CF Chapter 1

Boom….

 

The sound of the ship’s horn made Yudam lift her head.

 

Her heart began to contract with tension, echoing the heavy noise that filled her ears. A colossal ship loomed before her, too immense to take in with just her eyes. The sheer scale of it, and the deep, booming sound that spread like a wave, was already overwhelming.

 

Yudam raised a hand to smooth her hair, tousled by the sea breeze.

 

Once she boarded that ship, even the luxury of feeling the wind on her face would be gone.

 

It was the only job she could find.

 

To be precise, it was the only viable option among the pitifully few alternatives she had.

 

Either work as staff and earn money, or be sold into a brothel.

 

The choice had already been made. Yudam’s eyelids trembled faintly.

 

A life she once believed would never lack came crashing down after her parents died, leaving her in pitch-black despair.

 

The growing mountain of IOUs was beyond anything she could handle. She found out too late that her parents had even borrowed from loan sharks to pay off other debts, there was nothing left she could fix.

 

Once the loan sharks realized her sickly older brother was of no use to them, it was only a matter of time before their eyes turned to her.

 

 

“Hey, taking good care of that body, huh?”

 

“Don’t you dare lay a finger on my brother!”

 

 

Her brother had shouted, face pale with fear, as the loan sharks leered at her, laughing as they looked her up and down. But his fear offered no protection.

 

After they left, mocking the siblings wrapped in each other’s arms, Yudam made a single, clear decision.

 

She would sever the root.

 

While others desperately searched for ways to conceive, she frantically searched for how to become infertile.

 

It wouldn’t count as “taking care of her body” in the way the loan sharks meant, but if she didn’t do something soon, they would drag her away in the shadows without anyone knowing, sooner or later.

 

So she had to destroy her own “usefulness” before they got to her.

 

They had a terrifying knack for finding her within half a day, no matter how far she ran. Unless she was going to die alongside her brother, she had to avoid the worst.

 

There was no time to dwell on feelings like grief.

 

 

“There’s a big ship setting sail soon.”

 

 

Then, unexpectedly, they made her an offer.

 

 

“It’s a cruise for VVIPs only. Special kind of place. Long route, lots to manage. Places like that don’t just hire anyone, you know? Gotta be clean-cut, educated, reliable, sounds like someone we know, huh?”

 

“Heard you went to a decent school. Bet you speak some English. How about it, our sweet sister working there? We’ll take good care of your brother.”

 

“All you’d be doing is serving. I’m vouching for this, okay? Better than rotting in some basement, right? You need money, don’t you? Just trying to help. I don’t want your money that way either. But….”

 

 

As always, there was a catch.

 

 

“Once you get on that ship, you don’t get off.”

 

 

It wasn’t a job, it was a trap.

 

A way to wring money out of her by sending her somewhere from which there was no escape, with her brother as collateral to keep her in line.

 

When she hesitated to answer, they threatened to withdraw the offer right away.

 

 

“If you don’t want it, that’s fine.”

 

“…I, I’ll go!”

 

 

She needed the money, just her brother’s medical bills and the monthly interest were enough to drown her. No matter how hard she worked, it was never enough.

 

At least the daily wage on the cruise was said to be high. She had no other choice. She had to trust that, for now.

 

Yudam took slow steps forward.

 

And the moment she boarded the towering cruise ship, her feet finally left solid ground.

 

 

 

⚜︎ ⚜︎ ⚜︎

 

 

 

– Sunset, Zone 6T. Water the flowerbeds now. Dinner service is starting soon, so hurry.

 

“Yes. Yudam Jin in Zone 6T, confirmed.”

 

Yudam responded quickly to the voice crackling through her earpiece.

 

On this massive cruise ship, the parties never stopped. Everything moved at a brisk pace, and so did everyone working here.

 

No order ever came without the word “hurry.” And with the lounges and zones all so spacious and the corridors looking nearly identical, she had to stay sharp to avoid getting lost.

 

The very first task she’d been given was learning the layout.

 

On her first day, she was so overwhelmed she didn’t know left from right, just wandering, lost.

 

She had to memorize the location map until the paper wore thin, walking the halls again and again until she finally got the hang of it.

 

Now, a week later, she had a basic grip on the layout and daily patterns. It was starting to feel manageable. Carrying a watering can, she reached the flowerbed that stretched across the center of the corridor.

 

The scent of fresh flowers tickled her nose.

 

The bed stretched as far as the wide hallway did, so the job required carrying heavy watering cans back and forth multiple times. Most avoided the task when they could, but Yudam welcomed it more than anything else.

 

She had always liked flowers. Even in the filthiest corners of life, they bloomed simply by being what they were, and watching them, she found a small, fleeting peace.

 

“Strange how there are flowers on a ship.”

 

She murmured to herself, a passing thought.

 

Colorful petals twitched under the gentle spray of water flowing from her can, as if invigorated. A faint smile flickered at the corner of her lips, barely there, and gone just as quickly.

 

“This will be the last one.”

 

She whispered, weighing the water left in her can against the area that remained.

 

“I’ll give it all to you.”

 

Step by step, she moved along the path of flowers, diligently watering her way toward the final zone.

 

And then…

 

“…?”

 

She noticed a pair of shoes across from her.

 

At first, she assumed it was a guest admiring the flowerbed. This floral corridor, like a slice of spring transplanted whole, was one of the ship’s most beloved features.

 

But as she moved, the man’s footsteps mirrored her own.

 

It was just as she slowly straightened from her crouch that she saw him.