“Can you see that building going up over there?”

Hong Su Jin suddenly raised her hand and pointed to a distant structure. It appeared to be a tall building nearing completion.

Hong Su Jin seemed to want to change the mood. Her voice brightened.

“I heard they’re building a hotel there?”

“That’s right. I heard Pyeongan Construction is building it. Did you know? That spot was a place your mother coveted. I thought it was quite remarkable to see Pyeongan building a hotel there. I wonder if your maternal family knew it was land your mother desired? To think they’re building a hotel on that very spot.”

Ga Eul looked at the hotel under construction. Thinking it was being built on a site her mother had coveted made it seem less ordinary. But did her mother have an interest in real estate? Suddenly, a question arose.

“Mom coveted that land? But Mom wasn’t interested in real estate investment?”

“She didn’t want to invest in real estate, she wanted to buy that land to create an arboretum.”

Only then did Ga Eul remember her mother mentioning a few times that she wanted an arboretum. Her mother had spoken of it casually, but it seems she was seriously considering creating an arboretum.

“We thought your father had bought that land. Your mother’s dream was to have an arboretum. We thought he bought that land to fulfill her dream.”

Hong Su Jin confirmed Ga Eul’s thoughts.

“Your parents came here several times. To look at that spot. So our family came along too, like a vacation. Sung Mok’s dad was also looking into buying some land around here. It all fizzled out after your mother passed away.”

It wasn’t a coincidence that her family and Sung Mok’s family had come to Taean for a vacation together.

“Don’t you think your maternal grandfather might have bought that land to fulfill your mother’s dream? Then decided to build a hotel after your mother passed away?”

Ga Eul shook her head. Lady Jang Ji Hong said she first contacted them when her mother was sick. She also said her mother had refused help from her maternal family. So it didn’t seem like there had been any communication with the maternal family before or after that.

“I don’t think so. If my grandfather was that kind of person, we wouldn’t have been living without contact all this time.”

Hong Su Jin seemed to agree, nodding slightly before continuing.

“Then was it a coincidence that your maternal family bought that land? We thought your father was buying up land in that area. To surprise your mother. He kept it a secret from us, but that’s how it seemed. Then your mother passed away, and no one mentioned the arboretum anymore. We just assumed your father had sold the land.”

They couldn’t have asked her father. Ga Eul knows what state her father was in after her mother passed away. Everyone fell apart then.

To the point where they couldn’t even take care of each other. Then grandmother embraced Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul, father embraced Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul, and Ga Eul and Gyeo Ul embraced grandmother and father. That’s how they barely held on.

Sung Mok’s family and Woo Jin’s family were a great help then too.

“Auntie, I’m really grateful for back then.”

It was Hong Su Jin who took Gyeo Ul to stay with Sung Mok and bought clothes for Ga Eul in place of her mother. But how did we end up like this? We’ve come too far.

“I was too young then to realize how grateful I should have been. I was just lost in my own grief.”

Could this be the first step towards returning to their previous relationship? Ga Eul hoped so.

“Since we’ve come down, shall we find out how that land ended up with your maternal family instead of your father?”

Hong Su Jin seemed embarrassed and changed the subject.

“Can we find out? It must have been a long time ago.”

“We can ask the village chief. The chief’s land was included in that area. That’s why the chief arranged the land deal.”

“Auntie, do you know the chief’s contact information?”

These days, her father’s past has been appearing a lot in Ga Eul’s life. To come all this way and encounter her father’s past again. Ga Eul wanted to explore that past. It felt like she might meet the father she knew.

“I know where the chief’s house is. I’ve been there a few times. I think I can find it? I hope they haven’t moved.”

Ga Eul and Hong Su Jin set out to find the chief’s house right away, but the chief wasn’t home, so they returned empty-handed.

Still, if there was any gain, it was that the chief’s wife recognized Hong Su Jin. She asked Hong Su Jin if she hadn’t come with her husband before, looking to buy land.

The chief’s wife said to come back in the evening if they wanted to meet her husband. Ga Eul left her contact information. The fact that the chief’s wife remembered Hong Su Jin added credibility to her claim that Ga Eul’s father had tried to buy land in this area.

Chairman Oh had apparently spoken so badly of her father, yet Pyeongan Group is building a hotel on land her father had coveted. Ga Eul really wanted to find out if this was truly just a coincidence.

Returning to the resort, Ga Eul looked for Ki Dae Un but couldn’t find him anywhere. She wanted to tell him what she had heard from her grandmother and Hong Su Jin. Ki Dae Un seemed to have vanished into thin air.

When you need even dog poop as medicine, it’s nowhere to be found. Ga Eul grumbled. Who would have thought she’d be so desperately looking for the president she used to see annoyingly often. At this rate, they might end up having to talk on the phone despite traveling together.

Ga Eul decided to focus on having fun for now, forgetting about the president. So she went to the water park with her grandmother and Hong Su Jin. Sung Mok’s father had already gone there with Sung Mok and Gyeo Ul. The two families played as if there was no tomorrow before returning.

Hong Su Jin suggested getting massages to Ga Eul and her grandmother, who were too exhausted to move a finger from playing so much.

Ga Eul dragged her reluctant grandmother along and followed Hong Su Jin. Perhaps because it was peak season, they had to wait their turn at the massage shop.

When two empty beds became available, Ga Eul had her grandmother and Hong Su Jin go first for massages while she sat alone in the waiting room for her turn.

Shortly after, the manager entered the waiting room with two female customers. They seemed to have already received their massages.

“Have a cup of warm tea before you go. It’s customary to drink warm tea after a massage.”

The manager placed paper cups with tea bags for the female customers and left.

“What a low standard. This place is so tacky. Paper cups with tea bags? And the facilities are so old. How can anyone enjoy spending money here?”

“I guess the rumors about Jung Mi O’s father’s company struggling are true. Just look at the resort facilities. New resorts these days have such great facilities. When that hotel they’re building up there is completed, this resort will have to close down.”

They seemed to be acquaintances of Jung Mi O. It looked like they were about to start some serious gossip. Ga Eul pulled out a magazine from the rack. Then she naturally opened it to cover her face.

“Is that why her father put on that show with celebrities this time? Jung Mi O going to the orphanage with Roy to film a video.”

“Probably. What volunteer work would Jung Mi O do? Even a passing dog would laugh.”

Jung Mi O is really pitiful. Has she been hanging out with people like this all along? Birds of a feather flock together, so it’s not just their fault either.

“Jung Mi O’s father’s company must be struggling. That’s why they’re throwing dinner parties and putting on volunteer work shows to attract investors.”

“Is that why they’re having the dinner party today too?”

“Probably. I heard Jang Yu Jung is coming too?”

“Jang Yu Jung? Ugh, that crazy one? Won’t she just cause a scene again? Why did they invite someone like her?”

“Her dad is loaded with cash, you know. Rumor has it that Jung Mi O’s dad is trying to set her up with Jung Se Hyun.”

When Jung Se Hyun appeared in the gossip, Ga Eul’s ears perked up. She remembered Jung Se Hyun trying to date her to shake off his arranged marriage partner. The partner he said he couldn’t communicate with! She suspected it might be Jang Yu Jung.

“No way. Anyway, that means Jung Se Hyun is coming today too. Hey, let’s finish drinking and go. We need to stop by the beauty salon.”

“Wake up. Does your dad have as much cash as Jang Yu Jung’s dad?”

“You never know? He might fall for my beauty. You can’t predict these things. But isn’t Jung Se Hyun really handsome?”

“You’re crazy! But if Jung Se Hyun comes, will Ki Dae Un come too? Ki Dae Un is in Korea, right?”

‘Ki Dae Un’ came up too. Ga Eul’s head, hidden behind the magazine, tilted towards the two conversing women.

“If he’s in Korea, he’ll probably come. Where the needle goes, the thread follows. Jung Se Hyun is coming after all.”

“Right, Jung Mi O will make sure he comes somehow? She’s always throwing herself at Ki Dae Un. In the US, Kang Se Ra was always glued to Ki Dae Un’s side, but she’s not here.”

Even Kang Se Ra! So Kang Se Ra was always by Ki Dae Un’s side. No wonder they even got engaged. The forgotten Kang Se Ra once again stirred up Ga Eul’s mind.

“Now I see why they’re having this dinner party. Not only to set up Jung Se Hyun and Jang Yu Jung, but also to set up Jung Mi O and Ki Dae Un.”

“That’s not it. Ki Dae Un can’t stand Jung Mi O. Besides, Ki Dae Un’s father was kicked out of Sinhwa Group. So Ki Dae Un is just a third-generation chaebol in name only. You think Jung Mi O’s father, being who he is, would give his daughter to such a has-been?”

“If you’re done drinking, let’s go. I’m in a hurry if I want to get my hair and makeup done.”

The two who had been gossiping freely stood up. Just a little longer! Please tell me a little more! Ga Eul mentally cried out, wanting to hear more about Kang Se Ra and Ki Dae Un, but it was useless.

However, as the two were leaving the waiting room, they said something that caught Ga Eul’s ear.

“I heard rumors that Ki Dae Un is still rich, even though he was kicked out of Sinhwa.”

“How could that be? If that were true, Ki Dae Un’s father wouldn’t have committed suicide.”

“Suicide? Wasn’t it a car accident?”

“Sinhwa pulled some strings to make it look like a car accident, but it was actually suicide. There’s an even more horrific rumor. That Ki Dae Un’s father was killed because he couldn’t repay money he borrowed from the mafia. If Ki Dae Un had money, why would he let his father end up like that?”

“Really?”

Their voices faded away. Ga Eul put down the magazine, dumbfounded.

Suicide? Murder? The president’s father had met a tragic death. She wasn’t the only tragic protagonist. How did the president accept his father’s death?

It’s a meaningless question. She knows the answer. The president is trying to avenge his father. That’s how the president accepted his father’s death.

Her father was also involved in that death, they say. Thinking about it made it hard to breathe. She understood why the president had gone so far as to send her into Pyeongan Group to uncover who was responsible for his father’s death.

Ga Eul told her grandmother and Hong Su Jin that she didn’t need a massage and would go back first, then left the massage shop.

Ga Eul searched for the president again. More earnestly than before. It wasn’t to confirm the shocking facts she had just heard from the president’s own mouth.

But she felt she would be reassured if she saw his face and heard him make his usual offhand sarcastic remarks to her.

It was true that the president was trying to avenge those responsible for his father’s tragic death, but it would confirm that he didn’t harbor hatred towards the daughter of Han Myeong Hun, one of those responsible.

Saying she wanted to tell him what she heard from her grandmother and Hong Su Jin was just an excuse to find the president.