AOA 21

“The Chairman will look into how Jeong Minchae uses the money. So don’t waste it, buy something you actually want, just as he said.”

“…Understood.”

The unexpected piece of information left my head spinning. I hadn’t imagined my use of the allowance would be monitored.

Before the regression, I had been shocked just seeing the number in the account. A nine-digit figure went far beyond the usual definition of an allowance.

By then, I had already reached an agreement with Baek Mugyeong to maintain a facade marriage. So I decided to save the money for my post-divorce future.

I had quietly rejoiced, thinking at least I wouldn’t have to worry about a rental deposit. But in the end, I never got to use any of it. About a year after receiving the allowance, the bankbook, seal, and card all disappeared at once.

Not long after, it was revealed that my stepmother had taken them. She claimed I’d given them to her myself. And because I hadn’t been in my right mind at the time, I confirmed that was true, and the whole matter was brushed aside.

That won’t happen again. I’ll spend it all before she even has a chance to take it.

I didn’t know the winning lotto numbers for the next two years, but I did know which stocks would go up. More precisely, I knew of a series of high-profile incidents that would appear in the news. I was planning to jump in and out quickly for short-term gains.

I could always say I preferred stocks over luxury watches.

I tried to think positively. If my return hit over 1,000%, no one would criticize me.

While reviewing my future plans, I glanced at Baek Mugyeong, who was driving silently. The same man who’d called me foolish for eating while knowing I’d get indigestion was now advising me to use the allowance wisely. It didn’t quite add up.

I had no idea what he was thinking. Part of me wanted to ask why, but I knew provoking a man in a bad mood was a stupid move. More than anything, my head was throbbing, and I didn’t trust myself to hold a proper conversation.

To soothe my unsettled stomach, I leaned against the car window and closed my eyes. I just wanted to lie down as soon as we got home.

I started working part-time during the winter break of my first year in high school. I washed dishes at a restaurant, saying I wanted to experience the working world, and to save up for a motorcycle. After a month, I earned a little over 400,000 won.

I never got the motorcycle because my parents were against it. I bought a bicycle instead and made my mother worry.

Then my parents passed away one after another, and I became the head of the household. I jumped into the job market right away. To cover living expenses and repay debts, I’d done just about everything.

When I was still a student, I worked part-time at a convenience store. After graduating, I worked at a factory. At one point, I even worked sorting parcels for extra cash.

Without a college degree or certifications, every job required physical labor. In most of them, it was naturally hot in the summer and freezing in the winter.

In that sense, working in a climate-controlled office was a first for me.

*

“Hello. I’m Jeong Minchae. I look forward to working with you.”

I gave a deep bow to the people in the office. Most of the employees were women, and their reactions were indifferent.

That was understandable. I was a blatant parachute hire.

It was a little past December, and I was twenty-two years old. Officially, I had just returned from abroad for marriage, so I didn’t have a university degree.

My biological father claimed there were no high school grads in our family and pushed me to prepare for a college transfer. Somehow, documents appeared to prove I had been studying at a university in Canada. Whether I liked it or not, it was decided that starting in March, I would attend a private university in Seoul that had ties with my father. I’d be in the College of Humanities, majoring in philosophy.

I had never been passionate about studying, and I’d pretty much given up on academics since senior year of high school. I barely knew anything in that field, so I needed several months of intensive tutoring.

That wasn’t all. After the wedding, I was to work as an intern at a museum run by the family. My biological father claimed that since I was now part of the Daesong Group, I needed the proper culture and knowledge to match.

The weekend after returning from the honeymoon had been spent visiting the elders of both families. When Monday came, I reported to the gallery.

One of my biological father’s greatest points of pride was the collection of art handed down through generations. The gallery was well-established enough to run a special exhibition room, and two of its pieces had even been designated national treasures.

Naturally, the director of the gallery was my stepmother, Kim Heeyoung. When I greeted her, she spoke up.

“This is the second son I mentioned before. He’ll only be around for the winter, so don’t worry too much. I’ll assign the work. He’s handsome, so you won’t forget who he is, right?”

She introduced me with a cheerful voice. Then she showed me to my desk and introduced me to the colleague seated beside me.

Then she took me to her office.

“This kind of place is new to you, right?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll get a feel for how things work around here if you just stick with it. Don’t be intimidated. But work is work, right? I won’t tolerate people talking behind your back just because you’re a parachute hire.”

She flashed a sharp smile with her red lips and handed me some documents from her desk. Since the same thing had happened before the regression, I took them without being flustered.

“Our gallery hosts a catering event every March and September. It’s called the Gourmet Gallery. These are the plans from last year and the year before. Try drafting something similar. It’s just practice, practice. We’ve got plenty of more skilled staff. Still, you should do your best. I’ll be evaluating it. I’ll give you plenty of time, so submit it by next Monday. You can do that, right?”

There was no malice in her gentle tone. With her elegant looks and stylish figure, she came off as a refined middle-aged lady. But having lived this life once already, I knew it was a trap.

She was telling the truth: this was just practice. But the evaluation was done in front of everyone.

The event proposal I wrote was a disaster. Even with past plans to refer to, it was only natural that I struggled, I had zero experience.

My stepmother had anticipated that. She had given me this task just so she could publicly humiliate me, saying, “What would a high school grad know?”

As a child, she hated me so much that she had someone throw me out of the house. Now that I was back and receiving my biological father’s attention, it must’ve irritated her. Of course, that didn’t make her behavior right. Anyone who’d abandoned a child wasn’t a good person to begin with.

Still, to be honest, I felt a tiny bit of gratitude toward her. If not for her, I wouldn’t have received any of my parents’ love. The thought of living stuck between a biological father who wanted to use me, a half-brother who despised me, and a stepmother who loathed me made my skin crawl.

“I’ll do my best.”

Even as countless thoughts raced through my mind, I bowed politely, holding the event proposal in my hands. Right now, I had nothing. If I acted on impulse, I couldn’t recover.

Having lived through the future, I knew what my father, stepmother, and half-brother liked and hated. Most importantly, I knew their dirty secrets. Even if I didn’t have solid evidence, just knowing where to press would be enough to drive a wedge between me and my father.

Until then, keeping a low profile would be the smart move.

“Good. Do your best.”

With my stepmother’s not-quite-encouraging encouragement, I quietly backed out of her office.

Even as an intern, I was a ridiculous parachute hire, so I left work as soon as the clock struck three. Starting at ten and leaving at three, it was a dream job. I could practically feel the sharp glares of the staff piercing my back, but I pretended not to notice.

My first Monday after returning from the honeymoon was packed. After leaving the gallery, I had to visit the hospital and then go to my English conversation class.

I was taking one-on-one lessons. Normally, the tutor would come to your home, but my stepmother was adamantly opposed to having strangers inside. It was also one of the few opportunities I had to go out freely, so I didn’t complain and just attended the academy.

Even after getting married, I continued going. My biological father was wary of Baek Mugyeong, and I couldn’t openly say I was taking English lessons either.

Thanks to the car my father had gifted me as a wedding present, commuting didn’t take long. He told me not to take taxis anymore since I was now the wife of the executive director of DS Motors.

I’d actually gotten my Class 1 driver’s license before graduating high school and had driven quite a bit. I struggled a bit with the Class 1 vs. Class 2 differences, but I got the hang of it quickly.

I visited a doctor, one of my father’s golf buddies, who drew blood, prescribed me an omega pheromone stabilizer, and then I headed to Daechi-dong for my English class.

Before the wedding, I had to attend classes under the watch of a chauffeur assigned by my father. But starting today, I could go alone.

“Did you enjoy your honeymoon?”

“Yes.”

While I waited in the classroom, a warm-looking middle-aged man walked in and greeted me right on time. His name was Lee Jeongwook, a renowned private tutor in Daechi-dong. He and I were acquaintances of a sort, but not close beyond the teacher-student relationship.