This studio had nothing in it except the bed and wardrobe that came with the place. There was a fridge, a microwave, and a washing machine too, but honestly, it was harder to find a rental without those, so I didn't count them.
Anyway, there was a mattress sunken deep, as if a heavy person had lain on it for ages. And a wardrobe with a design straight out of a grandmother's house. As old as it looked, the door creaked every time you opened it—that much was a given. If you pulled the drawers out wrong, they'd fall to the floor with a frightening thud. These old things came as basic options, so I had to leave them be.
'If I touch them carelessly, it'll get deducted from my security deposit.'
I'd been living alone for a long time. If you broke old furniture like this by messing with it, the person who broke it was responsible. It was something like that. Like shared company equipment breaking right when you used it, forcing you to buy a replacement. And some landlords would kick up a fuss—no, complain—citing special clauses and asking how you dared change things on your own, even if you'd put in better furniture. So when you first moved in, you had to film every provided item thoroughly and check perfectly for any defects.
'Because the money they swindle that way isn't just pocket change.'
As little as fifty thousand won. Sometimes they'd demand over three hundred thousand won for a door lock, spouting nonsense. Now, such money was trivial to me, like dropping a five-hundred-won coin on the street, but it still felt bad.
"I won't give a single won."
Muttering that small vow to myself, I carefully took out all the clothes from the wardrobe. Though I said all, honestly, there wasn't much.
"...Was my wardrobe always this empty?"
A few outfits I'd rotated for work and a few shirts I'd worn to meet friends. The pants all looked the same, and the socks were all identical black and gray. There was so little to throw away that it actually made things easier. At the same time, I felt a little bitter, but well, being comfortable now was more important.
"The service will be here soon... I should at least roughly organize the clothes."
Honestly, there wasn't an enormous amount to throw away. If I were still Choi Minhu, I could have sorted through this much in a single day. But as Choi Yeonbi, I couldn't even fathom clearing it all. I could barely lift a chair I'd bought separately. And if I couldn't lift one chair, how could I throw away the topper on the mattress, the blankets, dishes, the clothes rack I'd assembled next to the wardrobe, the laundry drying rack, the foldable desk, the winter clothes and spare blankets, the towels, and so on? There was absolutely no way I could clean this up alone.
"Money to buy them, money to throw them away."
I sighed briefly and roughly stuffed the clothes into a clear plastic bag beside me. If I cleaned up even a little, it would end faster. When I'd packed about half the clothes, I heard someone knocking on the door.
"Yes, I'm coming."
I answered, glancing at the clock. They'd arrived a whole ten minutes earlier than my scheduled time. Thinking I'd chosen a good company, I opened the door wide.
When I opened the door, a man with an amiable smile stood at the front. Behind him, two women and one man stood with slightly tired eyes. Well, it wasn't even eight yet.
"Hello."
"Hello! Are you the customer Choi Yeonbi who made a reservation for today?"
The man smiled kindly as he spoke. He seemed to be the boss. He exuded a cheerful energy that lifted your spirits just by looking at him.
"Yes, I'm trying to throw away everything in this room today."
"Let's see... is there anything we shouldn't throw away?"
He glanced into the house and asked.
"Don't touch the bed, mattress, or wardrobe—they're basic options. Same with the fridge and microwave. Ah, and leave the desk, computer monitor, keyboard, mouse, and tower as well."
Hearing that, the man who'd been glancing at the room nodded lightly and looked at me.
"Then, should we throw away everything except those?"
"Yes. Just throw it all away, please."
"You want us to just... throw all of this away?"
As I was talking with the man, one of the women standing quietly behind looked at me in surprise. I stared back at her blankly. Did she want to hear why I was throwing things away? Of course, I understood completely. To others, these looked like perfectly fine items, and this was an ordinary studio apartment. I suppose asking to throw away everything all of a sudden might seem strange. But asking like that was nosy.
The man seemed to think so too, turning his head to look at the woman with a somewhat stern face.
"Sojin, stop the unnecessary chatter and grab three more waste bags from the car. Yeonseo, pack up the items in the kitchen here, and Taebeom, go to the bathroom and gather everything to throw away, then come out to the living room."
"Yes~"
"The bathroom again?"
"Yeonseo cleaned the bathroom last time. So it's your turn."
The employees skillfully divided their areas and began entering the house. It felt awkward seeing people enter my home like this, so I stared at the three with a slightly dazed expression.
'There will be piles of packages at the new place again.'
Thinking I should write in the delivery instructions not to block the door with packages, I stared intently at the employees who'd begun working in earnest.
####
Lee Sojin, who'd come down to the car on an errand for her father. She knew perfectly well that what she'd said was nosy. But even so, she couldn't understand.
'A move? But if you're moving, you usually ask them to pack your things, not throw them away.'
Besides, the eyes of the person asking to throw things away had looked a little sad. Eyes that seemed to hold a determination to forget everything.
'She's not preparing to die or anything, right?'
She'd heard of it sometimes. That people about to die want to erase their traces. So they cut all ties, clean up all their belongings, disappear somewhere alone, and quietly meet their end.
'...Overthinking since morning.'
Sojin's head grew complicated. Unable to voice such thoughts, she silently picked up the bags and returned to the room. They'd already packed quite a bit—clothes and blankets were stuffed in the waste bags.
'...Men's clothes?'
What showed through the bags were underwear and clothes that were unmistakably men's. Seeing that, Sojin raised her head and looked at the customer.
'She's a woman.'
An incredibly pretty one at that. Prettier than singers or actresses on TV. Singers and actresses needed makeup and retouching to look like that, yet this woman surpassed them without any of that. She was even in training clothes with what looked like a bare face.
'...Strange.'
Sojin's intuition was speaking to her. This woman. She's hiding something.
"If you're back, hurry in and help. Keep loafing and I'll cut your salary in half?"
At the boss's words, she shook her head and hurried into the room. Handing the bags she'd brought to the boss, she looked around the somewhat alien room.
"I finished the bathroom."
"Yeah, pass me those bags."
The other family members were cleaning the room nonchalantly, excluding Sojin. That made it even stranger.
'This place... anyone can see it's a man's room.'
The reason she was certain it was a man's room: no cosmetics. Not a single piece of women's clothing. Not even underwear. And ultimately, there wasn't a single essential item in the bags from the bathroom—no sanitary pads, cleansing foam, or cleansing oil.
'...Her boyfriend's room? Or her lover's?'
She thought it was entirely possible. They might be moving in together and need to clear out the things in this room. If the boyfriend had told his girlfriend what to throw away and what not to, it made sense.
'I was just making strange thoughts for no reason.'
Sojin shook her head alone and focused on cleaning again.
####
"Dad."
"Hm?"
"Didn't you feel something strange?"
Inside the car on the way back to the company. At Sojin's words, the boss glanced at her face in the rearview mirror. A slightly serious face. A face containing many thoughts.
"Why?"
"It's strange. She's a woman, but there's not a single women's item—just men's things. And she's asking to throw everything away."
"Did you feel that too, unni? I thought it was pretty strange when not a single cosmetic came out while I was organizing."
Lee Yeonseo chimed in, agreeing with Sojin. Only Taebeom, sitting by the window and staring blankly outside, kept silent.
"...It was certainly strange."
"Right?"
Sojin grabbed the driver's seat headrest and leaned forward. Seeing her, the boss brought up one more story.
"You know what? Back when I started cleaning at another place, gangsters once asked me to clean out the house of someone they'd 'taken care of.'"
"What?"
"We didn't know then, but found out later when it was on the news. The day after I learned that, I closed shop immediately and took a few days off."
Sojin pressed her lips tightly at the boss's story. The eyes of Yeonseo beside her also began to shake slightly.
"Well, the house just now probably isn't like that. Do you know why I'm telling you this?"
"..."
"Don't worry about it. Don't even pay attention. We're just people who get paid to clear out stuff. Got it?"
Yeonseo and Sojin sealed their lips firmly at those words. And in that subdued atmosphere, only Taebeom alone.
'She was really pretty.......'
Was thinking about Yeonbi.