Chapter 45
“What do you want to show at the gathering?”
“…Show?”
“To the people who gather there.”
We asked, placing expensive items in front of her. Eunse, busy trying on different things and looking around, rolled her eyes and pouted her lips.
“What does it matter? I don’t care about what people who don’t know me say.”
“If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t have asked me to help.”
“……”
“Don’t let your pride get in the way. That kind of pride just looks weak.”
A sharp remark.
In fact, she had embarrassed herself a few times with meaningless power plays. Just now, she had made the staff fetch things and run errands for no reason, so our comment hit even harder.
Eunse bit her dry lips and muttered softly,
“I don’t want to be ignored.”
“In what way?”
“Not childish, just… the atmosphere. Like Mom or… like you.”
Like you.
Eunse looked at us instead of finishing her sentence. She wasn’t dressed in flashy designer clothes, nor did she have noticeable makeup or a particular tone, yet no one ever ignored or belittled her. On the contrary, people treated her with respect, which was worlds apart from when she was alone.
Jealousy welled up.
It was an attitude and elegance she didn’t yet possess.
Understanding Eunse’s feelings, we slowly began to speak.
“Don’t act impulsively. Show that even the slightest movement and every word have meaning. You don’t have to answer everything or care about everything. Observe with your eyes, judge, and speak only what’s necessary.”
“How do I know what’s necessary?”
She was twenty-six. Fully grown, but still young in a way. For someone like Eunse, standing at the threshold of adulthood, we generously shared the know-how we had already learned and mastered.
“You need to see a lot to develop a discerning eye. To know what’s good, what’s bad, what’s right, what’s wrong.”
We pointed at items on the display.
They were all beautiful and expensive, carefully selected by us.
“Normally, gifts should match the recipient’s taste, but in this case, it’s about showing your own taste.”
Eunse followed us like a little bird.
“What’s the most important thing here?”
“…Expensive?”
She had heard, but didn’t fully understand, and gave a rough guess. She was used to answering quickly to avoid getting scolded.
We nodded immediately.
“That’s right.”
Eunse, who didn’t expect to hear “right,” opened her eyes wide.
Blinking, she looked at the ring we held in front of her.
“And you need to be able to explain why it’s expensive.”
The ring sparkled with a large gemstone. Eunse tilted her head in curiosity.
“But last time you said not everything expensive is good.”
She remembered the conversation she had with Hyewon at the department store.
We handed her the ring.
“Standards can change. Something can be expensive, something cheap, something large, something small.”
“How do you know all this so well?”
“Because we studied it.”
“You study this? Why?”
“Because we like it.”
We answered without hesitation and held up another ring with a satisfied look.
“…Where did you learn that? You probably didn’t have the time for that…”
Perhaps she wanted to say that. We laughed lightly.
“I like beautiful things. Pretty things.”
Eunse nervously glanced around at our candid statement.
“Is it okay to say that out loud?”
“Do I look shallow?”
“…A little.”
Eunse flinched, and it was cute.
She placed the ring back and shrugged.
“That’s just how it is. It’s the version of me I made. Regret would mean I was wrong. So if anyone says otherwise, I convince them. And make them acknowledge it.”
“……”
“I’m right.”
For Eunse, who had always been told she was wrong, our words struck unusually deep.
She swallowed hard, looking at the ring she was given.
As we bought the gifts one by one, the two of them talked extensively. Eunse listened closely as we explained the value or meaning of each item.
For Eunse, who had avoided studying and been embarrassed during her time abroad, this was rare.
“The key is in the details. You need to read how delicately something was woven or crafted, even if it takes time.”
“Then should I look at the number of folds at the edge? This side and this side seem to match.”
“You’re a fast learner. Well done.”
Eunse’s cheeks flushed slightly at a compliment she rarely received. Growing up, she had often been below expectations, and comparisons with Yunjae had made it worse.
Her eyes glowed with embarrassment.
“Ah, it’s just… nothing special.”
“Exactly. It’s nothing. That’s enough. Try picking the next one yourself.”
“Eh? No, I don’t really know. Just tell me…”
“Where’s the fun if you only follow instructions? There’s fun in choosing, too. Only doing as told is boring.”
“But what if I’m wrong?”
“It’s okay to be wrong.”
We smiled lightly, removing our sunglasses that had hidden our eyes all day.
Now, our eyes were fully on Eunse.
“You’ll get it right eventually.”
They were remarkably sharp eyes.
Thump-thump.
For the first time, Eunse felt her heart race as she met our gaze.
It was a deep, sparkling black.
The day gradually came to an end.
Having stayed out longer than expected, darkness was falling as they returned home.
Eunse’s car parked, the engine stopped.
We unbuckled our seatbelts and greeted her.
“Today was fun. Call me anytime if there’s another occasion like this, miss.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll do that.”
She sounded curt, but not irritated. She seemed comfortable with the term “miss” now.
“We’ll go now. Take care.”
Refreshed after a day filled with sparkling things, she smiled brightly as she opened the door.
“Wait.”
Eunse stopped us just as we were leaving.
Turning back, she brought something from the back seat and handed it to us.
“This.”
“What’s this?”
She handed over a small shopping bag.
“There’s an important event soon… so, just a little.”
Her words were a bit awkward, so we looked up from the bag.
She glanced around nervously, making us tilt our heads.
“…Where am I going?”
Eunse tilted her head as if hearing this for the first time.
“Didn’t you get an invitation from Eunyang? There’s a charity event soon. Usually, only your brother goes, but not this year.”
Eunyang.
Then we remembered the mail we saw just yesterday.
“Oh…”
So this is it.
“These events happen often. Honestly, you wouldn’t enjoy it, but you can’t skip it either. Especially when the chairman personally invited you.”
Eunse was right; it would be an unpleasant place for Joo Aejeong.
The Eunyang Foundation chair was well-known for valuing success, reputation, and honor over money.
Most importantly:
‘Someone like me.’
Someone who hates ugliness.
Regardless, if someone as powerful as the chairman invites you, you go.
It wasn’t just a company gathering but a place for the real elite, making it naturally unwelcoming for Joo Aejeong.
[You don’t have to worry about it.]
Sensing something odd in our silence, Eunse asked carefully,
“Did you really not receive one?”
With a faint worry in her voice, we lifted the shopping bag.
“You know this?”
“Huh?”
“You’re a hundred times better than Ha Yunjae.”
A hundred times better than Yunjae. Something impossible for Eunse, who had always been compared.
As we stepped out, we lowered our sunglasses before closing the door.
“Thank you, miss.”
Thud.
The door closed, and we walked away.
Eunse, watching from inside, grabbed her cheeks with both hands and flailed.
“No. Don’t like it. Don’t like it! Are you crazy, Ha Eunse!”
Returning home, we paused at the unfamiliar quiet of the house.
We had called Mrs. Kim to leave early due to our late return, so the house was empty.
Though not the first time being alone, today felt unusually strange.
“Maybe because we were so loud earlier.”
Having worked so well together, the contrast made the silence even more noticeable.
We dragged our tired bodies toward the room.
After washing and removing our sunglasses, our eyes felt strangely fatigued.
‘Something feels missing.’
Sipping water and looking around the quiet, spacious house, she noticed the wine bottles in the kitchen.
“Just a sip.”
Having already gotten tipsy from one cocktail, just a little to wet her throat.
Grateful her allergies were gone, she regretted her low tolerance for alcohol.
We poured wine, just three small sips, and opened the shopping bag.
“I wonder what our miss got as gifts.”
Inside were two velvet boxes, one palm-sized, one child-hand-sized.
‘When did she get these?’
Quick hands, we thought, smiling. Inside were unexpected items: one hairpin, one tie pin.
“Ha Eunse, you have quite good taste.”
Clearly matching designs.
If one was hers, the other was obviously for…
The set.
A pair.
…Couple.
We took a sip of wine.
They had shared more than we thought. Not a long time, but living in the same house, eating, talking, drinking coffee together.
Not every moment was meaningful. Some were ordinary, fleeting moments.
Yet, looking back, each moment was filled with memories. They shared countless stories and time together.
Here. In this house.
The quietness of the home felt heavier.
A strange emptiness.
She had always wanted to live alone. Leaving Hannam-dong had been a joy.
But the feeling she had now wasn’t freedom or comfort.
We held the tie pin, brushing it lightly.
Another sip of wine.
Whoosh.
The wind sounded. The silent ticking of the clock could be heard. Only in solitude.
Blink, blink.
Absentmindedly touched the bridge of the nose without glasses, chuckling.
“……”
And in the familiar quiet, she realized something simple.
Perhaps,
‘I didn’t really want to be alone.’
She had convinced herself that being alone was necessary and therefore enjoyable.
Now, no longer alone, she understood.
She looked at the ring on her finger.
Though she could remove it anytime, she left it on.
As Yunjae said, as he intended.
And the sudden realization gave an answer no one told her.
“…Ah.”
I see.
Only after being alone for a long time did she understand Mrs. Kim’s words:
[You want to be with someone, talk, eat together.]
Right now, I keep thinking of Ha Yunjae.
