The woman was blindfolded and had a towel stuffed in her mouth. She moaned faintly beneath a man who was much larger than her. Her hands were tied behind her back. Her n*pples stood *rect between her ample br*asts and her taut belly repeatedly expanded and flattened. Positioning himself between her widely spread legs, the man gripped her thighs tightly, pinning them down with his weight and forcing them further apart.

Sewon pressed her lips together. At that moment, her eyes met those of the man above her.

‘Ah.’

“Mmm… Ugh, ah…”

“…Shh.”

It was Jaewoo.

Sewon stood rooted to the spot, entirely unable to move. A scene of her stepbrother engaging in *ntercourse with an unknown woman—it certainly was not something she should be witnessing.

‘I should have just gone inside without paying attention in the first place.’

A belated wave of regret washed over her.

Come to think of it, the answer was obvious. There was no way a burglar would steal things in the dead of night just to stand around moaning absurdly.

Wherever Jaewoo chose to have s*x in this house was entirely his prerogative. It had been her own delusion to expect him to only have s*x in the bedroom.

‘Foolish.’

Sewon blamed herself once more.

She had to go back the way she had come. Yet she could not bring herself to move, as if her feet were glued to the floor.

As though a water ghost were clutching her ankles, she stood there, staring blankly at Jaewoo.

Jaewoo, too, kept his eyes fixed unnaturally on her. The corners of his lips seemed to twist into a faint smirk.

He continued to watch her while thrusting his hips at a slow pace. A strange light gleamed in his dark pupils.

“Mmm… Hng, mmp…”

“Yeah. It’s  Jaewoo.”

“Ah… hng… mmp… mmph…”

The woman sobbed. The man whispered low into her ear.

“Yeah. Good girl. It’s Jaewoo, Sewon.”

“…!”

Sewon’s eyes snapped wide in reflex. In a brief split second, hundreds of thousands of thoughts flashed past like a panorama.

Just now, without a doubt. He had called her name.

“Ha… Sewon. Good girl. Shh…”

He gradually picked up speed, plunging deep inside the woman. Jaewoo’s smile deepened.

How much time had passed? His expression distorted subtly for a moment as he continued to thr*st relentlessly.

He *jaculated while locking eyes with Sewon directly.

Even then, Sewon remained transfixed, staring at Jaewoo as if under a spell.

It was as though she was caught in a snake’s trap, a chill surging up from deep within her abdomen.

The next day, Jaewoo left for his business trip, as he had said he would.

He left early the following morning, leaving only a text message telling her to eat well. For Sewon, it was a relief.

Witnessing the act had been painful enough, but, as luck would have it, the woman he was having s*x with was called Sewon. She could not be certain, but he had called her by that name.

There was no way of knowing if it was her real name, but Sewon didn’t consider the possibility that it might not be. She simply felt uncomfortable.

‘What was brother feeling while doing that? What could have been going through his mind, having s*x while calling out someone with the same name as me?’

‘It probably means nothing.’

Sewon let out a quiet sigh at the unexpected sense of emptiness that had washed over her. It wasn’t even something worth worrying about, yet she felt as though she was the only one agonizing over it. She felt foolish for feeling that way.

Time passed slowly yet quickly. The sun had long since set. She checked the clock on her bedside table. It was precisely nine o’clock.

After eagerly awaiting it, she typed the number into her phone and ordered a pizza, destined to be thrown in the bin without so much as a single bite being taken. She wished she could order Minjae instead.

The doorbell rang. Sewon slowly opened the front door, going over the lines she had prepared in her head.

Soon, Minjae’s face filled her view. Sewon held her breath for a moment.

Having spent the winter in thin clothing, his skin was rough and dry. Nevertheless, the features tightly packed onto his small face radiated light.

Minjae was a student who was renowned for his good looks even at their alma mater. In terms of popularity, he was second to none. In fact, he was the most popular of all.

Back then, his skin had glowed. While he did not seem to live a life of luxury that others would envy, nor did he appear to have grown up with so little that he would envy others.

This was why Sewon was so shocked when she saw Minjae actually working part-time jobs. She was even more shocked when she saw how swollen and raw his hands were. They looked as if he had been doing hard labor. She could not help but feel sorry for him. She felt sorry for him because it was Minjae.

Because it was Yu Minjae, and no one else.

“Hello.”

Minjae handed the pizza box to Sewon. Sewon accepted it carefully. In the next moment, she tilted her head to the side. Atop the red box rested an unfamiliar item.

She read the words printed on the outer packaging.

“…A hot pack?”

Into Sewon’s questioning mind, Minjae’s low-pitched voice intruded.

“From last time.”

With a puzzled face, Sewon looked up at Minjae.

“…”

Then she immediately closed her mouth.

A navy track jacket. Sewon stared intently at the top he was wearing for a moment. It was a familiar outfit.

Meanwhile, Minjae continued speaking calmly.

“I saw you last time. In front of the shop.”

“…Ah.”

“When you come outside, wear sneakers instead of slippers. Or at least put on some socks. It’s cold these days.”

Sewon pressed her lips tightly together once more.

‘Was he always such a kind person? Or… is he only kind to me?’

Even while knowing that could not be the case, she wished it were the latter.

“Thank you.”

“Yes.”

“…”

“I’ll be going now.”

She had so many questions for him. But when she was actually standing in front of him, she couldn’t think of anything to say. Even when he turned around and left, she couldn’t bring herself to speak.

Immediately after Minjae left, Sewon followed him out. She rode the lift down seventeen floors. She tipped the whole pizza into the food waste bin and carelessly tossed the box aside.

On her way back up, she tore open the hot pack. It was a warmth she had not felt in a long time. For with every returning winter, whether in body or mind, somewhere had always been cold.

Sewon thought.

‘I wish this warmth wouldn’t disappear.’

Jaewoo’s business trip lasted two weeks. Today marked the end of his time away from home.

During that time, Minjae visited Sewon’s officetel nine times in total.

This was the tenth time. Sewon had a strange, anxious feeling. She had a strange feeling that, once today was over, she might never be able to meet Minjae face-to-face again.

She did not want to lose him.

So, she acted on impulse.

“I,”

“…”

“Will you date me?”

A confession.

“Sure.”

An acceptance.

“Ha…”

She sighed deeply through her teeth. She fell face-first onto the mattress and buried her face in the sheet.

After squirming around repeatedly, she carefully raised her arm and placed her phone next to her eyes. With her heart pounding, as if she were checking the final number on a lottery ticket, she looked at the screen.

[Don’t eat pizza today; eat a proper meal.]

Sewon groaned and rolled over in bed once more. Nevertheless, she checked the message again and buried her face in her hands.

Yu Minjae’s number was now saved on her phone.

Still unable to believe it, even though she could see it with her own eyes, she repeatedly turned the screen off and on again. Her face reflected on the black screen looked foolish. She seemed completely out of her mind.

In a messenger inbox that had previously contained only Jaewoo’s name, the three letters ‘Yu Minjae’ had appeared. She wondered if it was a dream.

Clicking on his name made the messages he had sent appear in a line. They had been received two days ago.

[My shift ends at 2 AM.]

[It’s too late to get in touch, so go to sleep first.]

[Good night, Sewon.]

She read and reread the familiar text. She had memorised every syllable.

Why? Just why?

She had told him she would pay him. Terrified that he would refuse, she blurted it out, unable to bear his impassive expression and the way he pressed his lips together. Rejection from Minjae would have meant her world falling apart.

But he had accepted her unusual proposal. He was sending her affectionate messages and acting as though they really were a couple.

‘Does he think of this as a part-time job?’

None of this would have been possible if she hadn’t offered him money. This left her with a strange mix of emotions. She didn’t know whether to be happy that he had accepted the money or sad that she was little more than an employer to him.

Still, she was happy. She was glad to have Minjae’s number and to receive his messages. Being able to call him and see him made her so happy that it all felt like a dream.

It hardly felt real. That was how she truly felt.