The First Real Test
Lee Sang-soo had always warned them all to watch themselves and stay within reasonable bounds.
Most of the time he was laid-back, but when someone crossed the line, he never held back.
Kim Namhu knew that Lee Sang-soo did not fully trust him.
That was why he had created this opportunity today, to put the kid in his place.
If Namhu had truly been the maknae, he would have been swung around by the truth like a puppet, his mind shattered long ago. But right now Kim Namhu stood at the very top of Lee Sang-soo’s head.
And Lee Sang-soo was completely at a loss for how to react to the events that had unfolded so far.
His face remained expressionless, yet his eyes kept flickering with uncertainty.
Lee Sang-soo glanced at the young man who had returned and dialed the number of the woman he had once summoned as the truth.
“Why? Oppa?”
“Could it be that our maknae made a mistake?”
“No. You did perfectly. The secondary outing was handled smoothly too. We finally snagged a player worth his salt after a long drought. Congratulations.”
When a client heard words like that, Lee Sang-soo had no choice but to smile.
Choi Moon-ho walked past and asked Lee Sang-soo.
“Hyung. What exactly are we supposed to say to the maknae?”
“The host handled both truths clean as a whistle. What more is there to say? If we add anything else, it’ll only make him look like an old fool. That’s enough for today.”
Choi Moon-ho wanted to argue, but he swallowed it.
According to Lee Sang-soo, Kim Namhu had already dismantled the two truths perfectly.
Ordinary hosts would have been left flailing, but these truths had gone the extra mile.
The plan to humiliate the maknae from another faction and shatter his mentality had been thoroughly executed.
He should have shown the dirty underbelly of this world, yet the kid had performed far beyond expectations.
Jang Hyo-woon watched the exchange between Lee Sang-soo and Choi Moon-ho with a grin.
He walked over to the maknae.
“What on earth is your real identity?”
“Excuse me?”
“I asked all my connections. Maybe you had experience at another shop. Turns out you didn’t. You’re a genuine monster. How do you manage to perform this well?”
Kim Namhu simply looked at him, baffled by what he meant.
The fact that the host who had once been Korea’s greatest had regressed to his twenty-one-year-old body was an absolute secret that could never be leaked.
Yet for some reason, staring into Jang Hyo-woon’s eyes made him worry that even this secret might slip out.
Jang Hyo-woon was no ordinary man either.
“Maknae.”
“Yes?”
“This time you sailed through reasonably well. You may even have talent that exceeds real-world practice. But do not grow arrogant. The moment you believe you’re truly skilled, everything will come crashing down. Many fail to stand up again. Even if things go perfectly, keep doubting yourself.”
Kim Namhu couldn’t help but chuckle.
A memory from his previous life surfaced.
Back then, the young Kim Namhu had caused chaos everywhere.
In terms of host skill, he had been inferior to Cha Ji-hoon.
At that time, Jang Hyo-woon had told him something like this.
-This opportunity may not come again. If you endure and endure, another chance will always return. Believe in yourself. Trust that you possess talent. The moment your faith wavers, this world will swallow you whole. Even if not everyone says so, believe in yourself.
Those words had given him enormous strength and allowed him to survive as one respectable host.
After he started rising, he had grown too busy to remember them, until this very moment when they resurfaced.
“What’s this? The senior is pouring out his heart and giving advice.”
“Senior, don’t you tell other juniors to believe in themselves?”
“How the hell did you know that?!”
Jang Hyo-woon jumped in surprise.
“Just happened to overhear it somewhere.”
“Hmm. Yeah, that could be. This is a completely different story. Hosts must know how to speak differently depending on the client. Some clients will appreciate a compliment on beautiful legs and the mood will lift, but others may get angry. In the end, you have to tailor your words to the person.”
Kim Namhu nodded.
This was not a matter of logic—it belonged to the realm of intuition.
What to say to whom.
What words were truly necessary.
Jang Hyo-woon truly was no ordinary man.
“Anyway, if you’re going to keep climbing, listen to my words. If you ignore them, you’ll be dismissed on your own. Do well.”
“Yes. I understand.”
“You really understand my words?”
Jang Hyo-woon stood up with a playful smile.
A completely exhausted Cha Ji-hoon approached him.
Cha Ji-hoon asked Jang Hyo-woon.
“Hyung. This entire thing… was it all because of the maknae? Should I go straighten out the discipline a bit?”
Thanks to Kim Namhu’s ability to ease the atmosphere of the truths, Cha Ji-hoon had still managed to enjoy the remaining woman somehow.
But the clients with overwhelming presence remained difficult to handle even after the mood was lightened, and he had to choose every word with extreme caution.
Moreover, thinking too deeply made him dislike it, so natural sweat had soaked his back.
Cha Ji-hoon had been sharp enough to sense the full picture. He knew exactly what had happened: it was all to crush the pride of an arrogant newcomer.
That was all he understood.
“Shut up.”
“What?”
“If you don’t watch yourself, you’ll get eaten by the junior.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“In this industry, in the end, who earns the most money is the most important thing. If the junior earns more than the senior, then that junior is the junior. The senior is the senior.”
“Hyung, you hate that kind of thing.”
“What?”
“If money is all that matters, then I’m done. That’s why I hated Moon-ho-hyung.”
Jang Hyo-woon smacked the back of Cha Ji-hoon’s head.
“Aish. Just because I personally hate it doesn’t mean that’s the answer for this industry. You silly fool.”
“Ouch. Do I have to know all that just to be a host?”
“Yeah, yeah. Maybe you should just do the host work without thinking at all, haha.”
**
Receiving a home run on his first real test did not mean Kim Namhu received any special treatment.
From the shop’s perspective, all Kim Namhu had earned were a few TC and B codes.
Even hosts had days when fortune smiled on them.
It was a universal truth that some days, a woman client would be genuinely moved and the host would bring in substantial revenue without much effort.
Earning a full living, making good money, and becoming an Ace was nothing more than repeating those fortunate days every single day.
‘They naturally follow when you simply enjoy being with the female clients day after day.’
Right now, Kim Namhu had no jimyung clients.
Jimyung meant that once a regular customer entered the shop, they would call for a specific host.
Kim Namhu and the hosts who followed Jang Hyo-woon would have to go into the room for the choice process.
Normally, five of them would enter together, do a quick self-introduction, and receive the client’s selection.
‘This is going to be tough.’
Kim Namhu was confident that he could make any woman happily spend money simply by sitting beside her.
But first, he had to be selected from among the five hosts.
‘That’s the real challenge.’
Five men stood in a line.
Each delivered a short self-introduction.
This was the only chance to appeal to the female client.
The woman client did not just observe one group of five.
If she was not satisfied, she would call another group.
A persistent client might even look at every single host in The Queen.
Kim Namhu was reasonably presentable, but not striking enough among hosts.
Hosts were a profession where appearance had to do its job.
The suits were custom-made for the wealthy, but few clients bothered to notice.
In the end, the battle was won through looks and voice, which one was simply born with.
He had tried to create a special atmosphere during the self-introduction, but it had produced little effect.
Every male host was giving their absolute best in those five seconds.
In that atmosphere, Kim Namhu’s vibe had completely collapsed.
Ultimately, like the other hosts, he waited in the waiting room until a new female client entered, then joined the four men and had no choice but to leave and return.
Then a month passed.
It was time to settle the TC and Wari.
The tips he had accumulated during that time were small, but without a big spender, the largest income still came from the TC paid when a room was booked and the Wari portion of the liquor sales.
Kim Namhu’s hands held a little over one million won.
It was only natural; he had received no choice.
In this world, that was less money than a night-shift convenience store job.
‘It’s not a small amount for my parents.’
Still, Kim Namhu wanted to earn even more, and faster.
‘After all, one big spender is better than several small ones.’
There was even the saying that if one wealthy woman became a regular, you could earn a living as a host, and if seven became regulars, you could become an Ace.
‘But so far, merely receiving choices has been an unfair advantage.’
It was impossible to earn big money just by making ordinary female clients happy.