Uneasy Company
She looked... quite decent. The kind of woman who could easily charm a man.
As he pulled his hand away from the dusty windowsill and brushed off the dust before turning, the phone in his pocket rang.
He checked the caller ID and opened the door to answer.
"Yes."
The caller was Park, the housekeeper who managed the main residence.
"Young Master, dinner is ready. We're inviting you to the main house."
Hee-eon checked the time. Earlier than usual—today's schedule had been adjusted to match Sa Jae-cheol's routine.
But he had no desire to join the dining room with all those people. The oppressive atmosphere, the excited chatter, the faces stripped of their usual grace—he didn't want to be swept up in that ridiculous spectacle.
"When is dinner served at the side villa?"
"...The guest at the side villa's meal will be ready shortly as well."
"Then send mine to the side villa too. I'll decide whether to eat when the time comes."
"You mean you'd like to dine with the guest?"
The tone was calm, but a strange agitation seeped through. Hee-eon descended the stairs at a leisurely pace, his eyes finding the woman pacing outside the living room window.
She wasn't wearing the designer suit that had looked forced on her earlier. Instead, she was in a worn-out tracksuit, half her body swallowed by a thick goose-down jacket.
The jacket, clearly handed down from a male family member, was ill-fitting, faded, and threadbare.
Fixing his gaze on her, he tilted his head ever so slightly and asked the person on the phone:
"Did I say that, Manager Park?"
"No. I'll have dinner served right away. Shall I tell the matriarch that you're in your studio?"
"Sure."
Hee-eon answered as briefly as ever, and the other party didn't press further. They didn't want to waste emotional energy dealing with the sensitive, prickly young master.
After ending the call, he deliberately slouched against the back of the sofa where the woman could see him.
She used the glass window as a mirror, leaning close to examine her reflection with both hands cupped, then turned away with a disappointed expression and wandered the grounds.
It was more like a fool wandering aimlessly around the building.
Not innocent, but not sharp either.
And she didn't seem particularly money-hungry, despite having come willingly with her grandfather's hand in hers.
But what puzzled him most was how her ordinary voice lingered strangely in his mind.
That slouching back and the voice of a woman named Jeong Yeon-jae kept circling through his thoughts. Like he'd failed to hit the mark—unsettling.
Then his eyes landed on the bedroom door reflected in the window, and an unexpected wave of disgust washed over him, like stumbling upon a porn video playing randomly.
The revulsion that the words "old man" and "woman" evoked.
It was far more vulgar than he'd expected.
Yeon-jae, who had been waiting for Sa Hee-eon to leave the house, spotted a buggy emerging through a narrow path.
Two staff members, a man and a woman, got out and opened the trunk to retrieve an insulated box. Judging by the time, they'd come to prepare dinner.
"If you leave it out front, I'll bring it in myself."
She'd been watching awkwardly, but when she approached, the man with the friendly smile bowed politely.
"No, it's our job. Please come inside—we'll set it up."
"I don't need to eat."
"We'll set it up anyway. Please come in."
The man opened the door with a bright smile and stepped aside. She shook her head.
"No. I'll come in later."
Yeon-jae stood outside until they finished setting up the meal inside. As the sun began to set and dusk fell, the interior that had been invisible from outside gradually came into view.
Sa Hee-eon stood beside the female staff member who was arranging food for two on the six-person dining table.
He bent forward to lift the food dome, as if checking the menu—ending up half-embracing her from behind. The staff member's tension was palpable even through the window.
He's a real pro.
Whatever his intention, that man's presence alone was too overwhelming.
And why did it look like they were setting up for two?
She wiggled her cold toes, then slipped away as the staff members came back out.
"Please enjoy it while it's warm. Leave the dishes as they are, and someone will come to clear them."
"Excuse me."
"Have a good time."
The staff members who came outside avoided meeting her eyes as much as possible and hurried into the buggy. Their obvious attempt to avoid her made her anxious.
"No, wait—why is there dinner for two?"
She grabbed the person about to leave. The woman glanced back at the house and forced a smile.
"The young master requested that dinner be brought this way."
"Why?"
"We only follow instructions."
The woman had naturally referred to Sa Hee-eon as "young master."
She turned to look in the direction of the man. She'd heard that the youngest grandson had a habit of charming people. So be careful not to be charmed.
But the man's gaze she'd just met wasn't one of charm—it was contempt.
Why would someone like that insist on sitting across from her uncomfortably to eat?
A subtle suspicion filled her throat.
But my job is to monitor and observe Sa Hee-eon, get close to him, and resolve my doubts. And I want to get my hands on what they're risking their lives for and wield it. To repay everything I've been through.
Feeling awkward in her shabby clothes against the man's immaculate appearance, she let the staff go and opened the front door to enter the house.
The warm air inside, different from the cold outside, thawed her frozen feet.
Yeon-jae sat as far from the man at the dining table as possible and asked with a puzzled expression:
"Aren't you going to eat?"
At her words, he lifted the food domes one by one and gestured to the seat across from him.
"Sit."
"I never said I'd eat with you."
His hand, which had been slowly rubbing the edge of the table, stopped. His eyes lifted. She felt as if she were being absorbed into his amethyst-black pupils.
"Sit."
His voice was low and soft, but unmistakably close to coercive. In the unfamiliar heavy silence, even the sound of a chair scraping felt deafening.
She sat across from him and stared blankly at the man calmly picking up his utensils. Only then did she notice the enormous moon jar painting behind him.
It wasn't the time to appreciate artwork, but the man suited the painting quite well.
"If you have complaints, say them quickly."
At her blunt remark, the man chuckled.
"Do I look like I have complaints?"
"I know you don't like me being here, but..."
"If I didn't like it... would I let you go back?"
Was he inviting her to eat, or to fight?
She stared straight into the man's black eyes and spat out:
"I wonder if you'd even let me go if I said I wanted to leave."
He smiled at her defiant response and nodded slightly. The expensive watch peeking from beneath his casually rolled sleeve, and the look that didn't match his birth—was it the man's brilliance that made her feel hidden in the shadows?
She reluctantly picked up her spoon.
"Do you know me?"
She scooped up some soup and immediately lost her appetite.
She wanted to act on her nature, but for now, she decided to hold back.
"No."
"Will you do anything for money?"
"Maybe."
"How about I give you money?"
She was certain he'd refuse before she'd even eaten.
She stared at the man's faint smile and put a side dish in her mouth.
The man in front of her was just one of the family members who disliked her.
And soon he'll be ruined by my own hands.
What kind of style do you like? A pure, pitiful Cinderella? Or a poor little match girl? Or maybe a delightfully quirky type?
I should have done more research on Yoon Jun-hee. I didn't expect to face him this soon, so my expression management isn't working well.
"I heard the easiest thing for the rich is solving problems with money, right?"
"I suppose so."
"Then are you richer than Sa Jae-cheol?"