A Villain's True Love - Chapter 13

Sung Hun opened the small door next to the main kitchen where he usually ate breakfast, and entered the employee break room.

It was Yeon Woo’s first time seeing this space. There was a small folding table where people could sit on the floor to eat, a jade floor mat good for employees to occasionally lie down and rest their backs, and an old worn-out TV.

“Did you starve all day just to catch people getting off work?”

Manager Moon brought out a tray with rice, soup, and a few side dishes. Without being told, Yeon Woo, who had been sitting in front of the folding table, stood up and took the tray.

“I’m sorry. From tomorrow, I’ll make sure to eat properly on my own.”

“I won’t stop you if you want to eat, but I also won’t stop you if you don’t want to eat. So keep your mouth shut, don’t complain about being mistreated or anything, and just take care of yourself. Come here to eat your meals.”

“Yes, Manager.”

Yeon Woo picked up her spoon as she answered. After finishing sweeping Woon Sun Dang, her fingertips were trembling, making her hand holding the spoon shake.

Worried that Manager Moon would scold her for shaking over such a small amount of work, Yeon Woo quickly scooped up some rice and mixed it into the soup. It was a fragrant shepherd’s purse soybean paste soup.

Yeon Woo’s eyes widened as she quickly took a spoonful. Manager Moon, who had been hesitating about whether to leave or not, asked:

“What is it? Did you bite a stone?”

“Ah, no. It’s not that.”

She mumbled again.

“It’s delicious.”

“…What nonsense are you talking about eating grass?”

“Really. The soup is really delicious.”

“This is Do Myung Jae. Is a bowl of soup like that a big deal? We don’t carelessly make soup for the employees. We use anchovies from Namhae and add dried pollack to make a rich broth…”

Manager Moon, who had been explaining without much thought, trailed off. Yeon Woo seemed completely absorbed in eating, focused on the task at hand.

Manager Moon, who had been debating whether to leave or not, seemed to give up as she raised her eyebrows and sat down across from Yeon Woo. Yeon Woo waved her hand.

“I can eat by myself. You can go home now, Manager.”

“It’s not about going home.”

Manager Moon, who had raised one knee and rested her arm on it, called out to Yeon Woo. Yeon Woo looked up with her cheeks full of rice.

“You said you lived in Seoul. Where did you work?”

“I worked at a small architecture firm. A small-to-medium sized company.”

“What kind of work did you do there?”

“Just… whatever the higher-ups told me to do. There weren’t many people, so it wasn’t a place where work was properly divided.”

As she swallowed her food, thoughts of Cha Yun Seok came to mind again. With a pang in her heart, a lump of rice went down, and Yeon Woo drank some water.

Manager Moon continued her questions.

“Then why did you quit that job and come down here?”

“…Actually, I quit.”

“You quit? Why?”

At the question “why”, there was a moment of conflict. Should she tell the truth or not?

Many thoughts flashed through her mind, and Yeon Woo bought time by putting rice in her mouth.

This place, Do Myung Jae, was in a rural area even within Moksan County. The situation was very different from rapidly developing big cities, so although they were living in the same era, it seemed more appropriate to consider Manager Moon as a person from the distant past rather than a modern person.

She was still someone who wore hairpins. She was also someone whose concepts, ideologies, morals, and rules seemed to have stopped moving at some point in time. It seemed difficult to gain sympathy from such a person with talk of stalkers and men clinging to women living alone.

“Miss Yeon Woo. Wasn’t it actually you who flirted with the vice president first?”

That was what a coworker had said right after she reported the stalker. At that time, Yeon Woo realized that there were far more people who didn’t want their workplace to become the subject of gossip, regardless of others’ circumstances.

If even colleagues who worked alongside her made such comments, it seemed unlikely that Manager Moon would listen kindly. Moreover, this was her mother’s workplace, so the news could eventually reach her mother.

Once her thoughts reached that point, she didn’t want to offer any further explanation. Yeon Woo swallowed the rice she had been chewing and opened her lips.

“I wasn’t happy while working there. I guess it didn’t suit me.”

Aptitude? When Yeon Woo gave her answer, Manager Moon made a displeased expression. Was it a more trivial reason than expected? Manager Moon snorted and retorted:

“Where in the world is there a job that suits your aptitude? If it suits your aptitude, isn’t that a hobby rather than a job?”

“That may be true, but…”

“Are you going to quit here soon too? Does this job suit your aptitude?”

“I think it does suit me.”

As Yeon Woo murmured while scooping up more soup, Manager Moon closed her lips. Yeon Woo closed her mouth and ate quietly, then opened it again.

“I think I was much more tired of living in Seoul than I thought. I was always alone there, you know.”

…That night, that dawn.

She couldn’t forget the rain falling that day when she left Seoul with just one bag.

“Here, I have my mom, and it’s the familiar neighborhood where I grew up. Also, the flowers are pretty and the sky is beautiful.”

Yes. What was it that made me leave that place with the determination to die?

“I think I like it here after all.”

“You like it?”

“Yes. I like it.”

When Yeon Woo emphatically said she “liked it”, Manager Moon raised her eyebrows. Yeon Woo, sitting up straight and picking up some side dishes, smiled very slightly.

Don’t forget. I left to live.

Because I wanted to live. Because I wanted to go back to the ordinary times.

“I like it here so much that I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to Seoul. So I want to try to do well here.”

So I will try my hardest to live. Not inviting misfortune, not curling up prematurely—

“W-why are you suddenly standing up in the middle of talking?”

“I’m done eating. I’m going to wash the dishes.”

“You’re already done? Are you full?”

“I was really hungry.”

If no one will protect me, I will protect myself.

Perfectly.

“Thank you. The meal was delicious, Manager.”

I’m starting my life again, the one I had temporarily abandoned.

*

The second night shift was easier than the first day. There were no calls from Woon Sun Dang all night, and Yeon Woo took short naps in between.

As the dim dawn broke, Manager Moon arrived for work, and at her words to go get some sleep, Yeon Woo returned to her quarters to rest. With Manager Moon’s reminder to make sure to be back in time for the executive director’s arrival even if the sky split open, Yeon Woo set six alarms before lying down.

Although the sleep time was ridiculously insufficient, the quality seemed better than the quantity as her condition felt okay. Wondering how long it had been since she woke up feeling refreshed, Yeon Woo left her quarters with relatively light steps.

“Yeon Woo!”

She was on her way to the main building. Yeon Woo turned around at the sound of Hyun Wook calling her.

“Are you going to work? Do Myung Jae employees are intense. Working from this early in the morning.”

“Hello, young master.”

“Young master? Why suddenly ‘young master’?”

“I heard people here calling you young master. So I thought I’d try calling you that too.”

Hyun Wook made a disgusted expression and put his hands together as if pleading.

“Don’t tease me. Please, I’m begging you. Don’t tease me.”

“I’m not teasing. I’m an employee here, so it’s right to use the proper titles, isn’t it, young master?”

“Aaargh, please! Please! Don’t do it! I said don’t do it!”

As Hyun Wook closed his eyes tightly and refused to hear it, Yeon Woo bowed her head and burst out laughing. Then she looked up again and asked Hyun Wook:

“You’re up early? You must not be a late sleeper.”

“Me? I didn’t get up early, actually I’m on my way to bed now.”

At the end of his words, Hyun Wook leaned his upper body forward and whispered in her ear. Yeon Woo was startled for a moment and shrugged her shoulders.

“I’ve been living with my days and nights switched for a long time. It means I’m unemployed, you know.”

“Ah, unemployed.”

“I can’t sleep when it’s dark. Only when the sun is high in the sky do I think, ‘Ah, it’s time to sleep,’ and stretch out.”

Even though he wasn’t saying anything particularly grand, Hyun Wook whispered softly, and Yeon Woo quickly nodded. Though they had seen each other in school uniforms and met again as grown adults, Hyun Wook seemed to have no reservations, as if they had known each other all along.

“But don’t envy me. Being unemployed isn’t all good, you know.”

“What else isn’t good about it?”

“What woman would like an unemployed man? I think romance in this life is a lost cause.”

What a fuss about being unemployed for someone born with a silver spoon. Yeon Woo closed her eyelids in disbelief and then opened them, and Hyun Wook pointed at her accusingly.

“Huh? Ji Yeon Woo. You just laughed inside, didn’t you? ‘As always, the rich are something else. Playing around spending your parents’ money, and you have the nerve to say such things.’ That’s what you thought, right? Huh?”

Yeon Woo didn’t say anything and just closed her eyes and opened them again. At that, Hyun Wook’s eyes widened.

“Huh? You’re not denying it? Hey, you’ve become cold-hearted while I haven’t seen you. I thought you were just kind and cheerful, I didn’t know you were the type to hurt people like this. You’ve grown up crooked, huh? Ji Yeon Woo.”

As Hyun Wook wiggled his eyebrows as if he was hurt, Yeon Woo couldn’t help but burst out laughing. It was a laugh that came naturally because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

As Yeon Woo started laughing, Hyun Wook spoke even faster.

“Huh? I’m telling you, Ji Yeon Woo. You used to only say kind and pretty words when we were in school. What made you change like this? Tell me. Come on.”

“Well. Did I really only say kind and pretty words? I don’t remember that.”

“What are you talking about? The prettiest Ji Yeon Woo in Domyeong Middle School, the teachers loved you so much for speaking prettily too. Is it just your face that hasn’t changed? Your personality has changed. Making people upset.”

As Hyun Wook added words with innocent eyes, Yeon Woo burst out laughing again.

She had managed to get some deep sleep for once, and the morning she woke up to was quite nice.

“Ji Yeon Woo. This isn’t something you can just laugh off. Don’t just laugh, say something. Where did the Ji Yeon Woo who only used gentle and proper words go? Huh?”

It really felt like the world was erasing me.

“I’m sorry. I was just joking.”

The me who was tormented by Cha Yun Seok seemed to be fading away like a dream.

So for once, both my body and mind felt light. I never knew that the mornings I had been facing meaninglessly day after day could feel so different. Being safely alive. Not having to breathe in the anxiety mixed in the air.

…I was happy.

Happy enough for trivial chatter to flow out.

When Yeon Woo apologized and said she was sorry, Hyun Wook gave an awkward smile. Yeon Woo looked at Hyun Wook smiling sheepishly and finished her laugh.

“It’s nice to see you laugh. You really are just like you used to be.”

As Hyun Wook added those words, Yeon Woo’s face softened. Was it because of his unparalleled friendliness? She was starting to feel more comfortable with Hyun Wook, a classmate she didn’t really remember interacting with much.

It felt like finding an ally in a workplace that had been somewhat daunting.

It was then. Just as Yeon Woo was beaming with a smile like the morning sun, Sung Hun, who was hurrying to work, spotted the two of them from a distance.

Sung Hun tilted his head slightly as he quietly observed Hyun Wook talking non-stop and Yeon Woo standing across from him, bursting into laughter.

Hyun Wook seemed to be trying his hardest to make the person in front of him laugh. As if rewarding his commendable effort, the woman was letting out clean laughter.

Sung Hun, who had been quietly watching, briefly looked elsewhere, then let out a short breath before moving on.

The heat mixing into the fairly cool and gentle morning air would continue to be something he couldn’t understand.

*

Save yourself from story hunger — the novel below will blow your mind!

One-line summary: The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.

Introduction:

One day, Lu Yuner’s soul transmigrates into a female-dominant world. She enters the Imperial Academy and takes up the position of a doctoral instructor, teaching classes and grading schoolwork.

One day, she encounters the young prince Su Qingwan secretly skipping class from the male academy.

As a result, Su Qingwan is punished.

From then on, Su Qingwan sees Lu Yuner as a “thorn in his side”.

But before long, this “thorn” becomes the person he cherishes most, and he goes to great lengths to win Lu Yuner’s affection.

Mini scene 1:

One day, the sun is high in the sky but Su Qingwan still hasn’t gotten up for class.

Servant Xiaoyuan: “Young prince, it’s time for class. You’ll be late otherwise.”

Su Qingwan says arrogantly: “I’m not going. I am the esteemed prince, my status is so noble, why should I suffer this hardship? Besides, isn’t learning all this just to please women? Hmph, they’re not worthy!”

Mini scene 2:

After Su Qingwan falls for someone, he completely changes. He no longer skips class and diligently learns how to be a good husband and father. But he discovers that Sister Yuner is always surrounded by admirers.

Drunk and overcome with jealousy one day, he clings to Lu Yuner, crying beautifully like a pear blossom in the rain.

Su Qingwan: “Qingwan likes Sister Yuner.”

Lu Yuner: “Young prince, you’re drunk.”

Su Qingwan: “Qingwan isn’t drunk. Qingwan likes Sister Yuner, likes you so much, likes you to bits…” Before he can finish, Lu Yuner’s eyes flash with emotion and she leans in closer.

[Reading Guide]

1. The female lead is gentle, gracious, humble and polite but not weak. The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.

2. 1v1, a bit torturous in the beginning but definitely sweet later on.

_____

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