I Can Hear Your Voice

Pat-pat-pat-pat. The instant I opened the door, Yeju came flying at me, feet a blur of pure delight.

"Whoa— pizza!!!"

Sure enough, the moment I stepped inside, the box in my hands got a far warmer welcome than I did.

"Haha... eat up."

The smell had clearly found its mark. A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fat bead of drool already hung at the corner of Yeju's mouth, and she watched, practically vibrating, as I lifted the lid. Then she flinched. Disappointment flickered through her eyes.

...Huh? Why?

"Uncle, is this pineapple pizza?"

"Yeah. Half sweet potato, half pineapple. You don't like it? You love pineapple."

"I do, but... that's when it's pineapple by itself. Pizza and pineapple are not allowed to be in the same place!"

I knew Europe clung hard to its traditional pizza doctrine and treated pineapple as a kind of heresy. I had not, even in my dreams, expected a seven-year-old to join the resistance.

My sister cut in before I could answer.

"Yeju! Uncle bought that pizza thinking of you. You don't get to fuss about it. Keep this up and I'll tell him not to bring you anything next time."

"...Ung. Uncle, I'm sorry!"

"Haha. Next time I'll get something that isn't pineapple. Deal?"

"Deal! Thanks, Uncle. I'm gonna eat it all!"

My sister's eyes flicked to my face and went wide.

"What happened to your face?"

The spot where Team Leader Park had hit me was swollen fat. I should have rubbed an egg over it before I came home.

"Something came up at work."

"Work, what work. Did your boss hit you?"

"No. I clipped shoulders with somebody running past, and it swelled up."

"That's really what happened?"

"Of course. You think I'd get in a brawl at my age?"

"Then watch where you're going. Your face was already nothing to look at. Add a scar and what woman is ever going to glance your way?"

"...... Was that supposed to be comforting?"

"Let's eat. The pizza's getting cold."

She let the subject drop.

We made a quick meal of the pizza, and I retreated to my room. Come to think of it, my head had been such a mess since morning that I hadn't even checked the share price.

Forty million won in the position. Every one-percent move was four hundred thousand won swinging up or down.

I parked that kind of money in the account and didn't spare it a thought...

In case I got stuck, I'd set the stop-loss at minus ten percent. And with the 1+1 Event behind me, a loss of around four million won didn't feel like it would land all that hard.

Let's see where it closed today.

I opened the trading app. The instant the quote came up—

"...!"

Th-this was right?

In a single day the price had climbed more than twenty percent. The chart showed it had even kissed the upper limit once before sliding back down.

Eight million won. More than two months' salary, made between sunrise and the close.

The stock forum, dead quiet as recently as yesterday, was now plastered with hundreds of comments.

I scrolled through them, trying to settle a heart that felt ready to pound its way out of my chest. There were the ones stuck holding the bag, and the ones who'd slipped in a little earlier and were already counting profit. And then there were the ones stirring up a sour mood on purpose, angling to buy at a lower price.

A washout by the operators... is that really what this is?

I looked at HNT's price again. Volume hadn't dried up. If anything, buy orders were stacking over and over at the same price levels.

If this were a dump, they should have been unloading right here.

A washout — selling off at the top — usually dragged another sharp drop in right behind it. That hadn't happened. Somebody was still accumulating.

More than that, volume had broken ten million shares today, and there wasn't a single piece of news.

A catalyst gets tossed out soon. That's when the second wave starts.

The market was already closed. Staring at the quote any longer would only wind me tighter, so I shut the screen off.

Overnight, I'd pulled in close to ten million won. I sat with the number and thought, carefully, about what to do with it.

Had I ever, in my whole life, spent money on myself? Most of every paycheck seemed to have gone to Lee Somin. The times I'd actually bought something for me could be counted on one hand.

Still. I'd made some money, and I wanted to flex at least once — even a flex that barely deserved the name.

What would feel the most satisfying? I turned it over for a long while before the answer came to me.

Yeah. There's really only one thing.

Once I'd settled how the money ought to be spent, I looked at the status window. Its cooldown was finally up.

Might as well press it before bed again today.

I hit the button, same as always, and light flared across the air. A new window rose in its place.

Other people's minds...? So I could read what they were thinking.

Tomorrow was the weekend, and the most I'd be doing was seeing my sister and Yeju. I couldn't see any good in prying into their private thoughts. Sometimes not knowing was the better deal.

Sure, plenty of people would have called it an incredible ability. Even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so, leaving it unused had to be kinder than coming face to face with a truth I didn't want to see.

I'm just not going to use this one.

Ju Hayeon stared a hole through the household ledger spread across the table, then let out a long, heavy sigh.

"Haa... what am I supposed to do about this."

Electricity, gas, the phone bill, insurance, food — and Yeju's cram-school fees on top of all of it. Worse, this month the royalty payment on her novels was late to settle, and a full month of rent was already past due.

A stretch of poverty that felt as if it would never end, no matter how much she paid down. She turned over what she could possibly do.

Should I ask Jinyoung to help, just a little...?

She held the thought for a second, then shook her head.

If he remarries and starts over, there'll be plenty of places that money has to go. I still have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some shame left.

Brrring— And right then, a call came in. It was the landlady.

Probably about the late rent.

Worry written all over her face, Ju Hayeon answered.

Click— The line went dead, and for a while Ju Hayeon just sat there, dazed.

What in the world just happened?

The next morning, right on schedule, Yeju threw the door open and came in.

"Unclieee!!! Wake up, Mom says come eat!!"

"All right."

I stretched long and climbed out of bed. And the moment I looked straight at Yeju's face—

......

Whether I wanted it or not, Yeju's private thoughts had started coming through.

Wasn't this supposed to be optional?

Still, now that I knew what she wanted, ignoring it left a corner of my chest distinctly unclean.

"Yeju."

"Ung?"

"How about you eat with Uncle today, and then we go to a kids' café?"

"Gack—! How did you know Yeju wanted to go to the kids' café?"

"And for dinner, want me to buy snow crab? Uncle's got lots of money."

"Huuuh?! Really? Uncle, you'll buy Yeju snow crab again?"

Drip. Drip. The drool at the corner of her mouth gave up on staying put and started to run.

"Yeah. First let's eat, quick. If I'm late again, your mom's gonna yell."

"Okaaay!"

Three bowls of rice came down on the little table. And kimchi-jjim... wait.

We usually ate light in the morning, but for some reason a proper meat dish had made it onto the table — braised kimchi studded with pork.

"Whoaaa! Meatie!"

"Eat a lot."

And my sister's face looked unusually bright.

So the bright face was the rent.

Right then, her eyes met mine. A guilty conscience needs no accuser — I dropped my gaze for no reason at all.

Her gaze slid back to me.

Reading her mind only makes me more nervous.

She wasn't wrong. I had paid the rent — talked to the landlady last night and covered it myself. I'd only asked the woman to dress the story up a little, so my sister wouldn't feel the weight of it.

"Jinyoung."

"Yeah?"

"About the rent..."

"You want me to chip in? We live together. If you need it, of course I'll help."

"No, that's not what I meant. Last night the landlady called out of nowhere and told me not to pay the rent, so I thought maybe you..."

"She actually said that?"

I opened my eyes wide. Only today did I discover I had something of a gift for acting.

"Yeah. So I was going to ask whether you'd paid it for me."

"If I had, I would've told you. And unfortunately, I am not exactly comfortable enough to cover a full year of rent."

......

I really am a dumbass.

I'd gotten so lost in the performance that the truth had slipped right out of my mouth.

"Ahem. This kimchi-jjim is really good. Can I get another bowl of rice?"

"Yeju too!!! I want another bowl!!"

"Slow down. You'll make yourself sick."

Bzzzt— A vibration hummed from a phone that almost never rang.

The guys?

I turned it on to check.

...Huh?

Why was she contacting me?

In all the time I'd worked there, a junior who had never once reached out had just messaged me for the first time.