MOON Ch 25

Has it already been a week? It was the first time seeing Chaeon since running into her under the late-dawn moonlight. Though he didn’t know why the memory of that uniquely dark hour remained so vivid, her white skin—white enough to look pale—and the star-like clusters of light gathered inside her widened pupils ironically crossed his mind now and then.

It had already been a season since that girl came here.

‘It is said that during the career counseling, she submitted all her college choices within the Seoul area. As for her future plans, it is to quickly settle down in Seoul upon entering college…’

When he was reported to about what Jang Yeonjun had done against that girl, he certainly heard it like that, but well… Indeed.

Taeha quietly stared at Chaeon’s side profile. The dried-up calla lily he had seen on Jang Yeonjun’s desk at one point came to mind. That one white, pristine flower that had been placed in the deceased Hayeon’s room. That persistence, that bizarre affection of obsessively holding onto it to the very end without throwing it away even until it reached the point of crumbling into dust.

When a person gets obsessed with something to that degree, they become hideous, yet he made her open her heart while even going so far as to do ‘such a thing’—would he let her go so easily? Reaching that far in thought, Taeha smiled lopsidedly.

Leaving Jang Yeonjun alone, who acted as if he owned a person in this Songbaekwon without even knowing his place, was because as Yeonjun grew deeply interested in Chaeon in whatever way, her usefulness would become easier.

So please, just like now, very deeply and for a long time, may Jang Yeonjun be obsessed with that girl.

However, before that… Taeha slowly rubbed his throbbing temples. Recently, he had been completely unable to get a deep sleep properly. And he knew a face that couldn’t quite hide its desire for something that could put him to sleep most effectively.

Having placed his gaze on Chaeon for a moment, he moved his steps inside again. Feeling the persistent gaze following behind as soon as he turned his head.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Looking here, it’s about finding the constant value when it’s continuous on the set of all real numbers, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then 6 ― a is…”

Chaeon was in the middle of seeking help from Yeonjun for solving a math problem that uniquely couldn’t be solved. As always, inside the room looking out into the rear garden, a subtle coffee fragrance wafted, and the master of the room was kind. Both his calmly explaining voice and his warm eyes directed toward Chaeon.

Yeonjun was dressed in a beige knit cardigan that wafted a clean fabric softener scent and cream-colored cotton pants, and Chaeon frequently glanced at him, thinking that those clothes suited Yeonjun’s white and beautiful impression uniquely well.

“…”

Yeonjun, who had been continuing his explanation while moving his hands smoothly for a long time, was somehow quiet. The moment she raised her head in wonder, Chaeon’s eyes met with his, who was looking down at her with playful eyes.

“Yoon Chaeon.”

“Yes?”

“What did I just explain?”

Because his gentle voice asked with a tinge of laughter, Chaeon rolled her eyes in vain.

“Why aren’t you focusing?”

His scolding voice was not severe, but nevertheless, it was ultimately a reprimand, so Chaeon whispered softly:

“I’m sorry…”

“Shall we take a short break?”

Yeonjun’s somewhat cold fingertips touched Chaeon’s cheek. Unlike his warm-looking impression, he was said to have a cold body, which was perhaps why every time he stroked Chaeon’s hair or touched her cheek like a habit, it felt uniquely cool. Meeting eyes with him as he tilted his head and asked, Chaeon shook her head.

“No, now I’ll focus…”

Knock, knock. At the knocking sound that broke the quiet atmosphere, Chaeon flinched, and Yeonjun, who erased that smooth smile from a moment ago like a lie, let out a small sigh.

“Yes.”

“Young master. I have something to tell you for a moment.”

“Come in.”

A familiar and cautious voice was heard beyond the door, and as soon as Yeonjun’s permission fell, someone poked her head in a crack. It was Yeonso.

“Um…”

“What brings you here?”

At Yeonjun’s question, Yeonso hesitated a bit and looked at Chaeon.

“Well, the eldest young master is looking for Chaeon. He said for her to come right now…”

“Me?”

“Yeah. He only said there’s something separate he wants to order her to do?”

Yeonso’s gaze scrutinizing Chaeon was quite persistent. Even now, while she was together with Yeonjun, who was a young master of this household, her expression was pouting as if asking why the young masters were anxious to find her and not each other.

Why is that man, to me… Rolling her lips inward stealthily in thought, Chaeon fidgeted with her fingers in a somewhat anxious mood. In Songbaekwon, for anyone to not answer his call was something that could not happen, but for Chaeon, because she was only uncomfortable whenever facing Taeha, her breathing already seemed to fall short.

“Anyway, go on over. If you go up the 2nd floor stairs, the third room in the left hallway.”

“Yes.”

When she answered reluctantly, Yeonso bowed her head with a nod toward Yeonjun, then closed the door again as she was and left. As Chaeon felt a gaze reaching her cheek and turned her head, Yeonjun was looking at her with a face she had never seen before.

How should she put it? This expression was surely like…

“Are you going?”

“Pardon?”

“To Jang Taeha.”

Yeonjun, who put his long legs up on the sofa and hugged his knees, rested his chin obliquely on top of them and looked at Chaeon. Though she knew that he often wore a face cool enough that even Chaeon felt a chill, his lopsidedly tilted gaze looked uniquely deep with unpleasantness.

“I have to go. Since he called.”

Chaeon replied calmly while swallowing a sigh that was trying to seep out. What else could she do if she didn’t go? Excluding Chairman Jang, who was the eldest elder, Jang Taeha was the only one whom everyone in the mansion walked on eggshells around while groveling.

“I’ll try solving this once more in my room later. As you taught me. Thank you.”

It was just when Chaeon, who packed up her notebook, bowed her head with a nod and stood up from her seat.

“Chaeon.”

Along with the low call, her hand was caught by Yeonjun as it was.

“Must you really go?”

“Pardon?”

“What if it’s work that can be done even if someone other than you goes?”

She thought it would be better if that were the case, but in the first place, Chaeon was not in a position where she could judge and act as she pleased here. She smiled faintly and shook her head.

“In the first place, the eldest young master has never called me separately even once. There must probably be some reason.”

For an instant, Yeonjun’s jaw muscle bulged tensely before settling down. Slipping away, just as it seemed the hand holding Chaeon was loosening, a gentle smile hung on his expressionless face again.

“…Is that so?”

His light brown pupils that stared intently at her narrowed while harbouring a subtle light.

“Then, Chaeon.”

Yeonjun suddenly took off the cardigan he was wearing over his white T-shirt and stepped right up close to Chaeon.

“Uh…”

Unlike his fine and smooth face, he had a solid build. As his broad shoulders and muscled upper arms were revealed, Chaeon cast her eyes downward as she was, somehow unable to find a place to put her eyes.

“Just a moment. Could you raise your arms a bit?”

When she raised her arms in bewilderment, Yeonjun very naturally dressed Chaeon in his own cardigan, which was much too big for her frame. As Chaeon looked up at him in fluster at the unexpected action, he smiled softly, narrowing the corners of his eyes into fold shapes.

“Wear it and go.”

“Ah… but, this.”

“Because it’s chilly.”

The cardigan Yeonjun had been wearing until a moment ago retained his warmth. It was probably only a few dozen steps at most to reach Jang Taeha. Even so, doing this much for her was probably because Yeonjun was a uniquely kind person. Chaeon offered him a faint smile.

“Thank you. Next time I come… I’ll bring it with me.”

“Yeah. Go on.”

The touch of his hand tucking Chaeon’s hair, which had fallen forward, behind her ear was somehow uniquely slow. Stepping back with a flinch, she left a bow as she was without even meeting eyes, and turned around as if fleeing.

Clack.

As Chaeon’s back profile, as if buried inside the large clothes, completely vanished from his field of vision, the warmth instantly vanished from his face, which had been harbouring a subtle tinge of laughter.

∞ ∞ ∞

Taeha, who said he had a lot of work to do because he had to inherit important positions one by one in earnest, frequently went out from early dawn recently and returned only when it became quite late at night. Even seeing his back profile in passing was just once two days ago, and that was all.

While wondering why he wasn’t seen often, on the other hand, because he wasn’t seen often, her mind seemed to feel a bit at ease…

Every time she stepped up the spiral staircase one by one, her chest felt as if it were squeezing tighter. Because his humid pupils that sucked in cigarette smoke on that dark night, and things like an indescribable sense of pressure, kept popping into her mind.

The 2nd floor left hallway, third room. Stopping in front of the place Yeonso mentioned, Chaeon took a deep breath to calm her nerves and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Stepping inside, Taeha was standing in front of his desk, receiving something alongside a glass of water from a servant. Glancing at Chaeon, he spat out in a slightly hoarse voice:

“Wait a moment.”

“…”

While waiting silently with her hands gathered, Chaeon slowly looked around his space, which she was entering for the first time. It was the same with Yeonjun’s room, but she had never imagined that there would be an occasion to enter Jang Taeha’s room…

Unlike Yeonjun’s room, which gave off a strong feeling worthy of a person who took art as a hobby, Taeha’s room had almost no items, as if to place only the minimal furniture according to its purpose. There was exactly one thing inside this room that caught the eye.

A piano.

Perhaps having moved the one on the 1st floor back inside his room, a grand piano proudly took up space in front of a large picture window. As she unconsciously moved her gaze back to Taeha, the servant bowed her head in greeting to him, seemingly having just finished their conversation, and left the room past Chaeon’s side.

Clack. Behind the sound of the door closing, Chaeon, who studied his expression for a moment, offered him a greeting.

“Hello.”

Having just finished bathing, Taeha’s hair was slightly wet. Wearing a cozy pair of pants and a navy-toned V-neck knit sweater that accentuated his straight neck line and broad shoulders, he rarely showed a slightly tired look.

Taeha, who swallowed the pill resting in his hand with water while staring at Chaeon, lightly jerked his chin.

“Sit down.”

As Chaeon, who was looking around, moved her steps to sit on the sofa, he set the cup down lightly on the side table and spoke again.

“Not there.”

“Pardon?”

“In front of the piano.”