‘That kid’s quite the goods, right? I specially couldn’t drill his back hole because I was going to sell him expensive at the first auction, but I used his mouth a few times to train him. Hiya, the young bastard is fucking amazing. I really didn’t know he’d even bewitch the great Executive Director Tae.’
When he vulgarly brought together his thumb and index finger in front of his lips and shook them, the one thread of reason snapped.
‘Ugh, fuck… Can you handle this?’
When he came to his senses, one bloody gold tooth was held in Ganghyuk’s hand. When he was about to pluck out even the eyeball glaring at him, Jaehyun stopped him. Since one side was a glass eye, he’d tried to pluck out the other side to make him completely blind.
“Executive Director…?”
A puzzled voice broke Ganghyuk’s reverie. Instead of the bloody scene, a clear face reflected in Ganghyuk’s pupils. Ian didn’t need to know the detailed circumstances of adults.
“I bought you with money.”
Ganghyuk condensed what happened with Hongdo into a brief sentence. Anyway, since he’d given money equivalent to Yeon Sangmin’s debt that Hongdo had forgiven when he brought Ian, it wasn’t wrong.
Though he’d made Hongdo shut up by pressing a knife tip inside his throat when he said this wasn’t nearly enough.
“…Really?”
The end of Ian’s voice, filled with complicated feelings, trembled. The buying and selling of people with money was happening openly in the Republic of Korea. Something you’d only see in movies had actually happened to him.
It was truly strange, but thinking that thanks to Ganghyuk buying him he could escape from that bastard, he felt relieved yet also a sense of indebtedness.
“Can I ask how much you bought me for?”
He comforted himself not to be surprised whatever amount came out. But at the words that followed, Ian’s mouth fell wide open.
“One billion.”
It was money that an ordinary person would have difficulty touching even working their whole life. Even one hundred million was a dizzying amount, but one billion literally made him gasp.
One billion plus the hospital fees—just how much debt did he owe this person? Ian’s complexion gradually paled as he calculated.
There was a possibility of repaying if his grandfather’s bank account where he’d saved penny by penny for him and the soup restaurant building remained, but there was a high possibility Sangmin had already swallowed it. Even though he was a trash-like person, he was Grandfather’s only child. He was probably squandering it all on gambling.
Thinking that the money containing his grandfather’s sweat and tears was being wasted futilely, strength entered both his fists.
But his shoulders drooped at the characters “one billion” floating before his eyes. Ian thought coldly. About the ways he could repay the sum of one billion.
A twenty-year-old who’d barely graduated high school could earn at best about five million won a month working part-time.
Without doing illegal work, even earning five million won would clearly be extremely difficult. He’d probably have to focus on physical labor, but unfortunately, Ian’s stamina was very poor.
If he did construction work, he’d probably spend more money on hospital fees than what he earned.
If he’d gone to a good university, he could have at least done tutoring part-time, but regrettably, Ian wasn’t extremely good at studying.
It was just a short while ago that he’d vaguely thought he should help his grandfather with the shop while preparing for entrance exams for one more year.
His head spun round and round. He had to quickly tell Ganghyuk he’d repay the debt, but his lips wouldn’t part as if coated with glue.
Still, there was something he had to say first. Ian, who swallowed dry saliva, difficultly met Ganghyuk’s eyes. His heart trembled once at the gaze that immediately collided as if he’d been watching only him all along.
“…Thank you. If not for you, Executive Director, I probably would have suffered more terrible things.”
At the sound of “Executive Director,” the corners of Ganghyuk’s mouth drew a subtle arc. Was he speaking after seeing the business card, or was he remembering what other people had said while looking at him?
Though it was something he heard every day, when the kid called him Executive Director, he felt quite refreshed.
“One billion won is really an incredibly huge sum. But I’m a bit curious what you believed in to spend that money on me.”
Looking at the face that watched his mood yet said everything it had to say, laughter kept trying to leak out. That’s right, what did I believe in to spend that money on you?
He’d thrown similar questions at himself several times but hadn’t obtained a clear answer. Just acting as his heart went, it ended up like this.
Was it repayment for the childhood days when he desperately craved someone’s kindness? If not for Yeon Cheolho, he would have already starved to death long ago. Or been beaten to death by his parents.
Even so, if his heart hadn’t moved, he probably would have turned away. If he had the disposition to help people with simple sympathy alone, he wouldn’t have lasted this long under Chairman Tae. He kept the subordinates below because they all had their uses.
“Right. I’m curious too. Will you tell me? Why I did that?”
“M-me?”
At the face that asked back with eyes wide open, a smile thicker than before hung on Ganghyuk’s mouth.
Following the money spent at the club, the cost of purchasing the building and the money thrown at Gal Hongdo. He’d used quite a lot of money. Since he planned to keep throwing money as bait to Yeon Sangmin too, there would be continued expenses.
It wasn’t to the point of strain, but it was enough to provide an opening to those watching him covetously. Even Tae Minjae had directly witnessed Ganghyuk taking Ian from the club that day.
If he wanted the shares he held, he wouldn’t be able to move rashly, but since he was someone who lived so much as his mood suited him, there was sufficient possibility of impulsive action.
Thinking rationally, even if he saved Ian, it was right to do it inconspicuously. But at the time, he’d only thought he had to quickly bring Ian down from the stage. Because the old alphas lusting after the kid was extremely unpleasant.
“The soup restaurant building, your father put it up.”
As if he’d expected it, Ian’s eyes were colored with a light that was both calm and sad. Not liking the face cast in deep shadow, Ganghyuk clicked his tongue lightly.
“It’s my property now.”
At the following words, Ian raised his head in surprise. Ganghyuk’s face was expressionless, but Ian strangely felt a mischievous air.
“I’m thinking of moving to the second floor. Want to live with me?”
At the proposal, affectionate yet seemingly indifferent, Ian scraped the bed sheet with his fingertips. It was an absurd suggestion, but to refuse it, reality held his lips tightly.
The house filled with memories with his grandfather had become Ganghyuk’s property. To Ian, the shabby soup restaurant building was his only home. A place where hot water sometimes didn’t come out in winter and was so hot in summer you couldn’t last even one minute without air conditioning, but it was precious.
Was this really a proposal he could refuse? Ian, with nowhere to go right away, would have to wander the streets when discharged. He could rely on Okjeong or Soyeon, but at best that would be limited to a few months.
Okjeong lived with her child and their spouse, and Soyeon had one man she kept like a gigolo.
He’d probably be watching their moods within days. He could find a part-time job that provided room and board, but he didn’t know what he’d experience there again.
As his grandfather had warned since he was young, a young omega without a guardian had an extremely difficult level of life difficulty.
“…Is that okay?”
Though he was a person who gave off a dangerous atmosphere, Ian decided to trust the man’s actions toward him so far. He’d saved him from the auction, and even though he wasn’t in his right mind from the drug, he hadn’t raped him. After he collapsed from heart pain, he brought him to the hospital and treated him.
He’d even repaid the debt owed to Hongdo on his behalf and stopped the soup restaurant building from passing to the wrong person. The problem was that debt had passed to the man instead, but still, the thought kept arising that this man seemed trustworthy.
It was different from the stories about alphas he’d heard hammered in by his grandfather. He’d said alphas were all beast-like bastards who went crazy over omegas. That they were a tribe you couldn’t communicate with, so he should unconditionally avoid being alone with them.
But the man had a connection with his grandfather, didn’t he? If he visited the funeral home and gave condolence money of ten million won, there was clearly some story.
