PO 8

The setting sun wrapped the garden in warmth. Light brown eyes stayed still as they watched a withered leaf that barely clung to a branch drift away helplessly in the wind.

Woojeong sat alone at the garden table that no one had visited since the weather grew cold. A book lay open in front of him, but the page was the same as when it was first opened. The book was nothing more than an excuse to stay outside.

By dusk the cold made it hard to sit still. Woojeong slid a bookmark between the pages and stood up from his seat.

The living room lights glowed brightly. Since no one had called for him yet, he thought it was fine to stay unseen a little longer. Holding the book, Woojeong climbed the stairs and walked toward the backyard.

From the deck where glass rails stood because of the raised ground, the alley in front of the house stretched clearly below. Woojeong often stood there and looked out. In earlier days when he spent nearly all his time at home, he had even passed most of the day in this very spot, so the place was familiar to him.

As quitting time came near, the once empty alley gained signs of life. While he kept staring down the end of the road, two figures appeared.

One was a young child, about kindergarten age, and the other was a grown woman. The child hopped with joy and babbled something, and the woman bent down to listen. A moment later they laughed.

Woojeong smiled as he watched them walk hand in hand in such warmth. When the child grew tired of walking, he reached his arms toward his mother. The boy who threw himself into his mother’s embrace vanished around the corner, and Woojeong continued watching until the sound of a car drew his gaze to the opposite side of the road.

An SUV, all black so the inside couldn’t be seen, entered the alley. The car slowed and stopped a short way from Woojeong’s house. Its driver skillfully parked it at once in an empty spot, and then the lights went out.

Was he from this neighborhood? Even here where large houses stood in a row, no one left a luxury car of that level parked along the road. As he felt his neck growing cold, Woojeong zipped his coat to the top and kept his eyes on the parked car. The open window slowly rose and closed.

He thought it might leave, but then the door opened. A black shoe stepped out first, then a man in a black coat emerged.

The man slammed the door shut and moved toward the rear of the car. From where Woojeong stood his face stayed hidden, turned toward the wall. He lowered his head briefly, then straightened and looked around without any rush.

“……”

Every time his large hand touched his mouth, white smoke spread in the air around him. The wind carried a faint smell of tobacco. He was doing nothing special, but Woojeong’s eyes lingered on him.

Woojeong rubbed the tip of his nose as he continued staring. The man’s back, seemed familiar.

Woojeong knew few people, but the man’s tall frame and broad build made him recall someone. But there was no reason for that person to appear in a place like this.

A sudden gust of wind tousled his hair. As Woojeong closed his eyes and turned his head, the book tucked at his side slipped and fell. The heavy hardcover hit the wooden deck with a loud noise.

“Ah…”

The noise must have reached the man. He began to turn his head slowly. Before he fully faced him, Woojeong bent down and picked up the book.

It had been nothing more than a glance of curiosity, but his heart hammered as if he had committed some great wrong. Woojeong walked quickly back toward the house, almost running. His cheeks burned red with cold as soon as he stepped through the front door, and he heard Kang Eonju’s high pitched voice.

“Lay down that white rug here. Hurry.”

Kwak Yeosa, who had been waiting nearby, rushed over and spread the rug. Kang Eonju had been busy with interior changes recently.

She had always liked a glamorous and romantic style, but her taste suddenly changed, and she began to redecorate the house in a simple and luxurious mood.

The house, cleared of messy construction traces, looked completely renewed. The living room, styled in several tones of achromatic colors, gave off a weighty atmosphere, and large pots placed throughout added fresh shades of green.

She also replaced the paintings on the walls with new works. Without hesitation, Kang Eonju removed the German landscape painting by a famous artist that she had cherished for so long.

In its place, she hung the work of an artist known for expressing objects with unique textures. The painting that hung in the center of the living room used a dark tone, so the room’s atmosphere felt heavier than before.

“Shall we go with this rug?”

“Yes. Is the meal ready inside?”

“Yes. They said it is almost finished.”

Kang Eonju inspected the new rug and carefully looked around. She adjusted the position of a framed photo on the cabinet herself, then she turned and frowned. She had just noticed Woojeong standing idly at the entrance.

“Why are you standing there like that? Didn’t you hear that we have guests coming?”

“I heard. I’ll get ready right away.”

“Wait. You, look this way.”

Kang Eonju stopped Woojeong, who had been about to rush upstairs. She grabbed his chin and examined him closely as if she were looking at an object. She muttered to herself, “Not bad,” then released him roughly and walked to the kitchen as if nothing had happened.

Woojeong rubbed the spot her hand had touched with the back of his hand as he climbed the stairs. On the bed in his room, a white shirt and a pair of slacks were neatly laid out.

As he picked up the clothes, he felt a familiar fragrance. The perfume smelled unusually heavy today, and it felt like an unspoken warning to hide his pheromones.

Woojeong put on the shirt and stood in front of the mirror. He buttoned it to the top and turned his face side to side, checking himself as Kang Eonju had done earlier.

“Ah……”

The swelling on his face had almost gone down. The faint bruise around his eye could be hidden by his hair, enough that it would not stand out. Only the cut at the corner of his mouth, still unhealed, bothered him.

It was Lee Doyoung who had made his face like this. At one word of backtalk, his look had changed, and he raged until his temper burned out. Shouts erupted, and things crashed to the floor, but no one came to check that chaos.

In the early days after his father remarriage, when the family first began living together, Lee Doyoung only teased and bothered Woojeong in mischief. Back then, Lee Iljun sometimes scolded him and quietly comforted Woojeong. But that attention didn’t last long.

Lee Iljun grew busier watching his wife’s moods. Kang Eonju, who controlled the household finances, had become an absolute figure who could give him stability and new chances.

He knew that his new wife and stepson disliked his own child. He noticed that Woojeong grew quieter and darker. But he ignored it, buried himself in helping his in-laws’ business, and left Woojeong unattended.

Woojeong slowly came to realize why his father had changed. He was a man who put protecting what he held in his own hand before anything else. For that reason, he justified things by telling himself that Woojeong only needed to endure, and he avoided the problem by keeping his son at a distance.

He hadn’t been a cruel father from the beginning, but in the end he abandoned the duty of protecting Woojeong.

Woojeong endured the harsh days by giving up and quietly bearing them. He grew so used to that life that he became numb even to the wounds that kept increasing.

When he had finished preparing his clothes and took a breath, someone knocked outside l. Kwak Yeosa peeked the door open and spoke softly.

“Woojeong, the guests have arrived.”

The warm-faced woman passed on the message with a smile, then clicked her tongue when she saw him.

“Aigo, don’t you have any bright-colored clothes? At your age, you’d look good even wrapped in a sack, so why do you only wear those gloomy colors? Did you come to a funeral or something?”

“……Just because.”

The clothes Woojeong wore to important gatherings had always been chosen beforehand by Kang Eonju, and today was no exception.

He hadn’t realized it until now, but as Kwak Yeosa said, all of them had been dark-colored.

“The elder son dressed so brightly and splendidly, so how nice would it be if Woojeong dressed like that too. It upsets me to see such fine looks buried under these dull clothes.”

“They are just clothes. It’s fine.”

“Anyway, come down quickly. They will be here soon.”

Kang Eonju had redecorated the house in full because of the guest she invited today. Woojeong had heard countless times that Lee Doyoung’s arranged date partner was coming to the house today.

<You just sit quietly and fill the seat. Answer only what you are asked, and don’t say a single unnecessary word. Do you understand?>

Every time she saw him in recent days, Kang Eonju repeated the warning. For Woojeong, it was natural. Whenever guests came to the house, his role was to quietly stay in place as if he weren’t there and then slip away at the right time.

If the guest had been ordinary, she would have told him to stay only in his room, but today was the day to show a picture of a harmonious family.

When Woojeong came downstairs, the guest was already entering through the front door.

“Mom, we are here.”

Lee Doyoung’s voice sounded full of excitement as he stepped inside. Woojeong stood behind his parents, who had gone out to greet at the entrance. For no reason he felt nervous and lowered his head.

“Welcome.”

“Oh my. Please, come inside quickly. The house is a little humble.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

With a wide smile, Kang Eonju welcomed the guest warmly. The man handed her a large bouquet of flowers he had brought. She held the lush bouquet in her arms and beamed brightly.

“It is we who should be thankful for the trouble you took to come. Oh my, the flowers are beautiful.”

Though Lee Doyoung had met many men through matchmaking or otherwise, this was the first time the partner had been invited to the house. For a couple who had met through arrangement, visiting the other’s family home was quite a meaningful step. Kang Eonju had redecorated and prepared the entire house for this very reason.

“Woojeong.”

Lost in a fleeting thought, Woojeong lifted his head at the sound of Lee Doyoung calling him. In the meantime, his parents had finished greeting the man and gave way to Woojeong. Holding the man’s arm, Lee Doyoung spoke warmly as he introduced them.

“This is my younger brother. Woojeong, greet him.”

“Hello.”

After bowing and raising his head, Woojeong gasped for breath in shock. The man in the black coat stepped forward and held out his hand to him.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Han Jaegang.”

How did this happen? Woojeong’s face turned pale when he faced the master of Snow Reflection Residence in his own house.