CHAPTER 1
‘I wonder if that man is living well.’
She had been focused on her work, but for a moment, Seo-eun suddenly found herself lost in thought.
There was something that occasionally filled Seo-eun’s mind completely: the man she had encountered when she secretly infiltrated the HR Department’s office one year ago.
Even in the darkness, the man’s eyes had been clear and deep, as though they held the light of the moon.
Perhaps that was why she could not forget him easily.
Even though a long time had already passed.
Her busy daily life had carried Seo-eun forward a whole year in the blink of an eye, yet the memory of that day remained vivid, as though she were still stuck on that night from a year ago.
It was probably because of her guilt.
However, the day after she had infiltrated the company, the man had disappeared without a trace, and everything had returned to normal.
It was as though nothing had happened.
Unlike the deep guilt that had remained etched in her heart, many things had improved since that day.
Ji-yu had safely joined this company, Chasung Fashion, and was steadily making her way through her work life.
Thanks to that, one item had been crossed off her parents’ list of worries.
That was enough.
There was no point dwelling on it any further.
To clear her mind, Seo-eun shifted her gaze toward the team leader’s desk.
On Do-yoon’s desk, which he had left early because he had a meeting, sat a transparent nameplate proudly bearing his name.
Kang Do-yoon, Team Leader of the Public Relations Planning Team, Planning Division, Chasung Fashion.
It had already been a year since they had become well-matched work partners at the company and lovers outside of it.
Not only did they work for the same company, but they were also dating within the same team, yet their relationship had gone remarkably smoothly despite how hesitant Seo-eun had initially been.
No, was it really going smoothly?
Seo-eun and Do-yoon usually went on dates on weekends, but lately, he had not been able to make any time for her.
Last week, it had been because of his backlog of work.
Two weeks ago, it had been because he had gone to his widowed mother’s house to replace a light fixture.
At best, when they met after work on a weekday, Ji-yu was always with them as well, so it was difficult to call it a date.
‘I definitely need to tell him that we’re having dinner alone tonight.’
I’ll nag him a little while we eat.
As she thought of Ji-yu, Seo-eun decided to get up from her seat, and her mood improved slightly at the thought of having coffee with her sister.
She had just reached the Research Team, which was separated from Seo-eun’s office by only one entrance.
“Ji-yu…….”
Ji-yu’s desk was empty as well.
I guess today really isn’t my day.
There were days when nothing seemed to go right, no matter what you did.
“Excuse me, where did Ji-yu go?”
When she asked the employee sitting beside Ji-yu, an immediate answer came.
“Oh, she went to the break room this morning because she wasn’t feeling well.”
“She’s been going to the break room quite often lately.”
As she said that, the employee gave an awkward smile.
Everyone knew that she and Ji-yu were sisters, so apparently she felt uncomfortable mentioning Ji-yu’s shortcomings.
That was understandable.
Ji-yu had always been somewhat physically frail, and whenever Seo-eun worked overtime with Do-yoon, Ji-yu stubbornly insisted on staying late as well.
So it was inevitable that she would eventually get sick.
Helping her get hired was not the end of it.
Lately, Seo-eun had been too busy to pay much attention to Ji-yu.
Sometimes, she mistakenly thought she was looking after Ji-yu simply because the three of them occasionally had dinner together with Do-yoon.
Seo-eun could not just stand around doing nothing.
She went to the pantry and took out some of the medicine kept there.
She grabbed some headache medicine and digestive medicine before heading toward the break room.
As she walked down the hallway toward the break room at the very end of the fifth floor, Seo-eun suddenly stopped.
All the meeting rooms were dark.
If Do-yoon was still in a meeting, at least one of the meeting rooms should have been lit.
But… why were they all empty?
However, she needed to get to Ji-yu quickly, so she hurried onward.
Thinking that perhaps they had finished their meeting and were having coffee, Seo-eun casually wrapped her hand around the break room’s doorknob.
She carefully turned it, worried that Ji-yu might wake up.
Click.
For some reason, however, the door was locked.
It seemed to have been locked from the inside.
Worried that Ji-yu might actually be sick, Seo-eun frantically turned the doorknob.
Clack.
She heard the lock disengage.
When the door opened, Seo-eun stepped inside the break room with a sigh of relief.
Turning left, she saw bunk beds occupying both sides of the wall.
Only the one at the very back had its curtain drawn.
Thinking Ji-yu must be there, Seo-eun had just begun walking toward it when—
An arm suddenly shot out from beyond the curtain.
“Gasp.”
She stopped in surprise, but a strange groaning sound soon followed.
“Haa, uh, haa, ah, feels so good……”
A man’s voice in the women’s break room.
There was no mistaking it—it was a man’s moan.
Then a dark-skinned male hand emerged and intertwined with a woman’s hand.
“Gasp……!”
Seo-eun was so shocked that she could not even scream.
She had just raised her trembling hand to her mouth when—
“Ah, haa, Oppa Do-yoon… I love it so much.”
“I’m crazy about you……!”
“Do-yoon?”
“Did she say Do-yoon?”
Through her disoriented vision, Seo-eun noticed a ring on the man’s hand.
She lowered the hand she had brought to her mouth.
Seo-eun was also wearing the matching couple ring she and Do-yoon had gotten to commemorate their first anniversary not long ago.
Because the employees would have become suspicious if the designs had been identical, they had chosen different designs and engraved each other’s names on the inside.
Then, did that mean the man holding the woman in the bed was Kang Do-yoon?
In other words, Kang Do-yoon, the Team Leader of the Public Relations Planning Team and Seo-eun’s boyfriend?
As if to dispel any doubt, a familiar voice reached her ears.
“Do you like it that much?”
“What are we going to do when you’re this sensitive?”
“…Hmm?”
It was unmistakably her boyfriend’s voice, a voice she had heard countless times over the past year, both at work and outside of it.
Then the two hands beyond the curtain intertwined tightly.
“Ah, I-I don’t know.”
“It’s embarrassing… but… haa, did you lock the door properly?”
“Of course I did.”
“Uh, no one can come in.”
“It’s… work focus time, remember.”
“But Oppa, haa, why are you here with me?”
“That’s because… I’m the team leader.”
“What do I do?”
“Oppa, you’re so cool.”
“You’re pretty, Ji-yu.”
Ji-yu…….
In an instant, Seo-eun felt as though all the blood had drained from her body.
Sometimes, there were moments when your body simply refused to obey what your mind was telling it to do.
This was one of those moments for Seo-eun.
Not even when she had secretly infiltrated the HR Department’s office to get Ji-yu hired at Chasung Fashion, and then pushed the man down when she encountered him, had she felt this stunned.
“But… why don’t you sleep with my sister?”
“Why are you asking something like that?”
“She’s always been a little too particular.”
“Something about not wanting to disappoint our parents or whatever……”
Words Seo-eun had once said to Do-yoon flashed through her mind.
“My parents trust me a lot, and I don’t want to put them through something so sudden.”
“Just wait a little longer.”
Although it had been a difficult request, Do-yoon had still held her tightly, telling her that he loved her.
But had it all been an act?
“So is that why you like me?”
“Because Ji-yu lets you… do this?”
“No, absolutely not!”
“Even if I hadn’t slept with you, I definitely would have loved you.”
“Really……?”
“Of course.”
“I’m going to marry you, Ji-yu.”
“We promised each other, remember?”
Marry Ji-yu?
“When are you going to tell my sister?”
“…Haa, Ji-yu, now isn’t the time to talk about that…”
“Hngh, I-I’ll tell Seo-eun this week!”
“Okay?”
“I’ll tell her we’re breaking up.”
“Sniff, what do we do about my sister……?”
Ji-yu’s sobbing could be heard.
Do-yoon soothed her in a gentle voice.
“Anyway, you’re too kind for your own good.”
“Don’t cry, Ji-yu.”
“Sniff, Oppa, I really……”
The goosebumps covering Seo-eun’s arms refused to disappear.
Not only was Do-yoon cheating on her, but the person he was cheating with was none other than her own younger sister.
Ji-yu… my Ji-yu.
“Was our Ji-yu having a hard time?”
“She must have been struggling so much to develop an illness that wasn’t even there before.”
“Sniff… Whenever Mom thinks about the time we lost our Ji-yu……”
Ji-yu, the center of the entire family’s attention and concern, had taken her boyfriend away from her……
And then.
Something similar had happened a very long time ago, too.
“Unni, I like that Oppa…”
“Can’t you introduce him to me?”
If her only younger sister wanted something, what reason could there be for her not to give it to her?
But.
But this wasn’t right.
Do-yoon was the man who was supposed to marry her.
Do-yoon was the man who was supposed to marry her.
How much more did Ji-yu intend to take away before she would finally stop?
“Uh, haa, I think I’m about to finish.”
“Just a little longer, uh……”
“Bear with it, Ji-yu……!”
“Hng, I want to marry Oppa soon.”
“I want to have children and live an ordinary life.”
“Ji-yu is so lonely……”
“Were you?”
“Hng, haa, just hold on a little longer.”
“That’s how it’ll be soon, so……”
“Ji-yu, spread your legs a little more.”
“Mm, haa… like this?”
“Ugh, this feels so good.”
“You said I was your first man, so is that why it feels this good?”
“Hng, I don’t know.”
“It’s embarrassing…”
“But can you really tell your sister?”
“Uh, I-I’ll do it.”
“I’ll tell her!”
“And, ah, uh……”
“Besides, my mother doesn’t like Seo-eun anyway.”
At that moment, Seo-eun’s pupils trembled violently.
“Why?”
“I was lucky enough to meet your parents, but if you think about it, she’s an orphan.”
She’s an orphan.
Those words tore at Seo-eun’s heart.
“Oppa, that’s… not Unni’s fault.”
“It’s the fault of her biological father and mother who abandoned her.”
“Still, what can we do?”
“There aren’t many people who would accept someone like her.”
“Your parents are the admirable ones.”
“What do we do…?”
“My poor sister…….”
“You’re going to cry again.”
“Sniff, okay.”
“I won’t cry anymore.”
The sobbing soon stopped, followed by the sound of messy moans.
Seo-eun was the one who wanted to cry.
The reason she did not share the same generation syllable in her name as Ji-yu.
Seo-eun had been adopted.
She had been adopted in place of Ji-yu, who had disappeared when she was young.
