Evening had just begun to fall, and darkness was settling in.
Under the orange sensor light, four people climbed the stairs in circles. The chill coming through the hallway windows was no longer felt by the time they reached about the fourth floor.
"I need to work hard and move to a place with an elevator," Kang Chaeyoung resolved to herself. Just as she did, beep beep beep, ding dong—she unlocked the door and slipped inside the house.
"I'm home~!"
Kang Chaeyoung kicked off her sneakers and disappeared into the narrow entrance. One after another, her mother and father squeezed their bodies into the darkened house. Following their lead, Kang Seok climbed the remaining stairs.
"Ugh, I'm so tired."
The first thing Kang Seok saw upon entering the house was Kang Chaeyoung, who had carelessly kicked off her sneakers and was sprawled out on the floor. The house was small to begin with, and the cramped space that couldn't even be called a living room felt utterly full when Chaeyoung stretched out flat on her back.
Her parents, as if used to it, slid their feet between her outstretched arms and legs and headed toward the kitchen and bedroom.
"How long will it take to get the results of the general health checkup?"
Walking casually toward the bathroom, Kang Chaeyoung muttered the question. It was clearly meant for herself. Kang Seok answered without even turning his head.
"About two weeks? We asked them to send it by mail."
Since there was no computer in every room in the house, mailing was definitely more convenient. Leaning against the bathroom door, Kang Seok took off his socks and dropped them into the laundry basket, while Kang Chaeyoung curled up like a shrimp.
"I hope it comes out soon."
No matter what drama she had watched, Kang Chaeyoung wished that her brother, who was fussing about his health, would calm down quickly. Really, she hoped so. While humming a random tune with no real meaning, Kang Chaeyoung blinked slowly. An ant was crawling by.
"An ant."
"Kang Chaeyoung. When you get home, you should change your clothes."
"Okayyyy."
Hearing Baek Myeong-hee's voice from the kitchen, Kang Chaeyoung nodded and got up.
"Anyway, I'm not planning to lie down on a floor with ants crawling all over it."
"Want some tissue?"
"No, it's useless. Even if you catch them, more will come out."
Kang Chaeyoung stood and hurried to her room. Seeing that, Kang Seok, who was about to grab some tissue in the bathroom, dropped his hand with a flick.
Ants... Alone in front of the bathroom door, Kang Seok watched an ant crawl into a small gap in the vinyl flooring. From the kitchen, Baek Myeong-hee's voice came again.
"Seok, did you put the leftover money from the payment into the bank account properly?"
"Yes, I did."
"Good, good."
Baek Myeong-hee, rushing around preparing dinner in the kitchen, turned toward Kang Seok holding a bottle of canola oil.
"Now you can buy something you want with that, okay?"
"Got it. Need any help?"
"No, the kitchen is my domain. I'll have the meal ready soon, so wait a bit. About thirty minutes? Everyone heard that, right? Dinner in thirty minutes?"
"Yesss."
"Alright."
Baek Myeong-hee shouted as she hurried around the kitchen, and responses echoed from around the poorly soundproofed house. Kang Seok nodded and turned to head to his room.
As he entered, the savory scent of sesame oil—probably drizzled instead of canola—spread through the house.
It was an ordinary late evening.
.
.
.
The next morning.
Kang Seok packed his things and came out of his room. Kang Hyun-do and Baek Myeong-hee had already left for work, so the house was quiet. On the white table, lit by the morning light, there was a Post-it note and a square wrapped in foil.
[Son, I'm leaving first. It's cold, so have some toast before you go. Love you always ♥]
[-Mom-]
Though short, the Post-it was full of affection. Kang Seok's lips twitched. As he slowly fiddled with the foil, suddenly the door slammed open behind him.
Looking toward the sound, there was Kang Chaeyoung. As expected, she was wrapped in a blanket, wiggling her toes.
"If you have something to say, say it."
"Oppa."
"Yeah?"
"Can I bring a friend over tonight? Yoon Yuran! You know her, my close friend, remember?"
Yoon Yuran?
Kang Seok turned the name over in his mouth, recalling the excited kid who had been bouncing around. Ah, that girl.
"Do whatever you want."
"Yesss! No backing out?"
"Yeah, I don't care."
Whatever. Kang Chaeyoung made a fighting pose and tapped away on her phone. She seemed satisfied with the result. Kang Seok nodded roughly and focused on unwrapping the foil.
It was Kang Seok's favorite ham and egg toast. That was the real deal. Though slightly cold, the warm aura around the toast made him feel good as he brought it to his mouth.
Kang Seok added a side note to Chaeyoung.
"I'll be late coming home tonight anyway."
"Huh? What?"
"I have plans tonight, so I'll be late. I already told Mom and Dad last night, but they're both coming home late too. Hang out with your friend comfortably."
Finishing his sentence, Kang Seok bit into the toast. It was delicious. As he moved toward the door, he waved his hand carelessly.
"Alright, I'm off. Study hard."
"Yeah, yeah. Take care."
Bang.
Watching the door close, Kang Chaeyoung alternated her gaze between her phone and the entrance.
[He said it's okay. He doesn't mind.]
[Ooooh! So I guess I'll see Oppa tonight?] 1
[Kyaaaa >
[(Emoji)(Bouncing emoticon)] 1
[So happy!] 1
Looking at the flood of KakaoTalk messages, Kang Chaeyoung suddenly felt very tired. She pressed the call button to correct the facts, but wrapped in her blanket, she bounced like a caterpillar, heading to her room.
Kang Chaeyoung sighed deeply. She already felt like she could hear the pterodactyl screams coming.
━ ···Is there a preferred date for your visit?
"Is tomorrow possible?"
━ Tomorrow is only available in the evening, with 30-minute slots after 6 pm. When would you like?
"Then 6:30 pm tomorrow."
━ Okay, your reservation is confirmed. We will send you a text message for confirmation.
"Thank you."
━ Thank you. Have a nice day.
Staring quietly at the ended call, a text arrived. After checking the date and time and the driver's business card that came with it, Kang Seok put his phone in his pocket.
A slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Seeing Kang Seok act this way, Goduhan quietly asked,
"What's that?"
"Nothing much. Just something I wanted to apply for."
"Hmm. Related to your work?"
"No, nothing like that."
Only then did Goduhan lose interest. The sky was already dark, almost black.
A winter evening sky with no stars, only a plane flying overhead. Goduhan and Kang Seok resumed their slow walk. Kang Seok silently thought about the text he had just received.
Pest control specialist company Sescox.
That was the place that sent the text after their call. Kang Seok had wondered where to spend the leftover money after the health checkup, and then remembered the ants crawling in their house yesterday.
The villa, built over 50 years ago, no matter how much it was repaired or kept clean, still had rust-colored water and cockroaches. It was the kind of home where lying down meant you could easily see ants crawling on the floor.
And usually, Kang Chaeyoung was the one who suffered most from this.
Though she attended school and academy like Kang Seok, she stayed home longer than him—who went to academy even on weekends—and especially compared to their parents, who practically lived in the furniture store 365 days a year.
So she saw the most cockroaches and fought the most with pill bugs. It was because of Kang Chaeyoung that they decided to pay for Sescox pest control.
Normally, Kang Chaeyoung acts composed and calm when someone is beside her and casually catches bugs, but when she's home alone, she freezes like ice at the sight of a cockroach, pulls the blanket over her head, and just cries.
"A special service."
Just thinking about how surprised the prematurely mature Chaeyoung would be made Kang Seok already look forward to tomorrow. At the same time, Goduhan, who was walking ahead, stopped in his tracks.
"We've arrived."
At those words, Kang Seok peered forward. The hanok-style house looked incredibly expensive even from a glance outside.
"Let's go in."
Goduhan stepped toward the hanok with the large character [정 (Jeong, meaning "affection" or "connection")] emblazoned on its tiled roof. Kang Seok followed behind. After all, neither Goduhan nor he were the hosts for today's meeting.
It was Park Jiyeop.
Professor of Sculptural Arts at Hanyang University of the Arts. He was the host, and tonight's dinner was the actual appointment.
Before joining the anatomy project, Kang Seok had requested to have dinner once with him, so this meeting was arranged.
However, Goduhan's expression was not good.
"When was the time we were grateful just to get a seat, and now he's acting like we're taking an entrance exam and wants to eat somewhere this fancy?"
Goduhan grumbled all the way into the hanok.
"This guy's weird. When I asked him for a recommendation, he was all friendly, but when I called yesterday, his attitude totally changed."
He had said he'd accept whoever Goduhan recommended no questions asked, but now he acted like he was judging Kang Seok.
Goduhan had offered his "golden hand" to help since Kang Seok had no connections, but now seemed to doubt whether their personalities matched. Whatever happened in a day, Goduhan was embarrassed to see Kang Seok caught up in this situation.
"Seok, just so you don't get the wrong idea, this kind of testing is not my style."
Listening to Goduhan's ongoing excuses, Kang Seok nodded vaguely. He knew better than anyone that Goduhan disliked this kind of probing.
"It's okay."
Three hundred a month.
A high schooler making 300 a month — what did it matter if he got some questions while eating a free meal? Kang Seok didn't have any special feelings about this interview disguised as dinner.
In a world where even the 10 won earned by digging dirt wasn't really his, this was more than comfortable enough.
With a relaxed heart, Kang Seok followed Goduhan.
"Welcome."
"Welcome!"
As the door opened, a large greeting came from a dignified middle-aged woman dressed in hanbok approaching.
"How many people?"
"I have a reservation under Park Jiyeop's name…"
"Ah, yes. I will show you to your seat. Please wait a moment."
Following the woman deeper inside, Kang Seok thought about what he could do with 300 a month. He didn't feel even a shred of anxiety about possibly not joining the project.
The moment Kang Seok and Goduhan stepped into the restaurant Jeong,
Park Jiyeop sat calmly drinking tea inside a room.
Warm. As he savored the tea's taste, Hwang Nomin, looking nervous, spoke.
"Professor, are you really going to look for that boy?"
"Not necessarily."
If the recommendation Goduhan brought today wasn't better than that boy, he would consider searching for him.
That was the reason he said he would arrange the meeting himself, and why he offered to provide the meal.
"Since there's nowhere to look anyway… why don't you just take the person Goduhan recommends? And Goduhan's already giving you his time…!"
"I said not necessarily. I'll see today. It's a position paying 300 a month, so an interview is basic."
"No… Professor…!"
When he first asked for a recommendation, now he was acting like he might reject it. Goduhan might be annoyed, but he had already found an excellent candidate. He just wanted a pencil that matched at least that level.
As Park Jiyeop lifted the tea to his lips again, murmurs came from outside.
"This is the room to enter."
"Thank you."
"Thank you."
They had arrived. Since this was the most remote room, no one but Goduhan and the candidate would find this corridor.
Hwang Nomin, apparently thinking the same, straightened his clothes nervously. While ready to leave at any moment, the door opened.
Park Jiyeop's eyes softened. At the same time, through narrowed eyes, he saw Goduhan and a young-looking student with horns — a high schooler, surely, since Goduhan had brought him.
Park Jiyeop carefully examined the boy with reddish-brown hair and expressionless face. When the boy half rose from his seat, Park Jiyeop thought again.
Isn't the recommendation from Cheonghwa Arts High School? Then it wouldn't be so hard to reject.
With that thought, he stepped forward. The boy looked surprised and glanced sideways.
It wasn't a look toward Park Jiyeop. It was toward Hwang Nomin beside him.
"Ah."
And Hwang Nomin responded,
"Uh, uh! That day, that…"
A strong reaction. Park Jiyeop's pupils dilated. It might be a mistake, but he knew there were very few events recently that could cause such a sudden response from Hwang Nomin. Could it be…? His gaze quickly shifted back to the boy.
"Yes. We met at the hospital."
"Yeah! At Sangang Hospital, in the corridor… with paper! Do you remember?"
"Yes? Of course. Nice to see you again."
"Yeah. But, by any chance, what's your name?"
"Kang Seok."
Kang Seok. The boy introduced himself. Sangang Hospital. Paper in the hallway. Park Jiyeop quickly deduced who this high schooler was. This was him.
Watching Kang Seok and Hwang Nomin reach out their hands to each other, Park Jiyeop's eyes gleamed. Taking long steps, he lightly pushed on Hwang Nomin's shoulder. Naturally, Hwang Nomin moved aside, and Kang Seok's hand met Park Jiyeop's.
"Hello. Haha. I'm Park Jiyeop."
"…Hello?"
What is this now? Kang Seok looked up at Park Jiyeop with slightly bewildered eyes. But Park Jiyeop didn't show any sign of that. No way. He was excited for the first time in a long time.
Destiny.
Park Jiyeop was feeling fate.
"God gave me this project to succeed. This was a destined connection. For this project…!"
"Shall we sit? Do you like Korean beef?"
"Yes. I do."
"Ah, great. This place grills Korean beef really well. How about cold noodles? This place is famous for Korean beef and cold noodles… haha. Which do you prefer, bibim naengmyeon or mul naengmyeon?"
Using the best hospitality he could muster, Park Jiyeop began guiding Kang Seok to the seat. The interview and all had already disappeared from his mind.
Watching Park Jiyeop, Hwang Nomin and Goduhan stared dumbfounded.
Park Jiyeop, the anatomy freak professor of Hanyang University of the Arts sculptural arts department.
Though he seemed kind with gentle eyes and warm speech, his true nature was that of a highly socialized rationalist.
In contrast to Goduhan, who was gruff but kindhearted, Park Jiyeop was affectionate but unrelentingly cold.
It was no exaggeration to say his love existed solely for anatomy.
Seeing Park Jiyeop escort Kang Seok with a smile, Goduhan was confused, thinking,
Who the hell are you?