Chapter 29
The Villain Is Pure
29.
A Handwritten Letter
Seongheon woke early, finished his shower, and entered the dressing room. He was putting on his jacket after preparing for work when he heard the faint sound of the outer door opening. He glanced toward it.
It was a presence so quiet that one wouldn’t have noticed it without being particularly sensitive. Seongheon strode toward the noise and opened the door leading outside.
The moment he spotted Yeonwoo’s retreating figure, walking on her tiptoes, a smile tugged at his lips despite himself.
As Yeonwoo disappeared into the open study, Seongheon watched her intently before following. It was around six-thirty in the morning; he was curious about what brought her to Unseondang at such an early hour.
I wanted to see her.
I wanted to trace the scars she held, to fathom the depths of her despair and fear, yet I feared that the moment I did, I would lose control of myself. I suppressed those feelings, thought of her, and then moved past them once more.
Seongheon slowly closed and opened his eyes. After watching her for a long time, he saw Yeonwoo finally finish tidying the desk and straighten her back.
She’s about to turn around. Our eyes will meet. And once they do, how fast will my heart race this time?
He was occupied with such thoughts when, without looking back, Yeonwoo pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket.
After hesitating several times, she finally placed the paper on the desk and turned around.
…………Their eyes met.
“Good morning.”
At Seongheon’s greeting, Yeonwoo’s expression turned to one of pure shock.
“O-oh, since when were you there?”
“I believe you were on duty. Did you get any sleep?”
“Uh… yes. Oh, hello. I mean, did you sleep well?”
Unable to hide her fluster, Yeonwoo looked utterly flummoxed. Seongheon straightened his posture from where he had been leaning and stepped into the study. At that, Yeonwoo glanced at the paper on the desk and, looking horrified, reached out to snatch it away.
But Seongheon was faster and grabbed the paper first. Yeonwoo made a comical expression he’d never seen before as she scrambled to get it back.
“Oh, give it to me. Please give that to me, Vice President.”
As she even stood on her tiptoes to retrieve it, Seongheon held his arm high and unfolded the paper with one hand. Yeonwoo clung to him like someone hugging a thick tree trunk, continuously reaching upward.
Seeing her struggle so hard, even jumping to get the paper back, Seongheon burst into laughter and gripped her arm firmly so she wouldn’t fall.
- 2 -
“Give it to me! Give it back, Vice President!”
“Wasn’t this meant for me?”
The way she bounced on the spot was so cute and lovely that he couldn’t help but let out a silly laugh so early in the morning.
“No! It wasn’t! Aaaah! Give it! Please give it back!”
“Let’s see here…”
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Seongheon extended his arm a bit further and wrapped his other hand around her back. It was a signal for her to stop jumping, but Yeonwoo, consumed by the letter, didn’t even realize she was effectively in his arms.
“Please! Please give it to me! Don’t read it! Ah, please! Please!”
“To Vice President Nam Sung-hun. Hello, Vice President. This is Ji Yeonwoo.”
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Yeonwoo, dying of embarrassment, froze mid-shout. Only then did she feel Seongheon’s hand firmly around her back, and her heart plummeted to her toes.
“I am writing to express my gratitude, as I gained great courage from the words you spoke to me.”
Seongheon stopped reading aloud there. While he read the rest of the letter with a serious expression, Yeonwoo turned pale, feeling faint.
It felt as though the frantic thumping of her heart would be felt right through his fingertips.
When she tried to step away, Seongheon held her a little tighter. They remained at an ambiguous distance, their chests almost touching. Yeonwoo could only manage shallow breaths while Seongheon finished the relatively short letter.
「Thank you so much. You could have easily looked the other way, but you listened to an employee’s troubles with such sincerity. Since coming to Domyeongjae, I have met wonderful people, and lately, I find myself wanting to become a good person who can care for others as well. I will become an employee who loves and cherishes Domyeongjae more than anyone. Thank you, Vice President. Sincerely, Ji Yeonwoo.」
Having finished the letter, Seongheon lowered his chin and looked at Yeonwoo. Her face was flushed bright red, and she looked like she didn’t know what to do with herself. He opened his lips to speak.
“This is quite touching for a morning, Ms. Ji Yeonwoo.”
’Ms. Ji Yeonwoo is living well. You’ve lived well, and you will live better than anyone else. I’ll be the proof of that.’
Had those words touched her heart that deeply?
“Please don’t tease me.”
“I’m serious. This is a very moving gift.”
A gift. Startled by his choice of words, Yeonwoo tentatively pulled back. Seongheon let her go without resistance and lowered his arm. Yeonwoo worried her lip for a moment before speaking.
“I felt it was too shameless to only give a letter. But I couldn’t arrange anything else right away, and I didn’t think I could prepare a gift that you would actually like…”
Yeonwoo bowed once more. The lingering warmth of his touch on her back made her stomach flip; she felt so dizzy she thought she might be sick.
“Thank you. I’ll be going now.”
“Ms. Ji Yeonwoo.”
She wanted to vanish like dust, but he called her. Yeonwoo turned back with a hesitant face.
As Seongheon stared at her in silence, Yeonwoo eventually asked, “Vice President, do you have something to say?”
“…………”
“Or perhaps a task for me?”
“No. I don’t.”
I wanted to see you, and I’m grateful you happened to come by. The words caught in his throat.
Seongheon let out a short breath, folded the letter neatly, and tucked it into his inner jacket pocket.
“I had an objective, and since I’ve achieved it, I’ll head to work now.”
…I missed you all night.
“I’m heading out.”
You were a wonderful gift that came to me early this morning.
Upon arriving at the office, Seongheon shook hands with Lawyer Sin Jongmun, who arrived right on time. Lawyer Sin, a former Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office, was a long-time attorney for the Seolyang Group who dealt primarily with Seongheon.
The conversation began as soon as they were seated. Having been summoned abruptly in the early hours, Lawyer Sin looked bewildered. He had come expecting something related to a construction site, but the conversation was taking a strange turn.
“So, what you’re saying, Vice President, is that you wish to terminate the contract with Namsong Industrial Development, the current pipeline construction contractor.”
Lawyer Sin opened the Namsong Industrial Development folder among the many files on his laptop.
“And you need a justification and grounds for that termination? Is that what you’re saying?”
“In simple terms, yes.”
Lawyer Sin pushed up his glasses and continued. Even while speaking, his mouse went click, click.
“The issue is Mr. Cha Yunseok, the Vice President of Namsong Industrial Development. The incident was triggered by a private matter involving Ms. Ji Yeonwoo, Mr. Cha’s former secretary and a current employee of Domyeongjae.”
“Correct.”
“Yes, Vice President. Please wait a moment.”
Lawyer Sin quickly organized the details. Sitting across from him in silence, Seongheon recalled his phone conversation with his secretary from the day before.
’A woman reported him for stalking recently and he was investigated, but the case was dismissed for lack of evidence. Similarly, five years ago, he was reported by another woman for the same reason, and he was found innocent then as well.’
As it turned out, Yeonwoo wasn’t the first victim Cha Yunseok had stalked.
’Can you identify the lawyer who handled the cases?’
’Yes. Both cases were handled by the same firm. A Lawyer Kim Soyong—a former prosecutor who is confirmed to be an acquaintance of Cha Gilwook, the CEO of Namsong Industrial Development. They appear to be members of the same long-standing golf club.’
To cover up his child’s flaws, the father had used his wealth and connections to suppress the victims’ pain.
The father, refusing to let any blemish touch his son’s life, had gagged the screaming victims. Powerful lawyers had wasted their talents, and with a few sheets of paper, Cha Yunseok had been declared innocent.
It was a sickening reality.
Seongheon sent all the materials from his secretary to Lawyer Sin. After reviewing them for a long time, Lawyer Sin finally looked up.
“Vice President. I’ve reviewed the materials, but it seems difficult to find an immediate point of leverage. Since it is, after all, a private matter.”
The contract had already been finalized. Raising issues with the Vice President’s personal conduct to terminate it was practically difficult.
“However, if you absolutely insist on changing contractors, it’s not entirely hopeless. I’ll check further once I return to the main office.”
Lawyer Sin added a note of hope at the end. Seongheon nodded slowly, rubbing his fingertips together.
“Lawyer Sin.”
“Yes, Vice President.”
“Do you think I would have brought you all the way here just to change a single contract?”
Lawyer Sin’s expression turned tense.
“I wouldn’t summon you for something like that. I’m not that small-minded.”
And then, at the end of his sentence, Seongheon raised his hand slightly.
“What is the maximum penalty for stalking?”
“Well, it varies depending on the circumstances, but based on the case of Ms. Ji Yeonwoo you’ve provided, a prison sentence seems unlikely. The core issue is that the physical evidence of damage to support the claim isn’t substantial.”
“How is one supposed to prove a wounded heart with documents?”
“That is the limitation of the law, Vice President.”
As Lawyer Sin explained calmly, Seongheon clenched his fist. Glancing at Seongheon’s hand, Lawyer Sin followed up with a question.
“Do you want to have Mr. Cha Yunseok punished as a stalker? If so, a fine might be possible.”
“Lawyer Sin. What kind of punishment is a fine that amounts to pocket change?”
“Unless it’s an amount large enough to pull the very pillars of the household down.”
Pull the pillars of the household down.
Lawyer Sin quietly mulled over Seongheon’s response and let out a heavy breath. He had thought this was about wanting to terminate the contract with Namsong Industrial Development because a Domyeongjae employee had been stalked, but the more they spoke, the more he realized that wasn’t quite it.
“If you speak plainly, I will look for a way.”
When Lawyer Sin asked for a clearer explanation, Seongheon’s face hardened. It was a face that had discarded all innate human compassion and mercy.
“I told you. I want to pull the pillars of that house down. People who use money to cover up crimes need to have everything they own taken away before they stop doing such things. Permanently.”
“That is my thought. What do you think, Lawyer Sin?”
“……Ah.”
Ah. Lawyer Sin let out an exclamation that carried many meanings.
