what money can buy | jjk

02

You visit store after store, and although Jeongguk usually gets bored and irritated with the people around him and prefers to order things from the comfort of his home, he finds himself having an okay time. You ask him about himself, what he studies, if he has any hobbies, and he answers all of your questions, surprised to see you listen intently. The stores he follows you into are mostly ones containing electronics, and you explain that you need different kinds of batteries for your smoke alarms and fake candles, as well as wanting to try a particular lens that you can clip onto your phone.

"Oooh, that one! Can you reach it?" You point to the highest shelf, which is most definitely out of your reach.

"This one?" Jeongguk double checks as he plucks it down for you. You nod, and as soon as it's in your hands, turn the package around to read the product specifications.

Judging by the disappointed huff you let out, Jeongguk guesses that the lens isn't what you're looking for.

"What is it that you want? A fisheye?"

"Yeah, you know what it is?" you ask, handing him the lens to put back.

"I do. I'm also into photography," he reveals, watching your eyes shine with excitement before turning his attention to the shelves to help you search. When asked about his hobbies, he'd spoken mostly about his interests in dancing and working out.

"Really? What kinda camera do you use?"

"Currently a Nikon D7500, but I'm saving up for a 750 and the 70-200 objective," he sighs dreamily. Camera equipment is expensive.

"Those are great!" You smile, "is that the dream camera then?"

"Nah, the dream is the D850, but you know, that's like three grand just for the body."

"Yeah, that's pretty steep," you agree, making Jeongguk forget that you're not just another broke uni student like himself.

---

"Okay, well, I had a great time," you stop outside the fifth store and look at him with a happy smile. "Thank you so much for agreeing to meet me."

Jeongguk doesn't really know what to say. It hasn't been more than an hour, so he didn't expect it to end already.

"Uh, well, you paid a lot for it," he jokes, and you chuckle. He finds his smile widening at the sound.

"I did, didn't I? Anyway, how are you getting home, do you want me to get you a cab?"

You have such kind eyes, Jeongguk thinks. So warm. Honestly, he wouldn't mind spending more time with you, even though he never liked the mall.

"Oh, no, I'm fine. I live close by, so I'll just walk. Thank you, though."

Then, with a slight bow and a 'goodbye, I'll be in touch,' you turn on your heel and leave him there to wonder what he just experienced. He signed up to be a sugar baby, expecting to be paid to fuck desperate older women, but here he is, and the only touching that's occurred was the handshake at the start.

Outside the door to his shared apartment, Jeongguk realizes something. He never asked about the money. Shit. Not that he wouldn't willingly spend an hour with you without receiving a fortune for it, but he expected to be paid now, and god knows, he really needs it.

The first thing he does when he's unlocked the door and kicked his shoes off is to log into his bank account, where he's surprised to see the money already waiting for him. Oh yeah, he'd given you his details when you first agreed to meet a week ago. What's even more surprising is to see that the transaction was made two hours before the date. Risky, what if he hadn't shown up?