As the title says, it's a real chaebol family..! Don't be like that dazzling and wrong person, it's on the soles of your feet
There's a world of cheap, sticky yellow sheets...
No money, no connections, moldy, damp floors, dim lights.
I'm drawn to works with such dark and gloomy content.
(But there has to be a twist!! It's a must!!)
And this is something I've been thinking about for quite some time.
_Ashes and Sin(crime)
snippet
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A life of poverty from birth. A poor home. A poor family. A poor soul.
Since you raised them until they became adults, if you have any shame, there are voices telling you to become independent.
It rings in my ears. If neglect at home is what they call parenting, then it must be.
I have to go. The government's support for young people who have been thrown out into society in an instant is only for the lucky.
It was a seemingly easy ride, and people didn't realize that those who didn't have it in the first place never had the opportunity to experience it. It was a shadow of a society that was all glitter and glitter.
19 years old. Jooyeon left home before the ink on her resident registration card had even dried, and from then on, she worked any job she could find.
Fortunately, many stores preferred cheerful, cheerful young part-timers, and there, she pretended to live a normal life and managed to save up a bit of money. And then, by a stroke of luck, she saw a job posting for a housekeeper for a wealthy family in central Seoul and contacted them, and they landed her a fairly stable job. She felt reassured that she could at least live a decent life.
_" It might be a bit of a burden for someone your age."
"I'm not a live-in housekeeper, I commute to work.
Arrive at work by 7:30,"Get off work at 10 o'clock."
"I guess that's why it's good to live nearby..."
_"I'll look for a house this week. I can do it."
" thank you. "
Finding a place to live for a few years in the heart of Seoul, where housing prices are skyrocketing, was almost impossible, but I was going crazy.
Didn't they say that miracles sometimes happen to those who desperately want something?
The place I visited with a real estate agent, wondering how it had exactly one room, was none other than an apartment. Although it was an old and sick place, I couldn't even tell when it was built.
Ignoring the landlord's words, who was saying that it would be difficult to even get a goshiwon in this area at this price, and that it was a miracle to even get in, the room I looked around was, in a word, gloomy.
Even though it wasn't a semi-basement, the cool air engulfed the room, the worn-out mattress right in front of me, the kitchen cabinets looking yellow, and the wallpaper that looked like it had been hastily painted.
Everyone gets up, the wallpaper is awkward, the lighting is dim, and the entrance is so dark that it's hard to stand alone.
A green bathroom with a musty smell.
The contract was concluded smoothly, and the house keys were handed over, and the monthly rent was
Joo-yeon, who was thinking about the landlord who blurted out the words "every month is the first" and the employer who told her to come to work by the next day, collapsed on the mattress.
On an old mattress that creaks at the slightest movement.
Still, lying down on the soft surface, my body, which had been suffering for so long, let out a cry. I wanted to eat something, but I thought I would quickly scatter in front of the pouring water, and it was a day when I would fall asleep under the dim lights anyway.
She never wanted to know that the dim light she had not turned off, faintly visible even from afar on that dark night, was the foundation of what would happen in the future.
The incident must have started on the evening of her first day back from work. It was 11 p.m. She returned home, ate a triangle kimbap from the fridge, and took a quick shower under a fading showerhead with only a few warm drops. It was 12:30 a.m. She was patting her hair with a towel.
I lay back down on the mattress, staring at the flickering lights, and dozed off. As usual, the alarm would ring at 5 o'clock and the same routine would repeat. No, it had to repeat.
Jooyeon woke up at 3am to a sudden knock on the door.
She staggered towards the front door. It must have been just the misdeeds of a drunkard passing by. She thought she should at least lock the door just in case, and it was probably around that time that she suddenly woke up from her slumber.
Outside the thick front door. The smell coming from the crack in the door where the cold air creeps in.
Because it was something that made me wake up and feel my nose sting.
It was definitely the smell of blood. She couldn't tell if it was her own or someone else's, but the occasional sighs and groans suggested someone outside was in dire straits. She'd never been in a situation like this before. Should she call the police first? Should she unlock the latch she hadn't managed to secure? Should she open the door and offer help?
And in the meantime, the front door was unlocked with incredible ease.
With a gasp, she instinctively stepped back, and the door that creaked open again after being caught once seemed a little surprised to see her inside the house.
_" ah....... "
_" .......... "
"I guess it finally worked out."
_" ..who..... "
_"The person who originally lived here"
Did someone die here? Is that why the property is being sold so cheap? So I moved into a house where someone died. ..Is this person acquainted with the person who died back then? What kind of work did they do? There's blood on their clothes. Should I let them out? But what if they're dangerous? They might try to kill me. What should I do?
Her mind was filled with thoughts, leaving her speechless. And while she stood there, speechless, the man who had entered the house naturally closed the front door and sat down.
_" .......... "
"I'm sorry for coming in without permission, but do you have any painkillers?"
Ah, the smell of blood. It smelled like blood. "Is he seriously injured?" He asked, his voice low and groaning, and I felt myself come back to my senses.
I handed him two painkillers and water I'd found in the kitchen cupboard. His hand brushed past my hand, and I felt it was cold. There were also clots of blood.
Only then did she look around a bit and see that the situation was a complete mess.
He came in. A messy bed, a dark house, an unidentified man leaning against the front door, and bright red blood spreading across his clothes—his side, to be exact. He was still clutching it with one hand, perhaps from an injury.
_" .....are you...hurt...? "
"If it is difficult to call an ambulance..."
_ " ............. "
_"I can do simple first aid."
"Whatever it is... it's better than not doing anything......."
Juyeon's voice, as she watched the man's expression, grew fainter and fainter until it was finally inaudible. The man, who had been staring at her, staggered to his feet and entered the house. Only then did Juyeon properly look up at him.
Messy bleached hair, slightly upturned eyes, black pupils, bloody cheeks and tightly closed lips.
He sat down casually on the dining chair, his shirt dried up with dried blood.
As I walked slowly, all I could see was a wound that was still oozing blood.
What if he was stabbed with a knife, or if he was stabbed deeply?
While the process of disinfecting the wound and wrapping a bandage went on, her mind was filled with thoughts that had nothing to do with me, and he flinched a couple of times as if in pain when a hand touched the wound, but he did not make any more unnecessary sounds.
...It must hurt.
That morning, Juyeon stayed up for a solid hour or so before the alarm went off. The man, whose identity was still unknown, was asleep with his head leaning against the wall, and she had no intention of waking him up. She also didn't have the guts to report him while he was asleep, so she could only watch him intently.
As always, the alarm rang at 5 o'clock, and she left the house in the dimly lit dawn, seeing the man who hadn't woken up yet. And then, it was so complicated.
The house I returned to in a hurry after finishing the day was, of course, empty.
She felt a pang of relief when the man disappeared as if nothing had happened, and she sat down on the chair where he had been sitting until this morning.
and,
Despite her being like that, the man found his way to Jooyeon's house.
If he came often, he would visit her house every other day, and if he came less frequently, he would visit her house every four days. He always came back hurt somewhere every day.
As expected, he didn't say anything, and she treated him without saying anything either.
A month passed, and on the second month, the man emerged from his intermittent shower at her house, and she finally saw both of his arms. His gaunt body, with its prominent bones, bore countless tattoos. They were all either injured or bandaged, making it difficult to see clearly, but one particularly striking was a large tiger. And then there were the frequent flowers and names.
It was only then that she learned the man's name: Min Yoongi.
What a unique name. I didn't know her age. Of course, it didn't matter.
The man seemed to be being chased by someone. However, he was not anxious or on edge every day. It was just that on days when he did not come in for a few days,
Every time I saw him, I would hear a dry excuse like, "He must have been seriously injured somewhere."
On the third month, he arrived home before her. They sat down at the same table for the first time and had a meal, and although it was a cheap lunchbox, it tasted good.
..No, did I even taste it then?
He has seeped into my life so naturally that I feel like he is
There was nothing I could do about it. It was just natural, calm, and
It was still a dark life. He and she often slept together in the same bed. He was the injured patient, so a bed was the most considerate thing for her. But she couldn't sleep on the floor the next day, when she had to go to work.
If we were to argue for its own legitimacy, there would be no problem. It was right that there was none.
And in all those days, there wasn't a single day where he lingered until morning, like the first dawn. He was a presence that vanished when she woke. On days when she'd spent the night exhausted, he'd vanish like the wind when she went to the bathroom to wash.
For the first time, she became curious about him.
_"You're covered in blood every day, isn't it just your blood?"
_" .......... "
_" ....Do you kill people too..? "
_" ........ "
_"Then will I be killed someday too..?"
_" ......... "
"...useful people don't kill."
For the first time in all the time she had known him, she felt safe.
I did. Was it the reassurance that came from the feeling that at least I wouldn't die?
Or maybe it meant something else.
More than six months after they'd first met, they kissed for the first time. There was no room for anyone to say anything. Is this love? Can this even be called love? The kiss was long and sticky, but that was it. The heat of love.
Before I could even feel it, he was gone. The days were getting longer and it was bright dawn.
She felt a yearning to wake up with him. She longed to wake up in his arms, not just fall asleep in his arms. If she were to meet him outside, he would undoubtedly be someone she knew. So, she wanted to stay with him in this old house where they first met. The longer she could, the longer she could.
I wanted to be one.
And that day, when I told him all those thoughts, he stared at her in silence. He barely knew her name, and he knew full well that the relationship they'd maintained up until then wasn't normal, yet he didn't back down.
He did not visit her house for over a week after that day,
The day he found her house, he was covered in wounds all over his body.
He held her in his arms and fell asleep in the same bed.
And for the first time, she opened her eyes in his arms. It was warm, and his arm around her waist felt heavy. He glanced up at her, but his eyes were tightly shut. She watched his long eyelashes and the breath that escaped his slightly parted mouth. She decided not to go to work today. She didn't care if she got fired for this misstep. She just wanted to cherish this moment for longer.
When he opened his eyes again, it was surprisingly bright morning. He was still asleep, holding her in his arms. A moment later, he and she woke up, naturally preparing breakfast, washing up, drying each other's dripping hair, and sharing a couple of brief kisses. As the sun began to set, they watched an old movie on an old TV together, and then fell asleep together again.
It was a dreamlike day. What was he thinking? They had talked quite a bit today, and he even smiled lightly. What a pretty face, she thought. Did he think she was pretty? No, she wasn't. Still, she hoped he saw her a little differently.
He definitely smiled at me, and our time together was never short.
Even if this relationship isn't love, isn't it at least pretending to be? In this dilapidated house, even though life is still dark.
It was a sweet fantasy that would soon turn to ashes.
The next day, the fire incident was reported and filled one page of the newspaper.
A fire broke out in an old apartment in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
The fire that engulfed the entire room turned everything into ash.
And the news that a woman in her 20s who lived in that house went missing disappeared, buried in the ashes, because no one was looking for her.
_ 5Years later, London
_" Lee Joo-yeon, ..... "
_" .......? "
_"Nice to meet you. I'm Min Yoongi."
_" .......... "
The fire five years ago was a deliberate accident. The members of the organization, hell-bent on killing me, finally found fault with me. It was my fault.
Min Yoongi, the boss's right-hand man who betrayed the organization and caused numerous casualties
From then on, I was being chased by the organization. No matter how clever I was at evading them, in the end
After a few confrontations, I ended up here, bloodied and in a state of disarray. Even that was on the verge of ending when the landlord, unable to withstand the pressure of the organization, committed suicide. But thanks to that, I met her.
The time I spent with her was never in vain. But I knew I wouldn't do something foolish like sacrifice myself for her.
She saved him, and so he clung to that little hope.
I wanted to be with her, speaking of our futures in a calm yet composed voice. Even if it seemed trivial to others, aren't we burdened by it, unable to do anything about it? Even if it was just for a day, it was good.
Her greed grew and grew. The day she realized that the desire that had filled her body with no room to spare would ultimately destroy her. The day her house caught fire.
The day everything burned to ashes. I held her unconscious. She had lost her memory, and now only I, a sinner, remained.
The day the time she spent with him disappeared from her, Min Yoongi went to the organization he had betrayed, and five years later, he proudly became the head of that organization.
Now I have the courage to face her. It's a different situation than when I first met her, her face as if she were dying.
Now I dream of a different future. A me without ashes and now my
She's not a sin. It doesn't have to be love. It doesn't have to be a normal relationship. Wasn't that impossible from the beginning?
Still in the dark life,
Now I will be her salvation.
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