Rabbit Hole Chapter 31

Heo Sangmuk muttered. The zipper was completely undone, and he had even grabbed the underwear and pulled it down slightly. The smooth skin between the navel and the groin was visible. Just by looking, one could feel how soft the skin was. Heo Sangmuk’s chest heaved with the urge to bury his nose in that spot and inhale deeply.

Geumseo reached out his hand. He could see an ashtray on the table. If he could grab that, he felt he could do something. He had to hit him at least once. But his hand seemed to move too slowly, and the ashtray seemed too far away. Had it always been that far away…?

At that moment, his buttocks were gripped tightly. Heo Sangmuk laughed huskily, grabbing Geumseo’s rear and slightly lifting his waist. And in time with that, the ashtray was finally grasped in his hand. Geumseo clutched it tightly.

“Are you going to hit me?”

The door opened. The door that someone had pushed shut.

“Are you going to hit me with that and kill me?”

Geumseo stared blankly at the doorway. A slender shark was standing there. No, it was a crocodile. No, it was Go San.

∞ ∞ ∞

Go San stood with his hands in his pockets, leaning slightly as he surveyed this mess. It was a sight he wouldn’t want to see even if he were paid to.

“Fuck… this is a sight I should be getting paid for.”

Geumseo didn’t know in what context Go San had said that. It just made him a bit sad, that remark about having to be paid. Go San, seeing Geumseo’s defocused pupils swelling with moisture, pulled shut the door that had been propped open by his own body. Thanks to that, he had now fully entered the room. Since he had now joined this mess, Go San had to choose. Whether to be a performer or a spectator.

“Hit him. Let’s see if he dies or not.”

Go San gestured with his chin toward Geumseo’s hand. Only then did both Geumseo and Heo Sangmuk realize what “hit me with that and kill me” was referring to. Even Geumseo, who was holding it, hadn’t known why Go San said that.

“That’s right. Let’s see if he dies or not. Oppa actually prefers it a bit more lively anyway, rather than being too tame. Like a live fish.”

Heo Sangmuk became even more arrogant when the person who suddenly barged in didn’t particularly try to stop him. He didn’t care if others watched. No, if there was an audience, he got more excited. He was a being twisted up with a desire to show himself off somewhere.

“Let go of this, let go. There. That’s right, relax. Jeez, getting scolded.”

Go San felt nauseous listening to Heo Sangmuk coax Geumseo as he took the ashtray away. It felt like being forced to shove horrifying pasta, already disgustingly flavorless and ruined by the wrong amount of oil, into his mouth. Geumseo felt even more humiliated, more hurt, and more miserable under Go San’s blatant stare.

“H-hng, h-heung….”

The way he was crying was exactly the same as when he was little. He never changed. Go San stared unblinkingly at Geumseo flailing his hands and searching for the ashtray.

“You want in? If you’re getting in, pay up. The room rental here, the advance I paid him, and the order I placed. I’ve invested a fair amount myself to have a taste.”

Heo Sangmuk panted as he spoke. Go San didn’t reply. Instead, he looked at Geumseo’s open shirt front, the ridiculous bow tie, and the check tucked into it.

Go San only moved his feet after seeing the check. He perched lightly on the table next to Geumseo’s head. Heo Sangmuk only then realized just how threatening Go San’s physique was and just how wild his eyes were. If he hadn’t smoked marijuana, his instincts would have made him back off by now.

Go San pulled the check from the collar of the sniffling Geumseo.

“What made you so trusting as to accept a check.”

His voice was endlessly flat.

“From now on, take cash. What are you going to do if the bank won’t change it.”

He truly sounded as if he was giving kind advice.

Geumseo’s lips swelled up and his cheeks turned bright red. Go San let out a small laugh.

“Gonna cry?”

“…Hic.”

“What did you do so well that you’re crying.”

“Hu-euk, heung… San-ah, San-ah….”

With the sudden outburst of crying from the pretty boy and the appearance of a man with a strange aura, Heo Sangmuk felt as if he had become an extra, not the main character. For someone who admired the alpha male who is the protagonist wherever he goes, it was an unbearable insult. His excitement cooled down coldly. His petty masculinity, having no outlet, expressed itself in another direction.

“Hey, look here. There’s such a thing as business ethics. I said pay up! Fuck, are you trying to freeload? You said it was top double plus premium private service, and you just let anyone in? Is the service here this shitty? Call the manager!”

Go San turned his head slowly. It was a movement so slow that even Geumseo, who was not just drunk, would have noticed. He stared directly at Heo Sangmuk and asked back.

“Is it Korean beef? He’s looking for top double plus premium.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Mister. How much effort have I put in?”

“H-how much effort?”

“You answer.”

Go San asked without even giving Geumseo a glance. The check was being counted out in his hand—flick, flick. Once it was all counted, he started again from the beginning, once more, and again.

“T-two days…. Today is the second day….”

Geumseo knew that Go San was very, very, very angry. Angrier than he had ever seen before. He felt like he was being strangled. Geumseo instinctively realized he had to act like the tongue inside Go San’s mouth.

“Just two days?”

“Fuck, two days is a lot! How expensive could he possibly be.”

And Heo Sangmuk didn’t know.

“It’s not even a speck of dust next to the time I’ve put in.”

Go San straightened up. Then he approached Heo Sangmuk and leaned his upper body forward. Even normally, his eye level was far higher than Heo Sangmuk’s, who was sitting on the sofa, but with him bending his waist, it was nothing short of threatening. Moreover, his physique was much harder and his muscles more menacing than Heo Sangmuk’s body, which was built from occasional, if infrequent, steroid use. Was it a difference in bone structure?

“You said you want to see the manager? Fine. I want to see him too, let’s go together.”

“Uh, ugh!”

Heo Sangmuk shrieked a shrill scream. Go San grabbed the back of Heo Sangmuk’s collar and dragged him along. Heo Sangmuk, who definitely weighed more than the average man, was dragged out like wet laundry. Go San, about to close the door, paused and muttered, “Ah,” with a calm expression.

“You stay still there. Don’t even put your clothes on. If even one thing is different when I get back.”

Go San paused for a moment. The veins on the back of his hand gripping Heo Sangmuk bulged out.

“Then you’ll really know you’re in for it.”

It was a voice that could affirm that all the threats until now had been jokes.

As soon as Go San took Heo Sangmuk out, Geumseo propped his elbows on the sofa and raised his body. He was hiccupping in shock. His chest heaved rapidly with “hik, hik” sounds.

Go San’s threat was unnecessary. Because Geumseo could hardly do anything anyway. His body was too frightened to move, and the drug’s effect had only slightly worn off. A belated chill washed over him, so he adjusted his clothes a little and pulled up his pants, which had slipped down in the meantime. In Geumseo’s mind, this much wasn’t getting dressed. It was just straightening up.

And, to Geumseo’s perception, Go San returned very quickly.

He came back looking exactly the same as before, completely unruffled, and closed the door. The perfectly soundproof door completely separated this room from the hallway. The room became an island that had broken off from the establishment and drifted into the vast ocean.

Go San crossed his arms, looked at Geumseo, and spat out one word.

“This is fun.”

However, his tone did not sound amused at all.

“Cold? Why are you shaking like this.”

When Geumseo shuddered, Go San strode over. Go San crouched down beside Geumseo’s head and stroked his cheek.

“You must be cold, our Geumseo….”

A slapping sound rang out. Geumseo blinked, dazed.

“That’s why you shouldn’t have lied.”

Go San’s tone was so even that Geumseo had an even harder time grasping reality. Go San untied the ridiculous bow tie from Geumseo’s neck and took off the rest of his shirt, throwing it on the floor. The pants met a similar fate. Then he took off his own sweatshirt and pulled it over Geumseo’s head.

“What did I say would happen if you lied.”

Go San was already straddling Geumseo. Just as Heo Sangmuk had been.

Geumseo couldn’t answer right away and mumbled. Part of it was because his head wasn’t working properly. Without an answer, Go San grabbed the face of the dazed Geumseo and turned it swiftly from side to side.

“Here. This isn’t like this because of me.”