Start-Up

Love Advice

In-jae had been watching Dal-mi carefully all day.

She'd had an impressive start at Injae Company these past few weeks, and true to her word, Dal-mi didn't take offense at all of In-jae's nitpicking and criticism over her proposals. They often butt heads over work, but In-jae was secretly proud to see her sister learning to stand her ground, defend her ideas, and refine them when necessary. She was also improving at anticipating In-jae's feedback, fixing problems before she presented her final output to her sister. If she kept this up, she had all the makings of a great COO.

But today, there was something off about her. She was distracted, and more than once, In-jae had caught her softly banging her head on her table. In-jae just couldn't figure out if it was work related, or something else entirely.

"Ready to go home?" Ji-pyeong texted her.

Keeping her eye on Dal-mi, In-jae typed in reply, "Could you come to my office? There's something up with Dal-mi, I might need your help here."

Dal-mi heaved a huge sigh as she stared at her computer, her chin propped up in her palm.

"That's it," In-jae said loudly, startling Dal-mi out of her reverie. "You've been like this all day. What's going on?"

Dal-mi sighed again, then gestured to her computer screen.

In-jae walked up to her sister's desk, then stared at the screen.

Just then, Ji-pyeong entered the office, and she waved him over.

"What's going on?" he asked as he turned to the screen too.

Nam Do-San leads self-driving car project for 2STO, the headline of a news article on Dal-mi's screen read.

"So? Why have you been pouting and sighing all day over this?" In-jae asked bluntly.

"Because this is something we dreamed of together. And now he's going to do it on his own," Dal-mi said sadly, and In-jae looked at her closely. "Wait a minute. Did you two break up?"

In-jae and Ji-pyeong watched as Dal-mi walked across the room to their tiny meeting table and buried her face in her hands. "We fought right before he left for the States, and I said such awful things, so..."

In-jae took the seat in front of her and crossed her arms over her chest. "So what? That's it? You fought so it's over?"

Dal-mi lifted her head and revealed her tear-stained cheeks, "Well, he's all the way over there and I'm here, so yeah, I guess it's over."

In-jae shot a frustrated look at Ji-pyeong, who knew exactly what she wanted to do to her sister right now. With a twinkle in his eye, he nodded at her in encouragement, and hid his smile as he watched In-jae lean forward and flick her sister on the forehead.

"Ow!!" Dal-mi complained, rubbing her forehead while glaring at her sister, "What was that for?"

"That's for the stupidest thing I've heard you say! 'He's there, I'm here, so it's over,'" In-jae mimicked her sister sarcastically. "Are you seriously telling me that we're here using AI to aid the visually impaired and prevent crime, but you can't use technology to make a long-distance relationship work??"

Dal-mi looked at her sister wide-eyed as she sniffled, "But I don't even know if he still wants to talk to me."

Ji-pyeong sat down beside In-jae and said to Dal-mi, "You said self-driving cars was something you dreamed of together? Why do you think he's taking on this project, then? He's obviously got you on his mind."

In-jae looked her sister in the eye and said, "If you really love him, do yourself a favor and go get him. Tell him how you feel. Trust me."

Ji-pyeong stole a glance at In-jae and remembered how she had stormed into his apartment to reveal her true feelings for him. "I'm scared of how I feel about you, of how I need you." It was the most vulnerable thing she had ever said, and he loved her for having the courage to say it. He felt honored that she trusted him that much, and was now even telling her sister to do the same thing.

He reached for her hand under the table and squeezed it tight. She glanced at him with a smile, then together, they watched as Dal-mi took a deep breath. "You're right," she said, "I can't go down without a fight."

She gathered her hair into a ponytail, and In-jae smiled. She had known her sister long enough to know what putting her hair up meant. She squeezed Ji-pyeong's hand, then together they stood up. "Chul-san has a vlog. I can leave a comment there to get him to chat with me, then hopefully he'll give me Do-san's number," Dal-mi was muttering to herself as she formulated her plan.

"Good luck," Ji-pyeong said to her as In-jae went to her table to get her things.

"Don't forget to lock up," she reminded her sister as she and Ji-pyeong headed out the door.

As they walked down the hallway together, Ji-pyeong wrapped an arm around In-jae's shoulder and planted a kiss on her head.

"What was that for?" she looked up at him with a smile.

"You're a good sister," he said, smiling back at her.

"Mmm... I can be a good girlfriend too," she said mischievously as they stepped into the elevator.

"Yes, you can indeed," he replied, pulling her to him and giving her a deep kiss as the elevator doors closed. "Now let's go home."