The troublemaker grabbed my wrist again. When I held my ground against his pulling force this time too, he staggered — then erupted in anger.
“I’m offering to buy a damaged good and you can’t even get on your knees? Do you know who I am?”
Is this guy a comedian or something.
A crushing pain radiated from the arm he was gripping. I nearly drove my fist straight into his solar plexus, but it was still manageable enough to hold back. I’d been through worse than this, and compared to that, this was nothing. Besides, this bastard was tipping me while causing trouble.
If I could just keep him calm and hand him off to security when they showed up, that would do — but for some reason, as I was being dragged toward the second floor, none of the guards were stepping in.
It’s not like they wouldn’t know I was staff. And they couldn’t have mistaken this guy for a VIP guest. From behind me, I could feel gazes and sounds that seemed almost like laughter.
…Oh. They set this up from that side.
The customers watched me being dragged up to the second floor like it was a spectacle, and the other staff either looked away or were quietly laughing at me. It seemed they couldn’t stand seeing a new hire — someone who’d only started the day before — get handed a VIP client.
In the end, I was pulled along by this man all the way up to the second floor and led into the room.
Thud.
The door closed.
The troublemaker, stumbling drunk, was already pulling off his loose trousers. And as he did, he spoke.
“What are you staring at — go over there, bend over, and spread.”
He jerked his chin toward the sofa as he said it. The situation wasn’t good. I glanced at his pathetic lower half and swallowed a sigh inward. Then I quietly opened my mouth.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll be taking my leave now.”
“The fuck you will.”
He cursed and suddenly grabbed my cast. The force he yanked with sent a bone-splitting pain tearing through my entire body like my shoulder was being ripped out of its socket. As I staggered from that sharp jolt, the troublemaker forcibly pushed me down onto the sofa. I could have overpowered him physically, but he was a Gold Class client. Which meant he was a troublemaker with some degree of social standing, and I couldn’t afford to act rashly….
“You’re damaged goods and I’m still willing to take you — stop making so much noise. You little shit.”
Should I just cave his skull in.
I curled my hand into a fist.
He was on top of me, panting, pulling down not just his trousers but his underwear too — and that was when.
The firmly shut door flew open, and at the same time —
The back of the troublemaker’s head was seized, and his face was slammed into the wall.
Twice. Three times. The repeated impact shattered his nose — his face, already barely off flat, went even flatter.
“Gkk—! Ugh!”
With a wet, cracking sound, spit and blood mixed together and peeled away from the wall in thick strings. The troublemaker made sounds a human throat should barely be able to produce. He couldn’t even manage a proper scream — just trickled down with the blood.
Thud.
A man who looked like a giant stepped over the body crumpled on the floor.
“…….”
The moment I saw him, the tips of my fingers trembled. The man looked down at me with indifferent eyes — and his hand, wrapped in black leather gloves, extended toward my face. I couldn’t even move to dodge it; I just stared at it as something clicked in my gut, and I breathed in.
And then that hand covered my eyes, and his voice reached me.
“Get rid of it.”
His voice was low and quiet, yet my body prickled as though I could feel murder in it. Around me, I heard the presence of people moving. Along with a sound like something being dragged across the floor.
Thud.
The door closed.
“…….”
Without a word, the man removed the hand covering my eyes.
His face was blank as he put a cigarette between his lips. I’d finally caught up to the situation — I pressed myself up from the sofa and stood. The man who’d been causing trouble only moments ago was gone, leaving nothing behind but the blood smeared along the wall.
I have to say something….
Something.
“That you had to come down here yourself… I’m sorry.”
“…….”
The man only moved his eyes to look at me.
Can he please stop doing that.
“Have you eaten?”
“Pardon?”
“…….”
“Ah. Yes, I have.”
I answered thinking back to the triangle kimbap and hard-boiled egg from the morning.
The man, who had seemed about to smoke, crushed the cigarette between his fingers and tossed it. Only the slow drift of his cologne filled the room.
I could feel his gaze — not a breath of emotion in it. He suddenly asked:
“Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
Ah — was that too honest.
But even out of politeness, I couldn’t bring myself to tell this man I was comfortable.
The man opened his mouth.
“Why.”
…Is he actually asking because he doesn’t know?
Damn, I’m losing control of my expression.
I swallowed inward and forced myself not to let anything show.
I thought he might be asking because he was offended, but the man’s tone remained as flat as ever.
He’d asked for a reason, but I couldn’t answer right away. More precisely — I was trying to choose how to word it.
Why was he making me uncomfortable? Just… the man himself, as he was. Even when he did nothing, his very presence alone made it hard to breathe. The bruises from where he’d hit me hadn’t even faded yet. My shoulder still had a long way to go before it healed.
“Even dogs can tell apart who hits them.”
“…….”
The already stiff atmosphere glazed over with frost.
Is he going to get angry….
Then I’ll probably get hit again.
“I don’t hit.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“…….”
“…….”
What am I supposed to do with this awkwardness.
I couldn’t get used to the man suddenly being kind to me, and just being in the same space as him made it hard to breathe. If I could, I wanted to get out of there right then.
“Should I… have them set up the table?”
I wondered if having something to eat in front of us might make things easier and asked.
But the man gave no answer. There was a base setup fee, so they couldn’t exactly just sit at a bare table….
Does that not apply to VIPs?
I hadn’t gotten a full grasp of how things worked yet and had no idea how to handle the hosting.
“Are you hungry?”
The man suddenly asked.
“Pardon? Ah — yes. Kind of.”
I had said I’d eaten, but roughly speaking, sure, let’s go with that.
I’d answered absentmindedly, but the man seemed to think about something for a moment before suddenly sending a text to someone. I was watching blankly as he did — and then the man spoke.
“…Sorry.”
He opened his mouth. But his voice came out so quietly I couldn’t make it out.
“Pardon?”
“I’m sorry for hitting you.”
…Is he actually apologizing right now?
All I’d ever seen from him was the rough side, so I’d assumed he had zero social skills — but to think he was capable of saying sorry.
I was surprised, but I thought showing it would embarrass him, so I kept my expression in check first.
“It happens.”
I hadn’t been staff yet at the time, and I’d walked uninvited into a room a client was using and helped myself to the bathroom. Not just showered either — I’d washed a mascot costume that had been spraying sewage water.
…I think I had that coming, honestly.
In another country, wouldn’t that be grounds for getting shot, not just punched?
If the manager had done a proper check before sending me up, I never would have crossed paths with this man — but that’s just an excuse.
“I should be the one apologizing, for using the bathroom in your room without permission.”
“You can use it.”
I’d rather not.
“Okay.”
I answered, but I was watching him with skeptical eyes.
What kind of mood swing is this.
The first time I saw him, he beat me like he was going to kill me…. I had absolutely no idea why he was acting like this all of a sudden.
Did I look pitiful?
Me suddenly showing up in a cast probably stirred up some guilt that wasn’t there before. The main reason my shoulder had gone to pieces was blocking falling materials — but if the bone had been in normal condition, it wouldn’t have fractured on top of that. So.
But I couldn’t exactly complain about that here, so I’d just been letting it go.
Silence again.
This time the quiet stretched too long.
Even swallowing felt like it would make a sound, so even as my dry throat quietly itched and scraped, I held it in. And then my own breathing started to sound too loud in my ears, and I held that in too.
Just then, someone knocked on the door from outside.
Then came the waiter’s voice.
“Excuse me. The room has been set up for you.”
The man rose from his seat.
I only followed him with my eyes. He was simply walking forward, and yet the way he moved was something else entirely. Even then, I hadn’t moved — I was just watching his back. The waiter must have sensed him approaching, because he opened the door from the outside first. Just as the man was about to step through the open doorway, he stopped abruptly at the threshold.
“……?”
Why stop when he was going just fine — and then he turned back.
Our eyes met. There was only silence, but I understood what he was saying.
Hurry up and come.
It was only after meeting that gaze that I finally got up.
Yes, yes. I’m coming. I’m coming.
And so I followed after the man.
