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Chapter 27
A shiver ran down her spine at the greeting, as if the man knew her personal details.
Bada stopped in her tracks and turned her head.
“…Do I know you?”
The man lifted his cruel-looking face and stared at her with snake-like eyes.
“I’m Manager Park from the Financial Adjustment Office at PL Capital.”
‘PL Capital? I’ve heard that name somewhere… where was it?’
At last, a memory linked to that name came to Bada, and she closed her eyes briefly before opening them again.
PL Capital was the place where her younger brother, Kangsan, had taken out private loans.
“How did you even find me here? You do know this counts as stalking, right?”
The man slowly stepped closer to her.
Up close, his fierce expression and imposing build created an uneasy feeling.
“So this is why I’m waiting near your home. These days, we don’t go around causing a scene at people’s houses like we used to.”
“…I thought all the loans had been repaid. Why are you here, then?”
“The principal has been paid, yes. But the interest hasn’t been.”
“Interest? I haven’t heard anything about that.”
“It’s about 300 million won.”
“How can the interest be more than the loan itself? Anyway, you won’t get anything from me here. Contact the borrower directly.”
“Didn’t you hear that your brother got into a car accident and is in the hospital? Well, I guess your mother didn’t know either. What a messed-up family you have.”
Bada was dumbfounded and let out a nervous laugh.
A car accident?
What had that bastard done this time? A headache washed over her.
“Even if Yoo Bada isn’t the borrower, you were the co-signer. So, damn it, that’s why I had to come all the way here!”
As the man swore, Bada froze.
‘Co-signer? Did Yoo Kangsan steal my digital certificate or something?’
Sensing danger, she hastened her steps.
“I really don’t have any money. You’d probably get more from dissecting Kangsan and selling his kidneys.”
“See? I’m being generous.”
The man immediately blocked her path.
“Today, I’ll let you go, but you need to know something—we always collect the money we lend, one way or another.”
“……”
“Since you don’t even have a home or a job, I’ll keep the interest a bit lower for now. I’ve gone this far for you, but if you borrow someone’s money, you should think about paying it back instead of pretending not to know.”
He licked his lips and ogled her in a disgusting way.
For a moment, Bada’s face burned with humiliation and the hair on her arms stood on end.
“Still, Yoo Bada, even though you’re a stray, you’ve got one thing going for you. Your face is decent… and your body isn’t bad either. If you want, I can tell you a way to pay faster. Just ask anytime.”
He brushed her shoulder and whispered a warning.
“Now, be careful walking at night.”
-Oh! No wonder I hadn’t heard from Kangsan. Turns out he got into a car accident while driving a friend’s car and is hospitalized. Poor thing!
When Bada called her mother after getting home, she finally learned the full story.
“No wonder things have been quiet lately. That kid really got into something, huh? By the way, did you know he owes 300 million won in interest alone?”
-Some man came by the other day, staring at me and threatening me so fiercely… I was paralyzed. Oh, what should I do! Bada, you’ve got some emergency savings hidden somewhere, right?
“I used my severance pay to pay off the debt already. Where would I even have emergency savings?”
-A girl with no money goes traveling abroad?
“Mom!”
Her mother insisted that Bada needed to come up with money somehow. She scolded her for not knowing how to get cheap loans despite working in investment banking and urged her to borrow from acquaintances, emphasizing that family had to stick together.
When that didn’t work, her mother began shouting in frustration.
-Selfish girl. Who sent you to study in the U.S. with money and effort? What about our poor Kangsan? If you’re going to be like this, pay back the cost of raising you! Right now!
Bada held her phone in a daze, speechless.
“The cost of raising me…”
The words stabbed her heart like a dagger, draining her strength.
She laughed like someone mentally unhinged.
“…Mom, have you said enough?”
When Bada was a child, her father had a small business, so her family was relatively well-off.
Her study abroad in the U.S. had actually been her mother’s idea.
Since Kangsan’s golf career needed support and having a student at home would be a distraction, Bada was sent abroad.
She was accepted into a scholarship program at a girls’ boarding school called Agatha Hall in rural Pennsylvania, a place with very strict rules.
Most students came from wealthy families, like her roommate Caroline, whose family ran a large business in Kentucky.
Unlike her affluent peers, Bada was on scholarship, always anxious and needing to prove herself academically.
Occasionally, her father gave her allowance, but most of her parents’ investment went to Kangsan.
She studied tirelessly to secure a university scholarship, surviving on cup noodles and pizza during unpaid internships.
Her efforts finally paid off when she landed a junior consultant position at a Big 3 consulting firm in New York—but her dream was soon crushed.
On the day she moved into a flat share in Brooklyn, she unexpectedly received a phone call from her mother.
Her mother’s voice trembled with sobs on the other end of the line.
-Your father… your father has passed away.
The cause of death was a heart attack from overwork.
Rushing back to Korea, everything was in chaos.
Her mother was in shock, and Kangsan couldn’t even properly take care of the funeral.
Moreover, her father had left behind huge debts. Despite this, her mother had been quietly borrowing money to cover Kangsan’s golf lessons while trying not to show her stress.
As Bada tried to return to the U.S., her mother clung desperately to her.
-Bada, how will I live without you! Sob… We have to stick together as a family. Please, please stay by my side.
At that moment, Bada faced a deep dilemma.
Her mother even half-threatened that she might commit suicide if Bada left.
So Bada gave up her career in the U.S. and decided to stay in Korea.
With tears welling up, she gritted her teeth.
It was then that she realized her mother had never truly loved her.
