After finishing a simple breakfast at the Main Building, Seongheon rose from his seat. As he turned away from the dining table, Manager Moon handed him his jacket.
Seongheon slipped it on, his face an impenetrable mask. When he reached out, Yeonwoo, standing beside Manager Moon, handed him his briefcase.
“I was thinking of boiling some octopus for dinner, Managing Director. How does that sound? Since Young Master Hyun-wook likes it.”
As Manager Moon spoke, Seongheon gripped the briefcase handle.
He glanced at Yeonwoo, whose hands had been neatly supporting the base of the case. As she lowered them, he turned his gaze away.
“I’m fine with whatever. Handle it as you see fit.”
“Yes, yes. Then I shall see you this evening.”
As Manager Moon bowed, Yeonwoo followed suit. A few other employees bowed as well, and Seongheon left the Main Building, the echoes of their greetings fading behind him.
His footsteps were purposeful and sharp. His straight, steady stride carved a line through the sun-drenched walkway.
*Step, step.* Walking toward the exit, Seongheon stopped abruptly.
He turned back at the sound of faint, hesitant footsteps. Yeonwoo, who had been trailing at a distance, froze with a startled expression.
Seongheon stared at her, tucking his free hand into his pocket.
The breeze, carrying the scent of the season, stirred the twenty-step gap between them, and the sunlight shattered through the canopy of leaves, dancing in the air.
Yesterday, the woman embraced by the sunset had stirred his insides—
“Manager Moon told me to come and bring the mail.”
The woman of the morning, cradled by the sunlight, tickled his heart.
Perhaps feeling the weight of his gaze, she offered an unnecessary explanation. Seongheon tilted his chin, gesturing toward the exit.
“Let’s go.”
He stepped to the side. Taking it as a command to lead, Yeonwoo walked quickly. As she brushed past him, she hurried, quickening her pace further.
However, Seongheon fell in behind her. Unable to tell if it was a signal to go first or an invitation to walk together, Yeonwoo’s rhythm faltered.
“Is the work manageable?”
When the question dropped, Yeonwoo finally matched her pace to his.
“Yes. Thanks to your consideration.”
*Consideration?* What had he done?
Seongheon let out a short, cynical laugh at the hollow pleasantry.
*‘Yeonwoo, she was popular back in school. She was kind, warm-hearted, and pretty, too.’*
There was a jarring discrepancy between the woman Hyun-wook had described and the one standing before him.
It had been that way since their first encounter at the bus stop. Her demeanor, which had seemed dark, was better described as dispirited rather than calmly settled.
While her hunched shoulders and rigid expression weren’t repulsive, he had never seen her carry herself any other way.
Back in the living quarters, she had worn a fleeting sliver of a smile while staring into the distance, but it had vanished the moment she discovered him, replaced by a stiff mask. She remained in his memory not as a ‘smiling woman,’ but as ‘a woman who greeted me with a rigid face.’
But the woman this morning was different.
Standing face-to-face with his cousin, she had burst into laughter—clear as splashing water. It was a natural, comfortable sound that shed all boundaries.
Having witnessed that, Seongheon couldn’t help but be bothered by the way she now guarded herself, maintaining a stiff, formal expression at his side.
No, more than that—it occupied his thoughts.
……Birdsong spread between their synchronized footsteps. The sunlight cutting through the leaves created dizzying shadows that made their toes sway.
Yeonwoo walked in silence, eyes downcast, lips pressed tightly together.
It wasn’t intentional, but whenever she stood before Seongheon, she felt herself shrinking. Every word felt precarious; her movements became unnatural.
That was only natural; Seongheon was, in a vague sense, a grand person, a formidable adult, and the ruling class of Domyeongjae—the very Master Of Domyeongjae residing at the pinnacle.
Her instincts accepted the hierarchy. The atmosphere of the estate reinforced it; Manager Moon, at seventy, was more respectful than anyone, and the manual she studied was filled with instructions on how to treat the Nam Family.
Lost in her own discomfort, Yeonwoo kept moving. There was no room for small talk or camaraderie here.
Before she knew it, they arrived at the door. Yeonwoo stopped, looked at the red mailbox, then turned to Seongheon and bowed.
“Have a safe trip.”
She hoped he would hurry out the door. But no matter how long she waited, the leather shoes in front of her remained still. Yeonwoo hesitantly lifted her head.
Their eyes met.
As Yeonwoo lowered her waist again to retreat from his gaze, Seongheon reached out. Startled, she looked up again.
“One greeting is enough. I recall receiving one back at the Main Building as well.”
……Ah.
But she didn’t have the confidence to skip the ritual. Yeonwoo replied in a small voice.
“I was taught that I should greet you whenever I see you.”
“…….”
“Even if that’s not the case, since we’re at the door…… uh…… I wanted to wish you a good commute…… because a greeting is the only thing I can do for you…….”
Her brain stalled, and her words trailed off, unable to tie her thoughts together.
She couldn’t just reach for the mail, and standing still made her feel suffocatingly trapped, so she simply waited for Seongheon to leave.
But he didn’t move—
“Um, do you happen to have anything to say, or is there something you need me to do?”
Sensing something strange, Yeonwoo asked.
Seongheon held her gaze, his eyelids slowly lowering and rising.
When their eyes clashed, it felt as if cells inside her body that had never been stimulated before were suddenly waking up.
His lips, which had been observing her with surgical precision, parted.
“I know your name.”
……Spring, and morning.
“I know your age.”
Under the stinging sunlight.
“I was just thinking about what else might be left.”
It was hard to distinguish whether it was the sunlight or his voice that was heating up her heart.
“Then, I’ll be going.”
Yeonwoo froze exactly where she stood.
*
“Hey, newbie. If you’re going to stand there like a pillar, you might as well go outside and carry a crossbeam.”
When Yeonwoo, having entered the Main Building with the mail, stood blankly in front of the table, Eun-ja tapped her on the shoulder.
It was a sudden touch, but Yeonwoo couldn’t shake off the dazed energy. Looking down at the dozens of letters piled up, she offered no response.
Eun-ja stood beside her, sipping her strong instant coffee, and tapped Yeonwoo’s arm again.
“Are you sleeping standing up now? You’ve got talent. What will you do if you’re this limp after just one night of duty?”
The sweet, distinct scent of coffee filled the air.
“Back in my day, we had a hundred-day duty. I stood it without missing a single day. What kind of power naps? There weren’t any. Manager Moon was young then too, so he’d go around even in the middle of the night, and if he saw us dozing, he’d bark at us. He’s old now and doesn’t come out much. Consider yourself lucky.”
“…….”
Since she remained silent, Eun-ja waved a hand in front of her face.
“Hey. Can’t you hear me?”
“I can hear you.”
“Yes, yes. You hear well. I was wondering if you’d gone deaf.”
Sipping her coffee, Eun-ja set the mug down and glared.
“What is this? Is your hearing selective? Why aren’t you responding?”
Yeonwoo finally picked up a utility knife. *Click* went the blade, and Eun-ja flinched, stepping back slightly.
Yeonwoo began to open the mail with her eyes downcast. It was the first duty of every morning.
Eun-ja leaned her body against the chair, looking sloppy.
“You know what you have to do after this, right? Go to the warehouse and finish organizing. It’s the day the rice sacks arrive, so if you get a radio call, come over and move them. There are a few things that need hand-washing, so rub those out too.”
Yeonwoo continued opening mail.
“Yes, right. Also, there are about a dozen boxes of radishes coming at ten o’clock, so do that first. You know we send lunch to our site, right? You need to wash the radish boxes clean for when we make kimchi. There’ll be about eighty of them.”
“…….”
“And after that, you know? Sweep the area in front of the Main Building, and from over there in front of the management office all the way to Unseondang. Oh, it’s so easy. Since you lack skills, you only do the easy work. Must be nice.”
Yeonwoo stacked and sorted the mail by building. Since she remained silent, Eun-ja asked, looking for a fight.
“Is what I’m saying funny to you, or are you protesting? Or is your head so thick you couldn’t understand it all?”
“Distribute the mail, then at ten, receive the radish boxes and julienne them, move the rice around lunchtime, do the hand-washing, and sweep while organizing the warehouse.”
As Yeonwoo looked up, clearly summarizing the schedule, Eun-ja drank her coffee.
“If there’s more work, please tell me now.”
“Can you do everything I just said?”
“No. I don’t think I can do all of it.”
“And yet you ask for more? Are you mocking me?”
Yeonwoo closed her mouth, and Eun-ja handed her the empty mug.
“Just do the work you’ve been given. Don’t be cheeky.”
“…….”
“What do you mean you can’t? You should be thinking about how to get it done within the time frame. If you can’t, you can’t keep your footing here at Domyeongjae. Either do it or pack your bags and leave.”
At the mention of ‘packing her bags,’ Yeonwoo went silent. The threat was Eun-ja’s biggest weapon, and Yeonwoo’s greatest weakness.
As Yeonwoo lowered her head in defeat, Eun-ja snorted. Pointing at the mug with her chin, she ordered Yeonwoo to wash it before turning away.
“Sir! Sir! Where are you going! I told you to have a cup of coffee!”
Seeing Manager Moon enter the Main Building, Eun-ja vanished with a cackling laugh.
*Whew,* Yeonwoo sighed and looked down at the mug.
*‘I know your name. I know your age.’*
What on earth did that mean? She squeezed her eyes shut.
*‘I was just thinking about what else might be left.’*
Her head felt dizzy, as if she might sway and fall.
Perhaps it would be better to have a lot of work at a time like this, Yeonwoo thought as she composed herself and hurriedly left the Main Building.