002

Bound By Duty

002.

Naeun felt numb in her shoulder. She couldn’t move her shoulder from the burn she had. It was pretty barbaric to suddenly burn her skin off without any notice. But, once again, Naeun felt like it was part of her punishment. Like it or not, she had to move on. There are important things to take care of, such as: Jongin. She didn’t know who he was, or what he was like. He was famous—the only thing Naeun know about him. The rest was a blur. But he wasn’t spotlight famous, only people who had met him know that he was wealthy as and have good looks. Publicly, nobody knows where he came from.

                Naeun knew because she was once a bartender in an infamous club. The perks of being a bartender was the whispers. She loved hearing those stories. Some was inarguably fake, but when the story made sense, it was like reading a book. Some girls were talking about him and praising him over his looks. Naeun was the one who served them, joining in the talk. The girls didn’t mind. She prey for more because it was fun. They told her that he always went to certain clubs, drinking, and hitting on girls. Nobody knew exactly who he was but he kept the liquor going and always sit in VVIP seat. If he was nothing important, he wouldn’t have sit in those area. But Naeun never thought that he was the youngest heir of the biggest mob family.

                “Naeun, maybe I should tell you a few about Jongin,” A voice blurred out her thoughts. She looked at Alan who voluntarily accompany me to Jongin’s compartment. Alan turned around so he could look at her. “For heads up.”

                “Okay.”

                “So, First, I must tell you that your relationship will be strictly business only. You will have your own office and bedroom. But you will live in the same flat, only rooms differ. He doesn’t like to be disturb when he does things,” He started. Naeun was taking mental note in her head. “He is so used of living alone.”

                “Do I need to avoid any specific contact?”

                Alan thought for a second before saying, “Well, he fired his previous secretary because she kept pestering him about his schedule. So, find an approach to make him attend his duties. Father already lectured him about it, so it might be easier for you now.”

                Naeun didn’t feel easy at all.

                “Second, put all things aside when Father calls. He knows about that too.”

                Naeun nodded.

                “Third, you cannot tell people who he is. You will act casually as if he is an ordinary rich man. Our family works underground which means we are a myth to most people. Is that clear?” He looked sharp and deadly as he stared into her eyes.

                She felt numb in her feet, “Yes, Alan.”

                “Great,” He turned around, sitting properly. “Those are the ground rules. The rest is up to Jongin.”

                Then, the car ride became silent again. The music it played is not her choice of music, but it seemed to lighten the condition. She didn’t mind. The sedan turned to a bigger neighborhood known best for their expensive compartment and where the rich people in Seoul resided. The main road felt quiet and expensive with big trees on both sides. Naeun felt like he wasn’t in Korea anymore. It felt foreign to her. How the houses looked more like a mansion with security and high gates. The neighborhood was rather quiet with only few people walking their dogs, the rest was in their own expensive car. It was once or twice when Naeun spotted Ferraris or Audi on the parking lot.

                It made her think more about Jongin. He had all of these because of his family dark business. He took people’s freedom—like Naeun—purposely to gain more income. His reputation might be different here than what the girls said. Alan also said that he had fired his previous assistant because she was doing her job. It gave a slight picture on how ed up he was. There was only one question left to ask, “Hey, Alan.”

                Alan hummed.

                “What if… he fired me early? Because of… things.”

                “Well,” He thought for a second. “Honestly… I don’t know what Father will do to you.”

                Naeun’s palms became cold. Her body went rigid from the thought. It would be best to appeal on Father’s good side—which mean to do exactly what Jongin said and stay in the safe zone. Alan, however, decided to cut the conversation off. He didn’t elaborate any further possibility that Naeun could have gotten if she ed up. It didn’t mean that Naeun wanted to know either. That words from Alan was enough to make her ride suffer.

                The sedan pulled to a big, modern compartment. Naeun only saw that building on the internet. She remembered that the price was hella high because of the building’s advanced technology. It made sense that Jongin decided to live here considering he probably had a bounty in his head.

                When the car finally parked, Alan made sure to pull out her baggage before she could get out. He even insisted on carrying the baggage alone. They walked into the lobby, went into the elevator and Alan pushed the penthouse floor number. The elevator shot up high. Naeun watched the number went up quickly. 1, 2, 3,… PH. By the time the door opened, Naeun was greeted with a sophisticated penthouse. The lights went on when Alan stepped foot in its floor.

                Alan wasted no time. He went straight to Naeun’s assigned room. It was a simple yet chic room with a double bed. He put her baggage on the corner of the room and looked at her—who was in awe—before saying the oblivious, “This is your room.”

                Alan pointed at the room next to her, “That’s your office.”

                Naeun opened her office and looked around, feeling satisfied and a bit relieved. The office was dusty like it had been left empty for some time. There was a MacBook in there, closed and dusty. Alan saw Naeun lingering by the MacBook so he said, “It’s your office computer. Do as you want.”

                Naeun opened the macbook, revealing a clean desktop with a few documents on the side of the screen. Alan waited for Naeun. She took her time, discovering documents and what lies inside there. She also opened the cabinets full of documents. She piled up the documents on her desk, trying to get a head start on her job. She began to open the folders one by one, taking seriously on what each documents were saying.

                “Do you need any help?”

                “No, thank you,” Naeun sat, fiddling with the folders. “I think I have a lot of catching up to do.”

                Alan seemed to understand, “Jongin’s room is just across you. Just don’t rub him in the wrong way. Father really spoiled Jongin so much. He’s Father’s precious.”

                Naeun nodded, “Sounds fair to me.”

                “Jongin’s bodyguard, Tian, goes anywhere with Jongin,” Alan said. “For heads up—so you’re not surprised by his visit.”

                “Sure, thanks, Alan.”

                Alan smiled, “You’re welcomed.”

                Alan left. Naeun could hear the elevator closed. Naeun was left alone with documents in her desk.

                There were variety of documents that was kept there. It revealed how much power Jongin had. He had taken over several construction sites in Seoul, clubs, and a few gambling sites. As far as Naeun noticed, Jongin probably had taken half of his family business into his own hands. The documents gave her an insight of her job—working for Jongin meant that she would be the one who managed those projects. She would be the one who maintain the situation. Jongin was there as the face of the business.

                Naeun also checked the files on her laptop. She found a file about his schedule. It was discontinued from last month. That could only mean one thing: piled up paperwork. She checked the emails too. They were piling up from last month and she had to take care of them. Some of them were notice from construction sites about their progress, while the rest of them were notice of transactions. Naeun had to email them back.

                The work was endless. By the time Naeun opened her eyes, it was already night. She slept on her new office desk. She didn’t even notice that she had been sleeping for hours. She looked at the laptop, died by itself because of low battery. Her door was opened and she could see the room was dark. It looked like somebody never touched anything since Alan left. She forgot to ask Alan where Jongin was.

                Naeun stood up and started walking around the house, finally exploring. She opened several doors, peeking in and mentally taking notes of the house map. The bathroom was wonderful. She had a bathtub of her own with the newest technology and an advance toilet. A big mirror. It was like everything she ever dreamt of in the hospital’s window. It would be greater if Papa would live with her. But that was just a dream. It would never happen.

                Naeun opened a door and she heard a click. A gun clicked. She froze—rigid. She couldn’t move her toenail up to her neck. She stood there, sweating under her shirt. A footstep was coming from inside the room. She couldn’t see who it was but she could see the tip of the gun pointed at her. She was sweating cold. She didn’t realize that she got only one day to go to work.

                “Who are you?” A voice said, sharp.

                “I-I’m Jongin’s new secretary.”

                The footsteps became closer and slowly revealing a shape of face in the dark, “Are you lying?”

                “NO. NO, I’M NOT.” Naeun involuntarily raised her voice.

                “Take three steps back.” It ordered. Naeun obliged. She took three big steps with hands in the air. Not long after that, it took three big steps, revealing a man in his pants with gun in his hand. He looked sharp and glared at Naeun. His gun was pointing in the middle of her head—one bullet and she was dead without pain. He looked certain to shoot Naeun. He had pulled the trigger, now it was up to him to let her slip or not.

                “I swear! I’m here as Father’s demand.” Her voice started to crack.

                The man didn’t reply. He pulled a smartphone from his pocket and started to type something before putting it on his ear. He waited with Naeun still on gunpoint. Her legs started to tremble. The man noticed but he did nothing. After a few seconds, he started to talk on the phone. He looked at her while he was exchanging conversation with the other line.

                He seemed like he didn’t believe what the latter was saying, “Did you hire a secretary without my notice… I have told you before… I can’t believe… You should’ve told me first… Alright, Father… Yes, Father…”

                Then he closed his phone, pulled in the trigger and put down his gun. Naeun sighed in relief. Her legs gave out but she managed to walk and sit in the nearest sofa. Everything was overwhelming. Her head was spinning. The man shoved his gun on his back pants. An ugly pause between those two.

                “So, you’re my new secretary?”

                Naeun couldn’t comprehend, “Um—What?”

                “I prefer my secretary to be less idiot and a lot smarter. Especially when it comes to answering simple question.” He sounded displease.

                Naeun shot up and bowed, “I’m sorry, sir. I’m just—Yes, I’m your new secretary. Han Naeun at your service, sir.”

                “Jongin,” He replied. “And I don’t have time for some general chat. Can you drive?”

                “Yes, sir.”

                “Good. Wear something neat. We are going for a meeting.” Jongin didn’t bother to wait for reply. He turned back to his room and slammed the door.

                Naeun couldn't believe what she had gotten into. She thought that her new boss would be more or less like Father or Alan. But this was beyond her expectations (in a bad way). Her first day started with a gunpoint and a lot of leftover paperwork. As far as Naeun's concern, Jongin is a pain in the that she needed to appeal--no matter what. Naeun was left wondering if she could make it through with her new job. She’d be glad to be able to live through her first meeting with the mob.

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itsametafour
i feel under-appreciated here

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Chocoseunie
#1
Chapter 13: Okay I just binge read this and I’m so invested 😃what the hell happened to to her why is she locked up??? I’m so confused and so curios I’m dying to know what went down and what led to this present time djjdjfjf damn she’s mad as hell at Jongin I wonder how bad he ed her over
Kimjongin9
#2
Is this story been abandoned???its been almost a year and there is no update so ☹☹
feebabe #3
Chapter 12: I wonder what’s going to happen next? & what’s with Erika? Thanks for updating ☺️
niknac #4
Chapter 11: What da hell is gonna happen to Naeun?!
jonginiiee #5
Chapter 10: Omg i just read your story and i really love it ! I need an update please the story is getting interesting
feebabe #6
Chapter 10: Omg! Father was shot & Naeun passed out after reading the letter 😬 I wonder what’s going to happen now?
yeollipoop
#7
Chapter 10: holy never wouldve expected this chaos this early tbh im scaredddd but so excited! also poor naeun girl just wants to live a quiet life ;u;;