Chapter 3
The only people coming and going in this house were the housemaid and gardener sent by the grandmother.
Then it had to be the housemaid.
The hour hand of the wall clock had just reached ten.
“This late…?”
It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. In the past, a bold gardener had fallen asleep in the living room after drinking late into the night and got caught by the grandmother.
This time, it was the housemaid! And on top of that, she had washed herself as comfortably as if she were in her own home, startling Seung-ah.
But the other party was probably just as shocked. Unlike Seung-ah, the woman in the bathroom would have had no clue who she was dealing with.
Seung-ah quickly regained her composure.
First, she had to reassure the naked housemaid.
“Ahem, ahem!”
Seung-ah deliberately made a sound loud enough for her to hear and knocked on the bathroom door.
Knock, knock!
“I’m the grandson of Mrs. Geum Il-bong. You must have been very surprised. I didn’t know anyone was in the bathroom.”
Before hearing those words, Seung-ah had been ready to smash the ladle-like bucket in her hand over Yujin’s head like a baseball.
‘Grandson?’
Grandmother always talked about her granddaughter…
“May I know your name?”
Seung-ah pressed her ear to the door, waiting for his answer.
“Han Yujin.”
A familiar name. An unexpected gender. Seung-ah’s jaw dropped.
‘Han Yujin… was a man?’
Mrs. Geum Il-bong was someone Seung-ah had often seen at a pottery workshop run by her senior.
It was when her senior had asked her while she was glazing animal-shaped pottery:
‘Where do you want to get a place?’
‘Somewhere close to the company would be good. But the rent isn’t cheap.’
Although she had opened her <Bankbook for the Future with Kim Tae-jun>, it didn’t mean she had excess money.
‘Maybe I should get a loan?’
‘I already took one recently for my younger sibling’s tuition. I can’t afford it until they graduate.’
At that moment, the grandmother, who was engraving on a vase, interrupted the conversation.
“Choi Seung-ah!”
“Yes, Grandmother.”
Mrs. Geum Il-bong smiled warmly in her signature way.
“My grandchild has a house in Seocho-dong, and there should be a vacant room. Would you like to see it?”
“Really? Seocho-dong is close to my workplace.”
Seung-ah’s eyes sparkled as she thought for a moment and then spoke.
“Grandmother, how much is the rent?”
“Don’t worry about that. Didn’t I tell you about our Yujin?”
Whenever she visited the workshop, the grandmother would often boast about her grandchild, saying, “Pretty Yujin, pretty Yujin.”
“Of course, I remember.”
“Yujin is abroad right now, so the house is empty. Even though I manage it, it’s not good to leave a house empty for too long. Since you’re looking for a place, I thought I’d recommend it, so don’t worry about the rent.”
That’s how Seung-ah came to think of Han Yujin as a woman.
Why hadn’t she once thought that the grandmother’s “most beautiful Yujin in the world” could be a grandson?
But even knowing that Han Yujin was a man, she wouldn’t have refused the mansion. The owner was abroad, so it wasn’t something to worry about.
It was also an opportunity she couldn’t miss financially. The mansion was large, so the rent would naturally be high, but the grandmother offered a very low rent.
And now, this had happened!
‘Should I contact grandmother?’
She hesitated for a moment but realized that talking to her wouldn’t change anything.
Seung-ah had no intention of leaving the house. She had just moved in, and it had only been a few days since she finished unpacking.
Moreover, this was a place she had lived in long ago, so she was attached to it.
Whether the owner of this house was a man or a woman made no difference!
Resolving her mind, Seung-ah threw off the towel she had been wrapped in.
Now, she would face the man alone, so she put on proper clothes for defense and peeked out the door.
“Hello, Han Yujin.”
Yujin only nodded slightly with a somewhat arrogant gesture and walked ahead to the living room.
Sitting on the sofa with his long legs crossed, he looked like a luxury clothing model, and Seung-ah couldn’t help but watch.
He gave an overbearing look, as if demanding her to sit in front of him.
Feeling like a scolded puppy, her body stiffened like a wooden puppet tied with strings, but Seung-ah forced herself to step forward.
As soon as she sat down on the sofa, Yujin spoke.
“I didn’t see any shoes at the entrance.”
“The shoe cabinet.”
Seung-ah always put all her shoes in the cabinet.
Yujin raised an eyebrow, clearly displeased.
“I didn’t expect anyone to be home.”
He looked so effortlessly stylish, even annoyed. She admired him but felt a cold sweat on her back.
As it was the first time meeting the landlord, she had to introduce herself properly.
Seung-ah smiled.
“My introduction is late. I’m Choi Seung-ah.”
Upon hearing her name, Yujin spoke as if he had been waiting.
“Choi Seung-ah, why haven’t you left work until this hour?”
What?
Seung-ah widened her eyes.
What was he talking about? She had finished work, so of course she came home!
Fortunately, he immediately explained.
“I understand the housemaids sent by your grandmother usually come during the day.”
“Housemaid?”
Could he mean me?
Seeing Seung-ah’s flustered expression, he asked again.
“Why do you say that?”
“I’m not a housemaid. I…”
At those words, Yujin’s expression turned cold.
“Then who are you? A stranger in an empty house, and in the bathroom…”
“You seem to have a misunderstanding. I’m a tenant.”
“A tenant?”
“I moved in last weekend.”
“A tenant the owner doesn’t even know about?”
Furrowing his brows, Yujin listened as Seung-ah continued.
“Haven’t you heard from grandmother? She rented me the room upstairs.”
“Grandmother? Upstairs? Rented it out?”
“……”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
Judging by his reaction, she knew he would never believe it.
“If you didn’t know, it must have been surprising. Wait a moment—I’ll get the contract and show you.”
Seung-ah quickly got up and went upstairs.
Where had she left it? Here’s the teddy from a raffle, there’s one she splurged on at the department store.
When she grabbed the contract and came back down, Yujin was on the phone with Mrs. Geum Il-bong.
“Yes, yes. I’ll come by soon.”
He hung up and glanced over the contract.
“Grandmother didn’t know I would return and rented the room out. She’s never done this before…”
He didn’t react with a cheerful “Let’s get along from now on!”
Seung-ah felt a bad premonition from the unclear trailing of his words.
Her instinct was right.
“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to vacate the room.”
“What?”
Yujin flicked through the contract with his fingers and opened the part with Seung-ah’s phone number.
He called her and hung up in just one second.
“I left my number. Tell me the account to refund the rent.”
Then he added immediately:
“Ah, I’ll cover the moving costs.”
Watching him proceed so smoothly, as if this were a natural sequence, she was speechless.
Appearing out of nowhere at midnight to tell her to leave the house. And he said it without a change in expression.
He could never understand the feelings of a tenant.
She didn’t want to ask him to let her stay just because he was familiar with her grandmother. That would only be a pitiful excuse.
No! There’s a contract, so why plead?
Even if he didn’t know, she had a contract with grandmother, who had delegated authority. The contract even had the power of attorney attached.
“You’re telling me to leave just a few days after moving in?”
“I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do.”
“Just because Han Yujin returned doesn’t mean I have to leave, right?”
Legally speaking, Seung-ah was correct.
“But you can’t live together either. It would be inconvenient for both parties.”
“Yes, it would be a bit uncomfortable. But I have no intention of moving.”
“If you want compensation, I’ll give it to you.”
“Compensation? How much are you willing to give?”
Yujin raised one corner of his lip. ‘Of course.’
But when she spoke, his brow immediately furrowed.
“Would you give half of your total assets to Han Yujin?”
“……”
“Even if you offer ten million, I won’t leave this house. I’m not asking for money—I’m saying that I have the right to live here because we signed a one-year contract.”
Seung-ah held the precious contract that would be her weapon.
“That was quite an extravagant first greeting. I have urgent matters, so I’ll take my leave.”
Just before leaving, she pursed her lips and glared at Yujin.
Something had been bothering her.
“And Han Yujin!”
“……”
“You’re sitting on my teddy bear.”
Following her gaze, Yujin looked down. The bear’s fuzzy paw was beneath his leg.
Seung-ah grabbed it and rescued it from him.
“Be careful from now on!”
She turned on her heel and went upstairs.
“Ha!”
Yujin couldn’t close his mouth.
“Did you just sit on it? My old teddy bear?”
It was a rough day for the delinquent.
Looking around, the entire bear army seemed to glare at him, as if following Seung-ah’s orders.
It felt like a one-versus-many battle.
