M 149

“Anyway, Representative Han has such a strange personality. What, does meeting under a painting make it romance instead of sponsorship?”

“He’s always liked that kind of staging, Representative Han. He has strange complexes.”

“Sigh. And what’s so difficult about eating together at a nice place that he’d even be late…”

The manager glared at Sehwa and clicked his tongue. At the sound of him clicking his tongue at him, Sehwa finally snapped to attention. This wasn’t the time to be like this. What should he do? He didn’t think he could overpower these people, and they didn’t seem likely to listen to her.

Sorry, but… should he call for Ki Tae-jeong? He didn’t know where he was, but if he shouted loudly, wouldn’t he hear him? Ah! No, the owner said he’d come get him. He said he’d just seat Ki Tae-jeong and come right over.

Finally able to look at the situation a bit more calmly, Sehwa took a deep breath. If the owner was too late, he’d shamelessly call Ki Tae-jeong’s name. If he shouted his rank, they’d all hesitate to move rashly. It was pathetic how he’d laughed at the staff who knelt when they saw the stars on his chest earlier. When he was the one living off his reputation more than anyone…

“Let go!”

Sehwa shook his head violently and steadied his vision that was hazily sinking. Then he pushed away the arm of the staff member gripping his wrist with all his strength.

“Ah, I’m busy to death and what are you doing!”

“Apologize first…!”

“…Huh?”

Covering his wrist that was red with marks, Sehwa looked straight at the staff member and spoke.

“What did you just say?”

Though he couldn’t hide his trembling pupils, he at least tried not to hunch his shoulders. Even though his voice shook a little at the end and he stammered, he succeeded in speaking as clearly as he could manage.

“Where do you get off treating a customer like a hostess!”

Did he really look like that? If a stranger would treat him like a male prostitute right off the bat… Firmly wrapping up the habitual depression that was trying to slip out, Sehwa coldly hardened his gaze.

Sehwa turned his body at an angle. If he turned completely around, he didn’t know how they might attack him from behind, so this was better. This angle would secure enough of a view that when the owner came, he’d immediately understand the situation.

This wasn’t the House. So he could question them sharply like normal people do. Fighting with people wouldn’t result in unfair quotas being assigned to him, nor would he have to pay enormous fines for causing trouble. When the owner came, he’d explain well and end it with an apology. Then he wouldn’t tarnish Ki Tae-jeong’s name either, and…

Still, on the way home, it would be okay to complain just that the staff were cold to him while he was away, right?

“Apologize for misunderstanding, hitting me, and trying to drag me away!”

“You’re not?”

The manager looked Sehwa up and down with puzzled eyes.

“If it’s not Representative Han, then whose entertainment are you here for?”

“I’m not that kind of person!”

“If you’re not that kind of person, then how did you get here looking like this? This is a place where even 5-star residents have to wait at least a few months to come.”

The manager lifted Sehwa’s chin with the corner of his tablet.

“The fact that neither I nor the staff have seen your face means you’re not worth remembering. What are the odds that a shabby person loitering under the painting Representative Han designated, who looks worthless except for his face, isn’t a sponsored new celebrity? Tell me with that open mouth of yours.”

“…”

“You think I’m dealing with people like you for the first time? It looks like your agency secretly pushed you to Representative Han without telling you, but that’s your business. You’re the one who tried to be an actress when you have nothing, right?”

When something was too absurd, no words came out at all. His throat bobbed several times as he struggled to swallow. Still, Sehwa gripped his clenched hand tightly to not forget his earlier resolution. Calling Ki Tae-jeong would really make things big. Just get an apology and settle it. Resolve it well. He was about to open his mouth, struggling to control his completely crushed insides.

“What are you doing here?”

From the end of the corridor, a low, quiet voice echoed. A voice with a unique weight that made it impossible for anyone not to turn around. Someone who knew how to most effectively create the concentration of presence that drew others’ gazes and submission.

It was Ki Tae-jeong.

“Honey.”

Unlike before, it was a sweet voice as if drenched in syrup. Sehwa was momentarily dazed by his brightly smiling face and voice sweet enough to melt, then belatedly realized what he had called him and covered his mouth.

Just now, what? Ho… honey?

“What. That person looks like an officer?”

“Didn’t he just call him honey?”

The staff were just as flustered. Two pairs of wide eyes turned to the uniform Ki Tae-jeong wore and the three stars embedded on his chest. When they confirmed the various insignia hanging like grapes, commemorating all sorts of achievements, their heads drooped like ripe grain. They were fucked, it was as if large letters were carved on the back of the staff’s heads.

“Major General…”

“I kept waiting but you didn’t come, so I thought my honey got lost and came out.”

Ki Tae-jeong walked slowly toward them. Even though his long legs could close the distance quickly enough, he was clearly doing this on purpose. Indeed, as if planning to torment the trembling staff to death, Ki Tae-jeong maintained a steady pace with heavy steps. In inverse proportion to the cheerful sound of military boots, the staff’s bowed spines trembled more and more severely.

“But I’m hearing interesting stories.”

Finally positioning himself at an appropriate distance from the staff, Ki Tae-jeong stuck one hand in his pocket and continuously stroked his chin with the other, laughing as if amused.

“What the fuck are these bastards doing, saying fucking nonsense to someone else’s honey?”

Sehwa gulped. Ki Tae-jeong’s eyes up close were already half-crazy. His personal affairs and reputation would become more troublesome from being involved in his business… such things were secondary concerns now. He had to worry about whether civilian executions might break out right here.

“We, we’re sorry, Major General. It seems there was a mi, misunderstanding… there was a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding.”

A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding… Ki Tae-jeong repeated what the staff had said in a monotone voice. The frightened staff were almost foaming at the mouth from their breathlessness.

“The customer is so… so outstandingly beautiful that… we mistook him…”

Before the manager could finish speaking, Ki Tae-jeong mercilessly kicked his shin. There was a loud crack as something hard split. Just hearing it, no one would think it was a sound that could come from a person kicking another person. Sehwa, who had been trying to stop Ki Tae-jeong, covered his mouth and looked around. When would the owner come? And back then, when he thought he was Kim Seok-cheoll’s accomplice… Ki Tae-jeong had actually treated him very gently. Watching him seriously beat someone, the kicks he’d given him then were just playing around.

“Aaaahhh!”

“Are these bastards doing this on purpose?”

Ki Tae-jeong muttered while repeatedly kicking the face of the manager who had fallen and was rolling around. It didn’t seem like he was putting much force into it, but with each of Ki Tae-jeong’s kicks, the manager’s bones broke one by one with clear snaps.

“Can’t you understand? I’m asking what the hell my honey being pretty has to do with the shit you pulled.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

The staff member standing nearby knelt down crying. As if seeing his future self in the manager who had been pulverized in an instant, he clasped his hands together like a fly and begged desperately.

“Representative Han, sob, Navy Colonel Park Hyeong-tae’s son-in-law… said he’d have a meal with a new celebrity introduced by an entertainment company, and threatened us to quietly arrange a place…”

“Colonel Park Hyeong-tae’s son-in-law… Right, so?”

“The entertainment company’s contact person told us the new celebrity would be standing in front of that painting, and the customer happened to be there… His face was so… he couldn’t not be a celebrity… I’m sorry. Really sorry…”

“Ha…”

Ki Tae-jeong let out a short breath through his clenched teeth. Sensing the merciless beating that would follow, Sehwa quickly grabbed his sleeve. Though he was angry at the staff, he didn’t want to watch their heads burst right in front of his eyes.

“Let go.”

“Major General…”

“Didn’t you hear what those bastards said?”

“I heard… it.”

“And you still want to just let it slide?”

“That’s why I also got angry and told them to apologize.”

“…Apologize.”

As if forcibly suppressing something, Ki Tae-jeong closed his eyes deeply then opened them. Fuck, you want to end it with just an apology? Though Ki Tae-jeong wasn’t saying anything, his voice boiling with rage automatically echoed in his ears.

“Honey, I know well that my honey who lives with a bastard like me is an angel.”

“Hieek!”

Ki Tae-jeong kicked the stomach of the staff member who had been sneakily trying to escape.

“There are times to be nice. You want to end this by just getting an apology?”