By Zephyria 
Humiliation he had never experienced before. Jjangja’s jaw trembled violently. Clutching his forehead with one hand, he bolted from his seat. The blood vessels in his eyes had all burst.
“You… you fucking piece of shit, you’re dead…!”
He didn’t even manage to pick up one of his shoes. Barely grabbing his cell phone, he fled in a hurry. Clang! A loud noise echoed from the iron door at the shop entrance.
“Whew…”
Regardless, the man frowned as if annoyed and took a drag of his cigarette. He picked up the lighter from the floor, tossed it into the air once, and caught it again.
A chilly air lingered inside the shop after the violent wind had swept through.
How could things be so relentlessly chaotic? Eun-myeong felt like he just wanted to pass out right then and there.
Jjangja didn’t show his face for several days.
He was the kind of guy who had spent his whole life acting like a king over others. But after meeting President Kang and being utterly humiliated in front of so many people… the scratch to his pride must have been immense.
Even though the man wasn’t around, Eun-myeong suffered from a pointless sense of anxiety. He had been toyed with like a toy for years. He knew very well that Jjangja was not the type of person to back down so easily.
The more his pride was wounded, the more his competitive streak was triggered, and Jjangja’s violence would only multiply.
Even if things were quiet for now, he couldn’t shake the precarious feeling.
After all, they say it’s calmest before the storm.
“…….”
And so, he finished his serving work today in a state of high tension. Jjangja didn’t appear until the work at the sashimi restaurant was over.
Trudging back to the hotel, Eun-myeong suddenly stopped in his tracks and scanned his surroundings.
It was dark all around, and there were few people walking about.
‘…No?’
He tilted his head once and started walking again. He definitely felt a strange gaze on him from somewhere. But then again, it might have just been his imagination.
Telling himself that he had just become too sensitive because of Jjangja lately, Eun-myeong hurried his steps. He thought about how he was feeling a bit peckish, so he’d satisfy his hunger with some cup noodles once he returned to his room.
However, what he thought was merely a feeling materialized right in front of the hotel lobby.
“Hey!”
Suddenly, his ear was grabbed painfully hard. Eun-myeong let out a cry and looked up. As expected, it was Jjangja.
“You work here now?”
The moment he saw the man’s face, it felt as if his solar plexus dropped with a thud. He was wearing a beanie pulled down low, completely covering his forehead. Thanks to that, the cigarette burn was hidden. As expected of a man who lived and died for his pride.
Why on earth did he have to run into him in front of the hotel?
“Hyung, why are you here?”
Even as he spoke, Eun-myeong felt he knew the answer. He had felt someone watching him for a while now; it really hadn’t been his imagination. If even someone as dull as he could feel it, it couldn’t have been for nothing.
“Did you follow me, by any chance?”
Ignoring that feeling had been a huge mistake.
Anxious, Eun-myeong quickly flicked his head left and right. He was incredibly worried that he might run into the man.
“I used to come in and out of here like it was my own home. Fuck, do you only come here to work? You’ve never even fucked here, have you?”
Jjangja chuckled boastfully. The employees standing by the door wore their usual professional smiles, but their expressions were strangely dark.
“Maybe I’ll take a look inside for the first time in a while.”
As he put Eun-myeong in a headlock and tried to enter—
“I’m sorry, sir, but entry is prohibited for those wearing sandals.”
The hotel manager politely blocked Jjangja’s entry.
To Eun-myeong, it felt a bit strange. He had come to the hotel barefoot before, and they hadn’t said anything then, yet they stopped Jjangja. He suspected he had received special treatment thanks to the man.
“Do you know who I am?”
Jjangja tried to pick a fight again with that kind of talk, but the manager signaled the bodyguards.
“Please escort this gentleman out.”
Because he caused such a scene, it took three grown men to finally drag Jjangja outside.
“Fuck, this is fucking bullshit!”
At the bottom of the stairs, Jjangja kicked the decorations repeatedly. Eun-myeong wanted to leave him be and vanish into the hotel, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it, fearing that Jjangja might do something reckless if left alone.
“Fuck, fuck!”
Jjangja spat out a torrent of curses, seemingly unable to bear his frustration. Not a single person around him paid any attention. Everyone was utterly cold toward him. Without being the sashimi restaurant owner’s son, Jjangja was nothing more than a nobody thug.
Jjangja huffed and puffed with rage. Then, he suddenly barked at Eun-myeong.
“Hey, go to the boat and get the drugs. So I can sell them.”
With that brazen attitude, he ordered him around as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“A boat called Tteokgal-ho comes in at dawn. There’s a place where they put the fish. I’ll have hidden the drugs there.”
Eun-myeong gasped. He was so shocked it felt as if his tongue were curling up like a blanket in his throat.
“No, I can’t, I won’t do it, I’m scared…”
He shook his head vigorously. Something had happened because of those drugs. He and his sister had suffered so much; how could he do such a thing again?
Just thinking about it made Eun-myeong’s shoulders shiver.
“Hey, isn’t this all because of that sister of yours? That idiot got caught.”
Eun-myeong bit his lower lip hard. Because of his sister? He had heard insults his whole life, but his sister should never have to hear such things. Who was this guy to insult the hardworking and intelligent Eun-joo noona?
Anger made Eun-myeong’s throat tremble.
“You know, don’t you, fucker? If it’s not you, it’ll be your sister.”
Jjangja pointed his finger in front of Eun-myeong’s eyes several times, warning him as if carving the words into his brain.
“Try defying me one more time, and I’ll really beat you both.”
With that, he left, his slippers slapping against the ground. In between, a scream of rage could be heard.
Even after returning to his room, Eun-myeong couldn’t sit still and wandered around the room distractedly. He picked at the hangnails by his fingertips, something he hadn’t done in a long time.
He felt like he was going crazy with anxiety. How on earth did Jjangja expect him to do such a thing?
But what was scarier was that, despite all this, time was steadily passing. After trembling his legs in anxiety for a long while, Eun-myeong cautiously picked up the hotel phone.
Ring, ring—after a short while, a cheerful voice answered.
—Oh, Eun-myeong!
Hearing his sister’s bright voice felt as if the worries that had accumulated in his body like waste were flowing away.
“Noona, uh, it’s not that…”
He wanted to get her opinion just in case. Since Eun-joo noona was the smartest person he knew, he hoped she might give him some brilliant answer.
—Eun-myeong, I’m sorry, I’m at a company dinner right now and it’s too noisy. Can I call you back in a bit when I get home?
However, the answer made Eun-myeong’s shoulders slump slightly. Now that he mentioned it, he could hear the boisterous noise of people talking in the background. He suspected it was a bar.
Seeing as they were at a bar even though the night was very deep, they seemed to be having a very enjoyable time.
Eun-myeong truly didn’t want to disturb his sister. He forced a bright tone to hide his panic.
“Mm, no. It was nothing. I just wondered about something.”
—I’ll definitely call you when I get home.
“Yeah, okay.”
Eun-myeong quickly hung up. Then he curled his body up.
As time passed, Eun-myeong began to let his thoughts flow in the direction he was most accustomed to.
Resignation, denial, pessimism… If he was going to end up in Jjangja’s clutches regardless of how much he struggled, it might be better to just listen from the start. Before his sister suffered too.
Eventually, the darkness that had filled the surroundings receded, and a hint of grey began to mix in. Fortunately, the man had not yet returned to the room.
For a moment, he hesitated over whether he should call the man to say he was stepping out for a bit. The cell phone number was written on the contract, so he could just read it out.
However, Eun-myeong only sank into thought in front of the contract and did not actually make the call.
Even if he wasn’t in the room, the man wasn’t the type to worry about him.
Eun-myeong cautiously prepared to leave. He looked for a flashlight, but there was none in the hotel room.
It would have been great to have a cell phone at a time like this, but it had been washed away on the day it rained as if the world were ending. He still couldn’t forget the shock of that day when his phone slipped right into the sewer like a rat.
‘What should I do…’
Just as he was looking around for something to light the way.
Something caught Eun-myeong’s eye. He carefully reached out toward the nightstand. The man’s crocodile leather lighter was there. He usually kept it inside his jacket, but he seemed to have forgotten it today.
With the lighter in his pocket, Eun-myeong cautiously stepped out of the hotel room.
Thud, the door closed behind him. It sounded like his heart sinking. He flinched at the heavy sound of the impact.