Swallow Hunting - vanish into fiction

Lee Kang-ju pops into his mind from time to time. Actually, quite often. Considering he paid that much for the services, it should be proof that he enjoyed the night they spent together quite a bit, yet there hasn’t been a single text to show if he is dead or alive. They aren’t in a relationship where they would contact each other unless something was happening, but it still bothered him for no reason.

Was the money a waste, or was there something else bothering him?

While Hae-jun stood there blankly with his mouth hanging open, the Ace suddenly poked a finger inside. Hae-jun spat it out with a disgusted sound as if a bug had flown in. The Ace let out a peal of laughter.

“Oh, right. The Boss said for you to stop by the office once you come out of your room, Hyung.”

“What? When?”

“A while ago. Before you went into your room.”

“Why are you only telling me that now!”

Hae-jun shouted like a bolt of lightning and sprinted out of the waiting room. He had so many things weighing on his conscience—like running off without a word to meet Lee Kang-ju or subtly refusing second rounds lately—that his heart was pounding. Since he was late to the summons on top of having committed those sins, it was obvious that violence would follow.

He cleared his throat in front of the Boss’s office and knocked. Once he identified himself as Hajin, permission was granted immediately. When he opened the door and entered, the Boss had his booted feet up on the desk. A greasy, slimy smile played on his face, as if he had stumbled into some free money from somewhere.

“Cha Hae-jun.”

The Boss’s voice, which usually addressed him as ‘this punk’ or ‘that punk,’ was strangely soft and sweet. Goosebumps broke out over Hae-jun’s forearms and the nape of his neck. Pressing down on his standing hair with his palm, Hae-jun gave a servile smile.

“I heard you were looking for me. What is this about…?”

“Man, there really isn’t a single soul to trust in this business.”

“Pardon?”

“Just what kind of sucker did you manage to hook?”

“A sucker? What sucker would I hook? Oh, Boss, really.”

Hae-jun quickly waved his hands in denial. Ever since he had tried to hook someone in the past and got burned badly, he had been cautious about putting effort into anyone.

“If you keep living your life lying like that, your tongue is going to get cut off one day, you punk. Like hell you didn’t! Your sucker came by today and cleared out your entire debt.”

“…What?”

“Who are you trying to fool? Did you finally open up your back hole? Did you sell it to some rich chairman?”

“No, what? Boss. Who on earth…”

“Baekseong…? Baeksong…? It was a name like that. Did you take out another private loan by any chance?”

The Boss asked with a glaring look. Hae-jun shook his head so violently that his neat hair became a mess. Just the mention of private loans made him sick to his stomach. Perhaps because he broadcasted his denial with his entire body, the Boss didn’t pry any further.

“You said you’d be a ghost of this place even when you died, my ass. Here. Take it.”

He was a heartless man who would cut the ankles of runaways who didn’t pay him back in a heartbeat, but the Boss’s greatest merit was that he was thorough and clean when it came to money matters.

The Boss pulled out a copy of a receipt and handed it to Hae-jun. It was the contract Hae-jun had signed with a thumbprint when he first joined the shop and asked the Boss for money. A receipt stating that the debt was paid in full was attached to the bottom.

Wondering if it was a dream, he pinched his cheek. His pliant cheek meat hurt. It was reality. Even so, it was hard to believe, so Hae-jun looked back and forth between the paper in his hand and the Boss’s face.

“Is this real?”

Even though the weight of the other debts on his back was still immense, the fact that even one was gone made the weight on his heart feel much lighter. Hae-jun’s eyes grew teary. The Boss clicked his tongue. He hated seeing men cry more than anything, but there was something about Cha Hae-jun’s tearfulness that tugged at the heartstrings.

“I think they said he was the CEO of some place.”

At those hinting words, Hae-jun, who had been staring frantically at the receipt, snapped his head up.

“What do you want to do from now on? If you want to keep working here, go ahead. Ah. The rent is going up by 30%. I only took a small amount until now so you could pay back your debt.”

“No, Boss, that’s not right!”

“What do you mean it’s not right, you punk. If you don’t like it, get out.”

In this metropolis where money disappeared just by breathing, it was hard to find a place with similar conditions and rent. He hadn’t even taken a security deposit. Since Hae-jun had been tied down by his debt anyway, there had been no need to bind him with a deposit.

But that was over now. A 30% increase. Hae-jun clung to the Boss’s arm and pleaded desperately.

“Can’t you lower it just a little? Just about 10%.”

“30.”

“Boss…!”

“30!”

No matter what tricks Hae-jun used that normally worked on customers, the Boss remained unmoved. Telling him to get lost because it was annoying having a guy cling to him, the Boss gave him a flick on the forehead that felt like it would split his skull in two.