Even as Yeo Ri got home, she did not forget about the offer that Park Soo Yeon had given her .

Fortunately, Mrs . Choi did not bring up the subject anymore and allowed her some time to think about it .

She bade the two generous ladies goodbye with a polite 90-degrees bow and thanked them for their kindness .

As she stepped into her apartment and placed the shopping bags down, she sighed .

"Yeo Ri-ah?" Gun came up to her, surprised . He eyed the shopping bags curiously .

Like a gentleman, Gun helped take Yeo Ri's coat off and hung it by the door . "Did you have a good time?" He asked as he led her to sit down . "Are you tired? Did you have fun?"

"Mm," Yeo Ri nodded listlessly .

"What's wrong?" Gun frowned, feeling like something was off .

"Nothing," she sighed again .

"So what did you do at the mall? What did you buy?" He curiously asked, patiently waiting for her to talk about her day .

"I went to the mall with Da Nunnie and Auntie, and they bought me food and clothes . . . " she sighed for the third time .

"Oh?" Gun raised an eyebrow . His mind worked quickly and he could somewhat deduce the reason why Yeo Ri was so down .

Both Yeo Ri and Gun did not like owing people . They may be poor, but they did not like relying on other people's charity to live . In his mind, he was already calculating on how much he should pay Da Na back .

"Did you thank them properly?"

"Mm . . . maybe?" Yeo Ri timidly replied . She was unsure if neither accepting nor rejecting Mrs . Choi's generous offer could be considered thanking them properly .

"What's on your mind, Yeo Ri-ah?" Gun patted her arm and brought her closer to him, letting her rest her head on his shoulder .

"Actually . . . " Yeo Ri looked up at him with conflicted eyes, spilling about everything that had transpired earlier to him .

Once she was finished with her story, Gun stared at the wall in front of him contemplatively . After a long silence, he said, "You can do it if you want to, don't do it if you don't want to . "

Yeo Ri glared at him . That response did not answer her plight at all!

Gun noticed her discontented gaze and went on, "Why don't you try it? The audition . "

"Huh?"

Her eyebrows jumped up in surprise . She hadn't expected Gun to encourage her to do it . She remembered that a long time ago, Hyuk had been very adamant about the idea of her entering s...o...b..z—and to be honest, she was not particularly open to it as well . It was only because it was Mrs . Choi's request that she was even considering it .

"Besides, you won't lose anything if you do decide to go—it's just an audition . Just treat it as if you're doing a part-time job," Gun said . "It'll be quite the unique experience, don't you think?"

Gun did not want his little sister to limit herself . Ever since Yeo Ri decided to stop going to school, it felt as if she was becoming even more withdrawn ajd introverted . She rarely ever goes out anymore unless somebody invited her; she was almost always cooped up inside the apartment . He was afraid that she might develop social anxiety if she stayed inside for too long .

As her brother, he knew all too well that Yeo Ri's self-esteem was lower than what people thought . Even though she was beautiful, Gun knew that Yeo Ri wholeheartedly believed that she was ugly—that she was not simply being humble about her beauty . It was just that she hid it well so people never really took notice .

Perhaps, with Mrs . Choi's offer, she might become more open and confident in herself . He hoped that after going through this experience, she would become happier as well .

" . . . " Yeo Ri kept quiet after hearing his opinion . After a long time, she inhaled deeply and exhaled her breath loudly . Gun did not say much but she felt that his words did make some sense .

"Okay . Yeah . You're right, Oppa . It's not everyday I get to join an agency and be a model," she said, sounding as if she was trying to convince herself . She hoped that she made the right choice .

"Let's do this . Lee Yeo Ri, you can do it!" She muttered, cheering herself on . With those words lingering in her head as motivation, she took out her phone and dialled Mrs . Choi's number .

At that time, neither of them knew the consequences of her decision and how much it would affect their lives in the future .