Vol 1 Ch 3

The sound of the shower stopped and the sound of the dryer was heard. Kim Jinkyung, sitting in a chair, was pale and racking his brains.

 

Did he see something that wasn’t there? No. He definitely saw a black panther. It didn’t fall from the sky, it didn’t spring up from the ground, and of course, it didn’t jump out of the water.

 

Kim Jinkyung slapped his cheek with his palm. He had repeated the action several times since earlier, but he still couldn’t get a sense of reality.

 

It hurts. It hurts so much. He’s not dreaming, so how….

 

Kim Jinkyung once again slowly replayed the situation from earlier in his head.

 

After entering this palace-like house, he was looking at the lilac flowers in the garden, and then the man called him from behind, startling him and causing him to lose his footing and fall into the pond, and while he was trying to get out of the pond, something got into his clothes, startling him and causing him to panic, and then….

 

Kim Jinkyung narrowed his brows, trying to replay the film as slowly as possible.

 

The man reached out to help him, but he shook him off, causing the man to fall as well, and a black panther with a pattern in the pond….

 

Kim Jinkyung quickly shook his head. No, no. Try again. How could a black panther come out of there? Where did the man go? Could it be that the man transformed into a black panther….

 

“No way.”

 

Kim Jinkyung tore at his hair.

 

Ah, that’s right. Drugs! It’s drugs!

 

Kim Jinkyung finally concluded that he had been drugged and was seeing things.

 

Those bad guys, they’re not just offering food and women, they’re putting drugs in the pond? Could it be that they’re doing this because they’re afraid he’ll quit tutoring….

 

As Kim Jinkyung was furiously angry, someone sat down in front of him with a thud. Kim Jinkyung was startled and looked up, then shrieked and lowered his head again.

 

It was Mok Seongha. He sat across from him, shaking his wet hair with a large towel. In his complete human form.

 

“You saw it, didn’t you?”

 

The low voice, like an ice knife, struck his heart.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Earlier, that thing.”

 

Kim Jinkyung’s eyes darted to the side.

 

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

Kim Jinkyung desperately pretended not to know.

 

“I’m sure we made eye contact earlier.”

 

“Made eye contact? I didn’t see anything. I fainted right away, so I didn’t have time to see anything.”

 

Kim Jinkyung quickly replied. Denial and denial are the only way to survive.

 

“Is that so? Then one more time….”

 

The man got up from his seat. Kim Jinkyung screamed and cowered. Mok Seongha placed his hand on the table and stared at Kim Jinkyung. Kim Jinkyung muttered with an almost tearful face.

 

“…It’s because of you.”

 

“What?”

 

“You put…drugs in the water….”

 

His tearful voice stammered.

 

“I didn’t fall in on purpose, but I didn’t know you’d put drugs in there…. I won’t say anything…. Please, give me the antidote, …I won’t report you.”

 

Having come to the conclusion that it was drugs, Kim Jinkyung was suddenly afraid. He knew well the chemical reactions that drugs cause in the brain. He also knew that once you set foot in there, you can never go back.

 

Mok Seongha stared at Kim Jinkyung, who was in a panic, huddled up, and spouting nonsense.

 

“Who said they did drugs?”

 

“I did….”

 

“When?”

 

“…Earlier?”

 

Kim Jinkyung asked back. The man sat down again. He leaned his chin on his hand and said.

 

“Why do you think you did drugs?”

 

“Because I’m seeing things….”

 

“What about now?”

 

Kim Jinkyung blinked. The man who had finished showering was sitting there wearing a gown.

 

He is seeing ‘things’. That scary man is handsome…. Oh. The drugs haven’t worn off yet.

 

Kim Jinkyung picked up the glass of water on the table and quickly gulped it down. The cold water calmed his mind. Kim Jinkyung put down the glass and answered calmly like an intellectual who had regained his reason.

 

“…I’m fine now.”

 

“Of course. Because there are no drugs.”

 

Mok Seongha said. Kim Jinkyung was relieved at the firmness that left no room for doubt. At least it meant that he wasn’t exposed to drugs.

 

But only for a moment.

 

“So, you saw it, right?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Hallucinations.”

 

The man smiled, revealing his white, even teeth. His canines shone particularly sharply.

 

***

 

Eventually, after Kim Jinkyung confessed that he had seen ‘hallucinations’, the man called an employee.

 

He’s going to be murdered. He’s going to die. He’s definitely going to lose his life.

 

Kim Jinkyung was pale and desperately looking for a way to escape. When the door burst open, he jumped up from the sofa and clasped his hands together, begging wildly.

 

‘Please save me. Please….’

 

‘Did you do something that deserves death? If you did, you have to die.’

 

The secretary, who had previously given him useless advice that it didn’t matter if he liked men as long as he didn’t like the young master, asked as he put down a pile of papers.

 

‘I didn’t!’

 

Kim Jinkyung replied quickly. The secretary bowed his head and left the room, regardless. Kim Jinkyung, who was left alone again, desperately begged for his life.

 

‘Please save me. I really won’t tell anyone about the hallucinations I saw earlier….’

 

‘How can I trust you?’

 

The man took out a pen.

 

A pen? Is he going to stab him to death with a pen?

 

Kim Jinkyung’s face, which was already pale because he had no interest in exercise, turned as white as it could be.

 

‘Here.’

 

‘Save…!’

 

Kim Jinkyung covered his face with both arms as the man held out the pen. Mok Seongha sighed as if he was dumbfounded.

 

‘Read it and sign it.’

 

‘…Yes?’

 

‘Contract.’

 

Kim Jinkyung lowered his arms slightly. There was indeed a pile of papers labeled ‘Contract’ there. It looked like there were about a hundred pages….

 

‘What kind of contract is this?’

 

‘Non-disclosure agreement.’

 

Kim Jinkyung quickly read the words written on the paper. Unlike the tutoring contract he had received at first, it was filled with detailed information about non-disclosure.

 

The gist of the long contract was ‘Do not disclose what you saw here anywhere’. Kim Jinkyung, who had read a couple of pages, put down the contract.

 

‘…What happens if I don’t sign it?’

 

Mok Seongha smiled briefly at Kim Jinkyung’s question.

 

‘There’s an easier way to keep secrets. Here, this is a gift.’

 

Mok Seongha handed over a photo. In it, Kim Jinkyung’s parents were smiling brightly with bouquets of flowers.

 

‘The picture is a little warm, isn’t it? It was just printed.’

 

‘How did you get my parents’ address….’

 

‘Do you think I only know your parents’ address?’

 

Kim Jinkyung picked up the pen and hurriedly signed the signature line as if his finger would break. While he was signing the dense contract, the man asked.

 

‘Are you allergic to cats?’

 

‘Yes! Very much!’

 

Thinking that this was the only way to survive, Kim Jinkyung shouted while clutching the pen.

 

‘Take medicine.’

 

‘…….’

 

‘Okay, keep signing.’

 

Only after signing all over the contract was Kim Jinkyung able to escape from that house.

***

 

“Save me.”

 

Kim Jinkyung, who had gone to his friend’s place, suddenly revealed the purpose of his visit.

 

“What? What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden? Didn’t you say you were going to tutoring?”

 

Seo Sang-il scratched his messy hair and yawned.

 

“So, save me. I’m in….”

 

“Now?”

 

Before leaving the man’s house, Kim Jinkyung mustered all the courage he had and asked.

 

‘But, what about that thing earlier, I mean, …is it real?’

 

Kim Jinkyung clearly saw the black panther at that time. The wet man disappeared, and the black panther was looking at him with a mixed gaze of annoyance. That meant the man was a black panther….

 

‘It’s as written in the contract.’

 

The contract only stated detailed obligations regarding confidentiality. It did not document its identity or exactly what kind of secret it was.

 

‘If I hit my head and saw something I shouldn’t have, I should go to the hospital now….’

 

‘There’s a hospital run by our foundation, so I’ll take you there. If you want.’

 

He was threatening to put him in a mental hospital secretly and without anyone knowing in such a money-smelling way.

 

Kim Jinkyung shook his head immediately.

 

‘Whether you believe it or not, keep it a secret. Secretary Kang will explain the details regarding breach of contract.’

 

‘E, everything is so, sudden….’

 

‘Kim Jinkyung.’

 

‘Yes!’

 

Even when the drill sergeant, who was rumored to be a tiger, called his name when he enlisted, he wasn’t this scared. Kim Jinkyung straightened his back and answered.

 

‘Who talks more, the living or the dead?’

 

Kim Jinkyung didn’t answer and immediately lowered his head and came out of the house. The man named Secretary Kang took Kim Jinkyung to his house in a Maybach.

 

‘…But why are you sending me home if I might run away like this?’

 

Even after asking the question, he wanted to shut his own mouth. Kim Jinkyung. You stupid bastard. If you’re going to run away, you should run away quietly like this, why are you asking?

 

Secretary Kang, who was turning the steering wheel, slowly continued his explanation.

 

‘The reason we’re sending you home is because catching someone like you again is easier than catching a fly. If you wag your tongue too much, you’ll be holding that tongue in your arms and sinking into the sea, and next to it will be your loved ones and family. If you suddenly have the urge to reveal the secret, just choose which ocean you want to sink into. We’ll take care of the rest, it’s easy, right?’

 

“What now. Why are you suddenly asking to be saved? Are those guys threatening you? Are they making you do something weird instead of tutoring? Are they going to sell your organs?”

 

Seo Sang-il frowned and asked.

 

“Ah, no. It’s not that they’re making me do something weird….”

 

“Then what is it.”

 

“…It’s nothing.”

 

Kim Jinkyung trailed off.

 

He didn’t love this friend, but if he accidentally let him hear even a grain of a secret, he would surely be drowned together.

 

“Why did you come if it’s nothing? Ah, did you get the tutoring fee?”

 

Kim Jinkyung remembered the envelope the man had given him before he left.

 

“Oh, I did get it.”

 

“Then let’s go eat meat. The new place in front of us is delicious. And expensive.”

 

“…You bastard.”

 

“Let’s go, let’s go.”

 

Seo Sang-il put his arm around Kim Jinkyung’s shoulder and hummed. He seemed excited at the thought of eating free meat.

 

As soon as they sat down at the restaurant, Seo Sang-il ordered 5 servings of meat on his own.

 

“Please give us a bottle of Cass and Chamisul here too.”

 

“What’s with the alcohol? It’s only noon.”

 

“Then don’t order alcohol?”

 

“…Order it.”

 

When he was upset, there was no need to refuse alcohol.

“But really, why did you come? Because of the tutoring?”

 

A friend with a peculiar personality, who enjoyed speaking bluntly without a filter but occasionally showed quick wit, asked him that. Kim Jinkyung took a shot of soju and then replied.

 

“You know, I don’t think I can get fired from this tutoring job.”

 

“Why? Oh, my god, does that bastard like guys too?”

 

“That’s not it!”

 

“But he didn’t fire you? He must have a strong stomach.”

 

“……”

 

He didn’t have many friends, but he wanted to hit him.

 

“Ah, I see. You didn’t pretend to like guys, did you?”

 

“…I couldn’t.”

 

“You don’t want to get fired enough.”

 

“That’s not it…!”

 

“If it’s not that, then what.”

 

He felt suffocated. After being doused with water and witnessing a man transform into a black panther, an event that defied reason and modern science, his mind was consumed with the single thought of surviving this situation. Naturally, he couldn’t even consider pretending to like men there.

 

“Ugh, what should I do? Seriously.”

 

As Kim Jinkyung clutched his head in anguish, Seo Sang-il clicked his tongue and refilled his soju glass.

 

“What do you mean, what should you do? You get fired, that’s what.”

 

It was the same solution as before.

 

“I can’t get fired, I’m telling you!”

 

The contract Kim Jinkyung signed to maintain the secrecy agreement was over twenty pages long. It naturally included a clause stating that the employee could not arbitrarily quit the job until the employer terminated the employment. Having witnessed such a scene, there was no way they would let him go easily.

 

“There’s nothing you can’t do. If it were me, I’d be out in a day, easy.”

 

“……”

 

Kim Jinkyung glared at his friend, who was stuffing three pieces of meat into his mouth at once. What the hell possessed him in high school to spend three years with a guy like that…

 

“Should I go and tell him for you? I can take a beating, so I’ll just get hit a few times and be done with it.”

 

Seo Sang-il casually said, mixing beer with soju.

 

Ah, right. That’s why. Of course, the handsome exterior was the biggest reason, but still.

 

Kim Jinkyung swallowed a sigh and said, “It’s okay,” chewing on the meat. His friend was severely lacking in thought and consideration, but he didn’t want to drown him in the ocean.

 

“Then should I fill in for your tutoring? I’m confident I’ll get fired right away. But you owe me two more servings of beef. How about it?”

 

“Even so, that’s just not right.”

 

“You’re too polite for your own good. You need to be a little rude. Well, you look too polite to begin with.”

 

Seo Sang-il chuckled as he downed his drink. Then he continued.

 

“Don’t overthink it. Just pick out the things the other person hates and do them. Do the opposite of what you usually do.”

 

Kim Jinkyung, who was shaking the water off a lettuce leaf, pondered deeply. After a long period of contemplation, he opened his mouth with a serious expression.

 

“You have a cat, right?”

 

“Yeah. My sister does, not me.”

 

“What do cats hate?”