Chapter 19
Personnel
“Kang Yeoul…”
Seeing Yeoul with Geonwoo, Chaerin ground her teeth together.
Through her twisted eyes, her gaze dripped with venom.
“Again, it’s Kang Yeoul… again…”
Her hands trembled as she gripped the steering wheel tightly, as if restraining herself from jumping out of the car and slapping Yeoul’s face right then and there.
“Everything I’ve worked for, she takes it all away.”
Since birth, Chaerin had had everything she wanted.
A life without lack, a compliant CEO Seo who would bend to her every word—if she wanted something, she either received it easily, or if she couldn’t, she would snatch it away.
She lived as if the world belonged entirely to her, as if she were the center of existence.
Until she was twenty, before entering university and meeting Yeoul.
After meeting Yeoul, cracks appeared in Chaerin’s perfect world, and now, it was slowly crumbling.
“Why would I want someone like that?”
Geonwoo was laughing.
A laugh she had never seen directed at her.
No matter what she did to see him smile—he only ever gave her scornful looks. Yet toward Yeoul, he showed unfettered warmth, tender, and gentle.
“Unacceptable.”
She couldn’t bear it.
The fact that Geonwoo’s heart was set on Yeoul.
She didn’t care why his feelings had turned to Yeoul.
After all, Yeoul could never be by his side.
“Geonwoo oppa belongs to me.”
In her first year of middle school, the food company run by CEO Seo became a subsidiary of Seodo Group.
That year, at a Seodo Group event, she saw Geonwoo for the first time.
His gaze, indifferent to everything.
Even though he had everything, he looked simple and unpretentious.
His voice, low and emotionless.
Twenty-year-old Geonwoo had been utterly captivating.
Especially as the heir of Seodo Group, ranked fifth among the chaebols.
“Not for anyone else.”
It was hers.
Everything she desired was hers.
Geonwoo, studying at the Royal Music Academy—everything.
“Not for you, Kang Yeoul.”
Not for anyone else, and certainly not for Yeoul.
Chaerin pulled her phone from the handbag lying on the passenger seat.
She tapped the number from her recent missed calls.
Several rings echoed, and a voice came through.
“- Calling at this hour, what…?”
“Where are you?” Chaerin snapped sharply, as if her words alone dismissed the need for explanation.
“- …Home.” The voice on the other end, Seungtae, sounded terse, annoyed at being cut off.
“Do you want to be home at a time like this?”
“- Why do you ask it like that?”
“Why do I ask it like that? Do you know who Kang Yeoul is with right now?”
“- …Could it be… Ha Geonwoo?”
“Yes! Geonwoo oppa came all the way to school to pick her up!”
“- Damn it.”
“Didn’t I tell you to win over Kang Yeoul? And what have you done all this time? Did you even try? Did you do anything at all?”
Seungtae said nothing, whether stunned or at a loss for words.
Chaerin, unfazed, continued without hesitation.
“Nothing goes the way I want. Is it that hard to win over a worthless girl’s heart? Why is it so difficult that she ends up with Geonwoo oppa instead of you?”
Her shout filled the cramped car, echoing sharply.
“- I’ll do what I can,” Seungtae replied.
“Huh… I’m really going to believe that.”
“- Thanks.”
“I’m heading to Nouveau.”
“- I’ll go right away.”
Seungtae understood immediately what Chaerin wanted—after all, it was something he also wanted, so there was no need to hesitate.
After ending the call, Chaerin turned her gaze back to Yeoul and Geonwoo.
Geonwoo was already carrying Yeoul’s cello case.
They walked side by side toward the car parked just ahead.
Watching Geonwoo place the cello in the back seat and open the passenger door for Yeoul, Chaerin’s eyes burned with icy rage.
Back in her room, Yeoul set the cello case aside and sat at her desk.
‘I should introduce him to my parents,’ she thought.
Earlier, in the car, Geonwoo had said it casually.
She blinked at him in surprise.
‘Since the person I’m meeting has changed from Seungtae to you, won’t my parents worry?’
‘They don’t know anything.’
‘Just in case. Seungtae might try to find your parents.’
‘Ah…’
She hadn’t considered that. Her parents had never even seen Seungtae, so the thought never occurred to her.
But considering what Seungtae had done—approaching her intentionally out of jealousy, even deciding to marry her—Geonwoo was right; Seungtae could indeed try to meet her parents to push forward the marriage.
“Think it over and tell me your answer,” Geonwoo said.
He didn’t force her response, nor demand unconditional agreement, which only made her feel more uneasy.
‘This has grown too complicated,’ she thought.
Her revenge on Seungtae, meant to return the torment he caused her, now risked dragging her innocent parents into the mess.
She hadn’t said it outright, but she knew her parents were worried because of her sudden decision to cancel the marriage with Seungtae.
“Senpai is right,” she muttered.
Was Geonwoo speaking from knowledge of Seungtae’s true nature? Or did he simply understand that a person bent on evil would do anything to achieve it?
Either way, she knew Seungtae well.
“Kim Seungtae would do worse than that.”
Driven by jealousy, he had approached her for no reason, and after marriage, he was even worse.
‘Get that grim face out of here. It’s irritating.’
‘Don’t whine about a small favor your mother asked.’
‘You don’t know how hard it was for someone who worked outside to come home to a comfortable house.’
Indifference was one thing, but Seungtae had wounded her with cruel, bitter words, just as much as Songhwa did.
He had been, quite literally, on the other side for six years of marriage.
So yes, he could very well show up at her parents’ house.
‘What should I do…’
While it made sense to prepare for the worst regarding Seungtae, introducing Geonwoo to her parents so soon after canceling her marriage also didn’t feel right.
Sigh… what to do…
Near midnight.
A high-end, members-only bar.
Myeongwoo and Jongwoo sipped expensive whiskey, classical music playing softly in the background.
“Hyung,” Jongwoo whispered, checking that no one was listening, “I found out about the woman who came looking for Ha Geonwoo.”
“Go on.”
Myeongwoo lazily swirled the whiskey in his glass, watching the amber liquid, uninterested.
“Her name’s Kang Yeoul, a fourth-year student in the Korean University Orchestral Department.”
“Orchestral? Like, playing instruments?”
“Yeah, cello major. She enrolled at the top and never lost her top ranking.”
“Always top of Korean University, huh…”
Myeongwoo twisted one corner of his mouth. Geonwoo was also top of Korean University, and now this woman coming after him was too. His envy showed.
“But here’s the kicker—she’s a friend’s girl.”
“What?”
“Interesting, right? It seems like something fun is about to happen.”
Surprised, Myeongwoo raised his head at Jongwoo’s excitement.
Jongwoo smiled wickedly, and Myeongwoo couldn’t help but smirk in response.
“Don’t waste words. Tell me more. She’s your friend’s girl?”
“Not just a friend’s girl—engaged. And…”
“And?” Myeongwoo urged impatiently.
“Recently, she’s been hanging out with Ha Geonwoo.”
Jongwoo finished with a sly grin.
“Interesting,” he muttered.
Myeongwoo let out a short, shallow laugh, his dark eyes glinting with curiosity and intrigue.
