When I Loved You

After Muyeol left, Yiyoung got up. Her poofy hair was all messy from lying on the bed, so she tied it up. Then she brushed her teeth and washed her face.

She put on her clothes and walked into the living room, just as she used to do when she was alone. “I’m going to have curry ramen today!”

She had completely forgotten the way Muyeol had nagged at her the whole weekend about her diet. It was a habit she had formed a long time ago, it obviously wouldn’t change overnight.

“I can eat properly later in the night,” she muttered an excuse to herself.

She put a pot of water on the stove, but just when she opened the packet of ramen, the bell rang. It was then she remembered that the housekeepers were supposed to come every morning. She sadly put down the packet and opened the door for them.

“Hello, Mrs. Yoon,” the housekeepers greeted her.

“Hello.”

The two housekeepers went straight to the kitchen and scanned the area. In an instant, the stove was turned off and the pot of water was drained into the sink.

“You look better today,” one of them said, “That’s good.”

“Thank you,” Yiyoung said with a dejected look on her face.

“The director told us not to let you eat ramen.” The housekeeper laughed.

Yiyoung laughed along with them. But then she heard the housekeepers talk to each other. She couldn’t believe it…

“Put all the ramen in here.” One gestured to the other. “The director said we should take away all the ramen.”

“Okay,” the other responded.

Yiyoung’s face crumpled. After the housekeepers were done ridding the kitchen of all the ramen, the kitchen cabinets were practically empty. Yiyoung looked like she was on the verge of crying as she thought about the fate of her ramen.

Despite Yiyoung’s sadness over losing all the ramen, the rest of the morning passed by peacefully. She worked with the housekeepers; when they vacuumed the floor, she got ready with a rag to wipe the floor after them, and when they went out to empty the garbage can, she waited for them with a new garbage bag in hand.

“Oh, Madam, you don’t have to help us,” the housekeepers stopped her.

“What’s the big deal?” Yiyoung smiled. “If we do it together, we can finish early and relax together!”

“If you help us like this, we wouldn’t be able to meet your eyes.”

Yiyoung simply couldn’t understand what they meant. What was so wrong about heer helping them? It wasn’t like Muyeol had installed a CCTV camera to monitor them. So, as long as she didn’t interfere with their work, it didn’t matter whether she helped them or not. “It’ll be fine if you don’t tell him. He wouldn’t ever know.”

“But…” The housekeeper trailed off awkwardly, both of them looking uncomfortable.

Yiyoung finally backed off, allowing them to work comfortably, and they were able to clean up the house quite quickly, as if they were some robots.

Later, when it was time for them to leave, Yiyoung escorted the housekeepers to the door and asked,  “Was I interrupting your work?”

She didn’t feel she could simply watch them work, knowing that she would see them the next morning as well.

“No, it’s not that…” The two looked at each other, startled.

“I’m really talented at cleaning in my own way. I had a cleaning part-time job when I was in school, too. Of course, I’m not as good as professionals like you,” explained Yiyoung.

“No, Madam. It’s not that,” said one of the housekeepers, “The director said…”

“What did he say?”

“He told us to think of you as our sick niece.”

Yiyoung could only blink in response.

“The director has never requested anything from us before. This is his first time asking us to do something. He asked us to take good care of you.”