The appointment was Saturday evening. Jung Kyungwoo didn’t notify him until Friday morning that the same day would be better. However, this time Jaeha couldn’t make it. It wasn’t because of the superior’s order to complete and submit the written statement by Friday night.
The problem was Jung Kyungwoo. Finding out whether he was really addicted to sleep anesthetics was the top priority. He was busy all Friday summoning doctors and nurses as witnesses and listening to their statements.
The threat that if they didn’t cooperate, they’d sit there not as witnesses but as suspects in a drug case worked well. Without saying much, the doctor told everything as if he’d show even inside his underpants.
After a string of various celebrities, athletes, and people from famous families, it was Jung Kyungwoo’s turn.
“He came to sleep once a week. Because he’s someone who can’t sleep at all. He’d endure until right before collapsing and then come, so it’s a rational medical practice.”
The doctor, who’d been making excuses for other cases saying he had no choice, it was for procedures, blah blah, playing dead, only testified with a confident attitude about Jung Kyungwoo.
“It was true that if he didn’t sleep right away, he’d be in a state of near death. I recommended hospitalization at another hospital, but he’s so busy. You know?”
The nurse’s statement was the same. Kyungwoo was carried to the hospital half-dead, or a female driver presumed to be Choi Dohyun came and took the doctor to the hotel. There he received various nutritional supplements along with sleep anesthetics. Otherwise, he said he couldn’t sleep.
‘There’s no need to prosecute for something like this.’
Among those great drug offenders, this level was cute. Of course, that didn’t mean the doctor and nurse weren’t violating medical law at all. Either way, they were subject to license suspension for a certain period. But Kyungwoo was ambiguous. Moreover, whatever Jaeha did, there was a high possibility the higher-ups would cut it all.
He didn’t even consider applying for a warrant. There was no way the warrant judge wouldn’t be influenced by Taeryoung. It would be faster for Jaeha to interrogate Jung Kyungwoo directly.
‘Even if he somehow gets out of it, I have to ask. Can’t sleep, my ass. What a joke.’
Seizure symptoms maybe, but sleep deprivation? Recalling when he crawled into Jaeha’s bed and fell asleep like passing out, even a dog would laugh.
Additionally, he was curious about the reason for using that thug doctor. At Taeryoung’s level, he should be able to get sleep anesthetics in a university hospital VVIP room.
The location was, as expected, that hotel suite. The moment the car slid into the hotel’s underground parking lot, Jaeha felt like he was being sucked into the maw of a dark beast. Wrapped in a strange sensation that was chilling and at the same time slightly exciting, he went up to the suite.
He made a call in the elevator. The signal was cut off before being answered. He didn’t attempt to call again. Instead, the moment the elevator stopped, the door of the suite right nearby opened.
“You’re late.”
“Traffic.”
When Jaeha entered, Kyungwoo closed the door. The room was the same as before. The sofa where the stimulating physical struggle had occurred was also in its place.
Yet everything was clearly different. The back view of the man heading straight there while conscious of him with a wary gaze. Himself standing still with both hands shoved in his pants pockets, looking at that back, straining his lower abdomen that was strangely heating up.
Clink.
Two crystal glasses shining like crystal were placed on the marble-finished table.
“Rocks? Straight?”
“Rocks.”
White hands reached for the silver ice bucket nearby. The knuckles holding the ice tongs moved languidly. Between the sharply tailored jacket sleeves, cufflinks attached to white cuffs shone together with the crystal glasses.
Clink. Clink.
Two ice cubes scored into the glasses respectively. Whether there was already a predetermined drink, Kyungwoo didn’t ask and tilted the heavy crystal bottle.
Glug.
The deep amber liquid filled to a height where the ice was about half submerged. Long fingers elegantly picked up the transparent glass. The rim of the glass, which must have been crafted with great effort by a master craftsman, touched slightly dry lips.
As he lifted his chin, the amber liquor disappeared into the dark gap between his lips. Kyungwoo, holding an appropriate amount of liquid in his mouth and rolling it slowly, fixed his languid gaze on Jaeha while opening his throat and swallowing the alcohol warmed to body temperature.
As Kyungwoo’s Adam’s apple rose up and then sank down, Jaeha’s eyes deepened further. Jaeha, who’d been standing like a statue, approached at a very leisurely pace. In response, Kyungwoo pushed the remaining glass toward him.
With one hand still in his pocket, he picked up the glass with the other hand. From the glass brought to his mouth, an utterly ecstatic aroma rose.
The whiskey, starting with a deep oak aroma and finishing with a soft fruit scent, felt dimensionally different even to Jaeha, who wasn’t particularly versed in classics.
Though he didn’t utter an exclamation, whether he noticed from his expression and the gaze looking down at the glass, Kyungwoo opened his mouth.
“Glenfiddich 50-year.”
“Glenfiddich.”
It was a great whiskey brand that sold only 50 bottles per year. He’d only heard of it, and it was the first time seeing or drinking it in person. He immediately took another sip. It was an ecstatic flavor that made his head dizzy. He emptied the glass in three sips.
When he placed the empty glass on the table, the melted ice spun around. Kyungwoo refilled Jaeha’s glass.
“It’s stronger than it looks, so drink slowly.”
“This is a moment that needs stronger liquor than ever.”
Whether he agreed with those words, Kyungwoo also lifted his own glass. He, who was about to bring the glass to his lips, stopped his hand midway, perhaps conscious of Jaeha staring intently at him.
“What?”
“Do you happen to have a habit of drinking alone?”
“Not quite a habit, but I mainly drink alone. Why?”
“Nothing.”
Thinking it would be ridiculous to toast when he was so excited, Jaeha avoided answering. The second glass was sweeter than before.
“You prepared the research well, right?”
It was Kyungwoo who broke the ensuing silence first. Jaeha nodded slightly while pushing the liquor he’d just taken into his throat.
“Let’s hear it?”
Kyungwoo was wearing a sleek three-piece suit like armor. Not a single button of the jacket was undone, so the silhouette was fully revealed. The body inside seemed firm. From the stare and the neckline held upright as if he wouldn’t lose, a rather thick tension emerged instead.
“Before that, there’s something I need to ask first.”
The whiskey circulating through his body heightened the sense of buoyancy. It was the perfect beverage to relieve tension. As his body temperature rose, sharp senses gradually softened. However, there was still a long way to go before Jaeha’s reason would crumble.
“There was a drug case in the entertainment industry this time. Because the lineup was so great and it was an extensive case, not just one or two people, several prosecutors from the Special Division were attached.”
“So?”
There was no particular hint in his questioning look. Does he not know his name came up during the case investigation?
“To get to the point, your name came up in the dermatologist’s treatment files, the one being investigated again for excessive treatment. You received sleep anesthetics quite frequently.”
“I used it sometimes because I was tired. Is that illegal?”
“It’s illegal.”
“I didn’t know. If a doctor’s note is needed, I’ll send it.”
He tried to brush it off casually, but Jaeha didn’t miss Kyungwoo’s reaction of avoiding his gaze. If he’d really received it just due to simple fatigue, he wouldn’t be strangely uncomfortable. Even while feigning calmness, it was the same hypersensitive reaction that came out when talk of Myeongbu Hotel or seizures came up.
‘Seizures and insomnia. If panic disorder is that serious even while on medication… Even if he has social standing, what could cause panic disorder when he’s not even a celebrity monitored in every move? There definitely seems to be a trigger. But he still doesn’t seem to have any intention of confiding. Should I dig into Myeongbu Hotel after all?’
Jaeha observed Kyungwoo while bringing the half-remaining whiskey back to his mouth. The person who said to drink slowly had just gulped down the outrageously expensive whiskey like soju twice in a row.
Thud.
Glug.
When the amber liquid poured over the half-melted ice again, Jaeha snatched the glass bottle from Kyungwoo’s hand.
“Drink slowly when you’re also weak with alcohol. You’ll collapse again.”
“I’ll take care of my own body.”
Meeting eyes full of hostility, Jaeha squinted.
“That body, I have business with it today, so that won’t do.”
While watching the other’s brow narrow, Jaeha snatched the glass from his hand. As if he had no intention of quarreling, he let him take it obediently.
After tossing the remaining liquor into his own mouth, Jaeha placed the empty glass on the table.
“Shall we start the briefing now?”
Jung Kyungwoo’s eyes began to tremble finely.
The air suddenly slowed. Invisible vibrations carried the other’s anxiety and tension. Jaeha moved to the other side of the table blocking between them at a speed neither slow nor fast.
As the gap narrowed moment by moment, the other’s complexion also changed moment by moment. Composure disappeared and bewilderment subtly surfaced.
“Wait…”
Before the cold hand could even express refusal, Jaeha overlapped their lips.
Thud.
Kyungwoo, who stepped back until the table edge touched his waist, wasn’t satisfied with even that, and his upper body bent backward. Still, it wasn’t enough to block Jaeha’s approach.
“Hn… mm.”
A faint moan flowed and the lips that had separated slightly met again. The rise in body temperature wasn’t simply due to alcohol.
Lips slightly rough from peeling skin parted, and he invaded the white teeth sprouting neatly inside.
Smack. Suck.
As the wet flesh touched and separated, moisture-laden breath leaked out. Jung Kyungwoo, as before, kept his eyes narrowly open and stayed still no matter what Jaeha did.
He had no hobby of getting heated up over a stiff log. Jaeha swept his palm down his back. And pressed firmly on the concave part where the back and pelvis connected. The other’s hips naturally came forward and their lower bodies pressed together.
“Hngh.”
Long eyelashes trembled. The pale eyes settled in the shallow shadow trembled even more anxiously.
“Hup… mm.”
Smack. Suck. Smack.
He rubbed their lips in succession, separated briefly, then tried to overlap lips again at a different angle. Even though Jaeha gave a signal that he’d tilt to the right, Kyungwoo turned his head in the same direction.
The tips of their noses bumped. It was a quite insulting way of refusing. Rather than bring it up, Jaeha chose to push further instead. So when he turned his head in the opposite direction, the other also turned to the same side like a mirror.
“What are you doing?”
