Chapter 30
“Ha-eun, come eat. It'd be a waste after I went to all the trouble of making it.”
“…You bastard.”
Even after returning home, Seo Ha-eun showed no sign of calming down for quite some time.
I even deposited the two million won straight into her account and prepared dinner myself, so what could possibly be the problem?
What an annoying roommate, getting this angry despite having someone this devoted living with her.
I'm being especially attentive right now, so she should enjoy it while it lasts.
“If you're hurting, at least take a painkiller. You have to eat if you're going to take medicine. Sit down first.”
“It's not that I'm hurting…! How can you break a promise in just one day….”
“If you were sprawled out on the gym floor, was I supposed to leave you there and go? Did I touch your ass, or your breasts?”
“…You bastard….”
Seo Ha-eun, who had been whining face-down on the sofa, eventually sat at the dining table even while cursing.
Instead, she tapped furiously at her phone, then thrust the screen toward me.
“You—you pull something like that again, and I'll report you. I'm recording, you know? If you lay even one finger on me, I'll kill you….”
“I said I got it, so sit down and eat first. Judging by how you're whining, your muscle soreness seems better.”
“You just say you get it, and then blatantly stare at my breasts…!”
“Not even allowed to look anymore? I already know exactly what they feel like, so how am I supposed not to look? Be satisfied that I'm holding myself back instead of pouncing on you.”
“You crazy bastard!”
When Seo Ha-eun, growling despite her utterly nonthreatening build, slammed the table and stood up,
a beep sounded, and the front door opened.
…I wondered whether it was okay to say things like this in front of my roommate, but
what a sweet voice and a sexy appearance.
The shameless woman who had peeked at my body and run away yesterday walked into the kitchen in loose clothes.
“‥What is it, again.”
Then she looked down at Seo Ha-eun and me with an expression mixing bewilderment and exasperation.
Maybe it was the beauty mark beneath her snake-like eyes, but even with her figure hidden by baggy clothes, she looked sexy.
No wonder she's an idol,
and my second was that they really were sisters.
If someone asked who was prettier…,
of course, right now the younger sister with makeup on was prettier.
“Ah, Jia….”
“Sis, …what is this?”
Seo Ha-eun stood up and awkwardly turned around to greet her younger sister.
Her landlord and creditor.
This wasn't a relationship that could be overturned just because they shared some blood and she was a few years older.
If it hadn't wounded her pride so badly, would she have boldly gone around badmouthing her sister on a secret Instagram account?
She was an angel of a younger sister, letting her live in this high-rise building for only 500,000 won a month.
If I were in her shoes, I might not lick her feet, but I could at least lick her tits.
“Ah, you must be her younger sister. Hello, I'm….”
“That's enough with the self-introduction. Answer me first. Why have you come to this house two days in a row?”
Putting those lewd thoughts aside for the moment, I politely greeted the landlord.
But our idol, who also owned two high-rise apartment units, was rudely cutting off the man who might be her sister's boyfriend before he could even speak.
…I didn't know this woman well, but I could tell for certain that she was Seo Ha-eun's younger sister.
How was she exactly the same as Ha-eun had been a few years ago?
Except she was quite a bit taller.
“Well, you see, there were various circumstances….”
“Don't change the subject. …Are you two living together?”
“Yes. That's the plan.”
Since she didn't seem like someone I could deceive easily whether I humbled myself and played along or turned around and left, I threw off my mask too and answered boldly.
Unlike Seo Jia, whose brow merely furrowed slightly, Ha-eun stared at me as if she wanted to kill me, but if anything, Seo Jia looked much scarier.
No matter how much I sweet-talked Seo Ha-eun, if the landlord told me to get out, I'd have to leave.
I didn't want to go back to some gloomy studio apartment after living in one with a view that reached all the way to the Han River, even if it wasn't unobstructed.
Unless she kicked Ha-eun back there with me, of course.
“Sis.”
“⋯Ah, yes. J-Jia.”
“Is that really true?”
“⋯⋯.”
Seo Jia's expression soured, and without giving her sister time to think, she began interrogating her like she was driving her into a corner.
She was much younger than either me or Seo Ha-eun, but unlike Ha-eun, who had a bit of a loser vibe and was oddly cute, there was force in her voice.
I guess an idol is still a singer, after all.
You could feel the difference in vocal projection even in that short exchange.
“I told you it's true. Ha-eun and I….”
“I wasn't asking you. ⋯Please be quiet.”
But even so, she was just a girl barely around twenty.
Seeing her act so high-handedly toward her sister's boyfriend without considering the circumstances, she didn't seem all that clever.
She'd clearly become intoxicated by being fawned over for her success and forgotten even basic manners.
It's not as though being popular and rich means you have no enemies.
“Sis. Are you really living together? With the man you're with? Since yesterday?”
“⋯…Y-yes….”
“Tell me clearly whether it's Yes or No. I made time to come here.”
“⋯It's true. We're living together….”
Honestly, it was much smarter to get frightened and turn into a meek little coward who couldn't lie, like Ha-eun.
It's basic survival savvy to grovel before strong people and throw your weight around with the weak.
Ha-eun had gotten caught by me before because she couldn't do that either.
“Are you dating? You two?”
“Th-that…!”
“Yes.”
I stepped beside the trembling Ha-eun and answered Seo Jia for her.
There's no point begging someone who charges straight ahead to look back at you.
Likewise, you have to hit the accelerator, chase alongside them, and chatter away if you want them to listen at all.
If you cowered in front of them and grumbled behind their back like Ha-eun, they'd treat you like an idiot.
Look,
is that really the face she makes when looking at her sister?
“Hey…!”
“We're living together because we're a couple. What other reason would there be?”
“Um, I'm asking just in case. Your name is Kang Ju-hyeok, right? The former baseball player.”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Because my sister told me, obviously? She definitely said the two of you didn't get along.”
I mean, I was wondering whether that was really the way you looked at your sister's boyfriend.
Honestly, until just a moment ago, I wasn't sure, but now I think I understand why Ha-eun hated her younger sister so much.
Even though she was her older sister, if you were treated with that much contempt by your younger sister, you'd be furious enough to want to smack her.
And if that younger sister was succeeding at what you yourself had wanted to do, while you were even living off her, your inferiority complex would be through the roof.
“She told you that we were on bad terms too? But, well…, most of that was a misunderstanding. I cleared up a few things when I retired. They say even a bad relationship is still a relationship, right?”
“Is that so? …I know it's rude, but could you tell me what you're doing these days?”
“Ha-eun said there was something she wanted to try, so I'm acting as something like her manager.”
“‥Her manager?”
“Ah, the details are private. Ha-eun told me not to say.”
She was the type of woman who annoyed me so much I'd want to tie her up and fuck her until she passed out, but she was far too high-class for me to go that far.
But even without laying a hand on her, putting her to use would be easy.
They say the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
When our landlord and tenant get into a fight, if I side with the tenant,
then no matter how much of an asshole I am, she'll feel grateful to me.
“I see…. I didn't know.”
“Well…, since we're even considering marriage, we figured we'd live together while working side by side. I was going to tell your sister too when I had the chance.”
I could feel the startled Ha-eun trembling behind my back, but since it would be troublesome if that were noticed, I pushed her back with my hand and hid her from view.
We'd already agreed to introduce me as her boyfriend anyway, so she wouldn't have anything to argue about.
And claiming I'd be doing something manager-like wasn't a lie, since I had a plan.
“You do know this house is registered in my name, right?”
“I know. Ha-eun said I should move in first and ask for permission later.”
“…Haah. She did?”
“I don't have anywhere to go after giving up my old place, either. She said there was a spare room, so it'd be fine.”
That was mostly true too, since I was planning to move out of my old place.
It was a lie that Ha-eun had told me to move in first, but half true because she had agreed to live together.
I hadn't told her a single lie blatant enough for her to catch me out over.
If she still kicked me out because she disliked it, there was nothing I could do.
“How many months are you planning to stay here? I intend to sell this house eventually.”
“About six months. I suppose we'll split the living expenses, rent, and the like. We're earning money together anyway.”
“My sister told you I live upstairs too, right?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, seriously…. Mr. Kang Ju-hyeok. If you tell anyone where I live, or bring someone besides my sister and Mr. Kang Ju-hyeok to that house, I'll kick you out immediately.”
“Ah, yes. Because you're famous.”
This woman's personality was extremely bothersome, but her fame would actually benefit us.
An idol who coldly throws out her own sister—what better material could there be for people to rip apart?
Whether or not we actually had any such intention,
Seo Jia, who knew her sister's financial situation well, would have no choice but to remain wary.
This woman—
knew that if no one took care of her, she had nowhere to live.
“It's nice that you understand quickly. ⋯There might be strange articles about this, so if possible, please don't even acknowledge me outside.”
“Yes, yes.”
“If we're done talking, I'll get going now. I came straight from work, so I'm tired.”
Perhaps because she understood that all too well, Seo Jia, who had been glaring at me with a fierce expression, simply disappeared.
It was an extremely rude attitude for someone who had just given us permission, but still.
“….”
Instead,
Seo Ha-eun, who was on the verge of hitting me, remained in the house.