AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mangjeol kept signaling for more sake. Both he and Quint were now drinking heavily. Ross followed along, confident in his abilities. He’d been raised on much stronger stuff than sake.
Quint tapped first, to nobody’s surprise. For all he was the size of a walrus he couldn’t hold his drink.
“Fuck me, boys,” the big man sputtered. “I got…get home. Reckon I’ll be excused…”
“Take my driver,” Mangjeol offered smoothly.
“I will, Mangy, I will. Go fuck yourself! Tomorrow, Ross, I’ll take you to the— what was it called? Nevermind. I’ll text you. Boys, a pleasure! A pleasure!”
“He hasn’t changed,”Ross said to Mangjeol in Japanese once Quinton had made a noisy exit from the rooftop. The atmosphere immediately felt more relaxed. Even Manny lost some of the tension in his ramrod-straight posture, spreading his legs and tapping his Gucci loafers idly on the floor.
“Quinton is an embarrassment,” Manny said uncharitably.
“Hmm.”
“I must keep inviting him everywhere out of politeness. But he is an aggravating person.”
“I missed your sense of humor, Mangs.”
“Thank you.”
“Tired of playing babysitter to Quinton? What happened to brotherhood?”
Mangjeol gave him a deadpan look that made Ross crack up with laughter. “I knew you always hated us.”
“Sorry,” said Mangjeol, and they both were laughing.
“Rosso-kun.” That was how Mangjeol always pronounced his name. The Korean man looked at his American friend speculatively. “Rosso-kun, why are you really in Tokyo? It’s only by chance Quinton ran into you. Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?”
“Work. I’m tailing some guy from Virginia. Not really a good time to pay social calls.”
“You came all this way, playing detective. ”
“That’s right.”
“But you accepted my offer to get drinks tonight.”
“Yeah. Yesterday the guy jumped off a bridge, putting an end to my investigation.” Ross reached for the sake with a steady hand. “Another round?”
Mangjeol shook his head, staring at Ross. “I wish you were the one who moved to Tokyo, not Quinton.”
“So is Quinton right? You’re running some kind of…escort service?”
“I’ve begun some work in pharmaceuticals. But I can procure women for high-value clients if they request it.”
“Never thought you’d get into the sex trade.” Ross’s eyes went flinty. “For a tech guy, I thought your interests would be less crude.”
“New technology meets old business. It’s been very successful. Everything is done gently; nobody is harmed.” Mangjeol’s eyes danced with a new cunning idea. “You know, Rosso-kun, with your line of work, you would be a great asset to the team.”
“Where do you get the girls?” Ross grunted.
“That’s classified.” Mangjeol smiled. “But I have a girl in mind for you, Ross. It’s actually something I wanted to call you about earlier. I’m happy you came to Tokyo so we could discuss it in person.”
It was hard to tell with Mangjeol; he was the friendliest guy in the world at times. But he kept his emotions in a basement bunker with a rusted fridge sitting on the hatch.
Mangjeol had emptied the sake jug. He called for more. A steady flush had risen to his cheeks but he seemed in no hurry to stop, so Ross would not either.
Ross grunted, “That’s nice, Manny, but there’s plenty of girls in the States. I didn’t come here for women.”
