HYUN [ JJK ]

09

It was only two months after he started developing this inevitable addiction called gambling when he was caught red handed by no one other than the only person who had a habit to pry into his life—his sister. Being the only son and the youngest in the family, Jeongguk was used to getting everything he wanted and that included freedom. When he decided to move out after he started university, his mother almost cried, even begged him to stay with them but Jeongguk wasn't dumb. Though he was pampered by his mother, he knew his chance to sneak out every night was almost nonexistent. His father wasn't the problem here—he's a workaholic, rarely home because apparently the papers in his office were way more important than his family. Their son-father relationship wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. Jeongguk could count how many times they ate breakfast together, could count how many times they spent their time together—which mostly by attending a formal dinner for the sake of his father's image, and Jeongguk had no choice but to tag along because he's the only son.

Jeongguk was... well, he deserved to be said to come from a well off family. Fed with a silver spoon since he was born. Used to wear designer brands from head to toe. But he never took it for granted, had learnt that the wealth would never allow him to live his life to the fullest. He would be lying if he didn't want to call his mother and ask her to deposit more money so he could gamble every night, would be lying if he never felt the urge to withdraw everything he had in his bank account though the upcoming fate was vague. But doing those basically meant death. Calling his mother only to let his father know what he's been doing meant digging his own grave. Withdrawing all his money only to let his parents know his account was filled with nothing but negative numbers was equivalent to throwing himself off the cliff.

So there Jeongguk was, living in a rather small apartment complex and fully relying on gambling to earn more money.

Jeongguk was an all-rounder guy. Everyone around him would say so, would never be able to bring themselves to deny that statement. Jeongguk trusted himself more than anyone, trusted his capability and was so convinced that gambling had nothing to do with the brain. You don't have to be smart to win a game, you don't need to lay your hands on the cards for years to come home with a bag of money. Jeongguk knew what he's doing, and he had kept this on his mind all along—the secret to each success is to believe in yourself. That was what he did when he first took a seat across Hoseok. That friend had been playing cards since middle school, probably had memorised the steps to win a game (it sounded absurd but Hoseok probably had that ability). Jeongguk was an amateur, only got to play cards after he graduated high school.

Starting from randomly placing a card on the floor of the practise room to this, the poker table. Or to Jeongguk, the holy poker table. His first opponent was a guy he knew from high school, someone he remembered as a quiet person, wasn't really an extrovert but they say never judge a book by its cover. Jeongguk lost 90,000KRW on his first game and that resulted him to hoard endless packs of instant noodles for the sake of his dear life. That, fortunately, still could cover his ass from being caught by his family member so Jeongguk didn't have a tiny dot of intimidation and hesitation to continue. His second game was saved by his ace through five, and with a card being smacked onto the table and a rush of adrenaline, 800,000KRW was Jeongguk's to be carried home.

It gradually became an addiction, and eventually turned into a greed. A greed which Hoseok once told him when they first started playing cards, also a greed Jeongguk denied because he thought he knew himself better than anyone. But turned out Hoseok was right, and there's no way for Jeongguk to back off and draw himself from the 52 pieces of printed cardboards.

The arrival of Hyun into his life stopped Jeongguk from going out. Though his inner self was screaming to leave that boy home and get himself into the casino, Jeongguk still had a heart, still could consider if anything happened during his absence. He had been away from gambling and cards for a good one month now. But tonight was the night he decided to appear in the casino again, but not for the purpose of winning. Not for the purpose of betting either. Jeongguk and Hoseok were here to hang out, but their kind of hang out was not all about drinking and slurs of incoherent words. Far from having women sitting on their lap or grinding their body on anyone they didn't even know. They were never there for those.

Jeongguk took a seat on the long couch, arm draped on the armrest as he waited for a figure to appear within the sea of people. The casino was busy and packed as usual, reminded him of how the poker table would be surrounded by people cheering every time he threw a card. The scene suddenly turned him into a claustrophobic, a frown etched onto his face as he shrug off his leather jacket.

"Are you sure he will be here?" Hoseok's voice was faded by loud cheers coming from a crowd. Jeongguk let his question hovered in the air, his eyes were too busy looking around until he saw another crowd.

"He should be here." Jeongguk almost hollered so that Hoseok could hear him loud and clear. "Doesn't he come to this place every night?"

Hoseok smirked as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees afterwards. Jeongguk saw his friend's hand reached for a small box on the coffee table, the white stick being clasped in between the latter's fingers was not an unusual sight to Jeongguk. He knew Hoseok smoked at times, but he wasn't a heavy smoker. Jeongguk, on the other hand, didn't have the feeling to try because he hated the smell more than anything.

The lighter was flicked before the familiar scent filled the lounge. White smoke went pass Jeongguk that it made him hold his breath for a few seconds.

"Well you're right. Plus, he doesn't have a baby now." Hoseok took a drag again while Jeongguk only pursed his lips together. "Speak of the devil, there he is. Turn around."

Doing as told, Jeongguk turned his back, only to see a blonde walking towards them with a burning cigarette in between his fingers. Jimin flashed them a smile but Jeongguk could notice a hint of sarcasm in it, enough to make him roll his eyes as a response.

The smell became more evident now that Jimin had joined them on the couch. No word was uttered until Hoseok cleared his throat, flicking the butt of his cigarette into the ashtray.

"Up for another round?" Jimin raised an eyebrow. The grin of his face widened when Jeongguk pushed his tongue to the wall of his cheek, probably happy to see how Jeongguk was shaken by the mention of round. "I am excited to know how much you have to offer me tonight."

Jeongguk scoffed in disbelief. "You really don't have a better question to ask, do you?"

"Do I?" Jimin replied, throwing his cigarette onto the floor before crushing it with his heel.

"Hyun." Jeongguk blurted. "I came just in case you want to know how your son is doing, but seems like you don't give a single fuck."

"I trust you, Jeongguk. If I don't, I won't give him to you." Jimin chuckled breathlessly before he leaned his back against the couch. Hoseok only remained silent, knew that he shouldn't interrupt the two. "I'm sure Hyun will be fine with you."

"Fuck you, Jimin." Jeongguk gritted his teeth. "Thank you for making me suffer. Another five weeks, and I'll make sure to make you regret your fucking life."

"We'll see, Jeongguk. We'll see."