Substitute-Chapter 12

The final interview day came all at once.

As usual, after another round of overtime at the frozen logistics center, Jiwon barely made it back to his goshiwon before collapsing. The pain in his arm was killing him. Now even his shoulder was hurting, and he couldn’t lift his right arm at all.

He’d gotten so good with his left hand that people even asked if he was left-handed. He could eat, do practically everything with it. He’d learned to avoid using his right arm as much as possible, figured he had it down. But then he messed up. The pain hit so hard it took his breath away. He popped another painkiller to shut it up. His body was falling apart.

He groaned for two hours on the bed. He kept picking up and putting down his phone, thinking there was no way he could drive in this state. But like an idiot, he chose to go to work anyway.

No matter what, keep your routine.

That line, which he now hated with everything in him, was stuck in his head like a curse.

On top of that, the damn enema left him too weak to eat a proper meal.

Ever since the final interview was scheduled, Jiwon had been doing enemas. It had been months since the last one, and he wanted to get used to the feeling again. Honestly, though, he was just scared of messing up the insertion, of having anything left in him and only getting reimbursed for the travel expenses.

Every time he did it, it felt the same — no matter how often, you never got used to enemas. For something that had to be done before sex, it was stupidly uncomfortable and humiliating.

It had been a while, so he even watched what he ate — had only white porridge yesterday. That kind of food couldn’t possibly sustain the hellish warehouse shift, but he pushed through it.

Jiwon glanced bitterly at the enema kit and rectal cleaner bag sitting in the corner of his tiny goshiwon room.

Groaning, he forced himself up and headed for the communal shower. Whether he'd slept or just soaked in sweat, his body was disgusting. He rinsed off with cold water and caught the bus to Gangnam just in time.

[I'm desperate for money. How soon can you send it?]

He read the text but didn’t reply.

It was already past 10 p.m.

It always started in Gangnam. He bought coffee at the convenience store near the station and sat down at a table.

He hadn’t expected to run into Han Seoho there.

“Hyung!”

Han’s eyes went wide as he asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Huh? Uh... What about you, Seoho? I’m here for a driving gig. Didn’t you have to work?”

Jiwon was the one who was surprised. He’d completely forgotten he might bump into room salon staff, not just Han.

“Monday’s our day off. You didn’t know?”

“Oh. I guess I didn’t.”

“Man, hyung. You really don’t care about me at all, huh?”

Han pouted hard, making it obvious he was hurt.

“Sorry. I don’t really get days off....”

Jiwon sounded like he was making excuses. Han actually looked sorry for him.

“Ah, come on. If ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ you say that, now I feel like an asshole.”

Han quickly excused himself from his group and plopped down across from Jiwon.

“Talk about a coincidence, right?”

He smiled sincerely and popped open a peach drink.

“But seriously, hyung. Are you okay? You look super pale.”

Han leaned in, scanning his face with concern.

“I’m fine. There’s just a lot of cargo lately. I’m tired, that’s all.”

Jiwon wiped his face with his palm and forced an awkward smile.

“Working logistics is brutal, huh? I did a gig at Pangpang once. Thought I was gonna die. Hold on.”

Like he’d done at the convenience store near the room salon, Han brought over snacks for Jiwon — a hot bar, triangle kimbap, chips. Stuff Jiwon couldn’t eat right away. Luckily, Han didn’t seem to care whether he ate them or not.

They killed time with random, meaningless chatter. Then Han suddenly glanced around and leaned in, lowering his voice.

“Oh, right. I found something out.”

He glanced at the CCTV, then whispered so quietly it barely registered.

“Maybach.”

Jiwon raised an eyebrow, and Han mouthed something silently.

“What?”

He’d said it so softly, Jiwon couldn’t hear a thing.

Han kept glancing at the CCTV and gave up trying to talk.

“Hot bars from this brand really are the best, huh?”

He changed the subject.

He chewed loudly, scarfing down his food, then abruptly stood up.

“Hyung, I’m heading to the arcade. Wanna come? My friend’s meeting me there.”

He stretched dramatically and turned his back to the camera. Then he silently mouthed, Get up already.

“Sure. I was bored anyway.”

Jiwon played along with a half-hearted voice and stiff performance.

He tossed the untouched hot bar into a trash can and slipped the kimbap into his sling bag.

As soon as they turned into a busy alley, Han whispered, “Shit, hyung. I was too scared to say anything back there.”

He stopped walking, trembling like he was nervous, then took a drag from his vape. He paced a few steps, then stopped to smoke again. He was stalling.

The alley’s foot traffic ebbed and flowed. Whenever the crowd thinned, Han picked up the pace.

Just when Jiwon’s patience hit its limit, Han finally stopped and gave him a meaningful look.

“Hyung, have you ever seen another interviewee’s face?”

His eyes sparkled as he waited for the answer.

Jiwon hesitated, then answered honestly.

“Yeah. Just once.”

“Knew it! You saw him too. At the second round?”

Han lowered his voice.

“Yeah. Second interview.”

Jiwon replied just as quietly.

“Was that on purpose? Making us run into each other?”

Han tilted his head, muttering to himself.

“Thing is, I heard a weird rumor before my interview.”

Finally, he got to the point.

“Yo! What took you so long?!”

“That dumbass lives the closest and always shows up late.”

“Ten thousand won fine! Pay up, bitch!”

A group of high schoolers in uniforms shouted at someone, rowdy and loud as they passed. Han stayed quiet until they were gone.

“Hyung, this isn’t a normal interview, right? I’ve never had someone offer me this much money just to show up. You too, right?”

Was he trying to stir something up? Why now?

Han’s voice and facial expressions kept shifting, like he was an actor switching roles. Jiwon studied him, trying to guess his real intention.

Was he following me today?

The thought crossed his mind.

“Totally. Makes no sense.”

Jiwon agreed with unusual intensity, and Han got even more excited.

“So I asked around. Not about the interview — I’m not that dumb. But I described Maybach’s looks to my friends and hyungs, asked if they’d seen a guy like that. Told them I just wanted to see him again, even if it had to be a coincidence. Half joking, half serious.”

Han had no shame. He spread word about Maybach’s appearance to anyone who’d listen. People who knew Han’s type just laughed him off. But curiosity was powerful. They passed the story along.

And because the man was huge and drove an expensive car, people started saying they’d seen him. No one knew his age or what he did, but a strange rumor started going around—

That he was looking for someone who looked like Han.

Han laughed it off like Maybach was hunting down a lost first love. Then, at the second interview, he ran into another guy.

A guy who looked exactly like him.

“I was standing there, and the dude was the same height as me. I seriously thought I was looking in a mirror. I mean, how is that even possible?”

Han made a weird groaning noise and flailed his arms.

He couldn’t shake the image from his head. He even wondered if his mom had given away a twin. He’d actually asked her. Of course, she said no.

Jiwon had been shocked back then too. He’d kind of expected it, but not to that degree. It gave him goosebumps. Still, once he entered the interview room, the shock of it all made him forget about the other guy entirely.

Until Han brought it up again.

And acted like it was brand-new information.

He must’ve forgotten that he told Jiwon about the guy the first time they talked about the interview — said, “He looked just like me.”

Clumsy bastard.

But maybe it wasn’t clumsiness. Maybe he was doing it on purpose. Jiwon couldn’t rule it out.

“So, what did you and that guy talk about when you first met?”

He played along.

“Oh. That time? Maybach straight-up asked if I was Han Seoho, said he came to see me. I thought he was into me, but then he handed me a business card and told me to come for an interview. Said they’d be in touch.”

It was the same business card Jiwon got — just SuperX Model Agency and a phone number. Han had even called, hoping to get in touch with Maybach directly, but all he got was the interview offer. He’d been disappointed.

Jiwon recalled seeing Han and the client together that day. Han had been smiling brightly, but the client looked grim. Maybe he’d even frowned. It was all fuzzy now.

“How did he know your name?”

“He didn’t. The madam told him.”

Han pouted.

“The madam? Then how did he know you worked at Emperor?”

Jiwon kept pushing. Han, like he’d been waiting for the question, answered smoothly.

“That’s the weird part. The madam said he just showed her a photo and asked if there was anyone here who looked like the guy in the picture. I mean, who would say yes without knowing what he was about? She’s been in the biz a long time. She denied it at first, but he told her he already knew, said he wasn’t there to cause trouble, even gave her money. She won’t say how much, but considering she gave up my name, it had to be a lot. Can’t trust that lady.”

Han started trash-talking the madam.

He got sidetracked for a bit, then circled back. He took it more seriously than Jiwon did and tried to make logical sense of it all.

“So, hyung, let’s break it down. Maybach is looking for guys who look like us. No idea why. But he’s offering absurd money just for showing up. And the shit he’s asking us to do is getting weirder and weirder. At first, I thought maybe he wanted to date someone, but who the hell holds interviews for that? It’s creepy as hell, right?”

Han frowned deeply and took another drag from his vape.