Kim Won-Shik looked up from his documents as the office door opened.
"Miss Choi."
His attention shifted toward Min-Ho.
"And you must be..."
Yun-ji smiled warmly.
"This is Min-Ho."
"My best friend."
"The painter I mentioned."
Min-Ho bowed respectfully.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Director Kim."
"The pleasure is mine."
Won-Shik smiled politely before inviting them to sit.
"So you're the artist who inspired Yun-ji to reserve an entire room."
Min-Ho immediately looked at Yun-ji.
"You told him?"
"I had to explain why I wanted the house."
Min-Ho laughed awkwardly.
"Now I feel like I have to become a famous painter."
"I'm sure you will," Won-Shik replied with an amused smile.
Yun-ji placed the folder on the table.
"We visited the property yesterday."
"And we've prepared a proposal."
Won-Shik opened it carefully.
Inside weren't polished blueprints or architectural drawings.
Instead, he found neatly organized handwritten notes, room measurements, rough sketches, and pages filled with ideas.
He smiled almost immediately.
"This feels..."
He searched for the right word.
"...honest."
Yun-ji tilted her head.
"Honest?"
"You didn't pretend to be architects."
"You simply explained what kind of home you want to create."
He continued turning the pages.
"Future laboratory..."
"Painting studio..."
Then he paused.
His eyes rested on the final page.
"A hidden garden gate?"
Yun-ji nodded.
"I'll be spending a lot of time here."
"So rather than constantly walking out through the front gates of both properties, I'd like to move between them through the backyard."
Min-Ho added with a grin,
"It'll also be our secret passage."
Won-Shik chuckled.
"I've reviewed countless renovation proposals over the years."
"This is the first one requesting a hidden garden gate instead of a swimming pool."
The three of them laughed.
He made a note beside the request.
Include concealed garden gate integrated into landscape design.
"As long as the property boundaries legally permit it," he said, "the architects can incorporate it without much difficulty."
Yun-ji smiled gratefully.
"Thank you."
Won-Shik closed the folder and looked at the two young women sitting side by side.
One dreamed of advancing medicine.
The other dreamed of painting beneath warm sunlight.
Neither sought luxury.
Neither cared about extravagant decorations.
They simply wanted a place where their passions could quietly flourish.
"It'll still take time," he said.
"The architects will visit the property, prepare structural drawings, estimate the costs, and convert your ideas into a professional renovation plan."
"That's exactly what we hoped for," Yun-ji replied.
As they stood to leave, Won-Shik looked once more at the handwritten proposal resting on his desk.
It wasn't just a renovation request.
It was the blueprint of two dreams.
And somehow, he found himself looking forward to seeing the abandoned house transformed—not into a luxurious mansion, but into a sanctuary where science and art could exist side by side, connected by nothing more elaborate than a hidden garden gate and the unwavering friendship of two souls who had already crossed one lifetime together.
The news arrived on a quiet afternoon.
Min-Ho had been sitting in the corner of her room, carefully cleaning her brushes, when Yun-ji called her.
"Min-Ho."
"Yes?"
"Are you sitting down?"
Min-Ho frowned.
"Why?"
"Just sit."
"I am sitting."
"Good."
There was a short pause.
"Your painting has been sold."
Min-Ho's hand stopped moving.
"What?"
"The painting from the competition."
Min-Ho stared at the phone as if she had suddenly forgotten how to speak.
"Sold?"
"Yes."
"To whom?"
"A private collector."
Yun-ji smiled as she imagined the expression on her friend's face.
"A very wealthy collector."
For several seconds, Min-Ho said nothing.
Then she whispered, "Someone actually bought it?"
"Yes."
"The painting?"
"Your painting."
Min-Ho slowly placed her brush on the table.
Her heart began beating faster.
That painting had been created with everything she had felt but could never say aloud. She had not expected it to win the competition, and she certainly hadn't expected someone to spend a large amount of money to own it.
"How much?"
Yun-ji told her the amount.
Silence.
"Yun-ji..."
"Hmm?"
"I think I heard you wrong."
"You didn't."
"That much?"
"That much."
Min-Ho covered her mouth.
For the first time in her life, she had earned a truly significant amount of money from something she had created herself.
It was hers.
She had earned it with her own talent.
Tears slowly gathered in her eyes.
"I really did it."
Yun-ji's smile softened.
"You did."
The following day, Min-Ho insisted on meeting Yun-ji.
They sat together in a quiet café, with the documents regarding the painting sale placed between them.
Min-Ho kept looking at the number.
"I still can't believe this is mine."
"You should believe it."
"I want to buy something."
Yun-ji immediately knew that sentence was coming.
"What?"
"I don't know."
Min-Ho began counting possibilities on her fingers.
"A new phone."
Yun-ji shook her head.
"Too expensive."
"New clothes?"
"No."
Min-Ho frowned.
"You rejected everything."
"Because you're thinking about spending the money."
"Isn't that what money is for?"
"Sometimes."
Yun-ji leaned back in her chair.
"But this is your first real income."
She looked at Min-Ho seriously.
"If you spend all of it now, you'll have nothing left."
"So what should I do?"
"Make it grow."
Min-Ho stared at her.
"Grow?"
"Yes."
Yun-ji lowered her voice.
"We could invest it."
Min-Ho's expression became uncertain.
"Invest?"
"We can use part of it to buy shares."
Min-Ho looked doubtful.
"Do you know how the share market works?"
Yun-ji paused.
That question struck closer to the truth than Min-Ho realized.
"No."
Min-Ho raised an eyebrow.
"Then why are you telling me to invest?"
Yun-ji smiled.
"Because I know we can learn."
That was the truth.
Yun-ji knew almost nothing about trading.
Her first success in the market had not come from knowledge.
It had come from memories.
Her first investment had been almost like following a map she had already seen.
But she couldn't continue like that forever.
If she wanted to build something lasting with Min-Ho, she needed to understand the market herself.
"I don't want us to depend only on luck," Yun-ji said.
"I want us to learn how money works."
Min-Ho looked at her thoughtfully.
"What do you want to do with the money?"
"Build something of our own."
"Our own?"
Yun-ji nodded.
"Eventually."
"I want us to have enough money to support our dreams without depending on anyone."
Min-Ho's expression softened.
Her dream was painting.
Yun-ji's dream was medicine.
They were completely different paths, but perhaps money could give both of them the freedom to follow those paths.
"How much should I invest?"
"Not all of it."
Yun-ji immediately shook her head.
"We keep some money safely aside."
"And we invest only what we can afford to leave untouched."
Min-Ho nodded slowly.
"Then let's do it."
But there was one problem.
Neither of them truly understood investing.
Yun-ji knew which companies had performed well in her previous life, but she didn't know how to analyze financial statements, understand market movements, or manage risk properly.
That was when she thought of Kim Won-Shik.
Won-Shik had already helped her with the property next to the Choi Residence. More importantly, he understood business and investments far better than she did.
When Yun-ji asked him if he could teach her the basics of investing, he looked surprised.
"You want to learn about the stock market?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I've made some money recently."
Won-Shik smiled.
"And now you want to make more?"
"Not exactly."
Yun-ji thought for a moment.
"I want to understand what I'm doing."
That answer impressed him.
Instead of pretending to know everything, she had admitted what she didn't know.
"That's the right attitude."
He invited her to his office the following week.