Chapter 81
Shortly after, the taxi arrived at the address Cheong-yeon had specified.
The driver carefully observed Cheong-yeon’s condition through the rearview mirror. Despite his concerns that Cheong-yeon might vomit or cause a drunken scene during the ride, Cheong-yeon had remained surprisingly well-behaved.
Sitting still and gazing out the window, Cheong-yeon took out his wallet when he realized they had reached their destination.
“Thank you. Please get home safely.”
After paying the fare and getting out of the taxi, Cheong-yeon took a deep breath of the cold night air. Familiar alleys and familiar buildings surrounded him.
“I can’t feel attached to this neighborhood.”
Cheong-yeon grumbled as he looked around. Understandably so, as the houses here all had tall walls built around them, making it impossible to see what was inside from the outside. It gave a claustrophobic feeling. Of course, the house where he had lived with Do-heon was the same.
Cheong-yeon stopped briefly in front of the familiar mansion. He hesitated, wondering if it was right to visit so impulsively while drunk, but having come this far, it would be foolish to turn back now.
He intended to ask everything face to face: why Do-heon wasn’t answering his calls, why Secretary Shim and the housekeepers were lying, whether the article Kim Ji-han had shown him today was true, and what Do-heon was thinking.
He had no intention of shouldering problems alone and suffering in silence like before. What was there to hold back now? He wasn’t afraid of disappointing Do-heon, and he didn’t care if Do-heon came to hate him.
Even if Do-heon had suddenly grown tired of their contractual relationship, Cheong-yeon wanted to at least hear an explanation for the inexplicable situation.
Cheong-yeon walked to the main gate that thoroughly enclosed the mansion’s garden. While he should have rung the bell as a visitor, for some impulsive reason, he directly entered the password to unlock the gate.
“Huh?”
Although it had been an impulsive action born from urgency, the lock disengaged. After completing the fingerprint recognition, the firmly closed door opened with a click.
…What? He still hasn’t changed the password?
Cheong-yeon blinked in confusion at the door that had opened so readily. Though he tilted his head in bewilderment, he crossed the fence and strode through the garden.
The garden’s landscaping was exactly the same as before. This was originally something Do-heon didn’t pay much attention to, and Cheong-yeon had mostly managed it, so he wasn’t surprised.
Before entering the house, Cheong-yeon looked up at the second-floor window where Do-heon’s room was located. Though covered by blinds, a dim light was seeping out from his room.
“Ha.”
Cheong-yeon let out a hollow laugh. This confirmed even more clearly that Do-heon was home.
Walking quickly to the front door, Cheong-yeon, half-expecting it wouldn’t work, tried entering the password he knew.
And just like the outer gate, the front door opened without resistance.
“No way, this actually works?”
Cheong-yeon, who was about to push the door, suddenly stopped. The earlier boldness to storm into the house disappeared, replaced by confusion.
Why hadn’t Do-heon changed the password? Especially someone as thorough as him.
Even though Cheong-yeon might not pose a threat to him, they were complete strangers now. What if he had disclosed the password or security information to others?
He wasn’t just some nouveau riche barely getting by—he was the heir to the JT Group. Knowing how meticulous Do-heon was about such matters, Cheong-yeon couldn’t understand any of his recent actions.
When the door remained open for too long, the locking mechanism began to beep. Emerging from his thoughts, Cheong-yeon firmly grasped the doorknob.
Since he couldn’t just stand there forever, he entered the house.
After passing through the entrance hallway where paintings he had once diligently collected hung, he came to the shoe rack. As expected, Do-heon’s work shoes that he wore every day were neatly arranged there.
Cheong-yeon carelessly took off his shoes next to them and headed toward Do-heon’s room. As he moved unhindered through the house toward the living room, Cheong-yeon encountered a housekeeper in the center of the living room.
“Oh my goodness!”
Startled by the intruder who had entered silently, the middle-aged woman screamed and collapsed onto the floor. It was the same housekeeper who had spoken with Cheong-yeon on the phone in the taxi earlier.
“Why are you surprised?”
“…Mr. Cheong-yeon!”
Belatedly recognizing that the intruder was Cheong-yeon, the housekeeper’s mouth gaped open.
“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”
“No, what… what brings you here?”
The housekeeper clutched her chest, looking at Cheong-yeon as if he were a ghost, walking through the living room after picking the lock on a door that no one had opened for him.
“I just stopped by because I have something to ask Director Moon Do-heon.”
At this casual response, the housekeeper looked Cheong-yeon up and down with a pale face.
“The Director is now… No, wait, Mr. Cheong-yeon. Are you perhaps drunk?”
“That man is in his room, right?”
Cheong-yeon calmly approached her, who was still frozen on the living room floor, and helped her up.
“Y-you shouldn’t go upstairs right now. First, you should sober up a bit… Oh my, the smell of alcohol! Goodness, what’s going on here?”
The housekeeper was alarmed by the alcoholic scent Cheong-yeon emitted as he approached.
“What’s wrong with having a drink? Is it that strange?”
Cheong-yeon grumbled, opening his eyes drowsily. Faced with this uncharacteristic petulance, the housekeeper blinked, not knowing how to respond.
“I’m just worried. Besides, the Director said not to let anyone go to the second floor today.”
“Why?”
“Well…”
Just as the housekeeper opened her mouth, Cheong-yeon momentarily frowned as he felt a splitting headache. Perhaps due to recklessly downing soju straight from the bottle, his vision suddenly became blurry.
“Ma’am… I’m sorry, but could I have some h-honey water…”
Leaning on the living room table, Cheong-yeon mumbled in a small voice.
“Ah, yes, yes. Just wait a moment.”
The housekeeper didn’t criticize Cheong-yeon for trespassing into his ex-husband’s house while drunk and demanding honey water. Instead, she quickly went to the kitchen and prepared it.
“Here you go. Are you alright?”
After drinking the sweet, warm honey water she promptly brought, Cheong-yeon’s spinning vision calmed down a bit.
“Yes, I’m a bit better now… No, that’s not it! Ma’am, Director Moon Do-heon is in his room right now, isn’t he?”
Momentarily forgetting his purpose, Cheong-yeon remembered why he had come. Looking at the housekeeper’s troubled expression across from him, Cheong-yeon set the cup down on the table.
“Why is everyone lying to me? Did he tell you to say those things?”
“I have nothing I can tell you. I was only told that no one should come upstairs. Even if you go up, it would be difficult to talk today… Mr. Ch-Cheong-yeon?”
Without listening to the end of her sentence, Cheong-yeon headed straight to the second floor.
And in an instant, he was standing in front of Do-heon’s room, knocking on the door.
Knock, knock.
“Director, it’s Yoo Cheong-yeon. I know you’re in there. Let’s talk for a moment.”
But there was no response from inside. Cheong-yeon glared at the closed door and knocked again.
“Well, it’s fine if you don’t want to see me. But why make people tell such flimsy lies about being in America or at the company when you’re obviously home? Huh?”
…
Despite knocking quite forcefully this time and raising his voice, there was still no answer.
So this is how you’re going to play it.
“I’m coming in, okay?”
Becoming stubborn, Cheong-yeon turned the doorknob without permission. However, it seemed locked from the inside, as the metal in his hand didn’t budge at all.
“Huh.”
“Mr. Cheong-yeon. Please come back down. He said he wasn’t feeling well today, so why don’t you visit another time?”
“If Director Moon Do-heon isn’t feeling well, we can’t make a peep in front of him? Then he should at least answer his phone when he should. If he hadn’t gone silent, I wouldn’t have had to come all the way here.”
I can’t exactly break the door down. Cheong-yeon sighed. This was clearly a rejection of any conversation.
He still couldn’t believe that Do-heon had chosen avoidance to escape the situation. With the homeowner refusing to talk, there was no reason for him to stay longer.
Cheong-yeon knew that entering without permission in the first place had been wrong.
Having pushed this far, it seemed he should give up for today as the housekeepers had suggested.
“Haah.”
Cheong-yeon rubbed his flushed cheeks with both hands, then turned around.
However, as he was about to go downstairs, his former room suddenly came into view. Looking at the firmly closed door, Cheong-yeon was overcome with a strange feeling and found himself drawn there without realizing it.
When he turned on the light in the dark room, all his old belongings were still there, just like last time.
“…”
He was already divorced from Do-heon and wouldn’t be living with him again, and he was now pursuing the acting career he had previously given up. He was no longer the Yoo Cheong-yeon who had been cooped up in this room, constantly anxious about Moon Do-heon’s reactions.
He didn’t know why Do-heon hadn’t cleared out this room, but he wanted to be forgotten from this place. And he wanted to let go of all the pitiful and gloomy fragments of himself that remained here.
“Ma’am, do you have large garbage bags at home? About this big.”
Cheong-yeon suddenly asked the housekeeper who had quietly approached behind him. It seemed that other housekeepers had also gathered, perhaps after hearing the news of Cheong-yeon’s arrival.
“Garbage bags?”
The housekeeper at the front tilted her head as if wondering what this was about.
“There are some in the utility room near the kitchen. But what do you need garbage bags for?”
Instead of answering the question, Cheong-yeon left the room and went downstairs.
Although he hadn’t been able to resolve his questions because Do-heon had unexpectedly ignored him, he planned to clear out his remaining belongings now that he was in the house.
As Cheong-yeon quickly descended to the living room, the housekeepers hurriedly followed.
“If you need anything, you can just ask us.”
The youngest-looking female housekeeper approached Cheong-yeon, but then flinched at the strong smell of alcohol emanating from his body.
“I want to throw away everything in my room.”
“Are you going back upstairs? Right now, the Director is ha—”
“Seyoung!”
When another housekeeper urgently reprimanded her, the woman called Seyoung promptly closed her mouth.
Regardless, Cheong-yeon went to the utility room to find garbage bags.
While he was busily searching through drawers, he faintly heard footsteps coming down the stairs from the second floor.
“If there’s an intruder in the house, you should drive them out. What are you all doing?”
At the clear sound of Do-heon’s voice, Cheong-yeon froze. When he turned his head, Do-heon had somehow left his room and was coming down to the first-floor living room.
Forgetting what he was doing, Cheong-yeon’s eyes followed Do-heon’s movements. Despite being told he wasn’t feeling well, Do-heon looked perfectly fine on the outside.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
