TNV 23

Chapter 23

However, Muhyeon showed no interest in Hayoung at all. No matter how much her strengths were emphasized, it was useless.

At times, Sunok even found herself wondering whether she should push the marriage forward based solely on conditions, ignoring her son’s wishes.

Muhyeon had shown little interest in the opposite sex since he was young. Therefore, there was a strong possibility that if it were a wife his mother chose, he would not ultimately refuse.

But whenever such thoughts arose, Sunok recalled her own married life, which lacked even a shred of affection.

Because she did not want to pass such a marriage on to her son, Sunok decided to wait as long as possible until a woman appeared whom Muhyeon genuinely liked.

And then—

Recently, she realized that something about her son’s demeanor had changed. When she had her secretary look into it, she heard that Muhyeon had been commuting to and from the villa in Yangpyeong.

The moment she heard that, the person who came to Sunok’s mind was Song Chaeyoon, the granddaughter of the villa’s housekeeper.

Three years ago, the girl who had bewitched her son when he went down to the villa to recuperate, and who had ultimately led him to lose his memory.

At the thought that Muhyeon had gone to see that girl again, Sunok felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

Had he regained his memories?

Her son was someone whose inner thoughts were impossible to read. Even if he had recovered his memory, if he wanted to hide that fact, he could easily do so.

Sunok thought of Muhyeon as her entire life, yet she did not want him to regain his memories. If Muhyeon remembered everything, he would once again refuse to leave Song Chaeyoon’s side.

Sunok still could not understand how her son—who lacked nothing, who was perfect even in appearance—had ever fallen for a girl like that.

Aside from being somewhat pretty, she was a girl with nothing to boast of. Sunok could not comprehend what reason Muhyeon had had to become infatuated with her.

It would have been better if Song Chaeyoon had been the daughter of an ordinary country family in that village. But from the moment Sunok learned that she was not only the granddaughter of a villa housekeeper but also the daughter of an unwed mother, she could no longer look upon the girl favorably.

In her head, she understood that being born that way was not Chaeyoon’s fault, yet in her heart, she could not accept it.

Still, at the time, she could not oppose their relationship in front of her son.

That was because there had been an incident where Muhyeon, with his leg in a cast, had slipped on a rainy road and been unable to move, and that girl had found him and taken him to the hospital.

Even now, Sunok felt chills run through her at the thought that her injured son might have come to harm in a place where no one knew he was.

Thus, at first, it was true that Sunok had felt grateful to Song Chaeyoon.

However, that feeling vanished without a trace after her son’s second accident.

In fact, when Muhyeon lost his memory, she thought it might actually be for the best.

She would no longer have to watch her son lose his senses over a girl who was beneath him.

So she had gone to great lengths to make sure that no one, not even by mistake, would mention Song Chaeyoon’s name in front of Muhyeon.

At that time, she was so on edge that even hearing the word “villa” made her bristle, to the point that even Chairman Seo could not dissuade her.

From then until now, Sunok had lived with the constant fear that her son might recover his memories. Therefore, the news that he had suddenly begun frequenting the villa again was more than enough to make her tense.

Restlessly pacing the living room, Sunok picked up her phone. She dialed Muhyeon’s number, and when he did not answer even after a long wait, the crease between her brows deepened.

She took a deep breath to suppress the urge to keep calling until he picked up.

The more anxious she became, the more her son would try to distance himself, so there was no need to provoke him unnecessarily already.

After all, she would see him that afternoon anyway.

Her son, who was precise and proper in all things, would never forget an important event like the founding anniversary of the Seongil Cultural Foundation. He would surely come to the house on time to pick her up.

“I can just ask him when we meet.”

Murmuring to herself as she tried to calm her nerves, Sunok steadied her heart.

Even if he responded curtly, her son—far more reliable than her husband—had never once failed to meet her expectations, and Sunok trusted him absolutely.

After finishing lunch, Muhyeon left the villa dressed comfortably.

To attend the founding anniversary event, he would have to stop by home and change into appropriate clothes. All the suits he kept at the villa were for work.

For that reason, the previous evening, he had briefly debated whether to go straight home after work. If he slept at home for the night, he could save the time spent traveling back and forth to the villa.

However, his deliberation did not last long. Even though he could have shortened his commute by as much as two or three hours, he had chosen the inefficient option.

To be honest, Muhyeon still could not figure out why he had come to the villa in the first place.

If he were to make an excuse, he could say it was because he liked the dinners Song Chaeyoon prepared for him, but the thought that he had been swayed by nothing more than a single evening meal bruised his pride for no reason.

“Sir, it’s really hot today.”

As he closed the back door and turned around, the voice of a young girl reached his ears. He glanced back absentmindedly and saw a child who looked about ten years old heading out into the front yard together with Song Chaeyoon.

“It is. It already feels like midsummer, doesn’t it?”

“They say this summer is going to be really hot.”

“Really? It was hot last year too—what if it’s even hotter than that?”

As he listened to their conversation, Muhyeon suddenly became curious about the condition of the villa’s air conditioner.

Since the villa had been empty for a long time, wouldn’t it be wise to check the air conditioner in advance so they could get through the summer without trouble?

When checking the villa’s air conditioning, he could look at the annex as well.

Watching Song Chaeyoon’s light, flowing figure from behind, Muhyeon thought idly.

The annex’s air conditioner had not been installed that long ago, and since she used it every year, its condition should be fine.

But considering the fact that Song Chaeyoon did not get along well with machines, it might be better to check it beforehand—

Wait. Was Song Chaeyoon bad with machines? How do I know that?

The natural flow of his thoughts suddenly broke off.

Muhyeon’s head tilted slightly to one side.

And how did I know that the air conditioner in the annex hadn’t been installed that long ago?

He could dismiss it as confusing it with somewhere else, but that explanation did not hold. There was nowhere else whose household details he knew. He had never even paid attention to when the air conditioner in his mother’s Bangbaedong home had been installed or serviced.

“What on earth is this…?”

As Muhyeon muttered in a confused voice, he caught sight of Song Chaeyoon standing in the distance.

Her face, smiling warmly as she looked down at the child, suddenly overlapped with the image of someone whose identity he could not discern.

Lowering his head, Muhyeon pressed a hand to his temple as a throbbing pain suddenly began. In the meantime, Song Chaeyoon and the child gradually moved farther away.

Just now—what was that?

Muhyeon stared until the two of them disappeared down the driveway.

But nothing else came to mind, and only after some time had passed did he frown at the persistent headache and head toward his car.

When Muhyeon arrived in Bangbaedong, the first person to come out to greet him was his mother, Sunok.

Ignoring the lingering headache, he smiled at her.

“Have you been well?”

“Of course. I’m always the same. How about you? Nothing unusual? You’re not sick anywhere, are you?”

“I’m always the same too.”

At that answer, Sunok’s gaze wavered slightly.

Seeing her carefully scrutinize his expression, it seemed she had learned that he had been staying at the villa.