HPK 84

After entering Yeoksam-daero, the car slowed to a crawl like a turtle. The lights filling the road stabbed painfully at the eyes.

“Why isn’t this one answering either.”

Taejung, who had been fiddling with his phone for a while, said in annoyance. Hoonyeong checked the time on his wristwatch and then repeatedly told him not to worry.

“President Chae was a special case, and the rest were nothing much. I don’t think you need to be too concerned.”

“A special case? What does that mean.”

Taejung’s glare immediately turned fierce.

“That’s what Section Chief Jung told me when he came to the annex. He said he was usually chosen by the young ladies. He also said that the times he went for a second round were probably in the beginning when he didn’t know any better. After that, of course, there were none.”

The nonchalant reply made Taejung’s mood, which had seemed to be calming down, sour once again. He rubbed the inside of his cheek hard with his tongue and stared intently ahead.

“If it was young ladies, doesn’t that mean they fucking dated?”

Finally losing his patience, Hoonyeong turned his body completely around.

“You know you’re being a little strange right now.”

Taejung’s action of bringing his thumb to his mouth came to an abrupt halt.

“What is.”

“….”

“What’s so strange.”

Hoonyeong turned off the iPad screen and placed it on his thigh. The stiff fabric of his suit pants creased slightly as it was pressed down.

“I know you’re doing this because you like him. But still.”

“I told you I don’t.”

Despite the hostile reaction, Hoonyeong calmly continued what he had to say.

“I’m saying this because these aren’t the actions of someone who doesn’t like him.”

“….”

“You pay, have sex, and that’s the end of it. But that’s not what’s happening now, is it. Ah, you are paying him properly, right?”

At the word ‘money,’ his well-defined eyebrows twitched. He moistened the corner of his lip with his tongue and let out an even breath. Taejung, who had been busy refuting and denying, was now silent. It did not seem like an intentional silence.

In the car, which had fallen silent, only the tick, tock, tick, tock of the turn signal echoed. A moment later, Taejung asked abruptly.

“What about you, do you see Yeonhee because you like her?”

Yeonhee was Hoonyeong’s girlfriend and Manager Han’s younger sister. He had been naturally introduced to her two years ago while having a private dinner with Manager Han, and they started dating after hitting it off.

“Well, I suppose so? I see her because I like her.”

Hoonyeong answered nonchalantly as he turned his body back to its original position.

“How do you know that you like her?”

But the words that followed made him twist his shoulders and look at Taejung again. Facing his sullen expression, he could tell that Taejung’s question was sincere.

“What, does music suddenly start playing or something?”

“Music?”

Hoonyeong laughed as if in disbelief.

“Did you take drugs?”

“Fuck. Just answer properly.”

Thud, the backrest is kicked and shakes. Hoonyeong lightly covered his mouth and turned to face forward again. But his laughter kept seeping out, getting on Taejung’s nerves.

“Stop grinning.”

“Ah, really. That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all year. What a childish thing to say….”

“You fucker. You wanna die?”

Taejung kicked the back of the front seat repeatedly. Thump, thump. Even as Hoonyeong’s body shook with the violent kicks, his laughter didn’t stop. While Junseok broke out in a cold sweat and watched nervously, Hoonyeong was busy laughing.

“The music doesn’t play. She just looks the prettiest, things like that.”

“She looks pretty?”

“Yes, the prettiest.”

“You idiot. She probably looks pretty because she’s pretty to begin with.”

He shot back a sarcastic remark mixed with a curse and was about to kick again, but the phone in his hand vibrated lightly. All his intended actions paused, and his eyes immediately went to it.

[I was doing the dishes, so I just saw thisㅠㅠ]

Just like his characteristically dazed face, the text was plain. He’d sent the text ages ago, so why was he only getting a reply now? His thumbs flew across the screen.

[What did you eat]

[I just ate whatever was in the fridge]

Looking at the sweating smiley emoji, Taejung thought hard about what was in the refrigerator. All he could remember were the salads, fruits, and carbonated drinks that were periodically restocked.

[Salad?]

[I cooked an egg and ate it with instant rice hehe!]

Taejung rested his arm on the windowsill and let out a chuckle. He cupped his chin and slowly stroked his lower jaw. The fact that he “cooked” an egg and ate it was silly and funny.

[What are you going to do now]

Taejung hurriedly sent a reply, afraid the conversation would end. Fortunately, a reply came back from Wooseung right away.

After they had exchanged several such trivial texts, Hoonyeong, perhaps finding the quiet in the back seat strange, slightly turned his shoulder to look back.

“What, why.”

Taejung felt his gaze and lifted only his eyes. Hoonyeong shook his head, saying it was nothing.

“Section Chief Jung says he’s coming straight to the annex, should I tell him that’s okay?”

“What?”

“Section Chief Jung. You told me to contact him earlier.”

“Ah.”

Taejung scratched below his ear with his index finger and responded indifferently, telling him to do so. His eyes remained glued to his phone.

“….”

It was a starkly different appearance from a moment ago when he had been fuming with anger. A faint frown creased Hoonyeong’s brow.

He had always been prone to mood swings, but since meeting Wooseung, they had become completely unpredictable. Hoonyeong recalled the gentle eyes that gave the illusion of being moist with tears. He was a strange person. He had an aura of someone who seemed like they would go their whole life without asserting themselves once, yet he sometimes said what needed to be said. Each time, Taejung would fly into a rage like someone who had stepped on an ember, truly turning Taejung’s insides out.

It was a truly strange thing. You live and you learn, Hoonyeong thought, shaking his head.

♡

Living at Taejung’s house was less uncomfortable than he had worried. Everything he needed was here, and nothing was of low quality. So, whenever Wooseung used an expensive item, he would secretly think that the lowest-quality thing in this house was probably the owner himself.

[Did you arrive at the airport?]

He had sent the text as soon as he woke up in the morning, but now, well past evening, there was still no reply. Wooseung sipped on a Coke Zero and checked his text conversation with Hyojun one more time.

[It’s my first time going abroad so honestly I’m fucking nervous hahaha]

[Did you pack things like emergency medicine?]

[Nope hahaha I’m a corpse without my health]

Yesterday, just past 11 PM, Hyojun had ended the conversation first, saying he had to sleep early. And there had been no contact until today.

“….”

He pulled his knees up and rested his chin on them. He put down his phone and stared blankly at the sun setting behind the church steeple. Since the days were longer in the summer, the sunset didn’t happen until 8 o’clock.

It was a strange feeling. On Mondays, after sending money to the loan shark, his bank account was always empty. Even though he had clearly passed the final round, he started the week feeling like he was back at the starting line.

Today was Tuesday, and just like always, Wooseung had sent money to the loan shark yesterday. But his account wasn’t empty, and his heart didn’t feel hollow either. A different kind of week had begun.

He had taken out large loans, but he also had many more smaller loans for living expenses. The illegal private lenders he dealt with had conditions like ‘interest upfront’ and ‘monthly payments,’ and Wooseung, whose situation was dire, had borrowed money on the terms of ‘weekly payments’ and ‘10% interest upfront.’

Just as Taejung had said once, he had recklessly borrowed money from a shitty place.

“….”

A day without money chasing after him was more leisurely than he had thought. Perhaps that was why he couldn’t quite get used to it.

After sitting like that for a while, he glanced toward the back of the sofa, where the master bedroom was. It was still quiet, with no noticeable noise. After they had sex during the day, Taejung had been sleeping straight through until now. Perhaps because he was a night person, Taejung spent most of the day sleeping. In that respect, his lifestyle pattern matched Wooseung’s quite well. Normally, Wooseung would have been asleep until now too, but since it was the day Hyojun was leaving the country, he had purposely stayed out in the bright living room to fight off sleep.

He thought he might feel a little better if he received a text like, “Arrived at the airport,” or “The plane is taking off now.”

“Haa….”

Just then, a notification that a car had entered appeared on the wall pad. He thought it might be Junseok. Since Taejung often sent him on errands, he frequently visited the house like this.

Wooseung briefly considered whether he should wake Taejung up. Junseok’s visit wasn’t anything special, so he thought it would be fine for him to greet him himself. That was better than waking him up unnecessarily and having Junseok get yelled at. It had happened a few times before, so he was mindful of it.

He was lowering his legs from the sofa to walk to the entryway when he suddenly sensed a presence.

“What are you doing up.”

His head was pressed down firmly, making his neck shrink. Taejung, who had come around the sofa and flopped down, hung his arm over the backrest and tilted his head back.

“Haa….”

A languid sigh spread out.

“The notification for a car arriving came on.”

Wooseung pointed to the wall pad with his finger. Taejung’s gaze moved sluggishly in that direction.

Click, at the same time, the sound of the front door opening was heard. On behalf of Taejung, who had no intention of getting up from the sofa, Wooseung walked toward the entryway. He made eye contact with someone who was just taking off his shoes and entering the house.

“Oh….”

Wooseung blinked in surprise. Contrary to his expectation that it would be Junseok, the person who had come to the house was Hoonyeong.

“It’s been a while.”

Hoonyeong smiled brightly and greeted him first. Wooseung took a step back without realizing it.

“Ah, um, the President is inside… he’s here.”

Without even thinking to return the greeting, he mumbled and turned around, bracing himself against the wall. Taejung was looking this way with a raised eyebrow.

“Who is it.”

“It’s Section Chief Choi….”

Wooseung walked quickly toward Taejung. Taejung just craned his head to the side to see Hoonyeong entering the hallway. He was carrying several paper shopping bags in both hands. When their eyes met, Hoonyeong held up both his arms and disappeared beyond the wall.

Taejung stretched and got up from the sofa. He once again pressed down on the top of Wooseung’s head, who was standing there blankly, and then walked past him toward the dining room.

“….”

Wooseung rubbed the top of his head vigorously and swallowed his uncomfortable feelings.