the story

author's corner

corazones headquarters

—  toronto, canada; 22.7.2017, 14:00

  Up. Down. Up. Down. 

  The boy's eyes followed the action of the old gray baseball flying up to the ceiling and landing on his open palm again, trying to think of nothing and to clear his thoughts, nearly succeeding too, when his bedroom door promptly burst open, a familiar figure tumbling in.

  "Adrian!" Immediately all concentration was gone, and he could feel the jitterness back on the tip of his fingers again. Scrambling up from his den of blankets, the boy faced his companion leaning against the doorway, who was catching his breath. "The Branch Head...he says he needs to see you."

  "St. Patricky the Annoyed?" There was an exasperated sigh from Jaehyun, who was still winded from his run. "Why?"

  A shrug. "Don't know. He just said it's urgent and sent me." Anxiety flickered across his eyes, which did not go unseen by Adrian's sharp eyes. "Hey man, you probably should come. He didn't seem to be in a good mood when he called me in."

  "Be right there." Grabbing his signature bomber jacket from his pile of tossed away clothes in the middle of his room, Adrian shrugged it on as he ran past Jaehyun, who followed closely on his heels and they made their way towards the Branch Head's office, anxious about the message they were about to hear.

  "Sir - " 

  "You know, there is a door for a reason, Mr Kim." 

  They were currently in the Branch Head's office, having just burst into the room in a frenzy, startling their Branch Head, a stern-faced man named Patrick, so badly that he spilled half of his cup of coffee on his lap. Despite his assistant's magic helping the clearing up, the dark expression on his face did not disappear, and appeared even more evident as he started lecturing the two standing in front of his desk with guilty expressions.

  Giving an irritated sigh, the man leaned back on his chair when there was no response. Adrian had a sense of them standing like troublemakers back in school, and felt his fist clench unconsciously. "Mr Choi, would you leave us please? I need to talk to Mr Kim. Privately."

  Adrian could feel, rather than see, Jaehyun sending an anxious glance towards him, before he his heel and obediently closed the door behind him as he left. Steeling himself for a verbal onslaught, Adrian looked up to meet Patrick's eyes, who was, instead of having fire like he usually did, staring curiously at him.

  "Do you know why I ask you here today, Mr Kim?" Dumbfounded, Adrian merely responded to that with a blank stare, earning him another sigh. "To be honest, I did not expect this." A few moments of rummaging in his desk brought some documents onto the glass surface. "Straight As in your combat tests. Your instructor even recommended a promotion to general, based purely on your fighting skills." A look of approval. "Our new star, eh?"

  Adrian swallowed, suddenly unsure of himself. "I - yes, sir."

  "Hmm." Another round of scrutinizing. "Well, at any rate, I'm sure those achievements aren't groundless. Otherwise the Head of CARDS himself wouldn't have asked for you, would he?"

  The Branch Head said that so nonchalantly Adrian wasn't sure if he had heard correctly or not. "He what...sir?"

 "The Head of CARDS, Carroll himself, had requested for an audience for you. Personally. Preferably as soon as possible." Patrick gave the sheef of papers on his desk another glance. "Off you go then, you wouldn't want to keep anyone, especially the boss, waiting." 

  "Yes. Of course, sir."

  "Oh, and Mr Kim?" As Adrian prepared to leave, hand hovering on top of the doorknob, he turned back to see the slightest trace of a smile appearing on the Branch Head's face.

  "Congratulations."