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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just a quick thing... The updates go by the Tuesdays and Saturdays of MY TIME ZONE which is CST~ 

Anyways, enjoy and leave feedbacks~

(also if ya haven't read the Tuesday update yet... make sure to read it~)

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    He tried not to feel so bothered by it.

 

 

    He tried not to think about it. 

 

 

    He tried to ignore the pounding of his heart each time the door of his office opens. 

 

 

    “Hello, sir.”

 

 

    Jinyoung’s face dropped, “oh.” He sighed and stared back down at the document in front of him. It’s the seventh time this morning that he had his hope up. 

 

    

    “Are you okay, sir?” Jaehwan approached the Chairman’s desk with concerned eyes. “Maybe you should take a break-"

 

 

    “When’s the next meeting?” Chairman Park cut through quickly. Work was his only distraction from certain problems he’s running from. He can’t stop working. 

 

 

    “In an hour.”

 

 

    “Okay.” 

 

 

    “…”

 

 

    “Can I help you?” 

 

 

    At first, Jaehwan contemplated over whether or not he should die today. But after taking another look at his young master’s horrible complexion, the Head Bodyguard decided that it’s his duty to secure the well-being of his young master. So forget about death. His young master needed to vent. “No. Do you need help?”

 

 

    “Excuse me?” 

 

 

    Boldly taking a the seat in front of the desk, Jaehwan settled comfortably before staring straight into his young master’s eyes. “Sir, it’s been two days.” 

 

 

    “What do you want?” The Chairman threw his Head Bodyguard a deadly glare, finding the situation absurd. Since when was Kim Jaehwan this brave?

 

 

    “Nothing,” Jaehwan paused, then nodded his head a little, “sir.” 

 

 

    “I don’t have time for this-"

 

 

    “Look, we both know you’re dying to know where Mark-ssi is, okay. Wait, no. More like you’re dying for him to somehow materialize in front of you. I don’t want to say this, but-"

 

     

    “Then don’t say it.” 

 

 

    “-you miss him."

 

 

    At this, the Chairman crumbled the poor paper underneath his palm. The peaceful room now reeks of hot-blooded anger. He didn’t mean to lose character over such a mere reason. But those words triggered him so much. Just those simple words. He never felt such dreadful pain in his heart before. Yet those words alone brought a storm upon him. 

 

 

    “See? That look right now-"

    

 

    “Stop wasting my time with your nonsense.” 

 

 

    “It’s not-"

 

 

    “Jaehwan.”

 

 

    The Head Bodyguard sighed, head down in frustration. Jaehwan wasn’t going to press matters on more, but some things had to be said. “Young Master, do you want to talk about it?” 

 

 

    “Talk about what? There’s nothing to talk about.” 

 

 

    “Yes, there is. I want you to stop pretending that nothing’s happening. You’re upset. I can see it. God, I can physically feel how upset you are. Drop the ‘Chairman’ act and be real with me for a bit, please. I don’t like seeing you like this. And it’s worse when you’re trying so hard to keep everything under control all by yourself. You know it yourself that things are out-of-hand right now. You don’t have anything under control. I understands that it stresses you. I can’t imagine how powerless you must be feeling. That’s why I’m willing to offer help-"

 

 

    “Shut up,” the young master stood up and with the crumbled ball of paper in his hand, he threw it at his Head Bodyguard. The deep red coloring of an overwhelming madness mixed on his face, bleeding out streams of embarrassment and anger. Jinyoung grabbed his suit jacket off the chair and gathered himself out of the office. 

 

 

    He needed air. 

 

 

    Some fresh air that could do wonders to his ed up head. 

 

 

    It’s too suffocating everywhere he goes. 

 

 

    Like he’s been running against the Orders of Nature and fighting vigorously with the evil that thrived from the depths of his jagged heart. 

 

 

    Opening the door to the rooftop, Jinyoung greeted the coldness with a forced smile. It’s late-January. The weather supposed to be bone-chilling cold. Streets should be blanketed white with snow. People should be staying inside cuddling up with their loved ones to battle off the damn winter. This island was supposed to feel like home to a young master who lived his life abiding to the company he loves so much. Park Group was Jinyoung’s only home. Because it always welcomes him warmly. But it never accepts him for who he really is. 

 

 

    So he’s home. 

 

 

    Though, why does his heart felt so cold and dejected? 

 

 

    Like he’d rather be somewhere else, be with someone else, than here where his home supposed to be. 

 

 

    Is this place even his home anymore? 

 

 

    Or is his home resting in the arms of someone? 

 

 

 

 

 

+

+

+

 

 

 

 

 

    Normally, Youngjae would never risk calling Jinyoung during the 3-months period. It’s also not like Jinyoung would call him anyways. Youngjae completely grasped the raw fact that only Chairman Park exists on that island. And Chairman Park could care less about spending quality time with friends. Does Chairman Park even have friends? Probably not. The entire island hates his gut. 

 

 

    But tonight was different. 

 

 

    The trainee doctor was brewing himself a cup of black coffee for his sudden night shift when an unexpected call came through. At first, looking at the caller ID displaying on the screen, Youngjae thought about all the possible accidents that could have led to this. Unintentionally, he missed the call. But after a few seconds of staring at his phone, the screen lit up again with the same caller ID. So it wasn’t an accident… 

 

 

    “Hello?” Youngjae picked up the call before it could ring another time. 

 

 

    “Hey…” 

 

 

    “Jinyoung?” 

 

 

    “Yeah.” 

 

 

    Still slightly confused, Youngjae didn’t know what to say. It’s the middle of the night, and Park Jinyoung is calling him. Wait, no, Chairman Park is calling him. Wild. 

 

 

    “Youngjae?” 

 

 

    “H-huh? Um, yeah? I’m here…” The trainee doctor took a sip of his coffee and immediately cringed at the way too bitter taste. “What’s up? Did your company burned down?” He joked, hoping to clear a bit of the cloudiness that he could hear in his best friend’s voice. 

 

 

    “No. Just. I don’t know.”

 

 

    Well, that didn’t work. 

 

 

    Sighing, Youngjae dumped his coffee into the sink and threw away the paper cup. He walked back to his shared office. “Okay, what’s wrong? You don’t call during your leave, Jinyoung.” 

 

 

    Silence. 

 

 

    “Jinyoung?” 

 

 

    No respond. 

 

 

    “Hyung? Jinyoung-hyung?” 

 

 

    A soft chuckled answered. “You’re right. Why am I like this? Sorry for bothering you. You’re probably sleeping. Bye-"

 

 

    “No! I’m at night shift. It’s okay-"

 

 

    “I’m fine. It’s nothing. I wasn’t thinking for a bit. I’ll just go.”

 

 

    “Don’t hang up! Tell me what’s wrong. You already called. Might as well.” 

 

 

    Youngjae took a seat, balancing the device between his ear and shoulder as he arranged some files. Whatever that was bothering Jinyoung, Youngjae knew the older won’t easily say it. Which was fine. Youngjae’s a patient person. Especially when it comes to his best friend, who always finds it difficult to talk about these things called feelings. 

 

 

    Actually, Jaehwan had called Youngjae a few hours ago, crying about how his precious young master was a stubborn brat with no absolute shame. At the time, Youngjae didn’t know what was going on, but Jaehwan seemed like he really needed someone to listen to his tearful rant. In the end, all Youngjae could say was an apology. He gets it. Jaehwan had every right to be this way. However, it’s not Jinyoung’s fault. If there was something Youngjae picked up from being best friends with Jinyoung for so long was the unfortunate fact that the young master was never a person who cared for emotions much. It fits. With the way Jinyoung was brought up, there’s no way he could harbor any feelings beyond the basic spectrum. Nobody gave him any, so there’s no reason for him to give any. 

 

 

    Sometimes, Youngjae wondered how better would it be if Jinyoung’s parents had actually cared for him like they did with his adoptive cousin. But then again, Jinyoung is Jinyoung. He’s stubborn, too cautious, and almost heartless, but he’s a good person. At least he could care. And that’s about all Youngjae could have asked for. Jinyoung could have been much worse. 

 

 

    “I…” A heavy sigh, “I don’t even know how to explain this.” Another sigh, “It’s just… Let’s say, I don’t know, um, someone said some stuff to you and they just left…?”

 

 

    “I’d need more than just that vague cover-up you just gave me,” Youngjae finally sorted out all the files. He leaned back in his chair and held the phone in his hand. 

 

 

    “I don’t even know what I’m trying to say,” Jinyoung groaned annoyingly. 

 

 

    “Hey, don’t get upset with me. I didn’t do anything.” 

 

 

    “I know. It’s just so frustrating!” 

 

 

    “Well, start from the beginning.” 

 

 

    Taking up Youngjae’s suggestion, Jinyoung did started from the beginning. The beginning of his leave. He told everything. And Youngjae listened to every word. By the time the trainee doctor figured out what was wrong, the young master was still rambling on and on about one person. At this point, Youngjae knew perfectly what was bothering Jinyoung. But judging from what’s being told, Jinyoung doesn’t know. That wasn’t a surprise to Youngjae. Whatever Jinyoung was feeling was new to him, so it’s a given that he’d respond aggressively. Though, what does surprised Youngjae was the person his best friend was upset over. 

 

 

    Who would have known. 

 

 

    The universe works in its mysterious way. 

 

 

    “Yeah, that’s about everything,” Jinyoung ended the storytelling with a deep exhale, “he hasn’t come back. And it’s not like I care or anything. It’s just he’s my responsibility and he can’t be roaming around alone like this. There’s people out there who’s plotting his murder. He can’t die here, Youngjae. You know what I’m getting at? He can’t die in Korea. If he’s going to die, then die anywhere else but Korea.” 

 

 

    Youngjae rolled his eyes and dropped the pen he was holding. “You’re an idiot.” 

 

 

    “What?” 

 

 

    “You keep saying like that. No wonder he left.” 

 

 

    Seemed like Youngjae pulled the right trigger. Because he could hear a lot of harsh noises from the other line. Sounded like Jinyoung accidentally knocked over a mug from standing up too fast. Youngjae smiled to himself. It’s rare to know that this side of his best friend actually exists.  

 

 

    Jinyoung huffed, cursed under his breath because his coffee spilt all over the paperworks. “What does that supposed to mean? Why is everyone keep saying that? Like what did I said wrong? I don’t understand?!” 

 

 

    “It means exactly what it means, Jinyoung-hyung,” Youngjae yawned, starting to regret dumping that coffee earlier. “You have to understand it yourself. I can’t help you with what you’re going through right now. The best I can do is listen to your rant, which I gladly will by the way, and wish the best for you. This is something personal that you need to figure out. I can’t help you. Not that kind of doctor anyways.” Laughing out of an attempt to cheer up his best friend, and maybe just to tease a little, Youngjae shook his head amusingly. 

 

 

    “The whole point of me calling you is because I don’t know ! And you’re giving this? What a waste of my damn time.”

 

 

    “Wow. Okay, listen here, sir. I could be saving lives and busting my , but I decided to listen to your bull, so either you be grateful and drop that damn attitude or don’t bother calling again,” the trainee doctor snapped back sassily. It’s too late into the night to be playing these games.  

 

 

    “Coffee?”

 

 

    “Yeah.” 

 

 

    “Shouldn’t have threw it out.” 

 

 

    Youngjae raised an eyebrow, “damn. You heard all that?” 

 

 

    Jinyoung laughed. Finally. “Is there anything I don’t know?”

 

 

    “Ha. There’s a lot of things you don’t know, hyung.” 

 

 

    “You’re right. I shouldn’t even bothered calling.” 

 

 

    Youngjae smiled, flipping through his notebook for some information about a surgery. “You did anyways, because I’m your only friend.”

 

 

    The young master scoffed, “no, you’re not.” 

 

 

    “Yeah, whatever. Also, go and pamper Jaehwan. The kid needs your love.” 

 

 

    “Why?”

 

 

    “You hurt his feelings for ’s sake! Is there anything you know?!” Youngjae said out of pent-up exhaustion and mild frustration. Thank God he’s the only one in the office at the moment. 

 

 

    “How did I hurt his feelings?! He’s just being dramatic. You know how kids are.” 

 

 

    “See, Jinyoung?! This is why he left you.” 

 

 

    “What-"

 

 

    “You don’t know anything!” 

 

 

    “Why are you yelling at me?!” 

 

 

    “Because I’m tired!” Youngjae shoved his notebook out of his face and rubbed his temples. “Also because it’s true. Until you start knowing s, you’re just going to keep hurting and hurting all the people around you.” 

 

 

    “…”

 

 

    “All right. I really do need a cup of coffee. Going now.”

 

 

    “…”

 

 

    “Bye.”

 

 

    Assuming Jinyoung probably won’t even bid a goodbye, Youngjae just hung up with a shrug. He sat there for a while thinking about the phone conversation that just happened. There’s a lot more complicated drama going on than Youngjae had thought. But now that he heard Jinyoung’s side of the story. He kind of want to hear Mark’s side, too. Because from what Youngjae could figure from Jinyoung’s enthusiastic storytelling, Mark seemed to be the cold one. 

 

 

    Youngjae scoffed and shook his head, “that’s impossible. Jinyoung’s always the cold one.” As soon as those words left his mouth, something clicked hard in his brain. Gasping, Youngjae sat straight up in his chair with his mouth hung opened. He realized the reason… The reason why Mark seemed so distant to Jinyoung. 

 

 

    It’s on purpose. 

 

 

    Because the one who… 

 

 

    “Oh. So Mark ed up first,” Youngjae covered his mouth to muffle a loud laugh. “Poor Jinyoung~ He got dragged along~”

 

 

 

 

 

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+

 

 

 

 

 

    Calling the Chairman was a bad idea. 

 

 

    Except Jaehwan didn’t realize that until the Chairman himself arrived with malice painted over his face. But the person who was angry wasn’t Chairman Park. Jaehwan regretted every decision he just made regarding this arising problem. Why did he thought it’ll be a great idea to call up his young master in the middle of the night? On top of that, his young master wasn’t even in a good mood. Who knows what an angry Park Jinyoung could do. If it was an Chairman Park, then whatever action took place here in this warehouse wouldn’t be a huge surprise. 

 

 

    But the person present now was Park Jinyoung in the flesh. 

 

 

    Though, nobody needed to know that. 

 

 

    Jaehwan watched in worry as his young master approached the man tied to the chair. This was a mistake. 

 

 

    “You’re one of them? You?” The young master grabbed the man by his collars. “I thought you were better than that. Of all the workers, I appreciated your works the best. Yet turns out, you’re just a traitor. Disappointing.” 

 

 

    The man’s wife dropped to her knees beside her husband and cried, “sir! Please! I was the one who told tho-those men a-about that-that mission. Please, my husband had nothing to do with this! It’s-it’s all on me!” 

 

 

    “Be quiet!” The man quickly scold his wife, fear etched on his face as his eyes flickered back and forth between the coldhearted young master and his poor wife. “Sir, don’t listen to her! I did it. If you’re going to punish, do it to me! Leave her out of this!” 

 

 

    “No! Sir-"

 

 

    “Please! She didn’t do it! I did-"

 

 

    “Shut the up!” Jinyoung roared, the redness of rage spread down to his neck. He reached out and punched the man’s face. “You piece of !” Bringing his hand down to deliver another hard punch, Jinyoung’s eyes froze over and bled deep fury. His vision filled with mad crimson. 

 

    

    A mixture of a woman’s desperate cries and the sounds of fist colliding with jaw bounced off the rusted walls of the old warehouse. After the first couple punches, the young master grew addicted to the feeling. So much anger he kept closed within himself strung opened. Violence became a way for him to vent. He thought talking to his best friend would help, but whatever was said in that conversation flew over his head with each punch. Forget words. Actions helped ease his pain better. 

 

 

    “Sir!” Jaehwan called out, eyes glazed with worry, “you’re going to beat him to death!” 

 

 

    Only then did Jinyoung stopped. His fist tainted with the man’s blood. The cries of the wife evaded his ears. He turned to her and shoved her shaking body with his foot. “Will you shut up?! Goddamn. So ing annoying!”

 

 

    The woman immediately covered with both of her hands. Her eyes shone with pain and sorrow as her tears streamed aggressively down her face. She dared to look up at her husband bloodied face and felt the chains around her heart clenched tight. This was all her fault. And her husband took the blame for her. She knew she shouldn’t have taken up that offer. 

 

 

    Sighing in frustration, Jinyoung extended his hand towards one of the guards. In a second, a gun was placed on top of his palm. He grabbed it and positioned the weapon properly. His subconscious would hate to have this happen. But at the moment, Jinyoung let his demons took over for a bit. It wasn’t his fault anyways. Who was it that upset him this much to this extent? 

 

 

    “No, no, no! NO! PLEASE! SIR! PLEASE!” The man’s wife clung at Jinyoung’s leg, crying and screaming for mercy. But little does she knew the word ‘mercy’ does not exist with this brutal monster. 

 

 

    He pulled the trigger without an ounce of hesitation. The first shot through the eye instantly killed the man. Still feeling unsatisfied, Jinyoung pulled on the trigger a couple more times aimed at the man’s face. Screams from the wife shrilled deep into the night, but Jinyoung heard none of it. He kept shooting and shooting. Even when the man’s face was long gone and blood poured down like sad waterfalls, the bored young master repeated pulled the trigger again and again and again. 

 

 

    Again… 

 

 

    And again… 

 

 

    And-

 

 

    “STOP!” 

 

    

    Jinyoung was caught off guard by the sudden arms around him pulling him back. He twisted and turned in the strong hold, annoyed and angry pounced at his brain. The familiar scent of the cologne he personally picked out blurred his vision. “Let me go!” He screamed. 

 

 

    “NO! Stop this!” 

 

 

    In a swift, the gun was stolen off his hand. Adrenaline coursed enthusiastically through his bloodstream. And before he could stop himself, his hand had already slid against that person’s cheek in a fierce slap. 

 

 

    Everything suddenly stood still. 

 

 

    The place grew intensely quiet. Everyone held their breaths. 

 

 

    “Don’t ing touch me,” Jinyoung warned. Although his heart ached at the sight of him hurting the person he least wanted to lay his hands on, Jinyoung tried to act as if seeing his red hand print appeared on stark white skin didn’t affect him. 

 

 

    Mark clenched his jaw, feeling the sting of the slap slowly gripping onto his skin. It hurts. He turned his head back to face the young master in front of him. “That was unnecessary and you know it. He was already dead from the first shot. You didn’t have to-"

 

    

    “Shut up! Why are you here?! Who are you to tell me what to do?!” 

 

 

    “Jin-"

 

 

    “Don’t you ing dare say my name casually like that. Know your goddamn place, Tuan.” Jinyoung looked away, unable to keep a straight face because the evidence of his hostile action was such a distraction. He hated it. That red didn’t look good on Mark. And he hated himself for being the person who caused it. Something was eating his guts as each second ticked by that he had to stand in the presence of the person who’s been making his mind running miles per minute. 

 

 

    Just like that. 

 

 

    All the anger he felt for the last two days just disappeared. 

 

 

    Seeing Mark again cleared the raging fire in Jinyoung’s eyes. 

 

 

    It’s only been two days.

 

 

    But those two days were the longest two days of his life. 

 

 

    “You need to stop,” Mark said calmly, unfazed by the fact he was just slapped by the person his heart been yearning for. Jinyoung’s already caused him emotional pain, so it’s okay if Jinyoung’s also the one to cause him physical pain as well. 

 

 

    Jinyoung struggled internally to ignore Mark. The young master moved his gaze from the dirty walls to Jaehwan, “I’ll get back to you about you sneaking off to call him later. Now… You know what to do with the woman.” 

 

 

    “No! Jaehwan, you can’t-"

 

 

    “I make orders here,” Jinyoung snapped, glaring at the agent, “not you.” The young master pushed past and walked out of the warehouse. 

 

 

    Mark grabbed Jaehwan by the shoulders and firmly commanded, “don’t do it.” Knowing fully well that the Head Bodyguard would follow through, the agent quickly exited the place. 

 

 

    He wasn’t going to come back. Mark was so close to booking a flight back to Seoul when Jaehwan suddenly called. And even though every single cell on his body screamed at him of how bad of an idea this was, Mark didn’t care. 

 

 

    Jinyoung needs him. 

 

 

    That’s all it matters.