Show Me Properly
A mother and daughter defrauded in a jeonse scam.
And two sisters who moved in as lodgers, unaware of it all.
That's the situation in this house.
"So subletting a jeonse property is even legally possible??"
"Yes. It's called a sublease, and it's a legally recognized arrangement."
"Hmm.... Then what options do I have right now?"
"You could demand they vacate. Since the jeonse contract itself was a fraud, the sublease agreements are void as well. However, the other party has made a proposal."
"What kind of proposal?"
"Absolutely not!!!"
The shout rang out before the lawyer had even finished his answer.
Four people gathered in the room... no, my eyes went straight to one of them.
The petite girl who'd muttered something about my size being small and kicked me right in the balls.
Things had been too chaotic to register at the time, but I knew her.
Lee Jian.
The nemesis I least wanted to see in my entire life.
"How am I supposed to live in the same house as HIM!!"
"Jian, please...."
"What is she talking about?"
"Ms. Han Jihee says she'd like to remain in this house as a tenant."
A tenant.
Living under the same roof as Lee Jian was unthinkable.
And honestly, wouldn't that go for this Han Jihee woman too? She was probably the person who'd feel most uncomfortable living with a guy who'd watched her masturbate.
"She took out a jeonse loan to sign the contract. She's in no position to return the two lodgers' deposits right away, either."
"Still, that's going too far...."
"I'm begging you! Just let us stay here until Jian and Hayeon can get their deposits together! Please!"
"I said no! Absolutely not! I can't live with him!!!"
Jian, who'd been screaming herself hoarse, shot me a furious glare.
"Hey, Seo Woojin! Say no! Tell them it's not happening!"
"Why me?"
"What?? So you're saying we should all live here together?!"
"......"
God, I hated it.
But seeing her hate it that much... maybe it wouldn't be so bad... Whoa! Get a grip!
That was out of the question.
Jian hating it was one thing; me hating it was another.
And besides, throwing them out of this house with nowhere to go would be far worse.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to pretend I never heard that proposal."
"Hmph! Figures. That's Seo Woojin for you. Not a shred of consideration in that trash of a human being."
"Better than trash who thinks consideration and kindness are their entitlements, no?"
"What did you just say?!"
"What? Get out."
"Oh, I'm leaving!! Hayeon, go pack your stuff!"
"Unni..."
"What?!"
"If we leave here.... where do we even go...?"
"Huh...? Ah... well, that's...."
Right.
This was the right call after all.
The absolute worst outcome would be kicking them out of this house.
Lee Jian, is it finally sinking in what kind of situation you're in?
"Fine, we'll go to a jjimjilbang! We'll stay there while we look for a place."
"With what money..?"
"Th-that's what we get from her! When are you giving us back our deposits?"
"About that.... it'll probably take two or three months....."
"WHAT?!"
Watching her flounder was going to be entertaining, at least.
But I needed rest.
My head, courtesy of that helmet, and my balls, courtesy of that kick, still hurt like hell.
I was sprawled out on the floor of an empty room downstairs, resting.
Except the room, which had been completely bare, kept filling up with things, one by one.
"Lying on the bare floor would be uncomfortable...."
"......"
Han Jihee, the very woman behind the jeonse fraud, laid out a blanket and a pillow for me.
Thanks to that, I was lying down a little more comfortably when food appeared too.
"Here, eat. And I'm sorry for hitting you earlier."
"Apology accepted."
A leather jacket and leather pants.
Maybe she hadn't changed because they were leaving the house?
Han Jihee's daughter, Han Na-kyung, handed me a couple of boiled eggs while dressed in that uncomfortable-looking outfit.
Then again, was she really her daughter?
I could almost believe they were just eldest sister and baby sister of the same family.
"Anyway, I'll take these."
"Oh, and one of them is...."
"......"
Crack!!
An egg smashed against my head, and an awkward silence fell over the room.
Because it was raw.
Drip—
"One's raw. Rub it on your head."
"You could've told me that BEFORE...!"
"I'll get another one."
"Did you do that on purpose?!"
"As if."
"......"
Han Na-kyung turned around with all the expression of a robot and walked out of the room.
I got out too, before the egg dripped onto the blanket, and ducked into the bathroom.
"Ugh... guess I have to wash my hair....."
I rinsed it off with water, but the fishy smell was so strong I ended up washing it properly in the end.
Now where was a towel?
Knock knock knock—
"Occupied!"
"I brought a towel...."
"Ah... one sec."
I opened the door to find a girl with a ponytail and glasses holding out a towel with both hands.
The same girl whose face I'd seen buried in her own chest while she groped herself upstairs.
Lee Jian's younger sister, Lee Hayeon.
Though with those horn-rimmed glasses on, she looked like a completely different person.
She was much prettier without the glasses.
"Thanks. And I'm sorry about earlier... I didn't mean to, your sister kicked me in the face and...!"
"I-I know.... I'm f-fine....."
"Ah.... right."
"......"
Why was she just standing there?
I'd taken the towel and apologized, and she was still frozen in place, head bowed deep.
"Did you need something from me?"
"Th-th, the thing is....!"
"Take your time. It's okay."
"U-until we get our d-deposit back.... c-could we stay here..?"
So that's why she brought me the towel.
The blanket and pillow, the boiled eggs—all for the same reason, presumably.
She was that desperate.
I understood her position, and I felt sorry for her.
But no was no.
"What if I kick out just your sister? Could you stay here then?"
"Wh-what? Th-that's....."
"So it's a no. I have absolutely zero desire to live under one roof with Lee Jian."
"Ah..... why, why do you hate my sister so much..?"
"Ask her yourself. Why I hate her."
"......"
My reasons for hating Lee Jian were crystal clear.
Free-riding on every group project.
Spreading vicious rumors about me.
And on a human level, we simply didn't click.
Thoroughly so—there wasn't a single corner of us that fit together.
"Ugh, damn it.... brings it all back for no reason...."
Back in the second semester of freshman year, about two years ago, I'd liked a senior from one of my clubs.
She seemed to have some feelings for me too, and I was agonizing over when to confess.
Then suddenly, the way she looked at me changed.
Not just her eyes—her whole attitude.
When I dug into why, I found out there was a bizarre rumor about me making the rounds.
And the one who'd spread it was Lee Jian.
I never got an answer for why she did it, but I could pretty much guess.
Because I'd dated her best friend.
Until I dumped her.
Things were already rocky between us, and after I dumped her best friend too, she must have vented her spite by spreading that disgusting rumor.
That's how I came to hate Lee Jian so much I couldn't stand the sight of her.
"Ugh!! I really, really hate this..!!"
Knock knock knock—
Ugh, now what?
"Yes~"
I sat up from where I'd been lying, and Han Jihee's face popped through the gap in the cracked-open door.
"What is it?"
"Are you hungry?"
As it happened, I was scrolling through a delivery app, stomach growling.
But what was that smell? Something smelled absolutely delicious.
"I am hungry, but....."
"Oh! Then would you like to eat with us? I did some cooking!"
"Sorry, but no meal is going to change my decision."
"That's fine! Really, it's fine! Just eat with us, hee hee~"
"Ah... if you insist..... Okay, fine. I'll come out."
I should never have accepted that offer.
I should have refused flat out, on the spot.
Because.
"How is it..?"
"This tastes like shit— I mean, seriously good?!"
It really was delicious.
Imagine the warmth of home cooking—the kind you only ever got at a friend's house—blended seamlessly with the savory depth of restaurant food.
"Whew~ What a relief! Ah....."
"What's wrong?"
"Well... if I were living here, I could cook food like this for you every day...."
"Every day...?"
"My mom used to run a restaurant. It went under, though."
"Na-kyung...!"
"What? It's true, isn't it?"
"Still...."
I could eat this every single day?
Honestly, it suited my palate better than delivery food or most restaurants.
You know what? Who cares whether this mother and daughter kick Lee Jian out or not.
On top of that, they were people in a terrible spot through no fault of their own—victims of a fraudster.
Was letting them live here really so much to ask?
Although—was I really okay with this?
Even now, every time I looked at Han Jihee, the image of her touching herself flashed through my head.
"Would you be comfortable living with me?"
"Of course! We're the ones who should be thanking you!"
"Are you really comfortable with it?"
"Ah....."
Under my pressing gaze, she flushed red and lowered her head.
No, she wasn't comfortable.
Naturally it was embarrassing and humiliating.
And yet she was still saying yes—that was how dire her circumstances were.
"Fine, then. You two stay here. In return, the tenant conditions I laid out with the lawyer stand as agreed. Meals included."
"Naturally! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Thank you. But what about Hayeon and Jian-unni?"
"Not Lee Jian. If she leaves, her sister will follow."
"And why not ME?!"
"Ugh, seriously...!"
My mood, lifted by the delicious food, sank like a stone dropped down a well.
Turning my head toward the grating voice, I found Lee Jian glaring daggers at me.
With a fidgeting Lee Hayeon beside her.
"Are you a tiger? You show up whenever someone mentions you?"
"Lame."
"Who said anything about being funny?!"
"Whatever. Why can't you stay? Answer the question."
"Because you said you hate me. Same reason."
"I never said that?"
"You were howling about it just a few hours ago! What do you mean you never said it?!"
"A few hours passed, and now I don't. Problem solved, right?"
"No, not solved?! Because I still hate you. Get out."
"......"
She bit down hard on her lower lip, apparently seething, and glared at me like she wanted me dead.
But so what?
It wasn't scary at all.
"Talk to me for a second. Alone."
"Do it here. I don't want to be alone with you."
"Follow me...!!"
"No."
"......"
She bit her lip again.
At this rate, that lip was going to split.
But why were her eyes getting all docile?
"Please talk to me...."
"I said no."
"I'm... begging you...."
"......"
Begging? Me?
I wanted to refuse even that without a second thought, but I ended up following Lee Jian upstairs anyway.
If she was begging, then hearing her out was the least I could do.
"How far are we going?"
"......"
Lee Jian stopped at my words, heaved a deep sigh, and turned around.
"None of this is my fault, okay? I'm a victim too. If I'd just gotten the deposit back, I'd have left on the spot!"
"Did anyone say you weren't?"
"So anyway....!! I'm asking you a favor.... let us stay here until I get the deposit back.... You'd be collecting rent. Everyone wins!"
"Not seeing you is the bigger win for me. I still hate you."
"Son of a...!!"
She was probably furious from head to toe by now.
Furious enough to want to kick me in the shins right this second.
Which meant she'd stop begging to stay here soon enough.
"If that's all, I'm heading back down—"
"You saw my breasts earlier, didn't you?!"
"Why is THAT coming up now?! And I didn't 'see' them, they were just there! You were the one doing it!"
"Either way, you saw them! You opened the door, walked in, and ogled my chest!!!"
"Fine! I saw them! So what?!"
"Then isn't that..... enough...?"
"What...?"
"Y-you saw my breasts, so.... let me stay here....."
"Ha....."
The absurdity of it wrung a laugh out of me.
So I decided to put an end to her nonsense once and for all.
"You didn't see them properly, though."
"Huh...?"
"I said I didn't see them properly. Show me again, properly this time. Then I'll think about it."
"You....!!!"
"If you don't want to, forget it."
Now she'd never have a hold on me again.
Time to head down and grab some food.....
"If I show you...?"
"Huh??"
"If I just show you.... can we stay here...?"
"You'd actually show me..?"
"You're the one who asked..!"
"......"
Was she serious?
Or was this a scheme to spread the story around campus and make sure I could never return to school?
Somehow, it felt like asking her to show me would be a mistake.
So I just waited.
Maybe a minute passed like that?
Creeeak...!
Gripping the hem of her skin-tight t-shirt, Lee Jian dropped her eyes and spoke in something close to a whisper.
"J-just for a second.... not for long....."
"......"
"Why aren't you answering....!! Haaa....."
"......"
Lee Jian was really going to show me her breasts?
That wildcat Lee Jian was going to bare her chest in front of me, with her own hands?
My heart started pounding.
I couldn't even blink.
Hss—
As the shirt rode up, her pale stomach came into view, and her hesitant hands started moving again, the fabric clearing the small swell of her chest.
And then Lee Jian's breasts—the ones I hadn't gotten a proper look at before—appeared right in front of my eyes.
"I-is that enough..?! You pervert...!!"