As If Nothing Happened

The envelope bore neither sender nor recipient.

Kang-hyun examined the clean blank space, then carefully opened it with deliberate hands. Folded neatly inside was a sheet of letter paper, yellowed just like the envelope itself.

As if entranced, he unfolded the letter.

His eyes, which had scanned every line of the letter, trembled precariously.

Judging by the tone alone, it was unmistakably a will left by his father. But as far as he knew, the only will the police had found at the scene was all there was.

So what on earth was this?

His eyes, swallowed by confusion, eventually turned to the small envelope tucked between the letter pages.

The plain, business-card-sized envelope was firmly sealed, with no sign of having been opened. Yet the uneven, hard metallic feel within hinted at its contents.

Kang-hyun gently brushed his fingers over it. From the yellowed yet strangely smooth texture, he could picture the days and nights his mother had spent agonizing over this envelope. Yoon-ju, in a time he would never know.

After staring down at the envelope for a long moment, he finally tore open the seal with the boldness of a villain committing a crime.

“…….”

It was on the second night after that when Kang-hyun called William to declare his intention to return to Korea.

Afterward, time flew by. While the plans he had made progressed smoothly as intended, he never once set foot in this place.

He had thought he should visit at least once, yet his feet simply would not move. He himself could not understand why, but standing before the endless expanse of the sea, he finally began to grasp it.

The sea, so deep and still it seemed ready to swallow all things, reminded him of the profile that had never been able to ask him anything.

Be happy, as if nothing had happened.

Had his mother truly been happy, as his father had wished? Was that why she had never opened the envelope in the end? Or had she simply been unable to turn away from her husband’s final, earnest plea?

It was impossible now to fathom a heart that would forever remain unknown.

And what of himself?

“…Father.”

The address he had not spoken in so long slipped out unexpectedly, obediently. His gaze, fixed on the distant sea, flickered red.

“I’m sorry.”

He knew it was something neither of them would ever have wanted. The heart with which his father had wished for the happiness of mother and son. The resolve with which his mother had sworn never to set foot here again.

And yet he had returned to this place.

Because no matter how desperately he had tried, he could not remain as if nothing had happened.

Because he could not turn away from the heart that, even so, had never been able to dispose of the envelope that was never to be opened.

Even if that meant betraying his father’s final will, and the resolve of his mother who had sought to uphold it to the end.

“What shall we do? The Chairman is currently away.”

The servant informed Kang-hyun, who had appeared unannounced at Cheongbaekwon, that he had come in vain, her tone apologetic.

But instead of turning back, Kang-hyun calmly corrected the woman’s misconception.

“I’ve come today not for the Chairman, but to see Miss Baek Yeo-eun.”

“Pardon? The second young lady? Not Miss Chae-young?”

The woman rounded her eyes in surprise, then, realizing her slip, covered her mouth and gave an awkward laugh.

“Look at me and my big mouth. Please follow me for now. I wonder where the second young lady might be….”

The first place they headed was the room at the end of the second-floor corridor of the main building. A place familiar to him as well. Baek Yeo-eun’s room, located above his father’s office.

“She’s not here.”

When repeated knocks brought no response, the servant shrugged toward Kang-hyun.

“She must have gone out to the garden again. She’s usually either in her room or planted firmly in the garden.”

“She hasn’t gone out, has she?”

Though he was not particularly keen on it, Kang-hyun asked to confirm, thinking he might need to get Baek Yeo-eun’s contact information. It was a reasonable doubt to have about a servant who did not seem especially diligent.

But she even snorted and waved her hand.

“No chance. I haven’t been at Cheongbaekwon long, but in that time I’ve hardly ever seen the second young lady leave the place.”

Then, as one does when revealing a secret, she covered her mouth with her hand and whispered in a hushed voice.

“Do you know what her nickname is? The Ghost of Cheongbaekwon. A ghost.”

“…….”

“Everyone mutters that she seems determined to become an earthbound spirit, and even if I try not to agree, when the young lady just stares at you without a word, it gives me the chills for no reason. And her complexion keeps getting paler—sometimes I wonder if she really is a ghost.”

Kang-hyun glanced sidelong at the woman who, contrary to her words, seemed to take great pleasure in speaking ill of her employer.

Back when Chairman Baek Soo-chul was alive, the staff at Cheongbaekwon had been nearly lifelong employees, but under the current chairman, people changed frequently. Kang-hyun himself was meeting most of them for the first time, aside from Manager Lee and a few others.

So while personnel management could hardly be as thorough as in those days, did it really have to be this lax?

“The second young lady is a bit like that. I’m not the type who can’t get close to people no matter where I go, but with her I just feel this distance.”

But separate from how pathetic it was that they could not even keep their employees’ mouths shut properly, Kang-hyun let her keep chattering. Even useless information was better in quantity.

“What good is being that pretty? She can’t put it to any use. No friends, stuck at home every day.”

“…….”

“So the Chairman and his wife must be fretting inside, even if they don’t show it. At this rate she’ll be freeloading off her parents her whole life. I wonder if she can even get married.”

Perhaps because he had been too quiet. The one-sided conversation was flowing in a direction that was not merely uninformative but downright rude.

“No, marriage? Even dating would clearly be difficult….”

“She’ll be getting married soon.”

Deciding it was time to shut that mouth, Kang-hyun spoke.

“I’m on my way to propose right now.”

Though his lips recited the romantic words with perfect nonchalance, his eyes held a chill colder than ever before.

At that temperature difference, the woman finally realized her blunder and clamped her mouth shut. The gaze that had clung to him the whole time, pretending otherwise, hastily righted itself, and she hurried ahead to lead the way.

Having secured a satisfactory silence, Kang-hyun leisurely followed the woman who belatedly focused on her duties.

Instead of the path leading to the rear garden, the servant guided him along a side trail between the trees. The greenery, deepened by the hot sunlight, cast a deep blue shade across his face.

Originally, Cheongbaekwon had been a villa for a high-ranking official during the Japanese colonial period. Through liberation and war, the mansion had passed through many hands until it even reached a gambling den, and when there were moves to designate it a cultural property, the owner at the time promptly demolished the house and sold off just the land for a song.

Chairman Baek Soo-chul, who thus acquired the ownership, rebuilt the mansion and completed the present Cheongbaekwon.

Though the mansion itself adopted the Provençal style popular at the time, traces of Japanese-style architecture still remained throughout Cheongbaekwon. For instance, the stone lanterns that popped up out of nowhere, or the modest bamboo grove planted on the western side.

Or….

“Young lady, you have a guest.”

Just then, the servant raised her voice and shattered his reverie. Kang-hyun’s head also turned in the direction she was watching.

The place where a pond enclosed by a stone wall had once been. A spot where cool, still air had lingered as if time itself had stopped. A landscape he had often encountered, following those weary eyes, whenever he went to the office in search of his father who never returned.

But that quiet, serene scenery of those days was nowhere to be found now.

What filled the empty space was a flower garden so dazzling in its riot of colors that it made one dizzy. Crimson roses in bloom, towering yellow sunflowers, waves of purple hydrangeas. Amid the clamor of every vivid primary color vying for attention, there she was.

Baek Yeo-eun, more clamorous than any of that clamor.