Chapter 237

Chapter 237

Creak-

The old wooden floor creaked on her every step.

She was drawn by curiosity from the moment she arrived at the small main house.

Unlike other mansions of the Kwon family, this place was smaller, but it had a particular charm thanks to the azaleas growing from the hillside.

While the employees put on their goggles and prepared for work, Lee-yeon stepped on the square stones and approached the front of the main hall, fascinated.

Recently, new aspects of Kwon Chae-woo, who graduated from college abroad when he was younger and is good at German, have been floating around her head.

The questions that had been forcibly suppressed were bubbling up like soap bubbles recently. Thus, she hesitantly set foot in the strangely nostalgic annex.

Creak, creak.

A hallway that feels cold because it is untouched by human hands. Suddenly, someone’s silhouette appeared.

“…!”

Lee-yeon held her breath as she looked at the familiar profile, and at that moment, their eyes met.

The man, fully dressed in a suit, recognized her but turned his back on her and opened one of the sliding doors. He left it ajar as if asking her to come in. Lee-yeon’s legs moved without her realizing.

Anyway, by tomorrow, their deal, which should last for a month, will be fulfilled. Lee-yeon had planned to leave this place as soon as morning came, and it seemed better to inform Kwon Ki-seok of the contract termination now that he was here.

Lee-yeon cautiously extended her head beyond the doorframe without lowering her guard.

Passing a small bed and desk that seemed somewhat impractical for an adult male, her gaze settled somewhere in the center.

It fixated on the elongated and twisted shadow of Kwon Ki-seok.

“Underneath this is the underground where Yoon Joo-ha was confined.”

“…What?”

Lee-yeon was taken aback by the unexpected revelation. Outside the window, autumn rain was falling heavily that she wondered if she had heard him wrong.

“Didn’t you resent and fear Chae-woo?”

Because Kwon Ki-seok still had his back turned, there was no way she could see his expression.

“Didn’t you want to inflict him pain?”

“…”

“It wasn’t only So Lee-yeon who lied to Chae-woo. The both of us did. So, I thought we were on the same side. I wondered how much effort you put in to turn the lies you used to casually feed him.”

…On the same side? Lee-yeon mulled over the words silently. As she did, a sharp sense of aversion involuntarily wrinkled her forehead.

“I just wanted to go my own way. My intention wasn’t to hurt Kwon Chae-woo.”

“Are those two different?”

“…”

Suddenly, the thought crossed Lee-yeon’s mind that it might not be that different from Kwon Chae-woo’s perspective. She bit her lip in contemplation.

Kwon Ki-seok blended into the young boy’s room like wallpaper. It seemed like he frequented this place.

Instead of inspecting the room like Lee-yeon, he seemed fixated on the floor, as if trying to pierce through it. The deeply bowed head looked oddly eerie.

“When Chae-woo returned from overseas, I summoned him and lied about Yoon Joo-ha being dead.”

“…!”

Lee-yeon’s face noticeably stiffened. It seemed like her eyes could pop out at any moment as pressure surged.

“In fact, until that point, Yoon Joo-ha was perfectly alive.”

At the end of his words, a strange smirk lingered on his face, which Lee-yeon couldn’t see with his back on her.

“At the time, Chae-woo probably thought Yoon Joo-ha had died after being caught. That the woman had a simple accident, died just like that, and things got twisted.”

“…”

“Then, in the midst of a severe depression and mourning, he gave up music and started learning about the affairs of the Kwon family, searching for the truth on his own. Later, when he found out about Yoon Joo-ha’s  confinement, he went mad as if betrayed, but—”

For a moment, Kwon Ki-seok burst into laughter.

Lee-yeon’s body remained as if frozen. The rain beating against the window intensified.

“Could you even imagine? That the one who killed Yoon Joo-ha was himself. Chae-woo himself.”

“…!”

The sliding door bumped open with a thud as the old woods collided. Now… what was he saying? Lee-yeon held her breath. Unnoticed, her palm was slippery with cold sweat.

“I-I don’t quite understand…”

On the day of parting with Kwon Chae-woo, Lee-yeon absorbed the hatred he poured out, reading his resentment with her entire being.

She could understand his destructive self-blame and guilt for not recognizing his mother behind just one layer of concrete.

She understood his hatred towards her and her lies, cutting off Lee-yeon with that wounded heart.

Kwon Ki-seok continued his words, his voice now grave.

“I summoned Chae-woo and made a final bet with that woman. Every time the sound of a cello echoed in this house, I promised to give her food.”