INFB Ch 12

Seobin’s face, which had been filled only with fear, became tinged with a different color. In his mind, which had been full of terms like back hole, selling his body, prostitution, and intercourse, the seven-digit number 1,000,000 floated up softly.

“How many times… are you going to do it in a month?”

Before he could even concretely perceive what it meant to ‘sell his body,’ the question blurted out first. That was how attractive the sum of 1 million won was.

How many times a month. It sounded as if he were having a consultation with a tutored student’s parent.

‘I’ll come twice every week, on Tuesday and Friday, and it’s a two-hour lesson. It’ll be 800,000 won for a total of eight times a month.’

Indeed, these were the exact words Seobin had said a few weeks ago when getting a new tutoring job.

At that question, Jaegyu let out a low groan—mm—from his throat. Then, he shifted the answer onto Seobin in a casual voice.

“Well. That depends on how you do.”

“…”

Seobin’s eyes looked back and forth between the edge of the table, the tattoo on the back of Jaegyu’s hand, his own worn-out sneakers, the forest of buildings visible beyond the full-length window, and his own hands, which were covered in bandages. His head was spinning round and round quickly.

How many times a month would Jaegyu buy his body? On the premise that he was good at ‘that,’ once? Or would they meet twice? Even if it was just twice, that was 2 million won.

2 million won a month.

Seobin was ignorant about intercourse, sex, and such things, but he knew at least that it usually took place at night and wasn’t something done all day long. Assuming it took two or three hours at a time, two meetings would be six hours. Making 2 million won for six hours of ‘work’ was an unmatched way to make money.

But could he really sell his body?

It had been months since he had even masturbated due to having no time to sleep.

Seobin recalled a few videos he had watched out of curiosity, but he couldn’t feel any certainty. It was just that, strangely, his eyes burned and the bridge of his nose felt numb. As if he had been struck by something. His heart beat abnormally fast, and his stomach felt nauseous as well.

Wiping away the cold sweat that had formed on his temples, Seobin spoke cautiously.

“Um… I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“I know.”

“Is that still okay with you?”

“That’s why I’m paying you a lot.”

“…”

One side of Seobin’s eyes distorted slightly. They were words he couldn’t understand. Paying a lot even though he was inexperienced? Why? Either way, if it was work and labor, shouldn’t one be skillful at it?

Seobin was about to ask back, but refrained. What did the reason matter? If Jaegyu paid a higher price, that was enough. Gulp. Swallowing what he couldn’t tell was saliva or dry spit, he opened his mouth again.

“Then what day of the week shall we meet?”

“Whenever I want.”

“You have to set a date—”

“It’s not like my dick gets hard according to a schedule, right? Do you set a time every day to jerk off?”

Jaegyu spoke with a bit of annoyance, as if he found it tiresome now. His furrowed brow was threatening.

“…”

Seobin took a long, sharp breath. Words like dick and jerk off failed to pass through his eardrums and bounced around everywhere like pinballs.

Was he originally a person who said such words so nonchalantly?

Rather than feeling ashamed or embarrassed, he was surprised. Because the Jaegyu he remembered was a person with no laughter and few words.

As Seobin was biting down on his fluster while tapping his fingernails together, Jaegyu buried his back deep into the sofa. The expensive leather twisted under his weight and made a creaking sound.

“Come whenever I call. You have to come quickly. If you want to make money, you should put in at least that much effort.”

“Yes.”

Seobin agreed without hesitation. It was an answer given without thinking about the aftermath. According to his brief thought, since he was being given as much as 1 million won, it was right to go whenever he was called, and for that large sum of money, it was also right to put in that much effort.

In the future, if he had known that Jaegyu would call him whenever he was truly ‘horny,’ his answer might have been a bit different.

“Do you want to do it?”

Jaegyu asked as he pulled out a cigarette from his inside pocket. Seobin, who had been looking at the large hand holding the pack of cigarettes, nodded his head up and down. At that, Jaegyu chuckled softly and scolded him lightly.

“‘I’ll sell it, my body.’ You have to say it like that for me to understand.”

“I’ll… sell it. My body.”

“To hyung.”

“…To hyung.”

In just a few tries, Seobin adapted to repeating Jaegyu’s words. It felt as though someday he might be able to say the words Jaegyu wanted without Jaegyu having to prompt him first.

“Again.”

Jaegyu, who pulled out a single cigarette from the pack, gestured with his chin.

“I’ll sell it, my body. To hyung.”

Seobin spoke in his characteristic monotonous voice. Contrary to the meaning contained in the sentence, it was a very neat tone. Whether it was that he had a dull personality unlike his appearance, or that he was fearless, or that he was ignorant in that regard.

Whatever it was, Jaegyu didn’t care. Seobin was selling his body to him. That was enough. Wearing a satisfied smile, he brought the cigarette to his mouth. He also rolled the lighter wheel to light it. Soon, thick grey smoke was exhaled—hoo—from between his full lips.

“…”

Seobin silently watched Jaegyu’s mouth holding the cigarette. Just as the corners of Jaegyu’s eyes were long, the corners of his mouth were also long. It felt like he would look really handsome if he smiled brightly, but his usual smile always involved only slightly raising the corners of his mouth.

After taking a deep drag of smoke about twice, Jaegyu flicked the ash into the crystal ashtray on the table.

“Regardless of the date, regardless of the time, you come when called.”

“…Yes.”

“If you’re late, refuse, neglect the sex, or anyway fail to provide services worthy of the money, you won’t say anything even if you get punished.”

“Punished…?”

“Yeah.”

Jaegyu, who nodded his head extremely lightly, put the cigarette back between his lips. Seobin’s head tilted slightly to the side.

If it was punishment, did it mean he would hit him? Or did it mean he would deduct the money?

He was curious, but he didn’t dare to ask. For fear that if he heard it, he might inadvertently say he wouldn’t do it, that he couldn’t do it.

The latter was also a problem, but the former was a bigger deal.

Because if he were hit by Jaegyu, it felt like it wouldn’t stop at the level of bleeding.

His bones would snap clean like Pepero sticks, or his internal organs would burst with a pop—like a water balloon, and anyway, it felt like he wouldn’t be able to avoid a hospital stay. Then his other jobs would be disrupted…, Seobin, who was thinking up to that point, tightly closed his eyes and opened them.

No, he had to make sure no such thing happened. He had to do his best. It would be fine if he worked hard. Then there would be no reason to receive punishment.

To give up out of fear of future pain that had not arrived yet, Jaegyu’s proposal was too big of an opportunity. 2 million won every month meant 24 million won a year. His life wouldn’t suddenly bloom with that, but either way, it would be a huge help to this destitute life.

“The period is until you pay back all the borrowed money.”

“…Yes.”

“It’s fine if you keep going after that, too.”

Jaegyu tossed out the words and giggled as if it were a joke. But Seobin didn’t laugh. Because the dreamlike sentence, until you pay back all the borrowed money, came to him first.

“…”

1 million won at a time. To pay back all 800 million with that 1 million won, even excluding interest, they would have to meet 800 times. To fill 800 times by meeting twice a month, just how long would that period… Even at a glance, it was an impossible task.

While Seobin was engaging in such useless worries, Jaegyu smoked his cigarette and thought if there was anything else to warn him about. Then, as if he remembered something very important, he raised his chin up and let it drop.

“Ah, while selling your body to me, selling it to another bastard isn’t allowed. It’s dirty. What if you catch a disease or something?”

“Yes.”

Seobin nodded his head right away. That wasn’t hard. In Seobin’s mind, there was no one in the world who would want to sleep with him to the point of paying a huge sum of 1 million for a night. Jaegyu was just very, very unique.

At Seobin’s prompt answer, Jaegyu let out a short laugh. Staring at Seobin for a moment, he waved his hand.

“Right, then go on.”

Jaegyu stood up from the sofa as if his business was finished. With his giant build, it felt as though a mountain were moving. It was when he completely straightened his long legs. Suddenly, Seobin grabbed Jaegyu’s thigh tightly. Because he grabbed it in a hurry, he ended up grabbing the thigh right in front of his eyes.

“…What’s this.”

Jaegyu looked down at Seobin, raising one eyebrow. His sharp gaze was just like iron bars. Surprised, Seobin quickly withdrew his hand. Fortunately, Jaegyu didn’t get angry.

“I have something I’m curious about.”