Chapter 19
thoughtful
The Villain’s
Pure Love
19.
The Moment of Going Mad
Having finished work, Seongheon passed the main hall and headed straight for Unseondang. The courtyard, already swept clean, was pristine. Seongheon removed his shoes and stepped inside.
Standing in the middle of the hallway, he glanced left and right. As he strained his ears, focusing on any sound, he heard a presence coming from the bedroom.
As if drawn by a magnet, Seongheon stood before the bedroom door. With a touch of urgency, like someone dealing with a matter where every second counted, he opened the door. Yeonwoo, who had been opening a window, turned around, and Seongheon froze, staring at her.
“Oh, hello. I mean, welcome back.”
Flustered, Yeonwoo lowered the hand she’d used to push the window and offered a greeting. As she stood politely with her hands folded in front of her, Seongheon stepped into the bedroom.
Flustered by Seongheon’s arrival earlier than expected, Yeonwoo hurriedly finished opening the window. Seongheon set his briefcase down on a low-seated chair and took off his jacket.
“They said there’s still a lot of pollen during the day, so I should wait as long as possible to ventilate….”
Yeonwoo added, sounding like someone caught entering a restricted area. It was an explanation that felt like an excuse.
Though she was responsible for ventilating Unseondang—which consisted of a bedroom, study, drawing room, and bathroom—encountering Seongheon in the bedroom was quite uncomfortable.
The subtle scent of him permeating the bedroom made the atmosphere feel even more intimate.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Did you prepare well?”
Yeonwoo, who had been turning away with her gaze fixed on the floor, stopped. As if responding to his question, she turned toward where he stood and straightened her posture.
“Manager Mun prepared the clothes for me. Is there anything else I should prepare?”
Seonheon, who had pulled his tie loose to one side, hung it in its place before speaking.
“Well. There doesn’t seem to be anything in particular.”
He removed the cufflinks from his sleeves and placed them in their spot as well.
“Are you on duty today too?”
He had become a man with an unnecessary amount of questions.
“No. Manager Mun told me to leave early today. I received the schedule; I have to head out early tomorrow.”
“I see.”
He then began unbuttoning his shirt. As Seongheon’s hands moved without hesitation, Yeonwoo flinched and curled her fingers into fists. Since he was at an angle, she couldn’t see inside the parted shirt, but simply watching the act was a tense moment.
Because of her nerves, she swallowed hard, and it felt as though the sound would reach Seongheon’s ears.
“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll be going—”
“Didn’t you say you were ventilating?”
Seongheon looked at Yeonwoo as he finished his sentence. At that, Yeonwoo looked toward the open window and nodded with an expression that said she had finished her task.
“I’ve opened all the windows.”
“…Ah.”
“Well, if you say so.”
Only then did Yeonwoo notice a small window that remained closed. She scurried quickly past Seongheon and stood on her tiptoes to reach the window, which was slightly higher than her height.
As her heels naturally lifted, Seongheon caught a glimpse of her.
As she raised her arms, her fluttering skirt, which usually fell below her knees, hiked up slightly. Noticing the hem rising above the back of her knees, Seongheon quickly looked away.
Her slender, white calves were sleekly extended. It was ridiculous how his mind became cluttered over a skirt rising a mere half-span of a hand, and for a moment, Seongheon couldn’t help but laugh.
When Seongheon suddenly laughed, Yeonwoo, who had turned back after opening the window, widened her eyes.
“Pardon?”
Wondering if she had made some mistake, Yeonwoo responded with a question. Seongheon turned his body and looked at her.
It was absurd—he felt like he was losing his mind, reacting so devastatingly hot to the sight of her back while she was merely standing on her tiptoes.
Seongheon stared at Yeonwoo, whose face clearly read, ‘I have no idea why you’re laughing,’ before he finally spoke.
“Are you curious? Why I laughed.”
When Seongheon asked back, Yeonwoo adopted a businesslike tone.
“No. I am not curious.”
“Wise. Had you known, your head would have become as complicated as mine.”
“Please excuse me.”
“Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Yeonwoo brushed past him and left the bedroom. As she vanished and the door clicked shut quietly, Seongheon finally let out a long breath.
She had left the room like someone running away. From her hurried gait and her uneasy gaze, he could tell instantly how she viewed him.
To be the only one burning up, anxious over a woman who was busy fleeing every time they crossed paths.
“…I’ve truly gone mad.”
His lips going dry in that short span, Seongheon spoke in a self-mocking voice. Wondering what kind of pathetic bastard he was, he stood still, staring at the open window, before slowly closing his eyes.
All the while, he worried over his pulse, which was thumping uselessly.
Saturday morning, Seongheon set out on his business trip.
Two vehicles moved toward the destination. The car carrying Yeonwoo and the interpreter led the way, and the car carrying Seongheon followed behind for a long time.
After a considerable drive, they arrived at the hotel. While the brief check-in process was underway, Yeonwoo scanned the surroundings as if on high alert.
It wasn’t the look of someone admiring the grand interior of the lobby; her unease was evident in her inability to move freely.
I might run into Cha Yunseok.
The conviction that Domyeongjae was safe—a belief akin to a religious faith—is what had allowed her to remain composed.
From the moment she got into the car, her only thought was wanting to go back to Domyeongjae. Now, standing alone in a space where an unspecified multitude of people moved about, her legs began to tremble.
She thought she was fine because the past few days had felt like a distant memory—no, a dream—but she was wrong.
In the end, it was clear she hadn’t moved a single step away from her terror.
Her breath came in short gasps, as if she were drowning in deep water. Her ears felt blocked, making the sound of her own breathing ring loudly. A profound fear clung to her, as if the people passing through the lobby wouldn’t notice her even as she was dying.
She was in the middle of a battle with herself—one where she could neither ask for understanding nor offer an explanation. Just as she stood there, gasping for breath she couldn’t catch—
Yeonwoo spun around, reacting violently to the sensation of someone tapping her shoulder. Her breathing was already ragged, like someone who had just finished a hundred-meter sprint, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
“Are you alright?”
Seongheon asked, watching her terrified face intently. Swallowing the saliva that had filled her mouth, Yeonwoo nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
She barely managed to answer.
“I called you, but you didn’t hear.”
“I’m sorry.”
Her violently pounding heart showed no sign of calming down. Yeonwoo nodded several times, pushing out the fear built up inside her with her breath.
Seongheon, staring fixedly at the somehow unstable Yeonwoo, held out a key card. Yeonwoo reached out with both hands, and after looking at her trembling fingers, Seongheon handed her the card.
“You don’t look well.”
“No. It’s just because I woke up after sleeping in the car. I’m a bit out of it.”
Yeonwoo made an excuse, her face looking like she didn’t even know what she was babbling.
Seongheon watched her, then gave up on the questions piling up in his mind.
“There’s still time, so go up and rest.”
“Yes. I understand.”
It was something he couldn’t even imagine—the fact that, having left Domyeongjae, she was currently fighting a terror that threatened to swallow her whole.
While staying in his room and handling minor tasks, Seongheon received word that the French officials would arrive in two hours.
Taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose, Seongheon looked down at his phone. He needed to tell Yeonwoo the meeting time, but he had no way of knowing her phone number.
Recalling her room number, Seongheon picked up the provided telephone. He leaned back in his chair after connecting the call to her room.
“Are you getting ready?”
Seongheon asked as soon as Yeonwoo answered.
— Yes, Vice President. I am preparing.
“There are about two hours left. Prepare without any setbacks.”
— Yes. I understand.
While staying in his separate room, Seongheon found his thoughts drifting to Yeonwoo from time to time. He couldn’t easily forget the sight of her standing in the lobby with a face so pale she looked ready to collapse at any moment.
“Right. I’ll see you in the lobby in two hours.”
So, was she okay now? Was she feeling any better?
— Yes. I understand.
Listening to her dry, parrot-like repetitions, his chest felt tight. Yet, the questions weighing on his heart wouldn’t come out easily.
He had run out of things to say, and all that was left was to hang up. Just as his fingers moved awkwardly—
— Um, excuse me, Vice President.
She called out in a small voice. Seongheon, who had been leaning against the backrest, straightened his posture.
“Speak.”
— Uh, well, I tried on the clothes Manager Mun prepared for me.
He couldn’t predict what she would say next.
— But no matter how much I look at it, these clothes…
— I just can’t judge if this is really okay…
Seongheon stood up quickly.
“I’m coming now.”
— Oh.
“Wait there.”
— Yes.
As soon as he heard her voice giving permission, Seongheon left his room. Without taking the elevator, he used the emergency stairs to go down to the floor below where Yeonwoo was, and walked down the hallway toward her room.
Arriving in front of Yeonwoo’s room one floor down, Seongheon knocked on the door without much hesitation.
In truth, rather than being curious about the clothes, the thought that he had found an excuse to see her was dominant.
Knock, knock. After knocking, he couldn’t wait calmly and spoke up.
“It’s Nam Sung-hun. Open up.”
He was so impatient that he introduced himself before she could even open the door. While wishing for the door to open quickly, he was also curious about what kind of face she would be making.
His behavior didn’t seem normal at all.
Was he finally going mad after being buried in work? It was a moment when all sorts of thoughts crossed his mind in front of the closed door.
