Whispers of Autumn Wind (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
When I told the President that I’d scheduled a meeting with my maternal grandmother, they said: “Don’t let your spirit waver. You’re not going there to beg for help—you’re going to negotiate.”
The President also said that the most important thing in any negotiation is to stand on equal footing with the other party. “No wonder they’re called ‘President’,” Ga Eul thought, regretting how she’d underestimated them earlier.
“I heard you wanted to bring us in.”
One of the President’s pieces of advice was to strike first—the other side wouldn’t even imagine Ga Eul launching an offensive. If she seized that opening, she could secure a more advantageous position. Ga Eul followed this advice faithfully.
Yet, instead of surprise, Madam Jang Ji Hong’s face lit up with smug confidence—a look that plainly said she believed herself to be in the position of the benefactor, and that ultimately, Ga Eul and Gyeo Wool would have no choice but to bow before her.
“It’s unlikely you suddenly missed the warmth of blood ties. Isn’t it rather that you’ve abruptly found yourselves in need of us?”
Ga Eul struck precisely at the moment Madam Jang let her guard down. Madam Jang had assumed she held absolute power over Ga Eul and Gyeo Wool’s fate—and that assumption bred complacency.
“How bold of you.”
“There’s no reason for me *not* to be bold. What you think you can offer us—something we supposedly can’t live without—isn’t actually vital to us at all. Had Mother been hospitalized, or right after Father passed away, perhaps I might’ve eagerly grasped the hand you extended. But that’s not the case now.”
As if to prove she was just as audacious, Gyeo Wool chimed in beside her.
“Besides, I have absolutely no intention of becoming heir to the Pyeongan Group. I plan to become a doctor. With my grades, I can attend university on a full scholarship *and* receive a stipend. Once enrolled, I can even tutor to earn extra money—I’ve heard med students command quite high tutoring fees.”
The distance between smugness and astonishment was barely an inch. Watching Madam Jang’s expression shift abruptly, Ga Eul felt a rush of satisfaction. *President, I truly admire you*, she cried inwardly.
“Don’t misunderstand. Plenty of people are lining up to become the Pyeongan Group’s heir—you’re not indispensable. We haven’t even decided to offer you an opportunity. For all we know, you may not be worth it at all.”
“In that case, we have no reason to stay here any longer. We know our own worth. Still, thank you for summoning us today—I did want to see the place where Mother once lived.”
Ga Eul abruptly rose from her seat. The President had said never to fear a negotiation collapsing.
After all, if one side is desperate to close the deal, they’ll have no choice but to accept the other’s demands. Ga Eul faithfully adhered to the advice of the President she’d come to respect.
“Sit back down! Where did you learn such insolent manners? To jump up and leave before your elders have even finished speaking—just because you think you’ve said your piece!”
“I’m sorry.”
Ga Eul obediently sat back down. Madam Jang was right—she’d made a mistake. She’d let her own hurt feelings rush her into acting too hastily.
“No matter how little education you’ve had, I’m now reconsidering my decision to bring you in.”
Madam Jang should have stopped at verse one—if she had, Ga Eul might have sincerely reflected on her own impoliteness.
But like most people, Madam Jang was lenient toward her own faults while harshly scrutinizing even the smallest missteps in others. Thus began her verse two.
“It seems you grew up without parents and never learned proper manners. Such behavior won’t be tolerated in our household.”
“I’m sorry. I behaved rudely. But in our neighborhood, not a single adult ever said ‘grew up without parents’ to either me or Gyeo Wool. Everyone seemed to understand it’s something you simply don’t say to a child who’s lost their parents.”
“You’re truly reckless—refusing to yield even a single point, mocking elders entirely. Whom do you take after? Your mother certainly wasn’t like this.”
“And yet you severed ties with her. You ignored her even when she was gravely ill.”
Gyeo Wool finally erupted.
“And now, after all that—you summon us only because you need something—and then ask whether we hold any value…”
Gyeo Wool couldn’t finish. Their chest heaved violently.
“It wasn’t ignoring her. Was resentment toward your maternal family born from that? I actually visited your mother in the hospital. She’d contacted me herself—but when I offered help, she refused it.”
“You must’ve offered financial assistance. Back then, Father’s business was thriving, so financial help was unnecessary. Do you really think Mother reached out just for money? Probably, what she truly needed was *you*.”
Though Madam Jang raised her voice, Ga Eul grew calmer instead. *Coming here was a mistake.* For the first time, she regretted visiting her maternal family.
She realized she shouldn’t have even considered negotiating with someone like Madam Jang—a person who only remembers what they give, never what they owe. Quietly, Ga Eul stood up again.
“Thank you for giving birth to and raising our mother. That’s the sole reason I came once. From now on, don’t expect me to come, even if summoned. Gyeo Wool, let’s go.”
Gyeo Wool rose, silently bowed to Madam Jang, and then strode toward the door—outpacing Ga Eul. Ga Eul followed, but paused at the doorway and turned back.
“Since we walked here under the blazing sun from the bus stop, I’d feel regretful leaving without saying just one more thing: Did Oh Myung Se and Oh Myung Hee secure their positions in the group only *after* proving their worth?”
“What did you say?”
Without waiting for an answer, Ga Eul walked out. It wasn’t a question she’d asked for a reply.
After all, she’d already learned from Lawyer Jeong Se Hyun exactly who Oh Myung Se and Oh Myung Hee—grandchildren of Chairman Oh Gyu Baek—really were. Just what “worth” had someone like Oh Myung Se, a complete mess of a person, demonstrated to earn a seat in the group?
Speechless, Madam Jang Ji Hong could only glare at the door through which Ga Eul and Gyeo Wool had vanished, then pressed the intercom to order a housekeeper to bring her a glass of cold water.
Where had such hardened, world-weary children come from—children who not only refused to submit meekly, but dared propose a negotiation? She felt she needed at least a glass of ice-cold water to quell the rising fury in her chest.
Unlike Madam Jang, Ga Eul wore a relieved expression.
“Preparation really pays off.”
Ga Eul murmured this after stepping out the front gate.
“Exactly. President Gi Dae Woong truly is an extraordinary person. Everything unfolded exactly as the President predicted—it felt more like a job interview than a family reunion. Not all grandmothers are like ours, I suppose.”
Uncharacteristically, Gyeo Wool—who rarely revealed inner thoughts—spoke openly. It seemed Madam Jang’s cold demeanor had thoroughly worn them down.
“No wonder Mother left home.”
Was “I’m glad you made the trip” or “It must’ve been hard raising yourselves alone” truly so difficult to say? Had the meeting begun with such words, they wouldn’t have stormed out midway.
“Gyeo Wool, let’s truly live well. I’ll work hard under our President and learn everything I can. Our President isn’t at all like they appear on the surface. When I followed the President’s stock-investment advice, money actually came in. And their closeness with someone like Jeong Se Hyun—remember, he’s a lawyer—I overheard them talking, and he’s clearly no ordinary attorney.”
As they walked toward the bus stop, Ga Eul chattered nonstop. Even if Gyeo Wool said nothing, they too must’ve been wounded—by the icy attitude of the person called “maternal grandmother.”
Ga Eul looked up at the sky, still blazing under the unrelenting sun. It was a day she missed Mother terribly.
* * *
We’d vowed to live well on our own—but doing so proved far from easy. A few days after visiting our maternal family, I truly grasped just how difficult life can be.
Meanwhile, Ga Eul considered it fortunate that Uncle Han Myeong Ho’s intrusion had rendered her final farewell to the President ambiguous, allowing her to keep showing up diligently at the office.
After returning from the maternal family visit, Ga Eul recounted every detail of what happened to the President. Throughout the entire story, the President remained expressionless.
Only after hearing Ga Eul say she intended to continue working under them did the President—true to form—respond with casual disinterest:
“Just go get me a cup of coffee.”
As Ga Eul headed toward the break room, she cheerfully remarked:
“President, let’s buy a coffee machine. I heard you were raised delicately—let’s elevate our coffee standards a bit.”
Perhaps seeing the house where her maternal grandfather lived had jogged memories of the coffee Father used to drink. Those memories were immediately shattered by the President’s next words, ringing in Ga Eul’s ears:
“There’s already a café across the street, and someone here to fetch coffee—why bother? And what’s wrong with instant coffee, anyway?”
Come to think of it, she *had* frequently run across to that café for coffee when she first started working here—though she’d gradually stopped, perhaps from the time the President became addicted to instant mix.
While Ga Eul, now irritated, was preparing the coffee, her phone rang. The caller was Grandmother.
“Grandmother?”
—Ga Eul, something terrible’s happened. Gyeo Wool was involved in an assault incident. Gyeo Wool’s homeroom teacher just called—they say Gyeo Wool hit another student. They want me to come to the school, but I can’t—I have to prepare for the evening shift at the stall.
Grandmother’s voice trembled—she couldn’t quite believe Gyeo Wool had struck someone, yet she was already accepting it and worrying.
“I’ll go, Grandmother. I’ll handle it.”
Clutching her pounding heart, Ga Eul ended the call. Even afterward, the reality remained hard to accept: *Gyeo Wool* striking someone? *School violence?*
Regardless, she had to go to the school. To ask permission, Ga Eul called out to the President in a trembling voice:
“President, may I take a half-day off today?”
“What’s happened?”
“If half-day leave isn’t possible, you can just mark me as an early leaver.”
“I asked what happened.”
“Gyeo Wool apparently hit another student at school.”
“Gyeo Wool? That little old soul? They hit someone?”
Dae Woon echoed in disbelief. It was hard for him to accept too—that Gyeo Wool, who’d matured far too early and seemed nothing like a child, had gotten involved in an assault.
“It’s probably nothing serious. Boys fight while growing up, right?”
Dae Woon meant this to reassure her, but Ga Eul, seemingly unwilling to engage further, simply turned and grabbed her bag from her desk.
“Wait a moment.”
While Dae Woon reached for his phone, Ga Eul was already at the door.
“I said wait—it’s not first-come-first-served, so why rush like that?”
Dae Woon quickly moved to grab Ga Eul’s arm and stop them. In return, he received Ga Eul’s sharp glare.
“Does this seem like a joke to you, President?”
“I’m just saying, arriving early won’t help. Trust someone with experience.”
*Experience?* Had the President themselves been involved in school violence before—as a perpetrator? Or a victim? While Ga Eul stared, puzzled, Dae Woon swiftly dialed Se Hyun’s number.
“Yeah, Se Hyun. Another assault case. You’ll need to come quickly.”
From the other end of the line, Jeong Se Hyun’s grumbling could be heard—clearly conveying he didn’t consider chasing down police stations to be his job anymore. Still, Ga Eul watched Dae Woon’s call with desperate hope.
“Do we really need a lawyer for a kids’ fight?”
Hesitantly, Ga Eul asked Dae Woon.
“You really have no idea how the world works. Seizing the initiative is crucial in everything.”
Hearing this, Ga Eul nodded. If the President said so, then so it was—she’d learned that firsthand during the visit to the maternal family.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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