HPK 109

Even though Taejung had filled his glass, he hesitated, unable to drink it readily. His fingers gripped and released the glass, unsure of what to do.

“Hey, drink up, drink up.”

Only when Taejung gestured with his chin did he finally toss back the glass. Wiping the liquor that had slightly dripped on his lips, he straightened his turned body. Then, he hurriedly opened his mouth to answer Taejung’s question.

“No. She’s the one who should answer.”

Taejung stopped bringing the cigarette to his mouth and pointed at someone with his finger.

“Ah…”

Jiyul blinked her eyes as if surprised. Moonsu hastily inserted himself between the two.

“President…! Uh, Jiyul is still young. She might give an answer that makes you uncomfortable, sir.”

Even as he shifted his hips in agitation, Taejung’s gaze did not leave Jiyul. He quirked an eyebrow, as if telling her to answer quickly.

A hazy smoke slowly rose between them. By the time the pungent smell disappeared, Jiyul carefully opened her mouth.

“I know you might think that. Uh, so, it’s true that I knew that when we started.”

Jiyul’s trembling eyes darted between Moonsu and Taejung in a disorderly fashion. When they rested on Moonsu, they sparkled with youthful bravado, but when they rested on Taejung, her spirit died down like an extinguished fire.

“Started? Fucking grandiose.”

At her rambling words, Taejung laughed as he flicked ash into the ashtray. With the still-fidgeting Moonsu between them, Jiyul spoke again.

“…Still, apart from him paying off my debt, there are things you can only do if you’re dating.”

Taejung, who was bringing the cigarette to his mouth, paused.

Things you can only do if you’re dating? What is that? Can’t you have sex even if you’re not dating? Such a thought crossed his mind.

“He paid off my debt and… I mean, it’s not like we’re dating? If it were just a sponsorship, there would be no reason to watch movies at home together, and we wouldn’t be able to text all day long either!”

Jiyul added in a slightly more relaxed voice, “I wanted to be in a relationship where we could text and call each other every day. I wanted to meddle in oppa’s life.” It was a naive and pathetic reason.

“Text?”

A light laugh escaped his twisted lips. He had not expected much, but he could only think that they were playing around nicely. They were dating because of money, yet their reasons were so long-winded.

Taejung shook his head as if it were amusing and flicked his ash. Then, out of habit, he picked up his phone again. The screen lit up, but there were no new notifications.

Just then, Moonsu carefully asked.

“Are you perhaps waiting for a call?”

Taejung looked up from his phone and stared at Moonsu as if to ask what he meant.

“Ah, it just seemed like you kept checking your phone.”

Moonsu answered in a nervous voice.

“Ah.”

Only then did Taejung realize that he had been staring at his phone since a while ago. He scratched the end of his eyebrow with the thumb of the hand holding the cigarette.

“A call, well…”

Taejung trailed off and put down his phone with a deliberately nonchalant thud. He brought the cigarette to his mouth. As if there was no call he was waiting for.

But then, the phone that had been silent all along suddenly lit up. Taejung immediately reached out and picked it up.

[Aren’t you coming?]

What had arrived on the screen was a text message. A blunt text, without the emoticon he always used to attach.

A text had come from Wooseung for the first time in a whole week since that day he had treated him like a fucking guest.

His heart, which had been beating at a steady rhythm, started racing as if its tail had been set on fire.

Taejung hastily stubbed out his cigarette. Unconsciously, the corners of his mouth twitched and turned upwards. Even when he propped his chin on his hand and rubbed his lower face to wipe away the smile, his clueless lips kept forming a grin. Taejung needlessly cracked his neck to stretch and repeatedly rubbed his jaw below his ear.

“It seems you’ve received a call.”

Moonsu, watching him, cautiously spoke up.

Taejung, who was looking at his phone, flinched and turned off the screen with an irritable gesture. It was annoying that he had been waiting for a call, and it was fucking annoying that it had been so obvious. So he decided not to reply.

But less than a minute after the notification appeared, another new text arrived.

[I’m going out for a bit]

At the short, nine-character text, Taejung shot up to his feet.

“What the.”

Going out? Now?

Taejung’s eyes hastily checked the time at the top of the phone. 3 a.m. It was not a time to be going anywhere. Unless he was going to work at the club!

“Fuck, what is this.”

But no matter how many times he checked the text, the content did not change.

“Is there a problem…”

Moonsu, looking tense, stood up along with Taejung. He vigorously rubbed his sweaty hands on the back of his pants.

Taejung, without even the mind to answer, immediately called Wooseung. But the standard announcement that the other party was not answering rang out, as if to mock him.

“Wow, fuck…”

His eyelids trembled. Because Wooseung had always hit him from behind in unexpected ways, he was certain that this was intentional. This was a very strong conviction.

“President?”

Moonsu, who had become serious as well, called him again. But Taejung, with his eyes glued to his phone, just kept pressing the call button like a madman. When the call ended because the other person did not answer, he would press it again. He must have done that ten times before the message, “The phone is turned off…” was heard.

“Fuck, really!”

Taejung could not hold it in any longer and strode over the sofa. In an instant, he crossed the room.

“Are you leaving? Uh, uh… President, President!”

Moonsu followed him in a flurry, but it was already too late. His voice could not reach the rapidly receding Taejung.

Even though he could easily check Wooseung’s current location, he was busy rushing out like a bull that had seen a red cloth. That was how much Taejung was not in his right mind.

♡

The whiskey was already more than a third empty. The slightly gloomy mood had also disappeared without a trace, like dust.

Wooseung, humming a tune and lightly swaying his body, picked up his phone. A text had come from Yejin. It was a text with a size and a purchase link. It seemed she had found something she wanted to buy while shopping late at night again. Wooseung went to the link, ordered what Yejin had told him to, and then sent a text saying he had bought it.

[Awesome I’ll wear it well!!]

[Okay haha what are you doing not sleeping go to sleep soon hahaha]

[I’m going to sleep now haha]

In the past, his dad’s sudden calls or Yejin’s texts had been scary and uncomfortable, but at some point, he stopped feeling that way. He was glad he could buy things for her, and he was relieved he could help her with urgent money matters. Whenever he did, Taejung would sneer that acting nice was also a disease, but Wooseung was sincere.

3:02 a.m.

After checking the time, he picked up the remote and turned down the TV volume. Silence and noise mixed appropriately.

Suddenly, the text that had been silent for over a week felt strange. Wooseung, without a moment’s hesitation, went into his contacts. He found and pressed ‘President’. He debated between calling and texting, and chose to text.

[Aren’t you coming?]

He did not think it was overstepping his bounds or doing something unnecessary. The bravado, under the name of courage that alcohol had instilled in him, always eliminated such hesitation.

He poured whiskey into the empty glass again. He drank it in small sips. The sensation of his esophagus tingling and his head warming up was very pleasant.

While he was drunk on the tipsy feeling for a moment, it was strange that there was no immediate reply. Taejung was originally someone who would reply as soon as he sent a text.

He must have read it…

Wooseung rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand and thought hard. He had to send a text that would make Taejung reply right away, one that would make him unable to resist coming home. Without realizing that it could be a trigger that would provoke the other’s anger, his alcohol-addled brain, as always, could not think of the consequences.

He sent the text and closed his eyes for a moment. But suddenly, a familiar mechanical sound rang out from not too far away.

Beep, beep, beep, clack! Even the sound of the front door opening roughly.

“Yoon Wooseung!”

A roared shout flew straight towards him.

“Ah…”

Wooseung blinked slowly and turned his head towards the front door.

The brightly lit lights were now illuminating the hallway. Just as he was slowly trying to get up from the sofa, his eyes met with Taejung’s, who was standing at the entrance of the living room. His face, contorted like a demon’s, blurred and came back into focus repeatedly. Wooseung raised his hand and rubbed his eyes.

Taejung strode over, grabbed Wooseung’s arm, and pulled him up abruptly.

“Ah…!”

Ignoring the low scream, he buried his nose in the nape of Wooseung’s neck and his sleeves, smelling him.

“Did you go out?”

“…”

“Did you go out or not! You didn’t, right?”

He checked frantically to see if the characteristic smell of the outside air remained.