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CHAPTER 07
Creak—
The heavy gate slowly opened just wide enough for a fist to slip through.
A middle-aged woman dressed as a servant cautiously poked her head out.
“Who are you?”
Her gaze swept over Choi-hee from head to toe with a clearly displeased expression.
Choi-hee, wearing a polite smile that made her look approachable, handed over the flyer she had been holding.
“I came after seeing this flyer. Is this 3 Gwangan-dong, the new district?”
Her voice trembled slightly, but she pressed her tongue firmly and kept smiling as if nothing was wrong.
The middle-aged woman looked at the flyer in Choi-hee’s hand and then opened the gate wide.
“Come in.”
She stepped back to let Choi-hee enter.
Once inside the gate, beyond a neatly trimmed lawn, a large building came into view. The walls, built from neatly stacked red bricks, were overgrown with ivy that covered countless bricks.
The sheer size of the mansion made her eyes widen.
Houses like this could only be found in the wealthiest districts of Gyeongseong.
Well, only someone with this level of wealth would hire a private tutor.
Choi-hee steeled her resolve, repeating the phrase “salary: negotiable” in her mind.
No matter what, she would make herself useful to the owner of this house.
Following the woman’s guidance, Choi-hee entered the red-brick house and walked down a long hallway. Even without looking around, luxurious European and Japanese-style furniture and decorations naturally caught her eye.
‘It doesn’t look like a house with children…’
She felt a question arise, but quickly shook her head, blaming her limited experience.
‘I’ve only ever been to teachers’ houses anyway. Those were ordinary homes, so of course this place is different.’
She recalled the American-style homes of missionary teachers she had worked with at the academy in Gyeongseong.
Even though they were foreigners, their homes had been modest, so it made sense this place felt different.
At that moment, the servant leading her stopped.
Knock knock—
She knocked on the door.
“Young master, someone brought the flyer you mentioned.”
Choi-hee was startled by two things she immediately realized from the woman’s words.
First, she had spoken in Korean to the person inside. That meant the owner of this house was Korean… She had never imagined a Korean person living in such a grand mansion.
Second, she had called him “young master.”
Then… was the person she was supposed to teach not a little girl, but a boy?
Choi-hee recalled the detailed job posting and Bok-yi’s worried warning. Before she had even met him, she already felt nervous.
Just as she was debating whether to turn back, a man’s voice came from inside.
“Come in.”
Unexpectedly, it was not a child’s voice but an adult man’s.
Suppressing her growing doubts, Choi-hee stepped into the room.
Inside, what she had thought was a room turned out to be a study filled with the scent of books.
Three entire walls were lined with bookshelves reaching up to the ceiling, and in the center stood a black leather sofa.
And in the middle of the study stood the man called “young master,” with his back turned to her.
His tall frame and broad shoulders were enough to overwhelm her just from behind.
Her gaze drifted from his tightly fitted shirt over his back, down to the dark gray suit pants clinging firmly to his lower body.
Embarrassed, she quickly turned her eyes to the bookshelves on the left wall.
Wait a moment. Why does that back look familiar?
She slowly turned her head again.
At the same time, the man turned around.
As if it were a scene from a novel, their eyes met in midair.
“You…!”
The man’s sharp eyes behind thin wire-rim glasses widened noticeably.
After the servant closed the door and left, the woman stood frozen in place.
Their eyes met, and hers darted around in shock. There was no doubt—she recognized him.
Do-woon recognized her instantly as well.
The Korean woman from the first-class carriage of the train to Shinŭiju.
The woman whose suspicion had been overflowing, unaware she had been sitting beside someone whose life was in danger.
Why is she here?
His gaze shifted to the flyer clutched in her slightly roughened hands.
It was the advertisement he had posted in Shinŭiju city. It was also a breakthrough to obtain information from Minamoto.
Shige Minamoto was known for occasionally attending business gatherings with his wife.
And that wife happened to run an “English reading club” for women preparing to travel to England next year.
It was called a reading club, but in reality, it was a social gathering where women learned English.
There, they exchanged trivial stories—from their children’s school grades to their husbands’ business dealings.
Until now, it had been a source of information he had not needed.
But now things were different.
With all official channels cut off, Do-woon needed any possible way to obtain business information.
Even if it meant relying on a women’s social club.
‘Come to think of it… this woman speaks English.’
[You are truly the worst.]
“What did you say?”
[Shameless, reckless, and brazen.]
This woman had jumped off the train and spoken to him in English.
Back then, he had pretended not to understand.
Looking again, she had her hair styled in a Western fashion and wore clothes not typically worn by Korean women.
A Korean woman who speaks English.
He hadn’t expected much when posting the job advertisement.
But to think someone with exactly those qualifications would appear.
‘Jackpot.’
He could use this woman.
Forcing down the rising corner of his mouth, Do-woon gestured calmly.
“So we meet again. Isn’t that right?”
“…How are you here?”
“This is my house. Why wouldn’t I be here?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
Her eyes wavered. She bit her lip, swallowing her words.
“Isn’t it fate, meeting again in a place that isn’t the afterlife?”
Do-woon smiled and guided her toward the sofa. When he smiled like that, women always looked at him with enchanted eyes.
But this woman remained frozen, still shocked.
“If you keep standing there, the day will end. Come this wa—”
“I think I came to the wrong place. I’ll be leaving now.”
Before he could finish, she cut him off sharply.
Leave?
Why?
Why?
Thinking he had to stop her, Do-woon strode toward her. She backed away, trying to avoid him, but eventually tripped on the sofa and fell back onto it.
Her brows furrowed as if she were angry.
“Where are you in such a hurry to go? You came here holding that flyer, which means you were looking for work, right?”
“I didn’t know the person who posted it was you!”
“So what if it’s me?”
“I don’t want to work under a shameless, lecherous employer!”
Do-woon placed one hand on the armrest of the sofa and the other on his waist, slowly leaning down toward her.
His sly smile still looked like a mask.
Choi-hee felt the man leaning over her was threatening.
“Shameless, I understand… but lecherous? When was that added?”
He tilted his head as if genuinely curious. He even sounded wronged. She let out a cold laugh.
“It was obvious from the flyer.”
She did not say she had seen him at a brothel recently, mingling with geishas.
There was no need to.
“A grown man in his mid-twenties looking for a woman teacher—if that’s not lecherous, then what is it?”
It was a rough statement, but not entirely wrong.
“A grown man in his twenties looking for a woman—of course I thought it was a girl he wanted taught!”
“This is unfair. I’m actually glad to see you, but I guess you’re not?”
“Why would you be glad to see me?”
“I felt guilty about letting you go that day. Did you meet the person you were supposed to meet at the station?”
At his question, Choi-hee fell silent.
Of course he remembered that.
He had directly referenced the excuse she had made to avoid him.
Because it had been a lie, she couldn’t immediately respond.
A moment of silence passed.
Then he clicked his tongue, lowering his eyebrows as if pitying her.
“So… you didn’t meet them.”
At his fake sympathy, Choi-hee almost stood up in anger, but the man blocking her prevented her from moving. His large body seemed to cage her in.
She lifted her head and looked him straight in the eye.
“I think I came to the wrong place. Please move aside.”
Unexpectedly, he slowly withdrew his arm.
Taking the chance, she quickly stood up.
She tried to pass by him, but he casually spoke.
“You need money, don’t you?”
She froze.
Money?
Of course she did.
The money from her previous work was no longer enough to pay for lodging. She had searched all night for other jobs, but nowhere wanted her.
If she had no solution, she would have to sleep on the streets tonight.
She bit her lip.
“…I don’t need your money that badly.”
She tried to sound proud, but her voice trembled badly.
As expected, the man let out a faint laugh and looked at her hands.
They were blistered from laundry work at a brothel.
She quickly hid them behind her back, but he had already noticed.
“You don’t look like someone who doesn’t need it. You didn’t even meet the person at the station, did you?”
He trailed off and stepped closer.
With each step, she had to tilt her head further up to meet his gaze.
“I happen to be urgently looking for an English teacher.”
“Why should I work for someone who clearly looks suspicious?”
“Then why did you come to a suspicious employer’s house in the first place? Let me ask again.”
“….”
He bent down slightly and whispered near her ear:
“Don’t you need the money?”
Then he stepped away as if nothing had happened.
Choi-hee clenched her fists tightly.
He was right. She did need the money. This was the only job she could do with her one usable skill.
Swallowing hard enough to make her throat move, she slowly spoke.
“Alright then. You said the salary is negotiable, right?”
“Ah, I never said I would hire you.”
“…What?”
Her tense legs nearly gave out.
So what had all this been? Was he playing with her?
Unlike her outrage, the man remained calm—almost amused.
He walked away and pulled a book from the shelf, then handed it to her.
“I can’t hire you without knowing your ability. Read this.”
If there was a talent for getting under people’s skin, this man had it.
She snatched the book from his hand.
“If I can read it, will you even understand it?”
At her sharp remark, he chuckled and shrugged.
