AVSH 8

Chapter 8

Delivery

[Hannam-dong 501-803]

Da-hee captured the mansion address Joo-young had sent and scrolled through the chat window filled with unread messages. Then she paused at a message that caught her eye.

[There’s something important you really need to hear—aren’t you curious?]

“……!?”

The sender was Han Joon-sang. The current CEO of Yoo Min-a’s agency and the manager who had once been in charge of her. The moment she saw his name, Da-hee felt an inexplicable chill.

In fact, when the Yoo Min-a incident broke, the first person the shocked Da-hee had called was Han Joon-sang. But he hadn’t answered her call.

Not just Da-hee—her agency had also tried to clear up the misunderstanding and resolve the situation somehow, but Han Joon-sang and Yoo Min-a’s agency gave no response at all. In the meantime, malicious articles and rumors about Do Da-hee spread wildly, and her image plummeted beyond control.

With trembling eyes, Da-hee scanned the long message he had sent.

[I heard something even more shocking than Yoo Min-a’s suicide note is about to break. You know it too, don’t you? That I’m close with a lot of reporters. If those reporters blow this open, not just you, but everyone around you will get hurt—what a predicament.]

“What on earth……!”

[Aren’t you curious what the reporters will expose, and how you should handle it? I’m thinking of helping you, out of old times’ sake—how about meeting just the two of us today? I’m not the type to wait long. I’ll wait for your reply until exactly 12.]

Da-hee knew well that Han Joon-sang was close with media outlets. She didn’t know what his scheme was, but this was the first time he had contacted her like this.

Especially given that she was in trouble on many fronts, including the matter with Yoo Min-a, what weighed on her most was the possibility that the people around her could get hurt. If there was any way to break through this situation, her honest feeling was that she wanted to grasp at any straw.

[I’ll see you at Cafe Blue Moon in Hannam-dong today at 2 PM.]

After much deliberation, she sent the reply, and as if he’d been waiting, [OK] came back. Having let out a deep breath, Da-hee gazed out the window that had brightened before she knew it.

“What? You’re going to meet CEO Han alone? Where is that place? I’m coming right now!”

“It’s not far from the hospital. I’ll meet him first and contact you afterward.”

“Ms. Da-hee!”

“Don’t worry, Chief Manager.”

Having replied to Joo-young’s message, Da-hee hurriedly turned off the messenger.

The hospital was a short distance from Hannam-dong.

Having safely slipped out of the hospital with her face covered by a mask and sunglasses, Da-hee immediately took a taxi toward the mansion of Taesan Trading’s chairman. It was because, before meeting Han Joon-sang, she intended to deliver the coat of her benefactor who had saved her.

Of course, she also harbored the hope that in the process, if she could meet him again and express her gratitude in person, that would be wonderful.

But the taxi came to a stop at the entrance of the wealthy neighborhood’s alley. Wondering what was going on, Da-hee looked up and flinched at the sight of a security guard approaching the driver who had rolled down the window.

“Is the road blocked? What’s the matter?”

“Due to circumstances, from here on you can pass only after identity verification. How have you come?”

“That’s……-”

When the taxi driver turned around, Da-hee quickly held up the bag containing the coat and answered.

“I’m delivering laundry. It’s an expensive luxury item, and the customer requested direct delivery.”

“Could you please remove your sunglasses and mask?”

“Pardon? Ah, that’s…….”

They check this thoroughly?

If she exposed her face, there was a high chance she’d be recognized as the celebrity Do Da-hee.

As the flustered Da-hee hesitated, unsure what to do, a horn sounded from behind.

Turning around, she saw three black luxury sedans lined up waiting. Just looking at them, they appeared to be vehicles carrying someone of high status.

“Please go ahead for now.”

The driver tactfully rolled up the window and drove on. Relieved, Da-hee hugged the bag containing the man’s coat and let out a sigh of relief.

“We’ve arrived at your destination. If you’re just making a delivery and coming out, shall I wait?”

“No, that’s alright. Thank you.”

Having sent the taxi off, Da-hee’s eyes went wide at the imposing height of the wall. The mansion, even more magnificent in person, looked like a palace.

She had come without thinking, but it was too late to regret that it had been a reckless choice.

Steeling herself, Da-hee gripped the bag strap tightly and stood before the main gate.

Ding-dong―

Having removed her sunglasses and mask and taken a deep breath, she summoned her courage and pressed the doorbell.

Standing before the gate with a nervous face, Da-hee stared intently at the doorbell that gave no response, then pressed the bell once more.

“Is no one here?”

Was coming to the mansion under the pretext of this coat a reckless act after all?

She had taken the risk of possibly running into lurking reporters in a wealthy neighborhood where even the alley entrance was controlled, and to turn back now without any result felt somehow unsatisfying.

Putting her mask and sunglasses back on, Da-hee checked the time.

It was just past 1 o’clock—there was still time before she had to meet Han Joon-sang at the nearby cafe.

“Should I wait a little longer.”

The day was especially cold today. Since she wasn’t fully recovered yet, waiting in the cold wind was not a good choice.

Nevertheless, she crouched down before the gate. And she pulled out the tablet PC she’d brought as a substitute for a phone.

“Ah, right. There’s no Wi-Fi here.”

She had no phone on hand, and the tablet PC she’d brought instead was useless without Wi-Fi since she couldn’t use messenger.

“Nothing’s going right today, one way or another.”

Da-hee hugged the bag containing the coat and let out a sigh.

Meanwhile, Geon-woo, who had woken up late due to failed jet-lag adjustment, came down to the first floor past mealtime. A servant approached him silently and asked.

“Would you like a meal?”

“No. Skip the food—just give me a warm cup of tea. Something without caffeine.”

“Yes. I’ll prepare it right away.”

Geon-woo still vividly remembered the time in his childhood when he’d gone into the kitchen to get some water and been scolded.

It was because a man shouldn’t carelessly enter the kitchen, and small errands should be delegated to the servants. After that day, Geon-woo never set foot in this mansion’s kitchen again.

Looking back, they never treated him as a child because he was illegitimate, yet the discipline was extremely strict.

The discrimination was severe as well. Unlike Jang Hyun-woo, there were many things Jang Geon-woo was not permitted.

Thus this mansion held a great many unpleasant memories. The hardship of his childhood—always having to bow his head and hold his breath because he’d be scolded severely even for small things—seeped from every corner.

Still, the reason he stayed at the mansion instead of going to a hotel was because of his father. In any case, it was true that the company had been thrown into chaos because of him, so he intended to stay quiet until he left.

“The tea is ready.”

“But the house is quiet?”

“The Chairman and the eldest young master have gone to work, and Madam has gone out for a luncheon gathering. I also need to stop by the laundry—is there anything else you need?”

“No. Don’t mind me, go ahead.”

This mansion, then and now, had not a single thing out of place—whether people or objects. The servant who exited after saying only what needed to be said without any superfluity was like an NPC in a game.

Left alone, Geon-woo took his teacup and went out to the veranda. Seeing the snow that must have piled up throughout the garden cleared away perfectly clean, his chest felt inexplicably stifled.

Perfect yet desolate, neat yet cold. In this suffocating place where not a shred of humanity could be felt, the fact that someone with a warm personality like Jang Hyun-woo had grown up here was, in a way, quite remarkable.

Ding-dong―

What broke the stillness of the quiet house and Geon-woo’s contemplation was an unexpected doorbell.

No one in the household would ring the doorbell, which meant an outsider had come—but who would press the doorbell of the Chairman’s mansion in broad daylight?

Walking with measured steps, Geon-woo stopped short at the unexpected face visible on the intercom screen.

Do Da-hee?

As Geon-woo doubted his own eyes, she—with a clean face devoid of any makeup—spoke.

― Um…… is anyone there? I, I came to see Jang Geon-woo.

“Ha……?”

― Is no one here? Ah…… really no one?

Surely she hadn’t come all the way here alone, without anyone?

Flustered by the completely unexpected situation, Geon-woo let out a bemused breath, set down his half-finished teacup, and headed for the front door.

Perhaps due to the strict control at the entrance, the wealthy neighborhood’s alley was quiet. Since the luxury sedans that had been waiting behind the taxi had passed by quite a while ago, not a single ant could be seen.

Is it right to wait in front of the mansion gate like this?

Even if she couldn’t meet the person herself, if anyone would come out, she’d be happy to just deliver the coat and leave.

“Should I just leave it in front of the gate?”

It would be good to leave a note, but Da-hee had nothing besides the useless tablet PC.

If I leave the clothes in front of the gate without a word, they might think someone dumped them there, wouldn’t they? If I’d known this would happen, I’d have brought a pen or something……

Having thought of every possible thing in a short time, Da-hee got up after much deliberation. Slightly staggering from dizziness, she brushed off her backside and picked up the bag.

Then she suddenly shouted at the gate.

“Excuse me! Is no one there?”

Not knowing that Geon-woo had already come out beyond the gate, Da-hee shouted vigorously.

So this is what her voice sounds like.

It was the first time Geon-woo had heard Do Da-hee’s voice directly. He couldn’t believe that the image in the photos he’d seen, her appearance on the day of the accident, and her appearance today were all the same person.

They say she’s a famous actress—she must have a thousand faces.

“I’m not a reporter, and I’m not a peddler! I came to deliver a coat to Jang Geon-woo! So this is…… a quick delivery! Quick delivery!”

“How strange. This is supposed to be 501-803…… Don’t the mansions of chairmen this big usually have lots of people working? Is there really no one?”

Listening vividly to Da-hee’s muttering, Geon-woo let out a silent chuckle. Wondering just how far she’d go, he crossed his arms calmly, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly.