The Host's Delicate Negotiation
Kim Namhu was a host who went out for secondary outings.
He enjoyed sex and loved the tips.
But there was a rule he rarely broke.
“Do not fuck over the women clients you know among yourselves.”
That turned into a dirty fight of jealousy and could ruin a host’s life.
Kim Namhu liked money, but he would not be shaken in a situation like this.
He saw no money.
Instead, he saw the clients who were trying to buy him with it.
He had to give the right answer depending on what kind of person the client was.
If the client had willingly paid such a large sum and he responded wrongly, the reputation he had built could crumble in an instant.
*Who is this person?*
In situations like this, there were only two possible responses.
*Emotional or logical.*
If a female client simply rejected him and was unhappy, he had to show genuine regret.
He had to make her feel respected for her emotions.
But this client did not seem to want that.
She was worse than an emotional client in Kim Namhu’s eyes—a client who thought herself perfectly rational.
If a client like this turned out to be a liar, the lie would be even bigger.
Kim Namhu looked at the female client’s palm lines.
She was a VIP among the VIPs in a host bar, and she did not hide her own expression.
Her face showed that everything she thought was right and that the host had to follow it.
*It would be hard to persuade her with ordinary logic.*
Here, a normal host would have gone out for the secondary outing or knelt and apologized to avoid the situation.
And a host who could read the client’s mood might even be counter-attacked for trying to persuade, ending up in a worse spot.
*When a client gets drunk and thinks she is right, there is really no answer.*
*So should I try an even more extreme persuasion?*
Here, he had to decide with the instincts honed over years of host life.
It was like gambling.
Whether to go further or stop and give up was purely up to him.
And the result was something Kim Namhu had to endure.
Kim Namhu smiled easily as he took the cash the female client had placed on the table.
He politely returned it.
In the moment she hesitated on how to react, he spoke.
“I have a reason I must return this money.”
“What?”
“If I go out for the secondary outing, Ji-yeon will hate it, right? And if I don’t, the client will hate me. In the end, it’s the same—someone will hate me.”
“Then it doesn’t matter if I go out for the secondary outing?”
“That is not the case. If I do not go out for the secondary outing here, I can at least remain as a reliable guy.”
The female client stared at Kim Namhu.
She grabbed the bottle of rice wine by the neck and lifted it.
She drank it in gulps.
She drank it so quickly that some spilled into her cleavage.
“Fuck. You’re right.”
Kim Namhu’s somewhat extreme persuasion had worked.
The female client admitted that Kim Namhu’s words were correct.
Kim Namhu had pointed out something she had never thought of.
“I don’t even like the money. I value loyalty. You really aren’t a normal host like Ji-yeon said. I’m not unattractive as a woman, am I?”
Kim Namhu served her a fruit appetizer and said, “You are extremely attractive. If it weren’t for Ji-yeon, I would have tried to seduce you first.”
With that, the client’s anger completely vanished.
The other female clients, who had frozen and were about to lose their composure, suddenly changed their mood and burst into laughter.
“What? This is a real fox?”
“A kid already making such a fuss at such a young age?”
The women laughed boisterously.
One of them said, “Namhu, you’re fun. Come to drink often in the future, okay?”
“If you come to drink, I’ll be grateful. Just come over and play comfortably and leave.”
The women talked among themselves.
“Next time we have to bring other friends too. If I say I’m going out for the secondary outing, there will be plenty of happy hosts. Namhu won’t stop us from going out with other hosts either.”
“If you live recklessly, you’ll get sick. If you can’t fix it at home, you have to do it outside.”
“Yeah. But instead of just drinking and playing, Namhu has to come to play for us, right?”
“Yes. Call me with trust.”
The mood at the drinking table grew even better.
When Kim Namhu realized he could not handle all the women alone, he sat among them by choosing other hosts appropriately.
Lee Sang-soo looked at the receipt the staff brought and grinned from ear to ear.
The Queen’s sales were already strong enough. What could be better than this? The moment Kim Namhu’s overnight sales suddenly jumped, he could barely contain his joy.
“Let’s see.”
Lee Sang-soo stretched the words like a middle-aged man while calculating the numbers for tomorrow’s host waiting room sales report.
He could handle it all at once when he went to work tomorrow, but Kim Namhu’s table charges and alcohol sales receipts kept coming in.
It was fun to keep raising each number.
“Ah, Cha Ji-hoon and Shin Yong-geom were yelling about getting five hundred, but some bastard is taking the money.”
Time passed. It was around three in the morning when the many clients one by one left.
The hosts who had worked hard all day one by one returned to the waiting room, rested for about thirty minutes, confirmed that no new clients were coming, and told Lee Sang-soo they were leaving.
Because Kim Namhu had received so many clients today, he was completely exhausted from fatigue and entered the waiting room.
He had steadily taken hangover relief medicine, but the alcohol still rose.
When Kim Namhu sat on the waiting room sofa, Jang Hyo-woon sat beside him.
Instead of the hangover relief medicine that had been offered, he brought 100 percent orange juice.
“Drink and get better. We’re about to leave soon. Drinking unnecessary coffee will ruin your body. For the last time, have a fruit drink.”
Even Jang Hyo-woon was not in his normal state.
Oil glistened on his face despite the makeup he had received from the shop.
He also seemed to have drunk a lot, his eyes half-closed.
“You’re not leaving?”
“I have to. Clients coming at three in the morning are only those who drank and acted as bastards somewhere. Will you take more clients?”
“No. If I drink just a little more, I’ll throw up in front of the clients. I’ll rest a bit and go home.”
Jang Hyo-woon grinned and said, “Then let’s go home together, hyung. Today is a day we drank a lot, so we need a hangover cure.”
“Is that okay?”
Nothing felt better than making a lot of money and curing a hangover.
Jang Hyo-woon quickly gathered a few younger brothers who followed him and headed to a nearby 24-hour Korean meal shop.
Each of them ordered their favorite dish and ate.
Because they had drunk so much at night that their appetites were gone, one spoonful of the hot, soothing meal brought comfort to everyone.
“Uwa, shit. This is it. This is what I had to do to please the women so much.”
The hosts who followed Jang Hyo-woon quietly ate their meals while chatting comfortably.
Since they ate with their tongues, they did not hesitate to eat a simple meal before leaving.
They exchanged stories about the interesting clients they had seen today or recent events, building bonds.
Kim Namhu quietly watched the scene and ate his meal.
He was not the type to talk much unless necessary.
When he was with women, his tongue worked because of years of training.
Jang Hyo-woon spoke beside him.
“Getting close to your colleagues is good. You never know how they’ll help you later.”
Jang Hyo-woon seemed to have made this place to look after Kim Namhu.
Kim Namhu smiled and said, “Thank you. But I tend to keep my distance. It takes time to get close to people.”
“Huh? You talk so well when you’re playing with women?”
Jang Hyo-woon was momentarily surprised but did not press him further.
There were all kinds of hosts in the world.
There were plenty of hosts who kept their distance.
“Then do it at your own pace. I wanted to buy you a better meal, but after drinking so much tonight, we should come to the kalguksu place. The stomach will churn if we eat expensive food.”
“Kalguksu is good.”
After long years in the host life, one could tell that expensive food was not always better.
Especially when the price rose, the food was often just atmosphere.
A ten-thousand-won kalguksu was not inferior to a Michelin restaurant’s soup that tasted ten times better.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll buy you the expensive stuff next time.”
Kim Namhu tilted his head.
Jang Hyo-woon was basically a good person.
He liked helping his juniors.
But in his previous life, he had not looked after him this much.
*Why is he treating me so well?*
It felt like Lee Sang-soo had told him to take special care.