Chapter 175
Chapter 175
"Ah, senior, did you say you weren't based in Seoul?"
If we managed to shake off some of the awkwardness during the conversation, it was largely thanks to So-hee. She probably kept the talk going precisely because we were coworkers from the same workplace.
Still, when a reserved senior and a bubbly junior work together, it's almost inevitable that the outgoing one ends up driving the relationship forward. And since they'd keep seeing each other at work anyway, maintaining at least a minimum level of rapport was sensible.
Not that most of the people working at the mansion seemed like the type to deliberately stay quiet. But So-hee had always had a lot of friends. Just keeping her mouth shut and working in silence probably didn't suit her personality.
Besides, for some reason, So-hee seemed to genuinely enjoy working as my maid. I hadn't actually observed her full work routine, so I couldn't say whether the workload was heavy or light, but when she was at the mansion, So-hee looked far happier than when she sat in the classroom with a bored expression.
Even that openly bright expression was something she only wore when it was just the two of us. It wasn't as if she never made that face at school, but even there, it was reserved for our conversations.
Apart from us, the only person she was somewhat close to was the disciplinary committee member Son A-reum, and with other students she was practically hostile—you could even say she bristled at them.
When it was a teacher, that attitude got even worse.
How should I put it... it almost felt like she was getting angry on my behalf.
"My hometown is Gangwon-do. But I've mostly lived in Seoul since middle school..."
"Gangwon-do?"
The question slipped out before I could stop myself, and I quickly shut my mouth.
No, I mean, it wasn't about whether it suited her or not. I'd simply never given Yang Hye-in's hometown any thought at all. To be fair, even when I did my military service in the Gangwon-do area, I never got the impression that people from there used a strong dialect, and after living in Seoul for a long time, pretty much anyone would stop using dialect anyway.
Still, aside from the few years I'd spent living in other regions for military and university reasons, I'd lived my whole life in Seoul. So when I met someone who worked in Seoul and didn't use dialect, I automatically assumed they were from Seoul too.
It's a strangely long-winded excuse, but that was basically why I'd reflexively asked.
"Yes. My grandmother lives there."
"Ah, is that so?"
Saying her grandmother lived in Gangwon-do might be similar to saying her hometown was Gangwon-do. If she'd moved to Seoul as a child, she could well have lived in Seoul from middle school through university.
In that case, where did her parents live? Were they in Seoul?
What about the rest of her family?
A number of questions rose in my mind, but they were all strangely difficult to ask.
If we were close friends, personal details like that would probably come up naturally over time without needing to pry, but the problem was that while Yang Hye-in and I had a fairly long-standing relationship, it wasn't exactly intimate.
In fact, even among close friends, people often don't ask much about family situations. It just happens to come out in conversation now and then.
Wait...
But Yang Hye-in had a family. Which meant—
"Um, by any chance, how many days a year do you go home?"
That's what I asked.
Yang Hye-in had been a near-constant presence in Sara's memories. At least, she was always there whenever Sara left her room.
On days when Sara didn't go out, Yang Hye-in might have taken leave and gone home, but... considering she'd been there every single time Sara went out, it was easier to imagine that she simply never took leave rather than that her timing happened to align perfectly.
"...The place I reside is here."
At my question, Yang Hye-in paused for a moment, then answered.
"..."
The others listening to Yang Hye-in were momentarily stunned into silence as well, mouths hanging open. Her words were that shocking.
I mean, saying she resided here essentially meant she hadn't bothered to go back home, didn't it...?
"...Could I ask what your working hours are like?"
I asked calmly. Right, So-hee changed into comfortable clothes and rested once her working hours were over. Maybe Yang Hye-in's parents lived incredibly close by, and she could change into ordinary clothes and at least drop by in the evenings. That way she could see her family without requesting leave.
"...My working hours are observed in accordance with the law and my contract."
"..."
Didn't they say Yang Hye-in's annual salary was five hundred million won? If you counted the exact digits, it was a few million more than five hundred million.
If you paid a single person five hundred million won to handle various duties, how many hours a day could you work them?
Of course, there were definitely legally stipulated working hours, and maybe the pay included overtime allowances. The hours spent sleeping at night, and the breaks spent resting in her own room in between, might not count as working hours.
But even so, wasn't she still effectively never off duty?
When I'd first arrived in this world, Yang Hye-in had come straight into the room the moment she heard my scream.
I pressed the bridge of my nose with my finger. Just hearing this was making me a little dizzy.
"When was the last time you actually clocked out?"
"...I clock out every day."
"I don't mean the time you spend eating and sleeping in this mansion. I'm asking when you last properly left the mansion and went back to the house where your family lives."
"..."
At my words, Yang Hye-in fell silent for a long time.
"Was it that hard a question to answer?"
"...I apologize."
"No, there's no reason to apologize..."
I held back a sigh.
What could I say... I wasn't sure if she was foolish or just obsessed with work.
Or maybe five hundred million won was the price of being that obsessed with work?
"..."
I thought for a moment. Was it really right to just leave this person as she was?
Personal feelings aside, as her employer, this somehow didn't feel right. It made me seem like such a terrible boss. And now I couldn't even use Choi Na-kyung as an excuse.
"Well, in that case, why not take this opportunity to go on some leave? I'll grant it as paid leave."
"Excuse me?"
Maybe my suggestion was too sudden, because Yang Hye-in, for once, looked genuinely surprised.
...No, could I even call it a rare expression anymore? She was usually expressionless, but Yang Hye-in wasn't a robot incapable of showing any expression. Lately, she'd been reacting to my words in all sorts of ways.
"You've been working for the past few years without being able to rest properly."
"That's not true."
But contrary to my expectation, Yang Hye-in shook her head, making her refusal clear.
"Excuse me?"
Now it was my turn to be surprised.
Wait, isn't the usual reaction to get excited and leave when someone offers you paid leave? No matter how much her usual hobby was something she could also do at work, being able to do it to her heart's content without worry was a good thing.
Isn't it far more comfortable and enjoyable to read novels while lounging in bed during time off, rather than reading them in fits and starts between tasks?
Of course, cross-stitch wasn't exactly a hobby you could do while rolling around in bed.
...Or could you? Actually, I'm not sure about that.
But still, even if a day was legally treated as a rest day, and even if there was truly nothing to do at home, there was a big difference between resting in a company dormitory and resting in your own home.
The problem was—
"The former chairwoman, Choi Na-kyung, has not yet been located. The police say they are pursuing her, but she still poses a significant threat to the young lady's daily life."
That was what Yang Hye-in insisted as she turned down my proposal.
"..."
Uh... well, I knew Yang Hye-in had been a tremendous help last time. If it hadn't been for her, I might genuinely have been in serious trouble. By now, I could have been locked up in some basement somewhere, spending a horrifying stretch of time in despair.
But even so, I didn't think being without Yang Hye-in right now would cause any major problems.
At the very least, there was no scenario where someone like Choi Na-kyung would come and summon me alone for a meeting, and the school, having already experienced one major incident, wouldn't allow it.
More than anything, I had no intention of agreeing.
Since Choi Na-kyung had been reported to the police, other officers were already tailing me, whether I knew it or not. The newspapers were even running stories about whether a high-ranking police official would be fired. I wasn't sure if that had anything to do with me.
Anyway, the point was... it didn't seem like losing Yang Hye-in for a bit would lead to disaster.
...But how could I say that to her face?
It was no different from telling her I didn't need her right now.
"..."
And while Yang Hye-in remained as expressionless as ever, there was something strangely desperate in the way she spoke.
I held back a sigh.