……Hwang Jegu knew Yeon Cheonguk too well. If Yeon Cheonguk, who had many people approaching him, got a cell phone, it would be hard for him to focus on his debut.
“Just play with an electronic dictionary. You can put games, music, porn—everything on it.”
As he nodded in agreement, Hwang Jegu added one last condition.
“At night, come without being seen by anyone.”
Keep it a secret.
Yeon Cheonguk also welcomed the idea of not letting his parents—who had even tried to transfer him to another school—find out.
When he didn’t object this time either, Hwang Jegu turned around immediately. Tree shadows swayed gently over his close-cropped hair and sturdy nape. After some deliberation, Yeon Cheonguk called out to stop him.
“Hey?”
He couldn’t bear to call him Your Majesty, but it also felt weird to call him by name affectionately, so he omitted the form of address altogether. Leaning against the wall, Yeon Cheonguk kicked at the ground as he complained.
“I have no fucking clue why you’re doing this again all of a sudden.”
His posture was crooked as could be. It was an arrogant, slouched appearance that no one else could show in front of Hwang Jegu. Hwang Jegu tossed out a casual answer and left.
“There’s no manga shuttle as good as you.”
***
A gamble between two rebels outside the system had begun. Though Hwang Jegu had named it “compensated dating” in his style, it was essentially a gamble they were both making with each other.
Earning money in exchange for practicing English pronunciation and singing musical originals.
This meant:
Hwang Jegu was betting money stained with the smell of flesh and blood on Yeon Cheonguk’s potential, and Yeon Cheonguk was betting his time and freedom on Hwang Jegu’s money.
The reason this gamble didn’t feel frightening was because it was filled with some inexplicable hope.
It’s impossible to explain why. Just as Hwang Jegu had showered Yeon Cheonguk with fiery kisses without knowing the reason, Yeon Cheonguk also didn’t know why hopeful days continued after their deal was made.
Usually, this feeling of walking on clouds is an expression used when you’ve fallen in love.
How strange.
Ambiguous emotions piled up.
Not fear but beep beep beep.
Not vengeance but beep beep beep.
Not anxiety but beep beep beep.
Not hopefulness but beep beep beep.
Their deal continued throughout the summer, with the emotion that should fill the blank covered by a pleasant question mark.
If there was a problem, it was that if he just covered up that kiss and hung out with that bastard, it was excessively fun.
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“Kekeke….”
Yeon Cheonguk secretly clutched his stomach and giggled. It seemed no one had discovered this graffiti yet. Well, there wouldn’t be any customer who would carefully examine the serial number written in the corner of the book flap.
When Yeon Cheonguk started returning and borrowing manga again, the part-timer at the manga cafe said this: An era of great peace has arrived.
The electronic dictionary—the tempting card to lure Yeon Cheonguk into the gamble—was much more useful than expected.
It was good for practicing pronunciation of musical original lyrics, good for playing games instead of a cell phone, and excellent to use in place of his broken MP3 player.
The electronic dictionary’s multimedia menu had a memo function. Sometimes he would jot down random thoughts that came to mind in the memos, and yesterday he had even created a file called <Us>. There, he mainly recorded Hwang Jegu’s bullshit.
Hwang Jegu’s throne as a third-year was even more magnificent. One day, when he went to drop off manga, hadn’t he taped twenty ice packs to the chair? He had covered it with a large bath towel to absorb the moisture forming on the outside of the packs, and the towel had “2003 Mixed Martial Arts Competition” written on it.
A friend sitting next to Hwang Jegu’s seat told him to wait a moment, then pulled out a frozen yogurt from his locker.
“What’s that?”
“He told me to buy it and keep it ready on days when Your Majesty isn’t here.”
“…Why was he absent again?”
“I don’t know, he must be busy. School is his lowest priority anyway.”
Yeon Cheonguk counted in his head. Hwang Jegu only had 4 days of unexcused absences left before expulsion.
A few days later, on a Thursday, Yeon Cheonguk found a gum wrapper among the manga placed on his desk. Written on it in scrawled handwriting was ‘Fuck’.
The day had finally come. The first deal, the compensated dating day. He’d had plenty of practice time and had mastered three songs with one more to spare. There wasn’t much to worry about, yet his heart was pounding anyway.
There was another piece of paper tucked behind the gum wrapper—what looked like a hand-drawn map.
Below the map was an address and simple directions.
[9 o’clock
Abandoned warehouse 10 minutes from ○○ Mountain hiking trail entrance]
What a creepy location.
It was a place that inevitably brought to mind things that decorated the society pages—gang problems, group violence, group sex parties, slave rings, and such.
Damn. This isn’t crossing a river of no return, is it?
What if all the major gangster bosses from north of the river are gathered there holding shovels and blunt weapons to bury me?
As Yeon Cheonguk was swallowing down his chilling fear, he read the line below.
[If you’re scared, wait at the public phone at Hoegi Station]
Holding a water bottle and leaning against the phone booth, he waited for Hwang Jegu. When the time displayed on his electronic dictionary reached 8:57, Hwang Jegu got out of a taxi.
Hwang Jegu, reeking heavily of cigarette smoke, roughly rubbed his face. Unlike usual, he looked particularly tired, which was concerning.
No matter how much stamina half-beast teenagers in their teens have to spare, there are moments when they get exhausted. His gait was slower than usual and more sluggish and loose, making him seem even more like a thug. He was a thug, but anyway.
“Aren’t you overdoing it?”
“Why?”
“No, you just look a bit unwell….”
“Ah, I just exerted myself a bit. Want to hear about the aftermath of a fight?”
“Decline.”
“Why, you actually want to hear dark, stimulating stories.”
“Reflect.”
Watching Hwang Jegu grin, he firmly resolved not to worry about him over trivial matters from now on.
He led the way holding a large flashlight. After walking up the mountain path for about 10 minutes and stopping at a certain point to enter a side path, a small warehouse appeared.
He said it was a place for temporarily storing heavy equipment or factory facilities that needed repairs.
Here, he could belt out songs at the top of his lungs without having to be self-conscious at all. Yeon Cheonguk’s face filled with anticipation.
Hwang Jegu pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the padlock. Inside the warehouse, it was clean as if someone had already tidied it once.
A fluorescent light hanging from the high ceiling brightly illuminated the interior. Heavy equipment and various stored items were pushed together to one side, and a white mat and sofa were placed under the window.
Hwang Jegu, who had been flicking switches and showing off the bright lighting, turned off all the lights. The inside became pitch black.
“I only need to hear your voice anyway.”
It made sense, so he left it alone. Yeon Cheonguk also preferred moderately dim lighting.
Hwang Jegu, who had sprawled out on a large mat that might be found in a PE equipment room, put a piece of plastic in his mouth. Curious about what it was, Yeon Cheonguk glanced over as he passed by and saw it was disposable gauze. After tearing open the plastic with his mouth and taking out the gauze, he wiped the back of his hand. Already-dried red blood came off on the gauze.
“…….”
The center of his chest constricted greatly.
Did he get hurt, or did he hurt someone? Time passed while he was debating whether to ask.
Hwang Jegu, who had tossed aside the gauze with dried blood on it, looked at Yeon Cheonguk. He thought he’d be told to sing, but what came out was profanity.
“Fuck, you frigid bastard. What positions have you tried?”
Hwang Jegu’s questions always oscillate between tormenting and joking.
“Stop asking like a thug.”
“I’m not asking like a thug, a thug is asking.”
“…….”
“What position did you like best? What’s your longest record? How many times have you come?”
How many times…? Isn’t it just ejaculate, embrace, feel regretful, and end it…?
When Yeon Cheonguk fell into serious contemplation, Hwang Jegu sighed and moved on to the next question.
“Do you curse during it? Or are you the quiet type?”
Is there even time to talk during that…?
What kind of sex does this person named Hwang Jegu have to ask things like this? Yeon Cheonguk had thought he’d become an adult who’d lost his cherry, but listening to Hwang Jegu, it seemed he’d only been playing at being an adult.
“Haa… How boring.”
Hwang Jegu frowned and sprawled out even more. His straight, high nose bridge jutted upward. Following his long, stretched-out legs, Yeon Cheonguk’s gaze reached the crotch of Erection King’s pants, which he’d never seen before. Hwang Jegu wiggled his foot and said,
“Lie down.”
