It took just over 40 minutes to reach the House.
Even as the cold wind blew and the surroundings gradually darkened, Hongju never stopped walking.
He tried to settle his heart during the walk, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that tears might co at any mont.
No one had lied to him, yet sohow, he was the only one left feeling deceived.
“Hey, you punk. When the hell did I call you, and you're only just crawling in now?”
A House without custors felt unfamiliar.
The space was large, but the quiet made Chief Yang’s annoyed voice echo harshly.
“Where’s President Mu-gyeong?”
“He’s inside with Guppping. Hand it over.”
Chief Yang snatched the docunts from Hongju as if yanking them away.
Then, without another word, he strode toward the room where Mu-gyeong was.
Just as Hongju was about to sit down, sothing ca to mind. He opened a drawer.
From it, he grabbed a cigarette and a lighter, then headed back down the stairs.
In front of the temporary House were not only the familiar cars of Guppping and Mu-gyeong, but also so unfamiliar ones.
If people were gathering here while it was still quiet, they were likely preparing for an upcoming ga.
“...Fucking gamblers.”
With swollen lips, Hongju bit down on the cigarette and took a deep drag.
His throat burned, but he only squinted slightly in response.
He chewed harshly on the filter as he stared at Mu-gyeong’s car—
the most striking of the expensive-looking ones.
“Fuck.”
It was a mutter small enough to crumble apart with the drifting white cigarette smoke.
“You were like that the first ti too.”
A low voice cut in abruptly from behind him.
When Hongju quickly turned his head, Mu-gyeong was there, a cigarette just now pressed between his lips.
“I treated you decently, I think. Still getting a ‘fuck’ out of you?”
As always, he was immaculate and put-together in a way that stood out.
Here he was, selling his body to pay off debt and making desperate requests,
while the man in front of him was soone who could choose to trample over those pleas whenever he pleased.
He didn’t flaunt it much inside the House, but Hongju knew well just how frightening and violent Mu-gyeong could be.
Even so, Hongju didn’t avoid Mu-gyeong’s gaze.
“Yes.”
“What. Because I didn’t do what you asked?”
Mu-gyeong tilted his head slightly as he lit his cigarette.
The lighter’s fla glowed softly in his lowered eyes.
“But weren’t you never really in a position to ask in the first place?”
Hongju stared at the tip of Mu-gyeong’s cigarette as it burned.
He was soone who’d be used briefly and disappear like ash, just like that cigarette.
The problem was he’d expected too much.
“...You’re right. I didn’t know my place and hoped for too much.”
“Hoped?”
Mu-gyeong stubbed out the barely-smoked cigarette in the snow.
Ssshhh—
With a sizzling sound, faint steam rose up.
He flicked the lifeless stub into a nearby can.
“You kept saying dirty things to , even kissed ,
so I thought maybe if we had sex, you’d grant my request too.”
“Ha.”
Mu-gyeong’s laugh was soft, but the low vibration reached Hongju’s chest.
The white breath between them quickly dispersed into the air.
Hongju clenched his teeth.
Then, pulling a thick wad of cash from his padded jacket pocket, he held it out to Mu-gyeong.
It was the money Mu-gyeong had left behind like a paynt.
He hadn’t even counted it.
Mu-gyeong’s cold eyes rested briefly on the bills.
“Keep the money. I’m not a whore...”
When he showed no intention of taking it, Hongju shoved the wad forcefully into Mu-gyeong’s coat pocket.
“Such a temper.”
Mu-gyeong raised his eyebrows but didn’t stop him.
“I get it. You’re not going to help .”
“Gu Hongju’s scary when he’s mad, huh?”
The words ca with a mocking look, like he was amused,
and that made Hongju feel even more pathetic.
He thought he was getting used to it, but each ti it happened, it still suffocated him.
Standing there biting his lip, Hongju shut his eyes tight.
“But shouldn’t you keep the money?”
“...”
“I gave you a lot because I thought maybe I was too rough yesterday.”
So it was paynt after all.
Hongju had thought Mu-gyeong was treating him like a person—
but that had just been a misunderstanding.
The pitiful part was, even now,
he was calculating how much of his debt he could shave down if he kept the money.
His throat bobbed hard as he swallowed the hot mixture of sha and self-disgust.
“I don’t need it.”
After a brief breath, Hongju walked past Mu-gyeong and back into the building.
Before long, the sound of an engine echoed in the distance.
That night, no matter how deep it got, Mu-gyeong didn’t return to the House.
And for several days after, he didn’t show himself either.
Not that there was any reason for Hongju to reach out first.
He did hear that Guppping had gone back and forth to Gworeum-dong a few tis to check on the House construction progress,
but since Mu-gyeong had accompanied him, there was no need to leave a ssage separately.
Aside from those trips to Gworeum-dong, Guppping holed himself up in the House.
He seed to be putting a lot of effort into designing the ga.
The woman who used to call Hongju "pretty" also ca by the House from ti to ti.
“Pretty boy. The tall boss ca by, yeah?”
She turned out to be exactly what Hongju had expected—a broker who’d scouted a sucker for the ga.
The woman who had once told him to call her Jaehee noona occasionally dropped by the House looking for Mu-gyeong.
She must’ve run into him on the day Hongju delivered those docunts a few days ago.
“No.”
“Really? I should tell Guppping to call in as bait then. I feel sick staring at all these ugly mugs.”
Jaehee pushed up her lips in a smile. She rummaged through her bag and handed Hongju a piece of candy.
He carefully took it from her.
As he fumbled with the crinkling wrapper, Jaehee casually sat down right beside him.
“You’ll be here for the ga the day after tomorrow, right, Pretty?”
“I don’t know.”
Usually, even when Guppping had a ga planned, Hongju was out collecting debts.
Sotis he ran errands, but most of the ti, he just took a tip and left the scene.
“You look even prettier without any cuts on your face.
What a waste, that face being stuck here.”
Hongju fiddled awkwardly with the crinkling candy wrapper, visibly flustered by the complint.
Jaehee burst out in a big laugh at the sight, her open palm landing with a cheerful smack on his bony back.
When she motioned for him to eat it already, he shook his head and tucked it in his pocket.
“I’ll eat it later.”
“Sure, sure.”
Maybe it was because Doksu and Guppping hadn’t arrived yet, but Jaehee chatted with Hongju for a long while.
She normally didn’t bother making conversation with the House regulars,
but sohow, with Jaehee, Hongju didn’t feel uncomfortable or annoyed.
“Ah, sorry—kept you waiting, huh?”
“Babe, are your eyeballs just for decoration? Can’t you read a clock?”
Guppping ca scrambling up the stairs, and Jaehee gave him a hard glare as she snapped at him.
Looking embarrassed, Guppping scratched his head, and right behind him, Doksu followed.
Despite the weather, his sleeves were rolled up, revealing both arms covered in tattoos.
“Hongju-ssi, long ti no see.”
“Doksu! Get in here.”
The three of them headed into the back room where the safe was.
Left alone again, Hongju took a seat in the empty hallway.
He could vaguely hear voices coming from inside, but he didn’t bother straining to listen.
He took the candy out of his pocket and idly fiddled with the crinkling wrapper to pass the ti.
It was around then that Chief Yang finally showed up.
“Everyone’s here, yeah?”
“Yes.”
Chief Yang gave him a once-over, then flung the door open without warning.
The way the conversation inside abruptly cut off made it clear his arrival wasn’t part of the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) plan.
Hongju kept himself out of it and just kept toying with the candy until the wrapper felt sticky from the heat of his fingers.
Until the day of the ga, the three of them practically lived in the House.
They ate, slept, and occasionally went out by car to change clothes.
Hongju stayed in the hallway the whole ti.
He dozed uncomfortably in a chair and rushed back to the dorm to wash and change when they ate.
Maybe everyone had taken leave to go on vacation or sothing—
the dorms were empty.
But Hongju didn’t complain.
He still had debt left to pay, so rest was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
“If we win big this round, I’ll give you a fat cut of the take.
So keep your heads on straight.”
Whether it was because he’d prepared for a long ti or because he was personally getting involved this ti,
Guppping seed unusually tense.
His right hand, slicking back his over-gelled hair, was covered in rings.
“Okay.”
Doksu loosened his fingers by shuffling the hwatu cards.
Chief Yang, who wouldn’t be participating this ti, stood off to the side with arms crossed, visibly annoyed.
“Everyone stay sharp today.
I heard the sucker has bodyguards with him.
We can’t get overpowered.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Choi and one of the gangsters puffed up their chests, trying to look bigger.
Guppping, Doksu, and the two players would hold the cards.
Jaehee, the broker, would be at the side to warm up the mark.
The sucker this ti was supposedly a wealthy landowner from another region with a bit of a street brawler reputation.
Jaehee had t him playing golf, and occasionally brought him to hwatu gas, where he’d gotten a taste for winning.
As always, Hongju had been assigned errand duty and stayed back, silent and unobtrusive.
But the blow, as usual, still landed on him.
“Can soone do sothing about that fucking ugly outfit?”
They usually didn’t care what he wore, but today, Guppping was being especially picky and throwing a fit.
Hongju acted like he didn’t hear it, but Doksu, still shuffling the cards, rubbed his chin and eyed Hongju intently.
“Hongju-ssi, co here a sec.”
Then he suddenly pulled him into the room with the safe.
Inside was a small suitcase.
Hongju recognized it—it was the one Doksu occasionally dragged around.
Squatting down, Doksu began rifling through it.
A bold snake tattoo coiled across the back of his exposed neck.
“They’re just acting up ‘cause a rich guy’s coming.
Doesn’t want to be outdone.
You probably won’t get hit, so just wear mine.
Baggy clothes are in these days anyway.”
Doksu pulled out a few expensive-looking shirts and held them up to Hongju one by one.
After glancing at his jeans, he muttered, “Those are probably fine to keep.”
Hongju just let Doksu do as he pleased.
“This one’s good. Brings out your face, Hongju-ssi.”
It was a deep burgundy shirt.
Too flashy for soone like Hongju, who usually stuck to black or white,
but he accepted it without protest and put it on.
Even as Hongju changed out of his padded jacket and into the shirt,
Doksu kept digging through the suitcase.
“All set, huh? Oh... huh...”
Doksu’s gaze fell on the gap in the shirt’s collar.
More precisely, on the faint bruise still lingering on Hongju’s neck.
He must not have known about it, since Hongju had been zipping his jacket up to his chin the whole ti.
Caught in that fixed stare, Hongju awkwardly tugged at the collar to cover it up.
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