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I-ryeong decided it was better to confirm the situation with her own eyes and dispel her worries rather than sit anxiously.
As soon as her thoughts were clear, she processed her afternoon work as half-day leave and rushed to the Gangnam store.
“Manager Kim, please tell I-jun that I’ll be heading home directly from the Gangnam store.”
-Understood, Madam.
She informed Manager Kim of her destination while en route.
The pounding in her chest, which had started when she left the company, wouldn’t subside—it felt like something serious was about to happen.
She hoped fervently that this wasn’t a big deal and that someone had simply called her over unnecessarily. Still, her unease refused to fade.
After driving for some time, she finally arrived at the Gangnam store. After handing over her car keys, she took a deep breath to steel herself before stepping inside.
With a heartfelt prayer that nothing serious had happened, she entered the store.
“What do you mean, how long am I supposed to wait?!”
“Hey, just wait! Someone from headquarters is coming!”
The store was in chaos.
“I’ve been waiting for 40 minutes! Are you going to compensate me for my time too?!”
“Compensation? You’re a thief!”
“Then show me the CCTV footage! Fine, I’m calling the police!”
Han Yu-jin, who managed the Gangnam flagship store, was arguing heatedly with a customer.
Items were scattered all over the floor, and some customers, amused by the spectacle, were giggling and filming the scene.
“Manager?”
Instead of addressing Yu-jin as “Sister-in-law,” I-ryeong used her professional title. Something about the situation felt off, so she decided to approach it formally.
“Oh, you’re finally here.”
Yu-jin spotted I-ryeong and smirked, tilting one corner of her mouth upward.
“This person is from headquarters, so talk to them.”
“Manager, can you explain what’s going on first?”
Standing firm against Yu-jin’s push, I-ryeong maintained a stern expression.
“There was a disturbance in the store.”
“Disturbance? Excuse me! You accused me of being a thief! Is this what you call a disturbance?”
The agitated customer, face flushed red, shouted indignantly.
“Customer, I’m Cha Eun-ryeong from the AE Cosmetics marketing department.”
To calm the upset customer, I-ryeong pulled out her business card and handed it over politely.
“Could you give me some time to investigate what happened? It won’t take long, so I ask for your understanding.”
She bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle. The customer, swayed by her respectful demeanor, took a step back.
“I can’t wait too long.”
“Thank you, Customer.”
Forcing a smile despite her tense expression, I-ryeong turned around to face Yu-jin. Yu-jin stood with her arms crossed, leaning casually with one leg bent.
A sigh escaped I-ryeong at Yu-jin’s defiant posture, but she swallowed it down.
“...Let’s go inside.”
“Why should we go inside? Let’s talk here!”
Overconfident and brash, Yu-jin resisted when I-ryeong grabbed her arm.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Keep your voice down and come inside.”
“Let go of me! Why are you acting like this? Seriously!”
Though Yu-jin protested loudly, she was no match for I-ryeong, who dragged her despite her smaller frame.
“Customers, don’t you see the cameras? Follow me quietly before things get more embarrassing.”
I-ryeong warned her in a low voice, barely containing her anger.
The two of them entered the storage room behind the checkout counter.
“Han Yu-jin, Manager.”
“You’ve been calling me ‘Manager’ this whole time?”
“Should I call you ‘Sister-in-law’ here? This isn’t home.”
Frustrated by Yu-jin’s sarcastic tone, I-ryeong raised her voice.
“Explain what happened, quickly.”
“Just kick that person out. That’s what you’re here for, right?”
Yu-jin shrugged nonchalantly, as if exhausted.
“Manager!”
“Why are you raising your voice at me like this?”
Without answering, I-ryeong glared at her sharply.
“I thought that girl stole a lipstick, alright?”
“Did you check the CCTV?”
“What’s there to check? I saw it clearly with my own two eyes. That girl was being sneaky.”
Yu-jin spoke with unwavering confidence.
“So? What did you do after that?”
“I just told the little thief to hand over her bag.”
“Are you absolutely sure?”
Biting her lower lip hard, I-ryeong prayed her last shred of patience wouldn’t snap.
“The girl didn’t give me her bag, so I confirmed it—yes, she stole it. So I snatched her bag and dumped everything out.”
“Sister-in-law!”
Her lid blew off completely. Hearing why the items had spilled around the customer made her blood boil.
“Do you really think that makes sense?”
“But I saw her steal it!”
“So? Did the stolen lipstick appear?”
An absurd situation had unfolded in the store—one that she, an ordinary employee from a different department, couldn’t possibly resolve alone.
“It must have disappeared somewhere by then.”
Yu-jin’s attitude remained consistent: acting as though this huge mess was merely an inconvenience.
“There’s a manual for situations like this! Why didn’t you follow it? Why!”
There were roughly twenty customers still in the store, and most of them were filming the scene with their phones.
She needed to check social media immediately. But first, the urgent priority was to calm the customer who had been falsely accused of theft and publicly humiliated for nearly an hour.
“Check the CCTV footage. Now.”
“Actually, Sister-in-law... the CCTV is broken.”
Yu-jin smirked smugly.
It was like fanning flames in a burning house. Her nonchalant attitude toward the entire incident made I-ryeong feel utterly exhausted already.
“This isn’t just any branch—it’s the Gangnam flagship store. It’s the face of AE Cosmetics.”
The largest AE Cosmetics store, managed meticulously by headquarters with enormous costs.
“How could it have been broken since last week?”
“We inspect it every day.”
Every morning, managers at each branch were required to check equipment and safety systems, then report back to headquarters.
“Actually, this morning on my way to work, he got on my nerves. I mean, why pick a fight with someone just going to work? It’s all his fault. If only he hadn’t ruined my mood—”
“Sister-in-law! Do you really think that’s an excuse?”
Why did she drag family issues into the store and complicate things further? I-ryeong couldn’t listen to any more excuses.
“You used to visit different stores before you married him, right? Just tell me how to handle this mess. Or maybe you can take care of it yourself.”
I-ryeong let out a bitter laugh at Yu-jin’s casual tone, as if her request was perfectly reasonable.
The unease she’d felt when receiving Yu-jin’s call wasn’t unfounded. She now wondered if this situation had been anticipated—a warning not to get involved.
Soon-ja, Yu-jin’s mother, entered the storage room. Remembering their encounter in the bridal waiting room on the wedding day, I-ryeong gave a brief nod as a greeting.
“Sister-in-law, go apologize.”
At Soon-ja’s commanding tone, I-ryeong’s expression hardened.
In the cramped storage room, the tension between I-ryeong and the mother-daughter duo escalated.
“Didn’t you used to do this kind of work before you got married?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Before your marriage, didn’t you go around to different stores bowing and scraping? That was your job, wasn’t it?”
For a moment, I-ryeong felt intimidated being alone. But Soon-ja’s condescending words only steeled her resolve.
“No, Mom. Bowing and scraping? No, it’s mo-ni-tor-ing.”
“It’s the same thing. Since you’re an expert at that kind of work, go handle it.”
How could they be so alike? I-ryeong couldn’t hide her disgust.
“Why should I do that?”
I-ryeong raised her head defiantly and asked.
“It’s a sister-in-law’s duty to cover up her brother-in-law’s mistakes.”
They had subtly provoked her during the wedding ceremony, but now it seemed they intended to crush her completely.
“Why didn’t you follow the theft protocol? If you suspected something, you should have quietly called the person over and verified it properly. Even if that person really did steal something, why accuse them outright in front of so many customers? This is entirely your fault.”
Like them, I-ryeong spoke her mind bluntly. Still, her rising anger refused to subside.
“Go apologize! Right now!”
So she pushed back even harder.
“What? Who do you think you are raising your voice? You should go and apologize if we tell you to.”
Soon-ja retaliated protectively, glaring fiercely at I-ryeong.
“Is this really the time to argue about that? I can’t do this. And I understand that you don’t have any stake in the Gangnam branch, so why are you ordering me around?”
When Yu-jin became the daughter-in-law, the manager of the Gangnam branch changed.
“If my daughter owns the place, then I’m the owner too. How dare you glare at me and question me? Is that how your parents raised you?”
Soon-ja pointed her finger and raised her voice triumphantly.
“You’ve made a mistake here. And I can’t resolve this. Call the CS team from headquarters or the police—handle it yourselves.”
As I-ryeong’s blood cooled, so did her anger.
She no longer cared what happened to the store or the company’s reputation.
Her deepest wound had been prodded. No matter how much she tried to tolerate remarriage-related conflicts, hearing insults about her parents shattered her composure.
If she stayed any longer, she might lash out. Deciding to leave, she turned to walk away.
“Hey! If you came here for money, act like a slave. Don’t you know it’s the slave’s job to pay for the master’s mistakes with their body?”
“It seems you’re the one who came here for money, judging by your constant remarks.”
“What did you say?!”
Enraged, Yu-jin grabbed I-ryeong’s long hair. The force pulled at her scalp painfully.
“Let go! Let go, ah!”
Struggling in pain, I-ryeong was dragged out and thrown onto the store floor.
Her shoulder hit the ground first, sending a sharp jolt through her body.
“Do as you’re told without complaining so much.”
Yu-jin brushed off her hands as if disposing of something filthy, her face twisted in disgust.
“Everyone, get out! We’re closing early today. If you don’t want trouble, leave immediately!”
At Yu-jin’s shrill shout, customers began backing away, but many still held their phones, recording the chaos.
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