NFS 1.5

Before entering after parking at the meeting place, Seung-ha frowned at the building. This luxury hotel was where he used to come for intimate meetings with someone 7 years ago. Why here of all places? He felt bad because memories inevitably came to mind as he rode the elevator up.

With an uneasy feeling, he arrived at the high-end restaurant entrance on a high floor of the hotel and gave his name. Following the guide through winding corridors, the staff member knocked on the innermost room’s door, opened it slightly, and left. Seung-ha took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

Only after finding the confidence to not be shocked even if a 100-year-old wanting young energy was inside exposing himself did he open the door. But he couldn’t step through the opened door. Inside the atmospheric room with a large table, one person stood talking on a smartphone with someone. He placed a tablet on the table and swiped through screens while giving instructions to the person on the phone.

“I don’t like it. Redo it. …If we were going to care about investors’ opinions, I wouldn’t have started this project.”

Sensing a presence, he looked up. Meeting his eyes, Seung-ha confirmed who he was. It was Seo Ahn-jae. Seung-ha didn’t move from the doorway, and Ahn-jae stayed silent, holding his smartphone. When Seung-ha kept not moving, Ahn-jae gestured with his eyes for him to come in. Barely suppressing the urge to turn and leave, Seung-ha moved his feet. Following Seung-ha’s movement with his eyes, Ahn-jae spoke lowly into his phone.

“Tell them all to fuck off.”

After ending the call like that, he pointed to the chair with his chin this time.

“Sit.”

“No need. I’m leaving right away.”

“Sit. You’re not leaving right away.”

Ahn-jae commanded and sat down, but Seung-ha remained standing and said only what he needed to,

“Now that I’ve seen your face, we’ll use the donation well.”

Ahn-jae twisted his lips as if surprised.

“You’re willing to take that money?”

“Why wouldn’t we take free money? The shelter desperately needs donations.”

“And you?”

Seung-ha slightly frowned, not understanding his meaning.

“What about me?”

“Are you desperate too? I can keep giving if you are.”

Seung-ha looked at him for a moment before reluctantly speaking,

“If you continue donating, we’d be grateful of course.”

“Who said anything about donations? I don’t give money without a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“You.”

What… does he mean? As Seung-ha still stood there not understanding, Ahn-jae explained lightly,

“It’s simple. Since we did it 7 years ago.”

At the mention of “7 years ago,” all their past encounters flashed through his mind. The things they had done in this very hotel. Seung-ha clenched his jaw. To spout such nonsense without even a greeting upon meeting. Though angry, Seung-ha vaguely understood. Maybe this was revenge against him. His pride must have been quite hurt from paying for it 7 years ago. Of course, he had no intention of comforting him now. Not wanting to even respond, Seung-ha turned away, but Ahn-jae’s amused words stopped him.

“I’ll give you a hundred times more.”

“No thanks.”

“A thousand times.”

Seung-ha turned back to look at him. He wasn’t smiling anymore. Instead, his eyes gleamed dangerously. Seung-ha met those eyes directly and answered,

“Not for sale.”

“…”

This time he could open the door. Though Ahn-jae’s voice called “Joo Seung-ha,” Seung-ha didn’t look back. Through the closing door, he heard Ahn-jae’s parting words,

“See you again.”

See what again. Seung-ha cursed him briefly while leaving the hotel but soon forgot about it. He was hungry. What to have for dinner was more important now. It was strange. Someone who had once been his everything was now less significant than choosing a meal. It was fortunate, but also bitter and somewhat sad. Seung-ha turned on his car’s audio to shake off the feeling. As popular music played, he tapped the steering wheel and hummed along to the beat. For Seung-ha, it was a day not much different from usual.

Thump– the door closed almost silently. As if cut off from the world, Ahn-jae’s face lost all composure, becoming expressionless. He stared at the closed door for a long while before touching his tablet to search for something.

A report with Seung-ha’s photo appeared on screen. Ahn-jae rechecked Seung-ha’s financial status. No significant assets in real estate or finances. Instead, he had many loans just for rental deposits. Ahn-jae roughly put down the tablet after scanning for anything he might have missed.

“Damn it, he has nothing.”

But that same Seung-ha who had nothing had easily rejected him with firm eyes. The fragile, ice-like eyes of 7 years ago when he had plenty of money were gone. The burdensome eyes that only chased after him in the same space had also disappeared.

Though Ahn-jae was unbelievably angry, he couldn’t tell if it was from confirming Seung-ha had completely slipped from his grasp, or from being rejected. The only thing unchanged was that he’d seen him again in this hotel, and still wanted him desperately.

He wanted to possess him madly. Ahn-jae repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists to control his anger. Only then did he call someone. After a brief ring, they answered, and Ahn-jae ordered,

“Keep investigating Joo Seung-ha. Watch him 24 hours, monitor who he meets, and report back.”

After hanging up, he turned on the tablet and zoomed in on Seung-ha’s photo. As he stared down at it for a long time, one question loomed large in his mind, ‘When did you start forgetting me?’

***

The rustling bedding, the firm mattress, the faint, unique hotel smell in the cold air conditioning. So-jun had been lying on the hotel bed for an hour, waiting for a client. He wasn’t bored. It was his intention to come an hour earlier than the company had said.

Because this client was incredible. Though company regulations strictly forbade revealing clients’ identities to anyone, this client was truly amazing. Someone who became CEO of a famous gaming company at a young age – just one newspaper interview two years ago had people still talking about his looks.

But the real person was even more incredible. So-jun kept repeating the word “incredible” but couldn’t think of a better one. From his face, body, voice, to every movement of his fingertips – he was someone one couldn’t take their eyes off. To think someone like that would use such services. At first, he’d wondered if he might be a pervert since his handlers changed every few months, but that wasn’t it.

He was a bit rough and used profanity, but that was more of a turn-on. No, he was just incredible. Plus, the rules for handling this client were simple. Never speak to him. So-jun just had to lie face down waiting for him. But over three months, he realized this simple rule was the hardest.

Though personal conversation with clients was forbidden, he wanted to make eye contact and speak with this person. But he would come in, never meeting So-jun’s eyes, take him from behind, and leave. Wealthy with incredible looks, plus incredible skills – it was natural for So-jun to want more conversation with him.

Especially, he wanted to see his face during the act. So he secretly placed a small mirror on the bedside table as if it had always been there. And today, he wanted to at least greet him. He wanted to meet him for real, not just as a client. Click– hearing the door, So-jun fixed his hair and sat up straight.

How to catch his attention? With legs stretched out and crossed, So-jun watched him enter. He always requested a room with two rooms in luxury hotels but never used the other room except for occasional business calls.

As if he didn’t have any urgent calls today, he came straight into the room where So-jun was. Instead, he walked in with his eyes down, checking something on his smartphone. Though it was the largest smartphone available, it looked small in his hands. His 190cm height filled the room imposingly.

The motion of tossing his coat onto the sofa, eyes slightly lowered focusing on his phone screen, soft-looking hair falling over his forehead, long large fingers moving to loosen his tie. So-jun swallowed silently. Damn, catching someone like him would be like winning the lottery. Though knowing he shouldn’t speak first, he wanted to take a risk. Pretending it was business-related, he asked, “Should I lie down now?”

He glanced up briefly. Those indifferent eyes returned to their original position in less than a second. Damn. So-jun rose to his knees. He was naked and very confident in his body.

“Don’t you like other positions?”

This time he reacted more. He lifted his head to look at him. His expressionless face said nothing but that alone made the air chill. With quick instincts from years of handling clients, So-jun realized he should back down. So wearing his usual smile, he lay down like usual. But for a while, there was no sound. No footsteps, no clothes rustling, nothing. Wondering what was happening, he thoughtlessly glanced at the mirror.

And met his eyes in the reflection. Shudder. So-jun trembled. His heart sank heavily. Though the reflection wasn’t exactly glaring, he couldn’t shake the chills. He quickly lowered his gaze but knew he was in trouble. Then came a small movement sound from behind, as if dialing a phone. Following that, a voice tinged with annoyance,

“Clean up this trash.”

Gasp, surely he didn’t call the company… So-jun took a breath and quickly raised his body.

“Ah, no, this is…”

The words to make excuses couldn’t come out. He ignored So-jun, picked up the clothes and smartphone he had thrown down, and was about to turn around and leave.

“Uh, CEO Seo!”

So-jun called out without thinking. He immediately regretted it, but his careless mouth had already done its deed. The man turned to look at So-jun briefly as he left. It was just a moment, that was all. But that gaze, those eyes that met his directly, made shame surge through So-jun like flames.

It was truly the look of someone viewing ‘trash.’ Like looking at a piece of meat rather than a human being. Despite dealing with all sorts of awful treatment from many clients, So-jun had never felt such self-loathing and crushing shame as he did from this client’s brief glance. Especially because those eyes had seen right through everything he had planned for today. So-jun felt like his face would burst from the heat rising to it.

“Ugh, fuck…”

So-jun ran his hands through his hair, repeatedly cursing “fuck, fuck.”

“Fuck, you crazy bastard. Do you know how scary that company is? I warned you so many times, what the hell did you do to end up like this?”

So-jun turned away in irritation at his friend’s cursing. As his friend said, his condition was terrible.

“You got off with just a broken arm this time, but be careful next time.”

He knew. Given that they’d left his face alone, they were giving him another chance. I must have been crazy, getting greedy for no reason.

“What did you do to the client?”

His friend asked, but So-jun just picked up his drink with his good hand, remembering the company’s warning to watch his mouth.

“Your face is fine… What, did you try to hit on the client?”

When So-jun flinched, his friend laughed in disbelief.

“You fucking idiot, do you know how important the clients there are? Those super busy people buy us because they don’t want to waste time on dating. You think they’re buying us because they can’t find anyone to have sex with? They don’t even consider people like us as insects.”

“I know, asshole.”

So-jun frowned as he recalled the word ‘trash’ from that client’s mouth. Shame rising again, he felt the need to make excuses.

“I thought I might be his type, so maybe I had a chance.”

So-jun had discovered that he previously only chose people with similar builds to himself.

“Hey, of course clients choose people who are their type.”

“No, it’s not just about type… I think I look like someone important to him… Hey, fuck, what do you keep looking at?”

So-jun snapped at his friend who kept glancing somewhere. His friend pointed with his chin across the street.

“Wondering if that person’s a celebrity. He’s seriously gorgeous.”

At the word ‘gorgeous,’ So-jun frowned again as he recalled that time. Who’s so gorgeous? He looked across the street where his friend pointed. A man and a middle-aged woman were talking in front of a large pet supply shop. The man, who appeared to be in his mid to late twenties, was indeed very good-looking as his friend said. Fuck, he’s better looking than me. As he cursed internally, his friend added,

“Hey, he kind of has a similar vibe to you. Though he’s way more gorgeous, of course.”

“Ah, this bastard.”

***

“I’ve put in a good word with the friend who’s taking over the shop. I praised Team Leader Joo a lot too, so there shouldn’t be any problems with the business deal.”

The pet shop owner smiled as she spoke, but there was sadness in her eyes. This shop had been Seung-ha’s client for over four years. Located in an expensive commercial district in Seoul, it had very good sales. But when her dog of 18 years died two months ago, the shop owner struggled with pet loss syndrome. Even seeing other dogs coming as customers became unbearable, so she finally decided to hand over the store to someone else. Everyone told her it was okay since her dog had lived a good 18 years, but Seung-ha thought differently. No death was okay for those left behind.

“Thank you.”

When Seung-ha gave a brief response, she looked at him curiously.

“Team Leader Joo, you’re not trying to stop me. Everyone else said it’s a shame to give up a shop that’s doing so well.”

“Everyone has their circumstances.”

Seung-ha replied indifferently. Despite being a salesperson, he wasn’t warm or friendly. Sometimes he even came across as cold. The shop owner remembered when he first came for a contract consultation. While all salespeople try to secure high-revenue shops by offering lower margins or double the sample support of others, he stated firmly from the start that his company had the same supply conditions for all retailers.

‘However, we will always match your desired quantity and ensure definite returns or exchanges if there are quality issues.’

Though this seemed basic, emphasizing the basics actually made him more trustworthy. And he really did maintain those basics perfectly. At first, she thought he was just trading on his looks, but now she knew his character was more trustworthy than his appearance.