How was the party? Did you say hello for me?
I did.
You must really like this painting.
You've been staring at it for long periods the past few days.
It gives me such varying impressions.
Yesterday it was the cries of a scorned woman.
Today it's the loneliness of a woman in solitude.
I look forward to what it'll say to me tomorrow.
CHAIRMAN MAENG HO-GUL
You did well in keeping up with me.
Thank you, Madam.
What did I tell you about saying thank you?
You told me to save it and not say it often.
I did.
It makes you appear weak to the other person.
Do you need more training?
I believe thanks should be given when necessary.
I am thanking you because I absolutely owe it to you.
Then I accept. I have nothing left to teach you.
Are you ready?
Yes, of course.
I'm looking forward to what happens.
Welcome home, sir.
You want to do what?
Model for the Dream homeshopping cosmetics?
You can't model with your looks.
Don't bring this up ever again.
There's only so much I can take.
If Seo-jin's mother comes, don't let her in.
She still does whatever she wants.
And don't put her calls through.
Yes, sir.
Ugh.
Where did I see her before?
Excuse me?
She looks familiar.
I just want to see you. I'll go right now.
No. I'm in front of the gate.
In a month...
Take care for a month.
Thank you for everything.
'Ga-eun, where are you?'
Mother, it's Jae-bum. Did you hear from Ga-eun?
What?
She came back yesterday? Are you serious?
She did. She came yesterday out of the blue.
I was just about to call you to tell you.
Is she home?
She went to work.
Work? Where, that boutique?
I understand. Goodbye, Mother.
Where are you going? We have a meeting in 30 minutes.
Sorry, postpone it to the afternoon. I have somewhere to go.
Why are you staring at me?
You haven't been sick, have you?
You've been well?
Yes.
That's a relief.
You're so mean, Ga-eun. How could you disappear like that?
You should've left a contact number.
And how could you close your email account like that?
Did you know I went to Milan twice?
You what?
That was a waste since I had no way of finding you.
I looked everywhere I thought you might be.
Let me ask you, where did you hide?
I wasn't hiding anywhere. I just needed time to myself.
Ga-eun.
And don't drop by anytime like this.
This makes me uncomfortable.
It makes you uncomfortable?
It does.
Ga-eun.
I have to go back in.
Do you realize it's been a month since we last met?
What happened in that long month?
You don't seem like the Ga-eun that I know.
And what's that person like?
Ga-eun.
Whatever you think you know is wrong.
The real Yoo Ga-eun is the one you see right now.
Goodbye.
It's been so long since the three of us last ate together.
Sis, how could you say goodbye through a note?
Mom and I were so worried.
Why worry? I can take care of myself.
Even so!
We were scared you'd left us and would never come back.
Seems Italy treated you well. You've gotten prettier.
I thought you were someone else.
By the way, did you meet with Director Ha?
He called every day to ask if we'd heard from you.
He'd come eat with us and spend time with me.
He's a real gem, that one.
Sis, he even helped us with living expenses.
What?
What about the money I sent you?
He insisted even when I kept refusing.
And refusing too much isn't good manners either.
Don't take anything anymore. I'm not going to meet him again.
He's a stranger to us, so don't indebt yourself anymore.
Why reject a good person like him?
You need to start fresh with him and rub it in Mi-ran and Jung-woo's faces.
I'm not dating anyone before I ruin Mi-ran and Jung-woo myself.
So don't inconvenience Ha Jae-bum anymore.
Same goes for you.
Okay.
I think my heart is broken, thanks to you.
I've never felt like this before.
Dad, it can't be help, right?
I have to push him away for your and for Sung-eun's sake, right?
I can't be with him knowing what I'll be doing soon.
What happened to you? Do you know how worried I was?
Nothing happened to you, right?
I'm the same as always.
I was worried you'd been found out by Mi-ran's stepfather.
You don't have to worry about that.
He's so whipped by Mi-ran's mother that he's real careful about meeting me.
Even so, be careful.
They're willing to do anything if that's what Mi-ran wants.
Speaking of which, he's working on something these days.
He's been calling together investors to lease out Dream Star stores.
Yeah?
Some scam about leasing stores for cheap.
Is that so?
Yu-mi, can I ask a favor?
Look, it's not so easy to open a store at such a great location.
That's what I said.
Hello. Hello?
What is it? He hung up?
What's up? You're usually so good at these things.
Everyone in my network is a pro.
They ask why I wouldn't run the store myself if it's so great.
Then what do we do?
This is all Mi-ran's fault.
Why can't she give us a store to run?
She uses us when she needs us, but ignores our pleas for a store.
That's why we're taking the difficult, long route here.
If we take the money first, then Mi-ran will have no choice but to help.
She'll have to give us a few stores, no?
Hold on.
This is Cho Yong-gab.
Ah, a Star Fashion store?
Someone took the bait.
Yes, yes. Where shall we meet?
Here.
This is a prime area in Kangnam here.
And this here is Star Fashion, which my son-in-law runs.
You must know Dream Star. My daughter's the head designer.
Yes, I know. Julia Kim.
Okay.
That brand made by Julia is only sold in dept. stores.
But the first street store will open soon.
Right here.
What a great location.
It's perfect.
Know how many people are lining my pockets to get this location?
But I won't ask anything more than a deposit from you.
You'll be getting it practically for free.
Some guy offered us 10 grand - no, 100 grand for the rights.
Are you serious?
A store in this location and selling this top-seller brand will rake in the dough.
Did you bring a contract?
What? A contract? Of course! I have it here with me.
Here it is.
Count the money.
Finally it's time for me to make some money.
I've been waiting for this kind of opportunity.
Uno, dos, tres, quattro... It's all there.
Good job, Yu-mi.
Find a few more 'victims' for them.
Yeah. Bye.
Think I can't play the same game?
Of the five finalists who made it through, this one has the most points.
I knew this one would place first.
You gave this one the most points, didn't you?
A good design is acknowledged by everyone, after all.
I like it, too.
This design is elegant, reminiscent of old Hollywood.
It fits with the current retro trend.
It's a bit unpolished as expected from a rookie, but it's not bad.
It matches the concept that Dream Star promotes.
Since no one objects, we'll chose Maria's entry as the first place winner.
Contact all the winners.
So the awards ceremony will take place this Thursday as planned?
We'll begin the award ceremony for the first Dream Star Design Contest.
First, President Park of Star Fashion will give a congratulatory speech.
What's going on? Why isn't the first place winner here?
I just talked to her. She's on her way.
I'll call her again.
With Dream Star's successful launch and groundbreaking sales,
we held this contest in hopes of making it the best in women's fashion.
Ms. Maria? Where are you?
The ceremony is already underway.
Okay, please hurry. Everyone's waiting.
Finally, the first place winner.
Seems she has yet to arrive. There must be traffic.
Please be patient and understanding.
I put in my vote for her win, but she's already letting me down.
How about taking this time to have our head designer Julia say a word?
Ms. Julia?
Ga-eun.
Excuse me. The winner just arrived.
Julia will hand the trophy and prize money to the winner Ms. Maria.
'This is impossible.'
This is impossible! This prize is invalid!
- Kim Mi-ran. - Julia.
She isn't allowed to enter the contest using an alias.
There was no rule that designers had to use their real names.
Besides, don't most designers have at least one alias, Ms. JULIA?
If you're really Maria, then this design is fraudulent.
You couldn't have designed this with your skill.
I know this woman well. It has to be someone else's work.
Think I'd so something so foolish
when that secret would be found out as soon as we worked together?
Don't you agree?
Liar.
Director Ha, you rigged this, didn't you?
So this was why you insisted on choosing a rookie through a contest.
That's nonsense, Julia.
Using a contest to hire a friend invalidates the whole thing.
I can't give this award to this woman.
Julia, stop being unreasonable and continue with the ceremony.
You're too unprofessional and emotional as the top designer of Dream Star
I don't know if I should accept this award if it means working with her.
I almost want to refuse.
Yoo Ga-eun! Get out.
This company is my personal space. This is invalid!
Julia. Stop it.
Yoo Ga-eun, get out now. You have no right to be here.
Honey, I'm scared. Did you see the look in her eyes?
They were so venomous, like she'd do whatever it takes to ruin us.
Are you out of your mind?
How could you refuse to give her the award like that?
How could you be so unrefined in front of everyone?
At times like these, you're just like your mother.
What?
You made a fool of yourself.
You were nitpicking at ridiculous things.
And let's say Ga-eun isn't Maria. That wasn't your place to throw a fit.
We could've invalidated the whole thing later on.
I was so embarrassed.
What choice did I have?
You know that the winner would be hired as a designer, no questions asked.
So I hand over the trophy and work with her in the same office?
You totally jumped the gun.
We could've totally handled it at a later time.
Director Ha was in on it, too.
If we just ignored it, we wouldn't have been able to fix it later.
He couldn't have rigged it.
Everyone, including you, took part in choosing the winner.
- How can they rig that? - That's my point.
Maria?
There's no way it's Yoo Ga-eun. It's someone else.
There's only one solution. We give her an award and that's it.
Fight it if they try to hire her.
You don't want to work with Ga-eun either, right?
That's the only solution here. Stop her from joining our company.
This is her scheme to get under our skin and torture us.
Ga-eun, you never cease to amaze me.
When did you start preparing for the contest?
Not too long ago.
Why didn't you say anything to me?
You wanted to be judged fairly, is that it?
And that's why you entered using an alias, right?
It was real surprising.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
I guess we'll be working together from now on.
I look forward to it.
Are you okay with working with Julia Kim?
It's for work. Doesn't matter to me.
Did you tell your mother? Let's throw a party.
No, there's no need for that.
And please stop coming by our house.
Ga-eun.
I told you that it makes me uncomfortable.
I hope to maintain a professional relationship from now on.
I trust you understand.
Excuse me.
Ga-eun.
I'll be going, Director Ha.
So you're saying that sales went up 20% since you started working?
Yeah, Mom. I'm totally cut out to sell clothes.
I don't know why I didn't go into sales earlier.
Mi-ran, Bro.
Shouldn't you reward my great performance?
Maybe promote me to manager? A bonus, in the least.
Why are you guys zoning out?
Ah, Mother.
Not even gonna bother to listen to Jung-hee, eh?
You looking down on her for being a salesperson?
Jung-hee, what did you say? What did you ask?
Never mind.
Hurry up and sit close. I don't have much time.
No!
I don't want you tying my hair, witch lady.
My mommy is the best at tying my hair.
Why are you doing this?
You're a good girl who listens to her mother, aren't you?
Come close. I have to go to work soon.
Liar-liar-pants-on-fire.
What?
You said if I was good, you'd take me to Mommy.
Why aren't you taking me to her? I miss my mommy.
Na-ri, must I repeat myself again?
She's too busy to meet with you.
See how she doesn't come no matter how I call her.
Liar!
It's true. Do you know how much I begged her to come?
What can I do when she refuses to come?
I'm all you have left.
I'm your real mother so let's try to get along.
Liar-liar! You're lying!
Na-ri.
Mommy.
I miss Mommy.
I'll spank you. Cry anymore and I'll spank you.
I miss Mommy.
Let's just give her an award and that's it.
It's unreasonable to make a rookie co-head designer alongside Julia.
That's your personal opinion.
That's a promise we made to all participants from the start.
How can we back out now?
Besides, Julia's the one who selected Yoo Ga-eun's design as the winner.
She can't refuse to work with Ga-eun now.
But that's...
But that's when you guys didn't know Ga-eun was Maria, right?
In other words, there's nothing wrong with her design.
So why must we pass up on such a talented designer?
And don't say it's because you three have history.
I trust you're professional enough to work beyond that.
I already made myself clear.
The Yoo Ga-eun I know doesn't have the skills to design that.
And she used an alias against the rules.
If it turns out she plagiarized, we'll become a laughingstock.
No way. She didn't look like she'd plagiarize.
I know her best of all.
So this is about the authenticity of her alias and her design.
Then how about we do this?
We'll call all four designers who won awards and do a blind test.
We can verify for ourselves if Yoo Ga-eun is the winning designer or not.
We'll invite other designers to judge aside from you, Julia.
If Yoo Ga-eun's design is acknowledged, then we'll hire her.
Are there any objections?
Why are you going through all this trouble to hire her?
Aren't you the one showing us that you lack professionalism?
Julia hasn't turned in a single design for the next season.
Our competitors are already preparing, but what about us?
We're just sitting around waiting for Julia's next design.
We need the designer who won the contest, whether it's Yoo Ga-eun or not.
Do you understand?
Chairman.
Why did you follow me? I told you to stay home.
But sir, you know I enjoy taking care of you like this.
A blind test?
I guess everyone's curious about my skill.
Okay, this time I won't be late.
Excuse me.
It's fine.
Um, Miss.
You dropped your glove.
Subtitles provided by MBC