TNV 10

Mu-hyeon did not want to accept the fact that he had lost his memories—nor the fact that he was clinging desperately to memories that would not return. After much deliberation, he ultimately decided to follow his mother’s advice.

The moment Chairman Seo heard his grandson say he needed time to clear his head, he went so far as to assign him to the New York branch.

The reasoning was that living in a new environment, among new people, might lessen his fixation on the memories that had disappeared.

As Chairman Seo and his mother had hoped, Mu-hyeon’s time in New York proved to be a great help.

He came to accept “amnesia” as part of his past and gained enough emotional space to wait for his memories to return instead of obsessing over them.

Of course, his desire to recover those memories had not disappeared.

But Mu-hyeon was no longer frantic, as he had once been, to reclaim the five missing months. He believed that one day, the lost memories would return.

Perhaps because of that, the look in his eyes as he toured the villa was cautious yet unhurried.

Starting from the rooftop, he examined the villa carefully and at leisure.

Yet just as three years ago, no memories surfaced. All he could confirm was that the villa was in remarkably good condition.

An hour later, he returned to the first floor and stopped by the reception room window overlooking the backyard. As he slowly ran his fingers along his chin, a hint of puzzlement showed in his expression.

It doesn’t look like anyone lives here at all.

After inspecting the entire interior, Mu-hyeon realized the villa had been vacant for quite some time.

That didn’t mean it had been neglected.

There wasn’t much dust on the white sheets covering the furniture, nor on the floors or window frames. The kitchen was spotless, and the refrigerator was stocked with cold water. Someone was clearly maintaining the place.

There was no need to check who it was. The answer was obvious—Song Chae-yoon.

According to what he had learned before coming down to Yangpyeong, aside from the villa, Song Chae-yoon had no notable assets.

His grandfather had left her the villa and some land in the Yangpyeong area, nothing more. Other than that, all she had was a few tens of millions of won left by her grandmother, Madam Song.

He didn’t know how much income she earned from running a small study room, but in Mu-hyeon’s eyes, she didn’t seem well-off enough to hire people to clean the villa.

That meant the only person who could have been cleaning it regularly was Song Chae-yoon herself.

If she only comes to clean and doesn’t live here… why?

No matter how well it’s maintained, a house no one lives in eventually turns into a ruin.

Unless this villa held some extraordinary memories for her, selling it would have been a better long-term choice for Song Chae-yoon…

The relaxed state of mind he’d maintained since the previous night sharpened abruptly.

Setting aside the unfounded rumors that Song Chae-yoon had been his grandfather’s mistress, the mere thought that she might have unforgettable memories tied to this place made irritation surge.

Come to think of it, I still haven’t heard why Grandfather specifically left the villa to her.

Just as Mu-hyeon stood by the reception room window, frowning deeply as he recalled the reason he’d planned to storm into the annex—

A small female figure appeared on the path leading to it.

Song Chae-yoon, wearing an oversized jumper, crossed the backyard with light steps. Her chestnut-colored hair, tied in a ponytail, bounced cheerfully with each stride.

Where is she going at dawn?

Mu-hyeon watched her retreating figure with a puzzled gaze. Only after she disappeared onto the narrow trail leading to the back mountain did he hurry out of the villa.

The morning air was unusually cold. Standing at the summit of the back mountain, Chae-yoon wrapped her scarf tightly around her neck, mouth, and nose as she looked down at the scenery below.

The rain had cleared the air, leaving the view especially crisp, but perhaps because her thoughts were tangled, the landscape failed to register.

She inhaled the cold air deeply, then slowly exhaled.

Don’t be too hurt over Young Master. I suppose the two of you simply weren’t meant to be. As time passes, there will come a day when you forget.

Those were the words her grandmother had used to comfort her when they learned that Mu-hyeon had lost five months of his memory.

No matter how painful a memory is, time dulls it. That’s why people say time heals all wounds.

But back then, those words meant nothing to Chae-yoon.

The man who had whispered sweetly that he loved her, that there would be no woman in his world but Song Chae-yoon, had carved her out of his memory alone. The realization filled her with a sense of betrayal—sadness, resentment, pain, and anger all at once.

Yet there was nothing she could do.

The day she begged Chairman Seo to let her into his hospital room, Mu-hyeon didn’t even look at her properly as he spoke. Don’t let just anyone into my room. His expression was endlessly cold.

The hope she’d clung to—that if he saw her face, his memory would return like a lie—was shattered completely.

After that, Chae-yoon was all but chased out of the hospital by Mu-hyeon’s mother and the woman who was introduced as his fiancée.

Never show yourself in front of Mu-hyeon again. If you do, I won’t stay quiet. Today is the last day I tolerate your existence.

Mu-hyeon’s mother glared at Chae-yoon with eyes filled with hostility, as if blaming her for his accident.

Chae-yoon had expected to be thrown out of the annex with her grandmother at any moment.

But aside from a single visit by Mu-hyeon’s mother and his fiancée after they returned to Yangpyeong, the Seo family remained silent.

It was only after her grandmother passed away that Chae-yoon realized this had been Chairman Seo’s consideration.

As time passed, as the shock faded and she came to accept reality, Chae-yoon often thought she should have left the annex the moment she accepted that Mu-hyeon had completely forgotten her.

If she had, she wouldn’t have lived in constant anxiety over whether he might suddenly appear, nor wondered whether he had forgotten the villa’s existence altogether.

But her grandmother had said she couldn’t leave this place she’d lived in her entire life. Though she had always put her granddaughter first, this was the one thing she couldn’t yield on.

Chae-yoon hadn’t been heartless enough to leave her grandmother alone.

She even tried to use finding a job in Seoul as an excuse to distance herself from Yangpyeong—but she was unfairly accused of wrongdoing and fired from her school. In the end, she had no choice but to return here.

“I’m starting to feel like I’ll become a ghost bound to Yangpyeong at this rate.”

She muttered bitterly. At that moment, she heard footsteps behind her, followed by a familiar voice.

“The view must be pretty good if you’re climbing a mountain at the crack of dawn.”

She was too tired to even make a surprised face anymore.

When Chae-yoon turned around calmly, Mu-hyeon was standing there in a comfortable sweater and training pants.

Seeing him wearing clothes he used to wear often when he stayed at the villa three years ago made her feel, for an instant, as though time had rewound.

But as if to deny even that illusion, Mu-hyeon continued speaking, his voice carrying a trace of amusement yet sounding oddly twisted.

“Judging by how unsurprised you are, you must have known I was following you.”

“No. I’ve just grown used to Director Seo Mu-hyeon following behind me.”

The smile that had filled his handsome face slowly faded.

Without it, Mu-hyeon looked cold and sharp—almost irritated.

But Chae-yoon wasn’t flustered. It was no different from the expression she’d seen three years ago, on that day when the scent of plum blossoms was heavy in the air and Mu-hyeon had come down to Yangpyeong with his leg in a cast.

Keeping his cold gaze fixed on her, Mu-hyeon approached at an unhurried pace—

Leisurely, like a predator savoring the moment before claiming prey.

“It seems Song Chae-yoon is quite accustomed to men following her.”

“Is that why you followed me all the way up here? At the crack of dawn?”

When she echoed his words back at him in a deliberately provocative tone, Mu-hyeon let out a short laugh.

After stopping about two steps away from her, he looked down at her with emotionless eyes.

“I am curious—but not enough to interrogate you over it. Let’s start with why my grandfather left this villa to you.”

“…And why should I tell you that?”

“Because I have quite a few memories tied to this villa myself. Out of everyone in the family, I was the closest to my grandfather.”

Even though you’ve forgotten the memories you had with me.

The thought burst forth the moment she heard his answer, and Chae-yoon swallowed it back with difficulty.