Mark was pretty sure he’d gone to the bathroom more times in the last five hours than the entire rest of the week combined. And with the sheer amount of caffeine currently flowing through his body, it’d be a miracle if he got a wink of sleep that night.

Kunpimook was in roughly the same shape as he was, but still managed to keep that large grin on his face, enthusiastic to the end as they taste tested all the potential items for their menu.

Ah, the blessing of youth.

“Let’s go with this tentatively,” Mark said, tapping the list he’d scrawled out messily on the notepad in front of him. “Give this to Youngjae so he can start looking at suppliers. I also want you to search for more non-caffeinated items, as well as a few more food items that aren’t so sweet.”

“Got it! Should we start looking for baristas as well? And maybe a baker? How good a drink is honestly depends more on how well it’s made compared to the recipe.”

“Yes. Very good point. Have Youngjae start working on that as well, he can put out an ad or something.”

“Got it! Anything else?” Kunpimook beamed at the indirect praise, and Mark ran through everything in his head once more.

“No, I think that’s it for now. Once you have the menu set, I’d like you to start helping Youngjae out with whatever he needs to get done.”

“Yes sir! Oh, and isn’t there a full cast meeting tonight or something?”

“Oh yeah, that almost slipped my mind…” Mark sighed, checking his watch. It was 4:30 pm, and the meeting was at 7. “On second thought, I’ll take these things to Youngjae. There are a few things I need to discuss with him anyways, and there’s just enough time before the meeting to do that. We can have our team meeting right afterwards.”

“Sounds good to me!”

~~

Walking through the doors of the broadcasting station, Mark realized he still had an extra forty minutes before recording would resume. It was nice, not having the cameras following him around. After his meeting with Youngjae, where they had decided on a location for rent that they’d like to make an offer for, the cameramen and producers alike had departed. They were told they too were having a meeting before the next recording session, and Mark was totally fine with that, if it meant he got a few more minutes of privacy.

Although he still had another forty minutes, he really didn’t have much else to do, and thus went early to the broadcasting station. He would have gone home, but he lived far enough so that by the time he got there, he would have had to leave right away in order to make it back on time.

Mark settled down in an armchair in the corner of the lobby, pulling out his phone to pass the time. He could probably get caught up with his emails, even if he preferred to work from his laptop. He’d make do.

Perhaps fifteen minutes later, Mark was brought out of his thoughts by a familiar voice.

“No.”

Mark’s brow furrowed as his eyes landed on the figures entering the building. The familiar voice belonged to Jinyoung, but the one walking right beside him, was Im Jaebum.

“Just listen, please.”

Mark had to strain to hear Jaebum’s words, frown deepening. Luckily, neither of the two noticed him, walking in the other direction and towards the elevators. Mark quickly stood, following behind them quietly, carefully keeping his distance.

“You remember your old business model? I’m doing something similar. I’ll prove to you it works, Jinyoung.”

Mark’s eyes widened at Jaebum’s words, eyes turning to fix on Jinyoung to see his reaction. His expression had stiffened, steps quickening to move ahead of Jaebum so Mark couldn’t catch his next words.

“I was wrong, okay?” Im Jaebum almost sounded like he was pleading, and then Jinyoung was turning the corner, with Jaebum swiftly following behind. Mark approached cautiously, feeling ridiculous as he pressed up against the wall as he neared the corner as well.

He strained his ears, but could only make out bits of fierce whispering. He bit his lip, trying to gauge how far away from the corner they were, before taking a breath and slowly peeking around the corner.

He almost choked on air; Jaebum had backed Jinyoung against the far wall, with Jaebum’s back facing him and leaving Jinyoung’s face in Mark’s view. Mark swiftly ducked back around the corner, heart pounding, but when he realized he hadn’t yet been discovered, he slowly peeked back around again.

Thankfully, with his entire attention focused on Jaebum, Jinyoung didn’t seem to notice Mark at all. It was only now that Mark realized they weren’t actually touching, but still in close proximity regardless.

He was still too far away to hear, and if he tried to move any closer he knew he would be discovered. But even without words, it was clear these two had a history. Jaebum still seemed to be pleading, and the way Jinyoung looked at him…

Mark didn’t know why, but it made his stomach twist.

There was a façade of coldness, but underneath Mark could see a softness that couldn’t be hidden, a melancholic light that shown through the cracks of indifference as he gazed at Jaebum.

It such a stark difference to the cheerful, sly Park Jinyoung that he knew, Mark wouldn’t have ever believed them to be the same person.

Having seen enough, Mark readied himself to leave. But before turning away, his attention snapped back when Jinyoung pushed Jaebum away, eyes downcast as he shouldered his way past him. Mark was frozen for a split second, perhaps in shock, perhaps in panic, before his instincts kicked in again and he quickly backed away, almost running back to the main part of the lobby and throwing himself into an armchair.

Once again, Jinyoung walked right past him without even noticing his presence. His expression was pained, but then he’d passed by and all Mark could see was his back.

Mark exhaled slowly, not knowing if it was in relief or something else altogether. His mind began to whirl with the possibilities; some were favorable, some not so much, but Mark had always been pessimistic by nature.

Who was Park Jinyoung, to be able to make the Im Jaebum plead? And what did Jaebum mean, that he was using Jinyoung’s old business model? The failed one? Why?

The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became.

Was Jinyoung giving Jaebum information?  What the hell was their history together?

Was everything so far on Jinyoung’s part an act? A lie?

Mark knew he should be rational, that he couldn’t, and shouldn’t base anything off of the incomplete conversation he’d overheard. That no matter what, he shouldn’t ignore the fact that Jinyoung had looked unwilling, and that he’d been the one to walk away from a pleading Im Jaebum.

But the burning annoyance wouldn’t recede.