Time flew by like lightning. Especially the last week had been the busiest time in Min Tae Eun’s life so far.

She met with many experts for their newlywed home and wedding planning, and went shopping again with a personal shopper from start to finish. And today, she was also scheduled to finish the rest of the shopping with the personal shopper.

After getting ready, she walked down the hallway from her room towards the living room. She had to pass through the living room to get to the front door. But before she even reached the living room, she heard Jung Ji Eun’s voice filled with pretentiousness.

“Oh my, then. Our gentleman will push hard for us. Isn’t it natural? Seo Woo Jin is head over heels for Tae Eun. They say if the wife is pretty, the husband will even bow to her mother’s walking stick, so can’t our gentleman make Tae Eun the mayor of Seoul?”

Ho ho ho. Ji Eun’s laughter, which sounded one tone higher than usual as if she was in a good mood, pierced Tae Eun’s eardrums.

“Ah, well. What hardship do I have……. It is comforting to hear you say that, Mrs. Park. In fact, no matter how well I treat Tae Eun, I’m inevitably just a stepmother to her. So…… she cried a lot. Because our Tae Eun wouldn’t let me get close…… But I’m so relieved to marry her off to such a good family.”

And soon after, she even started cosplaying as the world’s kindest stepmother.

Tae Eun unconsciously tightened her grip on the handbag. Thinking about what she had suffered from Ji Eun in this household, bitter bile rose in her throat, but on the other hand, it was truly comforting to know that she wouldn’t have to witness this kind of sight much longer.

“Ah……. Right! We were also worried sick about the wedding gifts, but they told us to just send Tae Eun over first, and we were so surprised. The rich are really different. Different. Yes, so different! Of course! That makes sense. No matter how little we do for them, surely such a wealthy family wouldn’t ignore us, right? Ohohoho!”

Ji Eun’s voice was already excited about what she would receive from the Woo Sung family, even as she was sending Tae Eun off to marry empty-handed.

It was revolting. That endless greed of hers, not only sucking Tae Eun’s blood dry all her life but now trying to stick her straw into Woo Jin and slurp him up too. And it was pathetic that despite clearly overhearing this situation, Tae Eun couldn’t say a single word about her circumstances.

But she couldn’t do anything about it yet. Until the moment she completely escaped this house, she was still just a worthless accessory in this household. Until then, she had no choice but to endure it helplessly. Moreover, even though her father had been indifferent to her, she couldn’t cut ties with him as they were still blood-related, so she had to be patient again today.

“What, you still haven’t gotten over your eavesdropping hobby? Min Tae Eun?”

Turning around, Ji Hoon was standing there with a sneer. She didn’t know how long he had been observing her from behind, but his gaze was very unpleasant.

“You’re marrying into a family with a different class, so why don’t you fix that eavesdropping habit of yours? If you get hit as soon as you get married, you’ll have nowhere to go, you know.”

“……”

“Well. You never know, you might contact me. I’m a bit different from Mom and Dad. Who knows? I might help you.”

Saying that, Ji Hoon’s eyes scanning her up and down were as lewd as could be. Ji Hoon sometimes looked at her with those unbelievable eyes, and every time that gaze swept over her, Tae Eun felt like bugs were crawling all over her body.

She really couldn’t understand. Even if she was his half-sister, how could he look at her with those eyes?

Finally, unable to stand it, Tae Eun slowly opened her mouth this time. Her voice was slow but extremely resolute.

“You still haven’t fixed it even after getting beat up by Woo Jin last time? The wedding is coming up soon, are you still going to call out my name like that then too? Like you said, it’s a family with a different class, what do you think their elders will think if they hear you?”

“!”

“And if you want to live, you better hide those eyes. Woo Jin trembles just from you calling my name, so if he sees those eyes…… even I don’t know what he’ll do.”

Maybe he’ll charge at you to gouge your eyes out.

She didn’t say the last part, but sensing that strong nuance, Ji Hoon distorted his face and rubbed and wiped his eyes with his hand. As if Woo Jin had really charged at him to gouge out his eyes, just like that.

Seeing that, Tae Eun turned around and left. Then, from behind her back, she heard Ji Hoon’s infuriated voice.

“Hey, you…… you crazy bitch, Min Tae Eun!”

“What’s going on? Ji Hoon? Huh?”

“Mom! Mom! That bitch…… That Min Tae Eun bitch said to me……”

“Said what?”

Tae Eun, who had put on her shoes, turned back around and faced Ji Hoon, who was raging as if having a fit, with a calm gaze.

“Don’t call me ‘that bitch Min Tae Eun’…… call me elder sister from now on. You need to make it a habit so you don’t make mistakes unconsciously in front of Woo Jin.”

As if admonishing a three or four-year-old child, her refined tone seemed to infuriate Ji Hoon even more, and his face changed by the second. Ji Eun, who was next to him, hung up the phone and glared at Tae Eun, taking Ji Hoon’s side.

“Is it that easy to fix? You can fix it slowly! Slowly! Are you already on a high horse because you’re marrying Seo Woo Jin?”

Tae Eun didn’t bother opening her mouth, feeling it wasn’t even worth responding to. But she didn’t forget to politely bow her head and greet them before leaving.

As expected, they seemed to get even more upset at her impeccable manners and calmness unlike them, not getting agitated. Through the closing door, Ji Eun’s hysterical shouts could be heard, but Tae Eun left the house without looking back.

As she left the apartment like that, Manager Park and the personal shopper Manager Song, whom she had been with the last few days, were waiting in front of the house. Normally, she would have asked about today’s shopping schedule, but because of what had just happened, she was so deflated that she was already tired and kept her mouth shut.

However, a moment later, upon hearing Manager Song reciting the schedule at their destination, Tae Eun was momentarily at a loss for words.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

In response to her question, Manager Song kindly explained again,

“Today, you are scheduled to shop for homewear and underwear to wear at home here.”

“I have enough homewear though.”

“Yes. I am aware of that. However, Executive Director Seo specifically requested that you shop for everything new.”

“Underwear…… you mean undergarments too?”

“Yes. Especially. All the more so.”

On Manager Song’s face as she emphasized ‘especially, all the more so’, Tae Eun saw a flash of the desperate sense of duty she had consistently witnessed. But Tae Eun felt uncomfortable. Even though Manager Song was a woman, shopping for undergarments with someone was a bit embarrassing for her. It wasn’t something she could blame Manager Song for either, who had received orders. Manager Song was simply doing what she had to do.

In the end, Tae Eun called Woo Jin.

[Hello.]

“It’s me. I wanted to tell you something.”

[What is it?]

“I appreciate you being considerate, but I don’t think we need to do today’s shopping. I have plenty of homewear and underwear.”

[Hmm, I thought I told you. Don’t bring a single pair of panties from that house.]

For a moment, Tae Eun flinched. She recalled what he had said not too long ago.

−When you come to me, don’t bring anything you bought from that house, not even a single pair of panties. Leave everything behind. Without any lingering attachments.

Back then, she had just brushed it off, thinking it was only symbolic, but was he serious about that? He was truly a man who kept his word like a blade. A man who didn’t say one thing and mean another. Should she like this or not?

“Well, the thing is……”

Stopping mid-sentence, she lowered her voice and whispered again, mindful of Manager Park and Manager Song.

“Those are things I bought with my own money. So it’s okay.”

[What did you say? I can’t hear you.]

“The things, I, bought, myself.”

Tae Eun spoke a bit more clearly, but Woo Jin’s question that came back made her even more flabbergasted.

[Bought what?]

This man, is he doing this on purpose even though he knows?

With a puzzled look, she turned her back to Manager Park and Manager Song who were looking at her, and answered a bit more calmly.

“I mean, the homewear and underwear. I said I bought them with my own money.”

[Who said what?]

“And we’ve done plenty of shopping so far. We don’t need to buy homewear or underwear……”

[Throw them out and come anyway. Burn everything you’ve worn and eaten until now, Min Tae Eun, and come to me with just your clean body. Let’s just start over.]

His quite serious voice carried weight. And Tae Eun knew very well what intention he had in saying these things.

Yet on the other hand, improper thoughts also flashed through her mind. Of course, she kept convincing herself that it couldn’t be, but these days there were so many diverse people and preferences had become so detailed and subdivided that one could never know for sure.

Lost in endless contemplation, Tae Eun pressed on her chest, trying to calm her constantly rising heartbeat, and opened her mouth.

“By any chance…… by any chance……”

Unable to get the words out as easily as she thought, Tae Eun unknowingly stuttered.

[What?]

“I mean, that is……”

[Don’t beat around the bush and say it. I’m a busy person.]

“……D-, do you have any special preferences you particularly want? I mean, preferences that are a bit special compared to others……”

Even after saying it herself, Tae Eun blushed as if embarrassed. And she didn’t forget to carefully look around to see if anyone had heard. It was a moment where she shrunk for no reason.

For her, it was a rather serious situation. As someone who had received many confessions but lacked the peace of mind to have any significant dating experience, it was a situation where her world could come crashing down. But upon hearing her words, a low chuckle was heard from the other end of the phone. As if her seriousness was very amusing to him, yet that resonance in his low vocal range wasn’t unpleasant to hear, making it all the more irritating.

Why does even this man’s laughter sound so nice?

“Don’t laugh and answer me.”

[What answer do you want?]

“The truth without a shred of falsehood.”

[Alright. Then let’s talk about the truth without a shred of falsehood. Are you ready to hear it?]

Tae Eun became extremely tense. She was worried that Woo Jin’s voice would carry over the phone and reach Manager Park and Manager Song behind her, causing her shoulders to instinctively hunch up.

[If what you’re asking about is special sexual preferences, I am a bit rough. But I don’t have the hobby of hitting women during it, so don’t worry.]

Another low chuckle as he told her not to worry.

Compared to his composure, Tae Eun’s face was burning red. How could he let such words slip out so nonchalantly? But he didn’t stop there and continued to make her blush.

[Well, and if I were to specifically talk about my underwear preferences…… I prefer not wearing any. If you don’t like it, Min Tae Eun, you don’t have to buy underwear. In fact, I feel like not wearing any would suit you better……]

She only listened up to that point.

She was relieved to hear he didn’t have any special sexual preferences, but at his words that he preferred not wearing any, Tae Eun, unable to handle her reddened face, hurriedly hung up the phone.

Then she turned around and looked at Manager Park and Manager Song.

They were smiling.

Could they have possibly heard? Is that why they’re smiling like that? Or did they always have smiling faces?

Unable to gauge them, Tae Eun fanned her flushed face with her hand and moved her steps into the store.

Blushing at the man’s shamelessness was solely her burden.