I’d Rather Live as a Villain - I’d Rather Live as a Villain chapter 50

50 Priority is given to the elderly and pregnant women.

― Visitor vehicle entry call. Visitor vehicle entry call.

In the early dawn, not yet free from darkness.

The analog clock hanging in the living room had just passed 4 o’clock.

Kang Moonjung, who confirmed through the intercom that a visitor’s vehicle was waiting at the complex’s main gate, quickly buttoned up her cardigan and responded to the call.

“Yes, please let them through. It’s our visitor’s vehicle.”

― Yes, understood.

Having let through the vehicle that would take her husband to the airport for his overseas branch tour, Kang Moonjung took out two folic acid pills and a bottle of water she had prepared earlier and placed them on the dining table.

Thump. Thump.

Her husband was coming down the indoor stairs, carrying a small suitcase.

“We’ll have breakfast at the airport after check-in.”

Nodding, she handed him the folic acid she had prepared, and after he tossed it into his mouth, she opened the water bottle for him.

“Call me when you arrive.”

“Ah, I’m so tired.”

“When did you go to bed last night?”

“Just past midnight.”

“You’re always so careless. You’re going on a tour, right?”

“Of course.”

“Isn’t it to manage the branch offices? Why so serious?”

“Manage what…”

“Anyway, once you’re on the plane, don’t do anything else, just sleep. On tours like this, it’s all about maintaining your condition. Don’t go around meeting people with a tired, grumpy face.”

Her husband, still not fully awake, silently nodded his head in agreement.

Moon Jung lightly tapped her husband’s behind, urging him to hurry up and leave.

Before opening the front door, they shared a light kiss.

After her husband set off on his business trip, Moon Jung stretched out fully and mentally organized her schedule for the day.

First thing was to brush her teeth.

She had woken up an hour earlier than usual because of her husband’s trip, but that didn’t mean she could go back to bed.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, she tied her tousled hair back tightly with a rubber band and started brushing her teeth.

Slowly, meticulously cleaning even the gums.

She changed into her workout clothes to match the opening time of the community fitness center, and as always, covered her face with a jogging mesh mask.

From noble mtl dot nete

For Moon Jung, who had become accustomed to starting her day earlier than others, it was a well-practiced routine that she could perform perfectly even in her sleep, despite being an hour earlier than usual.

At the fitness center, she set the treadmill to a mountain course and alternated between walking and running for 40 minutes.

Soon, her sweat-drenched back from the workout, she returned home and took a hot shower.

The first day of the holiday season.

She began to slowly pack for the few days she would spend in Pyeongchang-dong.

Then, she suddenly remembered the marriage contract her husband had torn up last week.

“Oh my! I must be out of my mind. Look at me.”

Leaving her packing as it was, Moon Jung entered the study and pulled out a thick humanities book from the shelf, finding her copy of the contract inside.

“If only I had a shredder.”

Using scissors, she cut the contract into tiny pieces so that no one could read its contents and placed them in a plastic bag.

Even after all that, just to be sure, she threw the bag into a trash can on the community’s shared walkway, not inside the house. Only then did she feel a sense of completion and her mind began to lighten.

* * *

Moon Jung arrived at her family home in Pyeongchang-dong after 4 PM.

Shoes were scattered in front of the entrance door.

Among them, there seemed to be women’s shoes that likely belonged to Juyeon-hee.

As expected, Vice President Kang Young-jin and his wife had already arrived.

“I’m here.”

The smell of ancestral rites food filled the house.

Yet, there was no scent of people.

“Huh? Where is everyone?”

Juyeon-hee, who had been sitting alone on the living room sofa, slowly rose to answer.

“Mother is upstairs on a call, and grandfather, father, and that person are currently in grandfather’s study.”

“An important conversation?”

“Probably something like that.”

“Then I should greet them later.”

Worried about interrupting the conversation in the study, Moon-jung decided to go up to her room and unpack first.

“……”

Having changed into comfortable clothes and returned to the living room, Moon-jung tilted her head, not seeing Juyeon-hee, who had been fiddling with her phone on the sofa just moments ago.

But the worry was brief; the irresistible scent of frying from the kitchen soon distracted her.

She immediately went into the kitchen and began sneakily eating the beef pancakes and skewers the housekeepers were preparing.

“Mmm… as expected.”

“You’re going to have dinner soon, why are you eating ahead?”

“Ancestral rites food loses its flavor when it’s served cold. It tastes best when eaten fresh like this.”

Eventually, one of the housekeepers used cooking scissors to snip the beef skewers and placed them on a small plate in front of Moon-jung.

It was when she took the plate with the skewers back to the living room.

Juyeon-hee was still nowhere to be seen.

Initially, Juyeon-hee might appear confident and strong, but in reality, she was fearful of awkward atmospheres.

Kang Moon-jung knew that Juyeon-hee had deliberately avoided the place because of her arrival.

Through the full-length window leading to the garden, Juyeon-hee could be seen.

She was sitting at an iron garden table, holding a steaming mug with both hands.

Kang Young-jin was probably in the study with his father, either reporting on company matters or getting an earful.

“It’s chilly outside, why are you out here?”

It was Kang Moon-jung.

Between her hands and right armpit, she carried a cushion and blanket she had grabbed from the sofa, along with a small shopping bag.

Juyeonhee set down the mug she was holding onto the table and turned her head.

“The smell of food is somewhat off-putting today.”

“Are you feeling nauseous?”

“It seems so.”

“Then you should just go up to your room.”

“It’s a bit suffocating to do that.”

“You’re always so sensitive. This isn’t good because of that, and that won’t do because of this…”

“Are you the only one allowed to be like that?”

“I’m not sensitive, I’m strict.”

Despite her stern tone, Kang Munjeong was handing over the cushion and blanket she had brought from inside the house to Juyeonhee.

Kang Munjeong spoke to Juyeonhee, who looked at her as if to say, “What’s all this?”

“What are you going to do if you, a pregnant woman who can’t even take medicine properly now, catch a cold?”

“…”

“If you’re going to get some air, sit on this. Cover up. Can you have someone prepare an electric heater?”

In that moment, Juyeonhee felt bewildered.

Not Kang Munjeong, the rival of her husband, but the Munjeong who had secretly taken care of her ever since they first met at a gathering of children from wealthy families, before she married Kang Youngjin and became a member of this household, seemed to overlap with the image of her sister.

Juyeonhee, somewhat taken aback, reluctantly wedged the cushion between the chair and her hips as a makeshift seat, and though she didn’t feel particularly cold, she unfolded the blanket and covered her knees out of necessity.

As Kang Munjeong pulled out a chair and sat down in front of her, she asked,

“How is it? Are you okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“How does it feel to be pregnant? Can’t you now see the eyes, nose, and mouth in the ultrasound pictures?”

“It’s not quite there yet.”

“Do you feel something moving in your stomach?”

Why is this person acting like this all of a sudden?

The relationship that naturally became awkward as soon as she married her husband.

Juyeonhee, who knew all too well the pride and self-esteem of Kang Munjeong, felt burdened and even suspicious of her approaching her like this.

However, Kang Munjeong placed a small shopping bag in front of Juyeonhee, who was on guard against her.

“What’s this now?”

“Just open it, you’ll know as soon as you look.”

Inside, there was a pair of baby blue sneakers for a newborn boy.

“I started noticing such things in department stores ever since I heard you were pregnant.”

“……”

“So you don’t even say thank you anymore?”

“Why do you think people smile in front of you but talk behind your back?”

Before she knew it, Juyeon-hee’s address to Moonjeong had changed from ‘Miss’ to ‘Sister’.

“Did they really say that? I had no idea.”

“Pretending to be generous, pretending to understand everything, thus pretending to be more mature than others. That’s what the people in that group dislike about you.”

Kang Moonjeong looked at Juyeon-hee silently for a while, then licked her lips as she prepared to stand up.

“To you, I may be an aunt whose face you don’t know yet, but I’m already curious and amazed by the existence of a niece or nephew. Is that why I chose a pair of shoes, even being careful about picking a different color in case you misunderstood, and my sincerity only comes across like this?”

Kang Moonjeong couldn’t show it outwardly, but she felt bad.

It had taken a lot of courage.

After all, she was dealing with someone carrying a precious life.

She didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable by tying her to the succession competition she was currently in with Kang Youngjin.

A relationship that couldn’t be avoided for a lifetime because they were family.

If that was the case, until the niece or nephew was born, she wanted to meet occasionally in Pyeongchang-dong and have a comfortable time.

“But Yeon-hee.”

Looking at Juyeon-hee, who had the shopping bag on her lap, Kang Moonjeong said,

“Just like those people in the group, there are those who dislike me without reason, and those who like me without reason.”

“……”

“Like how I’m already curious and want to meet the child in your womb without any reason because it’s my niece or nephew. I tend to give priority to the elderly and pregnant women, so let’s stop here for today. It’s cold. Come in after a while. If the smell of food is too much, you can go up to the third floor.”

* * *

Paris, Charles de Gaulle Airport.

So this is what it feels like.

Certainly, the system for the overseas branch tour of Mulsan, which has branches at major hubs, was far stricter than the distribution side system.

Although I had been a regular employee at Mulsan, living as an agent, I never had the chance to be included in such a tour schedule.

I had always been curious.

No sooner had our party passed through the immigration gate than four or five employees from the Paris branch were waiting, centered around the branch manager.

The difference was clear compared to when I visited Spain with Mr. Moonjeong for the Andalusian olive farm case.

Well, that time, it was a visit under the personal pretext of a honeymoon, so I had requested in advance to make preparations comfortably.

“Have you arrived, Director?”

“It’s been a while, Branch Manager.”

The well-ordered appearance of the branch staff caught the curious glances of other tourists and airport users exiting the arrival hall, wondering what our group was about.

There, formally, I exchanged greetings with each of the branch staff who had come to meet us.

“How should we set the course? Shall we escort you to the hotel first, or would you prefer to visit the branch?”

Three black vans were already prepared.

“Let’s go to the branch first. I believe dinner is arranged at the hotel where we have our rooms reserved?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then let’s make a brief visit to the branch to cover the basic schedule, and we can check in before dinner.”

I looked at Chief Choi and asked,

“What do you think?”

“Yes, that would be more advantageous time-wise.”

With that, I smiled reassuringly at the tense Paris Branch Manager Ko Jin-hwan and said,

“Let’s head to the branch first.”

“Yes, understood.”

Branch Manager Ko Jin-hwan joined Chief Choi, Deputy Director Son, and me in the car, and we set off in the van, with seats facing each other, towards the Paris branch.