Gong Jeong, heir and son of both his workplace superior and father who held significant stakes in his birth, was squeezed in the middle of a table with Chairman Shin, the CEO of a competing company. He wanted to tear apart Gong Pyeonghwa, who was laughing carelessly without knowing anything.
‘How could anyone think of putting these two together?’
Of course, it wasn’t Gong Pyeonghwa who seated them together, but the clueless venue staff who had arranged it.
‘What am I supposed to do?’
Isn’t it the fault of the guy who failed to properly brief the staff? Gong Jeong sent an SOS signal to another of his blood relatives.
Gong Jeong:
When are you coming Gong Sarang
Gong Sarang:
What? I’m a bit busy, why
Gong Jeong:
Bring an oxygen tank when you come
Gong Sarang:
What are you talking about you crazy person
This brat.
Gong Sarang:
Coming with mom, wait
Chairman Gong pounded the table and just ground his teeth without saying a word.
He had come because it was a first birthday party, but seeing this childish nonsense made his blood boil.
Okay, giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe modern first birthday parties could be like this. It’s not like they absolutely had to follow traditional formalities. Innovation! Creation! How wonderful. It was even the company motto.
Above all, with his precious granddaughter enjoying herself so much, the format of the first birthday party wasn’t the issue.
“…”
‘How dare they put me next to this person?’
“…”
‘They seated me with this man?’
Though nothing was said, the air was heavy only at this table.
The owner families were all seated at that other table.
Whether they were all introverted or just reserved, there was something about them that made people feel awkward even when they were just sitting quietly. Their business-like smiles without a word spoken seemed almost artificial.
A picture-perfect wife, a stoic father, and an obedient, well-behaved daughter.
In contrast, the Gong family had a hot-tempered father and the eccentric Gong Pyeonghwa. And today, the mother with an exceptionally good blowout and the insolent Gong Sarang had just arrived.
They say opposites attract—is that why Gong Pyeonghwa and Shin Saebyeok fell for each other?
“Oh my, in-law.”
Gong Pyeonghwa’s mother, with her particularly well-styled hair today, spoke kindly to Saebyeok’s mother with a flirtatious, 200% fake eye smile.
“Ah…”
Startled by this sudden intrusion of sociability, Saebyeok’s mother gave a slight bow with surprised eyes.
“Oppa, why does your face look like that? Do you need a blood donation? Hmm? Want me to share some hemoglobin with you?”
Thanks to the rascal, no, the youngest Gong Sarang’s thin consideration in calling him “Oppa” in public, Gong Jeong promptly seated her next to Chairman Shin.
‘Are you crazy?’
Gong Sarang immediately glared at him, but Gong Jeong pretended not to see.
Gong Sarang awkwardly smiled and greeted Chairman Shin. He didn’t ignore the greeting, but with nothing more to say, she turned to Saebyeok’s younger sister, someone her own age who seemed more approachable.
Or at least, she wanted to.
‘Hey, what should I call her? Miss? Sister-in-law?’
Momentarily confused about how to address her brother’s wife’s younger sister, Gong Sarang repeatedly jabbed Gong Jeong in the side.
‘But aren’t I older?’
‘At face value, you definitely look more intimidating.’
‘You’re dead.’
The elbowing got heavier.
‘Don’t people just call them in-law?’
‘I’ll kill you if you get it wrong.’
‘This. Bastard.’
Gong Sarang completely transformed her goblin-like face and greeted with a bright smile.
“In-law! Is this the right way to address you? Virgin in-law? It sounds weird, but anyway, have you eaten? Let’s go together? Let’s go together, let’s go together. Let’s go.”
Finding himself squeezed between Chairman Shin and Chairman Gong again after just 30 seconds, Gong Jeong wailed inwardly.
With a bewildered face, Shin Noeul was dragged along by Gong Sarang, following without any will of her own.
“I don’t know about anything else, but my second brother is very particular about food, so everything should be delicious.”
“Ah, yes…”
After getting a few dishes with Gong Sarang, Shin Noeul followed her like a duckling.
“So, how old are you? I’m twenty-six.”
“Eighteen.”
“Wow, you’re ten years younger than your brother. With a ten-year age gap, isn’t it awkward?”
When asked by Gong Sarang, who called her eight-year-older brother by name, Shin Noeul mumbled that it wasn’t really the case.
“I heard that when there’s a big age gap, they treat you well without bullying. Is that true?”
“Bullying?”
“It’s so annoying. I don’t know if they still have the mentality of elementary school kids, but they’re always asking me to turn off the lights. Why, when there are smart sensors?”
When Noeul’s eyes widened at the word “shit,” Gong Sarang awkwardly slapped her own mouth.
“Ah, anyway, isn’t it, amazing, that, your, bro-ther, got, ma-rried?”
“Y-yes… I was surprised too. My brother… suddenly…”
“Oh, you’ve only picked vegetables. You need to gain some weight.”
Gong Sarang served her meat-focused dishes that she herself liked.
“Ah, thank you…”
“But isn’t that table really suffocating? I was wondering why Gong Jeong was asking me to buy an oxygen tank. I should have actually bought one.”
How can she talk non-stop like that? Shin Noeul was simply amazed by Gong Sarang.
“Ah, I don’t dare go back to that seat. Shall we move to another table, just the two of us? As family, should we bring Gong Jeong too?”
“I’ll just go back.”
“Hey, we’re already in the same boat, right? The same team? You’ve already joined my gang, virgin in-law. You’re doing this?”
Is she a hoodlum? Why is her way of speaking so loose? For Shin Noeul, who had been taught to naturally make a U-turn and run away when meeting delinquent students, Gong Sarang was a bewildering character.
“Hmm. No, no. A way for everyone to be comfortable. I just thought of it. Let’s go, virgin in-law.”
Gong Sarang linked arms with Shin Noeul and returned to the suffocating table.
A way for everyone to be comfortable—that is for everyone to be of one mind and one heart.
‘I learned it at the KaXer leadership camp last week.’
Gong Sarang, a student who reviewed lessons better than expected, savored the teachings of the instructors along with her steak.
“That impudent boy!”
Just as she was marveling at the tender texture of the beef, the timing Gong Sarang had been waiting for arrived.
Frustrated with Gong Pyeonghwa for brazenly shooting love bullets, Chairman Gong pulled at his tie in annoyance. Even that small gesture was laced with irritation.
“Dad, are you okay?”
Looking at the insolent Gong Pyeonghwa, then at Gong Sarang who, though it was over 20 years ago, once tearfully said she would marry her father, his heart ached with fondness.
“I don’t understand how oppa could do this to Dad. I was so worried you might fall backwards when I heard about it at camp. Dad’s getting older now!”
Despite Gong Sarang’s behavior, which had reduced the male-menopausal Chairman Gong to an old has-been, he was almost moved to tears by his daughter’s filial piety.
“You really shouldn’t do that. It’s like disrespecting Dad.”
The method of setting a common goal to build empathy and demonstrate unity.
“It’s really out.rage.ous!”
Create a common enemy.
“…Honestly, it is a bit? questionable? How could they have a wedding without giving any notice to the parents who gave birth to them and raised them, and then just show up with a baby and announce it?”
The perceptive Gong Jeong provided supporting fire.
“How could a younger brother think of getting married before his older brother? In the old days, that would have been unimaginable, you know?”
Actually, as he spoke, he became genuinely indignant and lost his temper.
“Well, I mean…”
The mother who had been trying to defend them was blocked by her two children.
“Well, it’s not like we’re going to tell them to break up now, right?”
“Right, right.”
“But? Just wishing them happiness? Doesn’t it? Make you? Really? Angry? What’s the unforgivable sin in our country? It’s being out.rage.ously.dis.re.spect.ful.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
With the bulldozer-like one-two punch of the Gong siblings, Chairman Gong and Chairman Shin nodded continuously in their hearts.
“So, I, Gong Sarang, who respects and loves the fathers more than anyone else, propose an idea. Why do interns have internships? It’s to see if the company and the individual are a good match, right? Is there a law that says only interns should have internships?”
Amid fervent support, Gong Sarang suggested an ingenious plan to send her brother’s couple to hell.
“Sons-in-law should also have? An internship period. Living with the in-laws? They must!”
The son-in-law audition with only two participants, <In-laws Stay 101>.
‘How dare you get married before me? As a younger brother?’
‘This isn’t how I intended it to start, but that’s how it turned out. Fighting! Who makes a surprise wedding anyway?’
‘Saebyeok oppa, I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop it…’
The in-law stay plan took shape more and more, driven by the siblings’ dirty mindsets and the wounded adults’ momentum. This was how Gong Pyeonghwa and Shin Saebyeok came to be separated.
“What is marriage? It’s about two families becoming one. But? They just want to do what they like? And then inherit the affiliates? It’s really outrageous. They’re sneaky.”
‘The in-law’s daughter speaks quite well.’
Chairman Shin, whose heart was already completely swayed, wanted to buy Gong Sarang an opal slab even if she were selling one.
“But my child, raised with care, though raised like a weed, nourished with supplements—can I give my child to such a sneaky bastard!”
Chairman Shin and Chairman Gong cleared their throats simultaneously. It was a sign of approval.
Though Gong Sarang was surprised by the fathers’ unexpectedly positive reaction, she was pleased that her opinion had been adopted. So Gong Sarang began to lose control.
“Let’s install cameras all over the house too! Hey? Let’s make it real!”
Thanks to her, a meeting began about the rules and precautions to be observed during the in-law stay.
These royal families, of whom it’s said that for every 1,000 won spent in Korea, 500 won goes to the owner families, demonstrated their collective IQ of 950 in their determination to torment their own flesh and blood.
This meeting, attended by executives who could shake the Korean economy, was filled with pettiness aimed at tearing apart one couple in the most pathetic way.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
