"What does that mean? Did he ask for money?"

"No, not directly," he drinks. "He was nearly complaining about the fact that I don't ask for services from you."

I freeze at the sound of this sentence, not believing what he said. This comes from Sookyung with no doubt at all. "He often asks me if we did something..." I reveal.

"Why does it matter? Is he scared that you might be hiding money under your clothes?" he does not even think about jealousy first, knowing his priorities. "No...I think that maybe something is wrong with me, I don't know."

"Why would something be wrong with you?" he frowns at me, not getting it. "I don't know, probably because, to him, if you don't ask for anything, that means I'm not good enough, or that I don't attract men enough."

His eyes do not blink anymore, staying where they are, on me. "Has he said that to you, or you're the one believing so?"

"I'm the one believing so..." I barely say it out loud, feeling like he found my answer dumb. "Just because a man doesn't show his sexual desire for you doesn't mean you're not enough in any way, you know."

I nod, no words coming out of my mouth. "Most of the guys in here have no brain, sweetheart. They turn into animals as soon as a woman shows some skin, they only focus on the areas that you want to cover the most, and they hope that they are within sight, they treat women like some meat, and they do not care whether you're comfortable with them or not because they're going to touch you anyway," he summarizes in the most realistic manner. "So do not base your beauty, worth, or anything else on what a man does towards you or doesn't do. You're beautiful, and you're an amazing woman that any good man would want to marry, and you shouldn't doubt that, alright?"

I give him the answer he wants to get, and I avert my eyes from his brown ones. This always means so much more when I hear that from him.

Without adding any more to this, he rubs his hands together and turns his head towards the bag he brought here, and he grabs it. He parts the top to look inside, my heart beating harder as if I was expecting something, but he takes some bandages out, some adulterated alcohol, and some ointment cream as well.

I do not talk but suspect him to know about my feet, and he stands up, he comes towards me and sits down, getting us way closer than usual. "Can I?" he leans forth to touch my ankle. "I...I cannot wear bandages or band-aids..."

"Why?" he straightens his back to get in a proper position, wondering why I would refuse to be treated. "Sookyung said it doesn't look—"

"Okay," he does not care about listening to the rest of my sentence but goes up, kneels down in front of me, and cups my ankle in one of the most gentle manners. So I let him do it, and I will worry about the consequences later on.

I flinch and groan as soon as he pulls my left shoe down, getting his eyes to dart up to mine. "I'm sorry. Do you want to do it?"

A 'yes' leaves my mouth, fearing that he might hurt me even more by accident. I take my high heels off and put them next to me, then his warm skin gets into contact with mine, his long fingers holding my strained calf. Just moving my feet nearly hurts as much as if a car had run over them.

"Jeez..." he carefully holds it with his other hand to take hold of the alcohol and some cotton. "How can you still walk with those feet...?" he gazes up at me, and I shrug, having no other answer to give. "Has he seen them?"

"Well, I live with him, so yes..." I do not tell a lie, but a sigh escapes him. He mumbles some words under his breath, but so quietly that I cannot figure out what he said, so I watch him soak some cotton with the alcohol, and I bite my lips once he inches it closer to my injuries.

"I'm going to try to make it as quick as possible," he warns me before going for it, and I smile but nod, feeling soft. I keep my cool to not seem weak, and he passes the cotton over the opened wounds, obliging me to close my eyes and curl my toes, but the feeling of his thumb caressing my skin manages to reduce the stinging pain.

I glance down at what he is doing, clenching my jaw to find a way to relieve the burn. "It's over," he puts an end to it, allowing me to breathe out and put my toes back how they were, and he now takes hold of the ointment cream, doing everything with one hand. He takes the top off and applies some of it on the right spots, then he rubs it, gently.

Watching him do all of this gives rise to some questions. "Why are you doing this?" I set my eyes on him, but he keeps them on my foot to focus. "I want to. I don't like to see you in pain."

I do not let out anything, and I stare at his features. His fluffy hair through which I want to run my fingers, his thin and glossy lips that sometimes make me want to sin, his big eyes into which I sometimes fall.

Why am I feeling like that? I should not succumb so easily.

"Let's put the bandage now," he goes to the last step, so I stay silent and enjoy the bird's-eye view I have of him.

5 minutes later...

"Here," he skims his hand up my calf to stand up, and he throws out all the stuff he used, then puts the cream and alcohol back in the bag but does not sit down, he goes up to the sink and washes his hands. "If you want a massage, tell me, alright?" he proposes to do, and I look at his reflection in the mirror before him.

"You've already done more than enough," I do not let my body talk since it would ask for it, but he lets a 'tsk' out of his mouth and turns around. "I haven't even done half of what you deserve."

"If you say so," I lower my look to the floor, and he wipes his hands to come back. "Yes, if I say so, sweetheart," he does not go back to his usual spot but sits down next to me, but since I have not shown my gratefulness yet, I lean over him to embrace him and feel his muscular body between my arms. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," he rubs my back and drops a kiss on my head, but he moves backwards to rest his body on the back of the sofa and have my head on his chest. "You deserve a lot of love," he whispers and combs my hair, so I do not move to be able to enjoy the way he is pampering me, but I check my watch at the vibration it gave.

< where are you? ]

I move back from Mister Jeon since I have to answer him, but his hand slides over my back.

[ with Mister Jeon >

< Kangdae is coming, and another vip too, so make sure to take care of them. I'll tell you once they're about to be here ]

[ Don't I have to stay with him instead? >

< No ]

He changed his mind. Suddenly.

"What's wrong?" he takes his hand off of me, surely worrying about what this man is telling me. "I have to leave to take care of other V.I.Ps," I do not answer Sookyung yet, not wanting to face other men, especially those ones.

"Alright, let me solve this," he takes hold of his phone to do as he did last night, but I read what he is sending, with a bit of shame.

[ Y/n stays with me, I'll pay more than last night >

More?

< No. She needs to work and be there for the others ]

[ I'll pay 1500 >

< 2300 ]

[ alright >

"This guy would do anything for money," he drops his phone on the table, in a harsh manner. "You can stay here if you want. This will be a great opportunity to let your feet rest."

"You shouldn't waste so much money on me..." I bring my hands between my thighs, but he bends his head back and ruffles his hair. "Why shouldn't I?"

"Because you need that for yourself," I answer with what makes sense to me, but he smiles and gazes into my eyes, holding his big veiny hands together. "I have more than enough for myself. Don't worry about that."

"Are you rich?" I ask, hoping for him to not be offended by this question, but his reaction quickly relieves me. "I guess I am, but with all the work that I do, it's a bit of a relief to know that I earn that much."

"True, you deserve it," I cannot deny, but he startles me with some sudden closeness. He wraps one arm around my waist, leans towards me, and shivers my entire body by touching me, then he presses his warm lips on my cheekbone. "I need to go to the restroom, I'll be back in a few seconds."

I look at him standing up, the butterflies still flying through my stomach and chest, and he peeks at me before entering the room.

•••

Midnight.

< go to Kangdae now, you've spent enough time with Jungkook, and I won't repeat myself this time ]

I sigh at the text, wondering what is going on with him today.

"I should work for the last two hours, Mister Jeon," I move forth on the sofa, but he expresses some discontent. "Is he ordering you around again?"

I do not know if I have the right to nod, so I smile and bend over to place my high heels in front of me. "I don't want him to get angry, otherwise, I will have to handle it, and it's not fun."

"If he gets mad at you, you call me, and I'll tell him to calm himself," he empties his glass and takes his jacket as if he was about to leave too, so I stand up but tidy up for him. "Do you want me to bring another bottle of Champagne?"

"No, I'm going back home in a few minutes," he says but causes disappointment without knowing. I wash my hands after throwing everything out, and I walk up to the door. "Why aren't you staying until it closes?"

"I'm only here for you, so I don't want to stay if you're away," he rises to leave the sofa, and he does not forget the bag.

I hate how special he makes me feel, he makes it even harder to not think about him all the time.

"I leave this here for tomorrow," he drops it on the fridge and hides his masculine hands in his trousers pockets. "Don't let anyone bother you, okay?"

"Yeah...I won't," I do not dare to ask him to stay, and I open the door to get out. I was feeling so good with him for the second time, and it felt so great to not have to walk or do anything, but I have to go back to work now.

We both walk down the stairs, the music hitting my brain with its loudness that I can never get used to, and once we are at the bottom of them, I turn towards him and raise my head up. "I'm leading you to the doors, right?"

"No, I'm going to say goodbye to Cherry. I'll see you tomorrow, have a good night and make sure to rest a lot," he runs his hands over the back of my head and smiles at me, before walking away.

I know it is only one hour without him, so it does not seem so long for a normal person, but the thing is that I miss him as soon as he is not near me. That is the problem.

— Next day —

Tuesday, July 20th, 2021.

8:30 am.

I get out of the bedroom after my usual morning routine, and I make my way to the kitchen since I need to cook for Jun.

I get the fruits, bread, and ingredients I need for this meal, and I wash my hands to start, but a door gets opened. I do not turn around to check what is wrong for Sookyung to leave his office, last night's bitterness still remaining in my throat after the way he acted.

"Good morning," he joins me, sliding his fingers over my lower back. "Good morning."

"Are you okay?" he leans back on the counter, his body staying close to mine. "Yes, and you?" I stop what I am doing to glance up at him, wondering if the reason for him to be so kind is that he wants to have sex. "Yeah. You haven't told me how everything went with Jungkook last night."

"It went well, why?" I get nervous, fearing that he might be trying something. He mentions him a bit too much compared to the other clients, this is odd. "I don't know. Since last night, he's been insisting a lot to have you with him."

"What did you talk about with him last night?" I ask him more bluntly than I did to Mister Jeon, setting my eyes on him, and a gulp goes down his throat. "Just some stuff. Why? Has he told you something?"

"No," I lie to him. "But I wanted to hear it from you."

He does not answer me, avoiding the matter. "There's something that bothers me with him lately," he crosses his arms over his chest. "What? He's kind."

"Yes, but too kind. It's weird," he states, speaking nonsense. "What does that even mean?" I raise my eyebrows at this sentence I do not like to hear, but he heaves a sigh and shrugs. "He's playing with you for sure. No men would treat you that way when they spend every night in a nightclub full of hot girls."

I momentarily stop what I am doing to set my eyes on him. I cannot believe he casually said that right in front of me.

"I mean..." he realizes his mistake pretty fast, straightening his back. "I didn't mean to say it like that, you know it, right? It's just that those girls are always dressed so sexy, so men like him, who go there all the time, they go there for a certain reason, and this is sexual satisfaction."

"Hm," I hear but do not listen, hating the way he speaks about other women and makes me feel stupid. "I just mean that he's acting too caring with you when, to him, you're literally just a woman he pays for attention."

If only he knew the reason why he does it, but he will never understand, he does not even want to anyway.

Not willing to opine myself and for sure start an argument, I keep my eyes on what I am cutting and try my best to not be disturbed by his presence near me. I do not like to have him near me anymore, I do not love him anymore, but I cannot leave, so I can only deal with it because I do this for my child. I will do anything for him to have all the things he needs.

"I just want you to avoid him a bit, he's useless, and he's acting too weird lately. I don't like it," he now spits on the person he used to call his best friend, showing despise for him only because he is not like him. Once again, I stay quiet and do not care about what he says. Mister Jeon will know about this, I will not keep it to myself.

"Alright?" he asks for an answer from me, and I nod, without meaning it. "Good," he moves from where he is to stand behind me and touches my hip. "I was looking at some stuff on the computer earlier after what we talked about, and I booked a trip to Hawaii. What do you think?"

I stop my actions, unhappy about the news. I turn my head to look at him, but he smiles, with fakeness while rubbing his hand over my side. "When?"

"In two weeks, we'll stay there for two weeks," he disappoints me even more. "We'll be in first class because I know you've been needing some time for yourself, and I want you to rest," he cups my waist to lean in and kiss my lips, so I pretend to be glad and thankful about it. "I didn't expect you to actually do it."

"You know I always do what I say," he tells a lie again, not even realizing how much of a joke this is. "Yeah," I fake a smile and go back to cooking, but he presses his lips on my neck, and his body against the back of mine. "I love you."

"I love you too," I painfully say with no sincerity, feeling horrible for being who I am, and he drifts his hands up to my shoulders to knead them. "Do you want a day off today?" he surprises me with a question he has not asked in years, but this time, I do not even think twice before answering. "No, I'm okay. I'll be on vacation in only two weeks, so I don't need it."

"Sure? What about your feet?" he gives me a massage, aiming at the right spots that are the most painful and which offer me the most pleasure. "It's okay. Don't worry about it."

"I know I haven't shown how much I care and love you lately, but I do, baby. Hm? I'm sorry for making you feel like I don't care anymore or never feel concerned about how you feel," he suddenly remembers who I am to him as if Mister Jeon had said and sparked something in his head. "I know, don't worry. You have a lot of work to do, you're always so busy and tired, so I understand."

"I love you so much, baby," he brings his hands down to encircle my waist with his arms. "I'm lucky to have you."