# Chapter 135
After that, Seeun continued to help Mirae make her vlogs. Just because she let it slide once didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen again. After all, Mirae was a child and might mention it unthinkingly. Seeun carefully watched the videos Mirae had recorded, constantly repeating justifications to herself. Thanks to this, Seeun’s editing skills improved day by day, and eventually she was able to add video effects as well.
And throughout filming all those videos, Mirae never broke her promise, not even once.
“Semi has been with me a lot lately, so you must be bored, Seeun?”
Her father’s comment during mealtime was somewhat out of the blue. Seeun stopped midway through bringing her spoon to her mouth and opened her eyes wide.
She wasn’t particularly bored since spending time with Mirae turned out to be more fun than expected, but she couldn’t exactly tell her father that. When Seeun didn’t deny it, her father gently suggested:
“How about going out for once?”
“Out?”
“Yes.”
There was no particular reason to refuse her father’s suggestion. When Seeun nodded, her father smiled with satisfaction.
What her father showed her were photos of high-class parties on social media. Don’t you think it would be fun? Heesu could take you there. After saying this, her father patted her head as if leaving the rest up to her.
So the next time Seeun met Heesu, she asked if he could take her along. Heesu seemed reluctant, but his mother, who happened to be there, supported the idea and told him to take her.
Thanks to that, Seeun was able to attend dressed in pretty clothes and accessories. Though it wasn’t an official partner invitation, she was able to enter with Heesu’s help.
The upper-class party that she attended for the first time was a whole new world. It was an environment she had never experienced before. Seeun was immediately captivated by the atmosphere. The sparkling lights, lavish accessories, people dressed up like peacocks, and elegant mannerisms. These things evoked a sense of admiration and aspiration in Seeun.
When she returned after the party, her father patted her shoulder and said she’d done well.
“Was it fun? Do you want to go again?”
She hadn’t actually thought about going again, but when her father put it that way, it seemed like she did. Seeun obediently nodded.
The head of the household greatly favored her father, and perhaps because of that, she was also kind to Seeun. As a result, Heesu had to grant most of Seeun’s requests. Since her father praised Seeun for attending parties frequently, she gradually went to more and more of them. She never engaged in conversations with anyone there, but Seeun, who enjoyed observing, never got tired of going.
Moreover, parties usually took place late in the evening, when children were already asleep. This allowed Seeun to spend time with Mirae without interference.
“Unni, you look so pretty today.”
Mirae’s eyes widened when she saw Seeun, who had miscalculated the time and came down to the laboratory dressed for the party. Seeun replied awkwardly, “It’s nothing,” and sat down next to Mirae. Fascinated by the sparkling beads on Seeun’s dress, Mirae touched them with her small hands and whispered, “You look like a princess.”
“Are you going to a ball?”
“Well… something like that.”
“That’s awesome!”
Somehow encouraged by Mirae’s sparkling eyes, Seeun became more talkative than usual. After chatting for a while, Mirae eventually begged to go to a ball too, and Seeun consoled her by saying she could go when she was a bit older, but by then time was getting tight.
Seeun said goodbye to Mirae, telling her to go back carefully, and left the room first. Since the house was so spacious, it took quite a while to walk from the laboratory to the outside of the building. As Seeun hurriedly walked away, a light voice caught her from behind.
“Leaving now?”
It was Semi. After staying glued to her desk for a while claiming she was in the final stages, it seemed she had come out for a brief change of scenery.
“Yeah. Taking a break?”
“Mm-hmm. I’m almost done, but efficiency improvement isn’t working well…”
Semi frowned as if it was giving her a headache. Seeun patted her shoulder encouragingly.
“But why did you come here all dressed up? Couldn’t you just leave directly?”
At that question, Seeun imperceptibly hesitated. Seeun’s room was upstairs. Anyone would find it inconvenient to get dressed up, come down to the basement, and then go back up again.
“I had some time to spare. You know I like exploring around here.”
She tried to sound nonchalant, but she wasn’t sure if it really didn’t seem strange. Seeun smiled awkwardly. She could feel her heart, which had been beating slowly, gradually speeding up. Semi blinked a few times at Seeun before shrugging lightly.
“Hmm, that’s true.”
“Well, I’ll get going. Good luck.”
“Yeah. You too.”
Semi, who had been staring intently at the back of Seeun’s head as she quickly left the laboratory, soon turned away.
As Seeun became more familiar with parties, her attitude grew increasingly relaxed. Unlike before when she was busy looking around, now she could leisurely lean against the wall to observe the atmosphere or overhear conversations.
Recognizing this change in herself, Seeun felt a sense of accomplishment. Neither her father nor Semi was here. It was an experience she had cultivated entirely on her own. When dealing with the kindly smiling people, Seeun felt a strange thrill running through her mind.
Then one day, Semi ran up to Seeun.
“Try this on.”
“What is it?”
It was a uniquely designed bracelet. Although she felt sorry for Semi who had worked hard on it, to Seeun who had become accustomed to all kinds of accessories and expensive clothing through numerous party attendances, it looked somewhat crude. As she reluctantly put on the bracelet, Semi made a fuss, telling her to try using gi-ryeok with it.
“Alright, I’ll do it, don’t make such a—Huh?”
A type of superpower that had nothing to do with Seeun appeared in the room. As she stared blankly at it with a dumbfounded face, Semi grinned triumphantly.
“Amazing, right?”
Their father was also very pleased with Semi’s invention. After patting her head several times, saying she did well, he made this suggestion:
“It’s a shame to keep this just between us. Why don’t you try selling it to others?”
“Can we sell this?”
“Of course.”
His smiling face turned to Seeun.
“Seeun, who attends many parties, could probably help.”
So that was it.
She instinctively realized. Her father who had recommended a new hobby to Seeun, her father who had praised Seeun for consistently attending parties.
He hadn’t left me out.
Seeun’s face brightened. The sense of alienation she had felt weakly had disappeared without a trace.
“Sure. How can I help?”
Even after nodding vigorously to express her willingness to cooperate, what Seeun actually did didn’t change much. She just went to parties with Heesu and observed a lot as usual. Semi didn’t officially accompany her, nor did she make any special requests to Seeun.
However, more people started approaching Seeun with strange comments.
“That thing was amazing. Can I buy another one?”
“My friend said they’re interested too…”
“How much do I need?”
Although Seeun and Semi looked alike, they weren’t identical enough to be mistaken for each other. For one thing, the two had different aesthetic preferences, so their styling was completely different. Yet people were confusing Seeun with Semi, which led to only one conclusion.
Semi had been secretly going around parties pretending to be Seeun.
To use such a method, Semi was indeed clever. It was a bit disappointing that she hadn’t told Seeun in advance, but since selling the bracelets was good for their father too, Seeun cooperated willingly. Whenever Semi seemed to be moving about, Seeun would quietly leave the party venue.
However, each time she exited like this, she couldn’t help feeling like a stand-in who had served her purpose and was being discarded beneath the stage. How long would this continue? Her dejected mood made her footsteps drag.
That day too, the party was ordinary up to the midpoint. The only unusual thing was meeting Iyeon.
In fact, Seeun had known about Iyeon before meeting him. The person standing alone eating food, separated from the chattering crowd, was the white, gentle-looking man she had seen in Mirae’s videos. Mirae’s friend.
She approached him because she was quite happy and pleased to unexpectedly meet a face she had seen through the screen. She didn’t know why. It was just an unconscious reaction to the fact that he was Mirae’s friend.
Had she known his purpose, she would never have done so.
