HRDT Ch 0

2 AM, the entertainment district of Gangnam.

The electronic billboards and neon signs were busy spewing out intense colors as if competing with one another, and red lights lurked in the streets. It was not a peculiar sight. This street had always shone more brilliantly at night than during the day.

Scattered flyers clung damply to the ground like rain-soaked autumn leaves, cluttering the street. The spaces between each building were filled with raccoons puffing out cigarette smoke. It was a scene that was the same yesterday, the same today, and would likely be the same tomorrow.

The situation was not much different in the alley lined with high-end private room bars. Drunks, staggering around like zombies, overflowed in every corner.

“Waaah! Shiiiit!”

The moment a man with a reddened nose spotted a sedan parked on the roadside, his eyes lit up and he rushed toward it like an arrow.

“This is insane! It’s a Phantom. Wow… I’m so damn jealous. Just how much money do you need to have to drive something like this?”

The Rolls-Royce sedan, boasting a classic and stately charm, gleamed so smoothly that one’s face could be seen reflected on its body. Even considering it was the dead of night, the windows were so dark that the inside was completely hidden. Perhaps that was why he grew bolder, pressing closer to get a better look at the car.

“Hey, hey, let’s go.”

“Ugh, wait a minute. Let me just take one selfie.”

The man casually rested his arm near the A-pillar as if the car were his own and struck a cool pose. The necktie around his neck was crooked and his dress shirt was half-untucked from his waistband, but his posture and expression were full of bravado.

The man’s half-turned face and the sedan were framed evenly on the screen of his raised phone. As he was getting into position, fully elated, the heavily tinted window rolled down without a sound, and a man with a square jaw poked his head out from inside.

“Where do you think you’re shoving that stinking mug.”

The man in the driver’s seat was, to anyone’s eyes, a thug. He was stylishly dressed in a pitch-black suit, but the tattoo covering the nape of his neck was a riot of natural color. Above all, his expression was fucking menacing.

…Hiccup. The office worker, nothing more than an ordinary citizen, let out a strangled cry the moment he saw the gangster. As if the alcohol had completely worn off, his reddish complexion instantly turned deathly pale.

“S-s-s-sorry…”

“Get lost.”

The man waved his thick left hand as if shooing away a fly. Watching the office worker flee with his tail between his legs, he restored the window to its original position. Inside the now-quiet car, the man flicked his gaze toward the rearview mirror. Unbefitting of his intimidating appearance, he was busy trying to read the expression of the person sitting in the back seat.

“I apologize, Hyung-nim. These drunk bastards keep getting in the way.”

“……”

“Should I post a guard out front?”

Choi Taejin simply looked down at his tablet screen without any reply. His handsome face showed no particular emotion, and he even looked somewhat bored.

“Is it not over yet?”

When he opened his lips, a magnificent low voice that overwhelmed the surrounding air flowed out.

Manager Goo, who had been sitting in the passenger seat, quickly scanned a text message before answering.

“They say it just wrapped up. Please wait just a little longer.”

Taejin let out a small sigh and carelessly tossed the tablet he was holding. Waiting was not at all to his liking, so he finally opened the car door and got out.

Just as the office worker had done earlier, Taejin also leaned against the car’s body. Since it was his own car, his posture was perfectly comfortable. As he put a cigarette to his lips, a lighter flame flared up with a flick sound as if it had been waiting. It was Taejin’s closest aide, Manager Goo, who had cupped his hand to block the wind and light it for him.

Before he knew it, burly men dressed in black suits had surrounded him. They all had resolute expressions, as if they were ready to go and bury someone right this instant.

Taejin took a deep drag on his cigarette, his cheeks hollowing. Hazy white smoke mingled with his leisurely exhaled breath. His somewhat jaded gaze was fixed on only one place among the numerous private room bars.

Before long, a crowd of young people poured out of the building Taejin had been watching. Six men, four women. Perhaps because they had just finished their drinking party, their faces were all flushed with lingering excitement.

Within the group, there was one person who was particularly intoxicated. Jin Raewon, who was practically being carried out with each of his arms held by someone else, plopped down onto the damp street as soon as he was outside.

His companions gathered around him in small groups. A woman, tucking the hem of her short skirt between her thighs, squatted down and took a savory drag from a cigarette in front of Raewon.

“Ah, hurry up and wake Jin Raewon. He promised he’d go to my place with me earlier.”

“He’s already passed out cold, so how are you supposed to get laid? For fuck’s sake, I bet he can’t even get it up.”

“Hey, hey, Jin Raewon. Are you really going to sleep at Seung-ah’s place tonight? You wanna just go to a hotel with hyung?”

Taking him without permission was forbidden, so they diligently slapped his cheeks to try and wake him up.

However, Jin Raewon was dead to the world, unable to even hold his head up properly, let alone answer. Separate from his friends who were making a fuss all around him, he was completely knocked out, letting out only soft, even breaths.

At that sight, one of the guys suddenly balled his fist.

“Rock, paper, scissors. Winner takes him.”

“What do you mean, rock, paper, scissors? Let’s just all go together. Raewon would probably like that better, right?”

“Who’s gonna pay for it?”

“We have Jin Raewon’s card.”

“You have no fucking conscience. Acting like Jin Raewon’s card is your own.”

“If you don’t like it, then piss off. Why are you being such a prude?”

The companions continued their pointless argument with the drunk man in their midst. Raewon getting this wasted was unexpected, so the aftermath was left in an awkward state.

The mood had been so good just a moment ago. Every single one of them had thought they would be the one to spend the night with the pretty and rich Jin Raewon.

“Raewon hates orgies. Just pick one person.”

“Man to man, the chicks should back off. It’s not like you can even fuck him if you take him.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Our Raewon likes to get fucked too, you know?”

“You say that like you have firsthand experience.”

The world was coming to an end. They were shouting things on the street that would make anyone gasp in horror… No matter how drunk they were, they were a truly vulgar bunch.

In the end, they decided to settle it with rock-paper-scissors. Excluding a few who had already hit it off and were making out, only those who wanted to get with Jin Raewon gathered around and shouted the call.

“Yes!”

The guy who clinched victory in one round held his ‘scissors’ hand up high. He was the same man who had been drooling over Jin Raewon from the start.

“Aigoo, I will serve you with the utmost care, Young Master Raewon. If I knew I was going to be the one to fuck you, I would have made you drink a little less.”

He bent down to slide his arms under Jin Raewon’s armpits, but suddenly a shoe-clad foot flew out and kicked the man squarely in the ass. His body lost its balance and pitched forward, crashing onto the asphalt ground.

“Fuck! Who was that!”

“It was me, you bastard. What are you gonna do about it?”

When he turned around, a large contingent of men in black suits was positioned there. They gave off an aura that was clearly out of the ordinary. This was no joke; they were on a different level from the bouncers standing guard at club entrances. To anyone’s eyes, these were real, bona fide gangsters.

“What are you staring at? Stop blocking the way and get the hell out of here.”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

The man scrambled to his feet, propping himself up on the ground with a terrified face. Not forgetting to try and take Jin Raewon with him, a man standing right behind him poked the back of his knee with the tip of his shoe.

“Leave that here.”

“…Ah, I can’t. He’s my friend.”

“Tsk, do you need a beating to leave?”

As a fist like a rock shot towards him, the man fled in terror. The companions who had been laughing and chatting beside him just moments ago were nowhere to be seen. They were a bunch without a shred of loyalty.

The men formed a tight circle around Jin Raewon, who was sprawled out drunk. All of them were well-built and wore matching black suits, making it look as though a black wall had been erected. With their appearance, even the noisy street became quiet as if it had been muted.

At that moment, the sound of trudging dress shoes cut through the silence.

The group of men parted a path without even looking back. Taejin, who easily broke through the gap, stopped with his hands shoved into his pants pockets and cast his gaze downward. It was the moment he met the protagonist he had only seen on a tablet screen in person.

Jin Raewon. Twenty-one years old.

Occupation: Unemployed. Hobby: Wasting money. Special skill: Also wasting money.

The very model of a human being who stood at the opposite pole of sincerity was none other than Jin Raewon.

It was dumbfounding to see him sleeping so peacefully, completely unaware of what had befallen him. The shirt and pants he was wearing were clearly designer brands from any angle, yet with buttons missing here and there and something smeared on them, it was an absolute mess.

Lying sprawled on the cold street as if it were his own bedroom, his expression was nevertheless serene.

It must have meant he was in a good mood. His skin, still with its baby-fine hair, had a reddish flush, and his cheeks and the area around his eyes were pink with heat. His dark brown hair, though disheveled every which way, still boasted a soft texture.

For a guy with a dick, he had an uncommonly pretty face. A certain luster was ingrained in his body, making it seem as if a high-end ball-jointed doll were lying there. Perhaps that was why he behaved so wantonly. His promiscuity that didn’t discriminate by gender, and his habit of spending money like water. For a mere twenty-one-year-old, his actions were indeed excessive.

Taejin scoffed. He had thought it might be a little different seeing him in person. But the only thought that came to mind was.

“A hopeless brat.”

He threw out the short assessment and turned around. At the sight of him leaving without a second thought, the large-framed men hesitated, watching him cautiously. When Manager Goo followed, only then did the men also quickly begin to move after Taejin.

In the spot where everyone had left, only Jin Raewon remained, all alone. Still drunk in his sleep, his shoulders shivered.

“……Mmm, cold.”

His rear, in contact with the cold street, slid down further. Jin Raewon, sprawled out like a deflated balloon, was no different from a homeless person.