Knock knock.

President Jung’s voice came from inside as he knocked.

“Come in.”

As he entered the study, President Jung could be seen sitting in front of a large desk, wearing reading glasses and intently looking at something.

“I guess the aunts have left.”

“Let them be. They’re having an emergency meeting or something, putting their heads together and making a fuss right now.”

An unexpected marriage partner, an unprecedented situation – it seemed the three women had banded together. But he wasn’t too worried. Once President Jung gave his permission, no one could change that decision.

“I just looked into that girl a bit.”

“Can you really know a person’s life from a few pieces of paper.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But I thought this would be better than prying and asking questions.”

“……”

“She’s had a tougher life than I thought. But she grew up well.”

“Yes. You’re right. So please be good to her, Grandmother.”

“Seeing you talk like that, it seems you’ve made up your mind.”

As President Jung spoke while taking off his reading glasses, Woo Jin silently nodded.

“I remember you dated but never once brought up the word marriage.”

“That’s right. Because dating isn’t necessarily marriage.”

“Then why do you have such confidence in that girl?”

“Then why did you approve of that woman, Grandmother?”

“You clever kid. I asked first.”

“I thought perhaps your reason for approving might be the same as mine. I can’t express it in words, but it’s the same feeling as you, Grandmother.”

President Jung chuckled. It sounded like nonsense, but in a way, it was also meaningful.

The moment he saw Tae Eun sitting upright alone amidst that fierce atmosphere, he had a strange feeling. How could such a delicate body be so firm? It felt like seeing a small, sturdy boat that shakes this way and that in rough waves but never sinks. Moreover, the way she controlled Woo Jin’s anger gave President Jung an inexplicable assurance.

“I thought you had terrible taste in women.”

“Terrible? More like too accurate, that’s the problem.”

“Let’s make one thing clear.”

“What is it?”

“You ended things with Park Seo Woo, right?”

“That ended a year ago, you’re still going on about it. I’ll tell you the exact facts one last time so you won’t be curious anymore.”

“……”

“Yes, my feelings for her as a lover have already ended. But Park Seo Woo is still someone I need to take care of. That’s… I think it’s my last duty as a person.”

“Can’t you cut that off too?”

“No.”

“……”

“If I cut that off too, I wouldn’t be human.”

President Jung’s lips tightened as if displeased, but he didn’t particularly object to those words. He understood to some extent the guilt and responsibility weighing on Woo Jin’s shoulders.

“Alright. I got it. Let’s try to set the meeting date and wedding date as soon as possible. It’d be good to rush the wedding to stop the scandal from getting bigger.”

Woo Jin nodded and stood up. Then he looked at President Jung gazing up at him intently and smiled brightly.

“Thank you, Grandmother.”

“You cheeky kid. Get out of here. Go read a book or something.”

* * *

“Tae Eun.”

Ji Eun gently called Tae Eun’s name from outside the door. Then without waiting for an answer, she opened the door and came in.

“I brought some apples. I bought them at the department store not long ago and they were really sweet.”

As she set the plate of apples down on the small tea table, Ji Eun spoke amiably, but Tae Eun wasn’t very shaken, knowing her ulterior motive.

“I’ll enjoy them. Thank you.”

“Yes. But you know. You told Woo Jin that thing about our Ji Hoon was a misunderstanding, right?”

“……”

“Why. It was a misunderstanding. You two are too close and our Ji Hoon made a small mistake while drunk.”

“Yes. I told him.”

“Really? What did Woo Jin say?”

“He said he understood.”

She didn’t go into details about what feelings Woo Jin had towards Ji Hoon. It didn’t seem like it would really help for Ji Eun to know.

“Whew, that’s a relief. Then it won’t interfere with your wedding, right?”

“Yes. Probably.”

“Good, that’s how it should be.”

“But if Ji Hoon makes that kind of mistake again, I can’t guarantee it then. Ji Hoon usually calls me by my name instead of ‘Unni’ anyway.”

“What!”

“……”

“Hmm… Alright, I got it. I’ll scold him well about that part. But tell him to be careful when other people are around.”

Ji Eun changed her words after flaring up then suppressing her anger. For now, Ji Eun’s biggest goal was to somehow make Woo Jin of Jang Won her son-in-law.

“Then when is he coming to our house to greet us? If he’s decided to marry you, he should have come to greet us long ago.”

“He’ll come soon.”

“Alright. Then let me know in advance when the date is set. So I can prepare too.”

“Yes. I will.”

Only after hearing her answer did Ji Eun nod and leave.

Looking at the plate of apples on the table, Tae Eun felt once again the power that Woo Jin’s name carried. It was a name that could strike down the fits that Ji Eun and Ji Hoon were throwing.

* * *

Tae Eun was a bit surprised to hear that the meeting date had been set. It was earlier than she expected. Not only that, but she could no longer delay Woo Jin’s visit to her house.

Meeting the parents before the official meeting wasn’t a big deal, but after exposing her dirty laundry due to Ji Hoon’s shot, she felt more awkward showing her family situation. No matter how innate Ji Eun and Kyung Hoon’s acting skills were, it seemed difficult to evade Woo Jin’s sharp senses.

Still, that moment was inevitable.

And time passed quickly, and that day finally came.

Ji Eun was making a fuss from the day before, from massages to shopping, as if she were the one getting married. And on the morning of the day, she grabbed Yang Ju Daek like catching a mouse, saying she was checking the food. Making such a big deal, that time arrived.

The doorbell rang and the door opened, revealing Woo Jin along with his executive secretary, Mr. Park. After handing over the gifts he brought to them, Mr. Park left the house and Woo Jin sat on the sofa in the middle of the living room.

Just one person had come in and taken a seat, but the spacious living room felt full.

“Ma’am, not this, bring out that tea that came as a gift last time. The one Madam Seo Won brought, bring that.”

After giving a curt order to Yang Ju Daek, Ji Eun smoothed her pounding heart and turned her gaze to the living room.

Seeing Woo Jin in person was truly impressive. A cool physique that stood out, looks that would make even actors cry, and innate charisma to boot. He was more than the rumors said. If Ji Eun truly had a biological daughter, she would sincerely want to make Woo Jin her son-in-law.

But unfortunately, she didn’t have a biological daughter, and the only option she had was Min Tae Eun. Not being able to give birth to a single daughter was becoming a lifelong regret like this.

“Oh, if you had come at lunchtime, I would have prepared a meal. The timing is a bit off. Have some of this for now and stay for dinner in a bit.”

Ji Eun put on the kindest smile in the world and personally brought out a plate of fruit, setting it on the table. Kyung Hoon also opened his mouth with a pleasant smile.

“I heard that our Ji Hoon made a mistake not long ago. He must have been so surprised at the first meeting. I’m sorry about that.”

They brought it up to clear any potential misunderstandings, but Woo Jin wasn’t so easily swayed. He furrowed his brows as if recalling the memory of that day and opened his mouth,

“Yes. I was actually quite surprised. If Tae Eun hadn’t stood up for him saying he was her brother, it would have gone to the police station.”

At his blunt remark without a moment’s hesitation, Ji Eun’s eyebrows shot up. Kyung Hoon was just as surprised. Of course, Ji Hoon, who was next to them, turned deathly pale.

“No, what big mistake did our Ji Hoon make. I heard it was no big deal…”

Ji Eun showed clear displeasure, but Woo Jin didn’t waver. Rather, he made one more remark that made them bring it up again when they could have quietly let it go if he had just stayed silent.

“Did Tae Eun say that? That it was no big deal?”

“Well, Ji Hoon said so too.”

“Ah, so in this house, casually calling a sister seven years older by her name and sexually harassing her is no big deal.”

His low voice was full of an indescribable contempt. And Woo Jin slowly moved his cold gaze to look at Ji Hoon. Ji Hoon felt like his head cleared at that sharp gaze.

“Oh my, was it like that? Our Ji Hoon gets a bit out of hand when he drinks. And about calling Tae Eun by name, these kids are usually so close that they lack formality sometimes. I always caution him not to do that, but…”

Ji Eun spouted blatant lies without a shred of guilt. Even though she should be used to it by now, whenever that happened, Tae Eun felt so disgusted with Ji Eun that the blood in her body seemed to dry up and evaporate.

But fortunately, such excuses didn’t seem to work on Woo Jin at all. After all, no matter what anyone said, he was the one who directly witnessed the scene, so Ji Eun’s lies couldn’t distort the truth.

Seeing that he didn’t even blink an eye at the excuse, Ji Eun looked at Tae Eun with reproachful eyes. Eyes rebuking why she didn’t explain it well. Then Ji Eun blinked and looked at Kyung Hoon. It was a blatant push for him to say something.

Of course, it was impossible to reverse the clear facts, but they couldn’t ruin this marriage because of that incident. So Kyung Hoon cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

“Hmm. As Ji Hoon’s mom said, Tae Eun and Ji Hoon are very close. So… this kind of situation seems to have occurred. But usually, Ji Hoon treats Tae Eun very politely. Right, Tae Eun?”

This time, Kyung Hoon shamelessly turned that arrow to Tae Eun to get her agreement. If she just nodded along, it could be wrapped up as a drunken mishap.

But this time, she couldn’t nod her head as usual. How could her father still take Ji Hoon’s side even in this moment? Kyung Hoon seemed especially resentful to her today.

At her silent hesitation, Ji Eun raised her eyebrows and rebuked.

“Oh my, why isn’t she talking? Woo Jin seems to have a misunderstanding. At times like this, you should step up and clear that misunderstanding, how can you just keep your mouth shut like that?”

However, the one who reacted to that rebuke wasn’t Tae Eun, but Woo Jin.

Just what kind of household was this that not a single one of them knew remorse? The anger he had barely managed to calm since that day boiled up again.

“Perhaps I made it difficult to speak. That, or my speaking skills are so poor that I can’t convey my meaning properly.”

“What…”

“That was clearly sexual harassment. Something that shouldn’t be done to anyone, not just family.”

“Oh my, this is absurd. Our Ji Hoon would never do that…”

Even as Kyung Hoon spoke in embarrassment, he didn’t forget to shield his son until the end. At this point, it made one curious. Even if Ji Eun drove a wedge between the father and daughter to sever their relationship, how could Kyung Hoon disregard Tae Eun to this extent?

Though he expected it, directly facing her hell scraped at Woo Jin’s insides painfully. In fact, his anger towards Kyung Hoon was greater than towards Ji Eun. No matter how much Ji Eun schemed in the middle to divide the parent-child relationship, he thought the true great sin was the incompetence of not seeing the truth, blinded by her skirt.

“Anyway, it seems our Ji Hoon made a mistake at the first meeting, so we’re sorry about that. Ji Hoon, hurry and apologize.”

“I-I’m sorry. I absolutely did not have that intention. I will be very careful in the future.”

Ji Hoon apologized in a slightly trembling voice, caught off guard by Woo Jin’s unexpected aura. But Woo Jin’s expression was still displeased even after receiving the apology.

“That’s wrong. The one you should be apologizing to isn’t me.”

“……”

“It should be to your sister.”

At the chilling aura that seemed to cut off his breathing, Ji Hoon swallowed dryly and Ji Eun urged him from the side.

“That’s right. You should apologize to your sister.”

“S-Sorry. I made a mistake. I won’t do it again.”

He apologized, but Ji Hoon’s face, pale as a ghost, didn’t easily regain color. It seemed like if he received Woo Jin’s murderous energy a bit more, he would faint from a heart attack.

“Alright. You apologized, so Ji Hoon, you can go in now.”

Kyung Hoon quickly opened his mouth to remove Ji Hoon from Woo Jin’s sight. And as if waiting for those words, Ji Hoon tried to get up and leave his seat, but Woo Jin didn’t let him go easily either.

“Brother-in-law.”

That eerie voice pierced the top of his head as he turned his back. Ji Hoon slowly turned around and faced Woo Jin, frozen.

“I’ll be marrying your sister soon, so I can call you brother-in-law, right?”

“…Yes.”

As Ji Hoon answered, Woo Jin lowered his gaze and fiercely stabbed a piece of apple on the fruit plate in front of him with a fork. Then, lowering his gaze, he stared at that apple, and Ji Hoon felt suffocated as if he were that piece of apple in Woo Jin’s grip.

Like that, without even looking at Ji Hoon, Woo Jin slowly opened his mouth.

“Just one favor.”

“Yes.”

“In the future, please refrain from playing such pranks on your sister even when no one is around. Don’t hold back from calling her sister usually either.”

“……”

“Of course, there are other people’s eyes, but more than anything, my eyes will roll back if anyone treats my woman carelessly.”

“I…understand.”

Ji Hoon bowed his head deeply and went inside.

And for a while, a storm-like silence enveloped the living room. The smile vanished from the corners of Ji Eun’s mouth, which had been forcing a smile.

The words Woo Jin spat out one by one were also a warning directed not at Ji Hoon, but at Kyung Hoon and Ji Eun.

Min Tae Eun is mine now, so don’t touch her.