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Join the ServerThe habit of buying only the cheapest things, regardless of taste or quality, was an ingrained consumption pattern for Seon Woo-min.
Even calling it consumption, after living expenses, all his money went to cheap beer and cigarettes, food for the cats that came to the café, and occasional visits to adult entertainment establishments to satisfy physical urges.
He kept and wore clothes from his college days in good condition, and most other necessities he bought secondhand.
Having lived clutching every penny, forced to save, he had reached a point where buying something at its proper price felt like a loss, making him reluctant.
That such a person had decided to buy the Invincible Power Kitty Corps special edition figure on the spot was a very encouraging event.
Was that Mung Bean doing well?
He’d been checking secondhand sites occasionally but hadn’t seen any posts selling it.
“Waiting for someone?”
A man with glasses who had been sitting at a table in the hall approached Woo-min.
Looking to be in his mid-thirties, he wore a fairly expensive watch and gave off a strong cologne scent.
“Not really.”
Taking Woo-min’s reply as permission, the man in glasses casually took the seat next to him.
He was moderately handsome, with decent manners.
And a ninety percent chance he was a bottom.
Woo-min was sure he wasn’t wrong.
“It’s cold outside, isn’t it?”
A college student, maybe? the man in glasses thought, looking at Woo-min’s profile.
In cold weather, a person’s income level tends to show in their clothes.
The coat draped over the chair was neat but somehow looked cheap, and despite his neat features, he exuded the vibe of a poor, hardworking student rather than an office worker.
Nevertheless, when he had entered the pub with his fairly handsome looks, the eyes of the customers scattered here and there had all fixed on him at once.
For a moment, silence had even fallen.
Though he seemed completely unaware of it.
“Two glasses of Glenfiddich, please.”
Ordering the most expensive cocktail in the pub as if showing off, the man in glasses pushed the glasses the bartender set down toward Woo-min.
“Have one.
I’ll pay.
It’s one of my favorites.”
It was a signal.
Agreeing to it, Woo-min nodded and brought the glass to his lips, tasting it thoughtfully.
The man’s weighty low voice reminded him of the pierced man.
Come to think of it, the way he liberally applied cologne, enough to make your head ring, was similar too.
Now that he’d grown accustomed to the pierced man’s cologne, other people’s scents felt somehow artificial and off-putting.
But what did cologne matter?
They were just two people satisfying their needs.
“You must come here often.”
The man in glasses answered that he did, conscious of Woo-min’s gaze.
He liked Woo-min’s direct, unhesitating gaze.
It meant their goals were the same.
Leaning his arm on the table, the man in glasses brought it close to Woo-min’s.
Interpreting Woo-min’s lack of reaction as permission, he even lightly brushed the back of Woo-min’s hand resting beside the glass.
Thinking it ridiculous, Woo-min laughed quietly.
He had only laughed inwardly, not out loud.
So where was this blatant sneer coming from?
Slowly tracing the source of the sound, Woo-min’s eyes went wide.
“You said you had someone you like?”
“……”
“That’s funny.”
At the far end of the rounded bar, the pierced man was sitting with his arms crossed, staring straight at him.
Startled, Woo-min’s face flushed.
He knew how it would look in a third party’s eyes—him saying he had someone he liked, yet meeting another man.
On top of that, embarrassment at seeing a familiar face in an unexpected place, shame at being caught in the middle of a discreet transaction, and dismay at having his sexual orientation and private life, which he had never revealed, exposed all at once—his ears burned hot.
The man in glasses glanced back and clicked his tongue.
He’d expected it wouldn’t be easy given the competition, but he hadn’t imagined someone would be so blatantly aggressive.
It even seemed like there was something between them.
The pierced man exuded a rough-edged aura all over, as if proving he didn’t work for a living.
Deciding it would be better to push his mature, gentlemanly side as a contrast, the man in glasses blocked Do-kyung’s view and leaned toward Woo-min.
“I come here often.
What about you?”
“Now and then, when I feel like it.”
Seon Woo-min was already distracted.
“How come I didn’t know?
You’re not someone I’d overlook.”
“…Stop messing around.”
Again, it wasn’t Woo-min who answered.
At the pierced man’s sarcastic mockery, the man in glasses frowned and turned around.
“Do you have a problem?”
“Yeah, I have a big f*cking problem.”
“Then go to a hospital.
Don’t do it here.”
“I’ll go when the sun comes up, with the night surcharge.”
“Then go home, why are you here?”
“Mind your own business.
Now you’re worried about where a stranger sleeps?”
“Who said they were worried?”
“Aren’t you busy hitting on him?
Why do you keep talking to me?”
Listening to the sharp exchange between the two men, Seon Woo-min ran his thumb along the rim of his glass.
It seemed this place wasn’t right for taking things further.
Was he holding a grudge because Woo-min had rejected his confession?
The pierced man’s behavior was childish, utterly immature.
Woo-min had thought he was a decent person, but he hadn’t expected him to pull something like this.
He’d been worried the pierced man might stop coming to the café, but it seemed he should have been worried about the opposite.
“Let’s just go.”
Letting out a short sigh, Seon Woo-min stood up and grabbed his coat.
“Ah, alright.”
Thinking Woo-min was about to leave alone, the man in glasses belatedly brightened and picked up his coat.
Leaving the pub without looking back, Woo-min buttoned his coat collar.
The wind, stirring wildly, made the padded fabric flutter like paper.
“There’s a decent unmanned motel nearby.
What do you think?”
The man in glasses approached Woo-min’s side as he walked quickly, asking.
He’d considered taking him to a hotel since it seemed a waste for just a one-off, but with this annoying guy interfering, he decided to go with the quick and simple option.
“Sure.
Let’s go there.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Suddenly, the pierced man blocked his view, forcing Woo-min to stop in his tracks.
Lee Do-kyung, hands thrust into his blouson pockets, twisted one corner of his mouth.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“Excuse me?”
Not only was he saying what Woo-min should be saying, but he was also acting as shamelessly as if demanding something that belonged to him be returned.
Seon Woo-min grew even colder toward the pierced man.
Unless he had a nasty habit of interfering in other people’s private lives, what he wanted to say was probably, ‘Why is that guy okay and not me?’
He didn’t have the courage to say it outright, so he was causing trouble like this.
It seemed futile to try to understand the pierced man any further.
After all, from the beginning, he was someone for whom understanding was a distant prospect.
Having concluded that, Woo-min turned his back, thinking he needed to resolve this as quickly as possible—either the pierced man would disappear from his sight, or he would disappear from the man’s sight.
But as soon as he turned, a large silhouette blocked his way again.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Seon Woo-min glared at him fiercely.
“Blocking the way.”
Do-kyung shrugged as if to say, can’t you see?
“That’s what I mean.
Move aside.”
“I don’t want to.”
No longer feeling it was worth responding, Woo-min stepped aside and tried to pass him.
His wrist was abruptly grabbed, and when he turned sharply, a gaze cold and hard as plaster pierced through him relentlessly.
“Hey.
Don’t go.”
“……”
The rudeness was beyond the line, and the voice, utterly incongruous, sounded almost pleading.
Seon Woo-min hesitated for a moment, then twisted his wrist free.
Even though it had been grabbed along with his coat, the grip strength was so immense that his whole forearm throbbed.
“Excuse me.
That’s enough.
Go home.”
Having watched the scene, the man in glasses intervened and lightly pushed Do-kyung’s chest.
Do-kyung shifted only his eyes, sizing up the bothersome man.
“You stay out of this.”
“I can’t.
I paid for all the drinks.”
Only then did Woo-min realize his mistake.
Putting aside the drinks the man in glasses had bought, he’d even let him pay for the drinks Woo-min had alone at the bar.
In his haste to leave, he hadn’t thought of that.
“Drinks?
What, a few thousand won?
You think paying for that makes you special?
What, does your drink money cover his price for the night?”
The pierced man was going off in a strange direction, getting excessively heated.
Unable to tolerate it any longer, the face of the man in glasses flushed red and pale.
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, Crow's Golden Fragment is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : Crow's Golden Fragment
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