AOA 100

Obviously it was a suggestion meant to comfort Baek Mugyeong, an innocent offer to eat out. Yet somehow, the conversation had twisted into making sure he could handle spicy food.

Just then, the phone on the table vibrated. As soon as I saw the caller ID, my good mood hit the bottom in an instant. It was my stepmother.

Since quitting my internship at the gallery and returning to school, I barely crossed paths with her anymore. Unlike before the regression, she was now barred from visiting the newlywed house, which made it even less likely we’d run into each other.

She did call me out now and then for this or that event, but I usually got out of it, saying I was sick or busy. Or I’d just show my face for a moment before leaving. Sometimes I brought Choi Jaeha along so I wouldn’t have to be alone with her.

Unlike my biological father, who meddled in every detail of my life, my stepmother harassed me in smaller, more petty ways. She gave me chores, embarrassed me in front of others, and mocked me. Cutting her off had made things peaceful.

Most of all, ever since that incident at the birthday party, Jeong Guhyeon had been exiled to the US. After that, my stepmother stopped reaching out. My father, on the other hand, had summoned me just a few days ago to berate me for my midterm grades.

In any case, my stepmother hadn’t changed. If anything, maybe she was resentful I hadn’t helped Jeong Guhyeon.

I didn’t want to answer the call. But I had to.

“It’s my mother. Just a moment.”

I excused myself to Baek Mugyeong, picked up the phone, and stepped away. Talking to my stepmother in front of him would’ve been too much.

I answered from the corner of the the living room, steeling myself for whatever excuse she was going to use to summon me.

But my stepmother asked me what I was doing in a soft voice. When I said I was having lunch with Baek Mugyeong, she said she had something to say, she wanted to see me at the gallery at 3.

I asked what it was about, but she didn’t answer clearly, just said I’d understand when I got there and told me not to be late.

After hanging up, I didn’t return to the table right away. I stared at my phone, frowning. I was worried about my stepmother’s soft voice. And asking to meet at the gallery made me uneasy. There was only one thing that could mean.

The identity of the painter whose works I bought at the last exhibition hadn’t gone public yet. If she had found out first, then the summons made sense. Knowing how greedy she was.

Even if I’d bought paintings from a famous, senior artist, she wasn’t the kind to praise me. More likely, she’d want to take them.

But I had no intention of giving them up like I had before the regression. If I refused, though, she’d sic my father on me. He’d yell at me to hand them over.

Thinking about going head-to-head with my father soured my mood again.

So this is what a leash feels like.

I sighed, still holding my phone. Just having money wasn’t enough to cut ties with him or stand up to him. I had to be careful about everything, just like Baek Mugyeong had warned. My father could hurt my family in more ways than just withholding my brother’s hospital bills.

I felt myself sinking, but I forced my thoughts back into place. Compared to how helpless I’d been before the regression, this was already a massive improvement. Instead of wallowing, I should be rallying.

I’d persuaded my brother to go abroad, even enrolled him in a top agency. The plan was to send him in the first half of next year.

Once everything was ready, I’d strike like lightning.

When I made up my mind like that, the heavy feeling in my chest lightened. I headed back to the table, determined to hold my ground if my stepmother tried anything.

“I have to go to the art gallery after this. To see my mother.”

“What’s the matter?”

When I said I was going to see my stepmother, Baek Mugyeong looked curious.

“I don’t know either.”

“Sorry?”

“She just said to come to the gallery. She didn’t say why.”

I took the chance to complain about her strange and awful habit. She never gave a reason for summoning someone. And my father was even worse.

They wouldn’t tell you what it was about, so you couldn’t prepare. You’d just get called in, and whatever came, you had to take it. Almost like that’s what they wanted. Someone who didn’t even fight back.

“I’ll come with you.”

“…Really?”

“I don’t know what it’s about either, but it’ll be better if we go together.”

Beak Mugyeong said it like he was drinking water. A man who didn’t lie, with a serious expression on his face.

Honestly, I was a little taken aback. I hadn’t expected him to offer to come. But when he said it’d be better not to go alone, I wavered. It meant he was taking my side.

My stepmother was just as wary of him as she was of my father. I didn’t know exactly why she had called me, but I figured having him there would keep her from lashing out.

“Please do. We just need to be there by 3.”

“Understood.”

With Baek Mugyeong coming along, it felt like I’d gained an army at my back. I turned back to my food and ate with renewed energy.

*

Thanks to my internship at Mumuah Art Museum last winter, I knew the layout well.

The route to the fifth floor office and the sixth floor director’s room was complicated because of internal security. You had to come up from the basement parking to the first floor, then get escorted from the front desk.

“Oh, Minchae-ssi, you’re here? What’s the matter?”

“I was called by the director.”

The front desk staff recognized me and led us to the elevator. She kept sneaking glances at Baek Mugyeong.

It must have been his first time here. She clearly wondered who he was. I pretended not to notice, but she eventually asked.

“Minchae-ssi, who’s this?”

“My husband.”

When I decided to bring him along, I hadn’t thought this would happen. I only realized how it looked when I saw her curious eyes.

But I had no reason to lie, so I answered honestly. Her eyes went wide.

We barely exchanged greetings back when I worked here. Except for one company dinner, we never even shared a meal.

I’d bet 1,000 won she’d be back at the desk in a second, writing in the staff group chat that I’d shown up with my husband. Gossip would spread fast in such a small place.

With his casual jacket and dress shirt, Baek Mugyeong looked like a model or a celebrity.

Standing next to someone like him, I felt like a clod of dirt. But seeing her shocked expression made me feel a bit proud. Maybe this was what it felt like to have a good-looking spouse. I almost laughed.

“You said you were married, right? Ah, now I remember.”

“Yes. But, are there any other guests today?”

I asked the question first, before she could dig for more information. She said there wasn’t anything special. Just that my father had shown up earlier.

He usually avoided coming here. Most of the operations were left to my stepmother. The fact that he was waiting in the director’s office hinted that something was going on.

I thanked the staff, who was still eyeing Baek Mugyeong, and got into the elevator with him.

“You really worked here during the winter?”

“Yes. As an intern.”

When the elevator started moving, he spoke up. But that was all he said, so I couldn’t tell why he’d asked.

I glanced at him. He met my eyes without hesitation.

“I was just curious.”

“That’s all?”

“That employee didn’t seem to recognize you as Chairman Jeong’s son. I thought that was strange.”

He must’ve caught the look in my eyes. So he gave me the answer first.

I couldn’t bring myself to say I’d been an outcast here. Or that the staff had all tiptoed around my stepmother. Life’s like that everywhere, I guess. But saying it out loud just felt too pitiful.

“Well, that happens. Anyway, thanks for coming with me.”

“It’s nothing.”

I changed the subject and thanked him first. We had already planned how to handle this. We’d agreed that Baek Mugyeong would introduce himself and say he came along to greet them.

Just as we were exchanging polite words, the elevator stopped. I walked to the director’s office without hesitation.

“Director, I’m here.”

I knocked and called out. My father’s voice told me to come in.

Inside were both my father and stepmother. I had already told her that Baek Mugyeong would be coming with me. My father welcomed us with a smiling face.

“She told me you’d be coming. Come, sit. You too, Executive Baek.”

We chatted lightly as the tea came out. No one mentioned the unpleasant incident at my father’s birthday. Nor did they bring up the scandal Baek Yeongseop had been involved in at Cheongam Art Museum recently.