I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 50
The hallway Jaewoo was being led down felt never ending.
“Here we go.”
Jaewoo took a deep breath in front of the door that Dongsoo had guided him to. Even without looking, he could imagine what was waiting for him beyond the tightly closed door.
Mujin was most likely enjoying other things along with alcohol. And those other things were definitely the sort that would be labeled ‘Not Safe For Work.’1 Now Jaewoo had to be a part of it. His heart was pounding.
“Please go in.”
Dongsoo urged, looking at Jaewoo’s hesitating back.
Without a sound, the heavy door suddenly opened. The interior of the room was surprisingly plain, with just a large table and a sofa. But the situation inside the room wasn’t ordinary at all.
Mujin was sitting on a sofa with another man, while several more men stood off to the side. As soon as Jaewoo saw them, he knew where he was meant to go. He needed to go stand among those men and wait to see if someone picked him.
“You’re late.”
Mujin’s voice rang out in an accusation.
“I’m right on time.”
At those words, Mujin smiled faintly before snapping his fingers. When Jaewoo approached him hesitantly, Mujin grabbed him by the back of the neck and forced his head down.
“Today, you do as you’re told.”
‘You haven’t forgotten, have you?’ Jaewoo barely eked out a response to that cold voice.
“…Yes.”
Jaewoo stood up straight and made his way off to the side, like the other men. Standing there in a line with the rest of them, he felt like an object in a shop window. It was an uncomfortable feeling, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had promised Mujin, in exchange for Hyunjin’s peace of mind. He just needed to endure this somehow. Just then, Mujin’s voice rang out once more.
“So what do you think about my loyal dogs, Director Yoon?”
‘Dogs.’ Were people just dogs to him? What was wrong with this crazy top’s brain? Jaewoo had to force himself not to frown.
“You say they’re your dogs?”
Director Yoon, the man sitting across from Mujin, sneered.
“This is why I like Director Choi. There’s no depth you won’t sink to. So, if they’re your dogs, does that mean they’ll do anything?”
“Anything you want. Try them.”
“Ahaha, really?”
Director Yoon shrugged his shoulders and raised his glass.
“Then let’s see.”
The man’s laughing eyes scanned the standing men. His eyes were strange, almost reminding Jaewoo of a snake. But for some reason, they also felt almost familiar to him.
‘Is it because he resembles Mujin?’
Jaewoo thought to himself, as he lowered his head slightly to avoid eye contact.
“You there, with your head down.”
Why was his luck so bad? Among the line of men, Jaewoo was the only one looking at the floor.
“…Yes.”
“Come here.”
Jaewoo’s steps were heavy, but Mujin was looking at him with an icy gaze, so he couldn’t run away. Jaewoo shuffled his way over towards Director Yoon. What was going to happen to him now? Horrible scenarios out of the most degenerate, hardcore BLs2 flashed through his mind.
‘No, not like this.’
He needed to run away. Jaewoo’s footsteps hesitated, then came to a stop. His mind was blank, and he didn’t know what to do. As he was busy panicking, a friendly voice whispered in his ear.
“Hey.”
It was the voice Director Yoon.
“Wake up.”
“Um, yes.”
That man might be rotten on the inside, but his outside was excellent. Jaewoo slowly calmed down a bit as Director Yoon’s gentle expression soothed him.
“Have you come to your senses now?”
“Yes? I mean, yes.”
When did he sit down on the sofa? And why was Director Yoon sitting so close to him?
“You seemed a bit dizzy, so I made you sit down.”
Director Yoon spoke calmly and handed Jaewoo a drink. Even at a glance, Jaewoo could tell that this was an expensive liquor. If he drank this, he would absolutely get wasted. He couldn’t risk it. He didn’t trust what might happen if he got drunk.
Mujin frowned when he saw that Jaewoo wasn’t drinking, but Director Yoon just laughed.
“Are you weak to alcohol?”
“Very.”
“So you can’t drink?”
Jaewoo hesitated before answering.
“About a half can of beer is my limit.”
“Ah, so that’s why you’re not drinking.”
Director Yoon rested his chin on his hand and looked at Jaewoo.
“Tell me, what are you best at?”
Was this an interrogation? Not a single skill came to mind. In a panic, Jaewoo just blurted out the first thing he thought of.
“I’m good at cutting fruit!”
“Cutting fruit…”
Director Yoon lowered his head and laughed out loud. He looked incredibly amused.
“Cutting fruit. Hey, you there, bring a platter of fruit here. Don’t peel them, just bring them over.”
As soon as those words were spoken, the waiter in the corner left the room. When he came back, he had a plate of fruit in his hand. Melons, apples, oranges, kiwis, watermelons, etc. It looked as if they had grabbed any fruit that could be peeled.
“Now then, go ahead and cut them.”
Jaewoo looked at him curiously, wondering if this was okay. He’d thought that this group of people had been gathered together to do ‘this or that,’ but instead what they actually wanted him to do was to cut fruit?
Jaewoo picked up the knife with a puzzled expression.
Slice slice.
The sound of fruit being sliced echoed in the quiet room. Rabbits, swans, chessboard patterns, etc. Every fruit Jaewoo touched turned into a gorgeous piece of art. They almost looked too pretty to be eaten.
“You really are good at cutting fruit.”
“I can carve watermelons as well.”
Jaewoo chose the largest fruit, the watermelon, to buy himself more time.
“Try it.”
Director Yoon pushed a round watermelon over.
“What should I carve?”
“Anything.”
So Jaewoo began carving a phoenix. A while back, he’d done volunteer work at a senior center, and everyone had loved the phoenix carving he’d done then. An image slowly began to take shape on the green striped3 surface.
“Ahaha, you’re really good! Hey, Director Choi.”
Director Yoon suddenly called out to Mujin.
“Can I keep him?”
Mujin, who had been watching the two of them with an unpleasant expression this whole time, raised an eyebrow. He had brought Jaewoo here as a punishment, not to give him away to someone else.
“That’s not possible.”
“Why not? Doesn’t he owe you money? If that’s the case, can’t I just pay his debt to you?”
“That doesn’t work for me.”
“You just said he was a dog. But you have so many, couldn’t you let me adopt this one?”
“I don’t just get rid of my things carelessly.”
“Oh come on. I thought Director Choi and I had become rather close.”
“That has nothing to do with it.”
Director Yoon was persistent, but Mujin gave as well as he got. Jaewoo wasn’t interested in either scenario. He didn’t want to become Mujin’s dog, but he didn’t want to belong to Director Yoon either. But if he tried to make his opinion clear, it’d be like a shrimp trying to put itself between two fighting whales. All he could do was quietly continue carving his watermelon phoenix and bide his time. The battle between the two of them didn’t end until after Jaewoo had completed the phoenix’s body.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mujin hold back so much.’
This Director Yoon must be someone pretty important. If not, his personality would have pissed Mujin off a long time ago. But had there been someone like this in the novel? If he was someone who could hold his own against Mujin, Jaewoo would have thought he’d have been more than just a passer-by. Unfortunately, he just couldn’t remember anything specifically.
Jaewoo had nothing else to do, so he started carving the wings of the phoenix. Once he was done with that, maybe he’d carve a dragon on the other side.
“Aren’t you thirsty?”
Just then, Director Yoon handed Jaewoo a glass. It looked like a glass of water, and Jaewoo swallowed it without thinking, but once he was in the middle of drinking it he realized it was alcohol.
“Cough!”
Jaewoo was so startled he coughed in the middle of swallowing. Someone patted his back, but the alcohol content of the drink was so high that his head was already spinning.
“Cough, cough!”
“Oh, you really aren’t used to drinking, huh?”
A curse welled up in Jaewoo’s throat. Did he hand him that glass just because he was curious about that? Jaewoo kept coughing for a minute or two more, but once the coughing stopped, his thoughts continued to circle around and around.
“I said I can’t drink.”
“I forgot.”
“Liar.”
“Really?”
Director Yoon grinned as he accepted Jaewoo’s words.
“Anyway, what are you carving on the watermelon?”
Jaewoo turned the watermelon around so that the phoenix faced Director Yoon. The phoenix had its wings spread as if it was about to take flight at any moment. Director Yoon blinked his eyes a few times and touched the delicately carved phoenix with a sorrowful expression. Did he have bad memories associated with a phoenix?
“Phoenix, a phoenix. Hahaha…”
“Do you hate phoenixes?”
“Not at all. To tell the truth, I rather like them.”
As he was speaking, he hugged the drowsy and drunk Jaewoo with one arm. The scent of a perfume that smelled like a cool sea breeze entered Jaewoo’s nose. Huh, that’s right. Jaewoo thought ‘that guy’ also wore the same perfume. Wait… That guy, who was that guy? His mind became increasingly cloudy. It seemed as if he really was drunk.
“Seo Jaewoo.”
Mujin’s growling voice was heard, but Jaewoo didn’t react. As his consciousness slowly began to fade, he vaguely heard a quarrel beginning.
“Shh, shouldn’t you be quiet? He’s so drunk it’s made him sleepy. How cute.”
“He’s mine. I’ll take care of the situation, so hand him over to me.”
“You shouldn’t treat people like objects.”
‘Is that really something you can say with a straight face?’ Jaewoo mumbled under his breath, and then reached out and pinched Director Yoon’s cheek with his fingers. For a moment, the room went dead silent.
“Why? What?” Jaewoo shouted confidently. “Sometimes people pinch cheeks. Especially when they’re right in front of them!”
“Sure. Sometimes that’s true.”
Look! They even said it was true. Jaewoo grinned. He was so relieved. Nothing NC-17 rated had happened today after all.
“Oh? Were you worried about that?”
Yeah, that’s what he had been worried about. He’d never been with a man before.
“There’s no one that interests you?”
Nope. There’s no one like that. Jaewoo waved his hand.
That was the last thing he remembered.
Footnotes
미성년자 관람 불가일 게 – Minors will not be allowed to view the show. Not Safe For Work / NSFW is a web acronym that basically means the same thing.
비엘 – bi el – BL. Acronym that stands for ‘boy’s love,’ basically the male x male genre.
The text refers to the watermelon as being ‘blue and black’ – 파랗고 까맣던 표면에 그림이 서서히 형태를 나타내기 시작했다. I don’t know why they chose that description for a watermelon (and I did check, it’s absolutely a regular watermelon). I’ve made the decision to change that to ‘green striped’.