Ding-dong!
The doorbell rang.
‘Who could that be…?’
No one was supposed to come.
Since I’d resigned, turned off my phone, and gone underground for days, I looked a wreck—unshaven stubble poking out, hair a tousled mess.
‘Don’t know…’
I had no energy even to answer the door. I buried myself deeper under the covers.
If it was a delivery, they’d leave the package. If it was a gas meter reader or pest control, they’d stick a notice on the door and come back later.
Ding-dong— ding-dong!
But the bell rang again.
‘Ah, seriously…!’
I was distraught enough about quitting the big company everyone envied—now I couldn’t even rest in peace. Ready to yell at whoever it was, I lurched to the monitor.
“…!?”
The face on the screen was completely unexpected.
‘Yoo Sia…?’
My girlfriend—no, Chairman Yoo’s youngest granddaughter.
‘Should I just pretend I’m not here?’
That might be better for my mental health.
I bit my lip and steeled myself, but—
“You know I’m home….”
Sia’s voice trembled.
“Please open the door….”
I’d never heard her sound so frightened. If I left her standing there, something terrible might happen.
Click—
Worried, I opened the door.
“…Assistant Manager?”
At the sight of me,
“Waaah….”
She looked as if she was about to burst into tears, then flung herself into my arms.
“Why are you really running away from me….”
Sobbing, she pounded on my chest.
Startled, I raised my arms and took a hesitant step back.
“Sorry, I haven’t showered.”
“It’s fine.”
“You’ll smell.”
“I like your smell.”
“…….”
Frozen, I didn’t know what to do when—
Clatter!
The neighbor woman from next door emerged, frowning at us.
“Oh my, take your public display of affection inside. Young people these days, tsk-tsk.”
Clicking her tongue, she descended the stairs with her bag of food waste.
If I stayed there, the gossip would spread all over the neighborhood. I ushered Sia inside.
“Sit here for a moment.”
I settled her on the single sofa and made some hot tea.
“Drink this and calm down.”
“Okay… thank you.”
She took the mug with her small hands.
I pulled over a chair, sat facing her, and studied her carefully.
‘She’s really cried…’
Her eyes were puffy, and her cheeks were gaunt from days without proper meals. Overall, she looked haggard.
I decided it’d be awkward to dwell on that, so I changed the subject.
“This place is shabby, isn’t it?”
“No. It’s perfect for living alone.”
Though the mood was tense, I dared to ask:
“How did you find my address?”
“…Can I be honest?”
“Sure.”
“I saw your personnel file.”
I’d half-expected that—neither of us had ever visited the other’s home until now.
She drained half her tea. Thankfully, she seemed to have calmed a bit.
‘First, I should apologize…’
Sia hadn’t done anything wrong. I’d panicked, handed in my resignation, and run away.
Before I could speak, she beat me to it.
“I’m sorry.”
Sia bit her lip as if to steady herself.
“I never imagined my brothers and uncles would do that.”
“…”
“Not once, but repeatedly… I can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been for you.”
Her words made sense of everything that’d happened at work these past few days. Calls and scoldings for trivial issues—it turned out all because I began seeing Sia.
“But please take back your breakup talk.”
She clenched her fists.
“It won’t happen again. I promise.”
Her voice was earnest and resolute, yet…
‘She’s trembling…?’
Her shoulders shook like dry leaves. She looked as terrified as a prisoner on death row awaiting sentence.
“This is the first time I’ve ever felt like this.”
She bowed her head, unable to meet my eyes.
“I hated my brothers and uncles so much I considered running away from home. I couldn’t sleep or eat and just cried and cried until I even vomited… So.”
She bit her lip again.
“Don’t run away.”
Wriggling, she grasped my hand with both of hers.
“I’ll protect you.”
“…”
“Just stay by my side. That’s enough.”
Three hours.
Long enough to rewrite history or turn one’s life upside down. In new motels they often rent rooms by the hour in three-hour blocks.
Yet.
Three hours had passed since Sia entered my tiny apartment. Two people of opposite genders had spent three hours together under one roof, four walls closing them in.
And yet, nothing untoward happened.
“Oh, really? So that’s why you don’t eat in the cafeteria….”
“It’s because of Grandpa. He insists the company food tastes exactly like my grandmother’s cooking.”
“Ah, so you get tired of it and eat out on purpose.”
“See? I’m not being extravagant.”
We chatted about the curiosities of office life and our backgrounds. As for physical intimacy—
Fiddle-fiddle—
Holding hands was all we did. Yet the key fact was that we never let go of each other’s fingers for three hours.
“But…”
Sia hesitated, glanced at me, then spoke.
“May I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why did you refuse?”
“What?”
“Director Yoo Ho-min’s—no, Yoo Ho-min’s offer.”
“Oh.”
She’d learned about Director Yoo’s attempt to buy me off outside my door.
‘Honestly…’
It’d be a lie to say I wasn’t tempted. He promised things a commoner like me could only dream of obtaining in a lifetime.
‘That was the problem.’
It was too much. We’d only dated a month. Attempting to break us up with such a vast fortune scared me. In a world where money can accomplish anything—and money was limitless in that family—you felt you had no choice but to comply.
‘But how could I explain that…’
No matter what, she was my girlfriend. Family background aside, I had male pride. ‘I can’t say I ran away because I was too scared…’
So I wrapped it in euphemism.
“I didn’t like being pressured by money.”
“…?”
“My feelings for you are personal. Trying to buy someone’s emotions—that stirs only rebellion in me.”
“Then why did you break up?”
“If he offered that much, I feared you’d end up hurt because of me.”
My half-truth earned me a change in her eyes.
“…!”
They turned into hearts, glistening. You could almost see honey dripping from her gaze.
“Assistant Manager.”
She stepped close to me.
“Don’t think about the future.”
“…Huh?”
“As long as we like each other.”
Thump.
Thump-thump.
Her face came within inches of mine. The scent of lavender shampoo carried her pheromones to my heart.
She was gorgeous. I’d already fallen, but up close, I fell again. In this cramped one-room, chaebol or commoner didn’t matter. Reality be damned—such an enchanting woman before me made reason fly out the window.
My focus narrowed to her lips. She closed her eyes gently. Slowly. Very slowly, I leaned in—
Gurgle—
“…!”
She recoiled instantly. Her face flushed scarlet.
“No, it wasn’t me.”
“Huh?”
It wasn’t a sound from my stomach. If it were, she would be right in denying it that firmly.
“It must have been my stomach.”
“Oh, right? You’re hungry, Assistant Manager?”
“Uh…”
Better to claim it was me.
I scratched my head and stood.
“Shall we eat…?”
I remembered she said I hadn’t eaten since resigning—so at least three days.
“What do you want?”
“I’m not hungry…”
Gurgle— It rumbled again.
“Sia, I’m peckish.”
“Then there’s no help for it.”
I opened the fridge.
“…Ah.”
Beer. Soju. Zero-calorie cola. That was all. Even in the freezer, only frozen dumplings and rice cakes.
“Should we order delivery?”
“I’ll eat anything.”
“There’s nothing here.”
“Well, do you have instant noodles?”
“Ramen?”
“Yes.”
“But I just got here—ramen’s a stretch…”
“I can’t eat it normally.”
“Oh!”
I realized, as a chaebol heiress she’d been forbidden junk food. A rich girl breaking all the rules by eating ramen at her commoner boyfriend’s place—maybe that was the perfect choice.
“Ramen sound good?”
“Yes!”
I cooked two servings, added the frozen rice cakes and dumplings, then crowned it with an egg—unbeaten, laid whole, half-boiled so the broth stayed clear. A cloudy soup is a sin.
“All done.”
Normally I’d eat straight from the pot, but today I even fetched side dishes.
“Let’s eat…!”
By the time we finished, night had fallen. Darkness draped the world outside.
After the passage of time and a full stomach, our minds settled. Naturally, the conversation grew serious.
“We’re not breaking up, right?”
“…”
Her straight-to-the-point question left me tongue-tied.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Sia frowned.
“Brothers? Uncles? None of that matters. Let’s go back to how things were. Don’t worry.”
“That’s impossible—everything’s out in the open now.”
It wasn’t just Director Yoo who knew. The entire Yoo family must know by now.
“Even if I stayed at HR Media, it wouldn’t be the same…”
“Then we’ll change that.”
“…?”
“Do what you want.”
“If that means…”
“If there’s a department you want, I’ll move you there.”
“…”
Her scale was on another planet. But it still didn’t solve the core problem.
“Being at HR is the issue.”
Wherever I went, the presidents and executives would all be her relatives. I’d never escape their scrutiny.
“Then abroad? No—that’d separate us.”
“I’d rather quit and work part-time at a convenience store….”
“Then should I have you run our HR Retail chain? You’d do fine. Earn just enough to live.”
“What are you saying?”
She cut me off as though she hadn’t heard.
“You played baseball, right? Why not HR Phoenix as an athlete?”
“Sia, Sia. Calm down—”
“But anything’s fine.”
“…We have to face reality.”
“I’m Yoo Sia. Why worry about reality?”
She was the second-ranked family in the nation’s corporate hierarchy—the youngest granddaughter of HR Group.
“Just come with me. I’ll make all your dreams come true.”
“But… you still have to marry by arrangement. In the end, I’d be left behind—”
I accidentally revealed my deepest fear. She didn’t hesitate.
“I won’t do an arranged marriage.”
“…You can say that?”
“Grandpa said I don’t have to.”
She looked at me with unwavering certainty.
“So I’ll take care of you. For life.”