UR | Chapter 10

Even without turning around, I knew who was calling me.

Han Jihoon.

It had to be him. How could I not recognize the voice of someone I spent the entire day with?

The reason my heart was still pounding with surprise was the fear that he might have overheard my recent phone conversation.

Han Jihoon was not only the president of the company where Yujin worked, but he was also the only person she fell for at first sight.

Even though they say feelings can fade over time, Yujin’s feelings for Jihoon had never cooled.

If she had seen any flaws or shortcomings in Han Jihoon, she might have lost interest, but he always appeared perfect. Whether he was expressing his opinions sharply during meetings or suddenly showing up at the research lab, engrossed in experiments without noticing the time, he was consistently impressive.

I know it’s cliché to like a handsome and capable man, but maybe the reason I couldn’t let go of my feelings for him was because it felt safe.

As Yujin grew older, she received quite a few confessions from the opposite sex. Even though she never accepted any of them, just being aware that someone liked her made her uncomfortable in many ways.

But Han Jihoon seemed different.

Even if he discovered my feelings, he would be the type to not care at all and focus solely on his work. He wouldn’t even have the time to be conscious of a woman like Kim Yujin.

Feeling reassured by that fact, Yujin continued to have a one-sided love for Han Jihoon.

Anyway, to Han Jihoon, Kim Yujin would just be another insignificant employee. Even so, she didn’t want to show that she was struggling to pay for her sibling’s tuition.

“Why are you always so surprised?”

“President.”

When I asked since when he had been here, my face flushed, and I couldn’t open my mouth even though I had called him. Han Jihoon asked directly.

“Do you need money?”

If he had asked what was going on, even as a formality, would it have been less embarrassing?

No. At this point, what difference would it make?

My pride was thrown to the ground, rolling around. At the same time, a sense of injustice surged.

I lived harder than anyone else. Even when my family was wealthy, I studied diligently for my hardworking father, and after my father’s business failed, I did my best every moment.

I became so good at enduring that I didn’t often lament my situation. If I had time to emotionally struggle, I moved my body to earn even a little more money.

But was this the result of living like that?

My younger sibling got into the university they wanted but couldn’t be happy, and even now, they probably can’t sleep.

And I was no different.

I knew Han Jihoon wouldn’t give me his heart, but I still had the pride of being recognized for my abilities as an employee of the company.

Unless he’s a fool, he wouldn’t just buy expensive clothes, shoes, and jewelry for no reason, right?

I believed that I was a person of such value, and Han Jihoon treated me accordingly. So I made invisible efforts to meet those expectations…

‘Life is really crappy.’

I didn’t endure all this just to end up like this.

When I bit my lip, I tasted the metallic tang of blood. Swallowing the metallic taste with my saliva, as Yujin tried to leave the terrace, Jihoon grabbed her arm.

“Can you solve it by leaving like this?”

At those words, Yujin turned her head to look at Jihoon. And she retorted sharply.

“Why? Are you going to solve it for me, President?”

After saying it, I realized there was no one around me as wealthy as Han Jihoon, and I let out a hollow laugh.

My pride had evaporated long ago, and I felt suffocated as if surrounded on all sides, wanting to deny my entire life up to now.

With a sense of resignation, Yujin spoke to Jihoon.

“Since you acknowledged me first, I have nothing to be embarrassed about. President, can you lend me some money?”

Jihoon quietly watched Yujin, who spoke with a sense of frustration. As if saying, since it’s come to this, go ahead and say whatever you need to.

“I have a younger sibling, and the tuition deadline is tomorrow. If I were in Korea, as you mentioned before, I would sell this necklace to solve it, but I can’t do that now.”

While speaking, I almost collapsed several times, but I could endure because Jihoon was holding my wrist. Honestly, my heart had already sunk, so it wouldn’t matter if I just fell to the ground like this.

“If you’re just going to stand there watching, please let me go. As you know, I’m in a bit of a hurry. Please understand if I can’t attend the party.”

At this point, it seemed like Jihoon might readily lend me the money. But imagining actually receiving money from him was unbearably humiliating.

Wanting to show only your best side to someone you like is a natural human instinct. Even without money, I thought it wasn’t greedy to hold onto such a wish.

But now that I had no money and had laid bare my bleak reality to Han Jihoon, I didn’t want to fall any further from here.

“I’ll be going now.”

When Yujin twisted her wrist, Jihoon let her go without resistance.

However, she couldn’t take a single step.

“I’m not sure if that’s enough.”

Han Jihoon said something cryptic.

“What?”

“Check it.”

“What…”

When Yujin asked what to check, Jihoon gestured with his eyes towards her phone.

Looking at her phone, still confused, Yujin belatedly discovered a message indicating that 100 million won had been deposited into her account, and she looked at Jihoon.

Even in a world where tuition is expensive, 100 million won was an excessive amount.

“Pr-President.”

It wasn’t something she should say after rashly asking him to lend her money, but this was too unexpected. Yujin looked at her phone again in disbelief.

She thought she might need to return the excess money and wondered how she should calculate the interest.

But before worrying about that, she wanted to thank Jihoon.

“…Thank you.”

As soon as she said those words, her breath trembled, and tears flowed.

Relief washed over her, making her face hot.

She didn’t even want to imagine how painful and long the night would have been without this money. Just picturing the scenario where she couldn’t pay the tuition because she couldn’t get the money was enough to make her heart ache and drive her crazy.

But Han Jihoon, this man, had pulled her out of the swamp of suffering.

“Thank you, truly.”

With her phone pressed to her chest, Yujin calmed her heaving heart, wiped her tears with her hand, and looked up at Jihoon. Then, with a voice still trembling, she said,

“I don’t know how I can repay you.”

That was a question she posed to herself.

‘How can I repay this?’

She had no intention of taking the money for free.

Even if it took time, she intended to pay it all back. But that seemed insufficient, so she planned to find other ways to repay him.

She could work day and night if needed, and it was okay if her salary was garnished every month.

But then Han Jihoon arrogantly lifted his chin and asked Yujin,

“What can Assistant Manager Kim Yujin do for me?”

“…What?”

“You said you’d repay me. Don’t tell me you mean with interest or something?”

I was about to retort that it was only natural when Han Jihoon let out a chuckle, as if he couldn’t believe it. Then he took a step closer to Yujin.

With a broad-shouldered, sturdy man standing so close, Yujin felt her view was blocked and instinctively tried to step back.

“I sent the money first because you seemed in a hurry, without mentioning the conditions.”

Conditions, what conditions?

Yujin tensed up, her shoulders hunching.

Jihoon seemed to take in her trembling shoulders, the pale line of her neck, and the earrings glinting in the light, then he raised the corners of his mouth meaningfully.

“I happen to need someone.”

“Someone?”

“Someone who can spend the night with me.”

Jihoon put particular emphasis on the word ‘someone,’ yet he gave Yujin a chance to escape.

“If you’re not confident, you don’t have to agree.”

Yujin felt dizzy.

So, right now, Han Jihoon was asking for a woman who could give herself to him. Yujin wasn’t naive enough to take his roundabout words at face value.

The funny thing was, even in this situation, Jihoon was giving Yujin a chance to run away. But Yujin couldn’t take that opportunity.

What should she do if she returned the money now?

Thinking about going back to just three minutes ago, before she confirmed there was 100 million won in her account, made her decision easier.

Yujin erased the confusion from her eyes and looked Jihoon straight in the eye.

If she had considered herself a woman selling her body for money, she might not have been able to endure this situation.

Whether it was unfortunate or fortunate, Yujin didn’t demean herself like that. Instead, she focused on the instincts she had ignored until now.

‘Spending the night with a man I like… I can be greedy for that at least once, right?’

Having sorted out her thoughts, Yujin spoke to Jihoon.

“I’ll be the person you need, President.”

Jihoon squinted his eyes at her bold voice, as if trying to read her mind.

But Yujin didn’t back down.

“What time should I come to your room, President?”

No sooner had she said that than Jihoon grabbed her wrist again. He stepped closer and whispered in a low voice.

“Now would be good.”

Yujin answered with a slow blink.