The Locked Room
I must have knocked too softly. Just to be sure, I rapped on the door again. Knock, knock.
…
Once more, there was no answer. A strange feeling settled over me, so I carefully turned the handle. With a long, drawn-out creeeak, the old hinges screamed in protest as the door swung open. The scent that had saturated the room rushed out and wrapped itself around me in greeting.
The fragrance sank into my chest, lashing at my heart like a whip. I fought to calm my wildly pounding pulse and slowly lifted my head. There, seated by the window, was a woman.
The brown hair she used to trim so diligently for me had grown long, cascading past her shoulders all the way to her waist. The fair skin she once painted with cosmetics every morning so she could show me only her prettiest side had turned deathly pale, so translucent that the veins beneath looked ready to surface at any moment.
Why? I was standing right in front of her. Her beloved husband was here, yet she only gazed out the window, clutching a small glass vial. She had no interest in me. No—she looked as if she had lost interest in the entire world.
Just as Jeon Nando had said, she resembled someone with a terminal illness, simply waiting for death. How had someone once so bright ended up like this? It was probably my fault for dying however I pleased.
Then, the woman who had been staring endlessly outside slowly turned her head.
“…Ugh.”
The moment our eyes met—those signature crimson irises—my heart clenched violently. It felt like facing a Beast. Her unfocused red eyes held not a single spark of life, and that vacant, harmless gaze gnawed away at my soul.
“…Hello. My name is Yu Jihwan. I’ll be working here starting today.”
I offered the greeting with desperate resolve. A faint hope that she might recognize me made my hands tremble. But…
…
Ju Yeonhee said nothing. She simply turned her head away again, slowly. That indifferent motion made my heart sink like a stone.
It was only natural. How could she possibly recognize me? I wasn’t Min Sungjae anymore—I was Yu Jihwan. Not her beloved husband, but a complete stranger.
I had tried to brace myself in advance so the truth wouldn’t hurt as much, but it had all been pointless. I stood there in a daze until I finally snapped out of it and tried to say something, anything, to her. Yet the words wouldn’t come.
What should I even say? What if she ignored me after I spoke? My heart was already on the verge of death. If I took one more blow right now, I might never recover.
After agonizing for what felt like forever, I steeled myself and finally opened my mouth.
“…I’ll be going now. Call me if you need anything.”
In the end, I had no choice but to flee.
Creeeeak—
Even as I left the room to the sound of those old hinges screaming, my wife never once glanced in my direction.
*
I trudged down to the first floor and began the proper handover process.
“Um… Madam hardly eats at all, but we still prepare meals for her every day…”
At the mention of her not eating, the image of her thin wrist from earlier flashed through my mind.
“…Is something wrong? You look exhausted already, young man!”
“…Ah, no, it’s nothing. Please continue.”
I quickly pulled myself together, lightly slapping my own cheeks, and focused on the housekeeper’s explanation.
Why had I come all the way to this remote mountain village? Not to wallow in sorrow after seeing her, but to take care of her. I couldn’t stay sad forever. The priority was helping my wife regain a healthy life.
“Also, you must never enter that room over there. It’s the one Madam manages herself…”
As I listened, a small question arose. She managed it personally?
“We’ve never been inside either, so we don’t know what’s in there… Anyway, there’s no need to clean it. Next is…”
I tucked the minor doubt away and continued learning my duties.
By the time I had grown somewhat familiar with the work, lunchtime arrived. The housekeeper in charge of meals bustled about preparing lunch, while I—still unfamiliar with the kitchen layout—simply assisted from the side.
Today’s menu was salad, grilled Spanish mackerel, and army stew. It was supposedly planned with nutrition in mind.
…Of course, the problem was that she wouldn’t eat it.
While I was trimming the ham for the stew, my eyes kept drifting to the mackerel sizzling nearby. I quietly took a small sniff; a faint basil aroma brushed past my nose.
“What did you put on the grilled mackerel?”
“Hmm? Basil, pepper, and salt. Why?”
It was rude to comment on someone else’s cooking, but this was food for my wife. A little interference should be fine.
I finished slicing the ham and answered, “I’d like to add some fresh dill and wasabi. Would that be okay?”
“Sure, go ahead! Feel free!”
Thanks to Jeon Nando’s arrangements, she didn’t seem particularly bothered. I dumped all the trimmed ham and sausage into the pot, then retrieved the ingredients I had spotted earlier in the storage room.
I had brought fresh dill and fresh wasabi. They were ingredients I used to add without fail whenever I grilled fish for her. Fortunately, they were still in the pantry.
I washed the dill, shook off the water, and immediately placed it beside the mackerel.
Sizzle—
The hot oil met the fresh herb, quickly releasing an appetizing aroma. Using a spoon, I basted the fish several times with the fragrant oil, then picked up the fresh wasabi.
“Do you have a grater for the wasabi?”
There was no way they wouldn’t have one if they had fresh wasabi.
“That little one? Where was it… Check down there.”
Following her instructions, I rummaged through the cabinet and found a grater tucked away in the corner. After checking on the fish, I followed the other housekeeper’s directions to set the table.
Perfectly steamed white rice with a glossy sheen, fresh salad, beautifully grilled mackerel, and army stew loaded with sausage. I added a few simple side dishes, then quickly grated the wasabi and placed it beside the fish.
Although all I had done was taste-test and add a couple of ingredients, it was a meal prepared with genuine care. I hoped she would like it.
“I’ll take this up to her. Please eat first.”
“Would you? Then go ahead.”
I picked up the large tray and carefully made my way upstairs. Creeeak. Creeeak. Passing through the strangely creaky hallway and climbing the stairs, I reached the second floor. I set the tray on the second-floor cart and slowly approached my wife’s room.
Knock, knock.
“Madam, I’ve brought your lunch.”
I knocked just in case, but as expected, there was no reply. I quietly opened the door and wheeled the cart inside.
She was still sitting by the window with that small glass vial. The woman who had been staring blankly outside turned her head slightly, as if reacting to the smell of food.
“…I’ll set the table for you.”
Since she showed no reaction, I silently began arranging the dishes. I placed the soup, sides, rice, and utensils down, then turned to leave the room—
…
She began to move, slowly. She quietly picked up the chopsticks, reached out with languid motions toward the side dishes, and then—
Suddenly, she whipped her head around and looked straight at me.
Ugh…
Meeting those lifeless eyes, I flinched in surprise and bolted from the room like a thief caught in the act. Creeeeak— Click.
“Hoo…”
It had been a small incident, but at least it seemed she was going to eat. My heart felt a little lighter.
When I returned to the first floor, I told the housekeepers—who were already eating—that she had picked up her chopsticks.
“…Really? Madam actually picked up her chopsticks?”
“What’s gotten into her… She hasn’t eaten properly in days. How strange…”
They marveled as if witnessing something miraculous and continued their meal.
…Days? Just how bad had things been for them to react like this?
We finished lunch. While I was clearing the table, one of the housekeepers went upstairs to retrieve the dishes.
But when she returned…
“Hmm? She only ate the fish?”
“It looks like she barely touched the rice…”
I learned that my wife had only taken a few bites of the grilled mackerel and left everything else. My feelings were strangely mixed—should I be happy, or disappointed?
*
The afternoon chores were nothing special. Tending the garden, cleaning the house—that was about it. Although they cleaned every day, a thorough cleaning of every corner only happened once every three or four days.
Five hundred a month for this kind of work? Was there any better part-time job?
I didn’t interfere with dinner. The menu was fried rice, salad, and steak. There wasn’t much for me to adjust, and by the time I finished my tasks and reached the kitchen, everything was nearly done.
Perhaps that was why. When the meal was brought up, she didn’t even glance at it and left everything untouched.
The housekeepers looked at the cold, returned dishes and began praising me.
“So that’s why the Chairman sent Jihwan!”
“Exactly. We’ve seen Madam eat a little rice and soup before, but this is the first time she’s touched only the side dishes!”
As a result, I was put in charge of preparing breakfast tomorrow. It came from a casual suggestion to test things out. They had said it without much thought, but for me, it was an enormous burden.
If she didn’t even look at the food I prepared… I didn’t even want to imagine it.
After dinner, I was essentially free. Of course, there wasn’t much to do in this remote mountain village… Maybe I should practice my mana?
After finishing my duties and taking a shower, I sat in my room and picked up my phone for the first time in a while. There was a late reply from Min Soyeon around 1 p.m., asking why I had called.
Feeling exhausted, I gave a vague reply to brush it off. I tried browsing the internet, but the connection was too slow and it barely worked.
“…There really is nothing to do.”
Even though I was under the same roof as my wife, I felt a strange loneliness, as if I were completely alone.
While I was rolling around on the bed with nothing to do, my eyes caught the pitch-black sky outside the window. I got up, turned off the lights, and—
“Oh…”
Countless stars had appeared in the night sky. Would they look even better outside? Since I had nothing else to do, stargazing while planning my next steps seemed like a good idea.
I quickly threw on some clothes and left the room. The housekeepers who used the room across from mine must have already gone to bed; not a single sound came from their direction.
Just as I was about to quietly step outside through the front door…
…
The light at the far end of the opposite hallway was flickering, drawing my attention. Was the bulb dying?
I turned and headed down the hallway. Thud. Thud. With every step, the occasional creeeak made the atmosphere feel eerily ominous.
When I reached the end, I shone my phone’s flashlight on the fixture. Flicker. Flicker. The intermittent outages suggested it was nearing the end of its life. It was annoying, so I figured it would be better to just remove it entirely.
I began searching the nearby rooms for something to stand on. After finding nothing in the first, I checked the second and third, but there was no object sturdy enough to support my weight.
…Nothing suitable. I guess I’ll just—
And then the fourth. The room my wife supposedly managed herself came into view.
…
Why would a woman who barely moved all day bother to manage this particular room?
Unable to suppress my curiosity, I reached out and grasped the handle. However…
“It’s locked?”
The door wouldn’t open. What on earth was inside that required it to be locked?
…
I slowly gathered my mana and thought to myself. There should be no secrets between husband and wife. Just… just a quick look…
I compressed mana tightly around my fingertip, shaping it, then carefully inserted it into the keyhole. The mass of mana twisted to match the shape of the lock mechanism. Once I confirmed it had gone all the way in, I gripped the handle with my other hand and slowly turned it.
And finally…
Click—
The door to the secret room opened.
Feeling as though I were doing something wrong, I swallowed nervously and looked around. I dispersed the mana, slowly opened the door, and slipped inside. Gripping the handle tightly, I closed the door as silently as possible. Only then could I calmly survey my surroundings.
“…Huh?”
But inside the room…