“Ta-da. Chef Ray’s special dish of the day is tomato and egg fried rice.”
Before long, Ray Jun came to the dining table carrying two bowls. Kang Siwon looked down at the bowl placed in front of him.
Surprisingly, the plating was quite authentic. Finely chopped scallions were scattered over the neatly served fried rice. The scallions were unevenly sized due to clumsy knife work, but rather, that roughness gave off the familiar warmth characteristic of home-cooked meals.
“…Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
As he picked up his spoon and spoke, Ray Jun asked.
“Aren’t you curious what it tastes like?”
“Yeah.”
“Me too.”
“Didn’t you even taste it while cooking?”
“No, tasting is basic. I meant I’m curious about your reaction.”
As he said, Ray Jun was watching Kang Siwon with his chin propped up. His eyes shining under the dining table light were a bright hazelnut color.
It would have been nice if we’d been this comfortable from the start, Kang Siwon thought quietly. Until now, he’d been wearing colored lenses even in what should have been the most comfortable space, so how uncomfortable must that have been.
Of course, the dormitory might not have been a ‘comfortable space’ for Ray Jun. While it was a place where he could at least rest within Sovereign, it still wasn’t his real home after all.
But now does he feel comfortable with this space, and with me too?
As soon as he thought that, one side of his chest tingled strangely. As if to shake off that unfamiliar sensation, Kang Siwon scooped up a large spoonful of fried rice and swallowed it in one bite.
“It’s delicious.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s better than I expected.”
The egg and tomato harmonized well, and the savory flavor of the oyster sauce was subtly present. It was a textbook tomato and egg fried rice.
“Ah, what a relief. I was worried since it was my first time making it.”
Ray Jun said, stroking his chest. Kang Siwon replied with slight surprise.
“It was your first time? For a first attempt, you really did well.”
“I practiced hard while looking at the internet.”
He waved his fingers making a V sign, then Ray Jun also ate a spoonful of fried rice. Seeing him nod, he seemed quite satisfied with his own skills.
Kang Siwon continued eating with a dazed feeling. Looking back, this was the first time since Uncle Gyucheol that someone had carefully prepared a meal for him. Even when he lived with his father as a child, and when he worked as a cook, he had always been the one doing the cooking.
“…It’s really delicious.”
“Wow, I didn’t know it would suit Xie Wei’s taste. I’ll make it for you sometimes from now on.”
“Okay.”
Only after answering unconsciously did he feel strange. Was it okay to get meals from someone he’d slept with? It wasn’t exactly wrong, but it was also true that it felt awkward somewhere.
In the first place, he even questioned whether it was okay to continue being friendly with him. Ray Jun was the guy who had pounced on him saying he’d teach him how to sleep with men. The muscle pain from that time had only just subsided after several days. And throwing out that crazy proposal of ‘If you don’t want to date, let’s just have sex’—anyway, he was constantly eyeing him, so naturally he should keep his distance.
Thinking he’d been too defenseless, Kang Siwon harshly blamed himself. But on the other hand, it didn’t seem right to refuse with a straight face when someone offered to cook for him.
“……”
Kang Siwon looked at the handsome man sitting in front of him with fresh eyes. A guy who seemed affectionate but then revealed a twisted side, just when you thought you’d gotten close you couldn’t figure him out, and who readily offered comfort he didn’t even know he’d wanted.
By now, having known him this much, he should be somewhat figured out, but Ray Jun still had many aspects that were difficult to understand. And yet he didn’t dislike him, which was also bewildering.
“Why?”
Ray Jun, who noticed his gaze, asked. Kang Siwon lowered his head slightly.
“It’s nothing.”
“Hmm… Are you sick somewhere today? Earlier you were sleeping without even making breathing sounds.”
“I’m fine.”
“Then, did something bad happen? Your complexion looks a bit dark.”
Something bad happened, yes. The incident with Ju Xiang, which he’d forgotten for a moment while escaping into the world of sleep, came to mind. Perhaps failing to manage his expression and showing his mood, Ray Jun spoke again.
“If you have worries, you can open up to me.”
“…It’s fine.”
“Mm, okay. There can be things you can’t talk about.”
Unexpectedly, he didn’t ask further. He just nodded as if he understood everything.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just remember that I’m by your side.”
“……”
“If things are hard, I’ll comfort you as much as you need. Chef Ray’s special service.”
Ray Jun winked, squinting one eye. If he or someone else said and acted like that, it would be embarrassing, but when he did it, it just seemed natural. He was amazed every time at how shameless he could be. That cringeworthy way of speaking and aegyo could only be explained as innate.
“How are you going to comfort me?”
When he unknowingly let out a chuckle, Ray Jun subtly suggested.
“Should I buy you something delicious?”
“No thanks. Do I need to mooch off you at every turn?”
“Or we could drink together.”
“Drinking is… really, absolutely not.”
“Or I could comfort you physically.”
“Can’t you break your habit of sneaking in nonsense?”
Kang Siwon gripped his spoon tightly and snapped decisively. It was fortunate he was almost done eating the fried rice, otherwise his appetite would have dropped completely and he would have left it.
“That day… did you hate it that much?”
Ray Jun asked with his shoulders drooping. His expression was like a timid puppy naturally inducing sympathy, but Kang Siwon didn’t fall for it.
“Yeah.”
“Sorry. Even I think I couldn’t control myself that day. I like you so much that I just… I’ll really be careful next time.”
“You—I clearly told you ‘there is no next time.'”
“I won’t put it in, I’ll just use my hands. Or I’m good with my mouth too. I can suck you until you’re satisfied.”
“Fuck off!”
Even at Kang Siwon’s sharp rebuke, Ray Jun wasn’t discouraged at all and just grinned.
Actually, he could just leave, but Kang Siwon scraped up the remaining fried rice clean before standing up abruptly. Strength naturally went into each step as he walked toward the sink carrying the bowl.
In any case, he couldn’t deny the fact that thanks to Ray Jun, his mood had improved a little again this time too. Kang Siwon sighed as if giving in and washed the bowl clean.
* * *
Even after brushing his teeth and lying back down on the bed, sleep wouldn’t come at all. It was because he’d slept too long in the early evening. If he’d known it would be like this, he would have rather stayed awake—having slept awkwardly, it seemed his fatigue would only worsen.
Ray Jun also seemed unable to sleep tonight. He could feel the occasional rustling from his bed. As the silence in the darkness lengthened and became awkward, Kang Siwon finally spoke first.
“Are you asleep?”
“No, just…”
He answered, but there was clearly hesitation. Wondering what was unusual about that guy, Kang Siwon turned his head toward Ray Jun.
“What is it?”
“…Earlier I saw something strange, and I keep thinking about it.”
“What, did a bug appear in the house?”
“Not that kind of thing.”
Ray Jun, who chuckled, continued.
“VIP exchange records. I got the data.”
“Are you crazy… Then you accessed the accounting records?”
“Yeah.”
“What are you trying to do?!”
When he was already unable to sleep, his eyes snapped wide open. If it was a large corporation like Sovereign, the accounting system would far exceed normal security levels. No wonder Ju Xiang cursed constantly about still not being able to break through that security. But he couldn’t believe that Ray Jun, a mere dealer, had accessed data from such a system.
“It was unexpectedly lax. I didn’t think I’d get access this easily either.”
“You didn’t mistake it for different data?”
“Should I show you?”
Ray Jun turned on his phone and held it out. At the LCD light suddenly piercing his eyes, Kang Siwon reflexively closed them. He thought about not looking at such sensitive information like this, but in the end curiosity won. Kang Siwon opened his eyes to slits and peered at the phone screen.
“……”
It was a photo taken with the settlement program screen enlarged on a monitor. It was a program he’d never seen before, but thanks to its composition reminiscent of an Excel sheet, there wasn’t much difficulty understanding the content.
Ray Jun explained in a low voice.
“Same date, same customer, even the exchange amount and dealer in charge are the same, right? But the settlement is uploaded twice at 1-minute intervals. Only the amounts are different.”
“…Couldn’t it just be a simple error?”
“Then one of them should have been deleted or marked as corrected. But both remain as settlement complete.”
The chip exchange records were also double-stamped. Kang Siwon looked at the photo with a serious expression.
With just the knowledge accumulated from working in the cage room, he couldn’t grasp Sovereign’s entire accounting system at a glance. But the content entered in this table was different from what he’d learned during training. He could at least notice that something was seriously wrong.
“Upper management deliberately processed it. They intentionally split the settlement and made both enter as valid data.”
“……”
“Of the split settlement records, they leave one as is and completely separate the other to hide it more deeply. In other words, while it looks normal on the surface, the records are moving separately behind the scenes.”
“So you’re saying they actually embezzled chips.”
“Yeah. Can you look at the next photo too?”
Kang Siwon swiped the screen. Another VIP’s record appeared. This time too, the same name was stamped twice at 1-minute intervals. It was the same pattern as before.
“On the surface it looks like an ordinary exchange record, but the internal settlement is running separately. This isn’t just an accounting error.”
“…So it’s double bookkeeping.”
Kang Siwon muttered calmly.
It wasn’t shocking. Rather, it would have been stranger if Sovereign was truly clean. If he had to point out something, it was more surprising that Ray Jun had accessed this information.
Why did the Baeksa Faction recruit someone like me when they could recruit talent like this? Kang Siwon thought self-deprecatingly as he returned the phone to Ray Jun.
