ARHS 02

Episode 2

—One year earlier.

Living as the daughter of Assemblyman Ryu In-ho was a dreadful thing for Somin.

A life where she could not choose for herself and had to do only what her parents told her—a life in which she lost herself.

The devoted, dutiful daughter who cherished her parents.

Living as the daughter her parents had carefully crafted for image-making purposes—that was what Somin had to do. It felt like the only way to repay the grace of being adopted and raised by them.

During college, Somin majored in design, something completely unrelated to her actual talents and interests. It was said that her artistic sense took after her mother, who ran an art gallery. That, too, was an image fabricated by the Ryu couple.

Because she was not their biological daughter, they constantly emphasized it—desperately trying to turn a lie into truth.

Somin entered the engineering building. It wasn’t a place a design major would normally visit, but she had frequented it for all four years.

Deceiving her parents, Somin had been an active core member of the robotics department. In a life where she couldn’t even take a full breath at home or outside, robot programming was her only solace.

When she stepped into the restroom, Dahee—the robotics department’s teaching assistant and team manager—was waiting.

“Why are you so late? I thought your parents caught you and you couldn’t get out.”

“Sorry. My father’s secretary was tailing me, so I had to shake him off at the library.”

“It’s the last day of the expo. Our ace can’t be missing. Hurry up and change.”

Somin changed into the hoodie Dahee handed her and put on a wig. With thick-rimmed glasses added, she looked like a completely different person.

“I don’t know how long we can keep this up. They say if the tail gets too long, it gets stepped on.”

“I know. It’s our last semester. Once we graduate, you won’t even have the excuse of going to school. This ends today.”

Just thinking about it made her chest feel tight, but Somin forced a smile.

“I’m so relieved this year’s expo is being held in Korea.”

“Seriously. It used to rotate around the world, so we were always stressing about how to sneak you out without your parents noticing. At least we’re spared that headache this year. Heaven really helped.”

Even in such bleak circumstances, they tried to stay positive. Though the disguises were troublesome, they had gone to great lengths every year to get Somin to the expo—mobilizing professors and even fabricating fake overseas training programs.

And it didn’t end there. After returning, they had to stage photos and write reports to present to Assemblyman Ryu and his wife, perfectly maintaining the alibi.

It was a deception only possible because Somin was still a college student.

But that would end with graduation. Her parents had already decided her next step—not employment, but marriage.

She would be packaged as a bride and sold into a family that could fund her father’s political career. Several sons of chaebol families were already candidates.

For Somin, today was practically the last day she could do what she truly wanted.

The two got into the car parked in front of the engineering building. Usually, teammates would wait for Somin and move together, but today not a single one was in sight.

“Where are the others?”

“They already got there and are warming up.”

You’d think they were the ones physically competing.

“If we all move together, it’ll attract attention. It’s an important day—we didn’t want to get exposed. So I sent the others ahead.”

Dahee was cautious to the very end. It was all for Somin, and she was always grateful—and sorry.

When Somin fell silent, Dahee quickly continued.

“The German team got even stronger than last year. AI technology really advances day by day.”

“We’re not behind technically. But every time we see the robot matches, I feel like our game management falls short. Watching the German team’s robot move—it’s like… like Premier League players are actually on the field. So professional.”

Somin had been in awe every time she replayed their footage.

“You know that team? There was a rumor that one of the engineers involved in programming is an actual soccer player.”

The German team had won the expo for seven consecutive years. Their technology was impressive, but their tactics in robot matches were rock-solid.

They had faced them in the finals last year too and had to settle for runner-up. And today, once again, they met the reigning world champions in the final.

For this rematch, Somin had sharpened her skills for an entire year. Since it was her last competition, she wanted to finish beautifully.

“It’s Ryu Somin’s retirement match. We have to lift that trophy.”

“Yeah. Let’s burn it all.”

Somin clenched her fist.

The expo hall was packed with people from all over the world. On the surface, it looked like they were enjoying robot battles, but it was really a place to showcase and compete in technology.

Perform well here, and you could secure investors.

With trembling hearts, the finals began.

The rules were simple: robots would compete and strike each other’s sensors. Both teams were evenly matched in offense and defense.

“This won’t work. We’ll have to go with Plan B.”

At Somin’s command, Jiwon’s face showed hesitation.

“Isn’t that… too unsportsmanlike?”

“You all want to stay runners-up forever without ever winning once?”

The entire team fell silent.

Winning meant not only prize money, but a different level of investment. More companies would want to invest—and they could even choose among them.

“Even you, Somin, with your silver spoon, are this desperate to win. We need investors more than you do. Just crawl and do what you’re told.”

Minwoo’s sarcastic remark made Somin bite her lip. She knew he spoke without understanding her situation, but it still hurt. She had started this out of genuine passion, even deceiving her parents for it.

She had only wanted to give her teammates one last gift. Minwoo’s careless words drained the strength from her body.

“Why would you say that? If we win, it’s good for everyone.”

Dahee hurriedly intervened.

Not wanting to ruin her retirement match, Somin shook off her useless emotions.

“Remember. Plan B.”

At her command, the team steeled their resolve.

The second half began.

They focused on exploiting weaknesses Somin had analyzed in advance—targeting the time lag before the opponent’s sensors fully reset.

It was a dirty tactic.

But even so, Somin wanted to decorate her final match with victory.

Five minutes passed in tense silence.

With ten seconds left, her team finally managed to press the opponent’s button.

“Ha… that’s it!”

They focused solely on defense for the remaining seconds.

Beep, beep, beep.

The end-of-match alarm sounded. They had won.

“We did it!”

Dahee threw her arms around Somin.

Even Minwoo, who had been sneering earlier, now grinned from ear to ear. At this moment, they were united in the joy of victory.

After the awards ceremony, Dahee and Minwoo were busy meeting with companies interested in investing.

Left alone, Somin’s phone began buzzing repeatedly.

“Ah…”

Casually checking the messages, Somin’s hands began to tremble. She quickly hid her phone and rushed to the restroom.

Inside an empty stall, she checked the messages with shaking hands.

They were from her older brother.

[I’m coming back to Korea in a week.]

[You must’ve missed me a lot, huh? I missed my Somin too. You look even prettier in your photos. Now I’ll make you into a mature woman. I’ll treat you nicely.]

As the messages kept coming, a crawling sense of disgust washed over her body.

‘Photos…? Who took my photos…?’

Her parents wouldn’t have done that. Which meant her adoptive brother, Junghyun, must have ordered someone to take pictures of her.

Forgetting she was in the restroom, Somin looked around nervously.

Her phone buzzed again.

After reading the next message, she dropped it.

“Ha… ha…”

Fear and revulsion tangled together, making it hard to breathe.

Her body shook so badly she couldn’t even pick up the phone. She collapsed to the floor.

The image she had just seen lingered before her eyes. She buried her face in her hands.

Somin had been adopted; she and Junghyun were not related by blood at all. The messages were filled with Junghyun’s twisted desire.

His obsession with her was not new.

From the very first day she was adopted, he had been excessively kind. When he held her hand too long or stroked her back in ways that felt wrong, and she pulled away, he would accuse her of being ungrateful for her brother’s love.

As she grew older, his sticky gaze and touch only intensified.

After her body developed curves during puberty, Somin deliberately avoided him. At that time, Junghyun was busy studying, so she was able to escape his attention for a while.

But the night before he left to study abroad, he had sneaked into her room as if determined. It could have become dangerous, but Assemblyman Ryu—drunk—had come looking for his son, allowing her to escape unharmed.

Even after going abroad, Junghyun continued to harass her with obscene messages and photos. Just now, he had sent a picture of himself naked.

He believed Somin liked him not as a brother, but as a man. He was convinced she only rejected him because she was hiding her feelings out of gratitude to their parents.

“Ha…”

Junghyun had said he wouldn’t return until next year. Now he was coming back in a week. Somin felt as if her world was going dark.

She steadied her breathing, picked up her phone, and stepped outside.

Trudging along, she walked blankly, staring at the floor.

Thud.

She bumped into someone.

“I’m sorry.”

She apologized mechanically and moved aside to continue walking. But the person she had bumped into stepped in front of her again.

When she tried to move the other way, they blocked her once more.