3. Overflowing

Suddenly, the light of the incandescent bulb flowed down along Mu-won’s silhouette. Captivated by the mystical scene, Namu rose onto his tiptoes as if possessed.

Chu.

The sound of skin meeting and parting echoed in the dead-end space.

“…….”

Gulp. A dry swallow passed through his small Adam’s apple. His raised heels dropped with a thud—as if the strength had left his legs.

However, Namu’s legs hadn’t actually given out, nor did he stagger. He simply gazed up silently at the spot where his lips had touched and parted. His lips, which had softly brushed against the area of Mu-won’s jaw, opened. They were red, like a rose that had just burst into bloom.

“I like you.”

It was a plain confession, perhaps humble, but devoid of shame. It had been only a few minutes since he had spoken clearly, promising never to do anything bothersome. Yet, the emotions that had swelled in those few minutes could no longer be contained by the small crack of restraint; they burst forth like a broken dam.

“Do you… feel bad?”

Unable to control the tremor in his voice, Namu couldn’t take his eyes off Mu-won. Mu-won, looking down at Namu, who was much smaller than him, tilted his head slightly. The light that had been blocked by his frame poured in just enough to reveal Mu-won’s expression. Contempt, displeasure, interest—his face showed none of these. With such a face, he smiled and spoke.

“I’ll have to do it more to find out.”

“…….”

Namu didn’t have the luxury to discern whether this was a joke or another expression of displeasure. He simply succumbed, without resistance, to the voice that flowed out like a temptation. As Namu rose onto his tiptoes once more, a hot pack fell from his feet.

With his head tilted back as far as his tiptoes would allow, Namu’s lips touched Mu-won’s lips this time. Soft lips and dry lips pressed firmly together and then parted.

He locked eyes with Mu-won, who didn’t even grant him the kindness of closing his eyes. Trying to hide his trembling pupils, Namu lowered his eyelids and grabbed Mu-won’s sides with both hands. He felt the soft skin covering firm muscles. It was the moment his fingertips brushed against a bumpy scar that ran diagonally across the external oblique muscle.

‘Take your hands off.’

At the flash of a memory, the hands gripping the sides flew away as if burned. Even though he had done something far more daring than merely touching a side, Namu found himself unable to figure out where to put his hands. In the end, unable to continue the kiss, he lowered his heels.

Tension lingered in his eyes as they slowly opened. Mu-won’s eyes, looking down at Namu, were as black as if they had absorbed the darkness. It was a calm, indifferent gaze. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Namu felt the eyes were closer than before he had closed them; he looked up as if being sucked in, his lips parting slightly.

Ah.

It wasn’t his imagination. Mu-won had willingly leaned his upper body down to assist Namu’s kiss. The distance had closed so much that Namu only had to lift his toes slightly, rather than straining on his tiptoes, for their lips to meet. While not actively responding, Mu-won did not coldly push him away.

Suddenly, unable to withstand the volume of the heat blooming in his chest, Namu stood on his toes again. His body reacted before his mind. Chu. After leaving one more short kiss, he wrapped both arms around Mu-won’s waist.

He buried his face in the broad chest as if hiding his heart. Mu-won’s heartbeat, clearly audible against his ear, was slow and regular. It was serene, entirely unlike Namu’s. That was answer enough.

Forcing down the desire to never let go, Namu released his grip and took a step back. The hard wall touched his back. As if pushed, he lifted his head to face Mu-won. The gaze looking at Namu was the same as at first. Staring into those eyes—which remained equally indifferent whether a smile lingered or vanished—Namu ended up laughing.

“Thank you, Guest.”

For not coldly pushing away someone who didn’t even mean it in his heart.

“Thank you, truly.”

The shadow cast over Namu, who was conveying his sincerity, slowly receded. Though he had only taken one step back, Mu-won now felt far away. Namu tried to ignore the stinging sensation in his chest, wondering why such a small distance mattered, and gave a goofy smile. Mu-won, taking in that overly easy smile, replied.

“Don’t mention it.”

At that nonchalant reaction, the tension that had remained like thin ice melted away completely. Though he couldn’t let all his feelings of love flow out at once, Namu intended to. Little by little, in the future, all of it.

“Guest, your body is cold.”

“Thanks to someone.”

Namu chuckled at the light retort and stepped out of the closet. As Mu-won’s hand touched a certain spot on the wall, the small secret space vanished.

“Please lie down, Guest. I’ll finish up quickly for you. I-I mean, that doesn’t mean I’ll do it sloppily. Ah, I’ll go get a new hot pack.”

Stuttering as usual in his soft voice, Namu picked up the hot pack from the floor and turned around hurriedly. Mu-won grabbed his wrist, pulling him back, and tossed out a word in an annoyed tone.

“Just do it, Namu-ssi.”

Namu looked down absentmindedly at his wrist where Mu-won’s hand had touched and left, then snapped back to his senses and approached the treatment table. In the meantime, Mu-won had lied face down on the treatment table, his back fully exposed.

The snake scales, which had seemed terrifyingly monstrous at first, now felt familiar, even friendly. Perhaps it was because he had confessed his feelings. Since it was a heart poured out impulsively and without permission, Namu decided to keep this one-sided intimacy deeply hidden.

“Please come again, Guest.”

Stopping his cleanup, Namu went to the counter to see Mu-won off and gave a polite bow to Jae-un, who always accompanied him like a set. With the chime of the bell announcing an exit, the glass door closed.

Beyond the glass door, which was loudly plastered with ‘tangerine massage’ stickers, the profiles of Mu-won and Jae-un were reflected. Namu watched them board the arriving elevator and only turned around after hearing the heavy door close.

The Manager, who had entered the treatment room, was still caring for a guest. Teacher Choi had entered a room to greet a succession of guests, and Teacher Kim was resting for a moment in a small room. After finishing cleaning Room 7, Namu gathered the miscellaneous items and headed to the bathroom.

The staff bathroom, slightly less than one pyeong in size, was closer to a utility room. A medium-sized washing machine and dryer took up half the space, and the other half was occupied by a faucet and a toilet. Namu put the used towels into a red basin and turned on the water.

Squatting in front of the basin, which was large enough for his own body to fit in, Namu waited until the water was half full. Thanks to the strong water pressure, the wait wasn’t long. It was enough time for Namu’s entire body, from head to toe, to turn bright red.

His face, buried in his knees, was hot. Only now did his heart beat as if it would jump out. The pulse racing through his entire body hammered at Namu from the inside. It felt like being caught in a rain shower. Or perhaps it was hail.

His breathing became heavy and labored. Then, suddenly, his tension snapped. Drowsiness washed over him. Blinking slowly with eyes that had grown hazy, Namu eventually slumped down onto the bathroom floor.

Swoosh— The loud sound of water rushed in like a wave. Following the sensation of his muffled ears slowly opening, Namu’s eyelashes fluttered.

“…….”

Waking up, Namu started to raise his upper body but stopped to reach out and turn off the faucet. The water overflowing from the basin had already soaked Namu’s clothes and his body.

Again….

Looking troubled, Namu quickly snapped back to his senses and took out his phone. Fortunately, because he had fallen asleep lying on his side, the phone in the opposite pocket was safe. About ten minutes had passed since he turned on the water. Still, the episode wasn’t long this time. While narcolepsy is typically characterized by suddenly collapsing as if fainting, Namu mostly exhibited symptoms of nodding off before falling deep asleep. That was a relief. If he collapsed without warning, an accident would surely happen—either Namu himself getting seriously hurt, or damaging someone else’s body or belongings.

Thinking of the 100-million-won watch, Namu shook his head and squeezed the soaking wet treatment clothes. After squeezing them several times to remove as much moisture as possible, he began washing the towels. However, the branches of his thoughts did not extend as he wished.

It had already been seven weeks since he was called out to be beaten. It was nearly two months. In the meantime, the interest had only piled up. Every cent he earned from massages was handed over as interest, but it was woefully insufficient.

Namu couldn’t even blindly cling to them, begging to be allowed to pay off the debt. The massage shop CEO was hard to see even once or twice a month, and the Manager only poured out harsh words, telling him not to whine when things were already stressful enough.

But seven weeks was too long. If there was no news by tomorrow, he intended to ask one more time, even if he had to brace himself for the Manager’s scolding. Namu’s face grew gloomy, never having imagined a day would come when he would plead to be beaten by someone.

Meanwhile, the hands scrubbing a dozen or so towels were meticulous and vigorous. After finishing the laundry, Namu shivered and took off the treatment clothes he was wearing, putting them in the basin. Perhaps because he had been wearing wet clothes, his body had chilled. The staff bathroom was about 2 degrees warmer than the store, which was blasted with air conditioning, but an unintentional cold bath was too much for Namu, who had been under refrigeration all day.

Putting on a fresh set of treatment clothes from the drying rack, Namu dipped both hands back into the cold water. If he used the washing machine or dryer just to wash a few towels and his uniform, the Manager’s nagging would follow. Namu also felt that would be a waste of electricity. After meticulously washing the treatment clothes as well, Namu squeezed each piece of laundry tight, shook them out, and began hanging them up.

“Namu.”

Just as he was hanging the last towel, someone knocked on the half-open bathroom door. It was Teacher Kim. Peeking through the gap in the door, Teacher Kim raised an eyebrow and pointed behind her.

“Oh Mun-ju is here.”

It was common for her to drop by suddenly without an appointment. Her visiting times weren’t consistent, but it was usually late at night or early dawn. Today, she was accompanied by two helpers, each holding one of the twins.

“Welcome, Madam.”

“Mm, Teacher Na, hello.”

As always, Oh Mun-ju, greeting him with a somewhat fatigued face, headed to Room 1 while wearing a robe. For some reason, Namu, who made eye contact and greeted the wide-awake twins today, hurriedly prepared for the treatment.

“Teacher Na.”

“Madam!”

After finishing the treatment as usual and running an errand for cigarettes, Namu spotted Oh Mun-ju and hurried toward her. Instead of waiting on the massage shop sofa, she was sitting at the first-floor back entrance.

“Have you been waiting long? I hurried as fast as I could… I’m sorry. I’ll be quicker next time.”

“No. I was just stifled, so I came out. Is this mine?”

Waving her hand to say it was fine, Oh Mun-ju took the cigarettes as if snatching them. Before she could put a cigarette in her mouth, Namu quickly pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit it for her.

“Now I feel like I can breathe.”

At a gesture to sit beside her, Namu perched his backside on the narrow cement entrance. Looking at Namu, who sat about two spans away, Oh Mun-ju chuckled and took a long drag of the filter.

“Why don’t you smoke, Teacher Na?”

“Well… because I don’t have money.”

“Realizing you’re poor before you learn the taste of cigarettes is also a kind of luck.”

“I’ve heard that often.”

“Actually, I thought you didn’t smoke because you were frail. You can’t smoke if you have respiratory diseases, right?”

“I’m not frail, Madam. I’m actually quite sturdy.”

Stopping mid-sentence, Namu paused in thought and asked with a worried face.

“Is my treatment lacking, by any chance?”

“No? Teacher Na, you’re good at massages.”

“I’m glad.”

Watching Namu, who smiled softly in genuine relief, Oh Mun-ju exhaled the cigarette smoke in the opposite direction.

“I don’t see Teacher Jeong; is he really going to become a gangster?”

“I… haven’t been able to talk to him yet.”

Oh Mun-ju, who turned fully toward Namu as he spoke only of the current situation without answering yes or no, flicked the cigarette ash onto the cement floor. Then, she leaned her cheek against her drawn-up knee.

“Do you know why I like you, Teacher Na?”

“Ah… Madam, you liked me?”

As Namu joked with a shy smile, Oh Mun-ju’s laughter reached his ears.

“I do. You’re pretty, skilled, kind, and you keep your mouth shut.”

Exhaling the smoke she had drawn in deeply, Oh Mun-ju turned her head away from Namu again. The compliments she gave Namu were things that applied to her as well. Though he didn’t know if he dared to make such a comparison.

“You know Seongwol City in the next neighborhood, right?”

Seongwol City, which bordered Gamgyul City, was famous not only domestically but internationally. The city of entertainment and casinos. Among them, Wolseong-gwan, which had maintained the top sales spot for about 15 years, was so famous that even a child would have heard of it once or twice if they had ears.

A place where you could achieve anything you wanted as long as you had money. A place where you couldn’t even enter if you lacked the qualifications, even if you had money. Wolseong-gwan’s fame wasn’t just because of that. The epicenter of a mass murder case that the media had buzzed about for half a year—that place was Wolseong-gwan in Seongwol City.

“I’m from Wolseong-gwan.”

“…….”

“An ace, no less.”

Winking with one eye, she put the filter to her lips. Soon, the thick smell of tobacco blended into the humid summer night air.

“Suddenly he asks me to marry him. Says he likes women who pour drinks. He had money, a good job, and looked decent, so I accepted the proposal. That is, if putting a ring in my cleavage and pouring liquor over me counts as a proposal. The people in the room cheered and celebrated our marriage.”

Stubbing out the shortened butt, Oh Mun-ju took out another cigarette.

“My debt was enormous back then. As soon as I stamped the marriage registration, he paid it all off in one go. And from the first wedding night, he started beating me.”

In the tropical night, the dawn entertainment district was boisterous.

“So you be careful too, Teacher Na. Let’s not make the worst choice because of debt.”

Oh Mun-ju, who said she wasn’t usually the type to meddle like an old person but spoke up because Teacher Na felt like a younger brother, returned to her fatigued face.

Namu sat quietly by her side until she had spent her time fully. Perhaps out of consideration, her second smoke ended quickly. Namu took out a room fragrance he had bought along with the cigarettes from his pants pocket and tore open the packaging.

“Lavender?”

“Yes, how is it?”

Putting her nose to the fragrance Namu offered, she replied with a smile.

“It’s nice.”

As soon as the words, which were practically permission, ended, Namu sprayed the fragrance around her. Several times, until the smell of tobacco faded. Just as he was about to stand up following her, Namu quickly picked up the crushed cigarette butts from the floor and followed her inside.

That scene was being captured on camera by an unidentified someone from the rooftop of the building opposite.

A hot wind blew over the low wall. However, it was insufficient to be an oasis in the high-temperature, high-humidity weather hovering around 38 degrees.

Mu-won, wearing thin suit pants and a short-sleeved T-shirt, held a digital camera in his hand.

“He doesn’t look like some low-life from a detective agency or a private investigator, Hyung-nim.”

Jae-un, standing beside Mu-won as he scrolled through the photos, was sweating profusely but wasn’t acting as fidgety as usual, even though he was busy fanning himself. The importance of the matter was evident in his expression, which was more serious than ever.

“It seems he’s from the government.”

The photos Jae-un had taken showed the alleyways of Gamgyul City, where old buildings were clustered together. Oh Mun-ju and Namu, sitting side by side at the back door of a six-story building with a tacky sign, facing the dawn breeze. A mysterious man hiding in an old car parked far away, secretly photographing them.

The unidentified person who had fought the heat on the rooftop of the building opposite the massage shop until he got usable photos was Jae-un.

“The license plate is a fake, too. A government official using a ghost car. Isn’t that something only a prosecutor’s lackey would do?”

Mu-won, who had been looking at the man taking candid photos from the driver’s seat of the old car, shifted his gaze. In the corner of the photo, which vividly captured the noise, filth, and unrest characteristic of an entertainment alley, Namu was smiling. Namu’s eyes, looking at Oh Mun-ju with his cheek resting on his hugged knees, sparkled like polished stones.

‘I like you.’

With a face like that, with eyes like those, a low confession that sounded sincere—that was the way Namu had survived until now. How many people in his life had he showered with hollow confessions?

It was useful.

“Which side is he on?”

“It’s Oh Mun-ju. And it’s true that her husband hired him.”

In Jae-un’s answering voice, there was an undisguised sense of excitement and admiration. It was because Mu-won’s prediction, derived by piecing together a few bits of information, had been exactly correct.

“Seriously, Hyung-nim…!”

Before Jae-un could start rambling about geniuses again, Mu-won shoved a bundle of photos into his chest and crouched down in front of the red dog. Sensing his presence, the red dog stopped lapping up water and pushed its head against Mu-won’s palm, acting cute.

The past eight weeks had not been in vain; the red dog, which had been on the brink of death, had recovered to the point where not a single scar was visible unless one sifted through its reddish fur.

“This fellow recovers quickly,” Jae-un remarked, clicking his tongue in pity as he looked down at the red dog, which followed the very kind of creature—a human—that had nearly killed it.

“Humans and beasts are the same,” Mu-won replied indifferently, moving his hand from scratching under the dog’s chin to along its neck. His fingertips felt the deep scar created where a thin collar, put on for the purpose of taming, had dug into the flesh.

Eight weeks ago—abandoned in a remote corner of a dense forest, the red dog had been waiting for death, unable to even let out a proper whimper.

That day, Mu-won had climbed the mountain alone without Jae-un to scout the area. There were over fifty known Houses in Gamgyul City. Massage shops were no exception, operating out of abandoned buildings, gosiwons, studio apartments, motels, jjimjilbangs, and small stores. Among them, the biggest operations were the “pop-up” shops located in abandoned farms or factories at the foot of the mountain.

Hwang Mun-sang, the boss of the Munhak Clan, wanted to clean up Gamgyul City. The corruption the Munhak Clan had buried in the city was so deep and vast that it couldn’t be resolved through conventional means; there was no solution unless the city itself was erased.

As the rumors suggested, it was true that Hwang Mun-sang had sent Cha Mu-won to Gamgyul City to die. In other words, it meant that if he didn’t want to die, he should make the city his own. As soon as Mu-won understood that he was being told to scrub clean a city that had become uncontrollable, filled only with trash beyond redemption, Jae-un had protested.

Standing on a ridge and looking down at the low slopes, Mu-won narrowed his eyes. When he brought the night-vision binoculars to his eyes, a faint movement became clearly visible.

No light leaked from the old container buildings that had once been used as a dog farm. The interior of the building, which looked as if not even a single mouse would be inside, was actually booming. More than twenty vans had come and gone in a single hour.

Thanks to the moles planted in the area, the House was less concerned about surprise raids, and security around the perimeter was lax. Mu-won didn’t even find it funny to see one or two guards sitting in front of the rusted gate playing phone games, yawning lazily while urinating in the bushes.

Because of this, the faint movement was not easily detected by them. Through the lens, the face reflected as if within reach belonged to a child with chubby cheeks. With soft peach fuzz, he looked barely twenty at most.

Whether he had slipped out during a moment of chaos, the “peach fuzz” was clearly terrified, glancing around as he walked stealthily. One leg dragged behind him, clearly the result of a beating, and the place he struggled to reach with that body was the dog graveyard.

The carcasses of dogs, used as consumables in fighting pits and thrown away like trash, were piled up as high as the boy’s waist. They were likely gathered there to be incinerated once the House was cleared. Bending his crooked back, the boy reached out toward the dog graveyard with both hands.

Mu-won frowned slightly.

The boy was crying. As if afraid to break the silence, he was sobbing uncontrollably with his face crumpled and lips bitten tight. Before long, a limp dog was pulled out from the hands searching through the dog graveyard. It was obvious the dog wasn’t alive. Even if it were, it was a creature that would die soon.

As if unwilling to accept that, the boy hugged the dog with trembling hands, repeatedly pressing his ear against the bloody heart. Then, he suddenly jerked his head up and looked around, hiding himself in the thick brush to avoid detection. In the boy’s arms lay the bloody lump of flesh for whom survival seemed distant.

From the side door the boy had exited, a pot-bellied man strolled out. Puffing out cigarette smoke, he lowered the zipper of his pants. Watching the lazy behavior typical of a gambler, Mu-won shifted the lens.

He was only five or six steps away from the gambler. A bead of sweat rolled down the cheek of the boy hiding in the bushes. Mu-won could almost feel the tension of the boy, who was curled up so tightly it seemed he had forgotten to breathe.

He was sensitive to presence and had a certain level of fortitude. Moreover, he possessed useless compassion. He was a fine specimen to use as bait.

After scanning the farm once through the lens and once with his own eyes, Mu-won leaped lightly. It took less than ten minutes to reach the bushes where the boy was hiding.

Whether he had fainted from holding his breath, the boy lay sprawled on the dirt ground, and the bloody lump in his arms was panting. Kneeling down, Mu-won shone a small flashlight. Whimper… The creature, unable to even make a proper sound, was licking the boy’s face with a half-torn tongue. Even that was more of a gesture than an action.

When Mu-won checked the boy’s pulse with his finger, the bloody lump growled. Mu-won let out a short laugh at the pathetic reaction of a beast that couldn’t even hold up its head, raising his thick eyebrows. It was absurd to confirm that the boy hadn’t fainted, but had simply fallen asleep.

Either he was incredibly carefree or he was out of his mind.

Mu-won scooped up the boy and tossed him near the side door, then picked up the bloody lump left in the bushes. With a pulse that flickered intermittently, it seemed unlikely to survive. Yet, Mu-won left the foot of the mountain carrying the creature. Mu-won knew that rescuing a bloody lump that was destined to die anyway was an impulsive act he normally wouldn’t have committed.

After a major surgery lasting ten hours, the bloody lump survived. Jae-un, who recognized it as a fighting dog at a glance, glanced at Mu-won and asked, “What should we name him, Hyung?” but Mu-won dismissed it as if there were no need for such a thing.

In other words, Mu-won had seen Namu before they encountered each other at ‘Tangerine Massage.’

By the time the sparse fur covered the scars, the red dog, which had been moved to Gamrotang, followed Mu-won particularly well. Mu-won knew this wasn’t because the dog viewed him as its savior. The red dog remembered exactly who had saved it. This clever creature knew that Mu-won was the medium that would take it back to its true savior.

When Mu-won crossed the threshold of the inn carrying Namu, who was having a seizure in the meat restaurant alley, he could confirm it. Upon discovering Namu limp in Mu-won’s arms, the red dog didn’t bark excitedly. It simply circled Mu-won’s feet, wearing its loose collar.

As Mu-won came out to smoke after laying the boy in the inn room, the dog rubbed its head against his feet, acting all sorts of cute, and even did things it had never done before. For a proud creature to roll over and show its belly in front of him was a desperate plea to be shown to its savior.

‘That peach fuzz probably doesn’t even remember you. Are you really that happy?’

‘Whimper, whimper—whine…’

He wondered if the dog even understood him.

Crushing the cigarette on the cement floor, Mu-won gently scratched its belly and released the collar. The red dog sprang up and followed behind Mu-won. When Mu-won opened the door to the room where Namu lay, the dog panted with a wide-open mouth but didn’t rush inside. It was a poised and intelligent creature.

Coming out of his thoughts, Mu-won spoke.

“Keep a close eye on him yourself.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

Mu-won took his hand off the red dog and brushed away the red fur that had clung to him.

“Don’t intervene.”

“Yes, I understand, Hyung.”

Mu-won, telling the polite Jae-un that they should go eat, led the way out through the old gate.

* * *

Namu, who had been tidying the narrow lobby and meticulously wiping the counter, peeked his head out at the tinkle of the door opening. Quickly erasing the surprise that spread across his widening eyes, Namu hurried around the counter.

“M-Madam. Welcome.”

It was just past noon. Instead of asking the tactless question of what brought her here alone at this hour, Namu responded with a bright smile, though the worry he couldn’t quite hide leaked through. Oh Mun-ju, who looked at Namu—whose height was similar to hers—stared blankly before lightly stroking his fluffy hair and heading toward the sofa.

“Shall I get you a cup of tea?”

The heat, which had not subsided even after the end of the hottest days of summer, was boiling the shabby city. Even so, Oh Mun-ju, who entered with a pale face devoid of any makeup, had cheeks that were swollen bright red.

Namu pretended not to notice and glanced around the interior. Teacher Choi and Teacher Kim were in the middle of treatments, and the Manager was away on an outside schedule.

Relieved that there were no eyes watching, even though it wasn’t his business to worry, Namu moved quickly at Oh Mun-ju’s small nod. He brewed a fragrant Solomon’s seal tea bag and mixed it with cold water to make it lukewarm.

“Uh… if you stay in Room 1, I’ll bring it to you. Since it’s… it’s hot, I’ll give you a cold compress too.”

Oh Mun-ju, who had been sitting blankly, shifted her gaze to Namu. Cold compresses were not a provided service. He likely said it after seeing her cheeks, which clearly showed she had been beaten. She knew well that she was in a sorry state, but her cognitive abilities were currently severely diminished. She simply murmured, “He’s still acting so kind even in a situation like this,” and nodded slowly.

Having lost one of her slippers somewhere, her left foot was completely exposed as she entered the hallway. Red blood stained her foot, which had been cut by glass or stone fragments.

The crumpled hem of her skirt fluttered near her ankles, and her dark red nape was exposed beneath her stretched-out blouse. Namu followed her precarious appearance—much like her hair, which was tied up but completely disheveled—with a worried gaze and soon moved busily.

He moved the teacup with cold tea to Room 1 and brought in the packs needed for the cold compress and a foot bath machine. Unlike other days, Oh Mun-ju was lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. Her loose hair curved abundantly over the edge of the treatment table.

“Madam.”

“…Yes, come in.”

She, who had been quietly closing her eyes, parted her lips. Her eyelids, still closed, were not just swollen red but were changing color. Realizing she had been hit recently, Namu carefully offered an ice pack firmly wrapped and fixed with a clean towel.

“May I put the compress on?”

“Of course.”

Her voice was calm and gentle, but she didn’t seem entirely focused on Namu. Namu flinched as he carefully placed the compress on her left cheek, she who couldn’t focus on anything. He waited until Oh Mun-ju’s naturally furrowed brow relaxed before slowly lowering the pack again and fixing it with a pillow underneath.

“Let me see your sole, Madam.”

“Go ahead.”

Despite her permission, Namu took a deep breath before carefully examining her left foot. As expected, stone and glass fragments were embedded here and there. It was clear she had been fleeing or chased, but Namu, examining the wounds, focused only on the treatment. No matter how strong a person is, they inevitably become weak when in pain. Namu felt bad because it was Oh Mun-ju.

“I’ll be as careful as possible.”

“Alright…”

Namu took out a disinfectant swab from the emergency kit that Mu-won had left, which had now become his, and gently wiped away the dirt from the sole of her foot. Though she flinched every time he touched her, Oh Mun-ju didn’t say a word about the pain, keeping her eyes closed.

The noise of the old wall-mounted air conditioner filled the quiet space. Cold sweat beaded on Namu’s forehead as he used tweezers to remove the foreign objects from the sole.

“D-does it hurt?”

When he wiped the area where the foreign objects had been removed with an alcohol swab again, Oh Mun-ju reacted with a start. Namu quickly looked up at her and ended up biting his lip.

“……”

The area below Oh Mun-ju’s neck was drenched. Tears that had begun to flow at some point were soaking not only her face but her nape as well. Namu carefully lowered his wide eyes. Then, he focused on treating Oh Mun-ju. As sincerely and slowly as possible.

After about thirty minutes, Namu, having cleanly treated the sole, tidied up the area. Oh Mun-ju’s breathing, her tears now dried, sounded rhythmic. After carefully checking on her as she slept from exhaustion, Namu gathered the miscellaneous items and quietly slipped past the bamboo blind.

As he stopped by the pantry to organize the items and came out, the tinkle of someone entering rang out. Even without peering through the hallway to the entrance, Namu knew who had opened the door and entered.

“Oh, welcome, customer!”

It was the Manager, who had been away. He greeted the customer entering the door in a loud voice. However, the Manager’s voice was not heard again. Instead, an unfamiliar voice echoed gloomily through the narrow, dark space.

“There’s a kid here named Namu, right?”

“Ye… yes?”

The Manager, who encountered the man before even reaching the counter, was flustered and couldn’t respond properly.

Who the hell is this guy?

The man’s lips twisted as he read the thought that appeared and disappeared in the Manager’s shallow eyes like a flash of light. A middle-aged man of average height for an adult male with a typical D-shaped body unilaterally shoved past the Manager, who was looking at him as if he were a bug.

“Where is that little shit Namu?”

When the middle-aged man shouted with both hands on his hips, the sound of a bamboo blind being opened rang out from the inner hallway. Teacher Choi and Teacher Kim, who were in the middle of treatments, looked out at the sudden commotion. However, before the man could even shout, the moment his name left the stranger’s mouth, Namu was reflexively turning back the way he had come.

Fortunately, Namu’s footsteps did not echo in the hallway covered in cheap carpet. Running to Room 1 while holding his breath, what Namu encountered beyond the bamboo blind was the frightened face of Oh Mun-ju, who had since sat up.

Namu’s prediction was correct.

“I want to see the face of the bastard who doesn’t even feel ashamed after screwing around with someone else’s wife!”

Every time the man’s voice boomed, Namu looked at the trembling Oh Mun-ju and shook his head, telling her not to. Oh Mun-ju, whose eyes were bloodshot, almost placed her feet on the floor as if drawn by the man’s voice by habit.

“Please follow me.”

“…Namu.”

“It’s okay. You’re not going to that person.”

Oh Mun-ju, looking at Namu as he met her eyes and insisted he would never do such a thing, couldn’t keep her eyes open for long.

“Madam…”

Looking down at the hand of Namu, who only called her softly without a single word of urging, she belatedly grasped that hand. The small, warm hand gently enveloped Oh Mun-ju’s.

“Thank you.”

Oh Mun-ju let out a hollow laugh as she was led away by the hand of Namu, who murmured words of gratitude despite being the one helping.

What is there to be afraid of, having come this far.

And yet, her mind and body were reacting to years of learned violence. Oh Mun-ju had almost returned to that terrible man on her own feet after all that effort to escape.

No, in the first place, escaping to a massage shop was absurd. Had she really had nowhere to turn? Oh Mun-ju’s fingertips trembled as she smiled bitterly. Reacting instinctively to the shouts of the man claiming to be her husband outside, Oh Mun-ju looked down at the hand gripping hers tightly.

Ridiculously, Namu’s fingertips also twitched and trembled every time that man shouted. Even so, he did not let go of Oh Mun-ju’s hand. Trembling like a frightened young animal, he held Oh Mun-ju tightly and hid somewhere. Quietly and quickly. Just as she had hidden like a mouse from her husband in a fucking huge house. It was a learned response characteristic of someone exposed to violence from a close person for a long time.

“Fuck, he’s not coming out! If I have to drag him out myself, I’ll smash that pretty face of his first! Let go! Let go of this!”

Every time the man’s voice grew louder, further agitated by the Manager’s attempts to stop him, Oh Mun-ju gripped Namu’s trembling fingertips and a smile appeared on the face that looked back at her. It was a pale smile.

Oh Mun-ju followed Namu without even asking where they were going. Trying to steady her reason, which kept shrinking and blurring, she strove not to be a burden to Namu.

The place Namu led her to was Room 7, which faced Room 1 diagonally. The man’s shouting was getting closer. Namu must have been just as anxious, but he was calm as he led Oh Mun-ju inside the upright treatment table.

“……”

Namu, who suddenly stood before the wall and fumbled, also looked back at the door as if being chased. Cold sweat broke out on their joined hands. Both were so tense it was impossible to tell whose sweat it was.

“Ah.”

It was Oh Mun-ju who let out a low exclamation. After five attempts, Namu found the switch, and as he let go of her hand, a space like a coffin appeared with a clunk. Without further hesitation, Namu quickly pushed Oh Mun-ju into the empty space.

“You’ll be okay here.”

“…And you?”

Looking at Oh Mun-ju, who worried about him even while in such a mess, Namu replied with a beam.

“I’ll be okay too.”

Oh Mun-ju was left alone beneath the closing closet.

“You little shit, why the fuck aren’t you coming out? Once I find you…!”

“Oh, CEO… I told you, you can’t do this here. Please, just calm down for a moment…”

“Fuck! Where the hell do you think you’re touching me, you filthy piece of shit?”

The manager, who hadn’t even tried to stop him actively, bore the brunt of the outburst and stepped back, cursing silently. He felt he had done enough for the sake of appearances; getting further entangled with a man who looked at him like a bug would only make him feel like shit.

What the hell has this brat Namu been doing to cause this…!

Irritated now even at Namu, the manager stepped back once more, spitting out, “Fuck, you goddamn piece of shit.” This was because the man had spotted Namu just as he poked his head out of Room 2, grabbed him by the collar, and thrown a punch.

“You little shit. Look at this, look at this. A little brat who’s already grown a pair, hasn’t he? You’re not even blinking after fucking around with another man’s woman? You son of a bitch. Fucking piece of trash, you slutty bastard.”

With every curse, the man slammed his fists into Namu’s face—thud, thud, thud—until he began to sway, exhausted by his own rage. He barely managed to avoid the embarrassment of falling over, but having lost his grip on Namu’s collar, he clung to the wall and began kicking Namu, who lay sprawled on the floor. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Ugh, ugh. Even while groaning, Namu kept his body curled up tight. The man only realized belatedly that Namu was skillfully dodging the kicks, and his face twisted in rage.

“You little bastard, you’re playing with me? Hey, hey you piece of shit. Do you know who I am? Huh? Who the hell do you think I am that you not only shoved your dick in my wife’s hole but now you’re playing games with me? You piece of shit, someone like you should rot in prison for ten years—no, fuck. It’d be more fitting to lock you up for life and make you nothing but a meat toilet, wouldn’t it? You were probably born a slut from your mother’s womb. You son of a bitch, you goddamn…”

The man sat himself down and grabbed Namu’s collar again, slapping and striking him with every word, before suddenly pausing. Namu, who had been taking the beating as if dead, was staring straight up at the man with bloodshot eyes. In the moment the man hesitated, struck by the clarity of those eyes despite the burst capillaries from the reckless punching, blood trickled from the corner of Namu’s lips. Namu didn’t seem to care. Instead of spitting the blood out, he forced it down and spoke again.

“Why… why do you only say such mean things…?”

“What…?”

Namu looked straight up at the man, who was reacting stupidly to such an insignificant question, and didn’t stop.

“This is the first time I’ve met you. Why do you beat someone you’ve just met like a dog…? I haven’t done anything wrong to you. I heard that beating someone who did something wrong is also a legal problem, so why… why do you beat me, who hasn’t done anything wrong, so… carelessly? Why on earth…?”

“You haven’t done anything wrong? You piece of shit, you think I don’t know you’ve been playing around with that bitch Oh Mun-ju!”

“The lady is just a customer.”

“Customer? Customer! You shameless bastard…!”

The customers and practitioners, who had only dared to peek and watch without intervening in the man’s frantic rage, clicked their tongues and looked away. This was because the man, glancing around, spotted a mop leaning against one wall and stepped on the head to detach it. Namu looked up at the mop, which had instantly turned into a club, and curled his body up, unable to watch it swing toward him until the end.

Thwack! Along with the sound of the hard, thin club striking Namu’s back, the bell on the entrance door rang—cling.

“Oh, you’re working hard—Manager?”

The manager, who had wanted to intervene fearing the boy would be killed but had only been cursing because he couldn’t find the right timing, whipped around toward the entrance. The man in his mid-forties who strolled in was not someone he usually welcomed, but at this moment, he was like a lifeline.

“Oh? Detective Woo! W-what brings you here at this hour?”

Detective Woo looked at the manager with a transparent gaze, noting how he intentionally emphasized the word ‘Detective’ in a loud voice, and then stepped inside with a beaming smile.

“Why are you welcoming me so warmly? You make me feel honored, as if I’m just out for a casual stroll.”

The manager, realizing that the man—who was as quick-witted as he was greedy for money—had already noticed he was needed, quietly stepped aside. It was the moment the man, about to swing the club for a second time, froze at the mention of a ‘Detective.’ But that only lasted a moment. Without even glancing at Detective Woo, who was standing at the corner looking into the hallway, the man swung the club again.

Thwack! Thud! Detective Woo stepped forward belatedly, looking down at the tiny thing being beaten like a dog on a hot summer day by the emotionally charged clubbing.

If he took one more hit, a bone was likely to break. Even if he was a ‘shield of the citizens’ who loved money, Detective Woo wasn’t entirely devoid of conscience, so he softly spoke to the man.

“That’s enough, Chief Prosecutor Heo Dong-hyeon. You’re going to kill the boy.”

The reason he used the formal, precise title instead of the usual flattering ‘Old Man’ or ‘Head of Department’ was clear. It was a kind of warning and mockery, asking if he intended to act like a third-rate thug despite being the Chief Prosecutor of the Southern District. Of course, for Heo Dong-hyeon, who had become Chief Prosecutor through all sorts of schemes, the mockery bothered him first, and the warning second.

Whoosh—Detective Woo noisily dodged the mop, which was now swinging at him instead of the ‘tiny thing,’ and a vein popped on Heo Dong-hyeon’s forehead as he glared at him.

“They say a dog doesn’t know the fear of a tiger. Fuck, a lowly cop dares to defy a prosecutor? Do you know who I am to act like this?”

“Aren’t you the famous prosecutor who wiped out the Wolseong-gwan? But what can I do? Even a lowly cop has the right and duty to arrest someone as a flagrant offender when a violent crime happens right before his eyes.”

“You little rat who lives off bribes…!”

“Whether it’s a thousand won or ten thousand won, does the act of taking a bribe change just because the unit changes?”

Heo Dong-hyeon’s sagging cheeks trembled at the greasy remark suggesting that if the detective took a thousand won, the Chief Prosecutor could easily take ten thousand, so why be so picky among people who know each other. No, Heo Dong-hyeon had been visibly agitated from the moment ‘Wolseong-gwan’ left Detective Woo’s mouth, and now he glared.

“You piece of shit, what are you?”

“Just your average corrupt cop.”

Before the enraged Heo Dong-hyeon could throw a fit, Detective Woo quickly bent his waist 90 degrees and bowed deeply.

“There are many eyes watching, Old Man.”

Detective Woo quickly supported Heo Dong-hyeon, who was swaying from his temper, and whispered subserviently. Where he pointed with his eyes was a CCTV camera, prominently installed.

As Heo Dong-hyeon’s nostrils flared, wondering if he was really trying to threaten him with such a thing, Detective Woo stealthily pulled the mop away from his hand and added one more thing. Meanwhile, the manager, noticing Detective Woo’s signal, quickly took the blood-dripping mop and hid it out of sight.

“This is the Jokjebi Clan’s territory, Old Man. They’re quite powerful in Gamgyul City.”

They were also a source of income that had generously filled Heo Dong-hyeon’s back pocket.

“I will escort the lady safely. Please go home now instead of rubbing shoulders with these low-lifes.”

At Detective Woo’s polite suggestion, Heo Dong-hyeon, clutching his plump fists, finally looked around. One brat sprawled on the floor, possibly unconscious; four rats hiding behind the bamboo blinds with glinting eyes; and one guy looking uncomfortable and cautious behind Detective Woo.

Fuck.

Only then did Heo Dong-hyeon realize he had walked right into a nest of maggots, and he spat out a curse.

“Collect all the memory [footage].”

“You don’t even have to ask.”

Heo Dong-hyeon, who didn’t stop acting arrogant even while avoiding being seen, gave Namu one last kick—thud—and turned around.

“This way. You can go this way, Old Man.”

Detective Woo, acting subserviently, opened the entrance door and guided Heo Dong-hyeon outside.

“Everyone, make sure to keep your mouths shut. From this moment on, not a single rat gets out. Understood?”

“Yes, yes. Of course. Naturally.”

The manager, agreeing with Detective Woo, who didn’t forget to issue a threat disguised as a request in a loud voice, also didn’t forget to press a thick envelope of money into his hand. Cling—even after the hated sound of the bell stopped, the manager remained bowed deeply for a long time before slowly lifting his head. In the meantime, the area outside the glass door was empty, as if they had already taken the elevator down.

Fuck, what the hell was that.

With a grim face, the manager straightened up and headed straight for the hallway.

“Oh my goodness, Namu. Sweetie, are you okay? Are you awake?”

“Move aside.”

The manager pushed aside Teacher Choi, who was making a fuss without even touching the fallen Namu, and hurriedly shook him.

“Namu, you brat, wake up!”

Anxiety flickered in the manager’s eyes as he looked down at Namu, who couldn’t open his eyes despite the more aggressive shouting than usual.

Fuck, do you know how much it costs to call a quack doctor once?

Still, the boy’s condition was so strange that he couldn’t just let it go.

A prosecutor and a detective.

Thinking about how President Im would throw a fit when he couldn’t even grasp the situation, the manager’s head began to throb. He took out his phone, pouring curses only at the innocent Namu.

* * *

Namu opened his eyes, waking up to the sound of a fan spinning. Seeing a fan instead of an air conditioner, it seemed there were no customers. He blinked his heavy eyelids until the dark room became familiar. However, his left eye was so swollen it was hard to even blink.

He didn’t know if this time it was a seizure or if he had fainted. Had it hurt enough to make him pass out? No, it had hurt. Even without looking in a mirror, he could vividly imagine his face, bumpy and bruised deep purple. Perhaps because ambidextrous or left-handed people were rare, Namu’s face always ended up crushed or bruised like a hundred-year-old mold on the left side whenever he was beaten.

Why could he never get used to the pain…?

Rather, it felt like it hurt more the more he was beaten. It seemed that calluses didn’t form over pain. Because he knew that, it was scarier and more painful. The saying that it’s not a big deal once you’re actually hit was useless in the face of violence that exceeded normal levels.

“…….”

Feeling his right arm repeatedly sagging, Namu moved his blurred eyes, and his lips parted slightly. A green half-cast was visible even in the darkness. It didn’t seem to be broken. Maybe a crack or a torn ligament. As he gauged the extent of the injury, he closed his eyelids at a pain that felt like his eyeballs were popping out.

He couldn’t have gone to a hospital. They must have called a doctor. The face of a woman who looked to be in her mid-to-late thirties came to mind. She was a doctor who occasionally came with a heavy house-call bag when a customer or employee was injured.

In Gamgyul City, there were plenty of people who couldn’t go to the hospital even if they were hurt. Namu didn’t fall into that category, but it must have been the manager’s decision. Once violence was involved, going to a hospital created many tedious problems. Even when he lived in a runaway family, he could hardly go to the hospital for that reason.

There wasn’t a single spot from head to toe that didn’t hurt. Whether he was whipped obsessively in one area or beaten indiscriminately, Namu suffered from body aches. When someone intended to beat him, there was no such thing as ‘better’ or ‘worse.’

Inevitably, the inside of his mouth must have burst, as he tasted blood on the tip of his tongue. Thinking about it again, it was monstrous strength. Adult men were strong. Even ordinary men commonly seen on the street were. Especially when they were excited or lost their minds.

He must have beaten Oh Mun-ju with that strength almost every day. He didn’t think he would have gone easy on her just because she was a woman. No, people like that acted more viciously the weaker the opponent was. Even as an adult male, it hurt enough to make him faint; it was so scary he wondered if he might die.

“Ah…”

As he was blankly immersed in these disjointed thoughts, Namu snapped his eyes open. At the same time, a stabbing pain pierced through his eyeballs, but he was in no position to just lie there.

Mrs. Oh.

He lifted his head and looked at the wall clock. It was dark, and his vision was blurred because of his swollen eyes, so he couldn’t see well. Habitually groping his pocket, Namu pulled out his phone, which was safely inside.

3:12 AM. After checking the time, Namu tried to stand up in a hurry but paused. He wasn’t alone in the dark small room. The sound of someone snoring awakened Namu’s hearing. It was Teacher Kim. She was wearing her uniform, perhaps taking a short nap; unlike Teacher Choi, she didn’t commute, and it seemed she had a reservation even in the early morning today.

Zzz—she was fast asleep, likely very tired. Namu carefully got up so as not to wake her and left the small room. The lights of the massage shop, with not a single customer, were kept as low as possible. There were days like this when there were no customers for a few hours. The manager had also gone home, so the counter was empty.

Feeling slightly relieved, Namu headed toward Room 7 with a quiet but fast pace. She had already been trapped in that narrow space for over twelve hours. In this hot weather.

Still, the air conditioner runs at full blast when there’s a customer, so she should be okay. Her claustrophobia…

Thinking all sorts of things, Namu arrived hurriedly and went straight to the wall next to the treatment table. The treatment room was dark as the lights were off. Still, thanks to the light shining from outside the bamboo blind, he wasn’t completely blind.

This time, Namu found the switch on the third try, and when he pressed the wall, there was a clunk—a gap appeared. Startled by the sound, which seemed louder in the silent space without a single customer, Namu instinctively checked his surroundings. He felt no presence. Without further delay, Namu pushed the lowered door aside. The well-greased secret door slid open silently.

“Mrs. Oh.”

The moment the wall lowered—clunk—Oh Mun-ju, who had woken up, was staring at the opening door with a tense face. In both hands, she gripped a brooch that had been pinned to the top of her blouse like a weapon. Soon, recognizing Namu’s voice, her body collapsed, drenched in sweat. From that single sight, Oh Mun-ju’s fear and tension were instantly readable.

“Namu…”

“A-are you okay?”

Worried by her limp appearance as she leaned against the wall, Namu knelt down. In Oh Mun-ju’s eyes, now at the same eye level, he could feel relief and exhaustion.

“I-I’m sorry I’m late, Mrs. Oh. You’ve been waiting a long time, haven’t you?”

Because the inside of his mouth was burst, his voice was more mumbled than usual, but Oh Mun-ju, who had been on edge for half a day, didn’t notice.

“I… I’m too late.”

“No… no, it’s okay, Namu. I heard everything. I heard it all.”

Oh Mun-ju, who had heard her husband’s rampage in its entirety, carefully examined Namu, even in the darkness. However, her vision, having been trapped for a long time in a secret room where not a single light entered, didn’t brighten easily.

“Are you okay?”

“What?”

“You…”

Unable to bring herself to ask if he had been beaten by her husband, she saw Namu gently shake his head and smile as if embarrassed.

“I’m okay.”

Even though her vision was dim, that smile was so clear that Oh Mun-ju felt even more sorry.

“Let’s go now, Mrs. Oh. There’s an emergency exit in the back. It leads to the restroom of the raw fish restaurant on the first floor, so there probably won’t be anyone watching.”

Namu, whose life had always been about running away wherever he went, had a habit of looking for the emergency exit first. Oh Mun-ju understood that habit. She, too, had looked for a place to hide first.

“Can… can I hold your hand?”

“Of course.”

What a child.

Namu was fine with others touching him, but he never touched others carelessly with his own hands. He was naturally soft-hearted and upright.

Supporting Oh Mun-ju, who had started to limp from crouching in a narrow space for a long time, Namu stealthily headed for the emergency exit. Oh Mun-ju’s back, as she moved while killing her presence, was damp with sweat.

“Just a moment.”

Leaning Oh Mun-ju against the wall, Namu pushed aside an empty box that half-covered the emergency exit and carefully turned the heavy door handle. When the heavy door finally opened, Oh Mun-ju felt as if she could finally breathe. Unknowingly, her eyes grew hot.

“…Mrs. Oh.”

Noticing the reaction, Namu looked back at Oh Mun-ju with a troubled face. Realizing there was no time for this, Oh Mun-ju rubbed her eyes. Then she tightly gripped the hand Namu offered.

“Yes, we have to go. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Namu.”

“O-oh, it’s nothing.”

Shaking his head, telling her not to be, Namu gently held Oh Mun-ju’s hand, which was lukewarm with fever.

“The slope is steep, please be careful.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The steel stairs connected to the door, which had been forgotten by people because it was rarely used, showed clear signs of neglect. Since the sensor lights didn’t come on, they descended the rusting, creaking stairs relying on the light from the phone, and cold sweat soon beaded on their foreheads.

Finally, as they stepped off the last stair, the lights in the first-floor hallway turned on. Opposite them, the restroom of the raw fish restaurant Namu mentioned was firmly closed.

“…Namu?”

Namu, who had finally felt relief after the five minutes it took to get from Room 7 to here felt like years, looked back at Oh Mun-ju.

“Yes…?”

“Your… your face…”

Oh Mun-ju could no longer find the words when she finally spotted Namu, now clearly revealed under the light. A face ruined by violence, a phone clutched in a hand encased in a half-cast. The only thing illuminating the darkness at their feet was the single beam of the phone’s flashlight, held tightly in that injured hand. Facing her reaction, Namu awkwardly averted his gaze.

“It only looks like this; I’m really okay. I’ve already received treatment.”

No, there was no way he was okay. Having been beaten to that extent, it was impossible. No matter how experienced someone was at taking hits.

“Why did you do that?”

“Pardon?”

“Why did you hide me? Why did you keep taking hits until you ended up like this… while I… pretended not to know. If you had found the place, you should have been the one hiding.”

Oh Mun-ju wasn’t unaware of the rumors surrounding Namu. Even seeing him constantly covered in wounds, she had acted as if she didn’t notice, just like everyone else. On the other hand, because they were in similar situations, she had felt a pull toward him. Yet, she had only intermittently offered the kind of pity that was more about the giver than the receiver. As she asked why he had done this, the answer was already reflected in her eyes.

“…I hate it when people get beaten.”

As Namu faintly curled his lips into a smile with a troubled expression, his left cheek distorted hideously. Unable to smile fully because of the pain, Namu blinked his clear eyes.

“I hate it when I get beaten, and I hate it when others get beaten.”

For a normal person, that was natural.

“But… I think I hate just watching other people get beaten even more.”

A normal person would have stood by and watched someone else get beaten rather than take the hits themselves. Just as Oh Mun-ju had.

“It’ll be hard for you to live like that.”

“Still, my heart doesn’t feel uneasy. I… think this is better.”

After a moment of hesitation, Namu added with a foolish smile. Oh Mun-ju knew that it wasn’t foolishness, but strength. People were prone to breaking and succumbing to one-sided violence above all else. Oh Mun-ju had been so, and Namu likely would be too. Living like this, surely one day…

“Namu…”

“Yes, Mrs. Oh.”

But what could Oh Mun-ju possibly say? Telling him not to live like that would be nothing more than empty interference. Advice or warnings given in a situation where one cannot provide practical help were just another form of hypocrisy.

“I’m sorry…”

It was only that one phrase, but Namu smiled as if everything were truly alright. Even as one side of his face remained distorted.

“I… hope you don’t get hurt, Mrs. Oh.”

It was a tender thing to say.

Perhaps it was the very thing Namu had wanted to hear. Just as she was about to part her lips at the sudden thought, the emergency exit next to the restroom entrance opened.

“You weren’t coming out, so I waited.”

Detective Woo, who had been waiting outside, urged Oh Mun-ju forward with a thin smile. Namu immediately stepped in front of Oh Mun-ju, his face a tangle of vigilance and confusion. Seeing this, Detective Woo gave him a look that acknowledged his courage and then looked at Oh Mun-ju.

“Have you made your decision?”

“…….”

A bewildered Namu looked back at Oh Mun-ju. Staring blankly at Namu’s face, which was as much of a mess as his body, Oh Mun-ju gave a short nod.

“Yes.”

Oh Mun-ju shifted her gaze from Namu to Detective Woo, who was leaning halfway against the open door.

“I’ll accept your proposal.”

Then she turned back to Namu. Reaching out with an arm that had been broken and set several times, she gently stroked his hair instead of his cheek.

“I… hope you don’t get hurt either.”

“…….”

“Do you understand?”

“…Yes. Mrs. Oh.”

As Namu smiled effortlessly again, Oh Mun-ju took her hand away from his soft hair and followed Detective Woo’s guidance out. Seeing her reaction, Namu relaxed his guard toward Detective Woo and stepped aside. Detective Woo, watching them with a rather intrigued look, escorted Oh Mun-ju with an exaggerated gesture.

Namu hurriedly grabbed the door as it began to slam shut in front of him, poking his body halfway through the heavy gap. Oh Mun-ju was boarding the van waiting beside the building. Detective Woo, following her into the backseat, started the car immediately, leaving no room for another goodbye.

Namu watched silently until the dust-covered van cleared the alley, eventually pulling his entire body out of the door. As he barely leaned his back against the door that shut with a thud behind him, his body finally swayed.

Is this… a relief…?

He had let his guard down because they seemed to know each other, but Detective Woo had acted as if he were on friendly terms with that man, the prosecutor. And he remembered clearly that the man was described as an ordinary corrupt detective.

“…….”

Yet, for some reason, Namu felt relieved. At the moment he had curled up, thinking his bones were surely going to break this time, Detective Woo had intervened. He had even subtly snatched the mop from Heo Dong-hyeon’s hand and handed it to the Manager. He had an intuition that Detective Woo was someone who wouldn’t cross the line. Above all, Oh Mun-ju had followed him of her own accord.

In truth, whether he knew more or not, there was nothing more Namu could do. That made him feel a bit powerless, but he no longer had the strength to stand alone. With a sliding sound, Namu slumped down against the door, and something dropped with a thud at his feet. It was the phone that had slipped from his casted hand.

“Ah…”

Startled, Namu reached out and quickly picked up the phone.

The customer…

Today, Namu had received a lot of help from Mu-won. Even though he wasn’t actually by his side.

Trying to smile, Namu stopped because of the pain and leaned his forehead against the phone.

This is all thanks to the customer…

As Namu quietly closed his eyes, tears flowed from the corners of them. It wasn’t because a sudden surge of pain hit him, nor because fear had rushed back.

“Did Mrs. Oh really not come?”

The Manager, who had been interrogating Namu while making him stand in front of the counter, sighed and closed the cash drawer upon seeing Namu’s tightly shut mouth. The fact that the boy was tight-lipped was, in other words, a sign of stubbornness.

Does he really think I won’t know just because he keeps his mouth shut?

“Just so you know, the medical expenses will be deducted from your daily wage.”

“…Yes.”

The Manager, who had been irritably flipping through the ledger, finally cast an annoyed glance at him.

“How are you going to work in that state? The atmosphere is grim these days so I can’t find people, and Jeong Jeong-gon vanished without a word so we’re dying for help—why do you keep causing trouble? Do you want to spend the rest of your life here dying while paying off interest?”

Unable to bear Namu’s silence as he kept his eyes cast down, the Manager’s lecture grew longer.

“I’m telling you this because you seem to have forgotten since you haven’t been called in for over a month, Mu. Your interest is piling up. Do you think those people are just being nice by not demanding the interest? Do you think gangsters are gangsters for nothing? How can you be so complacent? Now that you can’t even take customers, you won’t even be able to pay the room and board or medical fees you were barely managing. Aren’t you worried?”

“The interest… why aren’t they demanding it?”

Namu, who had been ignored when he asked before, looked up at the Manager who was now telling him to snap out of it and asked hesitantly.

“And… why aren’t they calling me?”

“If I knew that, would I be doing gangster work or would I be here cleaning up after nightmare customers and employees?”

“It’s unfair…”

“What is?”

“I can go whenever they call… but you’re the one not calling. Then why does the interest keep piling up…?”

“Then why didn’t you do a good job when you went? If you had done well, they would have called you all the time to shave off the interest! Even in our shop, the earnings differ based on requests; do you think it’s different there?”

Is there such a thing as doing a ‘good job’ at getting beaten…?

Confused, Namu opened his split lips with a desolate expression.

“Then what do I do now…?”

“That’s why I told you to take care of your body! It’s practically as if I and President Im stood as your guarantors! I’m the one who’s worried. If those gangster bastards barge in here and cause a scene demanding the money instead of you…!”

“N-no. They won’t go that far. I won’t run away. I won’t run away. I’ll never cause trouble for you or the President. They said my wrist only has a slight ligament strain. I can take the cast off in two or three days. I can work with a wrist guard. O-of course, even two or three days is long, but…”

“Two or three days, my foot. Do you think the customers coming and going are blind? Would they want a treatment from a kid wearing a wrist guard?”

“Ah… yes, you’re right.”

Namu, who hadn’t thought that far, quietly closed his lips.

“I wondered why such a diligent kid had rolled in here…. Right, not just anyone crawls all the way to Gamgyul City.”

At the Manager’s lament, which didn’t hide his disappointment, Namu stood like a sinner, fidgeting with his fingertips. His chest stung as if pierced by needles. Disappointing someone was always hard. Especially if that person had helped him.

“I’m sorry, Manager…”

“Causing all this trouble…. Ugh, I’m done talking.”

After glaring at Namu, who couldn’t even lift his head in dejection, the Manager shook his head and was about to dismiss him.

Tinkle—the door opened with the sound of a bell. The person who entered through the glass door, which had a crudely attached ‘Tangerine Massage’ sticker, was an unfamiliar woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties.

“I heard you’re looking for people, is that right?”

Before she finished speaking, she had already stepped inside and looked back and forth between Namu standing at the counter and the Manager, who had a displeased face in the back. Reading her thought that she had walked in at the wrong time—seeing a staff member being scolded for a mistake—the Manager quickly changed his expression and stood up.

“Oh, no. Not at all. You’re the one I spoke with on the phone yesterday, right?”

“Yes. I am, but…”

At her lukewarm reaction, the Manager hurriedly stepped out from behind the counter, blocking Namu and nudging him. At the gesture to go somewhere out of sight, Namu gave a quick bow to the Manager, who wasn’t even looking at him, and the woman he’d just met, then quickly hid himself.

The woman glanced at him as the Manager, now acting even more fussily, guided her. “The kid made a little mistake, so I was just advising him. Anyway, it was very hot on your way here, right? Please, have a seat here.” She ended up sitting on an old sofa. Although it felt a bit unsettling, the interview conditions started by the Manager’s slick response weren’t bad, so she didn’t get up halfway through.

To Namu, who was a high school graduate and had just become an adult, a loan limit of 100 million won was like a dream. The watch owner, who had threatened both criminal and civil lawsuits, wanted a lump-sum payment on the condition that the police weren’t called. Then the mention of a whipping boy came up, and the conversation progressed quite a bit with the customer, whose excitement had calmed down. It was a solution barely managed by the Manager and the massage shop owner.

‘Why would I trust this drifter and take installments? No settlement without a lump sum,’ President Im, who had eventually sighed while persuading the stubborn customer, looked back at Namu with a troubled face.

‘Anyone you can ask for help?’

There was no one. President Im asked just to lay the groundwork knowing the answer, but Namu, who was too panicked to think straight, had no room to grasp their intention, nor any reason to suspect it.

‘U-uh, no….’

Rubbing his eyes, which were starting to feel hot for some reason, Namu didn’t see the peculiar glint in the eyes of the three adult men looking at him.

‘Then, I can arrange something….’

After contemplating for a while, President Im said, rubbing his chin with a troubled expression.

‘A-arrange?’

‘A loan.’

‘Pardon…?’

‘Of course, it’s not free. The interest is 3 percent.’

‘3 percent is….’

‘Roughly estimating two years, the principal plus interest per month is 6 million.’

‘I… I don’t have the ability to pay that much every month….’

‘That’s why I’m saying this customer is amazing. He’s offering a job where you can shave off 6 million just by going out once.’

‘Ah… a whipping boy….’

At the time, Namu didn’t even know the term ‘whipping boy’ existed. Naturally, he didn’t know what it meant. Through the Manager’s explanation, he learned it meant having debts reduced in exchange for being beaten. He only realized it wasn’t simple professional beating service when he actually went to his first job. The important thing was that, at the time, the only place Namu could get money was the ‘loan’ arranged by President Im. And due to the customer’s pressing, Namu wasn’t given time to think.

‘What will you do?’

At President Im’s prompt, which was less a question and more a push, Namu couldn’t readily open his mouth. However, he couldn’t withstand the silence of the three adult men surrounding him for long. Still, Namu summoned his courage one more time.

‘C-could I not pay it back by working at the sh-shop? No matter how many years it takes, I’ll definitely pay it all, including the interest—yes, if you want 3 percent, I’ll definitely pay that too.’

‘Ah, this kid just doesn’t get it. They say kids these days are cunning, and look at him trying to wiggle out already. Hey, frankly, why would I trust you? Huh? Trust a kid who can’t even make 1 million working a full day? Do you have family or friends to stand as guarantors? What if you bolt while working? What if this shop goes under? Do you think I’m going to spend my blood-like money hiring people to hunt you down like a runaway slave?’

‘C-customer…. I mean it…. I won’t run away. I’ll definitely pay it back, no matter what work I have to do.’

‘Exactly. I’m brokering that ‘whatever work’ for you. Is your brain not working?’

The customer was adamant, and the Manager and President Im were troubled. This was because the threats of lawsuits directed at Namu personally had expanded to include the shop while Namu couldn’t make a decision. Under their shouting and persuasion, Namu eventually nodded. Namu had nothing to ask them to trust him with. To them, Namu was nothing more than a drifter who could bolt at any moment.

Twenty minutes after President Im made the call, someone from the loan office arrived. He was a man in his early 40s wearing a matching set of golf wear. With a plain face and a plump body, he looked like an ordinary person.

The contract was simple.

Loan period: 2 years, equal principal and interest, monthly interest: 3 percent, after deductions, 5.9 million won per month.

One day of work at the designated site: 6 million won repayment.

On the spot, the loan office employee gave 100 million won in cash to the watch customer, and Namu pressed his thumbprint onto the contract. Thus, the debt owed to the watch customer was transferred to the loan office. This meant that even if Namu ran away, the loan office would do the hunting instead of the watch customer. He was called a loan office employee, but he was a loan shark. Namu pressed his thumbprint knowing this.

The contract didn’t have a clause stating he would be called at least once a month. He only thought of this now because they called him not once a month, but once a week—to an excessive degree. That was until ‘Daehap Farm’ closed down. It started right after the Manager’s warning that the neighborhood atmosphere had become strange.

Namu hadn’t been called for two months, and naturally, he hadn’t paid two months’ worth of interest. Should he have looked at the contract more carefully then? No, following the advice of the Manager and President Im to read the contract thoroughly before thumbprinting, he had read it more than five times on the spot. It was simply that Namu was too stupid to take their advice intelligently and notice the loopholes in the contract.

“Ouch.”

Stepping barefoot into a basin sprinkled with detergent, Namu stepped on a towel and slightly lifted his left foot. Pain surged from his left calf, which had been scraped raw by the man who was the Chief Prosecutor. Since it wasn’t that severe, Namu began stepping on the laundry again, cold sweat forming on his forehead.

Because he got hurt, the massage shop and the teachers working with him had to work twice as hard. Even if the teacher who came for an interview earlier started working, they wouldn’t be able to fill Jeong-gon’s spot in the end.

Was there a better way?

If only there had been a way to get Mrs. Oh out safely without being beaten by the Chief Prosecutor. No matter how much he thought about it, that had been the best he could do. He always thought he made the best choice, but if the current situation was bad, did that mean it wasn’t the best choice? It was just the only choice he could make….

Since he couldn’t do massages, Namu moved diligently to handle the chores instead, wiping his forehead. In the staff bathroom and utility room, where the temperature was 2 degrees higher than the store, Namu finished the laundry until his back was drenched, then looked for a mop to organize the supplies and wipe the floor.

“Ah.”

The mop he usually used had been broken by Heo Dong-hyeon and thrown out long ago. Namu took another mop from the cleaning tool closet, soaked it, squeezed out the excess water, and left the utility room. For some reason, the beaten areas seemed to throb, but Namu focused only on his work.

Teacher Choi and Teacher Kim were in the treatment rooms, and the lobby sofa was empty, meaning the interview had ended. Instead, a familiar voice came from the counter. Namu paused, not knowing what to do for a moment, then started wiping the floor again. As he naturally emerged into the lobby, the Manager and President Im turned to look at him simultaneously.

“Ah, hello, President….”

“Oh, hey. Namu. I heard it was chaos yesterday.”

President Im, who had been leaning against the counter, clicked his tongue upon seeing Namu’s state and headed toward the sofa. The Manager, who had been talking quietly with him, sat at the counter, and President Im, sitting on the empty sofa, gestured to Namu.

“Come here and stand.”

“…Yes.”

Namu stood before President Im, still clutching the mop. President Im was a man in his fifties of average height and build, who always wore a gold necklace and a gold watch. He stared at Namu for a long while with a complicated expression before finally speaking. He looked entirely reluctant.

“I hear you haven’t been called to any shops lately?”

“Yes…”

“And your interest is already two months overdue.”

“Yes.”

“The neighborhood is a bit restless these days, but it’s not that the shops don’t want you. Besides, your office is quite gentle, so they won’t be relentlessly hounding you… but you’re still worried, right?”

“Yes, CEO.”

“Right, so about that…”

It was President Im’s habit to stall before saying something important. Unconsciously focusing, Namu swallowed hard. In truth, Namu had been nervous from the moment he heard President Im’s voice.

He feared he might be interrogated about yesterday, asked to pay for the damages caused to the shop, or that the man would play dumb when asked about work at the shops. However, instead of scolding him or ignoring him, President Im showed concern and offered an alternative.

“There is another job you could do.”

“…….”

Caught off guard by the unexpected offer, Namu couldn’t react immediately, only opening his lips a moment later.

“I-I’ll do it.”

President Im still looked troubled. Fearing he might withdraw the offer, Namu spoke up again urgently.

“I want to do it, please let me do it, CEO…”

Faced with Namu’s proactive attitude, President Im, who had been hesitating until then, spoke as if he had no other choice.

“I’m not saying you must do it.”

“Yes, CEO.”

“It’s a similar kind of massage, so there’s nothing separate to learn.”

“What?”

If that were the case, it sounded like a great job, so Namu blankly asked back, wondering why President Im seemed so reluctant. Then, he shook his head. President Im was the person who had enabled Namu to borrow 100 million won. It was through President Im’s introduction that he was able to get the loan.

Would a loan office give that much money to a twenty-year-old brat? While he hadn’t signed a formal contract, President Im had provided a sort of guarantee using the credit he had built up in the area. It was the Manager who had explained this series of events to Namu in a way he could understand. A job introduced by such a man couldn’t be a bad thing.

“Yes, CEO. I can do it. I’ll do it.”

“But the thing is…”

“Yes.”

“It’s a massage done at a sauna; do you think you can handle that?”

“A sauna?”

“Yes, a sauna. You can think of it as something similar to body scrubbing. Instead of scrubbing dead skin in a bathhouse, you provide massages.”

The hesitation had vanished, and President Im explained calmly, without any particular pressure or coercion.

“Since it’s a sauna, you’ll obviously be doing it without clothes.”

“Ah…”

As President Im said, since it was work at a sauna, it was natural to be naked. Namu, who had never received a massage at a bathhouse or sauna, didn’t know that it wasn’t normal for both the customer and the practitioner to be completely naked during a session. Nor did he know that if it happened, it was illegal. Namu hadn’t even been completely naked or stripped anyone else while getting his certification. Still, this was President Im’s word. Namu had no reason to doubt the man who had always helped him.

“Since it’s a simple massage, the daily pay is similar to here, so it won’t be a huge help, but isn’t it better than just idling around?”

It was obviously much better. Yet, President Im’s gaze remained persistent as he watched Namu, who couldn’t answer readily. He scanned Namu thoroughly, as if wondering if this ignorant brat had suddenly become street-smart and was suspecting something. After hesitating, the only words Namu managed to produce were these:

“…Can I do it even though my right arm is in a cast?”

President Im almost burst out laughing. Barely suppressing a smirk, his plump cheeks twitching as he managed his expression, President Im immediately shut his mouth just as he was about to say something.

Tinkle— With the sound of the bell, someone entered. It was two hulking men. Namu, whose senses were always attuned to that bell no matter when or where, reacted quickly. Wait, when did President Im come in? I didn’t hear the bell… Even as he wondered, Namu turned around reflexively, an uncontrollable look of joy appearing on his face.

“Cu-Customer…!”

“Now you’re even going around breaking bones.”

Mu-won, with one hand thrust into his trouser pocket, scanned Namu’s right arm fixed in green and his face, which had become as rugged as a rock. When their eyes finally met, Mu-won’s gaze seemed to ask if he really didn’t have a hobby of getting beaten up.

“Oh, Customer! You’ve arrived!”

The moment President Im raised an eyebrow at the appearance of the two extraordinary men, the Manager jumped up, quickly signaled President Im with his eyes, and welcomed them.

I heard some suspicious guys have been coming in and out of the shop lately.

Recalling the Manager’s words—that they didn’t seem to be people from The Center and looked like common drifters, but didn’t seem like mere thugs so he was keeping an eye on them—President Im quietly stepped away.

Even to him, they looked decent enough that there was no reason to intentionally clash with them. If they were common thugs, it was a waste of time; if they were guys who used their strength to eye the territory, the best policy was to avoid them. Territory disputes were the domain of street gangsters, not management types like President Im.

Mu-won, not giving a single glance to the disappearing President Im, lowered his gaze from Namu’s sparkling eyes.

“Two VIPs. Separate rooms.”

Upon receiving the cash Jae-un handed over, the Manager looked at them with a somewhat troubled expression. Jae-un immediately glared.

“What is it?”

“Well… as you can see, Namu is in this state.”

The one who reacted most strongly to those words was none other than Namu. Having stepped forward in joy toward Mu-won, Namu flinched and took a step back. Jae-un’s narrow eyes briefly scanned the sight.

“So what?”

“How about receiving treatment from another practitioner? We actually have a new practitioner who just started… I guarantee their skill!”

It wasn’t Jae-un who answered the Manager’s suggestion.

“I don’t like new things.”

“Pardon?”

Mu-won, who had been slowly scanning Namu, didn’t even respond to the blankly questioning Manager and headed toward the changing room.

“Just let us have Namu—or whatever his name is, Manager. How can a businessman be so bad at understanding simple words?”

As Mu-won moved, Jae-un stepped in quickly, scolding the Manager with a frustrated face. There was no way Mu-won, who hated being touched by strangers, would welcome a new practitioner. The reason Jae-un didn’t wonder why Mu-won didn’t just go to another shop was that he also knew Namu’s use.

“No, but the kid can’t use one of his arms at all…”

The Manager, who had suddenly become the incompetent one, protested as if it were unfair, but Jae-un ignored him and passed the counter.

“Since you don’t cheat on the money, Namu is for the boss. Give the new face to me.”

Jae-un stood firmly in front of the changing room until Mu-won came out. Not knowing what to do, Namu clutched the mop and looked cautiously between Jae-un and the Manager before scurrying toward the utility room. This was because the Manager had given him a look, asking why he wasn’t moving faster.

Perhaps because he had suddenly run, his heart was pounding. After quickly washing the mop and hanging it on the drying rack, Namu washed his hands thoroughly and prepared to receive the customer. It was more inconvenient since he had injured his right hand, but serving tea was not a difficult task. As he left the pantry and headed for the sofa, he bumped into Mu-won, who had just come out of the changing room.

“Cu-Customer.”

“I’m busy, so let’s start right away today.”

“Uh… aren’t you doing the foot bath?”

“No, I’m not.”

Glancing at the cast, Mu-won curled one side of his mouth into a smirk and stepped behind the bamboo blind. Namu, staring blankly at Mu-won, followed him into Room 7 while holding the teacup.

Having taken off his gown, Mu-won lay face down on the treatment table. Three snakes raised their heads threateningly over the muscles that rippled with every movement, but now even that felt familiar to Namu.

“Still, the blood flows better if we loosen the feet first…”

Placing the teacup, which wouldn’t be touched, on the shelf, Namu carefully placed two stones from the warming oven on Mu-won’s lower back.

“Please tell me if it’s too hot.”

Whether it was because there had been many customers who complained about the heat, Mu-won responded to the habitual phrase with silence.

“J-just a moment, please.”

Acting as if he would start the massage immediately, Namu suddenly left the treatment room, leaving Mu-won behind. After making a fuss in the utility room, he returned quickly and stood at Mu-won’s feet rather than his head. It was a different routine than usual.

“Is it too hot?”

Wondering what he was doing, Namu wrapped Mu-won’s feet in towels that felt slightly hot and began to press them down one by one. Watching Mu-won’s silent reaction, Namu eventually felt at ease and began massaging the feet. Although his posture was awkward using only his left hand, his hand skillfully pressed the acupoints without dropping the towel.

The customer has big feet too…

Even though he already knew, Namu marveled every time he saw and touched them as he finished loosening the other foot. Whirrr— The air from the air conditioner, which only ran when customers were present, made the fine hairs on his skin stand up. Still, it was better than the humid and hot utility room, making it much easier for Namu to breathe.

Perhaps because it had been two weeks, Mu-won’s muscles were engorged.

Or did he just come from working out?

Namu’s face was serious as he focused all his effort on relaxing the muscles, which were larger than usual.

“Customer, please lie on your side.”

Knowing that Mu-won didn’t fall asleep during treatments, Namu whispered softly and withdrew his hand. Moving his heavy body lightly, Mu-won lay on his side. Their eyes met, and Namu flinched, taking a step back.

“What is it?”

“Yes?”

“I’m asking why you’re keeping your mouth shut today like a brat who stole honey.”

Namu, who usually chattered throughout the session, hadn’t said a word today other than what was necessary. Caught off guard by the unexpected interrogation, Namu stammered, “Uh…” and laughed awkwardly.

“Is the inside of your mouth so torn that you can’t speak?”

“N-no, it’s not that…”

Mu-won didn’t rush Namu as he searched for his words. And Namu didn’t keep Mu-won waiting long.

“Customer… I thought you weren’t coming.”

“Why?”

“…….”

This time, a sense of embarrassment was read in his gentle, silent smile.

Ah, the confession.

As if something like that could have had much of an impact on him.

Looking at Namu, who had become nervous again, Mu-won spoke.

“Namu-ssi confessed, and I rejected it. Isn’t that the end of it?”

“…Y-yes, that’s right.”

“If it’s uncomfortable, I just won’t request you.”

“N-no, it’s not that. I, I just… I was worried you might have felt bad… Because you didn’t come for nearly two weeks after I, uh, did that. B-but I’m so glad you came today and requested me. I didn’t expect it, so it feels like I’ve received a big gift. I was… so glad to see you.”

Even as he returned to his usual chattering, Namu didn’t forget the acupressure, his chest moving back and forth before Mu-won’s eyes. The glimpses of skin revealed were as damaged as his face.

“Did you come back after paying off a debt again this time?”

“N-no. It’s not like that…”

“Do you really not like getting hit?”

“Yes… I hate it because it hurts.”

“Then why are you beaten up every time I see you?”

“I…”

Namu, who had been pressing and loosening from Mu-won’s occipital muscle to the sternocleidomastoid, swallowed hard for a moment. It wasn’t because it was difficult. After choosing his words again, Namu added with a, hee, smile.

“I guess I’m not good at anything.”

“Aha.”

Mu-won closed his eyes, humoring Namu, who continued to ramble, unaware that his skill was as good as any professional’s. The glimpses of skin moving in front of him were quite distracting.

“Customer…”

When his voice trailed off like that, it meant Namu had something to say to Mu-won. Wondering how he had come to know even this, Mu-won feigned a frown.

“Thank you so much for requesting me today.”

Having finished the acupressure from the shoulder to the fingertips, Namu whispered repeatedly.

“Please lie on the other side, Customer.”

Once again, Mu-won obediently turned his body.

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to receive customers for a while because I can’t use one arm. But, Customer… are you really okay?”

“With what?”

“You’re receiving it with only one hand… is it refreshing?”

“Namu-ssi, I’m not interested in charity.”

“Ah…”

Having correctly understood that it was refreshing, Namu smiled, unaware that his facial muscles hurt as they relaxed, and let out a low moan, “Ouch…” It was a sound so small and short it might have gone unheard, but Mu-won caught it easily. It wasn’t just because the treatment room was quiet. It wasn’t even that quiet, thanks to that worn-out air conditioner.

“Actually, the bone isn’t broken. They said the wrist ligament is slightly stretched. So I think I can take the cast off in two or three days. Then, once the cast is off, I’ll do even better for you. Even more than what I couldn’t do today.”

Bones just have to knit back together, but once a ligament is stretched, it’s prone to recurring with even a little strain. It was obvious he had learned haphazardly, lacking basic knowledge despite touching people’s bodies. It was uncertain if he even held a proper certification.

“Customer, please lie face down again.”

Feeling newly grateful to Mu-won for moving without complaint, Namu’s lips parted.

“Your muscles are more tense than last time. D-did you start a new workout? Or did you come straight here after exercising today? Your muscles don’t usually knot up, but today…”

Mu-won let the voice of Namu, who was chattering like a sparrow now that he felt a bit more comfortable, go in one ear and out the other. As he did, a weight that wasn’t even as light as a feather settled on Mu-won’s buttocks. He no longer asked for permission to climb on.

“Customer…”

It wasn’t easy massaging with only one hand, so his cheeks flushed, but his crushed-rice-cake face was already so bruised that it didn’t show. After starting to speak but hesitating for a while, Namu finally spoke cautiously with a determined face.

“Around here… I hear the atmosphere has been very restless lately.”

He wondered if he was saying something unnecessary, but Namu really wanted to let him know.

“They say The Center sent someone… I-I don’t know exactly what that means. But they strongly urged me to be careful because it’s dangerous.”

Letting his fingers glide smoothly from the occipital muscle to the trapezius and the erector spinae, Namu hesitated before finishing his sentence.

“I hope you’re careful too, Customer…”

Namu held his breath for a moment, fearing Mu-won might get angry, calling him arrogant or asking if he looked that ridiculous. Then, he let out a small sigh of relief. Mu-won showed no particular reaction. Judging by the rigidity of his muscles, he didn’t seem to be asleep, but he said nothing. He looked as if he were completely uninterested. Still—no, because of that—Namu said the words he had been longing to say.

“I-I hope you don’t get hurt, Customer.”

Mu-won found it almost laughable that Namu was whispering as if it were some great secret, all while sitting on the very person sent by The Center and the culprit who had made Gamgyul City so ominous lately.

“Namu-ssi, do you know the term ‘leading by example’?”

“I-I know at least that much…”

Instead of adding, ‘No, I don’t think you do,’ Mu-won laughed lowly. Namu, who had been looking down at the snakes that now seemed almost like friends with a bewildered face, suddenly turned red.

Ah, he meant that I should stop getting beaten up.

Realizing it late, without any intuition, Namu shut his torn lips with an embarrassed face.

“Thank you, please come again.”

It was a formal greeting, but Namu, who was always sincere, bowed and then lifted his head. Through the closed glass door, he saw the two men entering the elevator.

“You got a tip today too, right?”

“Huh? Ah… yes.”

Namu took two 50,000 won bills from his trouser pocket and held them out to the Manager.

“What about Teacher Hwang?”

“I got mine.”

Teacher Hwang, who had started working immediately after her interview, responded indifferently and also took out two 50,000 won bills. After putting them straight into the cash box, the Manager took out 20,000 won each and distributed them before updating the ledger.

Perhaps because of Jeong-gon, who always grumbled whenever they split tips, Namu unconsciously checked Teacher Hwang’s reaction, blinking his eyes rapidly. Their eyes met.

“You’re Namu-ssi, right?”

“Huh? …Yes.”

“I’m Hwang Jung-ah. I’m quite a bit more senior than you. I look forward to working with you.”

Instead of being offended by his staring, Teacher Hwang greeted him first with a grin. Namu smiled back, but then felt a sharp pain like a fool and winced.

“That must hurt quite a bit.”

Without adding anything more, Teacher Hwang stretched her stiff shoulders and headed toward her small room. Namu, who found that more comfortable, put the 20,000 won in his pocket and walked toward the pantry.

There was a first-aid kit in the pantry cabinet. Mu-won had given it to him. Since the pain in his face was unusual, Namu took out the first-aid kit and stood before the mirror.

As expected, his condition was not good. Namu’s fingertips, now moving with a very familiar touch as he opened the first-aid kit, slowed down. He stared blankly at the medicines that Mu-won’s hand had touched several times.

He’s not treating me today…

It was only natural. Thinking he was being shameless, Namu soon began to treat his own wounds.

“The kid’s face was completely shredded.”

There was no pity in Jae-un’s voice as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

“He’s sturdy, and he keeps his mouth shut. I can clearly see why Hyung chose him.”

Mu-won, sitting in the passenger seat and twirling an unlit cigarette, looked out the window. The clouds were covering the moon, looking as if it were about to pour rain at any moment.

“The memory?”

“I’ve collected everything regarding Detective Woo, and Hwang-ah said she’d dig through it all tonight.”

“She’s working hard, then.”

“She was cursing up a storm, calling him a wicked owner who takes a tip of 8.”

Mu-won let out a light laugh, imagining Hwang Jung-ah, who likely spent the entire session standing crookedly and stepping on Jae-un’s lumps of muscle instead of giving a massage.

“Let’s just go to the villa.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

Mu-won quietly put the cigarette back in its place and leaned back. Jae-un shifted gears and departed smoothly. Having been stuck for two months, he had quickly adapted to the shitty roads.

* * *

Namu wiped his forehead as he scrubbed the floor with a mop until it squeaked. Just as he was about to take a breath, a familiar wall came into view. It was a secret space that now looked like an ordinary wall. The place Mu-won had told him about, and where he had hidden Oh Mun-ju.

He wanted to tell the guest that he had received great help thanks to her, that he was grateful. But to do that, he would have to talk about Mrs. Oh, so he remained silent.

Is Mrs. Oh okay?

As the worry naturally surfaced, Namu took out his phone and touched the screen. Of course, Oh Mun-ju’s contact information was not saved in Namu’s phone. ‘Tangerine Massage’ had a guest ledger, but Oh Mun-ju had refused to write down her information, and the Manager hadn’t pressed her.

Looking down at the wallpaper with the default photo, Namu opened his messages. The conversation with Jeong-gon had stopped a few days ago.

I wonder if he’s doing well… Maybe he’s busy adjusting… I had so many things to ask.

As Namu read through the messages with Jeong-gon once more, he turned around at the sound of someone approaching. Teacher Kim was standing outside the bamboo blind.

“Oh… Teacher.”

“The Manager is calling for you. Go on, Namu.”

“The Manager? Ah, yes, yes. Thank you, Teacher Kim.”

Assuming it was an errand, Namu hurriedly left Room 7 while still holding the mop. Teacher Kim, standing beyond the bamboo blind, stepped aside and told him to be careful. Namu, giggling because he had been looked after once again, bowed his head in gratitude and headed toward the utility room. Teacher Kim watched him go and then looked inside the bamboo blind. It was the wall Namu had been staring at blankly.

“Manager! I’ll just tidy up the mop and come!”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t be clumsy and trip while running. If you get hurt more, there’s no hope for you, got it?”

“Yes!”

Answering loudly to the Manager’s warning, Namu began to wash the mop. He had scrubbed everything from the hallway, where the carpet looked like a rug, to the treatment rooms, so the water was incredibly filthy. Still, seeing the mop become clean made him feel proud, and Namu worked diligently.

His left hand had become much more accustomed, so he had gained quite a bit of speed even with menial chores. After the injury, Namu couldn’t take any guests for three days. No one wanted a Namu who couldn’t use one hand. Even the regulars who used to call him pretty and lovely were the same.

Of course, that was perfectly natural, so Namu instead bowed his head in apology. There were quite a few guests who had specifically cleared their schedules to receive a treatment from Namu and expressed their disappointment.

Mu-won was a truly unusual case. That was how Namu realized that Mu-won had been incredibly considerate of him. Did he feel sorry for me? Namu didn’t feel offended. On the contrary, he wished it were even pity.

After wringing out and hanging the clean mop, Namu ran straight to the counter.

“I told you not to run.”

The Manager, whose anger had subsided, treated Namu as he did before. He gave him plenty of worried nagging and took care of things like food and break times. Even though Namu wasn’t of much help, he still looked after him like family.

The same went for outside errands. Thus, it was Teacher Hwang who took over the errands. She actually liked it. Saying she felt like she was suffocating spending half a day in a place like a mouse hole, she always stepped through the glass door with a refreshed face. Namu had liked her from the start, even before her official working hours.

“How’s your hand?”

The Manager, who had been burying his nose in the ledger, looked up. Soon, his face frowned. He had been like that every time he saw Namu’s face since he was hit by Heo Dong-hyeon, but today the frown was less severe than before. From that, Namu figured his condition had improved a bit.

“There’s no pain. I think I could loosen it right now…”

Fearing he would be harshly scolded for not taking care of his own body, Namu trailed off, but the Manager was actually thinking of something else.

Tomorrow would be the fourth day since the cast was put on. Although he had spoken to Namu as if it were no big deal, if a ligament was stretched, one should rest for at least two weeks. However, for the Manager, who didn’t plan to use Namu at the massage shop for long, it wasn’t a major concern.

Because Heo Dong-hyeon had beaten him so ignorantly, the face that had been hideously bumpy like basalt had subsided and become somewhat tolerable.

‘Who the hell are those guys?’

President Im, who had entered the play room through the secret passage, asked while smoking. ‘Those guys’ referred to the two thugs who were Namu’s regulars and looked the part but were nothing more than shells.

‘Probably just scraps pushed out of the organization. Detective Woo said they are guys he hasn’t seen in The Center.’

‘They looked like they could fight a bit.’

‘I heard they don’t even own a single room and live in a monthly rental at an inn.’

‘Are their heads made of stone?’

The underworld of Gamgyul City, intertwined like a spiderweb, was not stingy with information sharing since everyone was both an accomplice and a monitor. If the Manager wanted, he could find out even the dust conditions of the inn room where they stayed.

‘If your head is stone, you’re likely to be pushed out even if you can punch a bit. They must have been kicked out empty-handed, so they’re probably desperate for money. But why do they keep coming here?’

The Manager shrugged as he slid an ashtray toward President Im, who was muttering with a disgusted face.

‘I guess they like Namu.’

‘Tsk, that face really does have a price.’

Despite his annoyance, President Im smiled contentedly and exhaled cigarette smoke. Since there were many organizations managing Gamgyul City, the districts were divided by blocks. All the gambling dens within Block 47 were under President Im’s management. However, that was only the management of the dens. The managers of money and people were separate.

‘What happened with the Mrs. Oh situation?’

‘I knew she was being beaten, but it turns out her husband is Heo Dong-hyeon, the Chief Prosecutor of the Southern District.’

President Im, who was smoking, paused. Then, he threw the half-smoked cigarette at the Manager and yelled.

‘You bastard, you should have told me that first! What about the CCTV?’

‘Detective Woo swept it all.’

‘All of it?’

‘Yes, even the hidden ones.’

‘That fucking piece of shit.’

What was visible were just a few, but there were over thirty CCTVs embedded throughout the place. ‘Tangerine Massage’ was also a gambling den disguised as a regular shop. There was no way Detective Woo, who took bribes to look the other way, didn’t know that, so he swept all the memory cards to ensure the Chief Prosecutor wouldn’t have any trouble. But what could be done? In a cesspool like this, public authority was surprisingly the boss.

After venting his anger for a while, President Im rubbed his temples with a pained expression and lit a new cigarette.

‘The shop opens soon. Send Namu.’

‘Is it okay? I heard they get raided every time they open.’

‘I heard the weasel and the scout have joined forces.’

For nearly two months, whenever a House opened on a large scale, some guys would barge in and cause a scene, leading to more than ten shops closing down. It was certainly the work of The Center, but since there was no evidence, the thugs of Gamgyul City had been seething; it seemed they were finally joining hands. They were so quick to unite now, after spending so much time tediously fighting over territory.

The thugs of Gamgyul City weren’t the only ones filled with venom. Gambling addicts, who had been suffering from withdrawal symptoms after not tasting the thrill for a long time, would also have bloodshot eyes. Perverts who get more excited seeing someone beaten up would likely devour Namu relentlessly, but that wasn’t the Manager’s concern.

‘Keep him for 2 or 3 days, send him to the sauna once, and then gradually increase the frequency.’

‘Really?’

‘Why? Do you feel it’s a waste? Then why did you cause a 100 million won accident?’

If anyone felt it was a waste, it would be President Im, not the Manager.

The guest with the watch was a regular at the gambling den. It was obvious at a glance that it was a fake, but the Manager played along with the guest’s lie, thinking he could split half of it. However, things went sideways because President Im barged in without warning.

President Im, who grasped the situation at a glance, frowned upon seeing the trembling face of Namu. A kid too precious to sell for a mere 100 million. The Manager wondered inwardly after reading the thoughts written on President Im’s face. Even if the boy was gentle and pretty, he wondered if he was worth that much.

Regardless, the incident had already happened. While playing along with the Manager and the guest’s scheme, President Im couldn’t hide his dissatisfaction. Even so, he took his share punctually.

Out of the 100 million, 40 million went to the guest, and 30 million each went to the Manager and President Im. Furthermore, President Im received monthly commissions from the loan company. It was at least 10 million, meaning that since Namu wasn’t the only person President Im had exploited, he earned in the thousands just from commissions per month.

‘A face that could pull in 300 million and more.’

‘We can just go for high volume, low margin.’

‘He’s not an item to be circulated that cheaply. Are you blind?’

Blind or not, the Manager originally had no interest or ability in dealing with a man’s backside. With so many things to sell, why would a man’s backside matter? Still, 300 million seemed quite a waste, so the Manager occasionally smacked his lips in regret.

He should have just become an idol or a YouTuber.

Then again, that was only possible for kids in the right circumstances. The Manager finally turned his attention to Namu, who was blinking his round eyes in front of him, and spoke.

“Someone will come to pick you up tonight at 7.”

“Ah…”

A flash of joy crossed Namu’s face as he immediately understood that the House was opening today. The Manager snorted inwardly as he read the fear that followed.

He’s happy even though he’s going to get beaten.

Even though he knew the circumstances that made it inevitable, the Manager had no cheap pity to give to Namu.

A large shadow fell over Mu-won, who was sitting on a wooden platform in the inn’s yard. It was Jae-un, who had just come up the slope.

“Hyung, there’s an emergency call from The Center.”

Mu-won, who was checking a video on his phone, asked without taking his eyes off the screen.

“Who?”

“The Chairman called personally.”

“Has the old man gone senile? He told me not to even set foot there until everything was wiped out.”

“It seems there is intelligence of an attack today.”

Jae-un, who had resented the Chairman more than anyone for sending Mu-won to Gamgyul City, now had a serious face, bowing his waist deeper at the mention of the Chairman. He was a man loyal down to his very cells.

“What should we do about the House?”

Mu-won, watching Namu hide Oh Mun-ju in Room 7, answered lightly.

“I’ll have to run two shifts in one day, what else can I do?”

“Then I will prepare for The Center immediately.”

“Jae-un.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

Mu-won’s gaze was indifferent as he watched the video of Namu being slapped and kicked by Heo Dong-hyeon. The moment a broken mop was swung by the small, curled-up body, Mu-won smiled and spoke.

“Things in order.”

The House first. Jae-un expressed a brief doubt at the command that the Chairman was second priority, but he followed Mu-won’s will steadfastly.

“Yes, Hyung.”

Only after watching the scene where Detective Woo came in and cleaned up did Mu-won put down his phone. A red dog had already come to his feet. As if demanding he hand over his benefactor, the red dog rubbed its head and circled his feet. As Mu-won gently scratched the deep wine-colored mane of the red dog, the expression slowly vanished from his face. In his eyes, black as darkness, the blood-red sunset cast its shadow moment by moment.

A black van stopped in front of Namu, who was standing at the back gate of the ‘Tangerine Massage’ building. The passenger window opened, and an unfamiliar face appeared. A man who was the epitome of what is called a ‘kkakdugi’ (low-level thug) gestured toward the back with his head.

“Get in.”

“Yes… thank you.”

Bowing, Namu climbed into the van. Inside, about eight people other than Namu were packed tightly together. Their ages and genders varied, but most appeared to be in their mid-to-late twenties or younger.

They didn’t even spare a glance for Namu. Some closed their eyes to try and sleep, while others fanned themselves with their hands to cool off. Whether the air conditioner was broken or not, the inside of the van was hotter than the outside. Occasional curses about the ‘piece of junk car’ could be heard from the driver’s seat, but the windows remained closed.

The van, which looked to be over ten years old, drove along the asphalt road for a long time before entering an unpaved road. Instead of the lights that had been visible on the roadside, the front and back windows slid down with a zzing. Humid air rushed in, but that alone made breathing much easier. As if everyone felt the same, sighs of relief leaked out from here and there.

“Shut your mouths, will you?”

As soon as the kkakdugi in the passenger seat threw out a word, they all shut their mouths simultaneously, their faces stiffening. The unpaved road led into a forest. Even though they knew the destination, as they drew closer, tension and fear began to consume their faces. Namu was no different.

I wonder how much I’ll be beaten today… I’ll be able to come out alive, right? With how much debt I have left… They might beat me to death, but they won’t actually kill me. Namu still found it strange that the debt holding his ankles was the reason he was kept alive.

“What are you doing? Get out quickly!”

After going in for another hour, the van stopped, and the sound of scolding was heard as soon as the door opened. Because Namu, who had boarded last, got out first, he was hit on the head by the passenger-seat kkakdugi.

Even though it was a light hit, his head rang. He thought it was because he had been driving for two hours in a hot, cramped space. Quickly regaining his balance, Namu followed the people who had already taken the lead.

The place they arrived at was a villa. It was quite large, but before he could even admire the exterior, which showed signs of long-term neglect, he was ushered through the back door like a pig being driven to slaughter.

As soon as he entered the villa, where not a single ray of light leaked out, Namu had to narrow his eyes until he adjusted to the pouring lights. The others seemed to be the same, as there was a commotion with people covering their eyes with their forearms. Even that was silenced by the kkakdugi’s shout, “You bastards, shut your mouths!”

The reaction of quickly settling down despite the agitation was a sign of being tamed by violence. Namu also followed the people in front of him, keeping his mouth tightly shut. After stepping onto the stairs visible as soon as the back door opened, they stopped in the third-floor hallway. One by one, in order, they were called into a room that was likely being used as a temporary office. Namu’s turn was last.

“Come in.”

Following the kkakdugi’s knock, a familiar voice was heard from inside. It was the man who had come from the loan office to ‘Tangerine Massage’ to personally present the contract to Namu and receive his thumbprint. He was the man known as Chief Kim.

“Then, I’ll be leaving, Chief!”

“Yeah, go on.”

The room became quiet after the disciplined kkakdugi left. The time the previous people spent in the interview with Chief Kim was five minutes at most. Namu’s turn would likely be the same. However, that time felt incredibly long to Namu. It wasn’t just once or twice; it was every time.

“Ah, hello, Chief.”

Chief Kim, who was sitting with his upper body leaned forward looking at a contract, gave him a glancing look. As their eyes met, Namu’s waist bent 90 degrees and then rose as he stammered his greeting.

“Is there another way out besides this one?”

“Pardon?”

Namu, who didn’t fully understand Chief Kim’s question, realized a beat late and shook his head.

“Ah, no. There isn’t…”

“Can’t use your face today.”

After confirming the face that was still half-swollen and purple despite having subsided quite a bit, Chief Kim’s eyes moved toward the green cast. It was a cast he hadn’t removed following the Manager’s advice that it would be better to keep it for a few more days. He could have said, ‘The crazy bastards will go wild if you wear that,’ but he also saw no need to step forward and remove a device that would stimulate the customers.

“Prepare in Room 2.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Namu, who had only prepared in Room 1 until now, was kicked out of the temporary office before he could even ask what was different about Room 2. In the meantime, he saw some of the eight people who had finished preparing descending the stairs. They were stark naked, without a single shred of clothing.

Knock, knock—Entering Room 2, Namu found several people inside besides those who had arrived in the same van. He instinctively glanced at them, but they paid him no mind. Regardless of gender, they simply stripped off their clothes and left the room one by one.

Namu quickly stripped as well. The cast got in the way, so he couldn’t undress as fast as he wanted, but fortunately, he had grown somewhat accustomed to it over the past four days. Since there were no separate lockers, he found an empty spot by the window, folded his clothes, and left the room.

Descending the stairs to the second floor, he found about twenty people waiting. A strange-looking man who had been counting heads looked at Namu.

“Which room?”

“Room 2.”

“Stand in the middle.”

Namu stood at the end of the center line among three rows. During the walk of less than a meter, Namu’s face seemed to flush before gradually hardening. From the two closed doors, aroused or excited moans and sounds resembling screams leaked out unfiltered. Namu wasn’t the only one tense at the sound. It was the moment the realization that he was stepping into an irrational world completely severed from the outside took full control of his mind and body.

Namu had mostly been summoned to dogfighting rings, cockfighting pits, and Hwatu gambling dens. Thus, he was left speechless before the otherworldly sight unfolding on the first floor. While the exterior was a shabby villa, the interior of the first floor was decorated like an expensive casino. Since it wasn’t a real casino, there were some deficiencies, but to someone like Namu, it was more than enough.

Namu’s eyes grew wide, having spent his life rolling around on dirt floors or vinyl-covered earth. At the same time, he felt diminished. The very air was different from the farm House he had been dragged around in. The appearance of the gamblers occupying the tables was as different as the air. They wore expensive sportswear and relatively neat attire. On the hands holding cards, cigarettes, or glasses of liquor, colorful rings and watches glittered.

Namu, whose heart raced whenever he saw a glittering watch, took slow, measured breaths. There was something else different from the Houses he had been summoned to before. Everyone, except for the thugs responsible for security and management and the gamblers themselves, was naked. From the dealers to the runners.

True to the nature of the House, the walls—which didn’t have a single CCTV camera—were lit by bright lighting. That light illuminated the first floor, which looked to be at least 200 square meters, as if it were daytime.

Baccarat tables were lined up in a single row in the center, a roulette wheel spun slowly in the corner, and Blackjack and Hold’em tables were situated on one side. The organically connected tables were arranged so that one naturally visited every table by making a single lap.

At a bar table and leather sofas arranged in one corner, expensive liquor and appetizers were served without limit. The sound of cards shuffling and chips clashing, suppressed breaths and small laughs, and the sounds of someone being mocked mixed chaotically with curses.

Namu, who knew nothing of the organization’s circumstances—such as why they couldn’t close despite the series of recent raids because it was a VIP-exclusive House—followed the guide. The heart rate that had been fluctuating wildly since the second floor gradually calmed down because he began to see things that were not so different.

The thick cigarette smoke filling the room, the pungent smell of strong liquor, and the scents of cosmetics and perfume blended together to create the acrid air characteristic of a closed room. Suddenly, a wide table came into view as Namu stopped.

Eight chairs were placed around the outside of the rectangular table, and a naked dealer stood on the opposite side. Only about five people filled the eight chairs. Namu ended up standing behind the dealer, opposite the chairs where the players sat.

“You may select a money box in the order you sat down.”

The dealer politely guided the five players, pointing to the eight people standing behind him, including Namu.

Two women and three men. All appearing to be in their 50s or older, they scanned the eight people standing behind the dealer one by one with interested expressions.

“President Choi, I wondered why your ass was so light today; looks like your luck is standing tall right from the start.”

“I’ll take number 3. That ass looks plump; looks like they’ll take a lot.”

“I’ll go with number 5.”

Starting with President Choi, who had sat down first, the other four chose their money boxes. Namu ended up standing opposite the 4th player. It was a man who, through his glasses, was closely observing Namu’s bruised face, the lash marks wrapping around his body, and the green cast.

While influential figures were visible not only at the Baccarat table but throughout the House, there was no one Namu knew. He didn’t usually watch TV or use the internet. He didn’t even have enough time to sleep.

It wasn’t that the organization members didn’t care about such circumstances. They kept them naked to prevent any possible evidence collection, and there was no group or agency that would care about the testimony of kids who had been rolling around at the bottom without evidence. Especially in the underworld of Gamgyul City.

“Go up and lie face down.”

Those words were directed at Namu and the seven others called money boxes. The place the dealer pointed to was an empty table of the same height and width, opposite the Baccarat table. A few who had experience moved first.

Namu, who had been standing awkwardly, followed them onto the table. As he braced himself on the surface with both arms and lay face down, his buttocks naturally faced the players. Since one arm was uncomfortable, Namu pressed his cheek to the surface and brought his chest closer to the table to set his posture. Among the five selected, Namu’s buttocks were raised the highest. At that sight, the 4th player who had designated Namu burst into laughter.

“This money box is proactive. My luck’s going to be great today.”

“If President Choi and Director Myeong’s luck is standing tall, what does that mean? Are we out?”

“Why are you including me in that? How unlucky.”

Superintendent Seo, who was grumbling, brightened up upon discovering familiar faces.

“Why didn’t you come tomorrow?”

“What, how late am I that you’re nagging? Nagging?”

As the three men sat in the empty seats one after another, the attention of the first five shifted to one person.

“A face I haven’t seen before?”

“Introduced by Chief Prosecutor Heo. I heard he played big in Southeast Asia before coming back.”

“Hmm.”

Those who had been wary because of the unfamiliar face relaxed their expressions one by one at the mention of Chief Prosecutor Heo’s name.

“Just call me President Cha.”

“Do you not have a mouth? Are you mute? When did our General get hired as a spokesperson for this green kid?”

“There he goes again with that bullshit.”

General Bae, who brushed off Superintendent Seo’s sarcasm like swatting a fly, sat in the 6th seat.

“President? You run a business? What, a drug business?”

President Cha, who gave a thin smile to Superintendent Seo, who kept throwing out comments and cackling, took the last seat.

“The three of you, please choose your money boxes in the order you sat.”

At the dealer’s suggestion, the three who had sat down designated the remaining three one by one. President Cha was the last. Meanwhile, Namu felt as if his eardrums were about to burst at the sound of tape ripping—skritch, skritch—right next to his ear. In the process, he belatedly realized that all the players had sat down and the remaining money boxes were lying face down on the table.

Runners assigned to each of the eight players attached ripped blue tape to the buttocks of the money boxes. As the long strips of tape were applied to the parted butt cheeks, the buried anus was clearly revealed. The players, looking at their respective money boxes lying on the opposite table with the dealer in the middle, licked their lips with their own desires.

Soon, the dealer’s polite yet businesslike voice announced the start of the game.

“Would you like to bet?”

“Red, five.”

“Blue, five.”

“Red, two.”

“Fold.”

“What, scared already? I guess General Bae left all his guts behind when he retired?”

“I just wanted to watch Superintendent Seo burn his money.”

“Yes, yes~ I’ll burn it for you. Red, six.”

A pitgirl standing behind General Bae, who had taken a cigar in his mouth, quickly lit it for him. As General Bae’s rough hand squeezed the pitgirl’s backside like kneading dough, his lips curled up at the sound of Superintendent Seo’s grating voice.

“Good grief, anyone would think you’re a couple who’s lived together for 40 years. Red, five.”

Director Myeong, who chuckled seeing General Bae and Superintendent Seo recoil at President Choi’s comment, placed his chips.

“Tie, one.”

“That narrow-minded bastard.”

“Fold if you’re scared.”

Following Director Myeong, who stubbornly threw only one chip despite the jeers pouring in from all sides, the last player bet.

“Blue, ten.”

The players’ gazes shifted simultaneously toward President Cha, who had bet last.

“Serious?”

“Wow, look at the big spender, the big spender has arrived.”

Despite the jabs thrown by the players, President Cha leaned back leisurely and pulled the pitboy standing next to him to sit on his thigh.

“Heh, heh.”

Since he had played big in Southeast Asia, he was clearly from a gang background, but while they were gauging whether his current behavior was composure or bluffing, the dealer cleared the table.

“Betting is closed.”

The runners standing next to the money boxes took the chips handed over by the dealer. The black chips, 6cm in diameter and 3mm thick, followed international standards, but were much larger than those used in ordinary Houses.

The chips, specially manufactured for the Baccarat games held in the VIP House, pushed into the anuses of the money boxes lying on the table.

“…….”

Namu, who had been lying there not knowing what was happening, barely swallowed a moan he almost let slip. He now understood why they had made him undergo five enemas on the second floor. And why he was called a money box.

A hard, cold black chip forcibly pried open the folds of his anus. Namu, who had never had anything inserted there before the enemas, was bewildered. And terrified.

The runner’s touch, prying open the tightly closed folds without a single drop of lubricant, was rough, and the chip pushing through the gap was excessively large. Seeing the other so-called money boxes on the same table receiving them skillfully, he wondered if he was overreacting.

Namu closed his eyes tight and opened them again, trying to relax his muscles to aid the intrusion. Thanks to the repeated enemas, his anus, which had been slightly loosened, painfully swallowed one chip. Fortunately, no more chips entered. This was because the 4th player who had designated Namu was Director Myeong, who had bet one chip on a tie.

I came here to be a professional beating service… is this similar?

Since they said they couldn’t use his face, he thought he would be hit somewhere else, but he was confused by the completely unexpected situation. That wasn’t the only thing scattering Namu’s concentration.

‘Blue, ten.’

A familiar voice. The moment he heard that voice, Namu almost turned around instinctively. However, he was held fast by the gaze of the runner watching him and couldn’t move. In that instant, Namu pressed his cheek harder against the floor and closed his eyes.

Did I hear wrong…? I must have heard wrong.

There was no way that voice could be heard here. It shouldn’t be heard. Namu desperately hoped he had misheard. Without even knowing the proper reason why.

“Red seven, Blue eight. Blue wins.”

Sighs and cheers erupted from the table. Those who were drinking or smoking while groping the pitgirls and pitboys standing beside them exchanged glances, eventually turning their eyes toward President Cha.

One chip was 100 million won. When the new face who had bet 1 billion won from the first round took a double payout, they showed curiosity and interest. As if to match their mood—which had grown quiet as they observed whether it was mere luck or skill—an eye-candy show unfolded.

The money boxes of the winning players swallowed double the chips into their anuses, and the money boxes of the losing players spat out the chips they had swallowed. Solely by the strength of their sphincter muscles. Once the eye-candy was over, the dealer reshuffled the cards.

“Would you like to bet?”

The betting order was reversed this time. President Cha bet first.

“Blue, five.”

“Red two, Blue three.”

“Red, five.”

“Blue, three.”

“Blue, two.”

“Red, six.”

“Red one, Blue one.”

“Red, three.”

Cold sweat beaded on the temples of Namu, who painfully spat out the single chip he had barely swallowed following the betting failure of his assigned player, Director Myeong. Swallowing was hard, but spitting it out was twice as difficult. Because the chip was hard and the surface was rough, it felt as if the folds had been scratched.

However, Namu could hardly pay attention to his already aching lower abdomen and burning anus. It felt as if all his senses were concentrated on his hearing. Soon, Namu could hear it more clearly this time. It was a familiar voice. He hadn’t misheard. The man’s voice that sounded so familiar belonged to Cha Mu-won, the guest. A voice Namu could never forget or confuse.

The game proceeded in the same manner six more times. During that time, Namu swallowed three chips, spat out two, and then swallowed four, five, and six. Once, he neither swallowed nor spat because the player had folded.

Meanwhile, the gradually swollen folds of his anus turned red, taking on a blood-like hue. As the game progressed, Namu closed his eyes tight, certain of the voice he was hearing. He tried not to look back even by mistake and focused on tightening and loosening his sphincter to avoid drawing attention.

At this rate, he could avoid being discovered by the guest. People with bandages or casts were common in the House, and the guest didn’t know about the wounds that had recently appeared on his body. The guest had not stripped Namu after he was beaten by Heo Dong-hyeon. Since he hadn’t stripped him to treat him, he surely wouldn’t recognize him even after seeing Namu’s mottled body. So, Namu just had to endure. He just had to do his job well as a money box, not as a person.

“Isn’t Director Myeong’s intention too obvious?”

“Are you going to go broke trying to chase President Cha’s streak?”

“Exactly, don’t they know the saying that the first streak is a dog’s streak?”

They were mocking Director Myeong’s petty behavior of folding when it was his turn first, but following and betting chips when President Cha went first.

“Mind your own business. I’ve outsourced my brain to President Cha today.”

With a brazen face, Director Myeong, who once again bet ten on blue following President Cha, laughed, revealing his yellow teeth. President Cha, who had his arm around the waist of the pitboy acting cute on his thigh, raised his glass and curled his lips. It was a behavior that was quite arrogant yet eye-catching.

With a face and physique that were far from ordinary, he had the look of someone who would stand out anywhere. And yet, he was a new face. While they were each checking their memories, Superintendent Seo spoke first.

“You said he’s in Chief Prosecutor Heo’s line and played a bit in Southeast Asia?”

He stared intently at President Cha while betting two chips.

“Where in Southeast Asia?”

“Anywhere.”

“Your speech is a bit short, isn’t it?”

“I never learned the etiquette to use when stakes are on the line.”

“So you’re an uneducated brat?”

President Cha, who smiled thinly, neither denied nor refuted those words.

“By the way, before I became a Superintendent, I spent half a year in the Philippines. To wipe out drug dealers. I added one more hibiscus [medal] back then.”

“Tie, one.”

There was no sign of agitation in President Cha, who bet instead of responding to Superintendent Seo.

“I’ve never heard a name like President Cha there.”

That was natural. President Cha had not stayed in Southeast Asia under his real name; rather, during that period, he had been shoved into a prison cell.

“Shall I have a call with Chief Prosecutor Heo?”

At Superintendent Seo’s provocation—insisting on verifying where this stone had rolled in from—some agreed, some stood by, and some frowned.

One would expect a reaction after being poked this much, but President Cha, who took the cigarette offered by the pitboy between his teeth, took out his phone without any particular reaction. He seemed to dial a number and then simply held it out to Superintendent Seo. His attitude, telling him to just verify it without wasting time, was utterly arrogant.

Conversely, the provoked Superintendent Seo narrowed his eyes and looked down at the phone. The name wasn’t saved, but it was undoubtedly Heo Dong-hyeon’s number.

“Stop it, Superintendent Seo. I know you’ve done that every day since you started eating, but suspecting everyone is a disease. I vouch for President Cha here.”

At a single word from President Choi, who owned a third of the land in Gamgyul City, Superintendent Seo shut his mouth with a “Hmm.” Although he smiled and held up both hands, he couldn’t completely hide his inner surprise.

If both Heo Dong-hyeon and the local influential figure President Choi vouched for him, there was no further room for Superintendent Seo to doubt. Especially since President Choi was an old man whose strictness was unparalleled; winning his heart was by no means an easy task.

Just what kind of guy is he?

“Would you like to bet?”

This time, President Choi was first.

“Red, six.”

The one who voiced Superintendent Seo’s curiosity instead was Director Gye, who was second in order.

“Red two. Surely you’re not planning to make him your son-in-law.”

“Blue two, Red three. Now look here, man. You’d bring a potential son-in-law to a place like this?”

“Director Gye’s lost his mind after getting cleaned out consecutively today.”

Director Myeong, who added a comment, declared ‘Fold.’

“Is someone going to get murdered today?”

Superintendent Seo, who threw a jab—not advice—at Director Myeong, who had folded again, wondering if he’d get cleaned out after outsourcing his brain to the new face and then charge in with a knife, threw his chips. “Red, four.”

“Director Myeong isn’t that reckless.”

CEO Lee, a partner lawyer at Gamgyul City’s largest law firm, responded simply and threw six chips on blue.

“With current and former public officials all in one place, he wouldn’t go that far.”

CEO Park, who owned one of the two largest construction companies in Gamgyul City, called out, “Tie, two.” The last one remaining was President Cha. Cha Mu-won, who had his arm around the waist of a pitboy who was subtly rubbing his buttocks against Mu-won’s thigh while flicking cigarette ash, placed down several chips he had been rolling in his hand.

“Die.”

The gazes of those surprised by Mu-won’s first fold turned toward him.

“I can’t tell if our President Cha has guts or not.”

Superintendent Seo spoke as if humming a tune and urged the dealer along.

“Red wins.”

Laughing boisterously, Superintendent Seo looked at the doubled chips with greedy eyes. More than an hour had passed since they sat at the table, but no one was constrained by time, nor did they care.

However, the situation was different for the money boxes. Especially for Namu, for whom today was the first opening; he could barely breathe, overwhelmed by the effort of tightening his anus to keep the folds from opening. Random sounds of panting or groaning could be heard from those beside him. Still, no money box spat out the chips held inside without permission. Namu could feel it in his skin that they were all desperately enduring.

Fifteen? Twenty? In reality, sixteen black chips filled Namu’s stomach, but because he had repeated the process of swallowing and spitting several times, he didn’t even know the count. He just felt as if his heavy lower abdomen was about to burst, and that if he took a single wrong breath, he would drop the chips he was barely holding. Even if he didn’t know exactly what happened if a chip was dropped, Namu could guess it would never be good for him.

“Would you like to bet?”

Mu-won, staring at Namu’s blood-red anus—which had actually become convex from its previously flat state, not just by imagination—tossed five chips.

“Blue.”

Right on cue, Director Myeong called out blue five. He had been losing consistently since following President Cha. Confident, Director Myeong threw his chips with certainty.

“Blue wins.”

Director Myeong roared with laughter, and five more black chips were pushed into Namu’s stomach. As chips larger in diameter than golf balls continued to enter, Namu nearly gagged. Even then, he kept his anus tightly closed, and fortunately, he didn’t spit any chips out. However, because the folds wouldn’t close, the last chip was clearly visible. It looked as if it would pop out if he so much as choked on his breath.

“I’m going to push it all the way in, so relax.”

The runner in charge of Namu, who had been standing there with a picture-perfect smile the whole time, whispered quickly. Then, he pressed down hard on the exposed chip, pushing it all the way in. The runner’s small voice reached Namu’s ear again as he tried to gag.

“One chip is 100 million. If you spit it out, it all becomes your debt.”

In an instant, Namu’s anal folds froze and tightened. Thanks to that, the chip disappeared completely, but Namu found it difficult to breathe for a moment.

I… I didn’t hear anything about that…

Feeling strangely like he might cry, Namu rubbed his eyes against the floor of the table. The floor, drenched in his own sweat, was slippery.

“Would you like to bet?”

When the dealer’s voice, which sounded more like a pre-recorded announcement than professional, repeated for another 30 minutes, Namu’s lower abdomen, now containing nearly forty chips, sagged. His anus, swollen red and stretched wide, could no longer close.

Mu-won rolled his chips, glancing indifferently at the skin of the belly stretched enough to touch the floor and the anus exposing the chips. It was Mu-won’s turn again.

Director Myeong, who had lost some when following Mu-won but had won far more overall, was elated and continued to raise the stakes. The forty-two black chips occupying Namu’s stomach were the result.

“Would you like to bet?”

Mu-won tossed ten chips.

“Red.”

Director Myeong, who bet ten on red following Mu-won, lost ten chips as well. Namu, rubbing his forehead on the sweat-soaked floor, tried to spit out exactly ten chips. His folds, terrified that even one more might pop out, tightened sharply before finally spitting out the last chip.

“Fuck.”

Director Myeong, who had lost 1 billion in the blink of an eye, aggressively ran his hand through his neatly combed hair.

“Beginner’s luck.”

Irritated by Superintendent Seo’s mockery, Director Myeong huffed but soon suppressed his temper. Starting with eight as his base, he had won thirty-four today. There was no reason to look miserable over losing ten of them. What was lost could be won back. If it really was just beginner’s luck, he could just recover the cost of the outsourced ‘head’ as well.

“Blue wins.”

Namu had to spit out three more chips. His glistening naked body had turned red at some point. The blue bruises that had been spread across his lower back and calves were no longer visible.

“Director Myeong, how are you going to get anything done if you’re that gullible?”

At Director Gye’s reprimand, Director Myeong’s stiff face turned red and blue.

“When did you ever recover the head you outsourced to President Cha?”

Having lost ten at once, Director Myeong, who threw his own chips instead of following President Cha, had already lost an additional fifteen. Namu’s sagging belly also visibly receded. Further enraged by that sight, Director Myeong began slapping the pitboy’s cheeks, yelling at him for not pouring drinks on time. CEO Park, who was just watching Director Myeong vent his anger on an innocent kid, chuckled.

“Why are you grabbing the kids who are struggling to pay off their debts?”

“Did these bastards get into debt for no reason? They didn’t know their place and only looked for luxury goods and supercars, so they ended up selling their bodies! Vermin eating away at society! Fucking trash!”

“There’s a rookie here, too.”

“Drag this bastard out!”

Director Myeong, who threw aside the pitboy who couldn’t recover after a few hits, sat back down panting.

“Seriously, kids these days are so weak!”

“Hey, you must be feeling great today serving President Cha? You won quite a bit, right? You’ll get a generous tip.”

Ignoring Director Myeong, who was getting even more irritable for no reason, Superintendent Seo touched upon President Cha as if to change the subject.

“From the looks of it, President Cha isn’t a gambler.”

Superintendent Seo scanned the pitboy, who was now leaning into President Cha as if embracing him, and wrinkled his nose.

There’s something there.

“He’s lucky and sharp; he’d be good at business. I guess President Choi didn’t guarantee him for nothing. Did President Choi bring him here to test him as a potential son-in-law?”

“What’s stopping him from becoming a son-in-law? Someone like President Cha is excellent.”

Superintendent Seo, who had been probing gently with a skeptical face, was genuinely surprised by President Choi’s immediate response and clapped his hands ostentatiously.

“President Cha is quite something, isn’t he?”

President Choi, who had a single daughter he cherished terribly, had been keeping her wrapped up like a precious gem since the incident two years ago. Considering he was a man who used to brag about his daughter until his throat was dry and had shown clear dislike whenever marriage was mentioned—half-joking, half-serious—Superintendent Seo saw President Cha in a new light.

He’s not someone planted by The Center?

Though they pretended not to care, everyone was on high alert regarding recent events. Rumors that The Center had sent someone. They couldn’t identify who it was, why they were sent, or grasp the intention, so they had been helplessly targeted for two months.

Since The Center had denied it, they had considered the possibility of an impostor. However, the way things were handled was not that of an amateur or a low-level lackey. It was the work of a veteran among professionals. Since they had been stabbed in the back more than once or twice, there was no way President Choi and Prosecutor Heo, who loathed The Center, would step forward to guarantee him.

Still, it’s unsettling.

Superintendent Seo, who planned to dig into President Cha as soon as the gathering broke up and tried to get a business card, frowned deeply. This was because Director Myeong, who had been gulping down alcohol beside him, suddenly stood up and shouted.

“You piece of shit, are you showing everyone how loose you are!”

Caught him, that bastard. Watching Director Myeong’s waddling back, whose inner thoughts were transparent, Superintendent Seo glanced at President Cha. He had a face that looked like he could use his head, but he was a thug by birth.

He looked closely at the hand embracing the waist of the pitboy who was stuck to him like glue. It was the fist of a fighter. Even while keeping another man close, President Cha’s masculinity only became more prominent. Seo scanned him openly and then smiled.

Business? It’s probably just thug work, cleaning up after the higher-ups.

President Choi, who dared to use the word ‘son-in-law’ for a man who even practiced pederasty, was sending a look of ‘vulgar bastard’ toward Director Myeong, who was now undoing his belt.

As if he’s so refined himself. He still hasn’t fixed the habit of acting like a king in the region. I wonder what he’ll do when he eventually ruins himself.

Expecting it to take some time before the next bet, Superintendent Seo leaned back, intending to cool his head while watching Director Myeong’s rampage. The pitboy on standby clung to him softly and gently massaged Superintendent Seo’s shoulders.

This is why people strive for a position.

At the touch of the young man’s hands, a curve formed on Superintendent Seo’s lips.

“Fuck, you earn hundreds of millions a day and can’t even act as a proper money box!”

Crack! The belt cutting through the air lashed across the money box’s buttocks.

“Ugh!”

The sound of a gasp from the unexpected—or rather, the unbearable—impact further incited Director Myeong.

“Does it hurt? You piece of shit, you’re moaning so filthily after just one hit? This bastard hasn’t been trained at all! Who is it! Which bastard pushed this thing onto our table!”

“Customer. This money box is your property until you leave the table today.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I mean that corporal punishment and discipline are your rights, sir.”

The runner smiled thinly, folded the belt Director Myeong was holding in half to hand it back, and stepped back.

“Hah.”

Director Myeong, who immediately understood the runner’s words—that he had the right but no obligation to take responsibility—had a glint in his murky eyes.

Filthy bastards. They sure know how to do business.

Pulling the folded belt taut, Director Myeong glared at his assigned money box with glistening eyes. The buttocks, which had already dropped a chip from a single hit, were trembling violently.

Seeing the money box, who should have been gripping tight even while losing, leaking chips he hadn’t even lost yet, made Director Myeong snap. Rolling up his sleeves, Director Myeong declared through gritted teeth.

“You bastard, I’m going to give you a proper education today.”

At the voice of Director Myeong, who had taken a position right behind him, Namu, who had barely swallowed his groan, squeezed his eyes shut and curled his fingertips.

It was a mistake.

Namu had been putting strength into his sphincter, lower abdomen, and entire body to ensure he never leaked a chip without permission. But he had already leaked two.

Because he had been distracted by their conversation.

And the other time, because it hurt. The strike to his buttocks was so much like handling livestock that the physical pain outweighed the misery it brought.

“You loose-holed bastard. If you’re going to act, do it convincingly. I didn’t like you from the start. You’re pretending the world is narrow with a hole that could fit hundreds of dicks? Fuck, you couldn’t even hold forty-two! Huh? You couldn’t even hold a mere seventeen! You little whore! You were the bad luck from the start! To think such a rag rolled in here!”

Every time he raised the end of his sentence, the belt lashed out—crack, crack—targeting the anus precisely. The folds, already swollen red and scratched, burst into blood by the third strike. Namu didn’t even notice the tears streaming down his face; he simply bit hard into the back of his hand.

Whether he groaned or not, the hitting would be the same, but he hoped that if he endured the groans, they might give him one fewer hit. He was afraid the customer might recognize his voice. He was afraid he might make eye contact with the customer while struggling. It was better to be hit in the anus while face-down like a dog. Today, that was better.

“Enduring it? You piece of shit dares to endure? Fine, let’s see this through to the end today. Huh? You bastard, let’s see who wins, you or me. These bastards’ principal increases by 100 million every time they spit out a chip, right? Fuck, luck be damned, I’m taking back everything, including my principal, from you today!”

Crack—crack—crack! The violent sounds, drowning out the noisy interior of the gambling den, drew glancing looks. Except for those in the middle of a game or a fuck, everyone showed interest, making it the most conspicuous table.

There was no one at the baccarat table who felt uncomfortable or displeased by the concentrated attention. Whether someone recognized them or not was irrelevant. What tiger would be intimidated by a vermin that couldn’t even dare to challenge them?

Rather, they were enjoying the chaos Director Myeong was creating more than anyone. President Choi, who had sent looks of contempt toward Director Myeong for being vulgar, was no different.

The reason they went through the trouble of visiting private gambling dens was to enjoy the stimulation and thrill they could no longer feel in their daily lives. Whether the means was violence, sex, or gambling, they wouldn’t spare hundreds of millions if it could give their hardened brains a momentary jolt of pleasure. This was also why they had included Director Myeong, whose background was different, as a member.

“Hehe, he’s absolutely wrecking him.”

“Will that be enough? Why not just stab him!”

Jeers and cheers poured out from all directions. Namu did his best not to lose consciousness. As he shifted his teeth and bit into the back of his hand, his left arm also became drenched in blood. Every time he was hit by the leather belt, his anus instinctively tightened, but that was only temporary. After a few strikes, his anus began to fray, repeatedly tightening only when hit and then limply loosening.

Namu tried desperately not to drop the chips. But that didn’t go as planned either. His body wouldn’t listen to him. Namu feared this sensation he felt every time he was hit. He felt as if he were becoming accustomed to his own helplessness.

Finally dropping a chip, Namu swallowed his cries and bit hard into the back of his hand. He thought it might be better to distribute the pain this way. Of course, it was a naive delusion.

Seeing two chips pop out in succession, Director Myeong’s bloodshot eyes widened as he raised the belt high. The belt cut through the air with a whoosh and struck Namu’s rear dead center—smack!

“Ah… AGH—!”

Finally eliciting a scream from Namu, euphoria spread across Director Myeong’s crimson face. Hit all at once across the anus, perineum, and testicles, Namu’s folds snapped open, and five or six chips tumbled out. Trembling as if he had just ejaculated, Director Myeong swung the belt repeatedly at the same spot.

“AGH…! Ah…!”

Unable to withstand the stronger impact, the money box shook his buttocks wildly. Like a boar with its tail on fire. Tududududuk— Director Myeong burst into laughter as he watched all the remaining chips, save for a couple, spill out. Then he swung the belt again and again. It was a persistent and merciless beating, as if to drag out every last chip.

“How many chips was the money box holding?”

“He should be holding exactly seventeen.”

Superintendent Seo, watching Director Myeong swing the belt with full force targeting the testicles, asked the dealer with narrowed eyes. The dealer, who answered immediately, wasn’t a robot; his face was stiff. Seeing the dealer’s lips twitch as if anticipating the second question, Superintendent Seo realized the man wasn’t completely out of it.

“The money box has leaked fourteen, and there are currently three chips remaining inside.”

“He’ll never get those three out like that.”

Unless someone reached inside with their hand to pull them out, no more would come out through beating. Director Myeong knew this, yet he continued to rage like a madman.

Superintendent Seo, inwardly applauding the money box’s tenacity for not breaking his prone position even while shaking his buttocks, checked President Cha’s reaction out of habit.

Superintendent Seo, who expected some reaction, even if not as obvious as the dealer’s, could not hide his disappointment.

At this rate, he’ll probably start fucking him.

President Cha’s face wasn’t clearly visible as he gripped the buttocks of the pitboy wrapped around him like a snake, but the gentle curve of his lips was clearly seen.

Meanwhile, the reaction Superintendent Seo wanted was being shown by Jae-un, who was pressed against the wall with the other attendants. Although he had avoided being naked like the House debtors, Jae-un, who had been standing like a wallflower after being searched, rolled his eyes with a distorted face.

That brat, he looks like he’d break if you just tapped him once.

He had held up well, then suddenly started staggering like someone who had lost his mind, and now he was in that state. However, Jae-un had to focus more on Mu-won than on Namu, who was fulfilling the role of whipping boy perfectly. For some reason, a sense of crisis—that Mu-won might throw everything away and flip the table right now—made Jae-un anxious.

There was no particular reason for it. Had those bastards, who thought they were big shots in Gamgyul City, touched a nerve? You have to know where the nerve is to touch it.

Regardless, the intuition of Jae-un, who had served Mu-won closely for over ten years, was slowly sending danger signals. The time they were supposed to leave had passed by more than 30 minutes.

If he couldn’t leave immediately, far from arriving on time, there was a high risk he would be branded a traitor by the Chairman’s inner circle. He didn’t mind if he were actually a traitor, but he couldn’t stand to see his Hyung unfairly smeared with such a stigma.

Eventually, his patience wearing thin, Jae-un disregarded the impropriety and headed toward Mu-won. When he frowned at a security lackey blocking his path, another man nodded, signaling to let him through.

Rude bastards.

Seeing them handle security this way only made it more pathetic. As Jae-un—who was 10cm shorter than Mu-won but more muscular—strode forward, the likes of runners and pitboys instinctively cleared the way.

Jae-un deliberately made his presence known as he stood beside Mu-won. Noticing that Mu-won was ignoring him, focusing instead on the pitboy clinging to him like gum, Jae-un inwardly squeezed his eyes shut and leaned in to whisper in his ear. He could feel the people sitting at the same table showing interest.

“President, the time is—”

The one who reacted faster than Mu-won was President Choi.

“If you’ve had enough fun, why don’t you take your seat? If you’re going to enjoy yourself alone, Director Myeong, you can step aside.”

“Huff, huff—I just got the momentum going, why the hell should I step aside?”

Director Myeong, who was drenched in sweat after a bit of exertion, threw down a belt dripping with blood and sat in his place.

“Dealer, which side is the line on this time?”

At President Choi’s question, the dealer pointed with both hands toward Mu-won.

“Player number 1 on the left.”

President Cha, who had been alternating between enjoying the pitboy’s flirtations and the blood festival before him, was looking down at his wristwatch. Superintendent Seo let out a smirk as he watched a man, looking like a wild boar, suddenly appear and whisper into President Cha’s ear.

Thuggish bastards.

“President Cha, you seem quite busy?”

“If you’re that busy, feel free to leave first.”

President Cha gave a beaming smile to General Bae, who had added the remark, and rolled a chip with the hand that had been massaging the pitboy’s thigh.

“It would be rude to do that on our first meeting.”

However, wearing a troubled expression as if he couldn’t spend any more time there, President Cha placed the chip down with a sharp clack. As a result, the players’ attention shifted to him.

“This should be enough for a greeting.”

The onlookers, who had been losing interest and preparing to leave after Director Myeong sat down, caused a commotion and swarmed back to the table.

As expected, the dealer failed to maintain his composure again, though he tried to put on a mask as he picked up the chip President Cha had thrown. His hand trembled slightly.

A gold chip.

It was a money chip worth a hundred times a black chip.

For the dealer, it was the first time he had touched such a chip during a game.

“All-in on Tie.”

The players, as well as those around the table, were stirred.

“Not bad.”

CEO Lee, smiling with a twisted lip at President Cha’s bet, threw in a black chip.

“Five on Red.”

CEO Lee’s bet, signaling that he would accept this round as the last, remained steady. However, Director Myeong, who was next in turn, could not hide his wavering eyes.

Tie back.

Since the probability of a Tie was low, the payout was eight times.

Eight times would be 80 billion.

Even betting just five black chips would be 4 billion.

Director Myeong’s mind began to race. He had switched lines after President Cha, who had been on a winning streak, started losing.

Tie back? It was an amount one couldn’t bet without absolute certainty. Or, one had to be wealthy enough that losing that much didn’t matter. Bet on Tie? No, President Cha’s win rate today had been fifty-fifty. Above all…

‘This should be enough for a greeting.’

It was practically saying he would add to the pot in exchange for ending the session early. In other words, he bet with the intention of losing. Therefore, Director Myeong should not follow the Tie. While his mind raced to figure out what was a trap and what was a gain, Director Myeong finally threw his chips.

“Five on Tie.”

He read it not as a bet intended to lose, but as a way to leave the table by laying down the money he had already won as a stake.

“Oh.”

Beside him, Superintendent Seo exclaimed loudly, noting that Director Myeong had played his cards well. Regardless, facing the result of the biggest bet of his life, Director Myeong’s face was drenched in sweat and his legs were shaking.

“Ten on Tie.”

With President Choi, the betting ended.

The result was,

“Tie wins.”

Director Myeong leaped up and cheered. He immediately regretted not betting every cent he had, but his joy did not diminish.

“Wow, President Cha! You’re my god of luck!”

President Cha pushed away Director Myeong, who tried to hug him, and curled the corners of his mouth into a cool smile.

“Get that smelly pig’s trotter away from me.”

Director Myeong, feeling so good that he took even that as a joke, laughed boisterously and flirted with another player.

“Thanks to you, I’ll have a great time.”

Mu-won, who responded with a sophisticated smile instead of shaking hands with President Choi, replied,

“I’ll see you again next time.”

Before the words were even finished, Mu-won grabbed President Choi’s hand, pulled him in as if for a hug, and patted his shoulder.

“If you want to save even a shitty House, keep yourself in check.”

Whispering quickly, Mu-won released President Choi and gave a light nod. Watching the scene, which looked perfectly harmonious from the outside, Superintendent Seo scratched his eye with a puzzled expression.

Did I see that wrong? Maybe he’s just some rich idler who rolled in here without fear, wanting to get stripped clean.

With President Cha’s departure, the Baccarat game naturally came to an end. They soon moved to the Hold’em tables, each with a drink and a pitgirl or pitboy tucked under their arms.

After driving along the mountain road in silence for a while, Jae-un glanced at Mu-won and spoke cautiously.

“Hyung.”

“What?”

Mu-won, who had been lying back in the passenger seat with his eyes closed, replied. Not expecting an immediate answer, Jae-un hesitated before finally adding his words.

“I’m sorry for interrupting so arrogantly.”

“…….”

At Mu-won’s silence, cold sweat ran down Jae-un’s spine. Just as he was about to add, “Hyung…”, Mu-won slowly opened his eyes and spoke first.

“No, you did well.”

“Huh…? Hyung?”

“You did well.”

Leaving only those words, Mu-won closed his eyes again, telling him to focus on the driving. Even at maximum speed, there was an hour left until they reached The Center. He should have left at least an hour ago. Mu-won thought about why he hadn’t, then dismissed it.

‘Why wouldn’t I make him a son-in-law? Someone like President Cha is excellent.’

Namu had been holding on well, but he began to crumble after President Choi spouted that kind of nonsense. Mu-won didn’t have a hobby of agonizing over facts he already knew.

* * *

Namu was lying face down on an old sofa. He woke up feeling a delayed chill from the air conditioner hitting his skin. However, his eyes, swollen from crying so much, wouldn’t open easily. Namu, who had never been stubborn about things that simply wouldn’t work, didn’t force his heavy eyelids open. He opened them only as much as they would, only as much as he could see, when a familiar voice dropped from above him.

“Are you awake?”

“…….”

Startled, Namu tried to lift his head, but even that didn’t work well. The person, who knew Namu’s condition well, stepped forward and stood in front of him. Even as he tried to roll his eyes upward, his vision wouldn’t lock. As if telling him not to waste his strength, the person sat on the sofa table to match his eye level; it was Namu’s assigned runner.

“You don’t remember, right?”

“……Yes.”

Perhaps because he had suppressed the sounds trying to burst out of his throat for too long, his voice wouldn’t come out properly when he tried to speak.

“No need to force it.”

The runner opened a bottle of water and handed it to Namu. Since this room was used as a storage space, drinking water was scattered everywhere. Watching Namu barely move his hand to take the bottle, the runner changed the question.

“Want alcohol instead of water?”

Namu tried to shake his head, but his body wouldn’t obey, so he just hesitated and parted his lips.

“N… no…”

“Alright.”

It was very difficult to drink water while lying face down, but Namu, who was severely thirsty, moistened his lips even while spilling more than half the water.

“Th… thank you…”

As the water went down, his parched throat moistened, and a cracked voice managed to flow out.

“Well, we’ve got to help each other out.”

The runner took back the bottle with the remaining water, closed the cap, and tossed it into the trash can, responding nonchalantly. Perhaps he had been changing into civilian clothes after work, as the runner stood up from the table and finished buttoning his shirt.

“It would be better if you didn’t move yet.”

As soon as the runner finished speaking to Namu, who was trying to get up from the sofa, his waist, which hadn’t even risen halfway, collapsed.

“No sensation, right?”

“What…?”

“Down there. While treating you, that area kept reacting even though you were unconscious, so I applied a ton of anesthetic ointment. Right now, it’s being iced.”

Ah… That’s why there was no pain where there should have been.

“Th… thank you.”

“I only did it because I was told to.”

Having finished buttoning his shirt, the runner put on the bag he had tossed carelessly on the floor.

“The anesthesia will wear off in 30 minutes. Go see the General Manager before it does. He told me to have you stop by once you woke up.”

“Yes…”

The runner stared at Namu’s face, which clearly showed he had no idea what had happened, and seemed to contemplate for a moment. Soon, he let out a low sigh and turned his body back toward Namu.

“One of the guests at the table broke the game with a gold chip, so our table was cleared early. That’s lucky for you. Otherwise, you would’ve had to swallow forty more chips while bleeding out.”

“…….”

“If that happened, you would’ve woken up in a hospital, not here. Actually, I think you still need to go to a hospital, but the General Manager comes first.”

“Yes… thank you.”

“You keep saying thank you when I barely did anything. You’ll get taken for a pushover like that. Or maybe you’re already a pushover, which is why you’re in this state?”

Namu looked up at the runner, who responded without malice, and his eyes became quite clear. As he regained consciousness, the pain became more palpable. Since anesthetic ointment had been applied heavily below, the pain must have been coming from elsewhere. He had been beaten so much in various places over the last few days that Namu couldn’t tell exactly where it was. Still, he squeezed out his remaining strength to speak.

“At the table…”

“Hmm…?”

The runner, who was checking the inside of his bag, expressed doubt at the random comment.

“For helping me.”

“…Me?”

“Yes… I didn’t know I shouldn’t drop the chips, I didn’t know one chip was 100 million… and I didn’t know that dropping chips becomes a debt…”

“That’s…”

Of course, the runner hadn’t done it purely out of goodwill. Just as the runner almost reflexively revealed his true intentions, he quickly shut his mouth.

“And… the belt.”

“…….”

“You folded it in half… on purpose… right…?”

Namu, looking up at the runner with a face still covered in deep purple bruises, spoke while squinting.

“I… I know because I’ve been hit with belts a lot.”

Ah, it seemed he wasn’t squinting, but trying to smile.

“If you get hit with the gold buckle… the problem isn’t just the skin tearing, but the bone can break… so… you folded it on purpose… right…?”

“…….”

A blank stare turned toward Namu. After a moment of silence, the runner readjusted his bag. A gaze, different from before, scanned Namu. A brief conflict—surprise, and a wonder if he was saying something unnecessary—passed through his eyes before he looked Namu straight in the face.

“More importantly, you…”

“Namu… I’m Namu.”

For a moment, the stunned runner let out a hollow laugh.

Why the hell is he going around telling everyone his real name in a place like this?

Judging by his behavior, he hadn’t even used a pseudonym. That’s why he ended up in this state. Though it wasn’t the runner’s place to say. After a brief thought, the runner had no intention of doing something equally stupid, so he gave a fake name.

“Suwon. You look younger than me, so I’ll speak casually.”

“Yes, Suwon-hyung…”

“Do you know Player 8?”

“What?”

“That man called President Cha.”

“…….”

“The man who saved you today by throwing a gold chip.”

“What… do you mean by that?”

Did I guess wrong?

However, Suwon, who had been watching only Namu throughout the game, couldn’t shake a lingering feeling. A gaze that was strangely persistent yet indifferent, common yet uncommon, had attached itself to Namu and detached every now and then.

Since his incentive would vanish if the money box he was responsible for dropped chips, Suwon had been focusing, and he had reflexively looked at the owner of that gaze. The moment their eyes met, he was startled and immediately looked down, but it took a long time to calm his racing heart.

Even at a glance, he wasn’t an ordinary human. President Cha bet exactly as he looked. He was clever and bold. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Baccarat, a game of pure probability, was all about luck. Unless you were in cahoots with the dealer, it was a game where you couldn’t remain relaxed, yet he was as leisurely as if he had seen all the cards in advance.

So Suwon had watched the dealer closely, but it didn’t seem like any cheating was happening, nor could it. With so many eyes watching, getting caught would be more than just a debt issue. His limbs would be severed while alive and sold off piece by piece. No one could have the guts to pull a card under those risks. Especially since just a few weeks ago, several dealers had been torn apart before their eyes like public executions.

If so, it meant he pushed through purely with luck, but Suwon couldn’t believe it even while seeing it with his own eyes. The man seemed to lose and win chips exactly when he wanted to. Neither the players betting at the same table nor the dealer revealing the cards noticed at all. That was because they didn’t give a damn about the likes of a money box.

President Cha lost chips when the money box of Player 4—Namu’s stomach—bulged as if it would burst, and he won chips when it shrank to a reasonable size. Player 4, who had followed him today saying he’d outsourced his brain to President Cha, also won and lost chips in the same manner.

Once or twice could be a coincidence. But the repeated coincidences, the timing of the gold chip, and the result were truly uncanny. Eventually, the Baccarat game was broken, and the money boxes were replaced. Thanks to that, Namu ended up with lacerations rather than a ruptured intestine.

Of course, it was too severe to be called a simple laceration, but by throwing 10 billion, President Cha had practically saved his life. At the time, it ended as a slight suspicion and a coincidence.

“That man shot 10 billion just to save you before he left.”

“A… a guest…?”

Namu’s reaction gave Suwon certainty.

They really know each other?

Then instead of burning 10 billion like that, he could have just paid off the debt and taken him away. If they had a relationship where burning 10 billion was no big deal, it made no sense to let him get beaten like that in the first place.

“How much is your debt?”

“…….”

“Don’t tell me it’s over 10 billion?”

“…….”

Whether out of guilt or absurdity, Namu couldn’t even part his lips. Suwon scanned him with a meaningful look and smirked.

I’ve been in this crazy place so long my own brain has gone haywire.

It was a ridiculous assumption. What loan shark would lend 10 billion to a scrap of a thing like this and then let him be used in a place like this? Would a man who burns 10 billion a day without blinking an eye even glance at a debtor who barely pays back a few hundred million by selling his body? A few hundred million would be pocket change to such a man.

‘A… a guest…?’

Right, even those kinds of guys are guests.

“Forget it. I guess my brain’s fried after seeing a butcher up close for the first time in a while. Go see the General Manager quickly before the anesthesia wears off.”

“…Yes, Hyung. Thank you… truly, for today.”

“If you’re that thankful, buy me a meal sometime.”

Obviously, the best option would be to never see him again, but that seemed unlikely.

Swallowing his last words, Suwon waved carelessly and left the storage room.

“…….”

The moment Suwon reacted sensitively to the word ‘guest’, Namu instinctively realized he must not acknowledge ‘President Cha’, so he shut his mouth. Meanwhile, his mind was in chaos from the sudden influx of information.

It couldn’t be.

There’s no way…

It was enough to make him momentarily forget the pain that was relentlessly invading him.

“Ah…”

Namu let out a low groan and hunched his shoulders. Not even 30 minutes had passed, but pain was slowly rising from below. With a small movement, something heavy rustled and fell off the sofa with a thump. It was the ice pack Suwon mentioned.

“…….”

Staring blankly at the almost melted ice pack, Namu slowly pushed himself up. It hurt. As if the wearing-off anesthesia had gained momentum, sharp pain radiated through his entire body like thorns, centered from below.

It felt as if his testicles were on fire, and the spasms rising from the perineum up to the tailbone felt like electric shocks. Swallowing a groan at the agony that felt as if his body were splitting open, Namu stepped down from the sofa in a clumsy posture.

A cheap shower gown was all that covered his body, which was drenched in cold sweat. Namu didn’t have the luxury to look for his clothes and belongings. The pain intensified by the second. His pale face looked grotesque, with one half turned deep purple.

‘Go see the General Manager. He told me to have you stop by once you woke up.’

Among the many words Suwon had thrown at him, that one phrase suddenly surged up and pushed Namu forward. Without the luxury of accurately assessing his own condition, Namu cautiously took a single step. A pain so intense it felt as if his body were being split in half caused Namu to instinctively shut his eyes tight and let out a scream. Even that got caught in his throat, resulting in nothing more than a scratching sound—”Kkeuk…”

Without even a moment to wipe away the streaming tears, Namu continued to move. He had to reach the General Manager before the anesthesia wore off completely. Going to the General Manager wouldn’t make the already awakened pain disappear, but at least he wouldn’t be beaten further for not arriving on time.

Hot breath and shallow moans drenched Namu’s every sense. Opening the warehouse door, Namu let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was on the same floor as the third floor where the temporary office was located. It wasn’t far to the office where the General Manager would be. Barely ten steps. But those ten steps were excruciating for Namu. Panting, he barely managed to stand before the office and knocked on the door.

Instead of a question asking who it was, the door swung open, and a hulking figure blocked the way. The face of the brute, who always stood by during interviews with the General Manager, was familiar. Scanning Namu up and down with slanted eyes, he suddenly grabbed Namu by the scruff of the neck. Namu was dragged inside just like that.

Namu’s vision blurred repeatedly as he barely endured the unbearable physical agony. It felt as if a fog had settled in his mind. He tried to urge himself to snap out of it, but simply keeping his eyes open and standing was all he could manage. A pain that felt like his skin was being thinly sliced swept over his entire body. Every time it happened, Namu’s consciousness flickered on and off.

Documents were thrown in front of him. To be precise, they were thrown onto the wide table that separated the General Manager and Namu.

“I heard you caused a scene at the table?”

“……I’m sor—”

“Nothing to be sorry about. Thanks to a big spender showing up, the cost of the leaked chips was saved.”

“…….”

‘That person shot 10 billion just to save you.’

Suwon’s voice suddenly echoed back, making Namu’s mind noisy once again. What caught his slipping consciousness in that moment was the General Manager’s nonchalant voice.

“Today’s table fee is 8 million. After deducting a month’s interest, 2 million remains, but you’re two months behind, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Then we’ll use the remaining 2 million to cover the overdue amount. What are you going to do about the two months you’re behind?”

“…I, I wanted to come.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a palm flew in, slapping Namu across the face and sending him sprawling onto the floor.

“Ugh…!”

Rather than the pain of the slap, a short scream escaped him from the intense agony radiating from below as his body absorbed the impact of the fall. The General Manager frowned as he looked down at Namu, who lay there convulsing, unable even to curl into a fetal position. Because of the fall, Namu’s lower body was revealed through the gaps of his loosened bathrobe. His crotch was drenched in bright red blood. At the General Manager’s signal, the brute, showing his loyalty with a “Yes, General Manager!”, forcibly hauled the fallen Namu back up.

Looking up at Namu’s face, which was damp with tears shed in the meantime, the General Manager clicked his tongue. The left cheek, where the swelling had subsided leaving only a deep purple bruise, quickly turned bright red. It would soon swell up like a deflated balloon. He had hit him so hard that Namu was even bleeding from his nose. Despite looking like a piece of rag, the General Manager felt a throb of arousal in his own cock.

There were items whose demand increased the more they were scratched.

Having recognized at a glance that Namu was such an item, the General Manager had been using him profitably since the moment he took him over. Such things didn’t last long, but they brought in high returns relative to the duration.

“So, are you saying it’s my fault?”

Namu, who had been hit hard enough for his head to shake, missed his timing to answer. In reality, his brain was rattling so much he had no mental capacity to recall anything.

“You wanted to work, but because I didn’t call you in, you couldn’t pay back your debt?”

As the General Manager was about to hit him again for failing to answer, he waved his hand. If he hit him any more, the boy’s state was so bad he looked like he might become a corpse. The General Manager decided to be generous. Thus, in a rather kind tone, he recited Namu’s situation.

“If you look at the contract, there’s no clause stating we must call you into the establishment. Honestly, where else do you find a debt collector who even provides a job? You should be grateful we’ve called you in this much. Where do you get off complaining?”

“I’m… not complain—”

“What are you doing, bleeding from your mouth because it’s all torn up? Why did you hit the kid for no reason?”

“I’m sorry, General Manager!”

The brute, bowing his waist to beg for forgiveness, had a booming voice. Namu, watching them play their game with his dull mind, habitually tried to say, ‘I’m sorry, General Manager,’ but no voice came out. His vision wavered, and his ears felt muffled.

“Still, since you’re quite hardworking…”

Pretending to consider it while rubbing his chin, the General Manager tossed out the words he had prepared.

“Want to go up to the baccarat table a few more times? A guest like today’s only comes along once in ten times. This House casino is selective, taking mostly high-ranking guests. Since they play with hundreds of millions, the tips will be substantial.”

Observing Namu, who stiffened his body even in his delirious state, the General Manager continued to persuade him with a feigned serious face.

“I’m telling you this because you’re so diligent. Do you really think you can walk out of here normally after spending two whole years just selling yourself for professional beating services? It’s obvious you’ll leave with a few parts of you broken. Wouldn’t it be better for a kid with a bright future to clear his debt and leave as soon as possible?”

“But, still….”

“I heard you’re a virgin? Your hole must be tight, so unless it’s something like today, would you even leak chips? There’s a line of kids desperate to get on the baccarat table. It’s not about the 2 million; the scale of the tips is different, completely different. All you have to do is practice tightening your sphincter, so why are you worrying so much?”

Namu wasn’t worrying. He couldn’t do it. He didn’t have the confidence to do something like today again. He felt he shouldn’t. To be more honest, he didn’t want to. It wasn’t because he felt miserable about being beaten like livestock. Namu was terrified of the ‘what if’—that one mistake could add another 100 million to his debt. And… and….

“No interest? You’re really not doing it?”

“…Yes…. I… can’t do it….”

“Then well….”

Though he didn’t show much disappointment, the General Manager leaned back in his seat and added indifferently,

“Let’s revise the contract.”

“…The contract?”

“You don’t have 12 million right now. And you say you hate baccarat. Why should I show mercy to a guy who refuses a good spot I’ve thoughtfully offered? There’s no other way; I’ll extend the contract period by two months, but we’ll switch to compound interest.”

“…….”

It was an absurd demand. However, Namu could not refuse that absurd demand. At any other time, he might have clung to him, asking if there was another way, but Namu found it difficult even to keep his eyes open and stand. He was in no state to think.

The baccarat table accident wasn’t the General Manager’s intention, but changing a contract in favor of the creditor while the debtor was in a poor state was something he had done countless times. People chanted about mental strength, but in the face of physical pain that exceeded the limit, all humans were equal.

“Put your thumbprint here.”

Namu, barely standing with his body trembling, pressed his thumbprint onto the new contract. Only two things changed under the same conditions. From 24 months to 26 months. From simple interest to compound interest.

“O-kay! Then you can start repaying with compound interest from next month, valued customer.”

Having finished a deal in which he stood to lose nothing, the General Manager grinned and pointed toward the door.

“You can just head straight out that way.”

The mocking tone didn’t even register. Namu bowed his head in greeting and headed in the direction the General Manager pointed.

“Gae-cheol.”

“Yes, General Manager!”

“Look at the flood in that kid’s crotch. Grab a diaper and put it on him. He’ll bleed to death at this rate.”

Because the pain was so severe, the area below his buttocks was relatively numb. That’s why Namu was late to realize the blood soaking his crotch.

“Yes, I will do as commanded!”

The brute, bowing 90 degrees, gave Namu a nudge on the back. Staggering but not falling, Namu exited the door. After shoving Namu into a warehouse room, the brute began searching somewhere in the room. What came out of his plump hands, as large as he was, was an adult diaper. It wasn’t an unfamiliar item to Namu. Severe addicts would wear diapers and sit in their seats because they felt going to the bathroom was a waste of time. The Houses he had visited were overflowing with such people.

“I’m doing all sorts of things for one little whore.”

Namu couldn’t say that he wasn’t a whore. Not because his voice wouldn’t come out, but because he no longer felt that he wasn’t a whore.

“Put it on quickly before you get hit again, yeah?”

Receiving the diaper thrown irritably at him, Namu stepped his feet one by one into the diaper that looked like underwear. Every time he moved his body or his skin brushed, it hurt so much that tears dripped down.

“Follow me.”

Having barely put on the diaper and wiped his tears, Namu paused for a moment. His clothes and bag, which hadn’t been there before, were lying on the sofa.

‘Well, we’ve got to help each other out.’

Naturally, Suwon’s face flashed through his mind. Aside from him, no one else came to mind who would bother taking care of his belongings.

“Aren’t you coming?”

At the urging voice, Namu painstakingly picked up his bag and clothes and followed the brute.

“What is that trash?”

Lacking the strength to speak, Namu only shook his head slightly and moved forward, enduring the pain of feeling like his raw flesh was being torn. With every step, cold sweat poured like rain. Having nowhere to lean, Namu simply hugged his crumpled clothes and bag tightly. It wasn’t just that. Though it might be nothing more than trash to others, to Namu, who had practically only one set of clothes, they were precious, and the bag contained his few belongings and his phone.

Ah, the bag.

He always carried painkillers in his bag. Because the House didn’t even provide common painkillers. Namu would save the painkillers and swallow one only when the pain became unbearable.

I have to take one….

Despite the thought, Namu’s two hands remained motionless, clutching his belongings. He couldn’t move. While descending the stairs from the third floor to the first following the brute, he barely managed to struggle not to lose consciousness amidst the horrific pain that felt like his nerves were being shredded.

By the time the left side of his face, washed in tears, had turned red and swollen, Namu was able to board the Bongo van parked in the backyard. The van wasn’t a taxi, so it didn’t leave just because Namu was on board. The van, which stood still until the empty seats were filled, didn’t depart until 5 AM.

During the nearly five hours of waiting, Namu swallowed one pill from his bag and, instead of sitting his buttocks on the seat, knelt. It was a posture where he lifted his buttocks and hugged the seat backrest.

He simply couldn’t sit. He didn’t have the courage to sit on a diaper that had quickly become heavy with blood. Because it hurt too much. Because his anus, which must have been severely injured beyond imagination, hurt so much that Namu couldn’t change his posture.

The people boarding the van one by one laughed at the sight or expressed annoyance, saying he was in the way. However, they too, having served addicts all night, soon became exhausted and slumped over.

Namu couldn’t sleep. There were no seizures, which usually came when he didn’t want them. Throughout the hour and a half drive, Namu endured the pain while hugging the smelly seat. In his blurred and dull mind, only a few phrases rose and sank.

‘Ten blues.’

‘Where in Southeast Asia?’

‘Why wouldn’t I take him as a son-in-law? Someone like President Cha is excellent.’

‘All-in on Thai.’

‘The person who threw a gold chip and saved you today.’

‘Let’s revise the contract.’

Just as several voices filled his head, the van stopped.

“Hey, you, get out.”

At the command of the underling sitting in the passenger seat, Namu slowly moved his body, which felt as if it had been broken and put back together over a hundred times. His entire body screamed. He felt like he might throw up, but Namu forced himself to endure, and as soon as he stepped out of the car, the door slammed shut—Bang!

Without even the leisure to look back at the van as it departed immediately, Namu moved his feet. He felt as if he would collapse at any moment. It wasn’t a precursor to a seizure. It was a scream from his physical body.

Streaming tears as much as cold sweat, Namu stood before the elevator of the massage shop building and blinked his heavy eyelids. The sensor light, which still hadn’t been fixed, flickered irregularly. His vision was blurry, and his surroundings alternated between deep darkness and shallow light. It was the moment Namu, panting, moved his stone-like hand to press the elevator call pad.

A hand suddenly reached out from behind, grabbed Namu’s hair, and shook him.

Under the sensor light that flickered like an EKG that seemed about to stop but didn’t, Namu was slapped repeatedly. Before he could even realize the situation, he was thrown to the floor and kicked.

“You piece of shit, you fucking bastard, you’re worse than a fucking rag! Did you like sucking a gangster’s cock that much? Huh? Does it feel good to shake your ass while picking and choosing people? How much did that gangster shove into his cock-sleeve? You fucking rag, because of you, I spent months in the hospital!”

The person who was kicking Namu like crazy, with half his face hideously collapsed, one arm twisted the wrong way, and limping on one foot, was the raw fish restaurant owner.

“Fuck, you sold your body again today, didn’t you? Whose cock did you suck? Just sucking? You probably got fucked until your hole stretched out. Fuck, you piece of shit who spreads your legs wide for any amount of money, you’re going to be ruined today.”

Recognizing President Yoon’s voice as he hurled curses while panting, Namu curled his body. However, his overworked body would not move as intended. Thud—a dress shoe kicked him squarely in the stomach. Unable to even make a sound, Namu suddenly vomited blood.

His head spun. It hurt so much that not even a moan came out. Unable to resist or even defend himself, Namu went limp, and President Yoon grabbed his hair and dragged him along, limping. As he flung open the door to the restroom he had already unlocked, the smell of fishy brine and urine wafted out.

Three thugs, whose business was lending their hands and feet for a few pennies, followed along sluggishly, gagging. Hearing that he was lending his cock as well, they wondered if there was anything for them to scavenge while he ran wild alone.

“Hey, shouldn’t we stop that?”

“Forget it. Even if a half-cripple throws a fit, it’s nothing.”

Namu was quite famous as a newcomer at ‘tangerine massage’ among the local thugs. There were more than a few bastards who salivated at the rumor that he was young, pretty, and a virgin who had never been taken from behind.

Just then, one of the bastards who had followed along, licking his lips at the request to ruin that kid’s hole for money, genuinely admired, “Fuck, he takes a beating really well.”

“The ones who take a beating well also take cock really well. If you punch them in the gut a few times, they cum really easily too.”

“Is it true his back hole hasn’t been taken? The fish restaurant guy treats him like a total rag.”

“Since when did we care if it’s a new rag or an old rag?”

Giggling, they surrounded the wide-open entrance of the restroom. Namu flinched as he was thrown, as if trapped between the urinals. It was a form of resistance, though it was pathetic since he couldn’t even move a finger.

However, President Yoon, seeing Namu’s rejection even in this state, lost his mind. Thud—thud—after kicking Namu, he sat down and hurriedly pulled down his pants, causing laughter to erupt from the doorway. Upon discovering the adult diaper covering Namu’s genitals, President Yoon’s face immediately contorted.

“This rag of a bastard….”

Whether now or before, he had only resisted him to the death, yet he had gone somewhere else and offered his hole until he bled. Once his thoughts reached that point, President Yoon’s eyes rolled back. He began to rain punches on Namu’s face, who was only breathing weakly. But the scream erupted from behind President Yoon. No, it was merely a death rattle that could hardly be called a scream.

Among the thugs who were blocking the restroom entrance with their bloated bodies, the one standing at the very back suddenly made a gurgling sound and collapsed with a thud. The mouth of the ambushed man was torn wide open to both sides, just as it had been agape. The shadow that ambushed him was not satisfied with that.

From inside the wide-torn mouth, the shadow carved out the trembling tongue in its entirety. Subsequently, thud—the testicles between the legs burst. Instead of a scream, the man’s neck fell off with a spray of blood foam. The shadow, who crushed the man’s genitals with a dress shoe, disposed of the other two in the same manner.

It happened in just 40 seconds.

“Wait, Hyung-nim. With your body right now….”

Jae-un, who had run in a beat late because he had to park the car, shut his mouth.

Dark red blood dripped down the blade of the guber knife. The massive shadow that more than filled the restroom entrance, Mu-won, lowered his head and stepped inside.

He walked in with steady footsteps, stopping a couple of paces away. President Yoon, who had not yet realized what he was witnessing, let out a blood-curdling scream. Even that was cut short by a blade slicing horizontally across his lips, leaving him to make only gurgling sounds like a drowning boar.

Coming to his senses amidst the intense smell of blood flooding the hallway, Jae-un secured the perimeter. The back and side doors had already been locked by the thugs. Jae-un relocked the front door that Mu-won had broken into. After disabling the elevators, he kicked the three lumps of fat rolling on the hallway floor, shoving them deep into the restroom.

There were no visible CCTVs. He recalled Hwang-ah’s report that there wasn’t a single recessed camera in the first-floor hallway other than the one on the front door. Those sons of bitches must have timed it for when the building was deserted; at just past 5 AM, no one was coming or going. Jae-un pulled his phone from his inner pocket and pressed a speed dial. The other party answered on the second ring.

“Cleanup. 47, tangerine massage.”

Having finished the brief call, Jae-un peered into the restroom, the door of which was slightly ajar because of the lumps.

“Fuck.” The curse escaped him instinctively. Mu-won should be in a hospital right now, not in some shitty neighborhood in a cheap massage building. Jae-un himself was a mess, covered in blood from acting as the shield.

The smell of urine in the restroom—which made him wonder if it had ever been cleaned properly—was overwhelmed by the thick scent of blood. The mold blooming in various corners was hidden by the blood of the three lumps and the sashimi restaurant owner. Even after reducing the owner to the same state as the lumps, Mu-won did not stop his knife work. Looking at his back as he carved out major joints and sliced away every single hole in the face, there was no sign of excitement.

After fully pushing the obstructing lumps into the restroom, Jae-un carefully closed the door. He scratched his forehead and looked up at the ceiling. One of the recessed CCTVs Hwang-ah had sneakily installed would be tucked away somewhere.

Boss. My grandmother always told me that when you’re debating whether to do something or not, you should just go for it.

Hwang-ah’s call, which had come through while they were hurriedly leaving the hotel parking lot, had echoed loudly through the Bluetooth speakers.

‘Fuck, if it’s not urgent, hang up.’

Despite Jae-un’s snapping tone as he glanced at Mu-won in the passenger seat, Hwang-ah only said what she wanted to say.

I’m not sure if this is urgent or not.

‘Fuck, then what is it!’

There are three punks waiting in the hallway of the first-floor sashimi restaurant. The owner is there too.

Gripping the steering wheel, Jae-un instinctively glanced at Mu-won. Mu-won, who had been leaning against the seat with a tired face, opened his closed eyes. Fuck. Jae-un’s face hardened as he sensed they were screwed.

It seems like they’re targeting Namu. You said he was bait, but you haven’t used him up yet, right? If you have, just leave him.

Driving through the empty dawn roads while ignoring traffic lights, Jae-un frowned. By recruiting Oh Mun-ju, the brat’s usefulness had ended. However, the gangster instincts he had built up serving seniors for half his life rebelled.

‘Hang up.’

Jae-un unilaterally ended the call before Hwang-ah could say another word. Then, stepping over his bounds, he pressed the accelerator even harder.

‘Hyung-nim, you need to go to the hospital right now.’

In the end, Jae-un had rushed to the massage building instead of the hospital. He had a bad feeling starting from the House casino. Mu-won had intentionally dragged out a job that should have taken an hour, staying at the House for three.

Even while clinging to and fondling a pitboy like a loafer, the gaze he occasionally cast toward Namu was devoid of any emotion. But Jae-un knew better than anyone that such a gaze was an extremely dangerous phenomenon.

The operation had gone smoothly, and they had succeeded in establishing their presence within the local group. Yet, Mu-won remained in his seat, fiddling with the chips. To Jae-un, those chips looked like sharp blades. Only Jae-un could see the precarious danger—that if things went south, Mu-won would instantly slit the throats of everyone living in that space.

There was no reason for him to do that.

Right now, the Chairman was waiting for Mu-won at The Center. It wasn’t a simple meal or a gathering. He had been summoned as a guard after receiving intelligence about an attack. If he arrived late or after the matter was settled, he would surely be branded a traitor.

There was no reason for him to do that, yet to Jae-un, the brat slumped on the table looked like the ‘reason.’ It was the intuition of a gangster who had survived by the blade. The moment 10 billion won was thrown as the price for the brat’s life, that intuition turned into certainty.

The moment the call ended, at Mu-won’s single command to turn the car toward this shitty neighborhood instead of the hospital, Jae-un ground his teeth and turned the wheel. It wasn’t because he dared to be angry or disappointed in his Hyung-nim. Mu-won had been stabbed in the stomach. If the blade had gone in just 1mm deeper, his internal organs would have been torn. Although they had hurriedly applied disinfectant and hemostatics and wrapped the wound tightly with torn clothing, he had already lost a significant amount of blood.

Fuck.

It was extremely rare for Mu-won to get stabbed. It meant it was a trap someone had set. Whether the Chairman was involved or it was a check from other factions, Jae-un couldn’t possibly guess. However, Jae-un had good instincts. Seeing the heat rise in the back of his neck until it felt like it would explode, it was a betrayal. Someone had stabbed Mu-won in the back.

Fuming, Jae-un ruffled his hair in frustration and whipped around. The tightly closed restroom door was opening. Soon, Mu-won appeared, carrying Namu, who had been turned into a pulp.

Just as he knew how to end a life instantly, Mu-won was also proficient in keeping someone alive for as long as possible. Mu-won, who had been stripping the flesh of President Yoon—who was writhing and begging for death—stopped the tip of his knife.

“…Cust…omer…”

Mu-won understood the pronunciation perfectly, even though it was crushed and unclear. Namu, shoved between dirty urinals, was looking at Mu-won with flickering eyes. It seemed he had regained consciousness after a brief blackout.

“Cust…omer…”

Mu-won folded his knife and approached Namu. The voice was growing hoarser. The breathing was shallow. His tightly contracted black pupils looked down quietly at Namu’s mangled face. But Namu could no longer move his lips. Eyelids that had been struggling to stay open covered his docile eyes.

Reaching out, Mu-won checked the pulse below the neck. He picked up the slowly breathing Namu. Is this fluff-ball worth this much effort? The fleeting question sank deep into the black water.

“Hyung-nim, are you alright?”

Jae-un, who held the door open wide, asked about Mu-won’s well-being with a worried face.

“Why, do you think your Hyung-nim is past his prime now?”

“A-ah, no, what on earth do you mean, Hyung-nim! Your current condition…!”

“Stop chatting and open the door.”

At Mu-won’s gesture, Jae-un looked toward the front door to see the cleanup team beyond the glass.

“Those brats are slow. How long ago did I call?”

Taking his frustration out on the innocent cleanup team, Jae-un strode over and opened the locked door.

“No cameras.”

“Yes, General Manager.”

The five members of the cleanup team bowed to Jae-un and then bowed deeply to Mu-won before heading toward the restroom. The cleanup team leader, after seeing the state of the interior, poked his head out to ask.

“Did these guys steal the Boss’s underwear or something?”

It was a question asking if there was a personal grudge. Given that the scene was far more cruel and messy than usual, it was a reasonable question. However, Jae-un simply raised his middle finger while following Mu-won, who was already climbing into the backseat.

Soon, Jae-un got into the driver’s seat. The pickup truck, which had arrived with a roar as if it were about to ram the building, left the shabby alley within 15 minutes.

* * *

Namu was half-lying down. He had a pillow half his size against his chest and a single thin summer blanket draped over his waist. As he pushed up his heavy eyelids, his blurred vision began to clear slowly.

The corner of the ceiling was the first thing to come into focus. Low ceilings, wood-finished corners, and floral wallpaper that had turned yellow from age. It was a motel room. As soon as he realized where he was, memories that had been settled in one part of his head began to surface haphazardly.

Namu waited for the wild memories to calm down. Even so, there were blurry parts in between.

Customer…

Even then, only the customer’s pitch-black pupils remained vivid. His relatively accurate memories went up to the moment he pressed the call button in the massage shop elevator. Being grabbed by the hair, beaten, stepped on, dragged somewhere and beaten again…

He felt like he might have resisted because the beating hurt too much, or perhaps he couldn’t move because he was too scared. He felt like he had woken up in a hospital, that someone had been beside him, and that he had walked several times through a hallway with bright lights spaced evenly.

He had no sense of time. If he had been beaten like that, he should have been in pain even before opening his eyes, but he just felt like he had a mild body ache. Still, the throbbing sensation, though he couldn’t tell exactly where it was, felt like a warning, so Namu didn’t think of moving. He only rolled his eyes quietly.

An IV drip hanging on a stand, tacky floral curtains, an empty room, and the faint sounds of common daytime noise from outside the tightly closed door. Namu’s pupils, whose bloodshot redness had subsided, widened. The calendar on the wall said September. September, not August.

Startled, Namu tried to bolt upright, but instead, he only curled up further in his lying position.

It hurts…

It hurt enough to bring tears to his eyes. Groaning, Namu rubbed his eyes with the back of his arm. He was suddenly terrified because he had no idea what had happened. Whether the fragmented memories were real, whether the customer’s pupils he believed he remembered clearly weren’t a delusion, whether this was really a motel room, whether this was all a dream… In the midst of these passing thoughts, Namu, who had unconsciously opened his mouth to bite his forearm, looked up.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

A man he had never seen before pushed open the old door and entered. While not as large as the customer or Jae-un, the strange man was still bulky. Carrying a backpack in one hand and several IV bags in the other, the man closed the door with his foot and approached.

“Man, it’s hot. Why is it still midsummer in September here?”

“…”

Looking up with wide eyes at the man who plopped down in front of him, Namu hesitated before asking.

“Who are you…?”

“Me? Kwak Seong-cheol. Just call me Assistant Manager Kwak.”

Kwak Seong-cheol, who had been fanning himself and wiping sweat with a roll of toilet paper, noticed Namu’s extreme wariness and laughed heartily.

“Hey, I’m not someone who’s gonna harm you. If anything, I’m the nanny the Hyung-nim—no, the CEO—assigned to you.”

“…The CEO?”

“You know CEO Cha Mu-won, right?”

“Yes…”

“I’m basically like the Hyung-nim’s—no, the CEO’s—right-hand finger.”

“Pardon?”

Seong-cheol, who was trying to appeal that he was a trusted man to the Hyung-nim, let out a boisterous laugh seeing that Namu didn’t get it at all.

“Forget it. It just means I’m incredibly loyal to our CEO.”

“Yes…”

To Namu, who answered politely but didn’t fully let down his guard, Seong-cheol waved his hand and pulled out his phone.

“Don’t be scared. This is a photo from when Hyung-nim was appointed CEO, this is from a company dinner, this is a field trip, and this is…”

The phone, which looked like a toy in his thick palm, was thrust in front of Namu’s eyes. As he opened the gallery and showed the photos, Namu’s guard visibly dropped with every picture. Eventually, his face, focused with sparkling eyes, was quite pretty. Even after being beaten like a dog on a dog day, he looked like this; if he were groomed properly, he had a face that would be frighteningly beautiful.

“Man, Hyung-nim’s eyes really are in heaven.”

“Pardon?”

“No, it’s not uncomfortable to talk, is it?”

“Ah… yes.”

“Your mouth was burst like a ripe persimmon, but it was worth our Hyung-nim’s effort in diligently applying ointment.”

“…Hyung-nim?”

“Our CEO. You know, that guy who’s as handsome as a national actor.”

Seong-cheol pointed to Mu-won in the phone photo. It was a photo taken during a soccer game. It was a scene where he was drenched in sweat, pulling up his shirt to wipe his neck, with his abs clearly visible. More than that, what caught Namu’s eye was the face smiling comfortably at someone.

“Right, you see it too, don’t you?”

There was a hint of a smile in Seong-cheol’s tone as he took the phone back. Even though the man he met for the first time today couldn’t possibly know his heart, Namu felt a prick of guilt and quietly lowered his gaze.

I guess he really is the CEO.

He thought it was just a title people used. Then why is he in a place like this without a house… Well, not all CEOs are rich. …Maybe he doesn’t have money because he does things like gambling…

“He was by your side until yesterday, but something came up.”

Namu, who had been deep in thought, looked up at Seong-cheol. No matter how he thought about it, the subject of the sentence—the one who had left with Chief Jo—seemed to be the customer, which made Namu feel strange. Why was the customer by his side when he was injured… Not even at a hospital… The massage shop… As the sequence of questions reached the massage shop, Namu tried to bolt upright again, but a thick hand pressed him back down.

“Whoa, if you move recklessly, it’ll get worse. Just lie down and don’t worry. I used to have a medical license back in the day, so Hyung-nim left you specifically in my care. I’ve gotta make sure all that studying that nearly split my head open was worth it.”

“I… have to work…”

“You’re a funny one for a kid. What kind of work could you do with that body?”

Finding it quite amusing, Seong-cheol opened his bag to reveal a heap of medical tools.

“What was it, Hyung-nim said he bought you a ticket.”

“…”

It seems he did it for me again, just like last time.

Why…

I don’t know why he’s being so kind to me, spending so much money.

Even though he said he has no feelings for me.

“Assistant Manager…”

“Yeah.”

“Um… how long have I been here?”

“Here? Let’s see. It’s been about two weeks since you were discharged. So it’s been exactly two weeks since you came to this motel room.”

“Discharged?”

“You don’t remember? Well, whenever you said it hurt, we gave you meds to put you to sleep, so you might not know. You practically rented out the hospital for six weeks.”

“Six… weeks?”

“The discharge was a bit early, but Hyung-nim’s work is so complicated. Well, that’s how it happened.”

Having already changed the IV and attached nutritional supplements, Seong-cheol looked down at Namu’s exposed buttocks.

“How’s your asshole doing?”

“Ah…”

Namu’s face turned red as he realized he wasn’t wearing any underwear.

“Looks well-healed to me. Maybe because you’re young, the flesh grows back quickly if you just pour in nutrients and let you sleep deeply.”

The anus, which had literally been shredded, had almost regained its shape thanks to meticulous treatment. Other than the folds being slightly swollen, the recovery was fast. Of course, the suffering Namu endured until recovery was beyond words. He had even cried in his sleep from the pain while drugged. After checking the taping tape applied to both cheeks instead of blue tape to prevent the folds from getting infected, Seong-cheol administered the remaining painkillers and antibiotics.

“Then the hospital bills…”

“Why is a kid worrying about that? Hyung-nim brought you here, so he probably took care of everything.”

Alternating between dialect and something similar to standard Korean, Seong-cheol tidied up the area.

“Bones are set, flesh is mostly healed, so you can move a little if you feel stiff. Not hungry?”

“…Yes, I’m okay.”

“Okay my foot. When you were in the hospital, Hyung-nim used to tuck you under his arm and feed you rice porridge. You swallowed it right up back then. Are you discriminating against people now?”

“…Pardon?”

“I’ll order a few soft things, so pick whatever you like from them.”

Before the speechless Namu could say anything, Seong-cheol quickly cleaned up and left the motel room. Like Jae-un, the people who called the customer ‘Hyung-nim’ or ‘CEO’ acted quickly, contrary to their appearance. Namu had only seen two of them, but… for some reason, he felt other people would be the same.

‘Tuck you under his arm.’

Seong-cheol had no reason to tell such a lie. That made Namu’s head even more complicated. Why did he go that far for me? Burying his face, which had grown even redder, into the pillow, Namu squeezed his eyes shut. A flicker of hope inflated his empty stomach like a balloon. Even though he knew that inflating it too much would make it pop, he couldn’t help it.

As Namu drifted off to sleep while listening to the thumping of his own heart, Seong-cheol opened the door with a bag of porridge.

“Asleep again.”

Well, for a beaten-up body, deep rest was the best medicine.

Setting the porridge bag aside, Seong-cheol quietly closed the door and left.

‘What is that that Hyung-nim is bringing personally?’

‘I don’t know, so just stay quiet, okay?’

‘This brat. You’re acting out just because your rank is higher than mine now?’

Jae-un, who would normally have thrown a much bigger fit, simply waved his hand with a troubled look on his face. Seong-cheol, who had been working undercover by acquiring a crumbling hospital tucked away in a corner of Gamgyul City, had many questions, but he kept his mouth shut for the sake of his friend.

‘Hyung, how are the wounds?’

‘Our Hyung has arms and legs of steel. I must have stitched him up perfectly.’

‘Those fucking bastards.’

Though they spoke nonchalantly, Mu-won’s injuries were not light. Had treatment been delayed even slightly, they would have been scooping his spilling intestines back inside. Even in such a critical state, the fact that the person who had come to look after him was a child—someone whose adulthood was questionable—left Seong-cheol utterly bewildered.

Moreover, seeing that it was clearly Hyung, and not the Chairman, who had been ambushed, Seong-cheol felt that things were turning suspicious. Was the Chairman really planning to use him as a disposable pawn? Why would he make such a stupid decision? They say everyone should just die once they get old. The Chairman had grown quite old, indeed.

After a frantic session of treating the blood-soaked Mu-won and Namu, Jae-un looked like a mess himself. After rough treatment, they stepped outside and stood side by side under the sign of ‘Joeun Surgery.’ Given the situation, and the guilt of failing to properly escort Hyung right by his side, Seong-cheol lit a cigarette after Jae-un threw one at him in a fit of rage.

Did Hyung have a hobby of liking men?

No way.

Hyung’s bed partners were mostly women of a similar age. Above all, he never touched civilians. Even among those in the same industry, he wouldn’t touch anyone unless they were established madams or general managers.

At the very least, they were partners who could have sex with Mu-won on equal footing and handle his stamina. Even they were said to groan in pain after spending a night with him. And this tiny thing? This kid who hasn’t even lost his baby fat?

No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t add up.

This time, Seong-cheol sat alone on the inn’s wooden platform, puffing away at his cigarette.

Is he some secret child born out of wedlock?

If the kid is twenty, the math worked out if Hyung had caused an accident at eighteen. Just as he was indulging in this plausible imagination, he scratched his head, admitting he had no clue.

* * *

It was two days later when Namu woke up again. Whether someone had moved him, he was now lying half-prone on the opposite side. Unaware that two days had passed, Namu, thinking he had simply slept for a while, slowly tried to push himself up. Seeing that he didn’t even have a mild ache, it seemed he had improved significantly. Come to think of it, the IV drips and nutrients that had been hanging in clusters were gone.

Still, his lower half felt empty, and Namu hesitated before skipping underwear and pulling on a pair of shorts. Whether they were left specifically for him, the pants on the low table fit reasonably well. As he put them on, he lightly touched his backside; other than being slightly swollen, there were no torn pieces of flesh or blood seeping out.

‘Maybe it’s because he’s young, but the flesh really does knit back together quickly if you pour in nutrients and let him sleep deeply.’

Namu wasn’t so foolish as to believe that was all. Had he been at the massage shop, the healing process would have been much slower. Because he had been hospitalized, treated, and cared for, Namu knew he had recovered quickly.

‘The bones have set well, and the flesh has mostly healed. If you feel stiff, you can move around a little. Are you hungry?’

He wasn’t hungry even now.

Ah, the Assistant Manager said he would order something for me.

Standing blankly, Namu slowly looked around the narrow inn room. Even after looking twice, there was nothing resembling food.

He must have forgotten.

Namu wasn’t disappointed; he was relieved.

Perhaps thanks to the nutrients, he wasn’t hungry at all. And he felt relieved that he wasn’t adding more burden to Seong-cheol, who had already taken on so many troublesome tasks because of him.

‘While you were in the hospital, I had to hold that sleeping kid under my arm to feed him rice porridge.’

Was that true?

If it was, why did he do that?

Namu slowly lowered his face, which was quickly heating up, and wiggled his toes. The bruises and scratches that had covered his calves, clearly visible beneath the shorts, had vanished cleanly. Not only that, but the green cast on his right arm was also gone.

‘If you feel stiff, you can move around a little.’

Namu, who felt as if his head and face were about to burst if he stayed still, took Seong-cheol’s words as a lifeline and opened the door. He had to waddle because his backside felt uncomfortable, but Namu walked down the dark hallway with slow steps.

Since he had been here once before, finding the exit wasn’t difficult. The room was near the entrance anyway. As he pushed open the glass door, the bright midday sun greeted him. Though he squinted, Namu, enjoying the sunlight for the first time in a while, stepped out with a beaming smile.

The soles of his three-stripe slippers touched the cemented yard. Closing the glass door, Namu looked around the inn’s front yard. He had the same thought then, but it was a quiet inn—so quiet it was surprising it hadn’t gone bankrupt yet.

A wooden platform where two adults could sit comfortably, a low wall, and a doghouse situated near the wall and the main gate.

He thought he saw a dog on a leash.

Tilting his head to peer into the doghouse, Namu’s eyes widened, and then he smiled, his eyes curving deeply. The dog he had seen before was curled up in the cozy-looking doghouse.

Meeting eyes and smiling sheepishly, Namu started to approach but hesitated. Wondering if it was okay to touch just any dog, he hesitated before eventually heading toward the platform where he could sit facing the doghouse.

Even after waddling over, Namu hesitated before slowly lowering his backside onto the platform. It didn’t hurt as much as he had worried. Only a slight throbbing sensation traveled up his tailbone. It was a tolerable level of pain.

As Namu sat facing the doghouse and peered into the dark interior, the autumn sunlight settled on his cheeks. His face, which had been swollen to the point of bursting, distorted and blotchy, now revealed fair skin as if none of that had ever happened.

After sitting quietly for a while, Namu’s eyes sparkled like shimmering ripples. The dog curled up in the cozy house had begun to slowly crawl out. A red dog with a lush red mane, eyes like Meoru berries, and a handsome face approached Namu slowly. It didn’t feel lazy or bothered. Rather, it seemed cautious, as if worried Namu might be startled. Seeing this, Namu let out a little giggle.

“You’re really handsome.”

As if responding to the playful voice, the red dog’s ears twitched, and it sniffed Namu’s toes, which were as white as pebbles. Then, it gently rubbed its head against his soft calf. Recognizing the signal that the dog wanted to be touched, Namu carefully stroked the red mane. He thought it had been tied up before, but today it only wore a loose collar.

He must have a good personality. And he’s friendly, too.

“What’s your name? I’m Namu. Namu. My Grandfather gave it to me. So that I’d live healthy and green like a tree. Don’t you have a name? Usually, people put name tags on the house or the collar. I guess your owner forgot.”

The dog didn’t answer but instead acted coquettishly, urging him to keep petting. Laughing out loud, Namu used both hands to lavishly stroke the red mane.

“I’ve seen someone like you before. That one had red fur too. Actually, I don’t know if the fur was really red.”

Because the dog standing in the middle of the fighting pit had been completely drenched in blood.

“That one got hurt really badly back then, and I wanted to help, but I couldn’t. I was scared too.”

The gamblers surrounding the fighting pit cages were rougher and more violent than any House. Namu, who had never been beaten as much as he was that day, had been slightly out of his mind. That was why he thinks he had found a courage that wasn’t really courage. Because he wasn’t in his right mind, he had been able to find that dog among the graves piling up endlessly in the backyard and finally pull it out.

“It would have been better if I were stronger. If I were smarter….”

Would that dog have lived?

Far from saving the dog, Namu had suffered a seizure. The dog had likely been thrown back into the dog graves. It would have been engulfed in flames and turned to ash.

“Don’t get hurt.”

As if comforting the suddenly gloomy Namu, the red dog whined and gently rubbed its large body against him. Namu, smiling and saying he was fine, suddenly froze.

“Ah….”

Mu-won was standing beyond the low wall.

He was gazing down at Namu, who was idling with the dog. In that moment, Namu’s heart leaped so violently that he almost let out a moan.

Instead of a moan, what escaped was a flushed voice calling Mu-won.

“Guest…!”

Unable to hide his delight, Namu tried to jump up but stopped. He wondered if it was okay for him to be this unabashedly happy. Just combining the things Seong-cheol had mentioned in passing, he owed the Guest an enormous debt. He had been treated unbelievably well.

Why…? Why….

Namu scolded himself internally, feeling that the expectation slowly rising in his heart was shameless.

You said it wasn’t like that. You said it wasn’t.

“Namu-ssi, if you sit like that, the wound will reopen.”

Startled by the voice right beside him, Namu lifted his backside. Mu-won, who had approached in a few strides, sat on the platform and pulled Namu’s hand, laying it flat across his own thigh.

“G-Guest…?”

Having been pulled along without resistance, Namu was flustered by Mu-won’s action and tried to struggle, then stopped. It was because he felt there must be a reason why he was doing this to him.

In reality, whether Namu struggled or not, Mu-won could overpower him without any effort. Because of that, a hint of a smile brushed the corners of Mu-won’s eyes as he looked down at Namu, who suddenly let all the strength leave his body.

Should this be seen as quick resignation, compliance, or bottomless trust? Even a child left by the water would have more caution than this.

Thanks to that, without any trouble, Mu-won slid Namu’s pants down and checked his backside. Taping tape had been applied to both cheeks, leaving the anus clearly exposed. He had wondered if it could ever regain its shape after being so ruthlessly wrecked, but it had found its color again, a soft peach hue.

The redness and swelling that had remained while he was away for a week had almost subsided. Being young, he healed quickly. Finding it amusing that he showed his youth even in something like this, Mu-won curled his lips and peeled off the tape one side at a time.

Flinching, the soft buttocks stiffened, creating dimples. Mu-won, who ripped one side off at once, lightly slapped the backside of Namu, who shrunk his shoulders without even being able to say it hurt.

He was more of a crybaby than expected. The hospitalization had been the definitive occasion for realizing that. Because he just let tears stream down silently, Mu-won had been late to notice, to the point where dehydration almost set in. Thanks to that, Mu-won felt inwardly absurd for having to look after a child, something he never imagined in his life.

Namu, hit unexpectedly on the backside, stiffened further, but soon melted under the touch that peeled off the remaining side. Unlike the first time, he peeled the tape while slowly soothing him. No matter how he thought about it, the Guest was truly kind.

“It’s all healed. I wondered when it would ever heal, seeing how ragged it was.”

“Th-thank you. Guest.”

As the hand pressing on his lower back released him, Namu slowly slid off Mu-won’s thigh, pulled up his pants, and bowed his head.

“What are you so thankful for, our Namu-ssi?”

While the two were doing that, the red dog, which had been sitting primly, nudged Mu-won’s knee with its snout. To the question of why he was doing that to Namu, Mu-won simply scratched the red mane.

“Uh….”

Facing Mu-won, who was looking at him while stroking the red dog, Namu hesitated. It was because the events at the House naturally came to mind.

Did you know it was me back then? That was the first thing he wanted to ask, but he couldn’t. Asking if he had seen him with his backside exposed in front of so many people, being whipped like livestock, felt somehow inappropriate. He had claimed he didn’t sell his body in that way, but he wondered what the difference was. He felt hypocritical for being ashamed of having his prostitution discovered right in front of him.

Looking down at the lush mane of the red dog sitting between him and Mu-won, Namu’s lips parted.

“You saved me, and paid my hospital bills, and also… bought me a ticket….”

“I thought you said you wouldn’t do tickets?”

At the unexpected question, Namu blinked his eyes blankly and answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“If the Guest wants me to….”

“Why, after having your hole chewed up at the House, do you think it’s better to just quietly take a cock?”

“Ah…….”

He really was at the House. …How ridiculous must it have looked.

Namu’s cheeks flushed, more surprised by the fact revealed by those words than by Mu-won’s vulgar language. Mu-won did not take his eyes off Namu’s wheat-field-like eyelashes as he slowly cast his gaze downward. Even with his eyes closed, Mu-won could picture how those eyelashes drooped when they were drenched.

“Then why did you resist so desperately against that sashimi restaurant owner?”

“…At that time, I really didn’t intend to….”

“Are you already picking and choosing your guests?”

“…….”

“Namu-ssi has developed a bad habit.”

The nails of Namu’s clasped hands quickly turned red as he fidgeted.

“Whether the partner is an old man, a criminal, or a filthy pervert, you take it if you’re told to. Since when does a piece of merchandise choose its customer?”

“Ah….”

Mu-won was right. Even when he went around as a professional beating service, Namu had no choice. Wherever they dragged him, whether clothed or naked, he provided himself wherever the customers wanted and took the beatings.

He felt truly ashamed of his past claim that he didn’t sell his body. Namu, slightly sucking his tightly closed lips inward, nodded.

“You’re right…. The Guest is right.”

If selling is all the same anyway, wouldn’t it be better to just spread his legs than to be beaten like this time? It had hurt so much. He really thought he was going to die.

“But, Guest….”

Slowly lifting his long eyelashes, Namu sought out and met the black pupils. Even with Mu-won sitting, their eye levels weren’t vastly different. Even though he was looking down slightly, it felt as if he were the one looking up. Mu-won was that kind of person. Equally overbearing, evoking tension by his mere presence. Still, the reason he wasn’t scared was that the Guest was kind to him….

“By any chance… are you rich?”

Mu-won, who had been still, let out a short laugh.

“And if I am?”

“Well….”

Fidgeting with his nails again, Namu struggled to continue.

“G-gambling is said to be very bad…. They say if you do it wrong, three generations of your family will be ruined…. If you really get addicted, you don’t eat, you don’t sleep, and you don’t even go to the bathroom….”

Namu knew how terrifying such people were.

“If they lose all the money they have… they gamble even by taking out loans. Then….”

Namu had seen too many times how they were treated as less than vermin.

“Do you… like gambling?”

There was no change in Mu-won’s expression. The faint smile on his sharp features and his pupils, black as absolute darkness, rarely wavered. Yet, Namu could sense Mu-won’s mood.

It was only natural that he would be angry because Namu had spoken too presumptuously. Whether he was scared, sorry, or shameless, Namu lowered his head, his whole body turning red. Mu-won, looking at the brown hair flowing down the white curve of his ear, spoke.

“Don’t try to test me; if there’s something you want to say, say it straight.”

The tone wasn’t that cold, but Namu felt as if he had been coldly brushed off and curled his fingertips. He kept his head lowered until the tingling sensation, coming from somewhere unknown, subsided, and then gave a small nod.

“The gold chip.”

Mu-won showed no particular reaction to the expected question.

“Did you… use that because of me?”

“I spent 10 billion because of Namu-ssi?”

This time, Mu-won let out a small laugh and added,

“Namu-ssi isn’t that special an existence to me.”

Understanding the meaning—that he shouldn’t make baseless assumptions—Namu nodded inwardly and gathered the last of his courage to ask one more time.

“Then why are you so kind to me?”

Mu-won, scanning Namu’s skin, which had gone beyond red to become a complete cherry, curled the corners of his mouth into a smirk.

“Because I used Namu-ssi.”

“Pardon…?”

“I said I already used you because there was a use for you.”

“…….”

“I used you because you were useful, and I paid the costs because I used you reasonably well. The hospital, the ticket. Would it be easier to understand if I explained it as costs spent to clean up the traces of myself from an object after I’m done using it?”

“Ah….”

‘He only looks at Namu-ssi’s utility and value.’

Namu wanted to sink straight into the ground. If there were a mouse hole, he wanted to hide in it immediately. It wasn’t because of feelings. The Guest. It wasn’t because the Guest had feelings for him.

Namu, red all the way to his toenails, slowly lifted his gaze to look at Mu-won.

“Now… are you done using me?”

“Since the payment of costs is complete.”

Mu-won didn’t even pretend to hesitate. As if someone like Namu was only ever worth exactly that much. With a face that still held a trace of a smile, he affirmed Namu’s question. That attitude and expression were truly like the CEO of a respectable company. A person who would never have crossed paths with someone like him, even by chance. A person who lived in a completely different world from Namu.

Only then was Namu able to see Mu-won’s face again. Before him stood a man who was neither a drifting thug relying on his fists to roam the night streets, nor just some ordinary gangster—a man far beyond someone like him to dare worry about, or even need to. Like a sated beast. Like a predator who had just finished a hunt.

“Anything else to say?”

“…N-no.”

“Then go. If you want to rest one more day, buy another ticket.”

At the words tossed out as if granting a favor, Namu started like a deer, shaking his head and waving both hands.

“N-no, it’s okay.”

This time, his face was as pale as a sheet of paper.

“I….”

Unable to continue, Namu’s lips merely fluttered before he quickly shook his head.

“I-I’ll be going now.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Namu turned to leave but came to a sudden halt. It was because Mu-won had grabbed his wrist. Having abruptly stopped him, Mu-won looked down at Namu’s left forearm. He indifferently examined the arm, where the skin had even been torn away from being bitten so fiercely, and then let go of the wrist.

“This will leave a scar.”

“…….”

Suddenly feeling a chill at the tip of his nose, Namu rubbed it vigorously with the back of his hand.

“Jae-un.”

“Yes, CEO.”

Revealing his large frame from inside the inn building, Jae-un appeared, though it was unclear when he had arrived.

“Get Namu’s belongings for him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Before the sentence even ended, someone else popped out from inside. It was Seong-cheol. Approaching with an awkward expression, he handed a worn-out bag to Namu.

“Check if anything’s missing.”

“Yes, yes….”

Namu didn’t know in what state of mind he was looking into the bag. He simply nodded at the familiar items and zipped it shut.

“Then, I’ll….”

Namu didn’t know how to say goodbye. An object used for a purpose and paid for. He wondered if it was right, or even allowed, for someone like him to thank them. Confused, he simply bowed his head deeply.

“I-I’ll be going now.”

Before he could even lift his head, something moist touched Namu’s calf as he turned away.

“Ah….”

A red dog wasn’t trying to hold him back, but was merely rubbing its nose against him. Looking at those eyes—eyes like Meoru’s—staring up at him, Namu’s eyes suddenly grew hot.

“S-sorry.”

Blinking rapidly against the stinging heat in his eyes, Namu lightly touched the red mane.

“Stay well….”

The moment he touched it, he pulled his hand away and hurried out of the inn.

His head felt hot.

They were all there. They must have seen and heard everything, right?

The sight of him foolishly misunderstanding, hoping, and clinging to lingering feelings all by himself.

It was nothing.

He had said there were no feelings for him.

In the first place, the guest hadn’t given him the slightest bit of hope.

He was the only one getting excited. Acting as if he were something, floating away on his own.

Tears streamed down Namu’s face as he ran down the slope he had once walked with Mu-won, as if being chased. Running down the broken asphalt road without a single pause, Namu rubbed his eyes with the back of his arm. He shed silent tears before a sob he couldn’t swallow escaped. “Ugh….”

The bite marks were vivid on the back of his arm, smeared with sweat and tears. They were all too visible under the glaring autumn sun. Namu stood there and cried for a while. Occasionally, sounds leaked out.

Two streams of cigarette smoke rose like twins above the wooden platform. Sitting side by side with cigarettes in their mouths, Jae-un and Seong-cheol were staring at the doghouse. More accurately, at the red dog sitting dignifiedly in front of it.

“That’s the one, right?”

At Seong-cheol’s question—which wasn’t really a question—delivered with a thick dialect, Jae-un took out and lit a new cigarette.

“He picked it up from the House when it was nearly dead.”

That day, Mu-won and Jae-un had been conducting separate patrols. While reporting the field status after finishing the job, Jae-un had almost bolted the moment he heard the words ‘animal hospital.’

Had he been ambushed? Was that why he went to a nearby animal hospital as a backup plan…?

The ominous imagination that struck like lightning was immediately cut short by Mu-won’s single sentence: ‘I’m not the one who’s hurt.’ It meant he wasn’t alone, and that a companion was injured. There was no way Mu-won, who had been driven out almost entirely alone, had companions other than Jae-un. Though tilting his head in confusion, Jae-un headed toward the address Mu-won had given.

Every road in Gamgyul City was old and complicated, like the wrinkles on an old man’s palm. After wandering for a long time, Jae-un arrived and jumped out of the car, pouring out a bucket of curses. Gritting his teeth, swearing he would cram this damn neighborhood’s map into his head immediately, he pushed open the glass door, which was peeling at the edges.

Mu-won, stained with someone else’s blood, was leaning against the wall. Near the cage bed, a nervous veterinarian was fidgeting with an IV drip while eyeing Mu-won, gasping in surprise at Jae-un’s intrusion. It was a natural reaction, as the number of people who looked like gangsters had increased from one to two.

However, what caught Jae-un’s attention wasn’t the trembling veterinarian. It was a dog with rubber tubes hanging from it, looking as if it had just finished surgery. The red dog panting on the cage bed was, by all accounts, a fighter that had been discarded after playing in a fighting pit.

In that moment, Jae-un’s questions evaporated. Knowing his Hyung’s past, Jae-un conceptually understood the action that was unlike Mu-won. Even gangsters had one or two things they projected their past onto. Jae-un had simply brushed it off, never imagining a third party would be involved in that—especially a twenty-year-old who had nothing but a wretched body and debt.

“Hyung saw the kid before you did.”

The reason he chose ‘Tangerine Massage’ among those numerous gambling dens was because of ‘Oh Mun-ju.’ And it just so happened that a brat named Namu was at ‘Tangerine Massage.’ It was a shitty coincidence.

“…….”

Was it really a coincidence?

Scratching his head, Jae-un lit another cigarette in succession. It didn’t necessarily have to be Heo Dong-hyeon as the first target. It was a neighborhood where only those with dirty backgrounds gathered to play at being local lords. Since anyone picked at random would likely be linked to something filthy, it didn’t matter who was chosen for the operation.

Yet, Mu-won chose ‘Tangerine Massage’ as the first workplace. No, he chose Heo Dong-hyeon. And he specifically picked Namu to entrust his body to. A man who didn’t even enjoy being touched by others. He targeted a massage shop first, rather than a clothing store or a laundry. In fact, Jae-un only found out that ‘Tangerine Massage’ had been designated as the target on the third visit.

“Hey, Seong-cheol.”

“Yeah.”

Seong-cheol, who was flicking his cigarette ash, seemed to be thinking the same thing, as his narrow brow was furrowed tight.

“That brat….”

Jae-un, who usually called him carelessly, frowned and changed his term of address.

“Do you think that Namu kid is just a simple decoy?”

“You think so too? I’m also kinda confused about what Hyung is doing….”

Mu-won was a man who had survived by fighting like a fighting dog in illegal pits since before he became an adult. The action of Namu crawling into a dog graveyard to find and drag out a beast whose breath was barely hanging on could have been impressive.

“But I don’t know if the kid is just pure or if he’s completely lost his sense of fear. Who thinks of stealing a dog from a place like that? If he’d been caught, he would’ve been beaten to death and his debt would’ve ballooned because of the dog’s price. And he did that while crawling into a dog graveyard.”

“He’s not even afraid of Hyung.”

“Exactly. Is his head just blank?”

If that were the case, survival instincts would have kicked in, and he would have been wary and afraid of Mu-won. Mu-won was a person who was, in himself, like a sharp weapon. The one who made him look like a blunt knife in Namu’s eyes was, ultimately, Mu-won.

Mu-won, who stopped at nothing when operating, knew how to use his facade in the right place and time. Humans were surprisingly easily deceived by shells. For Mu-won, who knew this habit well, coaxing a clueless kid was a piece of cake.

But he was confused if he really was just a simple decoy. It was their characteristic not to mix their own opinions or thoughts into what their Hyung did. Mu-won used his head as well as his body. If he had only used his body, he would have ended up as just another mediocre action leader, but that exceptional mind had captured the Chairman.

That’s why, fearing he might interfere with Mu-won’s work by misjudging, Jae-un never did anything other than what he was told. He should have just done as he was told, but his gangster’s intuition kept tingling.

Jae-un, who had been chain-smoking, finally crushed out his cigarette with a solemn face.

“Let’s let Hwang-ah know.”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Responding as if he had been waiting, Seong-cheol quickly pulled out his phone. He intended to finish it before Hyung finished showering.

* * *

The gazes of those sitting around a small table in the tiny room eating dinner were fixed on Namu. The Manager, Teacher Kim, Teacher Choi. Seeing them for the first time in nearly two months, they did not seem welcoming. Their looks were uncomfortable and suspicious. Surprised by the reaction of people he thought he had grown quite fond of, Namu hesitated to step back before bowing his head.

“I-I’m back….”

The Manager’s displeasure was evident, and Teacher Choi’s gaze was not kind. Only Teacher Kim, who had a more easygoing personality, made room beside him and accepted Namu’s greeting.

“Uh… yeah. It’s been a while. It’s not lunch yet, right? Sit. Eat.”

“O-oh, no. I already ate.”

Under the cold gazes directed at him, Namu instinctively lied and bowed his head deeply once more.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m really sorry for leaving my post without a word when we’re short-handed.”

“What are you talking about? We all know you went on a long-term business trip.”

“Maybe he went to sell something other than massages, like the rumors say.”

While Teacher Kim waved it off, Teacher Choi, who sat beside him, sneered in a voice that wasn’t particularly low.

“Teacher Choi, you know our shop is a legitimate business, so why do you speak like that?”

The Manager, whose expression changed, spoke calmly and then gestured to Namu.

“Come and sit. What do you mean you already ate? You’ve come back even more scrawny. Did they not feed you there? Even if you ate, eat again.”

“…….”

Not knowing what to do with the unexpected attack, Namu looked at the Manager. Although he had shown his dislike, the fact that he soon returned to his usual attitude was a source of inner support.

“T-thank you.”

Hesitantly sitting in the spot Teacher Kim provided, Namu set down the bag he had been gripping tightly. Teacher Choi, who was still staring with sharp eyes, opened the rice cooker and scooped out a packed bowl of rice.

“You’re a grown man, but you’re always sickly.”

“…Thank you.”

Receiving the bowl with both hands, Namu gave a small, awkward smile. Even though it was a forced smile, he looked pretty, which was pleasant to see. That, in turn, annoyed Teacher Choi, who clicked his tongue and picked up his spoon.

Watching their reactions, Namu also picked up his spoon and took a mouthful of rice. It had been a long time since he’d eaten a proper meal. Probably. Since they said he was so sick that they just kept him asleep for two months, the only things he’d swallowed in his half-conscious state seemed to be thin gruel or porridge. It was warm rice after a long time.

Cabbage kimchi, stir-fried anchovies, tuna. The table was simple. Until a moment ago, he hadn’t even thought about being hungry, but once he sat down, his appetite returned. Namu ate a spoonful of rice with a piece of cabbage kimchi. It had been a long time since he’d had solid food, so he chewed thoroughly and swallowed, fearing he might get indigestion.

His physical condition was actually better than before. Perhaps because he had literally slept and rested deeply, his body felt lighter than ever. Expensive supplements and the gruel or porridge they hadn’t forgotten to feed him were nothing compared to eating three warm, simple meals a day.

I should weigh myself later.

Namu didn’t want to be sick anymore. While it’s inevitable to get sick in life, he wanted to be as healthy as possible. Above all, he had to look healthy to gain the trust of the customers. Sitting at the table where only the sound of utensils clinking could be heard, Namu scraped the bowl clean, eating every single grain of rice.

After the meal, Namu finished the dishes instead of the teachers who went straight into treatments, and turned around while drying his wet hands. The Manager was leaning against the doorway, though Namu didn’t know when he had arrived.

“Let’s talk in the room.”

“Yes.”

Nodding with a wide smile, Namu hurriedly followed behind the Manager.

The tiny room hadn’t changed a bit from two months ago. No, there were more belongings. Noticing Namu’s questioning gaze, the Manager spoke first.

“Teacher Kim stayed in this room while you were gone.”

“Ah… yes.”

“He only agreed to use it until you returned, so he’ll be moving his things out soon.”

“Yes, I’m fine with that.”

“Namu, whether you’re fine or not, that’s how it’s going to be.”

“…Yes.”

It seemed he had given an overstepping answer again. Nodding as if apologizing, Namu took a seat in front of the Manager. The only cushion intended for customers was tucked under the Manager’s backside.

“While you were away, your customers were distributed among the other teachers. You brought this on yourself, so you have nothing to say, right?”

“Yes….”

“And customers have been sparse lately anyway.”

“…….”

Fearing that this might be a hint to leave, Namu’s downcast eyes widened.

“I’ll work harder. I can do better, Manager. So….”

“That’s a given.”

The Manager, who had been reacting indifferently to Namu’s desperate attitude, suddenly let out a short laugh.

“Why? You think I’m going to fire you? Did you forget who stood as your debt guarantor?”

While he hadn’t actually signed a legal guarantee, Namu had borrowed money from the loan office using their trust as a guarantee, so it wasn’t entirely wrong.

“No. I haven’t forgotten. I haven’t forgotten, Manager.”

“Anyway, because of that, you might not have any customers for a few days.”

“…….”

Namu, who had barely felt relieved, turned pale.

“For… how many days?”

“Well, we’ll have to see who comes in.”

Namu, who hadn’t gone a single day without a customer since he started working, was very flustered.

I have to work, but….

“Instead,”

Namu reacted easily to the Manager’s voice, which seemed to offer hope. It was a pitiful sight, but the Manager continued, ignoring it.

“That side specifically asks for you once a week. I guess they liked you last time.”

“If you mean that side….”

“Do I have to say it for you to understand? The loan office.”

He was talking about the House. The Manager carefully observed Namu’s expression, which darkened rapidly, and casually tossed out a suggestion.

“Or, how about that… sauna the CEO mentioned?”

“…A sauna?”

“Yeah, something like a scrub service.”

“……The kind where you… take your clothes off?”

Right, by now you should have a grasp of reality.

Meeting Namu’s shaking pupils, the Manager gave a light shrug.

“I’m not forcing you.”

Maintaining the attitude that it was up to Namu whether he did it or not, the Manager read the agitation in Namu’s expression. It seemed the rumors that he had come out of the House like a rag weren’t baseless. To have such a terrified face. It was a side of Namu he had never seen before.

“It’s not like a spot opens up every day. But if you want, I can get you in somehow.”

“…….”

“Since it’s done without clothes, there will be some touching.”

He meant illegal massages.

“Still, wouldn’t that be better than getting beaten? Either way, you’re selling your body, so a job that wears you down less is much better. Besides, you probably lost your virginity while you were with CEO Cha.”

“…….”

Flustered, Namu’s lips parted involuntarily.

“It might not be as much as the House, but it won’t hinder paying back your debt. You can take multiple people every day, the base pay is high, and the tips are generous. Of course, the commission is cheaper than here. You can take 60%.”

“N-no, it’s not like that….”

“What’s not?”

The Manager snorted, thinking Namu still hadn’t come to his senses. Looking up at the Manager, who felt colder than before, Namu belatedly shook his head.

“With CEO Cha… we aren’t in that kind of relationship.”

“Are you saying you’re still a virgin so you can charge more?”

“It’s not that….”

“Who would believe that? Everyone around here knows you’ve been ‘ticketed’ for nearly two months.”

“…What?”

“You know this neighborhood. No matter how much they crack down, word spreads in an instant.”

At those words, Namu shook his head even more vigorously.

“It’s really not. CEO Cha… he doesn’t like that… that kind of thing.”

It wasn’t because he was being misunderstood. He hated the idea of Mu-won being misunderstood for helping him.

Ah… he said it wasn’t helping, but processing an expense.

The Manager, watching Namu become dazed in the middle of his fierce denial, shook his shoulder to wake him up. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be a seizure, as his eyes cleared up quickly.

“Whether it is or not, your market value has already dropped. Think carefully before you become completely worthless.”

“…….”

“If you prefer getting beaten, let me know immediately.”

Even though he was relentlessly cornering the naive boy, the Manager saw that Namu wouldn’t easily bend, so he pulled out his phone. At the same time, a hand reached out and grabbed the Manager’s sleeve. The fingertips were trembling.

He must have been really broken by the House.

“What?”

Since pity was pity and work was work, the Manager responded bluntly. Namu, who had been trembling without even knowing it, carefully let go of the sleeve. Then, he parted his parched lips.

“Time… please give me time to think….”

“I can do that.”

“T-thank… you.”

“But make sure you understand that the longer you wait, the more you lose. Don’t come resent me later.”

“…Yes. Yes, I will, Manager.”

Namu nodded with a half-vacant expression, his thin hair fluttering.

Seriously… you’re something else.

Rather than pity, the Manager clicked his tongue at the boy’s sheer cluelessness, though his expression softened slightly.

“There’s nothing more to do today, so go rest in your room.”

“…But still,”

“This isn’t a suggestion; it’s an order. Go rest. You look like you’re about to collapse any second.”

“…….”

“Mu, aren’t you going to answer?”

Even though the voice was gentle, Namu heard it as a reprimand and nodded quickly, looking startled.

“Yes, I will…. I’ll do as you say.”

So please, just don’t kick me out.

The Manager, understanding the unspoken words, let out a sigh-like laugh.

“Right, I get it, so don’t worry and just rest. Why on earth would our Korean restaurant kick you out?”

“Yes…. Thank you, Manager.”

The Manager gave Namu’s shoulders a light pat as the boy bowed repeatedly, then stepped out of the small room. Namu, who had remained bowed until then, slowly straightened his back.

Either way, selling my body is a trade.

It was true. Too true.

And Namu didn’t want to be beaten. He didn’t want to be beaten like that anymore. If he were, he felt he wouldn’t be able to endure it.

Rubbing his burning eyes with the back of his hand, Namu belatedly noticed the bag he had been clutching the whole time.

His belongings….

It was the bag that Mu-won, Jae-un, and Seong-cheol had packed for him.

Staring blankly at the bag in his arms, Namu sank to the floor. He had been too frantic to look inside when he first received it. Sitting there, Namu opened the bag.

There weren’t many things. Painkillers, ointment, bandages, and a phone.

“…….”

That was all, but there were two phones.

Thinking he had seen wrong, Namu reached deep into the bag to search. He really did find two phones. One was the smartphone Mu-won had bought him, and the other… was the folder phone he thought he had lost.

“I thought I’d never find it….”

With trembling hands, Namu opened the lost phone. His finger hovered over the old screen for a long time. Eventually, unable to resist, Namu opened the gallery and scrolled all the way to the top. He had personally deleted the photos taken during his treatment, so there weren’t many left. Thus, the photo he was looking for appeared almost immediately after scrolling up a few times.

“…….”

Grandfather….

He thought he would never find it again. But it was okay. Namu still had his grandfather’s funeral portrait. If he missed him, he could just look at that. And he thought he shouldn’t show his depression in front of the person who had gone through the trouble of buying him a new phone.

Above all, throughout his growth, Namu had learned not to cling to things that could never be found or possessed again. Still… the only thing left on the phone was a photo. The last photo, of his grandfather smiling at him.

Gently stroking the screen with his fingertip, Namu hugged the phone to his chest. His curled-up body trembled faintly. Still, Namu had his grandfather. Though he had been discarded here and there like a useless weed since birth, there was once a firm and fertile land for Namu.

Even that grandfather had abandoned him. But Namu did not resent him. He couldn’t. Because he had abandoned him for his own sake.

His small, curled body seemed to loosen for a moment before he slid sideways and collapsed. Sleep swept over Namu, just like the misfortunes that had always arrived without warning.