“Instead of that, why don’t we have dinner together for the first time in a while?”
“Sure. I was actually planning to eat before heading home anyway.”
After work ended, I went with Manager Jang I-eun to a nearby pork bone soup restaurant.
“This place hasn’t changed at all since I first joined the Company.”
“Me too. Every time I come here, I feel so comforted.”
“Haha, same here.”
“Come on, unni, I think you’d look better elegantly slicing steak somewhere fancy than in a place like this.”
That was exactly the kind of person Manager I-eun was.
The classic Cheongdam-dong daughter-in-law type.
And it wasn’t even wrong, since her family home wasn’t far from Cheongdam-dong.
“No way, I’m sick of steak—ate too much of it on blind dates.”
“Oh, you go to places like that for blind dates?”
“Ah, right. Yoo-hee, you said you’ve never been on a blind date, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, it just turned out that way somehow.”
“Hmm, then do you like pasta or anything like that?”
“I don’t hate it, but I wouldn’t say I like it either. I prefer hearty things like pork bone soup or rice soup. Oh, and grilled meat, too.”
“Haha, then if you ever go on a blind date, make sure you tell them upfront you won’t eat pasta. Otherwise, you’ll end up choking down pasta every single time.”
“Uh, but the odds of me going on a bunch of blind dates are pretty much zero, aren’t they?”
“True. You only ever care about our Company.”
“That’s not really it….”
Before I knew it, the gamjatang we ordered was set down in front of us.
Because of all the meeting prep since yesterday, all I’d eaten today was a sandwich, so my mouth was already watering.
I wiped my lips as I stared at the bubbling gamjatang in the center of the table, simmering over the gas burner.
“Anyone who sees you would think you haven’t eaten all day.”
“I’ve only had a sandwich today, so you’re not wrong.”
“Gasp. You need to take care of yourself. You’re working just to live—don’t skip meals. You look so thin, it makes me worry.”
“Haha, I’m not that skinny. Anyway, let’s eat well.”
“Yes! Let’s dig in.”
Without another word, we both bent over our plates and started picking meat off the bones. Then, I ladled the boiling broth over my spoon and piled on the tender meat.
Straight into my mouth.
“Ah, this is it. This is the stuff.”
As a rice soup and meat lover, I held back tears while shoveling spoonful after spoonful into my mouth.
While I was eating like a madwoman, I suddenly felt someone’s gaze and looked up.
Manager I-eun was watching me with a fond smile.
“Unni, why aren’t you eating?”
“I already had plenty. Are you sure you have enough bones? Should I order a couple more?”
“Ahhh, Manager, you’re the best!”
“Haha, all that for just two extra bones? I’m making a good deal here.”
After laughing for a while, she raised her hand and ordered two more bones for our gamjatang.
As I watched the fresh broth and meat being added, I trembled with gratitude.
“Unni, eat up! The bones are best when they’re bubbling hot.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s eat quickly.”
We ate until our stomachs were full, then stood up, patting our bellies. Worried that unni would try to pay first, I dashed to the cashier.
But—
“What? She already paid?”
“Yes, she paid when she came in.”
“But we even added more food. At least let me pay for that…”
“Nope. She covered it all. She’s a total pro at this.”
“What the…”
I turned around, shocked.
Unni patted me on the back and said,
“I knew you’d order more. Your appetite is so predictable.”
“I respect you—no, wait, why do you always pay, unni?”
“Yoo-hee, you’re still growing. Eat well and grow strong. Now, let’s go for round two!”
“Geez. I’m only four years younger than you—how am I a kid? And if you treat for round two, I’m really going to get mad.”
“Then get mad now.”
“Unni!”
“I just want to treat you. You’re always so busy—it’s hard to eat together.”
“Ah…”
She was right.
In the four years we’ve worked together before she leaves next year, I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve shared a meal.
And every single time, she was the one who paid.
She knew about my family’s debt situation.
But things are looking up now.
At this rate, clearing my debts won’t be some distant dream.
“I’m sorry. You’re basically the only person at the Company who looks out for me, but I’ve hardly even thanked you because I’m always so busy.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just miss seeing you—since it’s rare these days.”
“Well, you’re always busy, too.”
The Company only runs well because there are people who quietly do more than their share.
I decided to call people like that ‘pushovers.’
If I’m the pushover in my area, then unni is the pushover of her own.
If I wanted recognition, Jang I-eun just couldn’t say no to anyone.
She was just that kind of good person.
Not that she worked overtime every night like me, but at least during working hours, she barely got a chance to stretch her back.
“Compared to you, Yoo-hee, I practically leave on time every day. I can’t even brag.”
“Still, I see you here sometimes in the evenings.”
“Hahaha. True. That’s how we got close, isn’t it?”
That’s right.
Pushovers recognize each other.
From the start, we knew we were the same type.
When my assigned attorney, Hyun Ah-jin, started working with another Assistant Attorney, Manager Jang I-eun was assigned to that Assistant Attorney.
When the other Secretaries tried to dump work on me and run away, she was the only one who would share the load.
That’s when we became friends.
Even if we don’t see each other often.
“You should just eat lunch with me.”
“You’re the only one in your team who likes me, unni. If we eat together, you’ll just feel awkward.”
“Then I’ll just leave the team.”
“Then everyone would be so disappointed. You’re super popular, you know.”
She couldn’t help but be popular.
She went to a prestigious university, came from a wealthy family, had a great personality, and worked hard.
Above all, Jang I-eun loved being generous to others.
Not just to me—she treated everyone well.
But for her to leave her group just to eat lunch with me?
‘And with someone like me, no less.’
I was already the black sheep among the Secretaries. No need for unni to get the same treatment because of me.
‘Well, maybe it doesn’t matter anymore.’
Manager Jang I-eun doesn’t have many days left at the Company anyway.
“Unni, is there something you wanted to tell me today?”
“Oh my, I knew I couldn’t hide anything from you, Yoo-hee.”
So that’s it.
I didn’t know what it was, but it couldn’t be a light topic.
“I’m sorry.”
“Hm? For what?”
I spoke as we headed to the café.
‘For not being there for you in my past life.’
In my previous life, I didn’t get to have dinner with unni today.
Back then, I was always buried in work dumped on me by Hyun Ah-jin, barely keeping up.
‘Dinner was always kimbap.’
I couldn’t even leave my desk.
So I never got to laugh and chat with unni like this.
A heaviness settled over my heart.
‘Yoo-hee.’
‘Unni.’
The last time I saw Manager Jang I-eun in my previous life was at my Parent’s Funeral.
And at that time, unni…
“Yoo-hee.”
“…Unni.”
“Why are you so serious just picking a menu?”
“Huh?”
Ah, we’re already here.
Before I realized it, we were standing in front of the café counter.
“What, are you hesitating because you’re scared I’ll pay again?”
“If you try to pay again, I really won’t let it slide this time.”
“Aigoo, fine. Then I’ll have this one.”
“Oh, this?”
“Yup! It’s my favorite.”
Strawberry latte.
So typical of unni.
I chuckled and ordered two of the same.
We sat by the window.
“So, what did you want to talk about? Since you didn’t say anything during dinner, it must be important.”
“It’s nothing much. Life’s just been hard, that’s all.”
Jang I-eun took a sip of her strawberry latte as she spoke.
Even though it was her favorite, her face looked like she’d just swallowed bitter medicine.
“Yoo-hee, don’t get married just because of a blind date. Meet someone you actually like.”
“You didn’t want to either, unni. It was your parents’ wishes.”
“Yeah. They just wanted me to meet someone good and live well.”
Her father, a high-ranking Public Official, was respected enough to become Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and her mother was an influential medical Professor.
“But lately, I keep wondering if that was really the right answer.”
“Did something happen…?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being overly sensitive about someone who’s always been like this.”
I listened as calmly as I could.
“My husband’s always liked meeting people. I get that, but…”
Liking people isn’t a problem by itself.
But I had a bad feeling.
Maybe it was because of what I heard at my Parent’s Funeral.
‘Yeah. Cry. If letting it out even a little will help, then cry as much as you need.’
My parents passed away ten years before I returned.
Since unni would quit being a Secretary next year, that meant we hadn’t seen each other in eight years by the time we met again at the funeral.
She came to my Parent’s Funeral even though hardly anyone from the Company did.
Yet it felt like we’d seen each other just yesterday.
Maybe that’s why.
The tears I’d been holding back burst out like a dam breaking.
‘Thank you for coming… Have you been well all this time?’
We hadn’t kept in touch for nine years, but she still came to my Parent’s Funeral.
I stopped crying and asked the question I’d meant to.
‘I haven’t been doing so well myself.’
She spoke as if nothing had happened.
‘I got divorced not long ago.’
In my previous life, Jang I-eun divorced her husband.
The reason was his affair.
But that wasn’t the whole story.
‘I feel really wronged, you know? I lost a lot of the property my parents gave me.’
Her parents had given her a newlywed apartment in Gangnam, an office-tel in Yeouido last year, and just this year, a new seven-story Building.
All of it became subject to division of assets.
In a divorce lawsuit, the spouse’s affair and asset division are separate matters.
“No matter how much someone likes people, coming home drunk the next day is just too much.”
Maybe the problem didn’t start nine years later after all.