TPG 15

The stairs leading down to the basement were narrow, and the walls were stained here and there with traces of time. Near the entrance, Lee Si-woo could feel damp air mixed with a faint musty smell.

As he watched the real estate agent jingling keys and pushing them into the lock, he suddenly noticed Han Soo-hyeok’s stillness. He was standing in the middle of the stairs with a furrowed brow. The shock in his eyes as he looked around, and his hardened face seemed unable to easily accept the current environment.

That’s why he had told him not to follow…

Even though Lee Si-woo thought it was Han Soo-hyeok’s own doing, he still felt sorry. Han Soo-hyeok probably hadn’t expected to see something like this.

“Hyung.”

Si-woo reached out toward him.

“The stairs here are slippery. Be careful.”

He wanted to tell Han Soo-hyeok to wait outside, but knowing he wouldn’t, he chose to help him instead. Han Soo-hyeok looked at his hand and then took it. As Soo-hyeok came down the stairs with stable steps, Si-woo watched with his mouth agape, feeling Soo-hyeok’s influence that could transform even the shabby surroundings into something elegant.

He had been careless. Only after Han Soo-hyeok came to his side did Si-woo awkwardly lower his hand. Pretending not to notice the heat he felt when their fingertips brushed, he turned his head, and the agent who had been watching with a strange look pointed inside.

“Let’s go in.”

The first thing Si-woo saw was a space where the living room and kitchen weren’t separated. It was an ambiguous size to call a living room, with a small sink attached to one side. In cases like this, the areas could naturally be divided with furniture placement, but when there was nothing like now, it was no different from one space.

One room.

“If you move in, we’ll replace all the wallpaper.”

The yellowed wallpaper that already showed traces of previous residents was tattered. It wasn’t just the wallpaper. Overall, it had the particular staleness of an old house.

“Does the water come out well?”

“Come here and see for yourself.”

Lee Si-woo took off his shoes, went in, and lifted the sink faucet. Seeing it come out in a fairly thick stream, he nodded.

“Maybe because the previous resident was elderly, hot water gushes out regardless of the season.”

“Can I control the boiler separately?”

“It’s set up so you can only turn it on in the room.”

Lee Si-woo thought it would be fine to just use the room. This much seemed adequate. Despite being a semi-basement, there wasn’t much mold, so it seemed like air circulated well. He found the reward for walking up that steep road here. Unlike him, who was increasingly liking it, Han Soo-hyeok seemed to have different thoughts.

Han Soo-hyeok, who had been slowly entering without saying anything, stopped at the entrance. Si-woo spoke to him since he couldn’t even think of taking off his shoes.

“I’ll look around quickly and come out, so please wait a moment.”

Soo-hyeok had been glaring at the wallpaper when he turned his head toward him.

“Is there more to see?”

“Yes. I need to check the bathroom over there and see if the security bars are sturdy.”

As Si-woo pointed to each thing while speaking, the agent interjected.

“This young person knows how to look at houses. Even though this is a semi-basement, there’s a station right below here.”

Si-woo listened to the agent’s words.

“How much is it?”

“Let’s see, this is 1.5 million. The price is reasonable too, right?”

This kind of price wasn’t common in Seoul. Sensing that Si-woo was interested, the agent spoke in a bright voice.

“Since the living room and kitchen are open-plan, it’s not stuffy and just right.”

The agent’s words flowed smoothly.

“Si-woo.”

He looked back at Han Soo-hyeok when he called. His neatly pressed suit and physique that seemed to fill the entrance door completely didn’t match this semi-basement space.

“How about a house with good sunlight and a fitness room?”

“Of course…”

Wouldn’t that be good?

“It gets hot from the sunlight even without turning on the boiler.”

“How much is it?”

“Monthly rent is 500,000 won.”

“What about the deposit?”

“No… It’s 10 million won.”

“Really?”

Han Soo-hyeok’s smile deepened toward Si-woo’s surprised reaction.

If it was the same conditions but a place with sunlight, that would be better.

“That sounds too good.”

Si-woo was glad he stopped by the real estate office today.

Han Soo-hyeok looked at his wristwatch and said,

“We can go see it today.”

“Really?”

How was everything falling into place like this? After being thoroughly delighted, Si-woo bowed his head to the agent who had been listening to everything.

“I’m sorry. I’ll look around and come back.”

“Hey, don’t do that, at least put down a deposit before you go.”

The agent held onto him while looking at Han Soo-hyeok. Though Soo-hyeok had a face saying to do as he pleased, he was subtly touching his watch, urging Si-woo.

“Then I’ll definitely call you by today.”

“In the meantime, if someone else puts down a deposit, you’ll miss it. Look at this. It’s a call from someone looking for a place to live alone.”

He showed Si-woo his phone, but there was no saved name, just eleven numbers displayed.

“That’s unfortunate. Then give it to that person.”

Since Si-woo had only planned to look around today, when he readily gave way, the agent looked flustered instead.

“I’ll contact you again. Thank you.”

Si-woo greeted the agent and turned around. Han Soo-hyeok, who had been waiting, went outside first. He went up two stairs at a time as if they weren’t even slippery. At the end, he went up three at once, but the amazing thing was that his legs didn’t spread out ungracefully.

That meant his legs were that long, but the problem was Si-woo going up one step at a time. While trying to keep up with his pace, rushing up almost like running, he finally tripped at the end. As he was about to fall and reached out with his other hand, he felt solid strength from the hand Soo-hyeok was holding. Stopping awkwardly in the middle made it even more awkward.

“Everything’s good except the stairs are terrible.”

The stairs did nothing wrong. It seemed like his own problem for tripping while going up quickly…

Since Han Soo-hyeok said he would drive, Si-woo sat in the passenger seat and read his mood. Soo-hyeok’s expression had been bad ever since seeing that semi-basement earlier. He seemed shocked, probably never having lived in such an environment before.

Si-woo looked at him and casually spoke.

“Living in Seoul is this difficult.”

“You’re talking as if you don’t live in Seoul.”

“Right, I do live in Seoul.”

He tried to change the atmosphere on purpose, but Han Soo-hyeok wouldn’t open his mouth at all. Now Si-woo was inevitably going to see the house Soo-hyeok recommended, but something he hadn’t asked belatedly occurred to him.

“The monthly rent is only 500,000 won, but the maintenance fee isn’t expensive, is it?”

While stopped at a red light, Han Soo-hyeok looked at him. His expression was calm as if he had heard everything Si-woo had said so far.

“No maintenance fee.”

“There’s no way there’s no maintenance fee.”

Si-woo hadn’t seen the house yet, but the monthly rent was cheap and there was no maintenance fee?

“You’ll know when we go see it.”

Han Soo-hyeok pressed the accelerator again. He hadn’t driven smoothly before, but it felt particularly rough now.

***

Even when entering the luxury villa complex, Si-woo thought something was wrong. The conditions Han Soo-hyeok had mentioned would all be met, but it was a place he could never move into with the monthly rent he mentioned. While he couldn’t help feeling flustered, the car came to a complete stop.

“Come out.”

Since Han Soo-hyeok got out of the car first, Si-woo hurriedly unbuckled his seatbelt. Following him out of the car, Soo-hyeok was right in front of him.

“It’s over there.”

Si-woo was about to ask if this was the right place, but Soo-hyeok was faster. He walked briskly with his long legs, then as if some thought occurred to him belatedly, he returned to the car. He opened the back seat and took out a box.

“That’s…”

It was the dumbbell set Si-woo had bought.

“Let’s go.”

Since Han Soo-hyeok pointed toward where the elevator was, Si-woo couldn’t even ask why he was taking the dumbbell set.

How had this happened? When he came to his senses, he was in the elevator, and when he came to his senses again, he had entered a house. A completely different scene from that semi-basement earlier unfolded. A living room that couldn’t be taken in at a glance, a kitchen divided by translucent walls, and three doors visible immediately.

“Is this the house you mentioned?”

Since he had expected an officetel, his surprised feelings hadn’t subsided.

“As you can see, there’s no maintenance fee because the roommate will pay it.”

It wasn’t that there was no maintenance fee, but that the person living together would pay it.

“A roommate?”

“The conditions are good but there’s one reason it’s cheap. There’s someone to live with.”

“Someone to live with…”

“Think about it differently. Instead of living in a spacious house, you just split the monthly rent.”

Certainly, in such a good environment, wouldn’t it be beneficial to live with someone else?

“But shouldn’t we ask the opinion of the person I’d be living with?”

Si-woo took a step back. Everything was good, but there was no guarantee that problems wouldn’t arise between people. Moreover, he wasn’t planning to move out immediately and had just looked around today because he had time, so it wasn’t that urgent. However, Han Soo-hyeok was letting his words go in one ear and out the other.

“The roommate says it’s fine.”

Han Soo-hyeok was the roommate.