N | Chapter 1.4

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. I’m leaving.”

Suppressing the rising anger, he stood up. He still needed to get paid for the month he worked, but he knew that if he continued talking, it wouldn’t end well.

“Hey! You son of a bitch!”

“Ugh!”

In an instant, he was pulled by a strong grip and thrown onto the table. The sound of the soju bottle tipping over and the glass breaking echoed loudly in the empty bar.

“Isn’t your delivery a lie too? Be honest. After work, you go for compensated dating, don’t you?”

The boss’s hands moved busily. Horan struggled against the hands slipping inside his sweatshirt.

“Let go!”

He tried to resist with all his might, but his exhausted body wouldn’t move as he wanted. In the end, he reached for the soju bottle rolling on the table above his head.

To stop the boss, he had no choice but to hit him with it. But, should he really do it? As he hesitated for a moment, the boss’s hand grabbed his waistband.

Thud-!

With a dull sound, the boss staggered backward.

“Ah, you fucking bastard…”

Blood dripped from the hand clutching his forehead, staining the floor. Gasping for breath, Horan barely avoided meeting the boss’s menacing gaze and,

“Hey! Don’t stop there!”

He pushed the still-staggering boss aside and ran for the door.

“Ugh, ha, ugh…”

Horan, who had been running frantically after escaping the bar, leaned against a wall. He couldn’t run any further due to the overwhelming nausea and dizziness.

At that moment, something fell to the ground at his feet. Wiping his nose, he saw blood on his sleeve. His body, pushed to its limits, had finally started a nosebleed.

“Haa.”

He pressed his nose with his sleeve and leaned against the wall. Only then did he realize how far he had come.

Horan, forgetting the dampness of his sleeve from the nosebleed, recalled himself hesitating just before hitting with the bottle.

‘Why did I hesitate?’

At that moment, he was thinking about how payday was soon, and if he waited a little longer, he could get his money. Even though he knew what would happen if he stayed still, he hesitated, worrying that hitting him would mean losing this month’s rent and deposit.

“…I’m tired.”

Dragging his heavy body, he forced himself to walk out of the alley. The nosebleed had stopped, but he still looked a mess.

The life the world demanded was too burdensome for Horan. With each step he took, he wished it would be his last, that he would just disappear.

As he walked the early morning streets, not knowing where he was going,

“Found you.”

He was caught by someone’s hand.

“Long time no see.”

A snake tattoo crawled up the back of the hand and neck. It was the man he had seen before. As he realized the black tattoo he had seen from afar was a snake, he also felt suffocated by the pale brown eyes that had found their prey.

‘That bastard will probably be looking for you.’

And Haechan’s voice echoed in his ears. Why does the worst always come with the worst?

Just an hour before Haechan’s prediction came true.

“Haa.”

Yoon Sung, sitting in front of the computer, sighed and leaned back in his chair. His yellow hair, which reached his shoulders, had grown a finger’s length at the roots, as he had missed the time to dye it.

Annoyed by the hair getting in his way, he stretched the yellow rubber band on his wrist, but it snapped back and fell to the floor.

“Oof, my back.”

Groaning, Yoon Sung picked up the rubber band and met eyes with Saul, who was leaning against the sofa on the other side.

His employer and the head of the organization, Saul, was leisurely puffing on a half-burnt cigarette.

While someone was enduring with energy drinks, sitting in front of the computer for weeks because of him. Yoon Sung, who had put the rubber band on his wrist, rolled up his tracksuit to his knees and sat cross-legged on the chair.

“Boss… there’s too little information. Black hair, white skin, school uniform, that’s all.”

It’s not even a porn keyword. Yoon Sung grumbled as he clicked the mouse. On top of that, there was a thunderstorm that day, causing some issue with the city power, so there wasn’t a single intact CCTV.

“Do you remember anything else?”

“His face was terribly my type.”

“I’ve already heard that…”

Yoon Sung sighed even deeper.

Kim Saul was looking for someone. The notorious rumor heated up the night streets of Gangnam.

Even those who were known to be tough turned back at the mention of Kim Saul’s name. And now, he was looking for someone, which meant people who knew his infamy would start praying for the person’s soul.

But this time, the reason was a bit different. He wasn’t looking to beat someone up but to devour them in another sense. And it was a high school student, just because they were his type.

It was a shocking matter, but Yoon Sung, who knew Saul’s sadistic tastes and his indiscriminate appetite for both men and women, didn’t find it particularly surprising.

“Then at least tell me the color of the uniform.”

Yoon Sung decided to search one by one, as he didn’t even know if he was looking for a middle schooler or a high schooler.

“There are over twenty schools in Gangnam alone… Please, narrow it down a bit so I don’t die of overwork.”

At Yoon Sung’s plea, Saul, leaning against the backrest, recalled the events of that day.

“The color…”

His long, rough fingers reached for the cigarette in his mouth.

He had beaten an old man half to death, gotten a blowjob from a woman, then took her outside to have sex, and when he felt a gaze, he turned his head…

He inhaled the burning smoke as deeply as possible into the depths of his lungs and exhaled.

Let’s think. Not about the thin wrists or wet hair. What was the color of the uniform?

“…Navy blue.”

It was hard to see clearly because of the pouring rain and the distance, but it was definitely navy blue.

It was the most common color, unfortunately. Still, it was something. Yoon Sung pursed his lips and turned his head back to the monitor.

“Get the meds ready.”

As Yoon Sung diligently tapped the keyboard, Saul, who had put out his cigarette, stood up.

“Two months’ worth, right?”

Saul nodded slightly. As soon as he left the room, Yoon Sung requested sleeping pills from the hospital he dealt with.

“Saul-nim.”

As Saul stepped out of the building and stood in front of the waiting black sedan, his attendant familiarly opened the door for him.

He got into the car and checked his wristwatch, which showed it was just past four. There was still some time before dawn. He hadn’t slept for days, so today he planned to use the post-sex lethargy as a side dish to sleep.

“Anywhere nearby.”

“Yes.”

Even though he didn’t specify a destination, the car wheels rolled without hesitation towards the entertainment district. The streets were quiet due to the time when people were scarce.

He planned to enter any establishment he came across and pick a man or woman to his liking.

As Saul got off at the entrance of the entertainment district, a precarious figure caught his eye. Whether drunk or high, the slender body staggered.

It didn’t matter if it was the former, but if it was the latter, it was a different story. Saul didn’t allow a single grain of drugs in his territory.

Just before dawn, in the shadow of the night with only a few neon signs, the figure drew closer. As the worn-out sneakers stepped into the boundary of the streetlight, Saul, who habitually reached for a cigarette, paused.

A white face, upturned eyes, and tempting lips. Realizing it was the one he had been searching for in the torrential rain, the unlit cigarette fell to the ground.

“Found you.”

As he grabbed the arm, the face that looked up irritably quickly showed surprise. Was he that startled? The eyes, narrowed like a cat’s, were filled with panic. The frozen body couldn’t even shake off the grabbed arm.

“Long time no see.”

“Ah…”

As he nonchalantly acknowledged him, the black eyes shook greatly. Although it was only a momentary encounter and a month had passed since then, it was clear he remembered him.

‘Despite being scared, he looks like he could bite if pushed.’

Even while panting in fear, he bristled his fur and remained wary. It wasn’t the ignorant bravado of not knowing the hierarchy of power. It was the cute instinct of a small wild animal, knowing the opponent was a predator yet still hissing.

How could not only his face but also his actions be my type? Saul felt a thrill rising from his spine to the top of his head.

“Hmm?”

But it was only for a moment. He noticed the bloodstains spreading from the nose to the lips.

‘There doesn’t seem to be a wound.’

The state of the cat he had been desperately searching for was a mess. What could have made the cat like this? Just then,

“Lee Horan!!”

A man approached from afar, heading towards them. The man’s face was flushed, and he was pressing a towel to his forehead, which was clearly stained with blood.

In that moment, Saul understood that the stray cat’s name was Lee Horan and that the cat had hit the man’s head with something.

“Ugh!”

As the man got closer, Horan struggled to escape. Saul, without letting go of the arm he held, pulled Horan towards him and hid him behind his back.

“What’s this?”

The man, blinded by rage, raised his nose in front of Saul, who was clearly a gangster.

“Damn, I guess he was acting so cocky because he had a big fish on the line?”

‘Once.’

Saul quietly counted as the man looked him up and down. He gestured for his attendants, who were watching the situation, to stay back.

“Wow~ How much is that suit you’re wearing? I guess Lee Horan hit the jackpot just by getting a watch from you.”

‘Twice.’

The man spat on Saul’s shoes.

“I don’t care if you guys fuck or whatever, but I have something to settle with that bastard, so move.”

‘Three times.’

Saul had two choices. To grind that sweaty bastard’s face against the wall or to use him as bait to catch the cat.

Or both.

“Didn’t you hear me?! Move—”

“Lick it.”

The heavy voice cut off the man’s words.

“What?”

The man, not understanding, asked back. The reddish-brown eyes, looking at something insignificant, pointed at the spit on the shoe.

“What the—”

Bang!!

In an instant, the man’s face was slammed against the wall. The rough surface of the wall tore at skin and bone with a grinding sound. As Saul applied pressure to the back of the head, the black tattoo seemed to move as if alive.

“Ugh! Oh, ugh…”

As Saul released his grip, the man’s body collapsed, hitting his head on the floor. His limbs flailed pathetically as they refused to obey.

“Lick it.”

Saul’s voice resonated once more.

“Ugh… ugh…”

Forcing his half-closed eyes open through the pain, the man slowly crawled to lick the spit he had spat. As his consciousness faded, his nodding head soon hit the floor, and he stopped moving.

Saul turned around. Despite being free, Horan was frozen in place, as if glued to the spot. His pale gaze shifted from the sprawled man to Saul.

“Can we talk for a moment?”

Saul smiled gently. His voice was so calm that it was hard to believe he had just committed such an atrocity.

Horan felt his heart pounding in his ears and the blaring sirens. But he neither ran away nor resisted and nodded.

Smart. Saul liked Horan’s keen survival instinct.