Chapter 3
Kihyuk hurried into the elevator, rode down, then burst out of the apartment building and ran like crazy to the compact car he used for work. He crammed himself inside, his face beaded with sweat from the run.
I’m going to lose it! What did I just see?
He clutched the steering wheel and rested his forehead against it. An alert chimed from his phone. He kept his head down for a long time before slowly turning to look uneasily at the screen. After that brief chime, the phone stayed quiet.
Looks like I really screwed up. Why hasn’t anyone contacted me?
Once his pounding heart had settled some, Kihyuk slowly reached for his phone and checked the screen.
“What?”
He couldn’t believe his eyes. $100. The full hour’s pay for today’s cleaning was sitting right there in his account. He turned the phone screen off and on dozens of times. It still didn’t seem real.
He’d failed to follow the instructions, barged into the client’s bedroom, and even walked in on him having sex. Yet instead of filing a complaint, the client had paid Kihyuk as if he’d done a good job?
“Is this bastard some kind of crazy pervert?”
Kihyuk’s brow furrowed. If the client was some exhibitionist who got off on having other people watch him have sex, Kihyuk would be disgusted. But the people he’d seen today didn’t seem like that type, which only made the crease between his brows deepen.
He chewed on his fingertip, then called the owner of Do It All.
“Yeah, yeah. That you, Kihyuk? Did the cleaning go okay?”
“Um, well… Boss. Did you happen to hear from the Cheonghyang client?”
“Huh? Yeah, yeah, they called. They did. Well, this is…”
Kihyuk squeezed his eyes shut. So they had called! If they were going to file a complaint, why send the money? Feeling lightheaded, he let out a breath with his hands over his eyes.
“So… what did the client say…?”
“No, good grief. I gave you the wrong time, didn’t I? Honestly. This is what happens when you get old—your mind goes. The reservation was for 8 a.m. tomorrow, and I told you it was 8 p.m. today! I’m sorry!”
Fuck!
That’s what I’m saying, Boss. I’m the one who just went through all that because of you.
Kihyuk could only keep sighing, so miserable he could have cried. Whether the owner knew how he felt or not, he just gave a hearty, good-natured laugh. Kihyuk wanted to hit him, but what could he do? The guy was his employer.
“Then the client didn’t… say anything else?”
Kihyuk forced the words out, one by one. His mind reeled at what was coming. He didn’t know which of the two men was the client, but whichever one it was, he’d been caught having sex by a mere part-timer. The client must have been furious and demanded that the job be done properly. That $100 was probably hush money to keep Kihyuk from blabbing about what he’d seen.
“Yeah, the client wants you to come again tomorrow.”
“What?”
“They want you tomorrow too! 8 a.m.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yeah, you know. Your morning’s free tomorrow anyway. That’s fine, right?”
Kihyuk smacked his forehead. A tingle spread from it, telling him this wasn’t a dream. Like hell he was going back there. He shook his head hard.
“No, I’m not going. Boss, I’m taking tomorrow off. A day off. A day off. I’ll use the annual leave I didn’t take last time.”
“Eh… But that client’s pretty generous. Pays right away, too. Think it over, Kihyuk. You landed yourself a real catch. That customer wants to hire you as a regular cleaner for $4,000 a month.”
$4,000 a month? Even working himself to the bone at his current job, he’d be lucky to make $2,500 a month, and this client was offering $4,000 just for cleaning?
Anyone could see it was a cushy gig. Kihyuk’s heart pounded. The one catch was that the star of that mortifying sex scene would become his employer.
“I’ll go.”
But what kind of man was Jung Kihyuk? Wasn’t he a strapping Korean man living in a capitalist society where money came first? He decided to put the pretty man out of his mind. Surely the man would be gone by the time Kihyuk returned the next morning.
Still, he found himself hoping the client would turn out to be the man who’d been thrusting on top. That might be less embarrassing.
“Yeah, alright. I’ll let them know you’re coming tomorrow!”
* * *
Kihyuk said nothing.
Neither did the man.
Silence hung in the room. In a house this vast, it felt almost suffocating.
The promise of $4,000 a month had reeled Kihyuk right in. He’d arrived ten minutes early and rung the doorbell just in case. When no one answered, he’d let himself in with the passcode, following yesterday’s instructions.
“Um…”
In the spacious living room, Kihyuk faltered when he spotted a man sitting on a black leather sofa that looked plush. It was the man from yesterday, the one with that beautiful body.
If you’re home, why didn’t you come out when you heard the doorbell?
Kihyuk clutched his head, barely holding back the urge to cry. The man held a newspaper in one hand and an espresso cup in the other, taking slow sips as if savoring each one.
He’d prayed and prayed all night, but his employer was the bottom from yesterday, whose cheeks had flushed red as he came. Anyone but the man they’d called Woojin!
“Hello, I’m from Do It All.”
As Kihyuk stood there awkwardly, the man slowly set his espresso cup on the table with a soft clink of glass. The faint aroma of coffee unsettled Kihyuk rather than soothing him.
“Have a seat.”
Without even meeting Kihyuk’s eyes, Woojin gestured toward the sofa across from him, treating him like a subordinate. Kihyuk sat down awkwardly on the sofa. Woojin, who’d been looking at the newspaper through his glasses, said nothing for a while, then took them off and studied Kihyuk carefully.
There was an indefinable elegance to everything Woojin did. Maybe it was because he was from Cheonghyang. He had the polished manners of someone raised in a wealthy business dynasty, and Kihyuk felt out of place in the house.
“I’m sorry about yesterday. Our boss had the time wrong. I shouldn’t have opened the door so carelessly…”
With his hands folded politely on his knees, Kihyuk tried to apologize for yesterday, but Woojin stopped him with a gesture. He couldn’t get another word out, as if his mouth had been sealed shut.
“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”
“…What?”
Kihyuk’s eyes went wide as he stared at Woojin. Even in last night’s dreams, he’d groveled to those two men on his hands and knees. The boss had gotten the time wrong, but Kihyuk was the one who worked under him, so of course he had to apologize. He’d run through every possible scenario in his head even before coming to this house.
“These things happen.”
The man took another leisurely sip of the espresso. A rich coffee scent drifted toward Kihyuk. It was as if the aroma were the man’s hand, patting Kihyuk’s shoulder a few times as it passed.
How did this guy keep changing the mood like that?
There was a sharp edge to the man that warned Kihyuk not to take him lightly. He knew instinctively that Woojin was used to handling people. If even he, a beta, could sense it so clearly, Woojin had to be an alpha. An alpha with unusual kinks.
Kihyuk swallowed hard, his throat bobbing.
“Shall I start cleaning, then?”
Kihyuk looked at the man cautiously. Working might actually put him more at ease. Wouldn’t he breathe easier that way than sitting here alone with this man?
“Before that, let’s sign a contract.”
“A contract?”
Woojin indicated the yellow envelope on the table with a glance. Kihyuk looked back and forth between the envelope and Woojin in a daze, then pulled the contract out of it.
“This is…”
Kihyuk’s mouth fell open at what was written in the contract. He lost count of how many times he rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing it right. A languid smile formed on the man’s face.
“I think these are fairly decent terms.”
The first clause of the contract made Kihyuk’s mind go blank. He looked back and forth between the contract and Woojin several times, aghast.
“Are you… serious right now?”