Substitute-Chapter 115

“Don’t we get masks?”

Kim Taehyun asked.

Maybe stuffing them into wetsuits in this heat didn’t bother anyone; all they cared about was masks.

Gwak Tan only shrugged.

“Chairman’s rule.”

That was all he added.

“You want us to show our faces?”

Jo Daeho—the oldest Guest here other than Grandfather—said it dead serious.

“There’s no one to see us anyway. It’s just us.”

“Still. They could at least let us wear the hoods those bastards have on.”

He kept griping, pointing at the guards.

“If you don’t have the balls to show your face, then quit.”

When Gwak Tan growled it low, Jo Daeho finally shut up.

Ugh. Why did he even invite a timid prick like that.

Irritated at Grandfather’s choice, Gwak Tan glanced around the waiting room.

The numbers were down in the 300s. Only five minutes left until 7:00 p.m., when the game would start.

And still no word from Grandfather. Normally he’d arrive thirty minutes early and play guide for this motley crew.

No one kept a promise sharper than he did—so why was he late.

He couldn’t reach Manager Kim, either.

Don’t tell me he’s unwell.

A few months ago he’d had something like a heart attack, and that gnawed at him.

Of course he worried about Grandfather’s health—but also about his own position.

Born Michael Hansoo Kim by name, Gwak Tan was still far down the succession line. That’s why the “Paradise Project” mattered to him more than to anyone.

Doing the same old thing wouldn’t get him noticed, so he’d planned a project that ran for three full weeks and took the risk of video streaming.

So far, he felt justified in calling it a success. Interest and response to the streaming were explosive. People who heard the rumors kept slapping down hundreds of millions, begging to watch.

And yet Grandfather’s reaction alone was lukewarm.

Grandfather often said, “Paradise is yours, Tan. You should be the project’s owner.” But once the project began, that talk vanished.

This project was timed to his eightieth-birthday celebration—maybe his last party—and Tan had poured more of himself into it than anyone. Grandfather’s reaction stung—and made him anxious.

But if Grandfather were to die now?

No matter if his name was in the will, a legal fight would put him at a disadvantage.

Especially with that bastard Gwak Jun—like he’d ever hand over this project and the building.

“Thanks sooo much for the goggles at least.”

Kim Taehyun waggled the goggles and sneered.

Not worth answering; Tan didn’t spare him a glance.

“Whoa, fuck—this is pretty good. Has a vibe.”

So much for the sneer—liking the goggles, Kim Taehyun even took a selfie with his phone.

“Michael, your grandpa’s drip is crazy.”

The fuck is he saying.

Watching Taehyun rattle off every trending meme and abbreviation, Tan scowled.

“Come on. You think Grandfather prepared that? It was you, Michael, wasn’t it? Doesn’t feel like his taste. Heh, you look like an heir for real. Nailed it.”

Two years older but a buddy all the same, Park Yongjae hyped him up.

I wish, fuck.

On any other day Tan would’ve cracked a joke; today he stayed flat.

Hide-and-Seek should have been his game.

But he hadn’t even known a game like this was being prepared. He’d been hands-on for four years and felt sure he knew the history through and through—he didn’t.

Sour for days over this dumbfuck game, Tan tried on the goggles and smiled wryly.

They were pretty good.

Give it to the old man—his eye is real.

Even while cursing Grandfather, respect welled up again. And with it, a sense of grievance.

Why wouldn’t he recognize the grandson who revered him more than anyone.

He wanted to complain.

But Grandfather loathed appeals to emotion. “A man whining?” He’d only put a black mark on himself.

Just look at Gwak Jun. It was good that toad-faced loser was gone, but it hadn’t helped Tan one bit. If anything, when that bastard was around, the contrast had made Tan look better.

Shouldn’t have pushed him out. Fuck.

His head crowded with thoughts.

After the goggles came night-vision goggles, binoculars, and radios.

The Guests who’d been fuming about having to show their faces were all smiles now, trying on night vision and testing radios.

Then, when an unexpected weapon was handed out, whistles and cheers went up.

A whip.

Less Hide-and-Seek than a medieval witch-hunt.

Same difference.

The Guests were fully amped, unzipping the suit seams that ran down the front and along the cleft of the ass, snickering.

“Use this to fuck. Use this to flog.”

They cracked stupid jokes and laughed loud.

Six.

Obviously a count that didn’t include Grandfather.

Even so, six felt way too few.

How the hell were six supposed to find twenty-nine—no, twenty-eight?

Unless Control gave them live locations, CCTV would be nothing but a shiny lemon.

Guess it’s lucky that prick came in, at least?

Tan’s gaze locked onto his cousin just now entering the waiting room.

Not just Tan’s. The other five stared too, like they were under a spell.

“Damn, different class. Like a mermaid. Gwak Yeol, long time no see!”

Busy with selfies, Kim Taehyun even went to greet him.

Gwak Yeol.

Firstborn grandson of the Gwak family, only son of the first son.

The heir.

Orphaned early, he grew up monopolizing Grandfather’s love and expectations. He took after his dead mother in looks—mesmerizing—and after Grandfather and his father in build—big and sturdy. He’d inherited only the good genetics; his parents’ early deaths, if anything, completed the Gwak Yeol of today.

But that wasn’t why he had Grandfather’s overflowing affection.

He was smart. Not just bright or crafty—his situational judgment was beyond his years; he was wise and quick.

Tan had inherited the family’s height and size in his own way, but he didn’t compare to the kid.

More than once, a boy ten years younger had read him like a book.

Kid’s a ghost.

Not that he hated him. Unlike Gwak Jun, who seethed with jealousy, Tan admitted what deserved admitting. Because of that, he and Yeol weren’t on bad terms. They were actually good.

Grandfather had taken his divorced mother back into the Gwak clan—but it ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ was Yeol who first took Kim-by-birth him as a Gwak.

“Grandfather. Give hyung a single-character name too. Like me.”

Thirteen years ago, when Yeol was just twelve, he’d begged Grandfather.

“Hyung’s a Gwak too, so he should have a single-character name.”

I’m a Gwak too?

Tan had always wanted to be a Gwak; just hearing that moved him.

Grandfather gladly gifted him the name Tan.

Tan. And the first to call him Gwak Tan, not Kim Tan, was that kid.

After that, Grandfather started inviting him to family gatherings; in front of outsiders he still introduced him as “Michael Hansoo Kim,” but when they were alone he called him gently, “Tan.” He started teaching him business then, too, when Tan didn’t know the b of business and was wasting time in nightlife.

“Yeol doesn’t like you for nothing. You’re one of us. Kill that temper and you’ll be a better businessman than me.”

Grandfather even laid it on thick to soothe him.

It was a meaningful year.

“What are you doing?”

Somehow the kid was right in front of him, asking.

The reek of champagne pricked his nose.

“Huh?... Just checking the gear.”

He fiddled with a gas mask like he’d truly been inspecting it and mimed putting it on.

“But why give us these? When they’ve set them loose outside.”

Tan lifted the gas mask and asked.

He didn’t really want an answer; he was just curious.

He understood everything else—except the gas masks. In midsummer of all times. Even if the mountain was cooler than the city, a few of them would need medics if they had sex wearing these.

“Who knows what the old man is thinking.”

His cousin answered with a big yawn, flat as could be.

“I’m tired.”

He didn’t look interested in joining the game.

Fair enough. He hadn’t checked CCTV, but rumor was he’d fucked Sailor 1 all night. On top of being drunk and high, he’d just spent ages on the Rooftop splashing around and pounding Sailor 1; even with his stamina, that was a lot.

“You should’ve asked to be excused.”

Tan said something he didn’t mean.

Honestly, he was relieved to be on the same side as the kid.

For a simple game, there were too many secrets. It felt like there was some other scheme—but he couldn’t guess what. It put him on edge.

All the more reason to be on the side of Grandfather’s darling.

“You gotta show up to say that. Why isn’t he here?”

His cousin also looked for Grandfather, scanning toward the entrance.

Looked like he’d heard nothing either.

Tan relaxed inside and said, “Right?”

“Yeol, I’ve been watching. Kid, you... you really grew up.”

Kim Taehyun came over just to say something unnecessary.

Tan was about to say something, but Yeol flashed a bright smile and welcomed it instead. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

“What did you like best?”

Whether it was cheek or youth, he tossed it back.

Brazen as ever, Taehyun started rattling off this and that.

The others, who’d been reading the room, joined in, throwing looks at Yeol. Desire crawled in the men’s eyes as they stared at him.

Stare all you want. Your turn’s not coming.

Tan sneered inside and checked the time.

At last, the countdown ended and the siren blared.

At the needle-grinding noise, the Guests grimaced; as if on cue, the guards handed out headphone-style ear protectors.

Tan went to take one, but his cousin stopped him.

“Can the host wear stuff like this?”

Grinning, he took Tan’s and said,

“Thanks.”

Then put it on like it was his.

If anyone else had done it, it would’ve pissed him off; strangely, when Yeol did it, it was fine.

Am I just too soft, fuck.

A guard offered a spare; he refused.

Tan snorted and simply savored the siren.

A sound as complicated and nasty as his mood droned for one minute.

Grandfather didn’t appear until fifteen minutes after the siren ended.

With unexpected Guests in tow.