Boundless Love

10.

Recently, Choi Mujin had developed a small hobby. At first, he denied it, but that didn’t last long. Whenever he had free time while working, he watched Haseo moving around like a squirrel on his tablet. Compared to Seo Jaewoo, who had done everything naturally, Lee Haseo made frequent mistakes. Their faces were similar, but their behaviors were completely different. And that was interesting.

‘Being cooped up at home all day…’

Even such things felt novel to him now. Choi Mujin finished his urgent work and picked up his tablet. A fair amount of time had passed since breakfast, so Haseo should be cleaning the living room by now. With that thought, he looked at the screen, but Haseo didn’t appear for quite some time.

“Hmm?”

Leisurely stroking his chin, Choi Mujin stood up. After working diligently for a while… he didn’t seem like the type to run away out of fear. The CCTV was always monitoring the house, but there were blind spots. So he opened the door and carefully examined the interior. Finally, Choi Mujin found Haseo in the utility room.

Seeing him curled up against the wall, asleep, stirred a strange emotion. He looked pitiful, yet cute. With an emotion he couldn’t quite define, Choi Mujin looked down at Haseo and sat down beside him. Haseo must have been in deep sleep, as he only made soft breathing sounds without waking up.

Choi Mujin reached out and pressed Haseo’s well-shaped nose with his fingertip. When he applied pressure, Haseo frowned and mumbled.

“Mmm.”

It seemed like he was saying something, but the sound wasn’t clear. He must have been extremely tired, as he remained asleep even after Choi Mujin pressed his nose several times. If left alone, he would sleep and wake up on his own, but the utility room floor was hard.

“No stamina at all.”

Snorting, Choi Mujin picked up Haseo. He intended to put him in the empty guest room.

* * *

A black, sticky shadow clung to Haseo. Terrified, he tried to remove it but eventually sat down and cried.

“Grandmother, Grandmother!”

He called out to his only family for help, but his grandmother didn’t appear. Only then did Haseo realize that his grandmother was in the hospital. His grandmother, whose life was maintained by several tubes. If she died, Haseo would be left alone in the world.

‘That can’t happen.’

Though he had scammed others to gather money and tried to become stronger, Haseo’s inside was still fragile. That’s why, even knowing it was a vain hope, he couldn’t let go of his grandmother.

‘No, that’s not true.’

It wasn’t a vain hope. Someday his grandmother would recover, open her eyes again, and call his name. She would call him a puppy and stroke his head. Even while crying, Haseo pulled up the corners of his mouth.

It was a terrible nightmare.

In a dream he couldn’t escape from, all he could do was suffer. So he gave up on everything and stayed still, when suddenly something grabbed his hand. A large, firm hand—Haseo held onto it like salvation. Fortunately, the hand didn’t disappear but held Haseo back. Perhaps because of that, the suffering felt less intense than usual.

“Gasp!”

Exhaling his blocked breath, he opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling. Looking around, he soon realized where he was. It was the empty room in Choi Mujin’s house. The room, said to be used for guests, looked clean as if it had never been used. But since dust accumulated even in unoccupied spaces, Haseo occasionally entered to clean it.

‘But I was sleeping in the utility room?’

Why am I here? While pondering this, he belatedly realized his hand felt heavy. Wondering what it was, he looked down at his drooping right hand to find a large hand wearing a leather glove resting on it.

“Huh?”

Haseo swallowed what almost became a scream. Right next to the bed where he lay, Choi Mujin was sitting with his eyes closed, leaning his body against it. That alone was frightening, but moreover, he was holding Haseo’s hand. What on earth had happened?

As he was carefully trying to pull his trapped hand away in terror, Choi Mujin opened his eyes.

“Oh, hello.”

When Haseo reflexively greeted him, Choi Mujin looked at him with a slightly upturned corner of his mouth.

“Why am I here?”

“I wonder, why are you here?”

That’s why I’m asking! But Haseo couldn’t reveal his thoughts to Choi Mujin. Choi Mujin naturally retrieved his hand from Haseo and stood up. When the heavy weight disappeared, somehow a corner of Haseo’s heart felt empty. Tilting his head in confusion at this feeling, Choi Mujin spoke.

“If you’re sleepy in the future, sleep here.”

“What?”

“It’s better than curling up in the utility room.”

After saying that, Choi Mujin added as he left the room:

“And you were the one who grabbed my hand first?”

Only then could Haseo understand the situation. So Choi Mujin had brought him here when he was sleeping in the utility room? And while struggling with a nightmare, he must have unconsciously grabbed Choi Mujin’s hand.

“Ugh.”

Haseo clutched his chest and exhaled deeply. Though Choi Mujin seemed like someone who would mockingly leave when seeing a person in distress, he appeared different than expected.

That day, Haseo grilled meat for dinner. Though it wasn’t easy to grill since he wasn’t used to eating it, the expensive meat tasted delicious. Choi Mujin ate a bit more rice than usual. Watching that made Haseo feel somewhat proud.

After finishing all the cleanup, he headed to his new workplace. What had initially seemed distressing became increasingly familiar with daily exposure.

“Looks like you don’t need my help anymore?”

Cheolsu, who had been assigned to help Haseo, smiled and patted his back.

“Hahaha, yes. Thanks to you.”

At first, just keeping up with the work was overwhelming, but with practice, he developed some techniques—techniques to earn more tips. Though a daily wage was provided, it wasn’t enough. So he needed to earn more tips, but he couldn’t receive much by just doing the assigned tasks.

There were several waiters working, and some employees who offered their bodies for money. So at some point, Haseo began to cross the line.

Yes, it started with a man who claimed to be the second son of a large corporation. This person visited the establishment almost every other day, and each time, he called male waiters into the room. The establishment was lenient about customers’ sexual preferences as long as they paid.

It didn’t matter if men called for men, or women for women. The employees also moved for money, so they didn’t hold back. They had gathered only such people from the start.

Haseo entered the room to add more alcohol and food. As usual, he cleared away the empty bottles and tidied the table. Then, as he was laying out the food on the tray, the man sitting in the center like a king called him.

“Deokbae?”

When creating an alias, Haseo had followed the belief of his senior, Cheolsu. For that reason, he had a name that would usually be seen on an elderly grandfather in the countryside, but surprisingly, it was helpful. Some people called him because they found the name amusing. So he thought this was the case again.

“Funny name. It’s amusing!”

The drunk man laughed loudly and beckoned to Haseo.

“Come here, come closer.”

Haseo, who was putting down the food, approached as instructed.

“Oh!”

The man exclaimed and carefully examined Haseo’s face.

“Quite pretty. And you have a puppy-like face. I like faces like this.”

At this, the corners of the mouth of another employee in the man’s arms trembled slightly.

“He’s just a waiter.”

Despite saying this, the man paid no heed.

“So what if he’s a waiter! In the end, everyone wants the same thing.”

Then he took out his wallet from his pocket and threw it on the table. People’s gazes converged on the sound of the heavy leather wallet falling.

“Open it.”

The man pointed at Haseo with a grin.

“Me?”

“Yes. You.”

Haseo hesitated but opened the wallet the man had thrown. The wallet was filled with 50,000 won bills. Roughly estimating, it seemed to be worth several million won.

“If you do as I say, I’ll give it to you.”

At the man’s words, Haseo unconsciously swallowed. Just a few bills would be tens of thousands of won, and he’s offering this as a tip? While the money was tempting, he also wondered: What would he ask for in return for this much money? Given what he had seen and heard here, he was suddenly afraid. The man seemed to notice this. He took back the wallet and pulled out a bundle of bills.

He knew that the waiters at the establishment didn’t easily sell their bodies. If they were looking for easier money, they would have acted like the man sitting next to him from the start. But so what? What moves people is money, more money. If someone doesn’t move for money, consider whether the amount is too small.

“Not enough?”

The man took out more money.

“It’s not even a difficult task. Just, you know, you sit here.”

Pointing at the space between his spread legs, the man said:

“Sit here and just feed me the food. Easy, right?”

If he had asked him to take off his clothes and present his backside from the start, it wouldn’t have worked, but by lowering the threshold, most people complied.

‘That’s how it is with broke guys.’

The man grinned broadly.