1

The mansion had an air as if it were completely cut off from the outside world. The walls were tall and solid, and beyond them, the house blended into an enormous garden so vast one could get lost in it. In the maze-like grounds stood the main house and the annex, and at the center of it all was an eerily still pond.

I had lived here for years, yet I still had not gotten used to it. It was the kind of mansion that made it hard to breathe just by looking at it, with a sly, murky side that resembled its owner. It looked elegant on the surface, but the things that happened inside were anything but.

The mansion, which always gave off a razor-edged atmosphere as if everyone were walking on thin ice, had been uncommonly chaotic for the past week. It was because the only son of the first wife was coming back to Korea after several years.

And after that, my mother’s nerves had gradually become frayed. It was only natural, since my mother and I, the servant and the servant’s son, were nothing more than outsiders in this house.

Still, the people in the mansion pushed ahead even harder with preparations to receive the first wife’s son.

The annex, which was always kept spotless without a speck of dust to be found even on ordinary days, was redecorated from top to bottom, with the lights never going out even at night. That was also the reason I had stopped going there.

Everyone finished preparing perfectly for the heir of Hwamun and waited for him, but in the end, the first wife’s son never showed.

Only after the time he was supposed to have arrived in Korea had passed by a long stretch did a call come in from the attendant who monitored him and accompanied him. When word spread that the heir had shaken off the attendants at the airport and boarded a flight straight back to the United States, the mood sank instantly and turned grim.

"I knew this would happen the moment that guy, who hadn’t shown his face for years, said he’d come to Korea so obediently."

Only Cha Taewoo, his half-brother, muttered that in a strangely bright voice. He was the chairman’s illegitimate son. It made sense that he would be pleased by the situation.

Not long after, the chairman left with visible displeasure, and following him were his wife and then Cha Taewoo as well.

Soon, I heard humming and footsteps. I hoped it was not what I thought, but they were definitely coming toward my room.

As the sound drew closer, my body stiffened noticeably. In the end, the footsteps stopped right outside my door, and the door flew open without even a knock.

"What are you doing?"

The moment Cha Taewoo’s voice cut through the air, goosebumps broke out on my arms.

"...Getting ready for tutoring."

I was sitting at my desk, and I awkwardly rubbed my arms.

Cha Taewoo seemed so pleased that his half-brother had not come to Korea and had disappointed the family that he approached me with a rare smile on his face. Then he prodded the back of my neck, which had already gone stiff, with a touch that carried intent.

"Aren’t you tired? You should rest a little."

A chill ran from the back of my neck down my spine.

Whether he knew it or not, Cha Taewoo tilted the corners of his eyes downward as if he were hurt.

"I came all this way, and you didn’t even look at me."

"Please get out. What if someone sees you?"

In the end, I could not stand it anymore and slapped his hand away.

"You still haven’t gotten over being angry at me?"

Cha Taewoo muttered it like a soliloquy, then massaged my shoulder once before letting go.

"Fine, whatever. I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll let it slide. So stop being mad. Let’s just be like we used to, the two of us."

I pretended not to hear and let my gaze fall to the desk. I wanted Cha Taewoo to leave quickly. He was like a time bomb that could go off at any moment, especially when it came to his younger brother’s affairs.

"Do your best. Make sure you keep in touch before I come looking again."

Only after Cha Taewoo, who had been wandering around me for ages, finally left the room did I let my rigid body sag with relief.

"...Haa."

One Cha Taewoo was already more than enough. And now his brother was coming too?

I bit my lip anxiously and touched the book I had not been able to turn a page in for hours, pointlessly.

Everything felt awful and uncomfortable. The behavior of the people in this mansion, and their hidden intentions, all of it.

* * *

It was said that Cha Seonwoo, the son of the legal wife, had been causing one accident after another since he was a child. After entering high school, he had supposedly moved out and rented a place near the school. And not long after that, he had caused a major incident and been sent back to the United States.

I had heard that even there, he had spent a year repeating the grade and living recklessly, but even so, the chairman and his wife seemed to think that was better than him doing the same thing in narrow little Korea.

I had never once seen him in person, but his face was familiar.

In the living room of the absurdly huge mansion hung a family photo of the chairman and his wife.

Only three people existed in it: the chairman, his wife, and Cha Seonwoo, the son of the first wife.

Cha Seonwoo had a striking appearance and presence. The photo had been taken when he was still somewhere between adolescence and adulthood, not yet fully grown, yet sharp enough to look cutting, and that strange contrast left a lingering impression. He seemed like he belonged in this mansion, and yet at the same time, he felt out of place.

After staring at that photo every day for years, at some point Cha Seonwoo had begun to feel as familiar as if he lived in this house.

At first it had not been by choice, but before I knew it, I had started following him with my eyes.

And when I heard he was coming to Korea, I was seized by some nameless emotion.

Maybe I had been looking forward to it. I had been just a little disappointed when I heard he was not coming.

Then several days passed. Christmas was just around the corner, yet only silence flowed through the mansion. With the atmosphere even more subdued than usual, I kept myself hidden in my room and tried not to make a sound.

Regardless of my own will, news about the first wife’s son kept drifting into my ears.

It seemed the chairman had laid down a serious warning to his second son. Contrary to the expectation that he would not come to Korea again this time, the servant still came and went from the annex, cleaning and dusting it more diligently than usual. Watching that, I could only vaguely guess that the second son must be coming soon.

As soon as tutoring ended, I came home and headed first to my mother’s room on the second floor.

Unlike the first floor, there were not many rooms upstairs. Instead, a huge room, large enough that it would not seem strange even if an entire house had been moved inside it, was located deep inside. Whatever happened in there, the first floor would not know.

Why was my mother, who was nothing more than a servant, living here? I had wondered, but I quickly pushed away the unease.

"I’m coming in."

As always, there was no reply from inside. After waiting a moment, I carefully opened the door and saw my mother crouched over without even looking at me.

Every time I came upstairs, every time I saw my mother, it felt as if even I caught the same sadness.

Ignoring the suffocating air as best I could, I looked around the room, but my younger brother was nowhere to be seen.

"I don’t see Chaemin. Where is he?"

My mother, who had been staring blankly at her knees, finally lifted her head and looked around. Her face went completely white. A bad feeling slowly began to swallow me.

"Look at my memory. I took Chaemin downstairs to the first floor for a moment earlier, and I must not have brought him back then. This won’t do..."

"What?"

A chill ran down my spine. My mother, who had suffered from severe depression for a long time, did not have the energy to look after anyone other than herself. Not even if that other person was her own young child.

"I’ll find him."

I did not have the time to blame my mother. Suppressing the rising panic, I hurried out of the room. The people in this mansion were already on edge these days.

Of course, to them, we, who did not share even a drop of the chairman’s blood, were nothing but eyesores.

We were only allowed the bare minimum range of movement, so long as we did not get in their way, but how could a child who had only just started walking know any of that?

I rushed down to the first floor and, the moment I entered the living room, I saw my younger brother waddling toward the front door.

He looked as if he might fall at any second. Fortunately, there was no one around, as if no one had noticed my brother yet.

I quickened my pace into something close to a run, and my brother noticed me and broke into a bright smile, holding out his arms.

"I told you not to go outside the room."

I scolded him, though he could not even understand, then knelt and hugged him close. Just as I was about to stand.

At that very moment, the front door slammed shut with a sharp sound, and goosebumps rose on my arms. The flow of the air changed all at once.