And if I drank with him and spent the night together in this tiny room… no one knew what might happen. In a world where a pervert who stole my underwear existed, it was hard to guarantee that nothing worse would happen.
I was uneasy because we’d already done even more extreme things inside the game. The game was a virtual space, but reality wasn’t. I still didn’t know him well, so being in the same space felt dangerous.
So, for now, I had to go back. I couldn’t get angry at him, but I couldn’t scold him either, and I didn’t know what to do. I grabbed the back of Jun’s hand just as he was about to lift his glass again. He obediently lowered his arm beneath the table and quietly looked at me.
“You know this, right? Everything a slave owns belongs to the master. Well, I’m not saying I’ll literally give you my assets, but… didn’t you ever want to run things your own way while working in real estate?”
I remembered that one studio building I’d tried to broker before, the one that refused female tenants. I’d wanted that property badly. Just holding a building like that would mean I wouldn’t have to worry about my office rent. I think there were several vacancies too…
As that thought flashed through my mind, Jun’s proposal suddenly sounded incredibly tempting. I’d come to Seoul partly to avoid that Panty Stalker, but also to settle down here and make a triumphant return someday. Thinking about it calmly, something more terrifying than that pervert was ‘money.’
I didn’t want to go completely bankrupt and crawl back to my hometown. I’d poured all my savings and severance pay into this place—there was no way I could let that happen. Back when I lived at home, I’d constantly worried that if rumors spread about men clinging to me, my mom—who was born and raised there—would feel ashamed. But this was Seoul, where no one knew me, and I started to feel a bit of courage, thinking maybe I could just ignore things like those semen-stained underwear incidents.
Still, an uneasy feeling lingered. As if he’d seen right through me, Jun threw out another enticing offer.
“I’ll catch the bastard who sent you those semen underwear too.”
Hearing him go that far made my resolve start to waver.
It wasn’t a losing deal in many ways. On top of that, it flipped our positions completely—he used to send me on weird errands like changing clothes even on my days off, but now things would be reversed in an instant. Honestly, this had to be better than running errands, right?
“You’re saying you’ll do whatever I tell you, right? Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
“But if I listen well, you have to give rewards too.”
“That ‘reward’ isn’t… something dangerous, right?”
Seeing my anxious expression, Jun softened his face.
He insisted the reward was just some skinship, saying that since the problem was erectile dysfunction, how could it be solved without any contact? Then he gently added that solving it quickly and getting 30 million won would be better for me too. Watching him like that… only made me more uneasy.
“Still, it’s a bit…”
“Think about it. When you raise a dog, do you just give commands? Didn’t you pet it too?”
“I did.”
“Right. You’ve gotta pat it.”
The more he said “right,” the more I felt like I was getting pulled into something.
Did I answer wrong again? Ah… this wasn’t even déjà vu, but it reminded me of when he’d persuaded me in the game before. Like when he asked if I didn’t want to pick up 100 potions. At the same time, I wondered if a little physical contact was really that big of a deal.
Still… 30 million won. But what if he just said that and didn’t actually pay? I couldn’t help feeling suspicious.
“You’ll do it, right?”
“You’re really going to give me 30 million won?”
“Yeah.”
Maybe he noticed my doubtful stare, because Jun started typing something on his phone. Then he sent it to me as a message.
[Seomun Jun will transfer 30 million won to Yoo Du-seon’s account within 24 hours if Yoo Du-seon resolves his erectile dysfunction. However, if the master-servant relationship is terminated without mutual agreement, the party responsible must pay a 30 million won penalty.]
It was a very concise message. When calling me, Jun said “Mr. Yoo Du,” but in the message he carefully wrote out “Yoo Du-seon.” He really knew how to separate business from personal matters.
Since it was a one-sided message, Jun asked me to resend it with a confirmation line added on my end. I was still a little skeptical, but then I remembered something a Human friend of his had said in the game.
[ShutUp may enjoy slaughter, but he doesn’t lie. So relax.]
It wasn’t like we could get something like this notarized… so I just went along with it.
“But what if it never stands up in the end?”
“Then we just terminate it. If I’m the one who ends it first, I pay you 30 million.”
In other words, it didn’t even have to succeed. If it dragged on and didn’t work, he’d probably get tired and give up on his own—that’s what I thought. Then I came back to reality and examined the message again.
“Wait, if I’m the one who says I want to stop, does that mean I might have to pay 30 million?”
“The chances of me breaking it are higher than you, Mr. Yoo Du. If I back out midway, you’d feel wronged, right? I’m the one paying.”
“But still… how do we even verify it? A guy’s… thing doesn’t always stand up just because he wants it to.”
“30 million isn’t that big of a deal to me. No reason to lie over something like that. And think about it—who’s having a harder time, the slave or the master?”
“The slave.”
“Exactly.”
As someone who’d run errands, I knew that much for sure. But with Jun adding those little affirmations after every answer, I felt myself getting drawn in more and more.
For now, I looked at the herbal liquor bottles on the table—yagwanmun liquor and deodeok liquor. The biggest advantage was that I could stop him from drinking those immediately. On top of that, I could ask him to check who kept leaving boxes in front of my office, or even secure exclusive contracts on properties in his building. Nothing in life had ever gone my way, so it didn’t feel like the world would end just because I controlled one kid like this.
“Juni, you’re not going to regret this, right?”
“Of course not.”
He held out his hand for a handshake.
“Take care of me, Mr. Yoo Du.”
“Yeah.”
I lightly clasped his large hand and gave an awkward smile. When he reached for the yagwanmun liquor again, I gave him my first order.
“Don’t drink. Let’s leave within thirty minutes.”
“Okay.”
The deodeok liquor and yagwanmun liquor that had been on the table were pushed toward the door, and we finished our meal.
While I was eating, Jun suddenly stood up and went outside. After a while, he came back holding a bowl of cool scorched-rice tea. He poured some into his own cup and set the entire bowl beside my meal.
“Thanks.”
“Is there anything else you want to eat?”
I said I was full and kept eating, then drank some water—but his gaze felt sharp. He’d already finished his food and was silently staring at me.
“Don’t look at me. It makes me uncomfortable.”
Normally he might’ve ignored a comment like that, but Jun lowered his eyes and just fiddled with his phone. I hadn’t realized how powerful the contract would be.
My second order came after we finished eating and were about to clear the dishes.
“From now on, don’t call me Mr. Yoo Du. Call me hyung.”
At that, Jun lowered his gaze and sank into thought for a moment. Was it really that hard for him to decide to call someone five years older than him hyung?
After a long pause, he slowly blinked a few times and met my eyes.
“Hyung.”
I didn’t know why, but the way he said it sounded strangely forlorn. Still, once the first time was over, he quickly started calling me hyung at the end of almost every sentence. If my grandfather could see this from heaven, he’d probably feel proud.
Before getting into the car, Jun said he’d forgotten something and brought along the yagwanmun liquor he hadn’t drunk earlier. Calling it “important,” he really did make sure to take care of the good stuff.
***
On the way back to the office, my phone rang again when we stopped at a rest area. It was Han-woo calling. The first thing he asked was whether I’d sold Relax.
“I tried using a global shout in the village, but it’s not selling.”
[Try posting it on the homepage board. That’ll be faster.]
“Oh, really? I’m out of town right now. I’ll post it when I get back to the office.”
[I’ll call you after I get off work later.]
“Okay.”
After hanging up, I looked down at my phone and sighed. Just then, Jun came out of the restroom and grabbed my hand, pulling me along. Even when I told him to let go and walk normally, he refused. Wondering what big thing he was trying to show me, I followed him—only to realize he’d brought me to the snack counter you always see at rest stops.
“What should I eat?”
“Just eat whatever.”
“Hyung, you pick.”
“Just choose what you want.”
At that moment, an elementary school kid approached with 5,000 won in hand. The child skillfully said, “One hot bar and fish cake, please,” paid, and walked away with the food.
Even that kid could order and get food on his own, yet this grown—no, even bigger than me—guy was whining for me to choose his snack. We both watched the kid walk away, then looked at each other.
“You don’t know how to pick like that?”
“I think you’re neglecting our relationship a bit. Do you think I’m acting like this for no reason? Get it together.”
“…Feels like our roles just switched for a second.”
“Exactly. So focus.”
“Then get a hot bar and fish cake.”
“Yeah, excuse me. One of these and this, please.”
Even though he ordered the exact same thing the kid had bought earlier, Jun didn’t look dissatisfied at all. It didn’t matter what the menu was—he just wanted to eat whatever I told him to.
Newborn babies are often wrapped tightly in cloth to prevent the Moro reflex, supposedly because the pressure gives them psychological stability. For a moment, I wondered if Jun wanted me to control him for a similar reason—but after watching him devour the hot bar in two bites, I dismissed the thought. I didn’t want to imagine a giant baby like that.
Does he want me to be obsessed with him? Or am I some kind of babysitter?
As an only child, it felt like I’d suddenly gained a younger brother. I decided to think of it lightly—just some distant younger cousin being a nuisance.
Before getting into the passenger seat at the rest stop, I gave him another order: open the passenger door from the inside for me. Jun hesitated a little, like he didn’t want to do that one. I saw him get into the driver’s seat first and fiddle with something.
“I’ve set it up. Get in now.”
As soon as I got in, I closed and reopened the passenger door. It clicked open smoothly. It was such a small thing, but opening the door myself felt strangely refreshing. Only after fastening my seatbelt with satisfaction did Jun’s car glide forward.
