It was nothing, really—but the noodles in my mouth nearly slipped out through the gap between my parted lips.
I couldn’t very well change the reply I’d already sent into a [ㅗ] (middle finger) now. I was still hesitating when I saw Jun walking back into the restaurant. But instead of returning to the table, he headed straight for the counter to pay. I hurriedly gulped down the broth and stood up. He’d already treated me to baeksuk and even Korean beef—if he paid for this too, that’d feel a bit much.
“I’ll pay.”
“It’s fine. Buy dessert instead.”
In the end, Jun paid, and we left the noodle shop. As we walked, we looked around for something to get for dessert, and just then, a fast-food place came into view.
“Juni, want to go there?”
“Another burger?”
“No, ice cream.”
Jun naturally followed me inside the fast-food restaurant.
I stood in front of the kiosk, tapping the screen to place the order, when I realized Jun was standing right behind me, watching. Maybe it was because of that message I’d seen earlier, but I kept becoming overly aware of every little thing he did.
I stepped slightly aside so he could choose too. Jun selected something from the left-side menu, then scanned through the sub-menu on the right. As we both looked at the screen, his right hand brushed against my back.
“Can’t see. Come over here.”
“Okay.”
As I answered, I shifted my body to the left to clear the screen for him entirely.
But his left arm was braced against the machine at an awkward height, leaving no gap for me to slip through below. I ended up trapped between his arms, waiting for him to finish ordering.
Suddenly, a ticklish voice brushed against my right ear.
“Chocolate cone?”
“Yeah.”
After choosing a cup for himself, he withdrew his hand from the kiosk. He rummaged for his card, paid, and headed toward the counter. Then he told me to come up to the second floor and went up first.
As always, the chocolate cone here couldn’t be beaten by any other ice cream. It was the best. I took a bite the moment I got it and headed toward the stairs. Jun was already seated at a long table by the window on the second floor. Even though it was past lunchtime, there were still quite a few customers.
“Juni, here. You like the one with chocolate on it too.”
“Thanks.”
Jun unfolded the paper spoon and began scooping up his ice cream. After a few bites, though, he started watching me eat instead.
“Hyung, is that good?”
“Yeah. Want me to get you one?”
“Just one bite.”
“I already put my mouth on this one, so that’s kinda… Wait, I’ll go buy you another.”
Just as I was about to stand, my wrist—the one holding the ice cream—was grabbed. Jun’s face came closer. His mouth opened, and he bit into the very spot I’d just licked.
A bit of chocolate smeared onto the corner of his lips. He wiped it away with his thumb, frowning at how sweet it was.
“There’s some on the other side too.”
At my words, he wiped that side with his thumb as well, then sucked on his finger. The sound made my chest drop for no reason. It was exactly the same sound he’d made when he sucked on my hand in the car.
…Get it together.
Why did I have to see that message and start spiraling into pointless thoughts? This isn’t the time for me to be like this. I shouldn’t be—
“Hyung.”
“Huh?”
“It’s on your hand.”
The melted ice cream had already dripped down my thumb. I reached for a napkin to wipe it off, but I saw Jun’s hand stretching toward me. Instinctively, I pulled the hand with the ice cream behind my back. His hand, which had clearly been aiming to grab it, froze midair.
“I’ll wipe it myself.”
If he’d caught it, he probably would’ve done exactly what I’d just remembered. One of my fingers would’ve gone in and out of that mouth. Because I’d wiped it with a dry napkin, my hand felt sticky. I stood up to throw away the cone part I hadn’t eaten, and Jun stood as well.
“You don’t like me touching you?”
“Huh?”
There were still people eating nearby. Afraid he might get hurt if I said I didn’t like it, I just laughed and said, “There are people around.” Then I told him I’d go wash my hands and headed to the restroom.
Shhh—.
I turned on the water and was about to put my hands under it when Jun followed me inside. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he grabbed the hand he’d tried to catch earlier and brought it to his mouth. My thumb inevitably slipped into his cool mouth and was sucked.
“I’m not the type to leave things half-finished. Wash the rest of your hand and come out.”
Click.
I stared blankly at the restroom door as it shut. My body is strictly something I offer as a reward—so why is he sucking on it?
“He’s so damn self-centered!”
I snapped at the restroom door, and at that moment, someone suddenly walked in. Flustered, I lowered my head and hurriedly washed my hands. The person who’d come in glanced at me before minding his own business.
After quickly washing up and drying my hands with a paper towel, I stepped out. Jun was standing right beside the door. One corner of his lips was lifted—maybe he’d heard what I said inside—but I deliberately pretended not to notice.
***
“Juni, about your officetel building. Wasn’t that managed by Evergreen Real Estate?”
As we left the fast-food place and walked toward the office, I remembered the real estate contract I’d organized earlier.
“It was entrusted to them because they’re an acquaintance of my mom. Why?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just keep leaving it with them?”
“Then what about you? You’ve gotta make a living too. You barely get any customers—can you even afford the rent like that?”
“If you put it that bluntly… don’t you think that hurts a bit?”
There was no need to keep up appearances in front of Jun, who already knew everything. I’d long since thrown away my pride around him—probably from the very first time I ran errands for him when we met.
We were walking side by side when an exclamation came from behind us.
“Oh wow, you’re together again!”
It was Yot Seller—that guy. Just thinking he might’ve scammed me out of my Relax skill made him look even more unpleasant than before.
“Aren’t you two a little too affectionate? Let’s be affectionate together too. By the way, President Seomun Jun, you never pick up my calls. You still have my business card, right?”
“Do I?”
“Oh come on now. Then I’ll have to give you another.”
He reached into his pocket for his personal business card, only to find the case empty. Flustered, he quickly pulled out one with only the office’s main phone number on it and personally slipped it into Jun’s pocket.
“Please do answer if I call this number. Well then, take care.”
I almost admired the way he said everything he had to say and left. If you wanted to succeed in sales, that kind of friendliness and nerve was essential. If it were me, facing a cold customer like Jun, I would’ve probably just barely handed over the card and mumbled awkwardly.
But Jun slipped a hand into his pocket, glanced at the business card—then flicked it away with his fingers.
“Hey! You can’t just litter like that.”
The way it flew, I thought it was a throwing star. I hurried over and picked up the card after it bounced off the building wall and fell to the ground. If Jun didn’t want it, I figured I might as well put it in my own card holder.
The design was fairly sleek. I was thinking maybe I should make mine like this next time when I noticed the representative’s name under the business name—and my expression froze. …Wait, why is this name here?
Kang Chung-man.
Yot Seller was a licensed realtor affiliated with Golden Real Estate, and Kang Chung-man was the representative there. The outline of the culprit was starting to take shape. I stood there, stiff with surprise, staring at the card. When I didn’t follow, Jun turned back.
“What?”
“N-Nothing. I was just wondering how much cards like these cost. Haha. Let’s go.”
I slipped the card into my pocket and followed him. As we walked, all I could think about was the Relax transaction scam. Yot Seller throwing around his boss’s name while scamming people? It made some sense. A scammer was unlikely to use his own real name.
Should I bring up Yot Seller to ShutUp when I log into the game today? Honestly, it might be better to just tell him that guy scammed my Relax skill. ShutUp’s already got it out for him—I’d just be adding fuel to the fire. That seemed the most natural approach.
But I needed confirmation. Was Yot Seller really the one who had promised to give Relax to the Goddess that day? I was deep in thought, wondering if there was a way to get all three of us face-to-face, when hands suddenly grabbed both my shoulders and spun me around.
“Where are you going? The office is this way.”
Jun looked down at me with an exasperated expression. Then he said he’d get going and headed to his car.
“Oh, right. Yeah. Drive safe.”
My reply was drowned out by the sound of his car starting.
As expected, there were cigarette butts scattered all over the spot where his car had been parked. They were crushed under the tires, making them hard to sweep. Taking advantage of the empty space, I went into the office, grabbed a broom, and came back out.
As if sweeping away my cluttered thoughts, I cleaned up all the cigarette butts I hadn’t managed to deal with over the past few days. And once they were gone, I felt just a little lighter.
