“Right. I didn’t really like that person anyway.”
Hui-myeong mumbled with his mouth full of the crispy toast spread with butter and jam.
No. Hui-myeong particularly liked this trainer. Because he was kind and would frequently tell him about what was going on in the world. He would tell him about the latest entertainment news, restaurants, and even trending memes, so it was quite fun to go home after exercising and look them up. But insisting on the same trainer would only invite unnecessary suspicion.
Hui-myeong thought he knew why he was being kicked out. Recently during PT, he had asked Hui-myeong if he was preparing to be a model. He had lightly laughed it off, saying he was too old to enter the entertainment industry, but someone must have caught that moment. Do-ha was particularly sensitive about Hui-myeong getting close to men his age, so he wouldn’t just let it go.
Of course, even without such issues, no one around him lasted more than three months at most. That was Do-ha’s policy. Regardless of the reason, he didn’t keep the same person by Jung Hui-myeong’s side for more than three months. The only person who could stay by his side for a long time was Lee Do-ha and only Lee Do-ha.
“What are you going to wear to exercise?”
“Just a short-sleeved shirt and shorts.”
“Bring them here.”
Hui-myeong put down the bread he was eating and brought any workout clothes. It was a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, one size larger than what he wore for exercising. He had chosen them because Do-ha didn’t like it when Hui-myeong exercised in tight-fitting clothes.
Do-ha examined the clothes he handed over and shook his head slightly.
“Wear something tighter today.”
“Why?”
“Even if you just bend your head down, everyone can see where I sucked on your chest yesterday.”
At his words, Hui-myeong’s face naturally flushed. He hadn’t anticipated that far. What would the new trainer think seeing a male member’s body covered with kiss marks? Just imagining being exposed as someone who sells his body to men was horrifying.
“Answer.”
“Uh, yeah. I got it.”
Hui-myeong forced himself to fix his expression and put the clothes down beside him. Even if he pretended otherwise, people would know. A young, pretty-looking man focusing only on maintaining his body every day with nothing else to do—who would see him as normal? The more he thought about it, the more miserable he felt. But what he hated more than that was his situation where he couldn’t even wear workout clothes as he pleased and had to be controlled by Do-ha.
“Jung Hui-myeong.”
“Huh?”
Suddenly, as Do-ha lowered his voice, Hui-myeong flinched and his shoulders twitched.
“Are you hiding something from me?”
“N-no. Why?”
At the question, Hui-myeong’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.
“Maybe it’s because you ran away like a little mouse yesterday and came back. You’ve become so obedient?”
Do-ha sneered while sharply observing Hui-myeong’s expression. Feeling guilty, Hui-myeong deliberately met his eyes and smiled brightly. It was a smile that captivated Do-ha’s soul.
“No. I always listen to you well.”
At Hui-myeong’s words, Do-ha burst into laughter.
Even if it was an empty compliment, it didn’t seem to be bad. Simple bastard. Even though he acted like the most insane person in the world, he would melt helplessly when Hui-myeong showed him affection. Because he had to use it while reading the atmosphere, Hui-myeong had become a ghost at reading situations.
“Are you late today?”
Taking advantage of his good mood, Hui-myeong casually asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to go and see, why?”
Do-ha said while wiping his mouth. Having already finished getting ready for work before breakfast, he looked neat, as if he were a different person from the one who had been having messy sex yesterday.
“I want to go to that hotel. The one we went to last time.”
“Ah, Bins?”
“Yeah.”
“If we can’t go today, let’s go once before the wedding. Buy whatever you want to buy.”
“Okay.”
After answering, Do-ha suddenly looked at his watch and got up in a hurry. He had been loitering at the dining table, losing track of time while watching Hui-myeong cheerfully please him since morning. As he came out putting on his jacket, he stroked the nape of Hui-myeong’s neck, who was standing in front of the entrance, and kissed him briefly.
“I’ll make a reservation at the hair salon for today, so just trim the back of your hair.”
Even in his busy state, he didn’t miss the chance to check Hui-myeong’s hairstyle. He was always sensitive even to 1 cm of hair, as he was only satisfied when Hui-myeong was groomed like a doll that perfectly suited his taste.
“Is it long?”
Hui-myeong asked while unnecessarily touching his hair.
“If you wear a shirt, the back of your hair seems like it’ll touch it. You look pretty in shirts. I’m leaving, so let me know later what the new trainer is like.”
“Okay.”
As Hui-myeong nodded while meeting his eyes, Do-ha smiled lightly once and left the house.
7:20 AM. As a director, he arrived at the company earliest, checked and sorted the work to be done that day, and threw it at the staff members as soon as it turned 9 o’clock. The reason employees trembled before the young boss who came in through connections was because of that terrible workaholic nature.
“Whew…”
Only after hearing the elevator door close outside did a long sigh pour out from Hui-myeong’s mouth. His breathing became easier only after Do-ha left for work.
Time spent with Do-ha was like a play on stage. So when one scene ended, he felt drained. Lines without sincerity, scripted words and expressions. He had become so accustomed to it that sometimes he was confused whether he was acting or really loved Do-ha.
Conditioned emotions. As he perfectly matched himself to him in order not to get hit and to gain affection, he sometimes wondered if he had really come to love him now. Ten years was enough time to make even the fake real.
The mirror in the entrance reflected Hui-myeong’s appearance when he suddenly turned around. Weight 67 kg, waist size 27 inches, hairstyle that didn’t cover his ears with bangs touching around his eyebrows. Skin clean and smooth without blemishes, palate with refined taste that any gourmet would envy. The man in the mirror exuded an elegance that was hard to believe he was once a boy who begged for food at Suseolhwa. He was Do-ha’s perfect creation.
‘Will he ease up a bit after we get married?’
Though he should have gotten used to it, his control that didn’t let even trivial things pass was still tiresome.
Hui-myeong, as if taking revenge, ate a spoonful of jam and then lay down on the sofa, leaving the dishes on the table as they were, fiddling with his phone.
‘What was the name of that pawn shop?’
Left alone, Geum-gang, whom he met yesterday, naturally came to mind. He was afraid of Do-ha’s surveillance to visit again. But he wanted to investigate on his own. What kind of place it was that he had visited yesterday.
Who knows. He might be able to find a way to escape from Do-ha through Geum-gang. To establish a thorough plan, he had to reach out to someone.
Hui-myeong recklessly searched the portal for the neighborhood name where he got off yesterday and the word “pawn shop.” Whether that neighborhood was a pawn shop hotspot, there were seven lined up in one alley.
But they all only had phone numbers and were clustered together, so he couldn’t distinguish which was which. There was no way pawn shops would have ratings or reviews.
‘He seemed like a really scary person.’
Hui-myeong recalled Geum-gang cursing at his subordinate with an indifferent face.
Three years older than him, so thirty-two now. His face didn’t particularly look old, but his unique weight had the power to intimidate the other person. When they attended school together, Geum-gang was only twenty-two, but the atmosphere wasn’t much different from now. However, his physique had grown larger and his sense of intimidation was incomparably greater than back then. If back then he had the feeling of being at the bottom of an organization, now he was like a boss.
Ruminating on memories with Geum-gang one by one, Hui-myeong suddenly checked the clock and jumped up in surprise. It was time to meet the new trainer.
***
After the new trainer was assigned, he measured his body composition again from scratch. The trainer was in his early thirties with a face as plain as a potato, but had a good build. His physique reflexively reminded him of Geum-gang.
‘Hyung is much taller though.’
In high school, Hui-myeong’s height was in the mid-170 cm range, so when he stood next to Geum-gang, there was easily a span’s difference. His torso was more than twice as thick too. It was markedly different from Do-ha, who managed himself to look sharp and lean to give a sharp impression.
“According to what I received in the handover, you said you wanted to maintain 67 kg, but you’ve lost some weight compared to the last record?”
At the trainer’s question, Hui-myeong snapped back to attention.
“Yes, ah, yes. I’ve been under some stress lately.”
