"These are all the things that they've managed to save."
Mrs. Nam handed Se Ah a mid-size paper bag and furrowed her wrinkled forehead. Se Ah had been looking into the bag for a good couple of minutes, then pressed it to her chest, and sighed. Everything was ruined. Her apartment was destroyed almost entirely - carefully painted walls were now black, with yellow marks of water all over them; her furniture was burnt to a crisp, all her clothes, books, appliances... everything she owned was now nothing but ashes or piles of trash. Everything she owned was now in a mid-size paper bag she was pressing tightly to her chest.
Mrs. Nam, the owner of the ruined apartment, shook her head and wiped her teary eyes.
"God, I cannot believe this is happening to me because some idiot on the second floor fell asleep with a lit cigarette on his blanket! And he did not even die! Unbelievable!"
She then looked at Se Ah whose eyes were still glued to the part of the building where her apartment was located, put her hand on the woman's shoulder, and tried to cheer her up with a polite smile.
"Miss Yoon, I honestly have no idea what to say to you right now."
"How long will it take to fix everything?"
Se Ah asked unexpectedly loudly which made the old woman flinch.
"Well, I haven't contacted anyone yet, but my husband said it will definitely take a few months. I will refund your deposit today, however, -"
She looked at her with a rather awkward expression and continued,
"Since you did not sign up for insurance when we signed the contract... I'm afraid you won't be able to get reimbursed for everything you've lost. I'm really sorry."
Miss Yoon felt her hands start trembling again. Mrs. Nam was right - it was entirely her fault. She did not have money for insurance when she was moving in so she never signed up for one, and now it finally backfired. How ironic.
'I'm homeless now. I don't even have a change of clothes. What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go? Even if I manage to find a new place, I will have to buy new furniture, appliances, and clothes. It will set me back financially for another year. On top of however long I will have to spend saving up the other twenty million to buy that house. How unlucky.'
When Se Ah settled everything she could with her landlady, she sat down on a bench in the park behind her building, leaned back on it, and felt her tears flowing down, leaving hot traces on the temples of her head. It was hard, she could not deny it. And she hated herself for feeling so weak. She managed to survive a much bigger tragedy that happened ten years ago; not only that - she was able to move on and live her life as if nothing ever happened but this time... Although it felt almost the same... At least she was not completely alone.
"Miss Yoon?"
Her whole body flinched at the sound of a familiar voice. She wiped her face with her hands, looked to her right, and asked in a hoarse voice,
"Lee Min Hyun? What are you still doing here? Did not you go back to the office?"
The intern sat down next to her and wiped the remaining traces of hot tears from her face.
"I told Mr. Shin that you needed my help so he let me stay as long as needed."
Se Ah hated that too - the fact that someone like Min Hyun saw her vulnerable side, the fact that he saw her crying, everything. She swore to never show any weaknesses to men again, yet there she was - raw, exposed, defenseless. It was revolting.
"Miss Yoon, do you have a place to stay in the meantime?"
"Why? Are you going to invite me to stay with you?"
Min Hyun's serious face brightened up immediately. That was the plan, that was what he wanted from the very beginning - Yoon Se Ah, in his apartment, always before his eyes, always next to him, only for him. At that very moment, however, either because he was afraid to put her off, or was simply too excited at the thought of her coming to his apartment, he hesitated to reply, and Se Ah took it as a "no".
"Don't worry, I'll ask Da Hye if I can stay with her. Oh, speaking of which."
She looked at the screen of her phone which was vibrating and showing the caller's name in bold letters - "Boss Kang".
"Hello?"
"Yoon Se Ah! What the fuck happened? Are you really homeless now?!"
Da Hye's voice was so loud that Se Ah had to pull the phone away from her ear.
"Yeah, my apartment burnt down completely, I lost everything. So I was wondering... Can I crash at your place until I find a new one?"
The other end of the line went silent for a few moments but the silence was then interrupted by a loud sigh, and Da Hye spoke again in a somewhat apologetic voice,
"Ugh, the thing is, my apartment is being renovated so I was staying at the hotel, BUT! You can still come to stay in my suite, I'm leaving for Hong Kong tomorrow anyway, you'll have that gorgeous room for almost two months!"
She finished that sentence rather excitingly which made Se Ah exhale in relief, however, mooching off of her friend by staying in a very expensive hotel room was too much for her even in her current situation.
"Shit, Da Hye, that's too much --"
"Shut up, Yoon Se Ah, how can you even think about rejecting my offer when you're literally homeless right now? Moreover, the room was already paid for and I cannot get a refund so wouldn't it be better if someone actually used it?"
Se Ah had to admit that it was definitely better than paying for a hotel with her own money, she could not predict how long it would take to find a new apartment, especially with all the overtime that she had to pull even on weekends. The solution was obvious.
"Alright... Thanks, Da Hye, I owe you big time."
"Perfect! Come to the YL Hotel, I'll be waiting in the lobby."
Se Ah put her phone away and rubbed her frowning forehead. She did not have pleasant memories about YL but she was glad her living situation was resolved. Finally, she felt better, she could breathe again at last. She then remembered that Min Hyun was still sitting next to her, looked at him with her widened eyes, and asked,
"Lee Min Hyun, can you give me a lift?"
The guy smiled rather cunningly and said in a sweet voice,
"Sure. YL Hotel, right?"