“Ga Eul!”

As I was preparing to leave for work, I heard a voice calling from outside the gate.

Han Ga Eul hesitated.

An unwelcome figure had come.

Once welcome, but not anymore.

It seems I’ll be late for work again today.

Coming at this time means they’re determined to meet me.

I could already picture the boss’s rotten face grumbling, “Late again?”

Han Ga Eul hurriedly crossed the yard.

It’s just three steps from the front door to the gate.

Even in a yard just three steps wide, there’s everything you need.

The flower bed grandmother tended with care, and the vegetable garden that supplies ingredients.

Han Ga Eul’s bicycle for commuting is also in the yard.

“Hello, madam?”

Han Ga Eul opened the gate and greeted cheerfully.

In front of the gate stood Woo Jin’s mother with a face that looked nearly dead.

“I’m sorry. Is it too early? But I had to see you… It’s not easy to catch you…”

That’s true. Working two, three jobs, it must be hard to see me even living in the same neighborhood.

That’s not all. We live in different places, so there’s no chance to run into each other.

Even if the neighborhood name is the same, there’s a great distance between the apartment complex where Woo Jin’s mother lives and the old residential area where Han Ga Eul lives.

“Please come in.”

Han Ga Eul guided Woo Jin’s mother inside.

“Who’s here?”

Sensing someone, grandmother came out of her room.

Grandmother’s face immediately darkened when she saw Woo Jin’s mother standing at the entrance.

“Hello, Ga Eul’s grandmother? Did I come too early?”

“Ah, Woo Jin’s mother, it’s been a while. What brings you…”

“She says she has something to tell me. We’ll talk in my room. You don’t need to come out, grandmother.”

Han Ga Eul pushed her hesitating grandmother’s back.

She knows what Woo Jin’s mother wants to talk about. It’s enough if only she suffers, no need for grandmother to suffer too.

But grandmother resisted, not wanting to go in. She didn’t want her granddaughter to hear difficult things alone.

“Grandmother, it’ll only take a moment. Don’t worry and go in, Ga Eul won’t keep me long.”

Only after Woo Jin’s mother’s urging did grandmother go into her room.

Even as she went in, she looked back at Woo Jin’s mother and Han Ga Eul several times, seemingly reluctant.

After confirming that grandmother had gone into her room and closed the door, Han Ga Eul opened her own room door.

It’s a small room that doesn’t get much light, but it’s neatly organized.

Han Ga Eul turned on the light switch and stepped aside as Woo Jin’s mother entered.

“Ga Eul!”

As soon as she entered the room, Woo Jin’s mother grabbed Han Ga Eul’s hands.

Here we go. Han Ga Eul steeled herself.

“Please, I beg you. Let our Woo Jin go. That’s the way for both you and Woo Jin to live.”

Han Ga Eul couldn’t answer. Her chest felt heavy.

Saying that if she doesn’t let Woo Jin go, both Woo Jin and she will die.

“You know there’s no future for you two anyway, right? You have no future together. So what’s the point of being boyfriend and girlfriend? I don’t like myself for saying this to you either. But it’s so heartbreaking that you two, with your whole lives ahead of you, can’t end this toxic relationship.”

“Madam, Woo Jin and I broke up. I’ve told you this many times. I sent emails and called Woo Jin. I told him I’ve sorted out my feelings for him, so he should sort out his feelings too.”

Han Ga Eul spoke with difficulty. She didn’t know how many times she’d heard the same words and said the same words in response.

Whenever enough time passed for it to be forgotten, Woo Jin’s mother would call or visit asking Han Ga Eul to break up with Woo Jin.

She had known Woo Jin since they were too young to remember.

Living in the same neighborhood, they went to the same kindergarten and school.

Then naturally they became aware of each other as the opposite sex. Woo Jin confessed on their college entrance ceremony day. From that day, Woo Jin became Han Ga Eul’s boyfriend.

“Did you say it clearly? That you have absolutely no lingering feelings for Woo Jin?”

“Yes, I said it clearly. I even said I have someone I like now.”

“Then why is Woo Jin acting like this? Woo Jin says he’ll come back to Korea. Since you can’t come to America, he says he has to come to Korea. He says he’ll give up building his career in America. You know how much Woo Jin’s advisor likes him, right? That advisor is a Nobel Prize winner. With someone like that pushing Woo Jin forward, he says he’ll throw it all away and come to Korea.”

Tears welled up in Woo Jin’s mother’s eyes. How heartbreaking it must be.

Han Ga Eul sympathized with Woo Jin’s mother.

She also thinks it makes no sense for Woo Jin to give up his rosy future.

Especially not because of her.

“I’ll ask one more time. Ga Eul, won’t you really go to America? Won’t you throw everything away and live with Woo Jin, studying together?”

Woo Jin’s mother asked with desperate eyes.

It was a tempting look and offer for Han Ga Eul.

Tempting enough that the urge to give in kept surging up.

Han Ga Eul gritted her teeth to resist that temptation.

It wasn’t the first time she’d received this offer, so she knew the answer she had to give.

“You know I can’t leave grandmother and Gyeo Ul. Gyeo Ul has to go to college too. And grandmother is getting old, we don’t know how long she can keep working.”

So Han Ga Eul has to take responsibility for them. She’s now the head of this household.

Woo Jin’s mother knows this too. She’s saying this knowing all that.

This same conversation had already passed between Woo Jin’s mother and Han Ga Eul several times.

But today, something Han Ga Eul didn’t expect was added.

After hearing Han Ga Eul’s answer, Woo Jin’s mother suddenly fell to her knees.

In that moment, Han Ga Eul felt her breath catch.

“Ah, madam, why are you doing this? Please get up.”

“Ga Eul, please let me live. Woo Jin is all I have. You know that, right? That I live only for Woo Jin.”

Even on her knees, Woo Jin’s mother didn’t let go of Han Ga Eul’s hands.

Han Ga Eul tried to pull her hands away several times, but each time, Woo Jin’s mother held them tighter.

Han Ga Eul felt the urge to shake those hands off.

“What’s changed?”

Han Ga Eul asked in a suppressed voice. Woo Jin’s mother’s eyes widened at hearing this.

“You liked it when Woo Jin and I were dating, didn’t you? Don’t you remember suggesting we throw a party when you heard we were going to date? What’s changed since then, madam? That our family went bankrupt? That my father passed away? I think that’s all that’s changed. But now I’ve become poison to Woo Jin.”

The tears that had been welling up in Woo Jin’s mother’s eyes spilled over.

She let go of Han Ga Eul’s hands to wipe her tears.

Then she raised herself from her kneeling position.

“Yes, that’s what changed. Because of that, you’ve now become a burden to Woo Jin. No, it would be fortunate if you were just a burden, you’ve become an obstacle. An existence holding Woo Jin back. That’s what you are now. Even if we offer to open the path for you to develop together with Woo Jin, you say no, you don’t want to break up either, and you’re still holding Woo Jin back?”

Woo Jin’s mother spewed out harsh words calmly.

If she had raised her voice instead, it would have been easier for Han Ga Eul to deal with.

But she said these words that drove nails into Han Ga Eul’s heart in a pleading tone.

Desperately, like someone standing on the edge of a cliff.

“I’m not saying I don’t want to break up. I broke up with Woo Jin. Woo Jin and I really aren’t anything to each other now, madam.”

Han Ga Eul said, pounding her chest.

She felt like she wanted to turn her heart inside out to show.

“I’ve done everything I could. I sent emails and called. I even begged Woo Jin to please let me go.”

“No, don’t I know you? You still haven’t sorted things out. Woo Jin knows that too, that’s why he’s trying to come back to Korea.”

Han Ga Eul stared blankly at the unreasonable Woo Jin’s mother before opening her mouth.

She wondered if this situation would be less painful if Woo Jin’s mother were a little less grateful to her.

After her mother passed away, Woo Jin’s mother had been like a mother to her.

To think that she was blocking the path of such a person’s son. She felt guilty.

It felt like she needed to somehow prove to Woo Jin’s mother that she had broken up with Woo Jin.

“I’ll make Woo Jin give up. Whatever it takes, I’ll make Woo Jin understand that our relationship is over.”

“So how, how are you going to make him give up? Don’t just say you broke up, show it clearly. Send a picture of you with the person you’re dating or something.”

Han Ga Eul was dumbfounded. Had Woo Jin’s mother always been this tenacious?

So irritatingly cruel and persistent.

“I will. I’ll send a picture with the person I’m dating.”

Han Ga Eul sighed. She felt like letting things take their course.

It seems she’ll have to ask the boss to date her one more time.

So that rumors of her dating the boss reach Woo Jin’s mother and Woo Jin.

Then those two will accept that it’s completely over with Woo Jin.

“Madam, I need to go to work now.”

It was a request for her to leave.

Only after pressing a few more times did Woo Jin’s mother let Han Ga Eul go.

After seeing Woo Jin’s mother off to the gate, Han Ga Eul called out towards the house, putting on a bright voice.

“Grandmother, I’m leaving!”

She thought she heard grandmother’s reply to take care.

Grandmother didn’t come out to see her off. Han Ga Eul thought it was fortunate that she didn’t have to face grandmother right now.

Grandmother probably thought the same.

Because they didn’t need to confirm each other’s pain with their own eyes.

Han Ga Eul got on her bicycle and started riding.

Today’s lateness is confirmed. Now all she can hope for is that, as usual, the boss will leisurely show up at the office around lunchtime.

Very rarely, there are days when the boss shows up early.

Exactly on the days Han Ga Eul is late.

Just like today.

So Han Ga Eul pedaled her bicycle like mad.

When sweat started to form on her back, she saw a red brick two-story building in the distance.

It’s a terribly shabby building.

It must have been a new building 40 years ago. Han Ga Eul’s workplace is on the first floor of that building.

An 8-pyeong office that looks no different from any other real estate brokerage office, if not for the grand name ‘Dae Un Investment’ on the signboard.

Han Ga Eul parked her bicycle in the leftover space next to the building.

That’s the official parking lot for this building.

A car that doesn’t match the building at all is filling up the narrow parking lot.

It’s the boss’s car. They say it’s a supercar with only a few units imported into the country.

How flashy. Han Ga Eul clicked her tongue as she parked her bicycle next to that car.

It’s a car that makes her click her tongue every time she sees it. For a boss who’s just the owner of a few convenience stores, despite the grand name ‘Dae Un Investment’, it’s an excessive car, really.

Whether she likes that car or not, Han Ga Eul’s actions become careful next to it.

If she leaves even a tiny scratch on the car with her old bicycle, it would truly spell doom for her future.

Unlike the boss who parked his multi-hundred million won car in a place that’s not even a proper garage, Han Ga Eul carefully tied her bicycle to the building fence.

Then she quietly pushed open the office door.

The door was open.

Han Ga Eul’s heart sank. It seems the boss has already come to work.

As soon as she opened the door, a musty smell attacked Han Ga Eul’s nose.

Han Ga Eul’s face wrinkled involuntarily.

The smell was mixed with the scent of alcohol.

“Looks like he drank all night again.”

Han Ga Eul muttered as she looked around the office.

The first thing that caught her eye was the boss sprawled out on the sofa.

It seems the boss had drunk so much he couldn’t even make it up to his living space on the second floor.

As if to prove this, soju bottles were scattered on the table and under the sofa.

Seeing the delivery food containers left open on the table, Han Ga Eul shook her head.

She thought it was fortunate there was no vomit scattered around the office.

Because there had actually been days like that.

‘What a pathetic human.’

Han Ga Eul couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

Instead, she threw a gaze equivalent to those words at the boss who had passed out.

‘What a waste of a good-looking person, you fool.’

He’s quite handsome, after all. Han Ga Eul looked over the boss’s long legs that the sofa couldn’t fully contain.

His legs were sticking out far beyond the sofa.

Han Ga Eul’s eyes returned to the boss’s face.

A high, straight forehead, a sharp nose bridge, lips that were neither too thick nor too thin.

Realizing she was stealing glances at the boss’s face, Han Ga Eul quickly turned her head.

What’s the use of being handsome? In the end, he’s just a lucky idler.

Like iron drawn to a magnet, Han Ga Eul’s gaze returned to the boss’s face.

Even if he’s an idler, he’s a handsome idler.

It’s fortunate that he’s at least good to look at.

Having to bump into this face all day in this small office.

Just then, the boss turned over in his sleep.

The boss’s chest faced Han Ga Eul directly.

The front of his shirt was wide open.

Han Ga Eul’s eyes widened.

Through the open shirt front, a toned, muscular chest was visible.

“What, he’s quite fit.”

Han Ga Eul muttered as she turned her head.

Alright, I admit it. A muscular handsome man living an idle life.

That’s exactly who her boss is. The boss of ‘Dae Un Investment’, Ki Dae Un.