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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LACK OF WEAKLY UPDATES! *bows in deep apology* It's just a lot of things have been happening and I'm currently going through post-fanmeet depression/withdrawals ('cause GOT7 was[is] lit af). But I'll try to more consistent with my schedule (it's already been two weeks of no updates until now yikes! what am I even doing). Though, hope you all beautiful creatures enjoy this chapt. Thank you~ ^_^

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    “I don’t agree to this.”

    “Oh. I’m sorry for not clarifying the fact that you have no say in this.” 

    “I-“

    “It doesn’t matter what you want, Park-ssi. At the end of the day, I get to decide whom I’ll put on my team.”

    “But you can’t just ship Bambam off! He’s one of our youngest!” Jinyoung protested enthusiastically, fists hitting on the hard surface of the meeting room’s large desk, body long lifted off of his chair, face semi-red with controlled anger. “As the Vice Captain of this Unit, I hereby oppose to the idea of you involving my newbies into whatever you’re here for, Tuan. If you think my new agents are expendable, then you are wrong. I’m sure you, yourself, know how dangerous your own secret mission is, but leave my team out of this. A life is still a life. You don’t get to decide when a person should die.” 

    Scoffing, Mark crossed his arms against his chest and leaned back in his seat, returning the cold glare that Jinyoung is currently emitting. “Let’s get something straight. Nothing’s here belongs to you, Park Jinyoung-ssi. And you’ve just been promoted for about, what, two and a half months now? You’re obviously aren’t experienced enough or well-trained enough to regard these agents as yours. Please do remember that you went from a low-positioned agent to Vice Captain, skipping two whole steps of being the Cooperative Leader and then Third Lieutenant, so there’s a lot for you to catch up on learning. But you know what’s your problem is? For the past two months and a half that I’ve been here, I’ve noticed that you tends to treat this like it’s one of your little chains. Let me tell you directly, since everyone else is too scared and whatnot.” Pulling himself up to his feet, Mark said, “this place isn’t your headquarters. This isn’t Park Group. You’re not the King here. So slap yourself out of that ‘young master’ trance and act maturely like how a professional agent supposed to act.” 

    There’s no reason for Jinyoung to be tolerating this. No reason for him to restrained himself from clawing at Mark. He’s irritated and, worse of all, humiliated. How dare… 

    “Keep going against me like this, Mark, and we’ll see who’ll wins in the end,” and with that Vice Captain Park excused himself out of the meeting room, leaving the Captain, the other Vice Captain, and the entire Unit G behind. 

    Quirking an eyebrow at Jinyoung’s usual tantrum, Mark could care less about it. It’s not like this is the first time. The young master really likes to just walk out in the middle of meetings like that whenever his enemy is present. The American agent turned his attention back on Bambam, a Thai fledgling who exceeded Mark’s expectations of a newbie, and smiled warmly. “You’re up for it, yeah?” 

    A bit nervous from facing such an important figure within the field, Bambam didn’t dared to look at Mark in the eyes. Instead he nodded shyly and plays around with his long skinny fingers. “Yes, sir. I’ll do my best, sir.” 

    Finding Bambam’s timidity kind of cute, Mark chuckled, “I’m sure you will. Don’t be too scared, it’ll be okay. Just think of this as a weird promotion.”

    “Thank you, sir,” the Thai agent bowed respectfully. 

    “All right, meet me back at the office later and we’ll discuss details,” Mark said. “All of you are dismissed.” 

    One by one, the team piled out of the room. Mark turned back to his best friend, who’s still sitting there, deep in thought. “You’ve been very quiet. Bum, what’s up?” 

    Jaebum sighed. “In a couple more weeks, Jinyoung is leaving for his annual vacation.” 

    “Vacation?” 

    “No, it’s not. It’s been called as an annual vacation, but everybody around here knows perfectly well that Chairman Park never takes any vacation. It’s just this three-month period of him temporary leaving his position as a government agent to fly over to Park Group’s headquarters in Jeju-do and commands there.” 

    Mark questioned out of curiosity, “is it necessary?”

    “Of course. He’s the Chairman of the world’s leading economic power, Mark. And year-end closures are very important in the business field. Also, a new cycle starts every January's, they need their Big Boss there to lead them into the new year. So, every year, Jinyoung would have automatic approval from the President himself to break away from the K.N.S.S. in the months of December through February. If Jinyoung don’t return back every year to handle his company, then this world would struggle quite a lot.” 

    “This is why I hate doing business. So much work,” Mark cringed. He truly hates the business world; if there’s anything he couldn’t stand, it would be business. 

    “And that’s why you legit knows nothing about it,” Jaebum scoffed, standing up and straightened out his suit. 

    “I know what stocks are, though.”

    “Everyone knows what stocks are, Tuan.” 

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    A figure of a fairly built man trudged down the hall of an unknown building. His steps halted in front of the reflective double glass doors. The small security machine that’s attached to the side of the doors scanned the man’s fingerprint and left eyeball before sliding the doors open for him. He entered with light steps, careful as if he’s skilled in doing so. Inside sat a lab room full of suited men and women. The man received bows as he walked pass them. 

    “You’re here, sir,” a younger man approached with a smug smile. 

    “I’ve got news that those American rats send spies over to snuff us out,” the older man sighed as he continued walking, the younger man following close behind. “Jiyong, I hope you don’t disappoint me.” 

    The young man, Jiyong, nodded, grinning enthusiastically like a mad person. “I, Kwon Jiyong, make no mistakes, sir, you know that.” 

    Stopping in his tracks, the older man cracked a tiny smile, “also, keep out for Chairman Park. I know he’s involved in something. If we can find it first, the whole world will rest in the palm of our hands.” 

    “I’ll send my men to it right away,” Jiyong dropped his head slightly in a bow as the man walked into the elevator, heading upwards. “Rest assure, sir.” 

+

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    Youngjae tried to be attentive. He really did. But throughout the whole entire lunch break, all Jinyoung could rant about was this person named Mark. And it’s getting pretty repetitive. Jinyoung and Youngjae had agreed to start having lunch with each other everyday at the doctor-in-training’s hospital. And today is one of those days of their daily routine. 

    “Could you even imagine, like, being in the same room as him?” The young master dropped his chopsticks and scoffed.

    “No, I can’t,” Youngjae said quietly, knowing that Jinyoung would just go on, doesn’t matter what the answer was. 

    “He’s so annoying! Everything he does irritates me. Like, oh, my God, don’t even get me started on what had happened at this morning’s meeting. Why is he’s so- ARGH!! Who does he thinks he is? How dare he?” Jinyoung’s appetite was long gone. The only thing weighting on his mind and rage was Mark Tuan. 

    Youngjae nodded slowly, stuffing his mouth with his favorite dose of fresh fries. He’s so used to this now, because there hasn’t been a day where Jinyoung would just enjoy his lunch peacefully. The agent could never shut up about Mark this and Mark that. It sort of concerns the trainee doctor of how often his best friend becomes an angry mess whenever a certain name was mentioned. However, though, this whole situation amuses Youngjae in a way. Out of the many many many years he had known Park Jinyoung, Youngjae had never actually seen his best friend so worked up over someone before. Now he’s curious of who this Mark person is. He’s curious of how this Mark Tuan managed to push all the right buttons that set the Park Jinyoung off so effortlessly. 

    “No offense, but your personality is nasty,” Youngjae sneered, being honest is always the preferred choice. “I can see why.” 

    Jinyoung rolled his eyes, “and you’re calling yourself my best friend?”

    “Hyung.”

    “Don’t 'hyung' me, Youngjae.” 

    Sighing, the said trainee doctor went back to finishing up his burger, giving up in talking back. He’ll just listens instead. Jinyoung seemed very stressed anyways. 

    “I’m leaving in a couple of weeks,” the agent murmured. “It’s going to be a pain in the this time.”

    “Take it easy, Jinyoung-ah,” Youngjae said, “don’t overwork yourself too much.”

    Putting his head down on the cold surface of the hospital’s cafeteria’s table, Jinyoung sighed heavily, already feeling the responsibilities crashing down on him. He really hates leaving like this every year. It wears him down. And usually, nothing good comes out from his visits. But work is work. Jinyoung is, basically, the Chairman of the world. He has to look after his beloved company to save everyone else from suffering the terrible downfall of the economy. Besides, Jinyoung had come so far. It’s too late to just back off now. 

    “I tried to,” the young master lifted his head up and stared at his best friend with puppy eyes, “but Jaebum always make it harder for me. Sometimes, I think he’s siding with his best friend to strap me down or some .”

    Titling his head slightly to the side at the foreign mention of a name, Youngjae asked, “who’s Jaebum?” 

    “My Captain.”

    “Oh… Ouch, good luck.” 

    “Thanks, I really needs it.”

    “So are you going to rant about this Jaebum guy, too?” 

    “No,” Jinyoung replied, eyes casting down at the unfinished meal in front of him, “Jaebum’s fine. I’m just very tired right now.” 

    Youngjae sighed. Part of him wanted to reach out and help his hyung, but the other part seemed to just gave up on advising Jinyoung since the latter would ends up doing the opposite. For whatever it worth, Youngjae still wanted to try comforting his best friend. “Jinyoung-ah, why don’t you skip out for a month? It’s December after all. It’s the holiday month. Since the day you became Chairman Park, you’ve never spent Christmas or New Year’s properly. I’m sure your company will be fine without you for a December, yeah?”

    “I can’t do that, Youngjae,” Jinyoung gathered his unfinished lunch into a plastic bag. “Park Group relies on me. You know how important it is. I have to-“

    “Yeah, yeah, whatever, I got it.”

    Closing his mouth and abandoning his reasoning, Jinyoung looked at his best friend with tired eyes. “I’m sorry, Youngjae-ah.” 

    The trainee doctor just sighed and nodded his head, being understanding of his hyung’s current mandatory situation, “it’s okay,” he said. 

    As much as Jinyoung wanted to take Youngjae’s advice in taking a one-month break, he also couldn’t. December is the last month of the year, the most important month. All the workloads and crucial decisions were made and done in December. There’s no way Jinyoung would miss all of that. The huge burden of the throne won’t allow Jinyoung to rest. His position is too big, too important, too dangerous, for him to sit down and leisurely have a cup of coffee while watching the sunrise. But there’s nothing the young master could do about it. He’s fated to the seat that’s made of bloody swords. He’s now the King. The King who will do anything and everything to protect himself and his damned throne of abomination.

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    Mark straightened out his tie one last time before opening the doors to an urgent call about the assignment that was handed to him a week after that call from his Boss back in the States. Of course, Mark had accepted the job, but everything else bothered him a lot. 

    “You’re here,” Chief Commander Park stood up from his seat and greeted Mark. Sitting beside the Chief Commander was the President of the Republic of Korea. “Mister President,” JYP said, “this is Agent Mark Tuan, Captain of one of the Elite teams in America.”

    With a respectful bow of an underling, Mark greeted the President with a light smile. “It’s nice to finally get to meet you, Mister President.” 

    “I hope you are finding yourself comfortable here in South Korea,” the President returned the smile. “I heard you’ve been working very hard, Agent Tuan.”

    Mark chuckled softly, “no, sir, just a lot of paperworks, but it’s fine. It’s my duty after all,” offering his hand towards the seat that’s across from the President, Mark asked, “may I?”

    “Of course,” the President nodded kindly. 

    As everyone now settled in their seats and sipping on warm tea, JYP cleared his throat for a special announcement. “Agent Tuan, there is a change in your upcoming assignment.” 

    “What is it?” Mark slowly placed his cup of tea down on its saucer as he listens attentively to his new orders. 

    At this moment, Chief Commander Park looked over to the President, who’s leaning forward in his cushioned seat with a serious gaze. The President clasped his hands together and pursed his lips into a thin line, expressing tension and importance in this changed mission. “Agent Tuan, I believed your original orders were to just go to Jeju for three months, and also, you’ll be receiving your secret mission there, right?” 

    “Yes, sir,” Mark nodded, holding eye contact with the country’s Leader. 

    “Well, here’s the alternated arrangement, and I hope you’ll have no problem carry it out. This is very important.” 

    “No problem, sir,” Mark assured the President. 

    “The Chairman, you know who I’m talking about, right?” 

    “Of course, sir.”

    “He’s leaving in a couple of weeks for his annual mandatory-excused leave. Usually there would be no problem for him to go alone. However, this year has been chaos with the risen underground societies and I’m worried. Chairman Park is a VERY important figure of this country and the world. Nothing can happen to him. Nothing. His safety is our priority. So, I want you to personally assist him for the three months he’s settling at Park Group’s headquarters. Keep him safe and make sure he returns in one piece with every strand of his hair untouched. Can you do that for me, for the country, for the global economy, Agent Tuan? I know it’s a very big job, but as the President of this advancing country, I ask of you.” 

    Mark just stared at the President for what felt like hours and hours of silenced shock. The President did not just asked Mark to be Jinyoung’s, the person he hates the most in the entire universe, personal bodyguard. The President did not just asked Mark to be Jinyoung’s, the person whom Mark cannot possibly stand, little guard dog. The President did not just asked Mark to submit under the commands of Jinyoung, his new master. What a ing insult. 

    But nonetheless, a professional agent would accept the assignment in a heartbeat without any complains or hints of denial. So with a forced smile and nod, Mark Tuan didn’t hesitate to say “yes, sir. I’ll gladly provide Chairman Park with everything he needs. I’ll make sure to not disappoint you, Mister President.” 

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    Standing next to an expensive black bulletproof sedan with the backseat’s door open, Mark scanned his eyes around the massive building that’s stood graciously in front of him. Never had Mark seen a company’s building complex this huge. People could easily mistaken the Park Group’s headquarters as the other half of Jeju Island. 

    The Chairman had left for Jeju before Mark’s flight a couple of days. And Mark just set foot into Jeju just hours ago. He was immediately called to duty. Apparently, the Chairman just finished one of his meetings and was getting ready to move to his next scheduled plan. Mark came to take the young master there, since the agent is a personal bodyguard. 

    “I can’t believe this son-of-a-,” Mark sighed as he grumbled quietly to himself, avoiding the glares from Chairman Park’s loyal followers. It’s ridiculous how much these guys idolized Park Jinyoung. Mark just rolled his eyes. Whatever. 

    Mark wasn’t going to start mentally complaining about this long wait in this cold weather, but he did anyways. Didn't that manager guy said the Chairman will be out in ten minutes? So where the is he? It’s been ninety ing minutes and nobody appeared yet. In the midst of Mark’s eternal cursing at the Chairman, the transparent glass doors of Park Group’s headquarters building opened. Walking out with power laced in each of his steps, Chairman Park was accompanied by a group of suited men and women with hard eyes and black folders in their hands. 

    The agent pushed his leaning self off the car and straightened himself in a stiff bodyguard-like stance. Mark dared to look up. What he was greeted was sent chills down his bones. The time back at the K.N.S.S. facility that Mark had thought Jinyoung was a childish erased itself off of the agent’s memory. 

    Because before his very own eyes, Chairman Park walked down the steps with such a threatening aura of both extreme authority and danger. The young master’s eyes were sharp and cold as ice. His beautiful features refined into the definition of a crown of Aconitum, a majestic specie of purple flowers with deadly poison within its entire body, also known as, Devil’s Helmet or Queen of All Poisons. Jinyoung is breathtaking. Mark wasn’t blind. He knows beauty when he sees it. But this beauty is a beast. A vicious animal. A monster. 

    Mark thought he wasn’t scared of Park Jinyoung. 

    No, he wasn’t. Mark wasn’t scared of Park Jinyoung, his bratty co-Vice Captain. 

    But this. This is different. This Park Jinyoung, the Chairman, terrorized Mark. 

    Mark couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It’s like two completely different people. Agent Park and Chairman Park are two completely different people. 

    Mark didn’t notice how much his hands were shaking. I have to decided whether or not to kill someone like this? Someone who has so much power in just the way he walks? Someone who’s actually making me shaking in fear? What is this? What fresh Hell is this?

    “Mark Tuan?” The minimal surprised tone in Jinyoung’s voice didn’t go unnoticed. “What are you doing here?” And it’s very obvious how annoyed and displeased Jinyoung was. 

    “I’m here on orders to personally assist you,” Mark paused, he wasn’t going to do this but he has to, so he forced it out, “sir.” Mark’s head slightly bowed, drawing the fine line of his position compares to Jinyoung’s. 

    Amusement and arrogance flashed across Chairman Park’s eyes like a strike of Zeus’ thunderbolt. His grin was purely luciferic. With a nasty scoff, Jinyoung stepped forwards to the opened door that’s waiting for its master. “Oh, is that so? Orders from the President I’m guessing?” 

    Biting his lip and balling his fists, Mark suppressed his sudden rise of anger. “Yes, sir.” It was humiliating. To bow down to Park Jinyoung like this is humiliating. 

    Of course, doesn’t miss this golden opportunity to step on Mark like he’s some kind of old used rag, Jinyoung smirked, subtly his bottom lips out of sadistic excitement and demonic intentions, “well, then, you better stick close to me like a ing pathetic dog you are, Mark.”

    “Yes, sir,” Mark replied, pitying himself for stooping so low. 

    “Be a good boy and don’t bite your Master,” Jinyoung cooed before stepping inside the readied car. Mark swallowed his pride and closed the car’s door.