[Updated]
[New Main Mission: Rent This Apartment for a Minimum of 2 Months]
[New Side Mission: Greet Your New Flatmate Elizabeth Martin With a Smile]
[New Side Mission: Buy a Fully Upgraded Desktop With Dual RTX 5090 Graphics Cards and a Complete Setup From Compuzone]
But I didn’t agree to be her flatmate... What the hell, system? I haven’t even seen the apartment yet.
"Kim Suho, right?"
Elizabeth asked again, her eyes still fixed directly on him. Jihwan pushed Suho slightly with his elbow, as if telling him to hurry up and answer her before things became even more awkward. Suho felt slightly grateful that Jihwan didn’t directly tell her that he was indeed Kim Suho. The man simply gave him a small nudge and kept his mouth shut, leaving Suho to decide for himself how he wanted to answer her.
"Yes. Do I know you?"
"Do you?"
"What is happening?"
Suho became even more bewildered after hearing her reply to his question with another question. He looked toward Jihwan for some kind of explanation, only to find the middle-aged man looking equally confused about what was happening. The usually super quiet girl, who barely spoke whenever Jihwan came here, was suddenly standing at the door and acting strangely toward his new client.
"Miss Elizabeth..."
"Shush! Don’t talk to me. I’m talking to him."
As soon as Jihwan opened his mouth to mediate between them, Elizabeth immediately shut him down. She then stepped completely out of the apartment and walked straight toward Suho before stopping right in front of him.
The distance between them became so small that Suho instinctively leaned his upper body back slightly. He could clearly see her face now, and being this close only made her beauty even harder to ignore. Suho felt his face becoming slightly warm, not because he understood what was happening, but simply because she was standing way too close to him.
"I’m sorry, I don’t know you."
"Guess so!"
Elizabeth took a step back. There was slight disappointment on her face, but at the same time, she looked like she had already expected that answer. Her eyes then casually moved down toward Suho’s worn shoes before returning to his face.
"Can you afford to live here?"
There was no disgust or judgment in her expression. She simply asked the question like it was something completely normal to ask. In her mind, Kim Suho had always been poor, so seeing him standing in front of an apartment this expensive genuinely made her wonder whether he could afford it.
"That’s none of your business."
Suho smiled as he answered. He could see there was no disgust in her eyes when she looked at him, but he still didn’t like her attitude. If he really took this apartment, he would probably just ignore this person most of the time.
"Show me the apartment."
"Oh! Yes, yes! Please come in."
Jihwan led Suho into the living room, bypassing Elizabeth casually, and stepped aside to let him look around. Tall windows covered almost an entire wall, showing the city stretching far into the distance below them. Suho walked a little closer and looked down at the tiny cars moving along the roads before turning back toward the room.
Mina will like it here. It’s spacious enough.
Suho saw a large cream-colored sofa facing a television mounted on the wall, with a low wooden table between them. Everything looked expensive, but there was enough empty space that the room didn’t feel crowded. Through his socks, Suho could feel the warmth coming from the floor. He had been freezing at the station that morning, and now even the floor beneath his feet was heated.
"This is the ondol heating system. Hot water runs through pipes under the floor and heats the room from below. Each area has its own temperature control, so you can adjust it depending on which room you’re using."
Jihwan took him toward the kitchen beside the living room, then opened a few cupboards to show him the storage space. There was a built-in refrigerator, an induction stove, an oven, and a broad counter with two stools tucked beneath it.
Elizabeth followed only a step behind Suho the entire time, which was starting to creep him out a little. Suho glanced toward Jihwan and gave him a look that clearly asked, What is she doing? Jihwan caught his expression and gave him a small helpless gesture, silently asking him to endure it for his sake.
Suho shook his head in disappointment and followed Jihwan’s hand with his eyes as he pointed out each appliance, quietly wondering how often he would actually use all of them. A dining table with four chairs stood near the window, and Jihwan slid open another door to reveal a separate laundry space with a washing machine and dryer.
Damn, this place has its own cleaning area too? And was she eating?
Suho glanced back at a mug beside the sink and a half-open packet of snacks on the counter, then at Elizabeth, who was still staring daggers at him. This time, he noticed a few tiny crumbs around the corner of her lips. So she really had been eating before they arrived. Strangely enough, those were the only things that made the place feel like someone’s home rather than a picture from a furniture advertisement.
Heck, I haven’t seen homes like this even in advertisements.
After that, Jihwan took him down the short hallway and opened the door to his bedroom. Suho stopped at the entrance for a moment. A large bed stood against the wall, covered with perfectly clean white bedsheets, a thick blanket folded neatly at the end, and several pillows resting against a padded headboard. There was enough space on either side of the bed to walk around comfortably.
This is a bed? It’s more like a football field. Why is this so clean? Damn it, should I even use bedsheets that clean?
"This is where you store your clothes. I’m telling you, this apartment has everything."
Jihwan didn’t know what was going on inside Suho’s mind. He simply went ahead and opened the built-in wardrobe, showing Suho the empty shelves, drawers, and hanging space, but Suho could barely imagine filling even one percent of it with the clothes he currently owned.