Lovely Monsters Chapter 51

Choi Seongjin, having regained his senses, hurriedly pulled the waiter up. However, the waiter’s head laved limply, swaying back and forth without strength. It was a death so futile it was absurd.

“No, Seongjin… no matter how pissed you were. How could you cause an accident like this inside the shop?”

After a commotion broke out as other employees entered the breakroom, the manager, who arrived late, looked around and had the body cleared away. Then, he abruptly patted Choi Seongjin on the back.

“Hey, straighten your face. Don’t worry. Is one dead waiter such a big deal? It’s not like we met yesterday. Hyung will take responsibility and handle it. Nothing to be scared of.”

…There is no way this bastard would act like this.

Watching the manager speak with a good-natured face, Choi Seongjin could not say a word. He was the very person who had dragged Choi Seongjin into this underworld. Would a villain among villains protect him for no reason?

The ominous premonition soon returned as reality.

“So, just go and do some dick-work in front of the young masters just once. Got it? The tip alone is 20 million. They offered more because you were acting expensive by refusing to go.”

“…….”

“Now, go quickly. If it won’t get up, should I give you some drugs? Huh?”

Choi Seongjin didn’t have much of a thought.

Until now, hadn’t there been one or two people he’d sold out for money? Among them was even someone from the same orphanage. There was no telling where those kids were now or what had happened to them. He had done it all while knowing. To escape the bottom, he was capable of doing anything.

Because of that, he shouldn’t… have had any particular thoughts.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Ah, he’s finally here! The person who delivered the good stuff to us!”

“Why did it take you so long? Fuck, this is the first time I’ve spent two stacks on a tip.”

As soon as he opened the door and entered, four men clapped their hands and welcomed Choi Seongjin with exaggeration. Between them, Kim Heejo was hanging mid-air, tied with ropes. Just like meat hung in a butcher shop.

“…….”

There wasn’t a single uninjured spot on his body, as if wondering what they had done to him today. Every time Choi Seongjin’s eyes confirmed the marks of being beaten and bitten one by one, he felt as if he were being struck in the head.

While scanning the wretched sight, Choi Seongjin’s gaze inadvertently fell to the floor. A hose dripping with water lay on the ground. He was looking at other gruesome-looking tools lying there when someone pushed him from behind.

“Show us, how did you shove it in when you did it with this brat?”

At that moment, Kim Heejo lifted his head. Whether he hadn’t been unconscious, he stared at Choi Seongjin with bloodshot eyes.

At first, his expression was one of disbelief. As if he couldn’t trust his own eyes, he blinked several times, and only when Choi Seongjin grabbed his knees did he accept reality.

“Why act like you didn’t know? You knew everything.”

Someone’s voice, laced with mockery, was drowned out by Kim Heejo’s scream. Kim Heejo, who was pouring out unrecognizable shrieks, eventually began to cry once he ended up being raped by Choi Seongjin. However, though he sobbed sorrowfully, he did not beg Choi Seongjin.

After tens of minutes of such a wretched time passed, Kim Heejo suddenly panted as if being strangled and went into convulsions. Perhaps he was hyperventilating severely, as his breathing would not calm down even when they tried putting a bag over him.

The manager watched the young masters’ reactions. They also seemed to judge it would be difficult to continue further and smacked their lips as if disappointed.

“He won’t die from that, right?”

“Yes, there are usually no cases of death, but… if you intend to use him tomorrow as well, it seems best to stop around here for today.”

“There’s only one hole but four people, so it can’t be helped.”

After leaving Room 12, the manager kindly handed a portion of the tip to Choi Seongjin. Since he had even buried the body of an employee, it was truly an act of mercy.

Choi Seongjin stared blankly at the bundle of cash in his hand. It was the money he had wanted so much. The money for which he had felt no guilt even while selling people off like objects because he wanted it so badly. Those bills were crumpled hideously within Choi Seongjin’s grip.

After that, Choi Seongjin desperately avoided Kim Heejo. He didn’t even go near Room 12. However, since they were in the same building after all, he couldn’t help but hear news. They said Kim Heejo was currently in the infirmary. Usually, quack doctors would treat wounds inside the rooms, so taking him to the infirmary meant his condition was extremely serious.

He couldn’t save him, yet he couldn’t ignore him either.

What Choi Seongjin ultimately chose was to go see Kim Heejo. Even on the way, he asked himself countless times what meaning this action had, but he could not stop his two moving feet.

As luck would have it, there was no one in the infirmary. Thus, he finally faced him. Kim Heejo, broken exactly as expected—no more, no less.

Whether he was hit while resisting or it was for the young masters’ amusement, Kim Heejo was covered in bruises. Meanwhile, handcuffs were fastened to his wrists and ankles, connecting him to the bed. However, even if he weren’t tied up, it didn’t seem like he would be able to run away.

“Hee—.”

Choi Seongjin, who almost called his name reflexively, bit his tongue. Was he in his right mind? Thanks to that crazy act, Kim Heejo opened his eyes and looked toward the source of the sound. Their eyes met for the third time since coming here.

But Kim Heejo no longer asked Choi Seongjin to save him, nor did he wail as before. He merely blinked his parched eyes and quietly murmured in an indifferent voice.

“Yujeong, I know everything now. At first, I didn’t know why I was here at all, no… it’s not that I didn’t know, I was trying to pretend I didn’t know, but now I’ve come to know it all. So… I.”

While continuing to speak, Kim Heejo’s gaze wandered toward a distant place. Just as Choi Seongjin’s spine chilled at the gaze that seemed to see something beyond, a voice more affectionate than ever tapped at his ears.

“I want to be with you in the future, too.”

Choi Seongjin could not flee the spot. He merely looked at Kim Heejo blankly, just as Kim Heejo was looking at him. After their gazes lingered on each other for a moment, a smile spread across Kim Heejo’s lips.

“…I love you, Yujeong.”

“…….”

“You said you loved me, too. You said you’d never loved anyone like this, and that you’d never been so compatible with anyone. I always thought the same. I’m going to stay with you. I don’t want to break up.”

Kim Heejo, who was speaking with a smile like a lie, suddenly looked ready to cry. However, perhaps because he lacked the energy to cry loudly, he sobbed small and pitifully.

“I have to go home, because Yujeong is waiting… I shouldn’t be too late….”

After leaving the infirmary without being able to do anything, Choi Seongjin heard various news.

He heard the young masters were using Kim Heejo for entertainment and lending him out to other customers. He heard that yesterday, over twenty guys went in and out of that room.

And then today, as if they suddenly found a taste for hitting him—.

“…How long do you think he’ll last?”

The man stopped mid-sentence and asked the other. Choi Seongjin, who was eavesdropping on the conversation from outside the door, clasped his trembling hands together.

“Well, the maintenance fee alone is 10 million won a month, so I hope he holds out for a long time, but seeing how the young masters are using him, he won’t last long.”

“Since the doctor goes in about once a week. I wonder if he’ll last a year….”

“Maybe because they’re rich bastards, they use expensive things so carelessly.”

∞ ∞ ∞

As days and then more days passed, Choi Seongjin became unable to even fall asleep at night without strong alcohol. His body was tired enough to melt, but he could not close his eyes and fall asleep. At some point, he stopped having nightmares, but in their place, a hellish insomnia began.

Because he drank like that every night, he couldn’t keep his head straight even while working. If no one told him to do something, he would just lean against a wall and lose himself in a daze.

“Hyung, uh… you see.”

One of the employees approached Choi Seongjin. He was an employee who used to follow him well, calling him hyung after receiving help in the past, but now even his name was hard to remember. When Choi Seongjin looked at him with difficulty, he hesitated, looked around, and whispered in a small voice.

“Please keep it a secret that I told you this. But I thought you definitely needed to know—.”

“…What is it, what are you talking about?”

“The manager. He installed a camera in the room where you’re living now.”

“What?”