CHAPTER 2

Jae's POV

I wanted to say no, 'cause I didn’t want to do this kind of work for money. But in this cold night, my younger brother was sitting on the street. And I couldn't let him sleep there, that’s why I nodded. I glanced back, but just then, the landlord pulled me inside the house and locked the door.

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After a while, when I went to Seon, he was still sitting there, waiting for me.

“Hyung, what did the landlord say?”

I directly grabbed the luggage. “He said yes, we can stay—but only for one week. After that, we’ll have to find a new place.”

Still, hearing that we wouldn’t be sleeping on the street made Seon happy, and he brought the luggage inside with me. But I would never tell him what I did behind that door to let us stay in this house for one week.

After coming back into the house, I got a call from the store owner. He was very angry that I ran away from work, and he fired me without giving even a penny for the half-month I had worked.

Now I was jobless. I didn’t know where I would be able to find a new job that could give me higher income. My whole mind went blank, and I just went into the bathroom and stood there, washing myself with water. Where the landlord had touched me—it disgusted me. I gargled many times, because he had come in my mouth and told me to swallow it. After many tries, I finally vomited and felt a little better.

After that, when I came out and lay down beside Seon, he hugged me because he was happy that I hadn’t gone to work today, so he wouldn’t be alone anymore.

I know it’s hard for Seon to stay alone at home, but I can’t do anything. I will still have to go to work, no matter what happens.

The next day, when I opened my eyes, I realized it was already morning. It was the weekend, so of course, it was a holiday for Seon—but in restaurants, holidays are the most crowded. So I cooked breakfast for Seon.

One month ago, I didn’t know how to cook, but I’ve learned—for myself and for my brother. After finishing, I left for work after waking Seon, 'cause after all, he was the one who was going to close the door from inside.

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Just as I thought, many customers came to eat even in the early morning. After working in the restaurant until the afternoon as a waiter, my shift ended, and I went into the kitchen to wash dishes.

But today, one customer told me that if I needed money, I should work at Club Hollow—they’re also sort of waiters there. He said he would recommend my name, and I should go there in the evening. They’d give me a job, and the pay would be higher too.

Even if I don’t know much about the world, I think I’ve heard something about Dark City, where Club Hollow is. I remember in school, someone said that Dark City is the place where all kinds of illegal things happen. And one of the most famous is arms dealing, because the owner of Dark City is supposedly an arms dealer. But that news might just be a rumor.

'Cause if they’re really doing illegal things in Dark City, wouldn’t the police go and arrest them? But since that guy said he’d also be there, I decided to go.

That’s why I told Seon not to wait for me for dinner, and I took the bus to go to Dark City. When I got there, I really felt like someone was following me. But after asking many people, I finally reached Club Hollow. The problem was, the guards standing at the gate wouldn’t let me in.

I didn’t know what to do, just then—

“Ohh, you’re really here, Jae,” I glanced beside me, and it was the same guy who had come to eat at the restaurant where I work in the morning.

“He’s with me,” he said, and took me inside. After going in, I found out he was the manager of the club. That’s why he knew they were sort of staff.

I know I shouldn’t trust anyone easily, but doing this kind of waiter job is way easier than giving someone head.

He spoke to me gently, showed me the staff room, and introduced me to the other workers too. I wore my waiter uniform, and he handed me a tray with a Balkan 176 vodka bottle and glasses.

“Go serve this drink to VIP Room No. 22.”

I nodded, 'cause this was the start of my work. VIP Room No. 22 was on the second floor. I went there using the elevator, but the tray was a little heavy. After getting out, I looked around and finally found the room at the end.

Before entering, I knocked on the door. It opened after a few minutes. A guy wearing a suit was standing there—he had green hair and was looking at me like I shouldn’t be there.

“What are you waiting for? Come in.” I flinched and went inside. But what I saw in that room truly shocked me.

On the table, there were so many guns—some small, some big and long. I didn’t even know their names. Three bodyguards were standing beside the green-haired guy who had just opened the door. I put down the tray on the side table, poured the drinks into glasses, and turned.

A man was sitting there, dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt, black pants, trench coat, gloves, and boots. I handed him a glass. Beside him, a guy was sitting who looked so young—like Seon’s age. That man had his arms wrapped around the boy. On the side sofa, another man was checking the guns—I handed him a glass too.

“Mr. Chan, I don’t think your KRISS Vector Gen II has the power like the other dealers,” said the man sitting on the other sofa.

After serving them drinks, I left the room.

The atmosphere was heavy enough to make it suffocating. And those guns… don’t tell me this club is involved in illegal things. Does the manager know about it? I wanted to ask him when I got back, but I didn’t dare—it was just my first day.

I continued serving drinks and didn’t realize it was already 4 in the morning. But when I asked the manager to go home, he said,

“Your payment for today is $10k.”

My eyes widened at his words—$10k for one day, not a month?

“But the thing is, we don’t handle the money. All payments are given directly by our boss, Oh-Chan. You’ll have to go to VIP Room 22. That’s where he is right now.”

My body froze, 'cause in that room, I saw those dangerous guns and that terrifying man who didn’t even move much but still sent chills down my spine.

“Can’t you take the payment from your boss and give it to me?” I pleaded.

“No, you’ll have to go and take your payment from him yourself.”

I didn’t really have a choice but to go back into that room. But when I was standing in front of VIP Room 22, I realized—I was getting afraid of nothing. There were just a few guns. It’s not like they were killing someone.

I knocked on the door and heard, “Come in.” So I opened the door and stepped inside. But the moment I did, I saw blood scattered on the ground—and the man who had been checking the guns earlier was dead on the sofa. He’d been shot in the head. My steps stumbled when I saw that.

The boy who had been beside that man was now lying on the ground, heavily injured—his whole face swollen.

And that man was still sitting there, unbothered, smoking.

I quickly stepped back and turned around to leave, but just then—

“Where do you think you’re going?” A cold voice reached my ear. My step froze. I didn’t want to turn around—still, I did. And my eyes met his.

It was like he was staring through my skin.

“Why are you here?” As he asked, the bodyguards started taking the man’s corpse away, and they dragged that boy out too. In just 10 minutes, I was alone in the room with him.

“ARE YOU DEAF? I asked you a question, didn’t I?”

I got startled by his sudden voice. My body started to tremble.

“The manager sent me here to take my payment,” I said in a low voice.

“It’s $10k, right?” I nodded slightly and looked down.

“I’ll give you not $10k but $30k—just let me fuck you.”

I quickly looked up. He was staring at me, licking his lips, and crushed his cigarette on the table. A weird feeling crept over me—like someone was telling me to fall off a cliff.

“Pardon?” I said, even though I knew what he was saying. Why is everyone in this world the same, only wanting to take advantage of me?

First it was the landlord. Now it’s my new boss. But $30k isn’t a small amount. If I really get that money, Seon and I could buy so many groceries… eat whatever we want.

“I’m waiting for your answer,” he said, looking impatient.

“Okay. But please pay me the amount you said.”

“Then strip, and come here.”

He directly asked me to strip. I’d never been in a relationship before, so it was really embarrassing for me. Still, for the money, I took off my clothes one by one. I didn’t want to take off my underwear, but when he glared at me and told me to take that off too, I didn’t have a choice.

After taking it off, I hid my parts with both hands. He gestured with his index finger to come to him. I took a step toward him, and suddenly, he grabbed my hand and threw me on the sofa, on my stomach. I clenched the sofa tightly and closed my eyes.

Just then, I heard the sound of a zipper being undone.