Sovereign Casino
It had already been four months since coming to Macau. This was his first time overseas, and he’d come not of his own will but by force, yet Kang Siwon had somehow managed to adapt. Lately, he could even say his daily life had become peaceful.
However, on the day he heard the rumor about a spy.
Kang Siwon had a dream for the first time in a while. In that eerie container he’d seen three years ago, he had been beaten severely for having his identity exposed. The violence that poured down on his entire body like a torrential downpour had left not only Kang Siwon’s body but also his mind in tatters.
After suffering through it all, he barely managed to wake up, his whole body drenched in cold sweat.
“……Ha.”
Kang Siwon rubbed his face. He was terribly exhausted.
He had no other choice but to accept Manager Park’s proposal, but Kang Siwon still felt uneasy about it. Regret over his wrong decision always followed him.
He wanted to run away even now. However, Kang Siwon suppressed the impulse and prepared for work. Even if he could turn back time and return to the past, he wouldn’t be able to make a better choice than this. Because this had been his best option.
He could only hope his identity wouldn’t be exposed. And even if a spy were to be rooted out, he could only pray it would be Ju Xiang who got caught.
* * *
“Good morning.”
“Hello, Xie Wei. Is it already shift change time?”
As he entered the cage room, the staff member from the previous shift greeted Kang Siwon. He checked his wristwatch and nodded.
“Mm, it’s a bit early, but we can do the handover now. Nothing special. No issues, and the chip inventory is correct.”
“Yes.”
Kang Siwon stood in front of the tray. They said the chip inventory was correct, but according to the manual, he had to check it once more himself before starting his shift.
At a casino, chips were the same as money. The cage staff’s job was to manage those chips. They exchanged customers’ cash for chips, and conversely re-exchanged chips back to cash, and grasped the overall flow of funds.
“Did you check? How is it, no problems?”
“Yes.”
“Good, then I’m clocking out. See you tomorrow, Xie Wei.”
“Good work.”
The previous shift staff member left the cage room. Now it was time to start work in earnest. Kang Siwon pushed the rumor about the spy to a corner of his mind. He was so busy he didn’t have time to worry about such rumors anyway. He had to work not only as a cage staff member but also as a spy for the Baeksa Faction.
‘This week’s mission is…… investigating the frequency of high-value chip usage by day of the week.’
Even though the Baeksa Faction wasn’t even a competing casino business, he had no idea what they’d use this kind of information for. He just followed orders as given.
Kang Siwon pretended to meticulously inspect the chip inventory so as not to arouse suspicion from other colleagues while memorizing the data.
“Xie Wei.”
Just then, someone spoke to him. Startled, he turned around to see a colleague from the next station. He was someone who had joined on the same day as Kang Siwon and had trained together.
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Sleeping.”
“And after you wake up?”
“I’m just going to sleep all day.”
At the blunt answer, his colleague’s eyes widened as he asked again.
“Why?”
“Because I’m tired.”
“Ah, this is your fourth consecutive day on night shift. You must be tired. Then what about the day after tomorrow?”
Despite answering almost exclusively in short responses, the conversation somehow continued. Kang Siwon found his colleague’s persistent questions uncomfortable. Of course, he was grateful that someone approached him first, but for Kang Siwon, who wasn’t a native speaker, the act of conversing with colleagues itself was burdensome. Even more so now that rumors were circulating about a spy having infiltrated the casino.
“I’m going to sleep the day after tomorrow too.”
“Uh…… okay, I see.”
His colleague retreated awkwardly. At the same time, exclamations burst out from a distance.
“Ooh……!”
“Wow!”
The atmosphere had already been awkward, so this was good timing. Kang Siwon turned his head toward where the sounds were coming from.
In the table game zone, there was a particularly crowded table. While it was common for spectators to gather or the atmosphere to heat up during games, that one over there was especially overheated. It had the liveliness of a festival.
“That’s Ray Jun’s table. I heard he attracts the most customers among the new dealers, and it seems to be true.”
“……”
“Come to think of it, Xie Wei, you’re roommates with Ray Jun, right?”
“……Yeah.”
That was right. That successful dealer was also Kang Siwon’s roommate who shared the same dormitory room.
Sovereign Casino assigned dormitories in order of hiring. As a result, it often happened that people from different departments shared the same room, and Ray Jun and Kang Siwon were such a case.
Even though they’d lived together for four months since joining, Kang Siwon still wasn’t close with Ray Jun. It wasn’t just because of his poor language skills or his position as a spy. Kang Siwon found Ray Jun uncomfortable. That was probably because……
“Wow…… look at him smile. That guy could’ve made it big even as a celebrity.”
Just as his colleague said, Ray Jun was excessively handsome. Perhaps because of that inhuman beauty, Kang Siwon had found Ray Jun bothersome from the moment they first met.
“Isn’t he popular because of his face?”
“No, he makes the games exciting too. And he’s good at handling problem customers.”
“A born dealer.”
His colleague chatted with another colleague. Meanwhile, the round must have ended, as people surrounding the table left one by one. Thanks to that, Ray Jun’s appearance became even more visible.
His neat dealer uniform fit smoothly on that long, well-proportioned body. Combined with his handsome features, he was the very image of a well-built swallow. It was a moment where one naturally agreed with the colleague’s comment that he could have made it big as a celebrity.
But in the end, he’s just a gambler.
Kang Siwon smiled a twisted smile inwardly. There was another reason Ray Jun, his roommate, felt uncomfortable. Kang Siwon, who loathed everything related to gambling, naturally didn’t view dealers favorably either.
Of course, all the employees he encountered at Sovereign were related to gambling. But dealers were different, weren’t they? Dealers were like the symbol of casinos, the first profession that came to mind when one thought of gambling.
Even while thinking this, Kang Siwon couldn’t take his eyes off Ray Jun. He seemed like a human embodiment of this casino. A being who was glamorous and glittering, bewitching people with an attractive voice and sleight of hand. The kind of person fundamentally incompatible with Kang Siwon himself.
“Excuse me, I’d like to exchange my chips back to cash.”
Just then, a customer came to Kang Siwon’s counter. Kang Siwon straightened his head and focused on his work again.
* * *
“I’ll be heading out now. Everyone, good work.”
As soon as it was time to get off work, Kang Siwon left the cage room.
The fatigue clinging thickly to his body wouldn’t go away easily. Just as he’d told his colleague earlier, he wanted to hurry back to the dormitory and sleep soundly.
It seemed he’d have to stop by the mart briefly before that. Because he’d been on edge for the past few days and hadn’t properly taken care of his daily life, his refrigerator was completely empty. Or maybe he should order delivery for the first time in a while today.
“Xie Wei!”
He was walking while thinking about this and that when his name was called. It was the colleague who had spoken to him earlier.
“Where are you going? The dormitory?”
“Yeah.”
“Instead of the dormitory, want to come drink beer with us?”
Only then did he notice the people standing next to his colleague. They were all wearing uniforms, but from different departments. It seemed they were trying to build camaraderie among Sovereign employees.
“Sorry, but I……”
“You’re tired, right? I know, but there’s a soccer match today. It’ll be fun if we drink while cheering together, don’t you think?”
While his colleague was urging him, the others watched Kang Siwon. Their gazes were a mix of exploration and interest. With rumors already circulating about a spy hiding among them, being the center of attention was troublesome.
“Sorry, but I really should……”
As he searched for an appropriate excuse, someone draped an arm around Kang Siwon’s shoulder. Startled, he turned around to see an affable smile filling his vision.
It was Ray Jun.
“No can do. Xie Wei has a prior engagement with me.”
“Huh, Ray Jun……?”
The colleague who recognized him hesitated. His expression said he didn’t understand why this famous person had suddenly appeared. On the other hand, those who were friendly with Ray Jun greeted him warmly.
“Ray Jun, do you want to come drink beer too?”
“We’ve spotted a good pub. You can drink well too.”
Others chimed in one by one. However, he refused gently but firmly.
“Didn’t I say I have plans with Xie Wei?”
“What kind of plans?”
Kang Siwon was genuinely puzzled too. Right, what plans exactly? Far from plans, they were only on greeting terms, exchanging things like “You’re here?” and “Have a good day” morning and evening.
“It’s a secret between roommates.”
Ray Jun moved forward with his arm still around Kang Siwon’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure exactly, but it seemed he’d stepped in after noticing Kang Siwon’s discomfort.
It was awkward and uncomfortable to receive help from someone he wasn’t even close with. But to get out of the situation, following Ray Jun was the best option. Kang Siwon walked along silently.
When they reached the employee corridor, it became quiet around them. Kang Siwon pushed Ray Jun’s arm away slightly and said.
“Thanks. You can let go of my shoulder now.”
“Hm? I’m keeping it there because I want to though?”
“……”
They weren’t on such familiar terms to have casual physical contact like this, so he had no idea what wind had blown to make him act so informal overnight. Kang Siwon raised his guard and tapped Ray Jun’s arm. Only then did he let go of his shoulder and ask.
“Xie Wei, are you always like that?”
“Like what?”
“Do you always push other people away like that?”
“……I’ve never pushed anyone away.”
It was suspicious why he was asking such personal questions when they weren’t even close. Besides, he didn’t deliberately push other people away. Rather, Kang Siwon also wanted to maintain amicable relationships with his colleagues. That would seem less suspicious.
However, the problem was, as expected, language. While his Chinese skills had grown explosively while working at Sovereign, they still couldn’t compare to native speakers. Especially when colleagues exchanged rapid conversations in Cantonese or used trendy slang, it was difficult even to understand. With the situation like this, it was hard to have even casual conversations comfortably.
“For someone who says that, you hate even talking to me.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is. Even when I was playing earlier, you were frowning and glaring at me.”
“I never…… No, wait, you knew I was looking at you?”
“Of course. You can see me, so did you think I couldn’t see you?”
Now that he heard it, it made sense. Kang Siwon couldn’t argue back and closed his mouth. Ray Jun pressed him further.
“You find me off-putting, don’t you?”
“No, I……”
“You always answer half-heartedly when I talk to you. As if you don’t even want to exchange words.”
“Sorry. The thing is, I lived in Canada.”
He pulled out the excuse he always used conveniently. Occasionally when he didn’t properly understand a colleague’s words or didn’t know common knowledge that Macau natives would naturally know, he would use this excuse.
“That’s why. Because my pronunciation is strange, I’m self-conscious about it…… and I’m not good at Cantonese either.”
It didn’t matter if Ray Jun saw him as a rude bastard. Still, to prevent unnecessary suspicion, it seemed necessary to make him understand why he was so taciturn.
