Survival Report

Back in her studio apartment, Ji-eum set about scrubbing every corner of the place in a desperate bid to shake off the turmoil in her chest. Even in the subzero cold she flung the windows wide open, pushed a handheld vacuum across the floor, and followed it with a thorough mopping. Rubber gloves on, she attacked the stubborn grime in the kitchen and even emptied and wiped down the refrigerator.

She had been certain that a sparkling clean home would lift her spirits. Yet when she finally stood and surveyed the gleaming rooms, her heart refused to settle. In the end she only managed to fall asleep after racing to the convenience store, buying a whole pack of canned beer, and draining every last one.

The next morning she opened her eyes to find her chest still heavy and aching. It was a weight too great to carry alone.

This is hard…

Bundled tightly in her blanket, Ji-eum sighed again and again before opening Thumping Planet—the app she had ignored all of yesterday.

Naturally, every unread message was from Jemulpo Puppy.

He looked for me a lot.Does this guy even have friends? Ji-eum moved her finger weakly across the screen.

She was about to set the phone down when a reply arrived instantly.

Is he serious right now?If it were that easy to forget, I would’ve forgotten ages ago….

I shouldn’t have said anything….

Ji-eum kept wiping at her eyelids. With her heart still in knots she closed Thumping Planet and opened her chat with Seung-jo instead. In that instant her heart dropped straight into her stomach. His profile picture had changed.

The new photo was a sweet selfie of him with his girlfriend, Hana. Ji-eum’s gaze locked onto the girl’s face without meaning to.

It was the kind of face people called “corporate talent” or “announcer material”—clean, polished, without a single flaw. Her bright smile, blooming like a flower, was especially pretty.

“They’re a perfect match…. They look so good together….”

It was sad, but it was the truth. Staring at someone else’s photo for so long felt rude, so she turned off the screen and locked her phone. Her own face appeared at once in the darkened glass—a shadowed face that had never been loved enough, reflected with painful clarity.

“Hana’s the youngest at home, spoiled rotten with nothing but affection. Maybe that’s why? The kid doesn’t have a single dark corner.”

Spoiled with nothing but cuteness…. No dark corners….

“Hic…. She’s the complete opposite of me.”

The feelings she had been holding back burst through the dam. Sorrow and self-pity poured out in a flood. The tears she wiped away immediately slid down her temples again and soaked the pillow. She gave up trying to dry them and just sniffled—until a soft alarm chimed through the room.

Thumping~♡♪♬

Ji-eum rubbed her wet eyes and slowly pushed herself upright.

“…Come out? Does that mean he wants to meet?”

Come to think of it, she had been chatting with Jemulpo Puppy for a whole month already.

Should I meet him…? Being alone just makes me more depressed…. Na-hee’s not around either, so I don’t have anyone to see….

Ordinarily she would never have considered it, yet somehow an impulsive urge rose inside her.

Fine. Let’s go out. Let’s do something—anything.

He’s coming this way? Seoul was smaller than she thought. She could bump into someone she knew at any moment, so it seemed wiser to head toward him instead.

The reply came faster than ever.

Where even are all those…? It was just a meal; anywhere would do. Since she planned to take the subway, they settled on Bupyeong—easy to reach from Seoul.

At first she kept mixing up Bupyeong and Bucheon, using them interchangeably. Every time, Jemulpo Puppy went completely cold and stern. He had always gotten excited whenever Incheon came up, so she just rolled with it and finally learned the difference for good this time. Bupyeong was Bupyeong-gu in Incheon Metropolitan City; Bucheon was Bucheon City in Gyeonggi Province.

And so, for that very reason, she made the long trip from her Sillim studio to Bupyeong Station well after lunch—just to meet her chat friend Jemulpo Puppy.

“Wow, there are so many people….”

Ji-eum tapped her card, passed through the turnstile, and looked around. No matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t spot anything that looked like a fountain.

“Excuse me, do you know where the fountain is?”

“This is the fountain plaza.”

“Oh? Okay, thank you.”

It felt a little strange that there was no water, but plenty of people were waiting for someone right there, so she decided to blend into the crowd and wait as well.

She was about to pull out her phone to ask for a description so they wouldn’t miss each other when something odd caught her eye.

“…What’s with that guy.”

A man who stood out far too much had entered her field of vision. She hadn’t meant to stare; he was simply so conspicuous that her gaze went to him on its own.

He looked well over 190 centimeters, and the thick muscle packed onto that frame was obvious even from a distance. Broad shoulders spread wide, hands shoved into the pockets of oversized pants, he was scanning every direction.

An athlete? Fighter? Or…

He wore a suit, yet the details were off. The white shirt with its top buttons undone was tucked into the pants and finished with a luxury belt. Below the solid line of his neck a gold necklace that looked like pure gold flashed. Add the clutch in his hand, and none of the pieces looked like something an ordinary office worker would carry.

The whole vibe was so unusual that she was about to move away when the man’s eyes suddenly widened and he strode forward. Those long legs covered the ground in decisive strides with zero hesitation.

Wait, is he coming toward me right now?

She grew nervous, half-doubting. Surely he wasn’t picking a fight just because she’d looked at him. The closer he got, the darker everything seemed.

“Whew.”

Contrary to her fears, the man abruptly changed direction a few steps short of where she stood. Only then did she let out a shallow breath of relief.

And yet…

“Mmm….”

Without meaning to, her head slowly turned to follow the direction he had gone.

Clear, striking features were carved into healthy, well-tanned skin. A smooth jawline without a hint of softness. Monolid eyes with a touch of white showing below the iris. A high nose bridge and a cool, defined mouth.

The face she had glimpsed up close in that brief moment was intensely striking. The athletic type overflowing with male hormones…. Wow, so people could be handsome like that too.

…But what is that guy even doing?

At first she thought he was looking for his party. A closer look proved otherwise. He was circling the fountain plaza like a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant, approaching the women who seemed to be waiting for someone one after another. One hand stayed clenched around his phone the entire time.

She couldn’t hear what he said, but every woman looked disgusted and shook her head. Clearly he was getting shot down after asking for numbers.

Is that a pickup artist… or something? Tsk tsk.

He never seemed to tire; he just kept making those sleazy approaches. Circling and circling until—

“Excuse me.”

Suddenly he was standing right in front of Ji-eum.

“By any chance.”

In that instant a sharp gaze swept her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

The fur hat she had yanked on in a hurry before leaving, the ubiquitous puffy padding jacket, ordinary fleece-lined pants, a clumsy scarf, and comfort-first ugg boots…. Under that stare that examined an outfit so ordinary it almost made one yawn, Ji-eum tried hard not to flinch.

There’s nothing weird about it, so why’s he staring like that?

“Hmm….”

The man slowly stroked his chin as if weighing something. Ji-eum looked up at him with puzzled eyes, then casually shifted her gaze to his fingers. A heavy pure-gold ring flashed on one long knuckle.

Ugh. What the… Is he actually a gangster?