HPK 62

[Bank Account 1,380,000 won]

Checking the balance, Wooseung let out a heavy sigh. If he had not been able to go to work today, he would have had no choice but to borrow money from Jaemin. Fortunately, the amount he was currently short could be covered if he just saw one room.

The waiting room door opened, and Kim Jungoh loudly called out the workers by name. Wooseung stood up from his seat along with a few other workers. He was about to put his phone into his bag when it suddenly started vibrating.

[Boss]

Seeing the name on the screen, Wooseung paused. Of all times…

“Yoon Wooseung!”

Kim Jungoh’s shout brought him back to his senses. After hesitating for a moment, Wooseung eventually shoved his phone into his bag and hurried towards the door.

“Fuck, let’s move a little faster. Huh?”

Kim Jungoh jabbed Wooseung’s forehead with the corner of the tablet he was holding. Wooseung rubbed his forehead and went to stand behind Chanil. The unanswered phone call bothered him, but considering the money he had to deposit tomorrow, this was the right thing to do.

As it was, Taejung had been making Wooseung uncomfortable lately with his sudden, strange behavior. Calling him over to his house to have sex and ordering him his share of food after they were done were the same, but…

‘Is there something you want to say to me?’

His staring gaze was so prickly it sent a chill down the back of his neck. Even when he tried his best to ignore it, it bothered him so much that he could not stand it. In the end, there was one time he could not hold back and spoke up first.

‘There’s nothing like that.’

But the answer that came back was empty. He was about to ask again why he was staring at him so intently, but he could not because Taejung turned away abruptly. He also threw tantrums and made mocking remarks more often than usual.

Above all, the biggest problem was…

‘Right now? Oh, I went yesterday too…’

Taejung, who used to call him over once every two days, was now calling him to his house every day. Thanks to that, Wooseung had not been able to go to work for three days in a row. After a week of such unreliable attendance, Monday, the day he had to transfer the money again, was right around the corner. And the money he had on hand was far from enough.

“Bosses, well then, have fun! If you need anything, just call for me right away.”

Wooseung was, as always, the extra. He tried his best to ignore the sharp glares from the other workers and focused on the client. But about ten minutes later, Kim Jungoh suddenly entered the room with a pale face.

“Boss, I’m truly sorry. This guy was supposed to have a reservation, but it seems there was a mistake.”

“Whaat? What are you talking about. Manager Kim, this isn’t right.”

“This kind of mistake is rare, Boss, I’m truly sorry.”

“Aish, this is really disappointing.”

As the clients showed their displeasure, Kim Jungoh hastily pushed in one of the workers who was quite popular in the annex. Unlike the small-statured Wooseung, he was a worker with a noticeable body toned by exercise. Along with the promise of plenty of extra service to make up for it, Wooseung was dragged out by Kim Jungoh. Before he could even understand what was happening, Kim Jungoh, his face full of anger, shouted.

“Where the fuck is your phone!”

“What?”

“Aargh, fuck! You idiot, where the hell do you leave your phone lying around, ha! Because of you, really, aish, shit!”

He spat out a string of curses, then lowered his head deeply and tried to catch his ragged breath. Then, he grabbed Wooseung’s arm tightly and strode towards the waiting room.

“Get your things and come out.”

“Did I make some kind of mistake?”

Completely unable to understand the situation and fumbling, Kim Jungoh’s eyes flashed wide and he clenched his teeth.

“I said get your things and come out. Please just listen, huh!”

Wooseung, avoiding the curious gazes of the other workers, went to a corner and picked up his bag. Without even thinking of changing his clothes, he just slung his bag over his shoulder and came out. Kim Jungoh shoved Wooseung’s back hard towards the stairs leading to the first floor.

“The boss is here, so you can get in the car right away.”

Only then did he grasp the situation. However, even at the words that the boss was here, Wooseung only hesitated and did not take a step, so Kim Jungoh glared at him as if to ask what he was doing.

“You’re not going? Hurry up and go. Because of you, fuck, I. Aaargh…”

“…You’re giving me the half-fee, right?”

“Hey, shit. Is this guy really crazy.”

Although he had only been in the room for about ten minutes, he would usually get a half-fee in those cases. Unaware of Wooseung’s circumstances, where every penny counted with Monday being tomorrow, Kim Jungoh just raised his hand and barked at him to hurry up and go. In the end, Wooseung had to leave the establishment without receiving a single penny.

As he approached the car parked with its headlights on, the window rolled down.

“…”

“…”

Taejung, sitting in the back seat, was staring intently this way. It was the very same gaze that had been unsettling Wooseung for the past few days.

Wooseung swallowed hard with a gulp and then slowly approached him.

“Boss. I absolutely have to work today. Can’t I just see one room?”

“Get in.”

“I really can’t today.”

“I said, get in.”

There was not even a small smile on Taejung’s face, who was leaning his head against the seat at an angle. In the end, Wooseung trudged around the hood to the back seat. The car started as soon as he fastened his seatbelt. Along with a soft vibration, a cool breeze blew in through the open window. As they entered the main road, Taejung closed the window, and a heavy silence soon settled in the car.

“Give me your phone.”

It was time. Wooseung unzipped his bag as slowly as possible and rummaged around, pretending to look for his phone. But it must have been obvious that there was nothing in his bag.

Taejung snatched the bag and turned it upside down. Seeing the phone and wallet clatter to the floor, Wooseung squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them.

Taejung picked up the phone and held it out, so this time, without dawdling, he immediately unlocked it. With an unreadable expression, Taejung just looked at his phone for a while. With every movement of his thumb across the screen, Wooseung’s heart pounded anxiously.

“Why did you ignore my call.”

“I didn’t ignore it. The manager was calling me for the selection, so I didn’t know you had called.”

“No? You knew, didn’t you?”

Taejung lightly shook the phone and looked directly at Wooseung. Did he perhaps see the waiting room CCTV? Is that why he was speaking with such conviction?

“No. I really didn’t know.”

“You didn’t answer my call this afternoon either.”

“Ah, that’s because I was sleeping…”

Wooseung’s eyes darted around noticeably. Taejung, who was watching that pathetic sight, said with conviction, “So you did ignore it.”

Even Wooseung thought it was a pathetic excuse. There had been a few times when he had missed Taejung’s call because he was sleeping during the day, but each time, he had called Taejung right after waking up.

“…Actually, my phone is broken, so when I get a call, it suddenly turns off.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit.”

“It’s true, boss.”

As he said that, Wooseung reached out and covered Taejung’s hand. At the sudden contact, Taejung’s fingers, which were holding the phone, flinched.

“When I get a call or something, this part gets really hot. A message pops up saying I need to lower the temperature, and then it suddenly turns off.”

It was not really a lie. For the past few days, the phone had been abruptly shutting down after displaying the message ‘phone needs to cool down before you can use it’ on the screen.

Perhaps the excuse was utterly ridiculous, because Taejung’s expression was a little strange. He furrowed his brow slightly and moved his lips a few times as if to speak, then suddenly pulled his hand, along with the phone, away from Wooseung’s grasp.

“This, shit…”

He stared blankly at his own hand that Wooseung had been holding, then shook it roughly as if flicking off water.

“Hey, you’re doing this on purpose.”

Fiercely gleaming eyes glared at Wooseung. Wooseung had to face that gaze head-on, clutching the warm phone preciously, without even understanding his question about doing it on purpose.

Did his stupid face get on his nerves again? Taejung, clenching his teeth so hard his jaw went rigid, scowled viciously.

“Fuck, your eyes.”

A hand reached out and forcefully gripped his lower face.

“Ah!”

“Your eyes, your eyes, this, fuck. Huh?”

Completely unable to understand what he was saying, Wooseung let out a short groan, barely managing to grab the wrist of the hand that was gripping his jaw.

“It’s so damn distracting, the blinking, that, shit.”

Taejung stopped talking mid-sentence and just stared blankly at the small face held in his hand, its plump cheeks pushed up. The curve of the teeth felt distinct under his thumb.

In that moment, Taejung felt like he was getting swept up by Wooseung. A feeling, whether it was displeasure or something else, sent a chill through his chest.

“No, no…”

Muttering as if to himself, Taejung stared blankly at Wooseung, gathering his thoughts. He slowly pushed his thumb between the thick lips. He then pulled it towards the cheek, forcing the lips to part.

“Ah, i-hurts.”

He immediately whined that it hurt. However, Taejung showed no mercy, glaring at the red inner flesh and neat teeth without loosening his grip.

“If you ignore my call again, I’m tearing this.”

As if frightened, his eyes widened and he hurriedly grabbed Taejung’s wrist. Trembling eyes, a hand that held on but couldn’t exert any real force. Only then did the chilling sensation in his chest return to its normal temperature.

His thumb, wet with saliva, slowly slipped out from between the lips. Taejung wiped his thumb on the white cheek and stared blankly at Wooseung. The emotion clouding that stupid face was finally a little more welcome.

Taejung slid his hand down and gripped the nape of his neck. He then lowered his head and kissed him. The tongue, roaming freely inside another’s mouth, was as headstrong as its owner. It rubbed against the hollow behind the lower teeth before moving along the curve of the molars.

“Heut…”

He twisted his head and slipped a hand under the hem of his knit shirt.

“Ah!”

Startled, Wooseung urgently grabbed his wrist.