The Consultation
"……You don't think much of her, do you?"
"Ah, it's not that. I was just trying to figure out how to start."
"……?"
Rahee had only just begun to tilt her head when the office door opened and my eyes met the woman who stepped through. She looked straight at me, and then her gaze bent into a smile. The eye-smile was genuinely charming. Her hair was tied back in a careless knot, loose strands spilling free, and somehow that only made the charm feel more natural.
"Hello."
I looked her over as she came toward us, offering the greeting. She was tall—five-seven, easily. A jersey jacket clung to her body, and the leggings hid nothing of her figure, wrapping an hourglass waist and hips and leaving a long stretch of leg entirely on display. Those were not typical East Asian proportions. She was only wearing running shoes, and still she carried herself like that. The curves were as dramatic as Rahee's, though she was noticeably leaner. Blend Rahee and Hyunji together, I thought, and this was what you'd get.
"Hello. Well, would you look at that. Our Rahee actually went and brought a man."
"……I told you. You already know everything."
At Rahee's words Go Yewon laughed as if embarrassed and stuck out her tongue, and I found myself smiling back, gently. A little innocent, maybe.
"Oh, really? So this is what it feels like to hear your daughter got a boyfriend."
"Don't be embarrassing……."
"Here I thought our Rahee was plotting a web-novel debut. What is this? Oh—and where's mine?"
"Pour it yourself."
"Hurry up. Your employer would like her tea, you know."
"……Honestly."
Rahee, seated beside me, let out a sigh, rose from the sofa, and headed back to the tea table. The other woman came over at a light trot and dropped onto the sofa across from me, then quietly pulled off her mask. She planted both elbows on her knees, cupped her chin in her hands like a flower resting in its calyx, and offered me another greeting while she studied my face.
"Just like Rahee said—you really do look that pure. My God, look at that skin. What do you do for it?"
She came off a little flighty. Even so, I didn't sense anything false in her yet. The light in those brown eyes was clean and clear. Her voice sat high, the diction crisp, and the range of it was so wide she almost sounded as if she were singing. Pleasant to listen to, all told. And the face that appeared once the mask came off was enough to startle even me.
……So a pretty girl's friends really are pretty too.
Like calls to like, they say. The mask had sat a little loose, and I'd wondered if her face was simply small—but it really was no bigger than a fist. A clean, pale forehead, softly groomed brows, and large eyes gave her an innocent look, while the high bridge of her nose, the tip of it as if it had been carved, and lips that seemed to burn red carried a sensuality of their own. I would have believed her if someone told me she was a celebrity or a model. The slender line of her neck, and the collarbones glimpsed beneath it, were frankly bewitching.
"I think I'm just pale from never leaving the house. Your skin's lovely too, Director, for what it's worth. It's nice to meet you. I'm Lee Shinwoo."
"……Wow. Ah—I'm Go Yewon. It's a pleasure to meet you. You're the first man I've ever seen greet someone without a single curse in it."
She said it brightly, with a cheeky innocence, and I didn't have much of an answer. Everyone seemed to say some version of the same thing. I simply smiled, as naturally as I could, and replied.
"The truth is, I only heard about you and the former director a little while ago."
"……I figured as much. She never really talks about herself to the people around her. But still."
Go Yewon had been inching closer as she spoke, and both her eyes were sparkling.
"How did the two of you meet? That part she absolutely refuses to tell me."
"She said she told you everything else."
Over at the tea table, I felt Rahee flinch and swallow hard. A laugh escaped me, and for a moment Go Yewon just stared at me blankly, but I gave a small nod and went on.
"My first day working out, I was on my way home when she suddenly said we should get dinner, and then—"
"Ah! Mr. Shinwoo! H-hold on a second!"
Rahee snatched up a teacup, set it down anyhow in front of Go Yewon, and hurried over to drop into the seat beside me, catching my arm.
"Don't tell her?"
"……Right. Sh-she'll definitely tease me again."
"There you have it. You'll have to ask her yourself later."
"No fair. I begged her to tell me how I'm even supposed to bring it up, and she wouldn't say a word if it killed her."
"You might start with a highball."
"Ah!"
"Huh?"
Rahee's face had gone scarlet, her hands fidgeting, while Go Yewon tilted her head and looked at me. Her expressions shifted constantly; she really did seem to be Rahee's closest friend. Which, if anything, left me a little less mortified in front of a Go Yewon who had almost certainly already heard about our nights together.
"She does try not to talk about herself."
"She would. Oh—it's not that she's being careful because of you, Mr. Shinwoo. She's always been like that. She didn't even tell me her mom was sick until after my own mother passed away, years ago. Can you believe it?"
"……That is a bit much."
"Right? A bit much."
"……I-I just didn't want to make you worry."
"How can you say it like that? I thought of course we'd lean on each other. I was hurt, you know."
She didn't seem to have many friends, so it was fair that Go Yewon had been hurt. Any other time I would have nodded along and teased Rahee, but I hadn't forgotten she was on her period. I'd spent the whole night soothing her; there was no need to go picking at a scab. Better to change the subject.
"I heard about the gym."
"Ah, yes……. D-did you maybe change your mind……?"
At my words she flinched and drew in on herself, then started watching my face. I took a slow sip of green tea before I answered.
"The truth is, I didn't come here just to work out."
"……What?"
"First, could I hear your vision for the place? And the debt on the gym and the building, if you're willing to tell me."
"……Um, may I ask why you're……."
"Rahee's paycheck depends on whether this gym turns a profit. I want to give whatever help I can. I know we've only just met, and I'm sorry for saying this—I know I'm overstepping—but three people worrying over it is better than two, isn't it?"
Go Yewon stared at me blankly, then slid her gaze toward Rahee. Rahee's face had colored a little, and she was looking only at me. I'd heard they'd even lost money on consulting fees, but there was no need to bring that up here. I only hoped that episode wouldn't make her wary of what I was saying.
"……Now I see why Little Bear fell for you. I was completely lost anyway. Once my mother died, every acquaintance I had stopped calling."
She sighed, lifted the teacup in both hands, took a sip, and went on.
"There's still about a billion won left on the loan."
Less than I'd expected. A loan of only a billion won on a commercial building this size was remarkably small. Was she simply feeling crushed by the debt and the interest? If all she needed was a little steadying, that was hardly a task at all.
"Then even a rough calculation puts the monthly interest well past four million. Still, at that level……."
I wasn't saying four million was nothing, but the mart downstairs had to have cut the burden sharply all the same. Watching Go Yewon hesitate, glancing at me for a cue, I could tell there was something else.
"……The thing is."
She turned the mug in her hands, faltering, and then slowly went on.
"My mother set it up as equal payments. Principal and interest together……."
"……This is a commercial building, isn't it? There was no need for that. As far as I know, on a commercial property you only have to pay the interest."
"I thought the same……. But it's what my mother wanted. She said she'd pay the whole loan off eventually."
I couldn't quite make sense of it. Still, if that was what the original owner had wanted, there was nothing to say. The world has no shortage of people who loathe the very idea of debt. Even so, it was too large a bomb to wave off as the mistake of someone who had only ever lived for training.
Then the monthly payment must be no joke.
It would depend on the term, but even counting nothing except Go Yewon's wages and Rahee's, they would need to bring in more than fifteen million a month. And selling the building—the last resort I'd been turning over—wouldn't be easy either. Who would buy a thing like this?
"Selling would be difficult."
"……Yes. It's not that I haven't thought about it……. I want to hold on to it, if I can, by working for it."
Effort. The world was not so forgiving that effort alone solved everything. Did she take it too lightly? Kindly put, it was innocence.
"Have you thought about moving the loan to a different bank?"
"The thing is, rates are so high right now……. A few places turned me down, too."
"Where, and at what percent?"
"A mutual savings bank. Twelve percent."
"And the major banks all refused?"
"……Yes. They said they'd take a portion of it."
"How much?"
"Up to five hundred million, they said."
"……Let's just keep that in mind for now."
The rate was high, yes, but swapping the loan was still worth holding as a last resort in place of a sale. It was a way to save a few million, and yet from another angle, if she could hang on and cover a few million more, the loan she already had might actually be the better deal. Paying down principal was a kind of saving, if you looked at it that way. She also had to account for the property tax coming due after June. There were still about three months. If the new loan had come with an interest-only period, it might even have been the better choice.
"Then the current loan has no grace period?"
"……No. It's ten years."
Short, as I'd thought. I could understand the former director's thinking well enough. She must have wanted to leave her daughter a building with no debt on it.
"……That's far too short. So with the principal included, you're paying back more than ten million a month?"
"……A little under eleven million, to be exact."
"How have you managed until now?"
"I sold the house."
"……Then where are you living?"
"……Th-there's a storage room up on the roof……."
So that was what Rahee had meant by house-poor. She had sold even the house to keep the loan at bay. The one piece of good news was that she still had enough cash to hold out for the moment.
"……You must have frozen all winter."
"……I really did. I mean, it was a storeroom in a commercial building, but I had no idea it would be that cold……."
"And the rent from the mart on the first floor?"
"Four million."
"Couldn't you have gotten five? The deposit must be steep."
"Yes. Two hundred million……. I had to cover the loan payments first, so it's already gone into that."
Fair enough. I nodded and answered.
"You made the right call. A mart isn't likely to pack up and leave."
That, at least, was a mercy. The problem was that this wasn't a situation where she could grow the rental income. She had said she wanted to open her own pilates studio on the third floor. To my eye it would be better not to use the entire second-floor gym as one space, but to divide it—and lease out the third.
"There was a for-lease banner on the third floor, though. That's not what I heard."
"I listed it not long ago. Things are too bad for me to be selfish about it. If someone wants in, I'll take them."
"But no one's coming."
"……No. It's a new building. I thought there'd be plenty of inquiries."
"Given the way things are."
"……Yes."
Rates had jumped without warning, and there was nothing to be done about it. Even in Seoul, Garosu-gil and the streets in front of Ewha were a wreck, between COVID and the start of the downturn. Still, this place sat close to a new town, so I had thought it would be all right. Apparently it wasn't.
"Then before we talk about what the two of you earn, we need to cover the monthly payment. How long can you hold out?"
"About three more months……. I can scrape together the property tax due in the summer, somehow, but that's as far as it goes……."
It was worse than I'd thought. There'd been a time when the banks would spend a month or two doing little more than issuing warnings and looking the other way, but in a slump this bad the collections would come at once.
"Did you ever think about selling just the third floor, or the first, on its own?"
"The brokers said the loan would make it difficult. And sure enough, there hasn't been a single call……."
"So you have thought about it."
"Yes. It seemed better than losing everything at once."
So she hadn't failed to consider it. She must have pictured the worst as well. Crush a person under debt, and of course they start assuming the worst. I stroked my chin and sank into thought.