NILWM - 58

The woman, accompanied by a young woman who looked like her secretary, was dressed in sophisticated and luxurious clothes. She had the aura of a wealthy lady from a TV drama.

“Excuse me, it might be rude of me to ask, but I have a question.”

However, her gentle smile was a little different from the arrogant and cold ladies in dramas. So, Yeseo also relaxed and smiled back kindly.

“Yes. Please, what is it?”

“By any chance, are you our Juhyeok’s girlfriend? I just saw his car leave.”

Yeseo’s eyes widened. Han Juhyeok’s words that it was his family’s favorite restaurant suddenly crossed her mind. So, was she his aunt, the one who raised him like her own son after his parents passed away?

“Yes, that’s right...”

“Oh my. I knew it.”

The woman’s smile slowly faded. She wasn’t as arrogant as the ladies in dramas, but her expression had inexplicably turned stiff.

“Oh, I should introduce myself first. My name is Won Miran. I’m Juhyeok’s aunt.”

“Hello. My name is Min Yeseo.”

Yeseo bowed 90 degrees and greeted her respectfully. Her fingertips were trembling with nervousness, but she tried to remain calm.

“But you already finished dinner and broke up? It’s not even 9 o’clock yet.”

“Oh... yes. Sunbae had some sudden work at the company, so he left first.”

She didn’t mention that she was going to wait for him at his officetel. Han Juhyeok’s aunt said something quickly to the secretary behind her and then turned back to Yeseo. Her expression was still stiff, but it wasn’t rude or cold.

“I was very curious about the woman our Juhyeok was seeing. He told me some general details since my husband and I kept asking him, but he wouldn’t say anything else.”

“...”

“Excuse me, Ms. Min Yeseo. Would you like to have a cup of tea with me? I was just finishing dinner with an acquaintance and was about to go home, but since we ran into each other, I have some things I want to ask you.”

She looked around and pointed to a familiar logo across the building.

“There’s a bakery right next door. The coffee probably won’t be great since it’s a franchise, but I’ll drink any strong Americano. Is that okay with you, Yeseo?”

“Yes, I’m... I’m okay too.”

Yeseo nodded in a daze. She wondered what was happening, but she decided to do as the elder wished for now.

I should probably tell Sunbae about this later, right?

Yeseo followed the two women who were walking ahead to the cafe. The subtle stiffness on Won Miran’s face was bothering her. She took a deep breath to relax, but it didn’t help much.

________________________________________

While Won Miran was on the phone for a moment, Yeseo ordered for her as well and brought the tray to the table. Won Miran chided her secretary for not paying, but in the end, she thanked Yeseo and sat down.

The tension wouldn’t go away. Only silence flowed over the table. If it weren’t for the occasional ambient noise and music, it would have been much more uncomfortable. Several minutes had passed since they sat across from each other, but Won Miran just sipped her coffee without saying anything.

“This is better than I expected.”

“Yes?”

“I mean the coffee. Even though it’s a franchise, the flavor is good since it’s Panama Geisha.”

“Ah, yes. I’m glad you like it.”

Yeseo smiled faintly. Feeling a little relieved, she also brought the iced Americano in front of her to her lips and took a sip. It was cold outside, but she felt like she needed to drink something cold to stay clear-headed.

As she relaxed a little, she finally got a good look at the other person. Han Juhyeok’s family seemed to be much wealthier than she had vaguely thought. Even without the fur and cashmere Won Miran was wearing, her bracelet, watch, and necklace were all extremely expensive.

Since Sumin, who was very interested in high-end and luxury brands, had shown her several specific brand products on her phone when she was working at the pharmacy, they seemed to have been ingrained in her mind without her realizing it.

“Yeseo. Ah, I’ll just call you Yeseo.”

“Yes, please speak comfortably.”

Her relief was short-lived as her whole body stiffened again. Won Miran’s face seemed to have become even more rigid. Her gaze, devoid of any hint of a smile, was coldly observing and evaluating her for several seconds. It was when Won Miran finally spoke abruptly.

“How much should I give you?”

Her heart sank. Was this what it felt like to have your blood run cold? The noblewoman in front of her didn’t seem like the wealthy lady from a drama who openly looked down on and spoke down to her subordinates. Her gaze toward her didn’t contain any contempt.

“Just give me your bank account number, and I’ll send it to you via mobile banking right away.”

But in the end, her fundamental goal and desire seemed to be the same. She had wanted to meet her in person to decisively cut off a source of instability that was far below their expectations and that could cause trouble later on if they left her alone.

Right. So...

He said he had heard some general details about her through Han Juhyeok, so she might know that she was a freelance writer living with her single mother, with nothing of note, and working as a non-regular employee at a district office.

On the other hand, Han Juhyeok was an extraordinary talent who had recently grown the startup he had founded into a publicly listed company and sold it to a large corporation for a value of billions of won. Furthermore, he was now scouted by SG Group, the parent company that had acquired the startup, and was working as a deputy director in the IT Strategy Team from the get-go. There was no way they would think a woman like her was a good match for a nephew like that.

“I’ll have my secretary, Ms. Kim, who’s sitting over there, do it. Ms. Kim, come here for a second...”

“W-wait a minute. Ma’am.”

But she couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. She felt as if she had been hit hard in the back of the head by the sudden opposition from his family, but she couldn’t silently accept the situation in front of her.

“I’m not taking that money. No, I can’t.”

She couldn’t give up on Sunbae. Yeseo firmly held her trembling hands together and said with force. The fear that she might be forced to break up with Sunbae was much greater than her concern about appearing disrespectful to an elder.

“I really like Sunbae Juhyeok a lot. No, I love him. I’m serious.”

Won Miran stopped her gesture of calling her secretary and stared at her. Her beautiful eyes were filled with embarrassment and confusion.

“I know that Sunbae Juhyeok has a lot and is in every way... a person I can’t even dare to wish for. But I love Sunbae for who he is.”

“Excuse me, Yeseo...”

“I know I’m not good enough. But if you could just watch over me a little longer...”

She swallowed the rest of her words as she felt tears welling up. If she could, she would have kneeled. If that’s what she wanted, she was ready to kneel and beg right here.

Please, let me continue to see Sunbae Juhyeok. Please. I’ll beg you like this.

“Look, Yeseo. The money I was talking about... was for this coffee.”

“Huh...?”

“Well, this Panama Geisha is over 10,000 won, isn’t it? It’s much more expensive than the regular Americano you’re drinking, and you ordered this specifically for me.”

“Oh...”

As Won Miran had said, the Panama Geisha drip coffee was 12,000 won, and a regular Americano was 4,000 won. To think that her asking for her bank account number and how much she should give her was about the price of the coffee.

“Um... that’s not what I meant...”

Won Miran muttered awkwardly. Yeseo buried her face in her hands as if she was looking for a place to hide and bit her lip. Now, she wanted to cry for a different reason.

“I’m not a bad rich lady from a drama or anything... I’m not that kind of person.”

“Oh, no. I’m sorry... I’m so sorry. I said something so ridiculous...”

“We don’t have any children of our own, so we’ve raised Juhyeok like our own son, but I’m not that kind of snob. I hope you don’t misunderstand me...”

“I’m sorry. I won’t misunderstand.”

“But I’m happy. Even though you were probably very surprised by the misunderstanding, I’m so happy you like our Juhyeok so much... My heart was so sincere I almost shed a tear.”

Then she relaxed her stiff expression and also uncrossed her arms, which she had been holding in a dignified manner the whole time.

“You know what, I can’t keep this up. I’m just going to talk comfortably. I’m not cut out for putting on airs. Hold on a second, I need to add a lot of syrup to my coffee... I usually drink it bitter at first and then sweeten it up later. Ms. Kim, can you please get some syrup and sugar from the counter? Thanks.”

Won Miran let out a sigh and then chuckled wryly.

“Honestly, Ms. Jeong, our housekeeper for over 20 years, is always scolding me. ‘Ma’am, do you know why your staff members keep coming and then eventually get yelled at by me and change their workplaces? It’s because you always smile so sweetly and say ‘yes, yes’ from the beginning, which makes the kids’ discipline lax,’ she says... She tells me to not smile at first and put on airs so people will respect me and not see me as a pushover.”

“...”

“Anyway, I have no intention of getting involved in who Juhyeok dates. He’s not the kind of person who’s easygoing or has low standards, so I figure he’ll take care of it and give his heart to someone and keep them by his side. Both his uncle and I trust him completely in that regard and let him do his own thing.”

“Ah, I see...”

“My father-in-law would have said the same thing if he were still alive. You know that Juhyeok’s grandfather passed away early this year, right?”

Yes. Yeseo nodded again. When he had taken a leave of absence for the funeral, Yeseo had said she would go with him to pay her respects, but Han Juhyeok had stopped her, saying it wasn’t necessary. Was it because he didn’t want to reveal her existence to his family back then?

“Anyway, so just relax. But where was I? Oh, right. The coffee! How much is it? Ms. Kim, come here...”

“It’s o-okay, ma’am. It’s not a big amount, so please let me treat you.”

She had probably received thousands of cups of coffee from Han Juhyeok over the years. No matter how hard she tried not to be indebted to him, he never let a single drop of water come from Yeseo’s wallet. The laptop, hotel fees, and even the gift certificate worth a million won that he had given her last time, saying he had received it as a year-end gift from a client and had no use for it, were all things she had received from him.