Chapter 4.4

“Wow. They really did a great job designing this.”  

The trail was meticulously laid out, complete with sculptures here and there, as well as a small petting farm with rabbits and goats. It was as well-maintained as any public park.  

Above all, she loved how quiet it was. She had heard there were only six households living in the townhouse, but not even a single ant could be seen on the trail.  

If it weren’t for the CCTV cameras hidden in the trees, it would have been a truly serene and perfect walk.  

As she continued walking, a rather large and modern building came into view.  

‘So this is Aritaum.’  

Aritaum was said to be a convenience facility for the residents of the townhouse.  

On the first floor was an indoor swimming pool with a large glass window spanning the front. The swimming pool was completely empty.  

“It’s nice that no one’s here, but it feels like such a waste of energy.”  

On the second floor, there was a café.  

The empty café had no people, only a robot clerk. She wandered around for a while, unsure of how to order, before realizing that she needed to scan her security card to activate the order button.  

She ordered a café latte, and the robot arm sprang into action. Soon, the pleasant aroma of coffee beans filled the air.  

“Amazing.”  

It wasn’t the vending machine coffee she had been craving lately, but it still lifted her mood.  

Holding the coffee in her hand, she looked around the café. One wall was lined with numerous framed photos. They seemed to be related to the townhouse and its residents.  

Her curiosity was piqued.  

‘Starting from the top, it looks like these are photos taken when each household moved in, arranged in chronological order.’  

As she slowly scanned the pictures, she finally spotted Kwon Jeong-hyeok.  

The photo included not only Kwon Jeong-hyeok but also many others. The women were dressed in gowns, and the men wore suits with bow ties. It seemed to be a photo from a party exclusively for the residents.  

“Hmm. This must’ve been when Jeong-hyeok was in his early twenties.”

Kwon Jeong-hyeok in his early twenties had a different hairstyle compared to now. Perhaps it was right after he returned from the military. His hair was short, and his skin was slightly tanned, a shade of brown darker than it is now.  

His sturdy physique and chic expression were the same as they are now, but the determined look in his eyes carried a sharper, more reckless intensity back then.  

“He was handsome even back then.”  

Eun-sol’s gaze shifted to another photo that seemed to have been taken on the same day. Her expression soon stiffened.  

The next photo featured Tae Mari. Tae Mari in her early twenties was far more glamorous than she is now. She wore a sky-blue mermaid dress with a plunging neckline and was adorned with pearls.  

More than anything, Tae Mari was holding onto Kwon Jeong-hyeok’s arm tightly, smiling with an expression of pure happiness.  

‘So Tae Mari was also a resident here.’  

The late-night work meetings she insisted on having at his house, and the times they drank together in the dining room until nearly midnight—these might have been natural behaviors simply because they were neighbors.  

And yet, holding onto his arm like that?  

‘Kwon Jeong-hyeok isn’t the type to let someone hold his arm just because they’re neighbors.’  

The way Tae Mari casually called his name and their apparent closeness suggested their relationship was deeper than Eun-sol had initially thought.  

Just as the unpleasant feelings began to intensify—  

“…Those two, they look a bit off together, don’t they?”  

A sudden voice from behind startled her.  

When she turned around, a boy stood there with a playful smile. He seemed too mature to be called a boy, yet too young and inexperienced to be called a man.  

He was about 178 cm tall with a slim build. His figure resembled the person she had seen snooping around the mansion the previous night.  

“…Who are you?”  

Eun-sol asked cautiously, on high alert.  

“I live here, in the Rose Mansion within the townhouse.”  

“The Rose Mansion?”  

“Yes. And you’re in the Tulip Mansion, right? Sowon Construction’s Tulip Mansion.”  

“How do you know that? You were the one snooping around our house the other night, weren’t you?”  

“Yes.”  

She had expected him to deny it, but the boy admitted it without hesitation.  

“I was curious because it seemed like the Tulip Mansion, which had been vacant for so long, suddenly had a new hostess. If I startled you last night, I apologize.”  

Since he apologized right away, there wasn’t much more for her to say. After all, it wasn’t illegal trespassing, just simple curiosity.  

“So, the mansion I live in is called the Tulip Mansion?”

Interestingly, tulips were a flower that Eun-sol quite liked. Even a few days ago, when she passed by the flower market at the express bus terminal, she couldn’t take her eyes off the tulips. Losing her memory hadn’t changed her preferences.  

“Yes. The six mansions in this townhouse are named after flowers, like Tulip, Sunflower, Rose, and Freesia.”  

Flower-named mansions? For a luxury townhouse where even the security cards featured paintings by famous artists, the names of the mansions seemed overly simplistic.  

“Isn’t it hilarious? I mean, Rose Mansion, Tulip Mansion—what are those? They sound like kindergarten class names.”  

The boy seemed to share the same opinion.  

“But, Noona, you were looking at Tae Mari’s picture, weren’t you? You must be bothered by Mari Noona too, right? Well, I think she’s unbearable as well. Ugh, I don’t get why she can’t let go of a married man.”  

Eun-sol hadn’t intended to engage in a deeper conversation with the boy, but the mention of Tae Mari made her speak up.  

“…Are you close to Tae Mari?”  

“No. It’s not that we’re close… she’s just a neighbor, a noona from next door.”  

Suddenly, the boy’s face turned red.  

“I see.”  

“Anyway, be careful of Mari Noona. It’s been well-known for a long time that she likes Kwon Jeong-hyeok hyung.”  

“But he’s already married to me?”  

“Does marriage matter? Mari Noona has been in love with him for years. She probably thinks you stole him from her. They even promised to marry each other.”  

“What? T-they were engaged?”  

For a moment, her heart went cold. A deep sense of disappointment in Kwon Jeong-hyeok washed over her.  

‘But why am I disappointed? That would mean I had expectations or feelings for him.’  

“Well, it’s not like they had a formal engagement ceremony or anything, but apparently, there were talks of marriage between their families when they were younger.”  

Regardless, she felt unpleasant. She didn’t want to ruin her mood by hearing more.  

“I see. Thanks for letting me know. I’d better get going now.”  

“Wait a second.”  

As she was about to leave the café, the boy called out to her.  

“My name is Hae-seong. Park Hae-seong. Can I get your phone number? We’re neighbors anyway.”  

In a hurry, Hae-seong introduced himself.  

“I don’t have a phone.”  

“Come on. If you don’t want to give me your number, just say so.”

Hae-seong seemed unconvinced. Well, in this day and age, who doesn’t have a phone? Even to her own ears, it sounded like a lie.  

“It’s true. I don’t have a phone. I lost it.”  

“Then just buy a new one. How much can a phone cost, really?”  

It wasn’t that she couldn’t afford to buy a phone.  

The day after returning to the mansion, she had casually mentioned to Housekeeper Woo that she needed a new phone. Housekeeper Woo had said she would ask Jeong-hyeok, but there had been no response so far.  

‘There’s no way as capable as Housekeeper Woo would have forgotten. Most likely, Jeong-hyeok just ignored it.’  

Since the phone she lost had been sold off impulsively during her runaway, it felt embarrassing to ask for another one, and her pride wouldn’t allow it.  

“Not having a phone is actually more convenient. No spam calls from anywhere.”  

There wasn’t anyone who would call her anyway, so she had decided to live without it if it wasn’t provided.  

“Come on, you can just block spam calls. These days, even hermits and homeless people have phones. Not having a phone means being isolated.”  

Isolated. That word somehow felt like a perfect match for her, making her feel uneasy again.  

“Anyway, see you next time, Tulip Noona!”  

Eun-sol left the building. Unlike when she first arrived, the beautiful landscaping didn’t catch her eye at all.  

An uncomfortable feeling crept up inside her, growing larger and larger. She thought she had a vague idea of what it was, but she couldn’t pinpoint its exact source.  

‘Is it because of Tae Mari and Kwon Jeong-hyeok? Or is it because of the phone?’  

She pondered deeply.  

The phone was just seasoning sprinkled on top of this unpleasant feeling; it wasn’t the main ingredient.  

The main ingredient of this emotion was the combination of Tae Mari and Kwon Jeong-hyeok.  

Especially Kwon Jeong-hyeok.  

A man who welcomed a neighboring woman visiting late at night.  

A man who drank alcohol with another woman in his house late at night.  

Above all, if they had known each other for so long, Kwon Jeong-hyeok surely wasn’t unaware of Tae Mari’s feelings for him.  

‘And they even had talks of marriage.’  

Even after marrying her, he still kept Tae Mari close as a neighbor, a friend, and a professional collaborator.  

‘Is Tae Mari… different?’