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As an undergrad senior, Juntae tended to take any job he could to manage his college lifestyle as he wanted to grow to be more independent from his parents. Nothing urgent, he just wanted to ease the financial burden on them as he pursued a veterinary science degree. Although this was easier said than done as the service industry nearly ground him to dust. After another failed barista job, in a fit of desperation he went and took a position in a host company that was more escort than sitting around and giving company.
Sieun definitely had his thoughts on the matter but at least he got vetted clients and the option to turn down or report any sexual advances he didn’t want. All he got was a call from his agent, some basic information and an address and the rate they were offering. He ended up getting quite a neat amount for his savings just passing time with or making conversation with older men. No sex though. If he could prevent any attachment then all the better.
However, one Friday evening, he got an odd call from his agent.
“He picked you off the catalogue. He’s offering 110k. Weekly.”
Juntae sat up in disbelief. “No way, that’s so fucking shady.”
“You’d think. He paid for the first week upfront. I can refund it if you don’t want the job. He said he’s a businessman and he’s not looking for sex either. Just wants ‘a cute guy to do some favours’ for him. I thought it was shady too but it all passed muster.”
Juntae was still a little wary. “How old is he? Does he look super rich?”
“See that’s the thing. He says he’s 39 but you could spot him easy at any uni. I’d be shocked if he was 30 let alone 39. But aside from that, he looks your type. Final answer?”
Juntae worried his bottom lip. “Send his number over. Let me talk to him.” Such a shady request with so much money felt like some honeypot or something horrific, but that type of pay could be life changing.
He got a Kakaotalk ID with the user KSJ and a name and messaged him.
Hello? Were you the client that requested me?
Sent. 20:14
He got a response barely a minute later.
Yeah. Hey there, cutie.
Sent. 20:15
The pet name right off the bat didn’t bode well but Juntae didn’t get deterred.
Did you have a place or event in mind to meet?
Sent. 20:17
Actually, I just want you to do some favours for me.
[Sticker]
Sent. 20:17
It was a sticker of a cartoon wolf scratching the back of his head. Oddly playful for a presumably 39 year old man. Though favours sounded vaguely sexual.
What kind of favours?
Sent. 20:19
There’s a delivery I want handled. If you’re in Mapo, shouldn’t be too far.
Mind if I send the address?
Sent. 20:19
Juntae hadn’t expected that. Maybe he’ll keep his guard up more but he decided to message his agent to tell him he’s taking the job and got an instant notification that the money was deposited to his bank.
Okay! I’ll be right there.
Sent. 20:21
Perfect. Take the package from a man named Seongmok and drop it to this address here.
Sending both pins.
[Attached link]
[Attached link]
Text me when you get to that address for further instructions.
Sent. 20:22
Juntae put on a hoodie and bag and took the bus to the first destination, which seemed to be a bike shop. It seemed closed but when he knocked on the front door, someone lumbered forward. He was tall with a blank but intimidating stare, making Juntae shrink a little.
“A-Are you Seongmok-ssi?” Juntae asked a little timidly. The man’s gaze sharpened and scratched his cheek. There’s no way around it, the man had to be a thug.
“You here from Seongje-hyung?” The man asked. Juntae nodded and the man, Seongmok, walked back inside before emerging with a box. It wasn’t any bigger than a shoebox but it had been excessively taped over, some corners of the cardboard stained and damp looking.
“Got a car?” Seongmok asked gruffly.
“No. I, I can carry it on my satchel though.” Juntae suggested.
“...Your loss.” Seongmok muttered and handed it over. Juntae barely touched it as he stuffed it in his satchel and turned to leave, unsettled.
“Hey, kid.” He heard a voice call to him and he turned back to see Seongmok staring him down. “Be careful.” That’s all the man said before going back inside. It was only once he reached the bus stop that he noticed the tremors in his hands.
However, he was already in for the pound by that point and took the bus to the next location. This one was an upscale mansion up a secluded forest road that he couldn’t even dream of stepping in, let alone owning. Awed, he took out his phone and texted.
Took the package! I’m here.
Sent. 21:56
Good boy. Before you enter, you mind if I call you for a sec?
Sent. 21:56
Juntae definitely wanted to hear the voice of his mysterious benefactor so he replied in affirmative and almost immediately, a call came through.
“Hello?” A low voice asked. It had a slight smoker’s rasp to it. “Still there?”
“Oh, yes. I’m outside the door right now.” Juntae replied. His agent clocked him down to a T, he really was gone for that sort of voice. But he was certain that it definitely didn’t sound like someone in their late thirties.
“Perfect. Now, before you go in I have some instructions. You can write them down if you need to.” He instructed.
“You can tell me. I’ve got a notebook ready.” Juntae replied as if compelled. He flushed when he heard a low chuckle on the other end of the line.
“Eager, cute. Anyways, there’s the keycode, which is 1408. You’re to drop that package on the desk in the study on the second floor. When you enter, you’re going to lock the front door behind you and you’re going to lock it when you leave. That last part’s important, okay? Can you repeat it for me?”
That was an odd request but Juntae relented. “I’ll lock the front door behind me when I enter and I'll lock it behind me when I leave.” He repeated.
“Good boy. I heard the first payment already went through, so I’ll just add a tip for you for the fare back home. Have a good night.” The call hung up and Juntae got another notification for an extra 50k won. Enough to break even despite his agent’s commission.
He keyed in the code and entered inside, hearing the door slam shut then turned the lock as instructed.
The decor was sparse but tasteful in a minimalist way, everything way too expensive for Juntae to even risk touching and breaking. He got to the study, set the box down as instructed and stared wide eyed at the books stocking the shelves. But in as much as the house impressed him, he didn’t want to linger in a stranger’s house alone longer than he needed to. So he left and checked the safety lock when he left for good measure.
That was four weeks ago. He’s had more ‘favours’ to handle and in time got used to the odd relationship he had with KSJ, or rather, Geum Seongje. Being sent to go drive a car to Incheon, abandoning it on the side of the road and driving another back to Yeongduengpo and abandoning that on the road, pickups from Seongmok, appearing at events where he wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone no matter what they asked him and all others. All for casual praise and obscene amounts of money.
When he gave a hypothetical situation to Sieun, claiming it’s something he saw in a movie once, about what he’d think about doing pickups and attendances for someone he hasn’t seen, his friend had bluntly suggested that it was probably a drug ring.
He had considered the same, nearly certain that his mysterious client was a gangster, but the errands were so random he couldn’t be exactly sure.
One weekend, he got a now familiar Kakao notification.
Hey, cutie. Free tonight?
Sent. 17:50
Juntae was so used to Seongje’s texting quirks that he knew this request definitely wasn’t a come on. A part of him had even started to feel a little disappointed at that and wondered if he was vain for it.
Good evening!! And yes, I’m free. What do you need me to do?
Sent. 17:52
Good. I need you to stay over at my house.
The timing’s a little awkward, but I didn’t want to make you do it on a college night.
Sent. 17:52
That definitely took Juntae off guard. He’s never been in that house longer than a few minutes so the house sitting request was new.
Did you need me to do anything else?
Sent. 17:53
No, just stay there for the night. There’s instructions I’ve left over there on the counter but the lock rule still applies.
I got those cream puffs you like in the fridge for you too.
Also, the fee this time’s 500k for your time.
Sent 17:54
Quintuple his usual fee. Whatever this job was, it was important. He was already texting he’d be there and getting that typical jolt when he got praised for it. It was only an overnight stay, so he didn’t plan much or call Sieun since he’d be back home by midday.
Once he was in the mansion and locked the door behind him, he went to the counter to find a set of house rules written on a slip of paper.
- Don’t answer any calls that aren’t from Seongmok the moment you lock the door.
- Don’t open the door for anyone past 9pm no matter who they say they are.
- Play the radio in the foyer at the 96 MHz frequency and leave it on for the rest of the night. Important!!
- Check the mirror in the master bedroom. If you can see your reflection, you can sleep there. If it’s foggy, sleep in the guest room down the hall.
- I stocked the fridge so you can make anything you want. I’ll send the money in the morning. Sleep tight cutie :)
The odd instructions didn’t phase him as much, but they did unsettle him a little as he took a picture for reference. He often wondered if his client had some sort of compulsive disorder to warrant such specific rituals, but these made it seem more like the house was haunted or something.
The buzzing of his phone made him jump. It was a phone call from Seongje. He was going to pick it up when he remembered what he just read. So, despite his unease in possibly ignoring his client, he let the phone ring until it cut out.
He went to the fridge and decided on making ramyeon as something simple with eggs and chives and went to the living room. It took a bit to get a handle of the controls but managed to put on a movie on Netflix.
As he ate, he heard the doorbell ring. He looked at the time. 9:15pm. Was this some kind of test? If Seongje was doing this to scare him, it really wasn’t funny. Then he heard a loud knock and the door.
“This is the police! Open the door or we would have to break in!” A voice barked. Frightened, Juntae nearly acquiesced but stayed put to see. The door was knocked a few times and then silence. Then the doorbell rang again.
“Hello? Can you let me in? I dropped my keys.” It was Seongje. Sounded exactly like him. But why would he ring the doorbell instead of input the code? And the front door didn’t need keys to open.
It was when he heard Sieun calling for him through the door that he upped the volume on the tv and tried to block it out, watching as many romcoms as he could.
Eventually it stopped and there were only a few phone calls that tried going through before he silenced his phone and washed the dishes, then helped himself to two cream puffs. He had mentioned them offhandedly after doing a job and Seongje had them delivered to his campus. It was one of the more romantic gestures he’s made and Juntae was incredibly receptive to it, even if it left Sieun puzzled.
Feeling a little frazzled, he headed up to the master bedroom and found it draped in reds and blacks. He curiously flipped through Seongje’s wardrobes and found a myriad of suits, sweaters and windbreakers. Everything in some slightly heady, probably expensive cologne and notes of cigarette smoke. Juntae felt a little ashamed pressing his face against some of his sleeves to sniff them better.
He remembered to look in the mirror as asked and thankfully it was clear, so he freshened up and got ready for bed. The mattress was soft and the comforter warm and although it should be enough to settle him to sleep, it took a long while before his eyes shut, burrowing his face in the pillow away from the curtains.
It seemed he had fallen asleep at some point because he blinked his eyes open, finding himself lying down on the bed. He was about to go back to sleep when he heard a light clatter and muffled sizzling outside the door.
Feeling a little frightened, he walked out of the room to go and peer at the open kitchen downstairs. He was right about there being someone there, but it wasn’t who he expected.
Seongje was making a western breakfast on the stove, frying up bacon and eggs. He looked exactly like the picture his manager sent. Browline glasses, slightly messy black hair, white shirt under an argyle sweater with the sleeves rolled up. He seemed to sense Juntae’s stare as he looked up and matched it. Everything up till the mole under his left eye and his dark eyes was perfect. His agent was right. No level of genetics or slow aging could justify a guy like that being 39.
“Morning, baby. Sleep well?” Seongje asked with a smile.
“Yeah, I did.” Juntae muttered as he walked down over to the counter, getting a plate of eggs, bacon and toast put in front of him.
“Coffee or tea?” Seongje asked as he got mugs ready.
“Coffee’s fine.” He piped up and had his breakfast, shrinking a little under Seongje’s steady gaze as he did so.
“Did anything weird happen last night?” Seongje asked. Still staring.
“Nothing, I couldn’t handle.” He mumbled, still a little uncomfortable from the scrutiny.
“Aw. That’s good, baby. I’m glad.” Seongje replied, finally looking away to drink his own coffee.
Something about this felt, off. Maybe it was because Juntae was finally face to face with him but he felt the urge to leave urgently.
“Thank you. I should get going, my friend’s expecting me.” Juntae said once he finished his breakfast and packed up his overnight bag, seeing Seongje stare up at him again before giving a wide, gummy smile.
“Sure. Let me walk you to the door.”
Nothing untoward happened. Seongje hadn’t even touched him once, but he couldn’t help feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he felt his gaze land heavily on him till he left.
He didn’t get it, at all. Sure he was attracted to Seongje. Still attracted in fact, but there was something about their interaction that made him feel disoriented. Was it something he said? Or was it the fact that Seongje had called him a pet name off the gate? But Seongje had done it from the jump. He always, called him, cutie.
Wait. Had Seongje ever called him anything else? In a fit of frenzy, Juntae scrolled up all his texts with him, reading them. Every time, if Seongje used a nickname, he either called him a cutie, good boy or cute. But when they met for the first time in real life, he called him baby.
Seongje using a different pet name shouldn’t have unsettled him as much as it did if Juntae didn’t have the feeling of having forgotten something. Did he leave something behind? He didn’t think he did. Did he forget to do something?
His mind went to the list of instructions and put up the picture he took. All of them had been followed except one.
- Play the radio in the foyer at the 96 MHz frequency and leave it on for the rest of the night. Important!!
Had he gone to the foyer? Did he play the radio? He hadn’t, the knocking and voices at the door had spooked him so badly that he hadn’t thought of it. Had he failed a huge job?
The fear gave way to devastation. What if Seongje decided his work was sloppy and Juntae had to go back to playing roulette with his typical clientele? It made him realize just how used he had gotten to all of this. But before he could draft an apology, he got a notification from his bank. The 500k had been deposited.
That stopped his spiral cold. Was it really not as important as he thought? Or was Seongje willing to let it slide? But before he could inquire, he got a message that made his blood run cold.
Just sent it, hope you saw.
Been out of town for the whole week till the next one so I won’t have any jobs for you till then, that’s why I gave extra.
Buy something pretty for yourself, okay, cutie?
Sent. 11:35
Out of town for the whole week till next. That, that was impossible. But if Seongje was out of town, then who was with him in the house earlier? Seongje wasn’t chatty about his life but with how thorough his instructions were, mentioning any identical twins wouldn’t be out of the question. But he could already feel deep in his gut that the explanation wasn’t anything mundane.
His phone buzzed again, but instead of Seongje’s chat, it was a message from an unknown number.
Hey. Forgot something, baby?
[Picture]
Sent 11: 46
It was a picture of Seongje, with his glasses and argyle sweater holding something with a smug little smile, eyes near closed into crescents. An old radio, broken in half.
Then Juntae scrolled up to see another picture. One that was incredibly familiar. It was a picture of his apartment complex, right outside his door with a final message.
Be careful next time.
Sent. 10:09