ALL BARK NO BITE | SADISTIC BEAUTY SPINOFF

Chapter 37

~ Room No. 99, Royal Rovicellio Hotel, Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul

Cha Wookyung lifted the glass of scotch to his lips, flaunting a cigarette in the other. He was wearing his work clothes, shirt, pants... a sleek tie. He was feeling too dizzy for the office so he came to his hotel room to recuperate. Oh Ilsung had phoned in just then and they got around to one of their usual quickies.

But he was still a walking shell. His attempts to dissociate made as much of a a difference as a drop in the sea so he was trying other things. His whole body was stiff from the sex, the previous nights and he wanted the substances to lubricate his joints into some semblance of human movement. If he was drunk enough, he could pretend to not know.

If he was drunk enough, he could forget how he lost him. How he begged his neighbours to know if he was staying with them or if they knew where he had gone. The way he walked every mile in every direction to see if there was a scrap of cloth, a whiff, a word or a sound that belonged to him.

He wanted to forget how pathetic he had become.

"Cha Wookyung, what the fuck is this?" Oh Ilsung came into the drawing room, wearing a bathrobe, his silvery hair in place and the smooth, dark skin of his chest exposed, he looked annoyed "You are ruining your life, how the hell are you going to run your business??"

Wookyung rolled his head over the headrest, looking sideways at his Hyung "I've been taking calls, editing, attending my meetings and going to office every day" he rasped, his voice different from all the aching, yelling, smoking and drinking he had done. He was barely himself at this point.

"It's not about that!!" Ilsung was irate "Being a businessman should take centrestage inside your head. You need sharpness and mindfulness for such a thing, you can't keep up as well as you think you would with all that's going on inside your head! This will not end well!" he scolded him.

Wookyung's eyes were smokey were sleep and his eyelids barely lifted, burning as red as the end of his imported cigarette, hazy from the alcohol "Pain is not new to me... I have sustained myself through years and years of it and still have my head on right... isn't that why you call me a Cha?" he sneered to Ilsung's chagrin.

"You asshole" he grated "I am putting in my time, talent and trust into this company, that's why I have a stake in your success!!" Ilsung pointed a sharp finger at him "If you fall sick, drown or drop dead somewhere, who's going to take care of everything??" to which Wookyung cracked his knuckles, smiling into his glass.

"Stop getting your panties in a bunch and go about your day, I'll take care of the rest" Wookyung went back to watching the smoke spirals, blowing them in pouffy circles "Even the way you talk to me... I know I shouldn't have gotten into this as your friend" He folded his arms, looking stern as he glared down at him in disdain

"Listen, we don't know each other at work, I'm your partner and I have to ensure that you give your 100%, I don't care about your secondary issues, I'm not compromising on my pay at any cost. You pull your shit up or else I walk out!" he griped as Wookyung pressed the frosty glass to his cheekbone, looking pained.

Ilsung knew that he was acting out of concern more than annoyance but Wookyung had been this way for all of his life. As an adult with a chance at success, he didn't want to see him suffer over a... nobody. He could see his dark, dead eyes behind his forced expressions and his hands gripping the glass and the cigarette to conceal the fact that they were shaking.

His bones looked sharper and the veins on his neck and arms had grown more prominent "You know I'm not slacking, if it's money you want then you know I have plenty of it" Wookyung whispered, his voice as menacing as a light warning. Ilsung braved the tide to utter the words that had been bothering him for so long.