Foot Worship Chapter 6

I rubbed my coarse stubble and brought the cigarette to my mouth. I was negative about D/S relationships involving romance. A Dominant and submissive as lovers—my brain simply couldn’t understand that relationship. A dynamic that was horizontal in daily life but vertical only during play felt difficult and distant to me. If the heart and body are one, how can they be separated? Other people might be able to, but I thought it was impossible for me.

Besides, my limit was strictly D/S. Rather than an unstable romantic relationship where either side could quit whenever they got bored, I preferred meetings where the end was set by mutual need. At least in a relationship bound by a contract, there is no such thing as lingering attachment.

I crushed the shortened cigarette in the ashtray and placed my hands on the keyboard. The more I thought about it, the more of a shame it was, but it seemed he wasn’t my match. I scraped my cheek with my fingernail and clicked my tongue. Why did it have to be a D/S relationship? If it had just been a play partner arrangement, I would have considered it. In many ways, I felt a sense of disappointment.

[Me: I hope you meet someone good.]

Just as I pushed the keyboard into the space under the drawer and was about to close the chat window, a new message popped up.

[Me: I see. Understood.]

I suppressed my feeling of regret, closed the chat window, and shut down the computer.

Goo Jihoon, whom I had been waiting for until my neck grew long, finally arrived in Korea. He only spared us time after spending a passionate night with Kwon Hae-yi immediately upon his return. As soon as I saw Goo Jihoon, I gave him a tight hug.

“Long time no see. Has our soft tofu’s chest gotten even plumper?”

“You want to get kicked the moment you arrive, don’t you?”

“Why does it feel like your reactions have become even cuter while I haven’t seen you?”

Goo Jihoon poked my chest with his fist and laughed playfully. Unlike me, Goo Jihoon had a thin, slim physique. It was exactly the ideal submissive form I had in mind. So that’s why he had a Femdom (female dominant) like Kwon Hae-yi as his Mistress. I draped my arm over Goo Jihoon’s shoulder, and we started walking side by side. Kwon Raewon, perhaps tired from company work, had a dark complexion and lagged behind.

“You said you were going to visit Beomwoo; did you have a good visit?”

A subtle concern permeated Goo Jihoon’s tone. The day Goo Jihoon called to say his return date was set, I had mentioned in passing that I would be visiting Beomwoo soon, and it seemed he had remembered that.

“Yeah.”

“Did you spill a bucket of tears there again?”

“Just… it was fine.”

“…And your mother?”

“Well, same as before.”

“It would be nice if you at least stayed in contact.”

I smiled sheepishly and rubbed my cheek. Due to an unintended, unfortunate incident, I had been living without any contact or interaction with my mother at all. I thought the relationship would naturally recover as time passed, but it wasn’t as easy as I had thought. I swirled my tongue inside my bitter mouth and ruffled Goo Jihoon’s hair.

“Let’s go grab a drink.”

“Sounds good.”

United for the first time in a while, we headed toward Nagunae. When we opened the door, sticky jazz music welcomed us. Feeling the gaze of the people sitting at the tables, I bowed my head. The sociable Goo Jihoon marched into the kitchen without hesitation and dragged out the owner, who had been in the middle of washing dishes.

“Oh my, all three of the musketeers are gathered after so long.”

“We’ll be coming so often that the threshold will wear out, so you shouldn’t find us annoying.”

“That would be great for me. But what do we do about this.”

While happy to see us, the owner showed a sense of inner trouble. The quick-witted Goo Jihoon picked up on it and asked.

“Why?”

“Well, there are customers in the room right now. If I had known you were coming, I would have kept it empty.”

“In the room?”

“Yes, the people over there are regulars too, so there’s nothing I can do. Couldn’t you just eat at the bar for today? I’ll give you lots of service.”

“I don’t mind. It’s been a while, so I’m happy to see your face plenty.”

Unlike the dark-faced Kwon Raewon, Goo Jihoon replied cheerfully and hopped onto a high stool. Because Goo Jihoon encouraged us to take a seat, Kwon Raewon also resigned himself to sitting down, but I hesitated, looking around. I might have sat there if I were a little tipsy, but when sober, I never sat at a bar. It was uncomfortable to be the center of attention. This was because there were often people who mistook me for a Top and hit on me. Besides, rejecting them was a chore.

“Can’t we go somewhere else?”

“We’re just having a simple drink, what’s the big deal? Just sit.”

“Still.”

“Park Beomjin, sit down already.”

Because Goo Jihoon grabbed my arm and pulled, I had no choice but to perch on the stool between the two of them. Soon, the whiskey Kwon Raewon had kept, beer, and snacks were placed in front of us. Under Goo Jihoon’s lead, we drank several glasses straight without ice, and my throat burned. With Goo Jihoon there, the atmosphere was definitely soft rather than stiff.

“So, what happened with that ‘halo’ of yours, Beomjin?”

“…A halo?”

“You were talking about a halo this and halo that back then.”

Goo Jihoon looked at me with curious eyes as he popped a cracker into his mouth. I frowned slightly, thinking of Jerome. It had already been over a month since Jerome started working at Foot Worship. Thanks to hiring a competent and diligent employee, my work had become much easier. There were fewer headaches, and since there was someone to consult with when something happened, the mental burden was also less.

Even when the server went down due to an external attack a while ago, he immediately moved to a temporary server and dealt with it quickly. If I had handled it, the site would have been unavailable for a full day, but thanks to Jerome resolving the issue promptly, I was able to restore the site in 6 hours.

“You know the site went down a few days ago, right?”

“It did?”

“Did it?”

“You idiots, please pay some attention. Anyway, thanks to him, the site was restored quickly and it’s fine now.”

“Ah… so that ‘halo’ is the new manager you hired?”

I nodded, bringing my straight glass to my lips. Since that day we had our first and last private conversation, I hadn’t been able to see Jerome even once. Since I usually handle site issues via phone or email, there was no reason to meet. And Jerome had a talent for catching on instantly, even if I spoke incoherently. If I rambled without context, Jerome would listen calmly and then summarize the content in just a few lines. Because of his needlessly good stats, I didn’t even have an excuse to meet him, and these days, we rarely even talked on the phone.

The more I worked with Jerome, the more regretful I felt about losing him. He was gentle, diligent, and even kind. A few days ago, there was a big conflict between members on Foot Worship. Since it was impossible to resolve on my own, I had no choice but to contact Jerome and ask for help. But rather than resolving the situation, he comforted me first.

“This didn’t happen because Jin managed it poorly. This kind of situation happens often on any site. I’ll handle the cleanup, so Jin, please turn off the computer and get some rest.”

Once, when a similar thing happened, I had told Jerome in a chat that I was unskilled at community management and that I had botched the cleanup whenever problems occurred. It seemed he had remembered that.

Honestly, when I think about it, it wasn’t anything big, but I received great comfort from the fact that there was someone who understood my feelings and sympathized with me.

And sometimes, when he used difficult terms or words I didn’t know during our conversations, he would explain them as simply as possible so I could understand. Even when explaining, he would preserve my pride by saying things like, “As you might know,” or “You’ve probably heard of this.”

Every time I felt his consideration, I would indulge in wistful fantasies about what it would be like if this person were my Master. But I couldn’t take back what I had said. It was obvious that I couldn’t handle a D/S relationship mixed with romance. I brought my straight glass to my lips with a sullen face.

“Call him.”

“…What? Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’? Foot Worship is something that belongs to all of us—I came up with the idea, and Kwon Raewon invested the money. So, if we’ve hired a new employee, we have the right to meet him too. Don’t you think so, Director Kwon?”

“We do.”

As Kwon Raewon affirmed it in a calm tone, Goo Jihoon’s face became even more triumphant. My heart started racing as fiercely as my throat, which had been warmed by the strong alcohol.