5 minutes ago.

“Team Leader Ko doesn’t know Jung Yeo Reum’s personality, so he’s being cheeky with the team leader. Can’t you tame one ignorant country girl without blowing things out of proportion? Let him try dealing with her himself. I’ve never seen such a personality before. She’s a complete firecracker.”

Team Leader Yang’s car passed through the main gate of the Blue House.

The street lamps were illuminating the wide and tranquil garden.

“Ah, the more I think about it, the more angry I get.”

The lawyer Jo sitting in the passenger seat exploded in anger again.

“Calm down. Is this the first time Team Leader Ko has done something like this?”

“That’s why it’s more annoying. He’s much junior to the team leader, but because they have the same position, he’s cheeky about everything. It’s all because he thinks he’ll become the legal director following Kang In Pyo. These days, he goes around joking to the staff, ‘I’m going to fire you,’ and such nonsense.”

“If Team Leader Ko becomes the legal director, wouldn’t I be the first to be fired?”

“Probably. Last time, when Team Leader Ko tried to cover up a case after receiving a bribe from a company, you exposed it, resulting in his pay cut, right?”

Looking at the worried face of Lawyer Jo, Team Leader Yang said,

“If I get fired, I’ll open a small office with the severance pay, what else?”

“You’ll call me too, right?”

“You should stay in PR.”

“Wow, that’s harsh. Are you abandoning me now? Aren’t we a team?”

“Jo needs to get married. For that, being a lawyer in the PR legal team looks better than being a lawyer in a nameless law firm.”

“What do you mean by looks? All we do is clean up the mess Kang Ha Eun makes.”

Lawyer Jo grumbled as he looked out the car window.

The Blue House main building was getting closer.

“…What, what’s that?”

Suddenly, Lawyer Jo shouted.

Team Leader Yang looked at what his finger was pointing at.

It was a white object dangling from a second-floor window.

“What is that?”

Team Leader Yang also narrowed his brows to focus.

“It looks like a person, right?”

The two lawyers were dumbfounded by the sudden situation.

Meanwhile, the white object was moving carefully.

As Lawyer Jo said, it was a person.

And judging by the long hair, it seemed to be a woman.

She stretched her arm towards the balcony.

“Oh my!”

Lawyer Jo cried out in surprise.

The woman seemed to be trying to move to the balcony.

Team Leader Yang felt urgent and stepped on the accelerator.

He didn’t know what the situation was, but how could she try to cross over there?

If she were to fall, it would be a major accident.

A death from falling inside the Blue House!

His head felt dizzy.

Yet the woman in white clothes stretched her hand towards the balcony again and finally crossed over.

She stood on the balcony railing for a moment.

As if gauging the height, she looked back.

The two lawyers shouted simultaneously.

“Jung Yeo Reum!”

The one holding onto the iron railing of the second-floor balcony was undoubtedly Jung Yeo Reum.

“Why is Jung Yeo Reum there?”

“I don’t know!”

“Surely, she’s not thinking of jumping from there, is she?”

But soon, the two lawyers somehow seemed to know Yeo Reum’s next action.

“No!”

The two lawyers screamed simultaneously.

Startled, Team Leader Yang even slammed on the brakes.

Jung Yeo Reum lowered both legs onto the balcony railing and then let go of her hands without hesitation.

The two lawyers’ hearts dropped.

For a moment, silence enveloped the car.

“…Uh, uh!”

Lawyer Jo urgently called Team Leader Yang.

Jung Yeo Reum, who had fallen to the ground, sprang up.

She seemed to be checking her body, alternately lifting her legs, then tightly tied the knot of her robe.

Watching Yeo Reum heading towards the main building with overly vigorous steps, Lawyer Jo said fearfully,

“Team Leader, it seems someone… must have provoked Jung Yeo Reum’s temper…?”

*

The chef, who had been anxiously pacing the first-floor lobby, quickly turned at the sound of the front door opening.

“Young lady!”

He was startled to see Yeo Reum enter unexpectedly and rushed over.

“What… How did this happen? How did you get out of there?”

Yeo Reum grinned.

“…No way?”

“I couldn’t freeze to death, could I?”

He bowed deeply with an extremely apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Chef. But this incident now, it’s Table’s doing, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s in the second-floor central living room.”

As Yeo Reum tried to go to the stairs, the chef blocked her way.

“I called the butler. Let the butler handle it.”

“No. I should do it myself.”

“Ha Eun young lady is at home now.”

“Kang Ha Eun is back?”

“Yes.”

“Does Kang Ha Eun know that I was locked in the bathroom?”

He spoke with an even more apologetic expression.

“…Yes.”

“And she didn’t say anything about letting me out, right?”

His head drooped helplessly.

“Wow, I really almost froze to death in there today.”

The chef blocked Yeo Reum’s path again as she tried to head for the stairs.

“Ha Eun young lady took Table’s side. She’ll defend Table this time too. Right now, no one in this household can take your side. Young lady, I’m truly sorry, but the employees can’t speak up because their livelihoods are at stake.”

Yeo Reum replied,

“I understand. And I don’t intend to blame the employees. How could they act easily when their families’ livelihoods are at stake?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“I told you, there’s no need for that.”

“Young lady, please leave it to the butler. I’ve contacted him, so he’ll be here soon. Then even Ha Eun young lady won’t be able to do anything.”

“No. The butler won’t be of any use either. And I’m the one directly involved in this incident. Also, I’m going to resolve this my way. But I have a favor to ask you, Chef.”

Yeo Reum whispered softly into the chef’s ear.

“Why that…?”

“If possible, bring a large one.”

Without further explanation, Yeo Reum climbed the stairs to the second floor.

The chef looked puzzled but soon entered the kitchen.

“…Team Leader?”

The two lawyers had heard Yeo Reum and the chef’s entire conversation from the entrance.

Lawyer Jo anxiously called out to Team Leader Yang.

“Shouldn’t we go in quickly too?”

“And do what?”

“What do you mean? We should go in and help Jung Yeo Reum.”

“Do you think that’s possible?”

Kang Ha Eun is in the house right now.

And didn’t they say Ha Eun has already defended Table’s actions?

“Let’s go back.”

“…Team Leader!”

“No need to get involved in unnecessary trouble.”

“But still! Someone almost died!”

“No. We don’t know anything about this. We didn’t see anything.”

“…Team Leader!”

Team Leader Yang grabbed the arm of the protesting Lawyer Jo and forcefully pulled him out of the entrance.

*

Table sat elegantly on the sofa in the second-floor living room, sipping tea.

The staff stood in line in front of her.

It was right to properly discipline the staff if one was to be a butler.

Sitting next to her, Hye Suk gently refilled Table’s empty teacup.

“…Ah, ah!”

Hye Suk suddenly panicked while putting down the teapot.

Table, who was turning around casually, was also surprised.

It was the same for the Blue House staff.

It was Yeo Reum.

“You, how did you get out? Don’t tell me the chef let you out?”

Table jumped up from the sofa and shouted at Yeo Reum.

“No. I came out on my own.”

“What?”

Yeo Reum approached Table and stood face to face with her.

“Are you stupid or something? If you’re going to block me, do it properly. Why did you leave the window open? I came out through there.”

“That’s impossible! How could you come out through there?”

“Why is it impossible? Don’t you know how flexible I am?”

Table looked Yeo Reum up and down and snorted.

“Flexible? Yeah, right.”

At that moment, Yeo Reum slapped Table’s cheek hard.

She was thrown back and fell over.

The staff were shocked.

But the most surprised was Table herself.

She looked dazed for a moment at the fact that Yeo Reum had hit her, then quickly got up and shouted.

“…How dare you, how dare you… You hit me?”

“How dare I?”

Yeo Reum slapped Table’s cheek again.

It almost seemed as if her substantial body flew through the air for a moment.

Table screamed and fell backward.

The staff’s eyes widened even more in surprise.

Hye Suk, who had been frozen, slowly backed away and then ran to Ha Eun’s room.

Yeo Reum approached Table, who was looking up with a dumbfounded expression, and said,

“Get up. I’m not done being angry yet.”

The low voice was even more chilling.

Moreover, Yeo Reum was lightly rotating both of her wrists.

Table’s Adam’s apple not only bobbed but trembled violently.

At that moment, hurried footsteps were heard.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

At Ha Eun’s appearance, Table, who had been frozen for a moment, quickly got up and shouted.

“…Young lady, she, she… She just hit me!”

Table, with blood vessels bursting on her face, clung to Ha Eun’s side and wildly gestured at Yeo Reum.

“You, are you a thug? Why are you hitting people?”

“Table locked me in that bathroom and tried to freeze me to death. And I can’t even slap her?”

“Oh my, listen to how she talks. What did our Table do to you to deserve this?”

“That’s right. I don’t know anything about this!”

Table feigned ignorance.

She glared fiercely at the staff, as if telling them to keep their mouths shut.

“Are you saying Table didn’t try to kill me by locking me in there? The sofa is blocking the bathroom entrance like that, and the air conditioning is blasting in this season. And you’re still saying it wasn’t her?”

“It wasn’t me! Why would I? I have no feelings towards Jung Yeo Reum!”

She shamelessly denied it.

“So all of this is just my imagination?”

“Did you have a dream or something? Are you senile at such a young age?”

Watching her mock instead, Yeo Reum approached.

Table almost stepped back unconsciously, but with Ha Eun beside her, she stood her ground firmly.

“Really, it wasn’t Table’s doing?”

“I said it wasn’t!”

At that moment, Yeo Reum’s right hand was raised.

Instinctively, Table raised her arm to protect her face.

But Yeo Reum’s hand went into Table’s jacket pocket.

“Then why is the phone I carefully left in the bathroom in this pocket?”

As she was about to make an excuse in her confusion, Yeo Reum’s left hand, which had put the phone in her robe pocket, grabbed Table’s hair.

Her right hand began to slap Table’s cheek repeatedly.

Table screamed but couldn’t move, caught by Yeo Reum.

“…Hey, stop it!”

Ha Eun shouted.

“I said stop!”

Looking at Table, who had become a mess in a short time, Yeo Reum let go of her hand with a ‘thud’.

She slumped to the floor, completely beaten.

“Now try calling me a thug again? You accomplice to attempted murder.”

“Wh-what?”

“You knew I could freeze to death locked in that bathroom, and you let it slide, didn’t you?”

“You didn’t die, did you? So it’s fine!”

“Is that what you call an explanation?”

“Anyway, you didn’t die, so it’s fine. So stop making a fuss in the house and end this now. Everyone dismiss!”

Yeo Reum said,

“Who decides that?”

“What?”

“After trying to kill someone, who are you to brush it off like this?”

“So what do you want? Are you going to report it to the police? Do you think anything will change if you do? To be blunt, do you think Table or I would end up in a holding cell?”

“Of course not.”

“Then!”

Yeo Reum’s hand struck Ha Eun’s cheek hard.

Her light body instantly crumpled and fell over.

Looking down at Ha Eun and Table who had fallen side by side, Yeo Reum said,

“At the very least, I should correct the bad manners of trying to kill someone.”

“…What?”

“You should be grateful. I’m saving both of your lives from becoming murderers.”

Yeo Reum approached the chef who had somehow come up to the second-floor living room, took the bottle he was holding, and came back.

She opened the lid.

Immediately, a fishy and foul smell permeated the air.

The label on the plastic bottle read ‘100% Domestic Yellow Croaker Jeotgal’.

“…D-don’t!”

Ha Eun shook her head.

However, the fermented yellow croaker was poured all at once on Ha Eun and Table’s heads.

Ha Eun screamed.

Table also didn’t know what to do.

Yeo Reum even shook out the last bits of yellow croaker sticking to the container.

Finally, Ha Eun burst into tears.

“Fix the boiler within 30 minutes.”

Table’s head, which seemed dazed, lifted to look at Yeo Reum.

“Of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. But the kitchen not only has this, but also fire, oil, and many other useful things.”

Seeing Yeo Reum grinning, Table’s face changed to one of horror.

Yeo Reum threw the empty jeotgal container hard at Table and said,

“Try something like this again. But be prepared to die. Got it?”