Eun Seo, who had left the amusement park, trudged home alone.

It wasn’t even lunchtime yet when she got off the bus. The sky was so blue without a single cloud, making the autumn-colored street trees look even more vividly beautiful. Not wanting to go inside on such a nice day, she wandered around the neighborhood and found herself near her alma mater, Korea Girls’ High School.

Peeking into the convenience store, she saw Na Eun working alone at the counter.

“Hi Na Eun!”

As Eun Seo entered, Na Eun, who had been thoroughly tricked last time, immediately gave her a wary look.

“Why are you here again, lady? My elder brother isn’t here today.”

“Why else would I come to a convenience store?”

Eun Seo bought a few cans of beer and sat down on a nearby park bench to open one. Taking a sip of the cold beer made her chest feel frozen, but it did nothing to clear her blocked mind.

‘Why am I in such a bad mood?’

Is it because I came home alone when the weather is so nice?

Or because I couldn’t even go inside the amusement park I visited for the first time in my life?

Her mood was definitely at rock bottom, but she couldn’t figure out why. While looking into her own muddy, clouded feelings, the beer can had emptied before she knew it.

As she was about to open the second can, a voice came from above her head.

“Wow, an old lady drinking alone in the park in broad daylight is really ugly. I should never grow old like that.”

Na Eun was looking down at her with folded arms, shaking her head.

“Why are you following me out here and picking a fight? Don’t you have work?”

“My shift ended, so I switched out, you know?”

Na Eun sat down next to Eun Seo and casually reached for a beer can from the plastic bag. Of course, Eun Seo immediately grabbed her wrist.

“Stop right there. Where do you think you’re snatching beer from?”

“Oh come on, you looked so pathetic drinking alone that I was going to join you,” Na Eun protested.

“Are you really being stingy over a measly four-pack that cost 10,000 won?”

“Not until the day I die. Go get yourself a soda instead.”

Eun Seo dug out a 1,000 won bill from her pocket and handed it over. Na Eun grumbled as she headed toward the vending machine. As Na Eun returned with the drink, Eun Seo scooted over a bit and said,

“You know what? I’m your senior from high school by quite a few years.”

“Are you bragging about being old now?”

That backfired spectacularly.

“So what’s really going on between you and my elder brother?”

Eun Seo sighed and tilted her beer can.

“Why are you so curious? Whatever is between us, it’s not like you have a chance with Seung Joo anyway.”

“Why not? Is it because he’s the CEO of Daewon Construction?”

Eun Seo nearly spat out her beer.

“How did you know that?”

As Eun Seo stared with wide eyes, Na Eun shrugged.

“It doesn’t make sense for someone with that face to be working part-time at a convenience store. I thought he must have been a singer or actor or something in the past, so I searched his name. Turns out he’s not a celebrity, but a businessman?”

Well, someone of Seung Joo’s status would have his face pop up just from searching his name.

“Did you tell anyone about this? Did you?”

Eun Seo hastily looked around and lowered her voice to press her, but Na Eun shook her head.

“I didn’t. I figured there must be some story behind it.”

Eun Seo let out a sigh of relief for now. It seems this girl has more sense than she appears to.

Of course, there were clear limits to that sense.

“Could it be that my elder brother’s family is against you, so you two are on some kind of love escape?”

Eun Seo chuckled at the outrageous imagination.

“It’s not that kind of relationship.”

As soon as she said that, Na Eun nodded as if she had expected it.

“I thought so. It didn’t seem likely.”

“Aren’t you agreeing too easily?”

When Eun Seo bristled, Na Eun snorted.

“Don’t you look in the mirror? How could someone like you match up with my elder brother?”

I guess anyone would think that. Eun Seo became sullen, then startled.

Is this something I should be sullen about?

Na Eun opened her drink can, took a sip, and asked in a slightly softer voice.

“So, what’s going on that you’re drinking alone in the middle of the day?”

Is she offering to listen to my troubles now?

Eun Seo hesitated a bit before opening her mouth. With the feeling of the emperor’s ears being donkey ears.

“You see, my best friend is interested in a… an elder brother I know.”

“And?”

“She asked me to help them get together, so the three of us went to the amusement park today. I slipped away alone in the middle, but now I feel strangely down.”

Na Eun shrugged.

“Sounds like you have feelings for that person, that’s all.”

This time, Eun Seo really did spit out her drink. Na Eun jumped back, exclaiming “Ew, gross!”

“Me?”

As Eun Seo wiped her mouth and asked, Na Eun replied as if it were obvious.

“Of course. Why else would you be moping here alone drinking in the daytime?”

Eun Seo thought about it. No, that can’t be. Seung Joo is just an eighteen-year-old, cute younger brother and…

[It would be a crime if I got together with him.] [That’s right. I forgot. You were originally an adult.]

No, Seung Joo is actually a perfectly normal adult.

The moment she realized this fact, Eun Seo recalled something she had long forgotten.

That originally, Kwon Seung Joo was someone she would deliberately go far out of her way to avoid because she got so flustered when she ran into him.

“I didn’t think you were this dense, lady. Not even knowing your own feelings.”

Na Eun clicked her tongue, shaking her head.

“Anyway, that’s good. You can try things out with that elder brother guy, and leave our Seung Joo elder brother alone.”

Of course, Eun Seo had no intention of pursuing him, but Na Eun’s attitude made her want to tease her a bit.

“What about you? You know what Seung Joo does, right? Do you think he’d even notice a high school student like you?”

However, Na Eun wasn’t intimidated at all.

“Am I going to be a high schooler forever? I can meet him when I go to college. By then, he’ll be thirty-five, and if a fresh twenty-year-old college girl shows interest, wouldn’t that be totally welcome?”

Her boldness to the point of audacity was rather cute.

“Well then, lady, this fresh high schooler will be on her way. Good luck with your solo drinking!”

Na Eun waved her hand as she threw her empty drink can towards a distant trash can.

Frustratingly, it was a perfect shot.

*

After Eun Seo left first, Sun Ah and Seung Joo entered the amusement park.

“Seung Joo, shall we ride that?”

Seung Joo obediently followed Sun Ah’s lead, but he seemed somewhat distracted the whole time.

It was such a bright autumn day. There were so many people that after riding just two or three attractions, it was already time for lunch.

They went to the picnic area set up for dining, and Seung Joo took out a lunchbox from his bag.

“Kimbap? Did Eun Seo make it?”

“I made it. Please eat a lot, elder sister.”

“Our Seung Joo is prime husband material!”

Watching Sun Ah quickly grab a kimbap and put it in her mouth, Seung Joo suddenly asked,

“Elder sister, why did you think I was a good person?”

“Huh?”

“Eun Seo elder sister told me. She said I’m usually the type to turn people off, but you’re the only one who doesn’t think so. She said you thought I had a warm heart inside… and that I should ask you directly for the reason.”

“Ah, that.”

Sun Ah explained about the shareholders’ meeting incident while eating the kimbap.

The very incident where she attended an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting as a minority shareholder, and when the agenda for appointing the CEO came up, she shouted “There’s no future for this company without Director Kwon Seung Joo!” in front of the other shareholders before being gloriously kicked out.

“At that time, you definitely mouthed ‘thank you’ to me, right? But Eun Seo absolutely wouldn’t believe it. She kept saying it wasn’t like your personality. She insisted so much that even I started to wonder if I had seen it wrong.”

Sun Ah laughed, but Seung Joo was serious.

“No, I probably did say thank you.”

Sun Ah looked at Seung Joo in surprise.

“What? Don’t tell me you actually remembered?”

“I don’t remember. But thinking about the situation, I probably did.”

The version of himself he saw through the screen truly lacked any hint of humanity. At first, he thought it was unpleasant, but the more he studied about the company, the more his thoughts changed. He seemed to understand why he had become such an airtight person to the point of being off-putting.

…Because if he showed even the slightest weakness, he would be torn apart immediately.

Sending the eldest son to Daewon Construction, a failing affiliate, was an outright insult. Others must have known this too. Who would support someone already out of favor with the chairman?

Looking at the minutes of board meetings Sun Ah had sent, his proposed projects were often thwarted by opposition from other executives. Even the consortium with Daehan Construction, which became the dramatic turning point in saving the company, was barely achieved after he personally went to meet the chairman of Daehan Construction for a private meeting, and even this almost fell through due to opposition from the board.

He literally grabbed the company by the collar and pulled it up, becoming CEO for his efforts, but even that process wasn’t easy. Although the appointment was made by Chairman Kwon, the group’s head, the board opposed it. They had sensed the chairman’s true intentions – that while he made the appointment for appearance’s sake, he actually hoped it would be rejected by the board.

In the end, it was rejected by the board and barely passed at the shareholders’ meeting.

“There was no one on my side in the company, so it was the shareholders who made me CEO. How grateful must I have been to someone who openly took my side at such an important moment?”

“Ah…”

“Thank you, elder sister. For being on my side.”

Sincerity shone in Seung Joo’s eyes.

The feeling of being directly acknowledged by one’s favorite idol…!

How lonely and difficult her fandom life had been without even one fellow fan. With this one sentence, Sun Ah felt compensated for all of the past 6 years she had lived as his fan.

“It’s nothing, I didn’t do much.”

Feeling like she might cry if she wasn’t careful, Sun Ah tensed her eyes and glared at the innocent Ferris wheel.

“And elder sister.”

Suddenly, Seung Joo’s gaze became serious. Just as Sun Ah’s heart made a thump at the thought of what might come, a confession really did fly out.

“I like Eun Seo elder sister.”

A confession directed at another woman.

“I can’t ask you to take my side on this too, but I wanted to be honest with you at least.”

To Sun Ah, who had forgotten even to breathe, Seung Joo wore a sincerely apologetic face.

“I’m sorry, elder sister.”

After a long silence, Sun Ah suddenly smiled brightly.

“Why are you sorry to me? I’m your fan, not someone who wants to date you.”

“…Elder sister.”

“I got to hear you call me elder sister, heard you say thank you, rode amusement park rides alone with you, and ate kimbap you made. This is enough to have hit the jackpot dozens of times over. So you have absolutely nothing to be sorry about to me.”

Sun Ah said firmly, then put on a serious expression.

“But you, it’s fine that you like Eun Seo, but can you take responsibility until the end?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if your feelings change when your memories return later?”

When Eun Seo had asked the same question, Sun Ah had answered, “We can worry about later things later, are you going to not make kimchi because you’re afraid of maggots?” But now that it wasn’t about herself but about Eun Seo, she was indeed worried.

Eun Seo was a kind and serious person. Moreover, at twenty-seven, she had never dated a man, let alone been on a date. If she and Seung Joo became close, and his attitude changed when his memories returned, she would be deeply hurt.

“They won’t change.”

Seung Joo said emphatically.

“I think I probably liked Eun Seo elder sister even before I lost my memories.”

“Why?”

“I just have that feeling.”

For someone without memories, his voice carried quite a bit of certainty.

Sun Ah thought about it. The two were in a CEO and regular employee relationship. Even as landlord and tenant, they had only contacted each other for the first time in 15 years after receiving an eviction notice. So they had no points of contact, how could he have liked her?

However, given how confidently he was speaking, there was no choice but to believe him.

“Eun Seo is a good person. Don’t hurt her and treat her well.”

Seung Joo, who had been sincerely grateful, suddenly became gloomy.

“But I don’t think Eun Seo elder sister likes me.”

“Why?”

“I’m just an old man. Elder sister is six years younger than me…”