The first time Siwoo heard about R was right after his first semester midterm exam. The bartender at his favorite club was always generous towards Siwoo. Siwoo was beginning to think it was because the bartender was interested in him. Siwoo had a lot of s.e.xual experiences considering his young age, but the grownup world was still very different and new to him.

Bartender M was a good guy. He was much older, and he took care of Siwoo. Whenever Siwoo got too drunk, he made sure to grab a cab for Siwoo so he could get home safely. Of course, the problem was that such a nice guy was not Siwoo's type.

Bartender M asked Siwoo one night, "Are you interested in going into the private room tonight?"

"Why?"

"R is here tonight."

R. There were only two things Siwoo knew about this man called R. First, whenever R visited the club, he always rented the most expensive and luxurious private room. He never left the room until he left for the night.

Secondly, R invited different guys every night, but no one had ever seen him leave the bar with someone.

Siwoo remembered the first time he saw this infamous R. He came to this bar to look for a partner when he noticed a large room with a closed door. He has never seen this room locked in such a way, and Siwoo got a strange vibe around the bar that night. Curious, Siwoo asked M what was happening, and this was when Siwoo heard about R for the first time.

"R is here."

"R? Who's that?"

Just who was this R? Many of the regulars at the bar were staring at the closed door. Siwoo heard that there were many men whose dream was to be allowed to go into R's room even for just one night. Apparently, those who hoped to make it in the entertainment industry were even desperate to be noticed by R.

There was a crowd outside the private room's door, and feeling curious, Siwoo got closer to it only to be stopped by the security guards. Siwoo frowned unhappily, but blushed when he heard loud moaning and groaning coming out from that very room. He walked away quickly in embarra.s.sment.

This was a few months ago.

Siwoo asked M, "Are you telling me I should go into R's room?"

"No, the opposite actually. I was hoping you wouldn't get noticed by him."

The bartender smiled bitterly. M never showed any explicit interest in Siwoo. He never made an overt move on Siwoo, which was very unfortunate. Siwoo liked men who knew what they wanted and went for it without hesitation.

M poured him a drink and Siwoo turned towards the security guards that stood in front of the door.

"M, is R planning to make his choice out here tonight?"

"It sounds like it."

"How do you know?"

"Because no one has gone in yet."

Siwoo was told that R's private parties involved only a few people. The average number of men invited was four, but sometimes, it could be up to 10 people. R visited this bar about once a week, sometimes once every two weeks. It seemed that once R had enough people for the party, the door remained closed all night.

Those men who'd been to the party mostly remained close-mouthed about what happened inside, but there were still some rumors regarding what went on at R's party. Threesomes, s.e.x toys, drugs, and hard liquor… Siwoo heard that the drugs and alcohol were items that were illegal in Korea.

Siwoo asked M, "And is it true that he is amazing at s.e.x?"

"I really want you to drop your interest in R, Siwoo."

"Why?"

If M was more aggressive in pursuing Siwoo, Siwoo would have forgotten about R. Siwoo would've refused to go into R's private room, but as he expected, M didn't say anything.

Siwoo continued to drink at the bar silently. A long time pa.s.sed and Siwoo noticed the bar quieting down a little when suddenly, someone called for him.

"…Hey."

When Siwoo turned around, he saw that the door to R's room was slightly open. It looked very quiet inside and a blue hand gestured for one of the guards. By pure coincidence, Siwoo was able to get a glimpse of the inside and what he saw was shocking. He saw a man wearing a white s.h.i.+rt and no pants. His legs were bare and on top of his thighs, Siwoo saw liquid dripping down. Was it alcohol? Sweat? Or… s.e.m.e.n?

"…"

Siwoo was notorious for his curiosity. s.h.i.+n often told him that Siwoo's curiosity was going to be the death of him. Once Siwoo wanted to find out something, he didn't rest until his curiosity was satisfied.

Siwoo looked up and saw the man's face. The man had an oddly empty smile on his face. His eyes slanted down and had a pointy face, making him look like a fox. The man was very pale, and he looked blank and hollow.

"R?"

"…Come over here."

It was another coincidence that M wasn't at the bar at that moment. Or was this fate perhaps? When the man inside the room gestured for Siwoo to come in, the guard moved aside. Mesmerized, Siwoo stood up and walked towards the man slowly. As Siwoo got closer to the room, he could smell the mix of expensive cologne and hard liquor. Siwoo didn't dislike it.

"You wanna come in?"

The guards, who refused his entry before, took two steps aside to let Siwoo in. With an uncertain frown, Siwoo contemplated on what he should do. When Siwoo turned to look at the club, it was almost empty. It seemed that every time R held a party, the club became very spa.r.s.e. Siwoo tilted his head and hesitated, making the man smile widely. The man's white teeth looked white and s.h.i.+ny. A tiny mole underneath his left eye crinkled.

"I think you are curious about what is going on inside."

The man grabbed Siwoo's wrist and placed it inside his s.h.i.+rt. When Siwoo tried to pull back in shock, the man squeezed his hand and forced Siwoo to touch his nipple, which was pierced.

"You can pull on it if you want."

As the man whispered, another set of hands reached out to touch Siwoo's cheek. It was a second man who came out from the room. He stood behind the first man, half-hidden and half-visible to Siwoo.

"…!"

The second guy was much taller than the pale man who resembled a fox. Siwoo guessed that he must be even taller than s.h.i.+n Kim. The man's eyes looked very cold as he squeezed and studied Siwoo's face. The man treated Siwoo like a thing, and feeling angry, Siwoo pushed the hand away.

The fox-like man frowned and said to Siwoo, "How dare you…"

"Stop it, Ray. If R finds out, he won't like it."

It seemed that both men belonged to R. Siwoo thought the room was empty except for R, but he must've been wrong about it. Still feeling curious, Siwoo rubbed his cheeks angrily. He didn't feel like staying, so when he turned around to leave, a cold hand grabbed Siwoo's wrist again.

"You should come in. You won't regret it."

"…"

"I mean it."

Suddenly, before Siwoo could stop him, the man's sweet lips covered his own. Siwoo felt the bitter taste of an unknown drug slipping into his mouth as he was pulled into the room.

Slam!

The door closed behind him.