One
One
Since I started living with Seo Se-na, many changes have occurred in my life.
First, one more person has been added to my contact list, which rarely sees additions.
And it's the number of a pretty girl who, by all accounts, shouldn't have anything to do with me.
- Oppa, can I drink the beverage in the fridge???
- Oppa, I'm about to run the washing machine, should I do your laundry too?
The second change is that my phone, which rarely vibrated unless it was for work, has started vibrating a bit more often.
Seo Se-na was the type to ask me about every little thing.
Is she being cautious because she moved in with nothing?
She really doesn't have to be that careful.
Still, it's not a bad attitude.
It's only natural, considering two strangers are living together.
The third change is that there is now someone to welcome me when I get home from work.
It was like that yesterday, too.
A day when I took a half-day off for personal matters and went home early.
After taking a half-day off for car maintenance and stopping by the repair shop, I arrived home early to find Seo Se-na lying on the sofa, playing on her phone, before she got up to welcome me.
"Oh? Jin-man-ssi! You're home early today?"
However, there is one problem.
'Se, Se-na-ssi. Clothes, clothes!'
'Yes? Ah~'
The problem was that Seo Se-na was in her underwear.
'Wanna see? Oppa~?'
'Stop joking and put them on quickly.'
'Okay, hehe.'
She seemed to have absolutely no sense of distance regarding living with a man.
I sighed as I watched her walk slowly into her room, and then I went into my own.
She was properly dressed when I came back out to the living room, though.
"Haa, I need a cigarette..."
There are a few other things, but for now, my main concern is how to solve Seo Se-na's lack of boundaries.
I am a non-smoker.
However, because of Seo Se-na, I've been very curious about those harmful white sticks that smokers puff on lately.
"Hey, Lee Jin-man! Slacking off here without doing any work?"
Someone hits my back and approaches me.
The rooftop garden of the building where the agency is located.
I was having an Americano at the cafe there, contemplating what to do about our roommate.
"Aren't you here to slack off too?"
"Ah, busted."
Black hair.
Mysterious black eyes with a hint of blue.
A cold beauty who looks hard to approach.
A woman in a casual suit with her hair tied low sits next to me without hesitation.
It's Jeong Hae-in, my colleague from the same intake year, and currently the only one left.
Watching Jeong Hae-in take out a cigarette, I wonder if smoking that would relieve this frustration.
Just as I was thinking that, Jeong Hae-in naturally lit it and put it in her mouth.
"Ah, fck, when is our team leader changing? She's nagging so much. Fck, even our manager said it was right."
Then, the usual repertoire: complaining about the team leader.
Afterward, she exhales a long puff of smoke.
It's a routine for Jeong Hae-in to call me whenever she's bored or having trouble with the team leader, so we can smoke a cigarette here in the rooftop garden.
"Does smoking and swearing relieve stress? Should I try it?"
"Hey, Jin-man-ah."
"Huh?"
And I, too, am in a situation where I want to smoke because of the roommate who has settled into my home.
As I blurt that out without thinking, Jeong Hae-in puts her hand on my shoulder with a serious face.
"Speaking seriously as your hyung, it's best not to even start smoking."
"It's noona, not hyung. And we're the same age, aren't we?"
"Whoever started first is the elder, that's the rule. But why? Did something happen?"
Something? Yes, something happened.
Something so huge that normal people would find it hard to even imagine.
"Tell me. This noona can't solve it, but I'll listen!"
Ting-
Jeong Hae-in puts out the finished cigarette, tosses it into the ashtray, and smiles, lightly patting my back.
However, Hae-in soon has to answer a phone call, saying, "Aish, f*ck, doesn't even give me time to drink coffee," with a look of annoyance.
"Yes, yes, I understand. I'll organize it and upload it soon."
Judging by her sour expression, it must be the team leader.
She's very kind to people from other departments, but maybe she's the type who is only strict with her subordinates.
"Ha, I'm going."
"Yeah, work hard."
I watched her back as she walked away, full of irritation, and then I took out my phone, which was vibrating in my pocket.
The source of the single vibration was my roommate, Seo Se-na.
- Jin-man oppa, I'm hungry, can I steal Jin-man oppa's food? Hehe.
Seeing her buy ramen, it didn't seem like she had absolutely no money.
She needs to eat to keep her energy up.
Knowing the situation, I tell her to eat comfortably.
I get up from my seat and head back to the cafe.
My order is an Americano again, but there's one change: three pumps of syrup.
I need to drink something sweet instead of a cigarette.
Drinking the Americano that came out quickly, I recalled the day after I accepted Seo Se-na.
*
The day after I accepted Seo Se-na as my roommate.
The alarm signaling morning wake-up time rings.
I turn off the phone alarm, get up, and stretch.
Then, I head out to the living room to wash up, but I catch sight of the back of a woman lying on the sofa, doing something on a tablet.
"U, ugh, who are- Ah."
At first, I was really startled, as if I'd seen a ghost, but thankfully, it wasn't a ghost.
She was the roommate who had decided to live with me starting yesterday.
"Hello, Jin-man-ssi. You wake up really early?"
"You too, Se-na-ssi..."
"Ah, I didn't sleep, I stayed up. Seeing you wake up on time makes me a bit embarrassed."
However, her lifestyle pattern is truly destructive.
At the mention of staying up all night, my gaze involuntarily drifts to the laptop screen she's holding.
On that screen, 3D cartoon-rendered open-world game graphics greet me.
...That skin is expensive, so her favorite character is the rich Japanese boy with blue hair, huh.
"No, well. Everyone has different habits."
Come to think of it, yesterday we didn't talk much because of packing and giving a simple tour of the neighborhood.
I was exhausted after cleaning and going around, so I had a can of beer and passed out early.
"Anyway, I have to go to work, Se-na-ssi. You don't have any plans this evening, right?"
"Yes! None. Also, Jin-man oppa, I'm much younger, so speak comfortably!"
"I'll speak comfortably when I'm comfortable. Anyway, if you have no plans this evening, we need to set rules and talk about rent, so see you tonight."
When I said this, I saw it.
Seo Se-na avoiding my gaze.
Considering that the game's BM is quite expensive...
'Tonight is going to be rough.'
I felt like sighing at the thought that it wouldn't be an easy evening, but I held it in, said, "Then see you tonight," and prepared for work.
After going to work, finishing my busy day, and coming home, Seo Se-na was sprawled out sleeping on the sofa.
Yesterday, I was tired so we just ordered chicken, but since this was the first proper dinner with my roommate, I was cooking dinner myself despite the hassle.
"Jin-man oppa, when did you get here? Whoa, what's that smell? Wow, you cook yourself?"
Her messy hair tells me she just woke up.
However, the energy she exudes the moment she wakes up is the kind that a worn-out office worker can never adapt to.
"Wait a second. It's almost done."
I took out Gyeongsang-do Style Beef Radish Soup, meat patties with egg coating, and other side dishes and kimchi, and she acted like a soldier, saying, "I'll do anything you order, Sir!" which didn't suit her at all.
Thanks to that, the table for two was set quickly, and she even took on the dishwashing, so we had a comfortable dinner.
"Now, Se-na-ssi. Come sit here."
"Okay!"
I sat on the floor, and Seo Se-na sat comfortably on the sofa cross-legged, so the composition was me looking up at her.
As Seo Se-na sat cross-legged comfortably on the sofa, her panties were slightly visible before being covered again by her short shorts.
"First, we were too busy yesterday to introduce ourselves properly. I'm Lee Jin-man, twenty-eight."
"I'm twenty-three, oppa! So I could call you oppa, hehe."
"Ah, yes, well, feel free..."
What was the first thing I needed to talk about?
There are many reasons why people part ways, but the biggest reason is money.
Since nothing breaks relationships faster than money issues, I have to lay down the law right from the start.
"Let's talk about rent first."
Actually, this house isn't rented.
It's an apartment in my name, though it has a large mortgage, which my parents helped me with.
It's a brand-new apartment I bought and moved into at the end of last year, but there was one problem.
"Our apartment management fee is about 100,000 won excluding electricity, water, and gas, but the problem is the rent. The mortgage interest is 720,000 won per month, so 820,000 won total fixed cost."
That's 720,000 won in interest alone.
Since I took out the loan, I have to pay it back, but honestly, I needed a roommate to share the interest.
To be precise, it's not rent, but interest, but for someone renting, it's the same thing.
Anyway, the interest was more expensive than I thought for my small, precious salary.
"That's why I wrote in the post that I wanted someone with a steady income."
I pause for a moment to observe Seo Se-na's reaction.
As expected, Seo Se-na had a look on her face as if her eyes were about to pop out.
"So, I'll pay for electricity, water, and gas, so don't worry about that. I just want you to split the rent and management fee. The bill comes on the 18th, so pay on the 20th. About 410,000 won per month. Today is the 8th, so you have about 12 days..."
Actually, because of this issue, I needed someone to share the interest, but paradoxically, it wasn't easy to find someone for an apartment.
It's common sense that if the house is big, it costs a lot of money.
But who would share apartment rent?
Since they are in the same boat with no money, they would just move into a cheaper place and pay about 200,000 won a month.
I, too, could move to a smaller place, but...
'I can't go back to a smaller place now.'
The problem is that I don't want to experience the reverse quality of life.
That's why I racked my brain and came up with the roommate alternative, and now that roommate has arrived.
I had imagined a man—whether a worker or a laborer—who would help with the interest, just as I had wanted.
I didn't expect a gamer girl, who is 180 degrees different from that, to come.
"I'm curious what you think, Se-na-ssi..."
Now, can you really live here after hearing this?
The morning panties were appreciated as a man, but living with this woman will cause various problems.
And I don't want headaches, nor do I want to become a sex offender.
"Ji, Jin-man oppa."
"Yes, go ahead."
Seo Se-na calls me cautiously.
Then she stands up, leans her hands on the table, and bends over.
"I'm really sorry. I have no money right now because I spent it all on that character skin gacha. I'll definitely pay you back next month, so can you pay for everything this month? Please. Oppa, I'm really sorry, but please just this once!"
Wow, what an unexpected move.
"If you pay for this month, I'll pay 820,000 won next month including this month's, so please. Okay?"
Seo Se-na's cleavage was visible through her t-shirt, but I was just dumbfounded.