HPK 50

His hand was numb. The hand that slipped out from under the pillow was half-clenched as it lay next to the lips from which soft breaths were escaping. After a long while, the eyelids flickered and then slowly opened. The eyelashes, thoroughly soaked in tears, were clumped together in places.

Wooseung stared blankly into the air. He moved his numb hand and then turned his eyes from side to side. Darkness had fallen, making it difficult to distinguish objects. However, he instantly realized that the feel of the blanket on his body was unfamiliar. In that moment, he shot up as if startled.

The bed he placed his hand on was firm and did not sink in. The blanket rustled against his skin without any dampness. He silently watched as the center of the pillow he had been lying on slowly regained its volume. He was still a bit dazed from sleep.

“Uh…”

Just then, he heard a low breathing sound nearby. He did not have to go far; right next to him, Taejung was lying on his stomach. He was fast asleep with his hands under the pillow. The blanket was pulled down to his waist, so the lumpy, shadowed muscles of his back were clearly visible.

When did I fall asleep…

Wooseung pressed his throbbing forehead with his palm and searched his memory diligently.

‘You’re dead later if this is a lie.’

He remembered Taejung smiling with a furrowed brow. And the monstrous penis that had penetrated him. Even though he had said it was too hard and he could not do it anymore, Taejung had insisted on inserting himself again. He came one more time like that. And then…

Wooseung looked around. There was no clock visible, so he could not tell what time it was. He swung his legs out of the blanket and stood up. He pulled the blanket, which had slipped down even further than before, up to Taejung’s neck. It was an unconscious action, as always.

He rubbed his temples with the flat part where his wrist and hand meet and took careful steps. The inside of his thighs and the space between his buttocks screamed in protest.

When he came out to the living room, he was greeted by a scene even messier than when he had first arrived at this house. He could not bear to look at the sofa, which must have been stained with all sorts of bodily fluids, so he desperately averted his eyes and searched for his bag first. His cell phone was in the front pocket of the bag.

[23:46]

If he went to work now, he might be able to see one customer. However, apart from his resolve to go to work, Wooseung could not bring himself to leave this house.

‘I’ll give you exactly double that.’

He could not be sure, but still, he had said he would give him double…

One million won was much more money than he would earn from working a single day. He decided to wait until Taejung woke up. Wooseung collected his clothes from the bedroom and went to the bathroom. After taking a hot shower, he came out to find the disastrous state of the living room making him uncomfortable. The velvet-textured sofa indeed had dark stains on it. Because it was dark gray, the whitish, dried-out stains were even more visible.

“Ah…”

He thought about wiping it with a wet towel, but worried he might ruin it, so he decided not to touch the sofa. He just tidied up the fallen cushions and clothes. He closed the wide-open pizza box and placed it along with the cans on the spacious countertop next to the kitchen sink. Then he squatted down under the sofa and finished folding the blanket.

“What are you doing?”

A deeply sunken voice came from behind him. When he turned his body, Taejung, wearing only his sweatpants, was walking towards him, ruffling his hair messily.

Wooseung quickly folded the blanket and placed it on one side of the sofa. Then he awkwardly clasped his hands together and fidgeted. He needed to get the money and go to work soon, but it felt a bit awkward to ask for the money directly.

Taejung passed by Wooseung and went to the kitchen. He took a bottle of water from the refrigerator, emptied it completely, and then tossed it into the sink. Clang, the empty water bottle hit the corner of the sink bowl and fell. As he headed back to the refrigerator, he suddenly stopped when he saw the pizza box and cans neatly arranged next to the sink.

“…”

He looked at Wooseung, who was visible through the transparent door. The corner of his mouth twitched for a moment before returning to its original position.

He opened the refrigerator. He took out a salad and placed it on the table as if throwing it. He brought a fork and started eating it just like that, without any dressing. All the while, his gaze was on Wooseung. The way he was squatting and glancing this way, it was clear he had something to say. And Taejung felt like he knew very well what that something was.

He slammed the fork down, thwack, and came out of the kitchen. He went to the bedroom, feeling Wooseung’s gaze following him. He picked up his cell phone and called Junseok right away.

—Yes, Boss.

“Junseok, is the car wash finished?”

He came out to the living room and plopped down on the sofa. He massaged his stiff neck and looked at Wooseung again. Startled, he turned his head away.

“Buy a hamburger on your way here.”

—Yes, I understand.

“Ah, wait a minute.”

—Yes.

Taejung nudged Wooseung with his foot. The clear face turned towards him again. The corners of his eyes, which had turned particularly red during sex, were now just white.

“What do you want to eat?”

“What?”

“What kind of hamburger do you want.”

Taejung added, “McDonald’s.” The equally round pupils within the round eyes rolled slightly, then faced Taejung directly.

“I’ll have a bulgogi burger.”

“Get one bulgogi burger combo, yeah, large.”

After hearing that he would be there within twenty minutes, he hung up the phone. He lay down comfortably on the sofa.

The living room, engulfed in silence, was soon filled with game sound effects. The sound was coming from Taejung’s cell phone.

Wooseung stole a glance at him, who was engrossed in a game with his phone held horizontally. His brow furrowed and then relaxed repeatedly, and then he let out a low curse. Seeing him like this, it was obvious they were the same age. He had often played games in the private room too, but back then, perhaps because of the influence of the space, he had not felt like a peer.

“…”

Wooseung tore his eyes away from him and looked at his own phone. He went to the driving school website that Yejin had sent him via text and checked the tuition fee. He read the words ‘800,000 won’ over and over, then swiped the screen up from the bottom to turn it off.

Boop, bleep. Listening to the cheerful game sound effects, he fiddled with his phone. There were no games installed, so there was not much to do. In truth, it was a phone on which he could not even dream of playing games, and even now, just holding it for a little while made the back heat up immediately. Wooseung swallowed a sigh and placed his phone on the floor.

About fifteen minutes later, an alert sounded that a car had arrived, and a short while later, Junseok came to the house. He handed the shopping bag to Taejung and then immediately withdrew. From his stiff, perfectly angled movements, Wooseung was reminded of himself talking to Taejung on the phone at the bus stop. A bitter smile appeared on his face due to their similar circumstances.

Taejung sat on the sofa and took the hamburgers out of the shopping bag.

“Come here.”

He playfully clicked his tongue, tsk, tsk, as if calling a dog. Wooseung relaxed his awkwardly standing posture and approached. It felt a little awkward to sit on the sofa, so he sat on the floor. Taejung did not tell him to come up either.

Taejung checked the hamburger wrapper and placed the hamburger, coke, and french fries in front of Wooseung in order. It was the same fast-food restaurant he had gone to with Yejin during the day. Unlike then, he was hungry, so he accepted it without refusal.

“…Thank you for the food.”

Taejung took a large bite of his hamburger and turned on the TV. A movie that had surpassed ten million viewers two years ago and had become the talk of the town was being broadcast.

Wooseung also unwrapped his and took a bite. The sweet and savory sauce immediately whetted his appetite. He ate the french fries two at a time and drank the coke as well.

By the time Wooseung had eaten half of his hamburger, Taejung had already finished two. Wooseung found him a little fascinating, eating his hamburger so quickly with his eyes fixed on the TV, and found himself glancing at him without realizing it. It was also strange that even though he took huge bites, he did not get any sauce messily around his mouth.

He followed his lead and watched TV while finishing his hamburger. He ate all the french fries and the hamburger, but left more than half of the coke. As he was wiping his fingers with a stiff napkin, Taejung stood up. He had already finished all those hamburgers in no time.

Taejung, who had gone to the bedroom, came back with a toothbrush in his mouth and picked up the cell phone on the table. He brushed his teeth while looking at his phone nonchalantly, then disappeared back into the bedroom. Wooseung also quietly stood up, took his toothbrush and toothpaste from his bag, and went to the bathroom. When he came out after brushing his teeth, Taejung was sprawled out on the sofa. His bangs were wet, indicating he had washed up briefly.

Considering the stains that had been on the sofa, he probably should not be lying down like that… But he was in no position to tell him to get up, so he just pretended not to see.

“…”

He stared blankly at him, who was using his hand as a pillow and touching his phone, then checked the time again. It was well past midnight.

Wooseung had something to receive from him, and he could not leave this house until he got it. The amount he had checked on the driving school website earlier was 800,000 won, just as Yejin had said. If he received 1,000,000 won from Taejung, he could register for the school right away.

As he was putting his toothbrush and toothpaste back in his bag, he glanced at Taejung again. Just then, their eyes met as he glanced down.

“If you have something to say, say it. Stop staring.”

“Ah…”

It seemed he had known he was constantly glancing at him. Wooseung, feeling awkward, rubbed his cheek and slowly approached him.

“Boss, about that.”

“…”

“That money…”

Taejung let the hand holding the phone hang limply below the sofa.

“Money?”

“…Yes, the money. The one you said you’d give me.”

The hand he had dropped below the sofa moved, beckoning. He had been like that for a long time.

“Ah, the 1,000,000 won.”

Taejung muttered in a languid voice, as if he had just remembered.