A Club for the Rich
I was flustered.
Lee Sihyun had gone bowling with her friends.
It had been fun. Bowling was the kind of thing you couldn’t easily do on a regular basis.
People said a game or two wasn’t that expensive, but money disappeared the way a drizzle soaked through clothes—quietly, before you knew it. It was the kind of thing you could only really do when you were out with friends like this.
After that, they’d gone to a karaoke room.
“As expected of Sihyun.”
“Seriously, Sihyun’s good at this.”
“Kyaa...”
“Shouldn’t you be a singer or something?”
Karaoke was one of her favorite hobbies.
It wasn’t that expensive, either. Even while studying, she’d sometimes go out to blow off steam and sing a few songs.
Before long, that had made her better than most people.
After that, they went to a café.
They talked about all sorts of things.
In the end, the conversation even turned to Doyun oppa.
“I’m bored. Can’t we call that oppa from earlier?”
“If he’s only three years older, he’s practically our age.”
“Exactly. He’s not a student anymore anyway—he’s an adult.”
“Sihyun’s getting uncomfortable again.”
Just like my friend said, whenever the talk turned to Doyun oppa, I got strangely self-conscious.
I wasn’t as close to oppa as they seemed to think.
Only recently had we started talking to each other a little more.
Before that, oppa always seemed like he was deliberately avoiding something.
Even if that hadn’t been the case, he’d been busy working, so we barely even had the chance to run into each other.
“Then let’s do this. You said that oppa lives near your place, right?”
“W-well, yeah...?”
“If our times line up, can he drop us off on the way?”
“Oh! That’d be great! Riding public transit is so exhausting.”
“Just once. Ask him just once for me.”
“It’s on the way anyway, so...”
It felt awkward to refuse.
I’d already gotten rides from my friends’ parents more than a few times.
And besides, it wasn’t even that unreasonable of a favor. They weren’t asking him to drive us around for no reason—just to drop them off if the timing happened to match.
“I’ll at least ask him.”
After sending a message to oppa, we moved to another place.
To a bar.
I’d debated not drinking, but I had enough money to spare, so I just went ahead and drank anyway.
If I wasn’t going to drink, I should’ve just gone home right then.
It made no sense to sit there and not pay my share.
Then, all of a sudden—
“Huh?”
“What are you guys doing here?”
“What are you doing here?”
“We came to Hongdae to drink, obviously.”
“It’s our money, too.”
I ran into some high school friends.
Guys I knew.
It felt awkward. I hadn’t really hung out with them before.
“Sihyun’s here too. Hey.”
“Hey, you wanna die? Don’t try anything on our Sihyun.”
“What? I’m just saying hello.”
“You’re banned from approaching her.”
“Unbelievable. Anyway, you’re only drinking here?”
“Then what?”
“We’re about to get a table at a club. Wanna come drink with us?”
“A club?”
At the word club, my friends all showed interest.
In fact, even while we were drinking, the topic of clubs had come up.
We’d said we should all go together sometime.
“Guys, what do you want to do?”
“Hey, do we have to pay too?”
“Forget it. I already bought a million won’s worth of alcohol.”
“Oh...”
“We can’t even finish all this ourselves. We might end up ordering more halfway through.”
The mood was drifting toward going together.
I quietly told my friend, “Um... I think I’ll go.”
“Why? Let’s stay a little longer. If it’s no fun, we can leave right away.”
“Still...”
“I already told your oppa we were all going together. He said okay, remember?”
“...”
I didn’t like the idea of being left out on my own. And besides, I’d told oppa I was riding with my friends, so I didn’t want to end up going alone either.
“Then I’ll tell oppa to go ahead first. He might end up waiting for no reason.”
“Yeah.”
“Sigh...”
“Or, if the timing works out, tell oppa to stop by too. It’d be fun to hang out together.”
“Huh?”
How was I supposed to say that?
***
I’d told her to contact me when she was heading home.
So I decided to wait.
I wasn’t just sitting there obsessively checking for a message, though.
I was in my study reading a book about investing.
At first, none of it had really gone into my head, but the more time I spent with it, the more interesting it became.
That’s kind of fun.
The things I’d felt while investing in coins over the years were all laid out there, one after another.
Was I really talented after all?
As I was reading, lost in it for quite a while, Sihyun finally texted me.
I shot to my feet.
What?
There was no reason for me to go first.
Not unless Sihyun was staying out overnight.
There was no way her aunt would allow that. Hell, I wasn’t going to allow it either.
I wasn’t just irritated because we wouldn’t be going home together.
Seoul was full of wolves.
The thought of some of those bastards laying eyes on my Sihyun late at night made my blood heat up instantly.
I texted her right away.
I took a deep breath.
Stay calm.
Getting angry wouldn’t solve anything right now.
A club was dangerous enough in Seoul as it was, but a club?
No matter what I had to do, I couldn’t let her go alone.
Please. Please.
If she said no, should I really track down her location by force and go straight to the club?
Fun, my ass. I wasn’t going to have any fun at all. I was going to spend every single second making sure the other wolves couldn’t get anywhere near Sihyun.
I wouldn’t take my eyes off her.
Even if there were a prettier woman than Sihyun in that club.
After getting the club’s location from Sihyun, I told her I’d be there soon.
Along with the message that I’d go in with her.
I hurriedly called the secretary in the other room.
Not the chief secretary, but the other one.
“Secretary-nim!”
“Yes!”
“Do you happen to know what kind of clothes would suit someone my age?”
“Could I ask where you’re going? The dress code is different depending on the place.”
“A club!”
“In that case... these clothes, and this watch...”
I changed into an outfit that wouldn’t lose to anyone, no matter who I ran into.
The watch was essential, too.
Before, I’d thought Rolex was the most expensive watch there was.
It wasn’t.
Turns out Rolex was just the cheapest of the expensive watches.
The one sitting on my wrist right now was far more expensive.
We’re talking hundreds of millions of won.
Wait for me, Sihyun. I’m coming soon.
I got into the car with my driver and headed over quickly.
***
After leaving the bar, I arrived at the club with my friends.
“You guys go in first. I’ll come in a little later.”
“Why? Let’s go in together.”
“I told you, an older brother I know is coming soon.”
“Seriously? What, does that oppa like you or something?”
“... No.”
He didn’t like me. He was probably just worried a lot.
Oppa seemed to listen to my mom pretty well...
He probably didn’t want me getting into some dangerous situation at a club.
One of the guys in the group said to me, “Sihyun, come with us. The club isn’t as scary as you think it is. You just drink and dance to music.”
“...”
“Besides, we booked a table, so nobody we don’t know can come sit next to us.”
“I’ll just... come in a little later.”
“... Fine. See you later. Let’s just tell Sihyun to come later and go in first ourselves.”
“Ugh, honestly, you’ve got to respect how stubborn she is.”
Like they said, the club might not have been that scary a place.
Still, I had no intention of going in first.
That would be rude.
Oppa was coming all the way here because of me, so how could I go in ahead of him?
While I was waiting outside the club for oppa, some guys started talking to me.
“Are you here alone?”
“Ah, n-no. I’m waiting for my friend.”
“I’ve got friends here too. If you want, wanna drink with us?”
“I’m sorry.”
“... Okay.”
It wasn’t just one or two people.
I was starting to get tired.
“You’re popular, aren’t you, Sihyun?”
“Oh, oppa.”
I heard oppa’s voice beside me.
I turned my head.
There he was—the same oppa I always saw at home.
The only difference was...
“Huh? That’s not what you were wearing when you left earlier.”
“I changed after hearing we were going to a club. It’s clothes I keep in the car.”
“... Seriously? How many outfits do you keep in your car? You look like you changed your entire body.”
“You’ve got a good memory. Since we’re going out, I can’t exactly wear something casual. Ready to go in?”
“... Yes.”
“Where are your friends?”
“They went in first. They said they booked a table.”
The clothes oppa was wearing were different from the ones he had on when he dropped me off.
Hmm...
Honestly, the kind of clothes you wore when you went out suited oppa better.
I hadn’t known he could pull off clothes like that.
I was about to go into the club with oppa.
But then—
“You don’t have a stamp, so you can’t go in. Please line up and come back in.”
“What? My group’s inside.”
“Did your group book a table?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll need one member of your group to come back outside briefly.”
“... Yes. I’ll tell them.”
The guard blocked our way.
He said we couldn’t enter because we didn’t have the stamp they put on people when they went in.
Since I’d been waiting for oppa and hadn’t gone inside the club yet, I’d never gotten stamped either.
I felt embarrassed for no reason.
I was about to call my friend when—
“Aren’t there a lot of people in your group? You said you’ve got a lot of male friends from high school too.”
“I guess so?”
“Even if you booked a table, that sounds uncomfortable. Let’s just get a new one.”
“... Huh?”
Oppa said we should just book a new table.
Before I could even stop him—
“Do you have any tables left?”
“Right now, only VIP tables are available.”
The guard asked us separately if there were any tables open.
“How much is it?”
“For a VIP table, prices start at six million won.”
“O-oppa...”
I nearly lost it.
Six million won just to drink once?
We wouldn’t even be able to finish it.
“I-I’ll call my friends. Or we can just go home. I don’t really want to go to the club anyway, so it’s fine.”
“No. I’m curious too. Get us a table.”
“... How would you like to handle payment?”
“One lump sum, please.”
I was flabbergasted.