Taptaptap tap. Taptaptap. Taptaptaptaptap—
Secretary Kwon glanced at the young girl in the back seat through the rearview mirror.
The girl was scrunching her nose ever-so-slightly, tapping away at her phone as if she was pissed. The sound of the tapping seemed even more pronounced as she used the tip of her fingernails to type.
Secretary Kwon continued driving silently. Though he had many questions, he felt like it was not a good time to ask; the girl's mood was already bad as it is. If he went ahead and tactlessly opened his mouth, who knew what she might do.
Sighing to himself, Secretary Kwon shifted his eyes back to the road.
Yeo Ri busily typed a message to Mrs. Choi, telling her that she wanted to accept the offer. She was willing to sign the contract with Hope Entertainment.
It was not in her to act so arrogantly, but for some reason, the way the Han couple spoke made Yeo Ri feel very incensed. Yeo Ri had ended up saying things she did not quite mean. However, she was not lying either; since she had acted so brazenly in front of them, she would definitely walk her talk.
Looking at the message she had sent to Mrs. Choi, Yeo Ri sighed. Her anger had receded upon clicking 'send'. There was a little bit of regret and consternation once she realised what she had done, but at the same time, she was feeling excited.
There was a new purpose in her life: to prove that she didn't need those people's support—show them that she could still prosper even without their help!
She was no longer the useless little girl that she used to be; that stupid girl who cried herself to sleep, fearing for her safety and livelihood. She no longer needed to cower behind her brothers and let them shield her from all the dangers the world had to offer. After all that she had gone through, Yeo Ri felt like she was finally ready to leave her past behind and move on with her life.
Feeling her mood soaring up, Yeo Ri let out a giggle.
Secretary Kwon's eyes flicked to the rearview mirror upon hearing her laugh. She was smiling now, he noticed.
Although the smile was lovely, much like an excited child's, he could not help but feel eerie. It had only been a few seconds but her mood had changed so swiftly.
Yeo Ri seemed to notice his gaze.
Lifting her head to look at him, her grin widened. Tilting her head, she asked him gigglingly, "What's wrong? Is there something you want to say to me?"
"No, miss." The man could not help but tighten his grip on the steering wheel, taking a deep breath. He no longer dared to look back at her.
He was scared.
She was smiling, and yet he could not get rid of the feeling of alarm in his heart. It was akin to being stared at by a predator. He could feel his skin prickle as goosebumps rose. For the first time since he took the job, Secretary Kwon felt as if he did not know her at all.
Yeo Ri seemed tickled by his reaction. She leaned back in her seat and crossed her leg on top of the other, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "You're not curious?" She asked as she absentmindedly rubbed her bottom lip with her forefinger.
"...About what?" Secretary Kwon pretended to concentrate on the road.
"Hm... I guess you really don't want to know? Or is it that you already know?" Yeo Ri's tone was light, as if she really did not care if her privacy had been infringed by the man and his employer.
"I didn't know," the man dryly replied. He took a third look at the girl's reflection and finally relaxed after discovering that she no longer looked or felt dangerous. Her normal faint smile was hanging on her face again, seemingly unfazed. Her phone vibrated, then she checked the notification she had just received.
"Miss, why do you act like that?" He blurted once the tension eased.
"Hmm?" Yeo Ri made a sound as if she didn't know what he was talking about.
"Why do you hate them? Why do you act so rude towards them?" He pushed.
"Who? My mother's parents or your boss?"
Secretary Kwon thought for a moment before replying, "Both."
Yeo Ri laughed, "I don't hate them."
What? She doesn't? Secretary Kwon shot a disbelieving look at the girl.
"I really don't," Yeo Ri repeated. "You know my history. It's impossible for me to trust another person who suddenly call themselves my 'family', out of nowhere," she chuckled.
"They're genuine, I know. They truly want the best for me, those two old people," the girl added.
Secretary Kwon was confused. He found the girl strange. This was the first time she spoke to him without an edge in her tone. The fact that Yeo Ri was speaking so nicely made him doubt. It suddenly made him realise that the girl was nothing like how he thought she was. The first time they met, he had felt sympathetic towards her. Then, his impression of her slowly morphed into chagrin, and now... he didn't know anymore.
"But, did you realise?" Yeo Ri tilted her head to stare at the clouds. "They were looking at me, but all they see is 'Yeoreum'."
"Yeoreum this, Yeoreum that... annoying," the girl muttered. Her expression darkened briefly.
"..."
Secretary Kwon listened to her talking without saying a thing. He also thought it was peculiar on how frequently those two people mentioned Han Yeoreum. Though, he had an inkling that it was because the woman was the only common topic they had with the young girl.
"—That man, too. Heo Woo Seung."
She wanted to vent, he supposed.
"Ah, but he doesn't even see Mom, does he? He doesn't really care."
"Miss..." Secretary Kwon sighed. Here she goes again, vilifying his employer.
"You think he's so great? Hm?" Yeo Ri laughed again. "Please, that's just blind loyalty."
"'Wow, he's so nice, taking care of an orphaned young girl!', 'wow, he's so good to his illegitimate daughter, so why is she so ungrateful?', 'wow, he's such a great man! So charitable! Wow!'" Yeo Ri said exaggeratedly, her voice full of mockery.
"Miss Yeo Ri!" Kwon Tae Yang's voice thundered, warning her to stop with her discourtesy.
"What? You really think he's that great?" Yeo Ri dropped her smile.
They were at a stoplight now, and it would take exactly one minute for the red light to turn green.
She sneered coldly at the man's reflection on the rearview mirror. "If he really cared," Yeo Ri's voice lowered, "if he really loved my mom, then he would've divorced his wife and married my mom instead."
"He had his reaso—"
"—If he really cared, he would've at least gave my mother some money so that she could survive and raise her kid, instead of letting her go so easily and wallow in his own self-pity." She added promptly, "It's not like he didn't know what her situation was like."
"..." Secretary Kwon did not know what to say to that. He had assumed that Heo Woo Seung had exhausted all his means to please the woman before they broke up, and that it was the bad woman's fault for not accepting his employer's kindness before they lost contact with each other back then. Before Heo Woo Seung found out the truth of the matter, him and his people really had thought that Han Yeoreum had another lover whom she ran away with all those years ago.
"And yet—he still abandoned her. Abandoned us."
Yeo Ri's words dug deep into the man's heart.
"If he really cared," she smirked, "why did he wait for so long to make it up to me? He had fifteen long years. Why didn't he take me away back then when he realised that my mother 'ran away' and left his daughter all alone with three men who weren't even her blood-related family?"
She continued, "His son is my brother's best friend. It would be too much to say that he didn't know about us, right? He had all the chances, but it was only when I appeared right in front of him that he made his move. Was he for real?"
A ridiculing scoff escapes her lips.
"He must be scared, knowing that his biggest mistake is so close to his family. After all, I can ruin his life so easily. That's why he's acting like that. He wants me to hate him; to make himself feel guilty. Then, he'll shower me with gifts and turn everything around so that my life before would seem like a dream. So that one day, he could tell people that he 'did his best to take care of this daughter he didn't even know he had', so that when he can't hide me anymore, people will think he's a poor, pitiful man who was once too young and too stupid, who is now wholeheartedly atoning for his past mistakes... sure, he'll suffer from some setbacks, but ultimately he would not be too affected. After all, the mistress is already dead."
"Hey. Knowing all of this, you still think he's great?" Yeo Ri narrowed her eyes languidly, smirking, "Open your eyes, seriously."
"..." Secretary Kwon kept his mouth shut. He felt that anything he said would not be well-received by the girl. Although he did not question his employer's intentions, the distrustful girl made him think twice. He wondered how much of her words were the truth, and how much of his boss' words were the truth.
He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Who was he suppose to believe, the wounded girl, or the man he looked up to?
"So, to answer your question, I don't hate him," Yeo Ri's tone reverted to her usual one. "I'm just entertaining him and his miserable play."
"..." Z'at so?
Secretary Kwon thought: 'That's hatred if I've ever seen it!'
The stoplight turned green, and no more chattering could be heard within the car.