“What you’re saying isn’t wrong, but your mother’s family needs to be a decent household.”

Ga Eul’s grandmother is proud of her, but also worried. As Ga Eul’s grandmother, Yoon Jung Yeon’s duty is to protect her grandchildren from getting hurt.

“What kind of family is my mother’s side that you’re so worried about?”

“Pyeongan Group. Your mother was the daughter of Oh Kyu Baek, the chairman of Pyeongan Group.”

“Whew.”

Ga Eul let out a deflating sound. If she knew how to whistle, she would have whistled.

“What, this is beyond imagination. Mother was the daughter of such an impressive family? I thought she was just from a well-off family. You’re saying someone with so much money just watched their daughter die? They piled up money while living, ignored us during our hardships, and now they want to take us?”

If her mother’s family was just moderately wealthy, she wouldn’t be this upset.

“Will the person sent by the maternal family contact us again?”

“I told them I’d talk to you kids, so give us some time. So they’ll probably contact us again.”

Hmm. I see.

“When they contact us, tell them we’ll meet no matter what. We need to see those people’s faces first. How impressive they are. How impressive they must be to have looked down on father and us like that, I need to see and confirm for myself.”

Ga Eul’s mind started spinning rapidly. What she needed to do was clear. Before they contacted again, find out about that family’s circumstances. They wouldn’t be trying to take her and Gyeo Ul without reason. Ga Eul was about to start investigating that reason from now.

The problem was how to find out about that family’s circumstances. Ga Eul searched for Pyeongan Group on her phone.

The search results were mostly articles about Pyeongan Group’s business activities. There were hardly any articles about the chairman’s family. Only Oh Kyu Baek, chairman of Pyeongan Group, and Oh Sung Jin, president of Pyeongan Construction, were introduced on portal sites.

Ga Eul put down her phone and rubbed her face with her hands. It didn’t seem like it would be easy to find out.

While Ga Eul was pondering how to find out about the Pyeongan Group chairman’s family circumstances, there was a knock. The boss appeared with a shopping bag marked with a porridge shop logo. Ga Eul’s eyes widened in surprise.

So the boss is also human who can wake up at this hour. While Ga Eul was staring blankly at the boss in amazement, her grandmother welcomed him.

“Oh my, boss, this early… You came because you were worried about Ga Eul’s condition. Thank you. Ga Eul has improved a lot. She says she’s fine now and will be discharged today. I’m sorry for the trouble because of Ga Eul. You took care of everything yesterday and now you’ve come so early in the morning. I don’t know how to thank you enough…”

“Grandma, aren’t you going to work?”

Ga Eul spoke sharply, disliking how her grandmother was bowing and scraping to the boss. She didn’t think there was a need to be that subservient. In the days when her father was doing well, she had lived as a gracefully aged lady of the house.

“Oh, look at me. I won’t be able to see you discharged. Boss, I’m sorry, but could you please watch over Ga Eul’s discharge? I have to go to work… I know it’s shameless, but I’m asking for your help.”

They say we may not have money, but don’t we have pride? I want to tell the person who says that. When you have no money, you lose your pride too. Look at our grandmother. A lady who lived gracefully, shrunken after father passed away.

“Don’t worry and go to work. I’ll take good care of her.”

“Then, I’ll leave her in your care. Ga Eul, you need to do as the boss says. Don’t be stubborn.”

Oh my, look at how our grandma talks. How many times has she even met our boss? Do as he says? Does she know what kind of person the boss is? Does she trust the boss more than her granddaughter? Don’t be stubborn? Is the boss that trustworthy?

It was frustrating. When her ears were blocked, her nose got blocked too.

“Sniff.”

Ga Eul snorted. Whether she heard that or not, grandmother glared at Ga Eul and left the hospital room. This grandma, really…

“Are you really okay to be discharged today? I think it would be better to stay in the hospital for a few more days.”

The boss, who had lost last night’s high spirits, said. Ga Eul noticed that the left side of the boss’s jaw was darkened. It must be where he was hit by Young Min’s father. Seeing that, Ga Eul let go of the resentment she had felt towards the boss for last night’s events.

“If it’s because of the hospital bills… Young Min’s father agreed to take care of all the hospital expenses…”

“Young Min’s family situation isn’t that good either. Besides, Young Min and his mother caused an accident too.”

“Why do you care about that? That’s their family matter.”

“How much have we been indebted to Young Min’s family? And they’re neighbors we’ve known for a long time. I don’t want to make it difficult for the uncle. I’ll pay the hospital bills.”

“Look who’s being noble. The person who overcharged me 40,000 won for a 32,000 won hangover cure. Am I not a neighborhood neighbor? Haven’t I done you any favors?”

Oh. How did he know the hangover cure was 32,000 won?

“It was clearly printed on the box. Consumer price 32,000 won.”

The boss spoke as if he had read Ga Eul’s thoughts. Ga Eul was taken aback. Still, she quickly searched her memory. Is ‘consumer price’ printed on the box? Then she subtly changed the subject.

“Boss, do you happen to know anything about the Pyeongan Group chairman’s family?”

“Pyeongan Group? No, I don’t know much. I lived abroad for a long time, remember?”

Tsk. As expected, he’s no help. It’s my fault for having expectations of the boss.

“I should have known.”

Ga Eul easily accepted it. Claiming to be a third-generation chaebol, but as expected, he’s all talk.

“I was worrying about how to find out about the internal affairs of the Pyeongan Group chairman’s family, and when you appeared, I almost thought we were destined.”

“Are you still going on about romance? I should have hit your head a bit harder then. To bring you to your senses.”

“It’s because my situation is a bit urgent. I sent an email to Woo Jin telling him not to come to Korea, but there’s no reply.”

“Why Pyeongan Group? Want me to look into it for you? It’s not a difficult task.”

Ki Dae Un stepped away from Han Ga Eul’s romance talk. He maintained an indifferent expression, but he knew. That his plan to send Han Ga Eul into Pyeongan Group was progressing properly. The fact that the words ‘Pyeongan Group’ came out of Han Ga Eul’s mouth was proof of that.

“Can you really do that?”

As Dae Un was about to answer, Ga Eul’s phone rang.

“Yes, grandmother.”

− I came to the reception desk to pay your hospital bill, but it’s already been settled. They say a young man came and paid it just a while ago.

“What?”

Ga Eul’s gaze turned towards the boss. Whether he had heard the sound coming from the mobile phone, the boss had a face that said ‘I’m pretty cool, right?’

“I’ll deduct it from your salary.”

The boss said to Ga Eul as she hung up the phone. The words ‘thank you’ almost came out of Ga Eul’s mouth but were swallowed back. Instead, Ga Eul grumbled.

“Why on earth did you put me in a private room? It’s not even covered by insurance.”

* * *

Well past lunchtime, when Ga Eul entered the Dae Un Investment office after going around three convenience stores, the boss, sprawled on the sofa, glared at her with dagger eyes.

It’s an eye that criticizes, ‘What are you doing coming to work in that condition?’ It’s been like this for days. Should I be scolded for coming to work with an injury spirit? If not a reward, at least. Still, Ga Eul smiled and asked the boss.

“Lunchtime has passed. Boss, have you had lunch?”

“What have you been doing until now without even eating lunch? Are you protesting to me, asking for a raise?”

“How could that be? Don’t disparage my loyalty to you like that, boss. I’m really prepared to bury my bones in this company…”

As if he didn’t want to hear it, the boss flung a delivery catalog in front of Ga Eul.

“Order. I haven’t eaten yet either. I needed someone to come and order for me.”

Ga Eul’s face brightened.

“What should we order?”

“I’ll have jajangmyeon.”

Ga Eul’s face that had brightened crumpled again.

“Jajangmyeon again?”

“Yeah, I’m amazed at you who asks the same question every time despite hearing the same answer every time.”

“Boss, they say bone broth is good for injured bones. How about eating oxtail soup today?”

Ga Eul asked, mentioning a food name that caught her eye while flipping through the delivery catalog. It wasn’t particularly because she wanted to eat oxtail soup, but because she was sick of jajangmyeon.

“Did you injure your bone?”

“I hit my head, didn’t I? The skull is also a bone.”

“Tsk, alright, order it. Whatever that oxtail soup is. What kind of food name is that. It sounds suspicious.”

“Boss, have you never eaten oxtail soup? It’s a really healthy food. I really wonder what kind of life you’ve lived.”

Feeling the boss glaring at her, Ga Eul quickly closed her mouth. I should quickly order the oxtail soup before the boss changes his mind.

“Se Hyun will be coming soon.”

Dae Un abruptly said to Ga Eul as she was picking up her phone. Ga Eul looked at the boss with an expression that said ‘So what?’

“The friend who came to the office that time. He also went to your hospital room.”

“Ah, that handsome person.”

“Handsome? Is that a handsome face? And you, in that condition, could still notice handsomeness?”

Well, just because I have a bandage on my head doesn’t mean I can’t recognize handsomeness. Just as Ga Eul was about to talk back, the boss added.

“I told Se Hyun to look into the internal affairs of Pyeongan Group.”

Ga Eul’s eyes lit up. She abandoned the thought of talking back to the boss. Insubordination has its limits, how could she talk back to the heavenly boss?

“Actually, when it comes to looks, you’re much better, boss. Your friend’s face is, how should I put it, lacks character, it’s too typical.”

The boss is always right. He pays the hospital bills, gets the needed information. How could such a boss be wrong?

“Wipe your saliva before you speak. You’re drooling so much while talking that saliva is dripping.”

“Boss.”

Undeterred by the boss’s scolding, Ga Eul called the boss in a subtle voice and approached him.

“You like me, don’t you? Even though you scold me, you do everything for me.”

“We need to do another CT scan. Your head, it seems to have been hit properly. It’s not thinking about returning to normal.”

Ki Dae Un’s body retreated more and more as if trying to go into the sofa backrest.

“How can your words and actions be so different? You want to be nice to me, don’t you? We’ve grown close, both through tough and good times. So…”

Ga Eul came up to the side of the sofa and thrust her face towards Dae Un.

“What, what, so what.”

Unable to retreat further, Dae Un stretched out his hand to block Ga Eul’s approach and tilted his head back.

“Why are you so scared? It’s not like I’m going to eat you, boss.”

“Talk from there.”

“So, let’s date.”

As if there was an invisible wall between her and the boss, as if trying to transmit sound over that wall, Ga Eul shouted loudly.

“How about dating me instead?”

The answer came from an unexpected place.

“From what I’ve heard, if it’s that kind of dating, I think it would be fine to do it with me.”

Jung Se Hyun, who had suddenly appeared, was standing at the door with his head tilted.