It was a text message from Kang Suhyeok, the former person in charge at Hwangsan.
Cha Yoonjung opened it right away—and was startled.
The message was far longer than any of the business emails they had exchanged before.
It began with a polite greeting.
He explained the circumstances that had forced him to step away mid-negotiation, apologized for that, and even apologized again for the disrespect the company had shown afterward.
He really didn't need to concern himself with what happened after he left the company.
That consideration alone spoke volumes about Kang Suhyeok's character.
The message then went on to sharply criticize the successor who had caused trouble with Cha Yoonjung.
[That employee had previously caused similar issues with younger female staff members at the company. However, due to his senior position and the company's desire to avoid scandal, these incidents were quietly swept under the rug.]
He explained that his own conflict with that superior had ultimately led to his resignation, and expressed deep empathy for the humiliation Cha Yoonjung must have felt.
[If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know. I can testify if necessary, or introduce you to a lawyer I know. I'm willing to cooperate in any way I can.]
She appreciated his words, but Cha Yoonjung didn't have the mental bandwidth for that right now.
With the contract collapsed, even paying employee salaries was becoming uncertain, and server costs would have to be covered through loans.
A lawsuit against a conglomerate?
She didn't even want to think about it.
Right now, she felt like grabbing onto Hwangsan's pant leg and begging instead.
More than anything, even if she pursued legal action, winning would be difficult.
There were no witnesses other than herself, no physical evidence.
If he claimed he hadn't meant it that way, that would be the end of it.
She didn't want to waste money on something so futile.
Kang Suhyeok's message continued for quite a while after that.
[I know IntelliOn's potential. It's a company with top-tier talent and world-class technology.
Ten years from now, the positions of Hwangsan and IntelliOn will be reversed. I have no doubt that IntelliOn will grow into a company that leads the world.]
It was respect—directed at IntelliOn, Cha Yoonjung's startup—along with criticism of how outdated the conglomerate had become.
[So please, CEO. Don't waver. Hold your ground as you have been. Show the world that the company I believed in—IntelliOn—is the real deal. Prove that my judgment in recognizing you wasn't wrong.]
"…Ugh…"
After reading the entire message, Cha Yoonjung felt her chest tighten.
This was a first.
The feeling of being recognized.
Of having someone tell her that what they had been doing wasn't wrong.
She had wandered in constant anxiety—wondering whether their technology truly worked, whether it had any value in the market.
They had stepped forward with confidence, but the world had barely spared them a glance.
As time passed, they were being drained both financially and mentally.
And yet Kang Suhyeok had affirmed everything outright.
That they weren't wrong.
That things would only get better.
He painted an almost impossibly grand future—yet somehow made her believe it wouldn't remain just a dream.
Even Cha Yoonjung, who had briefly doubted herself, regained her resolve after reading the message.
The thought of bowing her head to the man who had humiliated her vanished instantly.
Her weakened resolve hardened once more.
"…Mr. Kang Suhyeok."
Cha Yoonjung was a textbook STEM-type woman.
She valued logic over emotion, practicality over appearances.
Even in negotiations with Hwangsan, she had always maintained a strictly businesslike attitude.
And yet—for the first time—she wavered.
At her most vulnerable moment, the man who had reached out to her stirred a kind of emotion she had never experienced before.
"Uh… how should I reply to this…?"
If she thought about it rationally, all Kang Suhyeok had done was write a long, encouraging message.
So all she needed to do was send a polite, standard reply.
And yet she couldn't.
Instead, she agonized like a girl sending texts to a man for the first time.
I never received a reply from IntelliOn's CEO.
Well, I hadn't really expected one.
After all, Assistant Manager Park had caused that kind of disaster.
Maybe she didn't want any contact with someone from that company anymore.
I might've already been blocked.
With nothing else to do, I started cleaning my apartment.
Not going to work on a weekday still felt strange.
And maybe because I'd broken up with my girlfriend too, I had an absurd amount of free time.
I even found myself staring at stock charts for longer than usual.
Normally, I would've been meeting Park Sojeong—or at least constantly messaging her.
That was probably why the emptiness felt even greater.
I gathered the things Sojeong had left behind and put them into a trash bag.
Her toothbrush. Cosmetics. Hairbrush. Sanitary products.
Even if I told myself I'd moved on, it wasn't painless.
Throwing away her belongings one by one stirred up a bitter feeling each time.
I recalled the moment I ran into Sojeong at the hotel while I was there with Hwang Juyeon.
And the man who'd been beside her.
If I'd seen that scene alone, I probably would've collapsed from shock.
But whether by luck or misfortune, I wasn't alone then.
Hwang Juyeon had been beside me.
The relief of not being the only one hurt.
Maybe that was why the shock hadn't been as devastating.
And right after that, spending time with Juyeon helped me forget.
Once again, I felt nothing but gratitude toward her.
Ding-dong!
Just as I finished tidying up, the doorbell rang.
There was no one who would come to my place unannounced.
Without much thought, I checked the intercom—and froze.
An entirely unexpected figure stood at my door.
"Brother-in-law! I know you're home!"
I felt dizzy.
For a moment, I doubted my eyes.
But it was real.
There was only one person in the world who called me brother-in-law.
My ex-girlfriend Park Sojeong's younger sister.
The girl I'd called my sister-in-law until just days ago—Park Soyeon—was standing outside my door.
Ding-dong, ding-dong!
"Brother-in-law! Please open the door!"
Why would Park Soyeon come all this way without contacting me?
I knew the reason.
I'd been deliberately avoiding her calls.
Right now, she was one of the most awkward people for me to face.
We'd been close enough to call each other brother-in-law and sister-in-law—but that relationship only existed because of Sojeong.
Now that we'd broken up, I had no idea how I was supposed to treat her.
That was why I'd been avoiding her since the breakup.
I didn't have anything to say to her.
And staying in touch with my ex's sister after breaking up wouldn't look good to anyone.
Still… I never imagined she'd come to my place.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong!
"Brother-in-law! Open the door! If you don't, I'm breaking it down!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
She started pounding on the door as if she meant it.
Pretending I wasn't home was no longer an option.
What on earth did she come here for?
If I didn't answer, she could've just stopped calling.
If I wasn't home, she could've gone back.
Why go this far just to see me?
"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-laaaw!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The noise didn't stop.
The neighbors were probably hearing everything.
"…Good grief."
With no other choice, I opened the door.
Standing there was a girl I knew all too well—smiling brightly.
"See? I knew you were home."
She slipped inside without hesitation.
Even I had to admire that boldness.
"Listen, Soyeon—"
I followed her inside, breaking out in a cold sweat.
By the time I caught up, she'd already claimed the living room sofa.
From the moment we first met, she'd oddly taken a liking to me.
She was the one who'd started calling me brother-in-law, acting cute, and even asking me for things before her parents.
Sojeong hated that attitude.
But to me, it felt like I'd gained a cute little sister.
Her requests were always modest, student-like things—nothing burdensome.
If small gifts could help me get along with her family, I had no complaints.
But all of that was only possible because I was dating Sojeong.
Now that we'd broken up, maintaining the same relationship was impossible.
She might not accept the sudden change, but as the adult, I had to set boundaries.
"I don't know if you've heard already, but… your sister and I broke up."
"I know."
"Then you can't just show up like this anymore."
"Why not?"
Her blunt question left me speechless.
"We're not brother-in-law and sister-in-law anymore. You coming here like this puts me in a difficult position."
"Doesn't that make it even less of a problem?"
She said it with a bright smile.
I still couldn't understand her logic.
"Soyeon… it's already strange to call you my sister-in-law. We're basically strangers now."
"Oh. So you're saying you're not my brother-in-law anymore?"
"Yeah. Exactly."
"Then can I call you oppa instead?"
I pressed my fingers to my forehead.
The first time I met Park Soyeon, she was still in a school uniform.
Sojeong was five years younger than me, and her sister was another five years younger than that.
To me, a college graduate already working, Soyeon had just been a kid.
The sisters looked alike—but their personalities were opposites.
Sojeong was calm and cool.
Soyeon was lively and impulsive.
Her short, brightly dyed hair—so different from her sister's long black hair—reflected that perfectly.
Even now, she was sitting on my sofa like she owned the place, wearing short denim shorts that left her thighs completely exposed.
As the homeowner, I didn't know where to look.
"I'm sorry, but you really can't come over like this anymore. I hope you understand."
"Because you broke up with my sister?"
"That's right. Since we broke up, I want to cut ties with her family too."
"Cut ties…?"
She repeated the words blankly.
Maybe I'd gone too far—but if I didn't spell it out this clearly, she wouldn't listen.
"You know this too, right? The only reason we could act like brother-in-law and sister-in-law was because you're Sojeong's sister and I was her boyfriend. Now that Sojeong and I are done, we can't keep the same relationship."
That should've been enough.
She should've known this already without me saying it.
But her reaction wasn't what I expected.
"Then… to you, I was nothing at all…?"
Her eyes widened—and instantly filled with tears.
Large droplets fell to the floor.
"W-Well…"
"You know… I've wanted an older brother like you for a long time. When I heard my sister had a boyfriend, I thought I finally had one too. Maybe I was annoying to you, but I really thought of you as my real brother."
"Soyeon—"
"So to you, I was nothing? Just someone you could throw away once you broke up with my sister?"
"That's not what I meant—"
Seeing Soyeon quietly sobbing, tears streaming down her face, completely flustered me.
This wasn't the Soyeon I knew.
She was usually the type to get angry and throw a fit—not silently cry like this.
"Soyeon. Of course I thought of you as my sister too. But the situation—"
"Sniff…!"
"If we kept hanging out like nothing changed after breaking up, people would find it strange. And Sojeong would obviously be upset. I don't want anything like that reaching her ears."
"Waaah…!"
"Don't cry. This is really hard for me too."
I handed her some tissues, completely at a loss.
Even though I'd dated for years, I had almost no experience comforting someone who was crying like this.
"Brother-in-law says I'm nothing… nothing at all…"
She sobbed even harder, pressing the tissues to her eyes.
"I'm sorry. Maybe I phrased it badly. That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean…?"
"You're still an important little sister to me. It's just that we can't be as casual as before."
Sweating bullets, I tried to explain.
Soyeon peeked up at me with red, swollen eyes.
"Then… instead of sister-in-law and brother-in-law, we can be older brother and younger sister?"
"Th-That's…?"
"You just said I'm important to you, right?"
"Well, yes, but…"
Something was going very wrong.
I'd started this conversation determined to cut ties.
Somehow, it had turned into agreeing to be siblings instead.
"Yes! Then, oppa! Let's go eat!"
"Huh?"
She jumped up and grabbed my arm.
The girl who'd been crying her eyes out moments ago was nowhere to be found.
Her face was now bright and cheerful, like a sunflower.
By the time I realized I'd been tricked, it was already too late.
I'd fallen completely for her fake tears.