VSSSP 05

Chapter 05

He had lied, saying that Mu-gyeong allowed it, so that Jun-young could see the garden. And now he was paying dearly for that lie.

I’d rather just get hit.

The way Mu-gyeong picked apart every little thing, like someone determined to drain all the life out of him, was truly unbearable.

Jun-young turned his face toward Mu-gyeong.

“Just hit me already!”

“That would be too easy. No fun in that.”

“Ah, I said I was sorry!”

“Don’t think you can get off with words.”

Watching Jun-young’s face twist, Mu-gyeong sat down on the opposite sofa. Crossing his long legs, he asked in a detached tone,

“The woman who came to our house—she’s your friend, right?”

“Oh… you mean I-hyeon.”

A bright smile spread across Jun-young’s face, chasing away the frown he had worn moments before.

Mu-gyeong watched his cousin’s expression with a sharp gaze.

Jun-young leaned back comfortably on the sofa, smiling. Then he suddenly straightened his upper body and looked at Mu-gyeong.

“Hyung, when I inherit Raon Hotel someday, sell that house to me.”

What in the world was he talking about?

Mu-gyeong lifted the hand resting on the armrest and rubbed his forehead.

“Suddenly?”

“Yeah, suddenly. I want that house.”

There was only one reason a guy who hated houses and lived in a high-rise penthouse would make such a sudden whim.

A woman.

Mu-gyeong faced the uncomfortable truth, debating whether to acknowledge it or pretend he hadn’t heard.

But the talkative boy kept speaking without pause.

“That house in Seongbuk-dong. Actually, I-hyeon’s mother designed the garden when it was built.”

“So you brought her in without my permission?”

“Not inside the house. She only looked at the garden!”

Jun-young’s face crumpled again.

“Do you like her?”

The mouth that had been chattering shut in a straight line.

Just when Mu-gyeong thought he had his confirmation, Jun-young spoke in a serious, low voice,

“For guys like you and me, there are only two kinds of women.”

Mu-gyeong regarded him in silence, an expression that didn’t quite suit him.

“Women you’ll marry, and women you just play with. If she doesn’t fit into either category… then she’s a friend.”

Jun-young grinned.

Well, of course.

He had been acting overly serious for a moment—Mu-gyeong, who had briefly grown solemn as well, let out a hollow laugh.

“If she’s just a friend, why do you want the Seongbuk-dong house?”

“Because I want to sell it back to I-hyeon for a low price.”

“You’re supposed to run a business, but you’re thinking about buying high and selling low. Good job.”

“I-hyeon… is a very special friend to me. We both had trouble fitting in at school. She was my only friend.”

Though he didn’t know the details, Jun-young had once struggled at school.

He had mentioned a friend who supported him then—apparently, that friend was the woman who had visited today.

Jun-young kept talking.

“I-hyeon’s mother passed away in an accident when she was young. The only garden her mother ever designed was the one in Seongbuk-dong.”

Mu-gyeong recalled the woman he had seen in the garden. Her lips had curved gently, but tears had streamed down her pale cheeks.

Now he understood the emotion that had unsettled him. Something turbulent hidden beneath the calm had been longing for a lost mother.

His thoughts were interrupted by Jun-young.

“I-hyeon is getting married soon.”

Marriage.

Mu-gyeong let out a small laugh.

“What does her getting married have to do with the house?”

Jun-young folded his fingers one by one as he spoke.

“Women are like that. When they get married, or when they’re pregnant, or when they have children, they miss their mothers terribly.”

He continued with unusual earnestness.

“Since she doesn’t have a mother, she can at least look at the garden. It was her mother’s only work—so seeing it might give her some comfort.”

Mu-gyeong didn’t reply.

But Jun-young remained sentimental.

“I want to be like a family friend to I-hyeon. So you absolutely have to sell me that house.”

“Touching story of friendship.”

With that, Mu-gyeong decided to set the woman aside in his mind.

A woman who would soon marry some worthless man and a woman who wanted to be a friend’s family.

There was no reason to meet her again, so he should forget the uneasy and unfamiliar feeling he had experienced in the garden.

Having rested enough, Jun-young stood up from the sofa.

“You haven’t eaten, right? Should I order room service?”

Mu-gyeong shook his head.

Instead of room service, he decided to go to the restaurant in Raon Hotel. It wasn’t that he particularly liked it—rather, each table was in a private room, so he could eat alone without being disturbed. The food was excellent, and the moderate background noise made him feel at ease.

He slowly shook his head.

“No. Don’t order room service. Reserve a room at Artize under your name.”

“Reservations there are hard to get.”

“Exactly—so use your name. That’s what being the owner’s son is for.”

Jun-young’s expression twisted sourly. Mu-gyeong waved a hand, signaling him to go.

“How long will you stay?”

“As long as I want.”

“So until then, no one should know where you are?”

“You get it.”

Jun-young nodded.

“Yeah, well, Mom and Aunt have teamed up again to find you a wife.”

Mu-gyeong already knew.

Both sides of the family were gathering matchmaking candidates.

“If Mom catches you… yikes.”

Just the thought made Jun-young shudder.

“Rest a bit and come down to Artize. Since you’re in trouble, I’ll keep it a secret that you’re here.”

Jun-young grinned and left. Finally, in the quiet room, Mu-gyeong closed his eyes.

The sound of the garden wind roared in his head. He pressed his temples, which had started throbbing again.

Sometimes it was better when someone kept talking.

Mu-gyeong rose from the sofa.

On the way down to the restaurant, a family with a stroller crowded into the elevator. When the child began to cry, the adults tried to soothe it, filling the elevator with a din that felt like a marketplace.

Mu-gyeong stepped out and turned toward the emergency stairs.

When he opened the creaking door, a woman was sitting curled up on the steps, shoulders shaking.

“…”

More crying women today, huh?

He let out a hollow laugh and turned to leave—but the familiar clothing caught his eye.

A pink coat, a burgundy skirt, and a floral eco-bag.

The same woman he had seen in the garden, the one who had lingered in his mind all day.

The woman Jn-young wanted to be a family for was crying again.

For some reason, his feet wouldn’t move.

I-hyeon, was it?

Then a nasty laugh echoed through the stairwell.

“See? I told you. I was right. Seo I-hyeon really has no sense at all.”

“Yeah. I thought she was naïve, but I didn’t expect her to be that clueless.”