Vol 6 Ch 6

It felt like just yesterday I was hearing the aria of a courtesan, but now the singers at the resort were nowhere to be found. Instead of the usual opera team, a clown had taken their place. He quickly twisted balloons into dogs and handed them out to tourists for free. I watched as I walked, and our eyes met. The clown, face painted like a ridiculous Pierrot, strode right over to me. Then, with a strong puff of breath, he inflated a long, thin balloon until it stretched tight. He hardly moved his hands, and yet a pudgy poodle with stubby limbs appeared in an instant.

“Present.”

The sharply enunciated English word was accompanied by the balloon being offered toward me, and I took it reflexively. Normally, Wagner would have stepped in to snatch it away, but since the performers at the resort were all verified personnel, he stayed quiet. Caught off guard by the unexpected gift, I didn’t manage to thank him right away. The clown, unfazed, continued handing out balloon animals to anyone who met his eyes.

Wagner tapped the balloon with his finger.

“Why? Is it cute?”

“It is.”

“Want it?”

“No. Hawon’s gift.”

I checked the time with one hand while holding the poodle in the other. Ten minutes to seven. Not quite late enough to give him an excuse to complain—he couldn’t stand even being a minute behind schedule. I kept my gaze on the ground as I walked through the entrance of the casino, avoiding eye contact with anyone I might know. I could probably get to the VIP room with my eyes closed at this point.

At the entrance to the hallway leading to the VIP area, both Wagner and I were scanned for ID. No issues. We were let through without delay. Waiters holding champagne flutes paused here and there along the corridor to offer me a drink, but I ignored them all and continued walking toward my destination. It was the first time I’d walked this path without my dealer’s uniform. Maybe it was the comfortable clothes, but I didn’t feel the same tightness in my chest as before. Still, I was tense.

The doors to the VIP room opened from both sides the moment I arrived. A cocktail of high-end air freshener and cigarette smoke hit my nose—neither scent successfully blending with the other. It had been a long time since I’d smelled this. Not far ahead, at the winning table that had once been mine, was a familiar back—one I could recognize by posture alone, as straight and proper as always.

I approached calmly and stood beside him. A server pulled out a chair for me. I sat down and looked at Aeil Kwon. He was in the middle of a game of Hold’em poker. Just as the river card was revealed, he lost a hefty pile of chips.

“You’re here?”

Aeil Kwon turned to me. For someone who’d reportedly suffered a four-week injury, his face looked far better than Jahan’s, whom I’d just seen. The dealer at the table recognized me as a player and gave a polite bow.

I had neither the funds nor the interest to play cards, so I gestured silently to decline participation. Aeil Kwon also signaled the dealer to pause the game. I placed the balloon dog on the table. The blue poodle looked oddly fitting against the green felt. One of Aeil Kwon’s eyebrows arched curiously.

“I’ve rented out this table for the whole day. Why not enjoy it with me? Do they pick these winning table dealers based on looks? Isn’t this one beautiful too?”

The dealer was a woman with a short bob and a pale, delicate face. She kept her poker face well, but for all I knew, she could be another hidden taker buried under debt.

“She is. If you like her, I suggest you ask her out—politely.”

“Haha, why bother dating when you can just have sex?”

Her nametag suggested she was Chinese. Since all winning table dealers had to be fluent in Korean, there was no way she hadn’t understood him. Even so, her expression didn’t change in the slightest. Sitting here, facing the dealer, gave me a strange feeling. I had no idea what she was thinking—whether she was offended by Aeil Kwon’s comment or simply didn’t care.

Maybe Kwon Taeha used to feel the same way looking at me.

“Do you miss it?”

I wasn’t sure how Aeil Kwon interpreted my bitter smile.

“Miss what?”

“You used to be the one standing there, didn’t you?”

“I suppose. But right now, I don’t feel that way.”

I turned my body fully toward him, sitting across the table. I rested one arm on the table and crossed my legs in a relaxed posture, unlike the others. I tapped the poodle’s nose and spoke.

“By the way, Vice President, you know my contract with you is completely over, right?”

I purposely chose a cheap-sounding word.

“Shame, but it can’t be helped.”

“You’ve already got Megafloat in your hands, after all. That’s why I’m going to hand WikiLeaks over to President Kwon. It was always rightfully his anyway.”

Aeil Kwon chuckled, saying how jealous he was. And that confirmed my gut feeling: he no longer feared WikiLeaks. That’s why he’d traded Megafloat for my sex tape.

That was when it happened. Someone grabbed the back of my neck—hard.

“Well, look who it is. The whore has arrived.”

Wagner, standing a few steps behind, started to intervene, but I held him off. I didn’t even need to look back to know who it was, just from that sneering voice.

“It’s been a while, Lee Kihyun.”

I twisted his wrist as I met his unwelcome face. Don’t interfere. This isn’t your moment. I clicked my tongue inwardly at the damn timing.

“Lee Kihyun? You fucking bastard. Got a death wish or what? Say it again? LEE. KI. HYUN?”

He jabbed my head a few times with his finger.

“Yeah, I’ve got nothing to lose.”

I stood and grabbed his finger, twisting it back.

“AAAAAGH!!!”

He screamed like I was slitting his throat. Clutching his hand, he wailed dramatically. His performance drew a few servers over, and Aeil Kwon watched with delighted interest. Wagner stepped in front of them, blocking their way.

“You crazy fuck!! YOU’RE DEAD! YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!! AAAAAH! MY FINGER!”

I laughed and looked down at Aeil Kwon.

“Seems the youngest son of Korea Steel doesn’t have a clue what’s going on. Ah, no wonder he keeps throwing money into casinos.”

“Ah~ I swear, every time you lose it, I fall for you all over again.”

“Hyung!!! What are you doing?! Grab that fucker’s head! That fucking bastard messed up my hand!”

No wonder he was so outraged—he’d probably never been treated or hurt like this in his entire life.

“What are you planning to do? Kihyun isn’t exactly ordinary. His family dotes on him despite his thuggery.”

“Good question. What should I do?”

I looked toward the VIP room’s doors, where the cigarette smoke swirled like seaweed. No one had noticed his entrance amid Lee Kihyun’s outburst—but I had. I stared straight ahead, not blinking, as he approached.

The arrogant master of the castle, dressed in a black suit. The Erlkönig of my personal Goethe tragedy—he rendered me powerless, but kept others from trampling me. That was Kwon Taeha.

The place where I first met him—here, I was no longer a dealer, and he wasn’t a VIP who had come to test me.

Kwon Taeha mouthed the words, “So what if that’s the case?”

I stood there and said,

“You’re going to protect me, aren’t you, CEO?”

Kwon Taeha let out a short laugh at my answer.

“Your personality’s something else.”

He sat down across the table from Aeil Kwon. As soon as he appeared, Lee Kihyun flared up like an angry bull, snorting through his nose.

“What did you say to my boyfriend?”

Kwon Taeha asked in a rather gentle voice.

“Keep better control of your boyfriend! That bastard made my finger look like this!”

The bastard stuck out a perfectly fine hand. He also glared at me like he was ready to devour me alive.

“I’ll lift your ban from Pfüssen Casino. Let’s call it even with that.”

“…What?”

“Or do you want something more?”

Lee Kihyun, who had been shouting about how his finger hurt, cleared his throat awkwardly. It was obviously a bluff. To be banned from a casino, you either had to cause a scene in the VIP room or mess with a dealer. Either way, it wasn’t a small matter.

When Kwon Taeha gestured to Wagner, the guy stepped closer. After receiving some quiet instruction, Wagner brought out his phone with military-like discipline. It was the moment Lee Kihyun’s ban was lifted.

“Pillow talk lawsuits really are something,” Lee Kihyun sneered at me, then called for a server to help him up.

“Taeha, how long are you going to keep playing with him?”

His tone suggested, Isn’t it time to throw him away already?

“He’s only acting up now. The moment he gets dumped, he’s going to get wrecked. You think Taeha’s gonna keep covering your ass forever? Huh?”

I knew it, too. That the moment Kwon Taeha let go of me, bastards like him would swarm in and tear me apart.

But to insult me right in front of Kwon Taeha—wasn’t that the same as disrespecting him?

Kwon Taeha simply stared at me in silence. He didn’t take my side, but he didn’t show displeasure toward Lee Kihyun either.

Are you disappointed?

His ash-gray eyes seemed to ask.

Yeah. A little bit.

I didn’t bother to hide it.

“Kihyun’s mouth really is nasty.”

Aeil Kwon brushed his ears as if wiping off the filth from Kihyun’s words. But that man had once said “fuck” to me too.

“Hyung, do you think I’m in my right mind? Look at him, riding Taeha’s coattails like that!”

“Tone it down. My cousin’s scary when he’s mad.”

At Aeil Kwon’s light warning, the bastard flinched.

“Come on, you know me. Taeha, you’re not actually pissed, right? I’m doing this for you.”

Kwon Taeha waved a hand with visible irritation, telling him to go. His attention was solely on me.

He might not have liked that I’d met Aeil Kwon, but he probably wanted to know why we met more than anything.

Lee Kihyun left, kicking the server’s shin for no reason. From the way he leaned on the server as he walked out, someone might’ve mistaken it as a leg injury rather than a finger.

Knowing Lee Kihyun, even lifting his ban wouldn’t have been enough—he’d have needed to break my fingers to be satisfied. Which meant this wasn’t going to end with a simple favor from Kwon Taeha.

But even among the so-called upper crust, there was a hierarchy. That’s probably why Lee Kihyun backed down.

Meanwhile, the dealer at the winning table had been studying me. Since they already knew Kwon Taeha and Aeil Kwon, they must’ve been curious about the new face—trying to figure out whether to recognize me as a new VIP guest.

“Was Taeha included in the reason you asked to meet, Mr. Louis?”

Aeil Kwon rolled a chip between his fingers.

“He probably guessed I’d show up.”

He looked at me as he spoke. To be honest, I’d been sure he wouldn’t let me meet Aeil Kwon alone.

I picked up the balloon poodle on the table and handed it to Wagner. I didn’t say anything like “take care of it,” but he tucked it under his arm like it belonged there.

Silence settled between us. I knew that the longer it dragged on, the harder it would be to break.

I placed my hand on the smooth surface of the table, dragging a nail along it as if to leave a mark.

“You said you rented the table.”

“Just for today.”

“Then… is it possible to play even without chips?”

I shifted my posture and pulled my phone out from my back pocket. I caught a hint of displeasure in Kwon Taeha’s gaze.

Was he the kind of man who needed everything I used to be something he’d given me?

“You’ve got a boyfriend sitting right next to you who can fill your pockets, Mr. Louis.”

“I won’t be needing the Vice President’s chips.”

What is he scheming? Aeil Kwon chuckled.

“Put the mega float on the line.”

Pop—Aeil Kwon burst into a disbelieving laugh.

“And why would I do that?”

“Because I know Tex’s secrets… Let’s put it that way.”

“Mr. Louis, take a good look. Do you know who you’re trying to play a game with right now?”

“Better than anyone.”

I also knew he wouldn’t hand over the mega float unless a knife was at his throat.

Kwon Taeha had once said the mega float was a card he could throw away. Then I just had to bring him a return worth that discard.

I stopped scratching the table and lightly clenched my fist.

It was time to break the vow I’d made long ago—never to gamble with anything of my own.

Still, I couldn’t figure out why I felt so nervous, so uneasy.

I stole a glance at the dealer’s face and painted on a poker face of my own.

“Tex was involved in the kidnapping of CEO Kwon. One of the people behind it was Felix Kwon, the Vice President’s father.”

A slight twitch appeared near Aeil Kwon’s eye. But neither of them showed any real reaction.

All I did was bring to the surface a truth they both knew, hidden behind calm, polished faces.

“This is probably something both of you already know. Maybe you’ve been covering it up for the sake of mutual survival.”

“Joo Hawon.”

It felt like a warning from Kwon Taeha, telling me that’s enough.

“Get out.”

Aeil Kwon gave the same command to the dealer. The way he gestured toward the exit was so refined, it felt like he was a conductor of the baroque music flowing through the VIP room.

Now that the dealer was gone, there was nothing in our way. I knew better than anyone how this resort worked.

In the past, after I was caught using a dirty trick to raise the win rate, there had been a huge blow-up. Ever since, they never installed any surveillance or wiretapping devices in the VIP tables.

Of course, that’s what led to the rise of hidden takers who wore contact lens cameras.

“So, Mr. Louis. What is it you want to say?”

The dealer’s gone—say it without sugarcoating. Aeil Kwon spoke as if doing me a favor.

“I want to know where Kim Jaeyeon is.”

“Hm… and what do I get out of that?”

“Nothing.”

“If there’s nothing in it for me, you should be asking Taeha, not me.”

“You told me you knew where Kim Jaeyeon was. At that villa. You said if I accepted your deal, you’d tell me.”

This wasn’t some ploy to screw over Kwon Taeha. I didn’t even want to explain all the details of what happened with Aeil Kwon to him.

I simply believed that Kwon Taeha would be able to find Kim Jaeyeon.

But if Aeil Kwon was deliberately hiding her, even Taeha might not be able to track her down.

Which meant I had to be the one to step in from the beginning.

“Is that so? What kind of deal did Aeil offer you?”

Kwon Taeha’s sharp gaze made my palms sweat.

“…Sex.”

“Then you should’ve gone through with it. He found Kim Jaeyeon when even I couldn’t—clearly, he’s the better option.”

“Mr. Louis, you’re too much. Airing out my sex life in front of my cousin like this.”

I must not be pushed out. The wind from the central air conditioner swept past my head. The sweat on my hands refused to dry.

“Why didn’t you do it?”

“……”

I kept my lips sealed at Kwon Taeha’s question.

“Don’t tell me you were trying to preserve your chastity.”

He said it like a joke, then let out a dry laugh, as if to say, “As if that’s possible.” It was a clear enough answer about what he thought of me.

“Vice President, I have a condition.”

I reached out and picked up a fresh deck of cards from the dealer’s spot. As I clenched it tightly in my hand, the wrapping plastic crinkled loudly with no room for air to slip through.

“If I win, tell me where Kim Jaeyeon is.”

“Haha, are you asking me to play a card game with you? And if you lose?”

“If I lose, you can do whatever you want with me—kill me or keep me alive. Play with me however you like, even stuff me and mount me on your wall if that suits your taste.”

“According to whose rules?”

Kwon Taeha finally revealed the teeth he had kept hidden.

“Wasn’t Louis supposed to be Taeha’s possession?”

“I belong to no one.”

I snapped off the back cover of my phone, letting it click sharply as it came off. I pressed down on the embedded memory card and pulled it out. It was a micro SD card, smaller than my thumbnail.

With Aeil Kwon between us, I handed the SD card to Kwon Taeha. His brow furrowed as he took the tiny chip.

“That’s WikiLeaks.”

It was only a half, but that tiny chip contained the full truth of WikiLeaks.

“I’m no longer yours, am I?”

“Bravo!”

Aeil Kwon clapped his hands. The opera hadn’t even finished its first act—wasn’t that applause a little premature?

“Surely you didn’t believe me, Vice President? From the moment we met until now, I’ve always kept the SD chip on me.”

It was easy to hide something smaller than a fingernail. Aeil Kwon had fallen for my bluff just like everyone else.

Blue veins rose on the back of Kwon Taeha’s hand as he gripped the chip. Ah, maybe this is why peasants once believed that blue blood ran through nobles.

“You’ve done something far more impish than I expected.”

“How do you like it?”

Aeil Kwon looked like he could devour me whole right then and there.

“If you win, Vice President, you can do whatever you want with me for having deceived you.”

“Oh~ now that’s tempting.”

“What about you, President?”

Would you like to join? I asked. As he rolled the SD chip between his fingers, his face was not marked with the usual low chuckle. Instead, that same ferocity that had once gripped my throat began to rise from him again. I prayed the tightly stretched thread of tension wouldn’t snap.

“If your aim was to piss me off, you’ve more than succeeded. I haven’t felt this useless since that day.”

My throat was dry as bone.

“Aeil knows where Kim Jaeyeon is… huh.”

Aeil Kwon shrugged. Think whatever you want—that was the message.

“And if I win?”

“I have nothing to offer but my body.”

Even if he didn’t play this game, he could use his position to lock me up and have sex with me however he pleased. But Aeil Kwon was here. If Kwon Taeha used force, he’d assume I would choose Aeil.

Aeil knew the WikiLeaks in Kwon Taeha’s hands was incomplete. The fact that he didn’t feel threatened, even with Kim Jaeyeon’s whereabouts at stake, was proof enough. Even if I found out where she was, Aeil had already stolen the half-WikiLeaks from her by now. But that didn’t matter. What really mattered was in my head—and in the cards held by Kwon Taeha.

And… you might not know this, Taeha, but I’m trying, even if just a little, to believe in you. This is a game where it’s okay if only one of us wins.

“Fine. If I lose, I’ll hand this over.”

The poker cards pressed into my palm.

“Isn’t that too much of a loss for you, President?”

If you lose that to Aeil, it’s game over. I hid my unease as naturally as I did during Hidden Taker.

“What, you afraid I’ll lose?”

“……”

“I haven’t failed to get what I want since that day.”

“Maybe you didn’t really want Assemblyman Joo’s room after all… or maybe Mr. Back Dealer cheated.”

“I’ll let this one slide. Just this once. You nearly ruined my luck, you know?”

Kwon Taeha was always like this. He was convinced he would win any card game.

“Let’s sum it up. If I win, I get WikiLeaks and Louis. If Taeha wins, he gets Louis and… hmm, what should I put up? The Mega Float? Sure, why not. And if Louis wins… he gets Kim Jaeyeon’s location and takes back the WikiLeaks given to Taeha, right?”

Aeil Kwon licked his lips.

“This is exactly why I love Louis. This kind of tension… it makes me feel alive.”

My chest ached. The tension was so thick it felt like I’d caught the flu—my skin stung.

“Of course, we’ll need this officially notarized. I’m sure there’s a lawyer here…”

Aeil Kwon leaned his chin on his hand and looked at Kwon Taeha.

“Ruf den Rechtsanwalt.”

Kwon Taeha called out to Wagner.