“This is the banquet hall?”
“No. This is just the lounge. If Surim-ssi enters the banquet hall, you won’t be able to eat, so let’s eat here first.”
As if he’d contacted them in advance, a staff member soon brought food on a tray. Several types of kimchi, clear broth in a large soup bowl, and white rice. Surprisingly, the clear broth smelled of meat.
Surim’s eyes widened as he looked at Song Hanyeong.
“It’s galbitang packaged from Jonghojang, which hyung-nim has bookmarked.”
“Wow, woow…!”
“Since you took the trouble to come, there should be something good too.”
“Thank you, Manager-nim.”
How thoughtful. He hadn’t come expecting any compensation, but receiving such a meal made him so happy.
‘I’m glad I came along.’
He hadn’t been hungry at all until just a moment ago, but as soon as he saw the galbitang, his stomach started growling. Surim mixed white rice into the galbitang that had no meat and began eating ravenously.
As he stopped being vigilant of his surroundings like a cat with its fur standing on end while doing so, Song Hanyeong smiled faintly and gently stroked the back of his head. Surim, absorbed in eating, didn’t seem to notice at all that he was being touched.
When Surim had eaten about half his meal, a waiter approached and bowed before Song Hanyeong.
“Song Hanyeong-nim, the boss asked if you could spare a moment for a conversation.”
“…Right now?”
“Shall I report that you’re not available right now?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll see him now.”
Should I go with him? Surim, who had been blissfully immersed in the taste of the rice soup and was chewing with his cheeks puffed up from stuffing in so much rice, turned to look at Song Hanyeong. However, Song Hanyeong shook his head.
“I’ll be back, so keep eating.”
“Yep.”
Surim, whose soul had been captured by the galbitang, answered obediently and concentrated on his meal again, paying no attention to Song Hanyeong leaving. As if displeased by this, Song Hanyeong pushed up under Surim’s chin with his fingertips to meet his gaze.
“Do you remember what I said?”
“What, mm, what did you say?”
“Be careful of your conduct. Understand?”
Song Hanyeong’s words about not wanting to share flashed through his mind. Naturally, Surim also didn’t want to share his blood with anyone other than Song Hanyeong.
“Don’t worry and go.”
“Mm. Enjoy your meal.”
“Yes, Manager-nim.”
He came to his senses after finishing the galbitang without leaving a single drop of broth.
After finishing his satisfying meal and raising his head, the surrounding sounds suddenly flooded his ears again. The wet, sticky sounds had become thicker than before.
It wasn’t sex, but it was the sound of deep kissing. Surim rolled his eyes around and discovered a couple sitting on a nearby sofa. A young man with slightly long hair dyed blonde was sitting on a large man’s thigh, kissing him.
‘Which one is the vampire?’
The surprisingly pretty young man? Or the big man below holding the young man’s waist?
Surim, who had been staring at them in a daze, made eye contact with the young man. When Surim looked away, not knowing what to do, the young man giggled and bit the man’s neck. Strength entered the man’s firm neck. The man embraced the young man’s back, but with a build that looked like he could push the young man away at any moment, he was simply accepting the action.
However, the man after the blood-sucking ended was somewhat heated but wasn’t panting. Surim rolled his eyes in bewilderment, thinking of himself who would become half-erect and hot all over as if burned every time Song Hanyeong bit him. Wasn’t it normally like that for everyone? If that level was normal and he was reacting particularly intensely, it couldn’t help but be embarrassing…
Surim suppressed his sense of injustice and stole another glance at the couple. When the young man whispered something to the man, the man met his eyes and smiled. Soon the kiss continued.
‘Wow…’
They really looked happy. Could I become like that with Song Hanyeong if I tried? Surim imagined such a scene and quickly shook his head.
He couldn’t imagine it. If he hadn’t been a stalker, it might have been a possible future, but his existence felt too gloomy to have such a sweet, lovey-dovey romance.
If only he hadn’t stolen things like cups or chopsticks at the very least…!
It was when the dejected Surim put the straw in his mouth.
“I haven’t seen your face before.”
“Is this your first visit to a banquet?”
“Was there a kinsman with such tastes?”
Startled by voices from right beside him, Surim flinched his shoulders and turned his head. At the same time, men sat on both sides of the sofa. Including the man hanging on the sofa backrest, there were three men who had approached him.
The man who had been hanging on the backrest bent down to bring his face close to Surim’s and frowned as if it were strange.
“Why is the body scent so faint?”
“What, you’re right. Is it normally like that? Is it your constitution?”
“Hmm, I like it.”
The men sitting on both sides leaned their faces toward Surim as if trying to smell him. Flustered, Surim curled up and buried himself into the sofa.
“Why, why are you doing this…?”
“Why are we doing this? Because we want to have a taste.”
The man on the left playfully bared his teeth. His fangs glinted sharply.
“I-I came with someone.”
“So what?”
Surim slipped his fingers between his shirt collar to show his necklace to the sneering man. Just as he grabbed the necklace chain to pull it out, the man grabbed Surim’s wrist. So he couldn’t pull out the necklace.
“I’m not curious at all about who you came with. Just give me one bite. It’s no big deal. Hm?”
“I don’t want to, so let go.”
He couldn’t move his hand at all. No matter how much he strained and applied force, the man’s hand holding it didn’t budge. It was an overwhelming difference greater than that between an adult and a child.
Surim was gradually becoming truly frightened. Wasn’t there anyone who could help? Surim quickly scanned the people sitting on the surrounding sofas. Many people were paying attention to Surim. But all their eyes… were filled with interest as if watching an entertaining spectacle.
Their eyes were expectant of what would happen next, as if watching a variety show. No one was trying to help him.
As soon as he became aware of that fact, his head became dizzy and his reason grew hazy. He wanted to leave this place immediately.
“Let go. Let go, let go of me!”
“Haha. Look at you whimpering. How cute.”
“Stop it, eek!”
The man in the seat next to him slid his thumb across Surim’s upper lip. Shocked by the sticky contact from a stranger, Surim shook his head wildly.
“Don’t touch me!”
Surim, who shouted out loud, struggled in his seat. The man who had been holding Surim’s hand the whole time let him go with an amused expression. Surim stood up from his seat as if shuddering.
However, he couldn’t go in either direction. Left, right, and even behind the sofa—he was surrounded by men. When he hesitated, not knowing what to do, the man on the left grabbed his hand and pulled him down again.
“We’re not asking for much. Just one bite each for the three of us. Hm?”
Surim, who was dragged down and sat back as if thrown, curled up with a frightened face. The man, who smiled as if amused, pushed him against the sofa backrest and unbuttoned his shirt buttons with light taps. Surim’s pure white neck was fully exposed before them as he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Wait, this…!”
The men on both sides moved away from him. A strange murmuring was felt. Surim carefully opened his eyes while trembling.
Bewilderment and fear lingered on the faces of the men who held their hands in the air as if they’d touched something hot.
Suddenly why? Surim looked at them suspiciously.
“Why are you all suddenly…”
The man who had been behind the sofa backrest leaned his upper body toward Surim with a puzzled voice. Then he backed away in shock. The man raised both hands above his shoulders and smiled awkwardly.
“We were wrong.”
“We should have checked the necklace.”
“We won’t touch you, so let’s pretend this never happened…”
What’s going on? Surim looked between the three men in confusion and realized they were glancing at the area around his neck. During the struggle, the necklace had come out over his shirt collar.
“If we’d known you were Song Hanyeong’s property, we wouldn’t have touched you…”
Rambling excuses followed one after another. If they were going to be like this, why hadn’t they checked the necklace from the start?
He was angry, but he was too afraid they might change their expression to show it.
Surim bit his lip and glared at the men before abruptly standing up. He didn’t want to keep sitting in the place where those men were, and where the people who had watched him like a spectacle were.
More than anything, it seemed that if he stayed here, the fear from earlier would remain in his body and not leave. This feeling as if a chilling, cold energy was stuck in his belly and chest like a blade.
Surim left the people’s gazes behind and walked toward the inner corridor where the restroom would likely be.
