The narrow semi-basement room was filled with noise.
The sound of drawers being yanked open, clothes rustling inside a rummaged wardrobe, and the grunting of someone lying flat on the floor echoed loudly.
“Ugh, my back….”
Ju Hayan—the culprit who had turned the entire house upside down since morning—had opened a notebook beside her just in case she forgot something.
Each hiding spot had even been numbered.
Ju Hayan placed four bankbooks and a crumpled piece of paper side by side.
She copied the final balance written on the last page of each bankbook into the empty space of the notebook and added them all together.
Down to the very last digit, the result was exactly 300,000 won more than the target amount written on the paper.
Of course, once rent and utility bills were deducted, it would barely reach zero.
It might even drop into the negatives.
Still, it felt as satisfying as if the job were already finished.
She smoothed out the tuition bill she had printed earlier.
Back when she stayed at Shin I-hyeok’s house, she had nervously asked if she could use his computer to print it.
Among the open bankbooks, she checked again the one where her recent part-time paycheck had been deposited.
It was the only one with over one million won in it.
Then she slipped the bankbooks into a thick plastic sleeve.
“Ju Hayan is rich. Totally rich.”
The tuition payment deadline wouldn’t begin until next week.
But she had already taken out the bankbooks she had carefully hidden because she felt both excited and anxious.
She planned to transfer all the money into the bankbook she used most often.
Some bankbooks had security number cards and ATM cards attached.
Some didn’t.
But Ju Hayan preferred using the bankbook itself for most transactions.
It allowed her to immediately check the remaining balance.
Internet banking or telephone banking still felt difficult to her.
Ju Hayan stacked the bankbooks together and slipped them into the pocket of her padded jacket.
Just in case she might drop them somewhere on the way, she tightly zipped the pocket before leaving the house.
Bzz—
Standing in line in front of four ATM machines placed side by side, Ju Hayan checked the time on her phone.
She still had about an hour before her part-time job.
Last time she stopped by the bank and ended up being late, so she hurried today.
Ironically, she now had more time than expected.
Since she had already turned on her phone, she wandered through the app drawer out of habit.
The cheapest phone plan had very little data, so she couldn’t access the internet.
Ju Hayan idly scrolled through the list of friends in her message app.
Soon the person in front of her finished and left.
She put her phone back in her pocket and stepped up to the machine.
[Please look at the screen and press the button for the transaction you want.]
She started by transferring the balance from the bankbook with the smallest amount.
The exact same amount written in the bankbook appeared on the ATM screen.
As if double-checking, she placed the bankbook with her part-time wages next to the screen and repeatedly confirmed the account number.
After successfully transferring the money, she moved the now-empty bankbook aside and picked up the next one.
She repeated the same process.
Following the steps shown by the machine, everything proceeded smoothly.
Once again, the ATM spit out the bankbook after the balance reached zero.
Finally, she inserted the bankbook with the largest balance aside from the one with her part-time wages.
If she just transferred the remaining 600,000 won from this account, her preparations would be complete.
Feeling excited, Ju Hayan lightly bounced her knee as she entered the password.
Then she saw the next screen.
Her body froze.
Balance: 3,524 won
When someone is shocked enough, their heart really does feel like it drops.
It was a sensation she hadn’t felt for months—ever since her father ran away.
It felt as if her perfectly healthy heart had fallen somewhere and slammed violently against her chest.
“…….”
Ju Hayan quickly pressed the cancel button and pulled out the bankbook.
She restarted the machine from the beginning.
Hoping it was some kind of error.
But the balance displayed on the screen remained exactly the same.
Even after trying again, the result didn’t change.
Her pounding heartbeat echoed in her chest, beside her ears, even at the tips of her fingers.
Ju Hayan grabbed the empty bankbooks scattered on top of the machine and turned around immediately.
She ran up the stairs next to the ATM area and headed toward the bank counter.
The weekday afternoon bank—past lunchtime—was quiet.
After taking a queue ticket and checking the number, she saw only two people ahead of her.
But unable to calm down, Ju Hayan anxiously fiddled with her fingers until they hurt.
Ding-dong.
Her queue number appeared on the counter display with a chime.
Ju Hayan sprang up as if the chair beneath her had been burning hot and hurried over.
“My bankbook balance is different from what I thought it was.”
“So I’m not sure if this is correct.”
The bank employee hadn’t even finished turning back from helping the previous customer before Ju Hayan blurted out her problem.
She placed the bankbook in the plastic tray on the counter.
It wasn’t unusual for customers to act impatient during bank transactions.
Noticing her urgency, the employee responded kindly.
Since it was just a balance inquiry, the result came out quickly.
“The balance shows 3,524 won.”
“B-But I’ve never used money from that account.”
“So you’re saying you haven’t used this bankbook, but the balance decreased?”
“Yes.”
“Have you recently received any calls asking you to withdraw money or transfer funds?”
“No.”
“I haven’t.”
The employee seemed to be referring to voice phishing scams.
But Ju Hayan had only recently learned about internet banking after changing her phone.
The same went for telephone banking.
Her only method had been the physical bankbook.
And that bankbook had mostly been buried somewhere inside the house.
She barely touched it.
Seeing Ju Hayan shake her head, the employee also looked troubled.
“Hmm….”
“Then let me print out your transaction history for the past month.”
“Could you check it?”
“Yes… please.”
The employee nodded along with Ju Hayan and turned back to the computer.
Ju Hayan nervously fiddled with the hands resting on the counter.
After typing on the keyboard and clicking the mouse, the employee soon stood up.
When they returned, they were holding a single sheet of paper.
“Here’s your transaction history.”
“Please take a look.”
Ju Hayan took the paper and scanned the list arranged by date.
Apparently the money had already started disappearing before the past month.
Even the balance listed on the first line didn’t match what she remembered.
Of course, she didn’t recognize any of it.
Not a single transaction.
Even worse, the repeated text appearing before the merchant name looked like the name of a region she had never even heard of.
As she stared down at the paper with a serious expression, the employee also glanced at it.
“Since the transaction shows the merchant name, it looks like a debit card was used.”
“Do you happen to have the card with you?”
“…The card?”
“Yes.”
“Um….”
The employee trailed off while tapping the keyboard again before turning back to her.
“When this bankbook was first opened, a debit card was issued along with the ATM card.”
Ju Hayan immediately checked the plastic sleeve where she had stuffed the bankbooks earlier.
But the sleeve, now drooping loosely after she removed the bankbooks, was empty.
Just in case, she checked the other bankbooks too.
She pulled out the cards tucked beside them and showed them.
But the card numbers were different.
The only card left was the debit card attached to the account where her salary was deposited.
How could someone else have the card linked to that bankbook?
It wasn’t even an account she used often.
She only took it out occasionally when depositing savings.
There was no way she could have dropped it somewhere.
As that thought reached her mind, Ju Hayan suddenly lifted her head.
A realization struck her like lightning.
“…Dad.”
If anyone could have touched the bankbook she had hidden around the house, there was only one person.
Of course, she had hidden them specifically to keep them from him.
But they shared the same house.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he had found them.
A man who abandoned his own child taking money from that child.
That, too, wasn’t surprising.
Ju Hayan suddenly leaned back, her body collapsing with emptiness.
Thankfully the customer chair had a high backrest.
Otherwise, she might have fallen backward entirely.
The employee called out carefully.
“Customer?”
But Ju Hayan didn’t respond.
After a while, she quietly asked if they could print out her transaction history starting from late December of last year.
Receiving a new paper with four additional transactions added, Ju Hayan bowed her head slightly in thanks and quietly left.
“…Hayan.”
“Ju Hayan.”
Ju Hayan had been lost in thought the entire time she sat in the car.
Only when she felt a warm hand touch the back of her neck did she snap back to reality.
“Yes?”
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
The hand gently kneading the back of her neck made her shoulders relax.
It seemed she had unconsciously been tensing them.
Shin I-hyeok, sitting beside her, leaned slightly closer.
His hand moved down to her shoulders and back as if he intended to give her a proper massage.
Ju Hayan closed her eyes and lowered her head.
She needed to completely revise her plans.
It was painful to know that part of the tuition money she had carefully saved had ended up in Ju Gilwoo’s hands.
But feeling regret wouldn’t bring the money back.
At least there was some relief.
Her weekday part-time job paid fairly well.
If she reduced her living expenses and asked the landlord to allow her to pay next month’s rent together later, she could still manage to pay the tuition.
Her father had never been good with bank transactions.
He was also often late with payments.
Because of that, whenever rent day came, the landlord usually came directly to the house to collect the rent.
Even if she got scolded, he probably wouldn’t be completely heartless if she explained the situation.
“Ahh….”
Each time Shin I-hyeok’s firm fingertips pressed into her muscles, pain mixed with relief spread through her body.
Ju Hayan groaned quietly as she swayed slightly with the movement of his hands.
When his thumb pressed along her spine and reached her lower back, she straightened her hunched body.
Because his arm was wrapped around her, she ended up practically leaning into his embrace.
“Why is your body so stiff?”
“You’re young.”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe I cleaned too hard.”
“Good thing you’ve got a part-time job.”
Shin I-hyeok chuckled softly and pressed down on her back with his palm.
Ju Hayan let out a groan as she was pushed slightly forward.
Because his coat kept brushing under her chin, she tried to straighten her body with effort.
But soon she gave up and buried her cheek against him.
Now that she had something to lean on, the tension in her body naturally melted away.
The vibration of his quiet laughter traveled through his body and reached Ju Hayan as well.
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂