Chapter 06
After spending a night in an unfamiliar place, morning came. Perhaps because Seok-woo had given instructions, Yerim ended up going to kindergarten in the butler’s car.
“Bye, Mom~ I’m going in a big car today.”
“Y-yes. Our Yerim, fighting today too.”
“Okay! See you later, Mom.”
Yerim waved her hand and left the house, and the garage door shut tightly behind her. The wind blew with a hollow sound, giving an eerie feeling.
As Heeyeon headed up the stairs, she heard some women chatting.
“Ugh, I feel so relieved now that that bitch Aeri is gone.”
“You too? Same here.”
“Now that she’s gone, wouldn’t it be great if the CEO called me whenever he felt lonely?”
“Hey, wake up. His standards are sky-high. Even when that Aeri woman threw herself at him naked, he didn’t even blink.”
“If it were Director Cha, he would’ve jumped at the chance already.”
“Heh.”
They were talking about that woman again.
From the way they said she ran at him naked, it seemed she had liked Kang Seok-woo. But hadn’t he said he had a lover?
Of course, that lover probably didn’t live in the same house. It also seemed these women didn’t know he even had one.
Whatever.
Why should I even care?
Heeyeon shook her head. She took out her phone to check for missed calls, but there were none.
His voice had sounded so urgent…
Was he hurt?
Where was he hurt…?
She couldn’t help but hope he was safe.
As Heeyeon passed by them, they all glared at her.
“She looks annoying.”
“Seriously, why bring someone like her in as a personal keeper? There are plenty of other keepers here.”
“She’s probably someone who won’t develop feelings for him. She’s a mom, after all.”
Heeyeon turned her eyes away sharply as they bad-mouthed her. The moment she did, they all pretended nothing had happened and dispersed.
Seriously…
Sigh.
After letting out a deep breath, she went up to Seok-woo’s room.
Since he had come back late last night, cleaning today was scheduled for 10 a.m.
When she entered the room, she heard the sound of running water from the shower. The bedsheets were completely disheveled.
Judging by the messy sheets, it seemed someone had been called over last night. She hadn’t seen anything directly, but she had that feeling. Scattered tissues on the floor almost looked like condoms. She even thought she could smell the scent of male fluids.
Was he angry because his lover had run away?
Did he call women every day?
Can he not live without a woman even for a single day?
Well, maybe his nights were different from his perfectly composed daytime image.
But what does it matter to me?
Heeyeon picked up the tissues from the floor and threw them into the trash.
While she was sweeping and mopping the floor, she noticed the shower sound had stopped.
“…!”
She glanced over—and accidentally met his eyes.
The bathrobe that reached below his knees probably hid nothing underneath. His half-dried hair gave off a strangely decadent charm.
“You can probably smell some perfume.”
“N-no.”
The words she had secretly been curious about slipped out, and her ears flushed in embarrassment.
“You looked like you thought it was dirty.”
“That’s not true.”
“Really?”
“Enjoy yourself as much as you want. I’ll make the bed spotless.”
“……”
When he didn’t respond, she turned her head—and found him staring directly at her.
Something felt strange.
That sharp gaze… like a beast staring at its prey.
Was it because the conversation had touched on his private life?
She became conscious of him.
It would’ve been nice if he stepped aside while she cleaned. Instead, he just kept watching her like that.
Even after copying my phone…
It felt suffocating and uncomfortable.
“Aren’t you going to work?”
“I will.”
“Then I’ll prepare your suit.”
“Match the color of the underwear too.”
“…!”
“Why? Embarrassed?”
“No!”
Heeyeon hurried into the dressing room to prepare his suit.
Why does he even match underwear colors?
Maybe it was just his style, but she opened the drawer and looked through his underwear.
Stretch boxer briefs barely the size of her palm.
Would that even cover anything?
It looked like there was barely enough fabric.
Suddenly, she imagined Seok-woo wearing them.
Underwear hanging low on his well-built muscular waist. The dip of his hip bones looking se—
“…!”
Am I crazy?
So Heeyeon, what are you imagining right now?
She hurriedly looked around. This was the dressing room—there was no way he could see—but her face burned hot.
She quickly laid out his suit, underwear, and tie, then left the dressing room.
At that moment, Seok-woo came in quickly and almost collided with her.
“Ah…”
Without realizing it, Heeyeon reached toward him. At the same time, he grabbed her waist.
Thud.
They stopped at a dangerously close distance, both reaching out.
When his expression tightened slightly, Heeyeon trembled and quickly pulled her hand away.
“Do you want to fall into my arms?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Heeyeon fled the room as if escaping.
Thump thump thump—
Her heart pounded from the tension. The brief touch felt like electricity.
The tingling sensation left her flustered.
It’s just dryness.
Just dryness.
She tied her hair up tightly and picked up the vacuum cleaner before going downstairs.
Behind her, a gaze followed.
Seok-woo’s expression hardened grimly.
* * *
The place Seok-woo went to was to find the last trace of Pilmo.
Deep in the forest, among thick trees, they found faint blood stains on branches.
“The blood trail stops here.”
“He must have realized I was tracking him.”
“Then he’ll hide even deeper.”
Seok-woo scanned the surrounding forest. Judging by the amount of blood, it seemed he had failed to stop the bleeding.
“Hope he doesn’t end up as food for wild animals…”
Before the Chairman returned, Seok-woo needed to put Jung Sea and Pilmo back in their proper places.
But the trail kept going cold.
The man seemed optimized for escape.
He must have planned everything carefully. Running blindly would only get him caught.
“Fine. Keep running. The things you cherish most are already in my hands.”
* * *
It had been three days since Heeyeon had unwillingly become a keeper. She needed information.
Only then could she help Pilmo even a little.
After Seok-woo left for work, she divided cleaning areas with the other keepers.
One keeper who had disliked her from the start shot her a glare.
“You need to clean over there too. And there.”
“I’m doing it.”
“Hurry up. The CEO hates anything dirty.”
“Okay.”
The butler mostly handled estate management, so cleaning was mainly supervised by that woman.
Heeyeon carefully wiped each stair step after rinsing the mop. The mansion was enormous—over 100 pyeong (about 3,500 sq ft)—yet only a few keepers lived there.
After nearly three hours of cleaning, it was finally break time. A familiar face waved at her.
It was Mina, another keeper. She was the only one who had been friendly toward Heeyeon.
“Those older women are scary. Don’t make them hate you for no reason. There’s a hierarchy even among us.”
“We’re all in the same situation. What hierarchy?”
“Even if we do the same work, our circumstances are different. Oh, I was sold here because of my dad’s debt too. I only worked at a bar for one month.”
“I see…”
“If you don’t know something, ask me. You’re 26, right? We’re the same age. Let’s be friends.”
“Should we?”
“Great! The older ones bullied me. I’m so happy to finally have a friend.”
Mina looked genuinely happy like a child. Since everyone else seemed busy hating her, Heeyeon was also glad to have someone to talk to.
She decided to grow closer to Mina and gather information about this place.
The estate had two buildings. The opposite building was assigned to other keepers.
“What’s that building over there?”
“Oh, that’s where the Chairman lives.”
“…What?”
“You didn’t know? This is Chairman of JM Capital’s residence.”
“…!”
Heeyeon was shocked.
This wasn’t Seok-woo’s house.
It belonged to the Chairman of JM Capital.
“Surprised? You see gangsters coming and going here, right? They’re almost at conglomerate level now, but still doing this kind of work.”
“I guess it makes money. It started as a private loan business after all.”
“Right. Everyone working here is a debtor too. We couldn’t pay our debts, so we pay with our labor. We sign secret contracts… Still, it’s better than selling our bodies at bars, so I prefer this.”
“……”
“You probably have it even better though. Since you’ll probably be doing those kinds of things with the CEO.”
