After the incident in the greenhouse, I burned with a high fever.
In fact, until just a few hours earlier, I had not even realized I was sick. I only thought my body felt heavier and colder than usual.
Knock, knock.
Someone tapped on the door to announce it was mealtime, but I could not pull myself from the bed, as if weighed down with water-soaked cotton.
How much time had passed like that? The sound of the door suddenly flinging open and heavy footsteps drew near. Before I could fully wake, the blanket was yanked away and the arm that caught me was lifted straight up.
My body was not made of straw, yet when pulled, I bobbed as easily as if I were. The one who dragged me out of deep sleep spoke.
“What the hell have you been doing all day that you won’t get out from under the blanket.”
His voice, rough yet low and wrapping around me like silk.
Cha Gil-Do.
It was only when I heard his familiar voice that I managed to open my eyes and look at him.
“Baek Eun-Seong?”
I blinked slowly, but I could not put any strength into my body. I slumped helplessly, and Cha Gil-Do, seeing my condition, quickly supported my waist with his other hand. Thanks to that, my position was far more comfortable than before, but still I could not move.
Cha Gil-Do, practically holding me in his arms, pressed a hand to my forehead. His handsome face contorted.
“You let yourself get to this state….”
He did not finish. Instead, he laid me back down slowly and called for someone. Having been woken, my whole body throbbed in pain, and only then did I realize I had a fever.
Once I became aware of being sick, the fever seemed to rise even higher. Cha Gil-Do’s lips, tightly closed, parted again as he looked at me swaying without focus.
“Fuck, since when has the fever been rising.”
His tone, laced with curses, carried only worry.
‘It’s nothing serious….’
For the moment, I could not even lift a finger, but this kind of fever had come to me once or twice a year back when I was still Dong-Yoon. Being dull, I often failed to notice I was sick and lived as usual, until I collapsed like this and then took some medicine I had prepared in advance or slept a lot. After that, I quickly recovered.
I wanted to say that after sleeping I would be fine, but my consciousness was slipping.
How much time passed? When I awoke, I stared blankly at the ceiling. My judgment and clarity returned sluggishly. Beside me sat Cha Gil-Do. The moment he saw me awake, he rose from his chair and came over.
‘My throat hurts.’
Inside my throat was scratchy and dry. When I tried to make a sound, only a hoarse rasp came out.
“Khmm.”
I forced a shallow cough to soothe the dryness. Cha Gil-Do asked,
“Thirsty?”
No, that’s not it….
Without asking again, he brought a glass of water, slipped his hand behind my back, raised my shoulders, and pressed the cup to my lips. Perhaps because I did not want to drink, I barely swallowed any before it went down the wrong pipe.
“Cough, cough, keh.”
Even my nose burned and tears welled up. After coughing, I felt the fever surge. Seeing my head droop weakly, Cha Gil-Do immediately set aside the cup.
“Damn it.”
He cursed in a low voice. Coughing right in his face could not have felt pleasant. I wanted to quickly apologize, but I had no strength in my tongue.
Supporting my neck as I flopped bonelessly, Cha Gil-Do suddenly lifted the glass and drank greedily. Just watching him gulp gave me vicarious relief, when suddenly his face drew close.
‘…Huh?’
Thinking our lips would touch, I turned my head aside, but Cha Gil-Do held my face firmly. Then his lips pressed against mine.
Not only did he kiss me, he forced the water he had held in his mouth down my throat. Shocked by the experience, I pushed at his chest to escape, but he did not budge.
Meanwhile, the water slid down my throat, gulp, gulp. Though I had not wanted to drink, my body accepted it eagerly.
“Haa….”
I panted, having barely been able to breathe while swallowing. Cha Gil-Do, unruffled, pressed his thumb to my wet lips and whispered,
“You’re spilling it all. Open properly.”
Then he kissed me again. This time not with water, but with something warm and pliant probing inside. The more I resisted, the rougher he grew. He even bit my tongue a few times until I gave up and accepted him. Only then did his tongue soften, exploring everywhere with wet sounds.
“…Hh.”
Even trying to hold it back, low moans kept slipping out, and every time his tongue reached deeper, my shoulders trembled with chills. Perhaps because of the fever, Cha Gil-Do’s mouth tasted faintly sweet and cool.
Unlike my body, which welcomed it, the fact that I had kissed Cha Gil-Do again shocked me, and darkness fell over my vision.
“…Stress… cause… stability….”
When I briefly came to, the room was not just us two. Cha Gil-Do was speaking seriously with someone else. I could not make out the words.
My vision blurred again.
And somehow, I was kneeling.
Why was I like this? In that moment, I saw a pair of polished shoes before me. Following the long legs upward, I found Cha Gil-Do sitting in the president’s chair, looking down at me.
With his chin resting on his hand and narrowed eyes, he spoke.
‘Baek Eun-Seong, you have insulted me.’
Leaning forward, he seized my chin.
‘Now I’ll have to collect the overdue rent and deposit.’
His thunderous words startled me. Then he named the sum of overdue rent and deposit. At an amount I had never heard of, I gaped like a goldfish.
But the shock was not over.
When I begged for mercy, saying I had no money, Cha Gil-Do said,
‘What? You don’t have money? That’s your problem.’
Coldly, he grabbed the scruff of my neck and threw me outside.
Rolling in the dirt, filthy, I heard him shout,
‘If you can’t pay the rent, you have to leave. Beggars should just live on the street!’
Reaching out toward him, I cried, ‘Anything but homelessness!’
Bang.
He slammed the door, throwing me out on the street.
My eyes flew open.
“Haa… haa….”
Cha Gil-Do had thrown me out—yet what I saw was an unfamiliar ceiling. Not the bug-filled round light in my six-pyeong rental room. Where was this?
Even after waking, I was dazed. I could not tell what had been real. Staring at the ornate, spotless light fixture, I finally came to.
‘Thank god, it was a dream….’
Only after a long while did I realize I had suffered a nightmare.
When I sat up, my body was soaked with cold sweat.
“It was scary….”
It was the most vivid, terrifying nightmare I had ever had.
A dream of being evicted into homelessness for failing to pay rent. So horrifying it gave me goosebumps.
“…Surely it wasn’t a prophetic dream?”
It must not be… Yet uncertain, I felt chilled, dizzy. I covered my spinning vision with a hand, trying to calm down, but it was not easy. Just then, the door opened.
“Baek Eun-Seong.”
At Cha Gil-Do’s voice, I dropped my hand and lifted my head. He had already approached, gazing down at me.
Clack.
He set down the tray he carried on the bedside table and sat on the bed. His large hand pressed to my forehead, and with a click of his tongue he asked,
“Are you dull, or just stupid.”
His fingers twitched as if to flick my forehead. Fearing another knock, I squeezed my eyes shut—but no pain came. Instead, he pulled at my cheek until it stretched.
“Eat it all.”
He let go and brought over porridge in the tray. I accepted the spoon awkwardly, but fresh from sleep, I had no appetite.
Could I eat later?
I glanced at him, but he sat waiting for me to finish. With no choice, I nibbled, but the taste was strangely fishy, and it slid down my throat unpleasantly. I could not eat more.
While I reeled with nausea, Cha Gil-Do spoke.
“Overdue… next… collect… Baek Eun-Seong, are you listening to me?”
What? Collecting overdue rent in the hundreds of millions, by next week?!
Frozen, blood drained from me. No wonder I could not recall the amount from the dream—it had been too shocking.
“Baek Eun-Seong, what kind of sweat—”
At that moment, Cha Gil-Do reached for me.
Smack!
I slapped his hand away without thinking, because it overlapped with the hand that had seized my neck and thrown me out in the dream. The spoon flew to the floor. I was so startled I forgot to breathe.
Cha Gil-Do’s hand hung in the air.
He scowled sharply. The landlord was angry. I feared he really would throw me out and hurriedly opened my mouth. But my voice broke, and all I squeezed out was,
“(The rent) I’ll go out and earrrn…!”
I meant to say I would earn it, but Cha Gil-Do clamped a hand over my mouth.
“…Mm.”
The porridge bowl spilled, but he did not care.
Pressing me back down with his body, he pinned me. His hand still sealed my mouth, his knee lodged between my legs to trap me. He whispered,
“Upset my insides like that again.”
His low, melting voice made my body tremble. With narrowed eyes, he said,
“Get a grip. If you can’t understand after I say it again and again, I can’t help it.”
Suddenly, he stroked my ankle lightly with a smile. I thought he looked displeased—but maybe not.
I should ask about curfew so I can adjust my part-time job hours.
“Then when can I go out (to work)?”
“Baek Eun-Seong… Eun-Seong.”
Cha Gil-Do sighed, calling my name, almost weary. His grip on my ankle seemed to tighten, but I was too distracted by his whisper tickling my ear.
“…How much longer must I drill it into that ear of yours.”
He lifted my chin, kissed me, and murmured,
“Even if you die, I said you have to rot here.”
My poor comprehension could not grasp exactly what he meant. It sounded like he was telling me not to leave. But then how was I supposed to work and pay rent?
“Why?”
“…….”
He fell silent, then muttered irritably,
“…Fuck, you said you’d live with me.”
Until now I had only been hounded for rent and threatened with eviction. Even in my dream, I had been thrown out. Perhaps because of that, his words felt more comforting than anything.
Tears burst from me.
Cha Gil-Do looked down at me, wiped my eyes with his finger. Ashamed of crying, I turned my head away, but he held my cheeks in both hands. His touch was soft, despite his icy aura.
Overwhelmed with emotion, I whimpered faintly and slowly sank into sleep.