9 years ago.

Twentyfouryearold Si Hyun was heading lightly towards Tae Ha’s house. It wasn’t the semibasement where Tae Ha had lived alone since his grandmother passed away during middle school, but the direction of the most expensive apartment nearby.

This year, Tae Ha, who had become a high school student, amazingly found his biological father not long ago. His name was Leon Kennedy, a 36yearold American in Korean age.

Leon had a face that greatly resembled Tae Ha. Even though he appeared overnight and claimed to be Tae Ha’s biological father, it was convincing enough.

Si Hyun thought that all the parts of Tae Ha’s appearance that gave off a foreign vibe must have come from his father.

Leon was the head of a huge American hedge fund and said he had invested in several Korean companies.

The situation he explained to his son through an interpreter was as follows.

When Leon was twenty years old in Korean age, he briefly visited Korea and fell in love after accidentally meeting Tae Ha’s mother, who was the same age.

Unaware that she was pregnant, he promised to marry her, returned to America, and asked his parents to send someone to bring her over.

The person he sent to Korea returned only with the news of her death in an accident. That’s why Leon only recently found out that he had a child with her.

[“I could never have imagined having a child. I’m sorry, truly sorry.”] While caressing his son’s face, the young father endlessly shed tears.

Leon said he had been married once after that, but it didn’t last a few years before they divorced, and he had no children. So he proposed to Tae Ha to come live with him in the US. He was suggesting that Tae Ha graduate from a college in the US and take over his business.

[No.] Tae Ha flatly refused, so eventually, Leon stayed in Korea for about a month and returned alone. However, he certainly did not let his son live as he had before.

He prepared a new residence in the largest size apartment in the best nearby apartment complex and hired a secretary, chauffeur, and housekeeper to look after Tae Ha’s life.

And so, overnight, Tae Ha became the son of a wealthy family.

In turn, Si Hyun had now become a proper private tutor.

Leon knew that Si Hyun had been raising Tae Ha all along and was restless to somehow repay her.

Initially, he wanted to gift her a nice car, but when he learned that Si Hyun was living with her younger uncle, he proposed to buy her a house.

But Si Hyun had flatly refused.

[“I didn’t raise Tae Ha for money all this time.”] To her, Tae Ha was nothing short of a real younger brother. It’s only natural for an older sister to take care of her younger brother. She didn’t have any reason to accept either a car or a house.

[“But I’d like Si Hyun to continue looking after our Tae Ha in the future. I can’t leave my child without giving anything in return as his father.”] Pressured by Leon’s insistence, Si Hyun finally compromised. She seemed to understand his feelings about having to leave his underage son alone and go back.

[“If you say so, I’ll just take the tutoring fee. Just like what other people get.”] She clearly promised to do so, but what actually came in every month was a large sum, close to the monthly salary of a newcomer in a major corporation. Arguing that it was the going rate in Korea, Leon refused to back down any further.

Thanks to this, she was very grateful to be able to focus solely on job hunting without worrying about money. Her stepmother didn’t give a single penny apart from university tuition, so Si Hyun had to live on parttime jobs throughout her college days.

When she pressed the doorbell, a housemaid in a white apron quickly came running to open the door.

“Ah, the young lady is here?”
Leon’s Korean secretary had given her a solid briefing. She was told to treat Si Hyun the same as Tae Ha.

But Si Hyun was not at all accustomed to being treated as a young lady. Even the housemaid at her stepfather’s house where she lived didn’t call her that. She called her stepmother ‘young lady’, but Si Hyun was always Si Hyun.

“Please come in, it’s hot outside. What can I get you to drink, young lady?”
“Just call me teacher, ma’am. You can call me by my name.”
But regardless of how many times she said it, the housemaid was stubborn.

“Please sit down for a moment, young lady. It’s about time for Tae Ha to come back.”
Looking around Tae Ha’s room, which was at least twice the size of her own room at her stepfather’s house, Si Hyun thought to herself. Human life, it’s really unpredictable.

While waiting for Tae Ha to return from school, Si Hyun took out her phone to kill time.

With the intense music, young men started to dance on the screen, showing off their muscular bodies. It was a performance by a male idol group at the peak of their popularity, known as the ‘Beast Idols’.

As she was engrossed in watching, she suddenly felt a void in her hand.

But Si Hyun was startled. Tae Ha, in his school uniform, had snatched her phone and was peering into it.