Absinthe

The man literally froze when he realized that I recognized him. And when he seemed to recover from the shock, he took a few steps back.

"Development Bank of Asia?" Minsu-hyung asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "I got recommended for a position there, but that man rejected me on account of my sexuality."

"No way!" Minsu-hyung said exaggeratedly. "Isn't that considered discrimination?"

"We don't really have anti-discrimination laws in the country," I replied.

"I see," Minsu-hyung responded, still exaggerating based on how loud and how song-like his tone was. "I bet you have laws against hypocrisy. You know, people who pretend straight and discriminate against gay guys but are actually indecent pigs instead..."

Minsu-hyung was taking it a bit far. I was angry at the guy for what he did to me during the interviews but frankly speaking, I'm kind of over it already.

"It's okay, hyung." I said. "He's not worth it."

"You're mistaken!" the man said through gritted teeth. "You're mistaking me for someone else."

"Oh?" Minsu-hyung taunted. "From what Jaeyi said, it looks like it's a match. A pig at work, a pig outside work."

The man opened his mouth to speak but Minsu-hyung cut him short.

"Don't worry, though." Minsu-hyung sneered. "It's easy to verify your identity with our connections to that bank."

"What do you want?" the man screamed.

"Apologize, you fucking idiot!" Minsu-hyung shouted back. "For what you did back then, and for what you did just now!"

The man was shaking, whether from anger or from fear, I wasn't really sure. And from the look on his face I was sure he was having some sort of internal struggle. Probably whether to apologize or not because apologizing would mean that he's conceding.

"Let's just go, hyung." I took Minsu-hyung's hand and led him out of the shower room.

We towelled ourselves dry and dressed up. Minsu-hyung asked if I wanted to join him for breakfast and I agreed. We then went past the lobby to the elevators and headed for the top floor where the rooftop restaurant was located. Inside the elevator, Minsu-hyung was busy with his phone. I figured he was probably telling Mr. Lee, the vice-chairman, his whereabouts.

An elegantly dressed woman in her late twenties greeted us and escorted us to our seat. It was at the edge of the building that offered great view of the gardens and the golf course beyond. We were also protected from direct sunlight with this ceiling-like contraption made from interwoven, dried coconut tree leaves.

I asked Minsu-hyung to just order anything but when the food came, it was like he ordered for four people instead of two.

"What's with all these?" I asked.

us,"Minsu-hyung said. "Look, he's

enough, freshly showered Gunho-hyung wearing a floral print shirt, white, tattered shorts, and a pair of aviator sunglasses, came strutting towards

he wearing?"

that idiot loves to

he wrapped

loudly that people from nearby tables started glancing at

hung out with you guys if it weren't for

his hug and taking the seat next to mine. "I wish

next vacation? I'm sure I can

have no plans of coming back to

interested

head in response. "I

if Mr. Lee gives you

around. "I was just bluffing when I said that! You guys know there's no way I can solve

Gunho-hyung

simulations on what he can do with his current assets to match

other possible investments here in South East Asia that will allow him to recover that much

"Fuck, are you serious?"

just going to think about it, drink about it, and forget about it. But both my

"Fuck. He is crazy."

to which Gunho-hyung nodded in agreement,

Gunho-hyung asked. "For not

can't do it." I replied rather quickly. "There's

expertise, and with our support, I doubt that we'd fail to come up with

"Hyung," I said reproachfully.

practically Asia's leading analyst when it comes to Emerging Markets and International Finance. You, on the other hand, is a wizard when it comes to Investments. You can't ask for

Minsu-hyung's comment and focused on

reason why you don't want to come back and

it a

rolled my eyes and frowned at both of

now sounding super excited. "Is it really

of your business," I said

us, I'd gladly accept it."

you guys are crazy, too." I answered, laughing at the absurdness of