It was a narrow road where cars could barely squeeze through, hemmed in by illegally parked vehicles and the standing signboards set up in front of motels.
Ihyeon twisted his head to shake Subin’s hand off, then took a step back—as if to make room for the car to pull in and stop.
The hazard lights blinked on, and a taxi came to a halt right in front of them. The pitch-black sedan following close behind slowed as well. Beep. A short burst from the horn.
While Ihyeon hesitated, glancing back at the sedan, Subin hurried forward and opened the rear door of the taxi. Then he pulled a fifty-thousand-won bill from his wallet and held it out to Ihyeon.
“You don’t have any cash or anything right now. Buy some porridge and medicine on the way back.”
“…Thanks. I’ll pay you back next week.”
“Don’t bother. And don’t just crash because it’s a hassle—make sure you take the medicine. Get home safe.”
“Yeah.”
Ihyeon stared blankly at the thin bill resting on his palm, then climbed into the taxi. Subin leaned in with one hand braced on the doorframe, bowing his head to look at him with concern. The gaze was so tender it felt like something reserved for a lover. Uncomfortable with that gentleness, Ihyeon lightly bit his lower lip.
Drawing a line around himself when dealing with people was a trait he’d developed over a long time. It applied not just to Subin, but to everyone he’d met so far.
Like the perimeter tape set up at an accident scene, anyone who tried to cross that line was cut off sooner or later. What Ihyeon wanted with men went no further than sharing bodies and warmth. Emotional exchange was useless.
He’d thought Subin, perceptive as he was, had understood that. Had he misjudged him?
Suddenly it felt as though the ground beneath his feet had turned to mud, dragging his body down, heavy and sticky. Fatigue began to wash over him.
When Ihyeon sat there in silence with his eyes lowered, Subin—standing by the door—let out a short laugh and bent down. Then he pressed his lips lightly to Ihyeon’s forehead once more, where warmth still lingered, and pulled away.
He could feel the taxi driver’s gaze in the rearview mirror. Swallowing a sigh, Ihyeon closed his eyes.
“If you’re really feeling bad later, don’t force yourself to come in. Call me.”
Subin slowly stroked Ihyeon’s hair. Then, wearing a look of lingering reluctance, he gently closed the car door.
As the cold, dry wind was cut off, the warmed air from the heater finally became noticeable inside the car. The exposed skin began to itch, and Ihyeon rubbed his arm with his palm.
“Please take me to Suhyeon-dong.”
There was no reply. In the rearview mirror, the middle-aged driver’s eyes held a trace of displeasure. Two men making a scene in broad daylight—on top of that, right in front of a motel—couldn’t have been a pleasant sight.
He might have been hurt by it when he was younger, but now it meant nothing to Ihyeon. The car started moving, a little roughly, and he rested his forehead against the hard window.
With his eyes closed, the chilled glass began to draw the heat from his forehead. As his head cooled, a dull ache spread through his lower back. He wasn’t cold, but part of him felt hollow. It was a feeling that often came the day after sharing a body with someone.
I shouldn’t have stopped Subin from leaving yesterday. The thought came late. I should put some distance between us, even now. Swallowing his regret past his throat, Ihyeon let out a small, shaky breath.
***
It was already a foul day for Seunghyeok, having received a summons from the chairman the moment he opened his eyes. With Taesik away on other business, the rookie crew member stuck with driving was so tense he spent the entire day watching Seunghyeok’s mood.
On the way from Nexus to headquarters after checking a few documents, a taxi suddenly cut into the lane ahead of them. Just as he was about to curse while braking, he realized Seunghyeok was in the back seat and quickly clamped his mouth shut.
If I mess this up, I’m fucked.
At first he’d been too excited about the chance to serve Seunghyeok to remember, but Seunghyeok was someone you had to be just as careful around as the chairman himself.
If Seunghyeok’s older brother was always cool-headed and rational, Gu Seunghyeok was the opposite. He was rough, unrefined—raw. The stories went that he’d grin easily and act slick one moment, then flip in an instant and ruin someone, that the scariest time was when Seunghyeok smiled.
The nervous man lifted his eyes to check the rearview mirror. Fortunately, Seunghyeok was asleep, arms crossed. The crew member let out a quiet sigh of relief and glared at the back of the taxi that had caused all this.
The problem came next. It would have been fine if their routes overlapped only briefly, but the taxi ahead turned into the same narrow alley they were headed for.
With Seunghyeok apparently asleep, he decided to tail it closely out of spite. Whether from poor driving or the difficulty of positioning in such a tight space, the taxi kept inching forward and back. Each time, he crept up even closer, chuckling meanly under his breath.
“Hey.”
A low voice suddenly came from the back. It felt as if all the blood drained from his body at once, and the crew member stammered out a reply.
“Y-Yes…?”
“Keep your distance. Pull over.”
So he hadn’t been asleep—just had his eyes closed. With eyes utterly free of drowsiness, Seunghyeok was staring intently out the window.
The crew member’s heart went cold, his hands and feet starting to freeze. Sweating, he fixed his gaze on the orange taxi that had become the source of his trouble. About five meters ahead, it had stopped, and two men who looked like passengers were approaching it.
“B-Boss… I’m sor—”
“No. Get closer.”
He knew this was a moment to obey before apologizing. Holding even his breathing, he slowly turned the wheel.
He stopped the car again at a point where he could see the passenger’s face and lips clearly, then gripped the steering wheel tight.
Fuck… hurry up and move already. What the hell are they doing there…
Beep. At the lightly pressed horn, the men flinched in surprise. When the shorter one turned his head toward the back, Seunghyeok’s gaze met eyes utterly devoid of emotion.
Through the heavily tinted window. One-sided.
“…Ha.”
It was Kwon Ihyeon. Beside him stood the tall man with the wavy perm who’d been glued to Kwon Ihyeon at the club.
The man frowned at their car, then pulled a fifty-thousand-won bill from his wallet and held it out to Ihyeon. Seunghyeok watched the scene in silence.
The bill settled onto a pale, slender hand. With a blank, clear face, Ihyeon stared at it for a moment, then accepted it and got into the taxi.
Seunghyeok, who hadn’t even realized his lips were twisted upward, let out a cold, hollow laugh the moment Subin pressed his lips to Ihyeon’s forehead. He fixed a frigid stare on the taxi as it drove away.
Two gay bastards. In front of a motel. A white hand taking fifty thousand won.
The situation explained itself without need for elaboration. Seunghyeok twisted his mouth with chilled eyes.
So five hundred is a no, but fifty thousand is fine.
“Quite the sense of money.”
“…Yes?”
Clicking his tongue while jiggling his crossed leg, Seunghyeok abruptly opened the car door and stepped out. He lifted his wrist to check the time, cracked his stiff neck, then opened the driver’s door. The terrified crew member looked up at him with eyes full of fear.
“Are you getting out on your own, or do you want to be dragged out?”
“I-I’ll get out!”
The moment the seat belt came off, Seunghyeok grabbed him by the collar and flung him outside. Sitting down in the driver’s seat, he spoke to the low-ranking crew member staring up at him in a daze from the ground.
“Unless you want to end up crippled and hospitalized for a few months, never touch a steering wheel in front of me again. Got it?”
Before the muttered “Y-Yes…!” even finished, the door slammed shut and the car pulled away. Forgetting he’d just been thrown onto the bare pavement, the man stayed seated for a long while, sprawled where he’d fallen.
At the far end, the orange taxi was just exiting the alley. Unlike the taxi, which turned left, the black sedan shot straight ahead at speed.
On the sign bolted to the corner of a utility pole was the number 50. It was speeding.