026. Debt Assumption (1)

Morning.

A wave of muscle aches washes over my entire body, accompanied by a hangover that plagues my head.

‘Ugh,’ I groan, forcing my eyes open with difficulty.

Bare naked except for a single pair of panties, a rather indecent outfit.

The memories of yesterday, like a nightmare, come flooding back.

“…”

Whether it’s fortunate or unfortunate, Kang Joo-hyuk isn’t beside me.

But his scent and warmth are definitely still on the bed.

Getting caught messing with his phone and getting thoroughly chewed out,

I remember us washing together in the bathtub.

…And when did I even fall asleep?

I think I might have dozed off in the water because I was so exhausted….

“Ah, first things first, that bastard…”

I wish all of that was a dream, but the overwhelming hangover and pain tell me it’s impossible.

Thankfully, I did fall asleep wearing panties, so it seems like nothing weird happened after that.

My chest… well, that’s unavoidable, I guess.

First, I’ll grab a bra and a t-shirt from the closet and put on pants too.

I almost put on my usual dolphin shorts, but then I remembered that bastard is probably in the living room, so I changed into long pants.

I quickly wipe the sleep from my eyes in the bathroom, tie my long hair back, and leave the bedroom.

“Ah, Haeun-ah. You’re awake?”

‘Hic!’

My heart leaps into my throat as Kang Joo-hyuk bursts out the moment I open the door.

He’s wearing nothing but the panties he bought yesterday.

Starting the morning with greetings from a perverted exhibitionist bastard like him sends my mood plummeting.

“What’s with the surprise? Come out, let’s eat.”

“…Food? We have food…?”

“I ordered. It’s already lunchtime.”

Surprised by his words that it was already lunchtime, I patted my pockets, but of course, my phone wasn’t in the clothes I just put on.

I started to head back to the bedroom to look for it, but the smell of coffee and bread tickling my nose made me unconsciously follow him.

Walking into the kitchen, I saw the Mozzarella Tomato Panini I often eat, along with coffee, already laid out on the dining table.

“…How did you…?”

“Don’t girls usually like this stuff? They go crazy for cheese and bread.”

He answered nonchalantly, as if it were obvious, but coming from Kang Joo-hyuk’s mouth, I couldn’t believe it at all.

…I eat this more often than anything else besides Subway.

Even if I could somehow accept he knew the store, guessing the exact menu item is just too weird.

“Did you maybe… dig through the trash…?”

“Why would I dig through the trash? What would I even use it for?”

“…”

I sit down at the dining table, the unresolved suspicion heavy in my chest.

If it weren’t for the fact that he ordered it, I wouldn’t think much of it, but why am I so uneasy?

It’s too much of a coincidence to just be luck; Kang Joo-hyuk knows me too well.

…As if he’d seen it somewhere before.

“Um, excuse me for a second. I need to wash my hands…”

“Sure.”

I couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling, so I pretended to go to the bathroom to get away.

I step out into the living room, then the hallway.

From the hallway into the bedroom.

No need to rummage through the bed in the bedroom; I spot my phone sitting innocently by the bedside lamp.

“Haa…”

…Thank goodness.

For a moment, I was terrified he might have done the same thing to me.

A woman’s phone is full of privacy she absolutely cannot show anyone else.

Although, not to the level of those voice files that guy recorded, of course.

“…”?

As I was about to turn on my phone, sighing with relief, a sudden doubt struck me.

…Did I originally put it here?

I’m sure I put it in my pocket before bed, but I can’t quite remember what happened after that.

Before stealing Kang Joo-hyuk’s phone, I think I took mine out briefly to check the time and put it somewhere….

“Ah…”

…That uneasy feeling became a reality the moment I turned on my phone.

The home screen looked the same as always,

but the wallpaper was a picture of Kang Joo-hyuk and me lying in bed under the covers.

Naked, no less.

My chest wasn’t visible,

but my collarbones were completely exposed.

“You son of a bitch…!”

Remembering the anger I’d momentarily forgotten, I stomped furiously back to the kitchen.

This is crossing the line with no room for excuses!

What kind of shameless act is this while someone’s sleeping…!

“Kang Joo-hyuk!”

“Ah, you saw it, Haeun-ah?”

Unable to calm down, I shrieked and lunged at Kang Joo-hyuk, but he nonchalantly and shamelessly chewed his brunch, letting my words go in one ear and out the other.

“I’m really going to report you…!”

“Why? I just copied you a little. Then I’ll report you too, okay?”

“I, damn it, I just deleted it! But you, th-this is…!”

“How am I supposed to believe that?”

Then, suddenly lowering his voice menacingly,

he stood up and glared down at me with terrifying eyes.

…Feeling the intimidating aura from his completely unclothed body,

I tried to step back, but he grabbed my butt, preventing me from escaping.

“How can I believe you only deleted the recording? You might have gone through all my private stuff, trying to find weaknesses.”

“You…!”

“So, to be fair, I just took a peek at your private life too. Unlike you, pretending you didn’t see anything, I even kindly left proof that I looked. What’s your problem?”

“…”

I couldn’t meet his eyes as he spouted utter nonsense, genuinely believing he’d done nothing wrong.

So confident, so imposing.

Eyes filled with the confidence that he could crush me with a single flick of his wrist.

…That expression, bragging that he’d obtained all my weaknesses.

“Anyway, stop getting angry first thing in the morning and sit down to eat. I bought the coffee too, so drink it.”

“…”

“You like ordering food, right? And you don’t have much money.”

His voice, subtly provoking me by hitting my exact weak points, felt like a devil’s whisper.

If he’s going to taunt me about not having money while I’m living in this luxurious house, just how far has he dug?

Insta?

Bank account?

…Maybe even KakaoTalk?

“Don’t just stand there stiffly. Eat quickly so you can digest it before heading to the gym later. We’re already late, Haeun-ah.”

“…W-what?”

“Not going to work out? Ah, one session of sex has made you lazy. If you’re not feeling well, want to take the day off? I know how to give massages.”

“Hey, Kang Joo-hyuk, what are you talking about right now…?”

“What do you mean, what? …I’m saying I’ll help our poor Haeun-ah pay off some of her debts.”

“…”

My ominous premonition, sickeningly, proved true once again.

…This man has definitely ransacked my entire private life.

Even if he somehow used me while I was sleeping to look through my bank account, there’s no way he could have figured out my debts.

“Hey, but you’ve worked for the team for years. How can you be in debt to your own sibling?”

It’s a debt to my sister.

“…If I asked for 500,000 won a month to live in this house, wouldn’t you move in?”

“I’d live there even for 2,000,000. …How much is the deposit?”

“…Why are you asking when you already know.”

“You should have saved about 20,000,000 then. What were you doing borrowing money from the landlord to move in…”

“Ah, shut up!”

At first, I thought my sister was actually worrying about me for once.

After a huge fight with Dad, she offered me a room for a 20,000,000 deposit and 500,000 monthly rent, and I thought she was crazy.

I couldn’t understand why she bought houses on both floors and offered me a room.

“Shouldn’t you be the one shutting up? From what I saw, your sister is really leeching off you. You should do something about it.”

“It’s none of your business, you bastard…!”

For the first time, I felt grateful to my sister, and when I moved into this house, my debt was only 5,000,000 won.

And that wasn’t exactly borrowed either, more like money my sister gave me because I was short on the deposit.

I figured I could somehow earn the monthly 500,000 won, so I wasn’t worried back then.

Plus, she even gave me a card to use if I needed living expenses.

But no matter how carefully I saved, with no income, the debt just kept growing.

It was a huge mistake to install the soundproof room out of annoyance with my sister treating me worse and worse.

…Adding the guitar and everything else made it damn expensive.

“Yeah, it’s none of my business, but… it’s just kind of awkward. I thought you were living pretty well, I didn’t realize you were poorer than me.”

“…”

I couldn’t retort any further to Kang Joo-hyuk, who was mocking me like that.

…That’s also why I couldn’t outright reject him, even though he’d been annoyingly pestering me so much.

He was the most reasonable guy I knew.

I won’t deny having the shallow hope that maybe I could occasionally get a free meal from him.

I’d never lived like that before, but what can you do when you’re desperate for money?

Besides, he said he had a girlfriend.

He seemed surprisingly decent, too.

He seemed much safer than that trainer bastard who ignored me even when I acted irritable because he wanted to sleep with me.

My judgment was clearly clouded.

“Ah, and you said you didn’t use Insta, but you’re pretty good at it?”

“Hey, you, crazy…!”

“I couldn’t find you when I looked, so I wondered what was up, but you seem to have fun with your friends… And you’re good at gossiping too. Hey, how could you… from a sister who lends you this house practically for free…”

“That’s because you haven’t dealt with her…!”

I was a stupid, idiotic, brain-dead fool for even thinking I could get a meal out of a guy who digs through my every flaw.

…I resent my past self for thinking this man, who spouts such things without knowing anything, seemed decent.

For the past few years,

he’s been nothing but a detriment to my life.

Why did I fall for a guy like this…

“I want to experience it, can you help me out?”

“…What?”

“Just because I don’t have a job doesn’t mean I don’t have 12,000,000.”

“…”

Am I falling for it again?

…I know nodding to the devil’s whisper means losing your soul.

There’s no way that man would do me a favor without expecting something in return.

Why.

“I told you earlier I’d live here even for 2,000,000, right? …Want to take it?”

“…”

“I’m not telling you to leave… As promised, I’ll never make a move first, so, what do you say?”

Is it that if I don’t nod, I’ll lose something even more terrifying than my soul?

…If it’s that man,

If it’s Kang Joo-hyuk.

He’s definitely capable of it.