By Zephyria 
Waiting for the elevator was boring.
Crossing my arms and looking up at the top of the elevator doors, I turned my gaze to the night view of Bangkok.
From the 7th floor of the hotel, the Royal Bangkok Sports Club was visible right below. Beyond the grounds submerged in darkness, the skyline sparkled. The golden dust shimmered in the distance, like a mirage promising a false hope.
The interior was so quiet it was hard to believe the hotel was located in the city center. It was almost eerie. There were a considerable number of rooms, but most of them seemed to be empty.
Judging by the location and scale, it must have been one of the most luxurious hotels in the city at one time. However, Bangkok was a city where new hotels sprang up every time one woke up. Unless a massive remodeling took place, it seemed difficult for this quaint hotel to regain its past glory.
Instead, it was perfect as a location for this photo shoot. Both the editor in charge and the photographer seemed satisfied with the results, so for now, it was a relief.
A bell rang behind my back. It was a metallic sound, like an actual chime rather than an electronic beep.
The interior of the elevator was decorated in a European style. It seemed to have been the trend when the hotel was built. Because of that, it felt like a time machine turning back time. I felt as if a certain point in the past I wanted to return to would unfold once the doors opened. It was a silly imagination. I chuckled and stepped out into the lobby.
The lobby late at night was so deserted it felt bleak. Even the sound of my footsteps, which weren’t that loud, felt prominent, making me instinctively walk carefully.
Turning the corner at the north end of the lobby, a bar located in the courtyard appeared.
An employee who spotted me walked toward the entrance of the bar.
“Good evening. Are you alone?”
I nodded with a smile, and he guided me to the inner hall. I don’t know if it was just my imagination, but he was glancing at me unusually often. Perhaps he had seen me filming in the hotel.
Since almost all the seats were empty, I had plenty of choices. I chose a table by a small pond.
“By any chance… aren’t you the Korean actor who filmed at our hotel this time?”
The employee, who had placed the menu on the table, asked cautiously, his voice slightly excited.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’m a fan of Korean dramas.”
“I’m not that famous, though…”
“I think you’re the one who appeared as Actor Yoon Ju-ho’s friend in
“Yes, that’s right. Thank you for remembering me.”
I smiled, bowing my head slightly. I was a bit surprised that he remembered me like this.
Conversely, my recognition had increased more than before.
Thanks to the image of a sophisticated chaebol young master I played in
The problem was that because that image was so strongly emphasized, I hadn’t found a next project for six months.
“You’re so handsome in person. I want to support you in the future; could you tell me your name?”
He was looking at me with an ecstatic expression, as if he had met a star he truly admired.
The person who appeared in the same drama as Yoon Ju-ho.
Perhaps this person was seeing Yoon Ju-ho through me right now. But that was a common occurrence on overseas business trips. There was no need to feel frustrated anew.
“It’s a Korean name, so it might be a bit difficult… shall I give you my SNS account?”
He brightened up and readily handed over his phone, and I gave him the official account operated by my agency.
“Jeong… Ji, In…”
The account profile had my name written in English and Chinese as well. When I gave a thumbs-up to him as he stumbled through reading my name, he blushed slightly and smiled.
Ordering the hotel’s signature cocktail as he recommended, I opened the book I had brought under my arm and held it in my hand.
The three-day, two-night filming schedule had ended, and the staff had all gone out to enjoy their last night. I had declined their offer because I wanted to spend some leisurely time alone for once, but the words wouldn’t quite enter my eyes.
Leaving the book open on the table at the page I was reading, I looked around.
Like the lobby, the bar was also quiet. In Bangkok, the trend for hotel bars had long shifted to rooftop styles. A bar located in a closed courtyard seemed insufficient to attract young travelers. Including myself, there were only three or four tables of guests.
A white man was having a simple meal alone in the seat facing me, and a large table diagonally across was the only group of guests.
The group, consisting of men and women in suits, did not fit the romantic atmosphere with flickering candles lit on each table. At the table behind them sat two other men in suits. They looked like attendants or bodyguards for someone.
“That’s a business meeting for hotel officials. It looks like it’ll be over soon, so we ask for your understanding.”
The employee, returning with the cocktail, noticed my gaze and explained politely. It wasn’t that I was staring because I thought they were ruining the atmosphere. I nodded and smiled.
As most actors probably do, I had a habit of observing people. But even without the habit, there was a man among that suit group who was exceptionally eye-catching.
First of all, his physique was quite impressive. Judging by the way he sat, he seemed to be tall, which is rare among Asians. He had an impressive appearance that would make anyone look twice.
Once, a famous MMA fighter had visited the hotel run by my mother, causing a commotion. That fighter, who had taken commemorative photos with his younger brothers after dining at the restaurant, had a body just like that. A body that looked slim at a glance but had a thick and solid torso and shoulders.
The man, wearing a suit with a refined silhouette over a physique reminiscent of an athlete, was absorbed in the meeting. The thin metal-rimmed glasses on his strong-featured face seemed out of place yet strangely suited him. Regardless of East or West, he would look like a great beauty in anyone’s eyes.
Above all, masculine charm overflowed from him.
For someone who viewed men as sexual objects, he had exactly the kind of look that one would have dreamed of as a sex partner at least once, regardless of their usual ideal type.
I slowly let go of the straw I was biting and straightened my back. It was because I discovered myself chewing the straw while unconsciously staring at that man. It wasn’t as if someone had read my inner thoughts, but I felt flushed. It’s not like I’m some starving wolf…
Searching my memory, the last time I had relieved my sexual desire through methods other than masturbation was at the beginning of this year.
Moreover, although I pretended to be calm in front of my worried manager after the casting offers dried up, I too began to feel anxious after three months. The increasing intensity of the critical comments that had even penetrated the fan cafe was also a stress. It wasn’t a job I had started with great passion, but if I couldn’t do this work, I didn’t know what to do next. That, too, was bleak.
It was a period of literal sexual frustration, where nothing was satisfactory. At a time like this, having a body armed to the teeth with masculinity right before my eyes, it was only natural for my sexual desire to be stimulated.
Pretending to drink the cocktail while fiddling with the straw, I stealthily looked at that table again.
Whether the point of contention being discussed had been resolved, all the members of the group loosened their postures as if they had breathed a sigh of relief. Light laughter could be heard. The man also straightened his upper body, which had been leaning forward, and just as he raised his head, our eyes met.
The man stared straight at me. He narrowed his brow as if he were about to come over here and pick a fight, asking what I was looking at. I didn’t think I had flirted enough for my sleazy inner thoughts to be revealed, but…
It felt like it would be stranger to avert my eyes hastily. I naturally avoided his gaze while stirring the cocktail with the straw.
Suddenly, the volume of the music increased. Two or three employees began carrying simple food and drinks to their table.
Should I just get up? Or should I have one more strong drink and go up?
“You look like you’re debating whether to drink more; may I buy you a glass?”
“……”
I looked up at the unfamiliar voice. Someone was standing in front of me, holding their own glass. It was a middle-aged man who had been sitting a table away.
“I appreciate the offer, but I was just about to leave.”
“I won’t take much of your time. Actually, I’m someone who works in… this line of business.”
Without preamble, the man handed me his business card. It bore a flashy title: Executive Director of a TV production company. He spoke English with a strong British accent, but the company address printed in tiny letters at the bottom was in Shanghai, China.
“……”
I scanned the card half-heartedly and looked up at the man with a disinterested gaze. My eyes were asking: What does this have to do with me?
“You caught my eye the moment you walked in. I have a foolproof instinct for these things. You’re interested in acting, aren’t you?”
The man began to prattle on about a new project he was working on, subtly emphasizing that his company was quite large.
He looked to be in his mid-to-late forties, with a well-maintained body devoid of excess fat and a clean, luxurious style of dress that left a favorable impression. While his face and build weren’t exactly my type, he wasn’t bad objectively. However, it was clear he was a married man.
Moreover, his approach was the worst. Did I look so naive that he thought I’d be lured by the promise of an acting role, follow him to a bed, and obediently strip? I didn’t know how I appeared in his eyes, but I had enough intuition to realize that the target he was seeking wasn’t an aspiring actor, but a sacrificial lamb to play with for one night.
“Well? Don’t you want to hear more details? I think we’d find each other quite interesting. Or… we could move to another location.”
I blatantly blocked his hand as he tried to set his glass down on my table. Since he seemed like the type to ignore a polite refusal and push forward, I chose to be a bit more aggressive.
“No, you’ve mistaken me for someone else. I have absolutely no interest in acting or anything of the sort.”
“Ha, you’re treating me like a molester. That’s incredibly rude.”
The middle-aged man’s face immediately contorted, expressing his displeasure. I was appalled by his audacity.
After my debut, I had tried a few one-night stands while on overseas business trips. There were men and women who had approached me for the same purpose. But in the end, I had turned them all away. I had my own standards, even for a casual fling.
Just as I was about to push back my chair and stand up before things got any more unpleasant, I felt a presence behind me.
“Hello. I am the manager in charge of the hotel.”
I looked up to my right, toward the source of the voice. The man who had been at the business meeting table was standing there. A gentle smile lingered on his face, and he had taken off his glasses.
“I apologize for interrupting, but I wondered if there was a problem. If there is anything making you uncomfortable, I will resolve it immediately.”
His English had an East Coast American accent. His voice was low and smooth, pleasant to the ear.
Though the man was speaking politely, it was effectively a warning to refrain from excessive advances that might offend other guests.
The middle-aged man laughed cheerfully, as if he had been the subject of an amusing misunderstanding.
“We were just exchanging information as fellow travelers. My family is scheduled to arrive here tomorrow. Oh, by the way, are there any places you’d recommend for a family visit? My wife has already been to most of the popular spots in Bangkok. I’m not sure where to take her.”
Seeing the brazenness with which he brought up his family right in front of the person he had just been trying to sleep with, it was clear he had done this more than once or twice.
“I will introduce you to a staff member who is well-versed in the local situation in Bangkok. It’s such a volatile city that my own information isn’t always up to date.”
“No, there’s no need to go that far. Well then… I enjoyed our conversation, Mr. Actor.”
With a face that barely suppressed his annoyance, he sneered at me and called for a staff member as he returned to his seat. I was baffled by the sight of his retreating back as he hurried to settle his bill and slipped away as if he had urgent business.
“I stepped in because it seemed the other gentleman wasn’t backing down despite your refusal. I hope I didn’t overstep.”
“Not at all. I was actually quite flustered… Thank you.”
The man leaned down, resting his hand on the back of the empty chair. It wasn’t the most formal way for a hotel manager to treat a guest, but it didn’t come across as frivolous either. Hotels in famous tourist destinations tended to prefer friendly and comfortable service over solemn formality. My mother’s hotel was the same.
Because of his posture, the man’s face came closer. Looking at him like this, he was dangerously my type.
Every line of his face was bold and strong, yet not crude. Rather, it was clear and clean, like the stroke of a master who draws a perfect line in one go without hesitation.
The man also stared intently at my face.
“……Is something wrong?”
When I asked the meaning of his gaze, the man slowly shook his head.
“Nothing. It’s just… I think I understand why that gentleman was lingering here a moment ago.”
I let out a laugh at his words. My mood, which had almost plummeted to the worst, seemed to improve slightly. I chuckled, scraping the bottom of my empty cocktail glass with the straw. A small crack formed in the rhythm of my heart.
Even if we were just one-night stands, this kind of thrill was necessary.
“If you’re thinking of having another drink, I’d like to treat you.”
“You’re offering to buy me a drink?”
At my question, the man frowned slightly and rubbed his chin.
“Ah… would that be the same situation as before, just with a different partner?”
He had an impression that seemed as rigid as an inorganic ornament, but talking to him revealed a fair variety of expressions.
Looking at his long fingers, devoid of a ring, gripping the back of the chair, I asked.
“You’re not married, are you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“A partner?”
“……What do you think?”
There was a subtle suggestiveness in his tone. The man’s face looked as if he had a specific answer he wanted from me. With the way he kept looking at me with those meaningful eyes, there was no way this wasn’t a move.
When I didn’t answer immediately, he chuckled and dropped his gaze. He seemed to think I had rejected the temptation. But he was mistaken.
A chance encounter during a trip, an impulsive attraction and choice, a passionate night that would blow away all worries and anxieties…
I was ready to throw myself into it.
“The situation might be similar, but the partner is different. I’ll have it—a cocktail.”
The man’s eyes widened for a moment. Then, he smiled while biting his lower lip hard. Instead of his closed lips, an attractive smile pooled in the corners of his eyes. With that playful smile, he momentarily looked much younger.
■
“Why are there so many people crowded here? It’s blocked right at the end.”
Jae-woo grumbled, tapping the top of the steering wheel with his fist.
As he said, cars were lined up in a long queue at the hotel entrance. With the crowds gathered on both sides of the road, it was absolute chaos. Event staff had been deployed, but it looked like it would take some time to get things organized.
“We left early, so we won’t be late.”
I muttered half-heartedly, leaning the back of my head against the seat. I had been dragged here after getting only about two hours of sleep since returning from Bangkok. It was because of the intense sex that had lasted until dawn. I had enjoyed myself all night, thinking I could just sleep plenty at the accommodation, but a schedule had been urgently set while I was away on the trip.
Although full-blown summer hadn’t yet begun, it was a VIP invitation party to showcase the autumn new arrivals of Brand L.
“It was a good thing we sent Hong-seo’s kids earlier. The organizers even let them perform; imagine if they were late. How could we handle the CEO’s nagging?”
As if the mere thought was horrific, Jae-woo wrapped his broad shoulders around himself and shuddered.
“But how did it end up being my turn? Did someone flake out?”
Among the celebrities invited to this event, Hong-seo was the only one from our company. That’s what I clearly understood before leaving for Bangkok. But in just a few days, the other members of ‘Layered,’ the idol group Hong-seo belonged to, and even I had been included in the invitation list.
“Why so disappointed? You’ve attended this brand’s events a few times. The reaction was good every time. And isn’t our Actor Jeong secretly a ‘sold-out man’?”
Comments sneering that I spent more time at luxury brand events than in actual works came to mind. I felt that soon, accusations would be added that this was the agency’s ‘bundle deal’ to piggyback on Hong-seo’s popularity, but I didn’t voice those thoughts.
In the meantime, the car had advanced only one or two meters. As I twisted my waist to change my sitting position, a groan escaped my lips. A strong stimulus was momentarily applied to the lingering, dull ache in my lower back and buttocks.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just muscle pain.”
“You went and overdid the exercise there again for the photoshoot, didn’t you? I’m telling you, Hyung’s fans don’t want a bulky Actor Jeong. Take it easy.”
Instead of correcting Jae-woo’s wildly off-base misunderstanding, I lightly massaged my side.
I had muscle pain all over my body, as if I had been beaten severely rather than having sex all night. This happened even though I wasn’t usually lazy with my workouts. It was a pain that reminded me of someone’s claim I’d read somewhere—that no exercise utilizes the muscles of the entire body as evenly as intense sex in various positions.
To ease the discomfort even slightly, I shifted my hips forward and crossed my arms.
“Oppa, no crossing your arms.”
Ga-yoon, the stylist who had been looking at her phone in the next seat, pulled my arm. Since I had to stand in front of the photo wall immediately, we had to be careful not to create wrinkles. I obediently uncrossed my arms.
“More than half the people are probably fans who came to see Yoon Ju-ho; it’s just a struggle for people like us. Hey! It’s no use peeking in here. Yoon Ju-ho got a suite, so he’ll be coming down from there. Let’s move along, okay?”
Jae-woo, who was chatting away with words the people outside the window couldn’t even hear while tapping the steering wheel, suddenly turned to look at me. He had a look of realization that he’d made a mistake.
“Ah, Hyung. I’m sorry. He’s your friend, but I misspoke.”
“He’s not here, so it’s fine. Just call him comfortably. My friend… I guess. It’s not like you and he are close.”
Since I occasionally went out to meet Yoon Ju-ho, Jae-woo considered us to be quite close. However, it wasn’t a relationship that could be defined as ‘friends.’
“Still, you have to be careful normally to avoid mistakes.”
Jae-woo, flashing a grin with white teeth against his tanned face, looked forward again and let out a sigh of relief.
“Ah, it’s finally opening up.”
Jae-woo closed the gap with the car in front and followed closely. Following an uphill road flanked by fairly lush forests, the vehicle gradually approached the hotel building. Feeling my mouth go dry, I searched for the water bottle in the cup holder.
I visited the NOX Hotel at least once a quarter for purposes such as attending events like today’s or for interviews, but I still felt a sense of aversion at the name ‘Nox.’
My throat felt parched, and conversely, sweat seeped from my palms. Still, it was significantly better now compared to the beginning of my debut.
After moistening my dry throat, I put the bottle back in its place. The car soon slid into the entrance of the underground parking lot.
“Don’t forget the poses we practiced. The PR company emphasized a lot that the watch must be clearly exposed.”
Ga-yoon advised me while fixing the back of my hair, which had been slightly flattened from leaning against the seat. Looking over my pure white suit from top to bottom with a worried face, Ga-yoon pulled out a portable brush to remove dust. While remaining seated, I spread my arms stiffly, like someone standing at an airport security checkpoint.
“I’m sure you won’t, Oppa, but please be careful not to get the clothes dirty.”
The expensive items decorating me from head to toe were ‘rental items’ that had to be returned after the event. While some stars received sponsored items as gifts along with the so-called ‘appearance fee’ given as compensation for attending the event, in my case, return was mandatory.
There was a reason why I attended such events even while receiving a small appearance fee and enduring the inconvenience of having to be careful about staining sponsored items. It was because I could maintain a certain level of recognition by consistently exposing my name and face in the media even while taking a break from projects.
“Let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll be waiting at the main entrance. Don’t just drink alcohol in a corner; go around and make your presence known today. Okay?”
Leaving Jae-woo’s nagging behind, I stepped out of the car. Looking back, his expression was more desperate than usual. Even Ga-yoon’s face, which rarely showed anxiety, wasn’t bright. It was understandable since I hadn’t had a project for six months.
I raised my hand to tell them not to worry, but in truth, I wasn’t very confident. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, I hurried my pace.
After having my name verified by a staff member, I was guided upstairs. The photo wall was prepared in the outdoor garden, the pride of the NOX Hotel. After finishing the photo wall shoot, which took less than two minutes, I moved inside the building under the guidance of a staff member. The main party was being held in the hotel’s largest banquet hall.
I put on the VIP band on my wrist and entered. The performance by ‘Layered’ must have already ended, as another girl group was performing. Thanks to the sound system, which was not inferior to a concert hall or a club, the vibration of the sound felt like it was thumping against my entire body.
I pushed through the people enjoying the performance and moved slowly toward the front. As per Jae-woo’s request, I intended to show my face here and there today.
The importance of the role didn’t matter. I just wanted to be busy, regardless of the part. Since I had been lucky enough not to run out of work, whether in minor or supporting roles, since my debut, the recent leisure was actually burdensome. Because if my body and mind became too relaxed, I would only suffer from unnecessary thoughts.
A famous film director, more recognized for his artistic quality overseas than domestically, caught my eye in the distance.
Director Kang Woo-hyun, known as an aestheticist, was a respected film director. At the same time, he was a big player in the domestic art market and a VIP customer for many luxury brands. It wasn’t difficult to spot him at an event like this. Today, as expected, flashy people who were at the peak of their respective industries were gathered around Director Kang.
Rumors that Director Kang Woo-hyun was searching for a production company and investors for his new work were already common knowledge in the industry. Since I had only appeared in dramas so far, I thought he might not know the actor Jeong Ji-in, but this was no time to hold back for that reason.
Let’s just try. There’s no harm in letting him know my face.
Just as I had made up my mind and was about to move, someone called out to me from behind.
“Jeong Ji-in.”
I turned around at the grip on my shoulder. It was Yoon Ju-ho.
“Why aren’t you answering your phone?”
A stiff interrogation flew at me immediately.
Because the room was crowded, it was difficult to secure enough space to even pull my phone out of my pants pocket. Almost poking Yoon Ju-ho’s chest with my shoulder as he stood close, I barely managed to get the phone in my hand. There were three or four missed calls from Yoon Ju-ho.
“Did you call? I had it on silent, so I didn’t know.”
“Then why didn’t you answer yesterday?”
“……”
“Forget it. It’s not like this is the first or second time.”
Yoon Ju-ho spoke with a bitter expression, as if resigning himself. He occasionally drove me into a corner like I was some ‘bad boy.’ It was a reaction that was completely incomprehensible from my perspective.
“I was in Bangkok for a photoshoot. Why did you call?”
“To introduce you to someone.”
“Who.”
Without answering, Yoon Ju-ho pulled my arm. Not only celebrities but also socialites, people from the fashion and publishing industries, and influencers in related fields were attending the event. There was no one who didn’t notice Yoon Ju-ho. Those gazes were burdensome. I pulled my arm out of the hand of Yoon Ju-ho, who was a step ahead of me.
“Hey, explain first before moving.”
“Director Hwang is here, so I’m taking you to introduce yourself. Why?”
If it was Director Hwang, he was the director of the drama
“You’ve been on a break from projects for a long time. What’s the problem now?”
Yoon Ju-ho spoke bluntly. He must have read the reluctant expression on my face.
My head began to ache. The dull, heavy feeling in my buttocks also seemed to throb more for some reason.
“I appreciate you thinking of me. I do, but I’ve told you to stop being so pushy…”
I knew it was useless to say anything. As expected, Yoon Ju-ho was looking at me with a face that suggested he had no idea what the problem was.
“Now that I’ve explained everything, can I take you to introduce yourself to Director Hwang? Please, I’m begging you, yeah?”
I looked at him as he smirked, as if asking if I was satisfied now, and simply pushed him from behind. How could I possibly change a prince who had lived as a star for over twenty years, since his days as a child actor—essentially his entire life?
Furthermore, it was clearly more advantageous to show my face to Director Hwang with Yoon Ju-ho by my side than to go in blindly and bang my head against a brick wall. This was no time to be stubborn and insist that I disliked the idea of securing a role through personal connections.
The group at Director Hwang’s table was just as glamorous as Director Kang Woo-hyun’s. Famous fashion designers, photographers, stylists… except for one veteran actress—a senior far beyond my level who had been confirmed for a casting in eternal night—everyone there was a celebrity of influence rather than an entertainer.
Director Kang Woo-hyun’s works weren’t exactly mainstream. He was a film director who provided actors with prestige rather than commercial success. On the other hand, Director Hwang Su-young was a drama director who guaranteed popularity through public appeal and box-office hits. The number of heavyweight Hallyu stars she had created was more than I could count on both hands.
Yoon Ju-ho led me to Director Hwang, who was seated at the head of the table in the innermost section. It was a prime spot that I wouldn’t have been able to approach if I hadn’t followed Yoon Ju-ho.
“Director, this is the friend I told you about.”
“Hello, Director. It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Jeong Ji-in.”
“I really have to hand it to Yoon Ju-ho’s persistence. He actually brought you here.”
Director Hwang, who had been laughing pleasantly while exchanging jokes with someone next to her, shook her head with a lingering smile. I glanced at Yoon Ju-ho’s profile to see what she meant, but I didn’t get the explanation I hoped for.
Dressed in a simple black outfit without any adornments, her hair swept back and fixed without a single strand out of place, Director Hwang exuded an imposing aura. Even though she was smiling, she didn’t feel comfortable.
“Of course I know Jeong Ji-in. The Boundary was your official debut, wasn’t it?”
Most people mentioned All For You or Tomorrow’s Diary as my representative works. Only long-time members of the fan cafe knew that I had appeared in The Boundary for only about ten scenes.
“I’m honored that you remember, Director, but it was so early in my career that I’m quite embarrassed.”
“I heard rumors that Jeong Ji-in was quite stiff, but you’re better at socializing than I thought. You’ve become a real celebrity, haven’t you?”
Director Hwang chuckled at my predictable line. Then, she handed me a glass of champagne she had poured herself.
“What do you think, Director? Do you like him? Right now in the industry, there isn’t a face that suits the role of ‘Yi-soo’ better than Jeong Ji-in. I’m certain of it.”
“Hmm, well, the vibe seems plausible for now.”
At Yoon Ju-ho’s aggressive appeal, Director Hwang cast a glance at my face while sipping her champagne. Though she seemed indifferent at first glance, her eyes were sharp, piercing and measuring me from deep within.
It was unexpected that the two of them had discussed a specific role regarding me. I had thought he was just going to introduce me to Director Hwang Su-young.
Director Hwang, who hadn’t reacted easily despite Yoon Ju-ho’s prompting, spoke to me.
“Jeong Ji-in, how about it? Would you like to audition for eternal night? There’s a role that Yoon Ju-ho keeps pushing you for, saying you’re perfect—though that’s just about the face. I’ll have to see your acting first.”
“If you give me the opportunity, I will prepare diligently.”
“I’ll send the materials… to your agency. Let’s set a date and meet.”
Having said that, Director Hwang turned her attention away from me to attend to another acquaintance who had come to greet her. Only then did my tension ease slightly, allowing me to breathe comfortably. I nudged Yoon Ju-ho in the ribs with my elbow as he nonchalantly drank his champagne.
“What role is it? You could have told me roughly beforehand.”
“It’s not like you’re auditioning right here, so why does it matter? The important thing is that you got the opportunity. Don’t screw up the audition, okay?”
It was true that he had created an opportunity that anyone would covet. Since I couldn’t get angry at the guy who helped me, I shut my mouth.
“You don’t have other plans today, right?”
Checking his watch, Yoon Ju-ho lifted his champagne glass and drained half of it in one gulp.
“Why?”
“I’ve got a room booked upstairs, and we can use it until tomorrow. I have to leave by 11 for my Taiwan schedule… anyway, see you there later.”
What he held out to me was a hotel room key card.
The last time we slept together was already half a year ago. I thought he would have accepted that our previous relationship as sex partners had naturally dissolved by now. It seemed I had overestimated Yoon Ju-ho.
“Find another owner for this.”
I pushed the key card, which he had held out between his fingers, back against Yoon Ju-ho’s chest. Just as he frowned and was about to say something, I felt a hand gently wrap around my shoulder from behind.
“Jeong Ji-in.”
It was a low voice as smooth as the touch.
Turning reflexively, I found a completely unexpected person standing there.
The provider of the throbbing pain in my waist, and a man who should not possibly be here, in Seoul.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, but could we take a photo together?”
“……”
I couldn’t react and simply looked up at him. And for good reason—he was the person I had been with in Bangkok until dawn today. Moreover, he was calling me by my name, which I had never told him. And in very proficient Korean.
“Ah, I am an official from the Nox Hotel. Our hotel would like to take a photo with Jeong Ji-in for promotional purposes.”
The man who introduced himself looked back and forth between me and Yoon Ju-ho with an apologetic expression.
An official from the Nox Hotel wants to take a photo with me while a superstar like Yoon Ju-ho is standing right there? Even while telling such an obvious lie, the man remained composed. I didn’t know how he got here, but I wondered if he was telling such a clumsy lie because he was too unfamiliar with the situation in Korea.
Yoon Ju-ho looked at me and nodded. I thought he would chase him away with a look of displeasure, but it was an unexpected reaction. Did he actually believe the lie about being a hotel official? Even though he said he wanted a photo with me, not him?
Whatever the reason, it was a good opportunity for me, as I wanted to leave this spot. I gave a brief farewell to Director Hwang and hurried away from the table. I felt Yoon Ju-ho’s gaze clinging to my back, but I pretended not to notice and didn’t look back.
The man was waiting for me in front of a pillar a few steps away from the table, hands thrust into his pants pockets.
He was smiling, but his expression looked somewhat angry. It might have been because of his strong features. When expressionless, he had a face that looked serious and fastidious. When he smiled, he looked a bit… younger and mischievous.
“If you don’t mind, could we take the photo in front of the bar over there? Actor Jeong Ji-in.”
The man spoke, pointing to the bar set up on the left side of the stage inside the venue. He deliberately put emphasis on my name when he added it at the end. That made him look even angrier.
Looking down at me in silence, he began to walk ahead, weaving through the crowded people.
Was it because the country and city had changed?
Even though he was the partner I had been with until dawn today, it felt as if I were reuniting with him after a very long time. I was more flustered than I expected at the reunion with someone I had never thought I would see again. Because he was someone I didn’t know I’d see again, and someone I shouldn’t see again.
The man, who arrived at the bar before me, was watching me. Since it was a fashion brand event, he was dressed in a more glamorous suit than yesterday. Perhaps because of his bare face without glasses and his trendily styled hair, he didn’t look as stiff as he did at yesterday’s meeting.
“The cocktail specially made for today’s event is quite good; would you like to try it? I heard it’s the work of a famous bartender who won an international competition.”
Leaning loosely against the bar, the man signaled the bartender inside before even hearing my answer. The bartender, dressed sharply in a red jacket uniform suit, began to make the cocktail with fast and skillful movements according to his order.
Even while watching the bartender’s flashy performance, the man himself seemed to have no interest in what was in front of him. Feeling as if I were being silently interrogated despite having done nothing wrong, I spoke first.
“Were you Korean?”
Only then did his gaze turn toward me. He tilted his upper body further toward me and smiled. It was a slightly mean-looking smile.
“If I had known, I wouldn’t have slept with you. You’re thinking that right now, aren’t you?”
“……”
Half of me was, and half of me wasn’t. It wasn’t that I decided to sleep with him because I thought he wasn’t Korean. To be precise, it was because I judged him to be someone not included in the Korean sphere of life.
“Then why are you here? You said you were the manager of that hotel yesterday. But today you’re a Nox Hotel official?”
“Nox is in the process of acquiring that hotel. The important procedures are almost finished, so yesterday was like a light after-party for our team.”
“……”
So he’s saying he never actually lied?
The bartender tilted the shaker into a glass filled with crushed ice. He filled the peach-colored drink precariously to the rim of the glass and began to garnish the cocktail with lime, herbs, and a vivid red hibiscus flower. While the man and I were watching the bartender’s hand movements, naturally, our consciousness was tensely aimed at each other.
“Look over there. It’s Jeong Ji-in, Jeong Ji-in.”
At the sound of someone chatting like that, his eyes flickered over my shoulder. As if this situation wasn’t very pleasant, he frowned slightly. Then, he slid closer to me, narrowing the distance. Our shoulders were almost brushing. The same heavy and intense scent from last night stimulated my sense of smell.
“I’ve been at the US branch, and it’s been less than half a year since I returned to Korea after being posted to Seoul. As soon as I returned, I got involved in several projects, so I didn’t have time to separately track Korean trends.”
He was Korean and worked for a Korean company, but it wasn’t that he knew actor Jeong Ji-in and pretended not to. That seemed to be the general explanation.
“I was just as surprised that Jeong Ji-in was here, so don’t look at me with such a guarded face.”
He added, as if reading my mind.
Thinking about it, there was nothing he had deceived me about. Just as I hadn’t revealed that I was a Korean actor, he simply hadn’t bragged about himself. My expectations had just been wrong, and I was… unlucky.
The bartender placed two completed cocktails on coasters printed with the L brand logo. The man and I lifted our glasses almost simultaneously.
“Your rank must be quite high.”
“Do you happen to look at a man’s capability?”
I answered indifferently, clinking my glass against the one he held out to me.
“Not really. As long as he’s good in bed, that’s enough.”
The man shook his head with a laugh. Then he placed the glass he had sipped from back onto the coaster. Leaning his crossed arms on the bar, he hunched his large frame to drink the beverage through the straw without using his hands.
I stared at his profile as he did something that didn’t suit his size, and then I also took the straw in my mouth. It was a taste that reminded me of a resort with a mild climate and beautiful beaches. A taste that makes a person excited and encourages impulsive choices…
“Speaking of the bed…”
The man leaned his upper body further forward from the bar and looked back at me.
“The company gave me a room upstairs; would you like to go there and drink more?”
When he hit on me at the bar in Bangkok yesterday, he felt more desperate, but today, he had a slightly sullen face while making the proposal.
He seemed like an adult who had frozen cold and solid, yet also like a boy who was clumsy at hiding his emotions. I stared at his dual face and a chuckle escaped me.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Just… I think the timing of your appearance is funny.”
The man, who narrowed his brow for a moment as if he didn’t immediately catch the meaning, soon chuckled along with me.
“I guess so. I’m usually the first at whatever I do, but strangely, yesterday and today, I’m definitely the next in line after someone.”
“Uh… did you see?”
“I heard Yoon Ju-ho is thorough about self-management if nothing else, but he was more careless than I thought.”
“You said you were dull to Korean trends. How do you know Yoon Ju-ho?”
“He’s the Chinese model for the Nox Duty Free. I don’t know him well. I’ve just received some basic information.”
The man’s stiffened expression and tone seemed to mean I should stop doubting him now. Feeling a bit sorry, I avoided his gaze and took the straw in my mouth. After sipping the refreshing cocktail, I turned the conversation back to the previous topic.
“Even if someone saw that scene earlier, they wouldn’t have strange suspicions. In Korea, just because two people of the same sex exchange a key card, it doesn’t immediately link to something sexual. In the first place, there probably wasn’t anyone who even realized it was a key card.”
“I’m right here.”
“……”
The man pointed to his own face with his index finger. And in the next moment, that index finger pointed toward the ceiling. As if the talk about Yoon Ju-ho didn’t matter, the man said,
“Want to go up?”
■
“Oh, yeah. I ran into an old friend here by chance… no, someone I knew briefly in Italy. Uh… I can just take a taxi back.”
Through the floor-to-ceiling window of the guest room, the Han River was visible. Since the hotel was situated on a hill, it provided a view as if looking down from a super-high floor. It was one of the prides of Nox Seoul.
While talking to Jae-woo on the phone while looking at the night view around the Han River, I glanced back over my shoulder. The man, who was opening wine in front of the mini-bar, looked at me and smiled meaningfully. Feeling like we had become adolescent comrades plotting a mischievous prank while evading adult supervision, I also chuckled back at him.
“I’m really okay, so go ahead. I can ask my friend to drop me off. Hong-seo? Ah… come to think of it, I haven’t seen Hong-seo’s kids yet. It’s fine, they’re busy kids, why bother with greetings. I can see them at home. Yeah, leave work right away. Drive safely.”
Even after ending the call, I stood by the window for a moment.
When I went to meet Yoon Ju-ho, I didn’t need to lie to my manager. I just didn’t mention the purpose of the meeting; I didn’t hide the fact that I was going to see Yoon Ju-ho.
The fact that I was in a hotel room with a man I barely knew suddenly felt thrilling. Perhaps he was a more dangerous opponent than a stranger. Because he was a man I had already slept with once.
“……”
Fiddling with the phone in my hand, I traced those thoughts and turned around. I hadn’t noticed the silhouette reflected in the window, but before I knew it, the man was right in front of me. Even as I accepted the glass he handed me, I didn’t make eye contact. As if avoiding him, I turned, brushing past his broad shoulders, and headed toward the sofa.
“Nox Hotel is quite generous. Giving an employee a suite like this.”
“Since it’s working on a holiday, they’re just acting generous by giving me an empty room. Actually, it’s a position where I didn’t even need to be out here, but they’re asking me to do this and that.”
The man leaned his back against the floor-to-ceiling window with a dissatisfied expression. Gathering the little information I had, it seemed the company was working him a bit too hard. Even so, seeing that they let him use a suite as compensation for Sunday work, it seemed the company was trying to appease him to some extent. In any case, it was clear that his rank was not that of a low-level employee who had to guard the event hall all the time.
Though it wasn’t the top-tier suite, the room with a separate bedroom and living room was pleasant and luxurious. It was a space that well-expressed Nox’s identity as a 5-star luxury hotel rather than a business hotel.
I took a seat on the three-person sofa facing the door leading to the bedroom. It was a plush sofa that felt like my body was sinking into it, but I couldn’t comfortably bury my back.
“Overall, room reservation rates are low on Sundays, and suites are especially so. It’s an empty room anyway, so they’re just acting generous with it.”
The man, who had detached his back from the window, walked toward me. I ignored him and brought the wine glass to my lips. I felt the weight of the man sitting next to me.
“If I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t have had any reason to use this room today.”
Even though I felt eyes clinging to my face, I didn’t look back. I had followed him here driven by impulse and the lingering heat of last night still remaining in my body, but I knew it was a dangerous choice.
“You don’t seem to believe me very much.”
“What does it matter if I believe you or not?”
We were just people who slept together once.
I swallowed the words I was about to add and tried to drink my wine again, but the man’s hand reached toward my face. When I reflexively looked back, as expected, he was looking at me with burning eyes. I quickly averted my gaze.
The dull pain remaining in my lower body and waist felt as if it would transform back into sexual desire. The pleasure provided by this fantastic body before me—which had fulfilled whatever I wanted—was vivid. The craving for it felt as though it would overshadow all other concerns and anxieties. Don’t they say that for someone on a diet, a ‘familiar taste’ is the most terrifying?
His hand, resting lightly on my shoulder, brushed against my hair.
“Your hair… are you growing it out for your next project?”
“Not particularly. I just… left it alone after the last project ended, and it became like this.”
Without making eye contact, I didn’t push his hand away. There are certainly no nerves in the hair, yet the sensation of my hair being rubbed between his fingers made my body feel as if it were twisting.
Like someone lost in deep thought, I stared down only at the wine glass in my hand. Why did I follow him here? Since I was in the middle of blaming myself, perhaps I was indeed preoccupied.
“They say Jeong Ji-in is like a prince from Europe.”
“Haha… who says that?”
Even to my own ears, the laugh was awkward.
“My team members. They said you’re so handsome that it’s actually a waste, as it limits the roles you can play.”
I continued to laugh but didn’t look at him. Conversely, he stared at me persistently.
The hand rubbing my hair touched the rim of my ear. Not wanting him to notice me swallowing hard, I swallowed wine instead.
His thumb dug into the inner curve of my ear. The touch, rubbing as if massaging, felt languidly pleasant.
“I’d like to meet the person… and say… thank you… or something…”
My voice faltered under the caress, as he fumbled and rubbed as if to trace every complex curve of my ear.
“I’ll pass the message along for you.”
As if he had been waiting for the exact moment I showed a reaction, his hand pulled my neck.
I stretched out my arm to balance myself so the wine wouldn’t spill. It was a reflexive action. Overlapping our lips, he pushed me back forcefully. He immediately tilted my chin to pull my neck closer. It was a fervent friction, soft flesh rubbing against each other to the point where my lips were slightly inverted.
“Hng, mm. Mmph.”
He was someone I had to avoid.
He was Korean, and he lived in Korea. Furthermore, he wasn’t even in the same industry.
And yet, inside, I was busy searching for reasons why it would be okay to accept his lips.
When I didn’t open my lips for a while, he sucked on my lower lip. A stinging pain made the tender mucosa burn. Due to the aftermath of last night, my lips were still sensitive.
He was persistent against my stubborn resistance. He pulled my lower lip out and released it, repeating the act several times to the point where I looked ridiculous. His blazing eyes watched me from right in front of my face. They were eyes containing a protest, asking why I wouldn’t open up.
When I gripped his shoulder as he lunged again to take my lower lip into his mouth, I felt a thrill that made the hair on my neck stand up.
His firm shoulders and chest hidden by the shirt, and even the inside of his wrists.
The thought occurred to me that they must be stained with the traces of the lovemaking I had left last night.
As if sensing the emotion of that moment, his arm, having spotted the opening, hugged my waist tightly. I barely managed to twist my chin away from his lips.
“I can’t.”
“……”
His eyes widened as if he had heard something unexpected. Pushing away his heaving, thick chest, I first set the wine glass down on the table.
“I didn’t come here today to do this…”
The man, who had stepped back for a moment, approached again. This time, he completely covered me using the weight of his upper body. As I was pushed toward the edge of the sofa, I opened my lips to exhale. His tongue invaded without hesitation. It felt as if he regarded my refusal as part of the play. Like yesterday. No, like this morning.
As if driving downward, as if choking my breath, he pushed his stiff tongue in as far as my uvula. Because our lips overlapped so deeply, our teeth clashed. I struggled because the movement of the tongue sweeping the mucosa of my mouth was unbearably ticklish, but he didn’t budge.
After exploring the deepest part of my mouth, he withdrew and asked confidently, scraping the alignment of my upper teeth with the tip of his tongue.
“Since you didn’t say ‘darling,’ I’m going to keep going. I can, right?”
“Da… Darling. Darling!”
“……”
At the hurried cry of surrender, the man frowned and pulled his lips away. He had an expression as if he were annoyed that a toy he had given as a gift was being repeatedly taken away.
“Really… I really can’t.”
“Why?”
The motion of his hand brushing back his styled hair was irritable. Still, despite the dissatisfied expression, he backed away. The fact that he was reasonable in this way was actually very much my type. It really became a great waste. If only he were on a business trip to Seoul and based in Bangkok…
Straightening my disheveled top, I first moved to the single-seater sofa next to him. Perhaps thinking I was treating him like a beast, he looked at me askew with a hurt expression. Before my resolve could waver, I spoke quickly.
“I’m not that famous, but my face is still known.”
“Do you think I’m the type to go around blabbing? That I enjoyed myself with Jeong Ji-in?”
“……”
I’m sorry, but that was exactly what I was worried about. How could I trust a man I met for the first time yesterday? It wasn’t that I specifically distrusted him, but in this situation, no one could be trusted. He might feel wronged, but the things we had done yesterday and today were quite radical moves for me.
“If that happened, it would be the same as me coming out. For a man to go around bragging that he slept with a man… I don’t think Korean society is that open yet.”
It was a valid point. However, it wasn’t enough of a reason to strip and tangle with someone who lived in Korea, spoke Korean, and worked and socialized with Koreans.
“I admit I acted confusingly today. I’m sorry.”
Judging that further explanation was useless, the man shut his mouth. Then he picked up his glass, which he had neglected until then.
“Then, I’m sorry, but could you please leave?”
“……”
“I’m full of desire to do it, so I think it’ll be very painful if I keep staying here with Jeong Ji-in.”
Anger was felt in his clipped tone.
Honestly, I had no excuse for what I did today. If a partner I had rolled around with excitedly just yesterday accepted a proposal to drink alone in a hotel room, I probably would have taken it as an ‘OK’ signal too.
I watched him drink his alcohol with a furrowed brow and then stood up. I pulled down my jacket to roughly fix the wrinkles.
This time, I was looking at him, and he was trying not to look at me. He was the one who got rejected, but for some reason, I felt like I was the one being kicked out. The regret was mutual. Though I wouldn’t tell him.
Just as I was about to enter the hallway leading to the entrance across the living room, a low voice caught my ankle.
“You’re a prey, right?”
“……”
It was a statement that forced me to look back. The man was stating a conviction in the form of a question.
Sitting on the sofa and looking this way, he had completely shaken off the emotional expressions from a moment ago. Leaning his upper body forward with his elbow on his thigh, he now looked completely calm and cold.
“I figured it out while we were doing it.”
“What is it you want to say?”
Is he trying to threaten me? A sticky cold sweat broke out, and I felt dizzy. Was a one-time fire-play in a city about 4,000km away from Seoul finally catching up to me?
It wasn’t that I was afraid of losing my trivial fame. In that short moment, the faces of my mother and siblings flashed by.
Swirling his glass once, he emptied the remaining wine in one gulp. During that time, he didn’t take his eyes off my face.
“Because I’m closer to a hunter disposition.”
“Ah…”
“Didn’t you feel it while we were doing it yesterday?”
With an expression of incomprehension, the man stood up. Because we had been tossing and turning during the kiss, the front of his shirt was messily wrinkled. Walking to the entrance of the hallway, he leaned his shoulder against the wall and smiled bitterly.
“Seeing your reaction, you do know what these terms mean, don’t you?”
“……”
“Isn’t it too dangerous to let just anyone into your room and ask them to be rough? What if the partner doesn’t stick to the agreement while in a state of excitement?”
Having spoken like a lecture, the man suddenly frowned and closed his lips as if he had babbled too much useless talk. A voice followed, slightly softened but still with a blaming nuance.
“Do you always choose your bed partners so dangerously?”
I was being misunderstood, but I didn’t feel the need to explain in detail. Stepping one pace closer, he leaned his waist slightly to match my eye level.
“I think finding a partner that way would be much more dangerous. Just go with me. What are the odds of two people with these dispositions meeting? Don’t you think it’s almost… fate?”
“What a romantic fate.”
At the sarcastic answer, his eyes narrowed.
“Do you even know what romantic is, Jeong Ji-in?”
“I think I know better than someone who left only an email address without even a name.”
It wasn’t a topic for two people to argue over, both of whom had chosen one-night stands abroad based only on looks and atmosphere. Whether the words he was saying now were closer to a threat, or a suggestion for two people who find it hard to find compatible partners to help each other out. Just trying to gauge that was overwhelming.
The man laughed as if mocking, or perhaps sighing. Keeping his head tilted, he raised only his gaze to look at me.
“I’m curious, did you even intend to send an email?”
“……”
“You threw away the address, didn’t you?”
Without answering, I only moved my lips slightly in a smile.
“I knew it.”
Taking my reaction as a confirmation that I had thrown it away, he also laughed lightly. As if it were no big deal.
“Goodbye.”
“……”
“Darling.”
Muttering that with an expressionless face and a flat tone, he turned around before I did. I watched his back as he walked toward the sofa to pick up the empty glass and wine bottle before leaving the room.
Before I had even walked three or four steps down the hallway, I ran into a couple turning the corner. The man recognized me first and whispered, poking his companion’s side. The realization of how dangerous a thing I had been doing until a moment ago hit me anew. Yet, rather than feeling dizzy, it was actually thrilling.
Even after getting into the elevator and the doors closing, the excitement of the deviation didn’t easily subside.
A hunter?
To explain the perfect compatibility with him last night, that was the only answer.
As I was about to bite my lip lost in thought, I winced at an unexpected pain and let go. I quickly checked my face in the flashing stainless steel finish of the elevator. He must have sucked it so hard that my lips were red and swollen in the meantime.
I stuck out my tongue and gently swept over my swollen lower lip. Naturally, the heat of last night came to mind.
■
“What brings you to Bangkok… are you traveling? Or do you reside here?”
“Something like a business trip.”
The cocktail the man ordered was like a green jewel. A colorful fresh flower was decorated on the paper straw. Based on the color, I thought it might be an Emerald Martini, but the taste said otherwise.
After hearing the answer, he stared at my face for a long while again before turning his head to check the table where his colleagues were.
“Shouldn’t you be going? You said you were in a meeting.”
“Are you trying to kick me out after just one cocktail?”
“……”
“Where is your accommodation?”
Perhaps time was tight, as he skipped the steps and came out directly.
“Huh? Is this… such an expensive cocktail?”
As I pulled my upper body far back, distancing myself from the cocktail as if protecting myself, the man smiled, his eyes crinkling. His impression certainly changed when he smiled. Either way, he was equally attractive.
The man reached his arm over my shoulder and gripped the backrest of the chair I was sitting in. It was a confident, bold action. As he leaned deeper and approached, a thick, heavy scent stimulated my sense of smell.
Seen up close, his face and gaze momentarily looked like someone in their early twenties. A pulsing mass of hormones filled with sexual curiosity for the partner.
“I won’t disappoint you.”
Rather than a boastful declaration, it sounded like a cute plea for a chance. This time, a laugh escaped from my side.
Stirring the emerald liquid with the straw, I intentionally didn’t look at him.
“Room 713.”
“This hotel?”
I nodded to the man who asked back with a nuance of surprise.
“You’re not lying, right?”
I nodded once more, and the man looked at his wristwatch.
“I’ll go up by midnight.”
Looking at me with complex, slightly suspicious eyes, he gave my shoulder one firm press and returned to his seat.
Midnight would be in about an hour. Leaving about ten minutes of leeway, I left the bar first. While walking toward the lobby, I could clearly feel the gaze hitting my back.
How long had it been since I felt such sexual arousal?
‘Never sleep with just anyone. I don’t know how it is in Italy, but in Korea, a sex scandal for a celebrity is a death sentence. You’ll be buried not just in the entertainment industry, but in Korean society in general. Got it?’
The CEO of the agency had emphasized private life management since the time of the contract.
‘You’re an adult in your late twenties, so if you’re determined to deceive my eyes, there’s nothing I can do about that. But. Even if you do it secretly behind my back, whether it’s dating or sex, do it with another celebrity. That way, there’s less fallout.’
If it was someone in the same industry, both parties’ faces were known. It meant it was relatively safe because there would be nothing to gain by exposing the relationship.
Even without the CEO’s advice, I had no intention of putting myself in a dangerous situation. The reason Yoon Ju-ho was the only person I had a relationship with after my debut wasn’t because of romantic feelings or purity.
The hotel was structured with buildings surrounding a central courtyard in a square shape. After getting off the elevator, I stopped in the hallway and looked down. Even from the 7th floor, the man’s physical condition was excellent.
Will he really come? Could he be a dangerous partner?
He had an East Coast American accent, but he didn’t seem like someone born and raised there. Nevertheless, he spoke flawless English. The words he used, his intonation, minor gestures, and manners—everything implied that he was a highly educated person. It was like a scent ingrained in the body since childhood, something that couldn’t be hidden even by a bit of swagger. Since I had lived surrounded by such people for a long time, including my mother, it was simple to distinguish that level.
In any case, it seemed clear that he was someone who didn’t know me, the actor Jeong Ji-in. That was the most important thing.
Returning to my room, I took a shower and drank a bit of straight whiskey without ice. It was because of excitement rather than tension. I also placed the gel and condoms I had packed in a corner of my bag on the nightstand next to the bed. They were items I consistently packed whenever I went on overseas business trips.
The man, who had acted as if he would jump up immediately regardless of what lies he had to tell, did not appear even when midnight came.
After about ten more minutes passed, I felt ridiculous sitting there in a robe after a shower, waiting for a sex partner. Even if I was anxious to have him the moment he was before me, desire could wither away just as easily in the meantime. It was an even more likely story if it was a one-night stand seduced at a travel destination.
As I accepted the fact that I had been stood up, a hollow laugh escaped. Just as I stood up from the sofa thinking I should drink more whiskey, someone knocked on the door.
I turned my head to check the digital clock on the nightstand. About 15 minutes had passed since the promised midnight.
The person standing at the door was that man.
Perhaps because he had taken off his jacket, he looked more disheveled than he had downstairs. As I stepped aside and pulled the door open further, he rubbed the corner of his mouth and stared at the room behind my back. Unlike an hour ago, when he had been actively seducing me, he now seemed hesitant.
“Excuse me.”
Entering the room, he first placed the jacket he had been carrying over his arm onto the desk. Then, he cast a quick glance around the room. It was the most basic type of guest room, but since the hotel had been built a long time ago, it wasn’t particularly cramped.
The man, standing with his hands on his hips, looked back at me.
“In Bangkok… you said you were here on a business trip?”
“I leave on a flight tomorrow morning.”
“So you were looking for someone to spend your last night with.”
“Well, something like that.”
At my answer, the man smiled with a somewhat bittersweet expression and lowered his gaze. Perching himself on the edge of the desk, he lightly scratched around his forehead and muttered as if talking to himself.
“It’s not that hard to find a same-sex partner in Bangkok, after all.”
Since it had been so long since I’d done this, initiating the seduction felt awkward, but any further conversation would be a waste of time. I walked toward him and stopped in front of his long legs. His shoes and my slippers brushed against each other precariously.
“My flight is at 9.”
“……”
The man slowly raised his head and met my eyes.
I had felt it while we were talking at the bar, but his gaze was somewhat unpredictable. One moment it flashed with ambition, like a predator before a coveted prey; the next, it turned hazy, as if he were the defenseless prey himself. Right now, it was the latter.
To ensure we didn’t linger, I added:
“I have to leave the hotel by 5.”
He had been staring blankly at my face, but suddenly, like someone waking from a daydream, he straightened his back. Then, as if casually resting his hand, he cupped my right cheek. His large hand covered all the way up to the top of my neck. The man’s thumb gently stroked my cheek. It was a fairly tender touch, the kind that wouldn’t typically be exchanged between people meeting for the sole purpose of sex.
“Is it alright if I don’t let you sleep a wink?”
“I can just sleep my fill once I get back.”
He gave a faint smile at my blunt response. His expression was ambiguous, leaving me unsure whether he was looking forward to sleeping with me or was reluctant. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving. He began rummaging through the pockets of the jacket he had tossed on the desk to pull out gel and condoms.
Was he a bit late because he was buying those? With that thought, I looked down at his hand and spoke as if it were no big deal.
“Ah, by any chance… could you be a bit rough with me?”
“……”
Holding a cylindrical tube of gel, he looked back at me. It wasn’t just one tube.
It didn’t seem like he was unwilling, but I couldn’t figure out why his expression had been so ambiguous for a while now.
“If you’re not feeling it, it’s fine to just do it normally. Some people absolutely cannot be rough, even if their partner asks. I just asked because that’s my preference. Don’t worry about it.”
The moment I finished speaking, a force yanked the waist tie of my robe, and I stumbled, pulled flush against the man. Our lower bodies pressed tightly together.
“How rough? Like this? Or…”
This time, the robe was stripped away in an instant. Pulled down as if being torn apart on both sides, the robe caught on my elbows.
“Like this?”
The color of the gaze looking at me had changed. The transparency of an innocent herbivore had vanished, replaced by a burning intensity. Along with the feeling of fire igniting somewhere in my veins, sexual desire surged immediately.
Hooking his index finger into the knot of his tie and sliding it off, the man began to quickly undo his shirt buttons, starting from the cuffs of his sleeves.
“We can skip the shower, right?”
As he tried to lunge at me with his buttons undone down to his chest, I stopped his shoulder to explain the final rule.
“Even if I resist or refuse, ignore it.”
The corners of the man’s eyes twitched.
“Instead, when I really hate it… I’ll say ‘Darling.’ When that happens, stop immediately. Can you do that?”
“……”
The man, who had been frozen, soon laughed as if he found it absurd. Entwining his fingers through his hair to mess it up, he toyed with his lower lip. It looked less like he was contemplating and more like he was trying to manage his emotions.
The next moment, he withdrew his hand, and the eyes he turned toward me this time looked truly angry.
“I wonder just how many ‘Darlings’ you’ve had until now.”
He clearly seemed angry, but he was forcing himself to suppress it. Seeing the sneer on his face as he added a touch of laughter only deepened my arousal. A contradictory instinct stirred within me—the desire to provoke the opponent, to clash and break, and eventually to be subdued, and through that, to become free.
“Do you actually care about the past of a one-night stand?”
When I smirked to provoke him further, he snorted. Then, he carelessly toyed with the belt of my robe. The belt, already loosened, came undone very easily. My shoulders, chest, and groin were exposed, and the robe barely covered a tiny fraction of my body.
His gaze swept over my naked body and stopped, as was expected, at the center of it.
“The past of someone waiting for a man without even wearing underwear… it’s pretty obvious.”
Already stimulated by the shame of exposing my private parts in front of a man in a suit, my insides throbbed at his words treating me as a promiscuous person.
The moment I bit my lower lip at the unexpected additional stimulation, he suddenly yanked one side of the robe. My stumbling body collided with his, and his lips pressed tight against my ear. He had a high body temperature.
“You like hearing things like this too, don’t you?”
“……”
Heat rushed to my face. To think he had seen through my preference and thrown those words out on purpose to stimulate me.
I didn’t care if he just saw me as a pervert interested in coercive sex. However, he seemed to be quite perceptive. I was lucky.
“It seems like you’re the one anxious with anticipation.”
I stepped back a bit from being pressed tightly between his legs and fired back, refusing to lose. I tried to pull up the robe that was awkwardly hanging off my elbows, but he stopped me.
He gripped the robe draped over my left arm tightly, twisting it as if grabbing me by the collar. As the sleeve of the robe tightened around my arm, my body was pulled back in front of him.
“Hngh.”
He licked my exposed nipple deeply with his entire tongue. I bit my lip to stifle the moan that burst out before I could control it.
“Who wouldn’t be excited when they get to do whatever they want with a body like this?”
“I don’t… remember… telling you… to do whatever you want.”
As I tried to push his shoulder away with my right hand, he gripped the robe on my right arm as well. Before I knew it, I was in a position where both my arms were bound by him.
“Until you say ‘Darling,’ it’s my way, isn’t it?”
Still sitting on the desk, he leaned his waist further forward and looked up at me with upturned eyes. The tip of his high nose was right in front of my chest. The hot breath emanating from his slightly parted lips tickled my nipples.
With my arms restrained and the robe neither on nor off, I tried to jerk my shoulders back. But it was futile. My resistance was no hindrance to him. There was a difference in physique, and my posture was disadvantageous.
“Your areolas… they’re plump, almost as if they’re swollen.”
His face, focused on my chest, was as serious as a researcher’s, which fueled my shame. He continued to mutter as if talking to himself.
“Did someone suck them a lot?”
“There are just so many people who want to.”
His eyes slowly looked up again.
“I wasn’t asking.”
His tone was ordinary, but I realized he was expressing displeasure.
There were people who cared about the past of partners they weren’t in a long-term relationship or dating. The stronger the desire for conquest, the more prominent that tendency became. In some cases, they would set up situations of jealousy and interrogation for a more tense play. Whatever the cause, this seemed to be his switch. Something that could incite and provoke him.
“They usually say once they bite, they don’t want to let go. That they’re fun to suck because they’re so plump.”
As expected, his face distorted visibly.
“Do you want to provoke me that much?”
He applied more strength to his grip on the robe and pulled both my arms forward. My arms were gathered in front of my lower abdomen as if I were handcuffed. My breasts, pushed from both sides, formed a shallow cleavage.
His exceptionally red tongue dug into the top of that cleavage. With the tip of his tongue stiff, he slowly scraped down the cleavage from top to bottom. He bit and nibbled at the bottom of the plump chest muscles and licked the entire breast as if drawing an unknown shape. However, he absolutely did not touch the nipples.
“Hngh, ah.”
I couldn’t hide my quickening breath. Even though the place I wanted him to suck wasn’t being sucked, the fact that he was deliberately avoiding it made me even more conscious of my nipples.
The moment he pressed the edge of the areola with the tip of his tongue and looked up at me, I used the strength of my entire body, not just my arms, to escape his grip.
However, the room wasn’t wide enough for a chase. As soon as I showed my back, my arm was caught. The robe, which had been loosely draped, slid further down, and the hem was stepped on by my foot. The disheveled state of being neither dressed nor undressed made the situation even more stimulating.
Wrapping one arm tightly around my torso from behind, he laughed low in my ear.
“I haven’t washed my hands… so I’ll wear a condom.”
Pulled by the force, I stumbled backward and was dragged back in front of the desk. He opened a condom he had taken out with the gel using one hand. Meanwhile, he continued to lightly bite various spots on my exposed nape and shoulders. With my bound arms, which could barely move below the elbows, I clawed at his thighs. His thighs, packed with tightly tensed muscles, kept bouncing out of my grip.
A piece of condom foil fluttered to the floor. While I looked down at it, a large hand with a condom on the middle finger pushed the already open front of the robe wider and entered between my legs.
“Ugh, hngh…”
Pushing up my testicles and entering further back, the hand rubbed the entire groin area back and forth as if cleaning the bottom. The entire scene was unfolding within my field of vision.
“Haah, ha. Hngh.”
I dug my short nails into his arm crossing over my chest. A shallow moan, like a tremor, escaped. He came up, licking my nape deeply, and took my earlobe into his mouth. His breath, as he trapped the flesh between his teeth and nibbled, was also irregular. The touch rubbing my crotch was becoming increasingly rough. Because of the lubricant on the condom, the friction felt even more erotic.
It had been too long since I’d enjoyed foreplay with another person. I didn’t think I could hold out much longer.
“Hnghh, hngh…”
Bending my knees outward, I lowered my body awkwardly and spread my legs further. As if demanding a more messy and obscene act.
Biting my earlobe, he spat out a short curse and gripped the sensitive skin tightly. Then, he began to press the entrance of my anus with his condom-clad middle finger.
“Why are you so soft? Was someone else in this room last night?”
It was because I had prepared in advance while showering, but there was no reason to tell the truth. Letting him misunderstand would lead to a much better reaction.
He bit my shoulder. It wasn’t a light nibble like before. He set his teeth and applied force with his jaw.
“Ugh!”
For a moment, I thought about telling him not to leave a mark. Then I remembered that the photo shoot was already finished. I had no plans for any projects for the time being. Moreover, I didn’t want to stop the pleasure.
Now that it had started, I realized how thirsty I had been for this act and how much I had been ignoring my body’s demands. My body was greedily absorbing every pleasure born between me and him. A rebellious adventurous spirit rose within me, wanting to see how far this could go.
Without letting go of the shoulder he had bitten, the man pushed his finger inside me. Slowly, but without stopping once, he pushed it deep and long.
“Hnghh, hngh. Hngh.”
I made a strange sound, like a crying animal. A part of another person’s body was digging into my secret place. The physical sensation of foreignness, the heaviness in my lower abdomen and rear, was in itself a sexual thrill for me.
The finger filling the inside drew circles. My hips tightened instinctively. Then he bit my shoulder and nape. He even pulled the hair covering the back of my neck with his teeth.
The movement of the finger flicking inside, like scratching a scab on a wound, made my inner walls twitch on their own.
“You told me to ignore you even if you resist. What resistance is this when you’re enjoying it this much?”
He held me tight as my body instinctively tried to spring forward. The muscles in the arm hugging me were prominently defined, and blue veins were swollen tight. The other arm hidden between my legs was the same. I liked those strong arms. I wanted to be subdued by those arms and have the bottom of my instincts completely exposed. That was my sexual preference.
“Hngh. Kh.”
The finger, which had been moving slowly in and out like a piston after insertion, was suddenly pulled out. The emptiness in the rear paradoxically highlighted the meaning of the act that had continued until a moment ago.
The man pulled away the robe that had been meaninglessly draped. From behind my completely naked back, I heard the sound of a belt buckle being undone. Hot, wet lips rubbed lightly against my ear.
“Ah… should I just put it in without a condom?”
“……”
My body froze momentarily at the leisurely murmuring voice.
As if showing that he might actually do it, he rubbed the slippery glans against the entrance. Even without looking, I could guess the thickness of the glans just by the contact. The fist-like glans, which repeatedly touched and left the entrance as if kissing it, felt as if it would push in mercilessly at any moment.
I unconsciously looked back at him.
Had I been wearing a face drenched in fear? The man smiled, crinkling his eyes as if to reassure me. I might have been mistaken, but it was a warm-looking smile.
Burying his lips in the skin of my nape and kissing me, he released me.
When the arms that had been binding me tightly fell away, I conversely didn’t know what to do. I picked up the robe from the floor, roughly covered my lower half, and looked for the glass I had left on the sofa table. While I quenched my thirst with whiskey that had almost been diluted by ice and had little taste, he quickly stripped and put on a condom.
Even by a rough estimate, his body, which seemed to well exceed 190cm, was densely woven with large and small muscles. It looked like a body created under the thorough design of someone with a demanding aesthetic eye. Thanks to that, despite his considerable size, he didn’t look clumsy. His limbs were long, giving him a good sense of balance, and the muscles that reacted delicately and bulged with every small movement were like a precision instrument.
Furthermore, even though he wasn’t fully erect, his penis was shockingly heavy. It seemed like the general-sized condoms I had brought wouldn’t even come close.
Reading the direction of my blatant gaze, he chuckled. After completely squeezing the air out of the tip of the condom, he slid the latex down toward the root, stroking his penis as if masturbating.
“I don’t know who was in this room yesterday, but I guess they weren’t better than this.”
“……”
“Your eyes look completely starved.”
“Just because I had a feast the previous evening doesn’t mean I’m full the next day.”
“You certainly have a way with words.”
Keeping my gaze fixed on him as he approached, I slowly set down the glass. The moment I reached out to grab the glass again, which was wobbling as if placed in the wrong spot, he snatched my arm first.
Losing my balance from the force of the pull, I was stripped of the robe that had been covering my genitals. As I tried to pull my arm back to escape, he wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me up.
How long had it been since I’d been lifted by someone like this, with my feet dangling in the air? No matter how good a body he had, I was an adult male close to 180cm. Without time to be surprised, I was instantly thrown onto the bed in a prone position. I tried to push myself up immediately, but he climbed onto my thighs first.
Click. The sound of a plastic cap opening was heard, followed by the friction of palms rubbing together. Unlike my lower body, my upper body was still free. Looking back, the man was warming the lubricant in his hands.
With a soft, yet somehow double-edged smile, his wet hand fumbled between my legs.
“Hngh. Hngh…”
I frowned and looked forward again. My forehead naturally buried itself in the sheet.
The way his hand rubbed lubricant onto the entrance of my anus felt less like preparation for sex and more like foreplay in itself. As he repeatedly gripped and released the lubricant-slicked skin with pressure from his fingertips, I found myself instinctively tensing my buttocks.
He slid a single finger upward along the crease of my buttocks from bottom to top, and his hand withdrew. Soon after, a thick penis slid into that very spot. Fearing the glans would pierce right through, I reached my arms back.
I enjoyed the process of being overpowered, but I didn’t prefer pain. His was… just too big. I had no way of knowing how much he would consider the body of a one-night stand.
He grabbed my arms as they flailed, unable to reach their target, and pinned my left wrist down onto the sheet. The arm supporting me by the shoulder came into view. Without hesitation, I lunged at that sturdy wrist. I bit, scratched, and gnawed.
Even so, he didn’t try to suppress those actions. As long as he could do whatever he wanted with my body, he didn’t seem to care if I bit him or left marks.
He, who had been on top of me while pressing down my thighs, shifted his position. Now, he lay flat, covering my entire body. The overwhelming difference in weight made it impossible to struggle, and I felt a suffocating pressure around my chest, but I soon found relief as he distributed his weight by propping himself up on his elbows.
With the hand not holding my wrist, he adjusted the position of the glans. He teased me, pressing against the entrance as if he were about to enter but holding back, causing me to lick my lips.
He peeked over my shoulder and sought my lips.
“Don’t kiss me.”
I don’t know what prompted me to say it. It could have been part of a refusal play, or perhaps a meager sense of morality, wanting to protect at least the act of kissing in a one-night stand. Regardless, the words had slipped out unconsciously.
The man paused for a moment, pulling his face away, then soon let out a laugh, baring his teeth.
“Haha… I thought you were serious.”
From the perspective of a man having sex with another man, it was the kind of laugh that could make one’s crotch grow damp. I felt like lunging at him first and biting his lips raw. Yet, I turned my head away to avoid the lips that were approaching again. The man gripped my lower jaw. While struggling to refuse the kiss under the weight of his massive body… my backside twitched incessantly.
Holding my jaw and pressing his face close to my cheek, the man greedily licked over my lips. Huum, hum, hup. My breathing grew ragged as I put all my effort into refusing, keeping my lips tightly shut.
As if such a refusal were useless, the man’s tongue toyed with my lips sufficiently without even invading the inside. He licked upward several times, traced them with the tip of his tongue, and sucked the flesh tight. It felt as though opening my lips to kiss would have been less obscene.
Below, his penis was slowly entering. He was so rock-hard that after the glans first entered, there was no need to even hold the shaft with his hand.
I flailed under a suffocating pressure entirely different from when fingers had entered. My jaw dropped, and my eyes widened.
“Ugh. I’m… I’m going to rip…”
I shuddered, clawing at the sheets. His hot lips, possessing a body temperature slightly higher than average, whispered against my ear.
“Why are you suddenly pretending to be modest?”
“It feels… like my bones are splitting…”
“No, you’re mistaken. You’re taking it so well.”
Holding my jaw with his left hand, he slid his right hand beneath my abdomen. The hand gripping his penis began to rub the glans. Contrary to his words treating me like a worn-out hole, he was stimulating the glans to alleviate the pressure in the back.
Throughout the time he moved his hips to penetrate deeper inside me, he continued to scrape my slick glans with his thumb.
“What’s the point of refusing the kiss? It’s a flood down here.”
Even as he spoke words treating me like a lewd person, his voice was sweet. Perhaps it was because of the whispering tone.
“Huhu, hukk. Heuu.”
I groaned as if sobbing at the shallow, short, and increasingly rapid thrusts. The sound of our coupling, like stepping through thick, squelching mud, drove my hearing wild. I kept clawing at the shoulders that covered my body.
Just by moving slightly back and forth while inserted, his penis pressed hard against my prostate. It wasn’t just the prostate. He was so big, so full, that it felt like I was bursting inside. His member touched every single spot inside. He stretched me tight as if he were going to pop me. I felt as though I could never experience the sensation of having sex more vividly than this.
“I… can’t… breathe…”
“It’s because you’re being spread open. You’re not suffocating.”
He told me to breathe slowly. That I only felt like I couldn’t breathe because I was flustered.
Whispering like that, he continued to stimulate my genitals so that my senses would be dispersed. Whenever he rubbed the glans with his thumb, I felt a moment of relief.
His face filled my vision, which had grown blurry with physiological tears. He was scrutinizing every inch of my face right in front of me, as if he were about to devour it.
“Want to go once? Should I make you cum?”
I nodded a couple of times in response to his question. I felt that penetration would be easier after ejaculating.
“Mmm… mm. Mm.”
His tongue pushed into my mouth. No longer stubborn, I opened my mouth wide to accept it. Just receiving the caress of the flexible piece of flesh rubbing against my tongue was overwhelming, and the tension in my back loosened.
Along with the kiss, my breathing slowly found its rhythm. My interior, which had been hot with dry friction, began to get slippery as the lubricant was evenly spread with the continued thrusting. Pleasure gradually built up in the front where he was skillfully stimulating me, and my lips were held wide open, being devoured to the point where I couldn’t even swallow saliva.
Everything I had wanted to shake off was being erased.
His hand, stroking down my arm from my shoulder, interlaced its fingers with mine. His chest pressed tightly against my shoulder blades. The member sliding in and out of my back grew faster, but the kiss was slow and deep. It was a kiss where every overlapping and rubbing part seemed to blend into one.
While the inside of my mouth melted sweetly, a panting beast entered and exited me below. As the sound of his groin hitting my buttocks quickened, my excitement spiked.
“Mmm, mm. Mm!”
The sensation of ejaculation surged. I tried to push his tongue away, but he swept his tongue across my hypersensitive palate, making me feel it even more. I reached back to claw at his shoulder and ejaculated with my mouth blocked.
Even while I was coming, the speed of his hip movements didn’t slow down in the slightest. As if he had been waiting for the tension to completely leave my body, he enjoyed the penetration with added speed and depth. He no longer hit shallowly and withdrew. Every time he pulled out leaving only the glans and then shoved back in all at once, it felt as if a fire was lit from within my body.
To a degree I could clearly feel, my insides writhed and clung to him. As if it felt good, as if it felt so good I could die…
With the repeating multi-orgasms, I almost shouted the safe word several times. Not because I felt unsafe. It was the socialized part of me—the part that felt guilt in the face of pleasure and feared becoming a beast—that kept pulling me back.
However, the desire to see it through to the end was also a part of me. Whenever the safe word rose to the tip of my tongue, I swallowed it by biting his wrist and shoulder.
By the time I tasted my fourth climax in a position where I was sitting on his lap, I no longer cared about provoking him or maintaining a refusing posture. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as he thrust upward into me, frantically leaving marks everywhere my hands and mouth could reach.
“Where were you? Who has done this for you until now? Were you satisfied?”
He, too, seemed half out of his mind as he muttered this while having his shoulder bitten.
Regardless of other things, I hadn’t been satisfied. I hadn’t even tried to pursue complete satisfaction. I had given up, believing it was impossible for another person to fulfill desires that I myself found difficult to pinpoint accurately.
While he removed a condom—I don’t know which number it was—threw it in the bathroom trash, and returned, I lay sprawled out, naked, facing the ceiling. I didn’t even have the energy to pull the sheet to cover my private parts.
I looked up blankly at him as he offered me water and shook my head.
His back and shoulders were mottled with red marks as he sat on the edge of the mattress drinking bottled water.
“I’m sorry.”
The man looked back with a face that didn’t understand the meaning of the apology. I slowly pushed my exhausted body up to a sitting position and cleared my throat, which was wretchedly cracked.
“Your back is a complete mess.”
“Ah…”
“I didn’t ask you to be rough either… but I completely forgot about that halfway through…”
Looking up, I saw that the wrist holding the water bottle was also a mess. Noticing my gaze, he looked down at his own wrist.
“As you can see, my body is sturdy. If I hated it, I wouldn’t have let you, so don’t worry about it.”
His voice was also raspily cracked as he spoke. Yet, perhaps because he had such a smooth mid-to-low tone, it didn’t sound bad.
Over his shoulder, the dawn of Bangkok was slowly brightening into a deep purple. I felt belatedly embarrassed by the fact that we had spent nearly five full hours having sex.
His eyes suddenly turned toward the nightstand. There was an electronic desk clock there. And the lubricant and condoms I had prepared in advance were placed in front of it. I couldn’t tell exactly what he was looking at.
After sitting in silence for a while, he asked quietly, keeping his gaze in the same direction.
“You said you had to leave the hotel at 5, right?”
I nodded to him as I slowly turned around.
Strangely, I found his silence hard to bear. His eyes looking at me were transparent again, like an innocent beast, making me feel as if I were doing something terrible, like stealing his virginity and kicking him out. My lips and hands twitched, feeling as though I should soothe him with a kiss.
It was a useless thought. He was a man skilled in seducing one-night stands, and in sex. There was no need to feel guilt as if I were stealing a virginity.
You’re great at sex; honestly, it’s a bit a shame to end it with just one time. I thought about changing the mood by saying something like that… but instead, I bit my lip.
He put his clothes back on right over his sweat-soaked body. I almost told him he could take a shower before leaving, but I stopped myself. He was an employee of this hotel. After leaving this room, he would be able to get a suite key where he could wash away the traces of our lovemaking.
He seemed to have no hesitation until he stepped out the door, but standing outside the open door, he looked back at me exactly once. His trembling, dry lips showed his hesitation.
“Shall I take you to the airport?”
For some reason, a hollow laugh escaped at that question. What would change by extending the time we spent together on the way to the airport?
“My colleagues… are there.”
His face also wore a bitter smile, reflecting the regret of having said something he shouldn’t have.
After he left, I didn’t have time to dwell in my cluttered emotions. It was time to hurry and pack my things and get ready. Fortunately, I didn’t have much luggage. A few simple belongings that fit into one backpack were all I had.
After taking a sluggish shower, pulling down my baseball cap, and just as I was about to put on my wristwatch, I discovered a message on the hotel memo pad where I had placed the watch. It was a short note with only an email address and no name. It looked like it had been scribbled in haste, yet it was a beautiful hand.
I tore the memo paper printed with the hotel logo, stuffed it into my pocket, and left the room.
Fourteen hours later, I encountered him again at the Nox Hotel in Seoul.