“You want to try those things, don’t you?”

He suddenly stopped walking. Sewon stopped too and looked up at him. There seemed to be a slight smile tugging at his lips.

“And things like this, too. Right?”

“…!”

Suddenly, Minjae took her arm and pulled her close. Before she could blink, she was in his embrace, his voice a low whisper beside her ear.

“I can do this for you as much as you like.”

He bent down, and his lips brushed her cheek.

Sewon froze. For a moment, even time seemed to slow. After a while, Minjae rested his hands on her shoulders and gently drew back. Sewon swallowed hard.

“…”

Why had she suddenly remembered that dream?

Her thighs tensed, and her toes curled involuntarily. Despite the cold winter wind, heat as fierce as summer sunshine rose from her ankles and spread through her body in an instant.

She couldn’t begin to understand why her body was reacting this way.

Minjae checked his watch.

“I should get going now.”

“Oh…”

The disappointed sound escaped before she could stop it. Minjae chuckled softly.

“Then shall we keep meeting at this time?”

She nodded a couple of times. Then she offered him the shopping bag she had been carrying all along. He asked,

“…What’s this?”

“Nothing much. It’s still cold out.”

Minjae took the bag. Without a word, he stared at its contents for some time.

How long had passed? At last, he met Sewon’s eyes.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. And, um… I’ll transfer the money to your account. Every month. No, every week? Would it be better to pay you every day?”

“…”

“How much would you like? A hundred thousand won? Oh. Is that too little?”

Sewon stumbled over her words. After a moment of silence, Minjae gave a faint smile.

“I’ll take whatever you give me.”

“Okay. Th-then I’ll get going.”

“All right. I’ll text you.”        

Upon hearing his final words, Sewon fled the alleyway.

The man watching her leave had an eerily calm gaze.

She disappeared from sight. Even then, Minjae remained rooted to the spot. The sight of her windblown hair lingered in his vision.

He swept his fringe back. Then he muttered under his breath.

“F*ck.”

***

The glass door opened with a chime. Minjae carelessly set the shopping bag on a table, and Hyunsu emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron. Peering into the bag Minjae had put down, he asked,

“What’s this?”

“You can wear it, boss.”

Minjae spoke flatly, then pulled out a chair and sat down.

“What? What is it?”

“A padded jacket.”

“Where’d you get a padded jacket?”

Minjae crossed his legs and worked his phone with one hand. Hyunsu stared down at him, his eyes widening in confusion.

Minjae remained silent, his gaze fixed on his phone. Hyunsu pressed him again.

“Did your girlfriend give it to you?”

“Something like that.”

At Minjae’s vague answer, Hyunsu tilted his head.

“You sure I can wear it?”

“Just lend it to me sometimes. So I can wear it when I meet someone.”

“That sort-of girlfriend?”

“Yeah.”

Minjae tapped on his phone to send Sewon a message.

[Did you get home safely?]

Her reply came almost immediately.

[Yes. Did you get back safely too?]

Minjae ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek and typed again. A vaguely unpleasant aftertaste left him in a foul mood. Beside him, Hyunsu kept chattering.

“You’re a little late, aren’t you? You’re lucky we haven’t had any orders, punk. Next time, I’m not letting it slide.”

“I found a better part-time job.”

“What? You’re leaving for that place?”

Again, Minjae didn’t answer. Hyunsu clutched the back of his neck in an exaggerated show of shock and said,

“You heartless little bastard! After all the times I fed you and gave you a place to sleep when your father died!”

Hyunsu exclaimed indignantly.

Minjae’s father had been a construction laborer. He passed away shortly before Minjae was due to take her college entrance exam. The cause of death was a concussion. While working at a construction site, he was hit on the head by a steel bar that had fallen from above. His hard hat hadn’t been enough to protect his fragile skull.

Minjae never took the exam. There was no way she could have absorbed any of it. By then, he had long since lost any desire to attend university.

It hadn’t been long since he started getting his life back on track. He drifted from one part-time job to another, just about managing to get by. Life had dealt him a cruel blow.

Hyunsu used to work with his father. He now ran a small franchise shop, but he had also worked on construction sites in the past.

Perhaps he had felt sorry for Minjae, who was drifting aimlessly instead of going to university. Hyunsu checked on him from time to time and offered him a job. In a way, Minjae supposed he could call Hyunsu his benefactor.

“You rotten bastard! You heartless punk!”

A very noisy benefactor.

Hyunsu grumbled without pause. Minjae frowned slightly, gestured with his chin toward Sewon’s gift, and answered halfheartedly.

“Yeah. That’s why I’m telling you to wear it.”

“Why would I wear something your girlfriend gave you, punk?”

“Then throw it away.”

Hyunsu stared at him in disbelief before suddenly jutting out his lower lip.

“You little bastard. So what’s this other job?”

“It’s a thing. A little touching, a little wagging my tail, and she’s thrilled.”

Hyunsu narrowed his eyes at Minjae’s answer.

“Are you selling your body?”

“I might be soon.”

His casual reply made Hyunsu jump in alarm. Making a fuss, he dragged another chair over, sat down in front of Minjae, and raised his voice.

“Hey, don’t do that. I’ll raise your daily pay.”

“D*mn. I should’ve recorded that.”

“You little worm…”

“No taking it back. If you’re going to raise my pay, do it. I’ll try my best to avoid selling my body.”

After answering playfully, Minjae stood and retrieved the helmet resting on his motorcycle. Hyunsu followed close behind, pressing him.

“I’m serious. Don’t get involved in that kind of thing.”

“Yeah.”

“So you’re really telling me to wear this?”

Hyunsu slipped the jacket out of the bag. He promptly put it on and began exclaiming in admiration.

“You said you wouldn’t wear it a minute ago. Now look at that grin.”

Minjae made the sarcastic remark as he wiped his helmet with a dry towel. Hyunsu inspected the snug-fitting jacket from every angle, looking delighted.

“Wow, this is warm. Hey, it’s really nice. Looks expensive, too.”

“It probably is.”

“Is she rich?”

“Probably.”

She was probably a wealthy woman.

Minjae pictured her as short and slender, with a small nose and lips.

He had known how she felt from the moment she started ordering pizza after pizza that she had no intention of eating. No, perhaps he had known that long before. The way she looked at him had given her away. She had no idea how to hide her feelings.

Had it been about a week ago?

He was heading back to the shop after a delivery when he realized that the lighter in his pocket was missing. He turned back. If the boss noticed it was gone, he would start yelling again and demand to know who had taken it.

Still irritated, Minjae arrived at Sewon’s building. He saw her dumping an untouched pizza into the food waste bin without hesitation.

He had suspected that she wouldn’t eat it, but he hadn’t expected her to throw it away so soon.

Was it interest he felt? Curiosity?

Minjae watched her from a short distance away, running his tongue over his lower lip.

Her feelings were plain to see. She liked him.

But what did he feel?

There was something peculiar about her. Her tiny frame made him want to protect her, yet it also stirred a cruel impulse in him.

The fine down on her smooth skin looked soft. Whenever her cheeks turned pink at his approach, he wanted to touch them, just once. He wanted to make them flush even more deeply, too.

She was a woman who had been raised in the sheltered comfort of a wealthy home. She looked so fragile that she seemed as though she might crumble in his hands. She was a woman who liked him.

A woman who had begged him to date her and offered to pay him.

“Hmm.”

Not bad. In fact, it was a good arrangement.

She seemed easy to handle, too.

Minjae decided to take things as they came. Thinking about it any further would only make things more complicated.

He kept a straight face as he typed, but the message he sent to Sewon was full of warmth and affection.

***

Over the next few days, Sewon kept meeting Minjae.

After her shower, she checked the clock on the living room wall. It was one in the morning.

Water dripped from her hair, and the cool air raised goosebumps on her damp skin. She went to bed wearing a thin T-shirt whose hem barely reached her thighs.

Nothing in this house felt truly hers. Jaewoo had provided everything: the furniture, her phone, her clothes, and even her pyjamas. Even her underwear.

She picked up the phone, which she had left on the living room sofa, and absentmindedly curled up on the seat.

She texted Minjae. Talking to him. They had both become part of her daily life.

Sometimes, she wondered if she had dreamed it all up.

Staring blankly at the screen, she jumped when the front door lock clicked open.

Should she retreat to her room? Should she pretend to be asleep?

Before she could decide, it was already too late.

“You’re still awake?”