Seeping In
The next day.
A full-blown catastrophe struck my postage-stamp of a night-duty room.
"Heave! Heave! Careful! It's catching on the door!"
Delivery guys were sweating buckets as they shoved an enormous mattress inside.
It was the ultra-premium large king bed Elise had ordered.
The problem was the size of my room.
"…Inmate."
"What."
"The room is completely full."
The moment the bed came in, every scrap of space for a desk and chair vanished. Open the door and you were staring straight at mattress. The entire room had, quite literally, become a bed.
"Perfect."
Elise nodded, looking thoroughly satisfied. She kicked off her shoes and dove onto the mattress.
"Ahh, this is more like it. Finally enough room to roll around."
She tumbled back and forth across the bed. The springs had good bounce; her body sprang up with every roll.
"Uh, where exactly am I supposed to work? We already got rid of the desk."
"Do it here."
She patted the spot beside her with a few sharp smacks.
"It's huge. Read your papers here, eat here, sleep here. Just do everything."
"This isn't a night-duty room anymore. It's just a bedroom."
"We're basically one body at this point anyway. What's the point of separate spaces?"
It was sophistry dressed up as logic. But there was no undoing a bed that was already installed. I sighed and perched on the edge of the mattress.
"If the Director finds out, she'll faint."
"Who cares. If it bothers her that much, she can hurry up and fix the penthouse."
Elise pillowed her head on my thigh. She tugged playfully at my necktie.
"Hey."
"Yes."
"Nice, right?"
"What is?"
"Sharing a bed with me."
She opened her eyes with a languid, sultry look. Those red irises stared straight up at me.
"Be honest. How does it feel for an F-rank to be living with an S-rank beauty? Pretty glorious, huh?"
"…The bed being this big is nice, I'll give you that."
"Hmph. So dishonest."
She snickered and took my hand, guiding it up onto her head.
"Stroke my hair. I'm sleepy."
"You're going to sleep in the middle of the day?"
"The bed's too soft. That's your fault."
I had no choice but to stroke her hair.
…Well. Not bad, I guess.
I set my laptop on my knees and started working. Tap, tap. The clack of the keyboard and the sound of her breathing filled the tiny room.
"Kang Jinsoo."
"Yes."
"Don't go anywhere."
"I'm not going. There's nowhere to go."
"…Good."
She buried her face deeper into my thigh. Her hand clenched tight around the hem of my clothes—like a child terrified that even on this enormous bed, letting go of me would mean tumbling off the edge of the world.
I stopped typing and gently patted her back for a moment.
Inmate 001's Stability has risen dramatically.
Current Status: This is my home. (Wherever you are.)
Day three of cohabitation.
My night-duty room was no longer a night-duty room. It was simply Elise's nest.
A large king bed swallowing ninety percent of the floor. Scattered across it: luxury clothes, cookie crumbs, and a tablet PC. I was crouched in whatever gaps remained, hammering away at my laptop.
"Hey."
"Yes."
"My legs are numb. Massage them."
Elise, who had claimed the head of the bed like a throne, stuck a foot out toward me. I took it with practiced ease.
"Here? Or here?"
"Mmm, there. A little harder."
She answered absently, eyes on a drama playing on her tablet. On-screen, the male lead was presenting the heroine with a bouquet of flowers.
"Hmph. So childish. You can't even eat flowers."
She grumbled—but her hand drifted unconsciously up to her hair. The cubic hairpin I'd bought her was still clipped there.
"Inmate."
"What."
"Aren't you tired of that pin? It doesn't really match your outfit."
I said it honestly. She was currently wearing a brand-new black dress from Cha—something elegant and alluring. Pairing that with a stationery-store cubic pin was like dumping ketchup on a premium steak.
"I'm not tired of it."
Her voice was firm.
"And this is the prettiest one."
"Come on, that's a lie."
"It's true. To my eyes, this shines brighter than diamonds."
She touched the pin while looking in the mirror. The seriousness in her gaze left me with nothing more to say.
Two in the afternoon.
There was, of course, no lazy sunlight—only fluorescent glare—as the two of us sprawled around. Elise was using my thigh as a pillow, and I was combing my fingers through her hair. I was starting to lose track of whether this counted as work or something else entirely. If Director Seo Jisu had been watching the CCTV, she would have docked my pay for dereliction of duty without a second thought.
"Hey, Air Conditioner."
"Yes."
"What's your dream?"
The question came out of nowhere. I answered without stopping the motion of my hand.
"Well… I've paid off all my debts. So, I guess just retiring somewhere quiet in the countryside. Tending a little garden."
"Boring."
"Ordinary is the hardest thing to pull off."
"Then what about me?"
She turned her head to look up at me. Those red eyes fixed on mine without blinking.
"Am I not in your dream?"
"…Well. You have to stay here, Inmate."
"That's mean. You're just going to leave me behind?"
She pinched my thigh. It hurt—but her expression wasn't playful. A little hurt. A little afraid.
"I'm kidding. Where would I even go? I've still got a long way before I can leave."
"Just work here forever. I'll be your employer."
She closed her eyes again, her face settling into something peaceful. Only the steady rhythm of breathing and the tick of the clock filled the room. It was quiet. Peaceful.
"…Kang Jinsoo."
She called my name. I almost doubted my ears. Hadn't it always been hey, you, Air Conditioner, Rice Cooker? This was the first time she had ever said my name—and so softly, so gently.
"…Yes?"
"Kang Jinsoo."
She said it again. Carefully, the way you might roll a piece of candy around on your tongue.
"Is something wrong? Are you uncomfortable?"
"No. I just felt like saying it."
Still with her eyes closed, she curved the corner of her mouth.
"The name's not bad. Rolls right off the tongue."
"It's a pretty common name."
"Once it enters my mouth, it becomes special."
Her logic was, as always, entirely self-centered. But I didn't mind it.
"From now on I'll call you by name. 'Air Conditioner' feels a little impersonal."
"I'm honored."
"In exchange, you call me by my name too."
"Excuse me? Calling you Inmate is regulation—"
"Forget the regulations. When it's just the two of us, use my name."
She opened her eyes and pinned me with a look that said refusal would not be tolerated.
"…Understood. Elise."
"One more time."
"Elise."
"Mmm."
She closed her eyes again, looking satisfied, and pulled my hand over to rub against her cheek.
"Warm."
"It should feel cold."
"No. Your hand is cold, but… somehow it's warm."
Her voice grew smaller and smaller. Sleep was taking her.
"Kang Jinsoo…"
"Yes."
"Don't go anywhere."
"I'm not going."
"Stay next to me."
"Yes."
Her breathing evened out. I looked down at her sleeping face. Stripped of all that venom, she looked as gentle as a lamb.
She's seeping in.
I carefully brushed the stray strands of hair from her forehead. In her sleep, she clamped down on my fingers—as if she had no intention of letting go.
If I get attached at this rate, I'm in real trouble.
Warden and inmate. A relationship that could never work. But on this narrow bed, at least, we were simply a man and a woman.
Knock, knock.
A rap sounded from outside the door. Time to return to reality.
"Warden, your meal delivery is here."
"Ah—yes. One moment."
I tried to carefully free my hand. Even asleep, Elise refused to release it. Instead she burrowed deeper with a soft, fretful sound.
"Nngh… don't go. Kang Jinsoo…"
Her sleep-talk made my heart drop hard in my chest. It was only a name. The resonance ran deeper than I expected.
I spoke to the guard outside.
"Just leave it by the door. I'm… in the middle of something important."
"Huh? Ah—understood."
Footsteps retreated. I leaned back against the headboard again. The witch asleep with her head on my thigh.
"Sleep well, Elise."
I patted her shoulder. A faint smile touched the corner of her mouth. She was probably having a good dream.
Day three of cohabitation, with only a single wall between us. Our forms of address had changed.
Inmate 001's Affection is beginning to convert into Love.
Current Status: My air conditioner. No—my Kang Jinsoo.
Day four of cohabitation.
I came to a realization.
A large king bed meant absolutely nothing.
"…Uh, Inmate."
"What."
"The bed is the size of a sports field. So why, exactly, are you sitting on my lap?"
I sighed while typing on my laptop. Elise had nestled herself snugly between my legs, back pressed to my chest, playing a game on her tablet. I felt like I'd been demoted to a personal sofa.
"This is the prime spot."
"For what?"
"The air-conditioner breeze hits me dead-on."
She answered shamelessly and rubbed the crown of her head under my chin. The scent of her shampoo washed over me. Her body heat seeped into my chest from behind; I was basically working while hugging a human furnace.
"It's hot. Could you move a little?"
"No. You're nice and cool."
She pulled my arms around her waist. A perfectly natural back-hug. This had gone past workplace interference and straight into torture. My heart kept hammering so hard I couldn't focus on the keys.
Does this woman have zero self-awareness, or is she doing it on purpose?
That was when it happened.
CRACK—!
A sharp bursting sound, and every light in the room died at once. The fluorescent bulbs. The air-conditioner indicator. Even the emergency lights in the hallway. Perfect, absolute darkness.
"Huh?"