Double-Piece

But still. He’s handsome and has fair skin, so he looks like a well-bred gentleman. Well, then you’ve never done dishes in your life. In any case, Seok-ju wasn’t the type of person who was suited to washing dishes.

Ajin looked at the pot with anxious eyes. Then she sighed deeply and turned her head. It wasn’t an expensive glass bowl. It was just a pot. Even if he had monstrous strength, would he be able to break an iron pot with a worn-out scrubber?

Ah-jin tried to focus on washing the dishes. Seok-ju, who had just washed the pot, slowly took the dishes in front of Ah-jin. Then Ah-jin lifted her buttocks, opened her eyes wide, and inspected what Seok-ju had washed. She wondered if there were any grains of rice or red pepper powder. But unexpectedly, they were clean.

I was washing the dishes with great force, and it felt like all the old dirt was being washed away. Ajin looked at the dishes that were making a squeaking sound.

… … Are your hands surprisingly nimble?

Ajin tilted her head several times as she finished washing the dishes. She even washed the basin and turned it upside down. She wiped her hands, frozen in cold water, on her trouser pockets, and looked up at Seokju with a tired face.

“Why are you here? Are you really here to do the dishes?”

“No. To give money.”

“… … .”

Ajin’s face immediately turned cold. He turned around as if he had not heard anything, as if he would not hear anything. Then he quickly crossed the yard with a limping gait. Seokju, with his long legs, overtook Ajin in a few steps. His overcoat fluttered in the night breeze. The fabric was so soft that it looked like the flapping of a butterfly’s wings.

Seok-ju finally handed over the money. Last time, he had handed over a wad of money in an ignorant manner, but this time, the money was in a plain pay envelope. Ah-jin glared at it as if she was angry. Then Seok-ju rebuked him in a soft voice.

“I’m not giving it to you in exchange for selling your body. I’m giving it to you to make up for it with money.”

“… … What does that mean?”

“I’m sorry.

Ajin bit her lower lip. The money seemed to be more than last time. It was thick, so it was definitely a large sum of money that Ajin couldn’t even dream of.

But he wasn’t happy. He did that even though Kkotnim had told him to take the money.

Even after receiving this money… … I wondered if I could continue to stay here. Wouldn’t it look strange if I held onto this money and worked as a servant?

Ajin took a half step back and lowered her head.

“Even if you give me money, it’s useless.”

“Why is it useless?”

Seok-ju asked back as if he found it strange.

“… … .”

Ajin chose to remain silent. She couldn’t go outside. She couldn’t say that. With that money, she could easily buy a small house. Then there’s no need to work here. I’ll be free.

Ajin was not happy about that. She had no family, and if she lived alone, she would have to cook for herself, buy vegetables herself, and sleep alone. She would have to go out a lot.

Then again, the car might run over me. Eventually, the car might grow to the size of a house and crush the whole house.

Ah-jin, who had been hesitating, reluctantly accepted the money. She had no use for it, but money wasn’t a bad thing. She just wanted to put it between her clothes, in the gap of the attic, or between the beams. She also thought that if she accepted this, Seok-ju wouldn’t come looking for her anymore.

As expected, Seok-ju’s expression brightened. It seemed as if he thought the weight of his sins had been lightened.

Ajin looked at Seokju while fiddling with the envelope of money.

“Are you the boss?”

“huh?”

“A blanket and medicine.”

“huh.”

Seok-ju immediately agreed. Judging from the smile on his lips, he seemed to really like the way he was atonement.

Ah-jin let out a small laugh. Is the boss really that big of a deal? He apologized profusely for eating something after the bell rang, and even gave her money for medicine and a blanket.

It would be so shameful to have followed a man around that you could have just torn me up and thrown me into the mountains to be eaten by wild beasts. That would be much easier. You’re doing it because it’s a hassle.

As Ajin opened her mouth to say that the apology was over, Seokju strode forward again. Now they were close enough that his hot breath was blowing across Ajin’s forehead.

Ajin felt as if her whole body was tightly bound by ropes. She wanted to step back, but instinctively she felt that if she ran away, she would be severely punished.

Seok-ju licked his lower lip. His red tongue, like his hot body temperature, came out and disappeared.

Ajin quickly lowered her eyes when she saw that. It was because she suddenly remembered that night when he licked her cheek and chest. Strangely, her nipples tingled, so she pulled her shoulders together and then straightened them.

At that moment, Seok-ju muttered in a low voice.

“apologize…….”

“yes?”

“Did you… receive the apology?”

“… … I’m receiving it right now.”

“No, not a verbal apology.”

“You’re apologizing with money right now.”

Seok-ju was flustered by the retort that continued without fail. Ah-jin also found that strange. Why was she flustered? If it had been another superior, she would have slapped him in the face right away. Anyway, Seok-ju was a strange person.

Seok-ju let out a long sigh through his nose. His breath swept through A-jin’s shaggy bangs. A-jin’s clear, navy blue eyes appeared briefly and then disappeared. Seok-ju stared at them persistently and spoke.

“So, there should have been a basket next to the blanket.”

“… … .”

Ajin’s eyelashes curled upward. This morning. The basket lying on the floor came to mind belatedly. Could that have been given to her by Seokju?

Rather than feeling happy, I sighed first. Since I was acting so strangely, the other servants must have known about my relationship with Seokju. They must have been talking about all sorts of things behind my back.

Ajin squinted her eyes slightly and then opened them. She was already being bullied all over because she was limping and it was a hindrance to her work. She thought that the days ahead would be even more difficult.

“I’ll look it up before I go to bed.”

“Oh, okay. Then-”

“good night.”

As always, Ajin bowed with her back straight. She had grown up getting beaten up for greeting roughly, so it was just a habit. Seokju didn’t like that greeting at all. It felt like Ajin was always drawing a line.

Well, I wondered if there was another reason not to draw the line, but what I didn’t like was what I didn’t like.

Ajin left before Seokju could even open his mouth.

Seok-ju watched A-jin limping away, and recalled the eyes he had seen a few seconds ago. Above those eyes, the image of A-jin crying under him that night overlapped.

“… … .”

The lower body suddenly stood up without any warning.

The servants who lived busy lives day after day would fall asleep as soon as the early evening came. Snoring was loud here and there. Ajin quietly entered the room and laid out the blanket. Then her eyes met with the cotton blanket on the blanket stand.

“… … .”

After thinking for a moment, Ajin took it out and spread it out neatly. Right now, this blanket was more useful to Ajin than money. It was warm and cozy. It was perfect for Ajin, who felt cold easily. It was a summer night, so other species wouldn’t covet it.

After finishing tidying up the bedding, Ajin brought out the basket that she had left on top of the drawer this morning. Ajin knelt down with her feet crossed. Then, half excited and half afraid, she opened the basket lid.

At the same time, his eyebrows furrowed.

“what’s this…….”

There were five round apples in the basket.

* * *

Ajin, kneeling in the hallway, was diligently cleaning the floor. Today, the members of the organization suddenly came home early, so all the servants were out of their minds. They had a quick lunch of kimchi and scorched rice with the leftover rice from the pot, and were just lying down to rest when the bell rang, ding, ding—and everyone had to jump up as if they had been struck by lightning.

The kitchen was busy preparing dinner, and the other servants were also going about their own business. Ajin had also come into the hallway to do her own work.

Ajin checked to see if the lantern was torn or burned, and also inspected the floor. It was summer, so it was humid and rained often, so she had to check to see if the wood was warped or rotten. After that, she mopped the floor with a rag that was completely dry and wrung out.

Hanoks always need to be looked at and taken care of. If you pay attention to them, they will shine even more, and if you don’t pay attention to them, they will quickly become warped and sick. I don’t know because I lived in a gambling house, which is a Western-style building, my whole life, but other servants who worked in noble families said that. Then that must be the case.

It was a hassle, but it was easier than going to a casino. In a casino, you had to clean up the vomit someone had left behind, the urine and feces that had been spilled on the floor in a perfectly good toilet, and the blood stains that someone had left behind.

Ajin was wiping the floor without even realizing that her knees were hurting.

Someone was leaning against a wooden pillar, stealing glances at Ajin’s swaying buttocks, her ten white toes pressed against the floor, her protruding pink heels, and her slender neck revealed by her hair falling forward.

Ajin didn’t notice his gaze at first, but as the lights in the house came on one by one, his shadow brushed the back of her hand, and she finally noticed. Ajin pretended not to notice his earnest and sticky gaze and continued to clean the floor.

Then I arrived in front of Seok-ju’s room. In the past, I would listen in secretly, poke my face through the crack in the door, and look at Seok-ju’s ashtray next to the floor, but these days, I couldn’t do that.

It felt somehow masculine and embarrassing to loiter around his room. But today, instead of feeling embarrassed, I felt annoyed. It was because of the owner of this mansion who followed the cleaning servant around with that big body.

Ajin turned the rag over and folded it, asking the air.

“Who gave the apple to you?”