Park Sojeong returned home late in the evening after finishing her date with the plastic surgeon.
Waiting for her inside was an unwelcome presence.
Her younger sister, Park Soyeon—five years her junior.
"Unni, we need to talk for a minute."
"I have nothing to talk about with you."
Sojeong found her sister irritating.
There was no point talking to her anyway. They never saw eye to eye, and long conversations always ended in arguments.
It had always been that way. Despite the age gap, this girl had always talked back to her older sister with insolence, challenging her over every little thing. Especially when Sojeong was already in a bad mood, ignoring her was the best option.
But Soyeon didn't back down easily.
She followed behind her sister, who was coldly brushing her off, and kept pressing her.
"Unni, did something happen between you and brother-in-law? He keeps avoiding my messages."
The "brother-in-law" Soyeon was referring to was Kang Suhyeok.
Even though they weren't married, the two sisters had long called him brother-in-law and referred to themselves as sisters-in-law. At first, Sojeong had corrected her every time, telling her not to call him that—but eventually she got tired of it and let it slide.
"Nothing happened. And even if it did, it's none of your business."
Sojeong tried to brush it off.
But Soyeon was sharp. She sensed something off in her sister's tone.
"Don't tell me… you broke up with him?"
There was plenty of circumstantial evidence. If she really wanted to check, it wouldn't take long.
And for Sojeong, it wasn't something she particularly needed to hide.
"Don't tell Mom yet."
She was just annoyed at the thought of hearing unnecessary lectures from their parents.
At her sister's failure to deny it, Soyeon's eyes widened in genuine shock.
"Seriously?! You really broke up with him? Unni, are you crazy?"
Her tone made it sound like the breakup was her loss.
Sojeong bristled.
"Shut up! I told you it's none of your business!"
"When did it happen? Why did you break up? Did he catch you cheating?"
"I didn't cheat. We broke up because it made sense to break up. And it's still none of your business."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?! If I'd known, I could've comforted brother-in-law!"
"Hah!"
It was always like this.
Soyeon coveted anything that looked good and belonged to her sister.
Even if that thing was her sister's boyfriend.
"Well, too bad. Kang Suhyeok's already at a hotel with another woman. Guess you were too late."
She meant it as sarcasm.
To say he wasn't as great as Soyeon thought—just the kind of guy who went to a hotel with another woman right after breaking up.
Soyeon had always had a strange, idealized view of Suhyeok.
Maybe the grass was greener on the other side. She'd often said she envied her sister for dating him, and she'd even acted overly cute around him, pretending to be close.
Sojeong had always hated that about her.
Sometimes, it even felt like Soyeon got along with Suhyeok better than she did. They'd argued over it more than once.
In reality, Suhyeok had only ever seen Soyeon—ten years younger than him—as a cute kid sister.
But because Sojeong disliked it, he'd kept his distance from her sister as well.
"Oh, come on! That's exactly why you should've told me earlier! Once brother-in-law's single, of course women won't leave him alone!"
"…What are you even talking about? Did you eat something weird?"
Sojeong had meant to mock him by saying he already had another woman.
But instead of being disappointed, Soyeon took it as a perfectly natural outcome.
Sojeong was speechless.
"You really think he's that amazing?"
"Don't you?"
The casual counter-question left Sojeong silent.
It was true—Suhyeok was a decent man. That was why she'd dated him.
But was he really worth all this fuss?
She didn't think so. After all, she was now seeing a man she considered better than him.
"My god! To think someone like that was dating my brother-in-law! Poor guy!"
Soyeon acted as if the world were collapsing, as though her sister were completely clueless.
At the same time, Sojeong's irritation steadily rose.
"What's so great about him? Is he insanely handsome? From a great family? An amazing job? Men better than Kang Suhyeok are everywhere."
"Are you serious? Can you swear that to heaven right now?"
"Of course! The guy I'm seeing now is better than Kang Suhyeok."
She snapped back reflexively—but truthfully, there was something that bothered her.
"Ohhh, you mean the plastic surgeon Mom introduced? Well, I guess someone like that would suit you better."
Soyeon knew all about that man too.
Even while dating Suhyeok, Sojeong had gone on that blind date.
And it had been Soyeon who told Suhyeok about it.
"But Unni, if you asked me to choose between him and brother-in-law, I'd choose brother-in-law without hesitation."
She smiled as if kindly enlightening her ignorant sister.
"I bet if you asked any other woman, they'd all say they'd date brother-in-law. You're the only one who doesn't know how good of a man he is."
"If he's that great, why don't you date him?"
"Really? I can? Then I'd better get in line right now!"
With that, Soyeon started tapping furiously on her phone.
It looked like she was texting Suhyeok.
Sojeong let out a sigh in disbelief.
"He really means that much to you?"
"You know, Unni. Have you heard of the term 'hexagon man'?"
"A guy who's average in every category?"
"Exactly. Brother-in-law is a big hexagon man. Good in every aspect, with no real weaknesses."
That, at least, made some sense.
The Suhyeok she knew didn't have many obvious flaws.
"But that just means he doesn't have any outstanding strengths either."
"See? That's exactly why I feel bad for him."
Soyeon shook her head and started listing his qualities.
"What did you even like about him in the first place?"
"…His face?"
"Right! It might feel normal since you saw him every day, but he's got a good face. Tall, healthy build, graduated from Korea University. Completed military service, non-smoker, no bad drinking habits. Good family background, raised well. Works at a major corporation."
"He got fired, so scratch the 'major corporation' part."
"Even if he quit, he'd get into an even better company. Gentle personality, but puts up firm boundaries with other women and only likes you. No tattoos, no shady hobbies. After marriage, he'd only care about work and family."
"You don't know that before marriage."
"No matter how tired he was, he'd run to you the moment you called. Even if you kept bothering him while he was working, he never complained."
"When did I ever—"
"The highest score goes to the fact that he dated someone like you without getting irritated even once. Basically a Buddha."
"Do you want to die?"
Soyeon ignored her threat and continued.
"How many men do you think exist in Korea who meet all those conditions?"
So that was what a 'big hexagon man' meant.
Sojeong answered casually.
"Well… maybe the top ten percent?"
"There you go! You really don't know anything!"
Soyeon jumped up and down in frustration.
"Five. There are five in the entire country! And among them, only two are single!"
"Oh please. At least make your nonsense believable."
"The most unbelievable person here is you!"
How could her sister so casually kick away the luck that had practically fallen into her lap?
Was it because she truly didn't understand?
Soyeon felt like she'd go crazy from frustration.
"Meeting brother-in-law was a miracle! You could date him back then only because neither of you knew any better! You'll never meet someone like him again in your life! You should run to him right now and beg!"
"Oh, sure. If you like him that much, you can have him. I don't need him."
Sojeong brushed past her sister and went into her room.
Even then, Soyeon's furious shouting could be heard from outside the door.
"I swear I'm going to confess to brother-in-law! Don't complain later!"
"Do whatever you want."
Soyeon said Sojeong didn't know anything.
But in Sojeong's mind, it was Soyeon who knew nothing.
Because she was forgetting the most important factor.
Bedroom compatibility.
The man Sojeong met after breaking up with Suhyeok was superior in many ways.
Yet there was one thing that bothered her.
Sex.
"…If you include that, I guess they're about the same."
There was no such thing as a perfect person.
Compared to other conditions, that flaw still felt minor—to Sojeong, at least.
The next morning.
Still not used to the feeling, I rode down the hotel elevator.
Standing beside me was Assistant Manager Yoo Eunha—the woman I'd spent the night with.
Compared to when we worked together, the distance between us felt much closer.
Even in a small elevator, we didn't need to stand this close.
It probably meant our emotional distance had shrunk—but the embarrassment was hard to hide.
"Ah…!"
"Oof."
As we stepped out, Yoo Eunha stumbled.
I grabbed her arm to steady her.
"Careful, Assistant Yoo."
"I-I'm sorry, Manager Kang. My legs still don't have any strength…"
"Ahem."
She leaned into my arm and spoke weakly.
Her eyes, looking up at me, seemed incredibly fragile.
It was hard to believe she was the same Yoo Eunha known for her prickly personality.
"H-Haha. Were you always this delicate?"
Feeling awkward, I glanced around to see if anyone was watching.
Of all people, the man by the coffee machine was staring at us again.
"You're the one who made me this weak, Manager…"
"Oof."
…Maybe I really had gone too far.
I'd tried to help her relieve her pent-up stress last night—but perhaps I'd overdone it.
For a woman who'd built walls around men her entire life, all that might have been too intense.
"Are you really okay? If it's that bad, you could take a day off."
"No. There's too much cleanup to do."
Her sense of responsibility toward work surpassed that of most men.
No matter how exhausted she was, abandoning the aftermath of the collapsed project was unacceptable to her.
"More importantly… you're really not coming back?"
"Assistant Yoo. I told you yesterday—it'd be difficult."
Because of Assistant Manager Park's screw-up, the project had collapsed.
Given how serious the issue was, Park wouldn't be able to wriggle out this time.
Once the disciplinary committee convened, it would come out that my violent outburst had been caused by his long-standing misconduct.
That might give me a chance to be reinstated.
I'd heard all that in bed last night.
But I'd already decided not to return.
There were good people there—but also people I could never work with again.
This job wasn't for me.
I wanted to find something that suited me better.
If I'd still been planning to marry Sojeong, I would've gone back without hesitation for the sake of stability.
But not anymore.
"I'm thinking of trying something else. Not sure what yet."
"What kind of work?"
"Haha… I haven't decided."
"If you do decide, please take me with you. If it's with you, Manager, I'd even work for free."
"Hahaha…"
Where did the cool, composed Yoo Eunha go?
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
Arm in arm with her, I reached the front desk.
The staff processed the checkout silently.
They cast a strange look at Yoo Eunha clinging to me.
'Didn't this guy come with another woman yesterday?'
That seemed to be what they wanted to say.
Probably just my imagination.
"If a good opportunity comes up, I'll definitely contact you."
"I'll wait my whole life, Manager."
Being acknowledged by someone as capable as Yoo Eunha didn't feel bad.
Maybe I wasn't completely useless after all.
I put her in a taxi and sent her off to work, then headed home alone once again.
"Next… is whether my money luck really explodes."
I took out the lottery ticket I'd carefully kept in my wallet and checked it again.
Just like the old woman said, my luck with women had overflowed.
So next, my money luck should follow.
I'd been vague with Yoo Eunha, but I already knew what I wanted to do next.
However, it required money.
A lot of money.
"That is… if this lottery ticket actually wins."
The project that collapsed because of Assistant Manager Park's mistake.
I was planning to reach out to the partner company.
IntelliOn.