Foot Worship Chapter 8

“Since Beomjin is awake, let’s move our table to a private room.”

“A room?”

“I think the regular customers the owner mentioned must have been Jerome and his group.”

Goo Jihoon stood up, carrying his glass and the bottle of alcohol. I tilted my head, confused. If they were regulars, that meant they’d been coming here for quite a while—why hadn’t I seen them even once? Jerome picked up the jumper I had taken off and the glass, and started moving. I quickly pulled myself together and followed him toward the room. Inside, Goo Jihoon was using his signature sociability to help the owner clear the table.

“Jin, see me for a moment.”

Amidst the cluttered atmosphere, Jerome whispered quietly. When I nodded, Jerome pulled me out of the establishment. We headed to the alley between buildings, which we tacitly used as a smoking area. He draped my jumper over my shoulders, took a cigarette from his pocket, and put it in his mouth.

“Would you like to smoke?”

“…Yes, please.”

Jerome handed me one of his menthol-flavored cigarettes. He lit mine for me and then pulled the jumper he had draped over my shoulders, tucking the front closed. I wondered why he had called me out separately. I kept rubbing my forehead with my hand as I smoked.

Jerome didn’t say a word until he finished his cigarette. The voices and footsteps of people drifting from the street were the only noise between us. Jerome, who had crushed out his cigarette, swept back the hair that had grown longer over the past month and met my gaze.

“Jin.”

“…Yes.”

“Did you drink a lot?”

“…A little.”

“Is it to the point where you won’t remember it tomorrow?”

“No.”

He dropped the shortened cigarette from my hand and gripped my hand, which was imbued with the chill of the night. I stared intently at Jerome’s hand, then curled my lips and swallowed hard.

“I’ve thought about it a lot.”

My heart began to race steeply with an unnamable sense of anticipation. My mind was already in complete shambles. If he insisted on a D/S relationship again this time, I’d just have to pretend I couldn’t win and accept it. I really wasn’t keen on romance, but if it were with Jerome, I was prepared to endure it.

“If a deep relationship is too burdensome, I’d like to at least be casual friends. The kind of relationship where we can comfortably ask how the other is doing, and have a meal together when we have time.”

My mind went numb, as if I’d been doused with cold water. I shook off his hand and took a deep, jagged breath. My heart felt beyond my control in my dejection. Friends—it was preposterous. I rubbed my face, which was flushed from the alcohol, and looked him straight in the eyes.

“You should have just proposed being play partners instead.”

“…”

“How can I just ‘have a meal’ or ‘talk on the phone’ with someone I want to kiss, hold, and touch? Even now, my heart is beating this fast.”

“…”

“I don’t imagine having sex with my friends. But I’ve imagined having sex with Jerome dozens of times.”

“My point is,”

“…This isn’t that I can’t do it; it’s that I won’t.”

I never crossed the line with people I labeled as friends. The same went for Kwon Raewon and Goo Jihoon. Because the lines were clearly drawn, I could meet them comfortably. And this was also a matter of courtesy toward the person I would form a deep bond with. He didn’t say a word, just stared at me with calm eyes. Slowly, my excitement began to subside, and I belatedly realized what kind of nonsense I had spouted. I shouldn’t have mentioned imagining having sex. Feeling that I truly couldn’t turn this relationship back now, I turned away as if in resignation.

“Stand right there.”

At that moment, a low, high-pressure voice that made my hair stand on end and my knees weak flew toward me. It possessed a density and mass entirely different from any voice I had heard from him before. I froze in place, unable to even think about turning around to look at him.

“I don’t know how you’ve met people until now, but I don’t form or end relationships easily. If you said that to me out of mere shallow curiosity, then just keep walking away.”

“…”

“But if it’s not that,”

“…”

“If you have even the slightest intention of developing a relationship with me,”

“…”

“Come here and embrace me.”

It was a chaotic morning. I’d been called out to the Myeong-dong event venue without even eating breakfast because of an urgent request for help for just one day from a security firm run by a senior I was close with. I kept fidgeting with my tie because my hair, neatly parted in a 2:8 ratio, and the suit I hadn’t worn in a long time felt uncomfortable.

I moved according to the VIP’s route, keeping a close eye on people’s movements. I kept on guard in all directions to see if anyone suspicious was approaching, waiting for the event to end.

Finally, the VIP, who had finished the morning schedule, went into the hotel to rest. I pulled the earpiece from my ear first, grabbed the tightly fastened tie knot, and shook it side to side. The transparent receiver dangled by my ear every time my body swayed. Perhaps because it had been a while since I worked in the field, the fatigue was considerable. I massaged my stiff shoulders and let out a long sigh. A white mist rose up and scattered in the air.

“Beomjin, come see me.”

Park Jaekwang, the CEO of the security firm ‘Strong’ and someone I had worked alongside during my active days, gestured toward me. I took a cigarette case from my pocket, held it in my hand, and followed him to the designated smoking area nearby. I stood face-to-face with Jaekwang and put a cigarette in my mouth.

“What are you doing for a living these days?”

“Just getting by.”

“Don’t you have any thoughts of working formally?”

“It doesn’t suit my constitution. I don’t like being ignored or looked down upon by people who call themselves VIPs.”

Jaekwang nodded slightly, as if he agreed. Judo was a sport that valued courtesy. As someone who had practiced a Confucian-style sport based on the virtue of Yeshilyejong—beginning with courtesy and ending with courtesy—I didn’t want to work while being treated this way. That didn’t mean I ignored or took Jaekwang’s profession lightly.

If I hadn’t had a fixed monthly income, I too would have had to do anything—be it security work or studying—to make a living. Fortunately, among the misfortunes, my father had left me a building as an inheritance when he passed away, and I was living off the monthly rent from it now. Jaekwang’s office was also located in my building. Since it paid enough for a monthly salary comparable to that of a major corporation executive, I wasn’t particularly struggling.

“Still, please help me out until tomorrow.”

“What about tomorrow? I don’t find guarding politicians fun.”

“The idol group W’s concert.”

“Ah… I hate concerts even more.”

“I’m begging you like this. At this rate, I won’t even be able to pay the rent.”

Jaekwang clasped his hands together and pretended to beg. I frowned slightly at the mention of not being able to pay the rent. Leaving everything else aside, it was a senior’s request, so I couldn’t refuse. Jaekwang must have known this fact as well. I crushed the cigarette and draped my jacket over my arm. I was hungry after coming out without even eating breakfast.

“I’ll think about it. First, I’m going to go rest in that car for just 30 minutes.”

“Uh, go ahead.”

I bought a few triangle gimbap and a drink at a convenience store and headed to the car. I threw my jacket into the backseat, unwrapped a triangle gimbap, and chewed it ravenously. Then, I picked up the phone I had left on the center console. Missed calls, messages, and various notifications were displayed on the screen.

All five missed calls were from Goo Jihoon. Most of the text messages were also from Goo Jihoon, but Jerome had a place in the list as well. I checked the message that had arrived after 10:00 AM. It was a message asking if I had woken up.

Even though it was nothing special, my mouth broke into a wide grin. My chest itched for no reason because the feelings from when I had embraced him without a hint of hesitation in response to Jerome’s words hadn’t been properly settled yet.

Last night, Jerome and I became an official “item.” However, it wasn’t an indefinite thing; we agreed to redefine our relationship after three meetings. The premise was a romantic D/S relationship. I was still not keen on a romantic D/S, but if I let Jerome go like this, I would surely regret it. So, I decided to meet him for at least a short while and decide on our relationship.

“And I would like us to try playing lightly at least once during these three meetings.”

Just thinking about that made my body tremble with anticipation. I was curious about everything regarding that person when playing: his expressions, his scent, his tone, his gestures, and his gaze.