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Chapter: 10
She looked outside.
Now that she thought about it, the old pine tree, which had endured countless years until its trunk had split slightly down the middle, was so thick that even two people joining their arms together couldn’t fully wrap around it. Its twisted branches seemed to prove just how many years it had weathered.
“Are you sure you’ve got the right person?”
“Ah… yes… Thank you.”
Still looking dazed, she put the cola and the card into her bag and walked outside.
“What happened? I definitely used that eraser, and my connection with Kim Tae-jun disappeared…”
Her eyes darted back and forth.
It was as unbelievable as if a ghost had played a trick on her.
She had definitely drunk alcohol and even gotten drunk. On top of that, she had received the eraser, and its effects had undeniably worked.
Tilting her head in confusion, she walked away from the convenience store and retraced the route she had taken that day. But no matter how many times she walked it again, the eraser was nowhere to be found.
“Did… someone pick it up?”
Still puzzled, she approached an elderly woman with white hair who was concentrating on cleaning the street with a pair of tongs and a yellow trash bag.
“Excuse me, ma’am. While you were cleaning around here, did you happen to see an eraser?”
“An eraser?”
The elderly woman furrowed her brow.
“Yes. It was a white, rectangular eraser…”
The old woman shook her head.
“I didn’t see anything like that. And even if I had, it would’ve been thrown into the trash by now.”
“Ah… I guess you’re right.”
Looking disappointed, she nodded.
Even she knew it was unreasonable to expect an eraser left on the roadside to still be there.
At the time, the cherry blossom festival had been in full swing, with crowds constantly passing through, so the area had probably been cleaned thoroughly.
If it had somehow remained until now, that would have been the real surprise.
“Well then.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
She gave a slight bow in thanks before returning to her car.
She had spent the entire day running around, yet she hadn’t gained a single thing. Realizing how fruitless the day had been drained every ounce of strength from her body, leaving her completely exhausted.
Holding the steering wheel, she let out a long sigh.
“What was that? Ha… Did I really meet some kind of god?”
Tilting her head, she immediately drove toward downtown. No matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t find the street food cart anymore, so Haeru gave up looking for it and decided instead to check out the new place she had planned to see tomorrow.
She arrived in front of a shabby four-story red brick villa. After parking in a lot where the white parking lines had nearly faded away, she got out of the car.
The real estate agent, a middle-aged woman wearing several thick gold rings, had apparently arrived ahead of time as well. As soon as Haeru arrived, the woman stepped out of a black sedan.
“Oh my! You’re early.”
She looked surprised, since Haeru had arrived thirty minutes before their appointment.
“Which unit are we looking at?”
Haeru got straight to the point. She had the company’s inauguration ceremony tomorrow and needed to be at work early, so she didn’t have much time.
“Come with me, miss.”
She followed the realtor.
Since the building didn’t have an elevator, they climbed the stairs all the way to the fourth floor. By the time they reached the top, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead even though it wasn’t summer.
There were only two units on the fourth floor, and both were vacant. The one she had come to see was Unit 401.
The moment she entered, the first thing she checked was the water.
She turned on the faucets in both the kitchen and the bathroom. Thankfully, water flowed out strongly with a refreshing hiss.
After looking around the apartment, she turned toward the window and asked,
“The water pressure seems good?”
“Of course! You’ll never have to worry about water here.”
“Is it noisy?”
“The rooftop is right above us, but it’s locked, so nobody goes up there. It’ll be quiet, and there isn’t much traffic around here either.”
The realtor waved one hand casually.
“Hmm… Since it’s on the fourth floor, flooding shouldn’t be a problem. What about frozen pipes or drainage issues?”
“None at all.”
The realtor grinned with her bright red lips and shook her head confidently.
Haeru nodded.
Considering the price, it was a pretty good place.
Sure, it looked old enough that it seemed like bugs might come crawling out at any moment, but she didn’t have much money. There were simply things she had to compromise on.
“All right, let’s go.”
With two bedrooms, a spacious living room, and large windows that would let plenty of sunlight in, it was an incredible deal for the price.
There was also enough distance from the neighboring building that it didn’t seem like people would be able to look directly into her home.
But just as she was about to leave, her eyes stopped on the wallpaper above the front door.
A large yellow stain spread across it like someone had urinated on the ceiling.
Frowning, she pointed at it with her index finger.
“What’s that?”
She tilted her head and stopped in her tracks.
The realtor, who had been walking ahead and hadn’t noticed her expression, bustled along cheerfully before stopping and turning around.
“Miss? What did you say?”
Following the direction of Haeru’s fully extended arm, the realtor looked up at the ceiling.
Moments later, the woman’s face turned slightly red. She blinked repeatedly, clearly unsure where to look.
She looked exactly like someone who had just been caught hiding a secret.
“Isn’t the roof leaking?”
With narrowed eyes, Haeru alternated her gaze between the yellow-stained wallpaper and the realtor.
“Oh, it’s nothing!”
The realtor waved her right hand dismissively in front of her face and forced an awkward smile while shaking her head.
“How is that ‘nothing’?”
Lowering her hand, Haeru stared at the realtor with a serious expression.
After her father’s business had failed, there had been a time when they lived in an abandoned cement house that looked like it would collapse after a single typhoon.
During that time, the rainy season had arrived.
While she was asleep, raindrops had fallen directly onto her cheekbone.
From that day until they finally moved into a run-down villa, every rainy night had been miserable. She could barely sleep, placing buckets all over the house to catch the leaks as she spent countless sleepless nights.
Remembering those nights made her face tighten.
The realtor continued forcing an uncomfortable smile, blinking over and over before awkwardly twitching her cheeks.
“I mean… it only leaks a liiittle. Just a tiny little bit.”
Holding her thumb and index finger close together as if pinching a tiny grain of salt, the realtor squinted to emphasize how insignificant it supposedly was.
But Haeru had already experienced what it meant to live in a leaking house.
Without hesitation, she walked toward the door.
“Let’s go.”
“Wait, miss! You won’t find a place like this for this price!”
The realtor grabbed her elbow while waving her other hand frantically, trying to stop her.
Haeru remained firm.
“I understand. Let’s look at another place before I decide.”
She pushed the realtor’s hand away from her elbow and walked out.
“This place is really good, miss!”
The realtor hurried after her, sticking close behind as she desperately tried to persuade her. It sounded as though she was simply trying to dump the apartment on her, so Haeru barely paid attention, treating her words like meaningless wind.
“Let’s see another place.”
Without even looking back, she calmly continued down the stairs.
The realtor clicked her tongue and looked Haeru up and down from behind with obvious dissatisfaction.
“My goodness. You’re such a tough young lady. I bet not even a drop of blood would come out if someone pricked you.”
Since she had clearly seen the water damage, she had no lingering attachment to the apartment.
She quickly left the villa and headed toward another property.
She spent hours walking around the area near the company, looking at different apartments.
As the night grew later, her legs began to ache.
Perhaps because the heels of her black shoes were fairly high, her feet and legs had become slightly swollen.
When she returned to the parking lot in front of the first villa they had visited, she looked down at her swollen legs and let out a deep sigh.
“I didn’t accomplish anything…”
Even after walking until her legs were sore, she still hadn’t found a place she liked.
She opened her car door and greeted the realtor, who was about to get into the car parked beside hers.
“I’ll think it over and contact you.”
“The first place won’t stay available for long! You need to let me know quickly!”
“Yes. I understand.”
She answered half-heartedly, gave a polite bow, and got into her car.
Unable to find a home she liked, she sat behind the steering wheel, lost in thought for a while before shaking her head and starting the engine.
After arriving home, Muhyeok couldn’t stop wondering where she had gone after work.
Having showered and been lying on the sofa, he suddenly sat upright.
After wrestling with his curiosity for a while, he finally called Muyeon.
“What’s gotten into you? Calling your older sister first for once?”
Muyeon sounded genuinely surprised. Since her younger brother was the last person she expected to call her, her voice rose an octave as she answered.
“Is Yoon Haeru home?”
“Hey! What do you mean ‘Yoon Haeru’? Don’t you know she’s my friend?”
Ignoring Muyeon’s scolding, he asked only what he wanted to know.
“Did she come home?”
His voice had become unusually serious, as though he didn’t even have the energy to respond to her complaint.
“No. She said she had something to take care of today, and since she had extra time afterward, she was going to look at apartments before coming home.”
“What?! Apartments?”
His face twisted in shock. He had never imagined she would be searching for a new place to live.
“Did you tell her to move out?”
“As if I’d do that.”
Muhyeok’s expression grew heavy, and he let out a deep sigh.
His face turned cold as he asked,
“Then why?”
“I don’t know! How should I know? I told her we’d treat her really well. Unless… maybe she found herself a boyfriend?”
At Muyeon’s casual remark, his expression froze.
“What?! A boyfriend?”
