5. Chapter Five Dex

Chapter Five: Dex

T he following morning Dex, Seo-jun, and Brand arrived at Summit bright and early. Well, not bright —the sun was barely peaking above the horizon—but definitely early. Brand’s co-manager, Kaitlyn, was already there, bustling about, opening blinds and cleaning equipment. Dex had met her before, but Brand stopped and introduced her to Seo-jun. She was around forty with shoulder-length blond hair laced with strands of silver that she kept tied up in a ponytail, and a short, sturdy physique. As had been discussed on the way to the gym, Brand told her that Dex had agreed to help out while Brand looked for someone to hire to assist with the influx of new climbers. Kaitlyn had never met Seo-jun, so no explanation was needed there.

As Brand was unlocking his office door, another employee arrived.

“Chet!” Brand called out to the tall redhead who was relocking the front door behind himself.

He jogged over. “Yeah, boss?”

“This is Seo-jun Do, and Dex Price, two new employees. Guys, this is Chet Masters. He works the day shift. Seo-jun, Chet will show you everything you need to know about running the juice bar.”

When Seo-jun and Chet headed that way, Brand turned to Dex. “You can just walk around and help people today. I have some paperwork to get done this morning at my desk. I’ll be out in time for us to close for lunch.”

Brand went inside his office.

Looking around, Dex yawned. The night before, as he’d lain beside a softly snoring Seo-jun, he’d finally given up on sleeping and worked for hours on his laptop to get the file encrypted for Jase. He’d wound up getting fewer than three hours of sleep. Seo-jun, however, had slept like the dead, which explained why he seemed so alert every time Dex passed him at the juice bar, making smoothies like a pro. Dex strolled over to a group of obvious beginners and showed them some tips on bouldering, then demonstrated a moderately difficult boulder route for an intermediate group.

Around noon, Brand came out of his office and made the rounds. At two, the place closed for two hours for lunch. Kaitlyn made the announcement over the loudspeaker, but most of the members were accustomed to the routine and were already heading out the door by that time.

“When we reopen, people will start trickling in after work,” Brand told Dex and Seo-jun as Kaitlyn and Chet began cleaning in preparation to leave, as their shifts were over.

In the employee break room, the three men loaded their plates with the various dishes Brand had ordered from Panda Express.

“Tell us about Matt,” Seo-jun said.

They’d gone through Brand’s ex’s social media pages before they’d started the job. They were full of shirtless selfies, and he hadn’t posted anything at all in the past three weeks or so.

Brand shook his head. “Matt’s a red flag. I know I should have realized it sooner, but he bowled me over with compliments and gifts, like he was utterly smitten with me. I was overwhelmed and even kind of flattered when he got jealous when other guys or even girls—who he knows I’m not attracted to—noticed me. He immediately wanted to date exclusively, and it wasn’t long after that when he convinced me to move in with him. He monopolized my time, and some of my friends noticed it. But I thought it was normal to want to spend all your free time with your boyfriend, you know? I never had one before him. He was seven years older than I was, and I let him run the show. And he loved it.”

“What happened?” Dex asked, more than just curious as Brand’s bodyguard. As someone who had lived his life completely in the closet until recently, he found Brand’s account of his love life eye-opening, even if it was an example of what not to do.

“Matt succeeded in almost entirely cutting me off from my family and friends. Suddenly, my life was all about work and him. He wanted to know where I was at all times. Back then, I worked as a mountain climbing guide at Mount Rainier National Park, taking groups for climbs six days a week. Matt suddenly became unhappy with that, saying I worked too much. He didn’t climb, and he didn’t like me spending that much time away from him.”

“How did you two meet?” Seo-jun asked.

“At my cousin’s gym where I went a couple of times a week to do cardio. Matt lifted weights there every day. I started to notice him there every time I went, even when I changed up the times. He told me later he’d been trying to get the nerve up to ask me out, which, now that I know him, I find hard to believe. He’s a very confident person.”

“How did your relationship end?” Dex inquired.

“I literally left in the middle of the night. I packed when Matt wasn’t home and snuck my bags into a utility closet on the same floor as Matt’s apartment. As soon as I was sure he was asleep, I got out of there. I stayed with my uncle, who helped me to move here and start my business. I’m careful not to be on social media or let my face get into the news, but I have a feeling Matt knows where I am.”

“Anything concrete?” Seo-jun asked, dark eyes intent.

Brand had stopped eating and was absently tearing his napkin into long strips. When he didn’t answer, Dex rested his hand on Brand’s arm.

“Hey. You okay?”

Meeting his eyes, Brand took a deep breath.

“He’s a scary guy.”

“Abusive?” Dex asked.

“Not physically, although, when he was really angry, he’d pull his fist back like he was going to hit me.”

Dex glanced at Seo-jun, who looked sympathetic. “But you don’t know for a fact he’s here,” Dex said to Brand.

“I’m pretty sure he is. Yesterday, right before I called your boss, I found this on the seat of my car.” Getting up from the table, he walked over to his desk and took something out of the drawer. When he returned, he placed it on the desk for Dex and Seo-jun to see.

It was a ticket to an up-coming Taylor Swift concert in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dex looked at Brand questioningly.

“She’s my favorite singer. I’m crazy about her.”

“Could anyone else have put the ticket there? Why was your car unlocked?”

“I’d run into the drug store for a minute. Matt knows me well enough to know I never lock the car doors when I do something like that.”

“That needs to change,” Seo-jun said. Then, “Could it have been someone else? Maybe someone interested in you?”

“I can’t think of anyone here who knows I love Taylor Swift. Matt really freaked me out. I don’t share much about myself these days.”

Dex and Seo-jun’s eyes met. It did seem likely that Matt had left the ticket as a chilling taunt. He knew where Brand was and he was watching him. Maybe he hoped Brand loved Taylor Swift so much he wouldn’t be able to keep from going to the concert.

“Did Matt have a gun when you lived with him?” Dex asked.

Brand shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of.”

“Anything else you can tell us?” Seo-jun asked.

Brand thought a moment before shrugging. “Just that our song was ‘Lover.’”

“Oh, I love that song!” Dex gushed before he could stop himself. Seo-jun’s mouth twitched.

“The concert is in three weeks,” Seo-jun said.

Brand shuddered. “Don’t worry. I’m not going. God, do you think Matt will be there, waiting for me?”

Dex didn’t answer. They all knew he probably would be.

Finished eating, they cleaned up their mess and went back into the gym.

“See you tomorrow,” Kaitlyn said as she unlocked the door to leave. Chet had already gone.

“Okay. Drive carefully.” The second shift arrived, and there were more introductions.

By four o’clock, the evening employees had arrived and several people were waiting outside the door when Brand unlocked it, Seo-jun by his side.

Dex was steadily busy for the next few hours, helping climbers. Brand stayed close by. By seven, the gym had thinned out considerably as people went home to dinner.

“I usually head out around now. Malia closes up for me,” Brand said to Dex. The juice bar closed at six-thirty, and Brand told Seo-jun to leave the rest of the cleaning to Prashant, a teenager who worked there part-time after school.

The drive back to Brand’s was uneventful, and once they reached his apartment and made sure no one was lurking inside, Brand told them he normally just ate a light snack for dinner and to help themselves to anything in the kitchen. Then he excused himself to go to bed, taking a peach and some cheese with him.

As they’d eaten so heavily at lunch, Dex and Seo-jun had a similar meal before showering. As promised, Seo-jun allowed Dex to go first, and Dex washed as quickly as possible so that Seo-jun wouldn’t be doused with frigid water as he had been the night before. A half-hour later, the two lounged in bed, Dex scrolling through his phone while Seo-jun read a paperback, the title of which Dex couldn’t comprehend because it was in what Dex assumed was Korean.

“Brand’s ex is something else,” Dex said after a half hour of scrolling through the guys’ Instagram.

“How so?” Seo-jun asked, putting down the book. Dex was accustomed to his co-worker’s way of focusing completely on someone when they spoke to him, but it still made goosebumps rise on his flesh to have Seo-jun’s dark eyes on him and him alone.

Clearing his throat, Dex said, “All his pictures are of himself. I can’t find one picture of Brand, and I’ve scrolled back pretty far.”

“Maybe he got rid of those when they broke up,” Seo-jun said. “Or, rather, after Brand left him.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Dex kept scrolling. “He also photoshops his pictures, which I find weird. I mean, I know some people do it, but come on. What’s the point of photoshopping when all your friends know you’re doing it?”

“No point at all, but people continue to do it anyway,” Seo-jun said. Seo-jun didn’t use social media—Dex had checked long ago.

“And does he even have any friends?” Dex continued. “I can’t tell by these pictures. Actually, I think his best friend is himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if he liked his own pictures.” He chuckled as he continued to scroll through a seemingly endless amount of Matt Pierce’s selfies. “Hell, he’d probably marry himself if he could.”

“One trait of narcissism is a very high opinion of one’s self as well as a tendency toward self-admiration both mentally and physically,” Seo-jun said.

Dex arched a brow. “So, you think Matt Pierce is a narcissist?”

“He fits too many of the traits not to be. The love-bombing at the beginning of his relationship with Brand was textbook narcissism. Why are you staring at me like that?”

Dex felt his face heating. “I, uh, I’m not used to hearing you talk so much.”

Seo-jun was quiet for a moment before saying, “Do you want me to stop?”

“What? No! I-I like listening to you.”

Was that a blush on Seo-jun’s cheeks?

“Tell me more about narcissists,” Dex encouraged, putting down his phone and repositioning himself on his pillows so that he faced Seo-jun. He watched the man’s Adam’s apple dip as he swallowed.

“As I said, narcissists tend to have high opinions of themselves. They also look down on others and expect to be recognized for achievements that they usually feel are greater than what they are. Frequently, they are envious of others and expect others to be envious of them as well.” Seo-jun paused, and Dex smiled.

“Sounds like you know a lot about them.”

“I’ve done some research on narcissism,” Seo-jun said, looking away and flicking his pink tongue over his naturally full lips before continuing. “Narcissists are critical of others, and they tend to be arrogant braggarts.”

“What was it you said that Brand’s ex did that was typical?” Dex asked.

“Love bombing,” Seo-jun said. “Overdoing it with gifts and compliments, monopolizing the other person’s time. Slowly pulling them away from friends and loved ones so they only rely on the narcissist. Why do you like listening to me talk?”

Dex blinked at the rapid change of topic.

Because I find you so very attractive. Because I love watching your beautiful mouth move. Because I’m absolutely infatuated with you.

He couldn’t say any of those things. “Because even though we spend a lot of time together, you rarely talk. And I hardly know anything about you.”

“I’m not talking about myself,” Seo-jun pointed out.

“Would you?” Dex asked, heart fluttering in his chest. He would love to get to know Seo-jun better.

Seo-jun looked both flattered and uncertain, and when he didn’t say anything right away, Dex rushed on, “You don’t have to. I understand privacy. I was just thinking…we’re friends. I mean, I think we’re friends. At least, we’re coworkers. And I don’t even know if you have a family, a girlfriend, or…anything.”

“I do not have a girlfriend,” Seo-jun said, and Dex was so relieved to have any answer that he didn’t even feel too let down that Seo-jun didn’t add that he liked men.

“Okay. Um. I’m from Colorado originally. Where are you from?”

“North Korea,” Seo-jun said solemnly.

A little shocked, because Dex had automatically assumed Seo-jun was of South Korean descent, he said, “Oh.”

Seo-jun waited, face stoic. Dex wondered what Seo-jun wanted him to say. What would Dex want someone to say if he told them he was from an enemy country? How interesting wouldn’t cut it.

He settled on “What was that like?” and was relieved when Seo-jun’s face relaxed marginally.

“At first, I didn’t know any different. It was my home and all I knew, although I sensed unease from my parents that they never explained. Later, after we left, it felt alienating and lonely to be from the North. Confusing.”

Placing his book on the bedside table, Seo-jun turned off the lamp and settled down.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be intrusive or to bring up bad memories,” Dex said in to the darkness.

“It isn’t that. I just…find it easier to talk about it in the dark.”

Dex couldn’t help the smile that spread over his face. When he spoke next, he was careful to keep it out of his voice.

“That makes sense. Why do you find being from North Korea to be confusing, if you don’t mind me asking?”

After a moment filled only with their quiet breathing, Seo-jun said, “It’s just that I wonder, why was I, out of all the places a person can be born, born there? The ideologies and the way of life—they do something to a person. They make you question the rest of the world.”

“I see,” Dex said. “At least, I think I do. So, you left there? With your family?”

“With my mother. When I was fourteen, my father fell out of favor with the government and suddenly disappeared. Friends helped me and my mother escape through China. We stayed briefly in Thailand before going to South Korea, where we got government assistance. Several years later, when my mother met and married a wealthy man—by that time, we’d heard my father had been executed for displaced loyalties—I left for the United States.”

“I’m sorry about your father,” Dex said quietly. “You didn’t like living in South Korea?”

“I did and I didn’t. It was world’s away from North Korea, which was liberating in many ways, but once people knew you were from the North, they treated you differently. As soon as I could, I moved to the United States to live with someone I’d been talking to online for years.”

Dex’s mind reeled. He hadn’t expected Seo-jun to reveal so much. It made him wish he’d asked a long time ago, but Seo-jun had always seemed so unapproachable. Perhaps it was only that Dex hadn’t bothered to put in the effort.

“Where did you learn martial arts and knife-throwing?” he asked.

“I’ve studied Taekwondo since childhood with a brief respite while we moved around. When I came to America, I took up my studies again. The knife-throwing I learned from the man I lived with—Izumi Haru. “

“Wow. You’ve led such an interesting life compared to me,” Dex said in awe.

The sound of Seo-jun’s rich chuckle erupting in the dark room made Dex wish he could see the other man’s face. It was so pleasing to the ears. Low, throaty, and sexy.

“I’m sure your life has been very interesting,” Seo-jun said politely.

“Um, nope. You’d be wrong about that. Unless you count family drama, which I don’t.”

“Tell me about your family. Not the drama, but in general,” Seo-jun said.

“Well, I haven’t seen my dad in years. He left my mom when I was four. I remember really loving him, though.” Dex cleared his throat. “And being really upset when he left. By the time I started kindergarten, Mom had remarried. His name was Tom, and he was a pretty good step-dad. They had Anna and were married for eighteen years.”

“So, Tom must have felt like your real father,” Seo-jun surmised.

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Looking back, Tom tried, but he wasn’t a very affectionate person, and I clung to what vague memory I had of my real dad, whom I remembered being a hugger and making me feel safe. I kept thinking he’d come back for me, and when Tom mentioned that he’d like to adopt me, I flatly refused. When Anna graduated high school, my mother was having an affair with her boss, a rich banker. When he divorced his wife, Mom divorced Tom and married him. They’re still together and live just outside of Boulder, while Tom lives in Colorado Springs. Mom really likes money, and neither my dad nor Tom had much of that. Garfield has it in spades.”

Dex stopped talking. He hadn’t meant to say as much as he had, but it was a little hypocritical to hold back when Seo-jun had revealed so much.

“Are you in touch with your biological father?” Seo-jun asked curiously.

“No. He’s never reached out to me. My mother said he was free-spirited and being tied down to a family finally got to be too much for him. I could probably find him, but I’ve never tried. He’s either dead or doesn’t want to see me. I don’t want to know which.”

“I understand,” Seo-jun said. They fell into silence, and, as Seo-jun’s breathing deepened in sleep, Dex lay awake thinking. For a long time, Seo-jun had seemed so mysterious. But over the months, as they’d trained together, he’d become less of the dangerous-looking man Dex had thought him to be and more of a friend who Dex now knew hid behind an unsmiling mask. Seo-jun felt deeply; he just wasn’t someone who shared those feelings easily. But, tonight, he’d shared some of them with Dex. And Dex recognized it for the gift it was.