What was it, your fifth cup of coffee? You stood in the company lounge, trying to boost your already failing energy. You hadn’t seen the chief yet, but you were sure he was around. He had a tendency to show up when you couldn’t shoo him away with the excuse that you were working. You drank quickly, hoping he wouldn’t find you. The bitter coffee wasn’t helping you focus. It made you jittery, more so than you were before. You didn’t know what to do anymore. You wanted the day to end already. “I saw you this morning.” You jumped out of your skin. Hosyuk was standing beside you. You hadn’t heard him come in; you were in such a daze. “Stop looking in the help wanted section. I’ll never let you leave.” He was using his threats again. That he would make sure you never got another job. That your family would be having some problems in the future. The company Yunho worked for would be bankrupt soon. You didn’t know what he could do, but he probably could go through with his threats.

You set your coffee on a cabinet and left. He was going to follow; you knew it. Making a beeline for the women’s restroom, you quickly made your escape. With the door closed behind, you wanted to shake off the threats. You washed your face with cold water. He had been watching you. Though, obviously, not clearly enough. That morning you hadn’t been looking at the help wanted ads, the few and almost non existent, you had been looking over a cry for a political news commentator. You had thought it was a good idea.

You looked at yourself in the mirror. How dark the rings around your eyes were. Had you been getting any sleep? No, you couldn’t sleep without the comfort of Jaejoong. You didn’t know where he was. You hadn’t seen him in so long.

Pull

It loomed over you. The building you were going to be interviewed in. It was strange for you. Being the interviewer was something you had grown used to. It showed how little actual job hunting experience you had. You walked in, expecting there to be bodyguards stopping you at the door. There was nothing. All you saw was a receptionist working on a computer. You walked over to you. She scrunched her lips, “Third floor.” You bowed to her, not exactly sure how she knew you were going to ask her for the news department. You didn’t really bother with the details.

The elevator doors open to a busy studio. It didn’t look like the place you were expecting. You had though that news studios would be with video cameras and people wearing headsets. There, people ran around with costumes and lights. The halls were filled with handsome men and gorgeous women. Managers ran around with stacks of paper in their hands. Stoic photographers talked with stylist, trying to get the right look. The receptionist had pointed you to the wrong place, which wasn’t surprising; she didn’t know where you wanted to go. You were just going to ask someone that worked there.

You tapped the shoulder of an assistant, his brown hair brushing on his shoulders. It looked vaguely familiar. He turned, and you gasped. Jaejoong stood in front of you. He was wearing something actually fashionable, not in work clothes. He looked like he had come out of a magazine. Your eyes widened. What were those things on his ears? Had he gotten them pierced? You quickly regretted not questioning his work. “------- ah! What a surprise! What are you doing here?” You stared at him for a moment more before shaking your head.

“News department.” He nodded and pointed up. He was smiling. He liked his new job. Things seemed to be going well for him. He steered you in the direction of the seventh floor, where the people were getting interviewed for the announcer position. You thanked him and watch him walk away. His back showed his confidents. His stride showed his ease. He didn’t need you, but you still definitely needed him.

Pull

You had completely nailed that interview. They wanted you in the next week. You would gladly put an end to your journalism. You never wanted to see Hosyuk again. You were back on the third floor, being careful to stay out of the workers way. You wanted to see Jaejoong again, to tell him the good news, to finally put Hosyuk behind you. You noticed a rush of people, making their way to a single room. You wondered if Jaejoong was there too. You discreetly entered behind some assistants. Hoping they wouldn’t find you and throw you out, you hid by the wall.

People seemed to be arguing. You recognized one of the voices; it was Jaejoong’s lovely voice. The photographer was screaming his lungs out. “Where are my models? This is supposed to be one of my biggest shoots of the year! If you don’t find my models in the next ten seconds I will fire you on the spot!” Jaejoong cowered back. He bowed and looked around, trying to find someone. He spotted you, and for some reason a look of relief came to his face. Why? You couldn’t help him. You were scared with someone just knowing you were there.

He grabbed your hand and pulled you up to the front of the room. A spotlight from above blinded your eyes and you tried to keep a straight face. The photographer looked at you. “And what is this?” ‘This’ like you were an object. You were a who, not a what! You didn’t know what was going on, but you still felt insulted. You turned to Jaejoong and pouted. The action was weird to you, like you had forgotten how to act selfishly. The emotions you had put away started to show. Things like that always happened with Jaejoong.

“This will be your female model, and I will be your male model.” The photographer nodded his head, he seemed to accept it. He did, but you were shocked. You had no desire to be photographed. In a blur, everyone seemed to devour you. People started to coat your face with make up, making you feel very stiff. Others were yanking and stretching your hair in odd places. Someone was polishing your nails; another was layering your ears with earrings. You hadn’t agreed to do it, but you would never refuse Jaejoong. He clearly needed you to do it, so you let them pamper you.

Pull

Jaejoong was staring into your eyes intensely. He was lying next to you in a coffin. You hadn’t been that close to him in so long. His touch melted your heart. You didn’t care that he looked like he had died. That you could have sworn you saw a snake playing around the set. Buildings crushed, destroyed, knocked over. Was it Armageddon? Dust seemed to circle in the air. The ground had been cold and dead. Water was spraying onto the floor behind the coffin. It poured green ooze everywhere. The disaster of the set meant nothing to you. With your legs wrapped around him, with his hands over you, with his chest leaning closer to your dress, he was there next to you. His gray shirt was open, revealing ‘Always keep the faith’ clearly to you, but not the camera. Your black dress was long, it went all the way to your feet, where they met with Jae’s dark pants. You almost believed you had actually died. Died and finally had Jaejoong.

“Alright, Miss Jung ------, today’s concept is ‘Love is Destruction’ so I want you to act like you are madly in love with Jaejoong, but still remember all the things that have happened in the world.” The photographer looked through his camera and started to take his pictures. You weren’t sure how you were supposed to look, and you didn’t particularly care. Jaejoong was there, you had a job, you were moving up in life, and you didn’t have to suffer through Hosyuk’s torture anymore. When you thought of Hosyuk you started to tear up. You told yourself no, that you wouldn’t spoil the photo shoot and make things difficult for Jaejoong. Jaejoong looked at you caringly, but sternly at the same time. Was he mad at you for crying? You tried to calm yourself, telling yourself that things would be fine. What could go wrong? You almost laughed at how that sounded. How ironic it would have been, for something to happen to just spoil the moment. What could go wrong? How childish you were. Your whole rang of emotions came back to you and shook you up.

You were sad to see the dress go. You had loved what it did to your shape. Picking up your bag, filled with all the articles you showed during your interview, you exited to studio. Jaejoong was waiting for you with a hot coffee from a vending machine. Everything just seemed to be going well. You took the can, opened it, and took a long sip. The coffee seemed to bring you lost energy. You smiled at him, but Jaejoong only weakly returned it. “Noona, you seem happy now, but this morning, you seemed so distressed.”

You petted him on the head. “I don’t get a sorry? ‘Mianhe Noona, I forced you to do this with me.” He bowed his head apologetically. You saw there, with your eyes finally open, how stupid you had been. Why hadn’t you ever told Jaejoong about Hosyuk? He knew the guy, what was Hosyuk going to do to him? You were silly. You took a deep breath, “Remember when we were shopping and I got that call?” He nodded. “That was Hosyuk. He had been calling me for awhile. When you left, he started to seriously ually harass me. I really needed you for me.” Jae was shocked. He held you in his arms, trying to think of something to say. “I really felt empty when you moved away. Why couldn’t you be there for me?” He shook his head. He had started crying. That moved you. It felt like Jae was only thinking about you.

Pull

“Noo! Jaejoong you can’t do that. It would be murder!” Jaejoong was rummaging through his kitchen in his apartment. He was searching for his sharpest knife. He looked at you like you were crazy, when it was clearly him whom had lost his senses.

“Why shouldn’t I? Why can’t I kill him for every time he touched your legs?” You adored him wanting to hurt Hosyuk for you, but it was still a huge crime.

“Don’t abuse the cooking knives. What would Sanji say, knowing that you were using them inappropriately?” He looked at you with a blank face. “From One Piece…” He scowled.

“I don’t care about One Piece like Yunho and Junsu; I am a Dragon Ball man!” Oops, you had forgotten that. You put your hand on his. He slowly released the knife from your touch. “Fine, but I am coming with you right now to turn in your resignation! Then I’m punching him.” You didn’t like the thought of him being violent, but punching him was better than killing him, in a way. You hated the thought of Jaejoong being in court over a lawsuit. That was one reason why you weren’t going sue Hosyuk’s for all his worth. Lawsuits, they had trouble written all over them.

Pull

You were trying to hold Jaejoong back as he stormed into the office. Heads were turning as they heard his yelling. He kicked Hosyuk’s door open, but it was already unlocked and not even fully closed. It helped him vent his anger. Hosyuk looked up from his computer, surprised to see both of you together. He frowned at Jaejoong, but he smiled when he saw you enter behind him. You walked up to his desk and dropped your resignation in front of him He looked at it then at you. He wasn’t smiling anymore. “Please consider this my way of saying ‘Stay the away from me.’ Don’t call me anymore; I no longer use that number.” You took your phone out of your back pocket and dropped it into the water that was sitting on his desk. “Don’t mess with my friends and family; I have connections just like you do. Don’t even think of harassing anyone else. If I hear even a single rumor about you messing with anyone, I will be on your case like –like…” You banged your hands on his desk, just trying to scare him when your words wouldn’t.

Jaejoong took his turn. He picked up Hosyuk by the collar. “Green Monkey. You foolish thing. I will use Ultimate Great Hero Special Ultra Super-Megaton Action Spectacle Suspense Thriller Road Movie Love Romance Adventure Real New Wave Fantasy Odyssey Good Boy Punch.” You left with Hosyuk’s nose bleeding over your resignation.