Chapter 1.3

Even though I had greeted them, they only talked to each other. It was not unfamiliar to me that the rich evaluated people openly; the man at the very end was staring at my name tag without joining in the conversation. Then, he looked up at my face.

His eyes were between gray and bluish. It was a mysterious color that would look like black in the dark, and I was familiar with his face. He nodded his head when he met my eyes, and I opened my mouth as his hand landed on the cards.

“As there are three players, the dealer is excluded from the game. Would you like to play hold’em poker as usual?”

I explained the rules while Lee Kihyun made a gesture like saying, “What are you doing?”. I knew he wouldn’t listen anyway, so I just spit out a series of rules like a machine with words inputted. I sighed silently as I wouldn’t be participating in the game.

I calculated in my head the amount of money they had to lose until the second part was over while they giggled among themselves. The cards were given according to the calls, and my gaze deliberately headed in the direction of the chips. The dry lenses clung to the pupils and formed a thick layer.

“Player One, you called.”

“Mr. Kihyun, Sir Kihyun or Kihyun-sama, why don’t you say the right thing instead of just calling me Player?”

“I’ll correct myself. Mr. Kihyun called. It’s Player Two’s turn.”

“Raise.”

Player Two threw the chip, raising twice the amount of the existing bet. After listing and checking the chips thrown recklessly, I continued.

“Player Three.”

“Fold.”

The man with grayish blue eyes took his hands off the card as if watching the game of the remaining two. The bank roll (the player’s entire poker fund) seemed more cautious than I thought.

One round, two rounds, as the game went on, the chips were piled up and removed again and again. It was generally impossible to have a table with friends, but the VIPs were an exception. Those who lost money didn’t grab their friends by the collar, and those who came to enjoy didn’t cheat. In addition, the fact that they were guided by the server meant that they were like that.

“Hey.”

Lee Kihyun took my hand while I was pushing the chips to the winner. I twisted my wrist naturally.

“Speak. Why did you take a break the other day? I came here 15 days ago and you weren’t here.”

Unlike the president of the Korean food company, Lee Kihyun was a man who actually made a fuss about it. He had also been forbidden from entering for three months.

“I took a vacation.”

“If you’re going to take a vacation, you should’ve told me. I shouldn’t have come and wasted my time.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t look sorry at all.”

“Stop it, bastard. You’ll make him cry.”

“Listen, if you give him money, he’ll do anything. So I paid 300 won a night. Fuck, I paid it. And then the second time he wanted more. “

A human who lost billions in a single game complained that it cost him three hundred to buy a night with someone. I smiled bitterly so as not to openly laugh.

“Huh? Is he that expensive?”

I put the cards in front of each other without facing Lee Kihyun’s friend who pointed fingers at me. The game ended on that turn (with the fourth card) due to the poor set of the open card. The man with grayish-blue colored eyes, who had been just watching this whole game, suddenly grabbed all the cards and gathered them together.

“This way.”

I expressed embarrassment as the man grabbed the cards. That was the moment. I remembered the reason why the man’s face was familiar. He was the man on the list that Betu mentioned. Why I didn’t recognize him at first was that he had a slightly softer impression than the photo, and the person he accompanied at the time wasn’t Lee Kihyun’s group.

“It’s a rule not to touch the cards other than the dealer after the game.”

“I already know that.”

He cut off my words, pushed the cards he had collected in front of me and said.

“Now, do you want to play together?”

Lee Kihyun and his friend, who were chatting, turned to him at once when they heard that. In the meantime, I retrieved the cards and put them on the card line. Playing with the dealer meant that he would play against the casino.

The casino’s worst case of deficit ever. I recalled Betu’s words. The lenses pressed against my eyes, making my pupils feel tight. According to the list, however, the person whom the grayish blue eyes dealt with was a regular VIP dealer, so there was no need to be nervous. Originally, gambling was advantageous to dealers, and the grayish blue eyes’ game method was more like a calling station (a style that does not make aggressive bets).

“Would you agree to play the game with Player Three?”

I asked the two other people who were quite embarrassed.

“…”

“Right, let’s get out of here.”

They suddenly wanted to leave. When Lee Kihyun raised his hand, the waiting server retrieved his chips. Lee Kihyun took a $500 green chip out of the bag, flicked his finger and threw it forward.

“This is my pretty tip.”

He was feeling like a nobleman today. When he had come here before, he told me to bite the chip in his hands with my lips. I grabbed the chip that was rolling on the table with my hand.

“Thank you.”

I thanked him and moved to Roulette as I turned back to the man in front of me. I reached out to the guard walking around and put the chip in his vest pocket. The man with grayish blue eyes laughed at my behavior. I didn’t know why.

“Then, I’ll tell you about the two-person hold’em rule.”

The gaze directed at my lips gradually rose upward and stayed on my pupils.

“Hold’em is an unlimited game. You can go all-in and die at any time. There are two hands for each player, and then you have three community cards in the center of the table. When you open the fourth card and the fifth card, there will be a final betting round. You can make unlimited bets before paying, so there aren’t small or big deals.”

I didn’t know if the man had the habit of making eye contact when talking to people, but he did while listening to me and it rather made me uncomfortable.

Because of that, even blinking seemed unnatural.

“Do you have any other questions?”

“Let’s start.”

“I’ll hand the cards now.”

I put two cards each in front of me and the man, all facing down. I flipped over my cards so that only I could see them and checked the numbers.

[◆J, ♣2]

This time, I looked at the back of the man’s cards with my head down and only my pupils moving.

[♠4, ♥9]

It wasn’t a bad start.

“Would you like to place a bet?”

The man pushed five black chips into the center without saying a word. The stakes were smaller than I thought. I thought I should choose a safe route as expected, so I also made a bet with 5 black chips. A total of three cards were then unfolded in the center.

[♠1, ◆Q, ◆5]

“Raise.”

Twice as many chips were thrown by the man.

“The dealer will call.”

It was a tacit rule for dealers to call the first round.

I opened the fourth public card.

[♣J]

I had one pair. The man didn’t.

“Fold.”

Even though there was still one card left to reveal, the man decided to fold. His gaze followed me as I retrieved the chip in front of me. I felt like he was looking at my way as playing psychological games, looking for signs of agitation. I smiled at the grayish blue eyed man as I shuffled the cards skillfully. The difference in desperation couldn’t be compared because I had my life at stake, and there was money at stake that I could lose. If he wanted to play psychological games, my desperation would win.

“Why are you smiling?”

The question was so subtle and his eyes felt pure. Kwon Taeha, the second son of a German shipbuilding company. That was the information of the man that I received. In addition, what I learned was that, from his neat nails, the length of his sleeves, and the stitching of the suit, which fit him perfectly from the wrist, all of that was impeccable. I was convinced by his appearance that he had mixed blood.

“Because you’re as gentlemanly as you look.”

“Does a gentleman who talks down exist?”

His tone of voice seemed to know that I said it as lip service. The man bet twice as much as before, relaxly checking the card that was given to him. I had a hunch that I was going to play the game with this guy until the end of the first part. From the start, my eyes were tired and my mind only became heavier, that I was in desperate need of cigarettes. However, there was still a long way to go until the break from part 1 to part 2.

***

The man’s chips were reduced by more than half, and my chips were stacked as much as he lost. To put it bluntly, he was giving away all his money to the casino as if he were a pushover. The man lost about 1.5 billion won in about three hours of game time, but that didn’t excite me at all.

The most important mindset in this wasn’t to be forgotten. Chips were a kind of illusion, hundreds of millions, even billions of chips, and all were not mine, although I had seen dealers who had abandoned reality just to have them. Also, statistics said that the winner was the one who had a lot from the beginning.

The man’s friends also came several times to watch the game, but they were busy playing their own games, as if they had lost interest in him losing money.

“Would you like to continue?”

At this point, I thought he should cut it off, so I said it. He chose to answer “Continue, don’t worry.”. It was weird. I heard from Betu that he gained chips to the point that he might be cheating. Now, I couldn’t read his facial expression, whether losing money made him lose his temper or just acted calm.

“Then, I’ll give you a hand.”

“Let’s bet first this time.”

His words stopped me from shuffling the cards. The man wanted to start betting before receiving the cards. As if his anger had risen, he threw a third of his chips without being defeated. Perhaps, the worst-ever deficit to the casino was simply that this man’s luck had been extremely good that day. Before receiving the card; such a bet was a sign of putting everything to chance. Even though I knew the psychology behind that, my hands still became sweaty, but I followed his bet without showing any signs.

The sound of friction by the sides of the card was sharp.

The man picked up the two cards that were handed to him and put them away. I also checked the numbers on the back of the man’s cards.

[♠5, ♥3]

I checked my cards this time.

[◆K, ♣9]

The start was in my favor.

“It’s Player One’s turn to bet.”

“Raise.”

More than the first bet of chips was thrown. The three public cards hadn’t even been opened yet and he wanted to raise right away? Plus, he didn’t even have a pair, if that’s not being crazy…

“It’s the dealer’s time to bet.”

What’s up with him? He spoke with a dealer-like tone. I just smiled and pretended to check my cards again, taking my destiny slowly.

“The dealer will call.”

I opened the three cards in the middle.

The cards that were released were [♥5, ◆5, ♠3].

Flinch-

My fingertips visibly trembled after opening the cards that anyone could have noticed it. I had been a dealer for a long time, but the chances of this happening were very slim. Even from the beginning, the betting amount was incomparable to the last round.

“The opened cards are one pair.”

His eyes were not on the cards, but on me. The man’s cards made a full house. Nevertheless, there was no change in his facial expression. However, he called the server behind him as if to stop the game for a while. Taking out a card from his wallet, he told him to exchange it for 200 black chips. At some point, I couldn’t feel the chill from the air conditioner, which was running to the point where it seemed excessive.

I could only concentrate on the whirr sound hovering in my ear. It was time to bluff if necessary. There was a possibility that it would work because I had never made a false bet while playing with this man.

While the server was exchanging chips at the VIP exchange station, he and I confronted each other over the table. My back seemed to be soaked with cold sweat, but I pretended to be calm. He didn’t seem too surprised that he had a full house. From the beginning until now, he remained smiling and expressionless. Maybe I had looked down on this guy. No, it was one hundred percent luck. That man’s luck was better than I imagined.

I put my fingertips on the edge of the card and heightened my senses. I needed to wake up. There were still 2 cards left to open. Soon after, half of the black chips that the server had exchanged were put on the table.

A total of 2 million USD, nearly 2.1 billion in KRW, had been accumulated. I gulped even though my mouth was dry.

It was a game that I couldn’t win in the first place. Bluffing was the sign to give up and abstain at the next turn. Wait- I said to myself. The intention of the man who quickly raised the stakes was on my mind.

If I had a full house, I would slowly raise the stakes and go all-in at the last minute. Being strong from the beginning was like advertising that his cards were good. Do you want me to follow you by pretending to be bluffing? However, it wasn’t a game for anyone who chose a safe route.

“Call? Fold? Or raise?”

The grayish blue-eyed man signaled to his eyes with his hand. The indifferent eyes seemed to be completely stained with a cold gaze. I was unlucky. If I stepped back from here, I felt as if that hand in his eyes would veer to my lens.

His play suddenly turned aggressive, which could not be dismissed as recklessness of old age. He seemed to be acting as if he had read my cards. It can’t be, but there were always unexpected variables like the current full house. I checked my card carefully pretending to be lost in thought. And I spoke in the same tone as the beginning.

“The dealer will call. I’m turning the open card.”

And I did.

[♣7]

I didn’t even have a pair and he still had a full house. He would have already foretold my cards. I would have had two pairs at best. I’m fine. If I died because I followed him all throughout the game, I wouldn’t complain. Even if more than 2 billion won were lost now, I could gain them back in the second part. Today, however, there was no guarantee that people with as much capital as Lee Kihyun’s group would visit. Chills spread from my toe to the top of my head.

The gray-blue eyes that were looking at the cards, now looked at my eyes casually. At the same time, the man’s lips moved.

“Fold.”

I had to stretch my legs so I wouldn’t hold onto the table. It was like a shock that the bank that was barely flooding burst at once. He was in a situation where he should have chosen All In or Raise. I even believed that I heard it wrong. The only question was, why? That was floating in my head. Full House would win no matter what and he…

He hadn’t taken his eyes off me since he said ‘fold’.

“Because the Player gave up the game, it’s the dealer’s win.”

Fortunately, a clear voice came out, and it wasn’t noticed that I had a dried mouth.

“Wow, would you look at that!”

He looked at me as if he was having fun while I was picking up the cards. The ominousness seemed to fit in to a certain extent. Either I was tested or he noticed the lens.

I shuffled down the cards and asked.

“Would you like to proceed?”

“Ah~ until when are you going to keep doing this. I’m so hungry.”

Lee Kihyun, who was wandering around the table, put his hand on the gray-blue eyed man’s shoulder. The man, who was still looking at me with an unexpected smile, replied, “Soon.”. The other friend wasn’t seen as if he had left the room.

“Do you want me to clear the table?”

“Yes, yes, clean up. Wow~, the chips are fucked up. Did Kwon Taeha lose them all to this beauty? Your pocket must be bursting.”

He stood up while the server cleaned up the remaining chips. I was courteous as per the rules to the VIPs who came out of the table and finished the game. Lee Kihyun’s voice was heard over my head, as I was bending over and seeing them off.

“Ah, right. Kwon Taeha, you know what? He doesn’t have any hair down there. He’s fucking smooth like a baby.”

That felt terrible, and I lifted my back, but I was looking at the floor.

“Is that so?”

The muttering man’s gaze roamed through my body. He asked me like a person that was asking for an introduction.

“Mr. Dealer, is it like white porcelain?”

Unexpected low-quality words poured out from the calling station (no aggressive betting style) to a player who crosses the change gear (a style that has both carefulness and aggressive play). Anyways, he didn’t really care about what I thought. The idea that he would be different from Lee Kihyun’s friends, who were a total mess, quickly disappeared. In fact, I didn’t expect anything from that guy.

I raised the corners of my mouth to add a gentle smile to my face.

“According to the rules, the dealer’s privacy can’t be discussed.”

The man looked down to my lower body, perhaps for a moment of interest. When the server finished preparing for the exchange and stood behind him, he accepted the briefcase and said.

“I had a good time today.”

His expression looked strange for someone who had lost a lot of money.

“You’re making up the rules now?”

On the contrary, Lee Kihyun, who was dissatisfied with my answer, intervened.

“I apologize if you were offended.”

“Just words?”

The man started walking away while Lee Kihyun complained.

“Hey~! Taeha, why are you just leaving?”

Lee Kihyun, who was alternately looking at the man and me, stopped picking a fight and chose the one who showed his back. Lee Kihyun, who followed the man, whined as if he wanted me to hear it.

“Isn’t it crazy? He will get laid for the right price.”

The man suddenly turned to me. Then, he answered in a tone that seemed to be awkward.

“This kind is only for looking at. Be careful.”