and reached out to look at grandmother’s hand.

“Get away!”

Grandmother pushed Eun Seo’s hand away and took Ha Eun’s hand to stand up.

Was it then? When Kwon Tae Ha held her hand in the dream.

Fortunately, Ha Eun ignored Eun Seo until the end of the meal, and Eun Seo finally concluded that Ha Eun must be someone with the same name.

Although the name was the same, Ha Eun looked very different from her childhood appearance. The once chubby Ha Eun had lost quite a bit of weight and become slender.

* * *

“Song Eun Seo will come with me.”

Eun Seo, who had stood in front of the elevator to go home after finishing the meal, was surprised. Tae Ha’s attitude surprised not only Eun Seo.

“Why? I was thinking of taking Eun Seo home.”

Jung Woo spoke casually, but he wasn’t pleased. Somehow, it felt like something of his was being taken away.

“Song Eun Seo, did you buy the book?”

Come to think of it, Eun Seo hadn’t been able to stop by the bookstore. It was because Jung Woo had asked her to look at rings.

But there was no room for excuses.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t bought it yet.”

“Let’s go buy it together. The bookstore isn’t closed yet.”

Tae Ha checked his watch and pressed the elevator’s close button.

“Then what about me?”

Ha Eun desperately grabbed Tae Ha’s sleeve. She had an armful of bags, and if she let Tae Ha go like this again, she might not get another chance.

“Jung Woo will go home. My father’s house is on the way, so ask him to drop you off.”

Even after Jung Woo left first, Tae Ha didn’t leave the department store.

“I have somewhere to go. Song Eun Seo, wait in the lounge.”