Chapter 5

　　Through the open window, not only the pounding music but also a boisterous clamor drifted in. It seemed another peaceful night’s sleep was out of the question. Yiseo let out a short sigh.

　　Taegyeom was a truly enigmatic man. It had only been two weeks since he’d arrived in Korea, yet he was out carousing every night or constantly inviting people over for parties. It was a mystery, Yiseo thought, how someone with such a cantankerous personality could have so many friends.

　　"What are you doing here?"

　　The memory flickered before her eyes: the drop of water rolling down his sharp jawline, his jet-black hair slick with water, the deep furrow between his smooth brows. The way his eyes had glared at her, as if she were an irritating object. He surely wouldn’t treat his friends with such insolence. Then again, she couldn’t quite picture him being kind even to his closest companions.

　　Yiseo turned the rattling fan toward herself, letting the breeze wash over her. She recalled his dazzling, naked form rising from the water. The memory of her own dazed expression as she stared, utterly transfixed, was so mortifying it was humbling.

　　A shiver ran through her, her body shrinking at the thought. Only today did she truly resonate with the desperate feeling behind the phrase, "I wish the ground could swallow me up whole." She was sorry for unintentionally seeing him naked, but… even if he lived there alone, didn’t people normally wear a swimsuit?

　　Yiseo shook her head, her gaze fixed on the noisy annex beyond the window. With a body like that, if he suddenly launched himself out of a pool without a scrap of clothing on, anyone would have stared, stunned, just as she had. That massive… God, I must be crazy.

　　Yiseo squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish the image from her mind. Heat flooded her face, and fanning herself with her hand did nothing to cool it. She was appalled at herself for constantly dwelling on him. With a deep sigh, she pressed the cold beer can to her hot cheeks.

　　The sight of his naked body, which she had seen by accident, was truly abnormal. It was strange, shocking, and utterly bizarre. That had to be why it kept replaying in her mind.

　　"Were you staring at my cock because you wanted a taste?"

　　And that absurd, vulgar mouth on him… At the time, she had been so dumbfounded she couldn’t even form a response. Yiseo gave a short shudder, then got up and closed the container’s window. The blaring music instantly became fainter.

　　When she drew the curtains, the bright lights from outside still flickered from behind the thin fabric. I need to buy blackout curtains, she resolved, making a mental note to go shopping on the weekend as she tidied up the empty beer can.

　　After brushing her teeth, she sat in bed, leaning against the headboard to read. The day’s fatigue and a pleasant buzz from the alcohol combined to make the letters before her blur and distort. She was dozing off when her head suddenly dropped, snapping her awake.

　　She put the book down and crawled under the covers. The light pouring from the annex still flickered beyond the thin curtains, fluttering at the edges restlessly. Sighing, she turned her back to the window.

　　The shadows cast by the light danced and wavered on the container wall.

　　That night, Yiseo couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. And in the annex, the lights never went out.

　　Part 2

　　"I’m here."

　　As she opened the side door and stepped inside, the fragrant aroma of cooking rice filled the kitchen.

　　"Oh, Yiseo, you’re here? Hurry and sit down," Chef Kim greeted her, waving the ladle in his hand.

　　The other staff members seated around the table also offered warm good mornings. It was a lively start to the day, just like any other.

　　The moment she sat at the far end of the table, a bowl piled high with rice, a portion fit for a farmhand, was placed before her. Steam billowed from the rice, which was mixed with a generous amount of gondeure thistle. The person next to her pushed over small bowls of seasoned soy sauce and perilla oil.

　　"Wow, it’s gondeurebap."

　　"Yes, you like that, don’t you? I made it with gondeure sent from Jeongseon yesterday. It’s a delicacy, so eat your fill. Jeongseon gondeure has a very unique fragrance."

　　"Thank you for the meal."

　　"Don’t mix the soy sauce in right away. Try it with a bit of the stew first," Chef Kim advised, setting a bubbling pot of soybean paste stew, loaded with brisket, next to her rice bowl.

　　He gave her back a friendly pat before turning back to the kitchen, already busy flipping mackerel on the grill.

　　"What the? Yiseo’s stew is packed with meat! That’s just not fair. Mine was all shepherd’s purse," the gardener grumbled playfully from across the table, having already finished his meal and now rinsing his mouth with water.

　　"Why would I be nice enough to give extra meat to the man who makes me scoop another bowl of rice for him first thing in the morning? I’ll never understand why someone who can come in late insists on showing up at the crack of dawn to eat all our food."

　　"Because the food here is delicious, that’s why," the gardener retorted with a grin, scooping out the flesh of a halved kiwi with a teaspoon.

　　Yiseo chuckled along and picked up her spoon. She took a large bite of the gondeurebap, lightly drizzled with perilla oil. The savory, earthy aroma of the greens instantly filled her mouth.

　　"Did you sleep well last night?" Matron Seosan asked, deftly peeling a kiwi with a small knife. "I heard they were partying up a storm at the annex again. Could you hear everything from your room?"

　　Yiseo swallowed a mouthful of the rich soybean paste stew before answering.

　　"Oh, it was fine once I fell asleep. You know me, I sleep like a log."

　　In truth, she had woken up tossing and turning several times. The music blaring over the annex wall had been far too loud to serve as a lullaby.

　　"Well, that’s a relief. After you finish eating, I need you to come to the annex with me today."

　　"…The annex?" Yiseo looked up, her eyes wide with bewilderment.

　　"We have to get the whole place cleaned up while the young master is sleeping upstairs. You know how he hates running into the staff. But after a night of carrying on like yesterday, there’s no way I can clean up that disaster by myself."

　　Since Taegyeom Kwon’s return, he had already thrown several raucous parties. After a night of raising such a ruckus that the ground practically shook, it was painfully obvious what a wreck the house would be.

　　Shaking her head as if she could see it all clearly, Matron Seosan continued, "I have to get it all tidied up and be out of there before he wakes up, and I can’t possibly do it alone. Did you have anything scheduled today?"

　　"No," Yiseo replied.

　　Her duties were never strictly defined. Depending on the day, she helped in the kitchen, tended the gardens and vegetable patch, or vacuumed the common areas of the staff quarters. In truth, it was a stretch to even call her an official employee.

　　She hadn’t returned to the mansion as a hired worker; she had simply fled here, hiding in the only place she had ever known. It was both absurd and ironic that she had returned on her own to the very place she had once fought so desperately to escape.

　　Though she had once considered the cramped, shabby container house to be squalid and loathsome, now the memory of her family of three, bustling within its walls, was her only source of comfort.

　　Last winter, after a series of devastating events, Yiseo had taken a leave of absence from school and sealed herself inside the container, passing the days in a listless haze. It was the mansion staff who had finally dragged her out after more than a week of seclusion. Some of them had known her since she was a child and seemed to take pity on her circumstances.

　　Before long, she found herself being prodded along by Matron Seosan’s firm hand, and by spring she had begun helping with odd jobs around the staff quarters. Soon after, Manager Gong Jihun, who oversaw all the mansion staff, presented her with an employment contract.

　　The salary was surprisingly generous, nearly matching what she could earn by diligently tutoring during the school semester. It was a bewilderingly kind offer. Although hiring was Manager Gong’s prerogative, it could not have happened without the approval of Chairman Kwon and his wife.

　　If her mother were alive, she would have said they were once again deeply indebted to the owners.

　　"Then come with me and help clean the annex today. With two of us, it’ll be quick. Is that okay?"

　　"Yes."

　　"Good. Hurry up and finish your food." Matron Seosan cut the peeled kiwi into bite-sized pieces on a plate, then began to carefully debone the grilled mackerel in front of Yiseo, placing the flaky fish meat onto her rice.

　　Yiseo gazed down at her bowl. She had thought she would never again receive such warm, attentive care, yet here she was, living a life of surprising comfort. Perhaps the affectionate family in the staff quarters was making her soft.

　　"Your fate is pretty… fucked up, isn’t it?"

　　Why did that phrase surface now? Here she was, being treated to a morning feast fit for a king; there was no way her fate was fucked up. A faint, foolish smile touched her lips as she scooped up a large bite of rice and fish. The savory, fragrant aroma of the greens flooded her senses.