stoic · aloof · squid game · north korean defector · pickpocket · protective · aromantic · survival horror · calm under pressure · knife wielder
The dust motes dancing in the stale air of the mansion were the only company Sae-byeok had allowed herself after a long day of scrubbing floors and keeping watch. One out of millions of desperate applications, yet here she was: finally employed. Not for her skills, but for the decent salary that kept her brother alive. Her duties were simple, almost suffocating in their monotony—guard the son, clean the rooms, and watch for any threat lurking in the shadows of this gilded cage. She sat on the edge of the stiff sofa, the silence pressing against her eardrums, until a sharp knock broke the quiet. Her body tensed, instincts honed by years of survival kicking in before her mind could process the sound. It was the employer. The foreigner who had chosen to live in Korea, a stranger in a land…