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Chapter 45
“What do you want to show at the gathering?”
“…Show?”
“To the people who’ll be there.”
We asked while standing in front of the high-end items. Eun-se, who had been busy trying things on and looking around, rolled her eyes and then pouted her lips.
“What does that matter? I don’t care what people who don’t know me say.”
“If you really didn’t care, you wouldn’t have asked me for help.”
“…”
“Don’t put up this half-baked pride. It just makes you look cheap.”
A sharp jab.
The truth was, she had already made herself look foolish plenty of times with meaningless displays of authority. Just now, too—she had bossed the staff around, making them bring this and that for no reason. That made her words sting even more.
Eun-se bit her dry lips and muttered quietly.
“I don’t want to be looked down on.”
“In what way?”
“Not in some childish way, just… the atmosphere. Like my mom… or my brother.”
Like you.
Eun-se stopped short of saying it, but instead looked at us. Even without luxury brands, heavy makeup, or pretentious speech, no one here looked down on her or treated her lightly. On the contrary, she was treated with respect. That was worlds apart from how she was treated when she was on her own.
Envious.
It was the attitude and elegance she didn’t have.
Understanding what she meant, we spoke slowly.
“Don’t act impulsively. Let them see that even a flick of your finger or a single word carries meaning. You don’t have to respond to everything, and you don’t have to pay attention to everything either. Look and judge with your own eyes, and say only what’s necessary.”
“How do I know which is which?”
She was twenty-six, wasn’t she? An adult, yet still young—at that transitional age just before full bloom. To Eun-se, caught in that phase, we offered the know-how we had learned early and thoroughly.
“You get an eye for it by seeing a lot. What’s good, what’s bad. What’s right, what’s wrong.”
We pointed at the items displayed on the counters.
All of them were beautiful and expensive, handpicked among the best.
“Normally, gifts are chosen to suit the recipient’s taste. But in a case like this, it’s about showing your own taste.”
Eun-se trailed after us like a baby bird.
“What’s the most important thing here?”
“…The most expensive one?”
She was listening but not truly understanding, giving the first answer that popped into her head. She was used to answering quickly even if wrong—it lessened the scolding.
But to her surprise, we nodded.
“That’s right.”
Eun-se’s eyes widened; she hadn’t expected to hear that’s right.
We picked up a ring from the counter.
“And you should be able to say why it’s expensive.”
The ring sparkled with a large gemstone. Eun-se tilted her head.
“But you said before that just being expensive doesn’t make something good.”
She remembered the conversation we’d had with Hye-won at the department store.
We handed her the ring.
“The criteria can always change. Sometimes because it’s expensive, sometimes because it’s cheap. Sometimes because it’s big, sometimes because it’s small.”
“How do you know all this?”
“Because I studied.”
“You studied this? Why?”
“Because I like it.”
We answered without hesitation, picking up another ring and admiring it.
“…Where did you even learn that? You… surely…”
You didn’t have the luxury to learn things like this—was that what she wanted to say? We only smiled lightly.
“I like beautiful things.”
The unapologetic desire made Eun-se glance nervously around.
“You can just say that out loud?”
“Do I sound shallow?”
“…A little.”
Her honest but sheepish answer made her look unexpectedly cute.
She put the ring back and shrugged.
“Even if it looks that way, it can’t be helped. It’s the image I created myself. If I regret it, then that means I was wrong. So if someone says otherwise, I’ll find a way to persuade them. I’ll make them acknowledge it.”
“…”
“That I’m right.”
—Twinge.
To Eun-se, who had only ever heard she was wrong, those words struck unusually deep.
She swallowed hard, looking down at the ring we had given her.
Afterward, as they bought gifts one by one, the two of them kept talking. About value, about meaning. Before long, Eun-se was listening intently.
That was rare for her. She had hated studying, and during her time abroad it had only brought her shame.
“What matters are the details. You have to read how finely something is woven, how carefully it’s crafted, even if it takes time.”
“Then for this one… should I check if the pleats at the end are the same number here and here? They look the same to me.”
“You learn quickly. Well done.”
Unfamiliar praise made Eun-se’s cheeks flush slightly. Praise had always been scarce for her—her efforts constantly fell short of expectations, especially after Yoon-jae came along and the comparisons began.
Her eyes flickered nervously, embarrassed.
“It’s nothing… such a small thing.”
“Exactly. It’s nothing. That’s the point. Now you try picking the next one.”
“Eh? No, I don’t know enough yet. Just tell me…”
“What’s the fun in just following instructions? You should enjoy choosing too. Doing only what you’re told is boring.”
“But if I get it wrong…”
“It’s fine to be wrong.”
We laughed lightly, taking off the sunglasses we’d worn all day.
For the first time, our dark gaze turned directly toward her.
“Because one day, you’ll be right.”
Her eyes widened at the clarity in ours.
Ba-dump, ba-dump.
For the first time, Eun-se met our eyes head-on, and her chest trembled with a quick, sharp flutter.
They were deep, sparkling black eyes.
The day was winding down.
By the time darkness had settled outside, the two had returned home.
Eun-se’s car pulled into the garage and the engine stopped.
Sitting in the passenger seat, we unbuckled and said,
“Today was fun. If something like this comes up again, call me anytime, Miss.”
“Yeah, sure. I will.”
The sharp edge in her tone was still there, but the hypersensitivity was gone. Even the title “Miss” no longer seemed to bother her.
“I’ll go now. Drive safe.”
We smiled brightly, refreshed by the day’s sparkle, and opened the door.
“Wait.”
Eun-se stopped us just as we stepped out.
We turned back. She reached into the back seat and handed us something.
“This.”
“What’s this?”
It was a small shopping bag.
“There’s an important event coming up, so… well, this much at least.”
Her words came out awkwardly. We looked up from the bag at her, puzzled by her darting gaze.
“…Am I going somewhere?”
She tilted her head as if it was obvious.
“You didn’t get an invitation from Eun-yang? There’s a charity event soon. I thought they sent one. Normally my brother goes alone, but not this year.”
Eun-yang.
That jogged our memory of the letter we had seen just yesterday.
“Ah…”
So that’s what it was.
“You might not know, but there are always a lot of these events. Honestly, it won’t be a pleasant place for you… but you can’t not go either. It’s not just anyone—the chairwoman herself invited you.”
And indeed, as Eun-se said, it would be a tough place for someone like Joo Ae-jung.
The Eun-yang Foundation’s chairwoman was well known for valuing success and putting honor and reputation above money.
And most importantly—
She hated people like me.
Ugly things disgusted her.
Still, with an invitation from someone as powerful as the chairwoman—who rivaled even the Yeongdo Group—it would be foolish not to go.
Not just a company dinner, but a gathering of the true elite. For Joo Ae-jung, it was bound to be unwelcome.
[There’s nothing you need to worry about.]
Sensing something odd in our silence, Eun-se asked cautiously,
“Wait… you really didn’t get it?”
Her words even carried a faint note of concern. We lifted the shopping bag.
“You know something?”
“What?”
“You’re a hundred times better than Ha Yoon-jae.”
Better than Yoon-jae. By a hundredfold.
To Eun-se, who had lived her life in his shadow, that was unthinkable.
We lowered our sunglasses before stepping out.
“Thank you, Miss.”
Click.
The door closed, and we walked away.
Left in the car, Eun-se pressed her palms to her burning cheeks.
“No. Don’t. Don’t like them. Don’t like them, Ha Eun-se! You’ve gone crazy!”
Back home, we paused at the unfamiliar silence.
We had told Madam Kim to leave early since we’d be late, so the house was empty.
Of course, it wasn’t the first time we’d come home to an empty house, but today it felt strangely unfamiliar.
“Maybe it’s because we were talking nonstop until now.”
The banter had come so easily, no awkwardness at all.
Dragging our heavy body, we headed to the room.
After washing up and taking off our sunglasses, our eyes felt more tired than ever.
“Something feels missing.”
We drank a glass of water, looking around the wide, quiet home. Then our eyes landed on the wine bottles lined up in the kitchen.
“Just one sip.”
After all, one cocktail had been enough to get us tipsy. Just a taste.
It was good the allergy was gone, but it was frustrating how poorly we held our liquor.
We gave up the hesitation and brought out a bottle.
With a glass poured—only three sips’ worth, we promised ourselves—we sat on the sofa and opened the shopping bag.
“What did our little Miss decide to gift me?”
Inside were two velvet boxes. One about the size of an adult’s palm, the other a child’s.
‘When did she…’
Smiling at her quick hands, we opened them.
Inside: a hairpin and a tie clip.
“Ha Eun-se, not bad taste.”
Clearly a set.
If the hairpin was ours, then the other, of course—
A pair.
A match.
…A couple.
We took a sip of wine.
They had shared more than expected. It hadn’t been long, but they had eaten together, talked, had coffee.
Not every moment was special. Many were fleeting, ordinary, trivial.
But put together, they formed a tapestry of memories without gaps. Countless conversations, endless sharing.
Right here.
The quiet house pressed in more deeply.
It was a strange emptiness.
She had always longed to live alone. When she finally moved out to Hannam-dong, she had never been happier.
But what she felt now wasn’t freedom or comfort.
We ran a thumb over the tie clip. Took another sip of wine.
Whsssh.
We could hear the wind. The faint tick of the clock. Sounds only heard when alone.
Blink, blink.
We pushed up the bridge of our glasses pointlessly, then let out a small laugh.
“….”
And then, the realization came. Not a hard one.
Maybe—
“I never actually wanted to be alone.”
She had only convinced herself it was good to be alone… because she had no choice but to be.
Now that she wasn’t, she finally understood.
She flipped her hand and looked at the ring on her finger.
She could take it off anytime. But it was still there.
Because he told her to keep it on. Because it was Yoon-jae’s will.
And suddenly, the truth struck, clear as day.
“…Ah.”
So that’s what it was.
Now, after sitting alone for a long time, she finally understood Madam Kim’s words.
[Wanting to be together, to talk, to eat meals.]
Even now—
[The one who comes to mind for no reason.]
All she could think of was Ha Yoon-jae.
