One Year to Wait
“When you see Madam, make sure you thank her properly, Na-hee. The monthly rent on a Gangnam officetel isn’t pocket change……”
“Gangnam? What’s this about Gangnam?”
“Seocho-dong, I think. She said it’s safer for a girl living alone.”
It was far from school. Far from Hannam-dong too. The only place it sat close to was Kwon Hyun-jin’s house. Why on earth would she secure my boarding room in a spot like that? Beyond mere puzzlement, it left a sour taste.
“Still, I suppose she’s grown fond of you after watching you grow up. Mom never imagined Madam would look after even you.”
“Mom, I already found a place near school. The rent’s cheap and it has good security. The room’s big enough that Ji-yul and I decided to live together.”
“Is that so? Then just go with that. It feels like owing a debt, and Mom gets uncomfortable around Madam for no reason.”
Having worked long years for a chaebol family, Mom had made a habit of hiding her true feelings. She often did the same even in front of me.
When Madam Jang announced that she had already secured my consent, Mom simply showed nothing. In truth she hated the idea of Madam involving herself in my boarding room.
“Don’t move into that officetel. Mom will speak to Madam Jang herself.”
She charged me with it as if she had been waiting a long time to say the words.
“Once you leave this house, don’t even drop by Hannam-dong anymore. Just focus on school. Mom won’t call you for no reason either.”
Kwon Hyun-jin snatched the side-dish bundle from me and strode inside.
Weekend or not, he had clearly been home all day; he was dressed top to bottom in gray sweats.
“So on weekdays you’re just at the academy the whole time?”
“Yeah. Call me when you’re heading out. I’ll leave right away.”
“Nah. Better if we don’t get in each other’s way. You’re not eating the maeuntang I made, right? You can’t handle spicy.”
I untied the navy wrapping cloth on the table as I answered.
“There aren’t any other freshwater fish in it, but it’s pretty spicy and fishy, so……”
I was about to say he probably couldn’t eat it when a hand suddenly slid in from behind.
Kwon Hyun-jin’s solid arms wrapped around my waist.
Startled, I sucked in a breath and froze solid. Unconcerned, he casually traced around my navel.
His hands were so big that even the smallest movement seemed to cover my entire abdomen.
“Your body is so fucking soft……”
It wasn’t exactly a compliment. I tried to pry his teasing hands off, but Kwon Hyun-jin refused to budge easily.
“Lee Na-hee.”
“Let go……”
“Can’t you stay the night?”
He planted his chin right on my shoulder and wheedled persistently.
“Grandpa and everyone said they’re coming back late, right? After the shareholders’ meeting they get fucking wasted all night…… huh?”
Madam Jang had mentioned something about the Vice President’s shareholders’ meeting; was today that day? It was Kwonjin Electronics business that had nothing to do with me, so I hadn’t listened carefully.
Right now the leech stuck to me was the problem.
“Na-hee, stay over.”
The voice whispering against my ear was impossibly tender. His ulterior motive was crystal clear.
“Noona. Stay the night.”
“……”
When I turned to look at him in annoyance, he gave me a sly eye-smile and pressed his face closer. Far too close. I jerked my neck back with a start.
“Why…… don’t you like it?”
“……It’s not that I dislike it.”
“Is it burdensome?”
It was, more or less. As the adult older by even one year, I needed to make things clear once and for all.
“Kwon Hyun-jin.”
“Yes.”
I called him as maturely as possible, packing the full authority of an adult into it. Kwon Hyun-jin didn’t so much as flinch.
“You’re still a minor, and I……”
“Yes, noona.”
His second finger slowly traced back and forth along the underwire of my bra.
He was completely ignoring everything I said. When I let out a long sigh, a giggling breath tickled against my shoulder blade.
“Go ahead and speak, noona.”
“You’re not listening.”
“I am listening.”
I glared; only then did he break into a sheepish grin and pull away. Leaning against the table, Kwon Hyun-jin looked up at me at an angle.
“I’ll listen. For real.”
Even his obedient answer somehow sounded mocking. He was a total pro at that sort of thing.
“We promised back then……”
“Promised what.”
“……We did. The promise. Why are you acting like you don’t know.”
“What exactly did we promise.”
My brows furrowed on their own. He had stubbornly insisted, even hooked pinkies and stamped a seal, and now Kwon Hyun-jin was shrewdly pretending he couldn’t remember. It left me speechless.
“When you become an adult…… then…… then we said we’d do it.”
“When I become an adult, what do we do then.”
I wanted to smack him for parroting my words. That uncharacteristically sweet, smiling face was pretty and irritating at the same time.
“Forget it. If you don’t remember, then don’t.”
I tried to brush him off coldly, but Kwon Hyun-jin hurriedly pulled me into a hug. Like a teddy bear.
“Lee Na-hee.”
“What……”
He exhaled a long breath and rubbed his nose into the back of my head. It tickled, but I endured it. The gesture was full of bottled-up stress.
“I’ll really hold out for just one year.”
“……”
“Academy or whatever, I want to fucking quit the whole damn thing.”
This was a kid studying for the CSAT for the first time. He had decided to attend academy to boost efficiency, and choosing the full-day program with that personality of his was honestly impressive.
“I’ll tough it out waiting for that day. Just watch. I’ll definitely get into S University too.”
Maybe it was his fundamentally tenacious nature. Once he had a clear goal, Kwon Hyun-jin became a racehorse at full gallop.
“Until then I won’t do a single thing to you. Won’t even lay a hand on you. So.”
“You’re completely plastered all over me right now……”
“You can allow this much, can’t you? Hugging, kissing—even elementary school kids do that these days!”
“……”
When I denied it with silence, Kwon Hyun-jin turned sulky. He spun my body around and scrunched his face to the fullest.
“Lee Na-hee. Why aren’t you wearing the necklace I gave you.”
So he had been paying attention. After gifting it he had never mentioned it again, so I thought he had forgotten.
“Did you actually throw it away?”
“I didn’t throw it away! How could I throw away something that expensive.”
“Ah, so I should only gift expensive stuff?”
“Have you lost your mind? That’s not what I meant!”
“Then what. Why aren’t you wearing it.”
“It’s too eye-catching. I just can’t……”
The hasty excuse seemed to melt his temper as if it had never existed.
“Right. It’ll stand out like crazy.”
Kwon Hyun-jin grinned. He rummaged under the hair at my nape as if on a treasure hunt.
“Skin white and soft like a baby’s…… anyway, Lee Na-hee, there’s not a single unpretty part of you.”
“……You’ve decided to just go full cheesy now, huh.”
He tossed out the uncharacteristically greasy line with ease. I caught the hand that was tracing my collarbone with my thumb.
“That’s why why did you even buy it. I can’t wear it around anyway.”
“How could I not buy it? The second I saw it I only thought of you.”
“Kwon Hyun-jin.”
“How am I supposed to hold back. It would look so fucking perfect on this neck.”
“Don’t buy things from now on. Got it.”
I warned him firmly. I wasn’t coming and going from this apartment just to receive expensive gifts. He hadn’t given it with that intention either, but I still felt oddly guilty. I was still taking errand money from Madam Jang.
“So you’re not going to wear the necklace?”
“Once I leave the chairman’s house I’ll wear it every day.”
“Really. Promise.”
“In exchange, focus on your exam life until you finish the CSAT well and get into university. Let’s also cut back on meeting.”
Kwon Hyun-jin wanted me to come over on weekday evenings and spend entire weekends at his apartment. But that wasn’t right for either of us.
“Let’s meet only about once every two weeks or once a month.”
“What?”
His handsome face hardened in real time.
“Why. Why do we have to do that?”
“She doesn’t show it, but Mom is struggling. I want to get a job quickly, buy a house, and tell her to quit working.”
“……”
“I told you our major is five years, right? To graduate early I have to work hard. I need scholarships too.”
“Ah, shit……”