✔ 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐖𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇

Chapter 6

"A banana milkshake with sprinkles and a latte macchiato for the table in the conservatory!" Gumi was told by her work colleague. She immediately set about preparing these drinks for her guests, when she realized that it couldn't be anyone else but her stepsisters.

Only the two of them kept ordering this selection.

Immediately, Gumi looked around the room, her gaze circling over the many guests, remembering that Jay had mentioned the conservatory. Sure enough, the two of them were sitting at a small round table amidst the many plants, waving at Gumi. She smiled and raised her hand in greeting. It reassured her that Yeonah and Sooji were here.

It gave her a certain security to see the two of them.

She placed the order on a tray and lifted it up to make her way to them. As she did so, Gumi crossed a few other tables where guests were sitting, who tried to stop her with a wave of her hand, but she raced past the guests, saying, "I'll be right with you!"

"A banana milkshake and a latte macchiato," Gumi smiled as she put the tray down and handed out the glasses. Her stepsisters thanked her warmly and Yeonah ran a caring hand over her arm.

"We just had to stop by," she said, and you could already hear the interested tone in her voice. "How did it go?" Yeonah added, wanting to know if Gumi had a good feeling.

Gumi drew in her breath sharply, already expecting Yeonah to ask about it right away. Cautiously, the redhead let her gaze wander back and forth between her two stepsisters and also saw Sooji groping for her milkshake, completely absentminded because her eyes were focused on the display of her cell phone. Gumi couldn't see or hear what Sooji was looking at because the middle child of the Choi family had one of her headphone plugs in her ear and so no sound could be heard. But with the chaos in Gumi's head, she was overwhelmed by the situation anyway.

"I wasn't at the recording session," she finally admitted quietly.

Yeonah widened her eyes and opened her mouth in shock. But no sound came out for the first few seconds until the eldest finally breathed, "Why not?"

Hadn't it always been Gumi's dream to study at this university?

Gumi sighed miserably and wiped her hands on her pants. "I lost my USB stick," she hissed and then pretended to adjust the small flower pot that was serving as a decoration on the table. "Then I just..." she looked around to see if anyone was listening, "ran off." She was so embarrassed that this knee-jerk reaction had made her run away, so she only wanted to tell Yeonah and Sooji. The latter was still glued to her smartphone as if she was waiting for an important message.

"Oh, Gumi," Yeonah exclaimed sympathetically and grabbed her younger stepsister by the wrist. She was about to add a few words of comfort when Sooji made a sound that made it impossible to tell whether it was of joy or envy.

Or whether it was even because of Gumi.

Because the tall girl pulled the plug out of her ear and turned to her sisters. "You won't believe this!" she exclaimed and received a punch to the upper arm from Yeonah, because Sooji didn't realize how insensitive she was reacting to the situation with Gumi. Sooji looked at her in surprise and raised her eyebrows, which could barely be seen because the strands of her pony were now far too low and she pulled her lips into a clumsy pout. "What?" Sooji asked her sister Yeonah. "What was that for?"