UCCU | Chapter 2.5

At that, Ihyun’s gaze sharpened instantly. He snorted and answered coldly.

“I’d work you to death for minimum wage.”

“Oh, okay…”

“Don’t get your hopes up. From now on, you can’t do anything—not even get a job—without my permission.”

“Yeah…”

Seonwoo felt like he’d just been scolded ten times for saying one thing. He decided to just keep his mouth shut.

Time passed, but Ihyun didn’t give Seonwoo anything to do. It was comfortable physically, but the tension made him wish he had some task.

Ihyun kept glancing at him while working, so Seonwoo struggled to stay awake. But the study was so warm that he dozed off for a few minutes. When he woke up, he checked to see if Ihyun had noticed, but thankfully, he didn’t say anything.

Even after leaving the study, Ihyun didn’t give Seonwoo any work. He just kept him nearby, saying he needed him on hand in case he needed something.

He’d complain that Seonwoo wasn’t even earning his meals, but Seonwoo had heard worse while working for money, so it didn’t bother him much.

Even the bedroom Ihyun gave him was still as luxurious as the first day. Lying in the soft bed under a warm blanket, watching some late-night TV before falling asleep, Seonwoo wondered when his hard life as a Servant would actually begin.

𓂃𓍼 ོ☁

The next morning, after finishing breakfast, Seonwoo followed Ihyun into the study and spotted a piece of clothing and a duster. When he unfolded the clothing, it turned out to be an apron. Except for the fact that it was super white, it looked a lot like the one he used to wear when he worked at a café. Seonwoo asked Ihyun carefully as he sat down in the chair, looking totally uninterested.

“Do I have to wear this today?”

Ihyun glanced at Seonwoo and answered firmly.

“Yes. From now on, you’ll always wear it in the study.”

I’ve seen a few people working here, but except for the ones who cook, no one else wears an apron. But since he was the boss and Seonwoo was the underling, he put on the apron without a word. Thinking of it as just another part-time job, it didn’t even feel embarrassing. Compared to the days when he’d wrecked his back hauling heavy groceries, dusting was nothing.

As Seonwoo gently dusted the bookshelves, books, and furniture, he felt a sharp gaze on him. But whenever he turned around, Ihyun was staring at his monitor, working so intensely that Seonwoo could only tilt his head in confusion.

He cleaned as thoroughly as he could, but there was barely any dust to begin with, so it didn’t even take an hour. Seonwoo wandered in front of the bookshelf, checking out the book spines, but when that got boring, he went back to the chair from yesterday and sat down. As he zoned out, Ihyun snorted and said,

“Once again, you’re just eating and doing nothing. At this rate, when are you ever going to pay off your debt? Aren’t you just leeching off me?”

Seonwoo blinked at the sarcasm. It wasn’t anything new. Ever since Ihyun had brought him to this house, he’d sometimes treat Seonwoo nicely, then suddenly act prickly for no reason. When Seonwoo stood up, a shadow crossed Ihyun’s face. Seonwoo walked right up to him and stared quietly, and Ihyun, with a blank face and gloomy eyes, asked,

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

“Want a massage?”

Seonwoo smiled, thinking that Ihyun’s face looked handsome no matter how many times he saw it, and asked in a super gentle voice. Ihyun’s eyes wavered, as if he hadn’t expected that response at all.

“What?”

“When you do desk work, your shoulders get stiff, right? A massage will feel good.”

Ihyun opened his mouth, then closed it. While he was still confused, Seonwoo quickly placed his hands on Ihyun’s shoulders. As he pressed gently with his palms, Ihyun’s shoulders tensed up.

“You’re more stiff than I thought.”

There weren’t actually any knots in his muscles, but Seonwoo lied without batting an eye. In this harsh world, it was one of the skills he’d picked up to survive as an orphan. The key was to make it look like he genuinely cared about the other person’s health.

“Don’t you get headaches sometimes?”

“…I do, but why?”

“They say stiff shoulders can cause headaches.”

“…Really?”

Ihyun hesitated, unsure whether to brush Seonwoo’s hands away, but his eyes softened. Seonwoo pressed and kneaded the back of his neck just right. As he gently massaged around the straight line of Ihyun’s neck and spine, the stiff shoulders slowly relaxed.

“I’ll keep massaging, so you just keep working.”

Ihyun didn’t say yes, but he didn’t tell Seonwoo to stop either. Seonwoo noticed the tips of Ihyun’s ears turning a little red as he quietly typed on the keyboard, and thought, Cute. If Ihyun were older than him, it might have been annoying, but since he was younger, Seonwoo just let it slide.

The next day, too, Seonwoo dusted the almost non-existent dust with care, then gave Ihyun a massage, saying he should at least earn his meals. Whether he liked Seonwoo’s skills or just enjoyed bossing him around, Ihyun didn’t really object. He acted like he was only accepting it because Seonwoo insisted, but his ears were still red today.

“Do your muscles feel a bit looser today?”

“Not really.”

Even though there were no knots, Ihyun answered coldly. Seonwoo just kept up the small talk. He needed to keep Ihyun in a good mood. Seonwoo slyly called him by name and asked,

“By the way, Ihyun, do you work out regularly?”

“…Why?”

“I don’t know, every time I squeeze your muscles, they feel really firm, so I wondered if you exercise.”

Ihyun didn’t even look at Seonwoo, just kept typing with a cold face. After a moment, he answered in a casual voice, “I do a little as a hobby,” but his ears were red as ever. Seonwoo caught that and replied, “I thought so,” and kept massaging.

Living alone without any family or guardian, Seonwoo had learned a lesson from all the bitter experiences society had thrown at him: flattery and sucking up never really paid off. More precisely, you had to make sure your compliments didn’t sound like flattery or sucking up.

Flattery and sucking up lower a person’s image and reputation. It makes you look down on them, lowers their trust in you, and some people even get offended. The trick was to sound like you’d just noticed something by chance, naturally. You had to make the other person feel like you genuinely cared.

But even though Seonwoo had a motive for keeping Ihyun happy, it wasn’t all fake. He looked down at the top of Ihyun’s head. He still remembered what Ihyun looked like as a kid, so it was hard to believe he’d grown up with such a solid build.

‘Just how hard does he work out?’

Seonwoo clicked his tongue inwardly. Every time he squeezed Ihyun’s shoulders, he could feel the muscles packed under his palm. Even though Ihyun wore loose homewear that hid his body, Seonwoo could tell from massaging him. For Seonwoo, who’d struggled just to maintain his weight, it was an enviable body. At the same time, he reminded himself never to try to fight Ihyun with strength.

Close contact through massage, steady small talk, and a gentle, obedient attitude that never resisted. These three things seemed to slowly soften the grudge Ihyun held against Seonwoo.

‘He never really meant to hurt me in the first place…’

At first, Seonwoo had been so shocked he just went along with everything, but now that he thought about it, Ihyun was actually looking out for him in his own way. Giving him an IV after he drank too much, a warm bed, chores that barely counted as work, and three delicious meals a day.

Even after signing the master-servant contract, Seonwoo honestly didn’t feel like he was really in the servant’s position. Of all the bosses he’d ever had, Ihyun was the most generous. He’d never lived so comfortably and cozily before. Seeing Ihyun’s ambiguous attitude—unable to fully hate Seonwoo or be cold-hearted—made Seonwoo feel sorry for him.

Of course, that didn’t mean he planned to stay here forever. There was no way Ihyun would keep feeding and housing him for free. If he got too comfortable and used to this place, then got kicked out, Seonwoo would end up a college dropout with no home or money. So his goal was to win Ihyun over and get out of this house as soon as possible.

𓂃𓍼 ོ☁

After a week, Ihyun stopped nagging or mocking Seonwoo for not earning his keep. Sometimes, he even gave a faint smile when talking to Seonwoo. To Seonwoo, Ihyun’s feelings seemed pretty complicated. Maybe it was something like Stockholm syndrome. The environment was right for it, and Seonwoo had acted the right way.

A few more days passed, and one evening at dinner, Seonwoo naturally brought up a story about himself. He figured it was about time to move from safe small talk to more personal topics.

“Eating this reminds me of Professor Lee Jinseo.”

Seonwoo spoke as if he’d just remembered it. If Ihyun ignored this, it meant he still wasn’t ready to open up. Luckily, Ihyun didn’t ignore him and glanced at the side dish he’d picked up with his chopsticks. It was just ordinary seasoned dried squid with sesame seeds.

“Why?”

“Professor Lee Jinseo was looking for students to help collect research data last summer break. He said he couldn’t pay even minimum wage, but he’d give us three meals a day with meat, so I went… but all he gave us every meal was rice and dried squid.”

“…What?”

Seonwoo laughed like it was just a funny old memory.

“Well, squid is technically meat, right? It’s protein, anyway. But on the last day, he did buy us all the pork belly we could eat.”

Honestly, it wasn’t that bad for Seonwoo. He got sick of eating dried squid from a fridge full of it, but just getting three meals a day helped his budget a lot. Plus, he made a connection he could ask for a recommendation letter.

But how would this sound to a third-generation chaebol who ate gourmet meals every day? Ihyun looked dumbfounded, then sighed through his nose and shut his mouth.