“Greet properly, Yoon Yi Seol.”

As if told, the woman who had been pouting her lips stood up and bowed.

As she did so, her bathrobe opened, revealing her fair cleavage.

Oh my.

Do Eum hurriedly reached out to cover the unfamiliar woman’s chest.

Looking down at that hand, Yi Seol’s hand that firmly grasped it was quite soft.

A white and delicate hand that looked like it had never done dishes.

“This wasn’t the plan, but anyway. Nice to meet you, new elder sister.”

It was a clear voice, as if rolling on a silver tray.

New elder sister.

New elder sister, she said.

With that one phrase, the misunderstandings that had been piling up crumbled, and laughter leaked out, hehe, hehe.

“…Nice to meet you too.”

She was helplessly pleased.

Along with the shyly offered greeting, Yi Seol suddenly stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

“But is elder brother also the CEO at home? How much must he have acted like a boss for the new elder sister to still call her husband ‘CEO’?”

The woman who entered the kitchen as if it were her own home opened the refrigerator door first.

Watching her like an untamed foal, Ji Wan whispered in Do Eum’s ear.

“Bear with it a little, the manager will come to pick her up soon.”

When having to endure something, Ji Wan’s expression that inevitably showed was serious and even solemn.

“I’m also trying my best to endure right now.”

It was undoubtedly the appearance of real siblings.

*****

Early morning.

Seo Hyeon, who woke up in the hotel suite, first confirmed that the space next to her was empty.

All night long, Ki Hyeok had embraced her like a man who had just started to love, countless times.

At this point, it seemed like the issue between them was not affection, but rather the place.

Last night in an unfamiliar place was unfamiliar.

There’s no other way to explain it.

Only the clothes strewn about messily and the thoroughly rumpled bed sheets fully revealed the ecstasy of the previous night.

When she hurriedly got dressed and left the bedroom, as if coming to her senses belatedly.

“Have you woken up?”

San Ha, neatly dressed, bowed to greet Seo Hyeon.

“…Ah, how long have you been here?”

It’s not like the man had been standing guard outside the bedroom door all night.

It’s not like he would have heard all the strange noises and busy movements through just one door between them.

In her dazed state, Seo Hyeon asked like that.

“Director Seo contacted me to come pick you up as he was leaving.”

“Ah, I see.”

Like someone caught doing something wrong, Seo Hyeon’s face reddened for no reason.

She wasn’t some novice just opening her eyes to the world, but a full-grown adult, and her partner was her husband, no less.

There was nothing to be uncomfortable about, but Seo Hyeon felt embarrassed about everything, like a woman who had rushed to a hotel blinded by lust.

‘This man could have just left quietly, why contact someone else to come pick me up. Who likes that.’

Her irritation was directed at the blameless Ki Hyeok.

As Seo Hyeon hurriedly tried to leave the room, she realized she didn’t have her phone.

“Ah, my phone.”

It seemed she had left it in the bedroom.

“I’ll go get it for you.”

As San Ha who had been following behind turned towards the bedroom.

“Ah, no! I’ll go. I’ll go.”

Seo Hyeon pushed past San Ha and went ahead.

Going to a hotel first thing in the morning to pick up her boss, how they must have played all night for her steps to be so sluggish – putting aside all these unsightly things, she disliked the idea of a man seeing the bedroom the two of them had used most of all.

“Ah, right. Did you see the article? The photos came out well.”

It was about Ji Wan’s scandal.

It didn’t matter if the woman in the scandal was a movie actress, a college student, or a married woman.

It was enough if the spotless Seo Ji Wan was covered in filth and emitting a terrible stench.

“They’ll call from Anseo-dong soon. This time it’s a woman problem, but next time it’ll be corruption or a slush fund or something like that. Keep a close eye on Chairman Jang’s movements and let me know right away if Seo Ji Wan is summoned.”

Can’t miss out on a good show.

Satisfaction settled on Seo Hyeon’s face as she turned her gaze out the window.

*****

Yi Seol’s manager Jung Hyeok did not come.

When he hadn’t come even past midnight, Ji Wan finally asked if she had really contacted him, and only then did Yi Seol confess that she hadn’t, so Do Eum had no choice but to let the woman she had just met into her bedroom.

For a first night together between people who had just met, it was a fairly good night.

“Why don’t the two of you sleep together?”

That was Yi Seol’s first question when she came out after washing up early in the morning, saying Jung Hyeok would come to pick her up.

It seemed she had been so curious about this that she asked as soon as Do Eum opened her eyes.

“Because the CEO, I mean elder brother, has a lot of work. I thought he should at least be comfortable in bed. We sleep together most of the time, almost. If it seems like he hasn’t been able to sleep for a few days, I come over here.”

“Only sometimes?”

“Miss, you’re not married yet so you wouldn’t know, but couples don’t always sleep together. People who have slept alone for decades, how easy do you think it is to suddenly sleep together as soon as they get married? Whew, it’s not an easy thing, you know.”

A detailed explanation followed along with a wave of her hand.

“Ah, so you only call when needed?”

“When needed?”

“You know, those urgent moments when you need each other, breaking through fatigue. Between a man and woman.”

“…”

“When two grown adults, a married couple at that, press their bodies together…”

“No! We’re not that kind of relationship!!”

Even to herself, it sounded ridiculous to say they weren’t that kind of relationship after getting married.

Do Eum helplessly lowered her hands that she had raised into the air.

Yi Seol tapped Do Eum’s shoulder with half-closed eyes and sat down at the vanity.

“Yes, yes. Let’s say it’s like that.”

As if to say she knew everything, but would pretend not to know.

The vanity didn’t have many cosmetics, and Do Eum had only sat there once.

The drawer that should have held makeup products only contained underwear, serving as a substitute for a dresser.

“Where are all the cosmetics?”

Not realizing the basic skincare products on top were all there was, Yi Seol flung open the drawer.

“No, that’s where the underwear is…”

“Oh, sorry. Sorry.”

Yi Seol’s hand that was hurriedly closing the drawer of neatly arranged underwear paused for a moment.

“Don’t tell me this is the new elder sister’s.”

She held up a pair of panties.

“This isn’t underwear, is it?”

Her tone that had been teetering between informal and formal speech became demanding as she closely examined what was in her hand.

“Pardon?”

They were plain white panties bought in bulk during the big sale period of an underwear company known to everyone in Korea, made of 40-count cotton no less.

“Y-Yes, they are.”

“No way. You’re not a 14-year-old going through puberty, what’s with this cute little ribbon?”

It was an exclamation close to shock beyond surprise.

“Hey, why are you spreading out someone else’s underwear!”

Snatching the panties hurriedly from Yi Seol’s hand, Do Eum hid them under her pillow.

“If you wear things like that, even if the necessary moment comes, even if it’s urgently needed! He won’t call for you. New elder sister, you need to change your underwear right away!”

“Elder brother isn’t the type of man to fuss over underwear!”

The lie she blurted out was ridiculous even to herself.

If he was the type to fuss over underwear, what could she do?

Even so, she couldn’t declare that she would abandon her 100% satisfactory 40-count cotton panties and change them all.

Do Eum, whose ears had turned red from making excuses that weren’t really excuses, huffed.

“Yes, yes. I know elder brother’s tastes are refined. He believes the contents are more important than the packaging.”

As if to say she was a person with proper contents to have been chosen by such a man, her back was straight but her face was burning with embarrassment.

Yi Seol, who had finished getting ready by roughly applying some toner and lotion, was about to leave when Do Eum asked the question she had been hesitating to ask.

“…Can I ask you one thing?”

Yi Seol nodded as she took out a pink lipstick from her clutch bag and applied it.

“Even though you know it causes trouble for elder brother every time, why do you…”

“Make a fuss out of nothing?”

Nod nod.

“Half love deprivation, half desire for revenge.”

The shock of suddenly losing her mother after receiving abundant love was considerable for Yi Seol.

Her father, who had lost his beloved wife, did not have the leisure to give her love as before, and her mother’s absence left a wound on those left behind.

Her father, who neither ate nor smiled well, passed away from a chronic illness the year Yi Seol turned nineteen.

Eun Hee, her mother who came alone late at night to the humble funeral, sat without shedding a single tear before leaving.

The bankbook she silently placed in her hand was a parting gift of sorts.

On her mother’s birthday, she and her father had picked wildflowers to make a bouquet.

How brightly her father had smiled in the sunlight, thinking of how happy her mother would be to receive those flowers.

“That woman’s birthday is today. She abandoned us on your birthday and went to elder brother, so at least on her birthday, that woman.”

Yi Seol’s face, which had been smiling with red lips, hardened coldly.

“I want her to cry.”

It was a chilling curse disguised as sincerity.

“You can think of it as a hostage situation. What I want is for that woman to become the most unhappy person in the world.”

Yi Seol, who had finished getting ready, checked her appearance in the vanity mirror once more before leaving.

Jung Hyeok, who had arrived long ago, would be waiting at the entrance.

“Unfortunately, Seo Ji Wan is my hostage. See you next time, new elder sister.”

Yi Seol flashed a smile and left the room.

A chilly silence descended on the room left empty.

How long had Seo Ji Wan’s desperate struggle to protect his mother from his sister and to protect them both from the grandmother in Anseo-dong lasted?

No, how much longer would it have to continue?

Though she lay back down, it didn’t seem like sleep would come.

*****

Tsk tsk.

The sound of Chairman Jang from Anseo-dong clicking his tongue leaked through the sliding door.

“What kind of person is he, to be doing such things right before his mother’s birthday?”

Hyang In, who was in the middle of brewing tea, observed the chairman’s mood.

The air was quite chilly in the mornings and evenings, as if autumn was approaching.

“Is it the same child again this time?”

Mu Won, who was standing some distance away, answered.

“Yes, Yoon Yi Seol from Eden Entertainment. She’s the exclusive model for Bando Construction.”

Rather than indiscriminately fooling around with this woman and that woman.

Unlike Ki Hyeok, Ji Wan’s scandals with the same person were intense without confirmation.

“What about Director Seo?”

“Twenty-two years old. She’s the owner of a flower shop near the company. It doesn’t seem like it will last long.”

Chairman Jang turned slightly.

“Is it your opinion, Mu Won, that it won’t last long?”

The scar on the man’s cheek deepened with each answer.

It was a confirmation from the old man who didn’t much like personal opinions being included in reports that should be accurate.

“Director Jin Seo Hyeon already knows. I think she’ll make a move soon.”

Seo Hyeon was proactive when it came to her husband’s affairs, so she was often ahead of the people he sent.

“Yes, that’s right. She’s the type to nip it in the bud by giving money or whatever.”

Tsk tsk.

Chairman Jang let out a deep sigh as both of his grandsons were causing trouble over women.

“Shall I tell Director Seo and his wife to come in?”

Whenever big or small issues arose, calling in the parties involved to reprimand them was the chairman’s way of maintaining the hierarchy.

“No need. Is the younger one the type to listen to my scolding? Unless the time wasted traveling back and forth on the streets is a shame. Just find out about that child he keeps getting involved with.”

He still felt uneasy.

Unlike Ki Hyeok, Ji Wan was not the type to be swayed by mere personal emotions.

He needed to know what had tied his ankles so tightly that a person who wasn’t usually shaken was so helpless.

“Yes.”

Stopping Mu Won as he was leaving, the old man added one more thing.

“Tell Director Ko from Choyeon Art Museum to come today.”

Ji Wan hated having his mother called in more than anything, even if he didn’t listen to his own scolding, so calling her would be faster to set things right.