Chapter 1

Chapter 1Chapter 1
The Villain is Pure
The Master of Domyeongjae
A spring rain fell pattering onto the dry earth.
Somewhere in the interval between Cheongmyeong and Ip-ha, Yeonwoo stepped out of the police station, her gait heavy and devoid of strength.
Suffering under the excessive obsession and gaslighting of her superior, Yeonwoo had sought help from the police, but the result was disastrous. She was no match for the five lawyers from a major firm hired by her boss.
‘Ms. Ji Yeonwoo. If you aren’t careful, you could be punished for false accusation. You should try to have a kinder heart. From what I can see, it seems Mr. Cha Yunseok’s way of expressing his affection was a bit excessive, so don’t come to the station like this; go and try to have a good conversation. He didn’t seem like someone impossible to talk to.’
Yeonwoo stared blankly at the thick streaks of rain. Amidst an atmosphere as bleak as the hanging dark clouds, a vehicle soon came to a stop in front of her.
It was her boss’s sedan.
The car window lowered, and when her boss smiled, Yeonwoo turned her head away. Though his face wore a tender smile, Yeonwoo found his snake-like eyes horrifying.
“Yeonwoo. Didn’t I tell you repeatedly not to do anything useless? You waste money, you waste time, and there’s absolutely nothing for you to gain, you know?”
His voice was laced with mockery, but Yeonwoo opened her umbrella without much reaction. She tried her best to stay as far away from him as possible as she walked diagonally down the steps.
Then, the car door opened, and her boss stepped out. Yeonwoo’s pace quickened at the sound of the door closing, but she was caught in an instant.
Without warning, her boss slipped his body inside her umbrella.
“If you’re going to treat someone like trash, you should at least offer a word of apology before you go. The lawyers wanted to lock you up for false accusation, but I held back out of consideration for your flowery future. You should learn to be grateful. Don’t you think?”
His eyes, looking down at her, were as noisy as the sounds of the city.
As if peering into Yeonwoo’s darkened expression was his life’s greatest joy, her boss let out a victor’s laugh. Then, he thrust his head forward and whispered into her ear.
“Yeonwoo. Don’t struggle and just give up. You can’t escape me.”
It was a voice so low that the recorder she had turned on would be useless.
“If you try to screw me over like this one more time, I won’t stay still. Just accept it while I’m still treating you like a human being. As long as Ji Yeonwoo is alive, her only man is Cha Yunseok. Got it?”
“…….”
“When you die, I’ll let you go then.”
Her boss straightened the umbrella Yeonwoo was holding. Then, as he stepped out from under it, he gave a small wave of his hand.
“I’ll mark yesterday and today as paid leave, so show up for work starting tomorrow. If you don’t show up, you know what happens, right?”
For a fleeting moment, a madness flickered in his eyes.
“I’ve told you time and again, finding you is nothing. Don’t make me any angrier and just come to work quietly. There’s a limit to my leniency.”
Only after her boss finished his piece and returned to his car with a swaggering stride did Yeonwoo bite her lip hard. Once his vehicle departed, the lawyers’ cars followed suit.
The torrential rain that lasted all day hammered against the top of her umbrella. After staring silently at the rainwater flowing into the drains, Yeonwoo slowly moved her feet.
That night, at three in the morning, well past midnight.
Yeonwoo left her home carrying a single suitcase. It was a house with time left on the lease, and she hadn’t even been able to submit a resignation letter to the company, but she left Seoul immediately.
Don’t make me any angrier and just come to work quietly. There’s a limit to my leniency.
Her boss’s voice seemed stuck to her skin, unable to be erased, and the further she got from Seoul, the more fear surged within her.
But no one would be able to help her. If she just stayed trembling in fear, she would never be able to escape him.
So she had to run. Because the only way left to escape was to vanish.
When you die, I’ll let you go then.
Or, as he said, by dying.
It was just as she was emerging from the blue-tinted haze of dawn.
After driving for about three hours from Seoul, one could reach Yangto-myeon in Moksan County, nestled at the foot of Yeosongsan.
Seeing the rain, which had been pouring until their departure, beginning to subside, President Nam Taejin of Seoyang Construction let out a groan and turned his gaze toward the car window.
“Looks like the rain is finally stopping. That was one hell of a spring rain.”
Seongheon, who had given the seat of honor to his uncle, President Nam Taejin, and was sitting beside him reviewing documents, looked up. Watching the valley fog rising thickly around the mountain, he could feel the thin dawn air.
“That’s a relief.”
“You can say that again. I was so anxious that it might rain during the ceremony.”
Seongheon turned a page of his documents without much of a reply.
Vice President of Seolyang, Nam Seongheon.
The reason he had arrived in Moksan County so early was that today was the day of the groundbreaking for a large-scale resort project.
A few years ago, hot spring water was discovered by chance in Moksan County. The temperature of the gushing spring water aligned perfectly with legal standards.
Quick to catch the news, Seolyang Construction bought up the entire area, including the site where a small motel had been planned. It was the start of a project that reflected Seolyang Construction’s determination to create a hot spring landmark in South Korea.
It was a plan for a complex resort combining hot springs, an amusement park, a ski resort, and a golf course, and Vice President Nam Seongheon had pushed it through from start to finish.
“In any case, Moksan County needs to be good to our Nam family. Whether in the past or now, it’s the Nam family that feeds Moksan County, I tell you.”
President Nam Taejin, who was born and raised in Moksan County, crossed one leg over his knee and shook his foot.
After the large-scale resort project was confirmed, a string of favorable news followed in the surrounding area. With unplanned train lines and highway extensions confirmed, President Nam Taejin couldn’t help but be in a good mood.
“Anyway, it’s good. Very good! Those bastards at Woongsu Construction, they must be so jealous, even if they don’t show it. Serves them right, those punks.”
Thinking of the distress of the competitor who had lost out on the favorable developments, a gravelly laugh burst out of him. The fact that Woongsu Construction, which had been flying high, had stepped down from the number one spot was all a feat achieved by Seongheon.
President Nam Taejin laughed heartily until his body warmed up, then took a steady breath. Then he glanced at Seongheon.
His nephew Seongheon, who sat in the Vice President’s chair, had an extraordinary eye and skill, and possessed a bulldozer-like personality that stopped at nothing to achieve his goals.
It was self-explanatory just by looking at Seolyang Construction’s report cards, which had risen vertically since Seongheon began participating in management. There was no plan Seongheon hadn’t fulfilled and no goal he hadn’t achieved. At least, not yet.
“…….”
The conversation cut off for a moment. As the monotonous road continued, President Nam Taejin, looking quite bored, tapped his knee with his hand and glanced at Seongheon again. He had shared the car thinking he might have a companion to talk to on the way, but his nephew was far too silent.
It was a mistake to dream of a chat with him in the first place.
If I knew it’d be like this, I would’ve just taken my own car.
President Nam Taejin raised his eyebrows and then spoke up again.
“Seongheon. So, how long are you staying here?”
“I’m not sure. I plan for about a month.”
“A month? Isn’t that too long? Is it okay to leave your seat at the headquarters vacant for that long?”
“With the President there, why worry about the Vice President being away?”
“Hey, don’t rely on me. I don’t know a thing about what you do, you brat.”
Seongheon put down his documents and turned on his tablet at the same time.
“The early stages after the groundbreaking are the most important. I will handle things so there’s no confusion with headquarters’ work. Don’t worry.”
As Seongheon finished speaking and fixed his gaze on the tablet, silence fell once more. President Nam Taejin straightened his back and rolled his neck.
“Fine. If you say so, then so be it. Anyway, am I constantly interrupting your work? I should just go in my own car.”
Seongheon glanced ahead.
“It’s already too late. We’re almost there anyway, so let’s just go.”
“No, no. I need to catch a few winks, even if it’s just for a bit. My fatigue isn’t going away after playing golf for several days straight.”
A short while later, the two vehicles stopped. President Nam Taejin climbed into his own car that had been leading, and Seongheon moved to the seat of honor, turning his gaze back to his tablet PC.
「Yangto-myeon, Domyeongjae」
‘Domyeongjae,’ seen on the signposts installed sparsely along the road, was a modern-day tangible cultural property as well as the seat of the Nam family, the main house where Seongheon would stay for about a month.
They drove along the dawn road where nothing moved. Toward that place that lit up the path, Domyeongjae.
The tedious road ended, and the rural path began in earnest.
By now, dawn had broken, and Seongheon’s vehicle followed behind President Nam Taejin’s.
Once the rain stopped, a fog as thick and white as rice water settled in. The fog, wrapping around the peaks of Yeosongsan like donut-shaped bands, created a mystical atmosphere.
“Whoa!”
The vehicle suddenly came to an abrupt stop, causing Seongheon’s body to lean forward slightly before straightening back up. The startled driver looked back.
“Vice President, I’m sorry. Are you alright?”
Instead of saying he was fine, Seongheon gave a small wave of his hand. It seemed the problem wasn’t the sudden stop.
“What’s going on?”
“Well, it’s because the President’s car stopped suddenly. From the looks of it, it seems they splashed water on a lady.”
“Water?”
Seongheon leaned his head to the side and looked ahead. It wasn’t clear due to the fog crawling along the ground, but the place where the car had stopped was a bus stop, and he could discern that the woman standing there had been covered in muddy water from the waist down.
The bumpy rural road and the dense fog were the problem. It seemed the thick, heavy wheels of the vehicle hadn’t passed smoothly over a pothole, splashing the collected muddy water onto the woman.
Common sense and instinct would usually dictate apologizing first to someone standing by the road, but the driver’s behavior was different.
Seongheon tilted his head slightly and watched the situation.
‘I’m sorry, but we’re busy and have no time to delay. There’s a very important person in the car. Take this money and send your clothes to the dry cleaners. Understood?’
Her expression was so blank it was as if her features had been erased, but it wasn’t enough to hide her radiance. Even from a distance, the harmony within her small face was striking.
“I said we don’t have time! There’s a very, very important person in this car right now. Didn’t you hear me?”
Seongheon’s gaze, which had been fixed on his tablet PC the entire time, was tied for the first time to the wet landscape and a stranger.
She wasn’t a local. She couldn’t be a tourist either. Was she leaving, or was she coming back?
Seongheon harbored more questions than necessary for a moment.
“If you aren’t protesting for more money, then just take it. From the looks of it, adding it all up, the laundry bill won’t come to much anyway.”
Watching the driver’s urging, Seongheon opened the car door.
His long, sleekly shod foot touched the ground, and the thick fog crunched beneath his step.