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Chapter 02
At his snort of laughter in response to the naïve yet oddly bold question, Chaeyoon finally came back to her senses a beat too late.
“Suna, go on to the study room first. Your teacher will talk with the guest for a bit and then come.”
“Teacher, do you know this mister? You’re not supposed to be alone when you meet someone you don’t know.”
Chaeyoon smiled faintly at the child’s worried words, a smile that barely showed. She lowered her head and whispered back to her.
“If something dangerous happens, I’ll scream.”
Moohyun, who had suddenly been labeled a “dangerous person,” let out another scoff.
“I can hear everything, you know.”
Chaeyoon didn’t reply. When Moohyun saw her eyes trembling slightly as they met his, he made a dumbfounded expression.
Even that expression was exactly the same as before, and it tore at her heart. Chaeyoon barely managed to turn her head away from him and smiled at the child instead.
“Go on inside, Suna. There’s ice cream in the fridge, so have some while you wait. I’ll be right there.”
“I can eat ice cream? Really?”
“Just one.”
The child, who had been staring tensely at Moohyun, instantly brightened at the word “ice cream” and started walking away. Then she suddenly stopped, turned back, and shouted at him.
“Mister! I’ll be watching from the window!”
Moohyun let out a quiet laugh as he watched the child, who had called him handsome, stylish, and cool, yet never let down her guard until the very end.
Only after Suna disappeared toward the annex did Chaeyoon finally ask him,
“…You said you came from where?”
Instead of answering, Moohyun held out the business card he’d been holding the whole time.
Chaeyoon carefully accepted it and stared at it blankly for a long moment.
[Seo Moohyun
Head of Strategic Planning, Sungil Group]
So he really did come back for good, after saying he’d gone to New York.
As the new realization settled in her mind, a quiet sense of relief slowly bloomed.
Even if he still didn’t remember her, the fact that he had returned to headquarters and taken on a key position meant his condition had improved. That alone made her happy—and relieved.
Without hurry, like a fool.
Trying to hide those feelings, Chaeyoon continued to stare at the card before forcing herself to speak casually.
“So you’re Director Seo Moohyun of Sungil Group. Are you, by any chance, Chairman Seo’s grandson?”
When Moohyun nodded lightly, she asked again,
“What brings the chairman’s grandson here?”
Moohyun simply stared at her. His gaze sharpened as he examined her face as though he were trying to uncover something.
After a moment, he asked in a twisted voice,
“You’re not asking because you don’t know, so I guess you’re just shameless by nature?”
Already overwhelmed by shock, pain, and relief upon seeing him again, Chaeyoon was flustered by Moohyun’s sudden aggression.
Not understanding what he meant, she spoke carefully, her confusion plain on her face.
“I’m not sure what you mean, but—”
“Shameless, yet not clever enough to match your greed, it seems. Sleeping with some old man well past eighty and all you got out of it was this one villa? Shouldn’t you have at least secured a few buildings in Gangnam?”
The meaning of his words crept into her mind painfully slowly.
A villa obtained by sleeping with an old man well over eighty.
The moment she understood, Chaeyoon felt her mind go completely white with shock, betrayal, and hurt.
How could he say something like that? Even if he’d forgotten her—how could he say something like that so casually?
She had sworn she would never break down in front of the man who couldn’t remember her even after three years, but she couldn’t endure it anymore.
Biting her lip harder than before, the corners of Chaeyoon’s eyes slowly reddened.
When Moohyun saw tears welling up in her large eyes, he let out a crooked smirk—one that clearly mocked her pain.
“No matter how unfair you try to make it look, there’s no one who’ll believe—”
Chaeyoon cut him off sharply, no longer willing to endure his humiliation.
“If you came here to insult me, then congratulations—you succeeded. Now please leave. No matter how much you don’t want to accept it, the fact that this is my home—”
Before she could finish, Moohyun snapped back,
“Your home? You really think a house you got by seducing a senile old man is truly yours?”
“……!”
“Well, I suppose unlike uptight schoolteachers, an old man would be easy enough to manipulate.”
“What are you—”
The moment he said “schoolteachers,” all color drained from Chaeyoon’s face.
‘No matter how thoughtless you are, how could you go after a married man? A teacher behaving so loosely… tsk tsk.’
The nightmare she had struggled so hard to forget resurfaced instantly at Moohyun’s single sentence.
Realizing that he had dug up her past—and drawn even worse conclusions from it—made her vision go dark.
Moohyun looked at her face, now pale to the point of turning bluish, with clear satisfaction.
“Still, shouldn’t you have learned something after getting kicked out of school in just a few months? What were you planning to do if rumors spread in such a tiny town?”
As he continued speaking, tears gathered in Chaeyoon’s reddened eyes.
She bit her lip as if holding back sobs and clenched the hem of her T-shirt tightly in her hand.
Watching the blue veins stand out vividly against the back of her trembling, pale hand, Moohyun finished as if granting her a favor.
“It doesn’t look like we can have a proper conversation today, so let’s stop here. Next time, I’ll come with a lawyer.”
With a cold smile, Moohyun slowly turned away. The artificial smile plastered onto his neat, handsome face was almost picture-perfect.
Chaeyoon remained standing there long after his car had left the villa grounds, unable to move.
Every night, she had imagined the day they would meet again.
In most of those imaginings, Moohyun passed her by without recognizing her.
Sometimes, he remembered too late and apologized as he held her—but even those moments were rare, even in dreams.
Still, she had never once imagined that he would appear like this and hurl such absurd insults at her.
Yes. Someone who didn’t know the truth might misunderstand like that.
‘Sleeping with some old man well past eighty, and all you got was this one villa…’
As Moohyun’s filthy words resurfaced, Chaeyoon’s face twisted in pain.
The fact that she could only show her emotions now that he was gone made it hurt even more.
‘Shouldn’t you have learned something after getting kicked out of school in just a few months?’
Hearing such words from Moohyun—of all people—was unbearably cruel.
Was erasing her from his memory not enough? How could he come all the way here just to say something like that?
“Teacher!”
Chaeyoon, who had been keeping her eyes closed to suppress the rising tears and pain, snapped back to reality at Suna’s voice.
When she opened her eyes and turned around, Suna had already come out of the annex and was standing right in front of her.
“Teacher, what were you doing all alone? Did that mister leave?”
“Yes. He left a little while ago.”
“What did you talk about? Was he someone who came to see you for a blind date?”
Chaeyoon forced a smile at Suna, who was still talking about matchmaking.
Not long ago, Suna’s mother had casually brought up the topic of a blind date to Chaeyoon, and she had turned it down.
Perhaps that was why—whenever Suna saw a young man near Chaeyoon, she always asked if he’d come to see her for a date.
“No. He’s the grandson of a chairman who used to come by the villa occasionally. I think he just had something to ask. When I said I didn’t know, he left right away.”
Thankfully, Suna didn’t press further about Moohyun.
“My mom called, Teacher. She said to come home.”
“She’s back already?”
“Yes. She said to come quickly and eat.”
“Then I’ll walk you home.”
“I’m fine on my own. If I run, I’ll be there in no time. Teacher, see you tomorrow!”
Finishing both her refusal and farewell at once, Suna immediately turned and ran off. Chaeyoon called out after the child’s retreating figure as she dashed downhill.
“Be careful! Don’t fall!”
“Yes!”
Almost as soon as she answered, the child disappeared from sight. Left alone once more, Chaeyoon looked around the garden with lonely eyes.
The garden was fairly small compared to the size of the villa. Even so, the moment she was alone, it felt as desolate as an open wasteland.
The reason that feeling was especially strong today was probably because of the unexpected visitor.
