HPK 83

“It’s my phone….”

Wooseung replied, his voice trailing off as he averted his eyes.

“If I have to come get it, you’re dead.”

However, faced with the hand demanding he hand it over immediately, he eventually walked over and gave him the phone. Although his mood changed at a moment’s notice, he wasn’t one to make empty threats.

“Change your phone.”

Taejung said, gripping the phone as if he would break it.

“…I don’t have the money.”

Although the screen was cracked, it was the latest model and he had been using it for less than a month. In the first place, his financial situation wasn’t such that he could just change it because he was told to.

“I can just buy you a new one.”

As if he had expected it, Taejung said he would buy him a new one. For Wooseung, for whom not changing it was the best option, it was still an unwelcome suggestion, but the glare in his eyes was unusual, so he reluctantly nodded his head.

“You’re changing your number too.”

“Pardon? That’s….”

“Why. You have clients to manage?”

That wasn’t what he meant, but it seemed Taejung’s mood had already soured completely over that one text from Seohyun. The misunderstanding, which had swollen to a huge size, was writhing as if it would burst at the slightest stimulus.

“Other than Seohyun noona….”

“….”

“I don’t have any clients I keep in touch with.”

Wooseung said, his eyes neatly lowered. In other words, he was telling him to stop his misunderstanding there.

“Noona?”

But Taejung’s glare grew even fiercer.

“She’s old enough to be your mother, and you call her noona, for fuck’s sake.”

Ha, letting out a scoff, Taejung abruptly stood up and turned around. He went to the study that connected the living room and the master bedroom and briefly disappeared behind the desk. Soon, the sound of a drawer opening, then the sound of the phone being tossed inside it, could be heard.

When he returned, he came and stood in front of Wooseung and spoke in a growling voice. The hand that gripped his lower jaw was rough.

“Stop making it so fucking obvious that you sell your body.”

The warning-like words flew at him. Taejung shook his chin, as if demanding an answer.

“….”

Wooseung stared up at him blankly. He didn’t understand what he meant by “stop making it so obvious that you sell your body.” If he hated it so much, he could just stop seeing him. But toわざわざkeep him by his side and complain that he doesn’t like this, he doesn’t like that….

“Are you not going to answer?”

“…President, do you really like me?”

Instead of giving the answer Taejung wanted, Wooseung brought up the question he was reluctant to hear. Sure enough, Taejung became visibly flustered.

“I told you I don’t.”

“….”

“Fuck, why would I like you.”

That was something Wooseung was curious about as well. Had there been any particular incident that would make Taejung develop feelings for him? No matter how much he thought about it, nothing came to mind. It was just that his behavior was strange. Enough to make one automatically think, “He must like me.”

“If not, then never mind….”

Even though he said that, Wooseung was almost certain. But he decided to purposely not show it. He calculated that it would be more advantageous for him to keep the knowledge of his opponent’s weakness a secret rather than revealing that he knew it.

‘You can just give me the card.’

With just one small card, he could lightheartedly shed the burden weighing on his shoulders.

So, all he had to do was enjoy this situation just a little, a very little bit.

“….”

Taejung continued to glare at Wooseung with a disgruntled expression. After doing so for a while, he let go of Wooseung’s face as if throwing it away and took a step back.

“I don’t like you.”

He says, pointing his finger, as if making a firm promise.

“I said I don’t like you.”

His face, which contorted and smoothed out from moment to moment, was filled with confusion. Though he himself didn’t seem to know it.

“Don’t get the wrong idea.”

Soon, slam, the door closed and silence fell. Through the faint sound of water, it seemed as if he could hear cursing.

On a Friday, Dosan-daero was chaotically crowded with high-end foreign cars, young women just starting their shifts, and customers coming and going from the establishments. The sky, beginning to blush with red, cast long shadows upon the ground.

“As soon as the athlete arrives in Korea, I’ll set a date right away. That should be fine, right, President?”

Manager Han hurriedly followed behind Taejung, who was just coming out of the building. Above their heads, a sign that read ‘Permit 2F’ glittered under the sunset.

“Then, please have a safe trip!”

Leaving him bowing at a 90-degree angle, Taejung quickly crossed the parking lot. Not far away, Junseok was waiting with the rear passenger door open. Beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, as if he had been waiting for Taejung to come out for a while. It was that hot.

Taejung got into the car, which was filled with cool air conditioning.

“The CCTV.”

He immediately pressed Hoonyeong. Hoonyeong, who had been looking at his iPad, lifted his head.

“You know that footage older than 3 months is automatically deleted unless there’s a special reason. Of course it’s gone.”

“You, shit.”

Taejung’s face contorted savagely, and he kicked the back of the console box with a thwack. It was a kick so rough that the car shook.

Junseok, who had just gotten into the driver’s seat, was startled and tensed up, forgetting to fasten his seatbelt. Seeing this, Hoonyeong clicked his tongue lowly. He gave him a signal with his eyes, telling him to ignore it and start driving. With a cough from Junseok, the large sedan smoothly exited the parking lot.

“So you’re fucking telling me there’s nothing?”

“There is one. But you’ve already seen that one.”

Taejung swore harshly and brought his already chewed-up thumbnail back to his mouth. Even though blood was pooling at the tip, giving it a fishy taste, he couldn’t stop his action.

“….”

Hoonyeong glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror. Taejung, half-cut off in the mirror, was chewing his nails in a sprawled-out posture.

He had been in that state since he left the house, so it was somewhat expected. Manager Han had the bad luck of running into Taejung on such a day, and he was still whining through text messages about how much he had been chewed out.

After a moment of thought, he decided to suggest another method.

“Or, should I ask Section Chief Jung separately?”

The chewing on his thumb stopped abruptly.

“Does he know anything?”

“Well, he’d know more than us. He was Mr. Wooseung’s manager, after all.”

“Get in touch with him.”

Hoonyeong answered obediently that he would, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling of bewilderment.

‘Bring me Yoon Wooseung’s attendance records and all the main building CCTV footage from the day he started working last year.’

It was a sudden and out-of-the-blue demand. With no specific dates, he wanted him to bring all the CCTV footage featuring Yoon Wooseung. It had been two months since Wooseung came to the annex. The only remaining footage would be from the month right before he was kicked out to the annex.

He had put in a word with the main building, but honestly, Hoonyeong was skeptical. And as expected, for the last month, Wooseung had barely come to work due to an unfortunate incident, so there wasn’t much to extract.

‘What on earth is going on? Does Section Chief Choi know anything? My, my heart is still pounding.’

The day Taejung threw a tantrum in the room, Seohyun asked, nestled in the arms of another host. It seemed her claim of a pounding heart wasn’t a joke; unlike her sparkling eyes, her complexion was not very good.

‘Since he’s a host he’s been keeping around lately, I think the President reacted a bit sensitively.’

Hoonyeong rolled up his sleeves and met Seohyun’s eyes. As if it were no big deal, he deliberately put on a smooth smile.

‘Oh my, so it’s true. What a big deal. Really. To think President Eom is dating.’

‘Dating might be a bit…!’

‘No. It’s because you didn’t see it, Section Chief Choi. It was seriously terrifying, I tell you. Honestly, I thought I was going to get slapped at least once.’

As if to comfort her, the host said, ‘Noona, calm down,’ and lightly patted Seohyun’s shoulder.

‘But how old was Wooseung again? Twenty-one? Was he twenty-two?’

Hoonyeong didn’t reply and simply turned away after telling them to have a good time. The other hosts, who had been unable to speak up and were only watching the situation, finally started to talk one by one. As he closed the door, Hoonyeong recalled Kim Jungoh’s message that Taejung seemed to have gone straight home.

‘Section Chief. I’ll be okay, right? Ah, I really didn’t know, sir. If I had known, I would never have put him in the room. Why would I do that, am I crazy? Huh? You know how I feel, Section Chief.’

Soothing Kim Jungoh, who was crying that he couldn’t get implants at his age, was also an incredibly exhausting task.

“Haa….”

The headache he had felt while wrapping up the commotion that day came back to him. Hoonyeong pressed his throbbing temples with his knuckles.

“By the way, what are you going to ask Section Chief Jung?”

Taejung, who was quickly sending a text on his phone, answered.

“That Chae Seohyun thing.”

“…President Chae didn’t even know Mr. Wooseung’s age properly. I don’t think they have any special relationship.”

“Fuck, they said they slept together.”

“….”

“Is that nothing?”

Hoonyeong was at a loss for words.

“Are the bastards in the main building slacking off? Don’t they manage the hosts taking money on the side?”

He had never cared before whether the hosts went for a second round or not, and now he was making a fuss. Feeling his headache worsen, Hoonyeong wondered if there was any painkiller in the car.