The Unexpected Guest
The atmosphere at The Queen had improved once more.
Kim Namhu had reeled in one wealthy regular customer, and the team’s finances had visibly strengthened.
Yet he still had a long road ahead to reach his true goal.
‘At least six regulars are necessary.’
Only then could he survive a day off by handling regulars every single day of the following week.
And only twelve regulars would make him a top-tier host that regulars themselves had to wait for.
‘In the host industry, the harder it is to meet a host, the more desperate clients get and the more they spend.’
Up to now he had had no choice but to steadily build his roster one by one.
And the opportunity had arrived sooner than he expected.
It was a perfectly ordinary weekday.
The Queen’s atmosphere had fully recovered, leaving the waiting room quiet once again.
Most of the hosts had already left to entertain female clients.
Kim Namhu had merely entered one of their rooms to play, then slipped into the rest area for a brief break.
In the rest area sat one senior host from Choi Moon-ho’s line.
“You worked hard.”
“Thank you.”
Busy days brought good money, but the body paid the price.
Later, as client rates climbed, hosts could earn a lot while working less, but Kim Namhu was not yet at that stage.
“Still, you caught a big one today. Take it easy, yeah?”
“No. My father is hospitalized, so I have to earn a lot.”
“Oh? Tsk. It’s rough.”
Kim Namhu felt no need to hide family matters and casually shared his situation; the senior host looked sympathetically at him.
The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a pill.
“Take this and keep going. If you ever end up in the same room again, I’ll help you out.”
Kim Namhu sat on the sofa and rested for a moment.
He checked the clock.
It was past three in the morning.
Rough work was mostly finished and the wrap-up phase was beginning.
After this hour, clients entering the bar were usually only those completely drunk and causing trouble.
‘Maybe I should just close my eyes for a bit.’
The instant Kim Namhu leaned back against the sofa to lie down, the waiting-room door burst open and Lee Sang-soo walked in.
He quickly scanned who was resting in the waiting room.
Seeing that only two hosts remained, he let out a sigh.
“Hyung. What’s wrong?”
“Ah. The judge’s wife has arrived.”
“The judge’s wife?”
Kim Namhu’s buried memories from his past life suddenly resurfaced.
‘Ah, the judge’s wife…’
Judge’s wife.
A shortened term for prosecutors’ wives.
It was a well-known fact that prosecutors’ wives received excessive pampering wherever they went.
And the wives themselves frequented host bars out of revenge.
For a host bar, a judge’s wife was an extremely difficult customer to deal with.
If the host failed to entertain her properly or made even the slightest mistake, police would immediately swarm in and raid the establishment.
There were no ways to deceive about alcohol prices or keep secondary outings secret; if the wife was displeased, the only ones who suffered were the hosts in the entertainment industry.
Lee Sang-soo scratched his head and said,
“Ah. All the Aces have gone to meet their own regulars. It’s not easy to pull someone out now.”
Dealing with a judge’s wife required the bar’s highest-ace hosts.
But those Aces were the ones currently meeting their highest-spending regulars.
Removing them would be unfair.
Moreover, the judge’s wife coming to The Queen was no ordinary one.
The senior host, assuming Kim Namhu knew nothing, provided the information.
“She’s a prosecutor’s wife. The clients we get are the worst of the worst.”
“Why is she considered the worst?”
“Every time she comes, she cancels all the male staff sitting beside her. She’s done it dozens of times. No Ace can even sit properly for long.”
She couldn’t be treated carelessly because she was a prosecutor’s wife.
And if a host sat beside her, he was canceled before he even spoke two words and kicked out of the room.
He would have to start over from the beginning.
From the store’s or host’s perspective, she was the worst possible customer.
Kim Namhu stood up.
“Main-hyung, then I’ll go first.”
“You?”
Lee Sang-soo hesitated.
No matter how many promising talents Kim Namhu had shown, a judge’s wife was a dangerous customer.
The correct approach was always to send out the most experienced hosts possible.
Lee Sang-soo turned to look at another host.
The man had worked for a long time, but his ability was average.
“All right. Then Namhu, you try it. First, don’t think about making her feel good—act only to stall as much as possible. Understood?”
“Yes.”
Kim Namhu recalled the famous judge’s wife of The Queen.
This woman had not come to the host bar just to have fun.
She had come simply because her husband was having an affair with a hostess and she felt she should do the same.
Because of that mindset, even ordinary hosts struggled to satisfy her.
And while top hosts might try to break her quickly, no host in the world could handle a judge’s wife.
Lee Sang-soo remained worried as he led Kim Namhu to the room and gave him various pieces of advice along the way.
“Just stall. After all, she’s not a regular you can convert. She only drinks the cheapest beer and free snacks, swapping hosts until she gets bored and then cancels. If you stall appropriately and she cancels, there will be no problems.”
Kim Namhu felt that Lee Sang-soo’s harsh treatment actually ignited his competitive spirit.
A top-tier host truly had many excellent regulars.
But to become one, it was important to experience every kind of difficult client.
What was the worst client to one person could be the best regular to another.
So even when dealing with difficult clients, the first step was the fighting spirit to take on the challenge.
Lee Sang-soo opened the door himself and explained to the client.
“You’ve been waiting a long time. Sorry. Business has been so good lately that the choice was tricky. That’s why I thought it would be better to introduce our store’s most promising talent.”
The woman showed interest.
She usually came to The Queen to swap hosts for fun.
Seeing a first-time face labeled as promising naturally sparked her curiosity.
“Sit beside me for now.”
The woman spoke politely.
Ordinary women started using casual speech the moment they believed they had paid, but women of high social status were different.
And Kim Namhu knew that such women were even more dangerous.
A woman who normally acted with etiquette was scarier when she got angry.
Lee Sang-soo left the room and Kim Namhu sat beside the female client.
“What’s your name?”
“Kim Namhu.”
“Full name, huh? I’m Ha Ji-yeon.”
Kim Namhu quickly examined Ha Ji-yeon.
He checked whether anything in her past life had changed.
Countless articles about the Sinyu miss had appeared online.
That was because the Sinyu miss had a specific kink.
And right now Ha Ji-yeon looked exactly like such a miss.
While Jang Sun-young possessed a body forged by golf during her peak, Ha Ji-yeon was a beauty whose sensuality had matured with age into something even more appealing.
“What’s your specialty?”
Hosts had different specialties.
Some had good figures, others could sing well, each having a unique point that appealed to women.
“I’ve heard that you’re good at talking. But I don’t think you’re particularly outstanding.”
Kim Namhu approached her while showcasing his gentle charm.
His true specialty was quickly reading women’s information, matching it, and providing proper entertainment and sex.
But both of those were difficult to bring up in words.
It would be better to claim he had no special talents first, then slowly reveal his own charm.
The two shared beers and chatted about trivial matters.
Ha Ji-yeon soon seemed to grow tired of the small talk.
She reached for the call button.
She intended to cancel Kim Namhu and summon another host.
At that exact moment, Kim Namhu gently caught her hand.
Ha Ji-yeon tilted her head and looked at him.
The host bar was a world strictly ruled by women on top.
Grabbing a woman’s hand without permission was considered rude.
A truly confident host might initiate skinship with a woman who had completely surrendered to him, but no host at The Queen had the audacity to do so with a judge’s wife.
Kim Namhu first apologized politely.
“I’m sorry for grabbing your hand like this. But I wanted to spend more time with you, Ji-yeon-ssi, so I couldn’t help it.”
Ha Ji-yeon felt a little pleased by Kim Namhu’s words, but it was not enough to change her mind about wanting another host.
Kim Namhu read her expression just by looking at her face and spoke before she could press the bell again.
“I heard you keep changing hosts while drinking. But if that’s always been the case, isn’t it strange that you keep coming to the host bar to drink?”