Chapter 97: Noona (2)

Back when Kang Ra-Eun was Park Geon-Woo, she naturally had her own family. Geon-Woo had a father, mother and an older sister. However, he had never felt a sense of attachment to his family. His family, especially his father and older sister, tried to oppress him by meddling in his entire life. His mother was not as bad, but she had never once taken his side because she thoroughly maintained neutrality.

Geon-Woo had been raised in a family that never felt like one. Hence, he declared his independence and left home as soon as he came of age, saying he no longer wanted to live in a home like this and that he wasn’t his father and older sister’s puppet.

Since then, Geon-Woo had completely cut ties with his family. As Ra-Eun’s past memories as Geon-Woo replayed inside her head, she was reaching for the drink glass before she had realized it.

Ji Han-Seok asked, “Didn’t you say you weren’t going to drink today, Ra-Eun?”

“...”

Impulse was a scary thing. She pledged to herself over and over again that she wouldn’t drink during the afterparty, but she went straight for the alcohol due to the stress that she had recalled from seeing Park Hee-Woo.

Ra-Eun belatedly managed to get a hold of herself.

‘Calm down. Who knows what I’ll do if I drink here.’

Huu.

She took a deep breath. She was able to calm down just a little, but her heart was still beating just as quickly.

Hee-Woo was chatting with Program Director Hwang Yun-Seong. Just then, Director Hwang turned toward Ra-Eun.

“Perfect. Ra-Eun and Han-Seok happen to be together.”

He approached Ra-Eun with Hee-Woo. She momentarily pondered over whether to leave or not, but it was too late.

“Ra-Eun, Han-Seok, say hello. This is Vice President Park Hee-Woo of TP Entertainment.”

Han-Seok was surprised by the mention of TP Entertainment.

“Oh, I heard someone was newly inaugurated as vice president, and I see it was you, Senior Managing Director Park! I had no idea.”

“We skipped the inauguration ceremony, so there are a few people who don’t know that I’ve become the vice president.”

“I must be one of them.”

Han-Seok and Hee-Woo laughed as they looked at each other. Although Han-Seok was an actor, he was also a bona-fide businessman. He had met Hee-Woo once or twice during his time as one.

Hee-Woo then shifted her gaze from Han-Seok to Ra-Eun. Hee-Woo was the typical example of an eastern beauty, perfectly embodying the word ‘elegance.’ Not only was she beautiful, she was extremely capable and was born in an exceptional household. Hence, she was extremely popular among those in the financial world regardless of age or sex.

However, Hee-Woo was nothing more than an enemy to Ra-Eun. No matter how amazing Hee-Woo’s reputation was among the people around her, Ra-Eun couldn’t bring herself to think well of Hee-Woo.

‘It’s probably because of everything I had to go through since childhood because of her.’

Geon-Woo had suffered countless times from his older sister’s oppressive attitude. However, that older sister of his couldn’t be seen anywhere. All that was in front of Ra-Eun now was the amicably smiling Vice President Park Hee-Woo.

“Nice to meet you, Vice President. I’m Kang Ra-Eun.”

“Nice to meet you, Ra-Eun. I’m Park Hee-Woo. I’m not sure if Director Hwang told you this, but I happen to be a massive fan of yours. I’ve come to this afterparty just so I could meet you.”

“I’m honored to hear you say that.”

‘Honored, my ass.’?

she thought.

If there was a competition of who could name as many of Hee-Woo’s faults as possible, Ra-Eun was 100% sure that she would place first. That was how much she despised Hee-Woo. However, she couldn’t show her resentment right now because the one in front of Hee-Woo was not Park Geon-Woo, but Kang Ra-Eun.

Hee-Woo’s smile widened even more after her greeting with Ra-Eun.

“You’re pretty bold, Ra-Eun.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. Most people get surprised when I tell them I’m the vice president of TP Entertainment, but I couldn’t see a hint of surprise from you.”

TP Entertainment, a subsidiary of TP Group, was a conglomerate among conglomerates specialized in media and home shopping. Not only did Hee-Woo possess an important position in TP Entertainment, but she was also the daughter of Park Chan-Gil, the co-chairman of TP Group.

In other words...

‘He’s also my father.’

TP was led by the older brother Park Chan-Seok and the younger brother Park Chan-Gil. Ra-Eun also used to be a member of the TP Group family, so she had not been surprised after meeting Hee-Woo. Hee-Woo had mistaken Ra-Eun’s familiarity for boldness.

“I’m liking you more and more, Ra-Eun.”

Ra-Eun simply smiled lightly without answering.

***

Ra-Eun laid down on her bed as soon as she came back home after the afterparty. Not even her fluffy mattress could comfort her troubled feelings. She replayed what had happened at the afterparty as she looked up at the familiar ceiling.

‘I can’t believe I met Noona there of all places.’

Ra-Eun had heard from Yu-Bin on the way to the afterparty that outsiders would also be attending. The bad feeling that she had felt back then had manifested into her meeting with Hee-Woo.

TP Group was one of the top ten largest businesses of Korea. Ra-Eun had originally been born as a second-generation chaebol. However, there hadn’t been a single moment in her life when she was happy about the fact. Unable to endure the bombardment of pressure from her father and older sister, she had thrown away the title of second-generation chaebol of her own accord.

Did she regret it? Not even once. Rather, she felt relieved that she had cut all ties with her family. However, the situation was a little different in her current life. Ra-Eun had finally become perfect strangers with her family, but she still had a very important mission to fulfill: revenge.

She would absolutely need the help of TP Group if she wanted to go against Kim Han-Gyo and Kim Chi-Yeol.

‘I’m sure Father especially would be of great help to me in the future since he’s extremely close to those in the financial world.’

Hee-Woo just happened to be Ra-Eun’s fan, so making a connection didn’t seem very hard to do.

‘But I’ll have to see Father’s face again.’

It was not appealing in the slightest. She had thought she had just barely escaped from the clutches of the devil, but she would be jumping into its clutches again of her own accord.

‘My current family are angels compared to my old one.’

No matter how harshly Ra-Eun treated Kang Ra-Hyuk, she still thought of him positively. The same went for the siblings’ father. They were both extremely kind people. However, the same could not be said for her old family.

‘What should I do...?’

Ra-Eun was deep in thought. She was going round and round inside her head. She decided to leave it for later as she got up and stroked down her disheveled hair.

She opened her room door and headed to the refrigerator.

Yi-Seo asked while she was stretching in the living room, “Are you looking for something, Ra-Eun?”

“Yeah.”

“For what?”

Ra-Eun took out something stored deep in the refrigerator.

“I’m suddenly craving some alcohol.”

She took out one bottle of liquor after another. She tried her best to hold it in, but...

‘I seriously can’t help myself today.’

She decided to sleep early today with the help of alcohol.

***

‘Why does my head hurt so much whenever I wake up the next day?’

She thought as such every time she drank alcohol. She missed the days when she was a man. She had rarely experienced bad hangovers no matter how much she drank back then, but she had to face the massive hurricane that was a hangover every time she drank after becoming a girl.

She came out of her room as she combed her lion’s mane-looking hair with her fingers. Yi-Seo in an apron noticed her presence and turned around.

“Good morning. I’m making bean sprout soup right now, so wait just a little bit.”

She had prepared it to help Ra-Eun relieve her hangover.

“...Thanks.”

“No problem. But why alcohol out of the blue? I heard from Yu-Bin unnie that you didn’t have a single sip during the afterparty.”

As a roommate, Yi-Seo couldn’t understand why Ra-Eun drank alcohol when she didn’t even have any at the afterparty.

“I just felt like it.”

Ra-Eun couldn’t tell her that it was because of Hee-Woo. The bean sprout soup was done as she came out of the bathroom after washing up. Ra-Eun nodded several times in satisfaction as she drank the soup with a spoon.

“Kaahh, that hits the spot.”

Yi-Seo laughed as Ra-Eun displayed such a hearty reaction.

“Look at you? People would think you’re an old man relieving his hangover.”

Ra-Eun was an old man on the inside, so she technically wasn’t off the mark.

Yi-Seo took a seat across from Ra-Eun and carefully mentioned, “Let me know if something’s on your mind. I might not be able to resolve it, but I can at least hear you out.”

Counseling was not difficult to do; it was more than enough to just listen to their troubles. Simply relieving oneself of what was festering in their mind could relieve them of even a little of their burdens.

Ra-Eun’s heavy heart lightened a little thanks to her friend’s sincere worry. She put down her spoon and decided to consult with her friend as figuratively as possible.

“This is about a friend of mine,” Ra-Eun remarked.

Most stories that started out like this were usually about themselves.

“A friend, huh...? Okay, go on,” Yi-Seo expressed. She decided not to think much of it.

“Person A is trying to take revenge on Person B because B had wronged A in some way, but A lacks the power to do so. So, as A was going around to find someone who could help them, they met Person C.”

“C? Are they A’s ally?”

“No, C is the worst of the worst kind of person who only sees A as a tool.”

“I feel bad for A.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Ra-Eun also had times when she pitied herself.

“But C has power on par with B. In such a case, should A ask C for help?” Ra-Eun asked.

She had been thinking about this for quite a while, but Yi-Seo unexpectedly answered right away.

“Is there even a need to ask them for help? A can just ‘use’ C instead.”

“Use?”

“Yeah. You said A doesn’t think well of C either since C used them like a tool. In that case, A can be the one to use C as a tool this time to defeat B, right?”

In other words, ‘The Tool’s Rebellion.’

Ra-Eun liked Yi-Seo’s answer very much.