MOON Ch 27

At his fingertips, which slightly touched her shoulders before falling away, Chaeon unknowingly held her breath.

“Isn’t it a bit big for you to wear?”

Because goosebumps seemed to rise along the back of her ears at his low-pitched voice steeped in fatigue, Chaeon slightly pulled her neck in. Taeha, who picked up the clothes that had fallen haphazardly onto the floor first, quietly met her gaze.

“Ah, that is—”

“I’ll hand this over to the owner myself, so you may go on now.”

Looking at Yeonjun’s clothes that had passed into his hands, Chaeon had an intuition that, unlike his words, those clothes somehow wouldn’t be handed over to their owner. Wouldn’t it be obvious to anyone looking that he had put them on her on purpose?

Besides, telling her to go as she was… when she had only just finished playing about three songs. At a deep-seated lingering regret, Chaeon slowly withdrew her hands from the piano and stood up.

“…Excuse me.”

Chaeon, who met the gaze of the man turning slowly toward her as if asking if she had something to say with difficulty, hesitated and asked:

“Shall I… keep playing until you fall asleep before I go?”

Chaeon, who lowered her gaze again from Taeha staring at her, whispered softly:

“You called me to do that, after all.”

“I did.”

“…”

“My mood was ruined a bit, you see.”

It was truly an utterly self-centered reason. Both when calling her and when sending her back again. As if Chaeon’s intention or the like wasn’t important to him in the slightest. Watching Taeha carelessly throw and hang Yeonjun’s cardigan over the back of the sofa with a thud, Chaeon tried hard to manage the irritation surging up inside her.

“Then, I will be going now.”

Starting from that arrogant attitude of looking down on people in every matter, he was a person who couldn’t be understood at all. And she also disliked her own plight of having to be swayed by him every single time. At the moment she stepped without hesitation to leave the room even though his permission hadn’t fallen, a calmly settled voice caught Chaeon’s ankle.

“Do you want to play the piano?”

When she turned around with her brow furrowed, Taeha, leaning obliquely against the piano, spat out in a meaningful tone:

“If you want to play, come play.”

“…Pardon?”

What was this again… As Chaeon, flustered, hesitated, not knowing what to answer, he appended a condition:

“Provided that I am here.”

The corners of his long eyes narrowed slightly.

“You know, don’t you? When I come and when I leave.”

“Ah…”

At his low-pitched single remark, Chaeon’s fingertips holding the doorknob flinched and trembled, and the area around her ears flushed hot in an instant.

Just how…

Probably the only people in the world who could understand those words were him and Chaeon.

Chaeon could tell the coming and going of his car through the sound coming through the slightly opened window of her room. The engine sound unique to a sleek, black sedan resembling the owner it carried. Though the cars entering and exiting Songbaekwon were always about three or four, Chaeon knew uniquely well only the sound of the car Taeha rode in coming and going. Because she had stolen glances frequently until once or twice became three or four times, and five or six times.

When leaving in that car and when returning again. The uniquely sharp and elegant atmosphere, languid gaze, and composure that Jang Taeha wore were overwhelmingly unrivaled.

From around the time the weather began to turn chilly, Taeha used to drape long coats over flawlessly fitted suits, and the sight of the hem of his coat fluttering every time his long arms and legs moved looked dignified and strong to the point of being somehow unapproachable. He was the person Chaeon felt most uncomfortable around in this Songbaekwon, while at the same time being a person who possessed the atmosphere of an adult she admired just as it was.

“Because I will pay handsomely for the performance.”

“Are you saying you will give me money now?”

“Is there something separate you want?”

“I don’t do things in that manner. Receiving money or something for what…”

“What’s the problem?”

He slightly wrinkled his eyes as if he didn’t understand.

“Because I have never once listened to a performance without paying a price.”

“…”

Whether going to the Seoul Arts Center or a concert hall, he was a person who was treated better than anyone else wherever he went and enjoyed those things in the best seats. On the contrary, listening to a performance of a level that didn’t require paying a price was nothing more than a waste of time for him.

As if she understood that meaning, Chaeon gave a bow with a flushed face and left the spot as if fleeing.

Silence settled inside the room once again. Come to think of it, Chaeon had always fled in that manner in front of him. Feeling uncomfortable with him with her whole body, being conscious of him… A scoff leaked out from Taeha.

She probably wouldn’t even dream of the fact that on a certain day, the sight of her stealing a glance at Taeha from behind the curtain was reflected in the side mirror that happened to catch his eyes as he was about to get into the car. Since he noticed the admiration and desire harbored by Chaeon, the thing he had to do was merely to swing them with ease.

Taeha, holding onto his languidly settling consciousness and approaching the sofa, picked up the clothes steeped in Yeonjun’s fragrance. Soon, it was crumpled like something without any use and thrown away just like that into the trash can in a corner of the room.

And for some time after that, Chaeon, comically, did not show herself as if determined not to reveal even a single strand of hair inside Songbaekwon. As if she were running away.

∞ ∞ ∞

Spicy marinated crab, Korean beef raw meat, oriental medicine sweet pumpkin short rib stew, cypress-steamed meat, seasoned squid raw fish, smoked grilled duck…

Scribble, scribble. The hand holding the ballpoint pen smoothly transferred the contents lightly noted down on the cell phone onto a notebook. She was diligently checking the side dishes to make around next week with a momentum as if almost being sucked into the notepad, when someone cautiously tapped Heejung’s shoulder.

“Eunpyeong lady, just a moment.”

“Ah, yes.”

It was Mrs. Kwon, who had already been in charge of the kitchen household for over 20 years in this mansion alone. Though she, whom all staff working at Songbaekwon followed like a great senior, had frequent interactions with her uniquely compared to other staff, they had already finished talking simply about next week’s kitchen work this morning.

There shouldn’t be a reason to call her separately again… As Heejung followed her out in wonder, Mrs. Kwon held out a tray with chamomile tea placed on it and whispered softly:

“The younger young master is looking for you for a moment.”

“The younger young master?”

“Yeah. He says he has something to say, but you didn’t make any mistake or anything, right?”

Heejung, receiving the tray, tilted her head in wonder.

“Hmm. I heard Chaeon occasionally enters and leaves the younger young master’s room to learn studying, but did she perhaps make some mistake…”

“No, I haven’t heard anything like that otherwise…”

Rather than a tone of reprimanding, it looked closer to worry. Mrs. Kwon, who listened attentively, nodded her head and patted Heejung’s shoulder.

“Then, he probably isn’t going to talk about anything bad. Don’t worry, and since the young master asked to bring up a cup of tea, take this and go.”

“Yes.”

The places where Heejung worked were mostly only the guest house annex and the kitchen. Exchanging an eye greeting just once was all she had done with him, whom the people of Songbaekwon called the younger young master or the second young master, and there was rarely a reason to run into him separately.

When she arrived at the room at the end of the 1st floor hallway as Mrs. Kwon instructed and knocked on the door, permission to enter fell from inside. As she entered the room, Yeonjun, who was sitting leaning obliquely against the sofa, tilted his head slightly and offered a greeting. Though it was something she had felt even from the first impression she saw in passing, it was truly a picture-like beautiful appearance.

“Young master, I have prepared the tea here. And, you said you had something separate to say…”

“You may drink that, Ma’am. Me, coffee.”

Yeonjun slightly lifted the mug held in his hand and pushed the teacup on the table forward in front of Heejung.

“…Ah, thank you.”

“I didn’t call you to say bad things, so don’t be too nervous.”

“Yes.”

With her two hands gathered neatly on top of her knees, Heejung slowly surveyed the man before her eyes. His impression was quite different from the eldest young master, who was fastidious by nature and even designated the servants employed inside the mansion to enter and leave his room.

Though the sense of alienation unique to those raised preciously was no different, the fine-lined beauty before her eyes possessed a soft and loose atmosphere that made her understand a bit why Chaeon opened her heart and shared friendship early on in this mansion. Taking a sip of coffee, he set the cup down soundlessly and opened his mouth.

“I was wondering if you perhaps said something about me to Chaeon.”

“Ah…”

Heejung tightly clutched the hand she was about to take to the teacup.

Just a few days ago, on the day she heard staff whispering among themselves that Chaeon had played the piano in his room at the eldest young master’s call.

‘No, a young girl is already entering and leaving both young masters’ rooms in turn. Frankly, whatever the reason, it doesn’t look good, does it? Isn’t that right?’

The person who brought up that story and incited a not-so-good atmosphere was none other than Yeonso, who had been quite close with Chaeon. Since she had the smallest age difference with Chaeon here, she seemed to get along while sharing quite a few stories, but as expected of a disposition that liked chatter and liked receiving attention, the sight of her carelessly slandering her daughter naturally didn’t look good.

She was a child who matured excessively early, was obedient in everything, and had never caused great heartbreak. Seeing that face, words telling her not to do something again didn’t fall easily, but nevertheless, she thought it was better than suffering from bad gossip behind her back.

‘Chaeon. Entering and leaving the young masters’ rooms, if there’s no special matter, make a reasonable excuse to decline it too. You’ll be a grown lady in a little bit.’

‘Huh?’

‘And, don’t get too close with Yeonso.’

At that single remark, Chaeon immediately seemed to notice what had happened and let out a small lamenting sound—ah.

‘Mom’s words, you know what they mean, right?’

‘…Yeah.’

Seeing her make a bitter smile after seeming flustered for a moment without any intention to argue otherwise made her heart break.

After giving such nagging to her daughter who was always accustomed to giving up, and finally obtaining an answer, Chaeon really stayed holed up only inside her own room whenever she came home after school.

“Yes. I told her not to bother the young masters too much. She has to take the CSAT soon, too.”

“Hmm…”

Yeonjun, who pondered something while silently holding a sip of coffee in his mouth, set the cup down with a clack again.

“Ms. An.”

“Yes.”

“I have never once thought of Chaeon as bothersome, though.”

Though it was a kind and gentle tone, a strange cool feeling was felt.