Rent-A-Daddy

Chapter One

It’s too hot in here.

Someone should really do something about that, like maybe not crank the sauna to the surface temperature of the sun.

The heat is pressing in on me from every direction, pushing against my chest and making my lungs work overtime just to pull in each breath.

My skin is slick with sweat, rivulets of it running down my neck and pooling in the dip of my collarbones, and I’ve got my head tipped back against the wooden slats behind me with my eyes closed, trying to convince myself this is relaxing and not slow-motion torture.

A hand lands on my bare thigh and I crack my eyes open.

Hyunwoo’s face swims into view through the steam, flushed a deep pink that goes all the way down his neck and across his chest. His usually perfectly styled hair is plastered flat to his forehead in dark wet streaks, and he’s panting like he just sprinted up six flights of stairs carrying a refrigerator on his back.

“I’m fucking dying,” he wheezes. “I’m actually dying. This is how it ends for me.”

I laugh. “Coming in here was your idea, genius.”

Hyunwoo groans theatrically, shifting on the bench so the wood creaks under him.

“I thought it’d be a good way to unwind after our workout, but now I just feel dehydrated and like my brain is actively melting out of my ears.

” He slaps my thigh, and I flinch more from surprise than any actual sting.

“We need to get out before we shrivel up like raisins and someone finds our dried-out corpses in here.”

“Dramatic,” I mutter, but I’m already pushing myself up off the bench because honestly, he’s not wrong. My head is starting to swim a little, and the towel around my waist is so soaked with sweat it’s barely clinging on.

The cool air of the gym hits us the second we push through the sauna door, and I let out a long breath of relief.

Goosebumps erupt across my overheated skin.

The temperature difference is so sharp it almost stings.

Hyunwoo exhales loudly beside me, grabbing a fresh towel from the stack by the door and mopping at his face, dragging it down his temples.

His gold chain necklace catches the overhead light as he moves, glinting against his tanned chest. He always wears that thing, even in the sauna, even in the shower.

I’ve told him a hundred times the chlorine from the pool is going to tarnish it, and he always just shrugs and says he’ll buy another one.

He tosses me a fresh towel without looking, his aim annoyingly perfect, and jerks his head toward the locker room. “Showers. Now. Before we both pass out and someone has to scrape us off the floor.”

The shower stalls in this gym are set up across from each other with a tiled aisle running between them, separated by half-walls that come up to about chest height.

Hyunwoo takes the one directly across from mine, and we both turn our backs to each other as the water kicks on.

Steam rises again, curling up toward the ceiling, but this time it’s the good kind, refreshing instead of suffocating, and I tip my face up into the spray and let the cool water run over my overheated scalp.

“Hey,” Hyunwoo calls across the aisle, his voice bouncing off the tiled walls with a slight echo. “Did you ever get past level sixty-five last night?”

I sniff loudly enough for him to hear it over the water. “Don’t even mention it.”

“That bad?”

“I kept getting nuked at the basement level where all those mutant things spawn,” I say, scrubbing a hand through my hair under the spray. “Every single time. I’d get to the stairwell and three of them would just come out of nowhere and wreck me before I could switch weapons.”

Hyunwoo’s laugh rings brightly. “What happened to those supposedly well-honed battle senses you’re always bragging about? All that military training and you can’t handle a few digital mutants?”

I turn and glare at him over my shoulder. “What happened is my backup bailed on me right when we were getting to the good part.”

Hyunwoo holds his hands up in mock surrender, water cascading off his forearms, before reaching for his shampoo bottle.

He squeezes a generous amount into his palm and starts working it through his hair.

“It was out of my hands. I got summoned by a prime hottie for a hookup and I would’ve been out of my mind to turn her down.

” He glances back at me with an infuriating smirk.

“You would’ve done the same thing if you were in my position.

Don’t even try to tell me you’d have chosen video games over getting laid. ”

I grumble something noncommittal and turn back to my own shower, grabbing the bar of generic soap I keep in my caddy. “I hope it was at least worth abandoning me to die repeatedly.”

There’s a pause. Then Hyunwoo sighs, and it’s so dramatic I can practically hear his shoulders sag.

“She was actually pretty shit in bed. Just laid there like a starfish expecting me to do all the work. Didn’t move, didn’t make a sound, I honestly couldn’t tell if she was into it or just waiting for me to finish so she could check her phone.

” He rinses the shampoo out of his hair with a defeated tilt of his head.

“I probably should’ve just stayed home playing video games with you. ”

“So we both lost, then,” I say flatly.

“Tragic on all fronts.” He shuts off his water and shakes his head like a dog, sending droplets flying. “I’ll make it up to you. Pizza and beer, my treat.”

“You always say that.”

“And I always follow through, don’t I?”

He does, actually. I’ll give him that.

We get dressed side by side in the locker room, the wooden bench between us cluttered with our gym bags and toiletries.

I pull on my jeans and tug a t-shirt over my head.

There are small holes near the collar that I only notice when I catch my reflection in the mirror across the room, but it’s clean and it fits, so whatever.

I layer my old hoodie over it, the one that used to be black but has faded to a washed-out charcoal from too many cycles in the laundromat machines downstairs from my apartment.

Meanwhile, Hyunwoo is putting on an entirely different kind of outfit.

I watch him shrug into pressed slacks and button up a designer shirt with subtle branding embroidered on the breast pocket.

He rolls the sleeves to his elbows with neat folds, clasps his gold watch around his wrist, and steps into leather dress shoes that look like they’ve never encountered a sidewalk puddle.

I give him a look, both eyebrows raised. “Are you going to a board meeting or something? Some fancy business lunch?”

Hyunwoo smirks at his reflection in the locker mirror as he adjusts his collar, leaving the top two buttons undone.

“I refuse to attend those snorefests. No, I’m meeting someone about a piece of property outside the city that I’ve been eyeing.

” He runs his fingers through his damp hair, pushing it back off his forehead in an artfully messy way he somehow always manages to nail.

“I’m thinking about one of those glamping resort spots.

Luxury tents, private hot springs, maybe some kind of outdoor dining setup with a view of the mountains. ”

I raise my brow even higher, which takes some effort. “Since when do you have any actual business ambition? You usually avoid anything resembling real work like it might be contagious.”

He winks at me through the mirror. “It has the added benefit of being a really nice getaway once it’s finished.

I’ve always wanted to try camping, but I have absolutely zero desire to sleep in some cramped tent on the hard ground with bugs crawling all over me and no running water.

” He straightens his watch on his wrist. “This way I get the whole aesthetic without sacrificing any comfort.”

“So it’s actually just a convoluted way of building yourself a new vacation spot disguised as a business venture,” I say, sitting down on the bench to shove my feet into my beat-up sneakers.

Hyunwoo shrugs, not even attempting to deny it.

“It’s mutually beneficial for the family business.

They’ve been wanting to expand into eco-tourism anyway, and grandmother’s been on my case about contributing something.

” He zips up his sleek leather duffel bag and slings it over his shoulder, turning to face me with a grin.

“Besides, who do you think is going to go glamping with me if not you? I’ll need someone to test out all the amenities with.

The hot springs, the hiking trails, the artisanal breakfast spread. ”

I roll my eyes and reach for my phone as it chimes with a notification, fishing it out of the side pocket of my gym bag. The bag itself is faded with a logo that’s been peeling off for the better part of a year, and one of the zippers doesn’t close all the way anymore. I glance at my screen.

The groan that comes out of me is loud and filled with genuine distress.

Hyunwoo looks over, his curiosity immediate. “What’s wrong?”

I flash him the screen. It’s a text from my bank, an automated alert informing me that my automatic rent payment withdrawal has been denied due to insufficient funds.

The balance displayed is negative. Not just a little negative.

Aggressively negative, with red numbers that seem to glare at me with personal contempt.

Hyunwoo snickers. “Again? Seriously?”

I rub my face with both hands, dragging my palms down my cheeks.

“My landlord is going to lose it this time. Like, actually lose it. He might actually evict me, Hyunwoo. This is the third month in a row I’ve been late, and the last time I went to drop off a partial payment he just stared at me for a really long time without blinking and told me his patience had limits. ”

Hyunwoo eyes me as he zips up his bag the rest of the way, his expression becoming critical. “How are you always broke? You work practically every day at the gym. Where does it all go?”