Troll

‌⁠♡⁩ TL: Khadija SK

 

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She couldn’t even comprehend what had just happened. The only thing she knew was that the repulsive desire that had been grinding against her had disappeared.

 

So, even as the man rolled on the floor, Jin-ah could only gasp for air, unable to do anything for a moment.

 

Then, when a groan came from beneath the bed, she realized that the man who had been pinning her down had rolled off to the side.

 

‘Who?’

 

Who on earth had just helped her here and now?

 

Jin-ah turned her head. She didn’t know who had kicked that man away, but whoever it was, if they wanted anything from her, she felt she could do it. With that thought in mind, she turned her head, and standing there was someone she had never expected.

 

‘Ian… Aylesford?’

 

Truly, someone she had never even once considered.

 

‘Why…?’

 

Even in this situation, it made no sense. She wouldn’t have been this shocked even if the sous-chef had returned to save her. But why would someone who stood in the same position as the man who had tried to assault her help her?

 

Ian didn’t respond. Instead, he picked up the syringe that had fallen onto the bed. He brought it close to his face and sniffed it. His expression twisted into something frightening.

 

“That bastard.”

 

His voice, though spitting out a curse, was elegant. Like a nobleman uttering his first harsh word, he murmured gracefully, then tightened his grip on the syringe he was holding.

 

Crack!

 

Even though it was made of plastic, the syringe shattered almost absurdly easily in Ian’s hand.

 

The liquid inside flowed down his hand. Ian, as if disgusted, grabbed a wine bottle rolling on the floor and used it to wash his hand.

 

Could syringes break that easily?

 

Staring in disbelief, Jin-ah could only open and close her mouth wordlessly. Ian immediately strode over and kicked the fallen man.

 

Thud! Thud!

 

Each kick carried raw intent to kill.

 

“You, Ian! Ugh! Why…!”

 

The fallen man, seemingly unable to understand why Ian was doing this, tried to stop him, but the kicks showed no mercy.

 

Soon, the fallen man’s face was soaked in blood. On the once-pristine carpet, broken teeth spat from his mouth scattered about. There were too many to count.

 

Jin-ah, trembling, watched the scene unfold. Just moments ago, that man had tried to pin her down and forcibly inject her with drugs.

 

Now, seeing him completely overpowered and helpless, she felt no satisfaction—only fear.

 

Jin-ah stared, entranced, at the raw violence happening before her eyes.

 

“Ian! What are you doing? My god, it’s Jeremy! Hey, what are you doing? Stop him already!”

 

Another man appeared, rushing in to stop Ian, who continued to kick the man without pause.

 

Only after someone screamed did the employees from the 14th floor—who hadn’t shown up until then—rush in to separate Ian from the man named Jeremy.

 

Ian brushed off the arms of the staff restraining him and adjusted his clothes. He looked almost the same as when he had entered.

 

A suit, a coat—perfectly dressed. If not for the blood on his shirt, no one would have guessed what he had just done.

 

Ian calmly finished straightening his sleeves, and Jin-ah finally understood why she felt terrified of the man who had saved her.

 

Ian had just been “killing” that man.

 

***

 

“This can’t be a dream, can it?”

 

Sitting on the edge of a soft bed, Jin-ah looked around the room she was in.

 

A large, luxurious, and pristine room.

 

Through the large windows, she could see the Thames River with the London Eye in the distance, the view stretching out before her.

 

It was one of the more expensive rooms in the hotel she worked at. It was probably featured multiple times in promotional photos on the hotel’s website.

 

After glancing around the room for quite some time, Jin-ah let herself collapse backward onto the bed. The soft duvet enveloped her weary body.

 

“What on earth happened?”

 

Jin-ah tried to recall what had happened to her.

 

Staff had rushed in, and people had pulled Ian away. She, too, was taken out of the room by the staff who had arrived. She remembered the moment she felt relief at being alive, her strength giving out as she broke into uncontrollable sobs.

 

The staff had brought her to this room.

 

When she tried to push them away and scream, fearing they might do something like what happened on the 14th floor again, the general manager—whom she hadn’t seen even once during her shifts—arrived, practically begging her on his knees.

 

He repeatedly assured her that the hotel would take full responsibility, cover her medical expenses, and provide ample compensation. He pleaded with her not to report the incident to the police or alert the media.

 

At the same time, he subtly suggested that filing a report wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway and attempted to bribe her, offering compensation if she would simply let the incident slide.

 

Humiliatingly, Jin-ah had put down the phone receiver in her hand at his words. Perhaps sensing an opportunity for negotiation, the general manager then stated the price for her silence: £10,000.

 

It was an awkward sum.

 

Not a small amount, but certainly not enough for someone to agree to endure what she had gone through. When Jin-ah bit her lip, the manager hurriedly raised the amount.

 

In the end, what had happened tonight was settled for £30,000.

 

“Feel free to use this room. We’ll cover all your medical bills, so don’t worry about that. I’ll contact you again in the morning.”

 

Once the negotiation was over, the manager erased his obsequious demeanor, adopting the expression of someone bestowing mercy.

 

Jin-ah didn’t find his attitude particularly revolting. She found herself far more disgusting for selling her dignity for £30,000.

 

After the manager left, another staff member brought in Jin-ah’s belongings from the kitchen.

 

The staff member, a middle-aged woman, said she had a nursing license and offered to check her injuries before she went to the hospital. She examined the wound at the back of Jin-ah’s head and clicked her tongue.

 

“It’s not severe, but there’s been some bleeding. I’ve disinfected it, so it’ll feel uncomfortable, but try not to wash your hair. Once the sun comes up, head straight to the hospital. It’s a really good one, so get all the tests you want done while you’re there. They don’t require appointments and will handle everything immediately.”

 

The attitude of the staff member explaining the hospital seemed strangely familiar.

 

“Does this kind of thing happen often?”

 

“Not often. But… the hotel usually doesn’t take care of staff like this.”

 

At that response, Jin-ah understood why someone with a nursing license had been stationed there.

 

This employee was likely hired to provide first aid in case something happened to one of the party guests. Or perhaps she was there to ensure that the women specially called in wouldn’t die in this place.

 

The staff member had been meticulous in tending to Jin-ah before leaving. Judging by the firm bandage tied around her head and the disinfected cuts on her arms, her claim of having a nursing license didn’t seem to be a lie.

 

As soon as the staff member left, Jin-ah locked the door immediately. Despite the modern era, this hotel intentionally retained old-fashioned locking mechanisms. After turning the lock and securing the latch from the inside, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

 

“Now I’m safe.”

 

And that brought her to the present moment.

 

She thought about going to sleep as she was, but her dirty clothes caught her eye. Having thrown food at Jeremy and rolled on the floor alongside the mess, her clothes were stained with sticky sauces and wine.

 

On top of that, the smell of food from working all day and the sweat from struggling to survive clung to her.

 

The thought that she was the dirtiest thing in this room spurred Jin-ah to head to the bathroom.

 

This room, which she and Jessie had once joked about not being able to afford even a single night in despite working an entire month, was so luxurious that even using its bathroom felt like an act of audacity.

 

“Let’s just get cleaned up…”

 

It was difficult to wash without letting water touch her head or other wounds.

 

With her arms raised, Jin-ah managed to wash only below her neck. She then considered putting her clothes back on but quickly gave up. Sleeping in them seemed impossible.

 

In the end, she sprayed her clothes liberally with deodorizer and hung them up, then slipped into the bathrobe provided by the hotel and climbed into bed.

 

A pleasant weight and softness enveloped her body. The warmth of her freshly washed body mingled with the comfort of the bed, allowing her previously stalled thoughts to finally start moving again.

 

And almost immediately, a question surfaced in her mind:

 

‘Why did Ian Aylesford help me?’

 

It wasn’t hard to guess why he was there. He, too, was likely an invited guest at the debauched party.

 

What was difficult to understand, however, was why someone like him would kick Jeremy, who was presumably an acquaintance, and help her.

 

If she had even the slightest chance to talk to him, she would have asked.

 

“Maybe he didn’t actually save me.”

 

Jin-ah recalled Ian’s unrestrained, raw violence.

 

There had been no hesitation in his intent to “kill” Jeremy. When the staff restrained him and tried to stop him, the usually composed Ian muttered something as though unable to suppress his fury.

 

“How dare. That thing.”— he had said.

 

It was clear that “that thing” he referred to was not her.

 

“I was just lucky.”

 

Whatever the reason, Jeremy must have wronged him in some way, and Ian had only come to take his revenge. She simply happened to benefit in the process.

 

Since she was fortunate enough to be saved, the general manager mistakenly believed Ian had acted to rescue her. That was likely why he offered her this room, medical expenses, and hush money.

 

“Should I even be grateful for this?”

 

The man who caused her to carry such a heavy burden was now, in this situation, her savior. Thinking about how absurd it all was, Jin-ah buried her face in her knees.

 

She glanced at the clock. It was a little past 3:30 AM. Morning was still far away.

 

With all that had happened, plus her injuries, she had expected to fall asleep early from sheer exhaustion. But the more she thought about the events that had unfolded, the more her body trembled with tension.

 

Jin-ah rummaged through her bag, which a staff member had brought to the room. Her hand soon grasped her phone.

 

She felt an overwhelming urge to talk to someone—anyone—and share what she was feeling. But…

 

‘Who could I even call at this hour? And what could I even say? That something like this happened, and I decided to settle it for money?’

 

After scrolling through her contact list for a while, Jin-ah let out a deep sigh and set the phone down. Then, she went to the minibar and grabbed the miniature-sized bottles of alcohol sitting there.

 

She wasn’t particularly fond of drinking nor good at it, but she felt like she needed their help tonight. She opened a whiskey she recognized, took a swig straight from the bottle, and felt a burning sensation as it traveled down her lips and throat.

 

Jin-ah opened several more and drank them all.

 

The alcohol hit her quickly. With the empty bottles discarded in the trash, she returned to bed and crawled under the covers.

 

It turned out to be the right choice. As the alcohol muddled her thoughts, the tension left her body, and sleepiness soon overwhelmed her.

 

Reaching out with her hand, her blurred vision landed on a contact she had ultimately not called.

 

[Korean Woman]

 

As her eyes closed, Jin-ah mumbled.

 

“…Mom.”

 

Feeling her eyes sting, she shut them tightly.

 

***

 

The sound of Jin-ah’s quiet sobs gradually subsided, and her breathing turned steady and rhythmic. With its occupant now fast asleep, the room fell silent. It was a place where only her calm breaths should have been heard until morning.

 

Click.

 

However, the lock on the door, one that couldn’t be opened from the outside, slowly began to move. As if an invisible hand were pulling at it.

 

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