Vol 2 Ch 8

The weather was as fickle as ever. It had been scorching hot all day yesterday, and now today, it was oddly gray. The wind brushing against my bare arms felt unusually chilly, making me instinctively retract my neck into my collar like a turtle. I rubbed the goosebumps on the back of my neck with the back of my hand.

A drop of liquid suddenly landed on my nose.

“Huh,” I muttered, looking up at the sky. Thin, needle-like raindrops were starting to fall, heading straight for the grass below.

Soon enough, the rain began to fall harder.

A gentle drizzle caressed my ears. I still had a long way to go, but now it was raining. CEO Jang, who had been standing on the field, was also looking up at the sky before signaling to the guy next to him to look my way. The sharp guy immediately understood the silent order.

“Yes, understood.”

He quickly grabbed a black umbrella and came over to stand beside me. I bit my lower lip and stared at the tips of my shoes.

The world darkened quickly, and a circular shadow formed around my feet. I lifted my head to see him holding the umbrella, glaring at me out of the corner of his eye. His thin lips twitched as if he were about to spit out a curse.

“……”

“……”

I quietly met the hostile gaze emanating from him. The small-time thief, who only showed his displeasure when out of CEO Jang’s sight, posed no threat to me.

But there was one thing that bothered me.

The office that managed the caddies’ schedules was very skilled at catering to customers’ needs. It didn’t make sense for them to assign me a caddie who had already had trouble with a client, let alone one I would spend half a day with.

Suddenly, a hypothesis flashed through my mind. …Could it be that CEO Jang specifically requested this guy? No sooner had I thought that than CEO Jang spoke.

“Feeling more comfortable now?”

As soon as he heard CEO Jang’s voice, the guy’s expression quickly changed, and he raised the umbrella a little higher. CEO Jang’s face came into view beneath it. …Comfortable? Did he have any idea how my insides were churning all day long? He was just as laid-back as ever.

I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even respond. CEO Jang raised one eyebrow in mild displeasure.

“You never know how to behave properly, do you?”

He shook his head dramatically, as if he couldn’t believe it, tapping the grass with his golf club to level it out before assuming a nearly perfect address position. His shirt stretched tightly around his arms as he gripped the club with force.

He swung the club powerfully. The white ball sliced through the sky, cutting the ring of sunlight in half as it flew sharply.

CEO Jang’s eyes followed the ball’s trajectory. Instead of watching the ball, I watched the distinct contours of his profile.

“……”

CEO Jang wasn’t a dull person. On the contrary, he was almost too perceptive. In front of him, no matter who you were, you’d end up revealing everything down to your deepest thoughts. CEO Jang had that effect. He peeled away your layers and eventually saw right through you.

There was no way he hadn’t noticed the strange tension between this guy and me. No matter how hard the guy tried, it was pointless.

CEO Jang turned away from the ball and looked at me. He smiled broadly. He seemed satisfied with the result. Sure, the shot he just made was good, but he had hit far better shots before. Yet, he had never smiled like that.

I groaned like a leaf being crushed under the heel of his shoe. …What a lunatic. Was he really enjoying watching me suffer this much?

The rain continued to grow heavier. Judging that continuing would be impossible, we left the field. We sought shelter under a parasol to avoid the sudden downpour.

Amid the sound of the light rain, CEO Jang’s voice blended in.

“It’s quite atmospheric, isn’t it?”

I was momentarily taken aback by his comment. After all, the golf course right now seemed too bleak to be called atmospheric. Still, I quickly agreed with him, trying to match the mood of a man as capricious as the weather.

“…Yes.”

Suddenly, I felt a gaze from my side. I slowly turned my head. My eyes met CEO Jang’s. Instead of looking at the rainy golf course, he was staring at me.

When our eyes met, he suddenly looked displeased. His thick eyebrows shot up, accentuating his already intimidating face. Now, he looked outright menacing. Startled by his expression, I swallowed hard. Should I apologize for daring to look at him with my lowly eyes? I sarcastically grumbled in my head.

Unable to hide his displeasure, CEO Jang leaned back in his chair and spoke to the guy standing nearby.

“Could you get us a bottle of whiskey?”

“Yes, please wait a moment.”

The guy pulled out a bottle of whiskey and an ice bucket from the cooler he had prepared. He set them on the table along with two bottles of liquor and empty glasses before stepping back.

CEO Jang’s moderately thick neck gulped down the strong drink without hesitation. He liked to enjoy hard liquor without any snacks. Watching his pronounced Adam’s apple bob up and down, I swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth. Just watching made me feel sick.

CEO Jang no longer pressured me to drink like he used to. However, sitting in front of someone drinking and doing nothing would only harm me. I wasn’t good at conversation, and the whiskey looked expensive. I picked up the glass in front of me and set it down in front of him. The man looked at me, surprised.

“Well, this is rare.”

I took a sip of the drink he poured for me, forcing myself to swallow it down. My eyes immediately burned from the bitterness. It was so harsh that tears welled up involuntarily. As I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, CEO Jang tilted his head, watching me with amusement. Without glancing at the guy filling the ice, CEO Jang spoke.

“You can leave now.”

The guy responded with acknowledgment, finishing up his last tasks. Slinging the golf bag over his shoulder, he bowed slightly to CEO Jang. CEO Jang reached for his wallet to give him a tip, but paused and looked my way.

“Now that I think about it, you did most of the work for Suwon today.”

CEO Jang mentioned my name out of nowhere. I blinked in confusion. …Why me?

“He held the umbrella for you, didn’t he?”

A strange silence hung under the wide canopy. We were both surrounded by quiet, calculating each other’s intentions. I bit down hard on my lower lip.

…What on earth is CEO Jang thinking? He’s not one to be stingy with money. This isn’t the kind of guy who would count a few coins in tips.

“……”

To wrap up this situation quickly, I needed to do as CEO Jang wanted, but I didn’t want to give that bastard a single cent. He urged me on with his eyes, lazily pressuring me. “Just listen while I’m being nice,” was the message he seemed to send.

I slowly pushed my hand into my pants pocket and pulled out CEO Jang’s old wallet. I had been carrying it around ever since the man had abandoned it with me. There wasn’t much reason for it; it just seemed better than stuffing cash into my pockets.

Inside the wallet, which had clear bite marks pressed deeply into the leather, was a single fifty-thousand-won bill and a few crumpled thousand-won bills left from buying cigarettes. I didn’t want to give him even one of those thousand-won bills, but I had no choice under the circumstances.

“……”

The man’s cheek briefly hollowed, as if he was biting the inside of his mouth. His expression revealed a fleeting sense of contempt before it quickly vanished. He couldn’t seem to stand this situation, standing in front of me, waiting for me to hand over money. 

At that moment, I finally realized CEO Jang’s intention. As soon as I understood it, my hand moved on its own toward the yellowish bill. I pulled out the fifty-thousand-won note and handed it to the bastard.

“…Thank you.”

He took the money from me with both hands. The veins briefly bulged on the back of his hand before receding again as he gripped the bill. He gave me a slight nod and then left.

I watched his back as he disappeared into the distance, blinking slowly. Still in a daze, CEO Jang lightly reprimanded me in passing.

“…You shouldn’t be so mean.”

“……”

The man shrugged as if nothing had happened, then filled my glass to the brim with the liquor from the whiskey bottle. I grabbed the glass tightly and downed it in one gulp. The strong whiskey soaked my tongue. The burn was brutal, as if my throat was on fire, but the aftertaste was oddly sweet, unlike usual.

“You drink well.”

“…I think I’m about to get drunk.”

CEO Jang didn’t care.

“That’s not a bad thing.”

“I mean, if I drink any more, I might make a mistake.”

He spoke in a dry tone that didn’t suit him or me.

“What are you thinking so much about in front of alcohol with that small head of yours?”

Not the kind of thing someone who had just dragged someone’s mood to the floor should say. Shameless as ever, he smiled with lips still wet from the drink.

“If I get drunk too, everything might get solved.”

He reached for his wallet and pulled out a small container, barely the length of his ring finger.

What is that? I stared at the small object in his large hands, more suspicious than curious. CEO Jang was a mysterious man, and his business was just as secretive. I didn’t care to know where his money came from. That wasn’t my concern.

But for some reason, I had a feeling I needed to know what was inside that small container. Like it would come in handy.

“Curious about what this is?”

“…Yes.”

“Hold out your hand.”

I cautiously held out my palm as he instructed. He twisted off the cap and grabbed my wrist. He flipped the container upside down over my hand, drawing a line of powder.

Ssshh. The white powder spilled out and scattered under the light, glimmering like shards of broken glass. While I was mesmerized by it, CEO Jang asked quietly.

“How does it look?”

“It’s… beautiful.”

He smiled with his eyes this time. The same expression he wore when he said, “I thought you were an idiot, but at least you know how to appreciate something pretty.”

“And how does it feel?”

Hesitantly, I reached out and touched the powder. The granules were smaller than sugar but rougher than salt.

“…It feels soft.”

“This one’s expensive.”

Suddenly, the man lowered his face to my palm. Reflexively, I tried to pull my hand back, but it was no use. He gripped my hand firmly and pressed his prominent nose deep into it. Taking a deep breath through his nose, he inhaled the powder, then exhaled slowly. His broad chest swelled and sank in rhythm with his breath.

“Mmm.”

Eyes closed, he savored the dr*g spreading through his body. A low moan escaped from between his lips. The faint wrinkles between his brows, the reddish tint around his eyes and cheekbones—it all resembled the expression he wore when he was just about to reach the peak.

“Sweet.”

He sighed in satisfaction. A faint shiver ran down my spine, and my legs twitched involuntarily as an odd itch built between them. My body was reacting in ways I didn’t understand.

Was it the alcohol?

Whatever the reason, I wanted to get out of here. I wanted to take a deep breath in a space without him. I noticed the whiskey bottle was almost empty, so I carefully called out to CEO Jang.

“Sir.”

He paused, glass in hand, and looked at me.

“I’ll get more alcohol.”

He told me to go ahead. As I stood up and headed inside the building to the lounge, the man, swallowing another mouthful of liquor, added a final remark.

“I’m in a damn good mood right now.”

He didn’t need to tell me. I could already tell. He was leisurely enjoying this situation—the alcohol, the unnamed sensations, and my discomfort. His eyes gleamed with a warning.

“Don’t do anything to ruin my mood.”

He was telling me not to run or anything stupid. I slowly nodded, then turned my back on him, escaping his sight as quickly as I could.