TNV 14

Chapter 14

Hmm.

Muhyeon stared at the living room window of the annex, concealed behind the blinds, with a strange look in his eyes.

He understood why Song Chaeyoon disliked him. No woman would be unfazed after being treated like a gold digger. Any sane woman would naturally find it unpleasant.

And if someone like that showed up every night demanding she hand over a room, no one wouldn’t get irritated. If Chaeyoon had been a more sensitive person, she would have already flown into hysterics.

But so far, the only reactions she’d shown him were a sharp, snappish tone and looks that clearly said she found the situation absurd. From Muhyeon’s point of view, it was nothing worth mentioning.

Still, he kept his gaze fixed on the annex window, lost in thought.

So why do I feel this damn irritated?

He hadn’t come here seeking Chaeyoon’s goodwill in the first place. He just thought he needed to observe her for a while to understand his grandfather’s final actions.

What did Song Chaeyoon mean to his grandfather? Or what had Mrs. Song meant to him?

If this were Seoul, he would have planted someone on her—or simply bought the neighboring house and moved in himself.

But that wasn’t possible in Yangpyeong.

In a small town like this, a stranger wandering around would immediately draw attention, and there weren’t even any private homes near the villa.

That was why Muhyeon had no choice but to brazenly push his way into the villa. He’d fully expected Chaeyoon to respond prickly in the process.

What he hadn’t anticipated was that her reaction would foul his mood this badly.

What’s the problem?

As he stared at the annex with a sour expression, a distant rumble of thunder echoed.

Rumble.

When he lifted his gaze, the sky had already darkened—but there wasn’t a single cloud in sight. Yet the thunder came again.

Ruuumble.

Perhaps startled by the louder sound, the blinds covering the window shifted slightly. A moment later, the back door of the annex opened, and the silhouette of a small woman hurried toward the main villa.

Seeing Chaeyoon’s predictably softhearted behavior, a faint smirk tugged at his lips.

Judging by how his mood improved the moment she stepped out of the annex, it seemed likely that she really had been the cause of his earlier irritation.

Well, there couldn’t be any other reason in a desolate place like this.

Muhyeon began walking leisurely toward the villa, a cold, unchanging smile hanging on his lips.

At dawn the next morning, Chaeyoon stood in front of the living room window, watching Muhyeon’s car leave the villa through the gap in the blinds.

“He’s leaving early. He bragged about it not being far.”

She muttered the words only after his car had completely disappeared, and despite her sharp tone, her face was full of worry.

It must be exhausting to come all the way to Yangpyeong every day.

Muhyeon had already been in two traffic accidents. The first had injured his leg, and the second had taken his memories. Even so, he drove around without hesitation—he really was a bold person.

She raised the blinds all the way, revealing a sky that was slowly growing brighter. Watching the daylight creep in, Chaeyoon sank into thought.

How long would he keep commuting here? Would it really be okay to continue like this until he left of his own accord?

To be honest, she liked seeing him every day.

Even knowing that he thought of her as a gold digger, even though she scowled at him and hurled barbed words whenever they met, she couldn’t help but feel happy to see him. She still loved Seo Muhyeon.

At the same time, every time he appeared at the villa, she couldn’t deny the spark of hope she felt—that maybe, if they met often enough, his memories would miraculously return.

But Chaeyoon wasn’t in a position to help him recover those memories.

If word spread that Muhyeon was visiting the villa every day, the first person to act would be his mother.

She was a woman whose love and expectations for her only son were extraordinary. For all she knew, she might even be watching what he was doing at the villa right now.

—

“If it weren’t for you, Miss Song, this accident would never have happened. My son was hurt because of you!”

—

Even after several years, the resentment-filled words his mother had hurled at her still rang vividly in her ears.

Perhaps they had lodged so deeply in her mind because she herself thought the same thing.

If Muhyeon hadn’t come out to pick her up that day, he wouldn’t have been in the accident. That lingering guilt still weighed heavily on her heart.

That was why Chaeyoon couldn’t do anything.

If she tried to satisfy her own desires by helping him regain his memories, and he ended up in another accident…

The horrifying thought crept in before she could stop it, draining the color from her face. Clenching her trembling hands, Chaeyoon shook her head hard.

Don’t think about bad things.

No—maybe it was better to do nothing at all. If Muhyeon came to Yangpyeong, she would simply open the villa doors; when he left, she would close them. Nothing more.

And when the day came that his car no longer appeared in the front yard, she would accept that their encounters were truly over. She had endured over two years without him—she could go on living like that.

An empty, bittersweet smile crossed her small face.

She remained by the window for a long time, only leaving the house once the day had fully brightened, to clean up the room Muhyeon had been using at the villa.

But—

Her resolve to do nothing didn’t last even a single day.

That afternoon, Muhyeon arrived at the villa earlier than usual.

And he wasn’t alone. With him was a neatly dressed man in a suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with a tidy, composed appearance.

The two men each pulled a large suitcase from the trunk, then stacked an equally large Boston bag on top.

Just then, Chaeyoon finished her lesson and stepped out of the annex. When she saw the two men, she froze in surprise.

The problem was the eight children who poured out behind her.

They were just as startled by the two unfamiliar men—but their reaction was nothing like Chaeyoon’s. While she stood rooted in place, the children widened their eyes and ran straight toward the strangers.

“Who are you, mister?”

“This villa is private property. You can’t just come in.”

“Geez, why does this guy keep coming here? Teacher said she’s not going on blind dates.”

“Teacher went on a blind date? With him?”

“No. He came for one, but teacher said she wouldn’t.”

“Why? He’s handsome. And his car’s nice. He looks rich.”

“Our teacher is way prettier. And she has money too. This villa belongs to her.”

At Kyungsu’s blunt remark, the gathered children nodded, saying, “That’s true.”

Surrounded by eight children, Muhyeon wore an awkward expression. When their chatter finally died down for a moment, he spoke.

“Could you move aside?”

It seemed he was genuinely trying to be polite. There was no irritation on his face, no sharpness in his tone.

But the children were no easy opponents. The moment he spoke, eight voices answered almost simultaneously.

“You can’t just come in here.”

“Mister, are you interested in our teacher?”

“If you came when she’s alone, you might have ulterior motives…”

“Guys, I think we should stay with teacher until these men leave.”

“My mom told me to come home quickly…”

“Then the ones who want to go can go, and the ones who want to stay can stay.”

Chaeyoon, who had been frozen in embarrassment, finally snapped back to her senses.

The sight of the children resolutely declaring they would stay behind for their teacher, and the two men looking utterly flustered as they were surrounded, was quite a spectacle.

If this had happened under different circumstances, Chaeyoon probably wouldn’t have been able to suppress her laughter.