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Han Ju Won watches the way the older man in a sleek black suit sways around the room with eyes roaming each corner.
He has seen him before, a couple times even. The older man would always have his arm linked to another person for every time he has seen him in these parties – always different; men, women, some younger than he and some older.
The older man is a swindler, Han Ju Won is sure of that. He was sure because he has never seen him go back with any of his fooled victims.
Late at night when these parties come to an end, he would see the older man smoking by the back door, alone. Once, he catches him walking down the street in a changed attire from the suit he was wearing in a charity party. He remembers regardless of the alcohol coursing through his system because he almost twisted his neck trying to register the image onto his head as the car he was in accelerated through the empty road.
He thinks he cursed at the driver afterwards.
Han Ju Won is merely fascinated – that is what he likes to believe – that someone like the older man can have so much trick up their sleeves.
He would like to know what the older man said to these people that make them wire so much money to his account, not because he wants to expose him, after all, whoever attends this kind of parties meant they already have too much money pooled under their names, a couple thousand to the side would not even create any dent.
He would like to know because he wants to know if the older man is indeed that good or these people are just gullible enough to be swindled so easily. Or they know. They just do not care about their money.
Nonetheless, this is Ju Won’s reason.
It becomes his concrete reason on why these parties his father forces him to attend never seem so dreadful anymore, why he would keenly watch every movement of the older man from faraway – putting him under a microscope in his mind, and why he is dead set on approaching the older man tonight.
“That was a huge one that you just bagged,” Ju Won says, standing behind the older man in a secluded hall leading to the washroom.
The older man looks past his shoulder, catching a glimpse of Ju Won. A scornful smirk blooms across his face, “One of the board of directors from a prestigious company. Far from modest when it comes to proving that he has money.”
“What did you tell him?” Ju Won asks, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“And why should I tell you?”
“Because I will tell.”
“No, you won’t.”
“I won’t?”
“You would’ve done it long time ago,” the older man smiles, “you’re not very subtle with your little surveillance, Han Ju Won.”
Ju Won scoffs, his arms fall to his side.
One can say he is surprised that the man in front of him knows his name. Though in a party like this, words and names get passed around more often than not. He is even starting to think that a list of names in descending order of power is tied to each champagne glass with a lavish golden ribbon which are being handed out.
“Aish, calm down, will you? I don’t snoop around just because I know someone is watching me,” the older laughs, “you’re a particularly young man in a charity party, of course you will stand out. I have also seen you with your father before – and everyone knows who your father is.”
“Are you trying to swindle him, too?” Ju Won asks, his tone thick with contempt.
“I don’t target twice,” Dong Sik smirks.
Sighing, Ju Won looks away, “well, maybe you should.”
“Ah, another young man with a deep, unresolved, daddy issues,” he says, face visibly enlightens as he speaks.
Ju Won furrows his brows, opens his mouth to say something, but eventually closes it again. Well, it’s not wrong. He thinks to himself.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Dong Sik smiles, “I’ll go now,” he says, brushing past his shoulder as he walks away in the direction which Ju Won came from.
Ju Won stands rooted, his hands deep inside his pocket and he only turns to find the other man has disappeared from his point of view.
He can’t even afford the nicety to introduce his name or something?
-
Dong Sik takes another drag on his second cigarette: often, when he is attending these parties, two packs of cigarettes is the minimum line between his insanity and sanity. The sourness grows and grows for every minute he spends inside, and he hates that it amplifies his smoking habit, but he can not stop yet; not now, not ever.
It is only fair that these filthy rich people compensate their unconscious doings by wiring their now uncountable money to his account, which will always be distributed fairly amongst the Manyang people.
The same group of people they have been treating so unfairly.
The same group of people they are trying to take away their land to erect their skyscrapers for yet another passive income under their names.
The same group of people that, regardless of being driven away from the land, or by their own will, they can never seem to leave Manyang - like an invisible rope, tying them everlasting to Manyang.
And Dong Sik can not leave, even if he wants to, because taking his feet off Manyang means he will leave behind his sister whom is buried 6 feet underneath.
He is not ready for that, perhaps not now, not ever.
The alley wall he is leaning on feels damp to the touch, he can feel the suit is starting to absorb the moisture from the rigged wall. He does not care, though. He has been wired enough money to call it a day.
That is the luck of he; surrounded enough by rich folks with unbearable ego and know the right thing to say to tweak that ego of theirs.
Dong Sik drops the cigarette to the ground, watches as the red glow starts to diminish before stepping on it.
“you smoke here often,” a voice creeps in from behind the half-opened exit door.
Dong Sik looks up, surreal washes over him when he sees Ju Won emerging from the door.
“Are you so fond of me, Ju Won-ah?”
“Please don’t talk like you know me.”
“Stop following me around, then,” Dong Sik smiles, the lines on the outer part of his eyes become more apparent.
Ju Won stays silent for a while, his stare pierces deep into Dong Sik’s eyes until it eventually makes Dong Sik uncomfortable so he shifts between his feet.
“Why are you doing this?”
“It’s fun - it’s stealing, but it’s not. You steal from an unethical person and it is basically like doing charity.”
Ju Won scoffs, “I can’t disagree with that.”
“Lee Dong Sik,” he says which in return gains nothing from the younger man. He just stands silenced, his brows raised, “my name, it’s Lee Dong Sik,” he finally says again, clearing himself.
Though he feels like what he said before was clear enough. Or maybe the other man is dumbfounded. And his suspicion is immediately confirmed when the younger man asks him if it is his real name or not.
What a funny man. Dong Sik thinks.
He then tells him that it is indeed his real name, that he never has the need to produce a pseudonym. Ju Won only nods, his lips are pressed together. Dong Sik then proceeds to offer him a cigarette by thrusting his now half-empty pack towards the other man, to which Ju Won politely declines by shaking his head and thanking him for the offer.
“I’m trying to stop,” Dong Sik tells Ju Won, not sure why, maybe to solely get a word reply from his opponent in this verbally-absent conversation.
“And how’s that going?” Ju Won asks.
“Well,” Dong Sik sighs, “this is my second pack today.”
Ju Won raises both his brows, clearly surprised as the amount becomes clearer on his head, “well, going cold-turkey doesn’t really help, either.”
“Right. I tried. Failed. Fell back on hour 30.”
And then neither of them has anything to say.
Dong Sik stands there, staring at the small puddle by his feet. Ju Won, on the other hand, has his gaze fixated on Dong Sik. He takes a mental note on how the curls of his hair fall to curtain his eyes whenever he looks down, he also notices how the tip of his nose turns rose-colored when the air is cold, and then he notices how he is boldly staring at the other man. Ju Won hastily diverts his attention elsewhere just in time when Dong Sik lifts his head to look at Ju Won.
Dong Sik stares at Ju Won for a while, before finally letting the words fall out of his mouth, “let’s take a walk.”
-
Ju Won and Dong Sik took a walk later that night. The ballroom is nestled on top of a hill with glorious golden gate at the end of the gravel road.
They walked; far enough that the glisten and tune of the party dissociated, but close enough that the soft hue still washed over their face.
They came to a halt after turning right to a smaller road just before the gate. From there, they could see a lake not far from where they were.
“I really like taking a walk around a lake,” Dong Sik opened the conversation.
“You have a lake near where you live?”
“No, not mine, but I know someone who has a house nearby a lake. I go there often whenever I need some time alone.”
“I can safely assume you are very close to this person to be able come and go whenever you need to.”
“He is a senior of mine at my old job.”
“What was your job before?”
“God, the personal question. What is this, a date?” Dong Sik laughed, eyeing Ju Won playfully.
“Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come across as invasive,” Ju Won murmured.
“Should we dance?” Dong Sik asked, only turning his head to the side to look at Ju Won.
“Dancing?” Ju Won raised one of his eyebrows.
“Not familiar with the concept, Han Ju Won?” Dong Sik teased, his body now completely facing the younger man.
Dong Sik took Ju Won’s hand to place it on his waist, put his own hand on Ju Won’s shoulder, and clasped the other with his own hand.
There was not any music; the faint sound of the piano playing in the distance from atop of the hill was barely heard for a rhythm, and so they created their own.
Ju Won was tentative at first, his body moved in broken pattern against Dong Sik’s. He was not sure if he could lean into him more, or if he should provide more space between them. All these questions pondered his head until Dong Sik tapped his shoulder gently, laughing as he did, “relax,” he said to Ju Won, the lines on his face enhanced as the edge of his lips pulled into a smile.
Then, Ju Won could feel his ears burnt red; embarrassed, he was.
But what was he so embarrassed for? The fact that he could not dance or the fact that he felt light to Dong Sik’s touch? How could someone that he just met have such an effect on him?
Ju Won’s frustration developed as it went and the moonlight illuminating Dong Sik’s face did not help to ease any muscle on his body.
Dong Sik then rested his head on Dong Sik’s shoulder causing the already-limited space between them to decrease even more.
Ju Won had always found personal space to be a prominent thing in his life, something so sacred and holy, something that everyone around him had to accommodate.
And yet, there he was – under the night sky with spacious land surrounding them – skin to skin with another person he had just met.
They swayed with the wind; slow and steady.
Ju Won could feel Dong Sik’s breath against the his neck, and God knew how much it made the bottom of his stomach twist and turn. Dong Sik felt warm, so warm compared to the night breeze, and Ju Won liked it.
“You should maybe brush up your dance skill,” Dong Sik said as he pulled away from Ju Won.
Ju Won hummed, trying his best to conceal his surprise when Dong Sik pulled away just as he was about to loosen his tension.
Dong Sik let out a faint chuckle, the kind when you know you have embarrassed someone. He shook his head with his gaze averted to the ground beneath his feet, “anyways,” he said after the chuckle melted away, “I need to go now.”
A simple oh was all that Ju Won managed to slip out.
Afraid to seem rude, he nodded and bowed to him. Dong Sik returned the gesture before turning on his heels and walked through the gravel road. A few steps in and the younger man shouted something into the silent night.
“Lee Dong Sik,” Ju Won called out to him, his hands cupped on either side of his mouth, “will I see you again?” he asked once the man he called for turned around to see him.
Dong Sik grinned widely, “you know where to find me, Ju Won-ah.”
Ju Won’s shoulders fell, the shine on his eyes became brighter, and for once he felt like the smile on his face was genuine and pure – as if something out of a laboratory and made by human, guaranteed of purity and no error, like the smile was meant to be there, specifically for the man a few feet away from him.
And for once, the world was silent.
-
Days go by and everything still feels surreal to Han Ju Won. Perhaps, he is capable of love, and even crazier, love at first sight.
Yet Ju Won does not believe in love at first sight. It is just impossible to know that you love someone by a single glance.
He has always been a firm believer of sequences and the importance of reasons, and so he thinks; it is not love at first sight, but instead, love at first talk.
His reasons are; he adores the way Dong Sik talks, how for every single one of his doing, he pushes himself to have a solid reason on why he needs to do it; how for every time he puts a cigarette between his lips, he looks down for a second before lighting it; how for every time Ju Won says something that sounds silly to him, Dong Sik shakes his head and laughs – even when Ju Won does not understand what is so funny about what he says; how even when Ju Won’s body was stiff as rock, he could produce some sense of rhythm for both of them.
He does not mind about all these things, though he feels ridiculous for noticing all these tiny details of the other man on their first encounter.
Ju Won swallows for the third time as his eyes gaze the gate of a house. If it has not been for the cat purring by his feet, he may not realize he has been standing still in front of Lee Dong Sik’s house for the past ten minutes.
One deep breath then he finds himself striding pass the gate, into the garden, then the porch – as if he is not a stranger.
Another deep breath, then he knocks against the door twice before the front door finally creaks open, revealing the very man he has hoped to see.
Dong Sik’s eyes light up the moment he registers who is standing on his porch on a random Tuesday morning. He smirks, then in a nanosecond it grows into a grin – a grin so wide Ju Won thinks he might tear apart.
“I guess you really do know where to find me, Ju Won-ah,” Dong Sik chuckles softly, “come in, I just cooked something,” he continues, stepping aside to let Ju Won walks in.
And so Ju Won enters Dong Sik’s house; eyes fluttering and skin feeling feverish.
Then he thinks, perhaps this is why he has never fallen in love before, because he will simply not survive. His second encounter with the other man, and he is ready to give everything of him to Lee Dong Sik.