TNV 17

Chapter 17

Life at the villa was monotonous.

That was to be expected—Mu-hyeon left the villa at six every morning, and even on a good day, he didn’t return until after nine at night.

In a rural village, night falls early. People start farming at dawn, so they go to bed early as well. As a result, when he carefully drove along the narrow road lit only by scattered streetlamps and arrived at the villa, the only sound he heard was the chirping of insects.

Tonight was no different. When Mu-hyeon parked in the backyard, everything around him was quiet. The lights in the annex were on, but the windows were meticulously covered with blinds, making it impossible to tell what anyone inside might be doing.

He glanced briefly at the annex, then entered the villa through the back door.

Passing through the kitchen, he noticed a thermos and a ceramic bowl with a lid placed on the dining table.

He was about to walk past it, but curiosity got the better of him, and he stopped.

For the past several days, whenever he came home from work, there had always been a thermos and a bowl of food waiting on the table like this.

Inside the thermos was something light and warm—barley tea or a clear soybean paste soup—while the bowl held items like kimbap, inari sushi, or bite-sized rice balls.

One strange thing was that no matter what time he came home, both the bowl and the food were always warm.

He had no idea how they managed to set the food out exactly when he arrived. Had they installed some kind of alarm that went off when his car entered the village?

Chuckling at his own ridiculous thought, Mu-hyeon reached for the lid of the ceramic bowl.

But strangely enough, today there was no warmth at all coming from it.

So the past few days had just been a coincidence?

Thinking that made sense, he lifted the lid—and what he saw was a sandwich. Cut into easy-to-eat pieces, it was generously filled with egg salad.

…So maybe it wasn’t a coincidence?

Tilting his head, he picked up a sandwich. As soon as he took a bite, a soft, lightly sweet flavor filled his mouth.

It’s good.

Just like the previous days, he stood by the table and finished everything.

Perhaps she took after her grandmother, because Song Chae-yun was quite a good cook. And the portion size was just right—not too much, not too little.

As if it had been made by someone who knew his tastes perfectly.

That was why Mu-hyeon always felt satisfied after dinner. It was absurd that an exhausting day could melt away over just a few pieces of inari sushi, but he didn’t feel any need to deny it.

After finishing the sandwich and cleansing his palate with the roasted Solomon’s seal tea from the thermos, he went upstairs, satisfied as always.

He found himself thinking that spending time at the villa was better than he’d expected.

The fresh air that cleared his head every dawn, the slightly noisy chirping of birds and insects, the time spent reminiscing about his grandfather—all of it appealed to him.

Simply escaping the city, dazzling with lights all night long, seemed to have given him a greater sense of ease.

The only thing that bothered him was Song Chae-yun’s presence, but since he hadn’t even seen a single strand of her hair over the past few days, even that felt trivial.

“Feels like I’m on vacation.”

Fresh out of the shower, Mu-hyeon ruffled his wet hair and muttered with a faint chuckle.

Four weeks.

It wouldn’t be bad to fully enjoy this sense of leisure while staying at the villa.

Watching over Song Chae-yun would only really be possible on weekends anyway, so maybe it was fine to enjoy this feeling during the rest of the time.

Two days passed after he decided to indulge in this long-awaited sense of relaxation.

In order to free up his weekend, Mu-hyeon stayed up all night processing documents and only arrived at the villa in the early morning. By the time he opened his eyes again, it was nearly two in the afternoon.

He headed down to the kitchen at an unhurried pace and saw that today, a simple meal had been laid out on the table.

Seeing the fluffy egg fried rice alongside watery kimchi and seasoned vegetables, a faint smile appeared on his face.

It reminded him of Mrs. Song’s humble yet delicious home-cooked meals.

Just as he was about to sit down, thinking he’d see whether this captured his grandmother’s cooking just as well, a booming male voice rang out from outside.

“What kind of teacher gives homework every single day? You’re not even a schoolteacher! Kids should be playing at home on the weekend!”

Soon after, a shrill girl’s voice followed.

“Playing at home, my foot! You just wanted me to run errands for your booze and cigarettes!”

“What’s wrong with a granddaughter running a few errands for her grandfather? Being obedient is a lot better than acting all uppity just because you study! You hear me?”

What the hell is this…?

An argument between a grandfather and granddaughter—people who clearly had nothing to do with this villa. Why were they making such a scene in the front yard?

When Mu-hyeon got up and walked to the window, the situation became clearer.

A white-haired old man was pointing his finger at Song Chae-yun, yelling about why she had given homework, while a child who looked about ten years old struggled to calm him down.

And Song Chae-yun—every time the old man shouted, she bowed her head. Every time he jabbed his finger, she bowed again. As if all of this were somehow her fault.

He couldn’t hear what she was saying in response. But judging by her posture and the man’s aggressive demeanor, he didn’t need to.

What had she done wrong to deserve apologizing like that? Wasn’t it natural for a teacher to assign homework?

Mu-hyeon’s gaze grew colder as he watched.

In front of him, she always held her head high and argued point for point without backing down—so why was she being this submissive now?

“What kind of studying does a girl need anyway? Just graduate high school and marry well, and that’s enough! Back in my day, finishing elementary school was more than enough!”

As the old man’s verbal abuse continued, Mu-hyeon frowned—just as the child shouted angrily.

“That’s enough, let’s just go home! Why are you coming all the way here just to get drunk and yell?”

“You little brat! How dare you call your grandfather a drunk! Is that what your mother taught you? Or is that what your teacher taught you?!”

Enraged by his granddaughter’s defiance, the old man raised his hand high.

In that instant, Chae-yun pulled the child toward her and wrapped her in her arms.

Seeing that, Mu-hyeon let out a breath of disbelief through clenched teeth.

The blow came down so hard that he could hear the dull thud from inside the house.

When Song Chae-yun staggered while holding the child, Mu-hyeon muttered a curse without realizing it.

“Damn it, did he just—!”

Another voice rang out just as he turned to rush outside.

“Father! What do you think you’re doing here?!”

“Jin-hee!”

A man and woman—apparently the child’s parents—ran over and positioned themselves between the old man and Song Chae-yun.

The child burst into tears in the woman’s arms, while the man bowed repeatedly toward Chae-yun, keeping the old man behind him.

Mu-hyeon stopped in his tracks and looked back out the window, feeling as if he could hear Song Chae-yun’s reply as a phantom echo.

‘It’s okay. The child must be very shaken—please take her home and comfort her.’

After bowing and apologizing several times, the couple led the child and the old man away, disappearing beyond the villa’s entrance road.

Only after they were completely gone did Song Chae-yun, as if all her tension had drained away, stagger and slowly collapse to the ground.

Curled up on the ground, her already small frame looked almost like a flower planted in the villa’s front yard.

If it was going to end like this, why had she put herself through that?

Watching her with cold eyes, Mu-hyeon finally began walking outside.