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In a world lit not by the sun but by laser beams and mirror balls, there’s no need to feel guilty about locking a drugged-up, android-like woman in the VIP room. People who live messily have their rightful place, and their shrill laughter gets swallowed up by the EDM. Deliver what belongs where it belongs. Somewhere deep down, Nam-gyu knows he doesn’t belong here—but still, he does what needs to be done.
“Hey, you.”
“Yeah?”
It was just as he was turning away, having delivered the cheap champagne.
“If you down this whole bottle before the next track ends, I’ll give you 200,000 won.”
“Huh…? The whole bottle?”
“Of course, bro.”
Clinging to the fleeting glow of imagined glory, Nam-gyu watched the man flaunt his looks and money in a space where both were currency. He looked down on him—booze, girls, drugs. Living like an overgrown kid off easy money. And today, it seemed Nam-gyu was his new toy . He glared at the decorative girl grinning at the man’s side.
“H-heh, come on, don’t do me like that, Hyeong.”
Thanos laughed as he palmed a tiny bag hidden beneath the champagne. The thought of this month’s loan repayment flashed in Nam-gyu’s mind. If he didn’t wire it in a few days, the collectors would be back on his throat.
“300,000.”
“I’ve still got work to do.”
“Nam-su, you’re boring~”
That syrupy voice, from a brainless girl who only lived in the moment, almost made him click his tongue. Don’t ruin this dance—this was an easy mark. If you want to survive, you do the job. Quietly. Cleverly.
“Fine. 350,000.”
Thanos stood up and approached, his vape clouding around them. That artificial candy-sweet scent clung to the back of Nam-gyu’s throat.
“…Heh, hyeong. You’re talkin’ to me? I’ll take it—for 500,000.”
The music reached its crescendo. A flash of silence, then—
“Then go grab another bottle, Nam-su.”
The bass blasted through his bones like an earthquake. The man, sure he’d won, raised both arms in victory as the women’s cheers warped into slow-motion noise. All you had to do in this filthy dump was play dumb for a minute. One liver, two—who cares? His was long past saving.
⸻
“…Shit.”
Nam-gyu lay sprawled on the couch where they’d been indulging just minutes ago. His breath reeked of booze, and the spinning room made it worse.
“You’re insane, Nam-gyu. You suck at drinking, but damn, you commit.”
His junior laughed, clearing the empty shot glasses. His face swam in double.
“Ahh…”
“You good?”
“If I was good, I wouldn’t be working in a hellhole like this.”
He coughed, nails digging into the leather couch. The jobmate said he’d bring water and left. Nam-gyu leaned back into the seat, forcing himself upright despite the nausea. He’d done what he had to do—just that. For money, for tomorrow, for this trash heap of a world.
“…Damn. Fuck!”
He slammed the booze-soaked bills to the floor. What’s the point of all this? Covering his eyes with his arm, the world spun like a carousel. He collapsed again, heavy as lead. He cracked open one blurry eye. A single drug pill lay on the floor. He reached for it, popped it in his mouth, chewed.
What does crawling even get you? This world… won’t change. It’s trash.
Flat on his back, he opened his eyes again.
“Don’t want another round, Nam-su?”
A mocking voice. Purple hair glowing in the backlight, Thanos grinned.
Nam-gyu thought there is no difference than those women after all.