Chapter 2. The Man Next Door (2)

Translator: Lili

I spent some time sitting idly on the sofa, staring vacantly into space. With no wall clock to mark the hours, Minyoung’s home felt like a place where time stood still. The only indication of its passage was my gradually drying hair and clothes.

As I sat in a daze, stray thoughts began piling up.

‘It’s raining outside. Let’s go out!’

‘Shall we go see the sea?’

‘Why did you leave me?’

‘Die!’

*Swish. Swish. Swish…*

The echoes swirled in my head, dulling my senses like I was underwater.

My chest felt tight, and my mind started to fog up. Just then—

*Thud!*

I heard something fall.

The light noise jolted me back to reality, and the relentless sound of rain filled my ears again.

It seemed like the umbrella propped up by the shoe cabinet had toppled over. Slowly, I turned my head. It was a meaningless gesture, prompted solely by the sound.

That was until I saw the figure standing at the open entrance.

“…”

The sun must have set because the surroundings were pitch black. The house felt even darker since I hadn’t turned on a single light.

Amid the darkness stood the silhouette of a tall man with broad shoulders.

“…”

“…”

— That guy’s so obsessed with sleeping with me that I told him to come to my bar if he was that desperate. But he didn’t want to pay. After a few times, he started acting like he was my boyfriend, getting all clingy. Honestly, I’d rather stay in prison than deal with him.

It was probably the man next door. The one Minyoung said was obsessed with her. Who else would come down to the basement with only two units? Seeing the door open, he must have thought Minyoung had returned and peeked inside.

Too tired to speak, I simply stared. The figure stirred, seemingly searching his pocket, before a click sparked a faint glow.

He cupped his hand over the flame and tilted his head to the side, presumably lighting a cigarette. His hand obscured his face.

Right. That’s what I’d been missing.

A sudden, overwhelming craving surged through me. How long had it been since I last saw a cigarette?

“Hey.”

The words left my mouth as if under a spell.

“Can I have one?”

The man snapped his lighter shut with a sharp click. Darkness enveloped us once more.

“Just one.”

A quiet chuckle escaped from the shadows.

“Not for free.”

His voice was unnervingly deep.

Maybe it was the rain, often described as white noise, amplifying focus. His voice struck my ears with piercing clarity.

“I’ll pay you back double.”

He exhaled, smoke wafting faintly in the dim light. I could almost smell it.

At this point, the craving was unbearable. After six years of enforced abstinence, I felt irrationally desperate, as if I’d do anything for a single puff.

“I’ll pay you back triple. No, quadruple.”

“High demand. Raise the offer more.””

“You’re ridiculous. How much profit are you trying to make off a single cigarette?”

“I have to make a living.”

His relaxed demeanor infuriated me as I trembled from withdrawal symptoms.

“Am I asking for much? Just one cigarette. Is that too much to ask?”

Leaning helplessly against the sofa, I fumed, hearing a low chuckle again.

“Why the informal speech to someone you just met?”

“You live next door, right?”

“If I do?”

“I’m Choi Minyoung’s friend.”

“So?”

“You’re her boyfriend, aren’t you? She said you’re about the same age as her. That means we’re probably the same age too.”

It was a lie. If anything, their relationship seemed closer to ‘casual partners’, and all I’d heard about him was Minyoung’s complaints. I didn’t even know his age. I’d spoken informally without thinking, and when he called me out, I improvised an excuse.

The important thing wasn’t the formality, it was the cigarette. I had no time for small talk.

“Minyoung and I are close. We shared a cell in prison. She gave me the code so I could stay here.”

“And?”

“You can’t spare a single cigarette for your girlfriend’s friend?”

Finally, the man seemed persuaded. He began walking into the room.

Even as the stranger approached, I felt no sense of alarm. More accurately, all my attention was focused on the cigarette, leaving me no room to be wary of the man.

Nothing else mattered. If I didn’t get a cigarette in my hands right now, I felt as though my body might just melt away and die. It might sound like an exaggeration, but that’s exactly how I felt.

*Step. Step.*

Footsteps echoed as he entered without removing his shoes. I didn’t care.

Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.

At last, he stood right in front of the sofa. His face was still hidden in darkness, but the glow of the cigarette he was smoking was vivid.

I tilted my head up with desperate longing, staring at the red ember. His face followed as he lowered the cigarette held between his fingers toward me.

*Click.*

The sound of a lighter being flicked cut through the silence, and a sudden light illuminated the air. I reflexively looked up again and locked eyes with the stranger across the flame.

“…”

“…”

A thought crossed my mind.

‘Why would she hate someone so good-looking?’

Knowing Minyoung, who always declared that a man’s face was everything, I couldn’t understand why she’d been so repulsed whenever she talked about the guy next door.

He looked drenched, probably from the rain, with water dripping from the strands of his soaked hair. The droplets trailing down the sharp lines of his face were stunningly perfect. His features were a bit rough, but undeniably handsome.

“You’re pretty.”

I said. Still holding my gaze, he inhaled deeply on his cigarette, his cheeks hollowing in a way that was almost sensual. But to me, the cigarette took precedence over his looks.

“Do you really want one?”

He asked. I gestured impatiently with my hand, signaling for him to hand it over. He smirked, lowering his cigarette-holding hand to his groin and turning the filter toward me.

“Want to s*ck on this?”

It was clear he was offering the cigarette, but the unnecessary lowering of his hand was a deliberate provocation. He probably thought I’d be too flustered to take him up on it.

Sorry to disappoint, but I wasn’t that naive. Six years in prison had exposed me to every kind of dirty story, leaving my heart hardened. A little teasing like this wasn’t enough to make me back off.

Without hesitation, I leaned forward. He was tall, so his groin was nearly at my eye level.