“Why aren’t they coming down already?”

Ga Eul kept looking up at the second floor, grumbling. It’s not like only the boss coming down would solve anything.

Ga Eul was waiting for the boss, Gyeo Ul, and Jung Se Hyun in the office. Today was the day for Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul to greet their maternal relatives.

Chairman Oh Kyu Baek had also invited Ki Dae Un and Jung Se Hyun, under the pretext of thanking them for helping Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul.

Dae Un and Se Hyun accepted the invitation to go and support Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul. The four were supposed to meet at the office and depart together for Chairman Oh’s house.

Ga Eul arrived first. Gyeo Ul, a high school senior who had to go to school even on Saturday, was to come to the office after finishing morning classes.

Jung Se Hyun arrived before the boss, who could reach the office in a stone’s throw from where he lived.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“No, thank you. Who knows what you might put in it.”

Jung Se Hyun declined with a grin. Ga Eul smiled back, embarrassed. It seemed Se Hyun had heard about what she did to Jung Mi O.

“I was really sorry about that time. I’ve strictly warned her, so Mi O won’t come here to bother you again.”

“I don’t particularly remember being bothered.”

Except for being told that the boss had a fiancée. But since hearing that shouldn’t have troubled her, she wasn’t bothered. Of course, her attitude towards the boss hadn’t been the same since then.

“Mi O might be willful, but she’s not a bad person. She probably came because she was curious about the person Dae Un likes.”

Ga Eul just nodded. It seemed that these people who lived above others had a unique way of defining ‘bad person’.

Considering they thought being willful wasn’t bad. Wouldn’t all crimes start with doing whatever one wants?

“By the way, is our agreement to date still valid?”

Se Hyun suddenly brought up the ‘dating’ that had been neglected like an unused item after being proposed.

“I think I’ll have to ask Ga Eul out on a date soon. I’ve been set up with someone, but normal conversation is impossible with them.”

“Is that so? Don’t worry. Dealing with such people is my specialty. We just need to show that Jung Se Hyun has a girlfriend who is by no means a pushover. That matchmaking partner will back off on their own.”

“That’s exactly it.”

In truth, Ga Eul had lost her enthusiasm for dating. Hadn’t Woo Jin’s mother repeatedly said that Ga Eul and Woo Jin wouldn’t work, even after hearing rumors about her and the boss?

It doesn’t matter if everyone else in the neighborhood believes it if Woo Jin’s mother doesn’t. Her dating was meant to be shown to Woo Jin’s family.

“But are you sure it’s alright? Won’t you be harmed if rumors spread about you dating me?”

“If that’s your concern, you shouldn’t have started. Can’t you handle family pressure on your own without getting help with your nose still running?”

Instead of Ga Eul’s answer, Dae Un’s rebuke was heard. Dae Un was coming down from the second floor.

“This matchmaking is a joint effort by my mother and uncle. You know I can’t refuse requests from those two.”

“Oh, I know, I know very well. Those two have put a noose called ‘favor’ around your neck. They gave you help you didn’t even want on their own accord, and now they’re asking you to repay it. You don’t want to be the bad guy, so you’re going along with what they want.”

“That’s enough.”

Se Hyun cut off Dae Un’s words. He seemed uncomfortable talking about his family matters in front of Ga Eul.

Listening to their conversation, Ga Eul felt a sense of camaraderie with Se Hyun. Wasn’t she also trying to do what Woo Jin’s parents wanted because of the help she received from them? Although in her case, it wasn’t unwanted help.

“You’re partly responsible for how things turned out. Things got complicated because you threatened your uncle.”

Se Hyun grumbled.

“Threatened? I just told your uncle to either get Mi O out of my sight or give up Cheonghae Construction. That’s all.”

“People call that a threat. Anyway, because of that, your uncle confined Mi O. He even took away her phone.”

“What does that have to do with your matchmaking?”

“My matchmaking partner is Mi O’s friend. Mi O agreed to separate that friend from me in exchange for me bringing her here. But thanks to you, Mi O’s hands are tied.”

“Tch, so you sold me out for your own benefit.”

What country’s story are they talking about? Ga Eul wondered as she listened to Dae Un and Se Hyun’s conversation. They were clearly speaking Korean, but she couldn’t understand the content of their dialogue.

She wondered who these people were, casually talking about threatening to take away the business of someone’s father who was bothering them, or about confining their daughter because she was interfering with business.

It seemed like she really didn’t know anything about Ki Dae Un, one of them. She hadn’t even known he had a fiancée after bickering with him in the same office for a year. So Ga Eul blurted out a question.

“How does a boss who just runs three convenience stores have the power to determine the fate of a big company like Cheonghae Construction?”

Ki Dae Un and Jung Se Hyun stopped their conversation and turned to look at Ga Eul. As if she had said something absurd.

“Are you looking down on convenience store owners?”

“Did you think all this time that Dae Un only ran convenience stores?”

Dae Un and Se Hyun asked simultaneously. Ga Eul couldn’t answer either question. The answers were too obvious.

“Seems like it. She’s looking down on convenience store owners.”

“That’s not true. How could I look down on convenience store owners when I can’t even dream of owning one myself?”

Ga Eul was being sincere. She might have looked down on Boss Ki Dae Un, but she had never, ever looked down on convenience store owners.

“Dae Un is the CEO of Dae Un Investment, you know. Don’t tell me you thought Dae Un Investment was a company that just ran three convenience stores…?”

The answer was definitely ‘yes’.

“So that’s what you thought.”

Se Hyun chuckled weakly.

In the end, Ga Eul didn’t get to hear what else Dae Un ran besides the three convenience stores. Just as Se Hyun, who had been laughing, was about to open his mouth, Gyeo Ul arrived.

The boss had a fiancée and businesses that Ga Eul didn’t know about. There were probably more things about the boss that Ga Eul didn’t know. The boss in front of her wasn’t the person she thought she knew. Ga Eul didn’t even know what she didn’t know about the boss.

* * *

On their second visit to Chairman Oh Kyu Baek’s house with Dae Un and Se Hyun, Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul received completely different treatment from the first time.

A security guard came out and immediately guided Dae Un’s car into the garage. There was no need to ring the bell or verify their identity.

Ga Eul’s group was guided by the security guard to the main entrance. Someone was waiting at the entrance. It wasn’t a housekeeper.

“Thank you for coming. I’m Oh Sung Bin.”

The waiting person introduced himself and offered handshakes to Dae Un and Se Hyun. Although he was an illegitimate son, the homeowner’s son had come to greet Ga Eul’s group.

“I’m Ki Dae Un.”

“I’m Jung Se Hyun.”

After finishing greetings with Dae Un and Se Hyun, Oh Sung Bin addressed Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul.

“Han Ga Eul, Han Gyeo Ul? Welcome. Let’s go in.”

Oh Sung Bin’s words seemed to carry his sincerity. Ga Eul received a good impression of him.

Even if his words weren’t sincere, at least he seemed to know how to treat people. Despite knowing that they were brought here to keep him in check, he welcomed them more warmly than Lady Jang Ji Hong.

The large room, like a banquet hall, that they followed Oh Sung Bin to was already filled with many people. As Ga Eul’s group entered, the murmuring in the room stopped, and everyone’s attention turned to them.

“Welcome, all of you. CEO Ki and Attorney Jung, good to see you too.”

Chairman Oh seemed to be in a very good mood. He even personally introduced each family member one by one. Ga Eul took in each of them with her eyes. These were people she would have to live with from now on.

Except for Chairman Oh Kyu Baek and his wife, Lady Jang Ji Hong, everyone was meeting for the first time, but due to her extensive prior research, they didn’t seem too unfamiliar to Ga Eul.

Oh Sung Jin and Shin Myeong Hwa couple, Oh Myeong Hui and Park Kyu Jae couple, Oh Myeong Se,

However, there was someone among them who wasn’t included in the prior research. Oh Kyu Baek’s younger sister Oh Suk Hyun and her husband. Oh Suk Hyun showed interest in Ki Dae Un.

“CEO Ki. It’s nice to see you in a place like this. I’ve heard a lot about you from your aunt. Your aunt Ki Mi Ryeong and I were college classmates. Ki Mi Ryeong bragged about her nephew so much… Do you keep in touch with your aunt often?”

“I’ve been too busy to contact her often lately.”

Hearing Ki Dae Un’s answer, Ga Eul was glad she wasn’t drinking anything. If she had been, she probably would have spit it out. The boss was busy? While sprawled on the sofa doing nothing?

After giving a brief answer, Ki Dae Un quickly turned his gaze to Chairman Oh Kyu Baek sitting next to him. Seeing this, Ga Eul thought the boss seemed to be avoiding conversation with Oh Suk Hyun.

Ga Eul had seen it right. Ki Dae Un was being careful not to draw attention to himself and his aunt Ki Mi Ryeong from the Oh Kyu Baek family.

However, the problem was that Oh Suk Hyun had no intention of stopping her conversation with Ki Dae Un.

“Oh my, I should give your aunt your regards instead. I’ll use it as an excuse to see Ki Mi Ryeong too. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her since we went to that Hong Kong art auction together last time.”

Oh Suk Hyun casually dropped formalities, acting friendly.

“Yes, please do. Tell her that her nephew is doing well.”

The conversation was cut off as Chairman Oh Kyu Baek suggested moving to the dining area. Dae Un wiped his chest in relief. He had almost been caught orchestrating Ga Eul’s entry into Chairman Oh’s house.

It was Dae Un who had planted the idea in Oh Suk Hyun’s mind that raising Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul could be used to keep Chairman Oh’s illegitimate son Oh Sung Bin in check. It was through his aunt Ki Mi Ryeong.

For this purpose, Ki Mi Ryeong had invited Oh Suk Hyun to join her at the Hong Kong art auction. The two became quite close during the trip and developed a relationship where they shared their family situations with each other.

To Oh Suk Hyun, who was complaining about how the mistress Son Su Kyung was trying to take over the group and make her son the group’s successor, Ki Mi Ryeong advised creating an ‘alternative’. Then she casually dropped the hint that grandchildren from a daughter were still grandchildren.

Dae Un scanned the people who had taken their seats at the dining table. This gathering was almost entirely his creation.

Of course, Aunt Ki Mi Ryeong had played a big role. Because of that, Dae Un had paid for the art pieces his aunt bought in Hong Kong. He had also covered her travel expenses, of course.

Whether it was worth investing that much money would be known in the future. Judging by how Chairman Oh was praising Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul non-stop, the start didn’t seem bad.

As Dae Un was savoring the fruits of his labor, his eyes lingered on one spot. It was the face of Oh Myeong Se, who was sitting next to Ga Eul. The more Chairman Oh praised Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul, the more rebellious Oh Myeong Se’s eyes became.

It was a danger signal.