MHL 25

chapter 25

“What are you doing? I said get on my back.”

Jaeuk urged with a rough tone. Seoha, caught off guard, glanced between the remaining distance to the house and Kyungjun’s back before making up her mind.

“I’ll just walk. It’s fine if I go slowly.”

“You’re walking too slowly, that’s why I’m like this.”

Kyungjun grumbled and started walking a bit faster. Whether it was Jaeuk or Kyungjun, Seoha had to hold on to Kyungjun’s neck even more desperately to avoid falling behind.

“Excuse me. The gate that says ‘Beware of Dog.’”

“Beware of dog? That one?”

“No, not that one. Kim Minji.”

Jaeuk pushed the gate open with a frightening expression and spoke bluntly.

“You can go up the stairs over there. Be careful not to drop Seoha.”

Kyungjun, who had been about to enter through the front door, paused and looked toward where Jaeuk was pointing.

“Over there, Ms. Jo Seoha?”

“The stairs are narrow. I’ll manage on my own.”

“Just hold tight.”

By now, beads of sweat had formed on Kyungjun’s neck. It was natural—he had been carrying an adult woman uphill for more than ten minutes.

Seoha carefully got off Kyungjun’s back only when they reached the rooftop room.

“Ugh…ouch… Thank you for bringing me.”

She bowed slightly, unable to bend or straighten her back, and Kyungjun just stood there, looking at the rooftop room.

“You’re not coming in?”

“Do you live here?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And the person downstairs?”

Kyungjun nodded toward Jaeuk, who was still standing at the bottom of the stairs with a grim expression.

“He’s the landlord. This is a rented place.”

“Really, they must be dirt poor.”

“I told you so.”

Kyungjun’s childhood, living with his mother in a place like this, had been miserable.

Who said poverty isn’t shameful, just inconvenient?

Kyungjun could bet that the person who said that had never experienced real poverty.

Having been poor himself, Kyungjun could confidently say that Seoha didn’t give off any signs of being poor. Not her appearance, but her manners, her actions, and most of all, her eyes.

“Try to rest as much as possible tomorrow. Don’t overwork your back.”

“Yes, I’ll rest as much as possible. Thank you.”

Seoha said this as she sent Kyungjun off, but she had no intention of resting her back—or her knees, for that matter.

“Good. Actually, this worked out well.”

A small smile spread on Seoha’s lips as she muttered to herself.

“My goodness. What is this?”

“Why are you like that?”

“Look at this. They’ve really organized everything.”

The design office buzzed from early morning. As usual, Jisoo arrived a little late and noticed that the designers weren’t paying attention even though she had arrived. She deliberately stomped her feet to make her presence known.

“What’s going on?”

“Team leader, you came out!”

The designers finally noticed Jisoo and bowed in unison.

“Yes. Why are you all gathered here?”

“Look at this.”

One of them opened the fabric warehouse door wide.

The once-cluttered warehouse was now dazzlingly clean. Fabrics were sorted by material and type, and this season’s fabrics were separated for easy access.

What is this?

Jisoo bit her lip.

It was impossible to organize all of this in a single day. Besides, it was physical labor, which would have made it difficult to even think about design work for several days. That’s why she had delegated the task carefully.

Looking around, Jisoo noticed that Seoha wasn’t there. She raised her voice intentionally.

“Where’s Intern Jo Seoha? I should give her some praise.”

“She said she’d be late this morning, Team Leader!”

One person raised their hand and answered.

Despite saying she’d be late, Seoha appeared anyway—less than five minutes after Jisoo arrived.

“I’m sorry I’m late. Really, I’m so sorry!”

Even so, she was still late. Jisoo smiled and asked gently.

“Intern Jo Seoha, why are you so late?”

“I’m sorry. Walking was too hard.”

Seoha answered cheerfully, oblivious to the tension, and lifted her T-shirt slightly to show the patches of pain relief on her back.

“I hurt my back while organizing the warehouse until dawn. There was more fabric than I expected, and it was heavy.”

Everyone in the design office knew that “more than expected” didn’t even begin to cover it. Jisoo frowned with worry.

“Why didn’t you go to the hospital?”

“I don’t have the money.”

“……”

The office suddenly fell silent, like a temple. Even Jisoo was quiet.

“And I’m sorry. After organizing the warehouse yesterday, you told me to go to Dongdaemun, but I couldn’t go.”

Just organizing the warehouse took several days, and going to Dongdaemun would have taken a full day. Observers who knew this changed their indifference to sympathy.

“Why rush to do it yesterday? Even the warehouse, you could have taken your time. Why push yourself until dawn and hurt yourself?”

“The team leader said to finish it today.”

Jisoo almost jumped out of her seat in frustration—she never said that.

“When did I ever say you had to finish all of it today?”

“You said help Joohui before leaving, then organize the fabric warehouse, and go to Dongdaemun for accessories. I thought ‘before leaving’ meant finish in a day… If I misunderstood, I’m sorry.”

“Before leaving” was Seoha’s sly addition. But her calm demeanor made Jisoo question whether she had actually said it herself.

“Dongdaemun is unnecessary now. Go sit. Don’t be late again.”

“Yes, Team Leader! I’m sorry!”

Seoha shouted her insincere apology and returned to her seat.

“Ouch…ouch…”

Seoha sank into her chair with difficulty. Joohui quickly got up to help support her.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. I put on a lot of patches, so I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

“Phew.”

Joohui shook her head and attached a lumbar support from her own chair to Seoha’s.

“Lean on this, it’ll feel better.”

Joohui’s kindness had just begun.

“Intern, do you have medicine?”

Someone asked bluntly and left painkillers.

“I’m going to Dongdaemun for accessories. Anyone needing anything, write a list!”

Someone else went to Dongdaemun on her behalf.

“The delivery came in. The intern gets one.”

Another handed her freshly squeezed juice with a straw.

It was so easy to receive sympathy. Just like the office staff kneeling on the floor begging, or the child who had ruined her clothes when she was little.

Seoha knew that on the opposite side, the socially powerful could become villains.

“The intern had it rough.”

The restroom was perfect for private conversations, or eavesdropping.

“Yeah. Doing it all alone must have been hard. I would’ve collapsed today.”

“Actually, the team leader clearly dislikes interns.”

“Because of the shoes incident?”

“Even before that. Because she’s a high school graduate and her name is the same, she looks down on her.”

“I see.”

It was a short conversation, but Seoha heard everything. She lowered her eyes and carefully opened the door.

“Um…senior colleagues.”

Designers Jeong Sehee and Yoo Seoyeon, about to leave, turned around in surprise.

“You were inside?”

“Yes. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop…”

Seoha hesitated, looking around.

“I was fine organizing the warehouse. I wouldn’t have been of much help anyway. But… does the team leader really dislike me? Because I’m a high school graduate?”

Sehee and Seoyeon exchanged awkward glances and hurriedly answered.

“No, don’t worry too much. You’re just an intern, and won’t be here long…”

“Seoyeon.”

Sehee frowned slightly at Seoyeon and continued.

“Yes. Intern Jo Seoha, be careful around the team leader. Don’t cause trouble for us.”

Sehee, a designer trusted by Jisoo, had left painkillers on Seoha’s desk earlier.

“Yes. I’ll work hard so the team leader won’t dislike me!”

“Don’t overdo it. It won’t make things better.”

“Yes…yes.”

Seoha didn’t expect Jisoo to be genuinely respected. Even so, it was surprising that such a small crack caused so much drama.

Shaking her head, Seoha washed her hands.

“I brought them. Ten designs.”

Before a month had passed, Seoha confidently placed ten sketches on Kyungjun’s desk.

“Already?”

“Yes. I worked hard, even with my injured back.”

If she hadn’t injured her back, she would have been buried in menial tasks and never opened her design book. In a way, Kyungjun had helped her without realizing it.

Kyungjun pulled out the three sketches Seoha had brought before from a deep drawer and placed them next to the new ones. They looked like the work of the same person, yet each had unique details.

“How is it? I think I won.”

Seoha asked proudly, a little impatient. Kyungjun studied the sketches and nodded.

“Seems like it. Well done.”

These new sketches were different from those in the safe, but the identity remained. They could even be used to create a new brand.

All from Jo Seoha, who had never formally studied design.

“Seoha, did you say your parents passed away?”

“Yes. Why do you ask suddenly?”

Her parents had died in an accident when she was young. Her only remaining family, her grandmother, died in a hospital four years ago. Seoha worked as an accountant in a small factory until losing her job.

Emotionally, her life seemed unfortunate. But looking closely, something seemed very unusual.

“Graduated from a vocational high school accounting department, no awards in art or design, no extracurricular activities.”

“That’s right.”

Seoha nodded.

She had no prior connection to design. The only link might be that the factory she worked at had dealings with Kyungjun’s company.

Yet she produced work that everyone recognized immediately upon joining. Even Jisoo felt threatened enough to tear her design book.

Yes, perhaps a hidden talent suppressed by an unfortunate environment. But what about the other strange aspects?

“If, hypothetically,”

Kyungjun tapped the sketches Seoha had first brought.

“They might know each other.”

Seoha frowned, giving him a look that said, What nonsense is he talking about? That expression resembled Yoon Seoha.

“You’re friends with Yoon Seoha, right?”

Kyungjun asked with certainty. Seoha’s pupils wavered, startled, under her frown.