Chapter 10
Villain’s Pure Love
10.
Idle Thoughts
The warehouse Yeonwoo arrived at following Eunja was slightly smaller than an elementary school playground. It was packed with a vast variety and quantity of items: tableware handed down from the Joseon Dynasty to the present, rusted brass and cast-iron bowls that had been neglected, and farming tools that looked like they hadn't been used in ages.
Yeonwoo was startled by the scale of the warehouse, which reminded her of the aisles of a hypermarket.
It looked like it would take a good fifteen days, no, a full month, just to manage organizing this massive warehouse alone. When Eunja told her to organize the jumbled mess in order, wipe everything down, and keep a log, Yeonwoo asked about the deadline.
“By when should I have this finished?”
Eunja replied in a voice that suggested the question was absurd.
“The bitch doing the work should know that; how is the bitch giving the orders supposed to know? It looks like a three-day job to me.”
Three days. Eunja threw out an impossible deadline and vanished.
Standing there at a loss, not knowing where or how to start, Yeonwoo eventually moved with resolve. She tied her apron strings tight, pulled her hair up into a high ponytail, and slipped on a pair of loose rubber gloves.
She decided to start with the dusting. As soon as she began using the duster, she saw thick dust swirling in the shafts of light peeking through the gaps. Her throat quickly felt scratchy and she sneezed repeatedly, but Yeonwoo spent about an hour meticulously dusting everything off.
After that, she dragged over a rubber basin large enough for four or five children to bathe in and filled it with water. She plunged the tableware that looked relatively easy to clean into the basin first, then lathered up a sponge with detergent.
With the warehouse doors, which had been closed all winter, flung wide open, bright sunlight settled on Yeonwoo’s back as she sat before the basin. The splashing sound heard every time she took a dish out or put one in was reminiscent of playing in a valley stream during vacation season.
The act of washing the dishes brought out and setting them to dry while washing the next batch was repeated dozens of times. Yeonwoo, who had even skipped lunch, found that the space, which had once felt like a mountain of work, gradually took on a deeper meaning for her.
After all, if she could avoid Cha Yunseok, what couldn't she enjoy? Until she found a safer place, she would endure at Domyeongjae no matter what.
‘Prove it yourself, that you'll do whatever is asked.’
And she wanted to prove it to Seongheon. She didn't want to hear that he had hired a useless person.
Though, of course, he probably wouldn't even care.
“I’m telling you, she’s no ordinary fox. It’s always the ones who look quiet like that who are busy playing double games behind your back.”
Eunja, having dumped the work on Yeonwoo and returned to the main building, struck up a conversation with Manager Moon Ok-rye. Eunja, who naturally loved badmouthing people, followed Manager Moon around, trailing a string of slanders about Yeonwoo.
“With a face like a seductive fox, she must have lured in plenty of men. You might fool a ghost, but you can’t fool my eyes. No sir. Would men have left her alone? Just by sitting there, she’d have bastards clinging to her waist.”
“What kind of way is that to talk about a young woman who isn't even married? You’re being disgustingly vulgar.”
Unable to listen further, Manager Moon stopped and looked at Eunja.
At that, Eunja stepped even closer and lowered her voice.
“Sister. No matter how uneducated I am, my eye for people is incredible. People who keep their mouths shut and act all quiet and refined like that are the ones who are more devious and dark on the inside. You’ve reached this age and you still don't know how to read a person.”
“Right. And because you’re so good at reading people, is that why your life turned out the way it did?”
Eunja had spent her life bickering with a gambler husband until he passed away a few years ago.
“Sister, you’re really hurting my feelings. What did I ever do? I’m just saying what’s written all over that newcomer’s face.”
“If you’re jealous because she’s pretty, just say so. Say you’re jealous because it’s a life you never got to live.”
“Oh my? Sister, when I was a girl, men would come running if I just lifted the hem of my skirt—you don't know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure, sure. I’ve known you since then, and your face looks better now than it did back then. At least now you can just blame being old for being ugly. Anyway, just leave it at that.”
When Manager Moon spoke, Eunja stopped walking and made a face as if she were the most wronged person in the world.
“How can you say such mean things? My goodness, a narrow-minded woman like me won't even be able to sleep because my feet will be burning.”
“Then shut your mouth and get to work. Your mouth is the problem. If your hands moved as fast as your tongue, how great would that be?”
As Manager Moon continued to scold her to stop talking and get to work, Eunja pouted her lips.
“Sister. Don't come saying something else later. You have to be the one to suffer to realize how well those types play double games behind your back.”
“What is the newcomer doing?”
“I gave her plenty to do, so don't go looking for her. I had her do a little organizing in the warehouse.”
It was a warehouse that hadn't been touched all winter. Manager Moon narrowed her eyes at the mention that Eunja had assigned a task that wouldn't be finished even if one spent all day on it.
“You’ve really made up your mind to eat that newcomer alive, haven't you?”
“Oh, sister. What else are you going to do with a healthy, energetic youth? Time will pass while she does chores, and it’ll be good for her too, won't it?”
Eunja chuckled with a devious expression.
“Just you wait. You don't like the newcomer either, sister. She won't last three days before she collapses, so just watch.”
“I have to set her straight. No matter how I look at it, she seems like she came here to play, trusting in her mother. How can I stand to see that? Wouldn't you agree, sister?”
Manager Moon’s lips twitched for a moment, but then they closed firmly. After turning her gaze toward the main courtyard for a moment, Manager Moon entered the kitchen without another word.
- 3 -
After returning from inspecting the site, Seongheon threw himself into his work to keep up with his duties at the main office.
While reviewing the request documents for confirmation that were piling up at a terrifying speed, Seongheon habitually reached for his pen holder.
His gaze shifted unconsciously, and as he was picking up a pen, he lowered his hand and picked up a business card tucked between the card cases. It was a spare card he kept for visitors.
“Then I will take back the card you gave me. I cannot carelessly possess someone else’s credit card.”
He relaxed his upright back and let go of his tension for a moment. Holding the card between his fingers, he stared quietly at the three characters of his name.
‘Nam Seong-hun’
The act of handing over a business card was a clean disclosure of one’s personal information to the other person. Name, phone number, workplace, and rank.
Seongheon thought he had finished introducing himself by handing the woman his card. But with the thought that had suddenly settled in his mind, he realized he still knew nothing about her.
He only knew that she was the daughter of an injured employee; he didn't even know her name.
“I feel like I’m at a loss here.”
Looking at the card with a meaningless gaze, Seongheon lifted his eyes slightly.
…Why did he need to know the woman’s name?
Seongheon slowly closed his eyes and opened them. He was somewhat taken aback by the fact that the thought ‘I don't even know the woman’s name’ was stuck in his head. He was even flustered by the strange sense of loss that arose from having handed over all his personal information and receiving nothing in return.
Thinking about how absurd this self-judged ‘loss’ was, Seongheon let out a hollow laugh and raised his eyebrows.
Originally, being a live-in employee meant your name and age disappeared. Unless it was an employee who had become a symbol of Domyeongjae like Manager Moon Ok-rye, there was no reason to remember a name even if they had worked there for decades.
Because he had never known them from the start.
‘How long do you plan to work?’
‘I’m thinking about three months.’
Looking back, that too had been an absurd question. As if waking up, Seongheon put down the card and turned his chair around.
Even when staying in the same space, his gaze had never landed on an employee. He had never been bothered by them. He had never been curious about anything, nor had he ever asked an unnecessary question.
…But then why, exactly?
‘I think my mother will have successfully finished her rehabilitation by then.’
It was a voice that sounded like a low hum. The kind of voice that made him focus all his attention, as if he wouldn't be able to hear it properly unless he listened closely.
He wasn't even sure if what he had wanted to hear was the answer to his question or the woman’s voice.
Seongheon just closed and opened his eyes quietly, then turned his chair back around.
Idle thoughts.
Since his questions about the woman didn't seem to require an answer, Seongheon tucked the business card back into the case. Dismissing the lingering thoughts by telling himself it was just because he was taking a short break, he gripped the file again.
He felt a faint heat, as if his cold hadn't completely gone away, and wondering if the weather was already getting hot, he loosened his tie slightly.
It was then.
Knock, knock. The door opened with a small knock.
“Seongheon-hyung\!”
At the familiar voice, Seongheon looked up. The visitor was his younger cousin, Hyeonuk.
