Watching the swaggering Manager Kim made him miss Ha-seok. Ha-seok was also a thug, but he was on a different level. First of all, he was handsome, and he had an exceptional presence even without acting particularly threatening.
“Instead of the hangover soup restaurant, should we go to the Han River and eat ramyeon?”
Manager Kim put his arm around Hwi-gyeom’s shoulder and brought his face close. Hwi-gyeom held his breath at the intense collaboration of cigarettes and instant coffee mix.
Today, both President Hong and Manager Kim kept clinging to Hwi-gyeom. Manager Kim’s gaze licked over Hwi-gyeom’s collarbone, slightly revealed between his clothes.
His gaze was so blatant that if this had been a secluded alley, he felt like he would pretend it was an accident and headbutt him with his lips.
His face flushed red as he kept holding his breath. Seeing that, Manager Kim got excited again and snorted heavily through his nose.
It was by chance that as Hwi-gyeom turned his head, a familiar car entered his field of vision. The jet-black sedan sparkled under the bright sunlight. The back seat had tinting so dark that the inside couldn’t be seen at all, which wasn’t unfamiliar either.
Could it be…
Just in case, Hwi-gyeom managed his expression. He made a face that anyone could see was full of fear and looked down only at the ground.
My stomach already feels bad, so Ha-seok would be better than eating with Manager Kim. It might not be Ha-seok’s car, but cars with tinting this dark weren’t common.
“If you read the script while looking at the Han River, you’ll be able to concentrate better and it’ll be good.”
Since Hwi-gyeom kept not answering, Manager Kim thought this was his chance and brought his face even closer. Hwi-gyeom trembled. He was scolding himself because he wanted to punch Manager Kim in the face right now.
It was when Manager Kim’s eyes became drowsy looking at the smooth and transparent skin without a single blemish.
Tap.
A large hand grabbed Manager Kim’s shoulder. Before Manager Kim could turn his head, a rough force pressed firmly on the hollow spot above his shoulder.
“Ahhhhh!”
Manager Kim made a sound like a pig being slaughtered and jumped in place. His button-hole-sized eyes filled with tears from how much it hurt.
Hwi-gyeom grinned inwardly. But outwardly, he acted like he was completely frozen in shock at Ha-seok’s sudden appearance.
“Baby, have you been well?”
Ha-seok smiled at Hwi-gyeom as their eyes met. Why does he look so handsome today? Hwi-gyeom nodded with a dazed expression.
They had met just yesterday, but Ha-seok was as happy to see Hwi-gyeom as if they hadn’t met in quite a while. And Hwi-gyeom wanted to give a thumbs up to him for appearing at such good timing.
“D-Director-nim, why are you doing this…”
Manager Kim, recognizing Ha-seok’s face, was about to faint. Even in the world where fists flew, there were ranks. Before opening the entertainment agency, Du-shik and Manager Kim had run a loan shark business, sucking the blood of people who couldn’t borrow money from first-tier financial institutions. They had made their seed money in the entertainment business.
Ha-seok before his eyes was now a proper director of a construction company, but when calculated by cash holdings alone, he had enough to be counted on one hand in South Korea.
Above all, among those who borrowed money from him, not a single person had failed to pay back yet. Even if there were people whose whereabouts became mysterious, they too had paid back the principal and interest in full before disappearing.
“Just. Because you were shoving your ugly face at my baby, I felt fucking shitty.”
Ha-seok curled his lips up enough to show his canines. His eyes receiving the sunlight glistened with murderous intent. Manager Kim felt a tingling sensation in his bladder and immediately put his hands together.
There was a reason he was loyal to President Hong. He too was infinitely weak before the strong.
“I-I’m sorry. I dared to dirty Director-nim’s mood. Should I kneel?”
Hwi-gyeom pressed strength into the corners of his mouth at the sight of him fawning with his barely visible eyes opened pitifully. I want to laugh out loud, but if I did, I’d immediately be treated as crazy.
“How expensive are your knees? Just be careful from now on. When you put an arm full of fat like that around him, my baby’s shoulders look pitiful. Right?”
At the tone as if soothing a child, Manager Kim shook his head so hard it looked like it would fall off. It was an attitude that Ha-seok’s words were unconditionally correct.
Ha-seok tapped Manager Kim’s cheek unpleasantly with the back of his hand. Though it was light force, Manager Kim’s head swung to the side each time.
“Then go. Baby is going to play with me, so don’t worry about it.”
“Yes! Understood!”
Manager Kim shouted in a posture with full discipline. Ha-seok scowled hard and lifted Manager Kim’s chin upward.
“Brush your teeth too. How much coffee did you chug down?”
Ha-seok glared fiercely at Manager Kim, whose mouth was moving. Manager Kim looked back at Hwi-gyeom with an awkward smile on his face.
“Hwi, Hwi-gyeom-ah, take good care of Director-nim, and get home safely.”
“…Yes.”
Hwi-gyeom answered with a dark expression. After bowing to Ha-seok with his crown touching the ground, Manager Kim ran away as if his tail had fallen off.
“Hmm.”
When they were left alone, Ha-seok let out an ambiguous moan. Hwi-gyeom looked up at Ha-seok, hugging the script tightly to his chest.
It was good that Manager Kim ran away thanks to Ha-seok, but since he wanted to look at the script quickly, he wasn’t entirely happy to see Ha-seok. He wasn’t particularly drawn to sex right now either.
“Right. Our baby was an actor. I forgot for a moment.”
At Ha-seok’s words as he stroked his jawline with his finger, Hwi-gyeom nodded quickly. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t really know how Ha-seok became Hwi-gyeom’s sponsor.
Kang Seo-jin had made an impression at a party the body’s owner was forcibly dragged to by the agency president. Do Yi-hyun met Hwi-gyeom at the recommendation of Du-shik, who knew his sexual preference, while he was struggling to make a partner because of his sexual preference of being gay.
“What are you holding?”
“…It’s a script. I’m scheduled to audition for a drama tomorrow evening.”
Hwi-gyeom was nervous because, like the other bastards but especially, Ha-seok often made surprise moves.
He wouldn’t snatch it away, would he?
This was finally an opportunity to have a proper audition after entering this body. For nearly a month, Hwi-gyeom hadn’t experienced any life as an actor.
Though he occasionally stopped by the company at Du-shik’s summons, he had never received training and only met with the three sponsors in rotation. When alone, he studied works and exercised in his own way, but that was all.
Was he hugging the script too tightly without realizing it? Ha-seok looked at Hwi-gyeom as if amused, then snatched the script away.
“Hey…”
Hwi-gyeom reached out toward the departing script, but it was useless. Hwi-gyeom wasn’t that short either, but when Ha-seok deliberately avoided him, no matter how much he stood on his tiptoes, all he could do was barely touch the edge of the script.
“Give it back.”
Hwi-gyeom spoke in a fairly strong voice. In the first place, receiving sponsorship from three people was to get support. The body’s owner had obediently complied even without being given actor work because of the weakness Du-shik held over him and his mother’s hospital bills.
But since the body’s owner’s mother had died, Du-shik realized he couldn’t only use the whip with Hwi-gyeom. This script was the carrot. Of course, it was highly likely he handed it over reluctantly because Yi-hyun pressed him.
In any case, Hwi-gyeom had absolutely no intention of half-assing the drama audition. He planned to land the role no matter what and properly debut. With Hwi-gyeom’s looks, gaining popularity wasn’t that difficult.
Moreover, Hwi-gyeom acted quite well. Even now, when he put just a little strength in his eyes, tears welled up at the corners.
“I ignored even old geezers asking me to go golfing because I came to play with baby. What do I do if you won’t play with me because you’re looking at the script?”
At the extremely selfish words, Hwi-gyeom’s eyes trembled slightly. I want to forget about acting or whatever and curse him out coolly, but since he hadn’t escaped from Du-shik yet, Ha-seok was a useful card.
After seeing how Manager Kim acted like a mouse before a cat as soon as he saw Ha-seok earlier, he thought he should continue to use him well.
“…Then go on a date with me.”
“A date?”
Ha-seok wiggled his eyebrows as if hearing an unfamiliar word. It was the first time Hwi-gyeom had used such a word.
Hwi-gyeom always obviously met Ha-seok reluctantly. Even knowing that, he had met with him many times because his looks were so much his type. His eyes that welled up with tears at every moment were so pretty. He also liked how he trembled whenever he tormented him.
“A date, huh.”
Ha-seok, who had been mulling over what Hwi-gyeom said, grinned. The script returned to Hwi-gyeom’s embrace. Afraid it would be snatched again, Hwi-gyeom shoved the script inside his clothes.
“What should we play? Han River date? That pig bastard earlier seemed to be talking about the Han River.”
When did he even hear that?
