The Date Promise
I let out a long sigh of relief. I’d been worried she might turn me down, but she accepted. And not just that—she sounded incredibly happy about it.
“Mmm.”
Now that I actually had her approval, my conscience was starting to sting a little. After all, I’d just finished having sex with Hwangbo Ji-eun. And right after that, I’d gone and made a date with Moyong Sunae?
I used to think only the womanizers you see in dramas could pull off something like this. But now that I’d actually done it… turns out I could too. Humans really are creatures that can do just about anything once they set their minds to it.
"Now that you've secured the date approval, shall we begin preparing for the date?"
"Just to be sure, you're not telling me that a 27-year-old man doesn't know how to dress himself, right? Especially someone who's submitted resumes to companies before."
“W-well, of course I… don’t.”
"......"
I watched the ring fall into stunned silence and quickly defended myself.
“Hey, until recently I was a lifelong virgin who’d never even held a girl’s hand. Dating? When would I have had time to learn how to dress up while I was in college?”
"I don't think that's something to brag about?"
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a reliable helper on my side.”
"Ah…"
"I think I know who you're talking about."
I thought it might be some kind of divine power, but—
"You're talking about Hwangbo Ji-eun, right?"
Is this thing insane? How could it even think that?
"At first glance, Hwangbo Ji-eun seems like a master of romance. If you get her help, Master, I'm sure you'll become quite the stylish gentleman."
“You crazy thing. I’m going on a date with Sunae. I’m not getting help from Ji-eun.”
"Hmm, I don't see why not."
In a way, this really was a power from God. It had no sense of human emotion at all.
I let out a deep sigh and told the ring who my reliable helper actually was.
“I’m talking about my little sister.”
"Oh my god! Do you really think that makes any sense?"
Why is it shocked by this part?
“Whatever. Let’s just go home.”
I left the stunned ring behind and slowly made my way back home. Maybe it was because I’d just had sex, but my steps felt unusually light.
Meanwhile, at that same moment.
Moyong Dahae, Moyong Sunae’s older sister and the eldest daughter of the Moyong Group, staggered into her house completely exhausted and collapsed face-first onto her bed.
Thud.
“Phew, fuck. What a goddamn shitty day.”
It was the kind of day where she couldn’t possibly hold back her curses. The same went for the alcohol.
She sat on the edge of the bed, slowly pouring herself a glass of her favorite wine with a long sigh.
“That bastard Kang Geon-mo… what kind of dirty trick did he pull to change the CEO’s mind in a single day? The man had verbally promised to sign with me. The way the CEO’s face went completely pale, it definitely doesn’t look like he used normal methods. Ha, fuck… the world really is going to shit these days.”
Unlike Moyong Sunae, who had completely stepped away from the group’s affairs, Moyong Dahae had been receiving successor training since elementary school. She knew not only the power that came with authority, but also just how brutal the underworld could be. That was why she didn’t hire expensive personal bodyguards for nothing.
Of course. When you had an opponent you didn’t like, there was no cleaner solution than putting out a hit on them. No matter how great a businessman someone was, if a bullet went through their skull, they died. Just like that leader from the neighboring country who was assassinated mid-speech not long ago.
‘Even a tail should only grow so long before it gets caught…’
Among executives of a certain level, there wasn’t a single person who didn’t know that the Kanggeon Group held enormous power in the underworld. It wasn’t for nothing that the Moyong Group always made some concessions to them. It wasn’t that they were afraid of shit—they just didn’t want to get dirty.
‘Ha, those sons of bitches pour half the money they earn that way into politicians and the legal world, so it’s not easy to expect help from them either.’
Gulp.
Moyong Dahae tilted her wine glass to ease her frustration and let out another heavy sigh.
Honestly, yielding a few major contracts to the Kanggeon Group? She could do that. It had happened several times before. But what she couldn’t tolerate was how Kang Geon-mo—the eldest son of that very group—had recently started making blatant advances toward her.
“Is that horny son of a bitch really picking a fight with me?”
No matter how tightly the Kanggeon Group controlled the underworld, she was still the eldest daughter of the Moyong Group and the CEO of one of its subsidiaries. If she wanted to, she had more than enough power to start a bloody war. The only reason she didn’t was because both sides would suffer devastating losses. And in a country already suffering from a recession, that would be incredibly exhausting. So both sides were at least maintaining a minimum line.
“He’s not the kind of guy who wouldn’t know that… ha, fuck! My head hurts!”
Moyong Dahae gave up on thinking any further. She had barely managed to leave work after several days, and she didn’t want to keep wracking her brain even at home.
“Ah… I miss our Sunae.”
The moment she stopped thinking about work, the first thing that came to mind was Moyong Sunae—the sore spot of the Moyong family, or perhaps their beloved teddy bear. The treasure of the Moyong household.
‘Sister! Mom, Dad!’
From the moment she was born, it was hard to say whether she was kind or just weak. Either way, she was the family’s precious little princess who had been born completely unsuited for the cutthroat world of business.
Even though Dahae had done everything in her power behind the scenes to help Sunae make good friends without the family name getting in the way, Sunae had always been alone. There was nothing that could be done about it.
‘I couldn’t just buy her fake friends with money.’
If that ever got found out, it would only backfire.
‘I thought things would get better once she went to college… but that didn’t work either.’
It was because she was too kind. No—too innocent.
“Ha, it’s all my fault.”
She really was the family’s sore spot. They had pampered her too much. As a result, a child who was already weak had grown up even weaker. It would have been better if she had faced some hardships. But because the family was so well-off, she had grown up without any, and by the time she became an adult, she had turned into someone who would crumble at the slightest breeze.
“……”
Should I call her? Or not?
Moyong Dahae sat on the edge of her bed, fiddling with her phone for over ten minutes as she agonized over it.
‘Her cast came off recently. Maybe I can use that as an excuse to call?’
But she knew how much Sunae hated getting calls from family.
‘Still, if I don’t call first, that kid will never call in her entire life.’
Ever since she had become independent, it had been nearly two years since they had seen each other outside of holidays.
“I guess I should call first…”
That was when it happened.
Ring, ring.
Moyong Dahae couldn’t believe her own eyes.
> From: 'MyBelovedLittleSister♡'
“What the…?”
Too shocked to react at first, Moyong Dahae quickly pressed the answer button.
“Y-yes! Sunae? What’s going on? Why are you calling me first—”
-U-unnie! W-what should I do?
Even her voice sounded off. Was she extremely surprised? Or extremely excited? Damn it, did she get into another car accident? At this hour? Or maybe that bastard Kang Geon-mo had finally pulled some dirty trick on my little sister too—
-I-I accepted a d-date request from H-Hyun-woo oppa… What do I do? I don’t know anything about getting dressed up. C-can you help me a little, unnie?
“…Huh?”
Completely unprepared for that answer, Moyong Dahae’s brain froze for the second time. More importantly—who the hell was Hyun-woo oppa?
Anyway.
“Leave it all to your big sister!”
This was not something she could just let slide. Absolutely not.
“Why don’t you introduce your brother to some girls?”
“Ugh, Dad!”
Aside from the son, Kim Hyun-woo, everyone else in the Kim family enjoyed drinking. Because of that, the three of them often went out for drinks after work without him. It wasn’t that they were deliberately excluding him. It was just that after he had refused dozens of times, they had naturally stopped inviting him.
“Sigh… I’m glad both of you grew up so well. I’m truly grateful. But if there’s one thing that worries me, it’s when on earth you two are going to get married.”
“Who wants to get married in this economy? You need money for that too.”
“If I gave you the money, would you do it?”
“What? Are you going to sell the house you live in?”
“I do have the house Grandpa left me, but…”
“Forget it! That won’t sell anyway. Just use it for your retirement fund, Dad. We’ll take care of ourselves. Oppa will do the same.”
It was always like this. Kim Hyun-ah didn’t mind drinking with her mom, but she hated drinking with her dad. Because the conversation was always the same. That damn marriage talk, marriage, marriage… It was enough to drive her insane.
“Honey, that’s enough. Hyun-ah’s going to get indigestion.”
“I’m just saying. It’s fine for Hyun-ah since she’s dated a few guys, but Hyun-woo has never even had a girlfriend.”
When their dad let out a deep sigh, Kim Hyun-ah shot back.
“It’s not that oppa can’t date, he just doesn’t want to, okay? If he actually decides he wants to date someone, he can. The problem is he has zero interest in dating anyone in the first place. So what’s the point of me introducing girls to him? I’d just end up getting cursed at.”
Even though she said that, Kim Hyun-ah honestly couldn’t picture her brother dating anyone either. A guy who had been single for twenty-seven years suddenly—
“Still, he seems to be working hard at his part-time job lately. Maybe there’s hope?”
“Mom, why are you joining in too? Seriously.”
She was already in a bad mood because her plans with her boyfriend had fallen through today. Seeing her parents being especially persistent tonight made irritation surge through her.
“This kind of thing requires the person themselves to want to change first, you know? And I’ve watched Kim Hyun-woo since I was little. He doesn’t have what it takes. If that oppa of mine ever comes home saying he has a date, I’ll bark like a dog! Like a dog!”
“Alright, calm down, sweetheart. Mom was just saying it.”
“Ha, seriously. You guys always talk about this stuff when oppa isn’t around, and that’s why I get so stressed every time. Can we please stop now? I’ve said this much, okay?”
“Fine, fine. Let’s just eat the meat.”
“Yeah…”
After making that bold declaration and returning home with her parents, Kim Hyun-ah tilted her head when she saw Kim Hyun-woo standing awkwardly in the entryway.
“What’s up? You have something to say?”
And then she heard words she couldn’t believe.
“Uh, well… I have a date in two days. If it’s not too much trouble, could you help me pick out some clothes and do my hair that day? I’m asking for a favor.”
“……”
She glanced behind her quietly, then blushed and muttered under her breath.
“…Woof.”