A Desperate Bargain
350,000 won. No matter how I looked at it, it wasn't an amount of tremendous value. But... Lee Ayoung's reaction upon seeing the 350,000 won in my wallet was nothing like that. She looked as though she had just seen an enormous sum of money, her face filled with shock. It was only 350,000 won, yet Ayoung was so stunned she couldn't utter a single word.
Her gaze stayed fixed on the wallet, eyes wide with surprise. In that moment, I stole a glance downward at her legs. They looked freshly washed—pale, smooth skin. The creamy thighs peeking out from under her short denim skirt stirred something inside me.
—Gulp.
I swallowed without thinking. Feeling a strange flutter in my chest, I opened my mouth.
"This money... I'll give it to you, Ayoung."
"...Really?"
"As long as you do one thing for me..."
"What... kind of favor?"
I didn't answer right away. Ayoung lifted her eyes from the wallet and looked at me. She must have noticed where my gaze had drifted—down to the smooth legs beneath her skirt. The moment she realized I had been staring, her body twitched in surprise. She quickly shifted her handbag with both hands, trying to cover her thighs as much as possible.
An awkward silence settled between us. Could I really convince her? 350,000 won. Money I had earned working part-time for an entire month. If it meant buying a few heated hours with Ayoung, the amount felt like pocket change.
I thought about her. A university student at the same school. A girl so pretty that everyone in our department knew her name. Once a promising ballet student, she had a slender figure and beautiful body lines. And now here I was—a completely ordinary guy—offering her 350,000 won in exchange for her body. In the world I originally came from, making such a proposal would have gotten me labeled a lunatic. But here, things were different. To her, this was roughly 350 million won.
I gathered my courage and spoke.
"One hour. If you let me do whatever I want for just one hour... I'll give you the money. No strings attached."
"W-What are you saying, Juwan sunbae... What do you mean by 'whatever you want'..."
Ayoung answered in a flustered voice. She began stepping backward, hesitant. The distance between us grew with every step.
'What do I do now?' My chance was slipping away too. I had to convince her somehow. I spoke again.
"If you walk away now... you won't get another chance to pay off that debt."
—Twitch.
My words seemed to hit the mark. Ayoung's retreating steps came to a halt. She didn't move closer, though. She simply looked at me with an anxious voice.
"Please don't do this, Juwan sunbae..."
Her voice trembled slightly. She was desperate right now, yet still couldn't bring herself to approach me. Once more, her shaky voice reached my ears.
"You can't do this, sunbae..."
"Or are you saying you just want the money for free?"
"No..."
The more her voice shook, the more confident I felt. She stood about 1.5 meters away. I decided to bring up what I had overheard on the phone earlier.
"Starting next week, when the people you borrowed from show up at school... your normal university life will be over."
"..."
"You probably won't be able to repay that much money through any easy or comfortable means..."
"..."
"And who knows what they'll make you do to pay it back."
I let her imagination run wild with the worst possibilities. I fanned the flames of her anxiety—creditors coming to school, the things she might be forced to do, everything she stood to lose because of her father's collateral. Ayoung didn't respond while I spoke. But her expression and the atmosphere around her told me everything. Something inside her had started to break.
Then, with a hesitant look, she spoke.
"Could we... do it in two days? Or even tomorrow... Just not today..."
"No. It has to be today."
She had tried to push my request back by a day or two. I didn't understand why, but I flatly rejected the idea. If it wasn't today, it meant nothing. This was just a temporary visit to a parallel world. In one hour, I wouldn't even exist here anymore.
Finally, Ayoung lowered her head in resignation. She didn't say anything, but it felt like she had accepted my proposal to some degree.
I slowly approached her. Even as I drew close, Ayoung kept her eyes down and didn't move. I reached out and gently took hold of one of her wrists. She offered no resistance. She seemed completely overwhelmed. Anyone would be, after suddenly learning they had racked up a 350-million-won debt overnight. Countless worries were probably storming through her mind right now—her future at university, whether she'd have to drop out and become a high-school graduate, how she'd ever repay the money, whether they'd harvest her organs, whether she'd be forced into prostitution...
That was why my offer to erase the entire debt at once must have sounded incredibly sweet, no matter the cost.
"Just... one hour, okay..."
At last, her voice carried a note of reluctant agreement. It was quiet, but enough to make my heart pound.
'Where should we go?' The back gate? Was there even a motel there? Or should we head to the dorm? What would I do with the unconscious Taeyoung? My head was starting to spin. In the corner of my vision, the remaining time kept ticking down relentlessly.
I had bought one hour of Ayoung's time, but in reality I had less than that left. There was no time to head to the back gate or look for a motel. I glanced around and spotted the darkened department building with all its lights off—Pedro Hall. A slightly older three-story building. One of the empty lecture rooms there would work.
Still holding Ayoung's wrist, I started walking toward Pedro Hall. We passed students enjoying the festival, white tents, and a stage with a performance, but none of it registered. My heart raced faster with every step. By the time we reached the building, it almost looked like I was dragging her along.
The dark Pedro Hall. Fortunately, the door was unlocked. I pushed open the glass door and stepped inside with Ayoung. Though it was dim, light from the festival outside filtered in through the windows and glass doors, making it easy enough to see. After entering through the main glass door, I spotted the central staircase leading left and right. I headed toward it, intending to go upstairs, my right hand still gripping Ayoung's wrist. Her wrist felt thin and delicate, as if it might snap under the slightest pressure. Even while climbing, I could feel every detail of it in my palm.
Halfway up the stairs, Ayoung's voice came from behind.
"Haa... haa... Slow down, sunbae... haa... Let go of my hand... haa..."
I didn't answer or release her wrist. If I let go, she might change her mind and run. It wasn't just a feeling—Ayoung was clearly hesitating. That only made me climb faster.
When we reached the third floor, a dark corridor stretched left and right. I began checking doors for a suitable empty classroom. Each door had a small rectangular window at about head height—narrow horizontally, tall vertically. Peering through one, I saw a dimly lit, vacant lecture room. Light from the festival outside came in through the windows along the outer wall, so it wasn't pitch black. Empty desks and chairs filled the space.
—Creak.
The sound of the old classroom door echoed through the quiet hallway. I stepped into the first empty room I found, right in the middle of the corridor. Behind me, Ayoung's ragged breathing filled the space.
"Haa... haa... haa..."
In the empty room, her breaths echoed softly. My own heart was pounding just as loudly. Once inside, I immediately turned, released her wrist, and walked past her. The reason was simple.
—Click.
I locked the back door from the inside. Most classrooms had two doors, front and back. After securing the one we entered through, I crossed the room and locked the front door as well.
—Click.
I told myself I was locking the doors in case someone else wandered in and interrupted us, but the act felt strangely intimate. It was almost like locking Ayoung inside. Like placing a padlock on her heart and telling her there was no turning back, no escape. The metallic sound of the locks must have made the finality clear to her.
After securing both doors, I turned around. Ayoung stood near the windows with her back to the glass, bathed in faint festival light. She looked pure and fragile, watching me with anxious eyes—as if waiting for my next command.