Precautions of a Snakepit - Chapter 98
Everyone piled into different cars and dispersed. Won and Top Dog later ran into each other again at home.
“I thought you said you only smoked when you were in a bad mood.”
Technically, he said he only smokes when he feels like sh*t, but she didn’t want to say it like that, so she watered it down.
“Yeah, I felt like sh*t since my pretty girl wasn’t around.”
“If you didn’t like it, why didn’t you just barge in like you always do?”
“I didn’t want to ruin it for you.”
She looked at Top Dog for a moment, taken aback by his candid response.
“You have an unexpectedly good heart.”
“But I’m sure those bastards came out dressed like that to seduce you like the foxes they are.”
Won didn’t know where to begin with his retort. Target looked perfect from head to toe, but that was just his personality. Black Cat accidentally wore gloves on his hands, too. He looked like he may have tried to fix his hair, but…
Dumbfounded, she snapped back at him
“You think every man in the world has a dark heart for me like you?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re pretty.”
“Maybe to you.”
“No? I’ve seen all types of celebrities, but you’re still the prettiest.”
Top Dog didn’t look serious when he said that.
‘Bullshit.’
If he wasn’t bluffing but was telling the truth about seeing all types of celebrities, what kind of job did he have?
‘A corporate mobster.’
The ties between the entertainment industry and mobsters were no secret.
‘Former or current?’
Won didn’t like people who had to live in the dark. It was similar to the effects of homophobia. Won’s career is not something that can be exposed to the world and she wasn’t particularly proud of it. So if he was talking about mob stuff, she hoped it was a former job and not his current one.
Ordinarily, she would have stopped questioning things there, but she impulsively asked Top Dog another question.
“You mean… Just what do you do…”
At that moment, she heard a ringing. The source of the noise was Top Dog’s cell phone.
“Something came up so I have to go, but what did you say?”
“It’s nothing.”
She thought she wanted to know more about him. Maybe learning about Black Cat’s name and job fueled her desire.
Top Dog, staring at her with an inscrutable gaze, spoke up.
“We’ll talk when I get back.”
“I don’t really have anything to talk about.”
“No, you do.”
Laying down the framework for a future conversation, Top Dog prepared to leave. It was obviously an urgent matter, as he hurried without further ado.
“See you when I get back, pretty?”
He waited for a second as if he wanted her to see him off, and Won responded half a beat later.
“… uh, yeah, go.”
She heard the front door open and then close. It was just the usual noise of her daily life, but she was struck by a sense of disconnection. Before she could think about what it was, a sense of discomfort washed over her.
‘Was this house always so quiet?’
The house made no sound as she stood still. The windows were closed, so there wasn’t even the sound of curtains fluttering in the wind.
Just complete silence.
She hated the hustle and bustle of city life. She didn’t understand the benefits of white noise. Sleeping with the TV on or going to a cafe to study were options that didn’t exist for her, but she didn’t feel comfortable. She suddenly started to hate the silence.
It felt like there should be more noise. She felt like there should be more sounds, even when she wasn’t moving. She felt there should be another presence other than her, even if it wasn’t always pleasant, but another presence nonetheless. She felt like there should be warmth instead of desolation…
She stared up at the ceiling, her back completely against the backrest of the couch. She blankly stared at the white wallpaper and tried to organize her thoughts. An hour, two hours… By the time she had finished organizing her jumbled thoughts, the sun was setting outside the window.
Top Dog comforted her without even trying. When he did try, she mostly felt annoyed.
Nine times out of ten, he was a nuisance to her. Only once or twice did she feel positive toward her. No, maybe one or two times out of ten when she felt generous. Maybe one or two out of twenty, or one or two out of fifty… but she had to admit, those one or two times changed her. To her own surprise, she accepted it without resistance.
He taught her loneliness.
He fed her a poison called loneliness that she could have lived her whole life without knowing.
“I don’t even contribute to life anyway…”
Chuckling to herself, Won reached for the cell phone. She saved his number, though she had never called it.
Where are you?
After typing out those three words and sending them to Top Dog, she hit the back button. Then, she dialed another number in her contacts.
“Tell me his location.”
Top Dog doesn’t know it, but while he’s living with her, he’s under surveillance by the organization. There was a risk he could steal her information and pass it on to someone else.
It wasn’t long before a message popped up on her phone. She went down to the underground parking garage, plugged the address from the text into her navigation, and got behind the wheel.
It was in her nature to show up rather than wait for him. No, to be more honest, she couldn’t wait. She wanted to see him.
‘Well, not that I miss him a whole lot, but…’
She put up with it for as long as she could, but now it was because she was in a hurry.
She was almost at her destination when her phone went off and a message popped up on her navigation screen.
Change of location. 249, 00-ro, 00-gu, Seoul.
Apparently, Top Dog had moved.
‘He’s nearby, anyway.’
It wasn’t too far off from his original destination, so it wouldn’t affect her arrival time. Won shrugged it off and entered the address into the navigation system.
-L.J. Hotel
She froze at the name of the place that popped up. Her eyes darted between the address in the text and the one on her phone. She compared them letter by letter, and there was no mistake. She’d transcribed it perfectly.
Then, an additional piece of information appeared.
-Traveling with a female companion.
Her grip on the wheel tightened.
The hotel had a restaurant and a bar, and she couldn’t tell if he had intended to stay overnight. He could have walked into a five-star hotel with a woman on a weekend evening for any reason.
She imagined him eating at a hotel restaurant with a woman. He has a social life, so it’s entirely possible. Maybe he’s having a drink at a bar with a woman, which is part of his business. She logically understood why he might need to be at a bar with a woman, but she couldn’t emotionally grasp it.
‘What if they go to a room together…’
Won consciously stopped her thoughts. It will never be too late for her to make a judgment after seeing it with her own eyes.
She pulled up in front of the hotel. As she rolled down her window to greet the oncoming staff, she spotted Top Dog coming out of the hotel entrance.
“Sorry, I don’t need valet parking.”
After apologizing to the employee, she turned her car around. As she honked, Top Dog recognized her car and approached. Squatting so he was at eye level with the car window, he barked like a big dog meeting its master.
“What the hell are you doing here? Did you come to pick me up?”
“Sir, is this by any chance…?”
An unfamiliar voice interrupted. It was a woman, though she couldn’t see her because Top Dog was blocking her. It seemed to be the female companion in the messages.
“Sir? Him?”
Won’s ears perked up at the strange title.
“Yep, my girlfriend is the most beautiful girl in the world.”
Won froze at Top Dog’s blunt reply.
‘Girlfriend? Since when?’
“Are you going first?”
“Yes, yes. Goodbye.”
Top Dog nonchalantly climbed into the passenger seat, just in time to see the woman outside bending down to say goodbye.
After watching him fasten his seatbelt, Won pulled away. Her mind was racing, and she had a million things she wanted to ask him. After some thought, she spoke up.
“Aren’t you surprised?”
“About? Our fateful meeting?”
“Not our fateful meeting. I know your every move.”
“So whatever I do is me playing in the palm of your hand, honey. Should I be thrilled to feel possessed and bound?”
“I’m not kidding. It’s going to be like this as long as you’re with me.”
There was no way he could have known that their encounter was no accident. He must have realized he was being watched. Won decided to give him a chance. A chance to choose to stop rationalizing this meeting.
“I’m not playing around, either, sweetheart.”
His overly flirtatious demeanor agitated her.
‘You don’t even understand what you’re talking about.’
She moved on to the next topic.
“What’s with the girlfriend thing?”
“Uh, we’re dating, right?”
“When…”
“I’m not trashy enough to do those things when we’re not even dating.”
“What things?”
“F*cking you, c*mming in you, using toys…”
“Stop it.”
Won almost slammed on the brakes, but he didn’t stop.
“If you’ve done all that, you should be in a relationship because we need to be responsible for each other to the end. Or are you just going to start over with another guy in the same field as you? Is it nothing for you to just eat another man and throw them away?”
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