“Sister?” Goeun blurts out on Chaewon’s behalf.

A second later, Chaewon can feel every eye in the room on her. As an heiress, she may have warmed up to the position of being the center of attention, but she has yet to experience being put on the spot. And if she must admit, it makes her heart race. Not so much that she’s afraid she’ll say the wrong things but it strangely empowers her.

As if Chaewon’s silence is an invitation for her to continue, Eunbi tries to convey the truth without her voice shaking too much, “Our mother is very sick. She has been bedridden for the last four years. She lost a lot of weight because she couldn’t swallow her food and she’s constantly throwing up her medicine. Mother wants—”

Chaewon raises a hand to stop her from speaking. Once Eunbi grows quiet, Chaewon pockets her hands, “Can you stop with the mother thing? It's making me dizzy,” Immediately, flabbergasted, Eunbi’s brows came close to touching and she didn’t know what to say. “I also don’t recall having a sister, so, the door is behind you. Have a nice evening,” Chaewon gestures toward the twin wooden doors.

Eunbi scoffs in disbelief. Then she rubs her temple with a cold laugh, “Hold on, hold on a minute. Are you kicking me out? After I came to tell you that our mother isn’t doing well—”

“I told you to stop with that crap! As far as I know, this dying Jisun is a surrogate! I have no mother by that name and I don’t care for her or her brats!”

Before the room gets any more intense, the hard look on Chaewon’s face soften when Hyewon step in, “Chaewon, don’t be mean! The condition of your biological mother sounds serious. You should go see her,”

Chaewon flatten her eyes, “Hyewon, I told you not to tell me what to do,”

“Why? Is it because you don’t see me as your older sister anymore?” Hyewon’s voice cracks as she was on the verge of tears, “You lied to me. You said my mom and your dad will stay together for us but you lied. You said you had a plan so I...I thought you did and like an idiot, I believed you. I heard everything from dad. He said it was you. You suggested that they get a divorce,”

Goeun’s jaw drops a little but Chaewon doesn’t look so surprised.

“So that’s why you’ve been acting weird,” Chaewon says in a low voice.

Before anyone can make out a sound, they hear a stormy voice coming from behind the opened door. “What’s this? Where’s Kim Chaewon!”

Chaewon diverts her gaze over to the door to avoid seeing Hyewon cry. Meanwhile, the guest moves up and held Hyewon against the wall so two men can enter the house. Behind Mr. Oh, Chaewon sees her father looking right at her. “What’s going on here, Chaewon? Who are you?” her father turns to the female guest.

Quickly, Eunbi identifies the man but had to be sure, “Are you Kim Hyukjin? I’m Kwon Eunbi. Your wife, Jisun, sent me,”  

Baffles by the name, the old man pivot his focus elsewhere but with shifty eyes, he states, “I don’t have a wife by that name,” then by chances Chaewon is standing in front of him, “you, who let this stranger in? What did you do, Chaewon?”

Once Goeun sees the flaring of the older man’s nose and Chaewon’s hatred-filled eyes, she decides it was the perfect moment to halt everyone and everything. “Chaewon, why don’t you and your father go have a talk somewhere quiet? I’ll take care of Hyewon and your guest. Housekeeper if you can put together some refreshments for our guest and Hyewon please,” without further ado the older woman nods and gladly disappear into the kitchen.

“My office, Chaewon,” her father demands.

When Chaewon didn’t budge, Goeun sets the bowl of popcorn down and move closer to her. “Talk it out with your father. I’ll make sure everything goes well out here and explain your situation to that woman,”

Chaewon nods but doesn’t spare Hyewon or Eunbi another glance. Then quickly she follows her father down the hall and vanishes around the corner. Standing alone, Goeun gestures for Eunbi to come over as she walks over to grab Hyewon herself. “Let’s all have a seat and then we’ll talk it through,”

Before Eunbi takes a seat, she tries to get another good look of the hallway. Then in her head, she tells herself that Chaewon made a left turn, over and over again in case she has to chase the lass down personally.  

Chaewon doesn’t bother shutting the door so Mr. Oh shuts it for them on the other side of the room, then she slams her hands onto the surface of her father’s desk. Surprise by her action, the old man was ready to jump out of his scooter and attack her, but her voice stops him immediately, “Dad! You told Hyewon I suggested the divorce? Are you kidding me?”

The old man coolly adjust himself in the chair before scoffing, “What difference does it make? Whether I suggested it or not, you and I aren’t that different,”

“Of course we're different! Our relationship was better than yours and mom! Now she thinks I’m all for the divorce!” Chaewon, feeling cheated, shouts.

Nonchalantly he shrugs, “You never said or acted against it,” then he scowls a second later, “and who do you think you are to be raising your voice at me? Who was that girl and what did she meant by that woman sent her?”

Chaewon heaves a hefty sigh, “Dad, does it look like I know?” there’s a moment of silence as her father tries to gather his thoughts. In the meantime, Chaewon folds her arms over her chest and urges, “So are you going to explain yourself or not? You hardly pay Hyewon any mind then all of a sudden you’re telling her lies? That’s not cool,”

The man grumbles a few inaudible words before he challenges her, “Have you found out where that lowlife Hokjae is?”

“I’ll tell you if you tell me what you’re going to do about Hyewon and mom,”

The old man smirks, “You’re talking back now. Very well then. What do you want to be done to your stepmom and stepsister?”

Chaewon slips her hands into her pockets and utter, “File for divorce. Move them out,” 

Goeun lay the sleeping Hyewon's head down on one of the couches then she gestures for Eunbi to follow her up to the second floor. After making a short right turn, Goeun lets Eunbi into a spacious room. The main color of the room is brown due to the woods. The bed and lounging area were in separate rooms divided right in the center by a doorway. When Goeun shows Eunbi over to the two leather black sofas with a coffee table in the middle, she gestures a hand out for Eunbi to have a seat. Then she helps herself to the sofa across from the visitor.

“This is Chaewon’s room,” Goeun begins and waits as Eunbi does a double take. Base off of the room alone, Eunbi can tell, though didn’t expect, Chaewon has a thing for simplicity and modernization.

“It’s nice and clean,” Eunbi comments, putting a grin on Goeun’s face as if they were talking about her room.

“You said you’re Chaewon’s sister but you seem older than us,”

Eunbi can tell the young woman in front of her is genuinely practical but something about her troubles Eunbi, “Actually her mother is my father’s girlfriend. Jisun is like a mother to me so Chaewon is like a sister,”

Goeun keeps her smile, “With your interest at heart, I’ll advise you not to see Chaewon as a sister,”

Eunbi didn’t expect that kind of answer and nearly choke on her own saliva, “Wh-why? Is she really that bad of a sister?”

A soft chuckle escapes Goeun’s lips, “Bad of a sister? No, not at all. It’s just that when it comes to Chaewon, it seems she feels an obligation to be possessive over her sibling. Hyewon, for instance, is her stepsister but Chaewon treats Hyewon like her girlfriend,”

Eunbi coughed before she covers with an apology. “But may I ask who you are?”

“Ah, I’m Chaewon’s best, well only friend Na Goeun. We went to school together,” Goeun answers.

Not only did Goeun give off a warm vibe but she appears friendly and extremely caring, unlike someone. Which then brings Eunbi to her next question, “Do you know why she is so upset with my mom?”

Goeun crosses her legs and sighs, “It’s a long story but apparently her mother was seeing a man behind her father’s back. When her father got into an accident, Chaewon’s mother left with some money. Chaewon was at school when she came home to her mother’s letter. In the letter, her mother promised she will come to find Chaewon once Chaewon turned 18. However, she never showed, but according to you she’s been sick so that may be the reason why,”

“That means…” Eunbi trails off long enough for Goeun to understand why.

Like a mindreader Goeun finishes her sentence for her, “That means the man Chaewon’s mother was seeing at the time is your father,” there’s a moment of silence then Goeun adds, “knowing that, why don’t you leave quietly? I’m sorry your mother isn’t doing well but she should have known better than to send you here to look for her daughter and husband. As far as Chaewon and her father know, your mother died a long time ago. They've never tried to look for her. Please ask her to do the same,” 

Outside of her father’s office, Chaewon waits as Mr. Oh hands her a note, “Please read it when you’re alone, Miss Chaewon,” he says under a whisper. Chaewon wears a smug and pats him on the shoulder.

“I will do that. Don’t work too hard now,” she says as she walks away from him. Exiting the hallway she calls out for Goeun but stops when she notices Eunbi coming down the steps. Unlike her earlier self, Eunbi appears melancholy and her whole passionate aura about her is seemingly nonexistent. When Eunbi notices Chaewon, she stops at one of the steps with her hand on the rail but breaks eye-contact a millisecond later. Not a single word is exchanged as Eunbi steadily made her way down while dragging her feet, she forces herself to leave the premise.

Chaewon watches as Eunbi leaves feebly then turns and sees Goeun at the top of the steps. The woman nods and Chaewon instantly got the message, but somehow the look on Eunbi’s face made her sad. Yet, it didn’t persuade her to run after Eunbi and ask the woman about her mother. With a heavy heart, Chaewon convinces herself that her mother is dead and she can live without ever meeting her again. 

Fortunately, Eunbi catches the last bus to Busan, using the very last bits of Joohyun’s money. Eunbi rests the side of her head against the glass window and blinks sluggishly. The moment reality hits her, Eunbi could no longer hold back tears. The trip left her with nothing but more pain. The stories she’s been told as a child were all lies. They were different. They were made to make her father the hero, the good guy when he wasn’t.

Eunbi shuts her eyes as she didn’t want to see the world for what it is much longer.

And wished she could never open them again because when she got home, Jisun had died.

In the dimly lit room, Joohyun holds and rock Jisun’s lifeless body back and forth as she calls out for her mother. In Jisun’s hand was a letter addressed to the one and only, Kim Chaewon.

Then in Eunbi's own hand, she feels something warm and hard. 

A phone.

But whose is it?