Healer

Cha Yiseok and Sungjae were each lying on the sofa opposite each other, with their shirt unbuttoned and tie loosened. The two men in well-rounded offices and suits looked urban, but only acted like country old men. Han Sungjae twisted his body, looked at the wall clock and frowned.

“Tell me something. Why is lunch time so short, whether at school or now?”

“A break is short and sweet. If it’s a long break, it’s no longer a break.”

Cha Yiseok closed his eyes and enjoyed the confusion. Han Sungjae said while smoking a cigarette.

“Oh, I heard that they are all eunuchs, is it true?”

Who? When Cha Yiseok asked a question with his eyes, Han Sungjae spoke.

“The Paradiso singers. Yesterday, Hyunjoo pretended to be drunk and touched one of them, and, well, his sacks were empty. At first he thought he had touched the wrong thing, so he didn’t check again. But it’s not the first time that’s happened. They’re kinda weird. Their singing voice and their skin are too clear without a single beard hair.”

“Is it a castrato?”

“Cas… what? What kind of bread is that?”

“A castrated singer. In the medieval West, castrated opera singers were used instead of women.”

“Don’t tell me, in modern times, they do that thing to healthy kids… Wait, if that’s true, you’re saying that they can’t even act as men and get aroused. Suddenly, I feel that they’re pitiful.”

“Hmm…” Yiseok smoked the remainder of his cigarette on his finger.

“It must be bullshit. Beards can be removed by permanent hair removal, and the voices can be trained.”

“What about Cocaine?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t even get to see him.”

“Then again, the guy who works there wouldn’t let me touch him. How is it? Do you think embracing Cocaine would taste good? The face is also so-so.”

Sungjae asked. Yiseok took a cigarette and spoke with an incorrect pronunciation.

“It’s good to try it once.”

Men aren’t bad either, but Cha Yiseok preferred a soft female body. Of course, if Cocaine spreads his legs on his own, it wouldn’t be a problem. Suddenly Han Sungjae wrinkled his eyebrows.

“Ah, this. I remembered it again.”

“What?”

“Yaba or Yabawi1, the jerk who spoke informally to us yesterday. How old are we in this debaucherous industry? Isn’t this the first time we’ve had such a guy? How can he speak informally to the customer?”

Han Sungjae chewed a cigarette filter.

“They said it’s because he’s Thai, but I think we were deceived. As far as I can see, he’s Korean. They’re just trying to avoid having to compensate and save face…”

“Yaba, Yaba…”

“It’s a cheap drug.” Cha Yiseok muttered. At that time, he was quite drunk. They all wore the same masks, so it wasn’t accurate, but he was an impressionable guy with chapped lips and a unique philosophy. After Han Sungjae had an argument with him, he was completely drunk and only fragmentary memories remained. All of a sudden, Cha Yiseok’s temple area was throbbing. It was a headache that has been following him for years. Then a woman who he tasted last night passed through his mind.

‘Euu… Ha…’

It was a good voice to hear even though it was low for a woman. She was a woman with a tight breath that touched her ear, gentle mucous membranes, and the hands that touched were soft. It was not an act of fulfilling her own pleasure, but of caring for and stroking the other person. On the other hand, her awkward tongue and stiff body was a little funny. And the taste of blood that he felt at first glance… It was the first time that he had embraced a partner he couldn’t even remember her name or face like this. Cha Yiseok wrinkled his forehead and pressed his temples firmly.

“Who was the one that had been with me on the yacht yesterday?”

“Isn’t it Sung Haemin? She’s hot on you these days. Yesterday too, I was wandering around… Ah~ I was so crazy I didn’t even have time to look at you. Do you know Eunhye? What a brilliant tongue twisting. She did a good job of using her talent to become a lawyer.”

Was Sung Haemin a woman with such a touch? No matter how many times he rewound and replayed his memories, they didn’t come back. Doesn’t matter. The woman who was drunk with him today and held him today would climb on top of another friend and moan tomorrow.

— Executive Director. The Chairman wants to see you now.

As Han Sungjae praised Kim Eunhye’s tongue twisting, the intercom rang. Cha Yiseok and Han Sungjae’s eyes met.

“Why’s he looking for you? Did you perhaps get caught for something?”

“Who knows. There are a lot of things.”

Cha Yiseok draped a black jacket over his arm and left his office.

Chairman Cha was sitting at the top of the sofa, looking at the air. Not befitting the notoriety of Chairman Cha, he was so miserable that anyone would think that Chairman Cha was the one battling cancer. It was the same even when Cha Yiseok sat next to him. Even when they met each other, there was no conversation, so silence was more comfortable. Chairman Cha said in a hoarse voice in a space where there was not even a sound of dust.

“It has now spread to the lungs and liver. They said he wouldn’t last two months.”

Even though he didn’t say the name, it was obvious who he was talking about.

“That so.”

Cha Yiseok rolled a sigh in his mouth. He bent his upper body forward and flicked his long interlocked fingers lightly. He was concerned about what kind of wreath to send to his brother’s upcoming funeral, whether to lightly tap the sobbing Chairman Cha who would be crying that day, or to give him a crushed hug. In front of those tears that he had never seen before even during the deaths of his daughters. Chairman Cha smiled emptily into the air. The corners of his eyes, wet with despair, twitched.

“I live my life and I try to do everything but… However, if there is a way to save the child, what else can I do?”

Cha Yiseok furrowed his eyebrows. Chairman Cha whose face was trembling and was muttering to the extent that he almost suspected he had Alzheimers. At that moment, Chairman Cha looked at Cha Yiseok for the first time since coming here.

“Bring him once.”

“Bring what?”

Chairman Cha clenched his teeth. The remnants of hesitation disappeared in his father’s eyes.

“Bring me a healer or something. Let’s try it.”

Cha Yiseok took the teacup and slowly brought it to his lips. He took his cold coffee until his left cheek bulged, then swallowed it slowly. Then a smile spread over his wet lips.

“Sure.”