1 - 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝
The hospital room was cloaked in the sterile, oppressive silence of fear. You sat by your mother's bed, the sobs that wracked your body seeming to absorb all the oxygen. Her hand, motionless and cool in your grasp, was a devastating anchor to the reality you couldn't escape.
Through thick, broken tears, you whispered, "Mom…! What happened to you so suddenly…? You know how utterly lost I'll be without you?"
You pressed her hand to your cheek, your tears wetting the pale skin. "But don't worry, okay? I promise nothing will happen to you. I'll work every job, skip college...I'll do whatever it takes to raise the money. Just hold on, okay? We will get back to our lives again."
A soft click preceded the entry of the nurse, the sound cutting through your raw grief. You quickly wiped your eyes, pulling yourself upright. "Please, take good care of my mom," you managed, bowing politely before hurrying out the door, desperate to escape the suffocating silence.
The hallway offered no solace, only the cold, hard reality of the polished linoleum floor and the impersonal glow of the overhead lights. Your phone vibrated insistently....Elina, who had been calling relentlessly for the past hour. You picked up, lifting the phone wearily to your ear, though the sobs still shook your frame. "Hello…"
Elina’s voice erupted, loud and panicked, making you flinch. "Yaaah! What on earth happened to Aunty?! Is she truly okay? Tell me! Oh, God, I’ve been frantic, and you finally pick up!"
You let out a ragged sigh, sinking onto a cold, metallic bench outside the surgical wing. You stayed silent for a long moment, scrubbing the exhaustion from your face with a weary hand. When you finally spoke, your voice was thin and brittle. "Well… it’s complicated… they said…" You pressed your lips into a thin, painful line, staring down at your lap as fresh tears gathered, threatening to spill over again.
"What did they f*cking say, Y/N?! Don’t do this...tell me everything!" Elina demanded, her voice tight with terror.
"They said her condition is critical. If they don't start the specialized surgery soon, the chances of her survival drop drastically…"
"What?! No, Y/N! Are you serious? She was just fine! What in the world happened to her all at once?"
You broke down, the sobs escaping uncontrollably. "I--I… I don't know, Elina! I don't know how to save her! I don't even have a fraction of the money. I am completely stuck!"
Elina fell silent, the static on the line the only sound. Then, her voice returned, quiet but intensely serious, an edge of fierce determination replacing the panic. "Listen to me. I think I might have something. Something big. We can’t talk here. Meet me now."
The small café was bustling, but the noise barely registered over the roaring panic in your mind. You were sitting opposite Elina. She had managed to calm your initial hysterics, but now a heavy dread settled between you.
Elina bit her lip, worry etched across her face as she looked at you. "Two million won?"
You nodded, your head lowered, playing restlessly with the hem of your shirt.
"Y/N, this is… too much! You’re just in college. Even if you do a part-time job, you can barely earn one thousand won per week."
"That's the problem, Elina!" you burst out, looking up in frustration. "What should I do?"
Elina sighed and reached across the table, taking your hand. Her thumb gently brushed against your knuckles in a gesture of comfort. "Um… I think… I have something for you. I know some people. Not good people, but people who deal in serious money, fast."
You looked up, dread mixing with a desperate, fleeting hope. "What kind of money?"
"Enough. More than enough. You're beautiful, Y/N. You're young, and you have class. There are private agencies....extremely exclusive ones....that cater to high-net-worth individuals. I’m talking CEOs, foreign investors. They pay outrageous amounts for... company."
A cold wave washed over you. You knew exactly what Elina meant. Your stomach twisted painfully. "You mean... a hostess?"
Elina avoided your eyes for a moment. "Not in some club. This is private, confidential. A week on a yacht, maybe a private penthouse party. The pay for a single weekend retainer is enough to cover the surgery deposit outright. They want discretion, beauty, and compliance. You’d be safe, relatively. No one would ever know."
You snatched your hand back, your face hardening with quiet revulsion. "No. Absolutely not, Elina. I can't. That kind of money... it costs too much. It costs everything." Your voice shook, fueled by a deep, absolute moral refusal. "I won't trade myself, even for her. I won't let her wake up to find out I destroyed myself."
Elina sighed, defeated but not entirely surprised. "But there is no single work that is easy and faster money. I know, as a best friend, I shouldn't offer this, but... you could try it for your mother?"
You groaned, resting your head on the table with a soft thud. "I’m scared of these types of things! You know I’ve never even had a drink, how scared I am."
Elina nodded in quick agreement. "Exactly! Immature!"
You lifted your head instantly. "Any another option?"
"Aaaah! Okay, okay! Wait... let me think... Or we can find one, huh?" Elina quickly pulled out her phone. She unlocked it and began searching frantically.
You waited desperately, chewing on your lip. Elina showed you a brief list. "You could also work for a club, but... the money is not high." She kept scrolling rapidly. Your eyes scanned the screen.
Suddenly, Elina found something, and she quickly clicked on the link. "Wait, wait...! What's this!"
You watched, heart pounding, as Elina's eyebrow twitched in deep concentration over her phone screen. "Show me! What are you--"
Elina gasped, raising a hand to stop you from talking. "Wait, no way...! They are giving ten million won??!!"
Your eyes widened, and your heart skipped a beat. "Who? Who??"
Elina laughed, turning her gaze from the screen to you. "Okay! This is going to be crazy, I know, but Y/N, think--it’s ten million?!"
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But what are you talking about?"
"So! They say--" Elina looked back at the screen, reading out loud, her voice dropping to a theatrical whisper: "We require a woman, age is flexible, who can commit to being a dedicated mother figure for our daughter, Eunha, age one year old. This is purely for childcare, but the applicant must marry the father. Just a contract marriage. No relationship, nothing, just for the baby... for..." Elina’s voice got suddenly lower on the last line. "...for lifetime? No way!"
You both gasped in unison. Elina quickly spoke again. "Okay, this is crazy! For lifetime?!"
You shook your head vehemently. "No way! I’m just barely nineteen, and I’m going to take care of a baby?"
Elina nodded, pulling her hand away from the phone to gesture at you. "Exactly! You yourself are a baby yet!"
You glared at her. "I am not a baby!"
"You are!"
"I ammm not!"
"You areee!"
You whined like a child, pouting fiercely. "I am not, Elinaa!"
"Look! You are!" she laughed, unbothered by your dramatic protest. Elina quickly scrolled down the screen again. "Wow... every month ten million won... You know what? Let's just try this!"
"Nooo! I can't!"
"But, just apply for it for now, and... if you don't like it, and they demand weird things, then we walk away, huh?"
You hesitated, trying to formulate a reply that expressed your fear and moral objection, but before you could speak, Elina had already tapped the screen rapidly.
"No wai--"
Elina cut you off with a smug smile. "Too late! Now, let's just wait for their reply, huh?"
You sigh's, shaking your head in disbelief.
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That night, sleep was impossible. You were too wired, too anxious. You spent hours glued to your laptop, trying to search for more details about the contract offer, but found nothing concrete. The lack of information only heightened your anxiety.
One thing was starkly clear: The money....the ten million won a month....was the only way to save your mother.
But the rest of the contract was eating you alive. Lifetime commitment to a man you didn't know, a single father who needed a wife only for his baby daughter, Eunha.
The reality of being a mother figure to a one-year-old crashed over you in terrifying waves. You barely knew how to take care of yourself, let alone a baby. Caring for a baby meant: Changing diapers, which you’d never done. Feeding schedules, which seemed impossibly complicated. Dealing with tantrums and late nights, which would demand patience you weren't sure you possessed.
The thought of sacrificing your youth and freedom for this immense, terrifying responsibility was overwhelming. It was a trade-off of your entire future for your mother's life. You finally forced the laptop shut, tossing and turning until the early hours. You tried desperately not to think, knowing that tomorrow was going to be a monumental day. Because, of course, they had replied to Elina. They wanted you in for an interview.
The next morning, you woke up with a knot of dread in your stomach. You got ready, the anxiety making your movements clumsy, and left your small apartment for the address Elina had sent you. You booked a taxi and made your way across the city.
•• Your dress: ••
You took a deep, loud breath, trying to settle your nerves, and clutched your purse tightly before walking toward the entrance.
Inside, you found a busy, professional environment filled with people in crisp suits working at computers. Your brow furrowed in confusion. This felt entirely too formal.
Then you spotted Elina. You shook your head in disbelief; there she was, already talking animatedly with a girl near the reception area. You walked quickly toward her. "Yahh!"
Elina looked up, her expression bright and relieved, and quickly stood up. "Finally! You came! Let's go. I've already talked to the receptionist...go and give your interview." She grabbed your arm and started to pull you forward.
"Wait, wait…! Already? I--I’m not even ready yet!" you protested, dragging your feet.
Elina stopped and gave you a fierce glare. "What? Don't waste your time! Just go. They will ask simple questions....don't panic!"
"Bu...but!"
Elina ignored you, dragging you straight toward a large, mahogany door labeled 'Conference Room B.' "Good luck… now go!" She gave your shoulder a firm, encouraging pat.
You hesitated, clearly overwhelmed. You bit your lip; this was clearly unfair. You didn't want this, and somehow, you were still hoping they wouldn't select you. Taking a deep breath and forcing yourself to calm your racing nerves, you knocked lightly on the door.
A voice from inside answered, "Yes?"
You opened the door, glancing back at Elina one last time; she gave you a determined nod. You stepped inside.
