2.3 Tips. Pocket money. Sincerity.

Under the suit and underwear—at least two layers of fabric—a distinct pulsation could be felt. My cock was alive and breathing. No, it was wailing in agony.

“I’ll wait just one more time. After that, I can’t guarantee anything on my end either. Got it?”

“….”

I squeezed my eyes shut and bowed my head. Thinking of the three women who were likely watching me from a distance, a wave of shame I thought had been extinguished rushed back all at once. I wanted to vanish, even if it meant dying.

“Min-jo.”

“…Yes.”

When I answered with my head still bowed, he called my name again. “Woo Min-jo.” His tone was slightly stiff. Eventually, I lifted my face to meet his gaze. “Yes.”

“Jang-bae.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

He hadn’t called me, but his gaze remained fixed on my face. I was anxious. I was on edge, wondering what he was about to make me do, but his next words were unexpected. They were words that made my eyes widen.

“Bring that CEO, Kim Jeong-suk. Sit him in front of me.”

“Got it, Hyung.”

After answering, Jang-bae sprang up and shouted loud enough to shake the hall. “Madam! Come out here for a second!”

I heard the sound of Kim Jeong-suk dragging his feet toward us. Even without looking back, I felt like I knew exactly what expression he was wearing. Just from the hesitant sound of his footsteps, I could tell he was terrified. It would be even worse since Kang Moon-soo wasn’t with him.

Jang-bae dragged Kim Jeong-suk over and sat him in front of CEO Chu. Naturally, I ended up facing him as well. My heart began to beat as if it would burst. What on earth was he planning?

CEO Chu placed both hands on the table and interlaced his fingers. When I stole a glance at him, he was staring intently at Kim Jeong-suk with his chin tilted slightly. His face was indifferent, devoid of any obvious emotion.

“Hey, how much is the debt?”

Debt? My debt? Both I and Kim Jeong-suk were startled by CEO Chu’s words. He had simply asked a question.

“Do… do you mean Min-jo?”

“Who else would there be?”

CEO Chu’s tone was calm, but he showed absolutely no consideration for the other person. I had never seen Kim Jeong-suk look so frightened in my life. Yet, on the other hand, I knew there was a sliver of anticipation mixed in. A filthy hope that he might actually be able to collect my debt from CEO Chu. Kim Jeong-suk answered with trembling lips.

“Now, now, he’s practically my nephew, you see. We just happened to incur some debts between us, so I’ve got him with me… But in my heart, I really cherish him a lot. Isn’t that how it is? The closer the relationship, the clearer the money matters should be.”

“Hey, CEO. Are you putting on airs right now? Stop the speech and just answer the question.”

“Ah, yes, yes. I was just about to tell you.”

Kim Jeong-suk’s expression soured for a moment before he barely regained his composure. Given who the opponent was, no matter how angry he felt, he had no choice but to swallow it.

And what about my position, listening to their conversation so vividly right beside them? My chest tightened, wondering if he was asking about my debt with the intention of making me spend my own money. If a situation I didn’t want unfolded… if my blood-ghost suddenly changed from Kim Jeong-suk to Chu Gi-oh… there was nothing scarier than that.

Kim Jeong-suk seemed not to know exactly how much the debt was, having inflated it as he pleased. After calculating on his fingers, he came up with the following amount.

“Five thousand in total. Excluding the scraps.”

“What? Five thousand?”

At the absurd amount of five thousand, I shouted loudly, forgetting that CEO Chu was right beside me. Five thousand! How could three thousand five hundred become five thousand in just three weeks! As I shifted my body and raised my voice, CEO Chu stared at me intently. Still, I couldn’t stop talking.

“I mean, five thousand? The money was three thousand five hundred just three weeks ago! Are you kidding me?”

“Wh-what is this kid talking about?”

After a brief moment of panic at my outburst, Kim Jeong-suk began to refute me point by point.

“The principal was three thousand five hundred, and the interest has been increasing steadily since before then. It’s been five months since the money was lost, so if you calculate it at five percent, it comes out to that much and then some.”

“Five percent? You never mentioned that! Five percent! At five percent, the interest alone is 60% a year. Does that make any sense?”

“What do you mean it doesn’t make sense? If you’ve taken someone else’s Read on Read BL Novelsmoney, it’s only natural to calculate it however the lender wants. Not just me, everyone takes it that way. And what about the fact that I feed you and give you a place to sleep, huh? Why aren’t you counting that? [Read on Read BL Novels][unauthorized copy]Isn’t that all money? Do you think I’m doing volunteer work by keeping you?”

Kim Jeong-suk was indeed Kim Jeong-suk. No matter how scared he was, he was a woman who knew how to skillfully manage and hide those emotions. Just as I was about to spring up, unable to bear that slipperiness, CEO Chu spoke a step faster than I did.

“So. Did you take all the money using that as an excuse?”

“Wh-what did you say?”

While Kim Jeong-suk stammered his question, CEO Chu pulled a cigarette from his pocket. Slowly pulling out the cigarette and putting it in his mouth, he tossed the lighter to me. It was a command to light it. With trembling hands, I picked up the lighter and brought it to his lips with both hands. As the fire caught and I pulled my hand away, he exhaled smoke. His long, slit eyes narrowed further. The murderous gaze emanating from them soon shifted from me to Kim Jeong-suk.

“The money I entrusted to this kid. I asked if you took it all.”

CEO Chu spoke while flicking ash into the glass he had been drinking from until a moment ago. At CEO Chu’s low voice, Kim Jeong-suk’s face instantly returned to a state of terror. After swallowing hard, Kim Jeong-suk barely managed to answer in a trembling voice.

“I… I did that thinking of him… just to reduce the interest a bit…”

Unable to even finish the sentence properly, Kim Jeong-suk broke into a cold sweat. CEO Chu stared intently at Kim Jeong-suk, who was wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Then, he gave a void smile and nodded.

“You said you cherish him like a nephew, so I’ll give you a kind warning for the first and last time. Don’t do that from now on.”

“B-but then it’ll just keep increasing indefinitely… Later on, he won’t be able to handle the interest and it’ll only be harder for him.”

“It’s fine, so just keep adding it all to his tab. No matter how much it grows. Do I need to explain further?”

Kim Jeong-suk seemed surprised for a moment, following my Read on Read BL Novelslead, but [Read on Read BL Novels][stolen content]soon nodded busily as if he understood.

“Yes, I understand. It’s not a difficult task, so I’ll just do as I’m told.”

“And, CEO.”

CEO Chu, his brow deeply furrowed, stopped talking and took a deep drag of his cigarette. After doing so two or three times, he dropped the cigarette into the glass where he’d flicked the ash and spat. Stretching a string of sticky saliva over the ember, CEO Chu glared at Kim Jeong-suk.

“What do you think happens when there’s a defect in the product?”

“…Pardon?”

CEO Chu grabbed the glass tangled with cigarette and saliva and suddenly flipped it over on the table with a loud crash. Holding the glass upside down, he spoke to the flinching Kim Jeong-suk.

“It gets marked as scratched and can’t be sold for full price. If that happens, whose heart do you think will ache more?”

I didn’t understand at first, but Kim Jeong-suk understood immediately and answered. “Yes, I understand. Don’t worry about that either. I won’t lay a finger on him again.”

Only then did I realize what CEO Chu meant by those words. He was threatening him not to touch me. If he wanted to sell me to him for the full price.

Suddenly, CEO Chu beckoned to Jang-bae, who was sitting at the next table, by gesturing with his palm.

“Jang-bae, give me your wallet.”

“Yes, Hyung. Here it is.”

The wallet was handed from Jang-bae’s hand to CEO Chu’s. It was a plain black men’s wallet. Though not as much as CEO Chu’s, it was thick with its contents.

CEO Chu opened the wallet and began taking out the contents. Several cards, including an ID, fell onto the table with a thud. He didn’t touch a single bill of the thick cash. I wondered what he was doing, and then the wallet was tossed to me.

“Keep it. Everything in there is likewise your pocket money and my sincerity.”

“What?”

I asked in surprise, but CEO Chu easily ignored me and spoke only to Kim Jeong-suk. “Look here.” He reached out, wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and pulled me sharply toward him. CEO Chu’s scent, a fragrance I couldn’t describe, clung roughly to me. Feeling his chin touch and then leave the area near my forehead, I heard his voice echoing above my head.

“This one is entirely mine. Entirely. You know what that means, right?”

“…Yes.”

“If you understand, then just get out of here.”

With a single gesture, CEO Chu sent Kim Jeong-suk away. As he disappeared quickly, Kim Jeong-suk seemed relatively in a good mood, unlike when he was called in. His light footsteps were the proof.

As I watched Kim Jeong-suk disappear, he released his arm and let me go. Then, he pressed his index finger firmly into my chest. Since I was wearing a loose T-shirt, it might not have been obvious, but it was exactly on the nipple.

“Did you hear? This one is entirely mine.”

Just as the hand left my chest, it suddenly moved [visit our site]to visit our sitethe back of my head and pulled me forward sharply. While I gasped in surprise, CEO Chu’s face was instantly in front of mine.

“I might like things that are difficult, but I hate things that can’t be resolved to the end.”

“….”

“One time left. One time.”

“….”

“Keep that in mind.” After touching my cheek a couple of times with his other hand, he pushed me away and stood up. I barely managed to stand up and stepped to the side so he could pass. Suddenly, a man caught my eye. Kang Moon-soo, who had arrived at some point, was sitting at the counter with his chin resting on his hand, staring intently this way. His eyes were hollow, as if he had been playing cards all night.

“I’m leaving.”

CEO Chu said as he brushed past me. The wallet in my hand felt as heavy as a brick. Unable to withstand that weight, I sank back onto the sofa.

The hulking figures following CEO Chu out of the shop felt frightening all over again. The empty glasses they left behind were also frightening. More than that, Chu Gi-oh, who had personally come all this way just to taste someone like me, was the most frightening of all. What on earth had I done? Was it that pair of shoes, as Kang Moon-soo said?

“Fuck….”

As I sat on the sofa with a hollow laugh, Kang Moon-soo approached me. The bastard placed his hand on the crown of my head and gripped it tight. When I looked up with a frown, a wretched smile fell upon my face.

“You’re too comfortable, you bitch. Just stuffing yourself with pumpkin seeds.”

“Stop talking nonsense, take your hand Read on Read BL Novelsoff unauthorized copyand get lost. I can’t be bothered to deal with you.”

“You think I can’t touch you just because you say that?”

“Go ahead and try then.”

When I glared at Kang Moon-soo with wide eyes, he frowned crookedly and gripped my hair tightly. In that instant, Kim Jeong-suk rushed out of the kitchen and screamed at Kang Moon-soo.

“Cut it out! Can’t you tell by the fact that he came all the way here this morning! That mad dog is serious, serious! He even did the credit yesterday on purpose!”

Regardless, Kang Moon-soo didn’t loosen his grip, leaning down to meet my eyes. Having apparently overheard CEO Chu’s words, he replied to Kim Jeong-suk while looking at me.

“Who says I don’t know? That’s why I’m greeting him, saying thank you. This is all money to be sold off, so how could I not be grateful?”

Kang Moon-soo continued, gently stroking the top of my head.

“Just stick around here for three more months. I’ll sell you off properly for a hundred million. Got it?”

The current time is 9 PM. The girls have all clocked out, and the coffee shop has been forced to close for business. I thought he would tell me to go on a delivery instead, but Kim Jeong-suk didn’t say a word and simply lowered the shutters of the shop. He was clearly walking on eggshells around CEO Chu.

Tomorrow, Sunday, was the coffee shop’s day off. However, there was no such thing as a day off for me. Because the life of a debtor is one that runs without distinction between weekdays and weekends.

If I was tied to the coffee shop on weekdays, I had to be tied to the house on weekends. Although it was small, a steady stream of minor customers came and went, making it as busy as the coffee shop. That meant I couldn’t sleep from now until the morning sun rose. There was one other ashtray besides me, but whenever I went, they were too busy working me to the bone for them to matter.

“Stop by the supermarket, [Read on Read BL Novels]buy this, and go up [unauthorized copy]to the office. Hurry up, they say it’s busy with a lot of people.”

Kim Jeong-suk said, handing me a check card and a piece of paper with something written on it. Perhaps the cigarettes they had stocked had run out; the paper listed several different brands of cigarettes. I sighed inwardly, took the paper, and went to the car. I wondered how much more I’d have to fight off sleep today before the work was finished. I was already exhausted from being rolled around everywhere all day without a single nap. Nevertheless, there was one silver lining: since it was a day off, I wouldn’t have to see CEO Chu’s face tomorrow.

The office, located in the entertainment alley in the center of town, was operated by taking over a place that had been used as a karaoke room, unlike other houses. The only changes were the removal of the karaoke machine, the replacement of square tables with round ones, and the sofas with individual chairs. Being in a dim basement where light and air didn’t circulate well made it hard to work, but it had the distinct advantage of being less noisy and having fewer disputes between tables because the rooms were separated.

After stopping by a nearby convenience store to buy cigarettes, I parked the car at the entrance of the alley and went to the office. As I went down the stairs and entered by punching in the code, a thick scent of cigarettes rushed into my nose. Hazy cigarette smoke continued to pour out of every room where games were in full swing. The narrow hallway looked completely white. Thanks to that, I had absolutely no desire to smoke while working here.

Kim Min-chul, an ashtray coming out of Room 1, frowned deeply upon seeing me. He beckoned me with a flick of his finger and spoke vulgarly.

“You fucking piece of shit, you’re late as hell. You trying to die? Hey. You don’t want to work?”

“I came straight after finishing. All I did was stop by the convenience store to buy cigarettes.”

“I know you finished at 9, don’t I? But it’s 9:30 now, isn’t it? It doesn’t even take ten minutes from the coffee shop to here, does it? You little shit, you’re just asking to get beaten. Right?”

Sarcasticly mimicking a Seoul accent, Kim Min-chul raised his fist as if he were about to strike. However, he didn’t follow through and only snatched the black plastic bag in my hand. After taking his own pack of cigarettes from the bag, he headed back to Room 1 and ordered me to boil a pack of ramen and bring it to him. Fucking bastard. Just because he was two years older than me, he tried so hard to be treated as a Hyung that it was an eyesore. I put up with it only because he didn’t have a habit of hitting. To put it simply, he was all talk.

Wiping away the sleepiness filling my eyelids, I went to the dirty, cramped kitchen where it wouldn’t be strange for cockroaches to swarm. After filling a pot with water and putting it on the fire, I was opening the ramen when an annoying voice sounded from behind.

“Boil one for me too.”

It was Kang Moon-soo. Despite saying he lost five million yesterday, he was here again today doing this. Just from his tone, it seemed he had lost as much as yesterday. I felt Kim Jeong-suk was truly pathetic for keeping a guy like that around, even providing him with gambling funds. No matter how good the taste of a young man’s cock is.

Without answering, I found another pot and [stolen content]put water on, when suddenly my [Read on Read BL Novels]hair was grabbed unauthorized copyand my head was jerked around. Kang Moon-soo, with bloodshot eyes, looked down at me from close range and spat.

“Answer me, you bitch. Unless you want everything ripped off.”

“….”

He must have lost a significant amount of money, as he was as agitated as a venomous snake. If I provoked him at a time like this, I’d definitely end up with a bald spot on my head. A strong urge rose within me to pour the boiling water from the pot onto his face, but I kept it as a thought and answered as he wanted.

“…Yes.”

Before letting go, Kang Moon-soo gave my hair one last hard yank. It was enough to make me let out a groan, but I struggled to endure it. Fortunately, that was the end of it. Kang Moon-soo let go of me as if he had touched something filthy and left the kitchen immediately after leaving one last word.

“Bring it to Room 3. And water.”

My scalp, which had been violently pulled, stung severely. Son of a bitch. The day his wrist flies off will surely come.

I worked for four hours straight like that. In the meantime, Kim Jeong-suk arrived and, as always, stuck close to his gigolo and played cards. Before Kim Jeong-suk arrived, Kang Moon-soo had been unlucky, walking on thin ice, but after Kim Jeong-suk came, his momentum returned, and he recovered all the money he had lost yesterday and today and then some. Looking at that, the two were a match made in heaven. Since they got along so well, what did a bit of an age gap matter? I hoped they would stay stuck to each other for the rest of their lives instead of being released.

“I’ll go get some money, so don’t break the game. It’s not over yet!”

President Ko from the butcher shop, who had been doing well but lost everything at the end, stood up abruptly and spoke while huffing. His angry face was flushed as if he were drunk. Kim Jeong-suk sat President Ko back down and calmed him down gently.

“What’s there to go back and forth for? Since we’re doing the ‘kkong-ji’ together, just borrow some money for today. You can pay it back tomorrow; if you leave the cards, your luck won’t come back.”

“Then just lend me five million for now. I’ll transfer it to you first thing tomorrow.”