HPK 44

Hyungho blinked his eyes blankly before hastily shaking his head.

“N, no! We are not…… anything. Sir, more importantly, Mr. President.”

“A light.”

Taejung threw the lighter in front of Wooseung. Wooseung, who had been sitting uncomfortably on the sofa with his eyes cast down, fumbled to catch the lighter. Then, glancing at Hyungho, he stretched his arm out straight.

“Hey, are you kidding me?”

At the fierce rebuke, he reluctantly lifted himself off the sofa and moved closer. As he turned the wheel, a long flame flared up.

Taejung took a drag from his cigarette and gestured. When Wooseung smartly brought an ashtray and a can of coke, he let out a short laugh in the middle of flicking his ash.

“Mr. President, well.”

He shifted the cigarette to his other hand and wrapped an arm around Wooseung’s waist. Wooseung, startled by the sudden contact, tensed up. It had been less than two hours since he had spewed curses with a hostile face. The memory was still vivid, yet he was acting like this again as if nothing had happened. Even when he lightly patted Wooseung’s back as if to tell him to relax, his body remained rigid.

“Ah, that is, I……”

Seeing the long arm wrapped around Wooseung’s waist, Hyungho stammered in his confusion.

“Mr. President, I mean, it is nothing else.”

“Have you already lost all your teeth? Stuttering like a fucking idiot.”

Taejung, with the cigarette in his mouth, exaggeratedly mimicked the stammering Hyungho. Hyungho, having been mocked, laughed awkwardly and repeatedly wiped at his mouth.

How should he begin? He had so much to say, but his mind, not used to thinking, could not seem to find any plausible words.

Kim Hyungho, he was originally a host who had worked on the streets in his hometown of Bucheon. He earned more money than his peers, and as easily as he earned it, he spent it. While taking a break after a nose job, he came up to Seoul with a hyung he worked with at his suggestion. Just like his now higher nose bridge, the big city of Seoul filled him with a strange sense of anticipation.

The first place he set foot in was a host bar in Jongno. It was not quite up to the expectations he had when he signed a contract for a semi-basement two-bedroom apartment with his hyung, but things went fairly well. Just like that, he got carried away again, and his once-inflated spending habits, like a stretched rubber band, refused to return to their original size.

After coincidentally hearing a customer’s joke that he would be a hit with middle-aged gay men, Kim Hyungho moved his base from Jongno to Gangnam. He got his deposit money as an advance from Kim Jungoh and began working at Kirin in earnest. It was a historic moment when his semi-basement two-bedroom apartment was upgraded to an officetel in Yeoksam.

He was famous for skillfully getting customers to order more drinks and for never refusing any of their requests. Because of that, the managers often put him in rooms as a filler. He almost never had a day without work.

From that point on, Hyungho began to turn his attention to other things. He experienced elation and despair through illegal sports betting, stocks, and crypto, until one day, he made a choice he should never have made. As always, the temptation exuded a sweet fragrance, and it was just as sweet. Hyungho, at that time, did not know that the more fruit rots, the stronger its sweet smell becomes.

Hyungho, who had been rubbing his mouth until his cheeks were raw and anxiously chewing on his lower lip, raised his head as if he had made a decision. He straightened his back and slowly parted his lips. The light catching his eyes made them glint strangely.

“The errand I ran last time, could I do that again?”

“……”

“I am confident I can do it as well as I did then. If you just give the order, I can do it even today!”

Taejung tilted his chin up at an angle and put the cigarette to his lips. The ember burned red before dropping its ash to the floor.

“Really, Mr. President. I can do a really good job. I did not disappoint you then, and since I have done it once before……”

The voice, which had been faltering, ended up trembling pathetically. The straightened back, the stiff neck, the ceaselessly bobbing Adam’s apple, Hyungho’s inability to hide his urgency was no different from handing over his weakness to his opponent.

“Trying hard, aren’t you.”

Taejung assessed Hyungho’s desperation with an indifferent voice.

“He wants to do it, so I should let him.”

However, what followed, unexpectedly, were words of permission.

“……Really?”

Hyungho asked back, unable to believe it.

“You don’t want to?”

“No, no! Thank you, Mr. President. I really, really will not forget this favor.”

Hyungho repeatedly covered his mouth with his fist and then removed it, expressing his gratitude over and over. His body, which had been stiff the entire time, began to loosen up little by little.

“But, Youngwoo-ya.”

“Yes, yes.”

“You are the one asking for it this time, so honestly, the situation is a bit different from last time, is it not?”

The sound of Hyungho swallowing his saliva rang out very loudly.

“……Yes, that is right.”

Wooseung found himself looking at Taejung without realizing it. Throwing out bait like this was Taejung’s specialty. When he lifted someone up only to ruthlessly throw them into the mud, he always started the conversation in this manner.

“Then should not the pay be different too?”

Sure enough, words that did not deviate one bit from his expectations fell like the blade of a guillotine. The corners of Hyungho’s mouth, which had been unable to hide his relief, set into a straight line.

Taejung took a deep drag from his cigarette, then exhaled, hoo, and waited for the other’s answer. It was clear to anyone that the one on the scale was Hyungho, and regardless of the weight, the one setting the price was Taejung.

Wooseung, caught like an uninvited guest in the scene of an unfair transaction, could do nothing but quietly cast his eyes down. The fingers wrapped around his waist moved playfully, as if playing the piano.

“That is, that is, Mr. President, first of all, there is a big risk for me, and so it is only right that you take care of me accordingly……”

“Risk?”

“……Yes.”

“There are plenty of other bastards who can do it besides you, so why should I have to worry about that too?”

He asked as if he truly did not understand. The hand holding the cigarette rubbed the tip of his pointedly raised eyebrow.

“……I, on the contrary, thought, think, that I should receive more than the first time.”

Hyungho, who had been groveling, saying he could do it right away if only he were given the order, changed his gaze the moment money was mentioned. The glistening pupils between his slender eyes were unusual.

Wooseung was startled by his attitude, which was markedly different from before. The bravado he was showing was frightening. A sense of nervousness and anxiety washed over him, as if he were in front of a ball that could fly off in any direction.

“Honestly, the risk is not just on my side, is it?”

And at the words that followed, the nape of his neck stiffened completely.

A short silence flowed. A moment later, Taejung smiled, his lips stretching wide.

“Wow, fuck. Are you threatening me right now?”

The amusement in his voice was clear. He was enjoying the unexpected development as if this situation were some entertaining movie. Even though what Hyungho was doing was clearly a threat.

He did not know what kind of ‘errand’ he had run, but seeing Taejung laugh as if he found it absurd, it seemed that this ‘risk’ really did exist for Taejung as well. Was that why? He understood even less why Taejung was laughing so gleefully. For Hyungho to say something like that, it must not be an ordinary matter.

“It is not a threat. I mean, I……”

“No, it is fine, it is fine. I understand what you are saying.”

“……”

“So what, you can do it right away today?”

Taejung stubbed out the nearly half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray. He spat a thick wad of saliva on top of it and pushed the ashtray away with a thud.

“Yes, yes, Mr. President. As soon as I am ready, I can do it right away, really, right away.”

Where had the sharp exchange from moments ago gone? The uncomfortable air that had been tightening around his neck quickly disintegrated like rotten fruit. It was a bizarrely fast change.

As if it were exactly as Taejung had intended.

Neat teeth were visible between his wide-parted lips. It was a smile that suited his handsome face well, but Wooseung could not dare to be certain that there were no impurities mixed in that smile.

He was a person who placed everyone but himself in the palm of his hand and played with them, kneading them as he pleased. Wooseung too had experienced a bitter taste after acting rashly to avoid immediate trouble.

“Your passport?”

“Manager Choi has it.”

Wooseung looked back and forth between Hyungho and Taejung with a confused expression. Like a rabbit hiding in its burrow looking around, the ridiculous gesture drew Taejung’s attention.

“Hmm……”

Taejung, who had been looking down at him at an angle, suddenly rested his head on Wooseung’s shoulder with a thud. It was obvious that it would be uncomfortable due to their height difference, yet he acted friendly, nuzzling the bridge of his nose against the nape of his neck.

“……”

Wooseung was not the only one surprised by the sudden contact. The moment the light weight settled on his shoulder, his eyes met Hyungho’s. He had repeatedly said he was not his sponsor, that it was not that kind of relationship, and yet to be seen like this. It really felt as if he had become a host who had tenaciously lied in order not to have his sponsor stolen from him.

Wooseung endured the uncomfortable contact, wringing his clasped hands. The sensation of hair tickling him under his chin was unfamiliar.

“Should I let him do it?”

Just then, Taejung threw out an unexpected question.

“He really wants to do it. Should I let him, or not.”

He playfully drew out the end of his sentence and tossed the choice to Wooseung with a jerk of his chin.