“What’s this?” Lee Young-jin finally asked, his voice trembling.
“It’s a contract,” Seo Seunghyun casually replied.
Lee Young-jin’s shoulders slumped.
A contract.
There had never been a time when using such a thing had turned out well.
His breathing became shallow.
He had seen numerous cases disguised as employment or labor contracts, representing a modern form of slavery. It wasn’t just limited to some third-world countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Such unethical violations of human rights were happening even in developed countries. It was unnecessary to mention the sacrifices made by those victims of the exploitative demand for non-pregnant Omegas.
The demand for non-pregnant Omegas was high precisely because the supply was scarce.
As he imagined countless worst-case scenarios and even worse situations he could face, he stared intently at the beginning of the contract, his whole body tensed.
After a long while, Lee Young-jin managed to open his mouth.
“…Do I have the right to refuse?”
“Why are you thinking about refusal first?” Seo Seunghyun questioned with curiosity.
He reached out his arm and lightly tapped the beginning of the contract with his fingertips.
“Read it first and then think.”
It was another expression of saying there was no right to refuse.
Lee Young-jin took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and reached out his hand toward the contract.
[Expert Employment Contract]
Underneath the emphasized title, concise sentences in a neat font followed. The names of Party A and Party B were clearly stated at the beginning of the agreement. [Seo Seunghyun (hereinafter referred to as “Party A”) and Lee Young-jin (hereinafter referred to as “Party B”) enter into the following contract.] Lee Young-jin lifted his head slightly and glanced at Seo Seunghyun. There was no change in expression on the alpha’s cool and composed face. Lee Young-jin lowered his gaze again and continued reading the contract.
The contract was short, and every sentence was concise.
Even though Lee Young-jin had no knowledge of labor law or employment law, he could easily read and understand it.
And it was not what he had expected.
Taking several breaths and repeatedly inhaling and exhaling, Lee Young-jin barely made it through Article 2, the section on the contract period, and reached Article 3, the section on wages.
[The monthly salary is calculated based on 170,000 won per hour, assuming a 40-hour workweek.]
Lee Young-jin’s brain accepted it naturally as 17,000 won per hour.
17,000 won. To him, it was an astonishing amount.
He silently pronounced the five-digit number in his mind several times. It was more than double the pay he received from his part-time job at a fried chicken restaurant.
The contract continued with Articles 4 and 5. There was nothing noteworthy. The working hours and scope of work were simply stated as being determined by “Party A.”
Lee Young-jin finally lifted his head.
His eyes met directly with Seo Seunghyun, who had been looking down at him with a slightly bored expression.
“What kind of work is this?”
“It’s the same work you did before.”
Seo Seunghyun casually replied.
“Like cracking Easter eggs or hacking into HSBC servers, something like that….”
His eyes narrowed, and the corners of his mouth twitched upward.
“In simple terms, it’s about helping to retrieve the second item. This time, I’m asking for your help.”
“Ah…”
Lee Young-jin’s eyes widened.
He alternated his gaze between Seo Seunghyun’s face and the contract, then looked back at Seo Seunghyun.
“Helping to retrieve an item? Me?”
“Why? Are you suddenly trying to show loyalty to your former employer? Even if I don’t know who that bastard is, do you think I’d let you go easily knowing that things have gone haywire like this?”
Lee Young-jin’s gaze dropped.
The suppressed worries surged and overflowed. With everything that had happened, he still hadn’t been able to contact his teacher. He had no idea about the current situation of Ji Jung-hoon and Park Eun-young, who were released in Shanghai. And in the midst of all that, Seo Seunghyun was asking him to help find the second item…
“I-I don’t have the ability to help you with that…”
“Don’t worry.”
Seo Seunghyun reached out and lightly tapped Lee Young-jin’s cheek with his index finger, smiling with his eyes.
“Just do it like you did in Shanghai.”
“In Shanghai…”
Lee Young-jin’s eyes glazed over as he fumbled over the single-page contract.
Amidst the hurricane raging in his mind, a careless remark slipped out of his mouth.
“I thought the task you would assign me would be, uh, something like that.”
“That?”
Seo Seunghyun glanced down at him, and soon his lips curled up in a slight smile.
“Ah, that?”
He smiled softly and extended his hand, gently gripping Lee Young-jin’s jaw from chin to just under the ear. With a firm hold, he turned Lee Young-jin’s head. As their eyes met, Lee Young-jin lowered his gaze and looked under the dining table. Seo Seunghyun lightly tapped his cheek with his fingertip, urging him to look up. Lee Young-jin reluctantly raised his eyes, and Seo Seunghyun chuckled.
“You were confident when you suggested filming a sex video, but now you find this embarrassing? What’s the standard?”
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