Chapter 2: The Quiet Apartment
376 Words
The apartment was smaller than what the online photos suggested, but Ha Neul didn’t mind.
It was clean. It was adequately furnished. It was quiet. It was hers to build, even if it was at a snail's pace.
She placed Holang-ie’s carrier by the window. The little orange munchkin stepped out with slow confidence, circled twice, then flopped onto the wooden floor as if to claim it.
Ha Neul watched him, smiling faintly.
“I guess we’re both strays now,” she murmured.
Her phone buzzed—just once. A text.
It was from the tutoring agency.
Your first session with Mr. Kim is confirmed.
Location: Cheongdam-dong.
Thursday, 8:30 AM.
Cheongdam. Of course. The heart of Seoul’s elite.
Her phone buzzed again, this time from an unknown number.
8 AM. My driver will pick you up. -Kim SH
No greeting. No introductions. No question.
She didn’t take it personally.
She never expected warmth from strangers.
Especially not from someone who types just the required information and with full stops.
She reached for her planner and jotted it down carefully, then circled the date in pink. Not only because she liked it— but just because it was a bright-colored ink like what she wished her tomorrow would be.
She unpacked slowly.
Three sets of work clothes. One hoodie. Five phone cases. A pouch of mismatched plush bag charms she couldn’t bring herself to throw away.
And her notebook—the one she prepared to jot down notes for her student, a soft blue cover and nothing fancy.
She hesitated, wondering if a chaebol would mind a notebook from Daiso, then placed it on the small desk by the window, next to Holang-ie who was now watching the rain with half-lidded eyes.
Dinner was a simple bowl of instant juk.
She didn’t mind.
After months of being told what she could or couldn’t eat based on fertility schedules and hormone charts, even this bland porridge felt like a quiet rebellion.
That night, Ha Neul didn’t cry.
She bit her lower lip, stared at the ceiling, and whispered to herself,
“Just teach. Just earn. Just stay invisible. And everything will be just fine. Jeongmal gwenchana, Ha Neul-ya.”
And with that, she closed her eyes.
- Writer
