Strictly speaking, he hadn’t raised him well. It was closer to neglect. On days when his mood was poor, he always used his hands and his feet. Senseless, bottomless rage taken out on whoever was nearest.
And he had never once stopped his biological children from hurling abuse or violence at Yeonwoo. Even when he saw Yeonwoo being beaten by them, he would say “don’t hit his face, it’ll leave marks” and walk past as if nothing was happening. But Yeonwoo didn’t bother saying any of that. He simply gave a deep nod.
He thought he understood why Assemblyman Cha was bringing this up now. The twisted, sick pervert who would be buying him had finally been decided. That much was clear.
“Not going to answer?”
“Yes. You’re right.”
“Good. That’s how it should be.”
Assemblyman Cha rose from his seat and reached out to pat Yeonwoo on the cheek.
“When you meet him — that bastard, I mean, that person — be obedient. Bow your head and smile. Whatever he says, your only answer is ‘yes.’ Understood?”
“Yes.”
Assemblyman Cha reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. He then made a show of dropping it on the floor. He jerked his chin, as if telling him to read it. He could have just handed it over. Yeonwoo grumbled inwardly, but crouched down and picked it up.
OO Hotel, 21st floor lounge. 8 p.m.
A location and a time. Not just the hotel lounge itself — the fact that the appointment was set this late made the implication unmistakable. Yeonwoo’s mouth went dry. He had always imagined this only in his head, but now it had stepped sharply into reality. The hand holding the slip of paper began to tremble.
“Go here tonight.”
Assemblyman Cha was beaming, the look of a man relieved to finally be rid of a long-standing nuisance. How much did he sell me for? Yeonwoo was curious, but this wasn’t a man who would tell him even if he asked. If anything, he’d get slapped just for daring to wonder. Oh — but since he was about to be sold, maybe he wouldn’t touch his face anymore? He tried to picture Assemblyman Cha raising his hand and then putting it back down without doing anything. He couldn’t quite manage it.
“I’ve booked the room. You know what that means, don’t you?”
“…Yes.”
He understood what it meant. He was being told to sell his body. Well, no — more than that… Yeonwoo blinked. He had already been sold to the twisted, sick pervert, so strictly speaking, it wasn’t selling his body. It was just… Don’t think about it anymore. He forced the bleak thoughts away. He couldn’t avoid it, so there was nothing to do but accept it.
And hadn’t he been preparing for the day he’d be sold to the twisted, sick pervert all this time? It was fine. Wherever it was, he knew it would be better than Assemblyman Cha’s house.
“Cha Yeonwoo. You’d better do well — you understand what I’m saying, don’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“Since he likes men, that pretty face of yours will come in handy. The way you look… men will go crazy for you.”
Assemblyman Cha sneered after saying that. He clapped Yeonwoo firmly on the shoulder.
“You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?”
“……”
“If I hear that you’ve gotten on his bad side…”
Assemblyman Cha’s expression hardened in an instant. He leaned close and whispered low into his ear. It was the manner of someone issuing a threat.
“I can sell you to China. Or to America. Which would you prefer, Yeonwoo?”
His thick, sausage-like fingers jabbed into Yeonwoo’s stomach. The force was light — but it felt like a fist. His body shook involuntarily.
“Should I go ahead and harvest a kidney and part of your liver in advance? We do share blood, after all — I might need them someday. Draw some blood while we’re at it. What do you think?”
“I’ll do well.”
Yeonwoo answered quickly. He knew these weren’t empty words. Assemblyman Cha was more than capable of following through.
“Of course you will, Yeonwoo. Hmm? It’s not I’ll do well — it’s you have to do well. I’ve raised you, fed you, given you a roof over your head all these years. You have to repay that grace. Don’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“I took you out of an orphanage and let you grow up as the youngest son of a wealthy family. How deep is that debt? It’s a debt you could never repay even if you spent your whole life working.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
It would have been better to have stayed in the orphanage. At the very least, they didn’t hit you there. They didn’t starve you. And they didn’t sell people.
“Take off your underwear before you go. Look the part.”
Yeonwoo forced himself to nod. At that, Assemblyman Cha waved his hand as if he’d already forgotten every word he’d just said. It was his signal to leave.
The moment he stepped out of the room, his legs gave out. Yeonwoo collapsed onto the marble floor and took a slow, deep breath. His faintly trembling body and desolate expression were more than enough to inspire pity — but to the people who worked in that house, it was a familiar sight. Not a single one of them reached out to help. They walked right past him. Some openly showed their irritation at him being in the way. A few even bumped into him on purpose. Anyone who didn’t know the situation might have felt indignant on his behalf, might have felt upset — but to Yeonwoo, this was entirely ordinary. If anything, if someone had come over and asked if he was all right, he would have recoiled in shock and immediately wondered what they were after.
“It’s fine.”
It wasn’t fine. But he had to think positively. It had already happened, and it wasn’t something he could change. In this moment, all he could do was pray desperately that the man buying him wasn’t the worst possible kind of person.
And as Assemblyman Cha had told him to, he had to make the twisted, sick pervert like him. No matter how much he mentally prepared, if the other person didn’t take to him, all of it would be for nothing.
Get yourself together.
He dragged his unsteady legs back to his room and sat for a moment on the cold floor before pushing himself to his feet. This wasn’t the time to fall apart. He had to get ready to leave this place. Whether he ended up living with the twisted, sick pervert who had bought him or getting sold abroad — either way, he would never be coming back here.
So he needed to take whatever he needed with him now. They would throw his things away, not keep them for him.
Let’s see.
Thirteen years — long in some ways, short in others — spent in this place, and yet when he tried to pack a bag, there was almost nothing to take. The only things worth bringing were the three notebooks he’d filled to steady his mind, and the keepsake from his mother that he’d carried with him from the orphanage.
Yeonwoo packed those first, carefully. The necklace — his mother’s keepsake — he tucked deep into the bag. If he wore it around his neck and lost it somehow, it would be unthinkable.
Clutching the bag as though it were a lifeline, Yeonwoo moved to stand in front of the wardrobe.
Should I pack some clothes?
He hesitated briefly in front of it, then shook his head. Bringing something like that might rub the twisted, sick pervert the wrong way. He’d heard that people like that tended to have an intense possessiveness over their belongings. So bringing his own clothes might…
[Clothes? You thought you could wear clothes without my permission?]
He could easily imagine the formless black shape saying something like that. Right — he might end up hated just for bringing something like that along. First impressions were important enough as it was — he couldn’t afford to ruin them.
Yeonwoo decided not to pack any spare clothes. Clothes were nothing — if he had none, he could just wrap a towel or a blanket around himself.
Even so, since this was the first time he’d be meeting that person, he took out the cleanest, neatest outfit he had. One set of clothes would be enough.
[Does a dog really need to wear clothes?]
He’d probably get in trouble if he pointed out that dogs wear clothes these days, wouldn’t he?
Yeonwoo smiled to himself at his own little daydream. After all the imaginary conversations he’d had with the twisted, sick pervert in his head, he’d even developed a kind of inner familiarity with the man. A rather absurd thing to feel, given he was the one being sold — but as long as he didn’t say it out loud, no one would ever know. It should be fine.
He was in the middle of changing when Assemblyman Cha’s spiteful words drifted back into his mind.
What about underwear?
It was a dilemma. Assemblyman Cha probably wouldn’t strip him down to check — but then again, you never knew. There hadn’t been a single time in his life that he’d defied the man.
And so the fact that he was now deliberating over whether or not to take off his underwear was, in itself, a little startling. And uncomfortable. And strange. His head understood that he needed to do it right now. But his body wouldn’t move. He grabbed at the waistband and let go, again and again. His mind was spinning.
I don’t want to take it off.
