Hazardous Concentration Chapter 2

Eunhoo had no choice but to stand still until the housekeeper came to pick him up. They said it was a wealthy family, and the scale of the house was indeed different. He was intimidated by the overwhelming wealth. While looking around nervously, he caught sight of two CCTV cameras following him and flinched. Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, the thought of someone watching him made his body tense up on its own.

However, the tension soon subsided in the stifling heat. Unable to bear the beating sunlight, Eunhoo moved his body inch by inch toward the shade. And there, he met him.

‘What is this.’

Unlike himself, who was soaked in sweat, the man was perfectly fine. The man standing under the shade was so tall that Eunhoo had to tilt his head far back to look at him, and his shoulders were broad. Yet, he didn’t look bulky at all. In fact, his slender frame was fascinating.

But then, the man’s face, which would soon wipe everything else from Eunhoo’s memory, entered his field of vision. He possessed beautiful features on top of pale, smooth skin.

Starting from his eyes, which sparkled like they were crafted by a master artisan under his pitch-black hair, to his masculine, high-bridged nose and red lips—he looked so unrealistic that Eunhoo couldn’t even bring himself to admire him. Then, the man asked, staring at Eunhoo.

‘Who?’

He had a cigarette between his fingers, as if he had come out for a smoke. Eunhoo’s eyes went wide, having not expected anyone to be there at all.

‘…’

Eunhoo, who had been frozen, opened his mouth belatedly.

‘Ah. I, I am…’

‘Not a mute, are you.’

‘Pardon?’

‘I was talking to myself.’

He laughed as if to say, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ Eunhoo just blinked like a turtle dove.

The man looked at Eunhoo’s face and the school uniform he was wearing, then asked.

‘Gijoon’s friend?’

The man’s voice was low, but strangely stimulating to the ears.

‘Ah, hello. I am Joo Eunhoo, in the same class as Gijoon.’

The last part came out almost mumbled. Even while bowing his waist 90 degrees, his mind was in chaos.

‘Ah-ah.’

Who is he? Is he family of Yeo Gijoon? They didn’t look alike, so that couldn’t be it.

Yeo Gijoon was handsome himself, but the man before his eyes was on a different level.

Not to mention his face, his body proportions were as beautiful as if he were facing a work of art sculpted with great care. His very existence was so unrealistic that he felt momentarily confused as to whether he was a real person.

Unlike his peers, the man exuded an aura of adulthood with his entire being. Perhaps because even his trivial actions were elegant, Eunhoo’s gaze was drawn to him. He forgot that it was rude and stared blankly. The man tilted his head. Seeing his troubled expression, Eunhoo finally came to his senses.

‘Gijoon hasn’t been coming to school lately, so I came to deliver the handouts.’

He had been in the same class as Yeo Gijoon since his first year of high school, but they weren’t particularly close.

Yeo Gijoon was the type of person who drew people to him wherever he went, and Eunhoo was the opposite. He wasn’t exactly an outcast, but he didn’t have anyone he was personally close with. That was why he felt puzzled when the teacher asked him to handle Yeo Gijoon’s affairs. He almost asked why it had to be him.

‘And this is a copy of my notes, since I was bringing them anyway…’

‘Right, thank you. By the way, what did you say Gijoon’s friend’s name was?’

‘I, I am Joo Eunhoo.’

Eunhoo muttered with a flushed face.

The man, who had an unlit cigarette in his mouth, took a lighter out of his pants pocket. Click. The lighter wheel turned. The man took a puff of the lit cigarette. As he did, his shirt stretched tight across his chest. After exhaling smoke, the man smiled and said.

‘You’re a baby.’

Eunhoo’s eyes went round.

‘Joo Eunhoo.’

At that moment, Eunhoo flinched and looked at the man. Hearing his name flow from the man’s lips with such precise pronunciation gave him a strange feeling.

‘Yes? Yes.’

‘Let’s see each other again.’

He gave a smiling look.

‘…’

His heartbeat accelerated. Without realizing what that was a sign of, Eunhoo only reddened the tips of his ears.

That was their first meeting. He heard about it later—that he was Yeo Gijoon’s hyung.

Even after that, Eunhoo visited that house a few more times. He left without meeting him most of the time, as the man seemed busy, but occasionally the timing was right and he could see him. Every time, the man would smile and acknowledge him.

‘This is our second time, right?’

There was a nice scent whenever he was near the man.

‘Yes. Um… I’m here to deliver the handouts to Gijoon again today.’

Following last time, he had also brought his notes. When the man saw what Eunhoo was holding, he nodded.

‘I saw them. Your handwriting is pretty. It was neat and cute.’

Eunhoo’s eyes went wide. He hadn’t even imagined that he would have looked at his handwriting. Not knowing what to do and only blushing, the man said with a quiet, smiling look.

‘Gijoon will be waiting, so go on up.’

Having visited the house a few times, he had become somewhat close with Yeo Gijoon, but even so, knowing his personality, there was no way he would be waiting for Eunhoo—yet, hearing the man’s words, it sounded like it was truly the case. Eunhoo reddened the tips of his ears.

‘Yes. Yes.’

He started to secretly look forward to going to Yeo Gijoon’s house, having initially been forced to go due to the teacher’s request. His heart raced with an unknown sense of anticipation. However, before long, Yeo Gijoon returned to school, and the justification for visiting that house disappeared. Naturally, his meetings with the man came to an end as well.

Rrr—.

The ringtone boldly interrupted Eunhoo’s long reminiscence. He was so surprised he didn’t even have the mental capacity to check the number.

—Where are you now? Why are you not here yet?

A sharp, demanding shout poured out abruptly. Eunhoo, who finally pulled the phone slightly away from his ear to check the number, furrowed his brows.

“I’m almost there. I just need to cross the crosswalk.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the light turned green. Eunhoo walked faster than before. Today’s pickup location was a club called [Desire].

Perhaps because the location was in a bustling area of Seoul and rumored to be frequented by everyone from famous entertainers to celebrities, the line was, as expected, stretched out long today.

“I’ve arrived.”

Eunhoo, having reached the club entrance, made the call. The man who had been snapping at him about why he wasn’t coming just a moment ago now sounded troubled, as if something had happened in the meantime.

—Oh? You’re here? Um, look, I’m not in a situation where I can go out right now, so could you come inside? The customer is very drunk, and I really can’t move him by myself. I’ll make sure to get you a tip instead.

He was offering money, so there was no reason for Eunhoo to refuse.

“I’ll do that. Where should I go in?”

At the main entrance, employees in black suits were comparing the faces of people lined up in a row against their reservation slips one by one.

“They’re being very thorough.”

—Pardon?

“A, ah, never mind. Where did you say it was?”

—If you go around the building, there’s a back entrance, right? I’ll tell them, so you can just come in through there.

As the waiter said, when he went around the building, he saw a back door. There was a large-built guard standing at the back door as well. As the intimidated Eunhoo approached hesitantly, the guard raised an eyebrow as if asking who he was.

“I’m the designated driver…”

It was when Eunhoo parted his lips to speak. A man in waiter attire ran out from inside.

“Why are you only coming now! It’s chaos upstairs!”

He was a little surprised that the man, who had been speaking in polite honorifics even if irritably, suddenly shouted at him in banmal. However, he assumed it was because he looked young.

“…I’m sorry. I tried to hurry, but I’m a bit late.”

As Eunhoo bowed his head, the waiter looked him up and down, then furrowed his brows.

“More importantly, what’s with your attire? Is that all you had?”

“Pardon?”

Eunhoo looked down at himself. He was dressed plainly in a white shirt and jeans. Even if he was poor, he didn’t like looking disheveled, so he washed his clothes every day and tried to keep himself as neat as possible.

What is it? Is it because they’re old?

“Our customers are high-class, so you should pay more attention. I’ll let it slide this time since it’s urgent, but don’t come looking like that next time.”

He even clicked his tongue. Feeling as though he had committed some grave error, Eunhoo started by apologizing.

“Yes, well…”

But why would a designated driver’s attire be so important? For the first time, he felt something was strange, but the waiter standing in front of him shouted.

“Hurry up and come!”