NFS 1.10

The room at the luxury downtown hotel had two bedrooms. Though it was Joo Seung-ha’s first time here, he couldn’t help but remember seven years ago. What a nasty way to take revenge. Joo Seung-ha sat on the sofa in the middle living room and checked the time. It was exactly 7 p.m.. She’d arrived on time, but no one was there. Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes passed, and still Joo Seung-ha was alone in the room.

Whether intentional or not—no, it must be intentional—strangely, waiting for him who wouldn’t come didn’t feel so bad. Perhaps because it had always been like this, even seven years ago. Back then, he would arrive hours before the appointment time and wait alone.

So he could only laugh at the absurdity. Joo Seung-ha took out his laptop and began organizing his team’s sales data and client visit reports. He became so absorbed in work that when he checked the time again, it was almost 9 p.m.. Joo Seung-ha rolled his stiff neck and sank deep into the sofa, closing his eyes.

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. But his tired body pulled his consciousness into darkness. Everything faded away as his body seemed to sink into endlessly soft sand. Yet some part of him must have maintained tension, because shortly after, his body reacted to something touching his face. Hisconsciousness snapped awake instantly.

His eyes opened, but it took a few seconds for his mind to adjust to reality completely. Fortunately, there was something before his open eyes to help him grasp reality. Seo Ahn-jae stood there in a suit. He was looking down at Joo Seung-ha’s laptop screen.

Startled, Joo Seung-ha sat up and quickly closed the laptop. Though there wasn’t anything particularly confidential that others shouldn’t see, her body automatically went into defense-mode upon realizing it was Seo Ahn-jae. At Joo Seung-ha’s harsh reaction, Seo Ahn-jae merely turned his eyes expressionlessly in the direction of the other man.

“Why? Something not for my eyes?”

At Seo Ahn-jae’s casual question, Joo Seung-ha didn’t answer and simply pulled the laptop closer, putting it in his bag. Then he checked the time. 9:45. How long was I asleep?

“What were you watching?”

At Seo Ahn-jae’s continued questioning, Joo Seung-ha turned with a ‘What are you talking about?’ look. Meeting his gaze, Seo Ahn-jae took off his jacket, draped it over the sofa, and guessed the answer.

“Porn?”

Jooo Seung-ha looked at him in disbelief. Showing up hours after their appointment and this is what he asks? He spoke casually as if they’d just met yesterday. Suddenly, he remembered this was typical Seo Ahn-jae-behavior. He always did and said whatever he wanted in any situation, completely unbothered by what others thought. When he was young, his assertive and uninhibited nature seemed incredibly attractive. But gradually he learned it was just selfishness. Joo Seung-ha erased the exasperation on his face and asked coldly.

“Is that all you called me here to say?”

“What should I be doing then?”

Seo Ahn-jae sat across from Joo Seung-ha while loosening his tie. The glossy material slipped from his neck like a captured snake in his hands. Then his long, firm fingers roughly undid two shirt buttons.

“Besides this kind of talk, what do I have to say to you?”

Hearing the casual question, Joo Seung-ha recalled another thing about Seo Ahn-jae. He always conveyed through his words, expressions, and eyes that that time with Joo Seung-ha was trivial and meaningless. You’re nothing, his voice said, always underlaid with contempt and a note of dismissal. The Seo Ahn-jae from before overlapped with who he saw now.

“Right. Nothing.”

Joo Seung-ha stood up with his laptop bag. Actually, he’d meant to ask when they decided to meet here. How far would he go? He was already screwed according to the other man’s wishes, and there’d be no fun in doing more. He’d waited for that, but face to face now, even asking such things felt like a waste of time. As he turned to leave, Seo Ahn-jae picked up his phone with a new message and stopped him.

“You still can’t read the situation, can you?”

Joo Seung-ha had meant to ignore him but stopped at his next words.

“Maybe I need to buy all those dogs you care about at the shelter and cut their throats one by one before you’ll behave.”

“The shelter dogs aren’t for sale.”

“I won’t be buying from you, you bastard.”

Seo Ahn-jae spat out while checking his phone. He commanded the motionless Joo Seung-ha.

“Sit.”

When Joo Seung-ha didn’t respond, Seo Ahn-jae simply raised his eyes from the message. Joo Seung-ha was glaring daggers at him with eyes that were burning with rage. Seeing this, deep satisfaction spread in Seo Ahn-jae’s eyes. But he deliberately spoke coldly.

“Don’t worry. I’ll deal with the dogs after I’ve ruined the lives of each shelter person one by one. There’s still plenty of time.”

Seo Ahn-jae expected Joo Seung-ha to question him at this point. Why are you doing this? What grudge do you have against me? But what actually came out of Joo Seung-ha’s mouth was different. Having swallowed his anger, he spoke dryly.

“I hear Million is going public next year? You’ll do everything possible to increase Million’s value before the IPO. Sunbae, you should be careful. You might get screwed yourself, making a fuss trying to catch a junior you don’t even care about.”

Joo Seung-ha’s voice was still pleasant, like in his early twenties. Though the same low pitch, it felt refreshing compared to Seo Ahn-jae’s hoarse, thick voice. But the calmness lacking passion made the same voice completely different from seven years ago. That was why one thing in particular about those words irritated Seo Ahn-jae to the point of disgust.

‘A junior you don’t even care about.’ The meaning wasn’t the issue. The nuance sounded like “I know you don’t care about me, and I don’t care either.” So Seo Ahn-jae couldn’t even muster a smile at this cute threat that he should’ve just laughed off.

“How much can you screw me over?”

“Whatever I can do, if I do it all, you’ll get screwed too, senior.”

“Then do it.”

Joo Seung-ha closed his mouth and held his breath for a moment. Seo Ahn-jae’s atmosphere suddenly turned vicious, totally different from what he was like seven years ago. The earlier casualness was wiped from his features.

“Go ahead, give it your all. I won’t stop you.”

“…”

“I said do it.”

“I could do anything. But.”

Joo Seung-ha emphasized the “but” while meeting Seo Ahn-jae’s gaze without backing down.

“Because my time is too precious to devote that much attention to you, senior. I’ll decide based on what you do from now on.”

Seo Ahn-jae twisted his lips as he got up to his feet. But his eyes were filled with quickly rising anger. Perhaps because of this, the air seemed to freeze up as if his mere standing posture had dominated the entire room.

“Fine. Then I’ll start with those dogs you care about, cutting open their bellies one by one in front of you.”

Joo Seung-ha gritted his teeth tightly.

“Fuck, stop acting like a child.”

“Didn’t you want to see what I’d do?”

Seo Ahn-jae raised his voice and twisted his lips again.

“Doing this much to steal your precious time is nothing to me. Ah, there’s one more thing.”

Suddenly Seo Ahn-jae openly looked over Joo Seung-ha’s body. Though his eyes were full of anger, lust could be seen inside them. Those eyes undressed him and licked across his skin. His body remembered first how easily his hands and his large frame could overpower and pin him down effortlessly. That was why shameful goosebumps covered Joo Seung-ha’s body wherever his gaze landed.

“This will be the most effective approach.”

Seo Ahn-jae muttered indifferently as he approached Joo Seung-ha. He undid his shirt cuffs and rolled up his sleeves below his elbows. One arm at a time, slowly revealing arms solid with muscle. Watching him approach threateningly, Joo Seung-ha was afraid that those hands that had treated his tie like a snake might end up strangling his throat next.

A chill ran up and down his spine. Without realizing it, he stepped back until his back hit the door. Swallowing his panic, he raised his eyes to meet his now cold gaze, the heat gone from them. But he could tell he was angrier than ever before. He felt it instinctively. That this man had truly gone mad enough to ruin himself just to get to him.

Though Joo Seung-ha couldn’t wrap his head around this situation, he didn’t want to understand it either. He just felt annoyance surge up through him. As his large hand reached toward him, Joo Seung-ha closed his eyes while running his hand through his hair. Seo Ahn-jae stood right in front of him. A faint cool lotion scent mixed with cigarettes wafted over.

Seven years ago, he had a similar cigarette smell. Though others had it too, on Seo Ahn-jae it was a special, pleasant scent. Just that cigarette smell would make Joo Seung-ha blush and get excited. Lost in memories that scent evoked, unaware of how he was addressing him, Joo Seung-ha spoke.

“Ah, Ahn-jae hyung.”

Joo Seung-ha tried to calm his racing heart, mixed with confusion, anger, and fear. He swallowed a deep sigh.

“We don’t need to do this, right?”

There was no audible response. Even as time passed and the goosebumps covering Joo Seung-ha’s body subsided, no force touched or pressed against his body. Feeling puzzled belatedly, Joo Seung-ha raised his head. He met the other man’s gaze looking down at him.

With the light behind him, his expression and eyes weren’t clearly visible. But strangely, the rage and murderous intent from before were gone. Though expressionless, something had changed. Surprisingly so. Why? The returned-to-normal Seo Ahn-jae dropped his answer.

“We do need to. If you don’t like it, there’s a simple way out.”

“What’s simple about it?”

Seo Ahn-jae tilted his head to the side. For a moment, Joo Seung-ha’s heart dropped slightly, feeling he might lower his lips for a kiss. His gaze did briefly brush across his lips. But his voice had returned to its usual lightness.

“Sell yourself.”

“…”

“Think about it for a week.”

They were now back to square one. Obviously, there was no need to think about it. But he was tired of this fight. He missed the previous boring peace. That was why he couldn’t easily give a negative answer.

“…One month.”

When Joo Seung-ha extended the time, amusement briefly spread in Seo Ahn-jae’s eyes.

“Fine.”

Seeing him agree so easily made Joo Seung-ha more uneasy instead. It felt like he had something planned. Pushing away his discomfort, Joo Seung-ha added a condition.

“And remove the people you’ve put on me.”

“We’ll see.”

Ah, shit. As Joo Seung-ha swallowed the curse internally, Seo Ahn-jae’s upper body came close enough to embrace him. Though Joo Seung-ha’s body froze in surprise, his reaching hand was aimed behind his back. Click, the sound of the door handle turning could be heard. After opening the door, Seo Ahn-jae stepped back slowly and commanded expressionlessly.

“Get out.”

The cold voice that acted as if he didn’t matter was a familiar tone. Joo Seung-ha found it funny that he felt relief at the sound of this voice. When he turned and stepped into the hallway, thud, the door immediately closed behind him. Though it was just one door between them, Joo Seung-ha felt relief as if he’d stepped into a completely different world. Walking down the corridor, irritation rose that he’d failed to cut ties with him again, but he soon thought of the positive side. Right, I bought a month. I’ll have peace for a month.

Seo Ahn-jae returned to the sofa area but didn’t sit, instead looking down at the spot where he had found Joo Seung-ha sleeping. It was strange. Just before, he had definitely intended to force himself on him and discard him like trash. But why had his angry feelings disappeared so easily?

‘Ahn-jae hyung.’

The way Joo Seung-ha had called his name felt unfamiliar and novel. But it had made him hot inside. Ridiculously, it felt good. Though his name was the trigger, from his flowing hair, tightly closed eyes, to her slightly trembling body—there wasn’t anything he disliked. At that moment, Joo Seung-ha had shaken Seo Ahn-jae’s heart.

But what was the big deal about being called by name? Then Seo Ahn-jae realized something. In the past, Joo Seung-ha only called him hyung arbitrarily in bed, and outside he always properly called him senior. But the title was all that he would say. Ah, this was the first time he’d called his name. Perhaps seven years ago, Joo Seung-ha had trembled too much to even dare speak his name in front of him.

But now he was no longer the young, tender Joo Seung-ha who trembled too much to even speak his name. His change was clearly felt in that vocalization of his name. Sensing this change was somehow angering yet strangely interesting. Though he still looked worth fucking, his clear voice kept wrapping around his ears like happening upon an unexpected charm by chance.

He really wanted to pin the other man under him and pound him until he broke. He wanted to hear his screams and moans of ecstasy while enjoying the movements of his naked body that would match the motions of his cock. So for the first time, he decided to put the effort into chasing someone. One month. It was enough time to slowly set invisible traps.