My mom sent me to my dad before she passed away. Of course, my stepmom threw a fit, but because of my dad, she couldn’t send me to an orphanage.

From then on, I lived like Cinderella. Dad was busy and rarely home, and from when I woke up until I fell asleep, I always heard the same words from my stepmom.

Dirty girl. Be grateful we took in a useless human like you. If I cried, she’d hit me more, if even a slightly loud sound came from my mouth, she’d lock me in the basement, if I smiled, she’d get angry…

So when I just stayed expressionless, I got hit less. At school, Seo Hyun kept talking about me, so I had no friends… I just lived alone like that.

“…It must have been hard.”

“I just… had no thoughts.”

“If your father passed away, couldn’t you just cut ties? You’re complete strangers with that person now.”

“……”

Again, that look in her eyes. Why does she keep shooting laser beams at me to speak when I have no secrets to tell?

Yi Hyun finally had to tell the truth.

“I’m sorry, but I have no more secrets now.”

It was a clean and simple surrender.

This man really has nothing difficult, nothing to hide in life. How enviable.

Gazing at him intently with clear eyes, Ha Jun slowly continued her story.

“As soon as I entered college, dad bought me a house. Told me to live independently. He said to get a driver’s license, so I did, then he bought me a car and offered driving lessons, so we drove out to the suburbs together, but a drunk driver’s truck hit the passenger side.”

Yi Hyun’s face hardened at the unexpected story. Ha Jun’s face was still expressionless, but she couldn’t hide the moisture filling her dark eyes.

Yi Hyun unconsciously reached out to pat her shoulder.

“It wasn’t your fault… It must have been very painful… and upsetting.”

It was the first words of comfort she’d heard since her father passed away.

The heavy touch made the stone that had always weighed on her heart feel lighter for a moment.

Just how far is this man trying to swallow all my firsts? How far… is he trying to shake my heart?

Her eyes burned painfully, but as always, Ha Jun showed no sign and quietly swallowed the surge of tears.

She had shown enough embarrassing and weak sides already.

“My stepmom said I killed my dad, that if it weren’t for me, the company and dad would have been fine. It’s true.

The company went bankrupt in an instant, the remaining assets disappeared in the blink of an eye… My stepmom and Seo Hyun moved into the house dad bought me.

Of course, they said I had to support them, so I did. I took out a full mortgage and never even got to touch my salary, so I worked part-time jobs separately to pay for transportation and phone bills.”

Ha Jun, speaking in a calm voice without changing her expression, seemed as if she was talking about someone else’s misfortune.

Rather, Yi Hyun’s expression twisted with unbearable pain and anger.

“Are you an idiot?”

Ha Jun couldn’t say anything to Yi Hyun’s reproachful tone. Her lips were sealed shut.

Her mind was tangled like a messy ball of thread, unsure of what to say.

“Just… I…”

“Why did you live like such a fool?”

“I… Dad…”

“No. You know that’s not true!”

“Is that so.”

Yi Hyun sighed deeply at her still utterly calm voice.

Ah, this woman was completely broken. Her emotions, her thoughts were broken, and she was just breathing and living.

This fragile, pitiful woman chose to just close her eyes and comply with the endless gaslighting and abuse she had suffered since childhood.

A woman whose courage and will to fight back had already been crushed in her distant childhood.

“I just… didn’t want to do anything. I didn’t have the courage to kill myself, so I just lived and breathed, but I didn’t know what to do… It was hard, but I had nowhere to lean on or hide…”

“……”

“I want to escape now too. I want to… change. But… But… if I try to escape, will my stepmom just leave me alone?”

Her voice started trembling little by little, unlike her still expressionless face.

In Yi Hyun’s eyes, she was calmly crying, writhing in excruciating pain. Feeling as if someone was squeezing his heart, Yi Hyun unconsciously gritted his teeth. The woman’s tears, her voice that sounded like faint sobs, made his eyes burn red hot.

Ah! I simply cannot leave this pitiful woman alone.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, his mouth opened without hesitation.

“Shall I help you?”

“No.”

“Why don’t you think a little before answering?”

“No matter how little I have, I don’t accept help from others shamelessly.”

“Use me.”

“What… do you mean use you?”

“You, I said I’ll help you. I’ll lend you money. So you can escape from there.”

“Why?”

Yi Hyun hesitated for a moment at Ha Jun’s question.

Yeah, why am I going this far?

Because this woman is so pitiful? Or because it’s so outrageous? Or…

Her eyes, the only thing shining on her expressionless face, urged Yi Hyun on, full of questions. He had to choose one of the many reasons that came to mind.

And among the many options, what Yi Hyun chose might have been the most considerate for Ha Jun, or it might have made her the most sorrowful.

“I’ve never seen anyone as pitiful as you in my life, so I’m interested. That’s why I want to keep seeing you and I’m curious.”

“You’re… helping me because I’m pitiful?”

Yi Hyun shrugged slightly.

“Yeah. Think of it as a donation from a wealthy person who suddenly had a great surge of sympathy. It’s a large sum for you. For me, lending that much won’t even make a dent.”

“So… for such a trivial reason, without any compensation?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t understand.”

Ha Jun shook her head. But Yi Hyun just shrugged nonchalantly.

“Even a shitty life should have one stroke of luck without reason. Think of me standing in front of Lee Ha Jun right now as that lucky break.”

“But…”

“We’ll write up a loan agreement, and I’ll collect interest regularly too. If you still feel uneasy, you can do some housework or something.”

“Are you saying we should live together? I heard you’re dating Executive Director Oh Se Ra. Even though you have a girlfriend, such…”

Yi Hyun’s eyes instantly turned cold at Ha Jun’s words.

This woman, what exactly does she take me for?

“What are you talking about? Me and Se Ra? That’s nonsense. Lee Ha Jun, no matter how trashy I may seem, I don’t fool around with other women when I have a girlfriend.”

“……”

Even now, this man is causing countless emotional fluctuations in me, but if we continue to be together in the future, will my heart be able to stay in its place?

It won’t. Yet the greedy desire to be together raises its head. Add to that the desire to escape from Jae Suk and her situation, which quietly meets her eyes.

The tangled feelings eventually made Ha Jun open her mouth.

“I need… time to think…”

“Take it. All you want. There’s still a lot of weekend left. And don’t go home. I’ll take care of it.”

“I haven’t said I’ll accept your help yet.”

“You’ll see when the time comes. You must feel uncomfortable, so go take a shower for now. I’ll call you when the meal is ready.”

Yi Hyun, who had stood up to leave, looked at Ha Jun.

Still that inscrutable calm expression, those serene eyes.

Yi Hyun didn’t like that hellish serenity that unnecessarily twisted people’s insides. So he ended up spitting out a sarcastic remark that he didn’t need to make.

“It’s true that I’m interested in you, but that doesn’t mean I have any special feelings for you that made me offer this. So don’t misunderstand.”

“……”

Ha Jun didn’t give any answer. But Yi Hyun smirked as he looked at her, then closed the door and left.

Ha Jun, who had been staring intently at the closed door, moved her lips very slightly.

“I’m not… misunderstanding anything.”

She knew there was no warm affection in the eyes of this arrogant man who lived in a different world from her.

Just pity and frustration, and curiosity.

“I’ve received incredibly expensive sympathy.”

If she ends up accepting his help, how long would it take to repay that debt? Twenty years? Thirty years?

Calculating the mortgage and her annual salary in her head, Ha Jun slowly got up.

A little while later, Ha Jun, who had quickly finished showering and come out of the bathroom, put on Yi Hyun’s loose-fitting men’s pajamas again that she had been wearing earlier.

She had no choice since her clothes from yesterday were nowhere to be seen.

When she opened the door and came out, a savory smell was filling the air. Yi Hyun, who was coming out from the kitchen area, gestured to Ha Jun.

“Come and eat. It’s abalone porridge.”

Ha Jun carefully walked over and sat down at the large dining table, unconsciously frowning. Yi Hyun, seeing that expression, suddenly came closer.

Come to think of it, her face was a bit red too.

“Are you in pain?”

“No.”

Yi Hyun’s large hand touched Ha Jun’s face.

“You still seem to have a fever. Eat first for now. After you eat, I’ll take a look. Where it hurts, how, and why.”

“I’ll decline that.”

“I’ll nurse you.”

“I don’t want to because I think I’ll get sicker.”

“You never give in, do you? Just eat for now.”

You need energy to play with me.

Yi Hyun swallowed the words that Ha Jun would surely respond to with an expressionless “I don’t want to” if she heard them. He picked up his spoon, his eyes still fixed on Ha Jun.

What’s wrong with this woman, she doesn’t even make a sound when eating. Shouldn’t there at least be the sound of the spoon hitting the ceramic bowl? If I wasn’t watching with my eyes, I wouldn’t even know if she was eating.

Perhaps feeling Yi Hyun’s obvious gaze, Ha Jun’s spooning gradually sped up. Before he knew it, she had finished a bowl of porridge, put the bowl and spoon in the sink, and turned to look at Yi Hyun.

“Give me my clothes, please.”

“They’re being washed. And even when the washing is done, I won’t give them to you.”

“I’m leaving. Please give them to me.”

Yi Hyun slowly stood up. His cold eyes stared at Ha Jun’s expressionless face.

“You know, when I was young and read the fairy tale of the woodcutter and the heavenly maiden, I used to think: how much of an idiot must a man be to hide a woman’s clothes to try and keep her. But now I understand that idiot’s feelings one hundred percent.”