Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul easily found the pension where they had stayed when traveling with Sung Mok’s family. Although many buildings had sprung up around it, the house on the hill overlooking the sea quickly caught their eye.

Sung Mok was also easy to find. He was sitting on a rock by the beach directly visible from the pension. It seemed he had been waiting for Gyeo Ul.

Gyeo Ul leapt out of the car and ran to Sung Mok. Ga Eul saw Gyeo Ul embrace Sung Mok tightly. Gyeo Ul and Sung Mok held each other for a long time. Were they crying? It was hard to tell from where Ga Eul was.

Then suddenly the two started running towards the sea. They jumped into the ocean with their clothes on. Ga Eul shouted for them to at least take off their clothes before going in, but they didn’t seem to hear.

The three adults who got out of the car watched this scene for a while before entering the pension. However, there were no vacant rooms, so they had to come back out soon.

The three adults looked at each other. They just realized they might end up homeless if they weren’t careful. Despite having three adults, they had only thought about having fun on the way down and forgot to reserve a place to stay.

It was a problem even a Gangnam building owner would have trouble solving. But they had Ki Dae Un. Dae Un made a call somewhere. After hanging up and waiting a moment, he received another call. After taking that call, Dae Un said:

“I found rooms. At a nearby resort.”

As it turned out, there was a resort nearby operated by Cheonghae Industrial Development. Cheonghae Industrial Development is a subsidiary of Cheonghae Construction, which is Jung Mi O’s father’s company.

So in the end, Ga Eul’s group benefited from Jung Mi O. Even Dae Un, who had been singing about how annoying Jung Mi O was, seemed to have reluctantly asked Jung Mi O’s father for help when in need.

After securing the rooms, Gyeo Ul and Sung Mok who had been running around in the sea also returned. The two came running back laughing, looking like drowned rats.

Seeing Ga Eul and grandmother, Sung Mok fell to his knees. Then he started sobbing uncontrollably. No matter how much Ga Eul and grandmother told him to get up, it was useless. So they heard Sung Mok’s confession in the pension yard.

“Elder sister, grandmother, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble for Gyeo Ul or elder sister. I thought if I said those things where there were many students, someone would report it to the student affairs office or post it on the school’s online board. Then I would be disciplined. And then…”

Sung Mok couldn’t finish his sentence and started sobbing again. Grandmother patted Sung Mok’s shoulder.

“It’s alright. People make mistakes in life. No one here is blaming you. Don’t I know you? I’ve watched you since you were little. I know you’re not the type to harm others.”

“That’s right, Sung Mok. You were Gyeo Ul’s best friend. When I heard you said those things to Gyeo Ul, I thought there must have been some circumstances.”

Although grandmother and Ga Eul comforted him, Sung Mok’s sobs grew louder.

“I thought my parents would give up on sending me to medical school too. If there was a record of disciplinary action on my student record, it would become impossible to go to medical school.”

“So that’s why you did it. How much you must have suffered… The adults pushed the child too hard. Now put your worries aside and rest well for a few days. Eat delicious food and have fun. Then you’ll realize that life isn’t really all that complicated. Let’s go eat something tasty first.”

“You two, go change your clothes first. You’ll catch a cold.”

While Gyeo Ul and Sung Mok went to change clothes, Ga Eul briefly pondered whether she should let Sung Mok’s mother Hong Su Jin know that they had found Sung Mok. She decided not to tell her right away. It seemed both Sung Mok and his parents needed more time.

Above all, she thought the parents should also experience some of the pain Sung Mok must have gone through. How much must the child have suffered to have thoughts of harming himself? She thought the parents would only reflect if they considered the possibility of losing their child.

So she decided to contact Hong Su Jin late at night. Her decision was certainly not due to any desire for revenge against Hong Su Jin for separating Gyeo Ul and Sung Mok.

* * *

Even as this was happening, a crisis was steadily approaching, but Han Ga Eul was unaware of it.

It wasn’t until she reached the front desk of the resort’s main building that Ga Eul realized the crisis that had befallen her. It was a crisis of her own making. For running her mouth carelessly just once.

‘Since I’m grateful to the CEO, I’ll cover the vacation expenses myself.’

Why did she say such a thing? It was something she had said just a few hours ago. Ga Eul had completely forgotten about it. The person who reminded her was none other than Ki Dae Un.

Ki Dae Un strode up to the front desk of the resort’s main building and stopped right there, waiting for Ga Eul to arrive. With his hands in his pockets, Dae Un nodded towards the front desk.

It was clearly indicating for her to check in. That’s when Ga Eul remembered she had agreed to cover the expenses, and boldly pulled out her card.

Until then, Ga Eul had thought it natural that she should pay for the travel expenses. She even welcomed the opportunity to finally spend some money. After all, she was now a Gangnam building owner. This much should be fine.

Ga Eul gave her name at the front desk and first confirmed the reservation.

“You’ve reserved two penthouses. May I see your ID please?”

“Just a moment.”

Ga Eul hit the brakes hard. Penthouses? That sounded ominous. And two of them?

“Did you say two penthouses?”

The thought ‘I may be a Gangnam building owner, but am I a sucker?’ flashed through her mind. Apparently, the CEO had reserved a separate penthouse for himself to stay in. Since she would be covering the expenses, without any burden.

“Is it not possible to cancel one of the penthouses?”

No to playing the sucker. Ga Eul asked the desk employee accusingly. Not realizing that Ki Dae Un was making an X with his arms behind her.

Dae Un was desperately signaling to the employee that cancellation was not an option. For him, it was an issue as crucial as life and death.

Since becoming an adult, Dae Un had never lived in the same house with another person. When he was very young, there was someone who took care of him and lived in the same house. But from his late teens, he always lived alone.

He had the person taking care of household chores commute. The worker would come after he left the house, and leave before he returned home.

It was because he couldn’t stand having people around. That’s why Se Hyun was surprised. Seeing that he had spent over a year with Ga Eul in that small office.

Whether due to Dae Un’s signal or not, the employee said firmly:

“If you cancel the reservation now, you’ll have to pay a cancellation fee.”

“How much is the cancellation fee?”

“The same-day cancellation fee is 100% of the room rate.”

“The room rate for one night is…”

The strength drained from Ga Eul’s voice. The answer came back that it was over 2 million won.

Gasp. A puff of air escaped Ga Eul’s mouth.

Ga Eul whirled around and glared at Ki Dae Un. The cancellation fee is 100% of 2 million won, they say. In the 10 minutes it took to come from the pension to the resort, she was about to incur a 2 million won cancellation fee.

Ki Dae Un suddenly went from being a hero who had skillfully secured rooms at an unbooked vacation spot during peak season, to a shameless guy who unnecessarily rented two penthouses and was about to waste 2 million won in one night.

Even shamelessness has its limits; how could he think to use an entire four-bedroom penthouse by himself?

“Sir, I said I would spend money, not waste it. This is not right…”

Saying those words while holding the card in her hand was Ga Eul’s mistake. Ki Dae Un quickly snatched the card from Ga Eul’s hand and passed it to the front desk employee.

“Please process the payment.”

Dae Un spoke with an authoritative attitude unbefitting a CEO on vacation with his subordinate.

The front desk employee quickly swiped the card. He put his curiosity aside for now.

Before Ki Dae Un’s group arrived, he had received a call from the resort CEO’s secretary. A VIP was expected to arrive, so they were told to pay special attention to the service.

But the VIP who appeared was not very VIP-like.

Usually, VIPs were first guided to their pre-booked room and the check-in procedure was carried out in the room.

But Ki Dae Un stood firmly at the front desk, delegating the payment to a woman who certainly didn’t look like someone who would pay 2 million won to stay in a penthouse for one night.

They were said to be acquaintances of the head office CEO. Customers who needed special attention and whose requests should all be granted.

The shabbiness was extraordinary. As he finished processing the room charge and returned the card, the front desk employee let out a sigh of relief. At least the check-in was completed without major trouble.

Ga Eul also let out a sigh. Being a Gangnam building owner wasn’t easy. She wondered how other Gangnam building owners managed. Ga Eul put the card back in her wallet with trembling hands.

The next person to tremble after Ga Eul was grandmother. As she looked around the penthouse facilities, grandmother gradually lost her expression.

The penthouse had a private garden with a swimming pool and jacuzzi. Inside, there was a living room with a ceiling open to the second floor and a magnificent chandelier.

When they entered the master bedroom where grandmother would stay, grandmother gently pulled on Ga Eul’s arm.

“What are you trying to do?”

To grandmother’s eyes, Ga Eul must look out of her mind. Even when her father’s business was doing well, grandmother had never enjoyed such luxury.

“It’s alright, grandmother. Just look around the accommodations.”

As she went out to bring in grandmother’s luggage, Ga Eul heard words that eased her mind a bit.

“Are we dividing by gender? Then we’ll be over there.”

Gyeo Ul and Sung Mok picked up their luggage and followed the CEO. The CEO looked at them with a troubled expression before turning to lead the way. Even the CEO couldn’t easily refuse the younger sibling of the person who paid. Serves you right, Mr. CEO. About 1/100th of her anger dissipated.

“We could just rent one. There’s enough room for all of us here. Isn’t this place expensive?”

Yes, grandmother, it’s insanely expensive. That’s why we’ll have to end the vacation after just one night. It’s all because of that shameless CEO.

“Grandmother, please sit here for a moment.”

Ga Eul seated grandmother on the luxurious sofa in the living room.

If she didn’t explain properly now, grandmother would spend the entire vacation worrying about money.

Ga Eul told grandmother about how she came to own a building in Gangnam. Of course, she left out the part about what Oh Myeong Se had tried to do to her.

“Is it okay to just accept something like that out of the blue?”

“It’s fine. According to Attorney Jung, it’s a share we would receive anyway when grandfather passes away. Let’s just think of it as receiving it in advance.”

“Well, I’m not sure about this. They might ask for it back, so don’t increase your spending. Once spending habits increase, it’s not easy to cut back.”

She must be talking about her own experience.

Having lived her whole life pinching pennies from her low-paid husband’s salary, how happy grandmother must have been when her son started making good money from his business. After losing that son so tragically, grandmother gritted her teeth for Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul’s sake. Without even taking time to grieve.

“Come on, they wouldn’t really ask for it back, would they?”

“Well…”

Grandmother avoided Ga Eul’s gaze and looked into empty space. Ga Eul instinctively felt there was something more to it.