It was a little overwhelming to keep up with the rapidly progressing plan, but dragging my feet wouldn’t change the situation either. I nodded, and he showed a satisfied smile.
“You must have been in an extreme state, both physically and mentally, for the past few days. Get some sleep on the way.”
Reaching for the controller on my side, since I wasn’t familiar with the internal system, he reclined my seat. His arm crossing in front of my chest and the strong scent of his cologne made my whole body tense up in an instant.
Today, it wasn’t the usual cologne I knew. This scent, deep and heavy yet with a distinct presence, suited him as well, but for some reason, I felt a little disappointed. It was just cologne, after all.
As he withdrew his arm, he glanced at my face and let out a groan that sounded like a sigh, lightly ruffling my hair.
“I get it, so don’t look at me with… those eyes.”
Saying that, he turned his head toward the window. His profile, with his large hand rubbing his mouth and his brow furrowed, looked troubled.
Don’t look at him with those eyes. It was a strange thing to say. He couldn’t even see my eyes since I was wearing sunglasses.
○
“Each unit has its own dedicated elevator and elevator hall, so residents rarely run into each other.”
He said as he opened a glass door, located directly in front of our parking spot, with a key card. Inside the glass door was a hall of about 100 to 140 square feet, furnished with a comfortable three-person sofa.
On the wall next to the elevator, opposite the sofa, there was no button in the usual spot. Where the button should have been, there was only a black digital pad. When he tapped the key card on the pad, the doors opened. Once inside, he held the card to another pad, and this time, the 5th floor lit up automatically. The parking garage and lobby floor where we had just gotten on, the first and second basement floors, and the 5th floor. It was an elevator that couldn’t travel to any other floor.
“As you saw when we came in, the structure makes it impossible for outsiders to even approach the complex. Part of it is because this area is on a hill, but they also raised the ground for construction to get a more open view of the Han River. There are a total of five households, one per floor from the 1st to the 5th, but you can think of it as being from the 3rd to the 7th floor, really. The first and second basement floors don’t have a clear view of the Han River, so they were designated as common areas….”
I was listening to him explain, playfully waving the key card like a fan, but all I could gather about the situation was that this villa he had brought me to was incredibly luxurious.
The elevator doors opened on the opposite side from which we had entered. We stepped out directly into a foyer. To be precise, it was a rectangular room that served as a foyer. The long foyer, paved with a pale gold-beige marble, was clean and free of any unnecessary decorations.
“You can just leave your shoes on and come in.”
As I hesitated at the threshold between the foyer and the hallway, he, who had been opening a sleek, handleless built-in cabinet to check its contents, closed the door and came up behind me.
To get from the foyer to the actual living space, one had to pass through another bent hallway. The interior was completely invisible from the foyer, a structure that showed considerable care for privacy.
“The architecture itself makes it difficult for outsiders to approach, but with more than five guards stationed 24/7, you can be quite assured of your safety.”
At the end of the hallway, a spacious living room appeared that could only be described as wide open. The high ceiling gave it an outstanding sense of openness, and one entire wall was finished with glass. Thanks to that, there was plenty of light even on a cloudy day like today.
“I bought this place as a rental for foreigners to generate some income, but the previous tenant’s contract with their company ended in May, so they wrapped up their life in Korea and returned to their home country. A new tenant hasn’t shown up since, so I was considering moving into this house anyway. What do you think, do you like it?”
He asked, slowly scanning the simple living room furnished with minimal furniture, then turning to look at me, still standing awkwardly at the entrance to the hallway. His tone was like someone picking up a t-shirt from a display rack and asking for an opinion.
It would be a lie to say I had no idea what he meant by asking if I liked it. But if my understanding of his intention was correct, then this time, I couldn’t understand the reason.
Perhaps thinking that my inability to answer readily was because I didn’t particularly like it, he began to appeal in more detail about the house’s good points.
“It’s a duplex, so both you and I can have our privacy guaranteed, almost as if we’re living separately. And since I’m only home in the evenings because of work, you’ll be able to focus on your painting as comfortably as you wish.”
Walking over to the living room window, he twisted the handle down to unlock it and then slowly slid the large sliding window to the left.
Belying the fact that it was a villa on the 7th floor, a wide garden spread out before the full-length window. A real garden with grass, soil, and landscaping. Beyond it, the gray Han River flowed, sprinkled with rain.
When he opened the window, a cool breeze carrying the scent of rain-soaked earth drifted in from the garden. Only then did I realize the air inside had been somewhat stuffy.
“On nice days, you can work in the garden. There’s nothing to disturb you. It’s quiet, isn’t it?”
Having slid the door all the way open, he turned to me and smiled.
Unless I had misunderstood, he was now recommending this luxurious villa as my atelier and temporary residence, and, perhaps, suggesting that I live in this house with him.
When I still didn’t respond, he walked back toward me. Even as he walked on the fine, pale pinkish marble tiles, he made almost no sound with his shoes.
He walked right up to me, standing stiffly in a corner of the living room like a misplaced potted plant, and leaned down slightly to look closely at my face. Sunglasses. I needed sunglasses, but I had already given them back to him in the car.
“That’s not the face of someone who likes the house.”
Liking it or not. It was a problem that came before that. Even if I couldn’t keep staying at the Chief’s place, I hadn’t been thinking of such a lavish house.
“Then where were you planning to stay?”
“……”
He asked, as if he had read the question in my mind.
“They’ll find out soon enough that you’re staying at Chief Han’s place. And honestly, it’s my judgment that Chief Han’s place was probably compromised a long time ago.”
Saying so, he straightened up and crossed his arms firmly over his chest.
“I will provide all the necessary conveniences so you can focus on your painting in a safe space.”
“……”
“I didn’t buy it new for you, Seo Yeehyeon, and I was already considering moving in since it was empty, so there’s no need to feel burdened. I did purchase it for rental, but I’ve always been interested in living here myself since I like the layout and the view. And it’s not like I’d use this whole space by myself if I lived here alone anyway.”
I had clearly learned that he was an incredibly wealthy man after our trip to Hong Kong. But apart from that, I had rarely felt the economic gap in our conversations. He wasn’t the type of person to flaunt his wealth.
This was the first time I had felt such a striking difference in our sensibilities that it left an impression.
It was an empty house anyway, he was considering moving here anyway, and it would be leftover space even if he lived alone anyway, so he wasn’t making any financial sacrifice.
—To him, who presented such simple logic, the explanation that one could feel an emotional burden regardless of financial sacrifice seemed unlikely to be persuasive.
“Phantom, and the matter with the Chief’s house…”
He looked down at me for a moment as I barely managed to ask, then uncrossed his arms and lightly took my wrist. He pulled me toward the hallway beyond the living room, saying that since we were here, I should at least look around the house.
“I’m also quite disappointed about the Phantom work, since you’ve been a great help with the practical side of things. But you need to focus only on your painting. Or are you planning to paint as a hobby, like Choi In-woo?”
He asked for confirmation, turning to me in front of the downstairs master bedroom.
I wasn’t planning to paint as a hobby, but since my uncle had appeared, I had been so focused on Morae and my brother’s affairs that I hadn’t yet thought about other things in concrete terms.
After looking down at me for a moment, he pushed the bedroom door inward and continued.
“You understand that you have to put the work you were doing to help Chief Han on hold, right? Leaving work aside, just going in and out of that house right now isn’t very safe for you. The same goes for Chief Han.”
That, too, was something I hadn’t thought of. It was my own business, yet he was surveying the situation much more broadly and preparing countermeasures… I felt grateful, and also ashamed.
He led me to the bed, where the mattress cover had been removed to prevent dust from settling, then walked to the full-length window that, like in the living room, connected to the garden. He roughly pulled back the sheer curtains and left the window half-open.
Though decorated more comfortably than the living room, the bedroom was just as bleak, with no signs of life.
“It’s too… sudden, and everything is so fast… I don’t… really know… what’s what….”
He returned to me as I rambled incoherently, rubbing my bare arm beneath my short sleeve for no reason.
Hmm… My heart felt heavy as I looked up at his face as he sighed, his chest rising and falling in a great swell. I was sorry for being unable to readily accept his kindness and goodwill, but I was too small right now to keep up with a development that had so far exceeded my expectations.
Looking down at me, he furrowed his brow with an apologetic expression and scratched his smooth forehead.
“I was pushing you a little too hard, wasn’t I?”
“……”
No, you weren’t. I shook my head fervently. As if it were the only way to convey my true feelings to him.
I also hated that he was always the first to notice my hesitation and worry and to apologize for it. I said I liked him, yet my own inadequacy, only receiving so much from him, made me lower my head.
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