LLU 14

“I won’t be seeing your face anymore.”

Without waiting for a reply, I hung up the phone. Ha. A hollow laugh burst out and then died down coldly.

My chest trembled with anger. Wheezing, ragged breaths escaped me. If I followed my temper, I would have thrown my phone, but I stopped at just the thought. It wasn’t right for me to get worked up all by myself in someone else’s house where everyone was sleeping.

I roughly pulled the covers over my head. After glaring at the phone screen, I blocked and deleted the unfamiliar number that had left an unpleasant trace.

I just couldn’t understand the psychology of calling someone at this late hour just to get on their nerves like that. Even the word ‘madman’ seemed too refined for him.

But even then, I could not have imagined. That Choi Junghan’s words, ‘see you soon,’ would be a prediction for a very near future.

And that prediction, became the signal that would turn my entire life upside down.

*

“……”

I stared at the sedan standing in front of the gate with a dazed face.

My mother’s face, who had supposedly been resting in bed, was flawlessly bright and cheerful. That part was fine. But my mother showing up not only with a driver but with Chairman Choi as well, was far beyond my expectations.

“Oon-ah, my baby! Have you been well?”

“Woon, you’ve gotten more handsome since I last saw you. Have you been well?”

“…Ah, yes. Hello.”

I bowed my head to Chairman Choi with a sour expression. My tone probably revealed my undisguised hostility and bewilderment. Ever since the day at Chairman Choi’s mansion when my pathetic act had turned to bubbles and I was dragged around by my hair, there was no longer a need to play the role of a delicate, affection-starved younger brother.

However, unlike my bewildered self, the two of them looked extremely excited. He, dressed in a neat shirt with sunglasses perched on his head, spoke in a hearty tone.

“Then hurry up and go inside and get your things.”

“Excuse me? What…”

“Didn’t Mom say we were going on a trip yesterday?”

My mother said cheerfully, her eyes sparkling.

“We decided to go get some fresh air nearby for 4 days and 3 nights over the weekend. You should come with us. The chairman owns a villa in Chuncheon, and you can go ice fishing, and they say the scenery is so beautiful when it snows.”

As my mother’s excited voice continued, my mouth fell open. Then she should have explained beforehand that we would be going with Chairman Choi. What was all this about so suddenly?

When she told me to pack my bags yesterday, I had assumed at most that I would be going somewhere nearby with just my mother for a day or two. I had no memory of ever going on a trip with my mother in my entire life, but I thought maybe we were doing it for the first time as a sort of joint occasion before my independence and her giving birth.

But a trip with Chairman Choi as well. Absolutely not. Chairman Choi himself was neither particularly comfortable nor uncomfortable, but I didn’t want to get involved with his family any more.

“…I’m fine, so you two go and have a good time. I’m really fine.”

“Oon-ah, don’t be like that, let’s go together.”

Chairman Choi approached with a friendly face and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I feel bad about it. You were without your mother for a month. You’re becoming an adult this year, and you did well on your college entrance exam, so I wanted to throw a celebration party for you as well. In a way, it’s a trip for you.”

“That’s right, Oon-ah. The chairman is going this far, let’s go together. Huh?”

“…I have school attendance.”

“You’ve managed your attendance well so far, you just can’t miss the closing ceremony. When is it again? Anyway, it must be in January.”

I was in a predicament. It was difficult to keep refusing when they were putting it like this. I couldn’t think of any other excuses on the spot. I decided to ask the most important thing first.

“…Is the Executive Director coming too?”

“No, Junghan is too busy to come.”

That was a relief, at least. If Choi Junghan were coming too, I was planning to resist to the end, even if they put a dog collar around my neck and dragged me. A trip with Choi Junghan. The mere thought was so horrifying it made me want to vomit.

“Hurry, huuurry. Oon-ah. Go get your things. We have to leave now to avoid the traffic!”

“Right. Don’t feel burdened, just think of it comfortably. You don’t have to mind us and can just relax, so let’s just go together for now.”

The two of them urged me again. I had no way to hold out any longer in front of them.

“…Just a moment. I’ll just wash my face and bring my things.”

I swallowed a sigh and went inside the house. In the bathroom mirror, I could see my face with a bedhead and a dazed expression.

I washed my face and came out with the bag I had packed yesterday. I could see the two of them sitting in the back seat, smiling brightly. After putting my bag in the trunk, I trudged over and sat in the passenger seat. It didn’t take long for the car to smoothly exit the alley and get on the highway.

“Wow! It’s really beautiful, Chairman.”

“It’s beautiful? Haha, if you like it, Ms. Jeongin, then I like it too.”

As soon as she got out of the car, my mother let out a cheer. The villa, which was said to become beautiful like a fairy-tale scene when it snowed, sparkled dazzlingly in the clear sunlight. Even I stood there for a while, blankly taking in the sight.

“Now, now, it’s cold, Ms. Jeongin. Let’s hurry inside.”

“Oon-ah, you come in too.”

The air inside the huge villa was warm, as if it had been heated in advance. It was called a villa, but the interior of the two-story building looked like a scaled-down version of Chairman Choi’s mansion in Seoul. Then again, Chairman Choi’s scale always exceeded the expectations of me, who had grown up as a frog in a well.

In the car on the way here, I had cautiously asked. If it was alright for her to be moving around like this right after being on absolute bed rest. The answer I got was that an obstetrician had been arranged to be on standby nearby, and a helicopter was also ready for use at any time in case of an emergency.

Here too, employees were to handle all the chores, including preparing meals, and my mother just had to rest and take it easy, as she had been doing. Chairman Choi’s tone as he said this was leisurely and full of余裕. Listening to him, I thought it would have been harder for my mother not to fall head over heels for that man.

“For now, you lie down. Is your stomach feeling okay?”

“Yes, Chairman. I’m fine. The baby is fine too.”

“Haha, what a good girl. Hurry and lie down.”

My mother went into the bedroom to rest as soon as we arrived. Chairman Choi said he would take a short walk by the lake and left the house. He offered to have me join him for the walk, but I politely declined.

It seemed that food preparations were in full swing in the kitchen. Feeling awkward being in the living room alone, I went up to the second floor. Recalling Chairman Choi’s words that I could stay in any room, I unpacked my things in a suitable-looking empty room.

The room was clean without a speck of dust, as if it had been tidied up in advance. Books were lined up on the bookshelf in the corner, and a fluffy bedding set was prepared on the bed. Seeing that toiletries were also thoughtfully provided inside the bathroom, it seemed I had found the guest room correctly.

I put my luggage in the corner and plopped down on the bed. A soft feeling. I could feel the tension that had unknowingly built up in my body slowly draining away.

The view outside the window was serene. Being deep in the mountains, quite a distance from the city, all I could see were the forest and the sky. Come to think of it, had I ever been to a place with such a nice view and clean air? Except for things like a school trip I went on once, I had never been to a place like this.

…Well, it’s not bad.

I had been dragged here unexpectedly, but I couldn’t just be flustered for the whole 4 days and 3 nights. And there was no need to.

As it happened, the cafe owner had also gone on a trip right after Christmas in place of the summer vacation she couldn’t take, and as my mother said, my school attendance wasn’t very significant right now. This meant that there was no part of my daily life that would be disrupted by this sudden trip.

In that case… maybe it’s okay to just relax a bit. Since I’ve been working hard studying. I ended up coming on this trip anyway, and since it’s come to this, it might be good to take it easy and spend a few days without thinking about anything.

‘A trip…’

To me, who had spent my whole life going back and forth between a small house and school, it was utterly unfamiliar.

‘…The view is nice, though.’

Honestly, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. Lying comfortably on the bed, I stared blankly at the scenery visible from the quiet room. As I slowly blinked my eyes, drowsiness began to creep in.

The events of last night floated slowly through my mind in small fragments. The fun I had with Kim Junwoo, the mysterious man who loitered in front of my house, and the phone call from Choi Junghan…

The slow yet dense wave of sleepiness lightly swallowed all of it. Blankly staring at the scenery outside the window, I leisurely drifted into a sweet midday sleep.

*

My eyes opened on their own. The room was still dark.

I fumbled for my phone and turned it on, and the numbers ‘7:32 AM’ caught my eye. And next to it, December 31st was written. The morning of the last day of the year was thus spent at Chairman Choi’s villa.

‘Is it already the third day?’

I thought with a still-sleepy, dazed mind.

It was the first time I had let time pass like this without doing anything. Here, there was nothing I needed to do. Not cleaning, not cooking, not laundry. All the work is handled by the employees who stay nearby and commute. As Chairman Choi had said, it was truly a place where you just had to relax.

There wasn’t much of a schedule either. In the morning, I would get up late and sit down at the dining table with my mother and Chairman Choi for a meal. After that, we would take a light walk around the villa or go out for coffee somewhere nearby.

And from the afternoon, I mostly spent my time alone. The two of them would go on dates nearby or spend time in the first-floor living room, while I holed up in my room reading books or playing games on my phone.

The best thing about spending time here was being able to enjoy nature to the fullest, something I couldn’t usually feel. For me, who was only used to the smog and dust of the big city, spending a few days buried in the forest felt incredibly refreshing.

But after a day or two, that also started to get boring. I was now desperate to go back home. Should I let the two of them stay here and go home by myself? I thought about it several times but couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Kim Junwoo

⁝

xx Month xx Day

While I was doing that, I was happy to receive messages from Kim Junwoo in between. Every time the screen lit up with his message notification, I would quickly send a reply.