Ha Eun rested her hand on the cold windowsill and leaned her head out the window at an angle. The falling raindrops didn’t matter.

There was something that concerned her more than her hair, which she had spent a long time styling.

Hoping her ominous premonition was wrong, Ha Eun bit her dry lips tightly despite the humid weather.

Two people walking on the sidewalk sharing an umbrella. The man with the sturdy back held a coffee carrier in one hand and the umbrella handle in the other, tilting it more than halfway towards the woman.

The man’s back and left shoulder were already conquered by rainwater, losing their original color, as if he wouldn’t allow even a single raindrop that had been generous to him to touch the woman’s body.

If the man didn’t have the coffee carrier, if one hand was free, would he have wrapped his arm around the shoulder of the woman standing next to him and held her close?

Her heart was in turmoil. The more she looked, the more certain it was that the man was Tae Ha.

Ha Eun gripped the steering wheel tightly and stepped on the accelerator. Then she drove her car towards the GK Hotel building.

Waiting for them who would still be on the road.

A little while later, the two people she was waiting for appeared. Unable to see them properly through the rain-splattered rearview mirror, Ha Eun lowered the window halfway and watched behind with narrowed eyes.

Moments later, Ha Eun’s eyes widened sharply.

It was definitely Song Eun Seo. She couldn’t be sure of her identity as she was mostly wrapped in Tae Ha’s coat, but the ominous premonition had come true.

She was said to be an employee, but what kind of work was she doing to receive such excessive protection under Tae Ha’s umbrella?

Suddenly, she recalled Tae Ha entering the T Jewelry store in the department store. At that time, she had tried to ignore it, thinking it was because she saw his cousin Jung Woo.

Above all, the incident at the banquet hall made it impossible to ignore Eun Seo’s existence. The person who had been persistently following her with his gaze and who said it was fine despite his soaked clothes.

The reason he left with an unpleasant face wasn’t because of the drenched clothes.

Crescent-shaped nail marks were deeply etched into Ha Eun’s palm. The anxiety lurking in a corner of her heart writhed and rose to the extreme.

If left like this, she would surely pay several times the price to take the place beside Tae Ha. Something had to be done.

Ha Eun kept watching their traces even after they disappeared into the building, then raised the window.

* * *

Despite February being known for low rainfall, the gloomy rain continued for two consecutive days. The weather was so cold that people who had let their guard down due to the mild weather of the past few days noticeably thickened their clothing.

Eun Seo also took out and wore thick clothes as she had suffered from this cold spell.

After having lunch with Assistant Manager Han in the cafeteria, Eun Seo moved to the first-floor cafe in the building. She had to buy coffee for the secretarial team and Tae Ha.

Assistant Manager Han went up first due to work, and as Eun Seo was waiting alone to place her order, someone tapped her shoulder.

“Hello?”

Ha Eun greeted with a smile as her eyes met Eun Seo’s. It was such an unexpected person that Eun Seo couldn’t hide her flustered expression.

Or rather, her ability to do so was pitifully low to begin with.

“Buying coffee, I see?”

“Yes, it’s an errand.”

“I see. It’s lunchtime now, right? If you have time, would you like to have coffee with me? Just 15 minutes. I’m too bored, that’s why.”

Ha Eun smiled with her eyes turning into crescents.

She had seen such a smile before. In Dohwa Village.

Was this woman really that ‘Yoo Ha Eun’?

Eun Seo was reluctant about Ha Eun’s proposal, but she lacked the ability to lie about being busy to a woman who clearly knew it was lunchtime.

“I’ll buy the coffee, just 15 minutes. Okay?”

Ha Eun received the coffee with a bright smile and led Eun Seo to a secluded seat.

“I’m Yoo Ha Eun. You know my name, right?”

“Yes. We met at the department store before.”

“I heard you were Kwon Tae Ha’s employee, but I didn’t expect to see you again like this.”

“Me neither.”

The brief response indicated that Eun Seo was not enthusiastic about this meeting.

“May I ask what you do here?”

“I’m a secretary.”

Ha Eun’s lips unconsciously turned downward.

“Perhaps for Kwon Tae Ha?”

“Yes.”

“……”

“I’ll be quitting soon. I’m just filling in for someone on leave.”

Eun Seo added the word ‘temporary’ afterwards. It was because Ha Eun’s expression looked uncomfortable.

“But it seems you don’t just work at the company. I saw you working at the chairman’s house before. Do you also do household work like that?”

“I went to help. But since I received payment for the work, that statement is also correct.”

“Then I understand. Who I am.”

At the voice mixed with pride and dismissal, Eun Seo raised her eyes from the coffee.

It was the same tone as Yoo Ha Eun’s when they were young. If this woman wasn’t really that ‘Yoo Ha Eun’, they must be more than doppelgangers.

As Eun Seo remained silent, lost in thought, Ha Eun urged her.

“I asked if you know who I am?”

“The CEO’s fiancée.”

“You know well. I am Kwon Tae Ha’s betrothed. We’ll be married soon. The chairman, that is, Kwon Tae Ha’s father, chose me, and Kwon Tae Ha knows it too.”

“I don’t understand why you’re telling me this here.”

“Oh, it’s nothing much. I thought I might come here occasionally, so I wanted to get friendly. But since you’re a secretary, that’s even better. Please welcome me when I come. And when I enter the president’s office, please step aside discreetly.”

Ha Eun consciously brushed up her hair and smiled brightly. She really smiled brightly.

“Alright, I will. But you need to make appointments in advance. Although I haven’t served him long, the CEO really dislikes unscheduled visits.”

Somehow, those words provided Ha Eun with a strange comfort. It seemed that Tae Ha didn’t just talk about set appointments with her alone.

“It seems like it’s been 15 minutes now, may I leave?”

Eun Seo looked at the numbers on her worn-out mobile phone and picked up the tray.

“Just one more thing.”

Eun Seo, who had half-risen, stopped and raised her eyebrows.

“Do you know… Dohwa Village?”

The hesitant question changed the air surrounding the two. The tray in Eun Seo’s hands vibrated slightly.

The trembling eyes, the parted lips, all those reactions bound the two together.

“It is you, Song Eun Seo. It’s you, right? The fool from Dohwa Village.”

Eun Seo put the tray back on the table and sat down. She didn’t want to face Ha Eun like this, and although she regretted meeting this way, she didn’t particularly want to avoid it.

Rather, the one who had done wrong was Ha Eun, not herself. Being poor and stupid wasn’t a fault, after all.

“I wondered if it might be… Unnie, you’ve changed a lot.”

The first words after facing the adult Ha Eun were surprisingly calm, defying the passage of time.

“You haven’t changed at all.”

Ha Eun crossed her legs, smiling wryly. Now that she had confirmed the identity of Eun Seo that had been troubling her consciousness, she felt rather refreshed.

Wasn’t it Jung Woo who said to approach Tae Ha conventionally?

However, she was certain that cutting off Eun Seo, who had caught Tae Ha’s eye, would be faster than winning his heart by approaching conventionally.

The conventional way wasn’t her style. So she made her move.

“What’s with that mobile phone? Throw it away, will you?”

Ha Eun clicked her tongue, looking at the mobile phone in Eun Seo’s hand as if she was dumbfounded.

“It’s still usable.”

“Such miserliness. Don’t you have any pride about not having money?”

“That’s true too. But why did you come looking for me? It doesn’t seem like you came to be friendly.”

“Of course, we’re not that kind of relationship. We live in different worlds, you and I. I was just curious. I wanted to confirm if it was really you. And above all.”

Ha Eun gulped down the lukewarm coffee as if her throat was parched, then put it down on the table and took a deep breath.

“I came to warn you.”

“Warn me?”

Eun Seo didn’t particularly sharpen her tone. Yoo Ha Eun was that kind of existence. Grandmother had taught her so, and later she learned how to not care.

“Keep it a secret that I lived in the same house as you.”

“You should have just pretended not to know. I even thought you might not really be unnie.”

“I don’t want to walk on thin ice every day. If you eventually find out my identity, I don’t know when or to whom you might tell. I want to eliminate such worries altogether.”

“Why do you want to hide it?”

“Because it’s squalid. If I had scissors, I’d cut it out. I don’t want Tae Ha to know that I lived in such a wretched place.”

‘Tae Ha.’

Ridiculously, Eun Seo was more bothered by the familiar way of addressing him than the words ‘squalid’ or ‘wretched’.

“And this is for your own good, you’ve always had your eyes on what I had since the old days, now you should know to maintain at least that level of decency, right?”

“……”

“Tae Ha is choosing to marry me. I think you understand what that means. No matter how empty your head is, you should at least know that much. We’ve always been in different leagues. Look even now. You’re Tae Ha’s subordinate, and I’m his fiancée.”

“……”

“It will always be like this between you and me until we die. Don’t drool like a dog in heat just because you’re tempted by Tae Ha. You remember what happened when you put that candy from the ground in your mouth, right? But Tae Ha isn’t on the ground, he’s in the sky.”

Ha Eun’s business was done.

What was meant to be a favor ended up becoming a warning, but this was how she had always lived with Eun Seo, and nothing had changed. If she marries Tae Ha, that difference would only widen.

“Well then, I’ll drop by again. Next time, it won’t be you, but Tae Ha.”

Ha Eun picked up her bag from the chair and stood up. As she was stepping out from the table, Eun Seo, who had been quiet until now, asked with a calm gaze.

“Unnie, what if that sky collapses? Then?”

“Don’t tell me you’re hoping for that? How pitiful. That would be the end of the world, wouldn’t it? Such miracles don’t exist, especially not for you.”

Ha Eun left with a sneer, and Eun Seo felt cold even after ordering and receiving a new hot coffee.

Unlike in the past, Ha Eun didn’t scratch her with raised nails, but somehow it hurt more. A lot more.

Even holding the warm coffee cup with both hands, her trembling hands wouldn’t calm down.

* * *

“You worked hard today.”

“You too. Let’s have a drink tomorrow.”

“At home?”

“No, outside.”

“The rumors will get even dirtier.”

After seeing Woo Young grumbling as he climbed the spiral staircase, Tae Ha immediately entered his room.

It was midnight by the time he finished reviewing the mountain of meeting materials that needed to be resolved before the Bali business trip.

Tae Ha took a clean shower and lay down on the neatly made bed. The curtains were left open.

As the black night flowed in through the window, his eyes slowly closed. However, he opened them again less than two hours later.

A faint pain was beginning in his shoulder blades.