Winter season volume 2

Minor Snow: The Day the First Snow Falls (2)

Will you sleep with me?

 

Under ordinary circumstances, Seung-hyuk might have heard those words and thought little of them. Instead, they had caught him completely off guard. Whenever he remembered the pale face that had spoken them, something unpleasant seemed to knot deep in his stomach.

 

Even thinking of that deathly pale expression, the reddened corners of those drunken eyes and the wrists covered in ugly scars was enough to make his throat go dry. The way Yi-hyeon wore an expression suggesting every imaginable misfortune had befallen him, yet smiled as though it were nothing unusual, bothered Seung-hyuk more than he cared to admit.

 

Should he have caught those retreating shoulders and turned Yi-hyeon round, if only once? If he had seen the expression on that white face, would the image of his back, which refused to leave Seung-hyuk's mind, have faded a little?

 

Seung-hyuk stood with his arms folded, gazing at the night view beyond the window. Between his teeth was a cigarette whose filter he had chewed ragged. After a while, the bedding rustled and bare feet made faint, sticky sounds against the floor. Then a slender white arm wound round his waist from behind.

 

“I told you to relax and stay a while. You choose the strangest things to be prudish about, darling.”

 

Red-painted fingertips gently stroked the front of his shirt, but Seung-hyuk's indifferent gaze remained fixed outside.

 

“What about your buttons? Shall I undo them for you?”

 

“Don't cling to me.”

 

He pushed away the hand slithering over him like a snake and dropped sideways onto a sofa. He ground his cigarette into the ashtray on the table with more irritation than necessary. The thoughts he could not shake off had made even the last drag taste unpleasant.

 

“I like this side of you too. Your brother has a bit of a violent streak, but with you, I get to enjoy imagining what you might be like.”

 

Either the woman did not realise he had no desire to exchange pointless remarks, or she was pretending not to. She followed him and settled on the sofa beside him. Her calves, exposed beneath a dark navy dressing gown, gleamed almost white.

 

“Are the preparations for the completion party going well?”

 

“Of course. What about you, darling? You said you'd found someone. Does it look promising?”

 

The woman was an actress signed to the company's entertainment division whom Jin-hyuk had been seeing frequently of late. Much of the information about Gu Jin-hyuk that Seung-hyuk had passed to Yi-hyeon had come from her.

 

At her question, Seung-hyuk recalled the last look in Yi-hyeon's eyes. Those sharp eyes, with their reddened rims and desolate expression.

 

“We'll have to see.”

 

He was not particularly curious how Yi-hyeon intended to ensnare Gu Jin-hyuk. He had merely begun to suspect that something he had considered highly unlikely might, after all, succeed.

 

Bzzzz. Bzzzz.

 

The mobile phone on the bedside table began vibrating insistently. The woman, who had been smoking, rose at once and brought it over to him.

 

“Kwak Tae-sik? Isn't he one of the people working under you?”

 

Seung-hyuk's eyebrow twitched at the unexpected caller. Unless something important had happened, Tae-sik knew better than to contact him while he was attending to personal business. Seung-hyuk took the phone and answered.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Hyung-nim, I'm at Rosebam. I think there's been a problem.”

 

“What problem?”

 

Rosebam was an exclusive hostess establishment whose clientele consisted mainly of women. It also entertained female VIPs, so it was hardly somewhere that trouble would ordinarily be allowed to break out.

 

“Well… President Yoon from G's turned up unexpectedly. We had to find some boys in a hurry and send them in, but…”

 

Tae-sik's hesitant manner made Seung-hyuk frown. As though he could see that expression through the phone, Tae-sik hurried to continue.

 

“I think Kwon Yi-hyeon was among them.”

 

“What?”

 

Kwon Yi-hyeon. Again.

 

Seung-hyuk's face twisted at the name appearing out of nowhere.

 

“Explain properly.”

 

“It looks as though he'd come to the office when none of the boys were there. A manager going round the waiting room mistook him for one of the lads who work here and took him along. I thought about leaving it alone, but… I reckoned you ought to know.”

 

What the hell had that idiot been doing alone in an empty office? Before Seung-hyuk could dwell on that, however, the news that Yi-hyeon had been dragged into one of the private rooms lodged itself firmly in his mind.

 

Disbelief, irritation and a thoroughly unpleasant feeling struck him all at once. His impassive face turned hard. Pushing aside the woman's hand as it stroked his thigh, he rose from the sofa.

 

“All right. I'm coming.”

 

“Yes, understood.”

 

The woman watched curiously as he headed straight for the door. Without sparing her a glance, Seung-hyuk pulled on his jacket and straightened his clothes.

 

“What's happened?”

 

President Yoon of G's was notorious for summoning young men and indulging in filthy games with them, despite having a perfectly respectable husband and a son already in his twenties. The thought that Yi-hyeon had been taken into that woman's room, of all places, made Seung-hyuk move faster without realising it.

 

He fastened the watch he had taken off and bit the inside of his cheek. An inexplicable sense of urgency put him in a foul mood.

 

“I'm leaving first. Carry on preparing for the event, and call me if anything comes up.”

 

“Darling, you seem to be in a hurry.”

 

Seeing him already dressed to leave, the woman gave him a suggestive smile. Seung-hyuk ran his tongue over the spot inside his cheek that tasted of blood and stared coldly into space.

 

“Hardly.”

 

He strode through the establishment's entrance, and the employees stationed there bowed. The general manager, perhaps already warned by Tae-sik, approached him with a worried expression.

 

“We heard someone was sent into President Yoon's room by mistake. I was hoping to find an opportunity to get him out while the staff were going in and out with drinks, but she's ordered that nobody be admitted…”

 

Merely imagining what might be happening behind the door, with nobody allowed inside, made Seung-hyuk's face tighten. He clenched his back teeth and spoke in a low voice.

 

“Which room?”

 

“Number seven.”

 

He set off without hesitation. After passing through a maze of interconnected corridors, he reached the door of Room Seven and pushed his unstyled hair back with one hand.

 

Knock, knock, knock. Click.

 

He knocked lightly and opened the door. The first thing he saw was a great deal of bare skin. Several men with lean, well-defined muscles were standing on the tables wearing nothing but their briefs.

 

Everyone looked towards him at the sudden intrusion, but Seung-hyuk paid them no attention. His eyes swept quickly over the room.

 

There he is.

 

The person he was looking for sat hunched in the middle of the sofa, beside President Yoon. Her arm was draped over his shoulders, almost touching his ear. One of his cheeks was swollen and red, as though someone had struck him, and the corner of his mouth was split.

 

Yi-hyeon suddenly looked up. When he recognised Seung-hyuk, his eyes widened. Seung-hyuk quickly checked that Yi-hyeon's clothes were still in order, then ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek.

 

“Well, well. Who have we here? Isn't that Director Gu?”

 

“Good evening, President Yoon. It's been a while.”

 

President Yoon's eyes widened in surprise at his appearance. But when Seung-hyuk merely stood there without any affectionate greeting or his usual easy manner, she promptly raised an eyebrow.

 

“I said nobody was to come in. What do you want?”

 

“It seems there was a mistake when the manager brought the boys in. I'll sort it out and send in a fresh selection of our premium boys.”

 

President Yoon dressed far more flamboyantly than most women her age. She was also an old acquaintance of Chairman Gu, which made her all the more difficult to deal with. A mishandled response could create a tiresome problem. Seung-hyuk remained as polite as possible, but she only smiled as though she found the situation entertaining.

 

“Hey, you. He's talking about you, isn't he?”

 

The woman leaned towards Yi-hyeon and giggled, but his face merely stiffened. Finding his reaction amusing, she took several cheques and a business card from her purse and tucked them into his clothes.

 

“It was fun watching you act so stiff and difficult. What a shame.”

 

“If you ever decide to work in this line of business, give me a call.”

 

This line of work? For a fucking queer? Fuck.

 

Seung-hyuk's expression darkened as he watched Yi-hyeon stare blankly at the cheques tucked against his chest.

 

“I'll arrange some other boys for you. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

 

He strode across to Yi-hyeon, caught his arm and hauled him roughly to his feet. The body that rose with his pull was so light that Seung-hyuk frowned instinctively. Gripping that slender upper arm, he marched out of the room and down the corridor.

 

“Director Gu, did everything go all right…?”

 

The manager spotted them coming towards the entrance and began to ask a question, then stopped. Seung-hyuk looked down at Yi-hyeon, who was still biting his lips so hard they had turned pale. He plucked the cheques and business card from his clothes and threw them into a bin.

 

Ignoring the worried looks from the establishment's staff, he dragged Yi-hyeon to the car. He opened the passenger door and roughly pushed his arm towards the seat. Yi-hyeon sat down obediently.

 

Seung-hyuk hurried round to the driver's side. Once inside, instead of starting the engine, he dragged a hand through his hair.

 

Yi-hyeon sat beside him with his eyes lowered, doing nothing but breathe. Seeing him so strangely docile made Seung-hyuk angrier the more he thought about it. Yi-hyeon was usually perfectly capable of answering him back. Why, then, had he allowed himself to be dragged all the way into that room today?

 

“If they had the wrong person, you should have told them so. Why did you let them drag you in there and treat you like that?”

 

His frustration made the words come out harsher than he intended. At the sharp accusation, Yi-hyeon clenched his jaw so tightly that his chin dimpled and his teeth ground together. He seemed to feel deeply wronged.

 

“I told them clearly. I said they must have mistaken me for someone else. But they said they weren't falling for lies and started hitting me. What else was I supposed to say?”

 

The end of his reply trembled, as though tears were gathering behind it. Strictly speaking, the fault lay with Seung-hyuk's manager, not Yi-hyeon. Even so, the sight of Yi-hyeon beside President Yoon with a split lip had made something boil up inside him.

 

Suppressing the anger rising in his chest, Seung-hyuk spoke.

 

“Why were you at the office?”

 

Yi-hyeon pressed his lips tightly together, plainly unwilling to answer, and turned towards the window. His fists remained clenched so hard on his knees that the knuckles had gone white. Realising he would get no reply, Seung-hyuk fought down the urge to press him further and turned the steering wheel roughly.

 

Although Yi-hyeon had not given him an address, the car sped along familiar roads. They drove up a narrow alley barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other at an angle, still without exchanging a word.

 

Seung-hyuk did not particularly enjoy noise, but even he found the heavy silence uncomfortable. He glanced sideways now and then, yet Yi-hyeon remained motionless, his head turned towards the window.

 

As the navigation announced that their destination was close, Seung-hyuk accelerated. Then he noticed a crowd gathered ahead and frowned, pressing the brake.

 

Black smoke was rising from one of the similar-looking red multi-family houses. The narrow alley was packed with people who had come out to watch what appeared to be a fire.

 

Seung-hyuk frowned at the fire engine blocking the road and was about to reverse when he noticed Yi-hyeon, his face deathly pale, gripping the door handle.

 

“Ah… ah…”

 

His wide eyes were fixed on an old building where the fire engine's long ladder had been extended and water was being sprayed. The way he could not tear his gaze away was strange enough, but then, while the car was still moving, Yi-hyeon suddenly flung the door open.

 

“What the hell are you—”

 

Seung-hyuk slammed on the brake in surprise. Yi-hyeon unfastened his seat belt and stepped out. Then he ran towards the fire engine as though possessed.

 

“Hey! Kwon Yi-hyeon!”

 

Yi-hyeon did not turn, even when Seung-hyuk shouted after him. Grimacing, Seung-hyuk parked haphazardly in somebody else's parking space and hurried after him.

 

“Goodness, aren't you the young man from Flat 201? There was some kind of gas explosion on the ground floor! I've never seen such a commotion. They say it hasn't spread upstairs, thank heavens, but honestly, what a thing to happen!”

 

“Gas? It suddenly exploded?”

 

“You know those LPG cylinders kept out front? Apparently one of them exploded. Young-min's mum thinks she saw some strange men hanging about, but… well, I don't know. They say the police will have to investigate properly.”

 

Seung-hyuk's eyes found Yi-hyeon, pale-faced and questioning one of the neighbours. Yi-hyeon stared blankly at somewhere on the second floor, then staggered towards a firefighter guarding the entrance.

 

“Excuse me, if the fire's out, may I go inside? I live on the second floor. I need to check whether everything's all right…”

 

“There's still a risk of the fire reigniting, so you can't go in yet. It may take quite a while. You'll need to find somewhere else to stay tonight.”

 

Just as the firefighter said, a No Entry sign had been set up at the entrance. The doorway of the old red-brick building was blackened so badly that it was difficult to approach. Yi-hyeon gazed upstairs worriedly, bit his lip and dragged a hand down his face.

 

“…Nothing ever bloody goes right for me.”

 

The face revealed behind his hand was marked by exhaustion and helplessness. Having roughly grasped the situation, Seung-hyuk pushed back his hair and approached him. Even when Yi-hyeon sensed somebody beside him, he kept his head lowered, fists clenched.

 

Amid all the people bustling about, his slight figure seemed particularly small. When somebody brushed past and made him stumble, Seung-hyuk reached out before he could stop himself.

 

“There's nothing you can do right now anyway.”

 

“It's chaos here. Get back in the car first.”

 

The smell of burning hung everywhere. The noisy crowds and acrid air made Seung-hyuk frown as he led Yi-hyeon back to the car. He expected resistance, but Yi-hyeon seemed too stunned to object and simply followed where he was pulled.

 

Seung-hyuk settled him in the passenger seat and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. Beside him, Yi-hyeon leaned his head against the window, covering his eyes with one hand. Seung-hyuk glanced across, swallowed a sigh and put the car into reverse.

 

The car sped along the road and eventually stopped outside the officetel building where Seung-hyuk lived. Yi-hyeon was still picking at the ends of his fingernails. Seung-hyuk took him along to the lift and pressed the button.

 

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

 

He entered a simple four-digit code and opened the door. The interior was decorated in gloomy shades of grey. Yi-hyeon looked utterly drained and followed him without protest, although his wary eyes continued surveying the unfamiliar flat.

 

“Go and wash first.”

 

Seung-hyuk led him to the bathroom, left him outside the door and headed for the kitchen. As he took a bottle of whisky from a cupboard, he heard the bathroom lock click.

 

The oaky fragrance rising from his glass brushed his nose. After a brief silence, the faint sound of running water reached him. An inexplicable thirst rose within him, and he raised the glass to wet his lips. All the while, his eyes remained fixed on the bathroom Yi-hyeon had entered.

 

He could simply have booked a nearby hotel room and sent Yi-hyeon there.

 

This was the first time he had allowed anyone other than Tae-sik into his home. He found it strange that he had brought Yi-hyeon straight to his own officetel without giving it a thought. But then…

 

What happened at Rosebam was clearly their fault.

 

Telling himself that this much consideration was no more than the bare minimum his conscience demanded, Seung-hyuk took another drink.

 

He was drinking whisky without anything to eat when the bathroom door clicked open. Yi-hyeon emerged with wet hair, clutching a towel across his chest. Seung-hyuk's Adam's apple moved noticeably.

 

Spotting Seung-hyuk standing at the kitchen island, Yi-hyeon approached. The strong scent of body wash made Seung-hyuk's brow tighten. It was a fragrance he was accustomed to, yet somehow it bothered him more than usual. Perhaps because it was coming from Kwon Yi-hyeon.

 

With a hardened expression, Seung-hyuk poured whisky into a glass and offered it to him. Yi-hyeon merely looked down at the amber liquid. His long, damp eyelashes trembled delicately whenever he blinked.

 

Seung-hyuk found Yi-hyeon's unusually slow movements frustrating, but restrained himself and spoke.

 

“Drink.”

 

Looking at that skin, as white as a lily drenched in water, made his stomach twist until he almost felt sick. Perhaps whisky would settle him. He reached roughly for the bottle.

 

“The reason I went to the office… was to apologise.”

 

It was then that a soft, low but distinct voice reached him.

 

“I think I took my anger out on you because I was drunk yesterday.”

 

Will you sleep with me?

 

Seung-hyuk's hand paused as he tilted the bottle. All at once, he felt like an idiot for having spent the entire day unable to forget something that had merely been a drunken slip of the tongue.

 

“So you were drunk and taking your anger out on me.”

 

He put the bottle down on the table and spoke quietly.

 

“You've got one hell of a drinking habit.”

 

“I suppose you've rolled around with plenty of people like that.”

 

Asking a man to sleep with you when you're drunk. Of all the drunken habits Seung-hyuk had ever heard of, it was among the cheapest and most vulgar. He ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek, lifted his eyes and stared at Yi-hyeon.

 

Yi-hyeon's own brow had drawn together at the barbed remarks.

 

“Don't be sarcastic. I haven't got the energy to argue with you.”

 

“You say something that makes a person feel like absolute shit, then make a fuss over a few remarks like these?”

 

Clink. Ice melted and sank into the dark liquid. Holding the glass in his large hand, Seung-hyuk swirled it and tilted his head.

 

“Did all the other bastards come running happily whenever you said that to them?”

 

“Oh, that's right. You said you enjoyed it.”

 

“Well, that's a shame. I don't think I'd be able to get it up for a bastard with a cock.”

 

He was deliberately throwing out words intended to hurt, yet every insult made him feel worse. The more expressionless Yi-hyeon's face became, the tighter Seung-hyuk's chest seemed to grow and the more his nerves prickled.

 

You've been around the block, so why do you look hurt by something as trivial as this?

 

Seung-hyuk gripped his glass hard.

 

As the silence dragged on, Yi-hyeon turned away from the kitchen counter and began putting on his coat. Seung-hyuk watched with one eyebrow raised. When Yi-hyeon headed towards the entrance, he moved swiftly after him.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Yi-hyeon looked down coldly at the hand that had caught his arm. He shook it off roughly and muttered.

 

“I shouldn't have come with you.”

 

“Where do you think you're going at this hour?”

 

“Anywhere would be better than here. Mind your own business.”

 

“Why? Going to crawl into some other bastard's bed?”

 

The way Yi-hyeon refused even to look at him, trying instead to get away, made anger flare through him. He spoke without thinking, and Yi-hyeon's gaze turned sharp.

 

“Gu Seung-hyuk.”

 

“…”

 

“You were like this in the past, and you're still the same now.”

 

“Right to the very end, you're incapable of thinking about anyone but yourself.”

 

Glaring at Seung-hyuk, Yi-hyeon wrenched his arm free once more. Those words, flung at him without warning, made Seung-hyuk clench his back teeth.

 

Yi-hyeon looked up once at Seung-hyuk's darkened expression, then turned without hesitation, pushed open the front door and left. There was not the slightest uncertainty in his steps.

 

The sensor light overhead continued illuminating the entrance for a long moment before abruptly going out. The lingering fragrance of soap drifted faintly past Seung-hyuk's nose.

 

He stood in the darkness for a long time with his fists clenched, struggling to suppress the inexplicable anger rising inside him and the unpleasant feeling churning in his stomach.

 

When Yi-hyeon came down in the lift, the cold night air scraped across his cheeks. He had left without thinking because he could no longer bear to face Gu Seung-hyuk. But he had been dragged out of the office earlier without even his wallet, and there was nowhere he could immediately go.

 

Maybe I should ask Yeo Eun-ho if he could come and help me for a bit…

 

He took out his phone and opened his messaging app. The profile pictures of his few friends appeared on the screen. He scrolled to Yeo Eun-ho's picture and tapped it. It showed two people from behind, standing beneath the Eiffel Tower.

 

[Travelling. Don't look for me.]

 

He belatedly remembered Eun-ho talking about travel plans when they last met. Of all times for him to be touring several European countries with his boyfriend, why did it have to be now?

 

Yi-hyeon moved his finger down the list, searching for somebody else he could ask for help. He stopped when he found a name.

 

Executive Director Gu Jin-hyuk.

 

At the three syllables beside the default profile picture, Yi-hyeon remembered the conversation they had shared in the restaurant.

 

If you ever need help, tell me.

 

Going to Gu Jin-hyuk for help after running away from Gu Seung-hyuk. What the hell was he doing between these brothers?

 

The thought was bitterly self-mocking, but he had no other option. After a moment's hesitation, Yi-hyeon dialled the man's eleven-digit mobile number.

 

“Yes?”

 

“…Hello.”

 

The man's voice came through clearly, without the slightest hint of sleepiness. That made it even harder for Yi-hyeon to explain himself. He hesitated before speaking.

 

“You said before that I should call if I ever needed help…”

 

Silence stretched between them. Just as Yi-hyeon began to regret making the call, the man's voice returned.

 

“Where are you?”

 

“I'm… outside K Officetel in Gaseong-dong.”

 

“I'll send someone. Wait there.”

 

The call ended abruptly. Yi-hyeon looked down at his phone for a moment before putting it in his pocket.

 

He was grateful that Jin-hyuk had offered to send someone without asking a single question. At the same time, the knowledge that he was supposed to deceive this man made his heart heavy.

 

The closer he became to Gu Jin-hyuk, the more it would benefit Gu Seung-hyuk. The absurdity of his position drew a hollow laugh from him.

 

He did not know how long he stood there. By the time his nose felt numb with cold, a black car glided to a stop in front of him.

 

He had expected someone resembling the rough-looking men Seung-hyuk kept around him, but the person who stepped out of the driver's seat looked more like a personal secretary. The man opened the rear door and gave a small glance inviting him in.

 

Everything that had happened that day had left Yi-hyeon's body feeling as heavy as cotton soaked in water. He had no strength left to think or worry. Exhausted, he climbed into the back of the saloon.

 

The car passed through the brightly lit city centre before entering an affluent residential district filled with large houses. After driving beside towering walls, they arrived at a black iron gate. Several men in black suits who had been blocking the way quickly stepped aside.

 

“You'll need to go in on your own from here.”

 

Yi-hyeon got out, bowed to the driver and walked towards the enormous, brightly lit mansion. It reminded him of the home he had lived in as a child, although something about it was rather overwhelming.

 

He approached the entrance and pressed the bell. A long buzzing sound followed. Moments later, the door opened automatically, and he cautiously stepped into the hall.

 

“…Hello.”

 

The first thing he saw inside was Jin-hyuk sitting on a sofa, looking down at a tablet computer. At Yi-hyeon's quiet greeting, he raised his head.

 

Jin-hyuk was dressed in casual clothes for wearing at home. Seeing him looking so relaxed, unlike anything Yi-hyeon had witnessed at the office, made it suddenly real that this was where the man lived.

 

Feeling somehow obliged to explain why he had turned up, Yi-hyeon began speaking haltingly.

 

“There was a fire in the flat downstairs. The firefighter said nobody could go inside tonight… I was going to stay in a motel nearby, but I haven't got my wallet…”

 

His rambling excuses sounded feeble and shabby even to his own ears. As his words trailed off, he nervously touched the back of his neck. Jin-hyuk came closer, took his wrist and lowered his hand. The coolness of their touching skin made Yi-hyeon flinch.

 

“The address you gave me was near Gu Seung-hyuk's place. Were you there?”

 

The body moving close to him was much too near. A distinctive scent, perhaps shampoo or aftershave, brushed heavily against his nose. Yi-hyeon swallowed and lowered his eyes.

 

“Something happened, so we were together.”

 

“Looks as though I'm one step too late.”

 

One step too late for what?

 

The man's expression was subtly unreadable as he rubbed near his eyebrow.

 

“Well, it looks as though you've already showered…”

 

Without warning, his fingers lightly brushed Yi-hyeon's hair and the back of his neck. Goosebumps prickled along Yi-hyeon's spine, and he instinctively pulled away. Jin-hyuk gave a soft laugh and stepped back.

 

“The guest room is over there.”

 

“I've left some comfortable clothes for you. Get changed and come out.”

 

He spoke with matter-of-fact ease, as though he had not been standing so close and creating that strange atmosphere just moments earlier. Yi-hyeon pressed his lips together and bowed again.

 

In the guest room, he changed into the clothes laid out on the bed. He wanted nothing more than to climb under the covers and put his exhausting day behind him, but he knew it would be rude.

 

When he opened the door and returned to the living room, Jin-hyuk was pouring wine at a home bar off to one side. Yi-hyeon approached slowly.

 

“…Thank you for letting me come so late, Director.”

 

“Have a drink. A fire downstairs must have given you quite a fright.”

 

The wineglass Jin-hyuk offered contained about a third of a glass of dark, brick-coloured wine. Yi-hyeon accepted the glass, so light it barely seemed to weigh anything, and Jin-hyuk indicated the stool opposite with his eyes.

 

“I must admit, I was a little surprised to hear from you at this hour.”

 

Yi-hyeon had never imagined he would end up at Gu Jin-hyuk's home at such an hour either. Instead of answering, he wet his lips with the wine. The aroma of ripe fruit tickled his nose.

 

“Did you manage to see your parents?”

 

Perhaps because so much had happened over such a short period, events from only a few days earlier now felt very distant. Memories of visiting Su-bin and meeting a man whose name he did not know, along with what the church people had said at the hospital, passed through Yi-hyeon's mind once more.

 

“…Yes. Thank you for being considerate.”

 

Despite his words, Yi-hyeon's expression darkened. Noticing it, Jin-hyuk smiled gently.

 

“You look as though something happened.”

 

“…”

 

Was it because he had not heard such kindness in so long? Or because the man was simply sitting opposite him, without pressing for an answer? The very fact that he was sitting here now felt unreal.

 

Perhaps that was why he suddenly felt an urge to let out something he had kept hidden deep inside. Before the part of himself he had wrapped up tightly, allowing nobody near it, rotted away entirely. Before all the feelings he had forced himself to suppress overflowed.

 

“My father… hates me very much.”

 

His throat tightened as he began speaking. It was something he had never volunteered to anybody else. Yet the hardest part was starting. Once the words were out, the rest followed of their own accord.

 

“It's nearly eight years since I stopped seeing my family. A little while ago, I heard that my father had been diagnosed with cancer.”

 

“Oh dear.”

 

“I thought enough time had passed. I thought that by now his anger might have eased a little, but it hadn't.”

 

“…”

 

“He's still the same.”

 

Yi-hyeon bit his lower lip and raised his eyes. Jin-hyuk's face was expressionless.

 

The moment Yi-hyeon met those characteristically cold, unfeeling eyes, he regretted having brought up something so personal. He hurried to speak.

 

“It's not very interesting, is it?”

 

“Well, it's hardly the sort of story anyone would find entertaining.”

 

“…”

 

“You must have been very lonely for those eight years.”

 

The unexpected reply made Yi-hyeon look up. Up close, the man's eyes still looked as bored and empty as ever, yet the words coming from his mouth were anything but. That simple sentence felt as though it had offered some comfort for the past several years of Yi-hyeon's life. His fingertips tingled for no particular reason.

 

“Stay here and rest until your place has been sorted out.”

 

“No, it's all right. I think I should go and check what happened after work tomorrow.”

 

“…”

 

“Thank you for letting me stay tonight.”

 

He bowed his head once more. Jin-hyuk said nothing, merely watching him. As the silence stretched on, Yi-hyeon grew uncomfortable and lowered his eyes to the edge of the bar. Then the man spoke.

 

“Do you know why I leave you alone, Kwon Yi-hyeon?”

 

Yi-hyeon's head shot up. He had indeed been wondering why Jin-hyuk had not pushed him away, despite knowing that Gu Seung-hyuk had planted him there.

 

When Yi-hyeon looked at him questioningly, Jin-hyuk moved closer and slowly tilted his head. Their faces were much too close.

 

“You heard what Gu Seung-hyuk said at the restaurant, didn't you?”

 

“…Ah.”

 

“That you're my type.”

 

Yi-hyeon was so taken aback by the blunt admission that he could neither respond nor look away. Watching him, Jin-hyuk let out a laugh that sounded like air escaping through his nose. He slowly tilted the wineglass in his hand without taking his eyes off Yi-hyeon.

 

Clink.

 

Their glasses touched lightly.

 

“Go and get some rest.”

 

“…”

 

“And don't forget to lock the door.”

 

Yi-hyeon had to turn away and put some distance between them before he could finally let out the breath he had been holding. The tension drained from his body without his realising how tightly he had been wound up.

 

The flirting had been direct and uncomplicated, without any clinging insistence, but he had felt far more nervous than excited. Whenever he met the man's eyes, an inexplicable chill crept over him.

 

It sometimes felt as though he were dealing with a doll or an exquisitely crafted statue. Jin-hyuk was the complete opposite of Gu Seung-hyuk, who made no effort to hide his feelings and expressed them in all their rawness.

 

‘Even at the end, all you can think about is yourself.’

 

Thinking of Gu Jin-hyuk brought back the image of Seung-hyuk's face crumpling the instant he heard Yi-hyeon's words. His reaction could not have been more different from Jin-hyuk's leisurely manner as he tilted his wineglass. What sort of expression had Seung-hyuk worn as he watched Yi-hyeon's back after opening the door?

 

Yi-hyeon drained the wine in his hand in one go. Whatever the circumstances, he wanted to stop thinking and simply rest for what remained of the night. His feet felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton as he made his way into the guest room.

 

***

 

Yi-hyeon woke to his phone alarm in the early hours, just as the morning sun was beginning to rise. He had set it early because he intended to go home, wash and change before work. But when he opened his bedroom door, somebody was already standing in the kitchen.

 

“You're up? Would you like some coffee?”

 

“Ah… yes.”

 

He had thought seeing the man in the morning might be a little awkward, but Jin-hyuk behaved so naturally that the concern seemed ridiculous. When Yi-hyeon cautiously approached the dining table and sat down, Jin-hyuk placed a cup of coffee in front of him.

 

“Secretary Kim has prepared some clothes after estimating your size. They're hanging outside the dressing room. Take them with you and have a wash and get changed.”

 

“Ah…”

 

The chief secretary had prepared clothes for him. The situation felt as though their positions had been reversed, and heat rose to his face. He lowered his gaze and nodded. Jin-hyuk gave him a faint smile, apparently amused.

 

It felt strange to finish getting ready for work in separate rooms and then leave through the front door together. In the back seat of the chauffeur-driven car, Yi-hyeon stared only towards the side opposite the one Jin-hyuk was looking at.

 

The car remained silent until they were almost at the office, when Jin-hyuk's voice finally broke through the stillness.

 

“I have an appointment outside the office. Come along with me. Go upstairs and fetch anything you need.”

 

Yi-hyeon had no idea why Jin-hyuk wanted to take him to an outside appointment, but he was not in a position to ask. He nodded, opened the car door and stepped out.

 

The staff evidently knew that the black car stopped outside the building belonged to a member of the owner's family. Yi-hyeon could feel curious glances coming at him from all directions. Pretending not to notice, he walked into the building as quickly as he could.

 

He pressed the lift button and was waiting for it to come down when the sound of approaching footsteps reached him from behind. He did not need to turn around. The familiar scent of aftershave drifting past his nose was enough to tell him who it was.

 

Ding.

 

The lift doors opened with a cheerful chime. Yi-hyeon stepped in first and turned round. Standing opposite him, Seung-hyuk looked down at him with cold eyes before entering and taking his place behind him.

 

Only the sound of the lift machinery moving broke the silence. Yi-hyeon wished somebody would get in on another floor, but the lift carried on upwards without stopping. He thought he could feel someone watching him from behind, yet he did not turn his head even once.

 

Ding.

 

The doors opened again, and Yi-hyeon hurried out as though he had been waiting for that moment. He had barely released the breath he had been holding in relief at escaping the suffocating space when he heard footsteps behind him.

 

What now?

 

Before he could turn to find out, someone caught his arm and spun him round. He looked up into Seung-hyuk's icy expression.

 

“Hey, Kwon Yi-hyeon.”

 

The cold voice rang down the corridor.

 

“When you left home, was Gu Jin-hyuk the person you went to?”

 

“What?”

 

“You came here in that bastard's car with him this morning.”

 

“…”

 

“And your clothes, too.”

 

Seung-hyuk dipped his head towards the back of Yi-hyeon's neck and muttered the last words quietly. His low voice brushed close to Yi-hyeon's ear, sending a shiver through him and making the fine hairs on his skin stand up. Apparently Seung-hyuk had recognised the distinctive scent of Gu Jin-hyuk's aftershave lingering on his clothes and hair.

 

Yi-hyeon hurriedly stepped back, trying to escape the body crowding him, only to meet an even harsher look on Seung-hyuk's face. When Seung-hyuk saw his expression, a cold sneer spread across his own.

 

“Did you sleep with him?”

 

“…”

 

“With Gu Jin-hyuk?”

 

Lowering his eyes, Seung-hyuk muttered coldly.

 

“Already?”

 

Seung-hyuk was the one who had told him to win Gu Jin-hyuk over. If Yi-hyeon really had slept with Jin-hyuk, the person who ought to have been most pleased was Seung-hyuk himself. So why was he reacting like this?

 

Perhaps taking Yi-hyeon's silence as confirmation, Seung-hyuk gave a short, derisive laugh. He straightened from where he had been leaning towards Yi-hyeon and looked down at him, standing crookedly.

 

“Clever, Kwon Yi-hyeon. Looks as though I found exactly the right line of work for a little slut like you.”

 

Yi-hyeon had no idea what had made him so angry, but the one-sided insults were beginning to infuriate him too. He shook off Seung-hyuk's hand and glared at him.

 

“I don't have to listen to that from you.”

 

“And if I did sleep with him, you of all people should be happy about it.”

 

Their agreement was simply that Seung-hyuk would obtain the six-digit password. Whatever Yi-hyeon did with Gu Jin-hyuk in the process was none of his concern, and he had no right to interfere.

 

Who had told him to approach Jin-hyuk in the first place? Why was he behaving like this now?

 

Yi-hyeon looked up at Seung-hyuk with determination. The muscles in Seung-hyuk's jaw stood out as he clenched and released his teeth. Then he caught Yi-hyeon's upper arm again, though less forcefully than before, and opened his mouth.

 

“Yesterday, I—”

 

Ding.

 

Just as Seung-hyuk was about to say something, the lift doors opened behind them and somebody stepped out. They both turned at once to find Jin-hyuk emerging from the lift.

 

Jin-hyuk had been looking down at his phone. When he raised his head and saw Seung-hyuk holding Yi-hyeon's arm, one eyebrow lifted.

 

“I just came up to collect some documents. If I'd known this would happen, I would have come upstairs with you.”

 

At his words, Yi-hyeon belatedly shook Seung-hyuk's hand off again. He moved a step closer to Jin-hyuk. Seung-hyuk's expression twisted.

 

“Do you two still have something to discuss?”

 

Jin-hyuk asked Yi-hyeon as casually as ever. Yi-hyeon remembered that Seung-hyuk had been in the middle of saying something, but he did not want to hear it. It would only be another sneering remark calculated to get under his skin.

 

“No.”

 

“…”

 

“Let's go, Director.”

 

Yi-hyeon met that cold gaze one last time before turning his back and following Jin-hyuk. The footsteps of two people echoed along the long corridor. He wondered whether Seung-hyuk, left behind on his own, was watching them, but he never once looked back.

 

The car left the office and headed to an expensive Japanese restaurant similar to the one Yi-hyeon had visited with Jin-hyuk before. A Japanese-style garden occupied its centre, surrounded by individual private rooms.

 

Guided by a member of staff, Jin-hyuk walked to a room farther inside and calmly slid open the door. Yi-hyeon followed cautiously and found a familiar-looking middle-aged man seated there.

 

“Good afternoon, Assemblyman. It's been a long time.”

 

“Oh, Director Gu Jin-hyuk. It certainly has, hasn't it?”

 

The word *assemblyman* immediately brought back a scene from a parliamentary hearing Yi-hyeon had glimpsed on television a little while earlier. With his thick head of hair, unusual for a man his age, and pleasant features, the man was an opposition-party member of the National Assembly who had recently gained considerable influence in political circles.

 

Yi-hyeon's eyes widened slightly. He had never imagined meeting someone like that in person. Standing behind Jin-hyuk, he pressed his lips together and bowed. Assemblyman Choi's attention turned to him.

 

“And this young man is…?”

 

“A secretary I'm keeping on as an intern for a while. I brought him along so he could introduce himself.”

 

“Hmm. He's quite a good-looking young fellow. What's your name?”

 

Although the man smiled with a pleasant expression, something about him felt oddly incongruous. Yi-hyeon forced an awkward smile and bowed.

 

“…My name is Kwon Yi-hyeon.”

 

“Good, good. Sit down, both of you. Make yourselves comfortable.”

 

Not long after Jin-hyuk and Yi-hyeon sat down, the door opened and an assortment of seafood and other dishes was placed on the table. Yi-hyeon quietly moved his chopsticks while Jin-hyuk and Assemblyman Choi talked beside him.

 

“By the way, I hear you're preparing something rather big soon.”

 

Choi put down his chopsticks with a knowing smile. Jin-hyuk's mouth curved slightly upwards as he picked up his napkin and brought it to his lips.

 

“I'm simply grateful that so many people are looking forward to it. We're busy with the preparations.”

 

Was he talking about the completion party Seung-hyuk had mentioned? Yi-hyeon's chopsticks paused over the salad in front of him, and he discreetly raised his eyes, hoping to judge the expressions of the men speaking. The instant he looked up, however, his gaze met Assemblyman Choi's across the table.

 

“It should be quite a sight to see.”

 

The man's genial smile remained in place as he looked at Yi-hyeon, yet there was something unpleasant about the attention.

 

It's probably just my imagination.

 

Yi-hyeon smiled awkwardly, acknowledged him with a small nod and lowered his eyes to his plate again.

 

He listened for any further mention of the party, but the conversation did not return to the subject. Instead, talk of playing golf together sometime, some other assemblyman's outburst at the National Assembly, and matters of business expansion and finances that Yi-hyeon could not follow passed back and forth across the table.

 

The atmosphere was too uncomfortable for him to enjoy his meal. At some point, he laid his hands on his lap and began reacting mechanically to the conversation. Assemblyman Choi occasionally fixed him with a lingering look before turning away again.

 

Yi-hyeon could not understand why Jin-hyuk had brought him here. Had he simply wanted to treat him to a nice meal? He was still drinking water aimlessly when Assemblyman Choi stood up first.

 

“Anyway, Director Gu, I've enjoyed our meal today. I have other business to attend to, so I'd better be on my way.”

 

“Of course. Have a safe journey.”

 

“I'm looking forward to the party.”

 

Yi-hyeon rose with Jin-hyuk to see the assemblyman off. The way the man slowly looked him up and down was unpleasant, but he gave no sign of it and bowed. Silence settled over the room after Choi left.

 

“If you're finished, let's get going too.”

 

Yi-hyeon had scarcely eaten anything because he had spent the meal anxiously watching the others, yet his stomach felt heavy. However agreeable and respectable the assemblyman was reputed to be, Yi-hyeon had no desire to meet him again.

 

Thinking that he wanted to avoid such occasions as much as possible in future, he followed Jin-hyuk out.

 

By the time Yi-hyeon returned to the office and finished the odd jobs the other secretaries had given him, it was already time to go home. Gu Jin-hyuk had left for another appointment after their lunch meeting, and the secretariat staff were preparing to leave promptly.

 

“Seong-hyeon, isn't tomorrow Christmas? Haven't you made plans with your girlfriend?”

 

“She's busy at the end of the year too, so we've arranged to see each other briefly in the evening. I'm just planning to rest at home otherwise.”

 

Hearing the conversation beside him, Yi-hyeon belatedly realised something.

 

Oh. Tomorrow's Christmas.

 

The date, 24 December, stood out clearly on his illuminated phone screen. Only then did he understand why Christmas trees and decorations had been put up throughout the company.

 

“Same here. When we come back the day after tomorrow, it'll be the final countdown to the event, so we'll probably be working late every night and running ourselves ragged. I'm going to get some proper rest.”

 

“I wish it were all over already. Get home safely, and I'll see you the day after tomorrow.”

 

“Right, I'll be off first!”

 

Seong-hyeon bowed repeatedly as he left the secretariat. The others began gathering their belongings and leaving too.

 

Yi-hyeon remained at his desk after everyone had gone, slowly reaching over to switch off his computer. Silence had settled over the secretariat, which only a short time earlier had been bustling with people.

 

“…”

 

Outside the window, enormous trees decorated with colourful lights came into view. The people moving along the roads looked no bigger than beans, like lines of ants passing by. Yi-hyeon stepped closer to the glass and rested his forehead against it. A faint mist bloomed on the window where his breath touched the surface.

 

He blinked slowly.

 

As a child, he had spent every Christmas at church. After graduating and ceasing to attend, he had covered other part-timers' shifts at the restaurants, cafés and clubs where he worked.

 

To Yi-hyeon, Christmas had never been anything more or less than a public holiday when he could earn a little extra money. So this first Christmas he would spend alone, with no work to do, ought not to have meant much to him either.

 

Yet the thought of returning to an empty house brought a loneliness he could not explain. Unaccustomed to the hollow sensation in his stomach, Yi-hyeon pressed his lips together and lifted his forehead from the window.

 

After locking the secretariat and going down to the lobby, he saw people queuing outside the bakery on the ground floor. The faces of those preparing for the Christmas holiday carried a kind of anticipation entirely at odds with the expressionless face reflected in the glass beside them.

 

Maybe I should buy a cake.

 

There could hardly be anything more pathetic than blowing out candles alone in an empty house. Nevertheless, before he knew it, he was holding a white cake box. It was an expense he had not planned for, but the weight of it in his hand did not feel unpleasant.

 

Yi-hyeon hurried past groups of people gathered together, pulling his scarf more tightly around his neck. Perhaps it would be a white Christmas. The sky was so hazy that the world seemed brighter in every direction.

 

***

 

Why had he forgotten that the world was not particularly kind to him? He should have realised what awaited him when he saw the blackened wall beside the building entrance and the dark stains left on the stairs by water mixed with soot.

 

When he returned home after several days away, the flat was in a worse state than he had imagined. The moment he pulled open the front door, he was greeted by a water-covered floor and air thick with the smell of burning.

 

The door had always fitted loosely enough for draughts to come through. Apparently water and smoke had found their way in through the gaps. Without even removing his shoes, Yi-hyeon hurried inside and threw the windows wide open. A wind as sharp as a blade rushed into the room.

 

“Haa…”

 

He had no idea where to begin. After setting the cake down on the sink, he dragged both hands over his face and sighed.

 

For a while, Yi-hyeon stood in the middle of the room with his teeth clenched. At last he bit his lip, fetched a cleaning cloth and crouched in a patch of floor where the water had not pooled. He began wiping up the puddles. The cloth, which had been pale to begin with, quickly turned black.

 

By the time he had made the floor reasonably presentable, his fingers were red and frozen. The acrid smell made not only his nose but his whole head ache.

 

The stench had soaked into the entire room. He could hardly sleep there, and he could not even shut the windows.

 

Yi-hyeon let out another long sigh and lowered his head. There was no way he could spend the night here, but he could not impose on Gu Jin-hyuk a second time.

 

That left a motel or a jjimjilbang, one of the public bathhouses where people could also sleep. In truth, there was nothing to decide. The amount left in his living-expenses account for the month had already made the choice for him.

 

He packed his toiletries and a change of clothes. Just as he was about to leave, the cake on the sink caught his eye. A sigh of regret rose in his throat. Why had he done something so unlike himself?

 

Then again, if he left it behind, it would simply end up in the food-waste bin. He reluctantly picked up the cake box and left the flat.

 

Yi-hyeon passed people who seemed beside themselves with excitement for Christmas, his face expressionless. Seeing so many smiling faces reminded him of the kind of saying one might find stuck to a toilet door: people were happy because they smiled, not smiling because they were happy.

 

Was he unhappy because he did not smile enough?

 

That did not seem right.

 

“One adult, please.”

 

When Yi-hyeon held out his card at the entrance to a large jjimjilbang in the city centre, he felt the part-time worker glance at him. He could hardly blame them. Here was a man turning up alone at a bathhouse on Christmas Eve, carrying a cake.

 

Fortunately, the worker said nothing and simply handed over a locker key. Yi-hyeon took it and went inside.

 

Given the occasion, the bathhouse was not particularly busy. Yi-hyeon quickly made his way to a corner of the bathing area, behind a middle-aged man washing his hair.

 

The red bruises left by Su-bin's friend were still scattered across his body. He could feel the middle-aged man behind him stealing glances. They were plainly marks someone else had left, so Yi-hyeon washed as quickly as possible beneath the shower.

 

It was almost dawn by the time he had changed into the bathhouse clothes and gone upstairs to the heated communal area. After having a simple meal in the restaurant, where the lights were already out, he entered the sleeping room and again chose a spot as far into the corner as possible.

 

He had not rested properly the previous night. Between that and cleaning the flat with icy wind blowing through it, he was utterly exhausted. Yet even when he lay down and closed his eyes, sleep would not come.

 

The insomnia that had recently returned was to blame. Yi-hyeon rested his head on the hard wooden pillow and curled himself into as small a shape as possible. His fingertips still seemed to tingle from being worked so hard in freezing water.

 

He covered his ears with his arms against the sound of someone snoring. As he dozed fitfully, the footsteps of people entering and leaving the sleeping room drifted faintly into his ears.

 

How many times had he turned over on the hard floor? He had finally fallen into a light sleep and thought a fair amount of time had passed when he sensed somebody settling down behind him.

 

With so many empty places available, why had they chosen that one? Yi-hyeon instinctively edged closer to the wall. He folded his arms and curled up again, hoping to get back to sleep.

 

Then a hand brushed the area around his backside.

 

The unexpected contact jolted him awake.

 

It must have been an accident, he told himself. He pressed a little closer to the wall, but the breathing of the person behind him grew much nearer.

 

Perhaps believing Yi-hyeon to be asleep, the person became bolder and slid a hand up his exposed thigh.

 

Goosebumps spread over Yi-hyeon's entire body. For a moment he froze with revulsion. Then he bit down hard on his lower lip and sat bolt upright.

 

When he turned, he found the same middle-aged man he had seen in the bathing area lying right beside him, pretending to be asleep. His eyelids were visibly trembling.

 

Yi-hyeon glared at the man, chewing at his own lip. There was hardly likely to be CCTV in a corner of the sleeping room. If he shouted and accused the man, all the bastard had to do was deny touching him.

 

He was angry and felt horribly wronged, but he already knew how things would turn out if he caused a scene. Just like the police officer last time, people would look down on him and laugh. Most ordinary people did not want to see a disturbance of that kind between two men in the first place. He would be lucky if nobody accused him of having enjoyed it himself.

 

If this sort of thing could happen even when he had come somewhere simply to rest, perhaps it was time to consider whether the problem lay with him.

 

The bitter thought was not even enough to make him laugh.

 

Yi-hyeon squeezed his eyes shut, opened them again and clenched his back teeth. Then he hurried out of the sleeping room.

 

Most of the people lying comfortably in the main hall were asleep. A clock on the wall showed three o'clock. As if fleeing, Yi-hyeon hurried down to the changing room and put his own clothes back on.

 

He left the jjimjilbang with his exhaustion still weighing on him. The icy air of the early morning struck his face like a claw.

 

Where am I supposed to go now…?

 

It was an awkward time to start looking for a motel, and he could not go home. The weather was too cold for him to stand still, so he began walking without any particular destination. He did not even know which direction to take.

 

A group of thoroughly drunk revellers passed him, laughing loudly.

 

He had nowhere to go. The faces of several older acquaintances came to mind, men who would probably let him stay at their places for a night if he called. But they would expect him to spend the night with them in return.

 

Today, though, he would rather freeze to death in the street than do that. He would really feel as though he were selling his body, just as someone had said.

 

What a wasted life you've led, Kwon Yi-hyeon. You don't even have a friend you can ask for help at a time like this.

 

His slightly damp hair was freezing stiff, and the bare hands exposed to the cold ached. The cake box in his hand felt as heavy as a rock.

 

His body grew sluggish the farther he walked, but he could not stop. He wanted to go into a PC café or somewhere open twenty-four hours, yet every establishment he passed seemed to be a bar.

 

By the time the stiff leather of his trainers had made his toes feel not merely cold but painfully raw, a crowd of men dressed in black spilled out of a shop farther along the street.

 

He could not help looking towards the tall man who emerged last.

 

…Huh?

 

It was a familiar face.

 

Why did they always run into each other at times like this? At every single moment when Yi-hyeon felt he could not possibly sink any lower?

 

Seung-hyuk and the men around him had just left a brightly lit drinking establishment. Someone who appeared to be connected to the place had followed them to the entrance and kept bowing.

 

Yi-hyeon stopped and watched. At that moment, Seung-hyuk, who had just put a cigarette between his lips, met his eyes. The flame of a lighter held out beside him briefly illuminated his face.

 

When Seung-hyuk, standing at the front of the group with one hand in his pocket, remained motionless and stared at something, his men's puzzled gazes turned in the same direction.

 

All at once, Yi-hyeon felt ashamed of his still-damp hair and the cake box he was holding.

 

Whether he understood that feeling or not, Seung-hyuk's lips slowly parted, his expression still blank.

 

“Shouldn't you be busy fucking Gu Jin-hyuk?”

 

“…”

 

“Why are you standing around looking so pathetic in the street at this hour?”

 

The familiar cold voice made Yi-hyeon lower his eyes and press his lips together. He remembered their encounter in the office that morning and felt another sigh rising.

 

Was Seung-hyuk going to start needling him with more vicious remarks? Yi-hyeon was far too cold and tired to trade insults with him here.

 

“…It's none of your business.”

 

White breath broke apart in front of him whenever he opened his mouth. At those softly spoken words, Seung-hyuk's brow tightened. Yi-hyeon held his fierce gaze without looking away.

 

“…”

 

His nerves seemed strangely heightened by the silence. The wind finding its way through his clothes, the pain rising from his toes and that sharp stare all felt as though they were scraping at him.

 

Perhaps that was why he looked away first. He was just taking a step to pass the group when—

 

Grab.

 

The grip on his right arm was strong. Yi-hyeon looked down at the hand holding him, then slowly turned his head. His gaze, now calm and subdued, settled on Seung-hyuk's face. His tightly closed mouth, slanted eyebrows and furrowed brow made his irritation perfectly clear.

 

“Then stop making me worry about you.”

 

The muscles at the end of his angular jaw bulged and subsided. Seung-hyuk grimaced, turned his head and indifferently told the others to go somewhere else for another round of drinks. Before the men's brisk replies had even finished, he was already walking away, still gripping Yi-hyeon's arm.

 

“Let go.”

 

Yi-hyeon twisted his arm to shake him off, but the feeble movement accomplished nothing. He was cold, tired and utterly worn out. In the end, he gave up resisting and followed behind Seung-hyuk without strength.

 

Seung-hyuk led him to a car park. He approached a black saloon, opened the passenger door and pushed Yi-hyeon inside. Then he hurried round the front of the car and sat behind the wheel.

 

“Put your seat belt on.”

 

“Where are we going?”

 

“If you've got time to wander about carrying a bloody cake, stay at home and think about how you're going to seduce Gu Jin-hyuk.”

 

The car began moving to the sound of his icy voice. Once out of the car park, it headed towards the neighbourhood where Yi-hyeon lived. Yi-hyeon watched through the window with a growing suspicion. When the car turned onto a road he knew all too well, he hurriedly spoke.

 

“My place is still a mess. I can't go back yet. Just drop me off anywhere around here. I can sleep in a motel.”

 

An old motel building was visible through the window just then. Yi-hyeon wished he had gone straight to one in the first place. Biting his lip, he hurried to unfasten his seat belt, but Seung-hyuk snorted and made a wide U-turn.

 

“As if there's going to be a room free on Christmas.”

 

Ah.

 

He had completely forgotten it was Christmas Eve. No, midnight had passed, so it was Christmas Day now. Seung-hyuk was not wrong, and Yi-hyeon had no choice but to keep quiet.

 

He tightened his grip once more on the cake-box handle, which had become slightly crushed from how hard he had been holding it, and opened his mouth.

 

“…Then where are we going?”

 

Seung-hyuk silently turned the steering wheel. He stared straight ahead, his gaze fixed in one direction as though he were thinking about something.

 

Yi-hyeon doubted that asking again would get him an answer. After watching Seung-hyuk's profile for a while, he swallowed a sigh and looked forwards.

 

Tap, tap, tap.

 

The light sound of Seung-hyuk's forefinger tapping the steering wheel echoed through the quiet car. Warmth began to rise against Yi-hyeon's back and backside. Seung-hyuk must have turned on the heated seat.

 

As his frozen body began to thaw, the exhaustion he had been ignoring all night flooded over him. His forehead knocked lightly against the window, but even that did nothing to wake him properly.

 

I mustn't fall asleep… I can't fall asleep here…

 

He repeated the words to himself. Beyond his slowly blinking eyes, yellow and red lights stretched into long lines as the car passed them. White flakes like fine powder were drifting down over the black road.

 

He did not know where they were going, but he wished Seung-hyuk would hurry up and let him go.

 

He wanted to close his eyes and sink into a sleep from which he would never wake. Unable to bear their own weight any longer, his eyelids fell shut.

 

Yi-hyeon woke just as the car entered an underground car park. He looked around the dim interior as the vehicle came to a quiet stop.

 

Still not fully awake, he blinked slowly. He heard the click of a seat belt being released beside him, but contrary to his expectation, the driver's door did not open. Only then did he turn towards Seung-hyuk, who was staring straight ahead at nothing.

 

“Where are we?”

 

His low, sleep-thickened voice sounded dreadful. He frowned and cleared his throat. Seung-hyuk spoke.

 

“My officetel.”

 

Yi-hyeon's hand stopped halfway to his throat. No wonder the place had looked familiar. He had been here before.

 

He now knew where they were, but he still did not understand why they had come. Rather than asking outright, he quietly watched Seung-hyuk.

 

The sharp line of his angular jaw looked almost unreal, as though drawn in a picture. Yi-hyeon's gaze travelled past his prominent brow and straight nose. As it was about to reach the space beneath his nose, those red lips parted.

 

Yi-hyeon instinctively looked away, like someone caught doing something wrong.

 

“Stay at my place for a few days until yours is sorted out.”

 

“What?”

 

“You've got nowhere else to go.”

 

Yi-hyeon was startled by the sudden offer, but his instinctive resistance quickly took over. It seemed preferable to impose on one of his other acquaintances, however unpleasant that might be, than to stay uncomfortably at Gu Seung-hyuk's place.

 

He lowered his eyes and opened the contacts on his phone.

 

“You don't need to do that. I can stay with someone I know for a while…”

 

He was hurriedly scrolling through names arranged in alphabetical order when a large, veined hand suddenly covered the screen. Their fingers and palms brushed briefly, and the next moment the phone was in Seung-hyuk's hand.

 

“Gu Jin-hyuk doesn't have cheap tastes.”

 

“…”

 

“It'll be a problem if you keep going from house to house, letting people fuck you like some little slut.”

 

The black phone dropped onto the cake box with a soft thud, its screen reflecting Yi-hyeon's face. He silently ran his tongue over the inside of his cheek.

 

Rather than making him angry, the insult, tossed out so indifferently, made him feel strangely calm. As Seung-hyuk switched off the engine and prepared to open the door, Yi-hyeon spoke.

 

“And you're all right, are you?”

 

Seung-hyuk stopped as he was about to rise. He stared into empty space and let out a disbelieving little laugh, then slowly turned to look down at Yi-hyeon.

 

“That's not a very funny joke.”

 

“Kwon Yi-hyeon, there is no chance in hell that you and I will ever share a bed.”

 

He spoke with the firmness of someone making a declaration. One corner of his mouth lifted crookedly.

 

Yi-hyeon looked up at him without any expression. Seung-hyuk met his eyes from beneath lowered lids, but then an image flashed through his mind and the line of his mouth slowly hardened.

 

It was said that the harder one tried not to think about something, the more insistently it returned. Now that he had said the words aloud, an image of himself and Yi-hyeon rolling around on a bed, their lips pressed fiercely together, appeared and vanished. Instinctive revulsion surged through him.

 

Frowning, Seung-hyuk turned away first and got out of the driver's seat. His fist was clenched tightly around the car keys.

 

Yi-hyeon got out and silently followed Seung-hyuk through the lobby towards the lift. The more he thought he did not want to become deeply entangled with the man, the more tangled together they seemed to become.

 

Inside the ascending lift, Yi-hyeon stole a sideways glance at him. Seung-hyuk was leaning crookedly against the wall with his eyes closed.

 

Ding.

 

The chime announcing their arrival sounded, and Seung-hyuk's eyes opened. Yi-hyeon hurriedly turned his gaze away, pressing his lips together as though he had not been looking at him.

 

When the electronic door lock clicked open and the front door swung back, the lights came on all at once. Yi-hyeon changed into the neatly arranged indoor slippers, followed Seung-hyuk inside and looked around.

 

He had felt it before, but the flat was like a show home, without the warmth of somewhere a person actually lived. The living room held only the essential furniture, with nothing unnecessary in sight. The kitchen was almost empty of household items. It was easy enough to imagine how Gu Seung-hyuk lived here.

 

“Use that room. It has its own bathroom.”

 

Seung-hyuk had gone straight to the kitchen and taken a bottle of water from the fridge. He indicated something with a jerk of his chin. Yi-hyeon followed his gaze to a closed door beside the living room.

 

Now that he had come all this way, there was no turning back. He looked at Seung-hyuk and spoke.

 

“…I'll impose on you for a few days, then.”

 

Instead of answering, Seung-hyuk brought the small water bottle to his lips and drank silently. The prominent Adam's apple in the middle of his throat moved up and down. He emptied the bottle in no time, threw it in the bin, ran a hand through his hair and started walking.

 

“Suit yourself.”

 

“Wait a moment.”

 

Yi-hyeon reached out instinctively to stop Seung-hyuk as he passed, but the instant his hand caught Seung-hyuk's arm, it was slapped away. Seung-hyuk's expression was cold, as though something filthy had touched him.

 

Despite everything that had happened that day, Yi-hyeon had maintained his composure. Now, for the first time, an expression crossed his face before quickly disappearing.

 

He pressed his lips together and raised his head to meet Seung-hyuk's eyes. Oddly enough, it was Seung-hyuk, the one who had knocked his hand away, whose face was more tightly drawn.

 

Silence passed between them before Seung-hyuk opened his mouth.

 

“…What is it?”

 

Yi-hyeon had only wanted to thank him for helping, but he could not bring himself to act as though nothing had happened after being treated like that.

 

“It's nothing.”

 

A crease appeared between Seung-hyuk's well-shaped eyebrows. Yi-hyeon lowered his eyes first, ending the confrontation. Their shoulders brushed lightly as Seung-hyuk left the kitchen, and Yi-hyeon flinched without meaning to.

 

The heavy scent of Seung-hyuk's aftershave lingered around his nose where they had touched. Yi-hyeon barely managed to resist turning his head and instead fixed his gaze on the edge of the dining table. A moment later, he heard a door open and shut with a click.

 

He must have been tensing his body without realising it. He felt his stiff muscles loosen as the tension drained away. He dragged a hand down his face and let out a short sigh.

 

He was about to finish putting things away and go to his room when the white cake box on the kitchen island caught his eye. Moving slowly, almost as though entranced, Yi-hyeon untied the ribbon and opened it.

 

The cake, which had once been beautifully decorated with fresh cream and fruit, had slid to one side and become a complete mess. Seeing it collapsed and ruined, with none of its original appearance remaining, brought a self-mocking smile to his lips.

 

So this is what happens when someone like me tries to get into the Christmas spirit.

 

Yi-hyeon pushed the cake he had carried so carefully all evening back into its box, picked the whole thing up and dropped it into the bin.

 

Of course. As if something like this was ever going to suit me.

 

His footsteps sounded slower than usual as he headed towards the closed bedroom door.

 

***

 

His eyes ached after a night spent tossing and turning. Unable to settle in an unfamiliar bed, Yi-hyeon had stared out of the window for most of the night. Around dawn, he finally climbed out from beneath the rustling covers.

 

The fine grains of snow that had begun falling at some point during the night had grown into large, soft flakes. Looking down at the city blanketed in white, as though it were celebrating the birth of Jesus, Yi-hyeon silently picked up his packet of cigarettes. He thought he might as well go outside for a smoke.

 

He carefully opened the bedroom door and stepped into the living room, where the dim light of dawn was steeped in silence. Everything was so quiet that Seung-hyuk must still have been asleep. There was no reason to wake him, so Yi-hyeon went into the kitchen and opened the fridge as quietly as he could.

 

He had meant to have a glass of water, but what greeted him was a completely empty interior. A few bottles of water in the side compartment were the only things inside.

 

What does he live on?

 

It was none of his business, but the emptiness of the flat seemed to say something about Gu Seung-hyuk's own circumstances. Yi-hyeon took a glass, wet his lips with some water and turned away.

 

Who am I to worry about anyone else?

 

He opened the front door without making a sound, left the building and headed towards the convenience store he could see nearby. The accumulated snow crunched beneath his feet with every step.

 

“Welcome.”

 

Yi-hyeon had been heading straight for the counter when he stopped in front of the sandwiches and ready meals displayed to one side. He had suddenly remembered Seung-hyuk's fridge, empty of anything to eat.

 

After hesitating for a moment, he reached for some sandwiches and coffee. Considering that he was staying at the man's home, he felt he ought to do at least this much. He placed the items on the counter and asked for a packet of cigarettes. The part-time worker quickly rang everything up.

 

Carrying his plastic bag, Yi-hyeon left the store. Instead of going straight back to the officetel, he turned into the alley beside it. He leant his back against the wall, took out the cigarettes and brought one to his lips.

 

He lit it, and the white smoke mingled with the snowflakes falling all around him. Then he opened his hand and held his palm out into the air.

 

A snowflake drifted gently down and landed there. Before he could bring his face close enough to examine it, it melted into water. The sight of something unable to settle anywhere before disappearing altogether reminded him bitterly of himself. Yi-hyeon closed his hand into a tight fist, lowered it and looked up at the officetel in front of him.

 

The three towers of the high-rise complex were famously among the most expensive properties in Seoul. Considering the view of the entire city and how spacious the flat was for one person, it must be worth at least several billion won.

 

There was something absurd about a man who had fallen into debt for want of a mere thirty million won now staying in such a luxurious place. And when he thought that the money weighing on him like shackles was probably little more than pocket change to Seung-hyuk, the sandwiches and cheap tins of coffee in his plastic bag suddenly seemed rather pitiful.

 

When Yi-hyeon returned, he could hear water running in the bathroom. He had bought the food without thinking, but now that he had placed the plastic bag on the expensive marble table, he wondered whether Seung-hyuk would even touch a cheap convenience-store sandwich.

 

He was still fiddling with the bag's handles when the bathroom door opened and Seung-hyuk appeared with wet hair.

 

Their eyes met, and Seung-hyuk raised an eyebrow. He looked from the plastic bag to Yi-hyeon and back again before speaking in a puzzled tone.

 

“What's that?”

 

His features were as sharp as ever, but with his fringe hanging down, he somehow looked calmer than usual. Yi-hyeon hesitated, lowered his eyes and began taking things out of the bag.

 

“There wasn't anything to eat in the fridge.”

 

After setting down the wrapped sandwiches and tins of coffee, he felt awkward standing there with his hands empty and needlessly curled them into fists. Seung-hyuk watched him, gave a disbelieving little laugh and turned away.

 

“At least you won't starve to death wherever you go.”

 

“I got some for you too.”

 

Yi-hyeon's quiet voice stopped Seung-hyuk, who had been about to shake the water from his hair and disappear into his room. When Seung-hyuk turned back, Yi-hyeon pushed one of the sandwiches towards him.

 

Something subtle changed in Seung-hyuk's expression as he looked down at the food in front of him. Yi-hyeon did not notice. He simply gathered his own breakfast and started to walk away.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

Seung-hyuk quickly caught his arm as he headed towards the bedroom. At the sudden grip around his forearm, Yi-hyeon turned his head and remembered how Seung-hyuk had slapped his hand away the previous night.

 

So it's all right when he does it, but nobody else is allowed to touch him?

 

Still wearing a puzzled expression, Yi-hyeon slowly twisted his arm. Only then did Seung-hyuk look at the hand gripping him. As though realising what he was doing belatedly, he frowned and let go at once.

 

Yi-hyeon rubbed his freed arm with his other hand and spoke evenly.

 

“You wouldn't want to sit opposite me and eat, would you?”

 

“You don't have to tell me to stay and eat. We're not close enough to sit across from each other like that, remember?”

 

Seung-hyuk frowned as he recognised the words he himself had said once before.

 

Nothing had changed since then. Nevertheless, seeing Yi-hyeon taking his food away to eat in his room made him feel strangely irritated, as though the man were deliberately avoiding him. He picked up the sandwich in front of him and spoke flatly.

 

“Just sit down.”

 

Yi-hyeon glanced at him, looked once towards the closed bedroom door, then turned back and pulled out a chair. Sitting opposite each other, neither man made eye contact as they opened their respective sandwich wrappers.

 

“…”

 

The silence grew so heavy that the sounds of chewing and swallowing were clearly audible. Yi-hyeon did not usually mind silence, but there was no denying the awkwardness of this particular situation.

 

When he stole a glance across the table, Seung-hyuk was eating the cheap sandwich, now missing a chunk from one end, with an expression of complete familiarity. Finding it strange that Seung-hyuk was not saying anything deliberately hurtful, Yi-hyeon spoke first.

 

“It's Christmas.”

 

“…”

 

“Aren't you seeing your partner?”

 

The moment he said it, he realised it was a far too private and personal question to ask Gu Seung-hyuk. He regretted speaking, although his face remained impassive. Seung-hyuk raised his head and gave a small snort.

 

“What kind of partner would a gangster bastard like me have?”

 

Yi-hyeon's hand paused at the way Seung-hyuk had called himself a gangster. He could not remember ever hearing the man describe himself that way before. His voice sounded almost self-mocking, although surely that could not be right. Yi-hyeon squeezed the innocent tin of coffee in his hand. Its coldness seeped into his palm.

 

“Thanks for the food.”

 

The sandwich had not been large, and Seung-hyuk finished it quickly. He crushed the empty coffee tin in one hand. When Yi-hyeon saw him about to get up first, he hurried to speak.

 

“…I'm going out for a little while later. I need to collect clothes for work tomorrow and a few other things.”

 

Instead of answering, Seung-hyuk clicked his tongue indifferently and raised his wrist to check his watch.

 

“Then come over to the office when you're done. We need to talk about work.”

 

Work. The mere word was enough to make Yi-hyeon's heart pound. It brought home to him how little time remained before the event Seung-hyuk had mentioned.

 

When Yi-hyeon nodded, Seung-hyuk rose without hesitation and returned to his room.

 

“…”

 

Left alone, Yi-hyeon set down the half-eaten sandwich and stared at it. The ham and lettuce still in his mouth suddenly felt unpleasant. He barely managed to swallow what he had been chewing and took a drink from his tin of coffee. The bitter taste lingered on his tongue for a long time before fading.

 

When Yi-hyeon returned to his flat, where the smell of smoke still lingered, he gathered some clothes and his anxiety medication. By the time he came outside again, the thick snow that had been falling when he set off had turned to wet sleet.

 

He had not brought an umbrella, and half-melted snowflakes settled on his clothes and hair. In the end, he took a taxi instead of the bus and gave the driver the address of Seung-hyuk's office.

 

As soon as he entered the building, he could hear loud voices coming from the second floor. When he reached the fourth floor and opened the metal door, he found a group of burly men in the middle of a noisy drinking party.

 

“Oh, hey. You're here?”

 

It was the sort of easy familiarity the gangsters displayed after seeing someone's face a few times. Normally, Yi-hyeon would have ignored them or avoided their eyes, but he saw no reason to spoil the good atmosphere. He greeted them with a silent nod and stepped inside.

 

“Is Gu Seung-hyuk… in?”

 

Still unable to find a suitable way to address him, Yi-hyeon let the end of the question trail off. A man sitting in the corner scratched his head.

 

“Ah, the boss got a call and went out somewhere a little while ago. Why don't you sit down and wait for him?”

 

Yi-hyeon tried calling Seung-hyuk, just in case, but a recorded message told him the phone was switched off. It appeared he had no choice but to wait until Seung-hyuk returned. Reluctantly, he perched on the end of the sofa.

 

“Oi, you there! What did you say your name was last time? Don't just sit there. Have a drink!”

 

It was only natural that the men's attention turned towards him once he sat down. Seung-hyuk did not often bring outsiders into his office, let alone allow them to visit repeatedly. Yi-hyeon, who appeared to have no connection whatsoever to their world, was already something of a curiosity among the gang members.

 

“…Kwon Yi-hyeon.”

 

After he answered softly, someone placed a glass of soju and beer mixed in a peculiar ratio in front of him. He was uncomfortable beneath their gazes, but sitting there doing nothing was awkward too. Without hesitation, he picked up the glass and drank it in one go.

 

“You don't look the type, but you've got a bold streak!”

 

The man gave Yi-hyeon's shoulder a hearty slap and pulled a plate of dried snacks over towards him. Yi-hyeon bowed his head without speaking and put a seasoned almond into his mouth.

 

“For fuck's sake, I'm telling you those bastards started it that time! We were just drinking quietly at the bar!”

 

“If you were drinking quietly, how the fuck did they even know it was you lot and start trouble? You must have picked a fight with them first, you little shit.”

 

After briefly gathering around Yi-hyeon out of curiosity, the men returned to emptying their glasses and raising their voices at one another.

 

The shouting from one side made Yi-hyeon wary, but everyone apart from the men arguing looked perfectly calm, as though this were nothing unusual. Someone in a corner threw peanuts at them and told them to shut up.

 

Whenever Yi-hyeon's glass emptied, someone promptly tipped a bottle over it. As a result, the amount he drank gradually increased amid the continuing noise and confusion.

 

Conversations flew back and forth all around him. Without quite meaning to, Yi-hyeon found himself listening more closely whenever he heard the word *boss*.

 

“By the way, what happened to that nineteen-year-old kid who came in the other day?”

 

“Oh, the one with the irezumi tattoo? The boss told us to send him back to school with his teacher, remember?”

 

“Were you the one who went to the police substation that day?”

 

“Yeah. It was no joke. He even made me find out how to contact the tattooist who'd done the kid's tattoo. I passed everything on to the police.”

 

And he himself had been running around acting like a gangster since he was eighteen.

 

Old memories rose unbidden in Yi-hyeon's mind. He clenched his teeth and emptied the beer in front of him. The heat spreading inside him did not seem to be caused entirely by the alcohol.

 

“Oh, hyung! Let me mix you a drink.”

 

The moment Yi-hyeon set his glass down, a slick-looking man seated beside him picked up the bottles. With practised movements, he poured soju and beer into a glass, shook it and set it down in front of Yi-hyeon with a sharp tap.

 

Already feeling a little tipsy, Yi-hyeon bowed his head a moment too late.

 

“Ah. Thank you.”

 

“Oh, you don't need to be so formal. You're the big boss's guest.”

 

It seemed rather inaccurate to call someone who was simply a debtor a *guest*, but Yi-hyeon chose to keep his mouth shut rather than correct him.

 

“You can just call me Dong-sik. I'm twenty-two, so talk to me casually.”

 

His face did not look remotely as though it belonged to a twenty-two-year-old, but Yi-hyeon nodded. The man's shining eyes fixed on him were uncomfortable, so he lifted his glass and turned his face away.

 

The alcohol was starting to take effect. He thought he ought to stop drinking.

 

“By the way, hyung, you must be pretty close to our boss. I've never seen him invite an outsider into the office this often.”

 

They were only bound together by a contract, and Yi-hyeon had been summoned from place to place because of it. Still, he supposed it could look different to someone who knew nothing about their arrangement. He smiled bitterly and brought his glass to his lips.

 

The man shifted about in his seat, plainly eager to continue talking, but Yi-hyeon merely handled his glass with an indifferent expression. After receiving only short answers to a few more questions, the man seemed to take the hint, fell silent and moved elsewhere.

 

Yi-hyeon was more comfortable being treated as though he did not exist than being the centre of attention. He slowly withdrew and leant his back against the sofa.

 

The men, now increasingly drunk, were laughing loudly and raising their voices at one another. Yi-hyeon tilted his head and quietly watched them wave their fingers in each other's faces as they talked.

 

Blink. Blink.

 

Was it the warmth spreading through his body, or the alcohol? Sleep began creeping up on him. Even though he was in an uncomfortable place surrounded by people who made him uneasy, the intervals between his blinks kept growing longer.

 

The rattle of the warm-air heater and the men talking boisterously seemed to come from a world just beyond his own.

 

I can't fall asleep here.

 

Beyond his increasingly heavy eyelids, he could see the firmly closed door of Gu Seung-hyuk's private office.

 

When on earth is he coming back?

 

Yi-hyeon let the distant voices drift past his ears as he slowly fell asleep.

 

***

 

“…the hell are you doing?”

 

He felt somebody shaking his shoulder roughly to wake him. Dazed with sleep and drink, Yi-hyeon was barely conscious. When he forced his heavy eyelids open, he caught a glimpse of a man's vaguely familiar silhouette.

 

The only person who normally woke him when he was asleep was Su-bin. Out of habit, Yi-hyeon wrapped his arms around the man's neck.

 

“Hyung… just a little longer…”

 

He rubbed his forehead against the solid shoulder, dragging out his words. For some reason, he felt the other person's body become completely rigid. Sure enough, before he could finish asking to sleep a little longer, the man sprang upright.

 

“…Fuck.”

 

Yi-hyeon was pulled up with him and had no choice but to wake properly. Once his head cleared, he saw a table crowded with bottles and Seung-hyuk's men sprawled untidily across the sofas.

 

Only then did Yi-hyeon remember where he was. He abruptly raised his head.

 

“Ah…”

 

Gu Seung-hyuk was staring down at him with his brow deeply furrowed. Yi-hyeon's arms were still stretched towards him, as though asking to be held. His face grew hot when he realised he had mistaken Seung-hyuk for Su-bin.

 

“Sorry.”

 

Expecting to be told he was disgusting or filthy again, Yi-hyeon apologised quickly. But Seung-hyuk said nothing, merely clenching his fists tightly. He looked down at Yi-hyeon with an expression that seemed equal parts anger and irritation before turning away.

 

“We've somewhere to go. Get up.”

 

He's not saying anything.

 

It was strange to see him turn away without another word, but there was no reason to invite trouble. Yi-hyeon watched his back for a moment, then hurriedly got to his feet.

 

Everyone who had been drinking was now passed out. When he checked the time, he discovered it was already dawn. He rubbed his face once and followed Seung-hyuk downstairs.

 

He was still feeling the effects of the alcohol. Perhaps because of that, or thanks to it, he could barely feel the cold wind finding its way through his collar.

 

At the foot of the stairs, Tae-sik bowed deeply and opened the rear door of a car. Yi-hyeon watched Seung-hyuk climb in as though it were the most natural thing in the world, then sat down beside him.

 

Seung-hyuk did not look at Yi-hyeon even once. Yi-hyeon dragged a hand over his face and turned his gaze towards the window.

 

The car travelled for some time before stopping at a well-known hotel in central Seoul. Yi-hyeon hurried after Seung-hyuk, who headed straight for the lifts rather than the reception desk. Whatever Seung-hyuk was thinking, he had remained silent throughout the journey and continued to say nothing after they arrived.

 

Ding.

 

The lift doors opened. Yi-hyeon briefly met Seung-hyuk's eyes as the man entered first and turned round, then stepped in beside him.

 

One, two, three…

 

He was watching the numbers change slowly when Seung-hyuk spoke.

 

“When you've been drinking, you ask anyone to sleep with you and throw yourself into their arms.”

 

“Is that a habit of yours?”

 

Yi-hyeon turned his head without speaking. Seung-hyuk was staring at the firmly closed doors as though glaring at them.

 

What he said was not entirely wrong, whether Yi-hyeon thought back to the bar last time or to what had happened just now. He had no real excuse to offer. When Yi-hyeon merely watched him in silence, Seung-hyuk's mouth twisted coldly.

 

“Then again, I suppose people don't change that easily.”

 

Ding.

 

The lift arrived at their floor, and the doors slid open. Seung-hyuk stepped out without hesitation. Left standing alone for a moment, Yi-hyeon stared after him. There had been no swearing or cutting mockery in those words, yet for some reason his chest felt tight.

 

After they crossed a long corridor, Tae-sik stopped in front of a hotel-room door and held a key card against the lock. It clicked open, revealing a large suite divided into several areas, including a living room and bedroom.

 

Laptops and sheets of white paper were spread across the wide table in the centre, as though several people had been working there only moments earlier.

 

“You're here?”

 

Yi-hyeon was just about to ask where they were when a voice approached from the living area. A striking woman in a close-fitting black dress appeared in front of them. Her face looked vaguely familiar, as though he might have seen her on television.

 

She came closer with her red lips curved into a smile and stopped in front of Yi-hyeon. Then she took his chin between her soft fingers and tilted his face upwards.

 

“Is this the one?”

 

“Where did you manage to find a boy like this?”

 

Although her manner was like someone appraising merchandise, Yi-hyeon's expression did not change. He silently removed her hand from his chin, and her smile only widened.

 

Seung-hyuk passed the two of them and sat on a sofa in the living area. The woman glanced pointedly at Yi-hyeon before taking a seat opposite him.

 

“I've finished arranging the staff on the lounge side. There probably won't be anyone standing outside the basement storeroom, but just in case, I've made sure they can leave their posts when we give the signal.”

 

“And the guest list?”

 

“I've checked everyone. There's nobody likely to make a scene. As long as we go down quietly at the agreed time and come back, no one will know.”

 

Yi-hyeon had no place in the conversation now unfolding in earnest. He kept his eyes lowered and sat quietly, thinking that becoming too deeply involved could only cause him trouble.

 

“Which means all that's left is this one…”

 

At the sudden snap of fingers, Yi-hyeon lifted his head to find two pairs of eyes fixed on him. He straightened warily, and the woman continued.

 

“I don't know whether you've heard, but the OTP number is checked through an app on Gu Jin-hyuk's phone. I think the icon was a blue padlock, though I'm not completely sure.”

 

His phone?

 

“Oh, and there's a password. I couldn't find that out. I only happened to see the padlock app while he was on a call, so I couldn't get any further than that.”

 

Yi-hyeon's brow tightened at the mention of a password. He could hardly ask Gu Jin-hyuk for it directly. That meant even if he managed to get his hands on the man's phone, it would be useless.

 

“Don't worry about that.”

 

Seung-hyuk had been leaning forwards with his fingers interlaced over his knees. He straightened and reached one hand behind him. Tae-sik, who had been standing there with impeccable posture, passed him something.

 

It was a small box, roughly half the size of a palm.

 

Thud.

 

Seung-hyuk tossed it onto the table in front of Yi-hyeon. When Yi-hyeon only stared at it, Seung-hyuk clicked his tongue.

 

“Open it.”

 

Yi-hyeon studied the box covered in dark-blue suede before reaching for it. It opened upwards, like a necklace case.

 

Inside was a simply designed tie clip. Yi-hyeon lifted his head towards Seung-hyuk, but Tae-sik spoke from behind him.

 

“If you look at the back, there's a piece that can be plugged into a mobile phone. Once you connect it, the people on our team will use a programme to break through the security.”

 

“…Your team?”

 

“Did you really think you could handle a job of this size on your own?”

 

The laptops and other things he had seen on the table when he entered must have belonged to the team Seung-hyuk mentioned. The thought that other people besides himself were involved made the weight on Yi-hyeon's shoulders feel even heavier.

 

“…Suppose it all works and I get the password. What happens after that? Do I contact you?”

 

“No need. See the tiny hole on the front of the tie clip? That's a camera. Point it at the phone's screen, and the people watching the feed in real time will take care of it.”

 

When Yi-hyeon examined the tie clip more closely, he found what looked like a tiny fragment of glass embedded in a spot almost impossible to notice with the naked eye. Only then did it truly sink in that this was no game.

 

While Yi-hyeon stared expressionlessly at the tie clip, Seung-hyuk clicked his tongue a couple of times and sprawled sideways along the sofa. Covering his eyes with one arm as though exhausted, he muttered:

 

“Pretty easy work for thirty million won.”

 

“…”

 

“Isn't it?”

 

Yi-hyeon's silence settled over the suite. Unable to bear the continuing hush, the woman clapped her hands as though trying to lighten the atmosphere and rose from her seat.

 

“The problem is how you're going to get access to Gu Jin-hyuk's phone… Oh, before that. Have you received an invitation?”

 

Yi-hyeon turned towards her at the unexpected question. The woman was taking something from her handbag.

 

A moment later, she held up a small, dark-navy paper envelope. It was probably an invitation to the party.

 

“They won't let anyone in without an invitation, so don't forget to bring yours on the day of the event.”

 

Yi-hyeon stared at the invitation with his lips tightly closed. Gu Jin-hyuk had never mentioned an invitation to him. He had never even spoken to him about the party.

 

“…I haven't received one yet.”

 

The woman frowned in concern and looked towards Seung-hyuk. He was still stretched out on the sofa with his shoes crossed at the ankles. When he offered no response, she finally spoke to him.

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

“Shouldn't we change the plan, even now?”

 

Seung-hyuk remained silent, and the room fell quiet. Just as the woman waiting for his answer began to frown more deeply, his closed lips parted and his pleasant, low voice emerged.

 

“Stick to the plan.”

 

“…Mr Seung-hyuk!”

 

“There's still time.”

 

Removing the arm covering his eyes, Seung-hyuk turned his head. When his gaze met Yi-hyeon's, one corner of his mouth lifted crookedly.

 

“Try a little pillow talk, Yi-hyeon.”

 

“…”

 

“You look as though you'd be good at it.”

 

His voice, languid from lying on his back, held something like a hollow laugh. Seung-hyuk turned his eyes away from Yi-hyeon without lingering and covered them with his arm again.

 

“Haa. I really don't understand what goes on in that head of yours. Just remember, we're not doing this for fun because we're bored. If it goes wrong and everything falls apart, it'll all be your responsibility.”

 

“Tae-sik, our guest is leaving. Make sure she gets home safely.”

 

The careless, muttered response made the woman frown as she stood up. She snatched her handbag from the sofa, looked from Seung-hyuk to Yi-hyeon, then marched out of the suite.

 

Tae-sik bowed to Seung-hyuk and hurried after her.

 

“…”

 

Only silence remained after the woman had gone. Seung-hyuk's steady breathing was the sole sound in the room.

 

Yi-hyeon chewed the inside of his cheek for a while before picking up the box containing the tie clip. As his finger brushed the metal, an inexplicable chill ran through him.

 

What he held was proof that the job was no game. It was also a leash. Now that something he had previously thought about only vaguely had taken a definite shape, he began worrying whether he would really be able to carry it out properly.

 

Yi-hyeon raised his head towards Seung-hyuk. The man was still lying in the same position he had been in when the woman left. Yi-hyeon could not tell whether he was asleep or merely had his eyes shut, but there was something he wanted to say.

 

“Gu Seung-hyuk.”

 

“…”

 

“I didn't sleep with him.”

 

There was no response from the man lying on the sofa. Yi-hyeon gripped the tie clip tightly.

 

“Yi-hyeon, you can go home. You look very tired.”

 

By the time Yi-hyeon returned home, having left Gu Seung-hyuk lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, dawn was almost breaking. He had gone straight to work without getting any sleep, and his head had felt foggy all day.

 

Secretary Yoon had spoken after seeing his head drop forward in a large nod as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

 

“Ah, no. I'm fine.”

 

Everyone was still at their desks despite the end of the working day. It had become a familiar sight. With the year-end celebration for the completed lounge building fast approaching, the secretariat was busy and chaotic.

 

“Su-jin, have you checked the report on the security staff?”

 

“I'm doing the final review of the catering arrangements. I'll check it as soon as I've finished this.”

 

There was a separate department responsible for organising the event, but the secretariat reviewed everything once more before final approval. Reports covering all sorts of matters were passed across desks several times a day.

 

“Is there anything I could help with?”

 

Yi-hyeon glanced at the busy people around him and cautiously spoke to Su-jin, who sat beside him. She gave an awkward smile and waved a hand.

 

“No, it's all right. We're checking documents that have already been put together, so it would be difficult without knowing the background. You can go home, Yi-hyeon.”

 

When he had first joined, the others had ignored him as though he did not exist. At some point, though, they had begun treating him with a certain caution. Thinking back, it seemed to have started around the time Secretary Yoon had taken clothes over to Gu Jin-hyuk's home.

 

“That's right, Yi-hyeon. Go on home.”

 

With everyone else still hard at work, he could hardly leave on his own without feeling inconsiderate. He said he would just finish what he was doing and went back to entering information from the papers into Excel.

 

Although he had been trying to act as calm as possible ahead of the party, Yi-hyeon was far from relaxed.

 

The day of the event was almost upon them. Gu Jin-hyuk kept him fairly close, yet had not said a single word about the party itself. How could Yi-hyeon draw the subject out of him?

 

As he turned the problem over in his head, he gripped the box containing the tie clip beneath the desk.

 

“Seong-hyeon, please check the guest list one more time.”

 

Unless Yi-hyeon could stay close to Jin-hyuk at the event, he would have no chance even to look for an opportunity to handle his phone.

 

Yi-hyeon was chewing at his lip with his eyes lowered when the office door opened and Jin-hyuk appeared.

 

Despite the late hour, his appearance was as immaculate as it had been when he arrived that morning. He slipped on the jacket he was carrying and turned towards Yi-hyeon.

 

“I have an appointment outside, so I'll be leaving first. Everyone, finish up at a reasonable hour and go home. Kwon Yi-hyeon, come with me.”

 

Again?

 

Ever since the meal with the opposition assemblyman, Jin-hyuk had occasionally taken Yi-hyeon along when meeting well-known figures. Sometimes it was the president of a construction company, sometimes a bank president, and once even the pastor of a famous church.

 

If Jin-hyuk meant it as a favour to help him make connections, Yi-hyeon could not see how it benefited him. All he ever did was sit quietly, eat and leave. He had tried listening to their conversations while forcing down food that seemed to scrape his throat, but most of what they discussed was ordinary everyday talk.

 

The one thing they had in common was the considerable interest they showed in him. He supposed it was understandable that people would be curious about an unfamiliar young man sitting beside Gu Jin-hyuk under the title of secretary.

 

Having meals with complete strangers was so uncomfortable that he could scarcely digest the food, yet he could not refuse Jin-hyuk. Yi-hyeon bowed to the others, gathered his belongings and followed him out.

 

The man they met that evening was supposedly the president of a logistics company. His face gleamed with oil, and the large, fleshy hand he extended in greeting looked more like a toad's than a person's.

 

Yi-hyeon had no choice but to take it and give it a slight shake. The man tightened his grip. His damp palm was unpleasant, but Yi-hyeon pretended nothing was wrong and lowered his eyes.

 

“…So the party preparations are going well, I hear?”

 

“We're working hard to make sure you won't be disappointed.”

 

“Disappointed? With our director holding an event for the first time in so long? I'm looking forward to it immensely.”

 

Yi-hyeon had been picking at his food with his chopsticks, but the mention of the party made him raise his head. He meant to listen to the conversation between the two men. Instead, he found the logistics company president looking at him rather than Jin-hyuk.

 

Their eyes met, and the man's greedy-looking eyes curved into a smile. It was an ordinary expression, yet Yi-hyeon felt a flash of revulsion. He quickly lowered his gaze and frowned.

 

The meal, which had seemed endless, finally came to an end, and Jin-hyuk saw President Nam off. As the tension at last left Yi-hyeon's body, he released a small sigh. Jin-hyuk looked towards him.

 

“Were you nervous?”

 

“Not exactly… I just don't understand why you keep bringing me to these meetings.”

 

Jin-hyuk's mouth twitched upwards at the honest reply.

 

Was that such a funny question?

 

Yi-hyeon stared at him, and Jin-hyuk spoke.

 

“You'll understand everything eventually.”

 

The words were as impossible to interpret as ever. Yi-hyeon simply closed his mouth and nodded. Jin-hyuk looked down at him with amusement in his eyes, then gently tugged his arm.

 

“There's a rather good bar nearby. Would you like to have a glass of wine before we go?”

 

“A bar?”

 

“It would be a shame to send you straight home.”

 

Standing with a hand on the passenger door, waiting for Yi-hyeon, Jin-hyuk was attractive even from another man's point of view.

 

There was the ease with which he approached everything, his unhurried way of speaking and his measured walk. Sometimes he gave off a faintly chilling air, but perhaps that was only Yi-hyeon's imagination. If they had met under different circumstances, Yi-hyeon might have developed a fair amount of affection for him. He suspected he would not have been the only person to think so.

 

There was no reason for Yi-hyeon to refuse another drink, so he nodded. Jin-hyuk waited for him to sit down before gently closing the passenger door.

 

The car stopped outside the lobby of a building marked Taeseong Hotel. Yi-hyeon looked at Jin-hyuk, who shrugged.

 

“Don't look at me like that. I brought you because there's a good bar on the rooftop.”

 

Yi-hyeon followed him into the lift. Sure enough, when they reached the top, a luxuriously decorated bar came into view.

 

A manager who recognised Jin-hyuk hurried towards him, but he dismissed the man with a gesture and took a seat at the bar as though he were a regular customer.

 

Soft jazz music drifted through the air. It looked like the sort of place where a single beer would cost tens of thousands of won. Yi-hyeon glanced over the people enjoying leisurely conversations at their respective tables, then turned towards Jin-hyuk.

 

“I've never been somewhere like this before.”

 

“I should have brought you sooner.”

 

Jin-hyuk seemed to be in a good mood, wearing a gentle smile almost continuously. Yi-hyeon found it awkward to meet the gaze resting quietly on him. As he turned away, his eyes met those of a bartender approaching with a bottle of wine.

 

“I'll prepare the wine you requested, sir.”

 

“Leave it there and get on with your work.”

 

The bartender bowed and moved to the other end of the bar. Jin-hyuk lifted the bottle. The liquid pouring down the thin glass walls of the wineglass was a dark red, almost like blood. When Yi-hyeon picked up the glass pushed towards him, he caught a rush of ripe-fruit fragrance, much like the wine he had drunk at Jin-hyuk's home.

 

Even as Jin-hyuk tilted his own glass, he kept his eyes on Yi-hyeon. Being stared at so intently made Yi-hyeon feel as though the man might see right through him, and his nerves tightened. It was a feeling someone hiding a secret inevitably had to overcome.

 

Yi-hyeon naturally avoided his eyes and ran his tongue over his lips. They were already richly coloured, and the movement left them looking redder still.

 

“How are you finding the work?”

 

All Yi-hyeon did in the secretariat were simple errands. He completed the odd jobs the other secretaries gave him, and when he had nothing to do, he leafed pointlessly through the manual he had received on his first day. Whenever Jin-hyuk summoned him, they went out together.

 

Jin-hyuk had to know all that, so why was he asking?

 

“Everyone seems very busy lately… I think there's some sort of event coming up?”

 

If Jin-hyuk would not bring up the completion party himself, Yi-hyeon could raise the subject first. He lifted his wineglass to his lips to conceal his expression.

 

“Didn't Gu Seung-hyuk tell you? I thought you already knew.”

 

Yi-hyeon shook his head at the man watching him. He arranged his face into a calm expression so the lie would not be noticed, but his eyes soon dropped.

 

“There's a lounge building I've been involved with since the design stage. It's nearing completion, and we're holding an event to commemorate it. That's why everyone's so busy with the final preparations.”

 

Listening to Jin-hyuk calmly explain something he already knew, Yi-hyeon fidgeted with his fingers. How could he naturally say that he wanted to go too?

 

“…I suppose the people you've been meeting lately will be attending.”

 

“Some will. Others won't.”

 

Jin-hyuk tilted his head and shrugged.

 

“It's on Sunday. The day after tomorrow, in other words. Do you have plans?”

 

“Sorry?”

 

“You seem interested. I thought you might like to come along.”

 

Jin-hyuk had offered before Yi-hyeon even needed to ask, and his heart began pounding hard and fast. He took a sip of wine to appear composed, then cautiously opened his mouth.

 

“Would it be all right for me to attend something like that?”

 

“That's up to the host, isn't it? What do you think, Yi-hyeon?”

 

Yi-hyeon clenched a fist tightly beneath the bar. With the thought that he had overcome one obstacle came another, inexplicable image: Gu Seung-hyuk's face. He looked up at Jin-hyuk.

 

“I'd like to go.”

 

Jin-hyuk's lips curved at his answer. Instead of replying, he slowly swirled the wine in his glass.

 

“The ground floor is arranged like a large banquet hall, and above it there are rooms resembling hotel suites.”

 

“If Kwon Yi-hyeon says he's coming, I think I'll want to take him upstairs as well.”

 

“Would you still like to come?”

 

Rooms resembling hotel suites. Yi-hyeon was not foolish enough to misunderstand what Jin-hyuk meant by taking him there. Even so, the remark was far more explicit than he had expected, and his mouth suddenly felt dry.

 

He swallowed.

 

If someone asked whether he disliked Gu Jin-hyuk, he could truthfully say no. Jin-hyuk was the most mature, calm and considerate person he knew.

 

But liking someone as a person did not mean being sexually attracted to them. Yi-hyeon could not imagine himself rolling around in bed with him.

 

“…Do you want to sleep with me?”

 

At the quietly spoken question, Jin-hyuk raised his eyes.

 

“Is there anyone who wouldn't?”

 

Jin-hyuk brought the wineglass to his lips and tilted it slightly. His eyes remained fixed on Yi-hyeon above the rim.

 

Yi-hyeon met his gaze without looking away. Jin-hyuk smiled as he lowered the glass.

 

“I don't know whether you're aware of it, Kwon Yi-hyeon, but those eyes of yours make people terribly thirsty.”

 

“…”

 

“The way you pretend otherwise but become wary every time somebody comes close is just like…”

 

“…”

 

“A stray kitten that's lost its parents and been thrown out onto the street.”

 

Jin-hyuk lightly ran a finger over the back of Yi-hyeon's hand resting on the bar. Yi-hyeon instinctively withdrew it and clenched it into a fist. Jin-hyuk's mouth curved further.

 

“That's exactly the sort of thing that excites people like us.”

 

Jin-hyuk leant back from the bar, but the tension he had created remained. Yi-hyeon rubbed the back of his hand with the other, feeling as though ants were crawling over the place the man's finger had touched.

 

Rather than answering, Yi-hyeon lifted his wineglass to his lips. The taste lingering on his tongue seemed more bitter than before. He lowered his thick lashes and stared at Jin-hyuk's large hand. He could feel the man's persistent gaze upon him.

 

“…I'll go with you.”

 

If he could spend time alone with Jin-hyuk in a private room, there might be a chance to handle his phone. He could try when Jin-hyuk was showering or after he had fallen asleep.

 

Even if he actually ended up sleeping with Jin-hyuk, it would hardly be a bad bargain. Thirty million won for a single encounter—there could not be another transaction like that anywhere in the world.

 

And yet he felt like utter shit. It was because he could not shake the sensation of becoming a male prostitute. He had thought he would never again reach a point in his life where he was willing to sell his body for something. This time, what was worse, it was for money.

 

Yi-hyeon raised his head, suppressing the bitter, self-mocking smile threatening to appear. Jin-hyuk held out his glass with a satisfied expression.

 

Their thin wineglasses touched lightly. A faint, ringing vibration travelled into Yi-hyeon's fingertips.

 

For now, don't think about anything. Just concentrate on what needs to be done.

 

He brought the glass to his lips and turned towards the night view beyond the window. Everywhere, the glittering products of money shone brightly against the darkness. His vision suddenly swam, and Yi-hyeon closed his eyes.

 

The door opened with a click, revealing the brightly lit entrance hall. The living room beyond was dark. Seung-hyuk either hadn't come home yet or was in his bedroom.

 

Was it relief at finally receiving the invitation he had been waiting for? The wine he had drunk whenever Jin-hyuk offered him more? Or simply the change from the bitter wind outside to the warmth of the flat? Whatever the reason, his body felt as heavy as though weights had been tied to it.

 

I just want to sleep.

 

Yi-hyeon took off his shoes and stepped inside. He was about to hurry to his room when his gaze strayed towards the darkened living room.

 

Contrary to his expectations, someone was there. Dressed in comfortable clothes, Seung-hyuk sat on the floor with his back against the sofa, looking out of the window. A bottle of whisky and a glass stood on the glass table in front of him.

 

Seeing him sitting there without even turning on a light bothered Yi-hyeon, but he had no particular desire to speak to him. Judging by the fact that Seung-hyuk had said nothing when he came in, the feeling was probably mutual. Deliberately looking away, Yi-hyeon opened his bedroom door with a click.

 

“Phew…”

 

He dropped limply onto the bed without bothering to undress. The effects of the alcohol he had been trying to ignore began to creep up on him. Thoughts washed back and forth through his sluggish mind. The greatest problem was how to get hold of Gu Jin-hyuk's mobile phone.

 

Ideally, he would take advantage of the commotion at the party and quietly slip the phone away. But he had never done anything resembling pickpocketing, and with so many people watching, it seemed impossible.

 

That left only one option: wait until they went upstairs and were alone together.

 

The best scenario would be to find the phone while Jin-hyuk was in the shower, but there were too many uncertainties. Waiting for him to fall asleep after sex was no different. Yi-hyeon would only get one chance, so he needed a more reliable method.

 

“It's not as though I can just ask to borrow his phone…”

 

No sooner had he overcome one mountain than an even bigger one appeared in front of him. Dragging a hand down his face, Yi-hyeon braced himself against the bedside table to sit up.

 

Clatter.

 

His hand struck something on the table, knocking it to the floor. Frowning, he bent to retrieve it. It was the sleeping medication he had brought from his own flat a few days earlier.

 

He was about to put it back without another thought when an idea suddenly crossed his mind.

 

If he could find an opportunity to give Jin-hyuk a sleeping pill once they were upstairs, getting to his phone would be easy. A sufficiently strong drug would put Jin-hyuk to sleep, allowing Yi-hyeon to finish the job without having sex with him. It was worth trying.

 

Sleeping pills strong enough to put Gu Jin-hyuk out.

 

What Yi-hyeon had was closer to a tranquilliser, and it would take too long to work. He needed something that would make Jin-hyuk fall asleep quickly. And the person who could get it for him was closer than anyone else.

 

He remembered seeing Gu Seung-hyuk discreetly pass something to someone at the bar.

 

Having thought of it, Yi-hyeon decided he ought to ask straight away. He got up, roughly dried his damp hair and changed into lighter clothes. Even then, his cheeks felt hot from the alcohol.

 

Click.

 

When he opened the bedroom door, Seung-hyuk was exactly where he had been before. His arm was draped over the sofa's armrest, and the city lights reflected from the glass he held precariously in one hand.

 

Yi-hyeon frowned and worried at his lower lip.

 

If Seung-hyuk had been making his usual remarks designed to get under people's skin, or had looked at him with those cold eyes, it would actually have been easier to start a conversation.

 

Yi-hyeon stood watching him for a moment. Seung-hyuk did not even look his way. After letting out a sigh, Yi-hyeon went into the kitchen and took out a glass.

 

Thump.

 

He sat down on the sofa opposite Seung-hyuk and picked up the whisky bottle. Only then did Seung-hyuk turn his head away from the window.

 

Yi-hyeon met his eyes as he brought his glass to his lips.

 

Seung-hyuk must have been drinking quite a lot. The eyes looking back at him were dark and sunken. Yi-hyeon held his gaze without flinching, yet the face he had seen so many times suddenly felt unfamiliar. At last, he turned away and lowered his eyes.

 

“… ”

 

The ticking of a clock somewhere in the flat was the only sound making its presence known. A strange tension hung in the suffocating silence. Although he had been the first to look away, Yi-hyeon could still feel Seung-hyuk staring at him. His throat suddenly felt dry. When he ran his tongue over his damp lips, he tasted bitterness.

 

Tick. Tock.

 

The regular sound brushed against his ears.

 

Wondering how best to begin, Yi-hyeon raised his glass once more and swallowed another mouthful of whisky. It burned all the way down his throat and left his head feeling hazy.

 

Between the wine he had drunk with Jin-hyuk and the whisky now, he was well past his limit. His entire body was warning him not to drink any more, but he set the glass on the table as though nothing were wrong.

 

“Gu Seung—”

 

His tightly closed lips finally parted, his slightly hoarse voice cutting through the air. But before he could finish saying Seung-hyuk's name, a hand caught his wrist, and another voice interrupted him.

 

“Were you trying to kill yourself?”

 

The question came in a quiet, low voice. Yi-hyeon's parted lips pressed tightly together. Every nerve in his body seemed to gather around the wrist Seung-hyuk was holding.

 

It was the last question he had expected to hear from Seung-hyuk. As Yi-hyeon went rigid, Seung-hyuk's fingers slipped beneath his sleeve like a snake. His fingertips, so warm they almost felt hot, rested lightly against the scars on Yi-hyeon's wrist.

 

“If I hadn't been around, you could've carried on fucking Lee Chan-yang and lived happily enough.”

 

Thud. Thud.

 

Yi-hyeon couldn't tell whether the pulse hammering against his wrist belonged to him or to Seung-hyuk.

 

Hearing that name for the first time in years felt as though someone had seized him by the ankle. He clenched his back teeth. Belatedly, he twisted his wrist to shake off the hand gripping it, but he had no hope of escaping Seung-hyuk's large hand.

 

“Why, all of a sudden…”

 

His mouth seemed to dry out the moment he opened it. Yi-hyeon struggled to steady his low, cracking voice.

 

“…Why are you bringing up that name?”

 

Since transferring schools as though fleeing, he had deliberately avoided that name at every opportunity. He clenched his free hand into a tight fist and lowered his gaze. Seung-hyuk's grip tightened.

 

“Why? You can't bear to hear it from the bastard who fucked up your first love?”

 

“…It's got nothing to do with you.”

 

“How the fuck has it got nothing to do with me?”

 

Seung-hyuk gave a short, breathless laugh and went on, grinding out each word.

 

“I got caught up in a bunch of gay bastards' love drama, and I'm the one whose life got fucked up.”

 

Thud. Thud. Thud.

 

His heart had been racing ever since he heard Lee Chan-yang's name. Yi-hyeon felt sure the pounding would reach Seung-hyuk through the wrist he held. He closed his eyes, and the alcohol surged through his head, sending dark blotches swimming before him.

 

He slowly opened his eyes again and blinked. At the sight of Yi-hyeon's visibly stiffened face, Seung-hyuk ground his teeth together.

 

“Looks like you've got more than one man on the go. Did you break up with Lee Chan-yang because you'd already fucked him every way you could?”

 

“Or was his cock not enough to satisfy your arse?”

 

If there had been even a little more mockery or contempt in his tone, Yi-hyeon might have been able to fight back. But Seung-hyuk's voice was merely low, so flat that it seemed almost devoid of emotion.

 

Yi-hyeon's lips parted several times without a word coming out. Even having a conversation with Gu Seung-hyuk in which they spoke that name was unbearably suffocating.

 

Gripping his glass tightly, Yi-hyeon finally managed to mutter,

 

“…You don't need to know.”

 

A faint scoff came from in front of him as soon as he finished speaking. Yi-hyeon clenched the hand Seung-hyuk was still holding.

 

“Right. Whether you keep seeing Lee Chan-yang or fuck around with other bastards, it's none of my business.”

 

Seung-hyuk stopped speaking, leaving a short gap between one thought and the next. His voice sounded almost self-mocking, though that couldn't possibly be right. Just as Yi-hyeon was about to swallow, Seung-hyuk continued in a dry, cool tone.

 

“But you keep making me give a damn.”

 

“… ”

 

“You keep getting under my skin.”

 

The inside of Yi-hyeon's wrist, where Seung-hyuk's thumb rested, burned as though it had been scalded. His alcohol-soaked brain took an extra moment to register the words. Seung-hyuk had said he got under his skin countless times before, yet today the familiar expression sounded strange. It must have been the atmosphere.

 

Yi-hyeon faltered briefly, then pulled his wrist free with force. The warmth around his arm vanished, leaving an inexplicable sense of emptiness. He hurriedly tugged his sleeve down.

 

Perhaps it was the alcohol making Seung-hyuk act so strangely tonight. Dragging up a name Yi-hyeon had almost managed to forget, then casually putting his hands on the scars on his wrist—neither was something he would ordinarily do.

 

For a moment, Yi-hyeon wondered whether Seung-hyuk wanted to see how he would react to such unfamiliar behaviour. But his calm, lowered gaze suggested otherwise. That only made it harder to work out why he was acting this way.

 

“Gu Jin-hyuk asked me to go to the party with him.”

 

In the end, Yi-hyeon chose to change the subject. Saying Jin-hyuk's name so abruptly felt like being thrown back into reality from a suffocating dream. He turned his head away, absently rubbing the wrist that had just been held.

 

“I need sleeping pills. Something that takes effect quickly.”

 

Seung-hyuk gave no answer. He merely lounged against the sofa, staring at Yi-hyeon. The look made Yi-hyeon's chest feel tight again. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he sprang to his feet.

 

He had not received an answer, but he had said everything he needed to say. There was no reason to stay seated. He checked that Seung-hyuk's glass was still half full and turned to go back to his room.

 

“You said you hadn't slept with him.”

 

“… ”

 

“How are you planning to get him to take the pills?”

 

Yi-hyeon turned his head at the flat voice. Seung-hyuk had lowered his eyes and was staring at the spot where Yi-hyeon had been sitting. The soft orange light cast broad shadows over the sharp lines of his face.

 

Yi-hyeon had no intention of reciting his plans as though reporting to a drunk man. He decided to let his silence stand as an answer and was about to turn away when Seung-hyuk slowly raised his eyes to meet his.

 

“Try it here.”

 

“What?”

 

“Practise. Try it on me.”

 

There was no hint of a smile on his face, so it was difficult to dismiss the words as mockery. His voice was far too clear to put it down to drunken rambling, either.

 

As Yi-hyeon stood there unable to look away, the ticking that had lain quietly beneath their conversation grew louder again.

 

Tick. Tock. Tick.

 

The repeating sound seemed almost hypnotic. The alcohol that had rushed to his head when he stood, the heavy atmosphere tightening around his whole body and Seung-hyuk's unrelenting stare all tangled together.

 

Yi-hyeon had been on his way to his bedroom. Now, half on impulse, he turned back.

 

He stepped between Seung-hyuk's spread legs and slowly reached out. His long, pale hand passed beside Seung-hyuk's neck and came to rest on the back of the sofa. Seung-hyuk watched his face with eyes that seemed to linger over every inch of it.

 

Yi-hyeon did not look away. Slowly, he lowered his head.

 

Bent over the languidly seated Seung-hyuk, he was poised as though a moment away from wrapping his arms around his neck and embracing him. He looked straight into Seung-hyuk's eyes.

 

As the distance between their eyes and faces narrowed, the room seemed to grow even quieter. It was so silent that Yi-hyeon could almost imagine hearing the faint scrape of their eyelashes whenever they blinked.

 

He stopped when barely three fingers' width remained between their lips. His own face was reflected in Seung-hyuk's black pupils.

 

Seung-hyuk showed neither surprise nor embarrassment. He simply held Yi-hyeon's gaze, his eyes intensely alert.

 

Yi-hyeon lowered his dark eyes, then slowly lifted them again. Finally, he parted his lips.

 

“I'll take care of my own job, so…”

 

“…You just do yours.”

 

The two stared at each other as though locked in a contest, tension stretched taut between them. It was Yi-hyeon who looked away first and drew back his head.

 

He took a step away from Seung-hyuk and straightened up as though nothing had happened. Only then did he release the breath he had been holding without realising it.

 

Even though Yi-hyeon was now standing and looking down at him, Seung-hyuk's face remained directed straight ahead. Yi-hyeon watched him for another moment, but Seung-hyuk said nothing. At last, he turned to leave.

 

Tick. Tock.

 

The clock's second hand sounded a little faster than before as its ticking echoed through the darkened room. Yi-hyeon hurried to his bedroom, opened the door and went inside.

 

Without thinking, he turned the lock and leaned back against the door. He lowered his head to look at his tightly clenched fist, then slowly opened his hand.

 

Deep marks from his fingernails remained in his bloodless palm.

 

Yi-hyeon woke abruptly without an alarm, frowning at the needle-like pain stabbing through his head. He slowly lifted his eyelids and found his room still shrouded in faint darkness.

 

The alcohol had not entirely worn off, leaving him nauseous. As he cursed himself for drinking every glass of wine Gu Jin-hyuk had offered, his thoughts naturally turned to the conversation he had had with Gu Seung-hyuk in the early hours of the morning.

 

Lee Chan-yang. Sleeping pills. And those unwavering black eyes he had faced from less than a handspan away.

 

Remembering it all while sober brought an unwelcome wave of regret. He had acted half out of drunkenness and half out of sheer stubbornness. Yi-hyeon dragged a hand over his face and turned towards the window.

 

A deep red sun was just beginning to rise between the cold forest of buildings. When he checked his phone, it was 7.30 a.m. Winter really did make the sun rise late, he thought. He was about to put the phone down when a white notification appeared at the top of the screen.

 

[D-day: One day to go.]

 

The completion ceremony Jin-hyuk had mentioned was already tomorrow. The last traces of sleepiness vanished at once. With a quiet sigh, Yi-hyeon pushed himself upright.

 

Having stayed there for only a few days, he was surprised by how familiar the room had become. It occurred to him that his own flat must have been more or less put back in order by now.

 

If everything went according to plan tomorrow, there would be no further reason for him to be involved with Gu Seung-hyuk.

 

*You keep making me give a damn.*

 

The words had been spoken in a dry, dispassionate voice, yet they hadn't sounded cold. Perhaps that was because Yi-hyeon remembered what Seung-hyuk had been like in the past.

 

He knew that a great deal of time had passed since secondary school, and that just as much had changed. Even so, the instant he heard those words, the Seung-hyuk he had known back then came to mind. Apparently the memories he thought he had forgotten had been tucked away somewhere in the back of his head all along.

 

“Phew…”

 

Yi-hyeon looked towards the belongings he had tidied into one corner of the spacious room. It was time to go home.

 

His clothes and a few miscellaneous possessions were all he had, but they filled two shopping bags. Carrying one in each hand, he left the room and found Seung-hyuk standing in the kitchen, already dressed to go out.

 

Seung-hyuk was beside the coffee machine, looking at his phone. Hearing the door, he tilted his head and glanced up. His impassive gaze lingered on Yi-hyeon's face before dropping to the bags in his hands.

 

Even after seeing the luggage, Seung-hyuk said nothing. Yi-hyeon kept his mouth shut too.

 

He took a cup from the cupboard and approached the dining table. As he reached for a bottle of water, his hand brushed against Seung-hyuk's. Seung-hyuk had stretched out his arm without looking up from his phone.

 

Yi-hyeon jerked at the unexpected contact, snatching his hand back as though he had touched something burning.

 

Seung-hyuk watched him and raised one eyebrow at an angle. Without a word, he filled his own glass with water and set the bottle back on the table.

 

He turned and began to walk away, apparently without any lingering hesitation. Yi-hyeon ran his tongue over his lips, then spoke to his retreating back.

 

“I think I'll go home now.”

 

“… ”

 

“It's no good leaving my place empty for too long. And once tomorrow's job is over, I won't have any reason to stay here.”

 

Seung-hyuk turned to look at him, his expression blank. Yi-hyeon pressed his lips together before speaking again.

 

“Thanks for letting me stay these past few days.”

 

Seung-hyuk looked down at him, ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek and brushed his fringe back.

 

Would Yi-hyeon really have announced that he was going home at the crack of dawn if they hadn't had that conversation last night?

 

Seung-hyuk knew it would be better to get Kwon Yi-hyeon out of his flat as quickly as possible. Yet hearing that he intended to leave set his nerves on edge.

 

Perhaps he shouldn't have brought up Lee Chan-yang.

 

With that thought, Seung-hyuk picked up the car keys from the end of the table.

 

“If you've packed everything, come downstairs.”

 

As he moved to turn away, slender fingers hurriedly caught the hem of his clothes. Seung-hyuk glanced down, and the pale hand immediately fell away.

 

“You don't need to.”

 

“… ”

 

“I can get home on my own.”

 

To Seung-hyuk, it sounded like Yi-hyeon was saying he didn't want his help. He already disliked the way Yi-hyeon seemed to be fleeing the flat, and hearing those words stirred a faint irritation in him. His mouth twisted into a cold smile as he started walking.

 

“Let's not make me say the same thing twice.”

 

A moment later, the entrance light came on, followed by the slam of the front door. Yi-hyeon glanced at the brightly glowing sensor light before lowering his eyes to the glass in his hand.

 

There wasn't a trace of moisture inside it. The glass was completely dry.

 

Somehow, it reminded him of his relationship with Seung-hyuk.

 

The car was silent, without even the ordinary sound of a radio or music. The clicking of the indicator seemed unnaturally loud.

 

Yi-hyeon sat in the passenger seat, looking quietly out of the window. He watched the bare, brittle branches of the trees sweep rapidly past.

 

“They'll probably search people's belongings when they enter the party.”

 

Seung-hyuk's voice broke the silence. Yi-hyeon turned to look at him.

 

“Once you're inside the banquet hall, I'll have a server bring you the drugs. Act naturally.”

 

With one arm resting by the window and his eyes fixed ahead, Seung-hyuk's profile looked almost as sharply defined as a drawing. He must have felt Yi-hyeon watching him, but he didn't turn his head.

 

When Yi-hyeon said nothing, he continued.

 

“It's enough to put an average adult man to sleep in ten minutes. It'll work even faster if he drinks alcohol with it, so bear that in mind.”

 

“All right.”

 

After that brief reply, silence returned. Only the sound of the heater filled the car. The quiet felt strangely uncomfortable.

 

Yi-hyeon turned back to the bleak winter scenery outside. Then, suddenly, he spoke.

 

“Gu Seung-hyuk.”

 

“What?”

 

“If I fail tomorrow…”

 

“… ”

 

“Will something happen to you?”

 

Tap. Tap.

 

The long fingers drumming against the steering wheel abruptly stopped.

 

“You said there's something you're looking for. If I can't find it, will that cause trouble for you?”

 

Yi-hyeon had taken on the job in exchange for having his debt cleared. If he failed to do it properly, matters would become complicated. Everything he needed was ready, and they had worked out a rough plan, so there was no particular reason to worry. Even so, he had a strangely uneasy feeling.

 

It occurred to him that he had never once discussed what would happen if things went wrong. That was why he had asked, but Seung-hyuk gave no answer.

 

“If something does go wrong because of me, I'll take some of the responsibility.”

 

Seung-hyuk scoffed the moment he finished speaking. The car stopped at a traffic light, and Seung-hyuk turned towards him.

 

“What exactly can you take responsibility for?”

 

“What?”

 

“What the fuck do you think you can do among bastards who'd stab their own parents or children for money?”

 

His voice was low and icy. Faced with its sharp edge and Seung-hyuk's piercing stare, Yi-hyeon fell silent, momentarily at a loss for words. Seung-hyuk gave a humourless laugh.

 

“Kwon Yi-hyeon. You're nothing more and nothing less than pretty bait they can use once and throw away.”

 

“… ”

 

“Whether things go well or badly, your part ends the moment you walk out of that building.”

 

Their gazes met, neither of them looking away. Seung-hyuk was the first to turn his head.

 

“So don't burden yourself with some pointless sense of responsibility.”

 

“… ”

 

“Once it's over, pretend Gu Jin-hyuk and I never existed. Just go back to living the way you always have.”

 

Despite the coldness of his voice, the car pulled away smoothly.

 

Yi-hyeon lowered his eyes to his empty, pale hands.

 

Could he really return to his old life after tomorrow, as though nothing had ever happened?

 

Unable to feel certain, he turned his head away.

 

The car travelled swiftly along the road and turned into a familiar alley. After only a few days away, the street somehow looked strange to him. They stopped outside his old block of flats, and Yi-hyeon took hold of the door handle.

 

“Thanks for the lift.”

 

Seung-hyuk stared straight ahead without answering. Yi-hyeon looked at him once, then opened the door and stepped out. A cutting wind swept sharply across both his cheeks.

 

Leaving the car behind, he climbed the stairs and was greeted by a flat as cold as an icehouse. He hurried to put down his bags and turn on the heating. After quickly tidying up, he stepped onto the balcony to lock the window and noticed the black car still parked beneath the building.

 

The black saloon remained there until Yi-hyeon went back inside.

 

***

 

The day that had seemed so distant, almost as though it belonged to somebody else, had finally arrived. Yet the world was as quiet as ever.

 

Before sunrise, Yi-hyeon sat propped against his bed, running his fingers over the bluish invitation. His phone suddenly began to vibrate, and he picked it up.

 

[Executive Director Gu Jin-hyuk]

 

There had to be a reason for calling at such an early hour. Yi-hyeon cleared his throat and cautiously answered.

 

“Hello?”

 

His quiet voice was too clear for someone who had just woken up. Realising Yi-hyeon was already awake, Jin-hyuk asked casually,

 

“You're up early. Didn't sleep well?”

 

“Not very.”

 

After a short pause, Yi-hyeon added,

 

“…I'm nervous.”

 

He was nervous about putting drugs in Jin-hyuk's drink and extracting information from his phone. That was what Yi-hyeon had to do at the party, but Jin-hyuk interpreted his words differently and let out a soft, breathy laugh.

 

“I'll send someone to your place. Come in the car.”

 

“All right.”

 

“I've sent a present with the driver as well, so make sure you open it.”

 

Jin-hyuk's kindness made Yi-hyeon inexplicably uncomfortable. The man had no idea what he was plotting behind his back. Yi-hyeon pressed a fingernail into the edge of the invitation he was holding and answered quietly.

 

“Yes. Thank you.”

 

“See you later,” Jin-hyuk said, and the call ended.

 

As silence settled around him again, thoughts began to churn through his head. Once he had put Jin-hyuk to sleep and successfully obtained the password, what was he supposed to do? Should he take some of the drug himself and fall asleep too? Could he simply stop going to work after this?

 

The more he thought, the more questions he found without answers.

 

Just concentrate on what you have to do today.

 

Yi-hyeon rubbed his face with both hands, made the bed and got up.

 

The driver arrived at precisely the time Jin-hyuk had specified. He took a suit carrier and a box from the back seat and handed them to Yi-hyeon. Inside was a complete suit from a famous luxury brand, with a bluish sheen.

 

After spending so much time between Gu Seung-hyuk and Gu Jin-hyuk, even receiving such an outrageously expensive gift barely stirred any particular thought. Yi-hyeon changed into the clothes Jin-hyuk had sent and climbed into the back seat of the waiting car.

 

They left Seoul and headed towards the quiet outskirts. High-rise buildings gradually grew fewer, their place taken by patches of untamed greenery.

 

Yi-hyeon stared blankly at the trees speeding past, toying with the pin fastened midway down his tie. The thought that everything he saw and every action he took might be reported to someone made him feel a little uneasy.

 

The car left the main road and entered what appeared to be private grounds. They passed through an orderly grove of trees that looked deliberately planted, unlike the woodland beside the roads they had followed so far. Ahead stood a high wall and a huge iron gate.

 

Beyond the men in suits standing guard at the entrance, he caught a glimpse of a building that resembled a luxurious foreign mansion from a film.

 

A black van that had been driving ahead of Yi-hyeon's car for some time slowed near the gate. The men standing outside with their hands clasped behind their backs approached the van and said something. Its door opened, and someone stepped out.

 

From that distance, he couldn't see her face, but the person getting out was a woman in a long blue dress with a black fur jacket over it.

 

“You'll need to get out and walk from here.”

 

The driver's low voice brought Yi-hyeon back to his senses. He looked up to find the man watching him in the rear-view mirror. Belatedly understanding, Yi-hyeon dipped his head and opened the door.

 

Perhaps because he had spent so long in warm places, the sudden rush of cold air outside sent a shiver down his spine. He quickened his pace towards the gate, where a security guard was speaking to the woman in the blue dress. The guard turned to him.

 

“May I see your invitation, please?”

 

Without speaking, Yi-hyeon took the invitation from his inside pocket and handed it over. The guard inspected it carefully, then picked up a long scanner of the sort usually seen at airports and passed it around Yi-hyeon's body.

 

He wasn't carrying anything that would cause a problem, but he swallowed nervously all the same.

 

“A trainee?”

 

A gentle voice came from beside him. Yi-hyeon turned and found himself looking at an attractive woman.

 

Even though he had no interest in celebrities, he recognised her as a new actress whose face he had seen on billboards several times. She looked him up and down, then spoke again with a smile.

 

“I haven't seen you before. Which agency are you with?”

 

Unsure whether she was really speaking to him, Yi-hyeon glanced around. Apart from the security guards at the entrance, there was nobody else nearby. She seemed to have misunderstood something. He lightly brushed the end of an eyebrow with his finger.

 

“I'm not a trainee.”

 

Interest appeared on the woman's face. Before she could say anything else, the guard broke into their conversation.

 

“Everything's been checked. You may go inside.”

 

Yi-hyeon bowed slightly to the woman and the guard, then started up the sloping path. The tie knotted tightly around his neck and the expensive suit enclosing his body already felt uncomfortable.

 

He was about to clench his fists and steady himself when he heard the click of heels behind him, followed by the woman's voice once again.

 

“Mr Kwon Yi-hyeon?”

 

Hearing his name so unexpectedly, he stopped and turned around. The woman from the entrance was walking uphill behind him, pulling her fluffy coat around herself. She came closer and held out her arm, smiling with her eyes.

 

“Looks like you've come on your own without a partner too. Would you mind escorting me?”

 

How does she know my name? Did Gu Seung-hyuk send her? He didn't say anything about that.

 

“How did you know my name?”

 

“I had a quick look while they were checking your invitation.”

 

She flicked the black invitation in her hand. At the gesture, Yi-hyeon relaxed his guard. Seeing his expression, the woman looked amused.

 

“Why? Are you the precious son of some important family, so nobody's allowed to know your name?”

 

“… ”

 

“You said you weren't in our business, and you don't look like an athlete. That doesn't leave many other possibilities, does it?”

 

She was completely mistaken, but Yi-hyeon simply watched her in silence. The woman shrugged as though it hardly mattered, moved beside him and offered her hand again.

 

“It's my first time going somewhere like this without my manager or staff, so I feel a bit awkward. You look about my age. Will you keep me company?”

 

He couldn't quite bring himself to refuse someone who asked so directly. With a small sigh, Yi-hyeon offered her his arm.

 

As they entered the building together, servants waiting by the entrance took their coats and bags. Yi-hyeon was uncomfortable with the elaborate courtesy and attentive treatment. He pressed his lips together, trying not to let it show.

 

They followed another man into the main hall. The first thing Yi-hyeon noticed was the enormous staircase in its centre. The stairs led to an upper corridor that curved around the hall on the second floor.

 

A lavish chandelier hung from the high ceiling, its design complementing the modern interior. In one corner of the hall, musicians played gentle classical music on a cello, a violin and other stringed instruments Yi-hyeon couldn't name.

 

“Wow. This is something else,” the woman murmured, looking around in admiration.

 

While she took in the surroundings, Yi-hyeon discreetly examined the people moving through the hall.

 

Elegantly dressed guests stood chatting in small groups. Servers in black waistcoats and bow ties moved among them, carrying trays laden with glasses of wine and champagne.

 

There are more people here than I expected.

 

He couldn't possibly tell which of the busy servers Seung-hyuk had planted among them. His lips went dry with worry that he might never receive the drugs and the plan would fall apart, and with nerves about whether he could carry it out properly in the first place.

 

“There's not much to do yet. Shall we go over there and get something to eat?”

 

The woman beside Yi-hyeon gave his arm a gentle tug as he surveyed the room with a rigid gaze. She led him towards the bar, where colourful desserts and finger food were laid out.

 

“Aren't you going to eat anything, Yi-hyeon?”

 

Every dish arranged before him was elaborate and appetising, but he had no appetite. When he shook his head, the woman held out her wineglass.

 

“Then hold this for me for a moment.”

 

At that moment, a tall, striking man and woman approached. Several guests glanced discreetly in their direction, so they too appeared to be fairly well-known celebrities. They took champagne glasses from a passing server, gave the woman beside Yi-hyeon a slight nod, then walked past without saying anything.

 

“Judging by the care they've taken with the wine, Taeseong must have put quite a lot of effort into this party.”

 

The woman returned with some cheese and canapés on a small plate and leaned lightly against the bar. Yi-hyeon glanced at the pair who had just passed them.

 

“Don't you know them?”

 

“When we run into each other at places like this, there's an unspoken rule that we pretend we don't.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“Haven't you been to parties like this before, Yi-hyeon?”

 

“No. This is my first time.”

 

Expensive suits, gentle classical music, wine and finger food were all completely foreign to his life. Soju and cheap snacks at a street-side drinking place were another matter. Perhaps that was why every movement he made felt awkward, unlike the woman's easy, natural manner.

 

“Really? You don't look like a first-timer. That's surprising.”

 

The woman nodded as though it were nothing important and tilted her wineglass. Then her eyes brightened as she looked towards something across the hall.

 

“See over there, where everyone's gathered?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“That's the executive director of Taeseong Group. He's hosting today's party.”

 

Yi-hyeon turned to follow the direction of her chin and saw Gu Jin-hyuk in a dark grey suit. He stood with his arms folded, speaking to someone, surrounded by a large group of people.

 

“But he's not the one I'm after. I'm more interested in the second son—Director Gu Seung-hyuk. He doesn't seem to have come today, though.”

 

Yi-hyeon had been unconsciously gripping his wineglass while watching Jin-hyuk. At the sudden mention of Seung-hyuk's name, he turned sharply towards the woman. She was craning her neck and looking around as though searching for someone.

 

Yi-hyeon bit his lower lip, then asked cautiously,

 

“…Why him?”

 

“Oh, you don't know about it?”

 

She glanced around before leaning a little closer to him.

 

“Director Gu Seung-hyuk throws parties now and then, but only invites certain people. The time's a secret, the place is a secret. Only the people he invites can get in.”

 

“… ”

 

“There's drinking and dancing and all that. It's not very different from other private parties, except apparently the people who attend are on another level.”

 

She lowered her voice as though sharing something confidential.

 

“I've seen colleagues go to one of those parties and come away with some big opportunity, men and women alike. So I thought I'd use this chance to make sure he remembers my face.”

 

Her words brought back the scene Yi-hyeon had witnessed in the basement of Nexus on the day he first met Gu Seung-hyuk. He remembered the naked bodies entangled with one another, and his face twisted into a frown.

 

Lowering his eyes, he brought the wineglass to his lips and murmured,

 

“…I think you'd be better off not getting involved.”

 

“Oh? Do you know something about it, Yi-hyeon?”

 

Yi-hyeon ignored the woman's suddenly curious expression and drank his wine. He pressed his lips together against the bitter aftertaste and let his gaze wander. Across the hall, his eyes met those of a middle-aged man speaking to someone.

 

Who is that? He looks familiar.

 

The man frowned briefly when their eyes met, then grinned as though he had remembered something. He nudged the person beside him and indicated Yi-hyeon's direction with his chin.

 

Ah. The president of the logistics company who was at that dinner with Gu Jin-hyuk a while ago…

 

Yi-hyeon looked away as soon as he remembered who the man was, but President Nam was already approaching with his companion.

 

Stopping in front of Yi-hyeon and the woman, the logistics company president put a hand on Yi-hyeon's shoulder with an affable smile.

 

“Fancy running into you here. Your name was… Kwon Yi-hyeon, wasn't it?”

 

“Ah… Yes. Hello.”

 

Yi-hyeon gave a small bow, subtly twisting his shoulder out from beneath the man's hand.

 

“President Yang, let me introduce you. This is the person I told you about.”

 

“Ah, yes. I've heard quite a lot about you. I'm Yang Gyeong-hyeon from Inseong Trading. You're even prettier than I was told.”

 

*Than he was told?*

 

Yi-hyeon couldn't understand why they had been talking about him. Their interest seemed excessive for a mere secretary. But he couldn't ignore the smiling man offering a handshake, so he reluctantly held out his hand.

 

As soon as their hands met, President Yang began stroking the back of Yi-hyeon's hand with his thumb. Goosebumps spread down his spine. The man's sweaty palm and unpleasant warmth made his skin crawl.

 

Yi-hyeon quickly pulled his hand away. President Yang smacked his lips as though disappointed.

 

“I wasn't expecting to see you here. Did you come with Executive Director Gu Jin-hyuk?”

 

“…Yes. He invited me.”

 

“Director Gu seems busy going from person to person. Would you like to come to our table and have a glass of wine?”

 

The table the man indicated held another two people besides them. Yi-hyeon had no desire to sit drinking with strangers, and there was something about the two men in front of him that made him uneasy. He politely shook his head.

 

“I'm sorry. I'm here with someone.”

 

Only then did the two men notice the woman standing beside Yi-hyeon. They belatedly exchanged greetings with her, then patted Yi-hyeon's shoulder lightly, as though disappointed.

 

“Ha ha, that's a shame, but it can't be helped. Well, enjoy yourselves.”

 

As they walked away, a sigh he had been holding back escaped. He was about to drink some wine to ease his discomfort when the woman beside him caught his arm.

 

“Yi-hyeon, what's going on? You're a guest of the executive director?”

 

“Ah…”

 

“You should have told me earlier! Now I feel silly for telling you all those things.”

 

Avoiding the woman's playfully reproachful gaze, Yi-hyeon rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“Sorry. I didn't think it was anything worth mentioning.”

 

“Then do you know Director Gu Seung-hyuk too? Have you heard whether he's coming today?”

 

“I'm not sure about that.”

 

She had asked as soon as she discovered Yi-hyeon had a connection to Taeseong, but Yi-hyeon had no idea where Seung-hyuk was either. He lowered his eyes and shook his head. The woman pouted in disappointment and ate one of the canapés she had brought over.

 

When she fell quiet, the thoughts Yi-hyeon had set aside began to make his head ache again. This was no time to stand around chatting idly.

 

He still had to find the server who would give him the sleeping medication and work out how to make Jin-hyuk take it naturally. On top of that, the things the logistics company president had said continued to trouble him.

 

Nothing was clear, and he couldn't begin to work out where to start untangling it all. A sigh rose in his chest. Out of habit, he lifted his wineglass to drink, then noticed that it was empty. He held it out towards a passing server.

 

“Ah!”

 

It happened in an instant. The hand Yi-hyeon extended with his empty glass collided with the server's hand as he carried a glass of wine.

 

There was a small clatter, and red wine splashed over the back of Yi-hyeon's hand.

 

“I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!”

 

Wine ran down his hand, stained the end of his white shirt cuff and dripped onto the floor.

 

The server still had a boyish look about his face. Seeing what had happened, he repeatedly bowed to Yi-hyeon in alarm. Yi-hyeon hurriedly lifted his hand, at a loss for what to do, and touched the back of his neck.

 

He could simply wash his hand. The problem was the damage to the clothes Jin-hyuk had given him.

 

Yi-hyeon turned to the server.

 

“Could you tell me where the toilets are?”

 

“Ah… Yes, of course. I'll show you.”

 

Yi-hyeon nodded to the woman and followed the server. They walked down a corridor off one side of the ground-floor hall until they reached an elegant toilet with soft indirect lighting.

 

Yi-hyeon bowed slightly to the server and was about to enter the men's toilets when the young man handed him a hand towel.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Taking it, Yi-hyeon went to the basin, turned on the tap and washed his hand. He pulled at his cuff and held it beneath the running water, but the red stain had already soaked into the fabric and would not disappear.

 

He finally gave up trying to remove it and reached for the hand towel. Something fell into the basin with a soft tap.

 

“Ah.”

 

What he saw was a small plastic packet containing white powder.

 

His eyes widened. He snatched it up at once, glanced around to make sure nobody had seen and slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket.

 

His heart was pounding. Bracing himself against the basin, he quickly turned the tap on again. It felt as though anyone who came near would be able to hear his heartbeat.

 

He worried at his lower lip while watching the water disappear down the drain, then splashed cold water onto his face a couple of times. Only after wiping away the droplets did he begin to feel a little calmer.

 

If he stayed much longer, somebody might wonder why he hadn't returned.

 

Yi-hyeon straightened himself, tidied his dishevelled clothes and looked in the mirror. He had never felt more grateful for having a face that rarely betrayed his emotions.

 

He ran a hand over his face and left the toilets.

 

With an expressionless face, as though nothing had happened, he retraced his steps along the corridor with the server. But the moment he rounded the corner, someone appeared in front of him. Yi-hyeon faltered and stepped back.

 

It was Gu Jin-hyuk.

 

He gave Yi-hyeon an attractive smile and lightly caught his wrist.

 

“So here you are.”

 

“Executive Director.”

 

His pulse quickened again at the thought that Jin-hyuk might have noticed something, but his clear, pale face remained composed. Jin-hyuk flicked a few strands of Yi-hyeon's damp fringe, then looked him up and down.

 

“I thought blue would suit you. Maybe it's because your skin is so fair, but it really does look good on you.”

 

“Ah… Thank you.”

 

“I saw you with a woman earlier. Do you know her?”

 

“We met at the entrance. I thought it would be a bit awkward to stand around on my own… And you seemed busy.”

 

“I've been greeting guests and haven't paid you enough attention.”

 

“No, it's fine. You don't need to worry about me.”

 

“It's bad manners to invite a guest and then abandon him. Let's go. I just need to speak to a few more people, and then we can have a rest.”

 

Jin-hyuk raised his wrist to check the time and led the way back towards the hall. Yi-hyeon hesitated briefly before hurrying after him.

 

While Jin-hyuk spoke with other guests, Yi-hyeon stood quietly behind him. Occasionally, someone in the conversation would let their gaze rest on him for an uncomfortably long time. Whenever that happened, Yi-hyeon avoided their eyes and moistened his lips with champagne.

 

I'd better stop drinking this too.

 

He had been sipping without thinking because the alcohol content seemed low, but even champagne was beginning to warm him. As he was about to call a passing server over to take his empty glass, Yi-hyeon noticed someone in a black suit across the room, and his hand stopped.

 

Among a group standing together near one side of the banquet hall was Kwak Tae-sik, the man who always followed Seung-hyuk around like a shadow.

 

Yi-hyeon instinctively searched the area around him. Realising he had unconsciously been looking for Gu Seung-hyuk, he bit his lower lip.

 

“I think I've done enough for now. Shall we go upstairs?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

Startled by the sudden question, Yi-hyeon turned around. Jin-hyuk, his hair neatly swept back, took the champagne glass from his hand and set it on a passing server's tray.

 

“Follow me.”

 

With those words, he led Yi-hyeon away.

 

Jin-hyuk acknowledged the people greeting him from every direction with casual waves of his hand as he climbed the staircase to the second floor.

 

After pulling aside a long, draping curtain and walking a few more steps, they came to a maze of corridors. Unlike the floor below, the thick carpet absorbed the sound of their footsteps.

 

Jin-hyuk led Yi-hyeon confidently through the corridors, stopped partway along one of them and opened a closed door.

 

A large bed stood in the centre of the spacious room, with a generously sized bathroom beside it. There was even a neat kitchen area with a bar. Just as Jin-hyuk had said, the place resembled a hotel suite.

 

The moment they entered, Jin-hyuk loosened his tie and went straight to the table by the bar. He selected a bottle from the wine cooler and set it on the table with two glasses.

 

“I'm exhausted from playing the gracious host. It's not really my style.”

 

Yi-hyeon turned at the sound of wine being poured.

 

“You should have seen them, whining and grovelling, desperately trying to get something out of me. It was almost laughable.”

 

“… ”

 

“If you think about it, Kwon Yi-hyeon, you're not much different from them. But it's strange. I can see that bastard Gu Seung-hyuk trying to pull some ridiculous trick, and yet I feel like playing along.”

 

Jin-hyuk gave a short laugh and swirled the wine in his glass. Their eyes met, and his gaze flashed for an instant.

 

Yi-hyeon's fingertips twitched involuntarily.

 

Once the red wine running along the inside of the glass had thinned, Jin-hyuk held it out to Yi-hyeon, who stood a couple of steps away.

 

“Try drinking it without using your hands.”

 

At the bewildering instruction, Yi-hyeon pressed his lips together and looked up at him. Jin-hyuk's black eyes held a cold gleam.

 

Yi-hyeon didn't know what had happened to him downstairs, but it seemed wiser not to provoke him unnecessarily. He lowered his eyes towards the glass and slowly bent forwards.

 

“No, not like that.”

 

He had barely lowered his head halfway when Jin-hyuk seized a handful of his smooth hair. Gripping him near the crown, Jin-hyuk pulled his head up with force.

 

“You have to kneel.”

 

Startled by the sudden tug on his hair, Yi-hyeon opened his eyes wide. He found Jin-hyuk looking down at him with a flat expression. For an instant, that almost robotic lack of emotion frightened him more than the pain in his scalp.

 

“…Executive Director.”

 

“You can keep pretending to be shy if you like. But I ought to tell you in advance that I prefer someone obedient.”

 

The hand twisted in his hair pushed his head down. Yi-hyeon stumbled to his knees and looked up at Jin-hyuk with trembling eyes. Seeing him kneel without further resistance, Jin-hyuk pulled one corner of his mouth into a crooked smile.

 

“That's better.”

 

Smiling with satisfaction, Jin-hyuk pulled Yi-hyeon's hair backwards to tilt his face up. With his other hand, he picked up the wineglass and brought it to Yi-hyeon's mouth.

 

The thin, transparent crystal glass tipped, moistening Yi-hyeon's red lips. Watching him without emotion, Jin-hyuk tilted it even further.

 

“…Mmph.”

 

The wine that failed to make it into Yi-hyeon's mouth ran down either side of his lips and dripped from his chin. Still Jin-hyuk did not straighten the glass. He was effectively pouring the wine over Yi-hyeon's mouth.

 

Yi-hyeon clenched the hands resting on his knees and stared up at him. Jin-hyuk only withdrew his hand after every last drop had spilled from the glass onto Yi-hyeon's expensive suit and shirt.

 

“Oh dear. Your clothes are soaked.”

 

Was he imagining it, or could he hear pleasure in that flat, low voice? As Yi-hyeon lowered his head to look at his red-stained shirt, Jin-hyuk spoke above him.

 

“You'll have to take them off.”

 

So that was why he had done it.

 

Jin-hyuk must have known that Yi-hyeon was in no position to refuse even a direct order. Yi-hyeon could not understand why he had gone to such lengths.

 

He wiped the traces of wine beneath his cheek with the back of his hand, removed the tie pin and slipped it into his pocket.

 

Jin-hyuk watched intently as pale fingers slowly loosened Yi-hyeon's tie and undid his shirt buttons one by one. Yi-hyeon took off his jacket and shirt and placed them beside him, gritting his teeth without letting it show.

 

“Your nipples are pink.”

 

Jin-hyuk gave a breathy laugh and stepped towards him. As Yi-hyeon knelt there, Jin-hyuk's crotch came close to his face.

 

When Yi-hyeon tried to look away and lower his head, Jin-hyuk caught the back of it and pulled his face towards his groin. Yi-hyeon could feel something hard through the stiff fabric of his trousers.

 

“Honestly, I'd love to shove my cock straight into that little mouth of yours and fuck it. But I wouldn't want to frighten you, Yi-hyeon…”

 

Jin-hyuk looked down at Yi-hyeon, who had closed his eyes and was keeping still. Holding the back of his head firmly, he rolled his hips, rubbing his increasingly obvious erection across Yi-hyeon's face. Then he took a step backwards.

 

“Shall we take our time and have some fun?”

 

“… ”

 

“Straighten your back properly.”

 

Jin-hyuk put down the glass, picked up the wine bottle and slowly tipped it above Yi-hyeon's collarbones. Half the cool wine ran down his chest and stomach, while the rest began to pool in the hollows above his clearly defined collarbones.

 

The sudden cold trickling across his skin made goosebumps rise all over his body. Jin-hyuk watched Yi-hyeon freeze, gave a short laugh and leisurely set the bottle down.

 

“If you hold it there without spilling any, I'll give you a reward.”

 

Yi-hyeon couldn't move. Even turning his head might send the pooled wine spilling down his body. He clenched the fists resting on his knees and bit down hard on his lips.

 

“You don't look very happy.”

 

“… ”

 

“Don't you like it?”

 

Seeing his face stiffen with humiliation, Jin-hyuk approached with a smile, apparently enjoying the situation. He caught both of Yi-hyeon's soft, pale cheeks in one hand and squeezed, forcing him to face forwards.

 

“I asked if you don't like it.”

 

“…It's fine.”

 

“That's right, isn't it? You're enjoying yourself too, Yi-hyeon?”

 

His thick thumb pushed between Yi-hyeon's red lips. Jin-hyuk moved it to pull up one corner of his mouth, then suddenly spoke in an icy voice.

 

“Then what's with that expression?”

 

“We're just having fun.”

 

He had scarcely finished speaking when the toe of his shoe pressed hard between Yi-hyeon's legs. A startled sound escaped Yi-hyeon, and he bent forwards involuntarily. The wine pooled at his collarbones spilled onto the floor.

 

Watching it fall, Jin-hyuk curved his lips and raised his hand.

 

Smack.

 

Yi-hyeon's head snapped to the left. His struck cheek stung. When he slowly turned his face forwards again, Jin-hyuk brushed the reddened skin with the back of his hand.

 

“I told you to hold it properly, didn't I?”

 

Seeing a side of Jin-hyuk utterly different from the man he knew at work finally made Yi-hyeon understand that this was real.

 

When Seung-hyuk had explained the plan, and even when Yi-hyeon had gone over it alone in his head, it had all felt unreal. Now those possibilities were taking shape directly in front of him.

 

Gu Jin-hyuk was an executive director of a corporation that had begun in the backstreets. And Yi-hyeon was the tool sent in to deceive him. A sudden rush of fear made his fingertips go cold.

 

“Again.”

 

Jin-hyuk straightened Yi-hyeon's collapsed posture and poured more wine into the hollows above his collarbones. He looked down at Yi-hyeon, sitting stiffly with his fists clenched, as though the sight amused him. Then he walked to the table, picked up a packet of cigarettes and settled comfortably onto a chair.

 

He lit a cigarette, took his phone from his inside pocket and made a call.

 

“Bring what I asked for up to the room.”

 

Yi-hyeon's head shot up at the sound of the call. His eyes remained fixed on Jin-hyuk's phone. After the brief conversation, Jin-hyuk set it down on the table without putting it away.

 

Afraid that Jin-hyuk might notice where he was looking, Yi-hyeon quickly turned his gaze aside and bit the inside of his cheek.

 

Before long, there was a knock at the door. At Jin-hyuk's reply, a neatly dressed waiter entered the room.

 

Still kneeling with his upper body completely bare, Yi-hyeon lowered his head the instant their eyes met.

 

Shame and humiliation seemed to rise from deep within his stomach. With the wine still balanced at his collarbones, he couldn't move, let alone cover his naked body or hide.

 

The waiter noticed his condition but deliberately looked away, behaving as though Yi-hyeon wasn't there. Yi-hyeon was grateful for it and mortified by it at the same time.

 

“I've brought what you requested.”

 

The waiter held out a small glass bottle containing what appeared to be white tablets. Jin-hyuk took it, removed his wallet from his inside pocket and gave the waiter several fifty-thousand-won notes.

 

The waiter bowed and left. Yi-hyeon stared rigidly at the bottle. Jin-hyuk ran a finger along his cheek and smiled lazily.

 

“Oh, these? Just something to make our fun a little more interesting.”

 

“… ”

 

“Don't worry. They're not dangerous.”

 

Jin-hyuk poured wine into two glasses on the table. Then he took tablets from the bottle and dropped one into each glass. The little white pills began to fizz and dissolved rapidly.

 

Before Yi-hyeon could ask what kind of drug he had just added, Jin-hyuk stood up and bent towards him. He licked the wine pooled above Yi-hyeon's exposed collarbones.

 

“…Ah.”

 

As the wine spilled down his chest, Jin-hyuk's tongue followed its path slowly. He slipped a hand between Yi-hyeon's legs to pull him to his feet, then gripped his buttocks tightly.

 

“Ex-Executive Director…”

 

Jin-hyuk's hands roamed over his chest, then moved across his exposed skin towards the buckle of his trousers.

 

At that moment, Jin-hyuk's phone began to vibrate.

 

Bzz. Bzzz.

 

The unpleasant vibration rattled across the table. Jin-hyuk drew back with a frown. He reached for his phone, checked the name on the screen and moved away from Yi-hyeon.

 

“Yes, Chairman.”

 

Apparently it was an important call. Jin-hyuk answered immediately, pushed Yi-hyeon onto the bed and headed towards the door.

 

This was his chance.

 

Yi-hyeon kept an eye on Jin-hyuk as he stood. With trembling hands, he pulled the small plastic packet from his pocket and emptied the contents into Jin-hyuk's glass, which was about one-third full of wine.

 

The white powder dissolved in an instant, vanishing without a trace. His heart was pounding so hard that he thought it might burst.

 

“No, sir. I'll make sure it's finished properly. Yes, yes.”

 

The voice was coming closer. Yi-hyeon hurried back to the bed and sat down. Jin-hyuk ended the call with a frown, switched his phone off and set it down on the table irritably.

 

“The man's practically on his deathbed, and he's still scared of everything…”

 

With a cold expression, Jin-hyuk adjusted his tie. He picked up the glass of wine in front of him and held it out to Yi-hyeon.

 

It was the very glass Yi-hyeon had just drugged.

 

“Drink it. I'm in a pretty foul mood right now. It'll be better for you if you at least do that.”

 

For a moment, Yi-hyeon's mind went completely blank. He couldn't think of a way out. Yet his face remained composed as he stared at the glass being offered to him.

 

Jin-hyuk raised an eyebrow at the lack of response. Yi-hyeon slowly got to his feet.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Yi-hyeon approached the table, where the other glass of wine still stood. Pretending to be perfectly calm, he picked it up, returned to Jin-hyuk and stretched out his arm, crossing it with Jin-hyuk's.

 

“…I wanted to drink with you, Executive Director.”

 

Their arms were linked in the position used when drinking together. Jin-hyuk laughed softly at the gesture, as though it amused him. Looking directly into Yi-hyeon's eyes from close range, he murmured in a low voice,

 

“Drink every last drop.”

 

Keeping his eyes on Jin-hyuk, Yi-hyeon slowly tilted his glass. The scent of fruit and strong alcohol brushed past his nose, followed by a bitter aftertaste.

 

He knew there was an unknown drug in the wine, but in this situation he had no other choice. Watching the level in Jin-hyuk's glass fall, he swallowed his own wine.

 

No sooner had Yi-hyeon unlinked their arms and lowered his glass than Jin-hyuk pressed himself against him. He wrapped an arm around Yi-hyeon's bare waist and bent his face towards the wine stains still on his body.

 

Yi-hyeon barely managed to push him away.

 

“Just a moment. I need to wash… to wash first. The places where the wine spilled feel sticky…”

 

He set his empty glass on the floor and hurried towards the bathroom as though escaping. He thought he heard a low curse behind him, but he had no time to pay attention.

 

Once inside, Yi-hyeon locked the door, turned the shower on and braced himself against the basin.

 

“Haa… ha…”

 

Even when he closed his eyes and stood perfectly still, the floor seemed to spin beneath him. The drug was probably similar to the one Yoon Su-bin's friend had given him before. But only a few minutes had passed since he drank it, and it was already affecting him this badly. It seemed to be stronger.

 

Yi-hyeon turned the tap towards cold and began filling the basin. Each time he swallowed while waiting for the water to rise, his breath seemed to catch in his throat.

 

He rubbed his face repeatedly with both hands, trying to clear his head, then gripped the basin and plunged his face into the water.

 

“Hmph… mmph…”

 

The cold water helped him feel a little more alert. Yi-hyeon roughly wiped his dripping face with the back of his hand and washed the wine from his body. Every touch of cold against his skin made him twitch and shiver. He bit hard at the inside of his cheek.

 

He couldn't tell how long he had been in the bathroom, but nobody outside had called for him.

 

Seung-hyuk had said the sleeping medication would put an adult man to sleep in ten minutes. Surely enough time had passed by now.

 

Yi-hyeon didn't know what he himself had swallowed, but he had to finish the job before its effects grew any stronger. He turned off the shower and cautiously opened the door.

 

The room was silent.

 

Contrary to his fear that Jin-hyuk might still be awake, the man lay on the bed with his eyes closed, still wearing his suit. There was no time even to feel relieved that the worst obstacle was behind him.

 

Yi-hyeon hurried to the table and picked up Jin-hyuk's phone.

 

“Why… won't… this thing turn on?”

 

His fingers were so weak and shaky that he could barely press the buttons. Finally holding the phone in both hands, he managed to switch it on and began tapping through its menus.

 

In a folder tucked away to one side, he spotted a blue padlock icon. He opened the application at once and took the tie pin from his pocket.

 

After several fumbling attempts, he finally connected the pin to the phone. White letters and numbers appeared on the black screen, then vanished again.

 

Long strings of source code flashed before a horizontal loading bar appeared with the number 0 beside it.

 

Apparently the device needed time to unlock. Yi-hyeon clenched his back teeth, held the phone tightly and hurriedly gathered his clothes from the floor.

 

Once the lock was released, he would have to find the password and get out of the room as quickly as possible.

 

The thought that Jin-hyuk might rise from the bed at any moment and grab him made his anxiety surge.

 

“Haa… hh…”

 

He kept his eyes fixed on the phone screen while struggling to button his shirt. His hands shook so badly that his fingers missed the buttonholes again and again.

 

He was too far gone to think about how strange it was to put on the wine-stained shirt again. Breathing hard, Yi-hyeon slipped his arms into his jacket and fumbled with his tie.

 

50, 60…

 

He stared at the slowly rising progress bar and clenched his fist. Even standing still, tingling waves of sensation kept rising from deep in his abdomen, leaving an aching pressure between his legs.

 

He felt that if anyone touched him, a moan might escape before he could answer. Covering his mouth with both hands, he panted.

 

A little later, the number reached 100 and the bar filled completely. The screen changed several times, displaying strange characters.

 

Yi-hyeon pulled the tie pin from the phone and fastened it carelessly in the centre of his tie. Then he raised the phone so that the numbers appearing one by one would be clearly visible.

 

6, 5, 8, 3, 9… 2.

 

The flickering screen stopped on the final digit and did not change again.

 

He didn't know whether Gu Seung-hyuk was watching through the camera attached to the tie pin, but Yi-hyeon's part of the job was finished.

 

He quickly switched the phone off and put it back where it had been. Fortunately, Jin-hyuk remained motionless on the bed, his eyes closed in the same position as before.

 

“Haa… haa…”

 

The relief of having completed his instructions made his tension loosen, and the effects of the drug surged even more wildly through his body.

 

In his head, he knew he should drink the wine containing the sleeping medication and fall asleep beside Jin-hyuk to avoid suspicion. But right now, escaping the heat that seemed to be burning through his entire body felt far more urgent.

 

Yi-hyeon staggered out through the door. The softly lit corridor immediately began to spin around him. Bracing himself against the wall, he managed to take one laboured step after another, panting.

 

He knew he couldn't let anyone see him in this state. But the heat churning inside him and the way his vision kept threatening to fade made it almost impossible to think.

 

His erection was already so swollen that it felt painfully constricted by his underwear. He was ashamed of himself, as though he had turned into an animal. He couldn't control his ragged breathing or stop his face and the rims of his eyes from flushing red.

 

Just then, he spotted the waiter who had brought the drugs to Jin-hyuk walking along the corridor ahead. Yi-hyeon hurried towards him and seized his wrist to stop him.

 

“P-please… help me… haa…”

 

The waiter widened his eyes at the stranger who had suddenly grabbed him. But when he recognised Yi-hyeon's face, his expression changed to one of understanding.

 

He knew that the drug he had delivered to Jin-hyuk was an exceptionally pure aphrodisiac.

 

Yi-hyeon didn't notice the look on the waiter's face. He simply clung to the man's arm.

 

“Somewhere… haa… where there aren't any people…”

 

He was struggling to suppress the urge to press himself against anyone and rub his body against theirs. He had only just managed to force the words out when something gripped his shoulder.

 

Before he understood what was happening, he was spun around.

 

“Ngh…!”

 

Seung-hyuk's face appeared before his eyes, which were filled with fear and confusion. Yi-hyeon's eyes widened at the sight of someone who had no reason to be there. Then his expression changed to despair.

 

There could hardly have been anything more disastrous than running into Gu Seung-hyuk in his present condition.

 

The moment Yi-hyeon realised who was holding him, he hunched his shoulders and tried to pull free.

 

It was useless. Seung-hyuk stared at him with sharp, dark eyes, grabbed his slender arm and began striding away.

 

“Let go… haa… let go of me…”

 

Yi-hyeon swung his arm and gasped for breath, but Seung-hyuk didn't budge.

 

Half dragged along behind him, Yi-hyeon arrived at another room off the corridor, much like the one he had entered with Jin-hyuk. Seung-hyuk marched inside, locked the door and shoved Yi-hyeon towards the bed as though throwing him onto it.

 

“Haa… ha…”

 

Yi-hyeon buried his face in the bedding and curled his waist. His vision was spinning too quickly for his brain to keep up; the whole world seemed to be turning. His narrow shoulders rose and fell with every desperate breath.

 

Seeing Yi-hyeon so dishevelled, a sight unlike anything he had seen from him before, Seung-hyuk ground out a curse between his teeth.

 

He had rushed upstairs without a second thought as soon as the picture from Jin-hyuk's phone began shaking unsteadily. If he had been only a little later finding Yi-hyeon, the young man might have exposed himself to somebody else in that state. The thought made the back of Seung-hyuk's neck ache.

 

“Kwon Yi-hyeon. Get a grip.”

 

When Seung-hyuk listened to Jin-hyuk and Yi-hyeon's conversation through the listening device attached to the tie pin, he had assumed the drug Yi-hyeon took was a mild aphrodisiac that merely heightened sexual sensation.

 

But Yi-hyeon looked less aroused than he did tormented.

 

He began trembling all over and rubbing the swollen front of his trousers against the bed. Instead of disgust, anger was the first thing Seung-hyuk felt.

 

Yi-hyeon had remained dry and composed even when asking him to lend money. When Seung-hyuk had offered him this job almost mockingly, he had never imagined things would turn out like this.

 

He was furious with himself for dragging someone with no connection to this world into it just to teach him a lesson. He was equally furious with Kwon Yi-hyeon for being stupid enough to swallow an aphrodisiac in order to finish the job.

 

“How much of that fucking drug did you take?”

 

Looking around, Seung-hyuk spotted a water bottle at the drinks bar and quickly filled a glass. He slipped an arm behind Yi-hyeon's back and raised him from where he lay curled up.

 

Yi-hyeon's pale face, damp with cold sweat, was close to his. Seung-hyuk gritted his teeth and brought the glass to his lips.

 

“Drink some water first.”

 

But Yi-hyeon struggled to get away from him and accidentally knocked the glass out of his hand. Water spilled over Yi-hyeon's shirt and soaked into the white bedding.

 

The shirt, already stained with wine, now clung to Yi-hyeon's chest in wet patches, revealing the skin beneath. Perhaps the sudden cold brought him back to his senses a little, because Yi-hyeon blinked rapidly.

 

“Haa… hh… Gu… Seung-hyuk…”

 

Bzz. Bzzz.

 

An insistent vibration cut across Yi-hyeon's dwindling voice. Seung-hyuk pulled his phone from his pocket and answered without checking the caller, keeping his eyes fixed on Yi-hyeon.

 

“Boss, I've checked the storeroom by the basement generator room, and there's a bit of a problem—”

 

“Hang up. We'll talk later.”

 

“B-Boss! You need to come down and see this for your—”

 

The unfinished sentence cut off abruptly, leaving silence.

 

Seung-hyuk had left Tae-sik to open the locked storeroom and check whether the drugs were there, then rushed upstairs in a panic. He had absolutely no intention of abandoning Yi-hyeon now to go back down.

 

He dropped his phone onto the thickly carpeted floor as though throwing it away and seized Yi-hyeon's shoulders with both hands.

 

“Kwon Yi-hyeon. Get a hold of yourself and drink some water.”

 

There was no real antidote for an aphrodisiac. All they could do was wait for time to pass and its effects to subside. Drinking water might help the drug leave his system sooner, but it wouldn't ease his immediate symptoms.

 

As if he knew that himself, Yi-hyeon pushed the glass away and took his own phone from his jacket.

 

His trembling fingertips wandered over the wrong parts of the screen several times before he managed to open his contacts. Gripping the phone desperately in both hands, he started searching for something.

 

“Hh… Yoon… Yoon Su-bin…”

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Realising that Yi-hyeon was looking for Su-bin's number, Seung-hyuk stared down at him, his eyes flashing fiercely. He snatched the phone away. Yi-hyeon, whose eyes were red and raw around the edges, grabbed Seung-hyuk's wrist.

 

“There… Call Yoon Su-bin for me… Or Gyu-chan hyung… haa… call anyone and tell them to come here…”

 

Seung-hyuk's cold, rigid face twisted into a vicious expression in an instant.

 

“Or go outside and… haah… anyone will do…”

 

Yi-hyeon lowered his head, his shoulders trembling. The back of his neck was red. His white hand clutched the sheet; his chest rose and fell rapidly; the outline of his erection was painfully obvious.

 

Yet before Seung-hyuk could feel that the sight was filthy or repulsive, he was overwhelmed by displeasure at what Yi-hyeon had said.

 

For a moment, Seung-hyuk felt as though his vision shifted. His stomach churned as if he had swallowed strong liquor on an empty stomach, and something hot and violent surged through him.

 

Looking down at the shaking Yi-hyeon, he ground out the words.

 

“You want me to bring you just anyone?”

 

“Ahh… ngh…”

 

“And when I bring them here, are you going to beg them to stick their cock up your arse while you're in that state?”

 

Seung-hyuk's voice was terrifyingly low as he fixed Yi-hyeon with a blazing stare. The next words came almost as a growl.

 

“Kwon Yi-hyeon. Do you love having your arse fucked so much that you'd grab some stranger and beg for it?”

 

Yi-hyeon gave only a faint moan in reply.

 

The tight muscles along Seung-hyuk's jaw twitched. Biting hard at the inside of his cheek, he seemed to make up his mind. He drew away from Yi-hyeon, straightened and loosened his tie.

 

“If you like it that much… it doesn't matter whose cock it is, does it?”

 

He spoke in a low voice, each word bitten off harshly.

 

“I'll fuck you until you've had enough. Let's see how well you can take it.”

 

Seung-hyuk pulled on Yi-hyeon's tie, removed the pin fastened halfway down it and threw it onto the floor. He immediately stamped on it with the heel of his shoe. The mangled pin shattered into pieces.

 

He pushed Yi-hyeon, whose eyes were half unfocused, onto his back and pulled off his shoes, tossing them onto the floor.

 

Yi-hyeon flinched at the sudden change in what he could see. His head was hazy from the drug, but he could still recognise Gu Seung-hyuk glaring down at him with fiercely bright eyes.

 

Instinctively, Yi-hyeon braced himself on his elbows and tried to crawl towards the head of the bed. Seung-hyuk caught both his ankles and hauled him back in one movement.

 

His shirt rode up against the bedding, exposing his flat, pale stomach. When Seung-hyuk reached for his belt, Yi-hyeon used all his strength to stop his hand.

 

“Ha.”

 

Yi-hyeon shook his flushed face from side to side, seemingly rejecting him with every bit of strength he had. Seung-hyuk's expression turned cold.

 

He seized Yi-hyeon's erection roughly through his trousers, where its shape was already unmistakable.

 

“Ngh…!”

 

“You're this hard, so why are you pretending to be modest?”

 

“Hh… d-don't…”

 

“Why? That fucking waiter was fine, but I'm not?”

 

Seung-hyuk should have gone back and broken the arm of the man Yi-hyeon had been clutching so desperately. Merely imagining him hanging on to that man with his face feverishly flushed made anger flare inside him for no reason he could explain.

 

He knocked away the pale hands trying to stop him, undid Yi-hyeon's belt and pulled down his trouser zip.

 

“Hh… Gu Seung-hyuk…”

 

By now, Yi-hyeon might have stopped pretending to be uncharacteristically innocent and simply let Seung-hyuk do what he wanted. Instead, he stubbornly continued trying to block the larger hands.

 

Seung-hyuk was just beginning to cool his head in response to those movements of refusal when Yi-hyeon spoke in a trembling voice.

 

“Gu Seung-hyuk… haa… come to your senses.”

 

“… ”

 

“I'm… I'm a man.”

 

Ah. So that was it.

 

Seung-hyuk ran his fingertips along the erection protruding stiffly through the half-open fastening.

 

“Ahh…!”

 

Yi-hyeon's back arched sharply the instant he was touched. A fluttering sensation rose in Seung-hyuk's stomach, like butterflies moving inside him.

 

It was the first time he had touched another man's cock, but it didn't feel nearly as revolting as he had imagined.

 

Pulling Yi-hyeon's trousers down in one movement, Seung-hyuk spoke quietly.

 

“I know that better than you do, so shut up.”

 

Yi-hyeon's cock, which had been compressed inside his close-fitting trousers, was wet with pre-cum, as though proving how long he had been hard. Seung-hyuk glanced at the darkened patch at the front of his briefs, then lifted Yi-hyeon and turned him over in one movement.

 

“Head down. Hips up.”

 

Without another word, Seung-hyuk dragged the briefs down. He looked at the pale, rounded buttocks, slightly full with flesh, and ran his tongue along the inside of his mouth.

 

He gripped the small cheeks, which filled both his hands, and pulled them apart. A faint, sobbing moan came from above him.

 

The opening revealed between them was the delicate pink of flower petals. Seung-hyuk touched the pale perineum, still covered in fine downy hairs despite Yi-hyeon's age. The tightly closed opening twitched beneath his fingertips.

 

“Haa… ngh…”

 

He had wondered whether he would even be able to get hard with another man. Now a dull ache was spreading through his lower abdomen, making that concern seem ridiculous.

 

Without hesitation, he lowered his zip, took out his cock and gripped it in one hand.

 

Even soft, it was as thick as a young child's forearm. After only a few strokes, it stiffened and rose.

 

When Seung-hyuk began rubbing the tip, slick with clear fluid, against Yi-hyeon's opening, Yi-hyeon's shoulders jerked.

 

At some point, Yi-hyeon had stopped resisting. He was simply trembling like a rabbit set before a predator. Seung-hyuk disliked the sight. The thought that countless other men might have seen him like this only deepened his displeasure.

 

Clenching his teeth, Seung-hyuk murmured in a low voice,

 

“Take it all. I'll give you the cock you're so fucking desperate for.”

 

Holding Yi-hyeon's buttocks apart, Seung-hyuk pressed the tip of his cock against the tightly closed opening and thrust forwards in one movement. But he was too big to penetrate without any proper preparation.

 

Yi-hyeon's body jolted forwards, and a sharp moan escaped his red lips.

 

“Ahh… ngh!”

 

“…Fuck.”

 

Seung-hyuk wasn't having an easy time of it either. Without lubricant, the opening had stretched just enough to admit his head and was squeezing so tightly that it felt as though it might tear his cock off.

 

He reached roughly for the drawer of the bedside table, found a container of gel inside and grabbed it. When he poured the cold gel over the place where their bodies met, Yi-hyeon shuddered and moaned.

 

“Stop tightening up.”

 

Seung-hyuk growled the words and carelessly tossed the container aside. He gripped Yi-hyeon's hips firmly in both hands to hold him still, then pushed his own hips forwards as though forcing his way through the tightly closed flesh.

 

“Haaah… ngh…!”

 

Seung-hyuk looked down at his thick cock, now buried halfway inside Yi-hyeon's body, and grabbed both buttocks tightly. A sudden urge surged through him to squeeze everything within his grasp until it burst.

 

Clenching his teeth hard enough for his jaw muscles to stand out, he began slowly withdrawing his hips. But the inner walls that had been painfully constricting his cock now gripped it tightly, as though refusing to let go.

 

Fuck. A curse rose all the way to the top of his head.

 

“Relax… haa… I said relax.”

 

“Haa… ngh…”

 

There was no way Yi-hyeon, drugged as he was, could properly control his body in this situation. With his face buried in the sheets, he struggled for breath, the back of his neck flushed red.

 

Seung-hyuk lost patience at the sight. Muttering “Fuck” under his breath, he drove the rest of his cock inside in one hard thrust.

 

“I told you… ngh… to take it all.”

 

“Ahh… hhk!”

 

The force driving into him from behind threw Yi-hyeon's upper body forwards, and his knees gave way. At the same instant, whitish semen burst from his cock, which had remained erect and pressed up towards his stomach.

 

“Ahh…!”

 

His inner walls continued to twitch and tighten around Seung-hyuk's cock. Seung-hyuk, gripping his hips hard enough to leave red marks on his skin, let out a low groan.

 

He had no patience to spare for someone who had just come. Drawing his hips back, he forced his way through the oversensitive, contracting flesh again.

 

Every time his long, thick cock drove deep inside and pulled back, the slick inner walls clung stubbornly to it. Yi-hyeon shook his head and struggled against the continued stimulation after his orgasm, but his movements were useless.

 

With Yi-hyeon lying face down on the bed, Seung-hyuk pressed a hand against his lower back and fucked the inner walls that were still trembling in spasms. Every rough thrust drew a high, moaning sound from Yi-hyeon.

 

“Haa… ah… ngh…!”

 

Overwhelmed by the relentless sensation, Yi-hyeon pushed at the sheets with his tightly curled toes. Seung-hyuk only grew more irritated by the way he kept trying to escape forwards.

 

He bent over Yi-hyeon's body, wrapped both hands around his narrow shoulders and forced them down, as though pulling him back into place. Holding his shaking body still, he thrust in as far as he could. Yi-hyeon trembled violently.

 

“Ahh… ah… ngh…”

 

“Hh… haa…”

 

Seung-hyuk suddenly noticed the reddened nape moving in front of his mouth. Before he had time to think, he parted his lips and bit down on the back of Yi-hyeon's neck as though trying to tear into it, driving his hips harder.

 

The more he thrust his cock into that wet, hot place, the thirstier he became. Kwon Yi-hyeon was the one who had taken a drug, but Seung-hyuk felt as though he was the one intoxicated.

 

“Haa… fuck…”

 

He spat the curse through clenched teeth and lost control, pounding his hips forwards. Each time the open front of his trousers struck Yi-hyeon's buttocks, a ragged, almost sobbing moan escaped Yi-hyeon's mouth.

 

“Ah… ngh…!”

 

Trapped beneath him as though his entire body were bound, Yi-hyeon was shaken by each thrust. Suddenly his body jerked sharply and began trembling in convulsions.

 

Seung-hyuk drove his cock all the way to the base and straightened his hips, breathing hotly at the sensation of being clenched so tightly.

 

Yi-hyeon's entire pale body, with the bones of his spine standing out, shook in spasms. As though he had ejaculated yet again, thin fluid dripped from beneath his half-raised hips.

 

“Haa… Gu… Gu Seung-hyuk…”

 

Seung-hyuk pulled loose the tie that had been bothering him throughout his movements and threw it off the bed. Every little detail was getting under his skin: that narrow waist barely two handspans wide, the posture with which Yi-hyeon seemed accustomed to taking a man from behind, his face wet with tears and sweat.

 

“You really do fucking love cock, don't you?”

 

He ground his teeth together, gripped Yi-hyeon's pale buttocks and slowly withdrew his hips. Yi-hyeon gave a small, pained sound as the cock scraped against his inner walls on its way out.

 

His buttocks had been rubbed red by the fabric of Seung-hyuk's suit trousers during the clumsy thrusting. Still caught in the aftermath of repeated orgasms, his body moved in small, shallow motions as he struggled to breathe.

 

Seung-hyuk caught Yi-hyeon by the waist, turned him over in one movement and pushed both his legs upwards. Then he positioned his cock against the still-gaping opening.

 

“You might have come already, but…”

 

“S-stop… haa… stop…!”

 

“I'm not finished.”

 

Holding Yi-hyeon's trembling buttocks firmly in both hands, Seung-hyuk thrust inside in one movement. The inner walls that had held him only moments before clung tightly to his cock again. The opening stretched around the thick shaft all the way to its base, pulled smooth and taut without a crease.

 

Seung-hyuk ran his thumb along the place where their bodies joined. Yi-hyeon's cock, smeared with bodily fluids, suddenly released another rush of thin semen.

 

“Haa… haa…”

 

A strange feeling of exhilaration swept through Seung-hyuk at the sight of Yi-hyeon trembling like an aspen tree with his lower body penetrated. The fact that he was fucking another man no longer entered his mind.

 

Keeping his eyes fixed on Yi-hyeon's face, Seung-hyuk slowly drew his hips back.

 

“Hh… haa…”

 

The wet, squelching sound of loosened gel mingled with Yi-hyeon's tearful moans. As Seung-hyuk withdrew his cock slowly, he could see Yi-hyeon's red lips trembling and his pale brow tightening.

 

For an instant, the back of Seung-hyuk's neck grew tense. Pressing down behind Yi-hyeon's knees, he rose onto his own knees and drove his hips forwards with a hard thud.

 

“Ngh…!”

 

He put his weight onto Yi-hyeon's body, almost folding him in half, and fucked him from above as though pressing his cock down into him. Yi-hyeon covered his face and mouth with one forearm as the pleasure racing up his spine shook his body.

 

“Ah… haa… ha…”

 

Still thrusting, Seung-hyuk caught the hand covering Yi-hyeon's face. He threaded his fingers between those that had turned white from gripping the sheets and pressed their joined hands down onto the bed.

 

With both hands pinned, Yi-hyeon arched his waist at another heavy thrust.

 

“Ahh… ngh…!”

 

His head fell backwards as he trembled, his eyelids rimmed with red. Seung-hyuk disliked the way his half-unfocused gaze kept drifting towards the ceiling.

 

He slipped an arm through the space beneath Yi-hyeon's raised waist, pulled his upper body upright and licked the front of his throat.

 

Seung-hyuk's fiercely erect cock drove in at speed, scraping the inner walls as it pulled back, then plunging in again. Every time his pelvis struck Yi-hyeon's buttocks, it made a sound like repeated heavy blows.

 

There was no room in his head for any other thought. All he wanted was to swallow Yi-hyeon whole beneath him.

 

“Haaah… ngh… Gu… haa… Seung-hyuk…”

 

“Haa… haa…”

 

Hearing his own name from Yi-hyeon's mouth, Seung-hyuk increased his pace. Pleasure burned through him as though every cell in his body were catching fire. A seething groan escaped through his teeth.

 

Still pinning Yi-hyeon's hands and thrusting roughly, Seung-hyuk suddenly went rigid and threw his head back.

 

“Haa… fuck…”

 

“Ah… haa… ngh…”

 

Almost at the same moment Seung-hyuk ejaculated, thin fluid spurted from Yi-hyeon's cock. The sight of transparent fluid dripping from the shapely pink tip wasn't nearly as repulsive as Seung-hyuk had expected.

 

He continued moving his hips slowly, feeling the pleasant way the inner walls gripped his cock, before gradually pulling back.

 

A cold, humourless laugh escaped him. It was ridiculous that one fuck should be enough to make him think like some gay bastard.

 

As his hard shaft scraped the sensitive flesh and finally slipped free, thick, whitish fluid began leaking from the gaping opening. The sight of Yi-hyeon spilling another man's semen from his backside was strangely arousing.

 

Seung-hyuk wiped his cock, still glistening with gel and bodily fluids, carelessly against the bedding and straightened his trousers.

 

“Kwak Tae-sik. Have a car waiting at the back entrance.”

 

Breathing out the last of his heated breath, he picked up the tie he had thrown aside and called Tae-sik, giving the order without waiting for a response.

 

By now, the storeroom inspection should have been finished. There was no reason to remain here any longer. Besides, he couldn't very well leave Kwon Yi-hyeon behind in that condition.

 

Seung-hyuk called his name.

 

“Kwon Yi-hyeon.”

 

There was no answer.

 

He couldn't even hear Yi-hyeon's laboured breathing any more. Frowning, Seung-hyuk turned his head.

 

Yi-hyeon lay sprawled across the bed.

 

Seung-hyuk, now looking exactly as he had when he entered the room, walked over and looked down at him.

 

Yi-hyeon's eyes were closed, and he lay so still he looked dead. Seung-hyuk frowned sharply for a moment. Then he noticed the faint rise and fall of his chest and reached out to touch his shoulder.

 

He gently shook Yi-hyeon's dishevelled body.

 

“Hey.”

 

Yi-hyeon did not open his eyes.