Young-hoon's Little Sister Su-jin (Paid Content Starts Here)
Su-jin was Young-hoon's youngest sibling. After graduating from a nursing college in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, she had been working as a nurse at one of the three largest general hospitals in South Korea — six years on the job now.
Confident in her own way that she was pretty and cute, she was no stranger to young men making passes at her.
Today, her eldest brother — who lived in Seoul just like her but had only ever kept in touch through the occasional phone call — had invited her out for a meal, so she had made her way all the way to Sinsa-dong in Gangnam.
When she arrived at the coffee shop where they were meeting, she spotted her brother chatting away with their cousin's husband and wife.
“Well, look who it is. Been a while, our baby sister.”
“Hi, unnie. Good to see you. And you too, brother-in-law. It's been forever, oppa.”
“Indeed it has, little sister-in-law.”
“So what's the occasion, meeting up in Sinsa-dong of all places?”
“Well. We're having dinner together, and we're also going to check out the place you'll be living from now on.”
“Hmm, I did hear something about that, but you really found a house here?”
“It's the truth, I promise. Haha. You're going to be in for quite a shock when you see it.”
“Ah — okay. Then I'll look forward to it.”
Her heart fluttering with anticipation, Ki-jin led the way for the group.
“Right, now that everyone's here, let's head straight over. To the home we'll be living in from now on.”
The luxury villa Chairman Jang had arranged was a quiet, upscale building about ten minutes' walk from Sinsa Station on subway line 3.
As they entered at the gate, a security guard came out to ask their business.
Ki-jin stepped forward as their spokesman and explained that they were the incoming residents, and the guard's manner immediately turned immaculately polite. He'd been given advance notice, of course — but nothing about their clothes suggested people who could live somewhere like this, so he remained half in doubt.
After a light identity check at the management office, a staff member handed over the keys.
Unit 301 and unit 402.
Young-hoon's group decided to first take a look at the place his cousin's family would be living in.
The moment they opened the door and stepped inside, it felt as though they'd wandered into a European palace. The furniture was all top-of-the-line, and the appliances were the latest models.
“Whoa! You're telling me THIS is where we're going to live from now on?
Every appliance, every piece of furniture is top luxury.
There are six bedrooms, even.
And look — the living room is basically a soccer field. A soccer field!
This isn't a dream, right? Young-hoon, thank you so much.”
“Aw, unnie, why do you keep thanking me? You should be thanking your husband.”
Su-jin was every bit as stunned.
“Unnie, you're saying this is your house?
And Young-hoon oppa's place is just like this one too?
Oppa, did you win the lottery by any chance?”
“Hey now. Even a first-place lottery win wouldn't buy a house like this.
First prize these days doesn't even come to two hundred million won.”
“Then how did you manage to buy this place, oppa?”
“Shh. Curiosity hurts. Brother-in-law, unnie, wait here a moment.
Su-jin and I are going up to the fourth floor.”
“Sure, go ahead. Take your time looking around.”
Hee-joo was so absorbed in touring the house that Young-hoon's words didn't seem to register with her at all.
At the sight, Young-hoon allowed himself a sly smile and headed up to the fourth floor with Su-jin.
When he opened the door to unit 402, the same lavish interior that had greeted them downstairs welcomed the two of them once more. Only the layout differed slightly; the furniture and electronics were all stuffed to the brim with premium specs.
Young-hoon let Su-jin pick whichever room she wanted, then quietly looked around the house himself.
After a long while of inspecting this room and that, Su-jin apparently settled on one she liked and came to tell him. It sat on the exact opposite side of the apartment from the master bedroom Young-hoon would be using, so it seemed her privacy would be fully guaranteed.
“Hey, sister. You do remember the conditions for moving into this house, right?”
“Oppaaa, but how am I supposed to clean a house this huge?
Can't I just cook your meals for you? Hire a cleaning lady for the rest.”
Truthfully, it looked impossible to Young-hoon too, the idea of Su-jin cleaning the whole place by herself. Still, if he gave in to every whim from the start, he had a feeling it would become unmanageable later — so he decided to leave the question open.
“I'll think about it.”
“By the way, oppa — this really is our house, right? I get to brag to Mom?”
“Go ahead. The busy farming season's over, so tell her to come up soon. A week or so after the move would be perfect. If she can manage it, have Dad and Young-min come along too.”
“Got it. Oh, oppa — when can I move in?”
“They said it's available from Saturday, so come whenever it's convenient. Let's set the passcode again. How about your birthday plus the last four digits of mine?”
“Love it.”
Passcode settled, the two of them went back down to the third floor.
By then their cousins had apparently seen enough, and the couple was waiting for the siblings.
Hee-joo wore the expression of someone so full she could skip dinner entirely, but her husband boldly declared that he would treat everyone to dinner regardless. The four of them made for a short-rib barbecue place nearby and inhaled meat until their stomachs practically burst. Having just seen the homes they'd be living in from now on, everyone was glowing with happiness.
Young-hoon and Su-jin agreed to move in that Saturday, while the cousins decided to settle the children's school transfers and the sale of their current house first and move the following week.
Stuffed full of dinner, Su-jin spent the entire ride back to her rented room trying to untangle the confusion in her head. Truthfully, though she hadn't shown it, swept along by the mood around her, she was in a state of utter shock.
The image of her big brother that Su-jin carried in her memory was: the Grand Duke of Losers.
But the brother she'd met today looked more handsome than before, his skin practically glowing. And above all — decisively — he looked like a man with room to breathe in life.
It has to be a lottery win. Definitely.
So she'd casually floated the topic, and his reaction had been nowhere near convincing. He's not just denying it because he's afraid I'll ask him for money, is he? No matter how she turned it over, that was the only explanation.
Her big brother absolutely did not have the means to buy a house like that. On this point, her judgment — honed by years of watching him — was dead accurate. And yet, judging from how things had gone today, the ownership of the house was crystal clear… which left her utterly dumbfounded.
Fine. Then Detective Kim will have to step in and slowly peel back big brother's secrets. There's definitely a mastermind lurking behind all this. I WILL uncover the truth.
Her days in that basement semi-basement rental were down to three. From Saturday onward, she would be reborn — from a loser's life to Snow White's.
I'm too excited to sleep tonight. I have to tell Mom. Knowing oppa's personality, he definitely wouldn't have said a word back in the countryside. Yahoo~ I'm so happy.
Young-hoon's cousin Hee-joo was every bit as excited.
She'd always considered herself slightly above middle class — upper-middle, thank you very much — but the house they'd toured tonight was one fit for the true upper crust. Lately her husband had been bringing home good money too. With bonuses alone said to come to six billion won, it seemed they could live comfortably enough in a place like this.
But how am I supposed to clean it? It had taken her ages just to clean their forty-eight-pyeong apartment. When was she supposed to clean a hundred-pyeong house? Wouldn't that take an entire day? Don't tell me I'll have to clean Young-hoon's place too? Then I'll collapse flat on my back, guaranteed. She'd have to sweet-talk her husband into hiring a cleaning lady. And tonight, why not run not just the first half but the second half too? I've got all day tomorrow to lie there like a corpse anyway. She shot a sultry glance at her husband in the next seat. At her look, he seemed to be heating up nicely. It looked like tonight called for a long-distance race. Might as well die once tonight.
Ki-jin, for his part, felt like a husband again for the first time in a while.
They'd gone out this evening to see the house they'd be living in, and his wife's eyes had gone completely glassy — but then he'd caught the faintest flicker of worry in them. Cleaning worries, without a doubt.
A deal is coming in tonight. Judging by how she's acting, I'd better take the call. The deal's already arriving from the wife sitting right next to me. Second half should be no problem tonight. Maybe I'll get greedy and try for overtime too. She'll definitely accept my demands.
Tonight, darling, you're dead.
Hehehehehe…
Young-hoon parted ways with his cousin and her husband and returned to his one-room studio. After such a whirlwind day that had started in the morning, his whole body felt ten thousand pounds heavy. Come to think of it, he'd ignored the group chat the girls had sent him that morning — time to send a reply.
By the time Young-hoon finished his whirlwind of a chat with the Five Girls, it was nearly eleven at night. Too awkward a hour to go to bed, he decided to transcribe a bit more of the drama script. He'd copied through episode ten last time, so he set himself the goal of reaching the middle of episode eleven tonight. He got so absorbed in the work that midnight was creeping up on him before he knew it. For tomorrow's business, he'd better turn in around here. He washed up quickly and lay down, tossing and turning for a moment before sleep swallowed him. And so, truly long and eventful day came to its close.
Thursday, November 9th.
With no car available today, he decided to take the bus to work. On his way out the door, just in case, he grabbed a bottle of wine.
When he stepped into the office, it was empty. Once again, Young-hoon was the first to arrive.
He pulled out his work notebook and reviewed the day's schedule. Today was the day the bidding results would be announced. The announcement was set for two in the afternoon, which meant he'd have to work with his nerves taut right up until that moment.
Whether they beat Samjung Electronics or lost to them, he was the one who would have to report the results. If they won, a brief summary would suffice — but if they got skewered by Samjung Electronics, he'd have to write out the whole sob story, chapter and verse. In fact, it was technically Deputy Hong, the contact at New Seoul Distribution, who should be filing that report — but there was zero chance of that happening.
Beyond that, he had to finish the materials for tomorrow's nationwide marketing team leaders' meeting by morning. They were already over ninety-five percent complete, so wrapping them up before noon looked to be no problem.
His only external engagement today was an evening meeting with the director of Chunghyo General Hospital, whom Chairman Jang had promised to introduce. The venue hadn't been set yet, but word would come from the chairman's secretary.
He was still the only employee in the office. Glancing around, Young-hoon went to the break room, brewed himself a cup of coffee, and added a pinch of Magic Seasoning. Sure enough, the flavor transformed. These days, coffee without Magic Seasoning tasted so bland and lifeless he could hardly bring himself to drink it.
He was in the middle of quietly savoring his own brilliance when the phone rang. At this hour, there was only one person it could be — President Lee Jae-man.
“Good morning, President Lee.”
[Yes, good morning, Mr. Kim.
I'll give you a quick report on today's business. As I mentioned before, we've decided not to schedule anything too grueling, for the sake of the girls' health. Tomorrow we finish the radio broadcast, and from seven in the evening onward they're free.
For now, let's plan to meet at the Seongnam office.]
President Lee Jae-man was pouring the words out like water from a burst dam. Perhaps out of breath midway, he paused briefly to steady his breathing before continuing.
[…Also, I've found a building near Garosu-gil in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam, so please come take a look whenever you can and give us your decision. As for the dorm, I'm scouting a two-story house, but I'm afraid we'll have to take it on a monthly lease. Buying it would be far too expensive.]
“Understood. I'll head over to Seongnam on Friday. And for the office and the dorm, please make the final decision only after giving full consideration to the opinions of the Five Girls members and the staff. Don't worry about the money — whatever you decide, President Lee, I'll follow your judgment.”
[I'll be in touch again tomorrow, then.]
“Yes. Fighting, President Lee.”