AT Ch4

Even without that, it was a windy place by the sea, even on dry days.

If she didn’t do this, all the rain would leak through the concrete holes, turning the room into a sea of water. This was why Baekyoung, who liked looking at the sea, didn’t want to live next to the house where someone had died a few days ago. The closer to the sea, the more miserably it would flood.

Since she was already up, she took out the bloated ramen from the microwave, which had no broth left.

There was no need to reheat it. Too lazy to even find chopsticks, she drank the soggy noodles as they were, and they mashed like porridge in her mouth. If she just thought of it as MSG-flavored porridge, it was edible.

Knock knock.

No one would look for her here without contacting her first. Someone was knocking on the door.

Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock.

She just stared at the door without answering, and the knocking became faster.

She had a feeling she knew who was standing outside. Jang Heejo, who had knocked on her door with his middle finger.

Baekyoung swallowed the ramen in her mouth and walked to the front door. When she opened it, the wind and rain blew in. It seemed to be pouring. Jang Heejo’s bangs were already wet, and he frowned as he saw the laundry being pushed back with the plywood when she opened the door.

“How come the house next door is fine?”

He still hadn’t left, it seemed. The noise she had occasionally heard through the sound of the rain was Jang Heejo making it. Baekyoung hesitated, and he pushed her aside and came inside.

“Leaving someone standing outside without telling them to come in. You have no manners.”

Jang Heejo glanced around the room and stared in horror at the bloated cup ramen Baekyoung was still holding in one hand.

“What… brings you here?”

“Switch rooms. This place is nice and dry. I’ll call someone to clean the house next door tomorrow, so move out.”

Jang Heejo rummaged through the place where Baekyoung barely had a mattress to sleep on, then sat down as if it were his own home.

Baekyoung was reminded that she was still under his suspicion. This was likely a ploy to search the house. If that was the case, he could just turn everything upside down like thugs would, so why was he suggesting they switch rooms?

She couldn’t figure out Jang Heejo’s intentions.

Jang Heejo was already leaning back on the pillow, taking out his phone, and moving his fingers quickly. Then, he looked at Baekyoung, who was standing still at the front door, and gestured with his chin.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you leaving?”

Why was the young master acting like this?

In the end, Baekyoung couldn’t say another word to Jang Heejo and quietly went out into the hallway where the rain was pouring in. To avoid the harsh wind and rain hitting her body, she went next door. It was probably the house where Jang Heejo had been until now.

“Wow…”

A single bed, a refrigerator, and even a small wardrobe, all the furnishings that could be used immediately were brand new. The room was small, so they probably couldn’t fit anything larger.

The front door was still kicked in, as it was difficult to repair immediately. It was perfect except for the rain leaking through the gap, wetting the floor. Baekyoung quickly closed the door and stuffed the hole with neatly folded towels on one side.

It would be better than blocking the hole with the designer clothes in the closet.

They said they’d call someone to clean this place too, so they’d take care of it.

Baekyoung walked to the bed as if possessed and wrapped herself in the light, fluffy blanket. It smelled new. Lying on the soft bed, which couldn’t be compared to the hard mattress with broken springs, her eyes closed again on their own.

This situation might be a dream. But before she could continue thinking, the warm energy led Baekyoung into a comfortable sleep.

Jang Heejo came out, but even this was clearly a good dream. They said if a famous person appeared in your dream, you should buy a lottery ticket. At this point, it wouldn’t be bad to spend a little of the money she had and buy a lottery ticket.

Baekyoung, who was falling asleep to the sound of thunder and heavy rain as a lullaby, couldn’t help but smile, raising the corners of her lips.

Baekyoung woke up feeling like she had slept well for the first time in a long time.

At that moment, she met eyes with Taekyung, who was perched on the table crammed into the small room, arms crossed, looking down at her. When he raised his eyebrows, Baekyoung raised one eyebrow as well.

“Huh.”

Taekyung’s eyes softened slightly as he made a sound as if he was dumbfounded.

“Where’s Department Head Jang?”

It seemed Jang Heejo’s current position was department head. She wanted to joke that the department head was too flashy, but they weren’t close enough to have that kind of conversation, so she tried to hold back her laughter.

Did he not think that if she was in this room, he would be in her room?

She answered by stretching out her finger and tapping on the wall of the next room.

“Choi Baekyoung.”

Taekyung called Baekyoung. Her throat was scratchy. She had woken up in a good mood after sleeping soundly, but the situation she faced when she opened her eyes wasn’t very pleasant.

“Are you going to keep your mouth shut?”

“You told me not to acknowledge you anymore.”

Taekyung had grown up in the same orphanage. But she wasn’t that close to him. He was much bigger than his peers, so he caught Chairman Jang’s eye before he even became an adult, and thanks to that, he left the orphanage early. He was lucky.

He would sometimes sigh and save Baekyoung when she was being bullied by her peers. Because she was grateful, she tried to say goodbye when he left the orphanage, but all she got in return was the answer not to acknowledge him again.

After that day, their worlds became different, and there was no reason to meet or acknowledge each other.

Even if they were both ants, she was a worker ant, and he was a soldier ant.

“I didn’t expect to see you here. I was a little surprised yesterday.”

Taekyung was much bigger than her. He had an unusual physique even when he was young, but he had become much bigger and larger in the past few years. There were also scars on his face that hadn’t been there before.

“Yeah…”

Baekyoung just nodded silently. She saw a sandwich that hadn’t been there yesterday at the end of the table, probably bought for breakfast. It must be Jang Heejo’s.

When Baekyoung’s gaze went to the sandwich, Taekyung picked it up and strode towards the bed, reaching out as if to give it to her. Baekyoung also reached out to receive it, but Taekyung pulled back a little each time her hand was about to touch it.

When she gave up on eating it because of his petty attitude, the huge figure suddenly sat down on the bed. Just looking at him made her feel a heavy sense of pressure.

“You’ve always been good at hiding things since you were a kid.”

Baekyoung often hid things she wanted to keep to herself in places that the other kids didn’t know about, or easily overlooked even if they did know. Even if she hid them well, she had things stolen, like the red coat. But there were also small things that she could keep to herself without being stolen. Taekyung stared intently at Baekyoung’s face, recalling those times.

“If you hid it, give it to me now. I’ll take care of it without Department Head Jang knowing.”

From the moment he saw Baekyoung here, Taekyung had been suspecting her.

Choi Baekyoung, who always seemed to have a screw loose somewhere, but was also cunning, was in the closest place to the missing item? Anyone who knew Choi Baekyoung from when she was a kid would suspect her.

That’s why Taekyung came to know Baekyoung. Weak children are eliminated. That’s why he naturally ignored the weak.

But after seeing Choi Baekyoung, who he thought was weak, bite the ear of a large boy and attack him to keep a red coat from being stolen, he often noticed her.

“You think I stole it?”

“For now, yes.”

“Not just because you only know me on this 7th floor? All ants are thieves, Woo Taekyung.”

Baekyoung said with a smile without changing her expression. Were there any ants that weren’t thieves? It was just a matter of stealing something big or something small. But she didn’t steal anything that would put her life in danger. It was clear that she would lose her life before long if she stole something like that.

“If it’s not you, then fine.”

Taekyung replied indifferently to Baekyoung’s words.

Then, he placed the plastic-wrapped sandwich on the blanket. She didn’t refuse his kindness and hurriedly tore open the sandwich packaging.

“But if it is you, you’re dead, Baekyoung.”

Black eyes still watched her without letting go of their suspicion, adding a quiet warning. That really made her curious. What did the chain smoker who lived in this room steal, and why didn’t he say anything before he died?

Maybe he was going to say something but died first because he was in too much pain.

“I don’t know what it is, but if I happen to find out, I’ll tell you.”

“Yeah. Those who are good at hiding are good at finding things.”

She heard the meaningful words that came out of Taekyung’s mouth with one ear and let them flow out the other.

How could she find something that even they couldn’t find? They were suspecting the wrong person.