Vol 1 Ch 24

“You’re bringing me to a place like this?”

 

The large cat, who had been bristling since they entered the entrance, asked with a fierce expression.

 

“…Probably.”

 

Kim Jinkyung answered in an unsure tone.

 

‘Take me to a place where couples go on dates late at night.’

 

At Mok Seongha’s sudden command, Kim Jinkyung had almost gotten a headache trying to plan a date course that he had never done before.

 

He had a movie theater at home, so the movie theater was out. Shopping malls and department stores would be crowded with people, and it was almost closing time.

 

Where should he go?

 

Finding a place to take someone who hated crowds, noise, and smells late at night was like trying to pick a star from the sky. Especially for someone who had never been on a proper date.

 

After worrying for a long time about where to go, Kim Jinkyung cautiously suggested going to an amusement park. It was the only place he could think of where they could pretend to be a couple without having to do anything. A bodyguard would definitely follow them, so he needed something to show them.

 

“Why are there so many people and so much noise?”

 

“…I’m sorry.”

 

What Kim Jinkyung had miscalculated was the population density. Contrary to his expectation that it would be quiet late at night, there were many couples as well as families due to the cool weather.

 

Every time Kim Jinkyung was pushed by people while walking through the crowded amusement park, he repeatedly apologized to Mok Seongha.

 

“How do you even go on a date in a place like this?”

 

Mok Seongha asked with a face that showed he couldn’t understand at all.

 

“……”

 

How would I know? I’ve never been on one.

 

“Have you been here often?”

 

“A few times when I was a student.”

 

The amusement park was all he had been to on school trips when he was a student.

 

“You’ve been doing it since you were a minor? You’re so promiscuous.”

 

Even though he didn’t even know how to have intercourse properly, in his mind, dating was the same as intercourse. Kim Jinkyung was increasingly losing his words in the face of this incredible irony.

 

“What did you do when you came?”

 

“Just rode the rides, ate, took pictures….”

 

He listed the things he had done with his school friends in order. At that moment, a roller coaster passed over the rails nearby with a tremendous scream. Mok Seongha frowned and looked up at the rails.

 

“No. We don’t have to ride things like that.”

 

“Then what?”

 

“Something that moves slowly?”

 

Kim Jinkyung pointed to the carousel that was turning with music. Mok Seongha’s expression was even more ferocious than before when he saw the ride that was more than half children.

 

“You’re telling me to ride that now?”

 

“…I’ll ride it alone.”

 

“Then what about me?”

 

“Memorize words and wave your hand.”

 

That was the only thing Kim Jinkyung could think of that couples did. In the end, Kim Jinkyung stood in line alone and got on the carousel. Mok Seongha leaned against the safety fence and waited for Kim Jinkyung.

 

Every time the carousel went around, Mok Seongha held a vocabulary book in one hand and waved his other hand as Kim Jinkyung had told him to.

 

A hand that waved dryly a few times with a blank expression.

 

…Would they believe it?

 

Kim Jinkyung sighed as he spotted the bodyguard who was monitoring them from afar. He could imagine what the report to Secretary Kang would be like.

 

No matter how he thought about it, it was crazy. How could someone like him pretend to be the lover of someone like that?

 

“…Should I quit now?”

 

Kim Jinkyung murmured, pressing his forehead against the cold pole. He had nothing to gain. It was a contract without any compensation.

 

The contents of this contract were simple.

 

1.

 

Regarding advice related to studying, the tutor, hereinafter referred to as A, shall follow the words of Mok Seongha, hereinafter referred to as B, regardless of the reason.

 

2.

 

Pretending to be lovers shall be done when necessary or when requested by B.

 

3.

 

Unnecessary physical contact shall not be made, and even if necessary, A shall back down if he refuses.

 

4.

 

If this matter is unintentionally discovered, B shall bear all responsibility.

 

5.

 

When the results of the June mock exam are released, all contracts between A and B shall be terminated. This contract includes all previously signed contracts.

 

Mok Seongha showed a displeased expression after reading clause 5.

 

‘So you won’t tutor either?’

 

‘…If I still can’t persuade him at that time, shouldn’t you think of another way?’

 

It was a realistic suggestion. If the results of the June mock exam were not good, he wouldn’t be able to persuade the chairman, so Mok Seongha had to change the direction of his efforts.

 

‘That doesn’t mean you should stop tutoring.’

 

‘If I still can’t persuade him at that time, shouldn’t I find a way to survive too?’

 

If the exam scores were a mess and he was a tutor who was pretending to seduce his grandson, it would be difficult to guarantee his survival after June.

 

‘Still, take out number 5.’

 

‘Then I won’t sign it.’

 

Kim Jinkyung stubbornly resisted. He needed a bottom line too. He deserved to have a lifeline to escape from all of this.

 

The other clauses were minor. B shall not kill or bury A. B shall not kill, hit, or swear at other people when going out. B shall not be rude or make violent remarks to others, etc.

 

‘What’s the cost?’

 

Mok Seongha asked before signing.

 

‘It’s okay.’

 

‘No. Take the money. The chairman said you shouldn’t trust transactions that go back and forth without money and contracts.’

 

Mok Seongha said that with a very serious face.

 

‘I’m already getting enough from the tutoring fee. I’m also solving my food, clothing, and shelter thanks to you.’

 

On the day he decided to stay here, Secretary Kang had bought a pile of new clothes and handed them to him. He said it was from the Young Master. He was a little sad that there were no neat checks, but Kim Jinkyung was getting compliments from the people around him that he had become fresher thanks to it.

 

‘Then you’re losing too much.’

 

Mok Seongha muttered with a displeased face.

 

I’m grateful that you know I’m losing anyway. Kim Jinkyung smiled inwardly and signed the contract and handed it over.

 

‘Okay. Then let’s do this.’

 

‘Don’t.’

 

Kim Jinkyung blurted out without realizing it. He had only experienced his heart dropping every time Mok Seongha said he was going to do something.

 

‘How do you know what it is and tell me not to do it? You won’t lose anything.’

 

‘…….’

 

He didn’t want to do anything, even if he lost a little.

 

‘When the contract ends, I’ll grant you one wish.’

 

‘How do you know what I’m going to wish for?’

 

‘Anything.’

 

Mok Seongha continued, signing the contract.

 

‘If you say it, I’ll grant you one.’

 

If he said anything, he would grant him one.

 

Kim Jinkyung murmured the words Mok Seongha had said in his mouth, pressing his forehead against the pole. He had so much money that he could buy anything if he said it. But he didn’t want to make such a request.

 

‘Haa, people should live as they are given.’

 

His parents never coveted or coveted other people’s things.

 

Live as you are given.

 

It was the way his parents, who had farmed all their lives, lived. If it didn’t rain, it didn’t rain, and if it was dry, it was dry. He couldn’t blame nature. Nature presented days that humans couldn’t choose. He couldn’t refuse it just because he didn’t like it. He would just do his job calmly in his place.

 

Kim Jinkyung naturally learned his parents’ way. He didn’t covet other people’s things and didn’t have excessive greed. It was the same even in his heart, which should have been the most selfish. He didn’t dare to hope. So even if this contract ended, he wouldn’t make a wish to Mok Seongha.

 

…I’m losing in many ways.

 

Kim Jinkyung sighed inwardly and tapped his forehead against the pole.

 

It was then.

 

“Hey.”

 

“……!”

 

Golden eyes appeared in his vision as if a light had been turned on in the darkness. Kim Jinkyung was horrified by the presence that suddenly appeared in front of his face and leaned back.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Mok Seongha, who had hugged Kim Jinkyung, who was about to fall backward, and sat him down again, asked as if he was dumbfounded.

 

“What, what are you doing…. How did you get here….”

 

Why is he here? He was definitely over there a moment ago.

 

Kim Jinkyung looked back and forth between where Mok Seongha had been standing and the Mok Seongha in front of him.

 

“Why don’t you look at me?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I kept waving my hand.”

 

Only then did Kim Jinkyung realize that he had been hitting his head against the carousel pole without raising his head.

 

“Did I do something wrong? Should I wave my hand in the opposite direction?”

 

Mok Seongha asked, waving his hand back and forth. …Are you telling me you jumped over the fence and got on a moving carousel just to ask me this?

 

As Kim Jinkyung’s face turned deathly pale, an announcement began to play.

 

“We currently have an individual who has boarded the carousel without permission while it was in operation. This is extremely dangerous. You cannot board or exit a ride while it is in motion. We will temporarily halt the ride for safety reasons.”

 

Shortly after the amusement park employee’s announcement ended, the carousel came to a stop. He could feel the stinging gazes of the murmuring crowd.

 

“Why did it stop?”

 

“…Let’s get off.”

 

Kim Jinkyung quickly unbuckled his safety belt and got off the ride. An employee holding a microphone was glaring fiercely at the two of them.

 

“Excuse me, sirs. Just a moment.”

 

The employee called out to stop them. Figuring he was about to get an earful, Kim Jinkyung hung his head low and approached. Just then, Mok Seongha suddenly grabbed Kim Jinkyung’s wrist.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

“What?”

 

Before he could even ask where they were going, Mok Seongha took Kim Jinkyung’s hand and started running.

 

“Hey, sirs!”

 

He heard the employee calling urgently from behind them.

 

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This is all his fault.

 

Kim Jinkyung apologized with all his might in his head as he ran. The sprint, which he thought would end quickly, continued on for quite some time.

 

“Excuse me. Just a moment. Where… are we going?”

 

“Escaping.”

 

“I get that, but where are we escaping to….”

 

Just then, Mok Seongha pulled Kim Jinkyung into an embrace, changed direction, and ducked into a building. Kim Jinkyung was so startled he almost screamed, but Mok Seongha clamped a hand over his mouth. A moment later, they heard the successive sounds of footsteps chasing them. Mok Seongha, peering out the door, was smiling faintly.

 

When Kim Jinkyung tapped the back of the hand covering his mouth, he let go.

 

“Don’t tell me you just ditched the bodyguards?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Why?”

 

Wasn’t this whole act a date meant for Secretary Kang to see?

 

“You think Secretary Kang has to see us on a date, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

He had perfectly grasped the questioner’s intent. It was a moment that made him feel a little proud of all the time he’d spent teaching him Korean.

 

“When do you think a person’s suspicion becomes the deepest?”

 

“I’m not sure.”

 

“When something that seemed obvious suddenly deviates from expectations and veers off somewhere else.”

 

Mok Seongha took off the hat he was wearing. Kim Jinkyung’s gaze was unwittingly stolen by the sudden reveal of the man’s facial contours.

 

“Let’s go get ourselves suspected.”

 

Mok Seongha pulled Kim Jinkyung along.