Can Murder Be a Workplace Accident? Chapter 9.6

Feeling depressed again, Bae Taemin shut his mouth.

“Haaa…”

Min Isak let out a deep sigh in front of his food. It was because Namgung Tree, sitting not across from him but right next to him at the table, was holding out a spoon. On top of the glistening white rice sat a neatly deboned piece of yellow corvina.

“Director. I told you, the hand I injured is my left hand, not my right.”

“Chief Min, just eat it. When else will you get the chance to be waited on at the dinner table by the director?”

The staff members beside them teased Min Isak, pretending to take his side. Namgung Tree smiled cheerfully and lifted the spoon. It was quite fun to tease the man, who was usually so prim and proper, now that he was flustered.

“That’s right. Come on, say ah. Ah…”

“Ah…”

He lowered his eyes in embarrassment and opened his mouth. The spoon, piled high with grains of rice, entered his mouth. His cheeks puffed out as if they would burst.

“The employee benefits at our gallery are really top-notch.”

When someone said this, the staff members started laughing boisterously. Listening to the sound, Min Isak chewed the rice. The savory and faintly sweet white rice paired well with the salty and firm croaker. It tasted good, but it was like sitting on a bed of nails.

He felt like he had become a spectacle for the staff.

“Chief Min. What side dish do you want?”

“Ask for the chamnamul.”

“No, no. The galbi, the galbi.”

“Stir-fried seaweed stems!”

The staff members each called out what they wanted to eat. They were having fun teasing the chief curator. Unable to bear it any longer, Min Isak picked up his chopsticks and placed the side dishes they had each called out onto their respective bowls of rice with a plop, plop.

He was originally left-handed, but he could manage with his right hand. If only they would eat and be quiet… However, oblivious to his inner thoughts, another burst of laughter erupted from the staff. This time, Namgung Tree was holding out a chestnut that had been served with the galbi.

“Chief Min, come on, say ah. Ah…”

“Ah…”

After glaring alternately at the chestnut and Namgung Tree, Min Isak reluctantly opened his mouth. When he made a frustrated face as if he were about to choke, Namgung Tree then held a cup of water to his lips.

I’d rather die than suffer through this. That was exactly how Min Isak felt right now.

Min Isak’s injury, just as the person called Chef Choi had said, only looked serious. Thanks to the man’s connections with the doctors, he was able to receive treatment as soon as he crossed the hospital’s threshold with him. As expected, he had a hairline fracture on the back of his hand and was diagnosed to wear a full cast for three weeks.

‘Thank you. I’ve troubled you with something that wasn’t even your business, Chef.’

‘It’s fine. Taking care of sick people used to be my job… It feels novel and nice to do it after a long time.’

He shrugged his shoulders with an expression that seemed to hold a story. He did not say anything more, so Min Isak also kept his mouth shut. He knew well that he too had stories he did not tell others, and prying into them was like digging into a wound.

Min Isak willingly suppressed his curiosity. And Chef Choi waited by his side until Namgung Tree arrived.

Namgung Tree rushed to the hospital as soon as the work was finished. Chef Choi gave him a light nod, warmly told Min Isak to take care of himself, and then went on his way.

After putting Min Isak in his car, Namgung Tree headed straight for the hotel. He was worried about how an injured person would manage to live in that small house.

An period of devoted care followed after they arrived at the hotel.

Until today, Min Isak had spent his time without lifting a single finger, literally. Being fed and washed was a given.

If you were to ask how devoted the care was, he had even followed him into the bathroom. It was understandable that he helped him brush his teeth for fear of getting the cast wet. However, there were also several times when Min Isak had to shoo him away in horror because he tried to help him urinate.

He wore the clothes Namgung Tree picked out, had his hair styled by him, wore the glasses, tie, and shoes he chose, and rode in the car with him to the gallery. Since there was the great cause of nursing an injured person, the staff did not say much either.

It was not just his private life. The division of labor at the gallery was reorganized. The tasks that had been concentrated on the chief curator were distributed fairly among the staff. He kept his rights and responsibilities, but his workload decreased. He was dumbfounded as to what was happening.

At this point, he became curious about Namgung Tree’s intentions. His salary had also increased slightly.

Fine. The gallery’s operations have been reformed in an ideal direction, so ultimately, the director will benefit. I can accept that. But is there really a need for him to personally wait on me…?

Although he said with his mouth that he did not like him, Min Isak had a rough idea of his inner feelings. Namgung Tree was clearly sexually attracted to him.

Could it be that he wants to sleep with me?

It is possible for the body to be drawn to someone, separate from being aware of feelings of affection. It was on a day when he had that thought.

‘Director, could you help me with something?’

‘With what?’

He had come into the hotel, washed up, and changed his clothes. Min Isak, wearing only a pajama shirt over his underwear, approached Namgung Tree. He had clumsily fastened only a couple of buttons near his abdomen and presented his chest, asking him to take care of the ones above.

‘Oh… Uh, yeah, you have to button it up. We can’t have you catching a cold, right?’

Namgung Tree quickly fastened the buttons. He buttoned it all the way up to his neck, and as if that were not enough, he even put his pajama pants on for him. Saying that his stomach should not be exposed to the cold, he tucked the hem of the pajama shirt in and pulled the pants up to his solar plexus.

High-waisted pants fashion… This isn’t it.

‘Let’s go to sleep now. Lullaby, lullaby, my sweet baby. Lullaby, lullaby, sleeps so well. Cluck-cluck rooster, do not crow. Woof-woof doggy, do not bark.’

Meanwhile, Namgung Tree was trying hard to quell his desires, which were burning like a furnace fire. He tightly wrapped Min Isak’s arms and legs in the blanket and sang a terrible lullaby. Then, he let out an irritated sigh and got up. His hideously swollen thighs were not something that could be concealed just by covering them with a blanket. He turned off all the lights, returned to the bed, and started humming the lullaby again.

After some time, Min Isak closed his eyes. His brow relaxed, and from his regular, soft breathing, it seemed he had fallen into a deep sleep.

Namgung Tree quietly raised his body so as not to shake the bed. He looked down at Min Isak’s face for a long time, then waved a hand in front of him. He snapped his fingers near his ear to make a sound, checking again and again if he was truly asleep. And as soon as he determined that Min Isak was sound asleep, he scurried into the bathroom.

The moment the bathroom door closed, Min Isak’s eyes shot open. His glass-like black pupils rolled toward the bathroom. He had successfully deceived Namgung Tree by pretending to be asleep.

Deep in the night, the hotel was dead silent. From the bathroom, the shwaaa sound of the shower faucet being turned on could be heard.

He just washed up. Why is he taking another shower?

Getting out of bed, he tiptoed quietly. He opened the door a crack, just the size of a fingernail, and looked inside.

Namgung Tree did not seem to be washing his body but rather standing under the cold water. Then came a moan. The sound of splashing in a puddle of water. Slap, slap. No, the sound of flesh hitting flesh.

‘Hahh… Min Isak… Isak.’

Min Isak clamped his hand over his mouth and returned to the bed. He had stomped back without realizing it, but Namgung Tree did not seem to have heard. He pulled the blanket up over his head, just as he had been covered.

What did I just see and hear? Suddenly, he felt hot and short of breath.

Namgung Tree remained in the bathroom for a long time after that. I should have closed the door tightly. The voice calling his name kept being heard. Even with his eyes closed, he could not fall asleep.

It would have been easier on his mind if Namgung Tree had just asked for his body in return for the conveniences he was so openly providing. But he had no idea what to do about this. It was bewildering. At the same time, it was also irritating.

Just as he was kicking his feet under the blanket, the bathroom door opened. Min Isak quickly curled up his body and held his breath, pretending to be asleep.

A cool presence lingered behind his back. It seemed he had washed with cold water.

‘Achoo.’

Namgung Tree sneezed quietly. Then, lips touched his temple with a soft peck and pulled away. The lips were not just cool, but cold.

‘What am I doing with an injured person right here?’

Namgung Tree muttered, steeped in self-loathing.

He pulled the blanket up to his neck to cover him and also covered the foot that was peeking out slightly. Namgung Tree was about to leave the foot of the bed but stopped, lifted the blanket slightly, and kissed the top of Min Isak’s foot. He caressed the spot he had kissed with his thumb, then tucked him in tightly with the blanket again.

He felt a ticklish sensation for no reason. Min Isak tried his best to stop his toes from wiggling involuntarily.

He had no idea how he would be able to face Namgung Tree if he were caught being awake. While he rustled around getting dressed, Min Isak curled his body so desperately that his leg almost cramped.

‘What do I want to do with him?’

As he left the room, Namgung Tree said to himself with a sigh. The same goes for me. As the door closed, Min Isak sat up on the bed like a roly-poly doll.

‘I don’t know what I want to do with you either.’

He could not love Namgung Tree as he was. The circumstances surrounding Min Isak were far too complicated for him to love him.

‘Ah, what’s wrong with this now?’

About to lie back down on the bed, Min Isak instead slammed his fist on the pillow. The thing between his legs was making its presence known.

It had started to react when Namgung Tree called his name, and when he kissed the top of his foot, it had truly almost been a disaster.

Come to think of it, in the past, he rarely felt sexual desire due to the frequent entertaining of clients. Since meeting Namgung Tree, he had, coincidentally, only been intimate with him. And the last time had been just before the Chuseok holiday.

He was not a man without a libido. For Min Isak, who at some point had resigned himself to a life of enjoying what he had to do anyway, he was going through his longest period of abstinence.

‘Maybe I should have just asked him to help me jerk off.’

He muttered, looking at his casted left hand. He only had one hand, and his body was no longer one that could be satisfied just by stroking his genitals.

He suddenly felt depressed. That night, Min Isak spent the night clenching his teeth and pinching his thigh.

Apart from the two men’s complicated inner thoughts, it was the most peaceful period of Min Isak’s life.

He ate and slept at the hotel and was cared for by Namgung Tree. The staff also handled their tasks with as much efficiency as he could have hoped for. It reached a point where he was afraid he would get used to this life.

“I’m sorry to say this in front of someone who’s injured, but.”

Baek Girim said, putting down her spoon. The other employees had all gotten up from the table for reasons like paying the bill or going to the restroom, leaving only her and Min Isak at the table.

“Chief Min, you look like a living person now.”

Min Isak put down his water cup. To say to a living person that he looks alive. He wondered what she meant.

“What was I like before?”

“Before, you looked like you were full of venom, but now you seem a bit… like soft tofu.”

“Soft tofu? Me?”

“Yes.”

She playfully glared at Min Isak. Sometimes, she liked to act like she was older than Min Isak, and Min Isak, knowing this, would play along.

“What I mean is, take it easy. If you hurt your body, it’s all over.”

“It’s just one injured hand. Ms. Baek, you worry too much.”

“I’m not just talking about your hand, you know. If there’s something you need help with, ask for help. Don’t take responsibility for everything yourself. The director seems to be starting to pull his own weight now, so wouldn’t it be okay to let go a little?”

“Yes, yes. Noona.”

Min Isak nodded and smiled faintly. Baek Girim’s comment about him looking like a living person now was hard to accept, but her assessment of the director was correct.

Namgung Tree, who had seemed immature, handled his work quite well. He had heard that he had successfully held the opening ceremony and also finished the artwork installation at the hotel without any issues.

He acted in a way that befitted his own words, ‘Have a little faith in me.’ Min Isak looked at Namgung Tree, who was paying for lunch at the counter.

Can I trust him?