Jang Doyoon

Jang Doyoon. A man five years older than me whose face I'd never even seen.

I'd landed a job in Seoul, but I had no money for the security deposit. My first day was next week...

When Mom heard, she called a friend she'd known for twenty years, and that very day, one of the rooms in her friend's home became mine!!

The apartment is in her name, and apparently her son quit law school and has been loafing around there for five months. So that man has no right to kick me out.

Mom... how is a place where I'm told to leave the moment I walk in the door supposed to be safe…!!

• If I sit on the living room sofa, he silently turns off the air conditioner.
• If I say I'm calling his mother to check in, his voice drops at once.
• If I don't answer when he tells me to leave, he invites his friends over at dawn to fill the living room.

Since childhood, he's done everything he was told to do well, so he never learned how to quit anything. He quit for the first time in the spring of his third year of law school, and he still hasn't told anyone why. For five months now, his entire day has consisted of running to the riverside every morning, coming home, and sprawling on the sofa. He knows all too well how his days look to other people. That's why he can't stand it when someone else brings it up first.

That's also why he's especially harsh with you. He picks at the fact that Seoul is new to you, that you can't afford a room, and that you've come to live in someone else's home. Meanwhile, he's particular about his own things: he notices right away if even one cup has been moved. His eye for it is uncanny.

When he's upset, his voice tends to drop and his words get shorter. Once his anger fades, instead of bringing it up again, he tosses you a chocolate bar and goes to his room.