HPK 60

Afterward, Wooseung visited Taejung’s house at a rate of once every two days. There was only one purpose for these visits.

“Haah…”

From between his plump butt cheeks, slurp, the penis slid out. Taejung, who had been rubbing his nose against the nape of his neck and breathing out hot breaths, finally pulled away. Overcome with a deep fatigue, Wooseung couldn’t get up right away and just lay there, panting for breath. Then, he noticed that the light coming and going through the open door had significantly diminished and asked in surprise.

“Mr. President. What time is it now?”

Taejung, with an exceptionally refreshed face, cracked his neck to stretch and picked up the wristwatch he had casually tossed on the nightstand.

“11 o’clock.”

“Ah…”

He propped his body, which felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, up on his elbows and managed to rise. As soon as he stepped off the bed, semen gushed out from below, gush. When he stopped walking with a flustered look, Taejung came up to him with a whoosh.

“Did it come out?”

He stood right in front of Wooseung, reached a hand behind him, and grabbed his buttocks. He spread them slightly and then slid his index finger up the crease from bottom to top.

“Ah, it’s, it’s okay.”

He urgently grabbed his wrist and pulled it away from his body. Taejung observed the sticky bodily fluid on his index finger with an interested expression. It was just the semen he himself had shot out, so what was there to be so curious about…

The condoms he had once bought were never used and were now shoved away somewhere in his semi-basement apartment. He had said he wouldn’t do it with men because it was dirty, so why didn’t he use a condom? Since Wooseung was the one who had a hard time with the cleanup after every encounter, he disliked him a little for not using condoms.

After giving him a subtle glare, he moved his feet quickly. The bathroom in the bedroom was used by Taejung, and the one in the hallway leading to the living room was used by Wooseung. Taejung, who was so petty with money, was surprisingly indifferent about where Wooseung went in his house. Why was a person who always generously ordered enough food for him after sex so stingy only when it came to money?

By the time he showered, packed his things, and got ready to leave, it was already close to midnight.

“Are you going?”

“Yes. I have to go to work…”

Taejung, who had been lounging carelessly on the sofa looking at his phone, asked, “To work?” as if surprised, raising an eyebrow.

Wooseung substituted his answer by slowly nodding his head. Just as his unwavering stare was becoming a little uncomfortable, Taejung got up. He came over, passed Wooseung, and went to the entrance. He grabbed one of the car keys that were scattered messily and slipped his feet into leather slippers emblazoned with a luxury brand logo.

Did he mean he would give him a ride? Wooseung, unable to readily believe such kindness, could neither move nor stay still and just stared at him blankly.

“You’re not coming?”

He must have eaten something wrong. Even as he followed him down to the underground parking garage, he remained bewildered. It was only after he got into a sports car with a very low body that he finally believed that he was really getting a ride.

The car shot out of the underground parking garage with a roar. When it sped forward as if it was about to crash into the parking barrier, he was so startled that he pressed his back firmly against the seat.

It was close to midnight, so there weren’t many cars on the road, but that didn’t mean it was okay to weave through lanes so randomly. Not only was his body thrown sharply to the left and right, but his heart also kept sinking from the sudden accelerations and decelerations. But on the other hand, it also felt a little refreshing.

In an instant, they crossed the bridge and drove quickly, arriving at the club. Even Taejung’s parking was a mess, with two wheels of the car straddling the parking line diagonally.

“Is it okay to park like this?”

“Why wouldn’t it be.”

Taejung got out of the car before Wooseung. As Wooseung unbuckled his seatbelt and hurriedly got out, he noticed the car key was left behind, so he grabbed that too. He went around the hood, approached Taejung, and held out the car key. Taejung just stared at it blankly.

“You left this behind when you got out.”

At those words, he smirked and then took the car key. He hooked a finger through the ring, spun it around, and led the way.

Wooseung walked behind him, glancing back at the sloppily parked car. The car, with its sharp and aggressive lines, was something Wooseung could never even dream of in his entire life. Perhaps because he got to ride in it through this opportunity, or perhaps it was the aftereffect of the reckless driving, his heart was pounding faster than usual, thump-thump. The night view of Seoul that had flashed by like an afterimage was unforgettable.

In Room 7, while Taejung was checking the ledgers and talking with Hoonyeong, Wooseung sat beside them and ate the salad Hoonyeong had bought. The fresh vegetables were crisp, and the well-grilled salmon melted softly in his mouth. But he was in a hurry, so he couldn’t quite enjoy the taste. He needed to leave quickly and wait for the choice, but for some reason, Taejung would not let him go.

“…We have scheduled a round of golf with Mario at Thai CC, and for now, Professional Song has agreed to accompany us until we move to Malaysia.”

Taejung listened to Hoonyeong’s words while rolling a cherry tomato around with his fork. Unlike how he had devoured pizza and hamburgers in an instant, he barely seemed to be eating the salad.

“I was thinking of moving up the departure date a little. What do you think, Mr. President?”

“Suddenly?”

“Mario asked if we could move it up a bit since he’s going on a family vacation in three weeks.”

“A family vacation?”

The fork slipped, and the cherry tomato bounced up, thunk, before falling. Taejung put the fork down with a clatter and rotated his wrists. Crackle. An unusual sound of bones cracking was heard. It was loud enough to make Wooseung, who was carefully placing an almond on his fork, stop in surprise.

“Tell him to cut the bullshit and that we’re sticking to the original schedule.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“No, actually. Postpone it until after that. That bastard whined like a bitch last time too, going on about his wedding anniversary or whatever.”

“Yes. Then I will relay the new information to the player as soon as the schedule is fixed.”

“And for fuck’s sake, I told you I don’t eat salmon.”

Taejung snapped, asking who the hell he thought he was buying this for. Hoonyeong, as if used to it, retorted indifferently that he had bought it according to the meal plan sent by the trainer. He even added that it was grilled, so it should be fine.

“Ugh, that fucking bastard.”

Taejung leaned his head back against the sofa’s backrest and rubbed his dry face. Then he straightened his posture and abruptly looked at Wooseung, saying, “You’re done eating.” Wooseung, who had been chewing on almonds, crunch, crunch, put down his fork and nodded.

After observing the situation, he finished cleaning up his container and asked, “May I leave now?”

“…”

Taejung did not answer and just stared at him intently. Then, anxiety and unease slowly crept in. The time was already approaching 1 AM. He had to get at least one room. Wooseung had always been diligent about coming to work, but for the past few days, his attendance had dropped significantly because he had been going to Taejung’s house. Naturally, the amount of money he earned had also decreased in proportion to his attendance.

Fortunately, on the days he did come to work, Kim Jungoh had pushed him into rooms, so he had earned more than usual, but considering the interest payment due every week, even this was not enough.

“Let him go for a bit.”

Hoonyeong said to Taejung with a nonchalant expression. Wondering why he was helping him, Wooseung also looked at him with a bewildered face.

“…Alright, go on.”

Taejung glanced down at his tablet and thankfully listened to his words. Wooseung packed his finished container and his bag and got up from his seat. He bowed his head deeply in farewell, left the room, and went straight to the waiting room.

“What, you motherfucker, ahahak!”

“Hey, hey, behind you.”

“Ahak, huh? Ah…”

As soon as he opened the door, all the players’ gazes poured toward him. He walked steadfastly through them to the corner sofa where Chanil was. Hyojun was not there today either.

“Chanil, did Hyojun not come?”

“No.”

Just like Wooseung, who came to work sporadically, Hyojun also hadn’t been showing his face at the club much lately. When he ran into him two days ago, his face looked fine, so he wasn’t too worried, but…

He took out his phone, thinking of sending him a text, but coincidentally, a text from Hyojun had just arrived.

[Hyung I’m leaving the country lol!]

Surprised by the sudden mention of leaving the country, he immediately called him. But the ringing tone barely lasted before the other person ended the call. He was about to call again when a text came right away.

[Not now ㅠㅠㅠ I can text]

[Where are you going? What’s this about leaving the country all of a sudden?]

[Going to Thailand lollll]

Thailand?

‘We have scheduled a round of golf with Mario at Thai CC, and for now, … until we move to Malaysia…’

For a moment, he recalled the report Hoonyeong had given in the room just a little while ago. Could it have been about Hyojun?

Wooseung quickly tried to ask what he was going for. But the texts Hyojun sent in succession were faster.

[Not right now, in about 3? 4? weeks lolll so I’m learning golf now lol]

Golf, Thai CC, a round of golf…

Come to think of it, there was a time when Hyungho’s social media was flooded with pictures of him on vacation in Thailand.

Hyojun had said he could absolutely not talk about the errand. When they met two days ago, he had held onto him and asked if he couldn’t just secretly tell him, but he had refused with a very troubled expression.

[So you’re not coming to work anymore?]

[Noooo I willlll lol]

With that, Hyojun stopped reading his texts. Holding the phone, which had grown warm, in his hand, he glanced at Chanil.

Could it be that he had told Chanil separately? The thought crossed his mind for a moment. After all, he would probably be closer to Chanil, who he had known for a while and was the same age, than to him.

But instead of asking Chanil if he knew what kind of work Hyojun was doing, Wooseung asked a different question.

“Chanil.”

The eyes peeking out from over the phone moved busily from left to right.

“Are you, by any chance, in contact with Kim Hyungho?”

“Kim Hyungho?”

Chanil frowned and then replied indifferently.

“I’m not close with that bastard.”

“Ah…”

Then who should he ask? Besides Chanil and Hyojun, he didn’t really talk to any other players, and right now, most of them had bad feelings toward him. There were some players who were purely curious about his relationship with Taejung, but the majority harbored great dissatisfaction with Kim Jungoh’s continuous act of putting him in rooms.

“Ask that guy. He’s probably the closest to Kim Hyungho since they used to go out picking up girls together.”

Just then, Chanil pointed at someone with the tip of his nose. At the end of his gesture was a player squatting under the TV, choosing his shoes.