“…Get off now. If you’re done.”
Jun poked my lower lip with the same finger that had been teasing the tip of his cock.
“What a shame.”
As Jun slowly lifted himself, I tried to twist away—but before I knew it, my own fully aroused cock brushed against his leg. Jun paused halfway off the bed, glanced at the obvious bulge straining at the front of my pants, and let out a whistle.
“Want me to take care of it for you?”
“No, I’m good. Just go already! And don’t come over at dawn again! I mean it!”
At my commanding tone, Jun only gave a faint smile that didn’t quite count as an answer. He stepped off the bed and headed straight to the bathroom. During that short moment, I struggled to cool down the heat coursing through me. First, I had to suppress this sudden surge of desire.
Click.
As soon as the bathroom door opened, I pretended to act normal. Jun stepped halfway into the room and gave a brief farewell.
“I’m heading out.”
Even after taking a bath, I’d thought I’d finally get a good night’s sleep, but between dreaming about my childhood and this whole incident, my drowsiness had completely vanished. It felt like my entire biorhythm had been thrown off. I could already tell I’d be spacing out all morning.
I got up from the bed to see him off. The dim pre-dawn darkness resembled him a lot—like he was wearing the night itself. Watching his back as he walked away, he seemed strangely lonely compared to the way he’d been overflowing with desire earlier.
“I took the rubber stopper out of the tub.”
“Thanks for that. See you.”
I waved casually, but Jun suddenly pulled me into a tight hug, strong enough to make me stagger backward. Just like before, he wrapped his arms around me from behind.
“…Sleep well, Hyung.”
“After what you did, I doubt I’ll sleep at all.”
When I grumbled dryly, Jun let out a soft laugh near my ear and hugged me even tighter. His behavior felt like a child refusing to go to bed, so I patted his back about five times. Only then did the arms wrapped around my waist loosen.
“If I’m late for work tomorrow, sweep in front of the office for me.”
“Okay.”
The smile disappeared from Jun’s lips, and he left without hesitation. The doorlock clicked as the front door shut.
“…Maybe I should move.”
The moment I lay back on the bed, the thought slipped out like a sigh. The arousal that had been burning earlier faded surprisingly fast.
Lately, people kept dropping by, leaving me no time to feel lonely—but it was exhausting. Muttering a few more complaints about how that bastard had completely ruined my sleep, my eyes eventually closed, and I drifted back into deep slumber.
***
The next day, I overslept again and strolled into the real estate office around eleven.
There wasn’t a single cigarette butt in front of the shop. Since I’d skipped breakfast and felt hungry, I decided to grab an early lunch, and the tteokbokki place across the street caught my eye.
Seeing the store I’d helped broker doing well made me feel proud. When I stepped inside, the owner, who had been tidying up, greeted me warmly.
“Oh? You’ve added a lot of new menu items.”
“The franchise keeps sending new products, so it keeps growing. Honestly, I wish they’d stop adding more.”
“Maybe more customers will come because of the new menu. Oh? What are all those signatures on the wall?”
“Ah, there’s some entertainment company nearby, I think? Anyway, some trainees came by, ate here, and left their autographs. Fans stop by sometimes just to take pictures.”
Around the signed sheets on the wall, fans had drawn a bunch of hearts. Since it would all disappear with a fresh coat of paint anyway, it didn’t matter much.
“Are they good-looking?”
“Yeah. When I first saw them, I thought they were real singers. A whole crowd of fans followed them around.”
I’d heard that real idol singers sometimes gained fans even as trainees… but after finishing military service, I barely paid attention to who was popular anymore. If someone showed up on TV a lot, I just figured they must be famous.
I ordered one serving of tteokbokki and a plate of fried snacks, and the owner even added spicy fish cake as a freebie. As they set the plates down, the owner sat across from me.
“Mr. Realtor, you’re personally close with the landlord of this building, right?”
“Huh? No. We just got acquainted through business, that’s all.”
The spicy fish cake must’ve had chili peppers inside—one bite and my mouth went numb. I took a sip of water while answering, but the owner lightly tapped my arm holding the glass and insisted it didn’t look like just a casual relationship. The water sloshed inside the cup, making me tense in case it spilled.
“If you only know each other by face, why is he cleaning in front of your office?”
“What?”
Now that I thought about it, the area around the office had been spotless. Without Jun’s car parked out front, it had been even more noticeable.
“He cleaned?”
“Yeah. When I opened the shop earlier, I saw him sweeping. Honestly, it was funny—he didn’t even sweep in front of his own building, just yours.”
I’d told him to clean while patting his back yesterday, half-jokingly, but I didn’t expect him to actually do it. Jun listened to me more than I’d thought. Maybe I just hadn’t been making good use of him.
After drinking too much water, the owner handed me a fruit drink, saying to have it if it was too spicy. I thanked them and asked how business was going.
“The upper floors look like offices or private studios—do people come down to eat often?”
“Nope. People from this building hardly come.”
They grumbled that people in Seoul were so cold—same building, yet nobody bothered to support the shop. Still, the owner added that the landlord did stop by occasionally.
“He seems to live alone, but every time he buys food, it’s three or four servings. Maybe someone’s at his place?”
“Probably friends or acquaintances visiting.”
I’d rarely seen him buy tteokbokki, so maybe he picked it up as late-night snacks. I knew Jun owned this building, but I didn’t really know what he did day to day. Sometimes he didn’t come home until morning—I had no idea where he wandered off to.
While chatting, another customer came in, leaving the seat across from me empty. The portions were bigger than I expected, so I left a little behind and got up. Maybe because I’d eaten on an empty stomach, my insides burned. After saying goodbye to the owner, I headed toward the pharmacy instead of the office.
The big intersection nearby was lined with hospitals, so pharmacies filled the ground floors of the surrounding buildings. I went into the most noticeable one, but the pharmacist seemed to be in the back, so I waited.
With nowhere to sit, I browsed the medicine displayed along the glass wall, thinking, They even make vitamins like this now, when I noticed a familiar black sports car parked across the street. This neighborhood really has a lot of luxury cars, I thought. Then two men walked out of the building beside it.
“Huh?”
One of them was Jun, and the other was someone I’d never seen before.
The man wore a mask and had a small, slender frame. When he stumbled, Jun placed a hand behind his back, carefully escorting him into the passenger seat. Then Jun got into the driver’s seat, and the car disappeared.
Watching that scene, my stomach twisted uncomfortably. Maybe I just couldn’t handle spicy food… The discomfort kept building.
“Customer?”
A voice called from behind, and I frowned as a sharp ache swept through my stomach, reminding me why I’d come here.
“My stomach’s burning a bit. Could I get something to drink for it… and maybe some pills?”
The pharmacist returned with a liquid medicine and tablets, explaining how to take them. But for some reason, none of the kind instructions really sank in.
Probably because my stomach hurt.
I took the medicine and went back to the office. The moment I sat down, I swallowed the pills and opened the drink, gulping it down while rubbing the area below my chest, hoping the discomfort would settle quickly.
♪♬♩—.
Right then, the office phone rang. I stopped rubbing my stomach and picked up. It was a tenant I’d recently helped move in, calling to complain about parking.
The place they rented had first-come, first-served parking—it was basically luck of the draw. I’d explained that beforehand, but when they came to view the property, the parking lot had been empty, which convinced them to sign.
“I’m sorry, but it’s hard to cancel a contract for that reason. I told you at the time.”
[Even so, how can I not park even once in the evening? I’m moving out. Please find me a place with guaranteed parking.]
“Even if the landlord agrees, you’d have to pay brokerage fees twice. Are you okay with that?”
[I don’t care. Please look into it quickly.]
Since the conversation wasn’t going anywhere, I hung up and called the landlord. Technically, I didn’t have to get involved in cases like this, but my personality wouldn’t let me just ignore it.
The landlord said it would be possible if the tenant paid this month’s rent in full. Of course, he didn’t say it kindly. I called the tenant back and told them they’d need to maintain the current condition of the place, since they’d moved in after new wallpapering, and would be responsible for any damages.
“Haah…”
Being stuck in the middle was always exhausting. This neighborhood always had too many cars, so places with guaranteed parking were rare. That’s why Jun’s officetel, with its full tower-parking system, was so popular.
I needed to check with Jun to see if he could adjust the deposit and rent for this tenant. His officetel was slightly more expensive than the local average.
I tried calling the office line, but he didn’t answer, so I called his cell phone. After several rings, he finally picked up.
“Juni, can you talk right now?”
[Now’s not really a good time.]
“Ah… even just for a moment?”
[What is it?]
His colder-than-usual tone caught me off guard. Then again, this was his normal way of speaking. He’d just softened a bit when calling me Hyung.
As I flipped quickly through a contract, I started, “It’s about your officetel building—” when another voice came through the receiver. Jun paused our call to respond to someone else. The line grew distant, and I couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying.
