Chapter 24
The Villain’s
Pure Love
24.
Rising Darkness
The next day. It was around three in the afternoon by the time Yeonwoo left the hotel and returned to Domyeongjae.
“Hey, newbie. Did you do a good job?”
As soon as she entered the main hall, Eunja, who was sipping a mix coffee, called out to her. Yeonwoo, who had stopped by the dormitory to drop off her things and change her clothes, nodded.
“Yes. I’m back.”
“Oh my, you went to a nice place, ate good food, wore pretty clothes, and played princess. Must be nice, newbie.”
Eunja gestured for her to come over and spill the details. When Yeonwoo quietly passed by without saying much, having carefully placed the clothes from the Domyeong Costume Room on the drawing room sofa, Eunja pouted.
“Honestly, is your mouth made of gold? Newbie, how are you going to make a living with no gift of gab? When you’re back, you should explain in detail what you ate and what happened.”
“Nothing much happened. I just ate whatever menu they gave me; I don’t really know what it was.”
“What about the clothes? Didn’t they say you were pretty? How was it? Did the foreigners give you two thumbs up?”
“Ah, well, yes. It was alright.”
She couldn’t bring herself to say she had ended up wearing different clothes. She didn’t want to crush the expectations of Eunja, who had put so much heart and soul into picking them out.
Eunja looked like she was about to snap something at Yeonwoo’s attitude, but she just twisted her lips. Truly, even if she wanted to look at the newbie kindly, the girl didn’t have a single sociable bone in her body; she was such a killjoy.
“There comes the Manager.”
As Eunja muttered, Yeonwoo turned around. Manager Moon, entering the main hall, glanced at Yeonwoo. Yeonwoo bowed and gave her greetings.
“The Vice President arrived early this morning, so why are you only getting here now?”
“I didn’t know he had already left. I went out at the scheduled time, but I was told the Vice President had already departed.”
“If you’re there to serve someone, you should keep your wits about you.”
“I’m sorry.”
Manager Moon looked Yeonwoo up and down. Eunja, sipping her coffee, raised an eyebrow at the Manager’s voice, which sounded more irritable than usual.
“There’s plenty of work to do. Get going. You’re on duty today.”
“Yes, Manager.”
Once Yeonwoo disappeared, Eunja, who had been watching the mood, grabbed the hem of Manager Moon’s clothes.
“Why is our big sister so angry?”
“What are you talking about? Who’s angry?”
“Aren’t you? It feels like anger is just boiling up in your throat.”
When Eunja asked with a playful air, Manager Moon brushed her hand away.
“You get up and move, too. Are you drinking all the coffee in Domyeongjae? How many cups do you have a day? Get up, hurry.”
Since the sparks were flying her way, Eunja slunk out of her seat.
“I mean, why take it out on me when I was just sitting here…”
“Is sitting still something to be proud of? Did you come here to play? Aren’t you going to work?”
“Aigo, alright, alright. I was just resting for a second, just a second.”
Just as Eunja was getting up after receiving an unnecessary scolding, Yeonwoo suddenly came back into the main hall and set two small boxes and a bakery bag down on the table.
“What’s this?”
When the quick-to-react Eunja asked, Yeonwoo replied quietly.
“It’s bread from the hotel basement bakery. I heard it’s popular, so I bought some for you to try. The boxes are souvenirs—they were selling them in the basement too, so I picked them up. It’s nothing much, just health bracelets.”
“Oh my. A health bracelet! I’ve been wanting one of those. How did you know, newbie?”
Eunja tore open the packaging at the speed of light.
“They said they could engrave initials, but I thought about it and decided to just bring them as they are. If I had them engraved, the beads might have chipped.”
“Inisols? What’s an inisol? Is it someone’s name? What kind of name is that?”
No one laughed at Eunja’s nonsense. Manager Moon looked down in silence, and Yeonwoo bowed again in greeting.
“I had a good trip thanks to you. Thank you for looking out for me. I’ll be going now.”
Yeonwoo turned away after giving her blunt farewell. Eunja, who loved free things, cooed about her windfall.
“Oh my, sister. Sister! Look at this. Oh my, oh my, such a flashy and pretty bracelet is a health bracelet? Heavens, it’s beautiful. So beautiful.”
Despite Eunja’s fuss, Manager Moon said nothing. Her expression remained uneasy as she stared down at the bracelet Yeonwoo had left behind.
After returning from the hotel, Sung-hun did not move a single step out of Unseondang for the rest of the weekend. He had his dinner simply inside Unseondang, and the doors didn’t open again until Monday morning.
Yeonwoo, who had managed to catch a little sleep at dawn after finishing her duty, headed to the main hall only to find that Sung-hun had already left for work earlier than usual.
On weekday mornings, the main hall staff were at their busiest preparing lunch for the construction site. Even the talkative Eunja moved her hands without complaint during this time. They moved between dozens of cauldrons lined up in the backyard of the main hall, cooking with swift, practiced motions.
While Yeonwoo was scurrying around handling various chores, Manager Moon, who had disappeared somewhere, approached her.
“Take off your apron and follow me right now!”
“Me? Where to?”
Yeonwoo asked as she immediately untied the ribbon at her waist. Seeing that the wrinkles on the Manager’s forehead, etched by years of hardship, seemed deeper than usual today, it was clear something was happening.
“Follow Manager Hwang to the site. The lady who serves the food couldn’t make it today. Go and serve in her place.”
“…Pardon? To the site?”
She paused while taking off her apron. Manager Moon nodded as she tidied up around the large food containers.
“We’re leaving in ten minutes, so get ready. This is the Vice President’s lunchbox, so deliver it to him separately.”
Manager Moon handed Yeonwoo a wide lunch box wrapped in a cloth. Yeonwoo took it reflexively and looked up.
“So I just deliver the lunch to the Vice President and then serve the food?”
“The workers will scoop their own rice; you just need to ladle out the soup. Keep an eye on the headcount as you serve—not too much, not too little.”
“Yes. I understand.”
It wasn’t a difficult task. A brief tension flared at the thought of leaving Domyeongjae again, but strictly speaking, it was just a trip to the site cafeteria and back.
Yeonwoo steeled herself, thinking nothing could possibly happen in that short time. Yes, this too was something that required practice. Hadn’t she been fine walking along the hotel trail? There was no need to be anxious.
“Why are you just standing there? We’re short on time.”
“Yes. I’m going.”
Yeonwoo bowed to Manager Moon. Carrying the lunch box packed with an eight-dish spread for Sung-hun, Yeonwoo climbed into the truck driven by Manager Hwang ten minutes later.
The country road she hadn’t seen in a while was pleasant. Yeonwoo rolled down the window and reached out her hand slightly to feel the breeze.
While the staff who had arrived early at the site moved the rice and side dishes into the cafeteria, Yeonwoo headed toward the office a short distance away with Sung-hun’s lunch.
Since it was an office set up on one side of the construction site, it felt somewhat improvised. There were no automatic doors or anything of the sort. Standing before it to knock, she felt strangely nervous. After catching her breath several times, she finally raised her hand and knocked.
A secretary opened the door.
“Who is it?”
“Hello. I’m from Domyeongjae. I’m here with the Vice President’s meal.”
“Ah, the meal. Come in.”
The secretary opened the door wider, and Yeonwoo stepped inside. Behind the secretary’s desk, she saw a firmly closed door and guessed that Sung-hun would be inside.
“I don’t know if the Vice President will have time to eat his lunch today.”
The secretary glanced at his watch and gestured for her to go in. Yeonwoo stood before the closed door and knocked again, and Sung-hun’s voice told her to enter.
Her stomach churned strangely at the sound of his voice. Yeonwoo took a long breath as if releasing a trapped lungful of air and turned the doorknob.
“Vice President. I’ve brought your meal.”
Sung-hun, who had been focused on some documents, looked up at the sound of her voice. Finding it difficult to look him in the eye for some reason, Yeonwoo walked straight to the sofa and set the lunch box down.
“Manager Moon sent this, saying you should have a hearty lunch since you left for work without breakfast.”
“What brings you here?”
“I came to deliver the lunch. I heard they were short-staffed.”
Sung-hun’s appearance at the site was somewhat unfamiliar. Perhaps because of the atmosphere of the space, the heavy machinery and dust clouds visible through the open window added to the effect.
Sitting among piles of files with his sleeves rolled up, Sung-hun didn’t have his usual static aura; instead, he possessed a rugged, powerful energy perfectly suited for the harsh work of a construction site.
Sung-hun was also quite surprised to see her in such an unexpected place. Yeonwoo standing in his office looked so out of place it felt like a composite image, and he stared at her for a long time before speaking.
“It feels like it’s been a while.”
Even though only two days had passed.
“Have you been well?”
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
“Hearing ‘thanks to you’ makes it sound like you’re doing well only when I’m not around.”
She could feel her pulse racing in her fingertips. Yeonwoo fidgeted with her hands and added:
“Um… I have to go help with the work now. Enjoy your me—”
“It’s hard to even say it’s good to see you, for fear you’ll find it loathsome.”
Was he teasing her, or was he being petty?
At the pointed remark, Yeonwoo met Sung-hun’s eyes for the first time.
When no retort came to mind, the thought that she shouldn’t have looked at him rushed in, and Yeonwoo tried to end the conversation by finishing her incomplete greeting.
“Please enjoy your meal, Vice President.”
“Alright. Good work. I’ll see you back at Domyeongjae.”
Sung-hun replied to her, keeping to himself the thought that he might not be able to eat the lunch because he was so busy, or that he felt bad for making her go through the trouble. There was a meeting soon, and he had to send Yeonwoo off now.
To think he’d run into her at the site. Sung-hun gave a short laugh, feeling as if he’d received a sudden gift. While Yeonwoo, who hadn’t seen his face because she was bowing, was unwrapping the cloth to take out the lunch box, the door opened and the secretary poked his head in.
“Vice President. They’ve arrived.”
“Bring them in.”
Someone entered before Yeonwoo could leave. It was just as Yeonwoo, rolling up the wrapping cloth, was hurriedly turning to depart.
The man who had bowed low enough for his nose to touch the ground looked up, and upon spotting Yeonwoo, his eyes widened.
“Vice President Nam Sung-hun, hello— Wait, Yeonwoo?”
A familiar voice calling her name.
Unable to exhale the air she had just sucked into her lungs, Yeonwoo’s face went pale as if her heart had stopped.
“Yeonwoo. Wow, so you were here?”
The floor beneath her feet seemed to split open, sending her into a freefall. Yeonwoo squeezed her eyes shut, surrendering to the despair that she would never be able to escape this man until the day she died.
“Wow, you. You were here. Hmm? Yeonwoo.”
It was Cha Yunseok.
