“Who knows. But as far as I know, among Sovereign’s internal directors, the only one with the surname Feng is that bastard’s father.”
“……So it’s true.”
Kang Siwon let out a hollow breath. Since entering Sovereign, he’d seen all kinds of bizarre crimes, so he wasn’t even disillusioned at this point. He simply thought that life was truly unpredictable—Feng Tao’s family, which had been so arrogant, was now teetering overnight.
A sense of liberation washed over him a beat late. Feng Tao, who had swaggered around relying only on his father’s power, would have to act humbly for the time being. He wished he’d stay unable to raise his head forever. While they were at it, it would be even better if he stopped coming to the casino altogether. Either way, whether Feng Tao wanted it or not, that’s how it would be.
As if thinking the same thing, Ray Jun spoke with a deep smile.
“He won’t be able to take Viagra for a while, huh?”
“Right.”
This meant there was no longer any need for Ju Xiang to send him to Feng Tao. He hadn’t expected the problem that had been tormenting him these past few days to be resolved so simply. He couldn’t help but laugh at the relief, like a painful tooth had been pulled.
Kang Siwon kept suppressing the corners of his mouth that kept rising, then realized there was no need to hide his expression and grinned broadly. Seeing that expression, Ray Jun smiled along with him.
“I’m glad. The bug that had its eyes on my Xie Wei is gone. I guess this is what they call karma?”
“Who said I’m yours? Besides, isn’t it too early to talk about karma? When I saw them at the party before, the internal directors seemed to have strong connections with each other, so they might cover it up somehow, right?”
“Connections are only effective when both sides have equal power. When one side falls, ties are cut immediately. With a matter this serious, Director Feng will soon have to step down from his internal director position, right? He’ll have to spit out all the money he’s embezzled so far, and maybe even serve a prison sentence.”
“Ooh…….”
“The family’s complete ruin is a foregone conclusion. The incompetent Feng Tao’s life will be pretty rough from now on too. What do you think? Isn’t this enough to call it karma?”
“I guess so.”
Kang Siwon nodded. It was a bit disappointing that he hadn’t taken revenge himself, but he never had the power or opportunity to do so anyway. This was satisfying enough. More than enough as news to start the day with.
* * *
Thanks to the good news, even the commute to work wasn’t painful. Kang Siwon entered the cage room in a genuinely pleasant mood for the first time in a long while.
“Good morning.”
“Hi, Xie Wei.”
His former shift colleagues, gathered in small groups, only exchanged greetings before huddling together again to whisper about something.
“Apparently the PR team got turned upside down the most because of Director Feng’s aftermath. My roommate works there, and they got called out in the middle of the night to write crisis response statements.”
“Well, of course. Geez, if they were going to do something like that, they should’ve at least not gotten caught…….”
“Our team will be okay, right? Wasn’t that director’s son the troublemaker who caused a scene last time, saying dealers were rigging games?”
“Right. And he didn’t just cause trouble, did he? He had high standards and would drool over any good-looking employee. It’s a real habit of his, you know? Like, just recently with Xie Wei too…….”
The voices died down, conscious that the person in question was nearby. Kang Siwon himself didn’t care at all. It wasn’t like they were making things up, and they weren’t badmouthing him, so what did it matter? Rather, it felt satisfying, like they were cursing Feng Tao on his behalf too.
“Ahem, anyway, serves him right. Acting like a prince, coming and going from the casino like that—I’m so relieved we don’t have to see that sight anymore.”
“Exactly. But I’m worried about the company atmosphere. These days when you enter the employee cafeteria, the air is so heavy that I’m dying from reading the room.”
A colleague who had been chattering while organizing statements turned their head toward Kang Siwon.
“Xie Wei, the closing’s done. Let’s switch shifts.”
“Yes.”
Kang Siwon, who had been standing still until then, headed to his station.
While checking the handover items, he suddenly felt an eerily peaceful sensation. Just a few days ago, even working at the casino itself had been torment. He’d always had to be on edge, not knowing when or where Feng Tao would appear and spew his bullshit.
But now there was no need to watch out for anyone. He just had to focus on his assigned tasks. The Baeksa Faction’s nagging would continue, so that wouldn’t be easy either, but it was fine since it was something he just had to work hard at himself. Compared to when he’d been suffering from Feng Tao’s persistent courtship, now could even be called peaceful.
He hoped days like this would continue. Kang Siwon thought to himself as he quietly gazed at the casino scenery.
* * *
While others headed to the locker room after finishing their shifts, Kang Siwon was headed to the bathroom again today. Entering an empty stall and taking off his uniform, he sighed anew.
“Is he a teething puppy or what?”
Ray Jun’s bite marks were all over him from chest to stomach—not just one or two. It seemed even worse than the first time they’d slept together. He really couldn’t tell if Ray Jun hadn’t restrained himself or couldn’t.
If only that were all, but on his abdomen there were also bruise marks from being beaten by Ju Xiang. They still throbbed, and every time he saw them, he remembered being helplessly beaten, which put him in a bad mood. Kang Siwon put on a t-shirt as if to hide it all.
After completely changing into casual clothes, he left the bathroom. Just as he was about to head straight to the employee exit, an unwelcome voice came from behind.
“Hey.”
Doubting his ears, he turned his head to see Ju Xiang leaning against the wall with a sullen expression.
“Why are you here?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If your shift is over, you should go straight to the locker room, so why are you out here? I waited in front of the locker room but didn’t see you, so I came all the way out here.”
It was nitpicking over nothing. While Kang Siwon was annoyed, he answered obediently.
“I just went to the bathroom.”
“Tsk, making people misunderstand…….”
“What did you misunderstand?”
“I thought you ran off.”
Ju Xiang, who had spoken bluntly, approached Kang Siwon.
“Let’s have a drink. I’m buying.”
“I don’t drink.”
“Your manners are really something else. When a senior offers to buy, the polite thing is to say yes and follow. Come on.”
Ju Xiang spun around sharply. Suddenly showing goodwill unlike himself—Kang Siwon had an ominous premonition. But he couldn’t refuse. Just as he thought maybe Ju Xiang felt bad about beating him up randomly the other day and was about to follow—
Someone grabbed Kang Siwon’s wrist firmly.
“Xie Wei, where are you going?”
“…….”
Kang Siwon turned to look at Ray Jun, who had suddenly appeared. He had no idea how this guy found him again. Of course, he was also on the evening shift, but the timing was remarkably perfect.
“What’s this now?”
Ju Xiang looked Ray Jun up and down with an annoyed gaze. Before he could respond, Kang Siwon opened his mouth first. It was because he instinctively felt these two shouldn’t be allowed to converse for long.
“He’s my roommate, and we have plans today.”
“Plans? What plans?”
“Just…… we agreed to have dinner.”
“Postpone it to another day.”
He’d barely made an excuse, but it didn’t work. Kang Siwon didn’t back down and spoke again.
“This was the prior arrangement.”
“You see your roommate’s face every day anyway, so how important is just one meal? I have something to discuss, so just follow me.”
Ju Xiang had always called him to the underground parking lot whenever there was business. It must be more rational in terms of both convenience and security. But seeing him call him out in a place with so many eyes like this, Kang Siwon thought there might be important business.
“……Ray Jun, sorry. Let’s have dinner next time.”
Kang Siwon said while pulling his wrist free from Ray Jun’s grasp. Ray Jun let go of his hand but made a somehow strange expression.
“You made plans with me first, but you’re going to go?”
Somehow it seemed like sincerity rather than acting. For a moment, even Kang Siwon almost mistook himself for having made dinner plans with Ray Jun.
Well, since Ray Jun knew what Ju Xiang had done to him, it made sense that he couldn’t understand why he’d follow obediently. Kang Siwon calmly appeased him.
“It seems urgent…… I can’t help it. I’m sorry.”
“……Got it. Take care.”
“Uh…….”
He answered awkwardly and turned to leave. Somehow he had a premonition that when he returned to the dormitory, a tiring and difficult conversation would continue for quite a while.
