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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Long time no see y'all~ I hope everyone is doing good~ ^__^ 

Here's another update that should have been up a long time ago. 

I know that the progress is quite slow, because the built for these two is very much in depth, since, as you've read, they didn't started off so well with each other. And the problems they're involved in are a lot more complicated. I also decided to try my hands on some graphical violence and deep, drawn-out angst... So, bear with me... I just really wanted to try something new, each fic of this series will be a different genre. And personally, I think HATE is very detailed and heavy with deep s. It's basically pretty dark. 

Hang in there~

Now, I hope you enjoy the chapter~ 

See you all later~

Stay healthy and safe~ Make good choices~

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    “Hello? Mark?” Jaebum’s husky morning voice made Mark felt bad for waking up his best friend in the middle of the night, well, technically, early morning, at the ungodly hour of 2:42 a.m.

    “Jaebum,” Mark said, “you knew.” 

    Rustling could be heard over the line, then a few seconds later, Jaebum came back on. This time, his voice was much more awake, “Mark-“

    “You ing knew and you didn’t do anything about it?” Mark questioned, finally reaching his limit of keeping it quiet. It’s been eating him up the whole day. He had to vent it out. And for some reason, Mark was undoubtedly sure that Jaebum had known all about it. His own ing best friend knew about who Jinyoung really was.

    Jaebum sighed over the line, “look, Mark, what’s done has been done, all right? The kid has seventy percent of his entire company plunging in illegal transactions and underground organizations.”

    “What? Seventy percent? You’ve got to be ting me. You’re telling me, seventy percent of Park’s Group is illegal? What kind of bull is this? He’s a ing criminal. Jaebum-“

     "There’s no ing way he can just pull himself out now. He’ll lose everything. I mean everything, Mark, even his own life. I’m sure you’ve already known by now how much of those dangerous people actually hate him. The only reason why he’s still breathing is because he’s the most powerful figure, a person who can literally do anything he ing wants. But once he’s off his throne, he’ll get feed to wolves. They’re all waiting for him to fall, Mark. You have to understand,” Jaebum explained, hoping Mark could be soft with Jinyoung like how he had been with everyone else. 

    Mark scoffed, “understand? Yeah, sure, I understand. Until he ing killed an innocent guy in front of me with my gun. Jaebum, how am I supposed to understand someone that heartless?” 

    But then Mark’s mind played back the memory of an hour ago. The memory of Jinyoung sitting on that bed, shaking uncontrollably and mumbling apologies while his skin glistened with sweat. Mark exhaled heavily, trying to will himself back to the firm decision that he has to kill the young master. He can’t be changing his mind now. There’s nothing pitiful about that cold-blooded murderer. Nothing. 

    “I’ve never begged for anyone, but Mark, please, you have to keep this a secret, please,” Jaebum sounded desperate over the line. “You can hate him all you want, but you can’t expose this. Think about it, Mark. He can kill you. And I don’t want that, so please, do me a favor and stay out of this.” 

    The agent falls back against the couch, listening to the pleadings of his own best friend begging for a world-class criminal. How did it come to this? Mark doesn’t know, but he was actually convinced by Jaebum’s words. Because at the end of the day, Mark does have a gentle heart and a soft spot for almost every human being on Earth. Almost. Park Jinyoung is an exception. A quite special exception. 

    Sighing, the agent felt tired. Too tired, and it hasn’t been a long time yet. “All right, I’ll think about it, but it doesn’t mean I’m blind to this. I-“

    “Thank you, Mark,” Jaebum said sincerely, “thank you for understanding. I know it’s hard for you, but I’m worried about you, and I want you safe. And getting deeply involved with Park Jinyoung is nowhere near safe.” 

    “I know. I’m not stupid, Bum. The more powerful they are, the more dangerous they are. I’m not an idiot to meddle in with their affairs.”

    “Let’s hope so.”

    “Okay, I’ll let you go back to sleep. I have to go check up on him,” Mark lifted himself off the couch.

    “Check up on Jinyoung? Isn’t it like ing 3 in the morning? Why do you need to check up on him? Isn’t he asleep? Did something happen?” Jaebum sounded wide-awake as he bombarded his best friend with a bunch of questions. 

    “He-“ Mark stopped, biting his lower lip. Should he tell Jaebum? But didn’t Jinyoung technically command him to not say a word about what had happened? Conflicted, but nonetheless, kept his mouth shut about incident. So, he came up with the perfect excuse. “Jaebum, there’s literally no guards around here. The villa is empty for ’s sake. Therefore, more work for me.”

    Jaebum chuckled, “he’s not that bad, Mark. I don’t even know why you hate him so much. He’s a bit spoiled, yes, but he’s a pretty good person-“

    Mark scoffed, “go back to sleep, Im. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

    After hanging up with Jaebum, Mark went back up the stairs, heading towards Jinyoung’s room. He hoped that by now, the Chairman had already calmed down or went back to sleep. Because Mark does not want to deal with a questioning Jinyoung, nor does he wants to deal with the fact that he’s caring enough to actually go check on that horrible excuse of a human being. Standing in front of the door, the agent starts thinking about his choice again. Before Mark could come up with a definite conclusion, the door swung open, revealing a exhausted looking young master with disheveled hair and clothes. Jinyoung’s face drained from its healthy color, and the bags under his eyes were dark and completely noticeable, like a raccoon’s bold eyes, except Jinyoung looked like he was pretty much done with everything. 

    They stood there, staring at each other. Mark blinked, quite surprised at Jinyoung’s sudden appearance, and quite awkward that he’s been caught. Jinyoung could care less. “Let’s go. We’re going back to the company,” the Chairman said, voice raspy from the lack of sleep and increasing amount of stress. 

    “Uh, okay,” Mark nodded and his heels, heading back downstairs with Jinyoung trailing behind.

    They were already halfway to the company when Mark realized that Jinyoung forgot his blazer and tie.

+

+

+

    Feeling the need for a huge cup of black coffee mixed with three shots of espresso, Mark tried to contain the urge to yawn every five minutes. He’s been standing at the doors of the Chairman’s office for approximately four hours; it is now the ripping colors of eight o’clock in the morning. And Jinyoung hasn’t even slept since. The young master looked terrible. 

    “Mark.”

    Silence.

    “Mark.”

    No answer. 

    “Mark Tuan.” 

    Annoyed by the lack of attention, Jinyoung grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be a pen cup, and sent it flying across the huge room. The metal cup crashed perfectly into the half-awake agent’s forearm. Mark jolted awake and, on reflex, pulled out his gun, aiming it straight down to the fallen empty cup. Jinyoung rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms against his chest. “Who told you, you could sleep?” 

    Mark removed his gaze from the cup and retreated his gun to where it originally was. He looked up at the Chairman. Mark scoffed, “what the could you possibly want?”

    “Go pick up my suit,” Jinyoung ordered casually, like he knows he got all the rights to.

    “What?”

    “Let’s not pretend that you didn’t heard what I’ve just said, Mark.”

    “This is ridiculous. I’m here as a bodyguard, not a ing housemaid. Go pick up your own suit, sir.” 

    “I would not like to repeat myself, so get off your and go pick up my suit.”

    “No can do, sir. I have to keep watch of you twenty-four seven,” Mark shook his head. 

    Jinyoung, unable to suppress his anger, grabbed a staple and plunged it towards his stubborn bodyguard, who caught with ease. That only increased the young master’s rage. “Mark Tuan!”

    “What?! What do you want?” 

    They’re up on their feet, sending daggers and summoning thunderstorms, ripping each other’s flesh off with their hateful eyes. Seconds felt like hours as they continuously throwing Hell upon one another. In the silent battle of raw hate, none wanted to surrender first. The war dragged longer and longer until a knock abruptly interrupted. 

    One of Jinyoung’s men walked in with a black garment bag. “I’m sorry to intrude, sir. Your suit had arrived.” 

    Without breaking eye contact with Mark, Jinyoung ordered, “set it on my desk.” 

    The guard followed orders and walked in between the unsettling war to place the bag on his master’s desk. “Also, sir, the mother of that translator is current at the front desk, asking for you, sir.” 

    At the mention of the ill-fated translator, Mark completely forgotten about Jinyoung and turned his attention to the guard. “Right now? She’s here?” What happened yesterday was still rendering him restless. Now, the mother came? How was Jinyoung going to deal with this? 

    “All right, go down and wait for me,” Jinyoung sighed, “tell her I’ll be there in five.” 

    “Yes, sir.” 

    Turning to Mark, Jinyoung glared, “get out.” 

    Mark didn’t put up much as a fight, so he didn’t say anything and exited the room with the guard behind him. They stood waiting for Chairman Park outside of his office. Mark glanced over to the guard, who looked extremely relaxed, which basically was a mock in Mark’s face; the agent was feeling uneasy, furious even. Jinyoung was the worse piece of . The worse of the worse. Balling his fists tightly, Mark desperate wishes he could do something about this catastrophe. 

    It took exactly three minutes before Chairman Park opened the doors, walked out in freshly styled hair and a navy suit that hugged his body in all the right places. He didn’t acknowledge anyone as he advanced towards the elevators. Mark and the guard caught up in time to barely slip inside the elevator as its doors slowly closes.

    Walking out of the elevator and into the lobby of the headquarters, the sight of a frail elder woman caught Mark’s eyes. She was dressed in a plain white blouse and black slacks. Her grey hair tied back to a messy bun. Her expression grim, face wore a devastated look of a mother who’s been crying all night for her son’s return. Little does she knows, her son was brutally murdered as a presentation of power.

    Mark felt guilty. It wasn’t him who killed the translator, but he felt responsible. That was his gun. He wasn’t the one who had pulled the trigger, but that was his gun. It was his. The weight of an innocent live rested heavily on his gun, the gun that he thought he’d only use for the better cause of eliminating cruelty. Not to reap the soul of an innocent away. 

    The elder lady immediately launched herself at Jinyoung as soon as her exasperated eyes set themselves on the Chairman. “Sir! Where is my son, sir? Where is he? He hasn’t come home. Is he… Is he alive?” Her tearful face gnawed at the hole in Mark’s heart, bits to bits. 

    Jinyoung took a hold of her. His eyes suddenly turned gentle. The authoritative glint was gone from existence, now replaced by a spark of sympathy. But what came out of his mouth wasn’t sympathetic at all. “Ma’am, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you.” The Chairman’s tone was low and cold. “Your son had done good to serve for this country. During the field of duty, he was shot by the enemy. He died a hero to this country.” 

    Mark couldn’t believe his ears. Every word rolling out of that tongue only fueled the anger that’s lighting within him. Chairman Park is a monster. A beast. A ing destruction.

    The mother fell on her knees, holding her face behind her hands, loudly sobbing and mumbling her son’s name. Jinyoung went down on his knees with her, rubbing her arms in a sympathetic manner. “My condolences to your family, ma’am. I will cover all the funeral fees. You do not have to worry. I’ll take responsibility. It’s the best I can do.” 

    She shook her head, still trying to form words between her painful cries, “N-no… I-I ju-just wants him h-home. Please, let m-me at least s-send him off o-one la-las-last time…” 

    “Well, then,” the Chairman sighed, “Bring her son home,” he ordered his guards. 

    If there weren’t many people standing around watching, Mark could have sworn Park Jinyoung would already been shot dead. And Mark will be the one pulling the trigger. 

+

+

+

    Jinyoung shrugged off his suit jacket and threw it somewhere he could care less. This morning had been tiring. He’s already struggling from the lack of sleep and constant nightmares. He didn’t need the source of his guilt to show up at his doorsteps, begging for him to bring her son home. What was he supposed to say? That he shot her son dead? All because of his prideful self? All because he wanted to intimidate? All because he wanted to dominate? All because he wanted to show that he’s the king? For what purpose? 

    “I don’t think you’re ashamed,” Mark’s voice was the last thing Jinyoung wanted to hear.

    “What do you want?” Jinyoung rubbed his temples tiredly. “Why are you even here?”

    “You think I want to be here?” Mark scoffed, “please, I’ve got better to do.”

    There’s nothing more annoying than Mark’s presence, Jinyoung concluded. Mark was sharp, well-trained, basically everything that Jinyoung was afraid of. Because Mark knows everything. And of all the things that could wreck Jinyoung apart, being exposed was his worse weakness. It’s like Mark could see through him; it’s like Mark could see the pretense he tried to put up. It’s like Mark actually recognized Jinyoung for who he really was. A beast. 

    Even if Mark didn’t see it all, Jinyoung couldn’t stop feeling uneasy around Mark, no matter how strong Jinyoung’s appearance looked. Mark was dangerous. And Jinyoung knows it really well. But he couldn’t escape. He hitting’s a wall. One wrong move. Just one mistake. That’ll be enough for everything Jinyoung had been building up to crumble down into nothing but dust. 

    “I don’t want you here either,” Jinyoung said. 

    “Why? Why did you do it?” Mark asked. 

    The Chairman looked up at his bodyguard. Jinyoung smirked, “what is this? Trying to ‘talk’ some sense into me or some ? I’ve been over this-“

    “I’m not talking sense into you. You’re beyond fixable. You know that. Why would I bother talking you out of this ed up mess when you, yourself, refused to let go? Sorry, I don’t waste my time on people like you,” the agent leaned back against the wall, “though, thinking about it now, you don’t even have tell me. It won’t change what I think about you anyways.” 

    The young master hated being looked down on. Mark was certainly looking down on him. But Jinyoung knows, as much as Jinyoung was scared of Mark, the agent was also scared of him. Who wouldn’t be? Even Jinyoung was afraid of himself. “Think what you want. I don’t ing care. This is my empire, and as long as you’re in it, you follow my commands, wether you like it or not. There’s no options for you.”

    “You’re disgusting.” Mark hissed, harshly and each words dripping with poison. “Have you look at yourself? You’re a ing monster. You disgust me.”

    The loud slamming of the doors jolted Jinyoung’s nerves awake. He closed his eyes and exhaled heavily in a breath filled with anything but a sense of peace. Jinyoung thought about pitying himself, because no ones else was going to. He doesn’t have anyone. He never had anyone. It’s always been just him. Alone. 

    And that loneliness evolved into something massive, tempting Jinyoung to use its sharp edges as a weapon of destruction, as a weapon that he could use to defend himself from the agonies of this darkness. Except that weapon was darkness itself. So, the wielder unknowingly stepped into that realm by himself. But time could never be turned back. Everything was set and stoned. Park Jinyoung was done for.

    “I’m disgust of myself.”

+

+

+

    “You’re home!” Suzy came running as soon as the front door opened, wrapping her arms around the neck of her long-time lover. 

    Youngjae smiled tiredly, “you shouldn’t have went to sleep first.” 

    “It’s only midnight, it’s fine,” Suzy placed a kiss on Youngjae’s cheek.

    “Past midnight, you mean.”

    “Doesn’t matter. I can’t sleep without you next to me.” 

    They shared a long kiss, compensate for not seeing each other the whole day and for Youngjae’s night shift. Suzy smiled, feeling content and secure now that Youngjae is finally home. “Have you eaten?” She asked, eyes dreamily looked up at her boyfriend. 

    “Yeah. Sana got me some bread she found,” Youngjae replied, forehead resting on top of Suzy’s, “not sure if it’s safe to eat, but I was quite hungry.” 

    Suzy was never the jealous type. She never had the reason to be. Youngjae and her had been dating since they were freshmen in high school. Their trust for each other were strong and much more powerful than any other couples. Their emotions were stable and clear, void of all doubts. So, jealousy was something Suzy didn’t bother with, because she knew how much Youngjae loves her and devotes himself to her. They were each other’s firsts in everything. 

    “Well, it’s late anyways, late-night eating isn’t good for your health,” Suzy pursed her lips, “or so you always say.” 

    “You’re learning,” Youngjae leaned in and stole a quick kiss, “that’s good.” 

    Suzy rolled her eyes but failed to hide her grin. “Go shower and get ready for bed. I’m tired.” 

    “Not my fault you stayed up and waited for me,” Youngjae sighed, “could have went to bed, dear.” 

    Shrugging off his suit jacket, Youngjae didn’t notice when the black checkbook dropped onto the floor. Suzy glanced down and picked it up, turning the book in her hands with a curious expression on her pretty face. Youngjae looked over and widened his eyes, snatching the checkbook back right out of her hands. 

    “What is that?” Suzy asked, pointing at the book in her boyfriend’s hands. “Is it yours?” 

    Youngjae bit his lip, unable to find the right answer, but he opted for a, hopefully, better answer that would distract Suzy. “No… But it’s very important.” 

    “How important?” 

    “Well…”

    “Come on, Youngjae. I’m an agent-in-training. I work for the government and is your girlfriend.” 

    After a while, Youngjae sort of ‘gives in,’ it’s been a long day, and he has a soft spot for his loving girlfriend. “Well, I’m supposed to give this to someone, but I’ve been waiting, and that person never showed up again. This is very very very important.” 

    “What’s in it?” 

    “That’s…” Youngjae paused, battling himself if he should tell Suzy everything. The three of them, Jinyoung, Suzy, Youngjae, had grew up together, so Jinyoung wouldn’t mind, right? But then again, this is crucial informations regarding Jinyoung and his illegal businesses. “I’ll go shower. I’m pretty tired.” 

    Youngjae hoped that does it. Only Suzy was an agent-in-training, meaning she’s trained in having a sharp sense of observation; Suzy wasn’t one bit convinced. She watched her boyfriend disappearing behind their shared bedroom with that checkbook held tightly in his hands like he was protecting it. Her skin crawled, making her uncomfortable and feeling torturous. It wasn’t about how Youngjae lied to her and tried to avoid answering her questions. It wasn’t even about Youngjae. It was about that black checkbook that Youngjae currently possessed. 

    Suzy knew that checkbook could possibly belong to one person. 

    Chairman Park.