Chapter 39
The Villain’s Pure Love
- Preparation
“Oh, look who’s here. Newbie, you’re in?”
As soon as Yeonwoo arrived at work that morning, Eunja greeted her with a high wave. It was an uncharacteristically warm welcome, and Yeonwoo responded with a polite bow.
“Good morning.”
“Yep, yep. It sure is a good morning. The birds are chirping, and even the little bugs are blowing their noses loud and clear.”
Yeonwoo let out a small laugh at Eunja’s description of the buzzing insects sounding like they were blowing their noses. Bursting with energy today, Eunja hummed a snatch of a trot song before stepping closer to Yeonwoo.
“Listen, I’ve got something to tell you.”
“Oh, yes?”
Yeonwoo turned to look at her. Eunja glanced around shiftily before lowering her voice.
“I finished my homework.”
Whispering, Eunja handed over a notebook she had been clutching. Yeonwoo took it and flipped through the first page, then the next, and the next, before leafing through the whole thing.
“You did all of this already?”
Yeonwoo’s eyes widened at the sight of Hangeul practice filling nearly half the notebook. Feeling a bit bashful, Eunja shrugged and continued.
“Once I started, it was so much fun that I just kept saying to myself, ‘just one more page, just one more page.’”
“This must have taken quite a while. Did you get any sleep?”
“Yeah. Maybe two hours?”
“Wow….”
Yeonwoo couldn’t help but marvel at Eunja’s passion. The thick, dark characters were written with such pressure that they were slightly crooked, making Yeonwoo smile softly.
“Why are you laughing? Did I get ‘em wrong?”
“No. It’s because you did so well.”
The effort of this late-blooming student was truly remarkable. Seeing Eunja’s pure passion—forgetting a night’s sleep and the pain in her aging wrists—made Yeonwoo’s heart ache with a strange warmth.
Emboldened by Yeonwoo’s praise, Eunja went on.
“Those little squares are so tiny, I worked real hard to keep the letters inside ‘em. My eyes were getting all blurry by the end, gave me a hard time. But I really did okay?”
“Yes. You did wonderfully. You’re going to progress so fast at this rate.”
“Oh my. At this rate, Han Seok-bong might come down and ask to be my friend.”
Eunja looked delighted as she took the notebook back. Her expression was bright and happy. Watching her look as proud as a child who had just finished a homework check, Yeonwoo spoke up.
“I’ll have to give you even more homework today.”
“Aiyoo, no. If you give me more, how am I supposed to keep up? It’ll kill me.”
“You’re too good, so I have no choice. I’ll give you lots and lots. And we’ll have to have a test, too.”
“A test? Oh my, are you trying to finish me off?”
Despite her words, Eunja kept grinning. Yeonwoo took the notebook back, opened it, and marked the last page with a ballpoint pen to show the homework was checked.
「100 Points!」
Eunja’s face bloomed like a flower as she stared at the ‘100 points’ praise for a long time. With an expression as if she had gained the whole world from that small compliment, she carefully tucked the notebook into the cloth bag she always carried.
Just then, the door opened and Manager Moon poked her head in.
“What are you two doing? The Vice President is heading out to work.”
“Oh, alright, sister.”
At the news that Seongheon had left Unseondang, Eunja and Yeonwoo stepped out of the Main Hall. Having skipped breakfast saying he wasn’t hungry, Seongheon appeared a few moments later.
The staff of the Main Hall stood in a neat line. Yeonwoo, being the junior, stood at the very end, waiting for Seongheon to pass with her hands folded in front of her.
As Seongheon approached carrying his briefcase, Manager Moon bowed at the waist. The other employees followed suit, and Yeonwoo bowed her head along with them.
“Have a productive day and travel safely, Vice President.”
It was the greeting they gave every morning. Following Manager Moon’s lead, the staff chorused their wishes for him to have a safe trip.
While keeping her waist slightly bent, Yeonwoo watched his leather shoes pass by. The memory of his hand patting her back last night was still vivid.
The warmth from Seongheon’s fingertips seemed to linger on her back. It was still warm, still gentle. Because of that, she felt her ears turning red even so early in the morning, and she kept her head down to avoid his gaze.
Ordinarily, Seongheon would have already passed by, but his footsteps stopped. When the steady rhythm of his shoes abruptly cut off, the staff all looked up at once.
Manager Moon raised an eyebrow at his sudden halt. She wondered if it was some kind of signal, her mind racing with the thought that he might have changed his mind about breakfast.
While the confused staff stared blankly at Seongheon, he adjusted his posture into a formal stance and bowed his head in return.
After a brief, silent bow, Seongheon looked up and added a few words.
“I will be back safely.”
Having finished his short greeting, Seongheon began walking away again, leaving the employees looking utterly bewildered.
Another worker standing next to Eunja nudged her arm.
“Eunja-unni. What did the Vice President just say?”
Staring at Seongheon’s receding back, Eunja spoke up.
“Didn’t he just say goodbye? That he’d be back safely? Something like that?”
“To whom?”
“I know, right? Maybe he was talking to his ancestors? Did he have a bad dream?”
It was the first time Seongheon had ever responded to the staff’s formal greetings. The fact that he had returned the gesture so politely and formally left everyone looking like they had just seen a miracle.
“What are you doing? Everyone, get moving. Are we not sending food to the site today?”
“We’re going in now.”
Manager Moon hurried the dazed, idling staff along, and the pace picked up. Yeonwoo moved with the rest of them.
Having briefly locked eyes with Seongheon at the end of his greeting, Yeonwoo’s ears were now burning bright red.
She felt like she was floating all day. Yeonwoo found the feeling—one that refused to settle down—unfamiliar.
From the start of the day until its close, Seongheon was on her mind. Perhaps it was inevitable. When she thought about it, although she had rejected his confession, there was no ‘dislike’ in her heart.
He was a man who had been difficult and intimidating in a different way than Cha Yunseok. A man from a different world, someone who could never mix with her, like oil and water.
There were many times when she felt he was out of reach even while looking at him. He felt unreal. He was an adult man to an extent she couldn’t fully grasp, someone who seemed to hold all the truths of the world in the palm of his hand.
She didn’t think anything could surprise or make him cry. Unlike herself, who had no life skills and was always flustered and busy making mistakes, Seongheon was always prepared for everything, and because of that, he was arrogant.
He possessed an overwhelming superiority that made others feel small. She wondered how many people in the world could stand tall and assert their pride in front of him.
Take good care of yourself, overcome this, and then tell me when you’re ready.
She looked up while drying a dish with a towel.
‘Because then, I’m going to come for you with everything I’ve got.’
She had lost track of how many hundreds of times she had replayed those words.
Recalling his voice, which seemed to echo like a phantom in her mind, Yeonwoo went back to wiping the dishes. She carefully dried a plate still warm with steam, then let out an involuntary sigh.
It was truly strange. She had clearly stated her rejection, and she thought he had accepted it quietly, but looking back, he had tied the knot as if he were going to wait.
As if saying, In the end, you will come to me. I will wait for that moment.
Her heart began to thud again. As if trying to hide her emotions, Yeonwoo bit her lip.
……Last night.
The moment she heard him say he would come for her with everything he had, she felt her unstable heart settle cleanly. Somewhere deep inside her, there remained the realization that she had felt an involuntary joy at his refusal to take her rejection at face value, at the way he left a door open.
“No. No.”
Yeonwoo muttered to herself, as if cutting off the thought. No. This didn’t make any sense.
More than joy, more than relief, she felt a sudden surge of dread and fear. The world was full of unbelievable things, and she strongly suspected Seongheon’s confession was one of them.
That sophisticated man whose every move seemed calculated, that man who seemed to know everything in the world—perhaps he just needed a woman to soothe a temporary loneliness.
Maybe he just wanted to spend some time in this secluded Domyeongjae, refreshing his emotions and seeking pleasure.
Thinking that way made her feel a bit more at ease. It was because she was convinced this was the more plausible theory. Her heart leaned more toward the idea of fabricated greed than the confession of a grown man offering his pure devotion.
But…
“I’m going crazy……”
‘Because then, I’m going to come for you with everything I’ve got.’
Could he really have hidden his true intentions behind such tenderness? Surely he couldn’t have faked that voice, or the touch of his fingertips.
She no longer cared about her own feelings; her focus was entirely on whether Seongheon’s heart was sincere or not. Even as she told herself she never wanted to be deceived by the world again, even as she pushed herself not to create more opportunities to get hurt.
It was an utter contradiction to hope that his touch was sincere.
While she was wiping dishes, unable to control her wavering heart, Manager Moon approached her.
“Are you almost done?”
“Pardon? Oh, yes. I’m almost finished.”
As Yeonwoo set down a polished dish and reached for a new one, Manager Moon watched her silently before tilting her chin up.
“I’m going to the market now.”
“Oh, really?”
“I’ll go by myself today, so you just stay here. There’s nothing you need to buy.”
“Me? I suppose not, but…”
‘Take good care of yourself, overcome this, and then tell me when you’re ready.’
Yeonwoo suddenly swallowed hard.
‘Because then, I’m going to come for you with everything I’ve got.’
“Um, Manager.”
Manager Moon, who was getting ready for the market, glanced at her. Yeonwoo hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Could you… take me with you?”
“Why, do you need something? Or is it tteokbokki?”
“Uh, well.”
Yeonwoo looked at Manager Moon with newfound resolve.
“I was thinking of getting a cell phone.”
