Seo Heejin’s fingers, which had been kneading my feet, stopped. Even when I kicked him, asking what he was doing, the stopped hands remained still.
“Hyung, I’m asking without any expectations at all… is that… are you saying let’s live together…?”
Not having any expectations my ass. In the hesitant voice asking, undeniable joy was bouncing around.
“No, let’s switch houses. How much is the rent here?”
I’d never lived in an apartment on monthly rent, so I couldn’t get a good sense of how much it would be. Even if the square footage wasn’t huge, there were 3 rooms… and it’s in the middle of Seoul, so it must be expensive, right?
“Ah…”
Seo Heejin scratched his nose bridge with his finger as if troubled. That was the hand that had been kneading my feet just moments ago.
“Why? Is it really expensive?”
“No. The monthly rent isn’t really…”
Seeing Seo Heejin mumble and beat around the bush, it was clear this house wasn’t on monthly rent.
“Is it jeonse? How much is jeonse for a place like this?”
“Ah…”
This time too, Seo Heejin quietly turned his head away. The cackling voice from the TV felt like it was mocking me. No way.
“Hey… in Seoul, no no. You bought a house in the middle of Seoul?”
I’d already sensed that Seo Heejin was well-off. I just didn’t know to what extent.
“How much did you suck your parents dry!?”
There’s no way a new employee saved enough money to buy a house. If Seo Heejin’s parents bought him a house right in Seoul just because their son was living alone, how rich would they have to be?
At my words, Seo Heejin, who had been turning his head away, looked back with an upset expression.
“I bought it with my own money!”
I didn’t care about the hidden meaning in his voice snapping back at me. He bought it with his own money? A house?
“Seo Heejin, did you ever hit it big with stocks? Or did you win the lottery?”
I asked about the best scenario I could imagine, but Seo Heejin just turned his head away again with a troubled expression. More strength went into the hands massaging my feet. As if protesting that he would focus only on this.
“What is it? You and I have the same amount of work experience, so how is owning a home possible?”
Our team’s section chief’s dream is to own a home in the metropolitan area, and our manager’s dream is to have a proper owned home in Seoul. How could a mere employee dare to buy a house in Seoul with their own money?
“I don’t get along well with my family… But this really is money I saved…”
While still kneading my feet like he was going to burst them, Seo Heejin whispered quietly. The variety show that I’d been watching giggling about until just now didn’t catch my eye at all.
“How much did you take out in loans?”
Surely he wouldn’t say he didn’t even have loans. Seo Heejin laughed awkwardly, “Haha.”
This was impossible even thinking about it from a common sense perspective. Even if he saved every penny of his salary for three years without spending any, he couldn’t buy an apartment in Seoul, so according to Seo Heejin’s words, he saved money that wasn’t salary to buy a house.
I would’ve understood if he’d done business. But seeing that Seo Heejin was currently living as a salaried worker just like me, it wasn’t that his business had hit it big either. If it wasn’t stocks or lottery, what possibility would remain?
“Hey, come to think of it, you have a car too. Did you buy the car with your money too?”
It felt a bit like an interrogation, but I couldn’t hold back my curiosity. Even if Seo Heejin’s car wasn’t a famous foreign car, it was a good car for a new employee. I became curious about what kind of person this Seo Heejin, whom I’d been cursing at and ignoring as a son of a bitch, really was.
“Haha…”
Seo Heejin just kept making unnatural laughing sounds while focusing on my feet.
So now he’s saying he bought the car with his own money too?
How could such a life exist? To be honest, I was so envious my stomach was starting to hurt.
It was a completely different life from mine—having to prostrate myself before my parents to beg for the security deposit, and struggling to pay 450,000 won in monthly rent. After rent, maintenance fees, basic living expenses, and money for small outings, my life where I was saving just a pittance seemed pathetic.
“That’s… I saved the allowance I got since I was young.”
Is this something to say? What kind of allowance do you get that you can save it to buy a house? I couldn’t understand it at all.
“The allowance my grandfather gave me…”
Is Seo Heejin’s grandfather a god?
“Hey, that’s not your money.”
My voice cooled coldly, unable to overcome my envy. How rich was Seo Heejin? If he could buy a house by saving his allowance, he must be no ordinary rich person.
On the other hand, I thought, ‘If he’s that rich, why does he go to work?’ My dream of unearned income. A life of just eating and playing without working would be possible too. Then a materialistic thought suddenly popped up.
“Seo Heejin.”
At the voice calling him resolutely, Seo Heejin just rolled his eyes to look at me.
“Don’t give up on me. Keep chasing after me.”
How dare he try to give up on me? I said it fairly seriously, but his sidelong glance curved gracefully. Seo Heejin bowed his head deeply and kissed my feet with smooches.
“Yes, hyung. I’ll absolutely never give up.”
That voice was full of joy.
String along
After learning that Seo Heejin was richer than I’d imagined, my attitude of unconditionally pushing him away completely changed.
I decided to string Seo Heejin along. My short life might turn out who knows how, so wasn’t this little luxury okay? It’s not like I’m borrowing money from Seo Heejin, and it’s not like I’m going to spend extravagantly enough to ruin Seo Heejin. Just, when I want to mooch a few good meals from my precious fish and live comfortably in a nice house.
Even while thinking this, I couldn’t help that a corner of my heart kept becoming uncomfortable. Whenever that happened, I kept telling myself: Seo Heejin is a guy who even owns a house in Seoul! Let’s treat him well until Seo Heejin gets tired! I can’t let him give up on me!
However, for me who’d never had an abundance of men in my life—if anything, a shortage—the concept of “stringing someone along” itself didn’t really sink in. Even referring to all kinds of internet community posts, there were only posts about being “strung along,” and nowhere was there anything about “how to” string someone along.
So I decided to do my best to treat Seo Heejin well. Because Seo Heejin can’t give up on me.
I was spending Saturdays and Sundays with Seo Heejin as a matter of course. It had been a while since I’d visited my parents’ house, and it had been even longer since I’d met other friends.
It was right to give at least weekends entirely to Seo Heejin. Because Seo Heejin can’t give up on me.
It wasn’t just weekends. When I started being subtly nice to Seo Heejin, our son of a bitch who didn’t miss the opportunity wanted to spend time with me during the week too. It was a bit bothersome, but what could I do? Seo Heejin can’t give up on me.
On days when Seo Heejin said he wanted to eat dinner together, days of pouring all my time into leaving work right on time continued. Thanks to that, my work efficiency increased tremendously, but relatively, my peace of mind dried up completely. However, there was nothing I could do because Seo Heejin can’t give up on me.
Not only this, but now that he’d put down his sense of shame, Seo Heejin clung to me asking to be loved at any time, any place.
Whenever he did something well, he’d make his eyes sparkle like a son of a bitch waiting for praise, making it impossible not to pet him, and him hugging me with his long body asking me to call him cute became no different from a daily greeting.
What would be fun about calling a guy who isn’t even my type cute, but I had no choice. I don’t know how many times I’m saying this, but anyway, Seo Heejin can’t give up on me.
[Text message]
> Really not eating lunch together? 11:43
At my message, Seo Heejin poured out crying emoticons. The fluffy art style rabbits Seo Heejin was into these days floated up on the chat window crying loudly.
Seo Heejin
> If I die, please write on my tombstone that I died miserable from not being able to eat lunch with hyung because of work 11:43
Everything was a matter of misery.
> Okay 11:44
If I really wrote on the tombstone ‘Seo Heejin died from the misery of not eating lunch with Jeong Yunwoo,’ wouldn’t Seo Heejin’s parents wail?
While imagining this absurd scenario and sending a short reply, nonsense came back about how that reply was cold and hurtful. When I peeked my head up to look, Seo Heejin was typing with his usual cold expression.
Did other people know? The fact that while Seo Heejin had an expression that looked like not a drop of blood would come out even if you stabbed him with a needle, his fingers were whining? Seo Heejin was a guy who refreshed the level of weirdness the more I saw him.
Today was a day when the team members scattered to eat separately. In the midst of that, only Manager Park seemed to have no plans and was looking for someone to eat lunch with, so I quickly made lunch plans with Song Ki. If I ate alone with Manager Park, getting indigestion and leaving early would be guaranteed.
I had no intention of listening to Manager Park’s tedious old-timey repertoire even during lunch time, the only time I could be comfortable during work hours. That epic starting from “Back in my day” when he was an employee—even I, only a third-year, felt like I’d heard it dozens of times. It was a mysterious conjunction that was only not tedious for the person speaking it.
Even sitting in a home-style restaurant with different daily menus, all my nerves were on my phone.
