HPK 17

“What are you doing? Sit.”

Taejung gestured to the seat next to him with a nod of his head. Only then did Wooseung slowly start to walk. Hyungho’s gaze followed Wooseung’s slow movements.

“What. You want him to sit with you too?”

Taejung asked Hyungho.

“What? Ah, no, sir.”

He denied it, even lifting the hands that were neatly placed on his knees and waving them. Taejung, regardless, picked up one of the envelopes scattered on the sofa and tossed it. The white envelope was puffed up as if it had binged.

Hyungho swallowed hard. Even so, when he did not reach out for it, Taejung let out a small laugh.

“It’s yours. What are you just looking at?”

He took out a long cigarette, as slender as his own fingers, from the cigarette pack. And then, with it in his mouth, he looked at Wooseung.

Why was he staring at him so intently? As he was pondering this, he belatedly realized it when Taejung laughed as if he was dumbfounded. He awkwardly stood up from the sofa and scanned the table. Fortunately, there was a lighter not too far away. He hurriedly grabbed it and brought it to Taejung’s lips.

Click, click.

The lighter wheel turned, and soon a blue flame flared up.

Taejung, with the most serious face in the world, watched Wooseung light his cigarette. His eyes, which had briefly glanced down, returned to their original position before long. Fingers with thick knuckles took the cigarette and lowered it.

“Is it not enough?”

He asked Hyungho, exhaling cigarette smoke. Hyungho, who was holding the envelope and had peeked inside, was startled and shook his head.

“No, sir! It’s, it’s enough.”

“No. Count it.”

“It’s alright, sir!”

“Just count it instead of talking behind my back.”

“Yes, yes.”

Hyungho, unable to refuse Taejung’s almost forceful suggestion, opened the envelope wide. Through the opened gap, a thick wad of 50,000 won bills was visible. Wooseung found himself unable to take his eyes off the envelope, as if hypnotized. He counted along with Hyungho, one bill, two bills.

Around the time it surpassed 1 million won, something hit his cheek. At the same time, he felt a sudden rush of hot air.

“Ah.”

Startled, he covered his cheek and backed away.

“You sure love money.”

Taejung said, holding the cigarette in his mouth and staring at him. A faint smile lingered on his handsome face, revealed as the milky white smoke cleared.

“Even though you got some yourself yesterday.”

It was a smile that was close to an insult, but his heart remained as calm as the sea on a day with no wind.

Is there anyone in the world who does not like money?

He had heard dozens of times in his life that money cannot buy happiness, but Wooseung had never once thought of buying happiness with money. He just wanted to sell some of his unhappiness with money.

“…You like money too, president.”

Wooseung said so, subtly lowering his gaze. Hyungho, who was counting the bills in the white envelope one by one, flinched his shoulders.

“…”

If you hang around the waiting room, you hear all sorts of stories. How so-and-so received a certain amount in that room, how someone made a good deal of money with cryptocurrency, and on top of that, farming, construction… ‘Money’ was always the center of the topic and, at any time, drew the most attention.

“I do?”

Taejung asked, taking a deep drag from the cigarette in his mouth. Wooseung slowly nodded.

“Do you like your eyes?”

“…What?”

“Do you like your ears, your hands and feet, and all that?”

He furrowed his brow slightly, not understanding what he meant.

“Don’t frown.”

Taejung said indifferently, tapping the ash from his cigarette into the ashtray. “I’m holding a cigarette, you know?” he added, his voice truly playful.

Wooseung blinked his eyes and smoothed out his furrowed brow. Taejung’s words, for some reason, did not feel like a joke. At his quick change of expression, he let out a small laugh as if it was pathetic.

“Don’t people usually take what they’re born with for granted?”

“…”

“For me, that’s money.”

Only then did he understand Taejung’s puzzling words.

People do not consider what they are born with as special. They might not even know it is special until it is gone, or unless they see someone who does not have it.

Wooseung’s lips moved a few times before he gave up. The one who earns money can never beat the one who was born with it. This proposition was very natural in the society he lived in.

“Juwon-ah, did you finish counting the money?”

“Yes, yes! I’ve counted it all.”

Taejung pressed the nearly half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray and extinguished it. Acrid smoke rose as the embers died down.

“Then, president, shall I, shall I go now?”

Hyungho asked with a visibly uncomfortable face.

“No.”

However, Taejung did not allow Hyungho to leave.

“Ah, then…”

Hyungho trailed off awkwardly, looking back and forth between Taejung and Wooseung, who was sitting next to him. He had finished the job and received the money. He had even confirmed the number of bills in the envelope. All that was left was to leave, but he did not understand why Taejung was telling him not to.

“A hundred with him, fifty without.”

At that moment, Taejung said something completely out of the blue. Hyungho just blinked, not understanding, while in contrast, Wooseung’s face hardened.

“You choose.”

Taejung brought the ashtray over and spit into it. Soon, the ashtray, having served its purpose, was tossed onto the table.

“Choose, Wooseung-ah.”

At the sight of him calling Wooseung by his name without making a mistake, Hyungho’s eyes widened as if in surprise.

“Hey, don’t tell me this is difficult?”

It was the look one gives a fool who cannot choose the right answer to a question with a 100% correct answer rate. Nevertheless, Wooseung still could not utter a word.

“Wow, this is obviously a hundred.”

“…”

“You sell your body anyway. What’s so difficult about it?”

At that moment, Hyungho seemed to have noticed something and let out a sharp intake of breath, “Heop.”

“Honestly, if you can’t choose this, you’re a real idiot.”

The lips of Wooseung, who had been silent all along, slowly parted. The gazes of not only Taejung but also Hyungho turned toward them.

“…don’t want to.”

“…”

“I don’t want to choose either.”

Wooseung looked Taejung in the eye with difficulty and shook his head. The backs of his hands, resting demurely on his knees, were deathly pale. He was clenching them so tightly that his fingernails were digging into his palms.

The space inside the room, which had no music, was strangely silent. Only the sound of Hyungho swallowing could be heard intermittently.

“…This guy is even more of an idiot than I thought.”

Taejung’s indifferent voice scratched at Wooseung’s ears. His lips, which always had a smile hanging on them, were now firmly shut in a straight line. His face, completely devoid of emotion, felt devoid of any warmth.

“When did you start acting so pricey, after playing around with your tits out for 120,000 won?”

“…What?”

120,000 won, tits, acting pricey.

Wooseung’s face shattered like broken glass. A surprised breath spilled out from between his slightly parted lips.

“What does that…”

“Well, if you don’t remember, then never mind.”

Taejung, who had thrown out the topic, was nonchalant. He had brought up all sorts of confusing words, only to annoyingly flick his eyes up and be done with it. His face, from which all emotion had drained like a receding tide, returned to his usual self as if nothing had happened.

The situation was resolved by Hoonyeong, who appeared just in time by opening the door. He announced the current time and conveyed that it seemed he would have to go in person.

“Ah, so fucking annoying.”

Taejung let out a deep sigh, tilting his head back toward the ceiling. His voice was full of complaint. Before leaving the room, he turned to Wooseung and said one last thing.

“You’re gonna reeeally regret this later.”

And then, with a playful wave of his hand, he said, “Bye.” The door soon closed, and silence descended.

“…”

After a not-so-short time had passed, Wooseung slowly stood up from the sofa. His head was quite a mess because of what Taejung had said, but for now, he thought it would be better to go back to the waiting room.

Hyungho also took the envelope, put it in the inner pocket of his jacket, and followed Wooseung. The moment the door opened, Hyungho asked abruptly.

“Hyung, what’s up with you and the president?”

“Huh?”

“Are you two sleeping together?”

His straight index finger pointed alternately at Wooseung and beyond the hallway. He was a little surprised by the blunt question, but thinking about the situation just before, Hyungho’s question was not that out of the blue. Wooseung slowly shook his head.

“Then why is the president like that?”

“…I don’t really know either.”

At the unsatisfactory reply, Hyungho made a suspicious face. Then he grumbled as if he was the one who was more disappointed.

“But honestly, if it were me, I would have just done it back there. Ah, is playing hard to get your concept, hyung?”

“I told you, it’s not like that.”

“Hmm, then that’s strange.”

As he was tilting his head, he suddenly stopped in his tracks as if he had realized something. He gently grabbed his elbow, looked around, and then leaned in.

“By any chance, hyung, are you too…”

His lips came close to his ear, stopping at a distance where he could feel his breath.

“Running errands?”

A low voice, as if conscious of his surroundings, flowed into his ear.