La Luna - Kwon Hyuk

04

They had seen each other three more times after that late night. When Hanji had told him that she was somewhat struggling with keeping up with her rent, Hyuk was hesitant to tell her that he now owned the building in which she lived.

He felt it was his responsibility to take care of her needs in regards to her estate -- he was in charge of everyone in there.

"The penthouse is a lot to maintain considering I'm alone there all day. Are you renting from a landlady?", he had asked her which she hesitantly replied yes to and continued to vent about the struggles of financial balancing.

His heart somehow twisted at her words -- the straining "I don't actually make much for a cook" and "my landlady isn't as forgiving as she was when we first met".

It was a huge role he had to keep up with and something inside him wanted to hunt down the said woman just to demand she leave Hanji alone.

"Sooyoung's supposed to come over tonight but I think she'll flake out again.", Hanji sighed heavily as she took the final steps up the stairs -- she only lived on the second floor and always took advantage of the mini exercise.

"Does she come over every day?", Hyuk asked trailing behind her.

Hanji pulled the keys out of her handbag. "Often. She doesn't really enjoy staying at her parent's place."

"Well, I understand why she would want to be around you all --", Hyuk began until he heard Hanji's cries.

"What?! N-No! No!"

She held a firm piece of paper close to her face, her brows curled intensely.

Hyuk stood behind her with curiosity. "W-What is it?"

Miss Oh

You are hereby given an eviction notice and notice to vacate, on or before Monday, June 15, the premises owned by Kang Seungyeon.

"Damn it! I told her I'd have her stupid money by this week!", Hanji exclaimed with tears threatening to brim her eyes.

Hyuk instantly took the notice from her and read it himself. "Have they given you warnings, at least?"

The younger woman squinted her eyes in slight embarrassment. "Um, a few?"

Hyuk tisked as he eyed her with slight annoyance. "Why don't you call her? Ask to negotiate before you're completely kicked out."

"I've already spoken to her three days ago and trust me -- she was not up for it. I-I promised I would pay at least half of what I owe her."

"And how much is that, exactly?"

Hanji hesitated to speak and avoided Hyuk's eyes which were already piercing into the top of her head, being much shorter than him.

"Uhh. Five months worth?"

Hyuk frowned instantly with his eyes almost bulging out of his head. "W-Why didn't you ask for help?--"

"I can't ask anyone for help! Do you know how embarrassing that would be? Th-Then I would be in even more debt!", Hanji exclaimed as she ripped the paper away from Hyuk's hands to eye it one more time.

Something inside him said the situation was unreliable. Any owner of the unit should have undergone the process with him before they acted, and somehow he knew nothing about it.

That could only mean one person was behind the deed. And so he suggested Hanji head inside her apartment -- which would only be hers for a few more days -- and contacted his father with a heavy heart.

"Do you know anything about Hanji's apartment?", he immediately asked with a cold tone.

"Who?", his father replied with an even firmer voice.

Hyuk rolled his eyes harshly, fed up with the nonchalant attitude toward the issue. "Oh Hanji is being evicted from her unit, dad and no one came to me to approve of it."

"Oh, that. You understand that that girl owes the tenant thousands worth of rent, don't you? Are you really that incompetent to allow such a slacker in your building?"

"Sh-She has nowhere to go!"

"They've given her enough warnings, Hyuk! This is exactly why you need the training -- the business is going to crap because of you and your incapabilities to maintain it."

Hyuk felt himself fuming and his nostrils flared with hot air -- a habit that he had grown overtime and a vision Hanji had still remembered since high school.

"It's your job, now. I don't care where she goes."

He heard the click of the other line and the ringing in his ears resonated along with the anger rising to the top of his head. Hyuk sighed heavily as he tucked his own phone back into his pocket.

There was a certain incentive within him to keep Hanji safe. Was it because she was the only one he knew in the building? Or perhaps he felt he owed her for something. But for what?

~

"Hanji?"

Hyuk lightly knocked twice on the front door which was already slightly opened before he stepped in.

"Sooyoung, I-I don't know what happened...Yes, I'm okay I have a few days to figure it all out.", Hanji spoke on the phone as she paced the floor before placing her eyes on Hyuk.

She kindly said her goodbyes to her friend before hanging up and approaching the man in the room. "Okay, I can stay at a motel after I'm kicked out for a bit -- maybe work extra shifts at the resto?"

"W-Why can't you go to your parents'?", Hyuk hesitated to ask.

Hanji shyly met his eyes. "Th-They're the reason why I'm living alone to begin with. I-I can't go back to my parents, Hyuk."

Hyuk pursed his lips tightly and eyed the top of her head with a pitiful expression on his face. And so he asked her the first idea that came to him -- a suggestion he knew his father would kill him for but somehow excited him.

"Why don't we share the penthouse?"