Double-Piece

Ajin was staring blankly at the ceiling. From far away, she could hear Seokju writing something. Crackle, crackle. Rustle. It was a pleasant sound to hear. Compared to the snoring of the servants who were sleeping together, it was like music from a music box.

Ajin glanced at Seok-ju out of the corner of her eye and ended up seeing his room later.

Seok-ju’s room was simple. The president’s office, which was used by the president of a gambling house, was filled with all sorts of decorations and luxuries. Seok-ju, although a wealthy man who could easily give Jong a large sum of five thousand won, did not have many decorations.

While the tea room and the living room he shared with his colleagues had large chandeliers, his room had only lamps in the shape of hats with their bulbs clearly visible and round lamps embedded in the walls. It was also strange that I was lying down on the floor instead of on a bed.

The dresser was plain and plain, and the sofa on one side looked expensive. However, the room did not look empty or shabby, because as soon as you opened the door, a picture larger than Ajin was hanging on the wall.

It was a picture of waves.

The wide paper was filled with waves, and the first part of the waves was covered with thick ink, but the lines gradually became thinner. The dark and blue colors gave off a sense of coldness. It was a powerful picture, but the fluffy foam also looked soft.

It felt like I was looking at the real ocean, even though Ajin had never seen the ocean in her entire life.

In one corner of the painting, the word [Elimination meeting] was boldly written. At a rough guess, I thought it might be Taehoe of the Taehoepa. Taehoe means gathering of waves.

Ajin, who had been looking at the painting for a while, finally opened her eyes after her eyes became heavy. He covered her with the blanket. Maybe it was because she was looking at the waves. Her body felt chilly. Seokju, as if he was hot, unbuttoned two buttons of his shirt from the top and rolled up his sleeves, but Ajin wrapped the blanket even tighter.

“… … .”

Ajin stared blankly at Seokju. Seokju was still writing something down and checking it. He didn’t even spare Ajin a glance.

Ah-jin was really upset about that. It was a relationship where there was nothing to be upset about, but she was like that. I was just a servant who came to help the boss, who couldn’t sleep, get a good night’s sleep.

Ajin, who had been licking her lower lip, couldn’t hold it in any longer and called Seokju.

“president.”

“huh.”

Seok-ju answered while looking at A-jin. A-jin turned towards Seok-ju. Their eyes met from a distance.

“Why don’t you use the bed, sir?”

“Because I’m a commoner by nature, I can’t sleep well in bed.”

At those words, Ah-jin laughed. A CEO who boasts that he is a commoner in front of a real commoner. Regardless of what kind of job Seok-ju does, he eats good food, lives in a nice house, and has a lot of money in his wallet. He is definitely not a commoner.

Seok-ju raised one eyebrow at A-jin’s laughter. A-jin rolled up the blanket and hugged it tightly as she spoke.

“How can you be of low birth when you live in a house like this?”

“… … .”

“That’s because he is a noble by nature.”

“… … .”

“No matter what kind of life you lived in the past, you have now found your place.”

“… … .”

“Auntie Kkotnim said that you can only know your true fate if you see someone die. She said that even if you live your whole life being affluent, if you start to tremble when you get old, you’re all ruined. If you do that, your next life will be difficult.”

Seok-ju blinked his eyes slowly. Then he let out a snicker. It was strange that A-jin, who didn’t look like that, spoke like an old man. Seok-ju thought that the ‘flower lady’, whose face he didn’t even know, was having a huge influence on A-jin.

“I don’t think my death will be befitting of a nobleman.”

“Hey, how would you know that? The world changes so quickly these days. You don’t know if the president will become a member of the National Assembly or the president, do you?”

Ajin grumbled. Seokju rested his chin on the desk. Then he quietly looked down at Ajin with his pitch-black eyes.

“you?”

“yes?”

“Ajin, what do you want to be?”

Ajin scratched her chin at the returned question. Then, when she saw Seokju’s eyebrows furrow, she hid her hand under the blanket.

“I… … don’t have anything I want to be, and I just wish I didn’t die.”

Seok-ju’s eyes crinkled at the absurd words. He opened his mouth wide and laughed. Then he pressed his cheek down and the smile subsided.

“You want to become immortal?”

“No, no. I will die when I become a grandfather in fifty years, but I want to live until then. I don’t care whether I live as a servant or as a successful rich man. I just want to live. I don’t want to be sick, and I don’t want to die.”

“… … .”

The expression on Seok-ju’s face disappeared. He glanced at A-jin’s legs hidden under the blanket. It was not hard to understand why he was afraid of pain and death. I did not know the exact circumstances, but I did not want to hear about it. Misfortune becomes more miserable when shared.

At that moment, Ajin spread out the blanket with her arms and legs and pulled it up to her chin. Seeing this, Seokju asked in an affectionate voice.

“Are you cold?”

“A little.”

“I’m hot.”

“… … .”

“Come here.”

Seok-ju knocked on the desk. A-jin blinked. Then she slowly got up. She didn’t ask why. A life where she came when she was told to and left when she was told to. It was very natural to A-jin.

Ajin stood next to the desk. Then Seokju put his hands under both of his armpits and lifted him up. The destination was on Seokju’s legs.

“Uh, sir… … .”

Ajin squirmed in an awkward position. Seokju grabbed his waist tightly and made him look forward.

It was a strange sight, with Seok-ju sitting on a chair and A-jin sitting on his thigh. Even when I was little, I had never been held like this by anyone.

Ajin rolled her eyes, not knowing what to do. A warm feeling seeped into her back. Seokju was hugging Ajin from behind. Her body instantly became warm, as if she had been covered in a thick blanket. Ajin’s stiff shoulders began to melt away.

“Stay still. If you keep fussing around, I’ll throw you away.”

“……yes.”

Seok-ju rested his chin on A-jin’s shoulder and picked up the fountain pen again. A-jin’s eyes followed Seok-ju’s hand as he wrote. The sound of the pen clicking sounded closer than when he was lying on the blanket. It was strangely peaceful.

Soon, Ajin had completely adapted to Seokju’s embrace. The feeling of Seokju’s pepper under her buttocks was not so strange. Rather, she felt better because his embrace was warmer than a blanket. Soon, Ajin sagged into Seokju’s embrace like a rice cake boiled in water.

Seok-ju finished his work while kneading A-jin’s soft, warm thighs.

“How come the boss is so warm?”

Ajin asked with her eyes half-closed.

“In the summer, most people will be warm except for you. You’re the one who’s strange.”

“I see… … .”

“Busan is hotter than Seoul. When it was so hot, I even went into the water to sleep.”

“Yeah, I see… … .”

Ajin answered slowly. Seokju laughed, making a deflating sound at Ajin’s strangely short speech. Ajin dozed off, then leaned her face against Seokju’s chest, then fiddled with the ballpoint pen rolling around on the desk, then dozed off again.

Then she found a square gold plate on the corner of the desk. It was a business card holder made of something that was either iron or gold. Ajin moved her fingers to pick it up. Then she raised her head and looked at Seokju. She was going to put it down if he told her not to touch it. However, Seokju glanced at her and focused on her work again.

Ajin, who judged it as permission, opened her business card holder. A crisp business card appeared. It was black with gold edges on each corner. The letters were all white, but it wasn’t a bright white, so it felt like silver.

[Taehoe Trading Co., Ltd.

President Kang Seok-ju

Address: Across from Academy Theater, Jongno, Seoul

Phone: (02) 732-5023]

Ajin stared at the crisp business card quietly. Then she turned around. [汰會物山] was written on the back of the business card, and there was a white wave pattern in the background. Ajin turned the business card over again.

Even though he couldn’t read lotion, he still looked cool. Having a business card that could describe himself. Ajin, who had no identity, was envious.

As Ajin couldn’t take her eyes off the business card, Seokju’s gaze also turned downwards. He looked down at Ajin’s slowly fluttering eyelashes and tapped his own name with his index finger.

“Day and night.”

“yes?”

“It means that Kang Seok-ju’s stock price is low.”

“… … So?”

“Your name means early evening.”

“How do you know that?”

“There is nothing I don’t know.”

Ajin’s mouth fell open at Seokju’s playful words, which he shrugged his shoulders. “I see,” he muttered to himself as if he were talking to a child. Seokju let out a hollow laugh, feeling as if he was teasing an innocent child. He lifted Ajin’s bangs up. A round, white forehead resembling the moon was revealed.

“I guess it’s hot because it’s daytime and you’re cold because it’s nighttime.”

“… … .”

“That’s why you have to choose a good name.”

At those words, Ajin made a rather serious expression and said, “Hmm.” Then she looked up at Seokju and rebelled.

“But I like my name.”

“okay?”

“Yes. It’s better than names like Byung-gap, Chang-gae, Dol-po, and Bok-soe. I’d rather be cold all my life than live with names like those.”

Seok-ju burst out laughing for an unexpected reason. Yes, it would be better now than living with such a common and ridiculous name. It was even funnier when he thought of A-jin, whose name was Byung-gap. Seok-ju couldn’t stop laughing easily and was giggling, but A-jin waved her business card.

“Please give me one of these.”