In the meantime, graduation came and went in a flash. His friends who were going to college left the neighborhood, and the few who weren’t either started working or holed up saying they’d retake the exam.

Jo Taeeun ignored the looks from his father and the woman looks that said, ‘Shouldn’t that kid be leaving soon?’and stubbornly kept living at home while going out to the bars every night.

And even though he only drank one or two drinks a night, before he knew it his wallet was already empty. Just as the easygoing Taeeun, who had only been acting like, ‘I should go see my thousand-year ideal type again,’ for no real reason at all, was starting to feel a little anxious for the first time.

Baek Beomgu’s patience was also slowly approaching its limit.

“First of all. His eyeballs are fucking annoying.”

At Beomgu’s words, Cheolhee nodded. He had recently started working as a low-level subordinate, and with his experience doing various kinds of labor since childhood, he was skilled at catering to the mood of the higher-ups, but he also genuinely agreed with Beomgu.

The kid was definitely clean-cut and handsome, but somehow…….

“He seems a little… off, doesn’t he?”

“Ah, yeah. Exactly. He’s a little, uh…… clean-looking, but aside from that.”

“Yeah. That’s what I mean. It’s not like a druggie’s crazy eyes or anything, but it’s not just because he looks dumb. He gives off the feeling that something’s a little screw-loose.”

In truth, Baek Beomgu had thought the bastard would come and go a few times and then stop. From the start, he couldn’t understand why a male bastard who had been beaten mercilessly by him would keep chasing after him just because his face was too handsome.

If he tried to force him away for no reason, it felt like it would backfire, and if there’s one thing he’s learned, it’s that when something doesn’t make sense, the best option is not to touch it too carelessly and get bitten for nothing.

Among those blockhead simpletons who looked like if you shook their heads nothing would come out but rocks, Jo Taeeun’s existence was too alien. So Baek Beomgu had decided to just ignore it.

Before he knew it, the weather had become closer to spring than winter.

People’s clothes had gotten thinner, and the twenty-year-olds who had waited only for January 1 after the exam, then flashed their IDs and entered the bars the moment midnight struck, were slowly disappearing because of college, part-time jobs, and other things. The New Year’s group dinners that had continued into February had also ended.

But why the hell is that bastard still here and not going anywhere.

Clicking his tongue in irritation, he clamped a cigarette in his mouth and Cheolhee flicked a lighter to light it.

How simple. The side that bites the cigarette, and the side that lights it. The side that hits, and the side that gets hit. The side that receives money, and the side that pays it. In Baek Beomgu’s world, so clearly split into two halves, Jo Taeeun was the only ambiguous speck.

He wasn’t picking a fight, he didn’t seem to have malicious intent, he was just sitting in a corner of the bar all day with a faint gaze and anticipation to see him.

He’s too annoying, so I guess I should start tearing him off soon. Exhaling smoke into the air, Beomgu said,

“If that guy comes again today, bring him to me—”

He had been about to say _call me_ when he raised his eyebrows.

Even if the root was gangster, he was still the owner of bars that, on the surface, served ordinary customers.

Today really felt like the day he should completely beat the shit out of that kid and shake him off, but that wasn’t exactly something to do in front of people who were having a pleasant drink.

After thinking for a moment and clicking his tongue, Beomgu changed his words.

“Bring him to the office.”

The tip of Beomgu’s chin pointed to the night bar next to them. It was the place where he spent the most time whenever he had work to do, and also the place where no sound from inside the office could be heard outside.

Snuffing out the shortened cigarette butt, Beomgu added,

“If he doesn’t follow, beat him a few times.”

⌗ • ⌗ • ⌗

“Hey, hey. Wake up.”

The rough-looking men said, nudging the chair I was sitting on with their toes.

So this was it, I thought.

Honestly, it was kind of surprising they’d let it slide this long. I’d really only been “looking,” nothing more, but Baek Beomgu had made it very clear that even that was enough to make him look disgusted as hell.

But even if I was some bastard trying to wreck his (former) business, come on. I was just coming in every day, selling drinks and sitting there — I even met a few women who came here just to see my face. That meant I was bringing in business, not hurting it. So why did he have to send his underlings to beat me up and kick me out…….

Feeling a little wronged, I stood up nicely. I didn’t resist at all, and the low-level guys who’d come in a pair instead of coming alone probably didn’t even realize how flustered they looked.

“Follow me.”

“Okay……”

Like a well-behaved puppy, I trailed after them with little quick steps. Please don’t hit me, and please just give me a nice verbal warning that I’m banned from the place.

It was a shame I wouldn’t get to see that face, the one I felt like I’d remember even at the very last moment before I died, but Jo Taeeun still cared more about his own safety in the end.

Up until now, Baek Beomgu hadn’t said anything else, and he hadn’t sent people to threaten me either, so I kept coming. But if he really meant to beat me up and throw me out, I wasn’t brave enough to stick my face in there again.

Couldn’t I just say “I won’t come starting tomorrow, so please let me off once” before he hit me?

While I was spinning the rusty, long-unused brain I hadn’t had to use much since school, the men led me into the nightclub.

Why a nightclub? Just as I was gathering the nerve to ask something, we were already past the noisy area and standing in front of the office door tucked away in a corner.

“Go in.”

“Okay……”

What, was this guy even more unrebellious than a broke old creditor with no strength left?

Since I was being way too obedient, the guy who’d come ready for a fight actually looked annoyed instead. One of Baek Beomgu’s underlings knocked on the office door, then grabbed my arm and shoved me inside.

Crash. I went down helplessly, groaning softly, “Ah…….” I lifted my head to look around, then sucked in my breath.

“Hey, schoolboy.”

It had only been a few weeks since I graduated. But I wasn’t a college student, so even if I argued about the nickname, all I’d get back was something like, Hey, jobless bastard.

Honestly, schoolboy was better than being called a fully unemployed loser…….

But that wasn’t the important part. I felt like I might have breathing trouble because I couldn’t even breathe out the air I’d just sucked in.

“What are you trying to do with me right now?”

“Uh, well……”

!!!!Your face is way too close!!!!

A man who had no idea that one twenty-year-old had spent days and nights for the first time in his life touching himself until his dick hurt while watching porn he’d never even been interested in before was being way too cruel.

His face came so close that there was basically no distance at all. He even held the back of my head tight so I couldn’t run away.

“There’s got to be a reason you keep hanging around.”

……God, this was insane. I swallowed without meaning to, and Baek Beomgu, who was staring at it from right in front of me, furrowed his brow. It was an insanely sexy expression.

“Well, that is, so……”

“If you say it’s because I’m handsome again, I’m gonna knock out one of your front teeth and make you start over.”

Gasp. Facing the sudden threat of becoming a fool, I clamped my mouth shut on reflex.

But what was I supposed to do if I wasn’t allowed to say he was handsome, when it wasn’t like he was going to listen even if I told him what I wanted?

A little annoyance rose inside Jo Taeeun, who couldn’t get hot and horny the way he wanted to. Then, at the perfect timing, Baek Beomgu asked again.

“What is it. What do you want?”

If you ask me what I want, it’s only right that I answer you…… I quietly recited a line every kid from any era would know, and at the same time, I blurted out my answer.

It wasn’t on purpose. It was just a little rebellious impulse, and the thought I’d already had too many times didn’t get neatly scooped back down my throat in time and came bursting out.

“Uh…, losing my virginity…?”

A hand flew at me right away. Maybe because by now he’d already firmly decided I was a totally useless ordinary guy, it wasn’t a fist, just a palm.

It was so big that getting hit felt like my jaw and cheek were shoved away all at once, and my head went dizzy. If I remembered right, it hadn’t made a cute slapping sound like clap or smack either, but a thud.

Just to explain myself, I really did hate getting hit. It wasn’t that I liked acting tough — I just wasn’t the kind of person without pride.

Since I was so big, both in height and build, that there really wasn’t anyone around my age I’d have to deal with besides athletes, I’d never had to fight in the first place, so it was lucky I hadn’t needed to. If there had been a fight, I wouldn’t have just taken hits.

…Of course, Baek Beomgu was the kind of opponent I couldn’t hit even if I decided I would, but anyway.

Somehow, I should’ve been feeling bad, but the dazed filter over my eyes just wouldn’t clear.

Was this what being a masochist was? The man of my ideal hit my cheek so hard my skull rang, and instead of feeling bad, my gut got hot like it was boiling.

That rough temper. Those big, hard hands. The kind of man who looked like he’d been born to press someone down.

I wanted to be crushed by him recklessly.

……Am I really a masochist?