Chapter 6
Chapter 6
It was a fucking proud situation.
And for good reason: a dick that wouldn't get hard suddenly standing again is an incredibly big deal, right?
Don't you think?
Honestly, as a fellow man, I thought this deserved a hearty congratulations.
But...
"So what?"
So what?
No, you asked if it was possible, and now...
"Tch, still as obnoxious as ever."
Ahn Gi-pyo clicked his tongue, then glanced at me and said.
"Hmm, and Ui-ri put in a word too. Anyway, it's positive news that the guy who used to be the top earner at our host bar is getting hard again, but..."
"......"
Ahn Gi-pyo deliberately trailed off and drew it out.
That made me even more anxious.
'Fucking snake.'
I guess this is what you call experience?
If you only look at individual ability, I'm definitely way better than Ahn Gi-pyo, but that's exactly why he's still holding onto the manager position at the successful Valentia.
Ahn Gi-pyo is well-respected and knows how to handle people.
"You seem a bit changed, but frankly, I can't fully trust you yet. So I'll have to watch you a little longer."
"What does that mean...?"
"One month."
Ahn Gi-pyo tossed the mop from the cleaning cabinet right at my feet and said.
"For the next month, you'll be in charge of cleaning the toilets. If you do that, I'll take you back."
For a moment, I felt something surge up in my chest involuntarily.
Honestly, I've been holding back and bowing my head a lot.
Of course, cleaning toilets? It's something I can do.
But it's not like I have no pride or anything.
Especially that small act of throwing the mop at my feet and Ahn Gi-pyo's mocking expression infuriated me like crazy.
"Fuck..."
Just as the curse word was about to reflexively burst out of my mouth,
Once again, it was Miho's voice that stopped me.
「Fuck! Bastard!」
What did I say back then?
「That's a word you shouldn't use. Okay?」
「Fuck! It's stuck in my mouth! Fuck, bastard!」
I was so dumbfounded that I couldn't help but laugh.
"......I'll clean it so thoroughly that no one will accidentally slip."
"Oh, I'll look forward to it."
My answer must have been unexpected, because Ahn Gi-pyo showed a flustered expression for the first time in his life. Then he lightly patted my shoulder and went back into the main hall with the counter.
Just as I was about to give him the middle finger belatedly, Ahn Gi-pyo suddenly opened the door and stuck his face back in.
"Hey, Kim Hyun-woo!"
"Yes!"
"Not bad, that attitude. You went through some hardship, and now you finally seem like an adult. Got it?"
"Uh, ah, thank you!"
After being treated like that just now and even given the unfair punishment of cleaning toilets for a month, fucking hell, why does my chest feel so warm?
'A guy who never praised me even when I was the number one ranked host...'
...Is this what it really feels like to be acknowledged and praised by your boss?
This feeling I'm experiencing for the first time in my life, it wasn't that bad.
「Tuk tuk」
"Good luck with the toilet cleaning. To be honest, I thought you'd get angry and throw a punch. Frankly, the manager probably provoked you on purpose too."
"That guy really has a shitty personality."
"You're not much better, you bastard. But... as the manager said, you seem to have grown up a bit."
"Ha, whatever..."
I chuckled awkwardly.
So what? Did I just look like a troublemaking brat before?
"I'm going back to work. Good luck with the cleaning. Let's grab a drink later. It's not like you'll get any bookings tonight anyway."
"Drink?"
Sounds great. If it's to celebrate my return, I might even be able to get the manager to treat us.
But...
"......Ah, thanks for the offer, but I don't think I can make it today."
"Huh? You're turning down a drink? If it's because you have no money, I'll pay."
"It's not that."
I thought about mentioning Miho, but if word got around that I had a kid, it wouldn't be good for a host, so I just dodged the question.
"Ah, shit, it's something like that. Instead, keep that offer of a drink on hold. You have to buy it for me later."
"Got it, you bastard."
"Then I'll go clean the toilets."
"Yeah."
And so I waved casually at Park Ui-ri and picked up the mop, feeling strangely mixed.
"......"
Compared to when I was the number one ranked host, when women would make reservations just to see me and hand me stacks of cash...
I can't believe holding this mop now makes me prouder.
"......Did I get shot in the head or something?"
Smiling foolishly to myself, I obediently made my way to the bathroom.
Having worked there for nearly a year, finding the bathrooms wasn't hard.
As soon as I opened the door, the stinky smell unique to bathrooms—unavoidable even with air freshener—hit my nose, but I didn't really mind.
"Hm hm, hm hm hm~!"
「Cheolpeok, cheolpudeok!」
I even hummed as I scrubbed the mop against the floor with a cheerful heart.
I never knew that re-employment, especially at a place I'd worked before, could make someone feel this secure.
"Let's finish cleaning quickly, tell the manager, and then clock out for today."
To return to host work faster, I needed to show my face tonight and run errands to rebuild connections, but above all, Miho came first today.
I promised I'd be back with something tasty by the time she woke up.
「Cheolpeok, cheolpeok!」
I cleaned so hard that the mop made a scraping sound.
「Jeobeok jeobeok!」
From afar, I heard the sound of dress shoes.
But this sound was definitely not the sound of women's heels. It was the sound of men's shoes, specifically the kind hosts like to wear.
'Fuck, it sounds like they're coming this way?'
I knew that since I came back to this job, I'd inevitably have to face the other hosts working here.
But now that it was about to happen, my heart was already pounding.
Moreover...
「Beolkeok, kwang!」
"Well, well, who is this! Isn't this Kim Hyun-woo, the pride of our Valentia, the unchained number one!"
"Woo hoo! Woo hoo~!"
Those fucking bastards were clearly here to mock me, which made it worse.
From the start, hosts rarely got along with each other.
Especially because the gap between what the number one host earns and what the guys below earn is enormous.
It was natural to be the target of huge jealousy.
And I was never going to be friends with those kinds of guys anyway.
That's still the same now.
"Fucking sarcastic. Why? Scared that if I come back, your measly income might disappear completely?"
"......What? Ha, look at this bastard's mouth. The manager said you'd changed a bit, but seeing you now, you're no different from before."
Fucking bastards.
Losers who can't even crack the top ten, extras who just shake tambourines and make the main character shine—they're always good at this kind of shit.
「Chwaaaaak.」
The two hosts dumped the bucket of dirty mop water right onto the floor I had just cleaned.
"Oh my, sorry about that. My foot slipped? If you're upset, go ahead and take a swing."
"Fuck..."
"Wow, guess you've become a real person. Our pottymouth Hyun-woo is holding back his curses."
Yeah, I was trying to hold back my curses.
But...
"Don't pick a fight for no reason and get lost. I'll let it slide this time. Anyway, we're going to see each other often from now on. No point making things tiring every time we meet, right?"
I guess I really have become an adult.
In the past, I might have thrown a punch right away, but here I am trying to smooth things over with such cool words.
"......This fucking bastard still looks down on people?"
"What the fuck are you talking about! No, this is ridiculous."
I couldn't understand why they insisted on seeing things through to the end when we could just let it go nicely.
[It means you've made them hate you irreparably.]
[If they already have a grudge against you, everything you say will just annoy them. So you should have been better in the past.]
So what more do you want me to do here?
Those guys were ultimately no different from my past self.
Except maybe for Park Ui-ri or Ahn Gi-pyo, I had no intention of sincerely bowing and apologizing to those guys either.
Me, Kim Hyun-woo, becoming that nice was impossible even if the sky split in half.
「Warak!」
One of the hosts grabbed my collar and growled.
"Hey, Kim Hyun-woo. You fucking punk, listen up."
"......"
"Even if you come back now, there's no place for you. Got it? Just keep cleaning shit buckets and live quietly like you're dead."
See that.
In the end, they're just yapping mutts afraid their meal ticket will be taken away.
I had no intention of bowing to such guys.
"Let go, you bastard."
「Tak!」
I roughly shoved aside the hand gripping my collar, then grabbed his collar and pushed him back.
"......Huk!"
In an instant, the situation reversed.
No, he was pushed so easily that he ended up stuck against the wall.
The host who had grabbed my collar was startled.
I was surprised too.
'What the hell?'
No, seriously, what is this?
Was I always this strong? Or maybe this guy was just a weakling despite his looks.
Anyway, it would be bad if the manager saw this.
I didn't particularly want to solve this with violence.
"It's fucking ridiculous for a host to say this, but if you're a host, let's compete using the skills to satisfy women, like hosts should."
That was the moment.
"You bastard, until the end! You won't let go?"
The guy who had been watching suddenly snapped, picked up the mop, and swung it at me.
...Fuck, I'm screwed.
It was too sudden to dodge.
If that hits me, I'll probably get a small wound on my already bruised face.
I involuntarily squeezed my eyes shut.
「Tak!」
I had to feel something was off.
I was sure a dull sound and dizzying pain would hit me, but it was strangely quiet.
"What are you hosts doing huddled together in the bathroom?"
"......"
I cautiously opened my eyes, and there was the massive Park Ui-ri, who made the mop look tiny, easily catching it with one hand.
Seeing it again, his physique is fucking insane.
Did I really end up with just a bruised eye after taking a serious punch from that guy?
'I was really lucky.'
I let out a sigh of relief at Park Ui-ri's help, but then I was about to get angry realizing what those guys were trying to do.
"A fallen host and a doorman, what a fitting combination."
"Birds of a feather flock together. Ugh, tch. Hey, let's go smoke."
They say rats are good at running away.
"These guys are ridiculous. But aren't you bothered?"
I subtly hinted that I wished Park Ui-ri would hit those guys too, but Park Ui-ri said with a nonchalant expression,
"That's nothing. Besides, how could a person hired to protect hosts hit a host?"
"That's true, but..."
...Wait, then why did you hit me?
"More importantly, Kim Hyun-woo."
"Yes?"
Park Ui-ri picked up the mop instead of me and said.
"Go, the manager was looking for you."
Huh? Why?
Meanwhile, Miho's peaceful sleep in Kim Hyun-woo's studio, which he thought she'd be enjoying, didn't last long.
「Catch them all! An elf sells for a high price!」
「Hwareureureureureuk!」
"Ah heuk, euheu...!"
Miho, seemingly in pain, was drenched in cold sweat, clutching her chest, then gasped and sat up.
When she urgently looked around, she remembered where she was.
And also what Kim Hyun-woo had told her.
「Don't worry too much, I'll be back soon. I'll be here when you wake up.」
"......Hyunu?"
Calling his name quietly, Miho looked around, then muttered in a disappointed voice when she felt no sign of anyone.
"Liar......"
But still, he said he'd be back soon.
"One, two, three, four..."
He'll come back soon.