A Villain's True Love - Chapter 5

Yeon Woo’s footsteps dragged as if she were walking with a heavy weight attached.

‘As long as I’m wide awake like this, there’s absolutely no way anything unexpected will happen. Working instead of mom? Nonsense. What work could I do with these toothpick-like wrists?’

It was an outcome she hadn’t imagined. She had thought that if a young daughter offered to work in place of her injured mother, they would naturally accept.

No, rather than being certain they would accept, her desperate desire to stay at Domyeongjae made the outright rejection all the more devastating.

After leaving the main building, she walked aimlessly. Not realizing that the path out was different from the way she came in, she just kept moving forward wherever the road opened up.

What should I do now? What can I do?

“If you go that way, you’ll end up far from the exit.”

Just as despair was making her steps unsteady.

Startled by the man’s voice, Yeon Woo turned around abruptly. The backlight from the setting sun obscured the man’s appearance, so she squinted to get a better look.

Even knowing it was unlikely, she couldn’t help but feel afraid that this might be someone sent by Cha Yun Seok.

“If you’re lost, I can help you.”

As clouds gathered, the man’s face gradually became visible. It was the man she had seen in the morning. Just like when he had appeared through the mist earlier that day, the man’s expression was polite but emotionless.

Ah. As if finally coming to her senses, Yeon Woo took a couple of steps back. Then, as if checking the path she had walked, she turned her head to look towards the main building.

She should have turned right, but she immediately realized she had missed the turn. Yeon Woo looked back at Sung Hun.

“No, I was just lost in thought and missed my turn. I know the way out.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Sung Hun looked off into the distance, gazing towards the main building. After surveying the path as Yeon Woo had done, he turned back to look at her.

Every time their eyes met, it felt as if they were facing something harmful, with a stinging sensation in their pupils. Neither could say who started it.

“You seem familiar. What brings you to Domyeongjae?”

The question spilled out, even though he already knew the answer from Manager Moon.

“I came to see Manager Moon Ok Rye, who works here. I have something to give her and something to say.”

“Have you finished your business?”

“I think so.”

The ambiguous answer came back. Sung Hun tilted his head slightly at the vague expression “I think so” rather than a clear yes or no.

Even though the woman wasn’t lost and her purpose for visiting wasn’t unclear, he found himself compelled to keep asking questions.

“Does ‘I think so’ mean you weren’t able to fully convey what you needed to Manager Moon?”

“……”

When Sung Hun asked again, Yeon Woo tightly closed her lips. For a moment, she was filled with an inner conflict about whether to make a request to him.

Nam Sung Hun, a member of the Nam family and the owner of Domyeongjae.

If it’s this person, wouldn’t he be able to grant my request?

“Um, perhaps… perhaps…”

Her hasty lips opened first. Sung Hun’s eyebrows moved slightly in response.

As Sung Hun stared at her with an intense gaze, as if waiting for any words to fall, Yeon Woo swallowed hard.

Using the minor incident from the morning as an excuse, words filled her throat, unable to push past her lips: asking to work here instead of her mother, saying she didn’t need any other compensation.

But even just looking straight at Sung Hun was overwhelming right now, and she couldn’t bring herself to continue speaking.

“Take your time. There’s no rush.”

Wondering how much of her complex emotions were written on her face for the man to offer to wait, Yeon Woo gathered her precarious thoughts. Then, as if grasping at the thread of reason, she shook her head.

“No, it’s fine. I just realized what I needed wasn’t time, but rather a sense of propriety.”

“……”

“I’ll be going now. Goodbye.”

She turned to go back. There was no hope to be had, nor was he someone to place hope in.

“So, with your sense of propriety intact, is your business at Domyeongjae concluded?”

Yeon Woo stopped, calmly exhaled, and straightened her shoulders. Interpreting his words as meaning she should never come to Domyeongjae again, she suddenly felt the need to speak firmly.

“Yes, it’s finished. Goodbye.”

After bidding farewell, Yeon Woo took a step. The sound of her footsteps on the dirt path followed her as she walked, and Sung Hun watched her intently.

The scent of magnolias, tinged with bitterness, reached Sung Hun’s nose.

It seemed somewhat reckless.

*

Yeon Woo arrived at her mother’s hospital room and only managed to try to sleep on the temporary guardian bed late at night.

But as in her recent dreams, she was chased by an unidentified man with a blackened face, and after finally being caught, her clothes were torn by claw-like hands.

If you die, I’ll let you go.

If you die, I’ll let you go.

If you die, I’ll let you go.

With a gasp, Yeon Woo’s eyes flew open. The breath that had been caught in her sleep burst forth in heavy respirations. Looking at her deeply sleeping mother, Yeon Woo covered her own mouth and shed tears of fear in three or four streaks.

Instinctively, she clutched at her clothes as if trying to close torn garments. Afraid that her sobs might be heard outside, Yeon Woo slipped out of the hospital room without even putting on her slippers.

Crouched in a corner of the dark hospital corridor, she endlessly poured out terrified sobs.

If you die, I’ll let you go.

In the predawn hours, when the reason she had been desperately clinging to with all her might disappeared in her half-awake state.

It felt as if she would never be free from Cha Yun Seok until she died. Yeon Woo, with her shoulders tightly hunched, was crushed under a formless terror.

“Save me… Please help me, please…”

Her self-talk, begging anyone to save her, continued at length.

Presumably, the rest of this night would be long and grueling. She would no longer be able to sleep or lie down comfortably.

Just as I was yesterday.

Just as I was a month ago.

*

The next day, morning dawned at Domyeongjae.

Sung Hun’s uncle and aunt had returned to Seoul late yesterday evening, and only Sung Hun, who planned to stay for about a month, remained to unpack his belongings.

It was unusual enough for him to visit outside of ancestral rites or holidays, but staying for more than just a day trip was truly rare.

This was a place where no extra effort or alarm was needed to wake up. Domyeongjae’s mornings were filled with the sounds of birds and distant rooster crows that seemed to create a natural alarm effect.

Sung Hun, who had already washed up and chosen his clothes early in the morning, stood in front of the mirror tying his tie. Preferring the Windsor knot method among tie-tying techniques, Sung Hun adjusted the knot for volume and symmetry.

Then he paused for a moment. Suddenly, a scene from yesterday came to mind. Specifically, it was the thought of the woman he had seen at the bus stop and then near the lake at Domyeongjae.

The encounter at the bus stop was one thing, but seeing her in the private residence area where outsiders were restricted was not ordinary.

No. What is there to be out of the ordinary about? As if it were some kind of fate.

‘I realized what I needed wasn’t time, but rather a sense of propriety.’

Standing still in front of the mirror, lost in thought, Sung Hun let out a small, meaningless laugh and resumed tying his tie.

It turned out to be just a coincidence that she was the daughter of a long-time employee at Domyeongjae, but it wasn’t a connection worth dwelling on from the morning.

After neatly tying his tie, Sung Hun turned and packed his briefcase. As he stepped out into the corridor lined with cypress wood, he noticed employees busy sweeping up flower petals that had fallen overnight.

“Good morning, Executive Director.”

“Did you sleep well, Executive Director?”

Sung Hun responded to the employees’ greetings with a slight bow as he passed by. With only workers usually filling the space, the employees seemed somewhat tense now that a member of the Nam family had entered Domyeongjae after a long time.

Even the act of stepping on the ground seemed upright and straight. The employees briefly paused their sweeping to watch Sung Hun’s retreating figure.

At the time of Goku (穀雨), when the grain was said to finally become lush, the master of Domyeongjae had returned.

*

“Your meal will be prepared right away, Executive Director.”

As Sung Hun entered the main building, Manager Moon was waiting. Sung Hun followed Manager Moon and sat at the dining table.

Knowing Sung Hun’s preference for meals that warm the body just enough, Manager Moon had prepared chestnut porridge.

As Sung Hun opened his lips slightly to take a spoonful of porridge, Manager Moon stood by.

Swallowing the chestnut porridge while minimizing the movement of his lower jaw, Sung Hun showed no particular expression, causing Manager Moon to quietly exhale in relief.

It must mean it suited his taste.

“There aren’t any decent restaurants around the site. We’ll prepare the Executive Director’s meals ourselves at the right times.”

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll just eat whatever with the employees, so don’t worry about it.”

When Sung Hun declined with a brief statement, Manager Moon waved her hands emphatically.

“Oh my, how can you say ‘whatever’? That won’t do. If nothing else, taking care of the Executive Director’s meals and sleep is our duty and homework here at Domyeongjae. Don’t worry about it and go about your business. We’ll have everything prepared on time. We’ll also take care of the employees’ meals, so rest easy, Executive Director.”

The area around the construction site was barren, and Manager Moon had decided to handle the workers’ meals within Domyeongjae.

The reason there wasn’t even a single workers’ cafeteria was that the very particular Manager Moon had preemptively blocked any private food services, deeming them untrustworthy.

Since she insisted on taking responsibility for even the workers’ meals at Domyeongjae, Sung Hun finally stopped making any further comments.

It was around the time he had eaten three or four spoonfuls of chestnut porridge. Another employee approached Manager Moon and whispered something. It was the employee who had relayed the news of her mother’s accident to Yeon Woo via home phone yesterday.

“Manager. Yeon Woo is still standing there without leaving. I’m not sure if we should keep her waiting like that.”

When the employee asked, Manager Moon gave him an angry look, telling him to be quiet.

“Be quiet. Didn’t I tell you not to let her in until the Executive Director leaves for work?”

The implication was not to disturb the Executive Director’s meal.

“What’s going on?”

As Sung Hun asked while wiping his mouth with a napkin, Manager Moon straightened up and spoke.

“It’s nothing to worry about, sir.”

“What is going on?”

When the second question fell, the employee standing next to Manager Moon quickly intercepted the answer.

“The daughter of the employee who was injured yesterday has been waiting since dawn, sir. She says she has something important to say.”

“Let her in.”

After Sung Hun spoke, swallowing lukewarm water and putting down his glass, Manager Moon briefly shook her head.

“I’ll go out and meet her after you leave for work, sir. You must be busy, so don’t worry about such trivial matters…”

“I didn’t realize before.”

Sung Hun dropped his napkin on the table with a thud.

“Manager Moon, you have a talent for making me repeat myself.”

Sung Hun looked up at Manager Moon. Manager Moon momentarily lost her words, and Sung Hun tilted his head slightly.

“Tell her to come in.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll hear what she has to say myself.”

“Understood, sir.”

As Manager Moon answered in a voice subdued by pressure, Sung Hun finished his meal.

‘I realized what I needed wasn’t time, but rather a sense of propriety.’

I need to hear directly what words she has to say after discarding the sense of propriety she thought she had kept. Just how extraordinary could it be? Directly.

At the entrance of Domyeongjae, Yeon Woo had been pacing for three hours.

When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem

This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Synopsis:

“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”

Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.

Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.

While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the  Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…

Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.

_____

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