xviii. "The Boss"

“I’m the boss, the only person I need to respond to is myself,”

“You shouldn’t be going to work Jungkook,” Yein spoke, her voice soft and full of worry, her eyes were big and dough like, but they simply did nothing to waver Jungkook’s mindset.

Jungkook hasn’t seen Yein since the car ride from the day before. He refused to come out of his room to eat dinner, he wasn’t all too hungry but Yein still prepared a chicken broth for him. She had knocked on his door, ‘it’ll help get your strength back,’ she had said as she placed the bowl on a tray and left it outside his door.

Jungkook had caved right after five minutes and was relieved it was still warm. The broth was delicious, thick yet very smooth that made drinking it a pleasure. His body was warm and whole, and he regretted not going out for more.

“I have a lot to attend to,” he spoke, his voice neutral as he simply took his mug of coffee and drowning half of it in one go.

Yein hid all the alcohol in the house. So, his coffee was not spiced, he wasn’t joking about spicing his coffee with alcohol, but everyone always seemed to think he was when he mentioned it. But Yein wasn’t going to let him, she said that it was bad mixing alcohol with medication.

Jungkook almost forgot he had to take medication, he didn’t even take any yesterday. But then the idea popped in his head. Yein was smart and cunning, she probably dropped the medication in his drink or the broth because he was refusing to even come out of his room.

“It’s not anything Moonbin can’t handle. There is something happening at work, isn’t there?” She asked, her instincts taking her words and controlling her mind as Jungkook simply sighed heavily.

Yein was never one to ask intrusive questions. She wasn’t the type to be hoovering around him like a bumble bee trying to land on the flower of their choice. And the fact that she was trying to fight him on it, or even questioning his reasons, was starting to annoy him little by little. And it wasn’t Yein’s nature to annoy him the least bit. Controlling him was not in her area of interest and once he begun to see it that way, he snapped.

“The Yein!” He yelled, taking a step back as he tossed the coffee much on the counter that was a few feet away. “Since when do you want to control what I do?” He spat, the shattering of the mug simply chiming in the metal of the sink that caught a piece or two.

Yein flinched, her body taking on a stance that Jungkook has only seen a couple of times. She was in defense mode. Yein had one leg back, her knees bent as her face whipped to the side as she put her arms in front of her in the form of an x. She was shielding her face, she was shielding herself, she was in the stance perfectly created to block a hit and lessen the damage that hit had packed.

She flinched because she through Jungkook was on the verge of hitting her.

“I’m sorry, but I,” she spoke, her voice broken and shaking as she was trying hard to sound like she was strong.

“But what?” Jungkook asked, his voice snapping out as if he was an animal barking.

Yein hesitated, but she put her hands down and looked at him in fear. Jungkook felt his heart sink, his entire body shook as he realized what he just done. Yein stood there, her body still in defense mode as her senses were jumping, he could tell she was scared and he never thought she could feel scared.

“I almost lost you. You barely survived that jump and I don’t want anything to happen to you,” she spoke, her voice was trembling by the slightest bit and her words were like knives to his heart.

“Yein, I’m sorry,” he didn’t even know where he was going with that, he just knew it was what he needed to say.

Yein looked at him and it was like she was a little baby all over again. Yein was always the baby, she was the youngest among the three that grew up together for business and because of business. When she got hurt, she would never go wailing to her parents, she always came to Jin and him, the two older brothers that picked her up and helped her hurt less.

That was the earliest memory he had of Yein. The three were not allowed in the back yard during big house parties, their parents always told the housekeepers or the staff in charge of them that day that they were not allowed to play outside. But little three-year-old Yein wanted to go outside and play in the swing and like the smart child she always was, she found a way to sneak outside.

She ended up tripping over a toy and fell down. She came to Jin with glass tears as big as bubbles and asked him to help because her knee was hurting. Jungkook was barely four, but he remembered laughing and that reaction had only caused Jin to hit him on the head. They took Yein to the bathroom, cleaning her knee and making sure the adults didn’t realize what had happened.

Yein’s instinct as a kid were to go to the people that took care of her, but today, Jungkook made her flinch in fear of getting hit. The numb feeling he has been having all week, the feeling of emptiness that has not vanished, was suddenly overpowered by his swelling heart which was pulsating in guilt.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered again, his voice thin and on the verge of cracking as he surprised himself.

The moment developed, it was all a cloud of emotion cradling the two of them. Jungkook took a step forward, not even registering his movements. He just knew what to do, from old instinct of watching Jin take care of her. He reached out and pulled her into a hug, a very stiff and awkward hug that had her body stiffen due to her senses still being in defense mode.

“You are my only solution, I can’t lose you,” she whispered, her voice was thick and shaking as she suddenly shivered and pushed her body forward.

She buried her face onto his chest as she held tightly onto him and let the tears cascade down further. Her body no longer on guard and her mind was no longer in fear, the strong and brilliant Yein he has always known was a puddle of tears.

Things calmed down, he apologized a dozen more times and she allowed him to go to work. But it was in the car ride, the long car ride that it feels like a hundred lifetimes, where he blanked out and went deep into his thoughts.

Yein had received the shorter end of the stick in this life of elites. All she has to do is grow up to be pretty and she will be married off to a man and birth an heir. When she graduated high school, she was close to being wed to someone entering their 30’s who would have tore her down and treat her like a pet rather than a wife. Yein’s only escape in their messed up world was him, and if she loses him, who knows to what man she will be wed off to and what kid of life her spouse will infringe upon her.

He was her only solution in coming close to living the life she would have chosen for herself. Jungkook didn’t think it was selfish, she did make it clear that she care for him and wouldn’t want him to die. But it was inevitable that Yein treasured his life for more than one reason.

“Welcome back Mr. Jeon,” the guard in the parking lot entrance spoke with a smile and a full bow.

Jungkook shook his head, not realizing he blanked out again and suddenly found himself in the company. He nodded back to the guard and went with his regular routine. It was nearing ten o’clock, he was nearly two hours late but to be fair, he was never on time in the first place.

But the thing that made him rush past everything and everyone is the fact that he had told Junhong to come by the office at ten. And if there was something Cinderella made clear to Junhong Saturday night when the plans were being made was, to be on time.

“For someone who is in charge, you sure like to be late,” Junhong spoke, his voice filled with sarcasm and his words meant to tease as it pulled a smile out of Jungkook’s lips.  

Jungkook knew that everyone in the office was aware of the incident. News spread like wild fire, that and the fact that his father had pulled all the media out of the story except one who refused to be swayed by the bribery he was offering. Jungkook gave major respect to that media outlet that refused to be bought by money, unlike every other person in the world, they stood by what they wanted to report.

“I’m the boss, the only person I need to respond to is myself,” he responded, his voice light and with no sign that anything was wrong or had happened at all.

“That is where you are wrong,” the voice wailed, it was strong and it was firm, but above all, it was the voice of his father.

Jungkook stood by the doorway, his body frozen at the sight of that heartless man sitting in his chair and ordering Moonbin around.

The younger was shaken, he was pale white and completely in fear of what was happening. Jungkook knew that Moonbin was frighten by the CEO but he was more frighten at the fact that he didn’t warn Jungkook about the CEO in his office.

“No, not even you,” Jungkook spoke, his voice hesitant but gaining confidence as he felt Junhong simply coughing, not even realizing what was going on.

His father clenched his jaw. With much exaggeration he took the cup of coffee that he had Moonbin fetch and simply, and obnoxiously loud, stirred the spoon to mix in the sugar and crème. There was nothing but silence and they were all frozen, not knowing what to do and what was acceptable to do.

Jungkook could see that Moonbin debated whether he should stay standing by the CEO’s side or if he should go to his side. He can easily tell that Moonbin didn’t want to be there, that he wished to disappear, but it was his job to work for the boss, and this company had more than one boss.

“You do realize the damage this company took because of your ridiculous actions.” It wasn’t a question, it wasn’t even a sentence with emotion, it was a hard and cold ultimatum.

It wasn’t worded in that way, but Jungkook could feel it in every word. Every word was heavy with the same message. The message was simple, his father could easily destroy him and his life of luxury if he keeps bringing a bad attitude to work. If he wasn’t taking things seriously. If he was going to destroy the image of the company, he himself, was going to be destroyed.

But Jungkook simply shot the CEO a cocky smile. Not seeing it as an ultimatum because there was something inevitable, and it was that he was the only person that held the Jeon name by blood that could take the company. His father had no brothers, no sisters, he had no one other than Jungkook himself.

“I care about the reputation of this company just as much as you cared about me this weekend,” Jungkook responded, the confidence radiating off him as his father looked baffled that his son had only that to say about his actions.

“I’m sorry for not responding to your childish wailings of attention.” Junhong winced at the response, the man simply eyed the boy with disgust as Moonbin displayed a jaw dropped all the way down to the floor.

“That wasn’t a good burn man, come on,” Jungkook responded to Junhong’s wince, not wavering at the cold words that could have easily torn his heart to pieces.

Jungkook had explicitly told Junhong not to kiss the of the CEO like every single person of the company. He told him to act like he gave no s about what the man said and take everything as a joke, and the boy was doing a good job. The reason why he asked Junhong to take such approach is because it gave him confidence.

It made Jungkook feel amused. Everyone in the company, in his life and everywhere in between was an kisser. They fell to their knees, throwing a million apologies if they feel like they offended him. They all kissed the feet of the Jeon family and their plates for them. It was nice to have someone who had nothing to lose nor gain and therefore, didn’t care to be a brown noser.

“Your attitude is getting old, when are you going to stop acting like a ing teenager and grow the up?” The CEO raised his voice, it was very firm and loud enough to be a yell, but it was still a firm message.

“Moonbin, lets go. I want you out of my office when I get back Mr. Jeon. Also, never forget I was voted to this position by the biggest share holders here and they will never get rid of me,” Jungkook spoke, his voice confident and simply neutral.

He wanted to remind his father that he didn’t get the position he is at because he is the heir of the company. But because the executive board that has some of the final decision in the company voted him to the position and he does wonders in the marketing branch. They don’t want to get rid of him, and the word of the CEO can be easily challenged in that board.

“To answer your question, I’ll stop when you stop,” he basically spat, angry and filled with annoyance that his father still acted like he was not a teenager whining about his reputation

His father loved parading around the office, showing off his power and sprinkling fear into the crowd that was ready to kiss the ground he walked on. A Busan man came up with the idea of the company, was backed up by two of his friends only to rise to the top, leaving everyone else behind.

He was the epidemy of a spoiled teenager and Jungkook was not going to let him think for one second that he wasn’t acting like one.

It was a good thing his father didn’t come to the hospital to even check if he was fine. It would have made him angrier to have the fight there, in the same scenario of his mother’s death. Jungkook would have snapped but now, having Moonbin bow to the CEO before turning and walking to him and having Junhong look at his father like a joke, he was high on confidence.

“Moonbin, this is my good friend Junhong, he has agreed in taking your position so you can finally be promoted,” Jungkook spoke, his voice confident and filled with a soft yet firm boss tone.

“He’s lying, I actually can stand him. How the hell did you deal with him all these years?” Junhong asked, his voice childlike and very humorous as his charisma broke Moonbin’s serious and stiff spell.

The younger boy smiled, amused and very confused at the fact that Junhong was acting like Jungkook didn’t have a fight with his CEO, his father to be exact. Jungkook wondered that himself, also not understanding why Junhong wasn’t bombarding him with questions on the matter.

But maybe that is what was best. Jungkook didn’t want to talk about what just happened. He didn’t want to talk about his father or why they both said what they said. He didn’t need to respond to anyone and Junhong seemed to understand it wasn’t the time.

What was clear though, was that Jungkook was high on pride. Jungkook worked for his position, it wasn’t handed it to him. And if his father dared threaten him with taking away his inheritance to the company and taking away his position as the CEO, he wouldn’t even care for a second.

Jungkook was respected as the head of the marketing branch, a position he was granted due to his own work and skill, and that was something his father couldn’t take away.  For every luxury that his father thought would make him bend his knee, Jungkook will continue to think that he did a hell of a job learning from the sly man his father was.

There was one thing that was never talked about in the company. His father outmaneuvered Yein’s father, causing the man to leave the company. And Jin’s father’s untimely death was just what Mr. Jeon needed to rise to the top of the company as the only CEO.

And Jungkook could easily do the same. He could easily play the same game.