HPK 19

He did not even know where his memory had cut off. The more he listened to Hyojun, the more he wondered if his own memory was even certain.

“Hey, hyung. Nothing probably happened. If something had happened, the pig would have filed a complaint, or Kim Jeongoh would have come and made a fuss.”

As Hyojun said, if the client had a good time and left without causing any more trouble, then that was a relief. But perhaps because of what he had heard from Taejung earlier, his mind was still in turmoil. What on earth had happened in that room?

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

The only people in that room were Hyojun, Wooseung, and the two clients. There was no way for Taejung to know what had happened in the room. Unless he had watched the CCTV.

“Uh…”

Could it be that Taejung had watched the CCTV?

If so, why did he say no when he asked to see it?

He kept thinking, but no clear answer came.

Wooseung, embracing his unsettled heart, waited for the waiting room door to open. He wanted to get at least one room because he had to send money to his dad. But for some reason, Wooseung was not able to go out for the lineup.

All the way until Thursday.

Not even once.

[Dad sorryㅠ I miscalculated the utility bills…; I’m 3 months behind so I don’t think I can send money ㅠㅠ…….]

The number 1 disappeared, but there was no reply.

“Haa…”

Wooseung let out a deep sigh and turned off his phone. His troubled face was reflected on the dead black screen. He turned his eyes away from the phone, not wanting to see the face covered in gloom.

For some reason, he kept not getting chosen. No, he was not even able to leave the waiting room to see the lineup. Wooseung, who had come from the main building to the annex, was under Kim Jeongoh’s box for now. Since madams prioritize putting the entertainers from their own box into their clients’ rooms, it was difficult to be called by other madams or chiefs.

But Kim Jeongoh was not calling Wooseung at all. And so, he had wasted his time until it was suddenly Thursday.

There were less than 4 days left until Monday. The amount he had to pay back every week was exactly 1.5 million won, but Wooseung did not have a single penny on him. No, all he had was the ten thousand won he had gotten back from Hyungho.

He usually solved his dinner by eating the fruit that came as an appetizer when he went into a room, or the food the clients ordered separately, but since he had been stuck in the waiting room for days, that was also impossible. Wooseung ate the cup ramen he had bought cheaply from a social commerce site for four days straight. Now, he was at the point where he would get sick just from the smell.

If it got really urgent, he would have to ask Jaemin for help, but he doubted Jaemin would lend him the money. Even if he did, it was obvious he would not be able to lend him as much as Wooseung needed.

Still, the only friend he could even bring it up with was Jaemin…

Wooseung pointlessly turned his messenger off and on, swallowing a sigh internally.

“Hyung. Eat this.”

Hyojun, who had been to the convenience store with Chanil, suddenly held out a hot bar. Steam was rising from it, as if it had been microwaved. Normally, he would have refused, but his stomach, which had been filled with cup ramen for days, rumbled shamelessly.

“…Oh, thanks. I’ll eat it well.”

When he tore the wrapper and took a bite, he could taste the sweet and savory charcoal-grilled rib flavor. Without even finishing chewing what was in his mouth, he took another bite.

Chew chew, Chanil, who was staring at his puffed-out cheeks, asked in an indifferent tone.

“Hyung. Did you do something to get on Kim Jeongoh’s bad side?”

Wooseung chewed and swallowed the hot bar in his mouth and barely managed to answer.

“…No. Nothing in particular.”

“Really? Then why is he being a dick to you, hyung.”

Chanil, slurping on his chocolate milk, continued.

“You’re still not getting chosen for the lineup, hyung. Because Kim Jeongoh isn’t calling you.”

“Yeah…”

“That’s what being on his bad side is, what else could it be?”

Hyojun seemed to have a similar thought, as he stared at Wooseung with his unsettled heart on full display. His face seemed to be asking if he could think of anything.

Wooseung chewed on the end of the skewer and fell into thought. Other than in the beginning when he first came to the annex, he had not really had any trouble with Kim Jeongoh… He had rarely had a personal conversation with him in the first place.

But if he had gotten on the bad side of someone other than Kim Jeongoh, then the story changes.

‘…This guy is even more of an idiot than I thought.’

He had not chosen either of the two options Taejung had given him.

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

He had even heard incomprehensible words from him. His way of speaking was not very gentle on a normal day, so he did not feel that it was particularly harsher. But…

‘You’re gonna reeeally regret this later.’

Thinking about how he had mockingly dragged out the word ‘really’… it must be.

“Something must have happened, huh?”

Chanil, who had witnessed his anxiously blinking eyelids, clicked his tongue as if to say, see.

“But it is a bit strange. Kim Jeongoh is a jerk, but I’ve never seen him act like this with the lineup.”

“What are you going to do, hyung? If this keeps up…”

Wooseung shook his head and stopped Hyojun, who was offering to go and talk to him. It was not something that would be solved by going and talking to Kim Jeongoh anyway.

“You have nothing to lose, so just try talking to him. It might be nothing. Okay?”

Hyojun gently coaxed Wooseung, who was staring at the corner of the table and munching on his hot bar. But Wooseung just took another bite of the hot bar without answering.

“He said he’s fine, so why are you making a fuss.”

Even at Chanil’s blunt words, Hyojun could not easily let go of his concern. When they were in a room together, Wooseung had even drunk his alcohol for him. So he had to help him somehow.

“Or maybe to Chief Hoonyeong…”

Wooseung wrapped the empty skewer in a napkin and looked up at Hyojun.

“You don’t have to go with me. I’ll go and talk to him alone.”

“I’m telling you, I’ll go with you.”

“No. I don’t think it’ll look good.”

As Wooseung said, if the entertainers ganged up and went together, it could just end up upsetting Kim Jeongoh even more. Since he said he would at least talk to him instead of just staying put, he decided to let it go at that.

The waiting room began to empty out faster than usual. Even though many entertainers had come to work because of the full reservations, soon only Wooseung and two other entertainers whose names he did not know were left in the waiting room. From outside, the muffled sound of music could be heard, but the waiting room was strangely silent.

Wooseung checked the time and got up from his seat. The two entertainers glanced this way and then quickly lost interest.

Wooseung first went outside the club and checked the parking lot. The cars he had seen Taejung in so far were varied, from Bentley, Rolls-Royce, to Maybach, but since he always parked in the same spot, he could tell right away.

The parking spot closest to the club. If it was empty, Taejung had not come, and if it was not empty, Taejung had come.

And today, a Maybach was parked there.

“…”

Wooseung turned around without any lingering thoughts and went back down to the basement. His steps were slow, but there was no hesitation. He stood in front of Room 7, which was right around the corner after crossing the hallway. Unlike the other rooms, he could not hear any music even when he strained his ears. Nor any particular conversation.

He raised a trembling hand and knocked.

Knock knock.

There was no answer. He was about to wait quietly, but a sense of impatience arose and he decided to knock once more.

He raised his hand again to knock on the door, but…

“Ah!”

A hand reached out from behind and snatched his wrist. The grip was so strong that a scream escaped him.

“There’s nothing to steal here.”

The hand that was gripping his wrist tightly spun Wooseung around. As his body turned, his back hit the door with a thud.

“…Pre, president.”

Wooseung looked up at Taejung and called him, stammering. Despite the rough action, the corners of the other person’s mouth were lifted crookedly.

“I came because I have something to tell you. Ah…!”

Taejung abruptly let go of Wooseung’s wrist and opened the door. The support that was suddenly gone from his back made Wooseung stupidly stumble backward. By the time he barely regained his balance, he was left alone in the room with Taejung. Taejung pressed a switch next to the door and turned on the lights. The room instantly became bright.

Taejung, wearing a thick hoodie and woven shorts, looked much bigger than usual. Wooseung was a little scared, but he still clasped his hands and gathered his tiny bit of courage. He licked his lower lip and was slowly opening his mouth, but…

“Are you a stalker?”

Taejung was one step ahead.

“What?”

“You just went to look at my car, didn’t you?”

“…Ah.”

The tinting was dark, but it was not to the point where you could not see inside at all. There was no one in the car. He was sure of it…

As Wooseung grew flustered, Taejung’s lips stretched into a long smile and he laughed slyly.

“Why did you go look at my car.”

“That’s… because I have something to tell you.”

“Something to tell me?”

Taejung, who had been walking toward the sofa, stopped. And then he spun around. In front of him was the monitor of the turned-off karaoke machine.

“That is, Chief Kim Jeongoh, he, ah, it’s not that I have a problem with the chief.”

Unable to directly ask what he had said to Kim Jeongoh and why he was preventing him from being in the lineup, he just beat around the bush, and Taejung cut him off bluntly.

“Just get to the point. The point.”

“Could it be that, at that time, you and I…”

“Ah. Or should I say it?”

“…What?”

While Wooseung hesitated, Taejung continued.

“You came because you’re not getting chosen for the lineup.”

His clasped hands trembled.