Chapter 37
The Villain’s Pure Love
37.
I Shall Become the Master of My Life
The room from which Cha Yunseok had been dragged out was a total wreck. In his struggle to avoid being taken away, his flailing feet had swept the dishes off the table, leaving the floor a chaotic mess.
Cha Yunseok’s screams rang out like an echo before finally fading into the distance. Sitting quietly in the ruined space, Seongheon poured the last of the liquor into his glass.
Trickle. Having emptied the bottle, Seongheon let out a dry chuckle. He then downed the drink in a single gulp. Despite having decided to use his power and influence to crush a family, he felt not a shred of remorse. Even in this moment, his nerves were frayed by the thought of what she had endured, what she had suppressed.
The long nights. The restless sleep. The despair and self-reproach she must have felt upon waking to a morning where nothing had changed.
Unable to calm himself, he let out a heavy breath and reached for the bottle out of habit. Realizing it was empty, he set it back down. Around that time, Mun Siljang stepped inside.
“Vice President. The guest has left.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Seongheon offered a curt acknowledgment of Cha Yunseok’s departure. Mun Siljang hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“There won’t be any trouble, will there?”
“Trouble? Like what?”
“I mean the new recruit. I hope there’s no fallout for her.”
“…Ah. I see. I should hope there are no repercussions.”
When Seongheon gave an ambiguous answer, Mun Siljang’s eyes widened. He worried that perhaps Seongheon had made a mess of things in his drunkenness without considering the consequences.
“I even threw salt.”
“Salt?”
“Yes. There’s nothing like salt for driving out foul things. I scattered it everywhere, so what now?”
As Mun Siljang confessed earnestly, Seongheon burst into a loud laugh a moment later. Mun Siljang watched him laugh heartily, his own expression turning into a frown.
What’s this? Have you lost your mind too?
“Vice President. Don’t just laugh. I’m being quite serious here.”
“Yes. You did well. I hadn’t thought of salt. I suppose I can’t keep up with your years of experience.”
Whether he was being sincere or sarcastic was unclear.
Seongheon couldn’t stop laughing. The impatient Mun Siljang spoke up again.
“You’re scaring me. A man who starts laughing suddenly after drinking is the scariest kind.”
“Mun Siljang.”
“Yes, Vice President.”
Seongheon, who had been snickering, composed his expression and looked at Mun Siljang. His gaze was unusually tender, which Mun Siljang found equally disagreeable. It felt like a drunken habit he’d never shown before.
“Don’t worry. Ji Yeonwoo-ssi will be safe.”
Finally, relief blossomed in Mun Siljang’s heart.
Right. If the Vice President says so, then that’s that. There’s no need to worry further.
“I threw that salt even if it meant getting kicked out of Domyeongjae, so I don’t know anymore.”
Watching Mun Siljang indirectly tell him to handle things properly, Seongheon stood up. The thought that Mun Siljang might have handled Cha Yunseok even without his intervention caused another laugh to escape him, a laugh he had briefly forgotten.
As Seongheon left the main hall and headed toward Unseondang, the sky turned somber as if it were about to rain. The heavy humidity of the air felt burdensome.
Why do you keep laughing? Go get some hangover soup and pull yourself together.
As Mun Siljang indirectly told him to snap out of it again, Seongheon stepped out of the room with a gentle smile.
He walked the path he could navigate even with his eyes closed. Then, he briefly lowered his heavy eyelids. Fearing that sudden memories might become overwhelming in his drunken state, he lifted them again. The lingering image of his parents, who had departed on the same day at the same hour, was merely an old sentiment.
Nevertheless, as his pace slowed, he wondered what he should recall to distract himself—should he think of his backlog of work, or perhaps the beginning of Cha Yunseok’s misfortune?
Well-versed in self-regulation to avoid falling into depression, he lifted his head as if shifting his thoughts.
One only needs to push away painful memories. It is enough to let them fade as if they never existed from the start.
He just had to endure each time. Nam Seongheon is strong; he stands firm in any crisis. Does everyone not believe so?
“…..Oh.”
Seongheon, who was skilled at enduring and an expert at standing tall, came to a halt. A breath like a gasp escaped through his teeth.
The front yard of Unseondang was filled with damp air and the heavy scent of water-soaked grass.
His eyes met Yeonwoo’s as she paced about, looking anxious and unsure of what to do under the swaying yellow lanterns in the warm wind.
The moment their gazes collided, they both gasped, startled by each other’s presence.
Whew.
Seongheon let out a long breath that escaped involuntarily. He, who was skilled at enduring and an expert at standing tall, suddenly had a premonition of his future. Not our future, but my future—one that would be harmful and disastrous.
…Yes.
You shall make me suffer like a fever.
You shall make me desperate to possess everything about you.
“You’re back, Vice President.”
For the first time, you shall make me know the weakness I cannot endure, the helplessness.
The despair that will bend and break me.
“I was waiting for you. I thought it was about time for you to arrive.”
I shall suffer.
I shall be willing to do anything.
“I have something to ask you.”
You shall become the master of my life.
With emotions that were hard to distinguish as hope or despair, Seongheon looked at Yeonwoo. His heart pounded fiercely, and Yeonwoo, unaware of his internal state, stepped closer.
He indulged in the idle thought that this might be the first time she had approached him first. For some reason, her stepping toward him felt so welcome and precious that he simply stood still and watched her.
Coming close, Yeonwoo’s eyes darted around as she checked his condition. It was as if she were inspecting him to see if he’d been in a fistfight, looking for any scratches.
Maybe I should have hit him once. Or no, should I have let myself get hit?
“It seems you were waiting for me.”
“Ah, yes. Vice President.”
Yeonwoo nodded in response to his question. He had no idea how many times she had paced the yard with a thumping heart until he appeared.
The sound of Cha Yunseok being dragged out of the main hall had resonated loudly throughout Domyeongjae. At one point, Mun Siljang told her to return to her quarters, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave.
Cha Yunseok’s voice, screaming at the top of his lungs, had reached all the way to Unseondang. Half of those screams were her name.
Ji Yeonwoo! Ji Yeonwoo, where are you! Come out right now!
Listening to that screeching made her heart feel like it would burst. She was confused as to why Cha Yunseok was suddenly screaming her name and why he was being kicked out of Domyeongjae.
She lacked the presence of mind to calmly sort through the situation. Like an instinct seeking the safest place away from danger, she had paced the yard of Unseondang, biting her nails.
She felt as if her heart would leap out of her throat. The throbbing spread through her entire body, leaving no part of her from head to toe feeling right. Not knowing what state the Vice President was in if Cha Yunseok was in that condition, she had simply watched the time pass slowly.
Only after confirming with her own eyes that Seongheon was perfectly fine without any injuries did Yeonwoo slowly lift her head. Since just seeing him wasn’t quite enough to reassure her, she spoke up.
“Vice President, you’re alright, aren’t you?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve overindulged. It seems I’ll have a bit of a hangover.”
“Ah, no, not that.”
When Yeonwoo cut him off, Seongheon raised an eyebrow. It seemed she couldn’t bring herself to ask if he had been in a dogfight with Cha Yunseok.
When he continued to feign ignorance of her intent, Yeonwoo grabbed his sleeve.
“Excuse me for a moment. Please stay still.”
“Excuse m—?”
Yeonwoo positioned him as if telling him to stay put and began to circle around him. After a momentary glance, she tentatively pulled back his jacket to check his ribs and waist, ensuring he was safe.
Seongheon, who had stood submissively as she ordered, let out a soft laugh at her absurd behavior. Why did he want to trouble her so much? I should have hit him once, or no, I should have been hit. Again, he was left with strange, lingering regrets.
He stood with his arms spread as if inviting her to check thoroughly, but she pulled away disappointingly fast. It was Seongheon who felt a bit regretful.
“Yes. Just in case. I’m glad you’re alright.”
“Did you check thoroughly?”
One moment she was boldly touching him, and the next she had that deer-in-the-headlights look again. As Seongheon looked down at her, Yeonwoo hesitated before speaking.
“Um… this might be an overstepping question…”
“The Vice President of Namsong Industrial Development was shouting my name very loudly… I was wondering what happened…”
Seeing her struggle to ask such a simple question, Seongheon answered casually.
“…Pardon? A contract termination?”
“It was nothing major. I simply notified Namsong Industrial Development of the contract termination.”
As Yeonwoo’s eyes widened, Seongheon raised a hand slightly.
“It turned out to be a company with many internal issues. Our Seolyang Construction cannot work with such a company.”
“Ah, yes.”
“I just added Ji Yeonwoo-ssi’s incident to that, very slightly.”
“Actually, I heard the explanation from Mun Siljang. That you have a bad history with Vice President Cha Yunseok.”
It was cowardly, but he used Mun Siljang as a shield. When Seongheon mentioned Mun Siljang in his explanation, Yeonwoo nodded slowly.
“Ah… yes. I understand now.”
Her troubled eyelids blinked. He thought she would be happy, but her expression wasn’t very bright.
Seongheon watched her face intently.
“Cha Yunseok-ssi will be isolated from society for the time being. With civil law, criminal law, and special laws all added up, he might be isolated for quite a long time.”
“I see.”
“You don’t look happy. Was this not what you wanted?”
When he asked out of frustration, Yeonwoo hesitated.
“It’s just… you might not know. You should be careful too, Vice President.”
Her expression was serious.
“Vice President Cha Yunseok is a man who will do anything. Truly. He really does anything.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand. What do you mean by ‘anything’?”
“I mean, if there’s something he wants, he doesn’t care about the consequences. He acts as if he’s lost his mind when he’s blinded by something. He knows many people, and he’s connected to powerful people through various channels.”
“…I see.”
As Seongheon offered a brief response, Yeonwoo continued even more rapidly.
“He’s not an ordinary person. He’s truly the type to do whatever he says he’ll do, so he’s quite dangerous. That’s why I… wanted you to be careful, Vice President…”
When Yeonwoo trailed off, unable to finish her sentence, Seongheon fell silent.
You might not know, but Cha Yunseok is a very dangerous and scary man. It seemed she wanted to warn him of that.
He wondered for a moment how to respond to someone worrying about him in front of him.
