Chapter 2
The Villain’s Pure Devotion
A Single Business Card
The mist, heavy with moisture, grew even denser. Mt. Yeosong, which usually felt close enough to touch, now loomed in the distance, with only its peaks barely visible through the fog.
“Take this money and take your clothes to the dry cleaners. Understood?”
Yeonwoo stared at the banknotes the driver was shoving toward her. Her jeans, splattered with muddy water, felt heavier and damper by the second.
Having fled Seoul in a taxi at dawn, Yeonwoo had headed straight for Moksan County, where her mother lived. This was her mother’s hometown and the place where Yeonwoo herself had lived until high school.
Upon entering Yangto-myeon by taxi, Yeonwoo hadn’t gone straight home but got off at a bus stop instead. It was still the hour when her mother would be asleep, so she had intended to wait there for daybreak.
That was when the trouble started. Yeonwoo hadn’t realized the puddle at her feet was so wide and deep, and the driver hadn’t been paying enough attention to his surroundings.
“I told you I’m in a hurry! You look like a sensible young lady, so why aren’t you listening?”
Her heart hammered against her ribs, shrinking at the aggressive tone. Perhaps because she had suffered through the sophisticated obsession and gaslighting of her former boss for months, the mere act of conversing with—no, just standing face-to-face with—a stranger made her feel profoundly uneasy.
Yeonwoo, who felt like a completely different person than she had been just six months ago, stepped back slightly. Just then, the car door opened, and a man emerged.
Yeonwoo turned her gaze toward the sound.
“Oh, the Vice President is getting out. That’s why I told you to just take the money. You’re making this a bigger deal than it needs to be, miss.”
Through the coach doors that opened forward, the silhouette of a man stepping out in polished dress shoes was cast against the hazy fog.
The headlights of the stationary vehicle acted like a halo behind him. A dark shadow seemed to flicker for a moment, and then, as if he had swallowed the light, the man’s figure appeared clearly.
As Seongheon approached, the driver scrambled to manage the situation. With a major groundbreaking ceremony ahead, he didn’t want to disturb the mood of Vice President Nam Seongheon, who had worked tirelessly for this day.
“The President is sleeping right now, and I was worried he might wake up…”
As the driver babbled his excuses, Seongheon slowly lowered his gaze to inspect Yeonwoo’s clothes. A shirt dotted with mud, pants stained black, and sneakers ruined to the point where it was doubtful they could even be cleaned.
He flicked his gaze to the side. After confirming that the carry-on-sized suitcase—presumably the woman’s—was also splattered with stains, Seongheon looked back at Yeonwoo.
“It seems our employee caused an accident on an unfamiliar road. I apologize for the discourtesy.”
When Seongheon apologized, Yeonwoo bowed her head reflexively, accepting it. She hesitated before finally parting her lips.
“No, it’s fine. I wasn’t being careful. It’s not something you need to apologize for.”
Having barely managed a response, Yeonwoo kept her eyes fixed on the ground. The sensation of her damp jeans and shoes was becoming increasingly unbearable, and compared to the man’s pristine shoes without a speck of dust, her filthy sneakers felt shameful.
Please, Yeonwoo thought repeatedly, just go on your way.
Seongheon looked down at her fingertips. Observing the nervous tension visible in her hands, he pulled a wallet from his inner jacket pocket.
He took out a business card, signed it with a fountain pen, and held it out to Yeonwoo. His eyes swept over her entire frame, while her gaze remained fixed only on the movement of his hand.
“There isn’t one in Moksan County, but you won’t find it difficult to locate a Seolyang Department store in other regions.”
I have assessed the full extent of the damage you’ve suffered.
“Since I cannot know what sentimental value the clothes and shoes you are currently wearing might hold, I would appreciate it if you would arrange for a remedy and compensation yourself. I hope this serves as sufficient restitution.”
I will compensate you more than enough, so do not bother me further.
To Yeonwoo’s ears, that was the subtext of his words.
Yeonwoo, still looking down, stole a glance at the business card. The driver, who had been watching the whole scene, let his mouth hang open slightly.
A business card from Vice President Nam Seongheon… wasn’t that basically the same as an unlimited credit card within Seolyang Department Store?
Just then, the headlights of an arriving bus flared. Yeonwoo reluctantly took the business card from Seongheon with both hands and gave a final polite nod.
Yeonwoo boarded the bus with her suitcase. Seongheon gave a slight bow until the bus started moving again, only raising his head once it had finally departed.
The driver, who had been bowing at the waist alongside Seongheon, slowly straightened up. He then stood hesitantly by Seongheon’s side.
“Vice President, about the woman earlier…”
The driver’s voice trailed off as he squared his posture. He had realized that Seongheon’s gaze was now fixed on his chest.
Seongheon tilted his head slightly, looking at the badge pinned to the left side of the driver’s chest.
It was a corporate badge engraved with the “Sullyang” logo.
I’m sorry, but I’m busy and don’t have time to delay. There is someone very important in the car. Take this money and take your clothes to the dry cleaners. Understood?
“I told you I’m in a hurry! There is a very important person in the car right now! Didn’t you hear me?”
A cold chill ran through Seongheon’s dry gaze.
“It makes things difficult for me when you try to slash the image of Seolyang Construction down to fifty thousand won.”
“…?”
“What kind of world do you think we live in?”
“With the Seolyang Group badge pinned clearly on your chest, you certainly did a fine job of corporate PR to a complete stranger.”
“Ah, I—! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Vice President!”
The startled driver bowed frantically. Seongheon checked the time and then looked off into the distance, toward where the bus had disappeared.
- 3 -
The driver bit his lip nervously before continuing in an embarrassed voice. He was breaking out in a cold sweat.
“I am truly sorry about this morning. I hope you can consider it a bit of bad luck out of the way before the big event.”
“Bad luck. Bad luck, you say.”
“……”
“Let’s go with that.”
Ah, thank God.
The employee exhaled a sigh of relief, thinking he had cleared the hurdle. Just then, Seongheon nonchalantly reached out his hand. It was a signal to hand something over, but the confused employee mentally cycled through everything he had on his person.
“D-do you mean this?”
What he finally realized was that it was his employee badge.
Seongheon flicked his fingers, signaling him to hand it over quickly. With trembling hands, the driver unpinned the badge and placed it in Seongheon’s palm.
“Return the car keys once we arrive at Domyeongjae. You’ve worked hard.”
“…Yes. Vice President.”
“The bad luck has to be dealt with, after all.”
At Seongheon’s brief explanation, the driver could only bite his lip hard. He was fired.
Upon entering her house, Yeonwoo washed up immediately. After her shower, she left her clothes soaking in the tub and stepped out of the bathroom.
She had tried to time her arrival well, but she couldn’t see her mother. Since she had kept her phone turned off since leaving Seoul, she called her mother on the house phone, only to find out that her mother had gone to work earlier than usual. Furthermore, she was told her mother rarely came home these days, often staying in the company dormitory.
She only stopped by once a week or so.
If I had known it would be like this, I would have just taken the taxi all the way to the house.
Looking at her ruined sneakers by the front door, Yeonwoo let out a short breath and entered her room.
She dried her hair haphazardly and opened her suitcase, but she hadn’t packed properly. It wasn’t a meticulously planned move; it was an impulsive escape from Seoul, driven by a wave of terror she couldn’t overcome in the middle of the night.
Staring at the phone she had tucked between her clothes, Yeonwoo slumped onto the floor. Just looking at the device made her fingertips tremble with cold.
I’ll let you go when you die.
Yeonwoo had been employed at Namsong Industrial Development. It was a mid-sized civil engineering and construction company with about 25 billion won in annual sales.
Cha Yunseok, who had been nothing more than an ordinary salesman, was suddenly given an extraordinary promotion to Vice President. Yeonwoo, who had been working in accounting, was reassigned as his secretary. It was then that Yeonwoo first learned Cha Yunseok was the President’s son.
Cha Yunseok was a loafer with no interest in company business. He showed up to the company his father had built as if he were visiting a playground, spending most of his time idling. He frequently associated with a rough, unusual crowd—men who mostly earned black money in the shadows—calling them “older brothers” and “younger brothers.” Boasting of his connections with such people, he began to pressure Yeonwoo from a certain point onward.
From the moment she began to show fear, Cha Yunseok’s obsession turned excessive, followed by a cycle of gaslighting and threats.
