Vol 1 Chapter 6

Room 420. The women were gathered there, playing mahjong around a square table in the center. I bowed and stepped into the room, which was as thick with cigarette smoke as a raccoon’s burrow. Upon seeing me, Kim Miran rolled her eyes and Park Jinkyung stared at my g**in.

“You’re fine.”

I didn’t flinch at their blatant stares. I returned them with a formal, yet emotionless face. Seriously, it had only been a day. Park Jinkyung, dressed in a robe, opened the front flap.

“After a long time, CEO Jang fucked all night like an animal in heat, so I thought it was you.”

Kim Miran silently agreed with Park Jinkyung.

“You don’t look like that, but you m**n loudly when you have s*x.”

Park Jinkyung finished, and this time Kim Miran chimed in with a roll of the dice.

“You’re exactly CEO Jang’s taste. Your face is white like a ghost.”

Park Jinkyung rolled her eyes, then clapped her hands together as if she’d remembered something.

“Do you have STD?”

“No. There are no diseases among the golf course staff.”

Park Jinkyung tilted her head, a puzzled look on her face.

“That’s strange.”

The gossip quickly cooled. Having lost interest, Park Jinkyung returned to her usual fondling of Jinseok’s thighs, while Kim Miran puffed stiffly on her cigarette. Both women’s faces had the same expression on them. Park Jinkyung’s touch no longer looked lustful, and Kim Miran’s face, as she blew smoke into the air, looked emotionless. It was as if they were drowning in a swamp made of boredom.

Kim Miran called out to me in a toneless voice.

“Would you like a drink?”

“Yes.”

I walked over to the parlor, picked up the ice cubes with my tongs, one by one, and put them in the glass. Clink, clink, the ice hit the glass. Repeating the sequence of actions, I gradually lost touch with reality. The noises around me recede, and CEO Jang’s voice fills the void, his raspy voice echoing in my head like a thunderclap.

‘It’s safe to say that I have very few stimulants at the moment. It is indeed an unhappy life.

It was a weak voice, but it had enough power to grab you and shake you. He was clearly standing with both feet on the ground, but he felt himself lose his center and sway slightly.

…No stimulant. I swallowed hard. No, that couldn’t be it, I’d definitely heard those m**ns echoing through the halls all night, and I was sure I wasn’t the only plaything CEO Jang had. I was sure of it. I’m sure he had a lot of expensive pacifiers lying around, but why me? It was Kim Miran’s voice that brought me out of my confusion.

“Hey, baby.”

“…Oh, yes, I’m sorry.”

Like being doused in cold water, I came to my senses. I quickly poured alcohol into an empty glass and set it in front of her.

“Can you get us some cigarettes?”

“Sure.”

Kim Miran handed me a few bills from under her thighs, they were money she’d gotten from Park Jinkyung. I took the money and went back down to the lobby.

The convenience store clerk now knew the type and number of cigarettes from my face alone. With two packs of cigarettes in my arms, I walked away quickly. I paused in front of a break room reserved for customers. With my hand on the doorknob, I quickly scanned my surroundings. No one else seemed to be around.

I stepped inside the break room. I closed the door slightly behind me, remembering to lock it. A computer sat against one of the walls. I turned it on and sat down in front of it. I fiddled with it, trying to figure out where to go next. My eyes quickly scanned the words on the screen. Anywhere secluded was good, as long as I could hide myself.

***

The schedule was over. I returned to my room, skipped dinner, and flopped onto my bed. Soon darkness fell outside my window. The hustle and bustle of the hallway quieted, and the building fell silent, as if in sync.

A long time passed. I finally got off the bed and crawled under it. There was the bundle of money that Kim Miran had given me as a tip during the day. I hid them in my arms and scanned the hallway before sneaking out of the hotel. I turned and looked back at the inn. It was dimly lit, with one curtain hastily drawn shut. With a quick glance at it, I scurried across the abandoned grounds in my worn out sneakers.

My footsteps continued into the darkness. I was heading for the mountains.

Night had fallen. It was so dark that I couldn’t tell if I was in a forest, a cave, or a whale’s mouth. After a long hike up the mountain by the light of a single lantern, I found my destination.

Because of the ruggedness of the mountain, the location was marked with stones. Before heading to the stone, I turned around and scanned my surroundings.

My eyes peered into the darkness, searching for the smallest detail. The grotesque forest sang an eerie song.

I swept the weeds out of the way with my hands, lifted a rock, and began to dig. The damp earth turned over at my touch.

I put what I had in my arms into the ground. I’d been burying money in the mountains at every opportunity like this. The passbook was dangerous. Under the bed in the dormitory, where employees came and went in the hallways, was only temporary storage. The ground was the safest place. It left no trace of its arrival or departure and was the least likely to be discovered.

If you buried something alive, it would sprout. But money had no life in it; it only shortened my life.

I pressed my foot against the rising earth like a mound and placed the stone on top.

I walked out of the forest and headed back to my lodgings.

“…….”

I hadn’t given up on the idea of running away, and his threats flashed through my mind.

‘I’m going to call a detective I know and have him take a closer look at you because you stole my wallet.’

When the man spat those words, the hair on my head stood on end. I wiped my damp, sweaty palms on my waistband.

I told him I had no intention of going to the police, but there was no guarantee he wouldn’t entertain the idea after I turned down his offer. Once CEO Jang realized my identity was fake, I was no longer safe here.

CEO Jang gave me three days to leave. At dawn on that last day, I decided to leave in the bongo car provided by the golf course. I had already paid for the transportation. Until then, I would try to squeeze more money out of him. Just a little bit more, just a little bit more, and then I’ll get out of here. Then I was going to take a boat to the island. Anywhere with fewer people was good, and that seemed like the best plan at the moment.

But I had overlooked a few things. Has an opportunity ever come to me when I wanted it, in the form I wanted it, or had it ever come back to me after I’d let it go?

…No. Has an opportunity ever come to me?

***

The next day. I groomed myself to keep up with my schedule and left the room. As I walked down the stairs, I saw a group of employees coming up from the other side. They were whispering something, but when they saw me, they fell silent. I paused for a moment, watching their backs as they scurried away, and then stared at the railing.

One of them was the employee who had come in to clean CEO Jang’s room. Has the rumor spread, and if so, how? How much does he know? Suspicion stretched out into a million twigs.

“…Ha.”

I rubbed my forehead vigorously. It was unnecessarily sensitive. They were usually a tight-knit bunch. They were probably gossiping about the private lives of VIPs as usual, but when they spotted a third party, they shut up. It was a useless suspicion. A man with so much to hide would be so nervous. I made my way to the lounge, swallowing hard at the unpleasantness creeping up the back of my throat.

***

The unexpected happened. The office I’d gone to earlier to fulfill the members’ schedules had told me that I could take the day off. I couldn’t help but smile, even though they told me that I would still receive my basic salary. I was disappointed. No customers meant no money today.

“Oh.”

I turned to leave, but then I remembered something and walked back into the office. The service manager asked me what I wanted. I said I did not receive information about CEO Jang. He smiled and handed me a file with brief information about all the  members.

“…….”

As I slowly flipped through the file, I noticed something strange on the page with CEO Jang’s membership information: he was listed as “CEO Jang” instead of his real name, even in the membership directory. Most of the other demographics were also blank. What the h**l. As I ran my fingertips across the file, my gaze locked with the manager, who was standing off to one side, giving him a look that said, “Please leave,” so I put it down and turned to walk away, trying to clear my mind. I ran into Lee Jinseok at the door, who was entering the office. I was about to walk past him after a moment of silence.

“Mr. Suwon.”

He called out to me from behind. Stupidly, I almost didn’t turn around at the name, which was still unfamiliar to me. When I responded, “Yes?” he grinned, showing his gap-toothed smile.

“Do you want to go to room 420 with me?”

“…What?”

He explained to my confusion.

“There’s a VIP meeting.”

“…….”

“It’s an all-vip gathering.”

…If it’s VIP. I swallowed hard. For a moment, CEO Jang’s face flashed by, and I wondered if he was there, too. I had a very strong feeling that he probably was. Lee Jinseok shrugged at my hesitation.

“You can say no if you want.”

His tone was light. My gaze wavered. Beep, beep, warning bells went off in my head. I couldn’t tell what it was warning me about; every nerve in my body was telling me that I shouldn’t go there. But my mouth was telling something different.

“…No, I’ll go.”

Lee Jinseok’s lips curled into an exclamation, “Oh.” His eyes, which were wider than usual, seemed to say that he was surprised.

“Don’t be so stupid. As you know, they are sensitive people.”

I chewed on his words, biting down hard on my lower lip.

“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.”

The hotel kitchen brought in a tray for room service. I pushed the heavy tray with Jinseok as we headed for the elevator. Once inside, he stood in the doorway with his mouth hanging open and called out to me.

“I’ll be right behind you, but why don’t you go upstairs with the tray?”

“Okay.”

“Take care of it.”

The door slammed shut in front of his smiling face. 1, 2, 3…. My eyes, glued to the dashboard as the numbers slowly added up, drifted to the food cover on the tray. Gulp, the bell rang of its own accord. I didn’t know what it was, but I had a pretty good idea it wasn’t food down there.

The floor level rose slowly. My breathing became increasingly short, as if I were climbing a mountain. CEO Jang was like a goblin, and even Lee Jinseok, who could see through this place, knew nothing about him. CEO Jang’s identity was unclear. Even Kim Miran and Park Jinkyung couldn’t handle him. I already know that he is a formidable opponent. I can’t imagine stepping into his shoes. I felt like I was stepping in front of a crocodile with its gaping mouth.

A self-deprecating laugh escaped me. My life was already fucked up, what could be worse?

The elevator opened. I pushed the tray out, stood in front of room 420, and knocked on the door. It opened, and the guard standing in the doorway checked my name tag and uniform. He gave me a quick nod. It was my cue to enter. As I walked through the hall, I saw a jumble of n**ed people, some of them prominent figures in the business world.

Park Jinkyung staggered through the crowd and approached me. Apparently intoxicated by something, she shoved me out of the way, grabbed the tray, and pushed herself deeper into the room. She didn’t even seem to recognize who I was. As she continued to bob and weave, she was like a balloon at an event. She set down a large plate on the table in the middle of the room and lifted the food cover. Inside were muffins. She grabbed a muffin with her bare hands and shoved it into her mouth. Her touch was uncharacteristically rough as she shoved them down her throat, not wanting to miss a crumb.

Lee Jinseok followed and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Noona, you’re going to get sick.”

Park Jinkyung spoke with a twisted tongue.

“You should eat some appetizers before the main game.”

Lee Jinseok spread out the white powders on the tray he’d brought. Park Jinkyung pinched one of her nostrils and inhaled it. Instantly, her back arched and her eyeballs began to spin. Lee Jinkyung’s tongue darted between her legs. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she let out a high-pitched m**n. Their tongues darted, their lips met, and they collapsed onto the table. The woman who’d pulled up her skirt was on top of him, straddling him.

“…Wahaha.”

The bystanders cheered as the two g**itals slammed together. The laughter was as shrill as a crow’s cry. The glasses tipped upward in excitement clinked in time with her swaying body. My stomach rumbled as if I were going to throw up.

Pills were sold like wings. One customer fumbled with the now-empty tray and shoved my backside to get more. With eyes as red as plums, he ripped open his wallet, grabbed the bills, and shoved them into my chest cavity. The edges of the bills scraped against my bare skin. I winced and tried to push the tray away, but this time another customer tripped and fell on the tray. Giggles, another round of laughter. I became self-conscious and quickly spun on my heel to get out of the room.

With my back to the closed door, I caught my breath. The noise from inside the door was deafening.

“…Ha, ah.”

It was the first time I had ever seen a criminal do d**gs in front of my eyes. A chill ran down my spine.

“…….”

I reached into my b**ast pocket and unfolded the bills. I roughly folded it and shoved it into my pants pocket and gripped the handle of the tray tightly. If I’d come this far, there was no going back.