Chapter 31
Villain in
Love
31.
A World of Flowers Beneath My Feet
The night deepened as they laughed, chatted, and drank. The lights of the Main Hall remained bright well past ten o’clock, and the long-reunited classmates tirelessly dredged up stories from the past.
“Remember? Yeonwoo danced right at the front during the sports meet. She was the cheer captain.”
“That’s right. Man, our Ji Yeonwoo was a great dancer.”
“Stop it! Wh-why are you suddenly bringing that up?!”
Yeonwoo’s voice was uncharacteristically loud. Spending time with classmates who mischievously kept digging up her embarrassing school memories made her feel like a fifteen-year-old girl again without even realizing it.
To be honest, she hadn’t wanted to come before she sat down. She thought it would be awkward and didn’t feel confident that she could mingle naturally. She wanted to avoid them if possible, fearing they would see how much life had worn her down.
But Manager Mun had pushed her. Even though she said she didn’t want to go and that she’d rather stay and work, he had stubbornly chased her out toward the Main Hall.
She had hesitated before showing her face. She expected it to be incredibly uncomfortable, but strangely, the awkwardness lasted only a moment.
They treated her with such ease, as if they had just seen her yesterday. She felt her memories reviving, then felt swept away by nostalgia, until finally, she became the person she was back then.
Her classmates said the same thing: back then, Ji Yeonwoo laughed a lot, was cheerful, and was optimistic about everything.
“Anyway, Yeonwoo hasn’t changed a bit.”
And they said she still had those qualities.
Yeonwoo gave a soft smile at her classmate’s remark that she hadn’t changed.
No, that’s not true. I’ve changed a lot, and the cheerful Ji Yeonwoo who laughed all the time isn’t actually here anymore.
She swallowed the words she couldn’t say and simply offered a beaming smile. Could she ever go back to being that person? Would such a day ever come? If she could, she wanted to run toward her past self with everything she had.
“Alright, alright, there’s not much alcohol left. Who wants more?”
“Me, me!”
“Me! Give some to me first, Mr. Silver Spoon!”
“Me, me!”
When Hyeonuk asked while shaking the bottle, everyone raised their glasses. Although Yeonwoo wasn’t particularly fond of drinking, she quietly raised her glass, swept up in the atmosphere.
To crave alcohol she didn’t even like—mob mentality was a dangerous thing.
“Then I’ll have some too…”
“You too? Hey, Ji Yeonwoo, read the room. There’s hardly any left.”
“Give me some too. Give it to me first. Give me a lot.”
Yeonwoo burst into laughter at the sight of herself joining the pathetic begging. As if granting a royal gift, Hyeonuk pompously filled her glass while Yeonwoo bowed her head in mock gratitude. Hyeonuk burst into laughter as well at her playful behavior.
The conversation flowed without a single break.
The sound of crickets filled the air outside the Main Hall like thousands of tiny bells ringing at once. Youth was gathered there, and their untarnished memories remained crisp.
It was a beautifully blue night at Domyeongjae.
The reunion finally ended around midnight. The gathering only broke up after the quite substantial amount of alcohol they had prepared hit rock bottom.
Promising to meet again, the classmates headed out of Domyeongjae, with Hyeonuk following to see them off. Only after making several pinky-swear promises to see each other again soon did Yeonwoo turn her steps toward the dormitory.
“Ah… I’m tired…”
Thinking about it as she walked, she realized she had drunk quite a bit. She hadn’t noticed while she was caught up in the mood, but she felt a bit sick, and the ground felt like it was rising up to meet her in a dizzying haze.
Walking slowly, she let out a breath and gave a slight laugh. Was she drunk? She started laughing for no reason at all. Her confidence seemed to rise at the thought that she had held a long conversation with others in a relaxed, defenseless state without being tense.
One step felt somber, while the next was clung to by positive thoughts.
One step her mood went down, and the next it went up.
“I’m drunk, definitely drunk,” Yeonwoo muttered as she continued her slow, sluggish pace. Her alcohol-infused body was incredibly sleepy, and she wanted to hurry up to the dormitory and go to bed.
“I can’t figure out your destination at all.”
At the voice from behind, Yeonwoo turned around. She stared at the silhouette flickering in her blurred vision and forced her eyelids open.
Seongheon approached and scanned Yeonwoo from head to toe as if checking her condition.
“Are you going for a night stroll instead of going to your quarters?”
“Hello, Vice President.”
As she stopped walking, Yeonwoo’s body swayed slightly.
“Are you coming to work now?”
She uttered total nonsense at midnight.
When she stood there staggering and asked if he was coming to work, Seongheon looked speechless. Scanning her again, he leaned his face close to her shoulder and took a long breath.
Whew, the smell of alcohol.
“I’m asking where you’re going.”
“I’m going to sleep.”
“I’m being sent to work at this hour while you’re going to sleep. What a heartbreakingly beautiful time difference.”
“I’m so sleepy. Sleep is just… coming for me.”
“Of course you’re sleepy. It looks like you didn’t just drink from a glass, you fell into a vat of booze and crawled out.”
“…Heh.” Yeonwoo gave a silly laugh. Seongheon looked at her as if he couldn’t even be bothered to be angry.
“It’s troublesome when you laugh like that. Is it like, you only give out smiles like charity when you’ve had a drink?”
“I think I have to go. I’m really sleepy.”
Standing still made the drunkenness rush up. When Yeonwoo kept repeating the same thing, Seongheon swallowed hard and let out a long sigh.
“I’ll say it again, Ji Yeonwoo-ssi, you’ve taken a wrong turn. This isn’t the way to your dormitory.”
“Oh, really? Then where did my dormitory go?”
“It’s probably exactly where it’s always been.”
Yeonwoo staggered as she looked around. The dark landscape looked similar no matter where she turned, making it difficult to tell where she was.
Brushing her hair back, Yeonwoo spoke again.
“I think I did drink a lot. I have no strength in my body.”
When Yeonwoo took a step backward, unable to keep her balance, Seongheon quickly caught her.
“I thought you were just making me anxious, but now you’re giving me a headache too.”
“Wow… I’m really tired…”
“Sigh…”
No conversation was getting through at all. As if giving up, Seongheon carefully pulled her by the arm, and Yeonwoo was dragged along helplessly.
“I’ll take you to the dormitory, so follow me.”
“Where did the dormitory go?”
“Right. It went away. Part of me wants to just get rid of the dormitory altogether.”
Seongheon muttered as he pulled her a little further.
“Lean on me. Don’t fall over.”
“Okay… I’m sorry…”
“If you’re sorry, don’t exhaust me and just lean on me properly. Before I end up carrying you on my back.”
Yeonwoo’s eyes slowly fluttered shut. Like an astrologer entrusting their path to a single star, Yeonwoo continued her weak steps while leaning on Seongheon.
A black world where little could be seen whether her eyes were open or closed. Entrusting her destination to Seongheon as she walked felt a little strange, even to herself.
Her heart didn’t guard against him or feel he was dangerous, which was an absurd situation to just let happen.
…To think I’m entrusting myself to a dark night path without any suspicion.
She had thought she couldn’t trust anyone. When and where did she start following this man?
Just when exactly?
“Walk slowly. Take long breaths.”
“Yes… I’m sorry…”
Let it be the alcohol. Let it be a drunken action I’ll regret tomorrow.
Yeonwoo moved her heavy feet, letting go of thoughts that wouldn’t connect. Her loosened heart had found a place to lean.
It’s just resting for a moment, she coaxed and soothed her shameless self.
Panting heavily because her stomach was churning, Yeonwoo arrived in front of the dormitory. It seemed she needed to wake up a bit more to climb the dormitory stairs, which lacked hallway lights.
“I’ll just sit here for a bit before going in. Thank you, Vice President.”
“Are you coming to your senses a bit?”
“Yes. I’m better than a moment ago. I’m sorry, and thank you.”
The peak of her intoxication seemed to be subsiding slightly. Having finally faced reality, Yeonwoo pulled away from Seongheon and sat on a bench.
Then, Seongheon plopped down beside her. He had waited for her until nearly midnight; there was no way he would just leave like this.
“Aren’t you going in, Vice President?”
“I was in the middle of a walk. I’d like to finish it.”
“Ah, yes. The night air is very cool.”
As Yeonwoo muttered and looked up at the sky, Seongheon, worried about the backless bench, reached out his arm, ready to support her back.
When she lowered her gaze after looking at the sky without falling backward, Seongheon withdrew his arm.
“It seems you like alcohol.”
“No, I think it’s been over a year since I’ve had a drink, but today I just wanted to drink a little.”
Thinking about whether today’s events were a dream or if the things she had been through were a dream, Yeonwoo, carrying various thoughts, spoke up.
“I met my classmates today, and I felt a bit strange.”
“They said I used to laugh a lot and was very optimistic. But I couldn’t just let those words pass by.”
Yeonwoo gave a weak laugh at the end of her sentence.
“Only one thought kept circling my mind. I want to go back to being the me from back then…”
She wanted to meet the version of herself that didn’t have any scars.
If only she could. If only it were possible.
“I think I gained a little courage from what you told me yesterday, Vice President. Meeting my friends in the midst of that seemed to give me even more courage. Anyway, thank you. Since yesterday, I’ve been thinking… a lot.”
“I want to live well. Truly.”
When Yeonwoo spoke softly while moving her toes, Seongheon looked up. He looked at the same sky she had been looking at just moments ago. The stars covering the heavens came into his sight, and he opened his lips after watching them quietly.
“Keep talking to yourself like you are now, and listen to the words you say to yourself. Because only you can carve out your own life, Ji Yeonwoo-ssi.”
“…”
Yeonwoo replied a little late, casting her gaze to the ground. Carving out her own life. His words hammered against her chest, making forgotten emotions seem to revive.
“And you are trying hard enough, Ji Yeonwoo-ssi. You’re doing well.”
You, who has the heart to want to live well, are already living well.
“But if things still don’t go well, lean on me.”
“……”
“Don’t cling to Domyeongjae; cling to me. I’ll pull you out into the world.”
Yeonwoo slowly turned her head. She wanted to interpret his words with difficulty, but even in her drunken state, they were so easy to understand that she simply wore a dazed expression.
“Actually, I was waiting for you today, Ji Yeonwoo-ssi. I thought maybe you’d be a bit braver than usual if you’d had a drink.”
“………”
“I hoped you wouldn’t be surprised no matter what I said.”
A spring day where even the night air was thick with the scent of purely blooming magnolias.
There was no way to know how her intoxication, seeped into her weary body, would remember this day.
“I think you’ll be surprised no matter how I say it, so I’ll just say it quickly. No matter how much I think about it, I think I like you, Ji Yeonwoo-ssi.”
The sky was a world of stars.
“Shall I try a one-sided love?”
And…
“Or shall we try dating?”
The ground beneath her feet was a world of flowers.
