Yeon Woo stood in front of the courtyard of Unseondang.

Although her body seemed to have no strength left, she took a deep breath and began sweeping.

After spending the daytime with flower petals flying in the muddy air, the courtyard was carpeted with beautiful but short-lived petals.

Sweeping the petals that floated with the slightest breeze, Yeon Woo took a long breath. As the sunset spread in an instant, seeming to burn Yeosongsan mountain, she gazed into the distance and felt relieved at the sense that the world was erasing her well.

She was hungry and tired, but it was a familiar sensation. For months, she had no memory of eating deliciously or sleeping soundly, so the current impoverished energy felt not unfamiliar.

More than that, what felt primary was a sense of liberation. Unable to explain this freedom, Yeon Woo once again gripped the broom tightly.

It was then.

“Yeon… Woo?”

She froze instantly at the sound of a man’s voice calling her name.

Her heart pounded, and a dizzying sensation rapidly spread from beneath her feet. In an instant, a hot feeling pooled behind her back, and her frightened lips parted slightly.

She couldn’t shake the thought that it must be someone related to Cha Yun Seok. Logically it shouldn’t be, but her body reacted that way.

“Ji Yeon Woo? Wow, daebak, it really is Ji Yeon Woo!”

As the voice of the man recognizing her fell on her sensitive ears once more, Yeon Woo slowly turned her head.

But the first person to enter her sight was none other than Sung Hun.

‘There’s no way that person called my name.’

For what reason would that person have called my name? As she stared at Sung Hun, standing rooted like a tree with long roots, Yeon Woo shifted her gaze.

“Yeon Woo, it’s me, Hyun Wook! Nam Hyun Wook!”

In the meantime, the man who had suddenly approached held out his hand for a handshake.

“Domyeong Middle School, third year, class two! Don’t you remember me?”

“…Ah.”

The moment she confirmed the identity of the man who approached with his whole face smiling, Yeon Woo exhaled deeply, feeling as if all strength had left her body. For a moment, her legs trembled so much from tension that she felt she might collapse.

“Hey, it’s great to see you, really great. So you work here. Since when? I didn’t see you last time I came. Have you been well? How have you been?”

As Hyun Wook, simply delighted to meet an old classmate, grabbed her hand and shook it vigorously, Yeon Woo’s hand moved up and down as if dancing on its own.

“I heard you went to Seoul. Your mother works here, right? I always asked your mother how you were doing whenever I saw her. I’m really glad to see you, Yeon Woo.”

“Oh, have you been well? It’s been a long time.”

Hyun Wook had no way of noticing her greatly fluctuating emotional state. Yeon Woo managed to lift the corners of her mouth and smiled slightly, and when she greeted him, Hyun Wook burst into laughter, glad to see her.

“Wow, I was wondering why I suddenly wanted to come to Domyeong Estate so badly, and it’s because you’re here? Wow, it’s been so long. Your face hasn’t changed at all.”

Hyun Wook, speaking in an excited voice, turned his head to look at Sung Hun standing far away.

“Hyung! Go in first! I’ll come in after chatting for a bit! I met a friend!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Sung Hun began to move. Soon, Sung Hun reached where the two were standing, and only then did Yeon Woo quietly bow her head and greet him.

Though she wouldn’t be eaten, she felt somehow scared whenever she stood before Sung Hun. She couldn’t understand why.

“Hyung. I just met a friend. I’ll come in after talking for a bit, so go in first.”

“Do that.”

Sung Hun stood straight facing Yeon Woo and bowed politely. It was quite formal for a response to such a casual greeting.

Eventually, the sound of Sung Hun’s footsteps faded towards Unseondang. Yeon Woo kept her gaze fixed on the ground until they faded, and faded, and faded again.

Only when the sound of footsteps finally stopped, and the sound of a door opening and closing was heard, did Yeon Woo exhale a short breath.

“Yeon Woo, let’s sit over there and talk. Is that okay?”

Raising her eyes to Hyun Wook, who was showing his delight all over his face, she finally smiled faintly.

“Sorry. I’m working, so I can’t take much time. But a short while should be fine.”

“Okay! Just ten minutes! No! Five minutes!”

Hyun Wook smiled and pointed to a nearby bench.

*

When Sung Hun came out after washing, Hyun Wook was sitting on the sofa in the study. As yesterday, windows were open everywhere as if a woman had visited, and the wind was cool as it passed through the pine trees.

“Did you wash? Hyung, is beer okay?”

“Sure.”

Three or four cans of beer were placed on the study table, and Hyun Wook was already in the middle of emptying one. For a hastily requested drink, the snacks were plentiful and neatly arranged.

This Domyeong Estate existed to perfectly handle all requests from the Nam family twenty-four hours a day, so it was nothing new.

Sitting across from Hyun Wook, Sung Hun pulled the tab of a beer can. Although he didn’t usually drink beer, he wasn’t picky about types of alcohol, so he took a few sips.

The cool carbonation matched well with his heated body today. After emptying about half at once and putting down the can, Sung Hun glanced at Hyun Wook.

“You look happy.”

“Me? I am happy. I met an old classmate after a long time. I was wondering how she was doing anyway.”

“Were you close?”

It was an unnecessary question.

“With Yeon Woo? Of course. You know my social skills. When I was in school, I was friendly with everyone. There weren’t that many students in the whole school anyway, so everyone was pretty much the same.”

Sung Hun nodded silently while drinking his beer.

Just before, as soon as he entered Unseondang, he washed his body. It was a kind of act of washing away distracting thoughts. He wanted to erase all the heated emotions he felt when he encountered the woman, to make it as if it never happened.

His whole body felt like it was sizzling and boiling. He was in a situation where he couldn’t move, his thoughts blocked. As he stood staring at the woman, having lost all sense of what to do or say, he felt like the biggest fool of his life.

“Yeon Woo’s mother has worked at our Domyeong Estate for a long time. I only heard news that she was doing well through her mother. And now I’ve met her, so how happy must I be. It’s been how many years.”

“……”

“I heard her mother got injured while working. So she came to work in her place until her mother recovers. She’s still as kind as ever, now as then.”

At the end of his words, Hyun Wook hummed while wiggling his toes. Sung Hun pulled the tab of a second beer can.

Even though he had spent longer than usual washing his entire body, he hadn’t achieved what he wanted.

The stimulation of emotion that had once clung seemed to leave traces somewhere in his body, not easily flying away or being erased.

“I’m glad I came to Domyeong Estate after all. You’re here, and Yeon Woo’s here, so it looks like it’ll be fun for a while.”

His cousin’s classmate. The daughter of a Domyeong Estate employee.

Only things he hadn’t learned from the woman’s own mouth piled up. Sung Hun nodded slowly and swallowed his beer again.

The carbonation of the beer sliding down his throat seemed to grate on his nerves. Sung Hun, who had been swallowing beer mercilessly as if to completely block his breath, put down the can, and Hyun Wook looked at him with round eyes.

“Our hyung was thirsty for alcohol. Really thirsty.”

The heat doesn’t subside. Sung Hun exhaled deeply.

“See? Hyung, I was right to come, wasn’t I?”

Without making any particular response to Hyun Wook’s playful question, Sung Hun smiled with a slight chuckle. He held out his can, meaning let’s just drink without talking, and Hyun Wook clinked it in a toast.

“The weather’s nice too, it’s good. Ah, it’s good! Everything’s good! Meeting our hyung and meeting Yeon Woo! It’s good, so good!”

Sung Hun wiped the beer from the corner of his mouth with his fingertip.

“Seems like you liked her.”

“Who? Yeon Woo? Me? Yeon Woo?”

Like someone who had asked an uninteresting question, he turned the beer can this way and that with fingertips relaxed as much as possible. Hyun Wook, who had received the question, hesitated for a moment with a “hmm,” then grabbed a new can.

“Did I? Well, did I like her?”

Hyun Wook laughed at his vague ending, and Sung Hun closed his eyes and opened them again.

*

Hyun Wook was a student who had never missed being class president during his school days. Furthermore, he had even been the student council president of the entire school by an overwhelming margin of votes.

Yeon Woo recalled the times she had pushed far into her memories. The name ‘Hyun Wook’ had become unfamiliar, but as soon as she saw his smiling face, she couldn’t help but recognize who he was.

Hyun Wook had a lively personality and was friendly, so he was a friend who carefully looked after others to ensure no classmates were left out.

Moreover, he was from Domyeong Estate, part of the Nam family. Among school friends, Hyun Wook was seen as a one-of-a-kind golden spoon, a royal family member, and thus an object of envy and admiration.

Hyun Wook, whom she met after a long time, seemed to have become even more affable than before. Kind questions and kind smiles continued throughout their brief time together.

After talking with Hyun Wook and entering the main building, Yeon Woo tilted her head. The words that he had thought of her a lot, that he had been very curious about how she was living, didn’t feel natural to accept.

‘Was I that close with him?’

She felt sorry, wondering if she alone had forgotten without sentiment while the other person remembered her. She also felt concerned that she might not have shown a genuinely welcoming attitude to Hyun Wook, who repeatedly said he was glad to see her.

Since she heard he would be staying at Domyeong Estate for a while, she thought she should at least greet him first next time they met. It was as Yeon Woo was thinking this and taking steps that it happened.

In the quiet space where most of the main building staff had finished their work day. She encountered Manager Moon coming out of the kitchen after finishing the cleanup.

Manager Moon, who glanced at Yeon Woo through his small glasses, began to speak as if he had been waiting.

“The executive director and young master Hyun Wook are having drinks in Unseondang now, so answer well if there are any calls and run errands well.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Young master Hyun Wook. The title was ridiculous.

“If they say they’re hungry, I’ve prepared some snacks, so you can take them.”

“Yes.”

When Yeon Woo answered briefly without adding anything else, Manager Moon gave a few precautions and then turned to leave.

“You don’t need me anymore, right? Then just answer the calls well…”

Yeon Woo suddenly blocked Manager Moon’s path.

“Oh my goodness!”

Manager Moon, startled, shrank back. Thinking she might have approached too closely, Yeon Woo made an embarrassed expression and then stared at Manager Moon.

“What is it. What. My eardrums are still good. You don’t need to speak so close, I can hear everything.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

Yeon Woo just fidgeted with her fingers. After hesitating for a moment, she raised her eyes as if she had made up her mind.

…If you want to endure, you have to adapt.

“Manager.”

“Yes. What. What.”

“I’m hungry.”

To adapt, you have to blend in.

“What?”

“I’m hungry. Please give me some food.”

This was Yeon Woo’s conclusion after spending two nights at Domyeong Estate.