Chapter 59

As the car slowly came to a stop, men in suits approached and opened the doors for us.

“Welcome, Professor.”

“Hello.”

“Please leave the keys with us. We’ll park it for you. Do you have any luggage?”

“There’s a suitcase in the trunk.”

“Understood.”

As Han Min-ha and I stepped out of the car, Yu Hye-won slowly walked towards us.

“Why are you so late?”

“A villain appeared on the way, blocking the road. It took a while to deal with the situation.”

Hye-won’s skeptical gaze shifted from me to Han Min-ha.

“Hey, Hye-won.”

“You… What is all this about?!”

Hye-won suddenly shouted.

At the moment, Han Min-ha was wearing a thin T-shirt and extremely short shorts.

Given the heat and Min-ha’s predisposition to sweat, she’d dressed this way but unfortunately, her hair was now tousled from perspiration.

Moreover, regardless of what she wore, Min-ha had an inherently voluptuous figure that tended to appear provocative.

Anyone who saw her like this might misunderstand her behavior.

Particularly, Hye-won…

“What have you been doing! What went on in the car between the two of you?!”

“We didn’t do anything, Student Hye-won. It’s already hot enough—please try to calm down.”

“How am I supposed to calm down?! You two! What did you get up to? And you Han Min-ha, you… don’t play dumb with me!”

Han Min-ha, looking as if she were being scolded, clasped her hands politely in front of her and nervously tried to explain through her sweat.

“No, Hye-won… really, we should just go. Why would I do such a thing?”

“Well, Professor Hyun *is* handsome…!”

Hye-won seemed to catch herself mid-sentence and quickly shut up.

“Huh? What’s that?,” Han Min-ha asked, but Hye-won only shot me a furious glance.

“If you’re so suspicious, let’s take a look at the black box in the car. It would certainly clear Student Hye-won’s doubts. Otherwise, it will be difficult to proceed properly today.”

“Black box?”

“There’s a black box in the car, and it records sound too. If we play it back, everything will be clear.”

“Hmm…”

Hye-won folded her arms and glared at both Han Min-ha and me before turning away.

“Let’s go eat dinner.”

Han Min-ha looked perplexed as she glanced at me, and I simply shrugged.

Hye-won’s behavior wasn’t exactly a one-off; we’d let it slide this time.

“By the way, Student Min-ha, if you have the time, you should change your clothes first.”

Han Min-ha’s sweat-soaked outfit was clinging tightly to her body, making it quite awkward to look at.

“Understood, Professor.”

Han Min-ha responded while wrapping her arms around herself almost protectively.

*

Yu Hye-won’s house… it was something like…

Less of a home and more of some kind of “institution.”

Even the neighboring estates were large, but compared to Hye-won’s place, they were minuscule. Vast gardens surrounded several towering buildings that were interlinked organically, like some castle fortress.

“Hye-won, who lives over there?”

Han Min-ha pointed toward a three-story building, and Hye-won replied with an indifferent tone.

“The staff who work here.”

“Huh?! What about you and your parents?”

“I live there; they live there.” Hye-won gestured toward two separate buildings.

Han Min-ha tilted her head.

“Don’t you all live together?”

“What does it matter if the manager lives separately or not?”

“Ah, you’re right.”

I chuckled and patted Han Min-ha on the shoulder.

“This is just how the rich live, Min-ha student.”

“I feel so inferior…”

“Why is that? It’s not that we’re inferior. Hye-won student’s house is truly impressive.”

Hye-won led us toward the building where she lived.

Instead of a shoe rack or living room, another lobby greeted us upon opening the door.

A few employees were walking around the lobby, cleaning.

“Whoa… and she lives here alone?”

Han Min-ha stood there, astonished with her mouth open.

“Hurry up! I’m starving!”

We entered the dining room on the first floor.

Though meant solely for Hye-won’s personal use, the dining room was modest in size but rivaled any hotel restaurant in terms of interior design.

Waiters helped pull out our chairs.

Han Min-ha seemed to be in disbelief at everything happening around her, continuously voicing her amazement.

“Bring the food,” ordered Hye-won without even looking at the waiter standing behind her.

“Wow… this is something you’d only see on TV… Hye-won, this is incredible!”

“You think I’m incredible? It’s all my parents’ money,” said Hye-won casually as she placed the napkin on her lap.

“Hello, Professor.”

A uniformed woman entered the dining room and greeted me.

She appeared older than me, with a charming smile and undeniable beauty.

Hye-won’s mother, perhaps?

“And isn’t this Min-ha, Hye-won’s friend? It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

With an elegant tone, the woman introduced herself as the manager of the building.

“I’ve been looking after Hye-won since she was young…”

“Quiet. Stop talking nonsense,” interrupted Hye-won irritably, but the manager completely ignored her.

“Since she was little, I’ve been taking care of Hye-won—feel free to think of me as a nanny.”

“You seem rather young to be a nanny.”

“That’s something I often hear.”

She gave a refined smile with a twinkle in her eye.

“Professor, you’re much more handsome than I imagined. Hye-won described you as ‘grey mold’ so I thought you’d be a very old man with lots of white hair.”

“Hye-won, stop talking nonsense and go supervise the kitchen instead.”

“It was surprising when Hye-won invited guests home for the first time. She never talks about anything outside of the house, but somehow this summer vacation she kept talking about Professor and Min-ha.”

“Hmm…”

Hye-won sighed, clutching her forehead in irritation at the manager’s persistence.

But unlike usual, she wasn’t aggressively pushing back or shouting.

It seemed like the manager had been taking care of her since she was little, making it hard for Hye-won to assert dominance.

This woman was no ordinary person.

“Is that so? Quite unexpected. She didn’t show any signs of this at the Academy, so I was worried if I did something wrong.”

“Not at all, Professor. Why would you think that? She’s praised you many times!”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Ugh…,” Hye-won turned away, avoiding my gaze.

“When she said that you both would visit this vacation, I was delighted and prepared everything accordingly.”

The manager clasped her hands and smiled sincerely.

“Take a few days to relax. And if you need anything, please do let us know.”

Wait… did she just say relax for a few days? What does that mean?

“Ah… alright.”

“The rooms for you and Min-ha are on this floor. You’ll have the best guest room with a beautiful view of the city at night.”

So, I did hear that correctly.

“Excuse me, Manager, but there seems to be a misunderstanding. I’m here on a home visit as per the guidance student program. Once the parent meeting is done, I plan to return to the Academy immediately.”

“Is that so? But based on Hye-won’s words, it sounded like you’ll be staying until school reopens.”

“Oh really?”

Looking at Hye-won, she appeared to be suffering from a headache due to the manager, resting her head in her hands with her elbows on the table.

It seems Hye-won was willing to make an exception for me to stay a few days with her.

The situation was unlike Hye-won’s usual behavior, and since she is my guidance student and Min-ha’s only Academy friend, this seemed to be her way of showing kindness in her own limited way.

Instead of outright rejecting her, I calculated how much time I had left in this period.

I already had all my work done for the week leading up to Min-ha’s visit, so there were no obligations.

I needed to return to the Academy the day before school starts, but until then, there were a couple of days free. And since this wasn’t a regular house—no shared bathrooms or beds—spending one night wouldn’t be an issue.

“Alright. Then I suppose I’ll accept your hospitality.”

“Excellent! We’ll make sure you’re comfortable during your stay.”

“Yay, I’m excited!” Han Min-ha clapped her hands enthusiastically, while Hye-won stayed in her position without moving.

However, I noticed the corners of Hye-won’s mouth slightly tilt upwards amidst the cascading strands of her blonde hair.

“Unfortunately, I’ll need to return to the Academy the night after tomorrow, so I won’t be able to extend beyond that.”

“Understood, Professor. I’ll have the meal brought out now.”

The manager nodded politely at both of us and left the dining room.

Once she was out of sight, Hye-won slowly raised her head, her earlier polite demeanor gone, replaced with her usual disdainful glare.

“Wow… Hye-won, your manager is truly impressive, with that regal aura. So, the saying ‘even housemaids should work for noble houses’ must be said for cases like this.”

“Min-ha Student, that was an inappropriate reference.”

“R-Really?”

“Stupid girl, blah blah…”

With Hye-won’s scolding, Han Min-ha chuckled awkwardly.