HPK 53

“It’s true, Mr. President. I really only did herbs. And I didn’t get caught, I, I made it back safely, didn’t I? Then that should be enough.”

Synthetic marijuana is detected in detailed tests by the National Forensic Service, but it does not show up in simple reagent tests. This was the reason why Hyungho was so strongly insisting that he had only done synthetic marijuana.

“I won’t make a mistake next time. Ugh, really, from next time on, I’ll make sure, absolutely, absolutely, hngh, uuugh……”

Hyungho clung on desperately, clutching his lower abdomen. The more he did so, the more the smile slowly faded from Taejung’s face.

This was a market where small mistakes led to huge losses. Taejung usually hired men in their forties and fifties who had no proper means of livelihood and no connection to drugs as body packers. He sometimes used hosts, but he did not prefer it unless the supply was urgent like last time. There were rumors that Kim Hyungho did drugs whenever he went to the club, so he had no intention of using him a second time.

‘To be honest, the risk isn’t just on me, is it.’

That is, if he had not run his mouth so arrogantly.

“In my opinion, it seems like you did drugs just to screw me over.”

“That’s not true! Mr. President, it’s really not. I wasn’t going to do it, but at that moment, hngh, I happened to be drunk, so I did it without realizing. I don’t even remember. I really did it without knowing. There are a lot of cases like that these days. People slip things into drinks, hoot, agh……”

“Hyungho-ya, you have to try to fool someone who can be fooled. It’s not like I’m a fucking idiot. Huh?”

Who would spike a drink with drugs to screw someone like you, Taejung criticized scathingly.

“Mr. President! Really, ugh!”

Hyungho, who was pleading again, suddenly dropped his head and clutched his stomach.

“The bathroom, Mr. President. Heugh, the bathroom……!”

The urge to defecate, which had been tolerable, now hit him in full force. Along with the pain of his intestines twisting, his anus twitched. He tried to block it by crossing his legs, but it was obvious that the moment he relaxed his muscles, it would all pour out with a splat.

“You have to take a shit?”

“Yes, heup, yes……!”

“Then take it.”

Hyungho’s eyes widened as far as they could go. A suppressed groan burst from between his foolishly parted lips.

“I’m a little scared that you might have pocketed one?”

Taejung smiled, the corners of his mouth stretching wide.

“No, heup, Mr. President. You know the exact count. Agh!”

His legs were twisted into knots, and he could not even hold his upper body straight. Tears soon welled up in his eyes, which had deep double eyelids. To just shit here……. Even if his life was in the gutter, it had not reached the point where he would show others the scene of him defecating. Hyungho whimpered and shook his head again.

“Then either let them burst and die.”

His lower lip, bitten so hard it was about to bleed, turned white.

“Ah, ah……. Keuk!”

Hyungho finally squeezed his eyes shut. He shot up from his seat and took off his pants. He squatted down as soon as the waistband was caught on his thighs.

“Ughh……!”

Soon, with a splatting sound, loose stool poured out onto the floor of the abandoned factory. The horrible smell was an added bonus.

Taejung pulled his neck back and said irritably, “Ah, it stinks.” He was the one who told him to shit, but when it actually happened right in front of his eyes, he complained that the stench was killing him.

“Heuk, kkeuk……. Heup.”

While Hyungho cried and relieved himself, a few of the men who had been standing at a distance came and stood beside him. It was a disgusting sight, but since Taejung was in front of them, they did not show any sign of it. They stood steadfast as if they could not smell anything, waiting for the job to be over.

“Heuh, euk.”

Small, oval-shaped capsules endlessly poured out of Hyungho’s anus along with the feces. The number was so large that it was hard to believe they had come from a human body.

“Haah, ha……”

After he was done, Hyungho gasped for air with his head bowed low. The fingers clutching his knees were drained of color.

“Hey, hey. Get out.”

Moonsu, who had been watching Taejung, swung his foot menacingly. Hyungho, without even fully catching his breath, crawled forward on all fours and collapsed onto his side. His bare butt was exposed to the world, but he had exhausted all his energy and did not have the presence of mind to fix his clothes. He was just busy gasping for breath. Simply getting off the dirty floor was overwhelming enough.

If it had been a bathroom, they could have just flushed the feces away with water and collected only the capsules. That would have made the job easier, but since the situation turned out like this, the men had no choice but to put on gloves and move the capsules one by one to the side.

“Total……”

It was when Moonsu was about to report the number of capsules to Taejung.

“It’s no fun if you just say it.”

Taejung waved his hand to stop him and went over to Hyungho, who was lying face down and busy panting. He then stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down at Hyungho.

“Hyungho-ya. Did they all come out, or not?”

He asked in a playful tone. Hyungho’s pupils shook 불안하게. His empty stomach no longer complained of pain. However, he could not feel relieved until the count was confirmed.

“You’re fucking curious, aren’t you?”

“M, Mr. President.”

“Let’s take this opportunity to see just how lucky our Hyungho is.”

“No. Mr. President, please, heuu……”

Hyungho tried to stop Taejung in a trembling voice. Every time he blinked, sticky tears streamed down. The tears, after briefly pooling on the bridge of his nose, soon dripped down and wet the floor.

“Ah, why. Like you said, seeing as you came back safely without getting caught, you must be pretty fucking lucky.”

“Mr. President. I’m really, really sorry. I’ll never, heuu, I’ll never do it again. This time, I really made a mistake, I did.”

Taejung tapped his shoulder with the toe of his sneaker, thump, thump. That action was more than enough to magnify Hyungho’s anxiety. Without even thinking of pulling up his pants, he scrambled to push himself up from the floor. The only thought in his mind was that he had to get away from Taejung.

“Ugh!”

THWACK!!

But Taejung was one step faster. He kicked Hyungho’s abdomen with a thump, as if kicking a soccer ball. Moonsu, who was standing with his hands clasped behind his back, flinched.

THWUMP, THWACK!

After kicking his stomach twice more, Taejung dusted off his foot, thump, thump, and knelt down. White foam was forming at Hyungho’s mouth. His eyes rolled back and then returned to their place repeatedly. The sound of breath pouring from between his lips was strange.

“Kkeuh, euk, heoh……”

Taejung, who was watching this placidly, turned his head toward Moonsu.

“Doesn’t look like he’s dead?”

The question was uttered very lightly. Moonsu nodded his head urgently.

“Yes, the count is correct.”

“Ah, what a shame.”

Taejung furrowed his brow and lightly shook the hand resting on his knee. The phone in his hand looked as if it would fall at any moment, it was precarious.

At the genuinely regretful voice, Moonsu did not know how to react and just awkwardly raised the corners of his mouth.

“Th, then shall we begin?”

Judging it better to do his own work than to loiter around, he cautiously brought it up. Taejung chuckled and replied, “Sure.” Moonsu quickly turned around and shouted at the men to move faster.

“Moonsu is really good at his job. He’s quick-witted too.”

Taejung said, looking down at Hyungho. Hyungho was still gasping for air, clutching his abdomen.

“Hoonyeong-ah. This bastard must be really lucky. I thought there would be one left.”

“It’s for the best, isn’t it. No losses.”

It would be easier for both me and this bastard if he were dead, Taejung thought, knitting his brows as if genuinely disappointed. Hoonyeong carefully observed him, who seemed to be in a particularly bad mood today. At first, he thought it was because he had just had a meal with his hyung-nim, but on second thought, he had been in low spirits for a few days now.

“Is something wrong?”

Taejung raised and lowered his eyebrows and gave an inscrutable response, “Ah.”

“Something wrong, something wrong……. Something did happen.”

His voice was slow, as if lost in thought. Presently, Taejung unconsciously brought his fingernail to his mouth and began to chew on it.

Seeing that, Hoonyeong surmised that something indeed must have happened. Taejung had never managed to shake his childhood habit and had grown up just like that, so whenever he was irritated or deep in thought, he would always bite his nails.

“……”

Taejung stared down at Hyungho, chewing on his nail with a crun-crunch. The white foam that had collected at the corner of his mouth had already dried. His breathing had also more or less returned to its normal pace. The reason he still felt so shitty, was it because this bastard was fine?

No.

In truth, Taejung knew very well why he felt so shitty.

‘Because I didn’t enjoy it at all. That’s why it’s ten thousand won.’

For the first time, a rather sharp defiance had colored his usually vacant face. The novelty of it lasted only a moment before the ten thousand won bill thrust into his hand made his mood plunge right into the mud.

“Ah, fuck. What should I do.”

What should he do to get this feeling back to normal. He had no idea, which only made him feel more agitated inside. He absolutely hated this kind of thing.

“This is fucking shitty, for real, fuck, ah.”

He felt a sharp pain in his thumb. When he checked, the nail was lifted and bleeding from underneath. Taejung shook his hand dismissively and got up from his spot.

“What about Girin?”

He approached Hoonyeong and asked. Even after hearing that there was nothing unusual, he kept staring at Hoonyeong as if waiting for other words. With a thought of just in case, Hoonyeong was the one to broach the subject of ‘Yoon Wooseung.’

“Come to think of it, Mr. President. They’re saying it’s a sponsorship.”

“Me?”

Taejung pointed a finger at himself.

“Yes, with Yoon Wooseung.”

At the name ‘Yoon Wooseung’ coming from Hoonyeong’s lips, Taejung’s cheek twitched.

“It doesn’t seem like he’s the one who spread the rumor, it seems the talk is just circulating around him.”

“……”

“It’s understandable though. The hosts have eyes too.”

Taejung took a step back and leaned against the steel table. His two arms, hanging down, were very sturdy. He pressed the thumb that was bleeding with his other hand.

“Why do you torment him so much.”

At Hoonyeong’s emotionless question, Taejung furrowed his brow.

“What did I do.”

“You’re tormenting him. Without any particular reason, either.”

“Does there have to be a reason? He just has one of those faces that makes you want to mess with him.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“Hey, you shouldn’t know.”

Although mixed with a hint of laughter, it was a fierce reply. Hoonyeong’s eyes widened slightly, as if surprised.

“I shouldn’t know?”

After spitting out the words, Taejung also seemed to realize something was off. After a short silence, he pointlessly cursed, “Whether you know or not, fuck.”

“So what, there’s a rumor at the establishment that he and I are in a sponsorship?”

And then he deliberately asks again about what he had already heard.

“Yes. A rumor like that is going around. For Section Chief Kim to come and ask, it doesn’t seem like just a passing comment, either.”

Taejung fell silent, staring at the floor. His face was that of someone deep in thought.

“So they think it’s a sponsorship……”

He muttered as if to himself, and a moment later, the corner of his mouth tilted up crookedly. The innocent smile harmonized well with his handsome features, but it was by no means a good sign. Naturally, Hoonyeong’s brow furrowed.