Eun Seo, who returned home late at night in Seung Hyun’s car, sent a message to Seung Joo.

– Where are you? I’m home.

She knew exactly where he was. She had seen Seung Joo waiting at the bus stop earlier when she was in Seung Hyun’s car. She meant for him to stop waiting and come home quickly since she was back.

– I just stepped out for a bit. I’ll be right there!

Seung Joo returned home less than ten minutes after the short reply came.

“Elder sister, when did you get back?”

“Just now. I took a taxi. What about you?”

“I was studying and went out for some fresh air.”

Seung Joo didn’t say he had been waiting for Eun Seo at the bus stop all this time. Even though it was obvious how long he had been waiting, with his hands and ears bright red from the cold.

He must have been looking to see if it was me every time someone got off the bus.

Meanwhile, I was sitting across from his younger brother at an expensive restaurant!

Eun Seo clenched her fist tightly out of sight.

“Elder sister, what are we going to do about you working overtime so much lately? Have you eaten?”

Unable to bear the concerned look in his eyes any longer, Eun Seo headed to her room without even washing up.

“I’m tired. Going to bed.”

A gentle voice floated after her retreating back.

“Good night, elder sister.”

As soon as she closed the door, a sigh escaped.

“Hah……”

The thought of forcibly dating Kwon Seung Hyun made her nauseous, but there was no other choice.

[If father finds out, he’ll immediately declare elder brother incompetent or incapacitated and throw him out. Would that be okay?]

Seung Hyun is right. The moment this story reaches the chairman’s ears, Kwon Seung Joo is doomed.

Earlier, Eun Seo had clearly heard Chairman Kwon’s voice coming from Seung Hyun’s phone.

[You just focus on learning the company business. If that Seung Joo keeps acting like this, you might have to take over the company, right?]

As if he didn’t already want to take the company away and give it to his younger son. If they found out he had lost his memory…..

Seung Hyun had said it like this earlier.

[Do you know what Kwon Seung Joo’s life goal is? It’s to protect his position as successor at all costs and ultimately inherit the group. The Daewon Group was originally his dead mother’s property. He doesn’t want to lose it to me, the child of a mistress.]

Eun Seo knew that all too well.

Even after losing his memory, as soon as he learned he had a half-brother, Seung Joo had said firmly:

[I’m not particularly interested in being the successor, but I don’t want to lose it to that woman’s son.]

So how much worse must the original ‘Kwon Seung Joo’ have been.

Living with 18-year-old Seung Joo, she came to understand why 33-year-old Kwon Seung Joo had become that kind of person. A father who disapproved of him, a new stepmother who came through an affair, and the resulting stepbrother. Struggling to keep his place amidst that vicious environment, he must have gradually changed like that.

She wanted to die thinking about how she had condemned him as just an arrogant person born with a silver spoon, not knowing any of this.

Eun Seo wanted to protect Seung Joo’s dream somehow. She felt like she could do anything for that.

Even if it meant dating a disgusting person like Kwon Seung Hyun.

Of course, just because she had decided didn’t mean she wasn’t sad.

“Sob…!”

Only after pulling the blanket over herself did Eun Seo finally burst into the tears she had been holding back all evening.

*

When Seung Joo woke up at his usual time, Eun Seo had already left for work. She must have gotten up at dawn and left.

“She must be really busy with work……”

Seung Joo sighed, thinking of Eun Seo who must have left without even having breakfast. Suddenly something occurred to him. After waiting until work hours started, he messaged someone.

Not Eun Seo, but Sun Ah.

– Elder sister Sun Ah, are you feeling better now?

Seung Joo first asked after Sun Ah’s well-being. That day, after seeing Chris’s elimination, Eun Seo and Sun Ah had hugged each other and cried their eyes out.

A reply came back quickly.

– I’m not okay, but I’ll cheer up since our Seung Joo is worried about me.

Sun Ah’s ever-cheerful response brought a smile to Seung Joo’s face.

– But what’s up so early in the morning?

– You know, elder sister Eun Seo seems to be lacking energy lately, probably from all the overtime.

– I know, she looked tired this morning too. Is she exhausted?

– So I was thinking…..

Seung Joo began consulting with Sun Ah.

*

In early December, despite the bitter cold, Eun Seo went to work wearing the thin winter coat she had worn for years. Although the coat Seung Joo had bought her was much warmer and nicer, she couldn’t bring herself to wear it. She felt she didn’t deserve to wear it.

Seung Hyun, sitting next to her, whispered quietly so others couldn’t hear.

“Senior, let’s have dinner together after work.”

“Alright.”

Eun Seo replied without even looking at him. Seemingly displeased with Eun Seo’s attire, the chaebol son belatedly frowned his handsome forehead.

“But before dinner, we should go buy you some clothes first.”

“How generous.”

When she agreed readily, Seung Hyun made a rather surprised expression.

“Oh, I thought you’d refuse out of pride?”

“Why would I refuse something you’re offering?”

She wanted to show him that she was no different from the kimchi stew kind of girl he seemed to have taken a liking to, probably bored from always eating fancy food. She would wheedle and extract as much as she could from him. Then he would quickly tire of her too.

Not only that, but there might be a day when it could be usefully spent somehow.

Holding onto a glimmer of hope, Eun Seo tried to focus on her work.

Wondering why Seung Hyun wasn’t hitting on her for once, she saw him staring at his monitor with a rather serious face. Glancing over to see what it was, she saw it was the premium brand proposal.

Daewon Construction, which had narrowly escaped bankruptcy thanks to Kwon Seung Joo’s bold management strategy, was about to solidify its premium image by launching ‘First One’, a premium apartment brand, next year. Of course, being a core strategy, it was top secret, and this planning was the most important of the internal documents that had caused an uproar when Eun Seo allegedly leaked them before.

Clearly the document itself on Seung Hyun’s monitor was one Eun Seo had seen several times before, but the name was different. What was originally ‘First One’ had been changed to ‘First Class’.

“Isn’t that the First One proposal? Why is the name like that?”

When Eun Seo suddenly spoke up, Seung Hyun grinned and replied.

“Are you already getting interested in me?”

Not wanting to ask any further, Eun Seo turned her head away.

“Never mind.”

Eun Seo inwardly longed for lunchtime to come quickly. She just wanted to get away from that person, even if only for lunch.

But time passed cruelly slowly. Just after 10 AM, a startled voice was heard from somewhere.

“CEO?”

Startled, she looked up to see the real Seung Joo entering the office. In perfect form, wearing a suit with a tie neatly done up.

Though he had greeted the executives during the recent security-related commotion, this was the first time he was showing himself to regular employees since taking sick leave.

“Good morning!”

“Welcome, CEO.”

Greetings flew from here and there, but he only nodded his head slightly in response without replying, exactly like Kwon Seung Joo’s attitude.

‘Could his memory have really returned this time?’

Though her heart sank for a moment at the possibility, Eun Seo quickly shook her head. If his memory had really returned, he wouldn’t have appeared unnecessarily in the planning team’s office.

“Good work everyone. Don’t mind me and carry on.”

As expected, Seung Joo only gave a brief greeting to the people before quickly leaving the office.

She wondered if he had decided to return to work, but it was only the beginning of the second week of December. As long as he returned before the end of the year, he had planned to study as much as possible while dragging out the time until late December.

‘Why did he come?’

As she was thinking this, a message came from the CEO’s secretary’s office.

– Yoon Eun Seo, the CEO is asking for you.

And so Eun Seo ended up going up to the CEO’s office just before lunchtime began.

It was the first time entering the CEO’s office since that day. The day she had gone to beg ‘Kwon Seung Joo’ to postpone the demolition for just one year.

The moment she entered the office, her shoulders hunched reflexively. The gleaming crystal nameplate that seemed to intimidate people, the impossibly high ceiling, the view of the city seen through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the huge chair that looked like a throne.

Everything was the same as that day.

“Elder sister!”

Only the man welcoming her with a bright expression was different.

Seeing Seung Joo jump up from his seat and run over, Eun Seo sighed. It really is you after all.

“Why did you suddenly come to the company?”

He pulled out a lunchbox from somewhere and placed it on the table.

“You skipped breakfast before work. I was worried.”

When he opened the lunchbox lid, neatly arranged kimbap rolls appeared. She felt utterly deflated. To think he had taken such a risk to appear here for this!

“You came all the way here to give me this?”

“You’ve been looking so tired lately, I wanted to cheer you up. When I asked elder sister Sun Ah, she said you looked tired too and would probably like it if I packed you a lunchbox.”

Of course Sun Ah doesn’t know about the situation with Kwon Seung Hyun!

“Hurry and eat. Since the CEO called you, no one will say anything even if you’re away from your desk for a bit.”

Seung Joo even split the wooden chopsticks himself and handed them to her. Feeling her chest tighten, Eun Seo looked up at the ceiling when suddenly flustered voices of secretaries were heard from outside.

“Wait a moment!”

“You can’t just barge in like that!”

Then the door opened and Seung Hyun abruptly entered.

“What brings you to my office?”

Seung Joo immediately put on the ‘Kwon Seung Joo’ mask and looked at his brother.

“There’s someone I want to introduce to you, elder brother.”

“Whatever it is, let’s do it later.”

“No, it won’t take long. I should introduce you while you’re at the company for once.”

“Who is it?”

Seung Hyun gestured towards Eun Seo.

“Come here.”

As Eun Seo put down her chopsticks and stood up, Seung Joo looked at her with eyes that seemed to ask what she was doing.

As she approached, Seung Hyun affectionately put his arm around Eun Seo’s shoulders.

“She’s my girlfriend, elder brother.”