One plus One Delivery Service

‘He looks like him. Must be the brother Sir mentioned. But not the CEO, just the director of the planning team?’It seemed like he had come here incognito. A CEO wouldn’t come to such a meeting, so he must have introduced himself with a lower title. Manager Park and Team Leader Kim seemed oblivious as they exchanged business cards and maintained a friendly atmosphere. Meanwhile, Gi Junghoon stared at Han Jooan intently. His piercing gaze reminded Han Jooan of Gi Myunghoon.Swish.Han Jooan looked away. Gi Junghoon smirked at Han Jooan’s act of pretending not to notice. Even his smile resembled Gi Myunghoon’s.“Then, I’ll go order the drinks.”As Team Leader Kim was about to get up, Han Jooan stood up instead.“I’ll go.”“The star should stay seated.”“No, please continue your conversation. I need to take a moment to calm my nerves.”It was a lie, but fortunately, Team Leader Kim seemed to buy it.“Oh, okay. Here, take the corporate card. Would hot Americanos be okay for everyone?”Everyone replied, “Yes.” But Gi Junghoon, not taking a seat, said:“I’ll go with you.”The eyes of the Gwanghwa Planning employees flickered. Gi Junghoon said casually:“I’ll smoke a cigarette while I’m out. That’s okay, right?”Manager Park responded brightly:“Yes, of course. Jooan, you go smoke too.”‘I don’t smoke, and you know that. Why say that?’He wanted to protest, but Manager Park subtly handed over her cigarette pack and lighter, so he couldn’t speak up. It was a hint to socialize with this key figure over a smoke, a kind of business networking. The company was betting everything on this meeting to foster a long-term relationship with Gwanghwa Planning. Not wanting to dampen the efforts of those working hard, Han Jooan silently took the cigarettes and lighter and went downstairs. Handing over the corporate card to the counter, he said:“Six hot Americanos and, um, three slices of cake, please.”While the employee calculated the cost of the coffee and cake, Gi Junghoon, who had followed leisurely, took the vibration buzzer instead.“Shall we talk until the coffee is ready, model?”Gi Junghoon nodded towards the outside of the shop. Han Jooan obediently followed him out. Behind the shop, near a flower bed littered with cigarette butts, Gi Junghoon stood, lighting a cigarette and flicking the white end.“What are you doing?”“Pardon?”“I’ve got a cigarette in my mouth.”‘What do you want me to do about it?’He wanted to challenge him, but he suppressed it. Even the harshest senior in the military hadn’t done this before. With his hands in his pockets and the cigarette dangling from his lips, he was clearly asking for a light, an act more suited to a street thug.‘Cancel the resemblance to Sir, you scoundrel.’Han Jooan pulled out the lighter he had just received from Manager Park.Click.He flicked the flint of the disposable lighter. Shielding the flame with one hand, he held it to the cigarette’s end, and Gi Junghoon leaned in to light it. He took a drag and then blew the smoke toward Han Jooan’s face.“You can’t take your eyes off me. Why? Do I look like Myunghoon?”‘Not a thug, but a bastard, huh…’Han Jooan tried to maintain his composure by closing and then opening his eyes to the insult. He spoke as calmly as possible.“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”“Ah, so that’s how you’re playing it?”“If you have nothing to say, may I go back inside?”“No.”Gi Junghoon then put the cigarette he had been smoking into Han Jooan’s mouth. It seemed he wasn’t satisfied with just being a thug or a bastard; he was doing all sorts of things.‘Doing something you’d only see in a club, outside. It’s too ridiculous to even get angry.’“Light.”With a new cigarette in his mouth, he demanded a light from Han Jooan like a servant. Han Jooan, suppressing the curse that rose to his chin, lit the lighter again. Watching Han Jooan follow orders without complaint, Gi Junghoon started to chuckle.“Our mom was a beauty. She was a famous actress. You can find her if you search online. Check it out.”Han Jooan responded without showing any sign of being swayed by Gi Junghoon’s informal speech.“I’ll look later.”“That’s too bad, I wanted to brag about her looks. She was so beautiful that my father pursued her immediately. There was opposition at home. Back then, unlike now, TV personalities were considered frivolous, and my grandfather was furious about bringing one into a business family. But my father wouldn’t back down and pushed for the marriage. Mom was smart, she didn’t refuse the position of the eldest daughter-in-law in a conglomerate. She’s living comfortably after having me and Myunghoon. If I had been born a girl, I would have lived like her.”Han Jooan couldn’t hide his discomfort anymore and kept his mouth shut.‘He belittles his own mother. She raised him, yet he treats her like a cunning fox who used her beauty to marry into wealth.’The cigarette Gi Junghoon had placed in Han Jooan’s mouth burned down, emitting thin streams of smoke. While Han Jooan just held the cigarette in his mouth, Gi Junghoon kept chuckling.“Myunghoon and I look a lot like our mom, so we have decent exteriors. But our personalities are opposite. I’m like Mom, I never do anything that would cause me a loss. Myunghoon, on the other hand, is like Dad, the kind who would take short-term losses to get what he wants. That’s why Grandpa put him in charge of the trading company.”Han Jooan naturally moved the cigarette from his mouth to his hand.“I’m not sure what you want to talk about.”“That my brother takes after our father.”‘So what does that mean, you bastard?’Han Jooan clenched his molars in anger. Like the bastard who had insulted him several times, Gi Junghoon only spoke on his own terms.“When he fixates on something, he goes all the way. Before his marriage, he was playing around with gigolos, so I cut off contact because I found him so repulsive.”At that moment, Han Jooan relaxed his clenched jaw. This was the crux of what Gi Junghoon wanted to say.“I thought he might have become a decent person since he married, but he got divorced after just a few years. No kids either. Anyway, he’s stubborn. The ink on the divorce papers isn’t even dry, and here he is, back to playing with gigolos, unable to change his habits.”Gigolo, gigolo.That unfamiliar and strange term was referring to none other than Han Jooan himself. It went beyond being unpleasant to enraging. Han Jooan broke the lit cigarette in half and threw it on the ground. For some reason, Gi Junghoon seemed intent on provoking Han Jooan with these inflammatory words.“Normally, I wouldn’t be interested in a gigolo, but things have changed lately.”Gi Junghoon blew a puff of cigarette smoke right into Han Jooan’s face as he whispered:“You go in and out of Myunghoon’s place, right? How about taking a few things out for me? Just bring me a few documents. I’ll pay you for each one.”His index finger, calloused from holding a golf club, flicked up Han Jooan’s chin from below in a demeaning manner.“100 million won. How does that sound?”Han Jooan responded coldly:“Do you think I’d work for you?”“Oh, not even tempted by 100 million? How much money has Myunghoon stuffed up your ass that you don’t even blink at 100 million?”“Take it easy.”“I have no intention of offering more. You’d be the one to lose out if you don’t.”“If you have nothing else to say, I’m going back inside.”As Han Jooan turned around, Gi Junghoon spoke to his back:“I heard you have a high school senior brother in the countryside? After you both ran away from your trash parents, you must need a lot of money to support your brother and prepare for your return to school. How about I sponsor your brother?”Han Jooan’s eyes widened. Turning around, his eyes were filled with red veins. He growled with an unprecedentedly fierce voice:“Did you investigate my background?”Seeing this, Gi Junghoon chuckled.‘Bingo.’He mouthed the word and continued cheerfully:“Han Jooan, you’re a rare, diligent young man these days. Gi Myunghoon, that bastard is really rotten; he only goes after kids with nowhere else to turn. Well, it’s easy to clean up if something goes wrong.”Despite everything, he was still treating Han Jooan like a gigolo. Overcome with anger, Han Jooan shouted:“Why are you doing this?!”“Woah, keep your voice down.”“If you touch my brother, I won’t stay quiet!”“Ha, look at this.”Gi Junghoon moved the cigarette to his hand, then rubbed the lit end against Han Jooan’s stomach. With a sizzling sound, the fabric burned, and the hot pain reached his skin, but Han Jooan, consumed by anger, didn’t feel the pain. Gi Junghoon continued to laugh at the now enraged Han Jooan.“You’ll be tossed aside after he’s had his fun; might as well make some money. No matter how you struggle, your brother’s life and yours are in my hands. If you don’t like it, become a conglomerate yourself.”After rubbing the cigarette butt against Han Jooan, Gi Junghoon casually tossed it into the flower bed and walked back into the café. Left alone, Han Jooan stood still, cursing under his breath.“Shit…”He couldn’t forgive Gi Junghoon for trying to drag his brother into this.Grunt.He couldn’t unclench his fists for a while, unable to regain his composure. It was a despair he hadn’t felt when he had surrendered himself to Gi Myunghoon.✴︎˚After the meeting, on the way home, Han Jooan checked his brother’s social media on his phone. His brother, who lived in a dormitory, loved uploading videos like dance challenges with friends. In the video, his brother looked cheerful. The direct messages they exchanged contained typical conversations for someone his age.[I got first place in the midterms, lol.][Can I come to Seoul for Chuseok? I want to go to an amusement park with friends before the SAT. Can I stay at your place for one night, please?]His brother was so good at studying that he had already been accepted into college through a regional specialization program, but he was still diligently preparing for the SAT, the one-time life exam. Han Jooan had managed to endure doing odd jobs in Seoul for his brother’s sake, but now, to think his brother was being threatened, it only made him angrier.“Jooan, good job at the meeting today. You can head home.”Manager Park, having finished her conversation with the people from Gwanghwa Planning, was all smiles. Even Team Leader Kim, who had suspected Han Jooan of having some backing from Gwanghwa, seemed in high spirits now that everything was going smoothly.“The shoot is in two weeks, so take good care of your skin. No drinking, stick to your diet, and exercise!”Han Jooan turned off the screen showing his brother’s social media and stood up.“I’ll head out then.”“Take care.”“I’ll be in touch.”Instead of looking at the two pleased faces, Han Jooan looked at Gi Junghoon. Their eyes met, and Gi Junghoon shook his index finger in front of his eyes.‘100 million.’Recognizing the gesture, Han Jooan quickly turned his head away. After leaving the café, he took the bus back home. As soon as he opened the door to his room, he dived onto the single bed.“Ha…”He lay there with his head buried in the pillow for a long time. Even during the conversation between the people from Gwanghwa Planning, Manager Park, and Team Leader Kim, Han Jooan’s gaze was fixed only on Gi Junghoon. In his mind, the words Gi Myunghoon had casually dropped and what the man in front of him had said were all mixed up.‘If my brother is interested in you, going out together would just make you look like a pet being shown off.’‘Do you go in and out of Myunghoon’s place? How about taking a few things out for me? Just bring me a few documents. I’ll pay you for each one.’Even someone as dense as Han Jooan could see it. How bad the relationship was between Gi Myunghoon and Gi Junghoon, these two brothers. It seemed Gi Junghoon wanted to find a weakness in Gi Myunghoon to bring him down, but frankly, it was none of Han Jooan’s business. The fights between conglomerate siblings should be dealt with by the parties involved, and Han Jooan just needed to do his ‘home secretary’ job diligently and collect his contracted payment. Han Jooan’s goal was ultimately money.So, that was the problem. He had accepted the clandestine activities with Gi Myunghoon for money, so now following Gi Junghoon, who offered a larger sum, made sense… Gi Junghoon had sharply pierced through Han Jooan’s contradictions like a snake’s fang.‘You’ll be tossed aside after he’s had his fun; might as well make some money. No matter how you struggle, your brother’s life and yours are in my hands. If you don’t like it, become a conglomerate yourself.’It was like laying out the groundwork for a big score because of money. And if he refused, his sister, who had to take the SAT this year, could face an uncertain future. After all, in South Korea, where everything runs on money, crushing one or two commoners like them wouldn’t be a big deal.Han Jooan’s mind became complicated. Realizing this was a problem he couldn’t solve alone, he naturally thought of one person.“…Should I tell Sir?”If he were honest with Gi Myunghoon, perhaps he would handle it somehow.‘Ha, no way. That’s too naive. From Sir’s perspective, if his brother becomes a nuisance, he’ll just kick me out, not help.’In the end, there’s no reason it has to be him; there are plenty of people who would spread their legs for money. If Gi Myunghoon decided to cancel their ‘home secretary’ contract because it was too troublesome, all sources of money would disappear. He’d have to go back to doing delivery or working in a logistics center with his injured body. His plans for the English academy he was looking into would be ruined. Maybe even the compensation from the traffic accident would be handed over by Gi Myunghoon, leaving him with a pile of debt.Han Jooan turned his head, still buried in the pillow. He sighed deeply while looking at the low ceiling.“Am I hoping for a miracle? This is such a mess.”People should live off money earned through honest labor for peace of mind. Choosing the easy way out has led to troubles he might never have faced otherwise.While blaming himself, he was already too deep in to escape. He had to choose between Gi Myunghoon and Gi Junghoon. Setting aside his own life, he had to avoid blocking his sister’s path at this critical moment in her life.Han Jooan stared at the ceiling for a very long time. He recalled the moments of excitement when he was intimate with Gi Myunghoon, the times he wanted to rely on him, but he quickly remembered his own situation.“Gigolo…”That word Gi Junghoon spat out was the essence of his identity when he was with Gi Myunghoon. He sold his body for money, and there was no excuse or justification for it. This was the swamp he had chosen, all because of money.‘Everything that has happened, it’s all because of money.’After long deliberation, Han Jooan decided to choose the path that would benefit him the most in this swamp. He extinguished the seed of emotion that had briefly sprouted and closed his eyes. He pondered over and over what choice he should make.Vibrate.His phone vibrated in his pocket. The caller was Gi Myunghoon.[Work starts at six today. Let me know if you can’t make it.]Usually, Han Jooan would have jumped up to get ready to go out, but this time, he tapped his fingers weakly.[I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well after the meeting. Can I take today off?]The reply came immediately.[Sure. See you tomorrow.]No more messages came. It reminded him once again that his relationship with Gi Myunghoon went only this far.Sigh.He closed his eyes. Since starting this ‘home secretary’ job, his mind and biorhythms had become a mess. With just one call from Gi Myunghoon, his lower body swelled like Pavlov’s dog.Jingle-jangle.It felt like bells were ringing in his ears. Han Jooan kept his eyes closed until his lower body calmed down.In many ways, it had been a day where nothing went according to plan.