Chapter 25: Are You Free? Want to Get Dinner?

Yoon Nam-hyuk strolled over leisurely, sneering at Qi Huai. “This is the company’s first mini-series, so I came to check on things. I didn’t expect to stumble into such a lively scene of jealousy and rivalry… Are you trying to provide material for the scriptwriter? As it happens, Writer Kim loves this kind of melodramatic drama. Why don’t you tell her your story? If it gets good ratings, I’ll give you a 600-million-won copyright fee plus a share of the ratings. How about it?”

Vicious. So vicious.

The System thought to itself. But so satisfying!

Go on, curse him out! I’m feeling super vengeful right now!

Qi Huai rubbed his brow, feeling wronged. “I wasn’t being jealous or fighting over anyone.”

“Not jealous or fighting over anyone?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk raised an eyebrow, his dark eyes staring directly into Qi Huai’s, as if he could pick up on any trace of hesitation. “Then what business is it of yours who Baek Soo-kyung is dating, or even the debts he owes? Are you a Bodhisattva? Or Jesus?”

Qi Huai sighed in exasperation. “Baek Soo-kyung is only nineteen. His life has just begun, and he doesn’t have reliable parents or elders to guide him. If he starts on the wrong path, it’ll be hard to turn back later. I just want to help him. It doesn’t mean I like him, and it’s certainly not about jealousy.”

As a mission-taker, that was all he could say.

“Oh, so you’re the reincarnation of a great philanthropist.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk snorted and pulled a black card from his wallet. “Fine, then why don’t I help you out? First, you don’t have 600 million; I do. I can give it to you right now. I don’t care if you keep it for yourself or give it to Baek Soo-kyung, and you don’t need to pay me back. Second, I can make you my direct artist. Assistant Yoo will handle all your resources, and you’ll earn more than you do now—twice as much, three times as much, or even more. But all of this comes with a condition…”

He leaned closer to Qi Huai, using the edge of the black card to lift his chin, a slight smile playing on his lips. “The condition is, from now on, none of your resources can overlap with Baek Soo-kyung’s in any way. You’re not even allowed to speak to him if you run into him. As for the elder guidance issue you mentioned, my assistant team will take care of it. They’re all Ivy League graduates with clean backgrounds and guaranteed good character. Baek Soo-kyung is getting a pretty good deal, don’t you think?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk stared at Qi Huai.

Qi Huai frowned slightly.

If the mission objective had only specified saving the protagonist shou, Qi Huai would have immediately agreed to Yoon Nam-hyuk’s terms. But the exact mission objective had been obscured by a bug. He couldn’t be sure that the target really was the protagonist shou.

Moreover, two important characters, Gong Dog Number Four Kim Min-kyung and Gong Dog Number Five Eun Chul-woo, had yet to appear. The future was still unclear.

Even without those two, if he gave up contact with Baek Soo-kyung, it would be equivalent to letting him develop his relationships with Choi Min-jun and Park Seok-jin. So, he could not agree to Yoon Nam-hyuk’s terms.

Qi Huai’s expression said it all.

The smile on Yoon Nam-hyuk’s lips gradually faded. He stared straight at Qi Huai and spat out the word: “Liar.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk hated deception.

He had thought he could have some expectations for this person. It seemed he had thought too much.

People really only reveal their true desires when faced with a choice. Those seemingly reasonable explanations and justifications were not to be trusted at all.

He squeezed Qi Huai’s chin and sneered in a low voice, “You want to have your cake and eat it too. You think you can play with everyone. Be careful you don’t end up with nothing. Do you underst—hey!”

Feeling dizzy from Yoon Nam-hyuk’s flapping mouth, Qi Huai’s vision went black. The 188cm-tall man slumped onto Yoon Nam-hyuk’s shoulder.

Yoon Nam-hyuk instinctively caught him, his palms pressing against the other’s protruding shoulder blades. It was only then that he realized how much weight the other had lost in the past ten days.

The “damn brat” that was about to escape his lips was forcefully swallowed back down, nearly choking him.

Qi Huai leaned on him for a full half-minute before he recovered, his voice hoarse. “Hungry…”

He had been starving for two weeks and was already dizzy. Acting with such emotional intensity had taken a lot out of him. Then, right after filming, he had been pulled into long conversations by both Park Seok-jin and Choo Min-young for over two hours. Finally, he had been subjected to the combined assault of Baek Soo-kyung and Yoon Nam-hyuk… He really couldn’t take it anymore.

He relaxed his body, rested his forehead on Yoon Nam-hyuk’s shoulder, and sighed softly. “…I wasn’t trying to play with anyone, and I don’t want to eat everything. Let’s have meat. I don’t like fish.”

The System whined: [Hmph, a mere chopstick wants to eat meat? Delusional.]

Qi Huai: …
This servant is getting more and more insolent.

Yoon Nam-hyuk had no idea who the fish and meat represented. All he could feel was Qi Huai’s breath fanning across his skin from his collar.

A wave of heat spread down from his neck, while another rose from the base of his spine. Yoon Nam-hyuk was suddenly reminded of the bathroom stall that day, of that unparalleled, addictive, overwhelming pleasure…

The body in his arms began to tremble inexplicably. Qi Huai pressed a hand on Yoon Nam-hyuk’s back, confused. “Cold?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk lowered his gaze, took a deep breath, and said, enunciating each word, “Get. Off. Me.”

Is he about to lose his temper again?

“…” Qi Huai slowly stood up. He was nearly 10cm taller than Yoon Nam-hyuk. If he leaned in a little closer, the tip of his nose could touch Yoon Nam-hyuk’s forehead, even brush against his handsome eyebrows.

“Are you free? Want to get dinner?” Qi Huai asked.

The air was silent for a long moment. Yoon Nam-hyuk’s lips pursed and unpursed as he struggled for a response, but the words of refusal wouldn’t come out. “What are we eating?”

Qi Huai smiled.

Yoon Nam-hyuk glared at him.

Damn brat. I should have just said I wasn’t hungry!

“Meat.”

Qi Huai finished with a smile and, just like in the bathroom stall that day, reached out and brushed his thumb against Yoon Nam-hyuk’s prominent Adam’s apple.

The shiver that he had just suppressed shot through him again. Yoon Nam-hyuk instantly exploded. “Hey! Shouldn’t your hands be sent to a Korean restaurant to be made into spicy chicken feet! You brat! Aish…¹”

He kicked at Qi Huai’s shin. Qi Huai didn’t dodge, instead reaching out to pinch Yoon Nam-hyuk’s ear. The two of them, pushing and pulling, walked away, looking like a pair of elementary school kids roughhousing after school.

The System floated behind them, expressionless: [This servant understands. Host Oppa has his own plans. Hehe.]

After they left, the area around the break room returned to a cold silence. It wasn’t until several minutes later that a figure slowly emerged from behind a tall prop rack.

It was Choi Min-jun.

Choi Min-jun pushed up the silver-framed glasses that gave him a distinctly elite look, turned off the recording mode on his phone, and laughed as he watched Qi Huai and Yoon Nam-hyuk walk away. “See? Heaven helps those with ambition, right?”

---

In the parking lot.

A smiling Choi Min-jun replayed the video he had just taken, marveling to himself. Ah… I have to say, I found a really good angle. And I have Park Seok-jin to thank for finding me such a good spot.

The CCTV camera at the entrance to that break room was broken, and intentionally so. Because Park Seok-jin liked to “rest” there, those who knew understood and never had the equipment repaired.

But where there was no CCTV, there was Choi Min-jun’s phone.

The video showed Qi Huai’s tall back, his head resting on Yoon Nam-hyuk’s shoulder. It looked very intimate, making Yoon Nam-hyuk’s face clearer and more prominent.

It was a very handsome face, more photogenic than an actor’s. Choi Min-jun couldn’t help but think that if this video were leaked to the media, it would cause a huge uproar.

A video of Yoon Nam-hyuk with a man—this was the video his older brother, Yoon Nam-woo, had been dreaming of. In a chaebol family where the father was a devout Christian and the older brother was running for the National Assembly, the youngest son was gay. Chairman Yoon Tae-min would surely be furious, and Yoon Nam-woo could reap the benefits. This was why Yoon Nam-woo had approached Choi Min-jun for a partnership.

Choi Min-jun wanted money; Yoon Nam-woo wanted leverage. The collaborations between venomous creatures were always simple, brutal, and immediate.

But now, Choi Min-jun regretted it.

Over the past year of working with Yoon Nam-woo, he had come to realize that the man was a stupid, stubborn rock. Besides his tendency to fly into a rage, which was similar to Yoon Nam-hyuk, he was utterly unfit for any important task.

What a lucky bastard, he thought. A fortunate illegitimate son born with a silver spoon, he can boss people around with a head as empty as a ball.

Unfortunately, Choi Min-jun hated working with idiots. Instead of serving an idiot, it was better to use him.

He took a brand-new SIM card from his bag, inserted it into a new phone, took a screenshot of an ambiguously angled picture from the video he had just taken, and then composed and sent a text message.

The kimchi was ripe. It was time to open the jar.²

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¹Aish (아이씨): A common Korean exclamation of frustration or annoyance, similar to “damn it” or “geez.”

²The kimchi was ripe. It was time to open the jar: A metaphor for a plan coming to fruition, and now being the right time to execute it.