The Coldest Night

“How did you get hurt?”

“I was running because I was late for work and didn’t watch where I was going.”

“Didn’t the café have a first-aid kit?”

“It felt a bit dramatic to make a fuss over tripping because I was distracted.”

“Hmm.”

“And it doesn’t hurt enough to be unbearable.”

The wound really was not that serious.

The fabric of her jeans had been thick, so it must have softened the impact.

The skin around her knee had turned pale from friction, with specks of red blood rising and drying in spots.

The center of her knee was scraped, revealing bright red flesh, but it was the kind of injury one could get playing soccer at school.

Still, Shin I-hyeok examined it carefully.

He lowered his face closer to the wound.

The hand holding her leg steady brushed behind her knee before sliding down her calf.

“That must have hurt, Hayan.”

“…Yes.”

“Alright. Let’s put medicine on it. Where is it?”

Shin I-hyeok took hold of Ju Hayan’s arm and guided her to sit down.

Out of habit, he even straightened the knee she had folded beneath her.

“It’s in the first drawer, inside the metal box.”

At her gesture, he rose briefly and returned with the entire metal case.

It could hardly be called a proper first-aid kit; buttons and ten-won coins rolled about inside along with disinfectant, ointment, and bandages.

“Tell me if it hurts.”

Drawing her knee toward him, Shin I-hyeok rested it on one of his thighs and applied the red antiseptic to the scraped skin.

Whenever the plastic tip brushed over the blood-beaded wound, her toes curled faintly.

After the disinfectant, he squeezed ointment onto each reddened spot and layered bandages carefully over the scrape.

It was only a minor injury, yet his hands moved with surprising familiarity.

“Thank you.”

“Mm. Be careful when you wash.”

When he finished, Shin I-hyeok ran his thumb lightly near the treated area.

“Yes.”

Ju Hayan answered his instruction and waited for him to release her leg.

Though she did not show it, sitting there in only her underwear with her legs spread before a fully dressed man felt intensely embarrassing.

The jeans spread wide over her lap like a blanket offered little comfort.

But he seemed unconcerned with such matters and did not let go.

Instead, the hand that had been near her knee slowly slid upward along her thigh.

“You’re thin, Hayan.”

“Ah, um….”

“I’ve fed you so much, and you still don’t gain weight.”

“S-Sir.”

“If you’re this thin, it must be tiring.”

As though lost in his own thoughts, his hand stroked higher, reaching the midpoint of her thigh where her trunks ended.

Startled, Ju Hayan quickly grabbed his hand.

“Wh… what are you doing?”

Only then did Shin I-hyeok lift his head to meet her eyes.

The moment their gazes locked, Ju Hayan felt the world dim around her.

Like the darkness that seeps into a room when the lights are switched off on a long winter night.

The room was clearly lit, yet the heavy gloom of the semi-basement seemed to press close.

Right before her.

“Hayan.”

“…Yes.”

Without realizing it, she answered softly, frozen in his gaze.

Shin I-hyeok looked at her quietly, then blinked slowly.

The corner of his lips curved upward.

In that instant, the earlier darkness in his eyes vanished, replaced with his usual faintly smiling expression.

“What will we do with you being this skinny?”

“……”

“And you’re short, too.”

“…They say you can still grow even in the army.”

She had remained silent at being called thin, but at being called short she flared up.

Unable to protest loudly, she muttered her rebuttal, and Shin I-hyeok laughed as he suddenly grasped her hips.

“So light.”

Without warning, he lifted her and pulled her onto his thigh.

“Ah!”

Startled by the sudden motion, Ju Hayan instinctively clutched his shoulders.

She straightened her arms and leaned back, but his grip on her hips prevented her from retreating.

“W-Wait!”

She ended up seated on his knee.

Their bodies were pressed so close they were nearly touching.

Her face flushed red in an instant as her eyes darted nervously, yet Shin I-hyeok’s expression remained calm.

There was even a hint of amusement.

They stared at each other briefly before the moment ended as he rose to his feet.

As he stood, her body tipped backward naturally.

Thinking she might fall, she wrapped her arm around his neck, and laughter sounded near her ear.

“Why are you so startled? We’re both men.”

“No….”

“You make me want to tease you.”

Her body followed his movement and was laid down on the floor.

Contrary to her fear, the landing was stable.

When she released his neck, Shin I-hyeok lifted his upper body slightly and regarded her lying beneath him.

He leaned down and tapped beside her lips with his index finger.

Pressing his body lightly against hers, like a frightened koala clinging tight, he exhaled softly before pulling away.

“I brought something tasty. Eat it and grow up quickly.”

Soon, as if his business were finished, Shin I-hyeok stood fully.

He gathered the papers he had set down and slipped the fallen cigarette back into its pack.

Ju Hayan watched blankly, then belatedly came to her senses and scrambled backward on the floor.

Having tidied up neatly, Shin I-hyeok disappeared toward the entrance without lingering.

It felt as though he had come like the wind and faded like mist.

Left alone, Ju Hayan rubbed the cheek he had touched, still dazed.

The pajama bottoms she had gripped like a lifeline were creased deeply in her hand.

“What was that, seriously….”

Click.

The heavy sound of the door unlocking echoed as Ju Hayan stepped inside slowly.

Her body slouched as she sluggishly removed her shoes.

Was gravity stronger in a semi-basement?

With feet that felt weighted, she took a few steps before collapsing right in front of the entrance.

“Ah… I’m exhausted.”

It had been an unusually busy day.

She had lazed about like the unemployed all morning.

But the shape of the day changed the moment she clocked in.

The instant she changed clothes in the locker room, they overturned the entire storage area for a daytime inventory check.

Then she handled a group order of twenty-four drinks—fifteen of them smoothies across four different kinds—repeating preparation and dishwashing countless times.

In the evening, she dealt with a customer who sneered that coffee at a private café was too expensive.

As closing approached, customers lingered stubbornly, and when she politely asked them to leave, she endured their muttered complaints.

By the time she finished closing duties, she and the other staff were sprawled like boxers defeated by a K.O.

She had never wished more that her home were close to downtown.

She had managed to drag her worn-out body back, but the moment she crossed the threshold, her energy drained entirely.

Curled on the floor with her cheek pressed to it, she felt the cold seep in.

She thought she had turned the boiler on before leaving.

The chill slipping beneath her thick clothes left her hollow.

“…I should wash. But I don’t want to.”

Should she just sleep like this?

As she rubbed against the hard floor, she suddenly muttered, “Ah.”

If she slept like this, her mouth might freeze crooked.

The morning forecast she had half-watched on the crackling TV had emphasized repeatedly that tonight would be the coldest of the winter.

To have her mouth twisted at such a young age with her whole life ahead of her.

The thought alone was terrifying.

“I wish someone would wash me. There’s a machine that lets you talk to someone on the other side of the world, but why isn’t there a machine that washes you?”

Muttering nonsense, she shuffled into the bathroom.

To brush her teeth or wash her face, she needed to remove her outerwear, but the house was so cold she only managed to shrug off her padded jacket.

Rolling up the long sleeves of her hoodie to her elbows, a chill clung to her skin.

The windowless bathroom felt colder than the house itself.

Thunk.

“Huh?”

Shivering, she turned the lever as far left and up as it would go.

Only a dull clicking sound answered.

No water came out.

“What? Why isn’t it working?”

Flustered, she lowered and raised the lever again.

Still nothing.

She pulled it right just in case.

The result was the same.

Suddenly, the news she had heard that morning flashed through her mind.

<…Please take care to prevent your pipes from freezing. Letting a small trickle of water drip from the faucet or setting your boiler to away mode when leaving for long periods can reduce damage. This unexpected cold wave will continue until the day after tomorrow.>

She bolted from the bathroom and ran to the sink.

She turned the faucet urgently, but only two drops fell before silence returned.

“Please.”

Clutching the unresponsive faucet, she pleaded before another thought struck her, and she hurried to the wall beside the bathroom.

She had switched the boiler to away mode after seeing the news that morning.

Even if it had not warmed the house fully, it should have driven away the harsh cold.

Yet when she came home, the house had felt like a frozen storage room.

Hoping at least one system was functioning, she checked the boiler and forced herself to stay calm at the dark display.

Maybe it had shut off because it had been running too long.

It was old and did that sometimes.

But no matter how she pressed the heating button, there was no response.

The screen would not even show the current indoor temperature.

After pressing every button frantically, Ju Hayan sank to the floor.

“Are you kidding me… why is this happening to me?”

Cold continued to creep beneath her feet.

Cold enough to make her numb instantly if she sat too long.

Why today.

Why me.

[Hello. I’m the tenant in Basement Unit 101. There’s no water in my apartment, and the boiler isn’t working either.]

Crouched against the wall, Ju Hayan sent a message to the landlord.

She rubbed her freezing soles against the top of her other foot.

Since it was late, she texted instead of calling.

Fortunately, he was not asleep, and her phone rang.

She answered at once.

“Hello.”

–Yes, hello. Unit 101?

“Yes. When I came home, the water wouldn’t run, and the boiler’s not working.”

–Really? That’s strange. They said there’d be a cold snap today, so a technician came earlier to check all the pipes.

“Then… why is this happening?”

–That’s what I’m saying. The technician went door to door to check if the water was running properly.

“Then my place, too…?”

–Ah, we couldn’t check yours. No one was home, and you didn’t answer the phone! And now this happens.

If the technician had come in the evening, she would have been at work.

And the number they had tried to contact…

She did not even need to ask to know which one it was.