"Dear child. Are you all right?"

Pan-seok Kim asked Gyeong-eun in a worried voice from inside the car.

"Father. You needn't worry."

"See there—what did I tell you? I said dress a bit neatly, didn't I? You swore you were fine and came dressed like you were off to a market fair, and now what a disgrace at the in-law family's company."

At Myeong-ja Jang's chiding, Pan-seok hung his head low.

"You're right. I suppose I came dressed too much like I was off to call on the neighbors."

Ordinarily, Pan-seok would have shouted back, so what of it. But today was different. The fact that he'd been shamed at his daughter-in-law's workplace kept Pan-seok from raising his head.

"Father. It's all right. It isn't your fault—it's our department store's fault."

Gyeong-eun defended Pan-seok energetically, insisting he'd done nothing wrong.

"I kept impressing on the staff not to judge a person by their outward appearance alone. And since they failed to keep that, it's our fault."

"That's so. Judging a person by their looks alone… isn't a good thing."

At Gyeong-eun's defense, Pan-seok, his mood a little lifted, raised his head. Looking at him, Gyeong-eun smiled and said,

"You did nothing wrong, Father. So take heart."

"Right. Still, child, I'm sorry to you. It's your company, and I, your father-in-law, went and made such a spectacle…"

"Oh, really, it's fine. So don't give it another thought."

Having said it was all right several times over, Gyeong-eun quietly turned the subject elsewhere.

"More to the point, I don't know why my father has invited the two of you today."

At the mention of Tak-hyeon, Pan-seok and Myeong-ja set aside the talk of the department store.

"Dear child. Don't you know either why the in-law invited us to his home?"

"No. I haven't heard anything myself."

Tak-hyeon hadn't invited the in-laws home even at the wedding. In fact, he'd never once invited any in-law to the house. He'd spoken with the father of his first son-in-law, Yeong-su Cha—when the man held a place in politics—exactly once. But that had been the Ilhyeon…