The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 31

“Just listen to me until the end.”

Yoonjae’s voice was full of annoyance.

“I’m not saying don’t do it yourself, I’m saying get help. You’ve never even tended a garden before. Do you know everything about the tools and the soil?”

His thoughts seemed to have changed from when he said he had resolved it.

“I still don’t like you doing it yourself. I want to turn the whole world into a sterile room, just like you said.”

His voice was already agitated.

“Like you said, the house isn’t a hospital or a prison. But creating a garden in the yard is difficult without professional help.”

To make a garden, they first had to remove the well-maintained lawn. Even if it was just a small patch of land the size of a palm, it was difficult for Hayeon and Ieum to do it alone.

It wasn’t just tilling bare ground, it was something that needed professional help, just like Yoonjae said.

“If it’s something like that… you should have said so earlier.”

“When did Ieum and you ever give me a chance to speak?”

Hayeon bit her lip in embarrassment at his point.

“Ieum said she wanted to go to the flower market… can she go?”

“For outings, I’ll have a car on standby. Just tell me where you’re going and come back. But not on days when Ieum isn’t feeling well.”

“I know that much.”

Hayeon raised her voice, but she wasn’t as angry as before.

“One more thing, Chief Jang is going on vacation.”

“What? So suddenly?”

“He’s been wanting to go on the pilgrimage route for a long time. He said if he delays any longer, he might never get to go.”

“Pilgrimage route, huh…”

Someone came to mind.

Yoonjae’s mother.

Before she was diagnosed with cancer, Hayeon often met her. She was always tired from working tirelessly for Yoonjae, but she loved Hayeon like a daughter.

To Hayeon, who had received little love from her own parents, Yoonjae’s mother was the only adult who showed her maternal affection.

The only dream Yoonjae’s mother had for herself, besides Yoonjae doing well, was to go on the pilgrimage route.

‘There’s no grand reason… it’s just that I’m getting to this age. I suddenly wonder if I’ve lived my life well… That road only goes forward. There are wide fields, and people from all over the world gather there. I want to let go of all my worries and walk and walk, taking time to reflect on myself. That’s why I want to go.’

The words Yoonjae’s mother said when she last met Hayeon, as if she had foreseen her own future, came to mind.

When Chief Jang brought up the story, Yoonjae must have thought of his deceased mother, just like Hayeon.

“He’ll be gone for about two months. I want you to take over the work Chief Jang was doing.”

Hayeon couldn’t bring herself to say she couldn’t do it. She slowly nodded her head.

“Okay… I will.”

As the cold atmosphere softened, something else caught her eye. She hadn’t realized that their bodies had gotten closer as they were talking with intense emotions.

As Hayeon stepped back, Yoonjae took another step closer.

“We were just going to swim…”

“We swam… it wasn’t just that, though.”

If he was talking about their conversation, it was the price of the bet.

“That was… you granting my wish from winning the bet.”

Yoonjae had won, but it was Hayeon who felt relieved. Even though she lost the bet, she didn’t really lose. That’s why she couldn’t run away from Yoonjae, who was closing the distance.

Hayeon stopped and looked up at Yoonjae. Yoonjae stopped at a distance where they could almost touch.

She wanted to see what was reflected in his pupils, but it was all black. They stood facing each other without a word, and time seemed to pass slowly.

The air surrounding them was heavy, as if submerged in water.

Even though she was standing firmly on her feet, her body felt like it was floating, and her ears felt muffled as if filled with water. She was breathing, but she felt out of breath.

“Do you still…”

Yoonjae’s voice echoed particularly loudly in her muffled ears. Hayeon swallowed hard, as if she had dived deep underwater.

“Think I’m a bad person?”

Those were the words Hayeon had said just a few days ago. It was too short a time to change her hateful feelings.

She lowered her gaze from Yoonjae and took a long breath instead of answering.

“Even if it’s not now… if I look even a little bit pretty… just hug me once.”

“!”

“Like before. Like when you hugged me for doing a good job… hug me like that.”

It seemed like what she was saying now was what Yoonjae really wanted from winning today’s bet.

In the end, Hayeon couldn’t say anything and had to turn away.

The yard was noisy from early in the morning the next day.

People were carrying large loads near Hayeon’s quarters, and the sounds of hammers and drills were loud. Before she could even go outside, Ieum burst into Hayeon’s quarters.

“Teacher, it’s a swing!”

“A swing?”

“Let’s go see it together. Quickly.”

Ieum grabbed Hayeon’s hand and led her to the yard. When she went out, there was a swing, just like Ieum said. Workers were busily moving around, as if it wasn’t fully assembled yet.

“There really is… a swing…”

“I told you, right? When it’s finished, let’s ride it together.”

Hayeon forced a smile as she watched Ieum excitedly circling the swing.

“Executive Director, his personality is really strange. He spent days agonizing over choosing that, and instead of showing off, he just gets scolded.”

Madam Lee, who had arrived sometime, stood next to Hayeon and chuckled.

“Not Secretary Kim, but the Executive Director himself?”

“Yeah, that’s right. He said it had to be sturdy enough for two or three people to ride. He was so picky about choosing it. Anyway, he always does good deeds in secret, so he never gets to hear anything good.”

Madam Lee said she should give the workers some juice and headed back to the main house. Hayeon quietly watched the swing being completed.

“It’s all done. We assembled it sturdily, so you can ride it right away.”

“Wow! That’s exciting. Teacher, hurry.”

“Okay, let’s ride it.”

Hayeon took Ieum’s hand and sat side by side on the swing.

“It’s a little… pretty.”

Sitting on the swing moving back and forth at a moderate speed, Hayeon murmured softly.

“It’s very pretty in my eyes, though?”

“Huh?”

“The swing. It’s very, very pretty.”

Ieum seemed to have misunderstood Hayeon’s mutterings.

“Yeah… it’s really pretty… the swing.”

Hayeon stroked Ieum’s hair and smiled.

The swing was very pretty, and the person who ordered it was a little pretty.

Around lunchtime, the gardener Yoonjae mentioned came to the house.

He said he had been managing the garden of this house for over 20 years, and he showed them the place where the garden used to be.

Hayeon thought it would take a long time, but the garden was quickly created in half a day with the help of an expert.

Hayeon went out with Ieum and bought seedlings to plant in the garden.

For a week, they diligently went to the market to buy and plant seedlings, and the garden gradually took shape. With something to do, Ieum’s face was livelier than before.

Ieum also accepted Chief Jang’s vacation calmly.

They went to the airport together to see Chief Jang off, and on the way back, Ieum’s shoulders were slumped. Now that Chief Jang was gone, the child seemed to feel a much greater sense of emptiness.

-Ting.

Hayeon checked her phone at the message notification.

[Kang Hayeon seems to have forgotten about me. You said we could meet one day a week, but do you know it’s been three weeks since we met? Did you make a new friend besides me? I’m going to forget your face.]

At the end of the message, Ji-hye sent a crying emoticon. Hayeon laughed silently as soon as she saw it.

“Teacher, who is it?”

“Oh… my friend. My best friend.”

“I knew it.”

Ieum’s voice was still dejected.

“You knew it?”

“As soon as you saw the message, you smiled prettily. I knew it must be a really close friend.”

Hayeon smiled awkwardly at Ieum’s observation.

“What does your friend say?”

“Oh, well… she says it’s been so long since she saw me that she’s going to forget my face.”

“That’s… she’s saying she misses you, right?”

“That’s right. We used to see each other almost every day. It’s been three weeks since she saw me, and she’s asking if I made a new friend besides her.”

Hayeon held out her phone to show Ieum Ji-hye’s message.

“Maybe… is it because of me that you can’t meet your friend?”

It hurt Hayeon’s heart, no, it ached, every time the child was sick and asked if she was the cause of everything, thinking like she did just now.

“It’s not because of Ieum. Actually, my friend is a very busy person.”

“Is she as busy as my dad?”

“Yeah, just as busy. She’s contacting me like this because she’s free and wants me to play with her.”

“Then, you should play with her.”

Hayeon wondered what to say.

She couldn’t honestly say that she couldn’t leave Ieum to meet her friend, nor could she say that she didn’t have time.

Because she would think that she was the reason she didn’t have time.

“I want to play too with you and your friend.”

While Hayeon was hesitating, Ieum said something unexpected.

“Oh… well.”

“Would your friend dislike a child like me?”

It was the opposite.

Of all the people Hayeon knew, Ji-hye was the one who liked children the most. She said she would have become a kindergarten teacher if she hadn’t worked at a modeling agency.

“Ieum, my friend likes playing with children more than adults.”

“Really?”

For the first time since parting with Chief Jang, Ieum’s face lit up. There was no more need to hesitate.

Hayeon headed to the studio where Ji-hye was. When she opened the heavy glass door and went inside, Ji-hye ran out.

“Kang Hayeon! I thought I was going to die from missing you.”

After hugging Hayeon tightly, Ji-hye jumped around like a child and suddenly stopped.

“Oh… who is this pretty little lady?”

“Hello, I’m Tae Ieum.”

As soon as she heard the name, Ji-hye looked at Hayeon. Her eyes were filled with hundreds of question marks.

When Hayeon nodded slightly, Ji-hye’s eyes widened as if the question marks had turned into exclamation points.

“Say hello. She’s the new friend I made.”

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