Lady Spring

***Warning: Starting from this chapter, there will be some vulgar and offensive languages. Sorry, but I thought it was necessary to translate the words accurately since it tells you a lot about the character(s).

 

7.1

 

After Wooyoung left, time seemed to slow down for Saeun. Sunday afternoon crawled by lazily and when she woke up on Monday morning for work, she felt like something was wrong even though she was up on time. It seemed like… something was missing.

 

Perhaps it was the man who expertly put on her makeup for her.

 

“But it happened only once.”

 

Saeun murmured to herself in the mirror. She looked tired, but this was her normal face. The face she saw everyday all her life. What happened during the last few days was just a dream. Her “pretty” face that day was just a magical spell Wooyoung put on her for a day. And now, it was time for her to return to reality.

 

Saeun carelessly put on a bare minimum amount of makeup and went to work. It seemed that she was back to her old life. No one told her she looked pretty anymore. No one even paid any attention to her. When she returned home, she flicked through various channels to find something to watch, but she found nothing. In the end, she turned it off and cleaned her whole house. 

 

Saeun vacuumed and mopped the floors. She even took out all the dishes from the cabinets and the clothes from the closet to clean the insides of everything. While organizing her clothes, she noticed the jeans and shirts she bought for Wooyoung. The old shirt and sweatpants she lent him were washed and neatly folded in the corner. Saeun held them and looked at them for a while before burying her face into them. Unfortunately, she could only smell laundry detergent. No scent of him was left on them. In fact, there was nothing left of him in her house. His familiar scent that engulfed her so comfortingly before…

 

She hid his clothes deep inside her closet and got ready to bed.

 

***

 

When a week passed by, it seemed that what happened with Wooyoung was just a distant memory. She worked late into the afternoon on Saturday and headed home. When she arrived at the door, she jolted at the sight of a dark shadow standing nearby. 

 

Was it Wooyoung? Her heart began to pound.

 

“Hey, why are you so late, Bitch?”

 

Saeun paled when she recognized his voice. It has been so long since she saw him, but she would recognize it anywhere. It was the voice she never wanted to hear again for the rest of her life.

 

“H…how did you know where I live?”

 

Saeun faced her older brother Yun Junghoo. He looked much thinner than the last time she saw him, which was about a year ago, but his sharp eyes and twisted smile were still the same.

 

“I asked our parents, of course. What the hell? Your one and only brother shows up and this is how you welcome me? Hurry up and open the door. I’m freezing. Dammit, my hands are frozen too.”

 

She would’ve rather had a snake in her home than this jerk! But if she didn’t let him inside, Saeun knew he was the type who would make a huge scene in the middle of the apartment hallway. She had no choice but to open her front door and walk inside with him.

 

“Hmm, not bad. I heard you have this place as a lump sum lease1, huh? How much did you put down?”

 

“I barely got enough money this year to get this place. Why are you interested? If you have something to say, just say it and leave already.”

 

In her tiny living room, Saeun crossed her arms and stared at her brother. Junghoo’s eyes scanned her place quickly and asked, 

 

“You must’ve put down at least 20k Won2, right? Guess you worked pretty hard, huh?”

“I put everything I had into this place. I have nothing left. I don’t even have an emergency fund, so if you’re here to ask for money, just leave.”

“Bitch, how dare you speak to your older brother like that? Shut the fuck up. Anyway, I’m going to stay here for a while, got it?”

 

Saeun’s eyes widened.

 

“What?”

“I said I need to stay here. Dammit, is there no heat in this place? Why is it so cold? I’m going to freeze to death. Can I use this room to sleep?”

 

Junghoo pushed her away and walked into her bedroom. She grabbed him quickly and yelled, 

 

“You can’t stay here! Who said you could? Get out! What happened to the place you had?”

“I had to leave. I only need to stay for a few days, so what’s the big deal? Dammit, let me go already.”

 

He grabbed her arm and yanked his own away from hers. Rubbing her aching arm, Saeun followed him into the room.

 

“I’m telling you that you can’t stay here! Get out! I’ll give you money for a motel, so get lost!”

“I thought you said you had no money left. What the hell! Were you lying to me? You think you’re smarter than me, huh?”

 

Junghoo smirked at her. Saeun gulped and stammered, 

 

“I…I don’t have much left, but I could find just enough to cover your motel cost. Actually, why aren’t you staying with mom and dad? If you need a place to stay, go there!”

 

Their parents lived in a tiny apartment in Daejun city, but they still had a spare room for him. They claimed it was for both of their children in case they visited, but Saeun knew it was solely for her brother. That place, her parents and supposedly her family home, existed only for Junghoo in reality. When Saeun left for university, she packed everything she had and moved into the school dorm. There was nothing left of hers in her parents house anymore.

 

This was her home now. Every cent she spent on it was earned by her and her only. This wasn’t a place this rat could take away from her. 

 

Junghoo replied, 

 

“I need to work too, so how could I stay in that small town? Stop saying stupid things. I’m tired, so I’m going to take a bath first. Is that the bathroom?”

 

Saeun moved quickly to step in front of the bathroom door. Junghoo frowned in annoyance as she yelled sharply,

 

“What do you want from me? Why do you want to stay in my house? I thought it was better for us not to see each other again.”

 

“Oh, I agree totally. I would love to never see your pig face again, but you’re the only one I know with money! So what other choice do I have? Yet you’re telling me you won’t give me anything? Then I guess I better stay here and mooch off of you, right? I have nowhere else to go anyway.”

 

Her body became covered in goosebumps. If she didn’t give him money, he was going to stay here? Just where did this jerk’s shamelessness end?  He has never called her once in a year, and now, he was here like this to ruin her life?

 

“I told you I don’t have any money!”

“You said you put down a deposit for this place. That means you will have lots of money when you give up this apartment. You’re probably rich. All I need is 30k Won. 3 Just give me 30k and I will leave you alone.”

***
 

In Korea, there is an option to rent a home by placing a lump sum deposit. This way, you can either pay much less monthly rent payment or no payment at all in some cases. The deposit is returned when the lease is terminated. ~20k USD. ~30k USD.