HPK 13

“Wow, you’re good. Were you like, a trainee or something?”

“Thank you!”

After the song ended, Hyojun shouted loudly. When he deliberately bent his waist to a 90-degree angle to bow, the man chuckled, saying, “Look at this bastard’s angle.”

As Hyojun returned to his seat, the man held out a beer glass as if he had been waiting.

“Hyung mixed this, hic, really deliciously for you.”

Hyojun paused for a moment, seeing the drink that was not just sloshing but about to overflow from the glass. However, fearing that a moment’s hesitation might displease the man, he hurriedly took the glass. The way he gulped it down looked refreshing just to watch.

“It’s delicious, right?”

As soon as he finished the drink, Hyojun immediately lifted the can to his lips. This time, his Adam’s apple did not move.

“Oh, it’s really delicious, heuh… It’s delicious. Hyung.”

The man kneaded Hyojun’s thigh with his hand and said with a sly smile, “I was thinking of mixing you something even more delicious, but I held back.” Wooseung pretended not to see the man’s fingertips stealthily creeping between his thighs.

“Hyung, you should sing a song too. Or should I call, heuh, call in the band?”

“The band? Hic, sh, should we?”

The man, who was just as drunk, kept burping. As he cleared his throat and gestured to call the band, Hyojun pushed himself up from the table and staggered to his feet. It was the moment he was walking unsteadily toward the intercom.

Crash!

A loud noise tore through the space. It was the sound of a glass shattering as it flew into the wall.

“Heok!”

Startled, Hyojun collapsed to the floor and covered his head.

Wooseung, who was pouring a drink into a glass, almost dropped the bottle. Coming to his senses a moment later, he stood up from his seat and checked on Hyojun.

“Hyo, Jaewoo-ya. Are you, are you okay?”

Shards of the broken glass were scattered messily on the sofa and the floor. There were even fragments on the shoulder of Hyojun, who was crouched down with his head in his hands. It was fortunate that the pieces were large, but they might have gone inside his collar.

“Hey, you. You, heuh… Are you skipping your drinks!”

The one who had thrown the glass was the man sitting next to Wooseung.

“I asked if you’re skipping your drinks, you son of a bitch.”

“What? Ah, no.”

Hyojun lowered the arms covering his head and looked at the man with a face full of fear. He denied it first without even knowing what was being said. The end of his voice trembled slightly.

“What do you mean, no. This, fucking bastard. Heuh… You think I wouldn’t know, huh? You think I wouldn’t know you’re using this can for your drink!”

The man roared, slamming the Haneul Bori tea can down on the table. Wooseung understood the situation in an instant. It seemed the man had witnessed Hyojun spitting the alcohol he held in his mouth back into the can.

“No. I really didn’t, didn’t skip the drink.”

Hyojun, seeming to have finally grasped the situation, also hurriedly denied it. He waved both his hands frantically, saying he did not skip his drink.

“Like hell you didn’t, you fuuucker… I saw, saw everything.”

The whites of the man’s bloodshot eyes glistened strangely. The skin visible above his dark navy jumper was incomparably darker and redder than before. It was inevitable. It was not just Hyojun and Wooseung who had been drinking.

Seeing how thoroughly drunk he was, a wave of fear washed over him. Wooseung gripped the edge of the table with trembling hands. He had hoped the man next to Hyojun would intervene, but he was pretending not to notice and just spectating the situation.

“It’s really not true, hyung, hyung. Please believe me.”

“So you’re saying this is water?”

“What? Yes, yes.”

“If it’s water, then you wouldn’t mind drinking all of this, would you?”

The man placed the can in front of Hyojun as if to make a point. With the forceful gesture, his body lost its balance and swayed slightly.

Hyojun gulped. The movement of his Adam’s apple, going down and then slowly rising, caught Wooseung’s attention.

“I’m telling you, it’s really water…”

“Fine, then drink it. Go ahead and drink it up real good. You faggot.”

The man placed his hands on his hips and struggled to keep his balance. It was clear he would not back down until he drank it, so in the end, Hyojun smiled awkwardly and reached for the can.

“…I, I get it. If I drink this, let’s go back to having fun. Hyung.”

His trembling fingers wrapped around the can. The corners of his mouth, unable to go up or down, drew an awkward line.

In that moment, Wooseung and Hyojun’s eyes met. At the same time, Wooseung’s lips slowly parted.

“Can I, drink it?”

A soft voice filled the quiet room.

Hyojun’s hand, which had been pulling the can toward him, stopped. The gaze of the man who had been watching Hyojun like a hawk also turned to Wooseung.

“What? Hic, you’re going to drink it?”

“Yes… Um, I, I was the one who told him to do that if he felt like he was going to get drunk. I’m sorry.”

Wooseung bowed his waist 90 degrees. His clasped hands were pale.

“Hey, you think I don’t know you bastards are colluding to skip your drinks.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Have you been skipping drinks this whole time too.”

“…”

“Looks like you have. Hah, these fucking bastards.”

The man gasped for breath with his hands on his hips. His bulging, frog-like belly swelled and deflated repeatedly.

“Alright, heuh… You drink his share too. All of it.”

He thought he meant to drink the can, but that was not it. The man gestured with his chin toward his companion sitting next to him.

“Hyungsik-ah. Why don’t you mix some drinks. He says he wants to drink all the alcohol here himself. That’s why he was pulling that shit.”

“Yes, hyung.”

As if he had been waiting, the companion stood up and gathered the beer glasses scattered around the table. He, who had been silent the entire time, was now acting with great alacrity. He held the liquor and beer bottles in both hands and poured the alcohol, gurgle gurgle.

Before long, four beer glasses filled with alcohol were placed in front of Wooseung. This was what he meant by ‘you drink his share too’. Not just drinking some can.

“Hyung…”

Hyojun looked like he was about to cry.

Wooseung did not hesitate. He reached out and picked up the first glass. The glass, which he did not know who had drunk from, was unpleasantly sticky on the surface.

The hallway was spinning. The floor and ceiling would stick together and then pull apart, and the Dracaena draco in the corner would crumple up, pot and all, then straighten out again.

Wooseung leaned against the wall, panting for breath. His heart was beating so fast, as if he had just run a 100-meter dash.

Suddenly, the question ‘When did I leave the room?’ popped into his head. He was sure he had been dealing with the clients in the room just a moment ago. They were being plied with drinks without a break, so he had made eye contact and exchanged glances with Hyojun.

Crash, the sound of breaking. Glass shards on his shoulder, the sharp corner of the table, and also…

His memory was fragmented in the middle, the scenes not connecting with each other. It felt like looking at photographs, not a video. Then at some point, it was a complete blackout.

“Haa, haa…”

Unable to walk any further, Wooseung collapsed. It was the end of the hallway leading to the emergency exit. He leaned his back against the wall and hugged his knees. From beyond the wall, the muffled sound of a song could be heard.

If he was caught here by Kim Jeong-oh or any of the other madams, he would surely get an earful. So he had to get up and go back to the waiting room. But contrary to his thoughts, his body would not move at all.

Just as he was slumped over, unable to do anything about his heavy body that did not feel like his own, clank, the door across the hall swung wide open.

“Ah, fucking hell!”

The person who appeared through it took a step back and spat out a curse. He seemed quite startled to see Wooseung right as he opened the door. But the man’s face was strangely familiar.

“You scared the life out of me.”

Wooseung’s eyes moved from the unusually bright interior of the room to the face of the man blocking it.

The man who, despite having an aura that seemed like he would have absolutely nothing to do with children, said, “You scared the life out of me,” was…

“Hey, hey. Hoonyeong-ah, look at this.”

It was Taejung.

He turned his head inward and called for Hoonyeong. Hoonyeong, holding a tablet in one hand, soon appeared. Hoonyeong’s gaze, too, was directed at Wooseung, who was squatting on the floor.

“I think this guy is wasted.”

Taejung put his index finger to the side of his head and twirled it. Hoonyeong did not answer and took out his phone from his back pocket. He was planning to contact Kim Jeong-oh and tell him to come get him. It was a problem if a client saw him in that state, and if he happened to throw up and soil the floor, that would be another problem in itself.

While he was calling Kim Jeong-oh, Taejung approached Wooseung.

“Sucking dick and chugging booze, you’re fucking busy, huh?”

The tip of his sneaker kicked Wooseung’s thigh. Wooseung lost his balance and fell completely, catching himself with his palms on the floor.

“Ouch…”

“Ouch my ass.”

Wooseung squeezed his eyes shut and opened them repeatedly. He wanted to do something about his wavering vision. The floor undulated, coming at him as if to swallow him up before receding.

“Hey, hey.”

Taejung nudged him with his foot, tap, tap. A grayish dust smudge was left on his black pants.

“That esophagitis of yours is a lie, isn’t it?”

The toe of the suede sneaker pushed firmly against Wooseung’s shoulder. The thin body was pushed back limply. Despite that, he kept flailing his hands, trying to get up again. The sight was quite amusing.

“Ah, it hurts…”

Words mixed with a sigh escaped through his slightly parted lips. At the same time, his right arm, which had been hanging limply, slowly rose. It flailed in the air a few times before lightly touching Taejung’s ankle.