Lee Young-jin stared at the contract without answering, then turned his head to meet Seo Seunghyun’s eyes.
One of Seo Seunghyun’s eyebrows twitched. After a moment, he asked again.
“You won’t do it?”
Thirty or maybe three hundred questions flooded Lee Young-jin’s mind.
That item, Easter egg, encryption code, digital forensics, SHA algorithm, Ji Jung-hoon and Park Eun-young, part-time job at a chicken restaurant, Choi Yoon-seok, a 450,000-won monthly rent deposit room, a high-paying job of 170,000 won per hour, teacher, a debt of 2.345 billion won, teacher, sex video, teacher.
“I will do it.”
In response to his answer, Seo Seunghyun smiled as if he had expected it, his eyes forming a crescent shape.
He took out a pen from his vest pocket and extended it towards Lee Young-jin. After hesitating for a moment, Lee Young-jin accepted it.
Signing the contract of his own volition was a first for him.
The hand that wrote his name at the very bottom of the contract trembled slightly. The trembling grew stronger as his hand approached the blank space for entering the resident registration number.
“Why are you so nervous? I won’t devour you.”
At that moment, Seo Seunghyun gently covered the back of his hand with his palm.
Lee Young-jin raised his head and looked into his eyes. The neon sign light seeping in from outside cast a glow on his dry irises, making half of his pupils a vibrant crimson and the other half a somber gray. Lee Young-jin gazed at his eyes for a moment, then lowered his gaze to the contract on the table. His still hand began to move again.
He wrote one of the resident registration numbers he remembered on the contract. Seo Seunghyun quickly scribbled the first few digits of the resident registration number.
The pen filled in the signature line of the second contract, and the tip of the pen stopped at the final digit on the paper. Seo Seunghyun took the pen away.
He remained in that position, placing one hand on the table and bending his waist to elegantly sign his name at the bottom of the contract.
“Right.”
As if something had just occurred to him, he tilted his head slightly and looked down at Lee Young-jin.
His eyes still held a playful glimmer.
“Oh, I forgot to include a confidentiality clause. Can I write it here?”
Without waiting for Lee Young-jin’s answer, he quickly scribbled words in the signature line and the empty space below Article 5.
[Special Provision Clause <Confidentiality>
During the performance of the duties and in the process of entering into and performing this contract, all information obtained shall be strictly kept confidential by Party “B,” and Party “B” shall restrict the use of all goods and property, including electronic devices used during the contract period, provided by Party “A” for the purpose of maintaining confidentiality.]
It was as if he had memorized it, writing the words swiftly and decisively.
He then placed his own signature once again on the two overlapping sheets of the contract. Lee Young-jin, in a daze, followed suit as instructed. He hadn’t even properly read the last special provision.
It was done in an instant.
Seo Seung-hyun folded one copy of the contract and tucked it into his embrace, his expression satisfied like a carnivorous beast having made a kill. Then, he handed the remaining copy to Lee Young-jin, who dumbfoundedly extended his hands to receive it.
He silently gazed at the contract he had signed of his own volition. After fidgeting with it for a while, he softly spoke.
“I’ll work hard.”
His voice was small, and his face as he muttered those words was forlorn. But beneath the long, drooping eyelashes, a tear glistened as if laughing, creating a glimmering dot. It was so confusing that even the object of the sentence in the statement “I’ll work hard” became ambiguous.
Seo Seung-hyun’s eyes narrowed further, and the corners of his mouth lifted.
With an eerie smile, he tilted his head slightly to the side.
“What are you going to work hard on?”
“Anything… whatever the CEO tells me to do.”
Anything, work hard on anything. It sounded as if he would work hard, even if it meant sucking a dick when ordered to.
Maybe it really meant that.
[Article 5 <Scope of Work>
Party “B” shall faithfully comply with and perform the duties and tasks specified by Party “A.” The scope and content of the work shall be determined by Party “A’s” designation.]
As the dry language of the contract was spoken on Lee Young-jin’s plump lips, it sounded completely different.
Seo Seung-hyun interrupted the thoughts that were about to continue and turned his body back towards the sink.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
He opened the cupboard and took out a bread bag with a close expiration date as he spoke.
“You haven’t eaten anything since the plane.”
A mischievous glint appeared in his almond-shaped eyes.
“I actually wanted to feed you something back then, but we didn’t have the luxury. Neither of us did.”
Lee Young-jin, who didn’t even understand the suggestive undertone in that sentence, simply stared at him foolishly.
Seo Seung-hyun inserted four slices of bread into the toaster and walked over to the refrigerator. He opened the fridge door, refilled the tumbler with ice, and poured carbonated water.
Lee Young-jin, who had been absentmindedly sitting in front of the table, finally snapped out of his trance. Hourly wage of 170,000 won. Comprehensive wage system. He quickly stood up from his seat.
“I’ll do it.”
He walked away at a fairly fast pace.
“Tell me. Do I have nothing to do?”
Seo Seung-hyun chuckled as he took out grape jam from the refrigerator.
“Things like that are not part of your duties, so don’t waste your time.”
Lee Young-jin stared at him with a dumbfounded expression. Not part of his duties? His hands, slightly lifted in a comforting gesture, hesitated awkwardly and then disappeared behind his back.
Leave a Reply