Episode 10 — The Old-Timers and the Gisaeng Palace
A few days after that night.
The noise from the upstairs apartment seemed to have vanished completely. Juhwan's quality of life improved accordingly, but the uneasiness in his chest refused to fade. He hadn't seen So-hee even once since the day he'd taken her, and that very silence was what kept him on edge. Little by little, as time passed, even that anxiety began to dissolve...
Ding-dong.
Someone was at his door while Juhwan lay resting comfortably on his bed.
"That late-night snack I ordered? Already?"
He hurried straight to the front door and pulled it open. But what greeted him was not a delivery bag of food.
"Mr. Park Juhwan? That's you, right?"
"You know Ms. Kim So-hee, don't you? Ms. Kim has filed a sexual assault complaint against you, Mr. Park. Let's all go down to the station together and talk."
"What?! Like this, out of nowhere?!"
When he tried to resist, the two officers seized him by the arms and pinned him fast so he couldn't bolt. And standing behind them—So-hee and Geon-young, both clearly visible.
"And here I thought you were a good kid... All that time, you were a rapist preying on my wife?! Rot in a cell for the rest of your life, you son of a bitch!!"
So-hee stood beside her husband, one arm wrapped around his waist, staring at Juhwan. The eyes that looked at a revolting insect... So-hee's eyes had come back to life.
"It felt good when you were railing me, didn't it? Well, this is the price. Lol."
As the two officers hauled him away, So-hee stepped close, pressed her lips to his ear, and whispered.
"Congratulations on your promotion—from rent-slave to prison-slave. Congrats ♡"
"You fucking bitch!!!!!! You think you're getting away clean?! I still have the evidence video of you! Where's my phone?! MY PHONE!"
"Oh, that evidence video? You mean the one made with AI?"
"That's right, honey ♡ This bastard generated fake photos and videos of me with AI, blackmailed me, and raped me. I was so scared I thought I'd die, honey..."
Geon-young pulled So-hee into his arms and fixed Juhwan with a look of pure contempt.
"I'm the fool for showing kindness to vermin like you... Get out of my sight. Never show your shadow in front of my wife and me again."
As the police dragged him off, Geon-young and So-hee slowly shrank out of Juhwan's field of view.
"No! Fuck!! AI, my ass—freeze to death first! I saw everything with my own eyes! Just verify whether it's really AI or not, that's all you have to do!! FUCK!!!"
Baam-baba-ba-baam-baam~
Juhwan's phone alarm blared, and he shot upright in bed.
"Hahk...!!!!!!"
It had been a dream...
The guilt that had clamped around his heart like a shackle these past weeks had finally followed him even into his sleep.
"...God damn it... dreaming about it now, on top of everything..."
It was enough to drive him mad. If So-hee had come to him, or if they'd run into each other around the building, it might have been easier to bear. But after that day, not a single word from her—and slowly, surely, Juhwan was losing his mind.
"...I've got work."
He got up in a hurry, washed, threw on whatever clothes were closest, and headed out. The moment he stepped out of the building, he spotted a luxury SUV idling in the lobby of his officetel, its trunk open—and Geon-young standing at the back of it. Juhwan flinched and ducked out of sight.
After the kind of disturbing dream he'd just had, running into either Geon-young or So-hee was the last thing he could stomach.
Geon-young held his phone to one ear, deep in a call, while hoisting a suitcase into the trunk of his luxury SUV with the other hand.
"Yes, Team Leader. We'll be departing shortly. This trip to Saudi Arabia looks like it'll run long... The partner company will have to meet our demands, but I doubt it'll be easy..."
Another business trip. Exactly two weeks had passed since Juhwan had slept with So-hee. Geon-young had returned from his last trip the very night it happened, and the following day Juhwan had exchanged greetings with him right in front of his own door. Two weeks of total silence from So-hee—and now Geon-young was off abroad again.
"We'll reach the airport within the hour if traffic is kind. I'll check our progress before takeoff and send a report by email."
Geon-young loaded the last of his luggage, climbed into the driver's seat, and five seconds later the SUV pulled away, taking him out of Juhwan's sight entirely. Only then did Juhwan hurry on his own way.
* Construction Site Part-Time Job *
When the morning shift wrapped up, Juhwan sat down to lunch with the middle-aged construction workers, trading stories over rice.
"Alright, gentlemen, your attention please!"
The workers all looked up at once.
"Today is our part-timer Park Juhwan's last day on site! We're all getting drinks together after the shift ends, so nobody so much as thinks about skipping out!"
Today was Juhwan's final day at the construction site. The new semester at his university was just around the corner, and hauling two jobs a day had pushed him to his limit. He'd already agreed with the site managers to keep only the evening convenience store shift and quit the daytime construction work.
"Damn... it's that late already? And here I'd gotten attached to the kid. Gonna miss him."
"Hey, Park Juhwan—if you're ever strapped for cash, you come find your hyungs again, got it?"
"What, you'll only come around when you're broke? Call me whenever you're feeling sentimental, you punk. Lol. I'll have the full course lined up for you."
"We'll hear Juhwan's farewell speech tonight over drinks. Now, everybody finish up and get back to work."
Time flew. Juhwan threw himself into the work, determined to end on a high note—though truthfully, it was less about finishing strong and more because only by burying himself in labor could he keep the intrusive thoughts at bay.
The hours slipped past, and he'd already found someone to cover his convenience store shift that evening. The moment the construction job ended, he and the workers headed to a barbecue joint, where they did little more than pad their stomachs before moving on to round two.
"It's our Juhwan's last day—us hyungs have got to take him somewhere nice~ hm~!"
"Huh? Hyung, we're going THERE again?"
"Watch it, punk. The kid's quitting on us—least we can do is give him one last proper gift, no?"
Nobody had to say where they were going. Juhwan already knew. These men were famous for blowing their entire day's wages at an entertainment establishment the very night they got paid.
"Juhwan, come along and try not to faint. Lol. And if you hold back out of deference to your hyungs, I'm cutting you off for good. You've got to play like a colt with its reins snapped—understand? Lol."
'Gisaeng Palace.'
The establishment the ajusshis had dragged him to. The moment they walked in, the older men embraced the madam at the counter like old lovers, and she ushered Juhwan and the group into a private room.
Before long, staff entered and began setting liquor and side dishes on the tables—and as they worked, the hostesses came pouring in all at once, dressed in hanbok... no, in what could only charitably be called fusion hanbok. Every one of them wore only the short jacket of a traditional dress, with bras of every color of the rainbow showing through the fabric. And the skirts were hitched up above the knee to a frankly embarrassing degree. Practically miniskirts...
"Hey, Juhwan—you're the man of honor today, so you pick first."
Juhwan hesitated. Seeing this, one of the workers grabbed the prettiest of the hostesses by the hand and planted her right beside him. After that, the ajusshis each called their picks in turn, and the drinking got underway with swift efficiency.
"Oppa, lol—why'd you stay away so long this time? I almost got my feelings hurt lol."
"We're in the final stretch of the project, sweetheart—too much to keep track of~ But in here, I never stopped thinking about our Yuri~"
Worker No. 2 said this as his hands kneaded the hostess's breasts beside him.
"Aiya ♡ Really, oppa? LOL. So... does that mean you'll build me a house to live in for free someday??"
"Depends on how good you are to me, lolol."
Worker No. 2's wicked hands began roaming the hostess's whole body, and the two were soon locked in a scorching kiss. And it wasn't just them. Every man and woman in the room flipped into lover mode at once, each absorbed in devouring their partner.
"First time here, oppa?"
The hostess assigned to Juhwan poured him a drink and asked.
"Yes... I guess since it's my last day on the job, the ajusshis are really pushing themselves today.. lol."
"Is that why? Lol. What's got you so stiff and shy, oppa?"
One of the workers caught sight of Juhwan fidgeting and spoke up, only half-joking.
"Hey, sweetheart! That young pretty boy sitting next to you—treat him so good tonight he falls head over heels for you. Otherwise you won't even get the soup next time!"
"Aiya, oppa, of course I will, haha."
The hostess beside him rose, swung her leg over Juhwan's lap, and loosened the tie of her jacket just slightly.
"Oppa, have you heard of valley liquor? Because I'm about to serve you some... and I guarantee it'll be the best drink you've ever had ♡"
With one hand she pressed her breasts together, deepening her cleavage, and looked at him.
"Oppa, right here. Put your mouth at the bottom of this and keep it open."
When Juhwan obeyed, the hostess began pouring liquor into the valley between her breasts. The drink ran down that crevice like water through a mountain stream, tracing her cleavage straight into Juhwan's waiting mouth.
"Kuh... LOLOL. Killer, lol. Damn, maknae—you're living like a king tonight."
"Yuri, you're killing me! You never do that for me??"
"Patience, oppa, hehe. I've got something even better for you ♡"
Hostess No. 1 climbed up the worker's lower body, took a mouthful of liquor, and passed it to Worker No. 2 mouth to mouth.
"Mmmh... sweet. So sweet, lol."
Ten minutes later the room had descended into complete chaos. Across the sofas arranged around the square table, young women's tongues and bodies and sex intertwined with those of graying middle-aged men.
It was then that a woman in a black hat with a mask pulled low appeared outside the room, standing at the door of the room where Juhwan sat. Through the glass panel in the door she watched the workers and Juhwan at their revelry with the hostesses, and quietly raised her phone.
Click.
She checked the photo once, then slipped away without a sound. And so that night ended in debauchery.
Juhwan had drunk far too much. He never even heard the ajusshi offering to set him up with a girl for round two—he flagged down a taxi like a man fleeing a crime scene and went home. When he woke the next morning, he couldn't remember the face of the girl who'd poured the valley liquor down her chest.
The hangover kept him retching into the toilet until nearly midday. He'd had the special experience of 'valley liquor' the night before, but his body was so wrecked it barely registered. He boiled himself a packet of ramyeon for lunch.
The construction job was finished as of yesterday anyway, so he could laze around the house all afternoon and just head out for the evening shift at the convenience store.
He was sprawled on the bed groaning like an invalid when—suddenly—the doorbell rang.
Ding-dong.
...Who could that be?
It never occurred to him that it might be So-hee. In the two weeks since he'd slept with her, he hadn't gone to her once—and she hadn't come to him either.
Yet the moment he opened the door, there she stood, the last person he'd expected.
So-hee was wearing black hot pants and a white shirt, its buttons deliberately undone just far enough to put her cleavage fully on display. It was the effortless, 'I-tried-without-trying' look of a woman who'd dressed herself up for a man she was interested in.
Juhwan, startled out of his wits, made to shut the door in a panic—but So-hee grabbed the handle, and the door refused to close.
"..?!?!" What do you want?!"
So-hee hesitated for a long moment... wracked with silent groans as if she were wringing some line out of her own skull, and finally spoke.
"...Still dressing like a pauper, I see."
"?? Excuse me?? You came all the way down here to say that?"
She stalled for an agonizing while... then opened her mouth again.
"...Come upstairs. I have something to show you."
With that she spun on her heel and started up the stairs, having said exactly her piece. When Juhwan didn't follow and simply stood there blankly at his door, So-hee glanced back and snapped.
"Are you coming or not?! It's important. Hurry up!"
Slapping on nothing but slippers, Juhwan trailed after her.
So-hee unlocked her own front door as casually as she could manage and looked back at him.
"Come in."
.........
It was his first time inside So-hee's home—properly inside—since he'd taken her two weeks ago. The feeling was strange and new. Given her mood right now, there wasn't a hint of suspicion toward him—no sign of a police report, no sign her husband knew anything...
For the first time, some measure of calm settled over him, and he followed So-hee's lead inside. She steered him without ceremony toward her own bedroom—the room where he'd taken her two weeks before—then pointed at the wall where the framed photo of So-hee and Geon-young hung, staring at him steadily.
"...Look at this closely. The wall's cracked."
"..?? The wall is cracked?"
"That's right, fuck!! It cracked because that day you pinned me against it and rutted like an animal. So? What are you going to do about it?"
Juhwan narrowed his eyes and examined the spot she was pointing at with all the care he could muster... There was no crack. Not a mark. The wall was perfectly fine.
"Fuck... Because of you I can't even mention this wall to my husband... It's all your fault, you bastard."
"...What am I supposed to do about a wall? It looks perfectly fine to me."
So-hee faltered.
The truth was, she knew perfectly well. The wall was just an excuse...
After taking him inside her that first night, she hadn't been able to stop thinking about his cock. But since then, Juhwan had vanished without a trace—he hadn't so much as shown his face, let alone come looking for her. It had left her feeling like she was coming apart at the seams. She'd had no choice but to invent this wall as a pretext and drag Juhwan back into her home.
"?? What do you MEAN nothing's wrong?! Open your eyes and look properly! It's cracked RIGHT HERE!"
It was not cracked. The wall had absolutely nothing wrong with it.
".......Seems like you're threatening me with some imaginary problem and trying to make my life miserable again... Our deal was already finished, wasn't it? You said one time and I'd delete all the evidence..." (He hadn't actually deleted anything.)
"A deal?? Ah~ right, of course. Lol. A deal. We did have one of those, didn't we. LOLOL."
So-hee pulled her phone from her pocket and waved it slowly, tauntingly, in front of his face.
"Forget the wall, lol. I should have done this ages ago, fuck. LOL. You want to know what's on this phone?"
"??????"
Like a bitch in heat, starved of cock, So-hee shoved Juhwan back against the wall this time. Then, revealing her true nature at last, she seized his cock hard through his pants and murmured,
"You said we made a deal, didn't you?"
"Then how about this—let's see what's inside my phone, and you make a new deal with me."
"But you're a rent-slave, aren't you? Poor little thing. To make a deal with me you'd need money—and you don't have any... do you?"
"So here's what we'll do... hehehe. You can't pay with money—so pay with your body instead, you fucker ♡"