Hotline Hoseok • VHOPE [18+]

Buying Your Time

Taehyung grins, "I may not be as old to be your sugar daddy. But I sure as hell can be your sugar hyung."

Hoseok scoffs, an interesting smile plays on his lips as he shakes his head, trying to absorb the situation. "Seriously?"

"Where's the harm?" Taehyung says as he steps forward, "I pay for your tuition fee," His index finger raises Hoseok's chin, his face close to him, he whispers softly in his deep ocean-like voice "And you spend your time with me."

Hoseok bites his lip in thought. It's no doubt his heart was hammering in his chest as the hot guy made such an attractive offer.

He takes a harsh gulp, trying to maintain his resolve. He holds Taehyung's hand and pushes it away.

"I cannot rationalise your actions. You may call me unprofessional or whatever you want, but I don't want to be a part of this-"

Taehyung grabs his waist and swiftly pulls him closer, placing a soft kiss on Hoseok's lips. It surprises Hoseok to his core, his heart skips a beat. He shrieks and pulls back. "Wh-what did you do that fo-"

Hoseok blinks frivolously, sighing heavily in disbelief, "Crazy man!" He shrieks and stomps on the floor in frustration and strides out of the room, shutting the door harshly behind him.

||

The next day, Hoseok wakes up in his one bedroom small studio apartment, feeling a bit sad remembering last night. It was not because of the strange man he met but because the man had to have such a complicated lifestyle.

But the stranger he met last night, his charm, his smile, his voice... The whole of him was intoxicating. Sometimes, morals are hard to keep in mind, but Kim Taehyung made it excruciatingly harder. Hoseok was on the edge of losing control last night, good thing he managed himself.

But this morning, frustration and regret washed over him.

I have stripped for married men a hundred times, I've even escorted married women and men without a second thought of concern. Then why did I have to be so hesitant with this man?

The thing was, the married people Hoseok rendered his services to were one-sided. He never got to see the partner of their client, and it posed no problem as emotions didn't come into play.

But when he saw the beautiful young lady who later he learnt was Taehyung's wife, his conscience felt awaken. To have in mind the image of a woman who would be hurt as her husband fools around... Hoseok didn't want to be cause of such pain. Hence, the hesitance.

After long minutes of thinking, Hoseok tiredly gets out of bed. He notices the cheque on the counter. Picking it up, he decides to cash it.

Freshening up, he gets a quick breakfast of fried eggs and bread alongside some juice. He slips into his jacket and goes out of the apartment.

As he steps out, he's disappointed by the disappearance of snow. "Where did it go?" He felt even more sad but just sighd it off and visits the bank.

He feels awfully anxious as he enters the bank, the lingering possibility of the cheque bouncing makes him break into a cold sweat.

As he deposits the cheque with shaky hands, he waits for the processing to be done. Was I scammed? I don't even know where to find Kim Taehyung to get my money...

"Sir?" The lady at the reception seemed to be calling Hoseok for a few times. Hoseok realizes that only now, "Sorry! Yeah?"

"Would you like me to transfer the sum amount to your savings account?"

A breeze of relief spreads throughout Hoseok's body, he smiles hugely, "Yes, please."

The lady smiles back, "Okay, please wait a second-" She does a few more things on her workstation before she looks at Hoseok, "It's done. Have a nice day, sir."

"Thank you, you too have a nice day." Hoseok proceeds to walk out of the bank and with every passing step, he feels more excited and jumpy.

As soon as he steps out, he yells in excitement and laughter, "Hell yeah!" He fist bumps the air. I can finally finish paying last semester's arrear fees!

He was so happy, and all stress left him for a second. It felt as if he was back to those days when he didn't have to take the help of the escort and stripping business to meet ends. It unconsciously made tears glaze over his eyes too.

He was happy, but he was crying.

A minute later, the consistent heaviness in his chest hit again. Now I have to earn more to pay for this semester's due fees...

He walks back sadly to his apartment, rubbing the unstoppable tears on his way. As he closes the door, his phone rings with a tone he has been familiar with for the past year. He reaches out into his pocket and pulls out a smartphone. The one for business.

And there on the screen, he notices an incoming call from an unknown number. New client?

He sniffles a bit and rubs the tears off his eyes properly. He clears his throat before picking up the call.

"Hello?"

"Hotline Hoseok?" The person on the line enquires.

Hoseok sighs internally, time for enthusiastic escorting.

"Yeah! It's Jung Hoseok, I'm young, handsome, educated, and great at acting. I can be whoever you want; your boyfriend, husband brother, or your cousin, be it any imaginary person that you need to accompany you!"

As he utters his repetitive tagline, the person on the line starts laughing. Hoseok pauses and hears carefully, he gasps as he realises the familiar nature of the voice.

"K-Kim Taehyung?! How did you get my number?!"

"Did you forget you gave me your card yesterday?"

"Oh!" Hoseok sighed exasperatedly, "Damn."

"Yeah, damn." Taehyung says, "And well, interesting tagline you have there." He continues chuckling.

"Wh-why are you calling me?" Hoseok asks suspiciously. No lies, he was slightly happy to hear Taehyung's voice again even if his morals were screaming turmoil within him.

"Since my account has been debited with 1.5 million won, and this soon, so I thought I should check up on you. You really urgently needed the money, huh? Glad I could help."

Hoseok clenches his jaw, "Yeah. I did." That's all he could say before taming his ego a bit and uttering an uncomfortable "Thanks."

"Let's meet tonight over dinner at 9 pm. I'll send you the restaurant location,"

"Wait, wait, wait a second. Who do you think you are? Why would I even meet you?"

Taehyung chuckles, "Don't you need the money? I thought you were clever. I'm not asking you to come for nothing. I'm buying your time. Have dinner with me and I will pay you half a million won."

Half a million?!

Hoseok finds himself shocked once again from Taehyung's eccentric behaviour.

"Well, n-"

"Think about it carefully, Jung Hoseok. No more nasty disgusting clients, no more hustling, no more harrassment. You need to pay your tuition fee, right? This will be a much easier way to get done with it faster than having strangers grope you every other day."

Hoseok pauses, his mind messy with rising conflict. He could hear his heartbeat and feel his forehead sweating. The deafening silence accompained with the static noise of the phone was all that existed in the space for a few long minutes. Taehyung wasn't saying anything either as he waited in anticipation for Hoseok's answer.

Hoseok finally heaves a sigh and takes a deep breathe, trying to reach the correct decision. Ah well, fuck it.

"Fine." He mutters.

"Great! See you at nine, then."