vi. "The Forgetful"

“He could never remember, and it was always nerve wereking having somone tell you what you did wh you are sure it never happened.”

“Mr. Jeon, your fiancé says that she turned in the deposit and you may move in anytime you like,” Moonbin spoke, his body looming over by the door in his office.

He was already in hell, working on a specifications document for the marketing team. He looked at his assistant, he was dressed neatly and professionally. The boy looked his age, unlike Jungkook who probably looked like middle aged father going through mid-life crisis.

Moonbin simply had a while dress shirt paired with tight khaki pants that were caressed by the finest iron as his blue and gray tie was perfectly knotted. Everything was so neat and taken care off. Jungkook had come to learn Moonbin loved being neat and clean, because it was his own way of having control over his life. And if there was something Moonbin detested more than a flaw in his work, was chaos in his appearance.

“Thank you, reminder that I’m busy tonight and I can’t take any work home,” he spoke, his hands signaling the boy to come forward, which the assistant didn’t hesitate in doing.

“Yes sir,” Moonbin spoke, writing something on his tablet, “also, I have down that the contracts with the design team is ending soon and you wanted to change some of the clauses,” he spoke, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

“You caught that, it was just a thought,” Jungkook spoke softly, finding it weird that made it into the boy’s organizing mind.

He had mumbled the idea during an end of the week discussion with the boy. It’s a routine to get the following week organized but he never thought he’d caught the idea. It was interesting and weird at the same time, because Moonbin kept up with him faster than Jungkook realized.

“Yes sir, it’s my job to catch everything,” the boy spoke, his voice confident and assuring as it soft innocence gave Jungkook a sense of guilt.

The guilt came from having such a good worker stuck in an endless cycle of assisting and nothing more. Moonbin is able to keep one foot in front of his own boss and yet, he may never move up.

Jungkook sighed, turning to the side to think on the subject rather than his assistant’s future. Contracts, that is what he needed to think about. He could write it up and discuss later or discuss and then write.

“Um, five days before they expire, put in a meeting with the team leader to discuss any bargains on the contracts. Let them know now so they can get uniform and I’ll write up the rough skeleton of what I wanted to change it on Monday,” he spoke, his hands cupping his face as he rubbed his tired eyes as if expecting the exhaustion to be lifted.

“Yes sir,” Moonbin spoke, making in the note.

The boy stood up, having said everything he needed to say. Jungkook looked at the young boy, and the guilt became more evident. Moonbin should not live like the way he does, tailing his boss and being nothing but obedient.

“Moonbin,” Jungkook spoke, not realizing he was actually going to stop the boy.

But the words rolled off his tongue and stained his lips before he actually thought on what he could do with the boy.

“Yes,” the boy spoke, turning around and giving his full attention to the young boss without hesitation.

The assistant stood there, his tablet tucked behind him as he stood straight, awaiting any comments or orders or anything from the young boss. But he felt a sense of uncertainty as the young boss rubbed his eyes and then looked at him with a dubious tint lingering in his brows.

“When is your contract expiring?” Jungkook spoke, knowing that assistant job could prologue for longer than its initial contract terms.

“Not for six more months, I’m still just a newbie,” the boy spoke, his soft and thin voice making Jungkook realize that he was in a fourteen-month contract to be his assistant.

A fourteen-month contract is easier to get out of than the actual eighteen-month one. But Moonbin’s chances of moving up were not that high alone. He could step in, like he did with the girl from yesterday, push him forward. After all, he was the heir.  

“A month before it expires, figure out what you want to do. The likelihood of me supporting your wishes is really high,” Jungkook spoke, feeling the need to give the boy an opportunity into a higher position.

“What do you mean sir?” Moonbin spoke, his brows curling in confusion as Jungkook sighed and firmly responded.

“It means that if you want to move up floor and position, I’ll back you up. I’d much rather have you be the one in charge of departments rather than my next coffee break,” Jungkook spoke a little too harsh for his liking.

The boy looked rather taken aback, and although he was used to the young boss’s mood swings or changed in tone, it threw him off gravely.

“Oh, I’ll think about it,” the boy spoke softly, his eyes slightly falling as he felt like he was told he wasn’t wanted as an assistant in a negative way.

“That didn’t come out right, I meant that you are trustworthy enough to be in charge of your own team or department. I’m about to chop heads, do you know why?” Jungkook tried to turn the tone around, not realizing that he hadn’t picked his words carefully.

“Because the leader of the accounting team messed up the transactions again,” Moonbin spoke, his lips slightly tugging simply because he thought it was amusing whenever the young boss said he’d chop heads.

“Exactly, a mistake you caught in a minute, they caught in a day. It’s ridiculous,” Jungkook spoke, throwing his hands in the air for emphasis as he felt angered just thinking about the stupid careless mistake.

Jungkook felt more at ease, as the guilt feeling he had before was somehow gone in the course of one sentence. He didn’t care if he was going to get backlash from this, he didn’t even consider it. He just knew the boy deserved better.

“Thank you sir, for your trust, it means a lot for a newbie like me,” the boy spoke, more confident and proud that he was trusted that much.

“Don’t let me down Moonbin, as you were,” Jungkook spoke, his voice soft but they still had a deep seriousness to them that Moonbin understood.

Time passed by with no interruptions and the young boss was left alone in silence yet again. He kept wondering off to what had happened yesterday, and the silence suddenly begun to echo painfully. He sat there still, feeling the cool air rolling in from the open windows and trying to remember how his day unrolled.

He felt his heart fall heavy, and suddenly his head begun to throb. He looked blankly at the paper laid before him. He blocked out a lot of things, hardly remembers how he got from one point to the other, but he’s never tried to figure it out. But this one was itching the arch of his foot, and it was inevitably something he needs to remember.

He looked at his knuckles, and there was a gash across his palm as if he got cut. He tried hard to remember when it happened and how but his head begun to throb and bang against his skull.

What happened?

He kept asking and it was as if the question was protected by a chain of locks so they never get discovered.

“Mom wanted to know if you were okay, after yesterday’s incident,” Jin’s voice echoed in the room, the older boy simply hoovered by the doorway as his smile was a little feign.

“What do you mean?” Jungkook asked, feeling his entire body stiffen at the idea of not remembering, again.

“You got angry, you slammed your mug a little too hard against the counter and shattered. You got cut, remember?” Jin spoke, his voice trying to pull out all of the memories from the day before as if he was trying to teach a kid.

The boy looked at his palm, seeing the gash that wasn’t too deep, already bind close by his skin. He can’t remember, and that’s the part that frustrates him more. He could never remember, and it was always nerve wrecking having someone tell you what you did when you are sure it never happened.

“When did that happen? I don’t even remember getting mad,” Jungkook spoke, full on doubt and suspicion written all over his face.

Jin pierced his lip, looking only at his step brother with an arched brown and then sighing. He nodded, and simply took a seat. He knew a couple of things from experience, and that is, if Jungkook says that something didn’t happen, he truly believed it never happened.

Jin didn’t know what to think, he wondered if Jungkook had truly convinced himself that he didn’t do something or if the younger was merely pretending. And many times, the older had tried to convince him, but it always ended with a huge fight and Jungkook would hate his guts for a good solid week before his anger turned to love again. Jin just learned to pretend it didn’t happen either.

“Well, my mistake. I came to ask you if it was true you gave permission to a two-year engineer to work on an individual project. My workers are slightly pissed at the rumor,” Jin spoke, grabbing a seat without having been invited to sit down.

Jungkook scrunched his brows, wondering if that was a lie too but then he remembered the girl. Ms. Yonsei Top Five had filled out the form for the individual project and like in an immature high school, gossip travels fast in the company.

“Yeah, have you looked at that girl’s portfolio? It’s amazing and she says she will create a phone that will put this company out in the competition, it couldn’t hurt to try,” Jungkook spoke, a slight amusement lingering in his voice as he remembered he was looking at the portfolio that morning.

That was something he did remember, it was a memory as clear as glass. He was fascinated by her portfolio, she was head of a lot of projects and studied at one of the top universities in the states for engineering, she was truly something.

“Jungkook-ah, all of our engineers have impressive portfolios,” Jin spoke, his body leaning forward and snapping Jungkook’s amazement in seconds.

“True, but hers topped everyone’s.” Jungkook cleared his throat, feeling slightly shook at the look that Jin was giving him.

He stared at him with parted lips and warm brown eyes that were suddenly cooling off into pure disappointment. And it only made Jungkook feel cold and anger beginning to pool into his veins because he has done nothing wrong. Yet Jin, the person who he least expected it from, was getting angry at him for no reason.

“Kook, it wasn’t right you gave that permission, it wasn’t even your department and I have anger boiling up in my department and I don’t know what to tell them,” Jin spoke, his voice slightly agitated that the younger would do something so reckless.

“Don’t call me that,” Jungkook snapped sternly, feeling his entire body stiffen as a raw chill crept all around his nerved.

He hated being called Kook. He loathed that name and the way it sounded out of his lips. It sounded all too familiar and all too dark for his liking. It was stiff and cold and only his mother dared called him Kook.

Jin bit his lips, forgetting so easily how much Jungkook hated that name. Jin knew it was mainly because of his dad. Jungkook looked at the boy, feeling his hands tighten as all he could see was another person who was trying to control him. All he could see was Jin telling him what to do.

“I’m sorry, but you should have consulted me at least,” Jin spoke, his voice rose in pitch as pure nervousness was pooling out of his mouth.

His brows arched in worry as his fingers trembled. Jin knew very well what would happen, he has gotten to know his step-brother so much that he knew the boy’s top was going to burst. All Jungkook saw was another controlling mouth yapping.

“I don’t understand, everyone tells me I need to start acting like I’m in charge but once I act like it, everyone has something bad to say,” he spoke in a subdued anger that was even worse to Jin than a yelling anger.

“Jungkook,”

“Get out, I don’t want to see your face right now,” Jungkook spoke, looking away as his eyes flew shut.

His entire body felt like jumping up, throwing something, hitting something but there was this part of him that had his anger held back. As if for once, there was something telling him not to.

“I’m sorry, I’ll back you up, I trust you,” Jin spoke, his words being spoken from the doorway but they still pooled into the office and weighted everything down.

Trust. He obviously didn’t trust him, if he did, he would have never complained. He would have never shown that disappointed and hateful face.

What do they want from him?

Nothing made sense, his mind his emotions everything seemed to be lost in an abstract painting. He can’t act like he is in charge without someone complaining. He can’t act like he doesn’t care without someone complaining. He can’t move, he can’t talk, he can’t even breath without someone complaining.

“What do they want from me!” He screamed, his voice filling up that warmly light room full of Disney paintings and drawings.

“Hello to you too,” the girl spoke, her body being thrown off slightly as Jungkook stormed through the dark oak door without even knocking nor making his presence known.

He walked straight through, passing the coffee table and picking up a bottle of wine that was bathing in a tub of ice. He didn’t even hesitate, he opened the wine, feeling his body relax and get excited at that familiar pop of a new bottle of liquor.

“I’m suppose to be this heir and CEO-to-be and everyone says I should start acting like it. I should start acting like my dad, an who doesn’t even care who he hurts and if he is even hurting anyone. All for what, money?” Jungkook begun to speak, words pooling out of him as his babble was only trigger and encouraged by the anger regenerating inside him.

The girl smiled slightly, not knowing what is going on exactly but being satisfied that the man was letting it all out. He was not stiff nor precautions, overly judgmental like the first time. He just needed someone to listen, and that is why she was there, happy to listen.

“But when I do, and I did this week, best week of my dam life, everyone has something to say. The nerve, the ing nerve of these people. And Jin! Oh my brother Jin who I love so much, I never thought I could hate him like I do at the moment,” Jungkook spoke, his voice fueled by hysteria and intoxicated anger.

And the moment he opened his mouth to try and say something again, he finally looked up and saw she sitting there. And his words were lost in another world.

She looked up at him, her face in between her hands as she rested her arms against the table. She was giving his full attention and he looked so deep into her dark eyes, he began to wonder if they were truly black or just a dark brown.

He wanted to laugh, because he remembered he was supposed to walk in here all high and mighty, not letting her be able to read him, to figure him out because this was a war on who can dig deeper into the other. And having lost last week, he was ready to win this week. But the moment he walked in, he realized he gave her the win already.

She wasn’t wearing a mask, she had black paint smeared around her eyes, she looked like a fierce warrior ready for battle. She was missing the armor, unless one would count ripped black skinny jeans and a pull-over armor.

“No, keep going. How did you try to be like the CEO?” She asked, her voice soft and encouraging, her hand gesturing to the seat across from her on the table.

She was so casual today, she almost looked like a normal girl rather than a host. Jungkook felt his throat tighten as he remembered that is exactly was she was. A hostess at a host club, and he just spilled majority of his day on her.

“I wasn’t supposed to tell you this.” He looked around, nervous as he begun to stare deep to the ground or the table with nice cutlery.

“Did it feel relieving though? Telling me everything, just saying it all, did it not make you feel slightly better?” She asked, her voice becoming slightly lower and mysterious.

His head snapped in her direction, his shoulders suddenly feeling less stiff as this suffocating feeling was no longer there. He felt lighter, he still felt like complete crap but, it was better.

“Yes,” he whispered as she looked at the empty seat across from her, hoping he would occupy it because she could tell, he was drowning in so much hate and anger.

“Then sit, tell me, how was your day?” She spoke, hoping he’d remember last week, where that is where she said her conversations started.

She really wanted to help him, she really wanted to just hear him out and help him because she knew, he was having a lot of doubts about himself. She could tell from the first conversation, he was very conflicted about a lot of things.

She was shocked when he booked her again, but needless to say, she was desperately hoping he would. He really is drowning in so much anger and hatred, and he needs to just spill it all out to someone. Who would be better than someone who’s job is to listen and help.

“Terrible, first of all,” he spoke, his voice lacking confidence but his body finding the seat faster than he realized he was speaking.

He didn’t know what was so different this time, he still believed this hostess was a e who would drop all of her clothes for a fat check. But there was something that just made him want to talk and just let out all his anger for once.

I apologize for going missing, I’ve had such a strong and busy start of my 2^nd semester at college and it literally came swinging like a baseball bat. I had a lab due today that had 16 pages of specifications, that is longer than this chapter.

Anyways, if you notice, the chapters tend to change mood, the chapter unravels and it changes mood or thought and I am doing that on purpose to fit Jungkook’s personality, which we can tell is changing constantly.

I will try to upload another chapter this week, otherwise, you will see me in 2 weeks since I usually update every 2 weeks. Happy reading and have a great day.