TIN 6

“This isn’t a problem that can be solved just by selling you off! Huh?”

The boss shouted so loudly that the veins in his neck bulged. Every time he spoke, a slap followed, and before I could even swallow the blood, more excruciating pain came rushing in. I clenched my teeth reflexively, but who knows, my teeth might be loose by the time this was over.

“Boss.”

Smack! Just as another slap hit and I staggered, Lingling cautiously approached. The boss paused and turned to her, and Lingling gently placed a hand on his arm, speaking softly.

“Let’s  talk to him now.”

“…Talk to him?”

The boss’s bloodshot eyes fixed on Lingling. His darting gaze seemed to question her audacity in interfering. It was a reaction that would startle anyone, yet Lingling maintained her placating smile without even a flinch.

“If you mess up his face, you won’t be able to use him for business. You’ll have to fix him to recover the loss.”

I barely swallowed the laughter that almost escaped. That was so like Lingling, with her clever way of navigating situations. It was obvious she was carefully choosing words that wouldn’t upset the boss.

“How are you going to use someone with missing teeth? It’d be a waste of money to send him to the hospital too.”

Lingling subtly guided the boss’s hand down. Stepping in front of me, it was clear she didn’t want to see me beaten any further. Remarkably, the boss’s expression quickly softened.

“You’re right…my smart Lingling is right.”

The boss took a deep breath and glared at me with his bulging eyes. He inhaled deeply several times, as if he still couldn’t calm his anger. His large frame made him look intimidating, but honestly, it wasn’t all that scary.

“Lift your head.”

“…”

I barely managed to lift my eyelids. I was fine for now, but tomorrow I probably wouldn’t even be able to open my eyes. Based on past experience, it always looked worse the day after getting hit.

“Any missing teeth?”

“…No.”

I replied slowly, carefully running my tongue along my teeth. The insides of my cheeks were ragged, but as long as I hadn’t lost any teeth, it wasn’t a major concern. The other wounds would heal in a few days as well.

Still, the boss seemed uneasy, roughly grabbing my chin. He scrutinized me, checking if my eyes were damaged, if my nose was broken, searching for any permanent scarring, even yanking on my ears.

When our gazes briefly met, he muttered something under his breath, almost fearfully.

“Tough bastard…”

What’s tough about this? If I’d passed out, he’d have made a fuss about it. Crying and begging wouldn’t have stopped him from hitting me until he calmed down.

The boss shoved my face away like he was throwing it aside and dusted off his hands, as if touching something filthy. His face was full of disgust.

“Dammit, I can’t even sell you with just your skin peeled off… I’m the idiot for trying to save something like this.”

The damage I had caused was likely substantial. As the boss said, the value of that esteemed customer’s body was incomparable to someone like me. It was understandable why he was so agitated.

“I should have sold you when I had the chance…Shit, if you go out and cause more trouble somewhere else…”

His muttered complaints were mostly regrets about missing a good opportunity. Saying that saving me had been a mistake, that he had let his guard down because I’d been obedient with the customers. The more he spoke, the deeper the unease showed on his face.

“…No, no.”

Suddenly, the boss’s eyes lit up as he lifted his head.

“Lingling, how many clients can we get for one ‘item’?”

The direct question made Lingling clammed up. He hadn’t said it directly, but everyone in the room knew exactly what he meant.

“…Are you planning to circulate him?”

“Yeah, I was wrong to think otherwise.”

The boss shook his head, as if in repentance. Tsk, the clicking of his tongue showed his decision was already made.

“Anyway, he’ll be unsellable when he gets old. I can’t just leave him be out of fear of the price dropping. Let’s maximize the profit in the short term – auction him off, or sell him to some old pervert before he’s damaged goods.”

The threat of removing my teeth if I resisted wasn’t the important part. I had no intention of fighting back, and Lingling looked even more horrified than I was. When Lingling remained silent, the boss snapped impatiently.

“Lingling! How many people can we get for him?”

“Ten… no, four is the maximum.”

Lingling hastily corrected her initial response. Maintaining her poker face, the slight trembling of her lips was the only hint of her true feelings.

“Four? Is that all?”

“Men only have a few holes, so getting more than that just leaves the customers unsatisfied. It takes too long too… It’s better to circulate him among four at a time.”

The smooth excuse elicited a wry chuckle from me. Four? I’ve seen them cram a dozen people in at once. With just a few holes, they can just stuff a couple in each. Even in this situation, Lingling was still looking out for me.

“But this bastard just…”

However, the boss seemed to have noticed my smile. Before I could wipe it away, the boss spat out a curse, taking a step forward and raising his hand threateningly. Even Lingling looked defeated, averting her gaze.

“So you still haven’t had enough, huh?”

More beatings, then. I squeezed my eyes shut, not out of fear, but a reflexive response knowing the pain that would follow.

“I’ve let this slide for too long, and now—!”

But the boss couldn’t slap me again. Just as he was about to swing his palm, someone entered the shop, the chime of the door ringing out. Halting his movement, the boss seemed to sense the guest.

“…”

Tap, tap—the sound of slow and deliberate footsteps, approached. The chime continued to ring out behind the person.

In the deathly silence, a foreign exclamation suddenly intruded.

“Ah.”

The low voice was laden with an undeniable sense of authority. Just that single syllable sent shivers down my spine. As I slowly lifted my gaze, the approaching figure nearly took my breath away.

“I believe I mentioned I would be stopping by…”

The man surveyed the interior with predatory eyes. His brilliantly golden irises were the unmistakable sign of an ultra rare Alpha. Beneath his disheveled hair, his sharp gaze, nearly showing the whites of his eyes, eventually turned toward me with an agonizing slowness.

“…”

“…”

My heart began to race.

The silence that passed between us wasn’t just my imagination. A sharp glint flashed in his lazily blinking eyes, and his transparent gaze, as if he could see straight through me, meticulously examined every detail of my face.

If gazes had physical form, I would have been strangled long ago. I tried to speak, but only a shallow breath escaped my lips. Every cell in my body felt electrified, the hair on my neck standing on end.

“Ah…”

In contrast to my muted whimper, the man quickly broke into an amiable smile – a sight that etched itself into my mind once more.

“The item’s in terrible condition.”

“Ah, Mr. Director!”

The locked gazes broke apart. As if unaware they had met, the man smiled playfully at the boss. The smile remained, but the light in his eyes had grown into boredom.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m the owner of this place. If you’d given me a heads-up, I would’ve come to fetch you….”

The boss groveled, subtly positioning himself in front of me. Perhaps conscious of the ‘sloppy item’ comment, being blocked from view made it easier for me to breathe.

The man blatantly ignored the boss’s outstretched hand, lazily drawling his words.

“No need to come pick me up…”

The elongated syllables were almost melodious in their softness. For someone who had barged into a CLOSED establishment, his tone was relaxed and unhurried. After narrowing his eyes briefly, the man tilted his chin towards me, past the boss’s shoulder.

“Is that the item you were going to show me?”