Chapter : 4
Jing—.
The massive front door opened without a sound.
It wasn’t one of those cheap doors that made a series of beep-beep-beep sounds when you pressed a button. The moment it recognized a fingerprint, it simply slid open automatically.
Even in that brief instant as the door opened, I could smell money.
“Come in.”
강서준 상무 took off his dress shoes and entered the house with perfectly composed movements.
I stood there awkwardly.
The entrance hall was enormous. The marble floor gleamed like a mirror. I felt embarrassed even taking off the worn-out pumps I had come in wearing.
“Put these on.”
He took something out from beneath the shoe cabinet and tossed it toward me.
A pair of white slippers, still unopened in their packaging.
The soft, thick slippers usually provided as hotel amenities.
“…Thank you.”
I neatly placed my shoes in the corner and slipped my feet into the slippers. The unfamiliar softness wrapped around the soles of my feet.
“Your luggage?”
“Oh, it’s here.”
I struggled to haul my 28-inch suitcase and immigration bag inside.
The entire volume of my twenty-nine years of life amounted to just two bags….
“That’s all?”
“Yes. I had to leave in a hurry, so I only packed clothes and basic necessities.”
“What about the rest of your furniture and appliances?”
“I’m going to call a moving truck tomorrow and put everything into storage. If I pack it into a container, it’ll only cost 200,000 won a month.”
Even as I spoke, my heart ached.
The Bespoke refrigerator still had six months of installments left.
If I left it behind in the apartment that was already going through auction proceedings, it could become subject to compulsory execution during the later eviction process regardless of whether the property was actually sold—and I might even have to bear the associated costs.
It was better to spend some money and move everything somewhere safe.
Someday, when I got my own home back, I wanted to fill it again with my things with my head held high.
강서준 상무 nodded.
He showed no intention of carrying my suitcase for me.
“Follow me.”
He crossed the living room and headed toward the hallway.
Rattle, rattle.
The wheels of my suitcase rolled noisily across the smooth marble floor.
The slippers muffled my footsteps, but because the space was so empty, the sound of the wheels seemed to echo all the way to the ceiling.
“Even breathing would echo in here.”
I muttered without thinking, and an indifferent answer came back.
“The soundproofing is perfect, so don’t worry. There won’t be any fights involving knives over inter-floor noise.”
Ah.
He heard me.
I quietly shut my mouth.
Beyond the enormous windows of the living room, Seoul’s nightscape stretched out like a panoramic painting.
Countless lights glittered far below my feet.
Somewhere down there was the villa where I used to live—the villa that had now become a mountain of debt.
I felt dizzy.
I tore my gaze away and followed his back.
The hallway was long.
From the entrance, I had to pass through the living room and then another long hallway before reaching the bedrooms.
강서준 상무 stopped in front of the room at the very end.
“This is your room.”
The inside looked as though a hotel suite had been moved here intact.
A king-size bed.
A built-in wardrobe.
A private bathroom.
There was even a small terrace.
“Is this… my room?”
“Yes.”
강서준 상무 gestured with his chin toward the opposite end of the hallway.
Far away, I could see a firmly closed black door.
“That’s my room.”
The distance between his room and mine looked to be at least twenty meters.
“We’re literally at opposite ends.”
“That was intentional.”
He folded his arms and added coldly,
“I don’t particularly like running into people at home.”
“…….”
“Let’s not cross paths unnecessarily. I hate having my privacy invaded.”
His tone was firm, as though he were drawing a clear line between us.
It was almost as if he were saying, You may live here, but you have no right to intrude on my space.
I wasn’t offended.
If anything, I was relieved.
Having to run into that prickly boss at home all the time?
It would be no different from an office where work never ended, or overtime without overtime pay.
Just imagining it made me feel like my stomach acid was rising.
“Understood.”
I answered with a bright smile, pretending to be cool.
“If I need anything, I’ll tell Secretary Kim.”
He turned away as though he had nothing more to say.
“Get some rest. Starting tomorrow, come down to the parking lot by seven.”
“Yes. Good ni—”
Bang!
Before I could finish saying good night, the door closed.
Left alone in the room, I stared blankly at the closed door before slowly looking around.
Hotel-quality bedding.
Soft, subdued lighting.
A central air-conditioning system.
Until yesterday, I had been sighing with anxiety, wondering when I would be thrown out of my home.
And now, overnight, I had ended up living in a five-star hotel.
The rent for this room alone must be more expensive than my monthly salary.
For a 300-million-won prison, it was surprisingly luxurious.
I pushed my suitcase into a corner and sat down on the bed.
The soft mattress gently enveloped my body.
As expected, expensive things really were different.
The mattress was as soft as a cloud, but my heart was as uncomfortable as if I were sitting on a bed of thorns.
I hastily unpacked a few things as though fleeing from something and went into the bathroom.
I wanted to wash away all the useless thoughts in my head.
Whooosh—.
The moment I turned on the faucet, hot water poured out without even needing time to heat up.
There had been days when I considered even the time it took for the water to warm up a waste.
I naturally remembered those days when I washed my hair in cold water just to save a few pennies on heating bills.
Even this insignificant stream of water tasted like money.
After drying my wet hair with a towel, I threw myself onto the bed.
“Ugh….”
I stretched my legs all the way out.
In my cramped two-room apartment, there had barely been enough space between the bed and clothes rack, so I had to sleep curled up.
Here, I could spread myself out like a starfish and still have plenty of room left.
As the tension left my body, exhaustion washed over me.
I suddenly looked up at the ceiling, and tears welled up in my eyes.
…What am I doing right now?
The enormous sense of self-loathing hiding behind my relief came crashing down.
The first jeonse home I had managed to secure by scraping together loans.
My seemingly perfect castle, filled from top to bottom with things I had chosen according to my own taste.
But that beautiful home had been a trap that swallowed my entire fortune.
I had worked so desperately to save all that money….
And now, I had entered a strange man’s house in exchange for 300 million won.
This soft bed.
This comfortable air.
Everything was payment for pretending to be his “fake wife.”
I buried my face in the pillow.
The soft blanket was almost unbearably comfortable, which somehow made me even sadder.
“My daughter, life in Seoul isn’t too hard, is it? You’re eating properly, right?”
My mother’s voice echoed in my ears like a hallucination.
I could naturally picture the swollen knuckles of my mother’s hands, worn from spending her entire life working in a restaurant kitchen.
If I collapsed, my mother might even have to let go of the ladle in those hands.
No. She can never find out.
The tip of my nose stung.
I forcibly shoved down the part of me that wanted to become weak.
That was when it happened.
As though mocking my sadness, a sound broke through the silence of the room.
Ding.
[1 day until credit card payment]
[Scheduled payment amount: 1,850,000 won]
The tears disappeared instantly as reality came crashing back.
This was no time to indulge in sentimentality.
I jumped to my feet.
Get a grip, 이다은.
This room wasn’t free.
It was a place I had to pay for with my labor.
Starting tomorrow, it was war.
In this bleak penthouse, I had to keep the prickly landlord happy.
An apartment worth 300 million won. I have to earn my keep.
No. I need to get more than my money’s worth.
I absolutely refused to hear that man say, “You’re not worth the money.”
That was the last scrap of pride I had left.
Grrrrowl.
After going all day without even a sip of water, my stomach felt as though my belly and spine were about to stick together.
I quietly opened the bedroom door.
The hallway was silent as the grave.
Just water. I’ll drink some water and come right back.
Silencing my footsteps like a stray cat, I headed toward the kitchen.
The moment I opened the enormous refrigerator door—
“…Huh.”
I was speechless.
It was practically empty.
Twelve bottles of Evian.
Four cans of beer.
That was it.
Not a single container of side dishes.
Not even a piece of kimchi.
“Is this really a house where a person lives?”
Did this man survive on morning dew or something?
A blast of cold air from the refrigerator hit my face.
I turned my gaze and noticed the corner of the kitchen island.
Rows of colorful pill bottles.
Multivitamins.
Omega-3.
Lutein.
Liver medication….
“Does he survive on medicine instead of food?”
I clicked my tongue.
He had said meals were a waste of time, and apparently he had been extending his lifespan as efficiently as possible, like oiling the parts of a machine.
I took out a bottle of mineral water and gulped it down.
The cold water flowed down my esophagus, instantly clearing my head.
“…This is an opportunity.”
Actually, this was perfect.
An empty refrigerator meant there was room for me to fill it.
I crushed the empty water bottle in my hand and checked the time.
Ten p.m.
The supermarkets should still be open.
“Let’s go.”
I was going to fill this bleak refrigerator—and this entire house—with my own “ability.”
I grabbed my wallet, crossed the hallway, and stopped in front of the elevator.
The doors opened, revealing my reflection against the gleaming gold-colored interior walls.
A tracksuit with worn-out knees.
Slippers.
An old shopping bag in my hand.
I looked ridiculously out of place in the lavish penthouse.
So what?
I lifted my chin proudly.
Cinderella had glass slippers.
But I had a shopping bag.
That was the way of the real-life Cinderella who had to pay off a 300-million-won debt.
“Just wait and see. Tomorrow morning, I’ll make sure you wake up because you’re being lured out of bed by the smell of food.”
With a determined expression, I headed toward the darkened lobby on the first floor.
