When I told him I had an appointment to meet my grandmother, the boss said. Don’t be discouraged. You’re not going to beg for help, you’re going to negotiate.

The boss also said that the most important thing in a negotiation is to be on equal footing with the other party. He’s not called “boss” for nothing, Han Ga Eul reflected on having underestimated the boss.

“I heard you want to take us in.”

One of the boss’s pieces of advice was to make the first move. The other party wouldn’t expect Han Ga Eul to attack. He said if you catch them off guard then, you can secure an advantageous position. Han Ga Eul faithfully followed that.

But a triumphant expression appeared on Lady Jang Ji Hong’s face instead. It was a face that believed she was in the position of giving, and that Han Ga Eul and Han Gyeo Ul would have no choice but to bow down in the end.

“It’s not like you suddenly missed the bond of blood. Did you suddenly need us?”

Han Ga Eul struck properly while Lady Jang was off guard. Lady Jang thought she held Han Ga Eul and Han Gyeo Ul’s fate in her hands, and that led to her carelessness.

“How audacious.”

“There’s no reason not to be audacious. What you think you can give us, Lady Jang, it’s not something we can’t live without. If it had been when mom was in the hospital, right after father passed away, we might have eagerly grasped the hand you extended. But not now.”

As if to show that he was no less audacious, Han Gyeo Ul chimed in from the side.

“Besides, I have no intention of becoming the heir to the Pyeongan Group. I’m going to be a doctor. With my grades, I can attend university on a full scholarship and even receive pocket money. When I go to college, I can also earn money by tutoring. I heard medical students get paid quite well for tutoring.”

The distance between triumphant and dumbfounded was just a hair’s breadth. Seeing Lady Jang’s expression change rapidly, Han Ga Eul felt a sense of satisfaction. Boss, I respect you, Han Ga Eul cried out in her heart.

“Don’t misunderstand. People are lining up to become the heir of the Pyeongan Group. You’re not absolutely necessary. It’s not like I’ve decided to give you a chance yet. Who knows if you’re worth that much?”

“Then there’s no reason for us to stay here any longer. We know our own worth. Still, thank you for calling us here today. I wanted to see the place where mom lived at least once.”

Han Ga Eul stood up abruptly. The boss had said not to be afraid of negotiations breaking down.

He said that the side that desperately wants to make the deal happen has no choice but to give in to the other’s demands. Han Ga Eul faithfully followed the advice of the boss she had come to respect.

“Sit down! Where do you get the nerve to act so rudely? Leaving your seat before an elder has finished speaking, saying you’ve said all you have to say.”

“I’m sorry.”

Han Ga Eul obediently sat back down. Lady Jang Ji Hong was right. I made a mistake. I was too hasty, thinking only of my own hurt feelings.

“No matter how poorly educated you are, this is too much. It makes me reconsider my decision to bring you in.”

Lady Jang Ji Hong should have stopped at the first verse. If she had, Han Ga Eul would have reflected on her own rude behavior.

But like most people, while Lady Jang was lenient towards her own faults, she had to dig up and interrogate even the smallest mistakes of others before she felt satisfied. Lady Jang’s second verse began.

“It seems you’ve grown up without parents and haven’t learned manners, but such attitudes are not tolerated in our family.”

“I’m sorry. I behaved rudely. But in our neighborhood, not a single adult ever used the phrase ‘grown up without parents’ to me or Han Gyeo Ul. I guess they all knew you shouldn’t say such things to children without parents.”

“You’re quite impudent. You refuse to back down on anything. You treat your elders with such disrespect. Who do you take after? Your mother wasn’t like that.”

“But you cut ties with her. You ignored her even when she was so sick.”

Han Gyeo Ul exploded.

“And now you…, calling us because you need us…, talking about our worth…”

Han Gyeo Ul couldn’t continue. His chest heaved violently.

“I didn’t ignore her. Is that why you’ve been resenting your maternal family? I went to see your mother when she was in the hospital. Your mother had contacted us. We offered to help, but it was your mother who refused.”

“You probably offered financial help, right? At that time, father’s business was doing well, so we didn’t need any financial help. Do you think mom contacted you because she wanted help? Mom probably just needed her mother.”

Lady Jang raised her voice, but Han Ga Eul became calmer instead. I shouldn’t have come. For the first time, she regretted coming to her maternal family’s house.

She shouldn’t have thought about negotiating with someone like Lady Jang. How could she negotiate with someone who only remembers what they give? Han Ga Eul quietly stood up.

“Thank you for giving birth to and raising our mother. That’s why we came once. We won’t come again even if you call. Han Gyeo Ul, let’s go.”

Han Gyeo Ul stood up and silently bowed his head to Lady Jang. Then he strode towards the door ahead of Han Ga Eul. Han Ga Eul followed Han Gyeo Ul but turned around at the door.

“We walked here from the bus stop in the scorching sun, so it would be a shame to leave without saying one more thing. Did Oh Myeong Se and Oh Myeong Hui prove their worth before securing positions in the group?”

“What did you say?”

Han Ga Eul left without waiting for an answer. It wasn’t a question meant to be answered.

She already knew what kind of people Oh Myeong Se and Oh Myeong Hui, the grandchildren of Chairman Oh Kyu Baek, were from what lawyer Jung Se Hyun had told her. What value did a scoundrel like Oh Myeong Se prove to secure a position in the group?

Lady Jang Ji Hong, who had been staring speechlessly at the door through which Han Ga Eul and Han Gyeo Ul had left, pressed the intercom and told the housekeeper to bring a glass of cold water.

Where did these jaded children come from? Far from submitting meekly, they talk about making deals. She felt she needed to drink some cold water to suppress the anger rising in her chest.

Unlike Lady Jang, Han Ga Eul had a relieved expression on her face.

“There’s nothing like being prepared.”

Han Ga Eul muttered as she came out of the main gate.

“That’s right. Boss Ki Dae Un seems like an amazing person. It was just as the boss had tipped us off beforehand. It felt like a job interview atmosphere. Not like meeting grandchildren. I guess not all grandmothers are like our grandmother.”

It was unlike Han Gyeo Ul, who usually didn’t express his inner thoughts. He seemed quite disgusted by Lady Jang Ji Hong’s cold attitude.

“No wonder mom left home.”

‘You must have had a hard time coming here.’, ‘It must have been tough living on your own?’ Was it so hard to say such things? If the meeting had started with those words, we wouldn’t have rushed out in the middle.

“Han Gyeo Ul, let’s really live well. I’m going to work hard and learn from our boss. Our boss seems different from how he looks on the outside. When I invested in stocks as he did, I made money. And he’s friends with that Jung Se Hyun person. He’s a lawyer, right? I overheard him talking with our boss, and he doesn’t seem like just any lawyer.”

Han Ga Eul chattered non-stop as they walked to the bus stop. Even though he didn’t say it, Han Gyeo Ul must have been hurt too. By the cold attitude of the person who was their grandmother.

Han Ga Eul looked up at the sky where the sun, still not having lost its power, was shining. It was a day when she missed her mother terribly.

* * *

I said we should live well on our own, but it wasn’t easy to do so. I experienced how truly difficult life can be a few days after visiting my maternal family’s house.

Until then, Han Ga Eul had been diligently going to work at the office, thinking it fortunate that her last greeting to the boss had been left unfinished thanks to her uncle barging in.

After visiting her maternal family’s house, Han Ga Eul told the boss everything that had happened in detail. Throughout the story, the boss remained expressionless.

After hearing everything, including Han Ga Eul’s statement that she would continue to work under him since things had turned out that way, he made his usual nonchalant comment.

“Get me a cup of coffee.”

Han Ga Eul, heading to the pantry, said cheerfully.

“Boss, let’s buy a coffee machine. You said you were raised in luxury, right? Let’s raise our coffee standards a bit.”

Maybe it was because she had seen the house where her maternal grandfather lived, but she remembered the coffee her father used to drink when he was alive. Soon, words that shattered that memory reached Han Ga Eul’s ears.

“There’s a cafe across the street and someone to go buy coffee from there, so why bother? And what’s wrong with instant coffee mix?”

Come to think of it, when she first started working here, she used to go to the cafe across the street to buy coffee often. At some point, she stopped going. Was it when the boss became addicted to instant coffee mix?

Han Ga Eul, whose lips had turned down, was making coffee when her phone rang. The caller was her grandmother.

“Grandmother.”

− Han Ga Eul, something terrible has happened. Han Gyeo Ul has been involved in an assault incident. Han Gyeo Ul’s homeroom teacher just called. He said Han Gyeo Ul hit another student. They’re asking me to come to the school, but I have to prepare for the evening business here, so I can’t go.

Grandmother’s voice trembled. She couldn’t believe that Han Gyeo Ul had hit someone, yet she was accepting it and worrying.

“I’ll go, Grandmother. I’ll go.”

Clutching her pounding heart, Han Ga Eul hung up the phone. Even after hanging up, it was hard to accept for a while. Han Gyeo Ul hitting someone. ‘School violence’.

Anyway, she had to go to the school. To ask for permission, Han Ga Eul called the boss with a trembling voice.

“Boss. Can I take a half day off today?”

“What’s the matter?”

“If a half day isn’t possible, you can just mark it as leaving early.”

“I asked what’s the matter.”

“They say Han Gyeo Ul hit another student at school.”

“Han Gyeo Ul? That little old man? Hit someone?”

Ki Dae Un questioned. It was hard for him to believe too. The thought of Han Gyeo Ul, who had matured far too early to be childlike, causing an assault incident.

“It’s probably nothing. All boys fight as they grow up.”

Ki Dae Un meant to reassure her, but Han Ga Eul, as if not wanting to deal with it, went to her desk and picked up her bag.

“Wait a moment.”

While Ki Dae Un was picking up his mobile phone, Han Ga Eul was already at the door.

“I said wait. It’s not first come, first served, why are you in such a hurry?”

Ki Dae Un quickly went and grabbed Han Ga Eul’s arm to stop her. What he got in return was a glare from Han Ga Eul.

“Does this seem like a joke to you, boss?”

“I’m telling you, going early won’t do any good. Listen to someone with experience.”

Experience? Did the boss also have a history of being involved in a school violence incident? As a perpetrator? Or as a victim? While Han Ga Eul was looking at him curiously, Ki Dae Un quickly dialed Jung Se Hyun’s number.

“Hey, Se Hyun. It’s another assault case. We need you to come quickly.”

Jung Se Hyun’s grumbling could be heard from the other end of the phone. He probably meant that he wasn’t in a position to be running to police stations. Still, Han Ga Eul watched Ki Dae Un talking on the phone with a desperate heart.

“It’s just a fight between kids, do we really need a lawyer?”

Han Ga Eul asked Ki Dae Un, hoping against hope.

“This kid really doesn’t know how the world works. The most important thing is to take the initiative in any situation.”

Han Ga Eul nodded at Ki Dae Un’s words. If the boss says so, then that’s how it is. Just like she experienced when she went to her maternal family’s house.