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chapter 35
The walls were tall.
The sky was a dull gray, as if someone had splashed it with gray paint. Even the shadows of the towering buildings couldn’t soften the afternoon.
No light passed through any window, and the air was so humid it was almost strange that it wasn’t raining.
On a day like that, Yeon-woo took several deep breaths in front of a high-end villa in Hannam-dong.
“…….”
People change.
Just as the once-prissy nineteen-year-old Seo Yeon-woo had become a tough islander who didn’t even flinch at someone’s crude jokes, Woo Jeong-ha must have changed too. The memories of their shared nineteenth year were likely gone, and perhaps she now carried an imperious attitude reminiscent of Saho.
Just as the current Woo Jeong-ha now lived in a high-end villa in this affluent neighborhood.
It was a natural change.
Yet an inexplicable unease gripped Yeon-woo’s feet, keeping her rooted to the spot.
“Did you come for something in particular?”
“Huh?”
A man approached Yeon-woo, who was hesitating awkwardly at the entrance, unable to step inside.
“You’ve been standing here for a while.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Yeon-woo realize she might look suspicious to someone.
The man wore a black uniform marked with the villa’s name, and his build was too imposing for a simple security guard.
“Sorry, but you need an access pass to enter here. If you’re visiting, there should be a prior appointment…”
“I have it, my access pass.”
Yeon-woo interrupted him abruptly and rummaged through her pocket, pulling out a small card. She had received it from Director Won the previous day.
The man took the access pass and raised one eyebrow before lowering it again. He seemed surprised by the unexpected development.
“I’ll check it for you. Please come this way.”
“……Yes.”
After scanning the barcode on the access pass, the man finally wore a perfect “friendly smile.”
“So you’re in building 3A. Sorry, I haven’t been working here for long.”
“No problem.”
His gaze, full of kindness, met Yeon-woo’s. She couldn’t even maintain a faint smile at that moment.
The man seemed anxious, worried that Yeon-woo might find a fault.
Her heart grew heavier.
“Have a good day.”
He greeted her politely, and Yeon-woo nodded roughly before stepping inside.
Even after entering, Yeon-woo couldn’t move forward for a while, pacing back and forth. She needed time to mentally prepare before meeting Woo Jeong-ha.
To organize her thoughts.
It had only been three days since Yeon-woo arrived in Seoul. Everything—the city, the situation—was sudden for her. To think she was now opening the door to someone else’s home.
Unaware of the expression on her own face, Yeon-woo stepped into the cool corridor. Her footsteps echoed softly, and the hem of her skirt kept twisting oddly as she walked.
When she headed toward the softly lit living room, she found herself twitching her nose involuntarily.
She smelled alcohol.
The space was painted entirely in black, with a dark gray sofa where a human figure lay sprawled.
“…….”
She felt eyes on her, fixed from the far end of the corridor.
The gaze seemed to carefully wrap around her, from head to toe, like a web. It wasn’t unpleasantly sticky, just cold enough to make her skin shrink.
She could sense Woo Jeong-ha’s alertness clearly.
“……A guest has come.”
The voice, murmured through his teeth, reached her ears. Yeon-woo felt small, like a lone performer on a stage with only one spectator.
“……I was told Madam contacted you beforehand. I’m Seo Yeon-woo, the one who will serve as your secretary from today.”
She spilled the words as if she had memorized them frantically.
Her gaze awkwardly lingered on his upper body, unable to meet his eyes. She didn’t want to see the expression Woo Jeong-ha wore as she looked at her.
After finishing her words, a silence followed, broken only by her own shallow exhale.
“…….”
“…….”
Woo Jeong-ha said nothing. Her lips didn’t move. Only the ice clinking in the whiskey glass could be heard.
…She really doesn’t remember me.
The thought made Yeon-woo feel genuinely miserable. Her heart seemed to plummet to the ground, her head ringing as if no blood reached her brain.
She realized her face had turned bright red.
“Ah, from now on, I’ll do my best to serve you… without any shortcomings…”
Even her voice trembled, as if flushed. Acting nonchalant, pretending not to look at him, behaving like a real ‘secretary’.
She forced herself to finish her sentence, only for her words to be abruptly cut off.
“Interesting.”
“……Excuse me?”
“I thought you said it wasn’t necessary. Has our mother finally gone deaf?”
The voice, filled with contempt, struck Yeon-woo’s ears.
“Or perhaps it’s dementia.”
The tone was sharp, almost cutting. Only then did Yeon-woo see the twenty-nine-year-old Woo Jeong-ha before her.
Leaning drunk on the sofa, sprawled out, yet her eyes were fierce and piercing.
Her neck and body, descending from her face, were thick and masculine, resembling a beast that could never be pierced. Seeing her, Yeon-woo’s gaze wavered.
“…….”
The emotion rising inside her was unmistakably new.
She felt suffocated, unsure where to look. The black eyes before her were not the Woo Jeong-ha she had known.
They were calm, unmoved by the presence of Seo Yeon-woo.
Yet they contained a fierceness capable of grabbing and biting her neck in an instant. The temperament was different from the one she knew.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“……I—”
“I said it’s unnecessary.”
Woo Jeong-ha moved her Adam’s apple gracefully, dismissing her. Yeon-woo felt abandoned, like a person left in a barren field. Her blouse, her skirt, everything seemed ridiculous.
But she desperately tried to think. If she were kicked out without saying a word, Madam would surely not stay silent.
Madam was someone who could threaten her life in any form. And above all, she had to be here for Jeong-ha.
“Madam hopes I serve you well.”
Speaking clearly, pressing each syllable firmly, she voiced her utmost sincerity.
The previously unreadable expression on Woo Jeong-ha’s face cracked slightly.
“…I too am determined to serve you well…”
As she barely finished, Jeong-ha’s gaze shifted. This time, it was sharp, like a blade.
Woo Jeong-ha suddenly smiled at the corner of her lips.
As if she had found a good toy.
“Can you prove it? That determination.”
“…….”
At the ambiguous question, Yeon-woo held her breath, waiting. Yet she anticipated something sinister would follow.
Woo Jeong-ha’s expression was turning increasingly dangerous.
“Have you ever dealt with a man before?”
…At that moment, Yeon-woo heard something like laughter.
A sound that seemed to mock her shattered heart.
