[07] Moyo wa Jua: Heart of the Sun
A/n: Sorry to say that updates will slow down somewhat dramatically from now - I've started work already.
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07
Micky was chirpy the next day, despite the fact that by the time Jiyong awoke it was dinnertime. Jaejoong was nowhere to be seen.
“What do you want to have for dinner, studmuffin? My treat.”
“Meat…” mumbled Jiyong. Thinking was more effort than he could muster amidst the aches and pains assailing his body.
“Let’s have steak, then. C’mon.”
Micky seemed pleased as he informed him that Seunghyun had requested specifically to see him that evening.
“Seunghyun-ssi is a picky guest,” he explained. “He is very particular about manners and grooming, enjoys intelligent company and hates to be flattered. Jaejoong used to be the only one he would ask for, until Taeyang came along.”
That got Jiyong’s attention.
“Jaejoong-hyung?”
“Jaejoong and I used to be hosts too,” Micky’s eyes took on an opaque quality as he stared at his hands. “We were so poor when we were young. We didn’t have a say where we worked, they’d treat us badly and sometimes we would get hit and abused. But he was one of the best - the best in Seoul. He became so famous that no one could touch him anymore. Eventually we managed to find an investor, and set up our own place.”
“Seunghyun-ssi?”
Micky smiled and nodded. “He’s a really generous guy.”
“What… what kind of person is he, really?” Jiyong wondered if Micky and Jaejoong knew about him being a shape… shape-something. He’d forgotten the word - all he remembered was the lion.
“As far as I know, he’s a businessman, deals with land. His family is old money, but very little is really known about him because he’s a really private person. Jaejoong has known him for a few years now, but still doesn’t know much about him besides the fact that he really loves vintage wine and has no qualms blowing big bucks on it. Some people just collect it, but he’ll actually open and drink it.”
That much Jiyong already knew. He supposed Micky didn’t know about the lion then. His curiosity about the lion was growing. Seunghyun had only shown him the lion in his mind - was he also capable of turning into one, the way he had turned into the leopard?
“Hyung, can I borrow your computer? I’d like to do some research.”
“Sure, why not? Research is good - gives you more to talk about with your clients,” beamed Micky.
Jiyong looked up ‘clouded leopards’ and ‘werewolves’ online. There wasn’t much to read besides the usual zoological information, but the pictures that popped up looked frighteningly familiar. It seemed the actual clouded leopards were as elusive as the human ones.
He couldn’t spend much time on the computer before they had to leave for work. Jiyong wasn’t looking forward to having to entertain the mysterious Seunghyun again, but he wanted to know more about this creature that he had become. It seemed only Seunghyun could provide the answers that he craved.
Jiyong remembered the cologne that night. Taking it out of its hiding place in his drawer, he recalled Seunghyun’s wish for him to wear it. He decided to apply just the tiniest hint of it.
Taeyang had not returned to work. Jiyong presumed he was still ill, but was glad that he didn’t have to know if Taeyang minded that he had taken over entertaining Seunghyun for now. As it was, the enigmatic businessman arrived earlier than he had the night before, shortly after the Club opened for business. Jiyong was informed that his guest had arrived by one of the staff, and he proceeded to room 6. This room was quickly becoming a little too familiar, he thought wryly to himself.
Seunghyun was seated on the couch as usual, but he had changed his hairstyle again. It was combed away from his face today, showcasing defined cheekbones and a narrow jawline. He was dressed smartly in a suit and tie, every inch the old money (and superior genes, Jiyong supposed) Micky had mentioned.
“Annyeonghaseyo, GD-ssi.” The formalities were back.
“Annyeonghaseyo, Seunghyun-ssi,” Jiyong bowed in reply.
“No tagline today?”
“I can do it, if you like.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m just kidding.”
The idea of Seunghyun kidding sounded as absurd as snow in summer to Jiyong, but he smiled politely in response. He picked up the bottle of wine that had become almost a fixture on the table.
“1998,” he read from the label. “Not quite the history lesson today, huh?”
“It's not good to live in the past."
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present,” recited Jiyong from memory. He’d seen the quote somewhere and liked it immensely.
“Pretty good,” Seunghyun quirked one impressed eyebrow at his flawless English pronunciation. “Speaking of presents, you are wearing mine today.”
“Ah yes.” Jiyong blushed just a little, not having expected him to notice so quickly with the tiny amount he had used.
“Thank you.”
“No, I should thank you, Seunghyun-ssi. Please accept a toast from me.”
They clinked glasses and Jiyong turned his head to the side while drinking as a sign of respect.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
“Sorry?”
“About your shapeshifting.” Seunghyun apparently didn’t like beating around the bush.
“Won’t it ever go away?” Jiyong asked.
“It’s not an illness or a phase, GD-ssi.”
“What if… I just continued with life and hid out on full moon nights?”
“There is that option. But you will have needs that will eventually present problems. You will need to hunt, and eat.”
“Hunt? Eat?”
“Blood, GD-ssi. Lycans need meat and blood. Human blood is the most substantial form of sustenance.”
The image of Taepung flashed into Jiyong’s mind instantly, the taste of his blood on his lips fresher in his memory than he cared to admit.
“What if I don’t want to?”
“You will grow weak. You are but a cub, you don’t feel it yet. But in time you will.”
“A cub?”
“A child. Lycans are not immortal, but we live a long time. We age very slowly compared to humans. If you refuse blood for too long, you will slowly go insane. A mad lycan is a danger to himself and to humans. You’ll lose control over your human and animal forms - you may be put down as a dangerous animal.”
Jiyong didn’t know what to reply. That wasn’t what he had become. He wouldn’t.
“You need a family unit. If you don’t have one, you will be a Stray. A Stray is at the mercy of other creatures.”
“You said there weren’t others like me.”
“I’ve given it some thought. You will join my pride until you find a pack of your own.”
“Your… pride?” Jiyong’s eyes widened. He’d never really considered that there were other creatures like Seunghyun. He wondered what they were like.
Seunghyun nodded unhurriedly. “Most lycans are social creatures who thrive in family units. Wolves live in packs, cats in colonies, foxes in skulks, lions in prides, and so on. My pride is the only one in Korea, but there are other creatures. Only a very few creatures fare better alone.”
Jiyong got the distinct feeling that these “very few creatures” were the ones he had to fear.
“You will come to my den tomorrow evening. Yesung will pick you up at 7. You will dine with us.”
“But…” Jiyong was about to voice his concern about his work schedule, but was cut off by Seunghyun.
“I will have a word with Jaejoong. That’s all for tonight.”
Jiyong remained where he was as Seunghyun swept out of the room. It was barely eleven.
He fiddled with his cuff, not ready to return to the dressing room. So much was happening so fast, he didn’t know what to make of it. He flopped down on the couch, not caring that it would probably wrinkle his suit. The black-painted ceiling was as dark as the night he had now become comfortable with.
Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. The scents of the Club filled his nose, the cool air carried smoke, liquor, cologne, the individual scents of people. Seunghyun was gone, but he could still detect his scent lingering in the room. The conversation they had had floated back into his mind. A lycan, was what Seunghyun had said. He was a lycan. What would happen now?
“You can’t go back,” was what Seunghyun had said. Go back to what? Jumbled images paraded through his head: the betel nut stand, the girls who passed through, each working for a few months at a time, his mother. His schoolmates in Taiwan, who’d always looked up to him because he was confident around the older “la mei”s who worked for his mother, because he would flirt with them and sometimes get lucky with the odd grope or fling in the back office… The night markets that opened till late selling the signature smelly tofu that they would buy as late night snacks after spending the occasional evening at the karaoke joints, or stealing fruit from the roadside vendors as a dare. Running with all their might to catch the last trains back out of town, hitching rides with the truck drivers who were headed out of Taipei when he missed the train and returning home to a beating… Even when he never paid attention in class, or played truant from school to hang out at the malls - they had been carefree days.
And now this. Jiyong opened his eyes, running them over the plush velvet-covered couches, the shiny chandeliers emanating soft light, the deep pile carpets, the elegant stems of wine glasses, the crystal ashtrays, the fancy clothes, a different language filling his ears everyday. It had only been a month, but he wondered what his mother would say if she saw him now. He had been fifteen leaving Taiwan, automatically becoming sixteen upon arrival in Korea. And from a sixteen-year-old kid, he’d somehow become a nineteen-year-old lycan who felt much older tonight than just nineteen.
His days of being a feckless delinquent were over. He had money to earn, a roof to keep over his head, a secret to keep. He had to keep going.
“To me,” he murmured, pouring himself a full glass of the wine Seunghyun had not finished and downing it in one long gulp. “Do it. Just do it. I can do it.”
He would go for a quick walk for some fresh air, finish his shift tonight, and then tomorrow, visit Seunghyun’s “den”. Well, that was a plan. Setting the empty glass down on the table, he stood up and looked over the room once more. This was his life now, or at least, it would be until he found a better way.
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