HPK 77

“But this is strange. He’s not your type, unnie?”

Seohyun’s companion, Yoonjung, blurted out a comment after staring intently at Wooseung.

“Well, no. But isn’t he cute?”

“He is cute……. but a little childlike.”

You know I don’t mean it as an insult, right? Yoonjung added, smiling towards Wooseung. She had a point, as Seohyun’s preference was for muscular men with tanned skin. This was a fact anyone could figure out after seeing Seohyun in the room just a few times. She always chose hosts who looked like they had invested a remarkable amount of time in working out. If they hadn’t met at church, Seohyun would never have chosen Wooseung.

“A person can’t live on rice alone. Sometimes you eat pasta, and other things too. Right, Wooseung-ah?”

Seohyun playfully laughed as she rubbed Wooseung’s fair cheek with her palm. Wooseung laughed along with her and nodded his head docilely.

“Look at this skin. You were really born with this one thing.”

Even back at the main building, Seohyun had envied Wooseung’s flawless, fair skin. She would often pinch it or rub it with her palm. She said the texture was exceptionally nice.

“You have good skin too, noona.”

“Mine is slathered with money.”

“Mine is because I’m young.”

Since they didn’t force him to drink or touch him without consent, Wooseung was also able to converse with a comfortable heart. In between, whenever Wooseung fed her a piece of fruit or wiped the condensation from her glass, Seohyun would say, “Oh my,” and secretly slip him a 10,000 won bill.

“Hey, but why haven’t you been coming to church lately?”

Of course, she also made Wooseung uncomfortable with occasional awkward questions.

“Ah, I moved, so I go to a different church now.”

“Even if you move, it’s right to keep going to the one you were attending. Especially you, you need to attend consistently.”

“……”

“You know what I’m talking about, right?”

Seohyun and Yoonjung made eye contact and giggled. Wooseung knew very well the meaning behind Seohyun’s words and the reason they were laughing.

When he had accidentally run into her at church, unlike the extremely flustered Wooseung, Seohyun had been unconcerned. She had even been friendly, asking why he had never mentioned he was a Christian. It was a bizarre situation where the one buying was confident, while the one selling was intimidated, and his stomach churned as if he were getting motion sickness.

Right after that, Wooseung switched churches. Of course, thanks to meeting at church, Seohyun would occasionally choose him, allowing him to earn money, but that was a separate issue.

Still, Wooseung didn’t show any discomfort and smoothly handled Seohyun’s words. Fortunately, Chanil brought up a different topic, and the conversation quickly shifted. Chanil, who was always sullen in the waiting room, was a completely different person in the room. He livened up the atmosphere with funny stories and drew out Yoonjung’s laughter with appropriate physical contact and jokes.

About thirty minutes after they had entered the room, there was a sudden knock on the door. Chanil, who was sitting facing the door, got up and turned the handle. Mr. Kim Jungoh walked in, smiling.

“What is it?”

“Ah, it’s nothing much. The President heard you were here, noona-nim, and said he’d like to stop by. Would now be alright?”

“Oh my, President Eom?”

Seohyun put down her whiskey glass and smiled brightly.

“We’d welcome him, of course. Tell him to come on in.”

Unlike Seohyun and Yoonjung, who were welcoming him with gestures and everything, Wooseung was extremely startled by Taejung’s sudden visit. He felt his heart plummet off a cliff, and a dull ache spread across his solar plexus.

Mr. Kim Jungoh said he would bring him right over and bowed politely. Just before closing the door, he glanced at Wooseung, but Wooseung, who was staring only at the corner of the table, did not notice his gaze.

“What’s going on? For President Eom to come here.”

“I know, right.”

Seohyun ran a loan company that dealt with the purchase, sale, and management of non-performing loans, and because of that, she had deep ties with Taejung in many ways. She had received help from Taejung’s sister-in-law in the early days of establishing her company, and she also occasionally obtained medicine through one of Taejung’s subordinates, a certain Manager Han.

“Are you scared because the President is coming? Look at this kid, he’s all tensed up.”

Discovering the stiffened Wooseung, Seohyun told Yoonjung to look and laughed, “Haha.” He looked so obviously rigid to anyone that a burst of laughter swept through the room.

“Your President is really scary, isn’t he?”

Chanil glanced at Wooseung and continued.

“To be honest, we don’t even get to see him often usually.”

He smoothly deflected the difficult question by implying that they didn’t really know much about the President. The rumors were just exceptionally vicious, but since he didn’t even speak to the hosts in the first place, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

“People with strong egos are usually a bit uncomfortable to be around.”

Seohyun smiled mischievously, as if she knew everything. Just as she swirled the whiskey glass, the door opened. It was the forewarned appearance of Taejung.

“President Eom. It’s been too long~”

“When did you get here?”

Taejung asked, tapping a cigarette pack against his palm.

“Us? We made a reservation for 8 and came.”

“Why the annex all of a sudden?”

He conversed with Seohyun as if it were familiar. Despite the significant age difference, the casual way he spoke to her suggested they had known each other for quite some time. As Wooseung tried to figure out their relationship, his complexion gradually worsened.

“Mr. Taejung, have a seat. What are you doing standing there?”

Yoonjung waved her hand flutteringly, saying her neck hurt. Taejung, who was looking at the table as if searching for a lighter, soon strode inside. Then, he plopped down in the seat next to Wooseung and spat out the cigarette he had been holding in his mouth. Wooseung’s gaze fell on the cigarette that had dropped limply to the floor.

“……”

Wooseung cautiously looked up at Taejung, who was sitting to his right. He flinched in fear at the gaze that immediately shot down at him and hastily averted his eyes.

“Wooseung got all scared because President Eom came. What are you going to do?”

Taejung propped his legs up on the sofa and turned his body completely. He casually draped his left arm over the backrest and wiggled his fingers slightly.

“Did you call for this kid, noona-nim?”

“Who, Wooseung?”

“Yeah.”

Seohyun blinked a few times before nonchalantly replying, “I heard Wooseung moved to the annex, so I came by to see him.”

“It wasn’t him who contacted you first?”

“I contacted him first. Why?”

Seohyun took a sip of the whiskey, which had been diluted by the melting ice, and slowly set the glass down. When Wooseung, who would have offered her fruit as if on cue, instead remained still with both hands on his thighs, a laugh finally escaped her.

“Are you perhaps scolding the kids? Wooseung-ah, why are you so stiff?”

Seohyun reached out, intending to stroke Wooseung’s cheek as she had before. But a large hand, with veins popping and knuckles protruding, suddenly blocked her way. It was the very hand that had been dangling over the backrest, as if testing the waters.

“Why are you touching him.”

Seohyun stared blankly at the owner of the hand, which was covering half of Wooseung’s face. Her hand, pushed aside, fumbled awkwardly in the air.

“Oh my.”

A moment later, Seohyun half-covered her lips with her hand and let out a short exclamation.

“Oh my, oh my.”

“What ‘oh my,’ you bitch.”

Undeterred by his fiercely scowling face, Seohyun’s eyes sparkled.

“What’s going on between you two?”

A fingernail painted with apricot-colored polish pointed alternately at Wooseung and Taejung.

Taejung looked down at the flushed cheek, which had grown hot with tension. A deep shadow fell over it, hidden by the large hand, but its fair color remained unchanged.

“This is something I bought with my money.”

“……”

“I don’t know why it’s selling its body here.”

Taejung lowered the hand that had been covering the face and playfully stroked the area where the neck met the shoulder with the back of his hand. It was an unremarkable act of physical contact, but perhaps due to the significant difference in their physiques, he looked just like a herbivore that had offered its nape to a beast of prey.

“……The kid is naive and seemed to lack substance, but he’s caught something big.”

Seohyun muttered as if to herself. The curious gaze she gave him was a bonus.

She had thought that while he was pretty to look at, it wouldn’t last long. He didn’t have the knack for sweet-talking clients like other hosts, nor was he particularly skilled in singing or dancing. At the main building, Wooseung had been unusually popular with younger female clients due to his idol-like looks, but just as Seohyun had predicted, he hadn’t managed to land a client who could become a big spender. But for him to suddenly be with Taejung, it was news that could make one’s eyes widen.

“But wasn’t President Eom seeing a woman?”

At those words, Taejung tilted his head slightly towards Wooseung. A nonchalant voice followed.

“He’s wet and sucks well. He does it as well as a woman.”

“Oh my.”

Another surprised breath escaped from between Seohyun’s slightly parted lips. She quickly drank her whiskey as if to quench her burning throat. The interest in her eyes deepened even further.

“Let’s just hang out like this for today. I’m already having so much fun. What do I do?”

Seohyun made a fuss, tapping the table rapidly. Right, right, she said, busily looking back and forth between Yoonjung and Taejung, but Yoonjung herself had an ambiguous expression on her face.

“It looks like Mr. Taejung came to keep his lover in check, do you think that’ll work, unnie?”

“Ah, why. Can’t we hang out together? I won’t go for a second round.”

It was then.

“Second round?”

At the same time as the words “second round” came out of Seohyun’s mouth, Taejung’s expression became chillingly cold.

“Hm?”

“……”

“Ah, a long time ago, a long time ago when Wooseung was at the main building.”

Seohyun slapped her lips frivolously as if she had misspoken. But the more she spoke, the worse the situation seemed to get. Yoonjung waved her hand at Seohyun, signaling for her to stop. Only then did Seohyun notice the change in atmosphere and awkwardly shut her mouth.

“Second round, you say?”

Taejung’s low voice echoed through the room, which had fallen silent.