Chapter 20….
Seung-ah decided to go with Seung-min to the house where their family was moving.
It was about a 20-minute ride by city bus. Then, after climbing a dirt road, they arrived at a place that looked like an old building that wouldn’t be surprising if it were slated for demolition immediately.
<Seongrim Mansion>
The letters on the building were barely visible, and the exterior paint, which had been repainted multiple times, had peeled off, giving off a gloomy atmosphere.
Looking down the hill behind the building, Seung-ah saw rows of similar tiled-roof houses whose age she could only guess.
“Come on, let’s go in, Nuna,” Seung-min said.
The building was so dilapidated that even the sign reading “Unit 102” looked like it could fall off at any moment.
When Seung-min opened the door and stepped inside, the rust around the frame gave off a strong metallic odor.
Seung-ah checked the door hinges.
“We’re going to need some repairs.”
“I said the same thing, but Mom refused. She said if we ask the landlord to fix it, the rent will go up. She wants us to move to a better place instead.”
“Right. If we have even a little money, she’d want to pay off the bank loans first.”
The empty house was a space she didn’t want to step into.
The old wallpaper and the gloomy interior made it feel like ghosts might appear at any moment.
“Ugh… it smells like sewage.”
Living in a place like this for long could make anyone sick.
Should they really let their family live in this place?
Seung-ah thought that after finishing her errands, she would return to Eugene’s mansion and continue living comfortably. Meanwhile, her family would have to spend the hot summer in this shabby place.
Sigh…
She couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
“Look at the windows. It’ll be impossible to survive the winter with these.”
While examining the flimsy windows that seemed like they’d let freezing wind in, a faint sound of running water reached her ears.
Trickle, trickle…
The water sound had paused for a moment but soon continued.
“Nuna, what’s wrong?”
“This sound… it’s exactly what I think it is.”
Seung-ah flung open the window.
Outside, a man stood a short distance away, pressed against the wall.
It was obvious what he was doing. Seung-ah shouted loudly:
“Marking territory…! Hey! Stop that immediately!”
Even after hearing her, the man continued urinating on the building’s exterior.
“Urine vandal! Stop it right now!”
Only when she shouted again did the man turn his head.
“Do you think I’ll stop just because you tell me to?”
Judging by the way his body swayed, he seemed drunk.
“Nuna, that guy’s drunk. Let’s just go!”
Seung-min grabbed Seung-ah’s arm, worried that a fight might break out in this unfamiliar neighborhood.
The man finished his act, adjusted his clothes roughly, and started walking away as if nothing happened.
“Hey! How can you urinate on someone else’s property and just leave? Don’t you know this is a crime?”
Seung-ah quickly ran out to the living room.
Sliding open the large window, she jumped out and dashed to grab the hem of the man’s shirt.
He turned his head and glared at her with bloodshot eyes.
Up close, he looked young, about Seung-min’s age.
“You’re really troublesome. Looks like you’re from out of town. Leave quietly, got it?”
“I said clean it up! How can a young person drink in the daytime and urinate on someone’s property?”
“I’m in a particularly bad mood today. You want to fight now?”
He glared at her.
“Who’s threatening who, tiny one?”
“Who’s urinating on someone else’s wall! Got any proof? You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
Wow. This shameless guy… flat-out denying it.
“What kind of world do you think this is, lying like that! The nearby CCTV would have caught everything.”
“Ha! You don’t know this neighborhood at all. You’re the first person here to look for CCTV. Go ahead, look all you want. Where do you think CCTV would even be?”
The man grinned smugly.
Seung-ah looked around for cameras but, as he said, there was not a single one.
A neighborhood without even the most basic CCTV… the thought that her family would have to move here made her exasperated.
Seung-min caught up to her.
“Hey! Stop it already!”
Then the man’s expression changed.
Seung-min was tall and very well-built. Even a drunk person recognizes a threatening target; the man seemed flustered as Seung-min, much larger than him, approached.
“Let go!”
He yanked his shirt free from Seung-ah’s grasp roughly. Trying to step back, he pushed her.
“Ah!”
Seung-ah fell. A piece of glass on the ground stabbed into her calf.
“Are you okay, Nuna?”
Seung-min knelt beside her.
Even the drunk man looked surprised. Seeing him hesitate while she winced in pain, Seung-ah decided to exaggerate the pain.
“Ugh… it’s deep. I don’t think I can walk. What should I do?”
She would use the opportunity to teach this guy a lesson.
Winking at Seung-min, he raised his voice.
“What? You can’t walk?”
The man’s expression changed with every moment of the siblings’ commotion.
“Are you hurt badly? Let me see.”
As he reached for her calf, Seung-min snapped.
“Hey! Don’t touch her!”
“S-sorry. I was just worried.”
The man, realizing the situation was escalating, grew restless.
“You should go to the hospital.”
Seung-ah stood up with Seung-min’s support.
“Where do you live?”
“Hongseong.”
“All of Hongseong? Can’t you answer properly?”
“I live up on this hill.”
He pointed to the rundown houses on the hill.
“Why would someone live there and come to urinate anywhere in someone else’s neighborhood?”
“It was urgent, I’m sorry.”
“Being ‘urgent’ doesn’t mean you can urinate on someone else’s building. Imagine someone peed on your house’s wall—how would you feel?”
“Disgusting.”
The man glanced around cautiously.
“If you do this again and get caught, you’ll really end up in the police station.”
“Yes.”
“Bring soap and water and clean the wall you dirtied! Now.”
“Okay. But is your leg okay?”
Seung-ah frowned at that.
“No, it’s not. If it leaves a scar, I won’t let you get away with it!”
“Yes. Take care on your way!”
The man ran up the hill like an arrow.
Once he was gone, Seung-min chuckled.
“Seeing him scared was kind of funny.”
“Funny? Thinking that my family has to move into this building where random drunks urinate is just depressing.”
Her grandmother’s 80th birthday party was held modestly.
Seung-ah played videos and even brought out a traditional jeogori for her grandmother, who seemed genuinely delighted.
Seeing her smile warmed Seung-ah’s heart a little, but her unease didn’t go away.
On the bus back to Seoul, the pain in her calf reminded her of the drunk man.
A dilapidated house where drunks urinate… her family had no way out.
I’ll have to find a solution myself.
By the time she dragged her tired body back to the mansion, it was past 11 PM.
The inside of the entrance was quiet. The usual music Eugene played wasn’t on.
Did he go to bed early?
Maybe it was a relief. Her body and mind were exhausted.
However, after finishing her shower, Seung-ah found herself facing a tall man walking down the hallway.
“When did you come in?”
“Just now. It’s late.”
He spoke as if he was about to go to bed, but his gaze followed her.
He remained standing silently. To enter the bedroom, she had to pass by him.
Seung-ah tried not to think about it as she started walking.
Because of the pain in her calf, she couldn’t walk perfectly. Her slippers made faintly irregular sounds.
As she passed by, her arm was grabbed.
“What happened to your leg?”
She thought he wouldn’t notice in the dark, but he was observant.
“I fought with the guy who urinated on the house.”
“You kicked him too?”
“Yes. Right in the body.”
“If Seung-ah did that, he probably broke at least one arm or leg.”
Eugene said casually but led her into the sunroom.
There was a sofa in one corner of the sunroom.
He said casually, tossing the words:
“Sit down.”
