Chapter 07
“What’s this? Manager Moon, have you seen this?
The Goldland abuse incident!”
As usual, Seol-ah was working early in the office when she turned to her colleague, Junior Yoon, who was speaking in an exaggerated tone.
“Wow, this is crazy. This mom. This is why innocent moms get criticized.
Her kid is just like her.
What kind of family is this?”
“What happened?”
Seol-ah’s face froze as she opened the internet browser.
The Goldland abuse incident was trending, and the article was filled with images of Shin-young and her mom, though their faces were blurred.
But Seol-ah, who knew them, could easily recognize them.
“The kid is just like the mom. Ugh, what’s wrong with the staff?
Just because they were a bit late, they spilled drinks and yelled at them.”
Goldland was run by JK Group, and it was a members-only place, meaning you needed connections to get in, even if you had the money.
Seol-ah thought, ‘If something happened between Yumin and Shin-young, her mom would have called me to complain first.’
But that didn’t happen.
Yumin, who had witnessed the fight, probably handed them the Goldland tickets, and Shin-young, excited, couldn’t stop herself.
Her mom probably didn’t stop her.
Once Yumin got control of the situation, he would have given a few pieces of advice. Afterward, he would have checked Goldland’s CCTV until he found them.
Seol-ah knew this without seeing Yumin’s actions because she had witnessed them closely.
What was chilling was how much worse Shin-young’s mom’s behavior seemed compared to Seol-ah’s. Seol-ah had fled with his child without even telling him.
Yumin might have been preparing something even worse.
“Goldland is speaking up now.
They’re saying they won’t forgive anyone who mistreats their staff.
We treat our employees like family. JK is awesome,” Junior Yoon said, placing a hand on her chest.
“By the way, I’ve got someone I want to marry.”
“Someone you want to marry?”
Seol-ah was surprised.
She had heard that Junior Yoon recently broke up with someone, but now she was talking about marriage.
Wasn’t she still in her mid-20s? Was she moving fast? Seol-ah looked at her with curiosity.
“Well, more like I’d want to meet him at least once. JK’s vice president. Han Seung-jun. He’s my type.”
Seol-ah was speechless. She didn’t know what to say.
Seung-jun was meeting a woman in a luxury café.
He had been prepared for this meeting, dressed well and looking great, sitting in front of a woman who was equally well-groomed and polished.
“You’ve heard a lot about me, haven’t you?” Seung-jun asked with a slight tilt of his head.
The woman smiled, “I’ve heard you were a child prodigy.
You joined a company project at 16 and made impressive results.”
Seung-jun lowered his gaze. It was true that he participated at 16, but it was more of a chance given to him rather than earned.
“You were a child prodigy, huh?” Seung-jun asked, remembering her name, “What about you?”
“My name is Choi Yeo-jeong.”
“And what did you do?”
Yeo-jeong shyly looked down and said, “I followed celebrities and read a lot of comics.”
Seung-jun smiled, “That’s much better than following celebrities now, right?”
Yeo-jeong blushed at his words.
Yeo-jeong grew up in a privileged family, and her background was evident in how she spoke and carried herself. Seung-jun could vaguely remember hearing about her family when they were introduced.
“Your mother is a professor in education, right?” Seung-jun said.
“Yes, she is,” Yeo-jeong confirmed. “My professor during college.
I majored in education too.”
Seung-jun nodded.
He remembered now that her mother, Professor Choi Hyo-young, was mentioned.
“Are you planning to become a teacher?” Seung-jun asked.
“No, not really. But I’m interested in education. I want to raise my future children well, just like Professor Choi Hyo-young, strict but free.”
Seung-jun nodded. He could tell Yeo-jeong was raised well and had her life planned out, just like him.
But he couldn’t shake off the pressure of being molded for a specific purpose all his life.
Later, Seung-jun was in his car, driving nervously.
He had called Seol-ah, but she didn’t pick up. He was anxious about something that didn’t even make sense.
He arrived at a convenience store and saw Seol-ah standing behind the counter, as calm as ever. He sighed in relief but felt a surge of anger.
‘What have I done?’
He searched online and realized that the convenience store robbery incident everyone was talking about wasn’t real—it was just a storyline from a popular drama.
As he was about to leave, he saw a rough-looking man entering the store. Seung-jun got out of the car and walked in casually.
He bought a coffee and milk, and when he looked up, Seol-ah was avoiding his gaze.
“Why are you acting like I’m not a customer? Is there some kind of discrimination here?” he asked, trying to provoke her.
“Are you trying to make this public again? Make me a laughing stock?” Seol-ah retorted sharply.
Seung-jun’s tone softened as he replied, “You know why Yumin fought with Shin-young?
It was because Shin-young mocked him for not having a dad.
Yumin didn’t say anything because it’s true.”
Seung-jun stepped closer to her, his voice cool and steady, “You’ve created this result for Yumin.
He’s poor, doesn’t have a dad, and people will treat him that way.
He’s going to be isolated because that’s how the world works.”
Suddenly, Seol-ah slapped him. Seung-jun felt her slap even before he could react, and he realized what he had said.
