Chapter 7
I was being misunderstood, but I didn’t feel the need to explain at length. He came within one step of me and bent his waist slightly to match my eye level.
“Looking for a partner that way seems much more dangerous. Just go with me. What are the odds of people with these tendencies meeting? It’s almost… don’t you think it’s fate?”
“What a romantic fate.”
At my sarcastic answer, his eyes narrowed.
“Does Jung Jiin-ssi know what romance is?”
“I think I know better than someone who left only an email address without even a name.”
It wasn’t a subject for people who had both chosen one-night partners overseas based only on appearance and atmosphere to argue about. Whether what he was saying now was closer to threats, or closer to a suggestion for mutual assistance between people who had difficulty finding partners with matching tendencies – just trying to gauge that was overwhelming enough.
The man laughed mockingly, or as if sighing. Keeping his head tilted diagonally, he only raised his gaze to look at me.
“I’m curious – were you actually planning to send an email?”
“……”
“You threw away the address, didn’t you?”
I smiled without answering, just moving my lips slightly.
“I thought so.”
Taking my reaction to mean I had thrown it away, he also smiled lightly. As if it was no big deal.
“Take care.”
“……”
“Darling.”
Muttering that with an expressionless face and monotone voice, he turned away before I did. I watched his back as he walked toward the sofa to pick up the empty glass and wine bottle, then left the room.
Before I had even walked three or four steps down the corridor, I encountered a couple coming around the corner. The man recognized me first and poked his companion’s side while whispering. A sudden realization hit me of how dangerous what I had been doing until just now was. Yet rather than feeling dizzy, it was actually thrilling.
Even after getting on the elevator and the doors closed, the excitement of transgression wouldn’t easily subside.
A hunter?
To explain the perfect compatibility I’d had with him last night, that was the only answer.
Lost in thought, I was about to chew on my lips when I winced and let go due to unexpected pain. I quickly looked at my face in the gleaming stainless steel finish of the elevator. From how hard he had sucked, my lips had swollen red in the meantime.
I stuck out my tongue and gently traced over my swollen lower lip. Naturally, the heat from last night came to mind.
■
“What brings you to Bangkok… are you traveling? Or do you live here?”
“Something like a business trip.”
The cocktail the man ordered for me was like a green jewel. The paper straw was even decorated with colorful fresh flowers. From the color alone, I thought it might be an emerald martini, but when I tasted it, it wasn’t.
After hearing my answer, he stared at my face for quite a while before turning his head to check the table where his colleagues were.
“Shouldn’t you be going back? You said you were in the middle of a meeting.”
“Are you trying to chase me away after just one cocktail?”
“……”
“Where are you staying?”
Perhaps because time was short, he skipped steps and came out directly.
“Huh? Is this… such an expensive cocktail?”
When I pulled away from the cocktail as if protecting myself and leaned my upper body far back, the man smiled with his eyes crinkling. When he smiled, his impression definitely changed. Either way, he was equally attractive.
The man reached his arm over my shoulder and gripped the back of the chair I was sitting in. It was a confident, bold action. As he leaned in closer, bending his waist deeper, a thick, heavy fragrance stimulated my sense of smell.
His face and eyes seen up close momentarily looked like someone in their early twenties. A bundle of pulsing hormones filled with sexual curiosity about his partner.
“I won’t disappoint you.”
Rather than a boastful declaration, it sounded like a coquettish plea asking for a chance. This time, laughter escaped from my side.
I deliberately didn’t look at him while stirring the emerald liquid with the straw.
“Room 713.”
“This hotel?”
I nodded to the man who asked back with a surprised nuance.
“You’re not lying, are you?”
I nodded once more, and the man looked at his wristwatch.
“I’ll come up by midnight.”
Looking at me with somewhat suspicious, complex eyes, he finally pressed my shoulder once firmly before returning to his seat.
Midnight was about an hour away. I left the bar first, giving about 10 minutes’ time. While walking toward the lobby, I could clearly feel the gaze reaching my back.
How long had it been since I felt this kind of sexual excitement?
‘Never sleep with just anyone. I don’t know about 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 agency president had emphasized personal life management from the time of contract.
‘You’re an adult in your late twenties, so if you’re determined to deceive me, 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 a celebrity instead. That way there’s less trouble.’
If it was someone in the same industry, having their face known was the same for both parties. The meaning was that it was relatively safe since there would be nothing good for either side if the relationship was exposed.
Even without the president’s request, I had no intention of putting myself in a dangerous situation. The reason Yoon Juho was the only person I’d had relations with since debut wasn’t because of romantic feelings or purity.
The hotel had a structure where buildings surrounded a central courtyard in a square shape. After getting off the elevator, I stopped in the corridor and looked down below. Even from the 7th floor height, the man’s physical condition was excellent.
Would he really come? Wasn’t he a dangerous opponent?
Though he had an East Coast American accent, he didn’t seem like someone born and raised there. Nevertheless, he spoke flawless English. Everything – the words he used, his accent, trivial gestures and manners – all hinted that he was someone who had received a high level of education. It was something like a body odor ingrained from childhood that couldn’t be hidden even with slight swagger. Having lived surrounded by that type of people for a long time, including my mother, distinguishing that level was simple.
In any case, it seemed certain that he was someone who didn’t know me, actor Jung Jiin. That was what mattered most.
Returning to my room, I showered and drank some whiskey straight without ice. It was because of excitement rather than nervousness. I also placed the gel and condoms I had packed in a corner of my bag on the bedside table. These were items I dutifully packed for every overseas business trip.
The man who had acted like he would rush up immediately no matter what lies he had to tell didn’t appear even when midnight came.
After about 10 more minutes passed, I found it amusing that I was sitting in a robe after showering, waiting for a sex partner. Even if you’re dying to have someone when they’re right in front of you, desire can easily wither in the meantime. It was an even more likely story for a one-night partner seduced while traveling.
When I admitted the fact that I’d been stood up, a hollow laugh escaped. Just as I was getting 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 bedside table. About 15 minutes had passed since the promised midnight.
Standing in front of the door was that man.
Perhaps because he had taken off his jacket, he looked more disheveled than downstairs. As I stepped aside and pulled the door further inward, he rubbed the corner of his mouth while shooting a look at the room behind me. Unlike an hour ago when he had been actively seductive, he seemed to be hesitating.
“Excuse me.”
Entering the room, he first put down the jacket he had been carrying on his arm onto the desk. Then he quickly looked around the room. Though it was the most basic type of room, since it was an old hotel, it wasn’t very cramped.
The man standing with his hands on his hips looked back at me.
“You said you were on a business trip… in Bangkok?”
“I’m leaving on a morning flight tomorrow.”
“Were you looking for someone to spend your last night with?”
“Well, yes.”
At my answer, the man smiled with a somewhat bitter-looking face and lowered his gaze. Sitting with his buttocks perched on the edge of the desk, he lightly scratched around his forehead and muttered as if talking to himself.
“Finding a same-sex partner in Bangkok isn’t that difficult.”
Though it had been so long since this kind of behavior that seducing first felt awkward, further conversation would only be a waste of time. I walked toward him and stopped in front of his long legs. His shoes and my slippers barely brushed against each other.
“It’s a 9 o’clock flight.”
“……”
The man slowly raised his head to meet my eyes.
I had felt it when talking at the bar too, but his gaze was somewhat unpredictable. It would flash with motivation like a predator before coveted prey, then take on a hazy light as if he himself were defenseless prey. Right now it was the latter.
I added, meaning we shouldn’t delay.
“I have to leave the hotel by 5.”
He had been staring blankly at my face, then suddenly straightened his back like someone awakening from thought. Then he gently cupped my right cheek as if just placing his hand there. His large hand covered up to the upper part of my neck. The man’s thumb gently stroked my cheek. It was quite tender skinship that wouldn’t normally occur between people who met for sex.
“Is it okay if I don’t let you sleep at all?”
“I can sleep plenty after I get back.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
