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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: A Rather Comforting Night
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Yeongin took off her shoes, recalling Haeyun, who had talked about nothing but Seonghyeok throughout dinner. She had heard the word ‘Daepyo-nim’ so many times it still echoed in her ears.
Suddenly, words he had spoken that morning flashed through her mind.
“Tell me yourself before you hear it from someone else.”
Entering the living room, hoping to just get it over with today, she saw a familiar face. Of course, she didn’t expect the other person to be happy to see her.
“Hey, did you stay out last night?”
Arim, sitting on the sofa, simultaneously shot a cold question and a sharp glare.
“Something came up.”
“How can you stay out without even contacting us?”
“I’ll contact you next time.”
“Just don’t stay out.”
“You know how unpredictable this job is.”
Though she had become much more relaxed than before, there were still times she had to rush to a filming location in the provinces or stay overnight at the company. Even if she vowed never to stay out again like last night, promising not to stay out at all was impossible.
“What’s so great about your job that you’re acting so high and mighty?”
Since Yeongin became a manager, the most common thing she heard from her family was that they had spent a lot of money sending her to a good university only for her to end up acting as a servant for celebrities.
“I’m not acting high and mighty; I’m talking about the unique nature of my job.”
“Make sure your behavior is proper so people don’t say you weren’t raised well. Don’t bring shame to our mom and dad.”
“Alright.”
Yeongin replied in an indifferent tone.
It was something she heard periodically, so it wasn’t particularly new. It just made her desire for independence even stronger on days like today.
The reason Yeongin was treated like an outcast in this house was Director Chae, who wouldn’t permit independence outside of marriage. When it came to independence, Beomjun and Arim were in the same boat.
Director Chae and Gwak Yeosa were a couple who publicly practiced noblesse oblige. As part of their moral obligation, they encouraged adoption, and without Yeongin’s consent, they went around telling everyone that Yeongin was adopted.
Unlike the couple’s boast that they had given birth to their youngest daughter in their hearts and raised her with love, all Yeongin actually received from her adoptive parents was discrimination and abuse.
In return for being fed, sheltered, and educated, she never spoke about her adoptive parents’ double-faced nature to anyone. She had never even told Seonghyeok herself.
“Unnie, I changed jobs.”
If she told her Unnie, her Oppa would hear, and if she told her Oppa, her Unnie would hear, so telling just one of them was enough.
“Changed jobs? Where to?”
Arim tilted her head, confused by the abrupt change of topic.
“SL Entertainment.”
“What? SL?”
“Hyesung was acquired and merged with SL Entertainment. I started working at SL yesterday. And Seonghyeok Seonbae is the CEO of SL Entertainment.”
“What are you talking about? Why would Seonghyeok Oppa go to SL Entertainment? He said he was going to the Management Planning Division. You heard it too.”
Just then, Beomjun shuffled in. His face was flushed, and his tie was half-loosened, as if he had been drinking.
As soon as Arim saw him, she instantly asked,
“Oppa, is it true?”
“What is?”
His furrowed brow conveyed, ‘I’m exhausted, why are you bothering me?’
“That Seonghyeok Oppa didn’t go to the Management Planning Division.”
“What nonsense.”
“They say he went to SL Entertainment?”
“Who said that?”
“She did.”
Beomjun’s gaze followed Arim’s fingertip. Only then did he notice Yeongin’s presence.
“What are you talking about?”
“Hyesung was acquired and merged with SL Entertainment, so I started working at SL yesterday. And Seonghyeok Seonbae is the CEO of SL Entertainment.”
Yeongin repeated the same words like a parrot.
“Why did Seonghyeok go there?”
“Why ask me? Ask him yourself.”
Beomjun immediately pulled out his phone and called Seonghyeok.
“He hasn’t answered my calls or called back for days, what’s going on…”
While he grumbled, the call connected.
“Hey, you punk.”
Arim sprang up and rushed to Beomjun, pressing her ear to his phone. She wanted to hear what Seonghyeok was saying with her own ears.
“I’m busy. Get straight to the point.”
No matter how hard he tried to pull her away, she clung on stubbornly and wouldn’t let go, so Beomjun resignedly pressed the speakerphone button. Then, glaring at Arim as she stepped back, he spoke into the phone.
“Is it true you went to SL Entertainment?”
“Yes.”
“Why suddenly?”
“Because I realized what I wanted.”
“Did you suddenly become interested in the management business?”
“No, something else.”
“Oh, then the content business?”
“I don’t have time to play twenty questions with you. Hang up if you’re done.”
Beomjun had no idea in his wildest dreams that what Cha Seonghyeok wanted was a person, and that person was Chae Yeongin.
Only Yeongin, who was hearing every word Seonghyeok said thanks to Arim, bit her lip.
“You should have told me beforehand. It’s upsetting to hear it from someone else.”
“Who told you?”
“Yeongin.”
“Ah, I acquired and merged a few solid management companies, including the one Yeongin worked for. I’ve been too busy getting a grasp on the work to contact anyone. Is there anything else I need to say?”
“No, nothing. Good luck.”
Beomjun, who had quickly hung up, afraid of upsetting Seonghyeok, strode off to his room.
“Hey.”
Yeongin, who had quietly started walking towards her room, paused and turned her head. A venomous gaze was fixed on her.
“You, if you flirt with Seonghyeok Oppa, I won’t let you get away with it. I’ll kill you.”
“That won’t happen.”
“Get out.”
Arim glared at Yeongin, who silently walked up the stairs, as if to kill her.
She hated everything about Chae Yeongin, but what she hated most was her calm expression and serene gaze. Listening to her composed tone made Arim feel vulgar, which only fueled her anger further.
A few months ago, one weekend, while they were all having dinner, her father had asked Yeongin about the company’s current situation. She remembered Yeongin saying then that the company might be sold.
Hyesung’s sale had been in progress for at least several months, and since SL hadn’t just acquired Hyesung, there was nothing strange about it at all.
Yet, she couldn’t understand why it felt so unsettling.
***
Yeongin showered and lay down in bed. About thirty minutes had passed since she came upstairs.
The moment she picked up her phone to set an alarm, it began to vibrate. Yeongin stared at the screen for a long moment before answering the call.
“Yes.”
“Is everything alright?”
The voice, which she could listen to endlessly without tiring of it, filled her ears.
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“I couldn’t call right away because I thought you might be with Beomjun.”
She closed her eyes, and his voice seemed to grow even clearer.
“Are you alone?”
“I’m about to go to sleep.”
“I think I’ll have to work all night tonight. Can’t you share some of my pain?”
Wondering what he was going to say next, Yeongin slightly opened her eyes.
“How?”
“You just keep talking to me while I work.”
“No.”
“How heartless. Would it kill you to even say you would, even if it’s just empty words?”
“What’s the point of saying empty words that would be immediately obvious?”
“It wouldn’t have been immediately obvious. Because even if you said you’d share my pain, I would have told you to go to sleep anyway.”
“……”
As Yeongin smiled silently, Seonghyeok’s words continued.
“I’ll never make you share my pain, no matter what. Sharing joy, maybe, but never pain.”
She wasn’t usually sentimental, but suddenly her nose stung.
“I should really go to sleep now.”
“Good night. I’d be grateful if you dreamed of me.”
“I can’t. I’m afraid it’ll be a nightmare.”
“It couldn’t be a nightmare. Unless it’s a very naughty dream.”
“I’m hanging up.”
Yeongin abruptly hung up the phone.
“Why did he become so cheeky…?”
A faint smile played on Yeongin’s lips as she grumbled and set her alarm.
It was a night where his presence felt quite comforting.
***
At the same time the two were talking on the phone,
Arim, biting her lip and pondering something, ran to the master bedroom and flung open the door.
“Mom!”
Gwak Yeosa, who had been lying in bed watching a drama, slowly sat up. Director Chae had not yet returned home from work.
“Mom’s watching TV, what is it?”
Arim strode to the bed, sat down, and turned off the TV. Then she got straight to the point.
“I want to marry Seonghyeok Oppa.”
Gwak Yeosa’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Marry? Did Seonghyeok ask you to marry him? Are you two dating?”
“It’s not that Seonghyeok Oppa asked me to marry him, it’s that *I* want to marry Seonghyeok Oppa. Why can’t you understand what I’m saying, it’s annoying.”
“And you’re not dating?”
“No! I’m not!”
Her outburst of anger was brief, and then tears welled up in Arim’s eyes.
“Do something, Mom.”
“Do what?”
“Seonghyeok Oppa’s mother is looking for a woman to marry him, isn’t she? You said so.”
“Jin Yeosa told me that.”
“Then introduce me somehow.”
“…You?”
“Why? Can’t I?”
“I don’t know if they’d be satisfied with you…”
Her sharply upturned eyes seemed to slowly lower, and then Arim began to shed thick tears.
“That’s too much… How can a mother be like this…?”
Gwak Yeosa fretted, at her wit’s end in front of her weeping daughter.
“Alright. Mom was wrong. Don’t cry. Mom will meet Jin Yeosa.”
“Re…ally…?”
As always, it was the same outcome.
Director Chae and Gwak Yeosa had never once won against their daughter, who would cry and throw tantrums all day if she didn’t get her way since she was little. If they didn’t grant her wishes, she’d often cry until she fainted, so they eventually had no choice but to give in.
Thanks to that, Arim could have everything she wanted. She didn’t doubt for a moment that it would be the same this time.
*I should have done this sooner.*
A satisfied smile appeared on Arim’s face, then faded.
