THB 2

“If avoiding marriage isn’t an option, then finding someone trustworthy would be the best course of action.”

The elderly lawyer murmured as if speaking to himself, interpreting Go Eunjae’s silence in his own way.

Then, he handed her a sealed white envelope.

“This is a personal message from Chairman Choi Chihyeol, left specifically for you.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know either. You’ll have to check for yourself.”

Having completed his task, the lawyer left the café, leaving Eunjae alone.

The plain white envelope, devoid of any distinct features, looked like Pandora’s box.

“Someone trustworthy.”

That’s what the lawyer had said.

But Pandora’s box did not contain only hope. Hope could only prove its worth when despair existed alongside it.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally opened the envelope and checked its contents.

Jupyeong Construction – Sunwoo Chang, 010-****-0101

…What the hell is this?

It was just a single note, small enough to fit in her palm.

Even after shaking the envelope, nothing else fell out.

Just like in the detective novels the chairman had enjoyed in his lifetime, she wondered if there might be some invisible code or hidden markings. She held the note up to the light, examined it from different angles, and even sniffed it.

But even if there was some secret message, she had neither the skill nor the sharp eyes to decipher it.

Eunjae carefully studied the note again.

The handwriting was undoubtedly the chairman’s.

“If avoiding marriage isn’t an option, then finding someone trustworthy would be the best course of action.”

“Sunwoo Chang.”

She whispered the unfamiliar name under her breath.

There were 363 days left.

She could only hope that this person was truly someone she could trust—that within despair, there was still hope.

 

* * *

 

Of All Days, It Had to Be Wednesday.

The awkward timing—neither morning nor afternoon—was another problem.

2:30 PM.

She had assumed the meeting would be scheduled after work hours, given it was a weekday. Instead, it was set at an in-between time of 2:30 in the afternoon.

“Why 2:30? If it’s 2, then just make it 2. If it’s 3, then just make it 3. What’s with the 30-minute gap?”

It was a decision made without the slightest regard for Go Eunjae’s circumstances, but what could she do?

“The one at a disadvantage has to give in.”

She had already given up a full day off and rearranged her schedule to work full-time on Saturday just to be able to come here today.

It was a job she had managed to get through a friend’s introduction, and skipping work for personal reasons made her uneasy. To avoid causing trouble, she worked harder than anyone else.

Lee Noa had once commented on Eunjae’s work ethic.

“You’re being totally taken advantage of.”

She had nagged endlessly about only doing as much as she was paid for, but how could Eunjae do that when Mrs. Sung-eun had helped her get the job simply because she was her grandmother’s granddaughter? Besides, she was fortunate to have inherited her grandmother’s deft hands, quickly learning the work and earning plenty of praise for it.

Bzzzt.

Eunjae sighed as she checked the stream of messages from Noa.

✉️: There’s a movie I want to watch.

✉️: Let’s go together on your day off this week.

✉️: Don’t just read and ignore me. Reply.

✉️: If you’re avoiding me because you want to talk in person, then go ahead and keep ignoring me.

✉️: Actually, I like that even better. Should I just come to your workplace?

If she didn’t reply, he’d really show up.

The image of Choi Anna slapping her across the face flashed through her mind.

“I… I don’t talk to Noa anymore.”

“You little shit! Do you think I care about that right now? Shut your damn mouth!”

The bruise on her cheek had long healed, yet the sting still lingered in her memory.

As Eunjae passed through the subway turnstile, she quickly typed out a response.

Noa coming to see her was a problem, but it was an even bigger problem if his mother, Choi Anna, found out.

When Chairman Choi Chihyeol was alive, she hadn’t dared to openly lash out at Eunjae. But now, things were different.

✉️: I don’t have time for a movie. I have to work on the weekend.

And you shouldn’t be wasting time on this either. You’re a senior now—you should be studying.

Even just exchanging messages with Noa was risky. If they actually met, she might end up being dragged away by the hair again.

And next time, it wouldn’t stop at just a slap.

She couldn’t let Noa—still just eighteen—find out about any of this.

They had first met when he was ten, and even though he had grown taller now, he still seemed like a kid to her. It was hard to cut him off with harsh words.

Choi Anna had no patience.

She had never needed to endure anything in life, nor had she ever had a reason to.

Thanks to the one-year grace period, Eunjae was still managing to survive. But if she kept in touch with Noa, who knew what would happen?

✉️: I’m busy. I won’t be able to reply anymore. Sorry.

No matter how stubborn Noa was, he at least knew better than to bother her when she was working.

Eunjae put her phone away in her bag and checked her reflection in the screen door of the subway station multiple times.

Straighten your back. Relax your stiff shoulders. Tuck your chin in slightly.

But no matter how she adjusted her posture, something still felt off—unnatural.

The hair she had carefully styled since early morning, the makeup she had painstakingly applied—none of it felt right.

It was like wearing clothes that didn’t fit or shoes that weren’t hers.

She didn’t want to look young.

“Maybe the makeup is too heavy.”

She had followed an online tutorial, but with her limited collection of cosmetics, she hadn’t been able to replicate the look perfectly.

She was confident in doing stage makeup, but for someone who usually only applied sunscreen, this was unfamiliar territory.

Then again, unfamiliarity wasn’t limited to just this.

“…Ah.”

The heels she had borrowed from Mrs. Sung-eun’s daughter kept slipping off.

She thought a one-size difference would be fine, but even gripping with her toes, she couldn’t stop the back of the shoes from rubbing against her heels.

At least she was immune to foot pain.

Ballet had once pushed her to the point of nearly losing toenails, so a little chafing and blistering were nothing.

“Breathe.”

Don’t be nervous.

Even after transferring subway lines twice and arriving at the meeting place, the tension remained.

She hadn’t been this nervous even before a competition. If she had known it would be this bad, she would have taken something to calm her nerves. If she hadn’t skipped breakfast and lunch due to the anxiety, she would have likely ended up with an upset stomach.

“Hoo….”

Taking another deep breath, she looked up at the towering office building before her.

She had no other options—this was the only way.

There was no turning back.

There was a reason she had to come here, why she had no choice but to come.

✉️: Seongju Hotel, Café Lounge, this weekend, 7 PM. I arranged this meeting. Are you going to refuse again?

✉️: Fine. Do whatever you want.

The will had a clause stating that Go Eunjae could not be forced into marriage.

Since coercion could lead to legal complications, Choi Anna had restrained herself, taking a more passive approach. But she was out of time.

✉️: Just remember this—I may not be able to kill you, but don’t you think I can at least sever your Achilles tendons?

✉️: It’s your choice. Will you obediently marry the person you meet there, or will you be dragged into the wedding hall with your ankles torn apart?

Choi Anna, who had been forcing her into marriage, was now tightening the noose around Eunjae’s neck in a different way.

The cruelty of threatening to destroy a ballerina’s ankles broke her resolve, and the tears she had been holding back finally spilled over.

After Choi Chihyeol’s death, there was nothing left in the world to stop Choi Anna—except, unexpectedly, her own son, Lee Noa.

As much of a tyrant as she was, she still wanted to be a ‘reasonable mother’ in Noa’s eyes. How laughable.

Somehow, Noa had found out about the arranged meeting and had shown up to ruin it, openly condemning his mother’s outrageous behavior.

Choi Anna had done, was doing, and planned to continue doing countless things that defied common decency. But at that moment, her priority was placating Noa.

“Noa, listen to me for a second.”

“How could you do something so horrible? I never knew my mother was this kind of person!”

That was a blatant lie.

Noa knew everything.

He had just chosen to ignore it because it didn’t concern him.

But Go Eunjae’s marriage? That was something he could never allow.

“If you force Eunjae to marry, I will never see you again.”

With that declaration, Noa ran away from home for the first time in his life. And it worked.

He left behind his credit cards and all his cash, disappearing straight to a construction site to work. Having always been gifted in physical activities, he had mastered all sorts of sports since childhood.

In the end, Noa didn’t return home until he had forced Choi Anna to sign a legally binding agreement.

He was gone for forty hours.

Thanks to him, Go Eunjae no longer had to endure forced blind dates.

But the real problem came after that.

Out of nowhere, Choi Anna, who had been unusually quiet, called her. Speaking in an unsettlingly sweet voice, she asked about Eunjae’s grandmother.

—How’s your grandmother doing?

To Choi Anna, Eunjae’s grandmother had always been nothing more than Choi Chihyeol’s concubine.

Even though the old man had firmly denied any such relationship, Anna had never believed the words of a father who had fathered two children with a woman who wasn’t his first wife.

Since the day she suffered a stroke, Eunjae’s grandmother had neither improved nor worsened.

—Did you hear me? How’s your grandmother?

“…Why are you asking?”

Eunjae’s fingertips turned ice-cold as she gripped her phone. The answer was obvious with a little digging, yet the fact that Choi Anna was making a point to confirm it sent a terrifying shiver down her spine.

—Isn’t it natural to ask? You’re such an ungrateful child.

“……”

—I thought you were a devoted granddaughter, but maybe you find your grandmother burdensome too?

“…That’s not true.”

—Oh? Then how come you didn’t even notice that she was transferred to a different hospital?

Eunjae bolted from her seat and ran.

Even after she had hung up, Choi Anna’s laughter echoed in her mind, refusing to fade.