49 – 49.
Zzirr. The noisy sound of cicadas tickled my ears through the window.
[….]
Lyewon on the other side of the speaker didn’t say anything.
I couldn’t anticipate what expression she would have right now.
[Um… all of a sudden…?]
She opened her mouth a beat late, subtly mixing in the question of whether I had nothing to say.
[Did I not say that I loved you…?]
I didn’t know what she was really saying.
Or maybe she was pretending not to know on purpose.
As certain as the fact that it wasn’t the answer I wanted, whatever the case may be.
So I gave her another chance.
“…Do you really have nothing to say?”
However.
[ Huh. What the hell…? What did I do wrong…? ]
Hanryeo-won continued to ignore me.
It felt like my heart was being twisted with a bitter sense of betrayal.
“……Ryeo-won.”
As I slowly opened my mouth to reveal the truth, I suddenly stopped.
Why lie?
Were you happy playing with people all this time?
What’s different between you and Mayeonseo?
I wanted to vent my frustration and lash out at her, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
“…No.”
In the end, I mumbled with a feeling of spewing blood.
[ Why…? What happened? ]
She asked cautiously with her shameless voice.
Even doubt arose as to whether she really liked me.
“…I’m cutting it off.”
[ Huh? ]
Unable to bear listening to her voice any longer, I abruptly hung up the phone.
And as I recalled Hanryeo-won’s voice, which had been ignoring me until the end, I clenched my fist tightly.
“…Damn it….”
It felt like I was going crazy.
*
Hanyeo-won was extremely bewildered and speechless.
There was a vague sense of unease on her face as she looked at the phone screen that had gone dark.
“What’s this…?”
Yoo-chan’s behavior, which she had never experienced before.
In the moment when she rolled her head in confusion in an unfamiliar situation.
Buzz… Buzz…
A message came from Yoo-chan.
♠ [I’ll gather my thoughts and contact you again.]
♠ [Don’t contact me until then.]
The contents hinted at a breakup.
“What, what…?”
Surprised, Ryeo-won immediately tried calling Yoo-chan.
But.
[The customer is not answering the call and is being transferred to the voicemail after the beep sound….]
He did not answer the call.
“What on earth is this….”
At that moment, Ryeo-won, who was suddenly struck by lightning, was very perplexed.
“…Could it be?”
Suddenly, a single possibility flashed through his mind, explaining Yoo Chan’s behavior.
“Did he figure it out?”
Perhaps he had discovered his secret.
“How?”
In truth, it was a far-fetched speculation.
How could Yoo Chan, who had been completely clueless, suddenly know about the top-secret within the association?
There was no way Kang Yoo Chan could know about Ryu Won’s secret.
However, there was a significant variable beside him that could shatter the notion of “never.”
“The Ma Yeonseo.”
The moment her existence appeared, an unforeseen possibility emerged.
“It’s her again.”
Ryu Won scoffed unconsciously.
Intense hatred surged within him.
“…I need to meet him first.”
Ryu Won immediately requested the association to trace Yoo Chan’s location, with the intention of meeting him and finding out.
Considering the slight possibility that he might not have discovered the secret.
…But.
“……”
When he actually tried to contact the association, his hand wouldn’t move properly.
It was due to the belated onset of anxiety.
If everything is true.
If Kang Yoo-chan really knows everything.
If that causes him to be extremely disappointed in himself and fall out of affection?
Just imagining it made my heart sink.
“…No. That can’t be true. Yoo-chan wouldn’t dislike me. Yeah. There must be some misunderstanding. That b*tch must have influenced Yoo-chan again. Yeah. That’s it.”
Rye Won denied the reality and desperately tried to rationalize, then immediately contacted the team in charge.
As evidence, she submitted the conversation she had with Yoo-chan a little while ago.
And a big commotion erupted within the association.
The department in charge quickly conducted a security check, suspecting that internal secrets might have been leaked.
They were able to find records indicating that someone had taken the Kang Yoo-chan project.
Fortunately, they were able to identify several suspects related to the records of the leak.
Among them, one security team member, who was a promising suspect, took their own life, plunging the case into a mystery.
Naturally, it was not revealed who took the secret and who received it.
*
Feeling deep distrust in human relationships due to the incident involving Ma Yeon-seo and Han Rye-won, I decided to leave Ma Yeon-seo’s house with just my belongings.
Fortunately, as promised, Ma Yeon-seo let me go without any trouble.
“Use the money here to support yourself.”
She even provided me with a secret account and a substantial living allowance.
Of course, I had no intention of accepting it.
“…It’s fine.”
I didn’t want to receive any help from her, even if it meant sleeping on the streets.
…Of course, she didn’t even care about my pride.
“If you don’t take it, I’ll summon you once a day.”
“…What?”
“If you don’t like it, take it and use it diligently. So that you can confirm that you’re living well…and so that I don’t have to keep watching over you for no reason.”
Ma Yeon-seo, who had quit her kind girl cosplay, openly threatened me as she always did.
Maybe even this was an action for my sake in her perspective.
But I didn’t care at all.
“What should I do?”
“……”
With no other choice, I reluctantly took the bankbook and left home.
“I’ll wait for you.”
With a farewell from the affectionate Ma Yeon-seo.
“…Where should I go?”
Finally freed, I felt a sense of slight relief.
Although it was only half-freedom, it was comforting to know that I didn’t have to deal with human relationships.
That’s probably why people go to temples or into the mountains.
“For now, I should find a place to stay.”
Unfortunately, I had long since gotten rid of the house I used to live in.
With no particular destination in mind, I decided to leave Seoul altogether.
So, I chose Suwon in Gyeonggi Province.
There wasn’t any particular reason.
I just happened to pass by Suwon and noticed a famous pig skin restaurant, so I chose Suwon.
“Oh, that’s a good choice. Suwon is a great place for young people to live, you know?”
The real estate agent I found in Suwon claimed that she was a local and that Suwon was much better to live in than Seoul.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Well, I’m not so sure about that.”
Anyway, it seems like everyone thinks their hometown is the best.
“So, what kind of place are you looking for?”
“I want to move in as quickly as possible and have the lowest possible monthly rent.”
Since I didn’t have a place to go right away, I started looking for a room with the goal of moving in quickly.
Staying in a motel-like place for a while would be fine, but I felt like I needed a comfortable place to relax.
“Among the places available right away, there are quite a few officetels. How much are you thinking for your budget?”
“I don’t mind the deposit, but I would like the monthly rent to be 50 or less.”
The real estate agent scratched her head and looked at the map.
“50…hmm. It’s a bit difficult to find an officetel for 50. How about a villa or a house?”
“As long as it’s not a basement, I’m fine with living in a villa.”
“As long as it’s not a basement…okay. Let’s take a look around for now.”
So, we started looking for a suitable place by visiting different rooms.
“This place was used by the landlord’s grandson, but they suddenly vacated the room, they said.”
“Oh, really?”
The first room I visited was a 5-square-meter studio apartment located in a residential area.
“Hmm. It’s small.”
“For a woman, it might be cramped, but it’s okay for men since they don’t have much stuff.”
The conditions seemed fine in many ways, but the room was too small, so I passed.
“I heard that the previous female tenant ran away from this room.”
“Ran away…?”
“She skipped out on the rent. Anyway, there’s no major issue.”
The second room I found was a 7-square-meter studio apartment, about a 3-minute walk from the first room.
“This doesn’t have any major issues?”
The layout was fine, and the conditions were quite good, but there were many problems with the room.
“Oh… there’s rust coming out.”
“It’s an old house, so that happens. It’ll be fine if you let the water run for a bit.”
There were many things that needed fixing, and mold was visible here and there. Moreover, not even sunlight came in, so I passed on it.
“This next room should be pretty good.”
The third room I arrived at was a 1.5-room apartment, 8-square-meters in size, located quite far from the city center.
“The kitchen and bathroom are separate from the room. The room itself is quite spacious. The layout is good, right?”
“Wow. It’s definitely nice.”
Out of all the places I had visited so far, I liked this room the most.
There were no noticeable issues, and I thought it would be really comfortable to live in.
The problem is…
“There’s nothing around here.”
“Well, we have everything we need. There’s even a convenience store about a 3-minute walk away.”
If only those 3 minutes weren’t based on full-speed racing standards.
“…I’ll go to the next room.”
Reluctantly passing the third room, I rode in the car led by the lady and headed to the last room.
“I originally wasn’t going to show you this place… but I’ll make an exception and show you.”
The last room was a 14-square-meter two-room apartment, not far from the busy downtown area.
“Oh, it’s really nice.”
The building itself was old, but there were no flaws inside, the surrounding infrastructure was good, and it was even cleaned before moving in, so there was nothing to complain about.
Why on earth was such a sweet deal still available?
“Because this is a redevelopment area.”
It was because the house could collapse at any moment.
“The city is debating whether to demolish it or not… so now there’s hardly any deposit.”
“Ah…”
It was a room with a fatal flaw, but the conditions were so good that I was drawn to it.
It felt like a room made just for me, who knows when I might be drawn away.
If I’m going to live here, I wanted to live in a comfortable house.
“I’ll take this one.”
And so, I somehow managed to secure a new place to stay…
Between having dinner at a nearby restaurant, buying necessary items at the mart, and returning, a flaw that I hadn’t considered at all suddenly emerged.
It was the fact that soundproofing was not done properly.
“Well, that’s true.”
Who on earth is living next door? Even though it was late at night, I could still hear music in Japanese.
I tried my best to endure it as much as possible.
“Oh, it’s so noisy, seriously!”
Unable to bear the noise pollution that continued until lunchtime the next day, I immediately stormed into the next door.
Thump, thump, thump!
When I fiercely knocked on the thick iron door, the Japanese song that was clearly leaking out in the hallway gradually subsided.
Soon, I heard noise coming from inside, as if someone was running.
And before long, the door creaked open.
“Who is it?”
“Hello. I’m the person who moved in next door.”
And…
“Huh?”
“?!”
When I faced the next door otaku villain, I was surprised and speechless after confirming her face.
“Why is she here?”
A cool and composed face with a prominent chest that catches the eye no matter where you look.
Shin Yuna.
She appeared in the next door, the one I coincidentally met in Gangneung not long ago.