The meeting

Three days later

Minho couldn't break down; he wouldn't, even if he wanted to. He had cried enough over the last three days. However morally insane he was, he had chosen to give himself up for the sake of his dad. His fear, however, matched nothing compared to what he had lived through. Not knowing what awaited him, he clung to the hope that he would finally get what he desired more than anything.

A way out.

He would give up everything for his dad. His freedom, his dignity, even his life. He hated his dad, but he couldn't abandon him. He felt a twisted sense of loyalty and duty, perhaps inherited from his mom, who had stayed with his dad until she couldn't take it anymore. He wondered if she ever regretted leaving him behind or if she ever thought of him at all.

***

Voices buzzed, and glasses clinked all over the room as lively chatter filled the room. Hammer bangs sounded every few minutes, and waiters passed through the crowd, offering drinks. Anticipated bidders raised their numbered paddles to win bids. The room was alive as the auctioneer talked continuously, with the paddles rising and falling.

Jae-Hyun and Joon-ho sat at a table in the centre of the room, filled with expensive drinks, half-full glasses, and a pack of cigars. There was a third person at the table, Kinn, a rowdy man from another connected family in Ulsan. Beside him was a woman, presumably an escort, in a red dress that exposed her cleavage and chunky high heels with almost no noticeable eyeliner.

"Kinn, I can guarantee you we have the best distribution channel in Ulsan," said Jae-Hyun as he brought a cigar to his mouth and lit it.

"Perfect," said Kinn, opening his case, which revealed a bunch of little polythene bags with some sort of powder in them. He picked one, showing it to them. "I can assure you, my product is the best quality around."

"Yeah, I can tell. It's been very well received in Daejeon."

"You can try it yourself; test the product," said Kinn, pushing the bag over to Jae-Hyun.

Jae-Hyun just stared at the product and back at Kinn. Joon-ho, realising the tension, stretched to pick up the bag, but Jae-Hyun nicked his hand. He knew better than to do that, but classic Joon-Ho, with his painfully slow brain, didn't think of it when he reached to get the bag.

"Kinn, I don't know where I eat."

"The fuck you just said to me?" said Kinn, shooting him an angry glare.

"Kinn, I think what my brother here meant is he won't try to steal your product," said Joon-ho, trying to mask the tension, unlike his brother, who was blowing smoke unbothered into the air. "Besides, you can trust a junkie, no?"

Kinn looked lost, like he was scanning the surroundings. This was a classic move for someone who was looking to start trouble or get into a fight. That didn't mean Jae-Hyun and his brother came unprepared. Soon, Kinn caught sight of what made him change his mind: two men in black, one of them pulling a gun from inside his coat.

"Ha! These dumb guys," he said, laughing condescendingly. "Don't mind me; I'll be a busy lad tonight." He said, turning to the woman in red, tapping the powder on the cleavage of the woman, who had already assumed a slanting pose like she was ready. "I'll do a line off your tits, girl," he said, sniffing the powder off the girl's body.

Jae-Hyun stared at his brother disbelievably. "These are the best clients you're finding, Joon-ho, seriously?"

Joon-ho sucked his teeth. "Well, he's from the biggest family in Daejeon."

Jae-Hyun looked at Kinn, wondering what kind of man had such an unbothered demeanour as the man rubbed the powder in his gums and sucked it again.

Min-Ho felt a sudden jolt as the hand that held his hair pushed him through a pair of double doors. He blinked as he entered a bright and noisy room filled with people, music, and lights.

He realised that he was in a casino and that he was on a stage in front of a crowd.

The auctioneer's voice cut through the chatter, drawing Jae-Hyun's attention to her. "Our next item is something extraordinary: a handsome young lad from Daejeon, playful as a kitten, but he'll surprise you. See, our guy here has a lot of potential." She sounded so convincing on the microphone, painting an image that he was anything but.

"If anyone is interested in our guy here, this is your time to claim him. For all of you eligible for the auction, please raise your tag." She continued holding up her paddle.

Jae-Hyun looked up just in time for those hazel-brown eyes to meet his. They were the exact same ones. Puzzled at what he was seeing, he tried to register if this was the same man he had met at the bar three days before, the same man who shoved him off his table when two masked lads in a motorcycle shot at him. He squinted, confusion sweeping over his face as he tried to understand.

The man's hair had straggled all over his face in a wild mess, and he was dressed in clothes that looked more like fishnets, barely covering his skin and a chain around his neck. He looked distraught, and judging from the look on his face, he had been through a harrowing situation.

The bidding had begun. This man's face was clearly disgusted, unlike those of the spirited crowd that eagerly raised their tags as the prices shot higher by the minute. It read a blend of emotions: anger, fear, and, most of all, rage. There was no way that this man wanted to be here. He was too nice, too innocent, to be strung along in this web of God knows what, only to be used and spat out in the cold.

"It's him."