Debt Assumption
Morning. A wave of muscle pain crashes over my entire body, and a hangover pounds at my skull. I let out a groan and force my eyes open with difficulty. Naked except for a single pair of panties—what a vulgar sight. Memories of yesterday’s nightmare come flooding back. “…”
Whether it’s fortunate or not, Kang Juhyuk isn’t beside me. But his scent and warmth still linger clearly on the bed. I remember getting caught messing with his phone and being forced to do all sorts of filthy things, and showering together in the bathtub. …And when did I fall asleep? I was so exhausted I must have dozed off in the water…
“Ah, that bastard first…”
I wish it had all been a dream, but the throbbing hangover and pain alone tell me it wasn’t. At least I’m still wearing panties, so nothing strange seems to have happened after that. My chest… there’s nothing I can do about that. I grab a bra and T-shirt from the closet, then pull on some pants. I almost reach for my usual dolphin shorts, but change into long pants instead, knowing that bastard is probably in the living room.
After wiping the sleep from my eyes in the bathroom and tying my hair back, I step out of the room.
“Ah, Haeun-ah. You’re up?”
“Hik…!”
The moment I open the door, Kang Juhyuk appears and my heart lurches. He’s wearing nothing but the panties he bought yesterday. Greeting a perverted exhibitionist first thing in the morning sends my mood straight into the gutter.
“Why so surprised? Come on, eat breakfast.”
“…Breakfast? There’s food at home…”
“I ordered some. It’s already lunch.”
Startled by his words, I check my pockets, but of course my phone isn’t there—I just changed clothes. I turn back toward the bedroom to look for it, but the smell of coffee and bread tickles my nose and I end up following him without thinking.
When I reach the kitchen, a mozzarella tomato panini I often eat sits on the table alongside the coffee he ordered.
“…How did you…?”
“Don’t women usually like this kind of thing? You’re crazy about cheese and bread.”
He answers casually, without a hint of guilt, but coming from Kang Juhyuk’s mouth, it doesn’t feel believable at all. …This is the second thing I eat most often after Subway. Even if he somehow knew the store, matching the exact menu is suspicious no matter how I look at it.
“Did you… go through my trash…?”
“Why would I do that? What would I even use it for?”
“…”
Carrying my unresolved doubts, I sit down at the table. If it weren’t him who ordered it, I wouldn’t think twice, but why does this feel so unsettling? It’s too much of a coincidence for luck alone—Kang Juhyuk knows me far too well. …As if he’s seen it somewhere before.
“Hey, I’m just going to… wash my hands real quick.”
“Go ahead.”
Unable to shake off the uneasy feeling, I leave the table under the pretense of going to the bathroom. Out to the living room, then the hallway. From the hallway to the bedroom. I don’t even need to search the bed—my phone is sitting right there on the nightstand with the lamp.
“Haa…”
…Thank god. For a second I was terrified he might have done the exact same thing to me. A woman’s phone is full of privacy she can never show anyone. Of course, it’s not on the level of the voice recordings that bastard made.
“…?”
Just as I’m sighing in relief and about to turn on my phone, a sudden doubt creeps in. …Did I usually leave it here? I’m pretty sure I put it in my pocket before bed, but everything after that is hazy. Before I tried to steal Kang Juhyuk’s phone, I took mine out for a second to check the time and must have set it down somewhere…
“Ah…”
…That uneasy feeling becomes reality the moment the screen lights up. The home screen looks normal, but the wallpaper shows me and Kang Juhyuk lying in bed under the covers. Naked. My chest isn’t visible, but my collarbones are completely exposed.
“You son of a bitch…!”
The anger I’d almost forgotten surges back, and I storm into the kitchen. This crosses the line with no excuse! What kind of shameless act is this—doing that while someone’s asleep?!
“Kang Juhyuk!”
“Ah, you saw it, Haeun-ah?”
I scream at the top of my lungs, unable to calm down, but he just munches on his brunch with a shameless, nonchalant face and brushes me off.
“I’m seriously going to report you…!”
“Why? I just did the same thing you did. Then should I report you too?”
“I—I only deleted it! But you, this is…!”
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
His voice suddenly drops, and he stands up, looking down at me with terrifying eyes. …Feeling the overwhelming pressure from his nearly naked body, I try to step back, but he grabs my hips and I can’t escape.
“How am I supposed to believe you only deleted the recording? For all I know, you went through my private life and tried to find my weaknesses.”
“You…!”
“So to make it fair, I just looked through yours too. Unlike you, I didn’t pretend I didn’t, and I even kindly left proof that I saw it. What’s the problem?”
“…”
I can’t meet his eyes as he rattles off that ridiculous story like it’s the most natural thing in the world. He’s so confident, so forceful. His gaze carries the certainty that he could destroy me with a single flick of his hand. …That expression that screams he now holds every single one of my weaknesses.
“…Anyway, don’t throw a fit first thing in the morning. Sit down and eat. I paid for the coffee, so drink it.”
“…”
“You like ordering food, don’t you? Even though you don’t have much money.”
His voice, precisely stabbing at my weaknesses while teasing me, feels like the devil’s whisper. The fact that he can mock me about money while living in this luxurious house makes me wonder just how much he dug up. Instagram? Bank account? …Maybe even my KakaoTalk?
“Don’t just stand there frozen. Eat quickly and digest so we can go to the gym later. We’re already late, Haeun-ah.”
“…What, what?”
“Not going to work out? Ah, one round of sex and the kid’s already gotten lazy. If your body feels off, want to rest for a day? I know how to give massages.”
“Hey, Kang Juhyuk, what the hell are you saying…?”
“What do you mean? …It’s about our poor Haeun offering to pay off some debt instead.”
“…”
My ominous premonition hits again, unpleasantly accurate. …This man has definitely gone through my entire private life. Even if he used me while I was sleeping to check my bank account, there’s no way he could have known about my debt.
“Hey, but you worked at the agency for years. Why are you living with debt to your little sister?”
Because it’s debt to my little sister. “…Would you not move in if I asked for 500,000 won a month for this place?”
“I’d live here even for 2 million. …How much was the deposit?”
“…You already know, so why ask.”
…12 million won. Neither too little nor too much—a realistic amount. A debt that has to be repaid someday. I just don’t know when.
“You should’ve saved up around 20 million. What were you doing, borrowing money from the landlord to move in…”
“Ah, shut up!”
At first, I thought it was strange that my sister was suddenly worried about me. After that huge fight with Dad and moving out, she offered me a room with a 20 million deposit and 500,000 monthly rent—I thought she’d lost her mind. I couldn’t understand why she bought two houses, one on top of the other, just to rent a room to me.
“You’re the one who should shut up. From what I saw, your sister was really riding your ass. Told you to do something with your life.”
“That’s none of your business, you bastard…!”
When I first felt grateful to my sister and moved in, my debt was only 5 million won. It wasn’t even really borrowed—she just deducted it because I was short on the deposit. I figured I could somehow earn 500,000 a month, 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 much I tried to save, with no income, the debt only grew. Getting annoyed at my sister’s increasingly condescending attitude and installing a soundproof room was a huge mistake too. …Adding that to the guitar made it ridiculously expensive.
“Yeah, it’s not my business. It just feels off, you know. I thought you were living pretty well, but I didn’t expect you to be poorer than me.”
“…”
I couldn’t argue back against Kang Juhyuk mocking me like that anymore. …The reason I couldn’t outright reject him even when he kept bothering me was because of this. Among the men I knew, he was the easiest to talk to. I can’t deny I had the petty hope that maybe I could at least get a meal out of him sometimes.
I’d never lived that way before, but when you’re strapped for cash, that’s what happens to people. Besides, he said he had a girlfriend. He seemed surprisingly decent too. Much safer than that trainer bastard who got on my nerves just because he wanted to sleep with me once.
My eyes had been blind back then.
“Ah, and you said you don’t do Instagram, but you’re pretty good at it?”
“Hey, you crazy…!”
“I wondered why nothing came up when I searched, but you only hang out with your friends. …You’re good at talking behind people’s backs too. Hey, how the hell do I have a sister who lets me borrow this place basically for free…”
“That’s because you’ve never dealt with her…!”
I was an idiot, a fool, a complete moron for even thinking about getting a free meal from a man who was digging through and exposing all my shameful secrets. …I resent my past self for thinking a man who says things like that without knowing anything seemed normal.
For years now, he’s been nothing but trouble in my life. Why did I let myself be fooled by a guy like this…
“I’d like to experience it. Want to help me out?”
“…What?”
“I don’t have a job, but I do have 12 million.”
“…”
Am I being tempted again? …I know that nodding to the devil’s whisper means losing your soul, and this man never does favors without expecting something in return. Why…
“I said earlier I’d live here even for 2 million. …Want to take it?”
“…”
“I’m not telling you to move out. …Like we promised, I won’t touch you first. How about it?”
If I don’t nod, will something even more terrifying than my soul be taken away? …If it’s this man, if it’s Kang Juhyuk, he’d definitely do it and more.