Foot Worship Chapter 4

I finished the call, pulled over a beer, and filled my glass. I sipped the beer, which was half foam, and glanced at Kwon Raewon. He was staring at his phone, lost in deep thought. I wrinkled my nose and was just about to open a new beer when my phone, resting on the table, buzzed briefly. I tilted my glass, poured the beer without a single bubble, and checked the phone. As soon as I confirmed the message that had arrived, I grabbed the bomber jacket I had taken off and bolted outside. I felt as though I could hear Kwon Raewon cursing behind me, but I ran blindly.

「I’m sorry for the late hour. I’m in front of the studio, could I see you for a moment?」

The sender was Jerome.

At the taxi stand, there was a long line of people waiting to go home. If I had known it would be like this, I would have driven my car. I covered my forehead with my hand and bit my lip anxiously. After assessing the situation, I decided to just run to the studio. As I was tightening my shoelaces, my phone rang. I checked that the sender was Kwon Raewon and immediately rejected the call. I would be chewed out later, but right now, Jerome’s business was more important than Kwon Raewon. No, to be precise, I had to find out once and for all whether he was interested in me or not. Otherwise, it was clear that the thoughts of Jerome wouldn’t disappear from my head.

I started passing people while braving the cold night wind. Perhaps because I had been drinking, my breathing soon became labored. At the beginning, I ran while controlling my pace as if I were jogging, but then I started to increase my speed. Just as I had managed to break out of Hannam Bridge at a high speed, a call came from Jerome.

“…Haa, huff, hello.”

―…

“Hoo, wait a minute, haa. Please wait just 10 minutes. I’m almost, hoo, I’m almost there.”

―Yes.

After hanging up, I increased my speed even further. My breath reached the tip of my throat, and sweat flowed from my entire body. I gripped the bomber jacket in my hand and ran recklessly. Finally, I entered the entrance of the alley leading to the studio. Only then did I slow down and rub my sweat-soaked face. I gasped for breath, trying to steady my respiration. Then, I suddenly realized that I could have asked what it was about over the phone, and a small laugh escaped me. I must have been truly, thoroughly bewitched. To abandon a friend over a mere message and run this night road.

Wiping away the sweat that kept flowing, I walked with a slightly brisk pace. A man presumed to be Jerome was pacing in front of the studio in the distance. Ah… my heart hurts. Whether it was because I had run or because I was excited to see him, my heart was beating too fast. As I approached with a quick walk, Jerome greeted me with his eyes and came toward me. Unlike before, he was wearing a gray suit with no tie. On top of that, he was holding a neat briefcase, giving off a completely different atmosphere from the casual vibe I had seen earlier. I leaned over for a moment to catch my breath. I felt embarrassed by my panting, but I couldn’t help it. I pulled up my sleeve to wipe my forehead and greeted him.

“A-ah, hello.”

“…Did you run here?”

“I was having, hoo, a drink with a friend in Itaewon.”

Jerome’s eyebrows twitched at the mention of Itaewon. It was a face that was truly phenomenal no matter how many times I looked at it. Suddenly, Jerome reached out and grabbed my chin. I stopped moving, unable to even breathe, like someone tied up tightly with rope. He examined my face under the streetlight and scanned my lips with his fingertips. When I grimaced at the stinging pain, his eyes narrowed.

“By any chance, did I interrupt you?”

I narrowed my brows and tilted my head. Interrupt? I didn’t know in what sense I should take it, so I just rolled my eyes. The spot Jerome scanned with his fingertip was where my lip had been torn earlier when Kwon Raewon snatched away the cigarette I was holding in my mouth. Ah, no way—does he think it was torn while kissing? I stared at Jerome, who was wearing a displeased expression, and bit my lip.

Get a grip, Park Beomjin. This isn’t flirting, it’s sexual harassment.

I chewed on Kwon Raewon’s words as if chanting a spell in my head. However, contrary to my thoughts, I couldn’t push away Jerome, who was touching my lips as he pleased. Seeing that I didn’t answer, he seemed to take it as an affirmation and smiled bitterly.

“It wasn’t an urgent matter; you could have just said let’s meet another time.”

I laughed awkwardly and consciously rubbed the sweat flowing behind my ears. The heat in my body wouldn’t subside easily.

“No, it’s not that. It’s fine.”

“…”

“I was just curious about why you asked to see me.”

A faint scent of alcohol seemed to linger on him. His expression, too, was looser than before. I wiped away the sweat that kept flowing and gasped for air. Perhaps because the temperature had dropped, every time I exhaled, white mist scattered into the dark night sky.

“It’s cold out, so let’s go into the studio first and talk.”

I quickly jumped up the low steps and placed my hand on the door lock. But at that moment, Jerome, who was standing behind me, brushed his fingers up the back of my neck. My shoulders stiffened at the sudden touch. Heat rushed to my already flushed, overheated face from running. As I turned my head slowly, Jerome shrugged his shoulders.

“Sweat was dripping, I’m sorry if I surprised you.”

“A-ah, no.”

Once again, I couldn’t say a single word, instead rubbing the back of my neck as I entered the password for the studio door lock. With a pleasant sound, the door opened. I quickly turned on the light switch and tidied up the messy table. I straightened the scattered chairs and offered Jerome a seat. He then took off his jacket, hung it on the chair, and sat down. The sight of him wearing only a white dress shirt was somehow sultry.

“It’s very late, so I’ll give you tea instead of coffee.”

“…Is there no alcohol instead of tea?”

My heart dropped to my feet. A man I met for the first time today had come to find me out of the blue and was asking for alcohol. …Is this still not flirting? It had been only a few hours since I had jumped to conclusions and ended up in a disaster. I swallowed a dry lump and picked up the wine on the shelf. I checked that it was sealed with a vacuum stopper and frowned. Still, he was a guest, so it felt a bit rude to give him leftover wine. I rummaged through the pantry, found the whiskey Kwon Raewon had gifted me a while ago, and quickly opened the freezer door. But the ice was all gone. I had no choice but to take out canned beer from the refrigerator and prepare glasses.

“I do have whiskey, but unfortunately, we’re all out of ice.”

“Anything is fine.”

I placed the glasses and canned beer on the table, brought a bag of dry snacks, and sat down. I opened the beer can, poured it into a glass, and placed it in front of him. Jerome finished the glass in one go with a word of thanks. My heart thumped in my chest for no reason at the ominous atmosphere.

I watched him fill his own glass, absentmindedly fingering the beer glass I had poured for myself. If he had a neat, pretty face during the day, now he looked sultry and pretty. If a cane or a paddle were held in a man like that’s hand… my face flushed crimson just by imagining it. The lower part of my abdomen pulled heavily just from imagining the man’s face, which was different by day and night, and without realizing it, I stuck out my tongue and licked my upper lip.

“I,”

“…”

“I contacted you because I wanted to apologize for being rude during the interview.”

“Rude?”

“Yes, I think I spoke without thinking, and it’s been weighing on my mind.”

“Ah… that comment that was ambiguous as to whether it was sexual harassment or flirting?”

After letting the words out, I was startled and clapped both hands over my mouth. The hands covering my mouth trembled slightly, enough to bruise my skin. Kwon Raewon’s words were so deeply embedded in my brain that I made a mistake without knowing it. Jerome’s teal eyes settled deeply as if they had swallowed the darkness. I tried to quickly fix what I had said, but like a fool, I only stammered.

“A-ah, so what I mean is, that kind of meaning—no, sexual harassment, that kind of meaning, ah, I’m going crazy.”

“I’m truly sorry.”

Jerome pushed his chair back, stood up, and bowed deeply at the waist, apologizing politely. I was flustered, so I hurriedly stood up from my seat and hit my forehead with a thwack sound. Why is everything such a mess? I was so annoyed that I couldn’t stand it, rising to the top of my head. However, Jerome grabbed the hand I was using to hit my forehead and pulled.

Pulled by a grip stronger than I had thought, I stood face-to-face with him. I was looking at his ecstatic face before I snapped back to reality and pushed his hand away.

“It, it’s going to smell like sweat.”