PM Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“Why him?”

“I thought he came with us to eat together.”

“He’s eating somewhere else.”

He had no sense for reading the room, but he still managed to worry about the weirdest things. Like being afraid of robbers, or remembering to care about the subordinate who just ran an errand. It rubbed Daesik the wrong way. It was annoying.

Without knowing anything, Kyunghoon—now apparently someone Heeseong was concerned about—scratched his ear while eating gukbap. His ear suddenly felt itchy for no reason.

The noodles were absolutely delicious. After eating way too much of the tasty food, Heeseong went all soft like a full-bellied puppy. He hadn’t finished the noodles, but he had eaten the entire roll of gimbap, and he felt proud of that. To Daesik, Heeseong looked like a satisfied little squirrel, which made him smirk.

“All done?”

“Yes. Thank you for the meal, boss.”

Heeseong didn’t forget to express his gratitude and bowed his head. Even if he was clueless, his manners were good—which was funny in its own way. Daesik gave a short laugh.

Heeseong scampered after Daesik as he walked ahead. The moment they stepped out of the noodle shop and Heeseong reached for the car parked in front, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.

“There’s somewhere we need to stop by. Come with me.”

Without hesitation, Daesik crossed the street. Heeseong trailed along behind him, and they arrived at a phone shop just a short distance away.

Heeseong simply thought the boss must be buying himself a phone. He stood there quietly, looking around the store. Then suddenly, Daesik’s voice cut in.

“What are you doing? Pick one.”

Heeseong blinked at him, unsure if that comment was really directed at him.

“…Me? I’m choosing?”

“Who else? It’s yours. You should choose it.”

“…You’re… buying it for me?”

No way. He was going to buy him a phone? Heeseong’s jaw dropped in disbelief. A new phone cost dozens of times more than a meal. No one had ever casually offered him something like that before.

Even his brother always said new phones were too expensive and only bought secondhand ones—secondhand of secondhand. And those were so old they constantly broke down.

“You’ll need it so I can contact you.”

And monitor you. Daesik swallowed the second half of that sentence and looked at Heeseong. At the nod of his chin, Heeseong gulped and began blinking rapidly as he looked over the phones on display one by one.

His face made it clear he couldn’t believe what was happening. He looked completely dazed—but his lips were twitching upward, and his cheeks turned pink with excitement.

He looked like someone who had never owned a brand-new phone before, and Daesik couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. What was so special about a phone that made him act like this? It was cute—and kind of ridiculous.

While Heeseong hesitantly touched the display models, a store clerk approached and began speaking with practiced ease.

“This one just came out—it has great camera quality, and it doesn’t have the glitches the last one did.”

“Oh…”

“You probably already know the design, so I don’t need to explain that. Last time, the pink and yellow ones were popular, but this time, this green model’s flying off the shelves. We only have two left in 256GB.”

Even with the smooth explanation, Heeseong only mouthed silently. The truth was, he didn’t understand a word. Camera quality, storage capacity, battery life… what did all of that even mean?

“If you buy it now, you’ll also get a lot of discounts on the plan.”

“Uh… okay…”

“With the device cost included, the monthly bill is only about a hundred thousand won.”

“A hundred thousand won?”

Heeseong, who had only been half-listening, blinked. That number snapped him out of his daze. A hundred thousand won? To someone like him, that was an enormous amount of money.

When Heeseong’s face went pale under the clerk’s rapid-fire pitch, Daesik clicked his tongue quietly.

“Don’t worry about the price. Just pick one.”

“But still… it’s really expensive… Are you sure it’s okay?”

Heeseong began to worry. Even if Daesik was offering to buy it, was it really alright to accept something so pricey? The motel didn’t seem to be doing particularly well… Even if he was a gangster, living out in the countryside like this didn’t exactly scream wealth. He couldn’t help but worry that Daesik was overextending himself.

“What?”

Daesik let out a snort that was more disbelief than annoyance. What the hell was this little fish thinking? What was going on inside that tiny head of his that made him come up with this stuff?

“Hahahaha…!”

As Daesik burst out laughing without warning, Heeseong glanced around in confusion. What was that? Did he say something wrong again?

There were people who laughed like that, then suddenly turned and cursed or hit you. The gangsters before he came here had done that. So had the team leader at the kimchi factory. So naturally, Heeseong tensed up at the sound of Daesik’s loud laughter.

“You’re something else… Just pick already. Don’t worry about it.”

Thankfully, it seemed like Daesik wasn’t the kind to flip like that. Relieved, Heeseong felt a bit guilty for doubting him again for no reason.

He slowly nodded and picked up one of the phones on display at random. It was the one that looked the cheapest.

“I-I’ll take this one.”

“Alright, then.”

Even though Daesik had told him not to worry, the concern about his finances lingered. After all, Daesik had already helped him so much—Heeseong wanted to at least ease the burden a little. Even if Daesik was still the one paying, it felt like something he could do.

Once the phone was activated and set up, Daesik immediately saved his own number.

“I saved my number. If something happens, call me. And if I call, answer. Got it?”

“Yes, thank you…!”

Heeseong took the new phone and carefully placed it in a paper bag along with the charger and earphones. Then he clutched the bag to his chest like a precious treasure.

My boss is the best. To Heeseong, Daesik had officially evolved from “a decent gangster” to “my boss.”

Just as he was walking out of the shop, eyes sparkling and smiling up at Daesik—

“Well, look who it is.”

Across the street, a man in a shabby brown jacket approached with a cocky swagger, greeting them like they were old friends.

His hair was a mess, and his wrinkled eyes stared straight at them. Despite the drooping lids, there was a sharpness in his gaze.

Even if he didn’t have great instincts, fear had taught Heeseong to develop a sense for danger—and he froze. That man radiated trouble from the first glance. He looked like the kind who’d strike you the moment you rubbed him the wrong way.

Heeseong tensed up immediately.

“Aren’t you President Pyo? Wow, what a surprise running into you here!”

Stiff as a board, Heeseong slowly blinked at what he’d just heard.

What did he just say?

“What a pleasant surprise.”

Daesik tilted his head and looked at the man like he was some old buddy. But the man was no such thing. He was a detective. Park Jigwan. Even though this wasn’t his jurisdiction, he slinked around Daesik like a lurking wolf, always looking for an opening.

More precisely, he was a man who lived off the envelopes Daesik handed him. Whenever Daesik slipped him a “gift,” he either kept his mouth shut or handed over some useful information. But even then, he was never someone to be trusted.

The most ridiculous part was that even while accepting bribes, the man had a deep-seated disgust for gangsters. There wasn’t a crooked cop alive who wasn’t a walking contradiction. In that sense, Park Jigwan was nothing but a nuisance.

“Well, and who might this be? Your lover?”

Park Jigwan ran his eyes shamelessly over Heeseong from head to toe. It was clear he thought he’d spotted Daesik’s lover—his eyes practically lit up with suspicion.

“I didn’t know you were into this kind of thing, President Pyo.”

Daesik’s expression tightened. He reached out and wrapped an arm around Heeseong’s shoulder. His gaze went cold.

A strange urge bubbled up inside him—an overwhelming impulse to gouge out the detective’s greasy eyes for looking at Heeseong like that.

It was the first time he’d ever felt this kind of impulse. His fingers twitched like he was ready to grab the man by the collar at any moment.

It shouldn’t have mattered that a detective had taken an interest in Yoon Heeseong. It really shouldn’t have. But it did.

Something about it scraped at his nerves—like a thorn lodged under the skin.

Until now, he hadn’t given a damn about what Park Jigwan did. But this… this was different. It wasn’t just unsettling—it was infuriating. Should he just yank those disgusting eyeballs out?

His gut twisted, and his face hardened.

And all the while, Park Jigwan’s curious, glinting gaze remained fixed on Heeseong.

“Well, well… is he an omega?”

Fuck.

The moment the word “omega” came out of Park Jigwan’s mouth, Daesik nearly lunged to strangle him.