Chapter 3 : Chapter 3

"..."

"..."

The meeting with my fiancé was the worst.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, my fiancé was the same age as Ye Sara.

I thought, 'What kind of crazy pedophile gets engaged to a middle schooler?' but overheard in the car that it was all decided unilaterally by Ye Sara's stepmother, without Ye Sara's opinion.

The man was the only heir of the Homyeong Group. His name was Yoon Da-ho.

Fortunately, I already knew that name.

He was one of the male protagonists in the game "If You Wish" that the streamer was playing.

In fact, he was one of the two routes that the streamer pursued. The male protagonist route.

Originally, the streamer didn't intend to pursue the male protagonist, but due to making wrong choices and poor stat distribution, they ended up getting swept into his route.

Now that I think about it, Ye Sara's hysterics in the game seemed oddly intense.

Maybe it was because she thought he was her fiancé.

Regardless of whether she liked or disliked him, if she was deemed useless in her stepmother's puppet game, she would be discarded like trash.

Of course, even if they got married, it didn't seem like they would live well together.

But then, why does Ye Sara appear as a villain in other male protagonist routes?

I wasn't sure.

I didn't know if there was a chance for her to intervene.

The streamer only cleared one male route and one female route, so I didn't know the finer details of the settings.

Neatly styled hair.

Clean and sophisticated attire.

But a haughty, insolent attitude.

Yoon Da-ho looked almost exactly as described in the game.

Even in front of his fiancée, he was sitting with his legs crossed, only staring at his smartphone.

It seemed like he was very displeased with his fiancée.

Well, he probably wasn't asked for his opinion either. They were both swept up in the calculations of adults.

Maybe he thought he was being cool by ignoring his fiancée, but to me—having done military service and spent time in society—he just looked like a sulky brat.

He had reached the peak of adolescence, standing precariously on the edge between rebellious teenager and someone trying too hard to be cool.

That rude demeanor actually made me feel comfortable.

It meant I didn't have to bother continuing the conversation.

I had no intention of getting along with him anyway, and of course, I didn't feel the need to keep the conversation going.

The only ones sweating behind me were Yang Hye-in and the middle-aged man behind him—his butler or secretary or whatever.

Of course, I didn't touch my smartphone.

Using a phone during a meal was bad manners.

Yes, bad manners.

Especially when there was a 1++ grade Hanwoo sirloin steak in front of me.

I couldn't ignore the life of a Hanwoo cow, slaughtered due to human selfishness.

I moved my hands just enough to avoid embarrassing myself and diligently cut the steak to bring it to my mouth.

Each time I bit into a piece of steak, the juices overflowed in my mouth.

The medium-rare steak had been cooked perfectly, retaining all its juiciness.

If you can't enjoy food like this, what reason is there to live?

The one thing I liked after entering this body was that whenever I wanted to eat something, it would be served deliciously.

Having a lot of money meant never needing to skimp on food.

No matter what was prepared, it was made from the best ingredients by the most skilled chefs, so there was no way it wouldn't taste good.

The only downside regarding food was that Ye Sara's stomach was much smaller than I expected.

Looking at her thin body, I had some idea, but still, her appetite was much too small.

Since entering Ye Sara's body, the only thing I'd managed to finish was the porridge that Yang Hye-in fed me on the first day.

Everything else, no matter how hard I tried, I had to leave behind a little bit.

Actually, the fact that I only left "a little" was thanks to the chef adjusting the portions for me.

When I ate out, I ended up leaving much more.

So unfortunately, there was no way I'd be able to finish this 1++ grade Hanwoo sirloin steak in front of me.

My steadily chewing jaw gradually slowed down, and the soft steak I had been swallowing easily became harder to take down.

It seemed like today's meal would end here.

Yoon Da-ho, who had been sitting there the whole time, not saying a word and just staring at his phone, now seemed to have a problem with me focusing solely on the steak.

"You eat like a pig…"

He probably wanted to end the sentence with "shoveling it in," but upon seeing my plate, he closed his mouth.

Yeah, seeing that I couldn't even eat a third of a single portion of steak, no matter how much he wanted to insult me, calling me a pig wouldn't work.

In fact, the only reason I looked normal was because I was wearing thick clothes.

My body underneath was so skinny that "emaciated" wouldn't be an exaggeration.

It made complete sense why the police and doctors had suspected domestic violence at the hospital.

Could it have been a mental issue? Maybe anorexia or something… I think I've heard that if you don't eat for too long, your stomach shrinks.

To reach a normal weight, Ye Sara's body would need a lot of effort to eat.

After finishing my meal, I quietly set down the knife and fork I had been holding.

"Um…"

Though I genuinely stopped because I was full, Yoon Da-ho seemed to think I stopped eating because of what he said.

Yoon Da-ho.

His family's company, Homyeong Group, was ranked second in the Korean business world.

Of course, such a company didn't exist in the world I lived in.

Even if it did, the developer's warning, "Any similarities in names are purely coincidental," would likely hold true.

Even if there was a company with the same name, it wouldn't be ranked second in the business world.

Homyeong Group's business overlapped considerably with Eugene Group, where Ye Sara's stepmother was the chairwoman, making them complete rivals.

From semiconductors to railroads, electric cars, batteries, smartphones, and home appliances, the two companies had been at odds for decades.

What led to the engagement of the only heirs from these two companies?

Though it wasn't properly explained in the streamer's video, I still remembered the general storyline, as it was one of the routes the streamer played.

I think at one point there was talk about Eugene Group planning to swallow Homyeong Group whole.

In that case, does that mean they got engaged for each other's wealth?

To prevent monopolies in the market, when one competitor tries to acquire another, the government usually steps in.

If one side devours the other, there would be no competitors left, and the company that becomes the market dictator would control the entire country's economy.

In that case, they might have thought of a workaround to inherit the other's fortune through marriage.

By marrying, they could inherit each other's wealth, or the child born between them could inherit both sides and combine them.

Of course, neither chairman would be a fool.

On my side, the problem would be that I'm a "woman."

Normally, children inherit their father's surname, and if the child between Ye Sara and Yoon Da-ho inherits the surname Yoon, it would look like Eugene Group had been absorbed by Homyeong Group.

Conversely, Homyeong Group, feeling threatened by Eugene Group, the number one company in Korea, might rush to sort out the other's assets before Ye Sara and Yoon Da-ho had children or start a divorce suit based on their attitude and manipulate public opinion in their favor.

Well, considering Ye Sara's nearly ruined personality in the original work, a rough attitude wouldn't have been a big deal.

"Are you done eating?"

Even in the original game, Yoon Da-ho was the type to hurl borderline insults and later regret them, haunted by his rough upbringing despite being born rich.

Most of his personality traits came directly from his father, who was a sociopath, though he also inherited a softer side from his mother, as per the game's setting.

However, in the game, Yoon Da-ho was the character who started his relationship with the heroine by saying, "A commoner is in my way."

Unlike the other two male leads, who had redeeming qualities, he was considered a bad route if you made the wrong choices.

Because his storyline followed the cliché of, "You're the first to treat me like this," after getting tangled with the heroine due to her "defiant attitude," there was no minimum stat requirement to enter his route.

But for about 70% of the storyline, he remained an obnoxious character, so while female players might tolerate him, male players found him to be a character they wanted to kill.

"There's no point in trying to eat more."

I responded like that.

I had no intention of getting on his good side, and honestly, the idea of being engaged to a man was revolting.

Whether the companies merged or not, it wasn't my concern.

Even if they didn't stay number one, I could still live rich, so I had no intention of getting married and living miserably with someone I disliked—especially since I'd have to suppress my own sexual orientation in the process.

…If I had a way to return, I would've just maintained the status quo, but since I've been in this body for a month, it seems I'm really stuck in this world until I see the conclusion of the story.

I have no idea why I ended up in this world.

It's not like I cursed the game or left hate comments for the developers.

…Could it be because I just lazily watched the streamer's playthrough and read the wiki instead of playing the game myself?

As I brooded over this, Yoon Da-ho, who had been glued to his phone the entire time, suddenly looked me up and down as if seeing me for the first time.

Even though he was just a teenager, like characters in these kinds of stories, Yoon Da-ho looked tall for his age. His face was a little boyish, which was somewhat unsettling.

"..."

"..."

I couldn't see Yang Hye-in's expression since she was standing behind me, but I could clearly see the secretary standing behind Yoon Da-ho.

The secretary was sweating bullets.

It must've been because Yoon Da-ho insulted me out of the blue, and my response wasn't exactly positive.

…I honestly just stopped eating because I was full, though.

"Since we're already out for dinner, why not eat some more?"

"Why don't you look at your own plate first before saying that?"

At my reply, Yoon Da-ho seemed at a loss for words.

Well, no wonder—he had spent the whole time glued to his phone while I was eating.

The one who broke dining etiquette first was Yoon Da-ho.

I wasn't sure what kind of reaction Ye Sara used to give to make Yoon Da-ho act so disrespectful, but as for me, with no memories of the past, it didn't matter.

Honestly, everything that happened before January 1st felt like someone else's life.

And that's because it was someone else's life.

Until then, the owner of this body was Ye Sara, not me.

Leaving the dumbfounded Yoon Da-ho behind, I stood up from my seat.

"I've finished eating, so I'll head back now, okay?"

"Yes, young miss."

Yang Hye-in, who had been standing by, immediately moved to assist me.

"..."

Yoon Da-ho merely glared at me.

"Well then, enjoy the rest of your meal and go home."

I said that and left through the door that Yang Hye-in held open.

*

"You idiot!"

The moment Yoon Da-ho returned home, that was the first thing he heard.

The person who rarely showed himself in public anymore, having even stepped down from the chairman position, was his grandfather.

As soon as Yoon Da-ho got home, his grandfather summoned him to the study.

And before he could even fully step into the room, those words hit him.

It was something that happened frequently, so Yoon Da-ho quickly walked to stand before the former chairman.

Slap!

As soon as he got into position, his right cheek burned.

Though his grandfather was an old man, he maintained his health through strict diet and exercise, so his slaps weren't something you could simply describe as "stingy."

Yoon Da-ho's pale cheek began to flush red.

"What kind of lunatic uses the word 'pig' when talking to their fiancée?"

Yoon Da-ho glanced up slightly.

Standing a few steps away was the secretary who had accompanied him today.

Perhaps because he felt the gaze of the future chairman upon him, the secretary's face turned white.

"Don't you dare glare at me!"

Slap!

This time, his left cheek was struck.

After delivering a powerful slap to his grandson, the former chairman took a deep breath.

"…It seems their strategy has changed."

Yoon Da-ho spoke honestly to his grandfather.

"She used to act weak—"

"Da-ho."

His grandfather cut him off mid-sentence, sighing deeply.

Then, placing a hand on Yoon Da-ho's shoulder, he leaned in slightly to look into his eyes for a long moment.

"Da-ho, Da-ho. Yes, it's true you were taught this way. In this world, there are no purely good or innocent people. Everyone calculates based on others' faces. The teachings you received are not wrong."

Even as he said that, he shook his head.

"But, if you haven't fully grasped the other's hand, deceiving them is just as important. You were taught the principles of kingship, but your opponent is just a young girl, neglected by her stepmother since childhood. Controlling her emotions should be easy. I know you don't like her, but at least try to act as though you do. Those who grow up without love crave it. Make her fall in love with you. Let her reveal her hand on her own. You can discard her after that."

"..."

Yoon Da-ho stayed silent for a while, mulling over his grandfather's words.

"…Understood."

He finally replied.

"For now, I will personally call the chairman of Eugene Group and apologize for today. Though that woman is cold-hearted enough to exile her stepdaughter far from home, if she wants to, she might accuse us of insulting her 'daughter.' After all, isn't she technically her stepdaughter?"

Of course, Eugene Group was also eyeing Homyeong Group's assets, so it wasn't like they could easily break off the engagement.

But, on the other hand, they were in a weaker position.

Neither side was willing to give up, so the side forced to make more concessions would be at a disadvantage.

In that sense, it was safer for the former chairman to apologize himself and settle the issue right away.

"…I'm sorry."

"Apologizing when necessary is a good habit. Of course, it's not something you should do everywhere and to everyone. Now, go."

Following his grandfather's orders, Yoon Da-ho left the study.

As he walked out, he thought about the look on Ye Sara's face today.

She was completely different from when she used to throw out all sorts of lines in an attempt to get closer to him.

Now, she looked like someone who couldn't care less about provoking him.

Rather than a desperate person seeking attention, she had confidently eaten her meal and left the table first.

…Was her previous frailty really all an act?

Yoon Da-ho was still confused by it.

*

After returning home, I lay sprawled on the bed for a while when suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

Before I could answer, the door slowly opened, and Yang Hye-in entered, politely holding my smartphone in both hands.

"Young miss, the chairwoman is on the phone."

"..."

By "chairwoman," she meant Ye Sara's stepmother.

It had been a month since I'd come here, and I hadn't even seen her face or received a phone call.

For her to call out of the blue… there was only one reason I could think of.

It must've been because I messed up today's meeting.

I silently took the phone from her and hesitated for a moment.

How should I answer?

Since I was going to be scolded anyway, maybe I should try not to upset her as much as possible.

After all, she was the chairwoman of the top-ranked conglomerate in Korea.

"Yes, Chairwoman, I've received your call."

I decided to greet her like that.

For some reason, I had a feeling she wouldn't like being called "Mother."

[Hmm.]

I heard a brief noise from the other end of the phone.

It sounded like she was either surprised or pleased—I couldn't tell which.

Since I couldn't see her face, I wasn't sure.

[I heard about the meeting today.]

A low, middle-aged woman's voice came through the speaker.

"Yes."

[You did well.]

"Pardon?"

Before I could even ask why, the call ended.

"…Young miss."

Seeing my shocked expression, Yang Hye-in called me softly, but I shook my head slightly.

"I wasn't scolded. In fact, she said I did well."

Though I answered like that, Yang Hye-in still looked at me as if I were a lost puppy.