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Even after opening his eyes, the room was as dark as midnight. Ja-kyung reached his hand up and groped around the bedside. Neither his phone nor his clock could be found. He rose from his spot and turned on the light. His whole body ached as if he'd been beaten, and he nearly screamed out loud.
Checking the time, it was well past lunch. He got out of bed and went to the window to pull back the blinds. Strong sunlight poured in. His eyes stung, so he shielded them with his arm before trudging to the bathroom. As soon as he entered, he was startled to see his own reflection in the mirror straight ahead.
Some zombie was standing there. His lips were swollen, his eyes were hollow, and his neck was all mottled... He lifted his shirt to check his chest and abdomen—it looked like some kind of plague.
"Crazy bastard..."
He squeezed his eyes shut, recalling what Kang Il-hyun had done to him last night. Thrusting, thrusting, and more thrusting—he didn't know how many times he'd repeated that cycle of thrusting and coming. He never thought he'd lose to anyone in terms of stamina, yet he'd even briefly passed out during it.
The marks Choi Ki-tae had left had been sucked again by Kang Il-hyun until they bruised, the color changing and the area spreading even wider. Wanting to wake up properly, he first looked for a cigarette. He sat on the edge of the bathtub and devoured two cigarettes with a dazed expression.
Then he came to the sink, picked up his toothbrush, and squeezed out toothpaste. His arms hurt so much he barely had the strength to brush his teeth. Perhaps because he'd bitten down hard to suppress his moans, his gums were all swollen, and blood even came out while brushing.
"Ha."
He laughed in disbelief, then rinsed his mouth, stripped off all his clothes, and took a shower. He thought only his chest and back had marks, but his thighs and calves were all blooming with red flowers too. In this state, it seemed like going outside would be difficult for a while.
After washing up, he changed into clothes that covered as much as possible and plastered a large patch all over his neck. Feeling hungry, he went downstairs, but the house was quiet. He thought that was actually good. Every time he walked, pain started from his buttocks and traveled up his spine.
When he entered the kitchen, the housekeeper turned around after preparing lunch. She hurriedly wiped her hands on her apron and approached him, asking with a worried expression if he was alright.
"You said you weren't feeling well. I made some porridge—would you like to try it now?"
Ja-kyung shook his head.
"I want meat..."
He'd lost too much protein yesterday. No, lost is the right word. He worried that with how much grabbing and shaking there was, Kang Il-hyun's fingerprints might be imprinted on his own dick. While she prepared the meat dish, Ja-kyung went to the sofa and slumped down.
Looking out the window, he saw a gardener tending to the lawn. Thanks to the clear weather, the grass looked even greener. He took out his phone from his pocket and searched the internet. Nowhere in the news was there any article covering last night's incident.
That was expected. He was lying limp with his head tilted back when he heard a sound at the entrance. Startled, he sat up straight. He wondered if it was Kang Il-hyun, and if it was, he planned to quickly go up to the second floor. But the one who entered the house was Kang Seok-ju.
"Hey, Ian. Did you just wake up?"
He shook the shopping bag in his hand.
"What's that?"
"I prepared champagne for you. I thought we could drink it while swimming."
Preparing champagne for someone who doesn't drink and doesn't swim. He laughed at the obviously transparent lie.
"Haven't had lunch yet?"
"Yeah... I just got up."
"Perfect. Let's go out and swim while we eat. Ma'am, please bring lunch outside."
Kang Seok-ju urged him to go out while gathering the champagne he'd brought. His plan to eat and lie down all day to rest went down the drain. Since his identity was already exposed anyway, maybe he should ask Kang Il-hyun to tell Kang Seok-ju not to come over anymore. Playing with a kid was no easy task.
When they went out to the pool, it had gotten noticeably hotter in just a few days, and even just sitting under the parasol, sweat formed on his forehead. Kang Seok-ju stripped off his clothes without hesitation. Looking at him, he seemed to have worn his swimsuit underneath from the start. Last time it was square-cut, today it was a triangle. The front was thick, but not as much as Kang Il-hyun's.
Then Ja-kyung felt somewhat shocked—why was he comparing these guys' dick sizes? On the other hand, watching Kang Seok-ju moving back and forth in the water without a care in the world, he felt envious of how easy his life must be.
After a while, a staff member brought out food and champagne in an ice bucket. Steak plates were set in front of each of them. Next to the beef cut into bite-sized pieces were potatoes, asparagus, and onions, along with two glasses of cool lemonade with herb leaves floating in them.
Seok-ju, who came out of the water, couldn't resist and hit on the staff member who brought the food. When he asked if she had time this afternoon, she just smiled ambiguously and went back inside. Keep that up and he'll get beaten to death by Kang Il-hyun.
After opening the champagne, he filled the empty glass.
"Cheers."
The glasses clinked, but Ja-kyung drank the beverage instead of alcohol. Seok-ju seemed curious about the patches plastered all over his neck and asked how it happened. Ja-kyung couldn't tell him the truth and just made an excuse that he was suffering from muscle pain.
While they were eating, Seok-ju's phone rang. Checking the message, his face lit up with interest as he muttered, "Whoa, jackpot." When Ja-kyung looked at him, he started talking about the conversation with his friends without even being asked.
"Choi Ki-tae's father died, apparently?"
Ja-kyung slowly blinked. As if he hadn't understood.
"Choi Ki-tae, I mean. That drug addict bastard."
"Ah, ah..."
"Wow, fuck, that's so shocking. It's chaos right now. Choi Ki-tae's denying it, but rumors are already spreading."
He was excited like a reporter who'd snagged an exclusive. In this world, someone's death was nothing more than gossip material, not something to mourn. Kang Seok-ju forgot about his meal and relayed live the posts appearing in the group chat. From stories about being killed in his sleep, to somewhat credible accounts about how he'd thrown a party that was noisy for a while, then wasn't seen afterward.
Ja-kyung chewed his meat with an expressionless face.
Kang Seok-ju ended up calling Choi Ki-tae. But when the call didn't go through, he tried a few more times, then put his phone down with a listless expression.
"He's not picking up. Is it real?"
"If he really died, they would've held a funeral."
"I invested in that place. I wonder if I did it for nothing."
"How much did you invest?"
Kang Seok-ju casually held up all ten fingers. It probably wasn't ten million won. Probably not a hundred million either. Then ten billion?
"It's a small amount, but it was my first investment in my entire life."
"Invest in a proper place... Why would you trust people like that and invest there?"
"You don't understand. There was no place with better returns than that. And if the Choi Ki-tae family goes under, Director Kang would be disappointed too."
According to Seok-ju, there were few people as skilled at money laundering as the late Choi Moon-sung. That was why Kang Il-hyun used him occasionally too. Plus, the parties he hosted were always attended by high-ranking officials, making it the perfect place for networking, or so he claimed to know.
Ja-kyung continued eating the remaining food instead of answering. While he was filling his starved stomach, Kang Seok-ju was having a heated argument with his friends about Choi Ki-tae's father's death. Kang Seok-ju, who had been typing a message, looked at Ja-kyung.
"By the way, you said there was that incident where kids were smuggled out before. I told you, right?"
"Yeah."
"After that, Choi Ki-tae's younger brother died, and now Choi Ki-tae's father has died."
"So?"
"I think it's all the work of one person."
He wasn't as dumb as he looked.
"You think so...?"
"I think I'm right. Someone who doesn't know who, has a grudge against the Choi Ki-tae family. Maybe Choi Ki-tae is next?"
He pretended to adjust non-existent glasses like Detective Conan. Ja-kyung laughed.
"Be careful... The one who goes around broadcasting stuff like that tends to die first."
As soon as he finished speaking, Kang Seok-ju scoffed.
"Do you think I'd be easy prey?"
With a triumphant expression, he mimed shooting a gun into the air. Seeing him hold the gun to his nose instead of his shoulder, a sigh naturally escaped. If he shot like that, the recoil would smash his nose bridge. If there was a chance before going back, he would definitely teach Kang Seok-ju how to shoot properly before leaving. That way, even if Kang Il-hyun killed him, at least he'd go down having put up a fight once.
As he was looking at him pitifully, Kang Seok-ju suddenly flinched and straightened his posture. Ja-kyung could guess who had appeared without looking back. He pretended not to notice as he dipped the meat in mustard sauce and brought it to his mouth. The sound of Seok-ju's eyes darting around reached even here. The footsteps on the grass also grew closer.
"Why are you here?"
Seok-ju awkwardly rose from his seat, and Kang Il-hyun came and stood next to Ja-kyung. He could feel his gaze landing on the patches on his neck, but he pretended not to notice.
"Hyung told me... to come play with you last time..."
"I don't need you, so leave."
With the sudden dismissal, a fleeting look of unfairness crossed Seok-ju's face. When he told him to come play, that was one thing, but now he didn't need him? After saying goodbye, he gathered his clothes and walked toward the house. Ja-kyung watched Seok-ju's slumped shoulders, then finished eating.
Once Seok-ju disappeared, Kang Il-hyun went and sat across from him.
"You just woke up? You must have been really tired."
His smooth pretense of knowing nothing was amusing. He glared at him for a moment, then chewed the meat in his mouth as if it were Kang Il-hyun's flesh.