"Coward"

"Your morning classes will end at 10 am, correct?" staring at his dad who is reading the morning paper while sipping on his coffee which his mom made, Jinyoung nods and answers with a short yes before going back to eating his breakfast. His dad then stopped reading and put the mug on top of the table as he directed his eyes at him. "I'll have Mr. Han fetch you from school and bring you here to have lunch with me and your mom. Then we can go to the company together."

Jinyoung was just about to ask why were they going to the company together and why should he go there instead of going to the Jeons when his dad talked again. "I already instructed a few of our people there to prepare a space for you near my office but Ji-Hoon mentioned that since we also had interns training in our company, you can just stay with those who are assigned in the same department as where I'll be assigning you to. And I think that's alright. Unless you prefer having your own office as I have suggested before?"

His dad was staring back at him again waiting for his response but Jinyoung just can't seem to digest everything he has heard. He has a lot of questions but the main one is... why is his dad talking about him training in their company? "B-but... dad? I don't get why we're talking about this. Why do I need to decide on that? In the first place, I am not even training in our company."

He saw his dad shrugging his shoulders as if the answer was obvious and maybe it really is, Jinyoung just refuses to see it. "Starting today, you will be."

Jinyoung's hand was stuck midway of slicing the egg and was now just staring at his dad in disbelief and confusion. He heard his dad's words clearly, but he can't seem to understand what was happening. Sure, he knows his dad was a hundred percent against his decision of not training in the Parks Enterprises but he already let him have his way a few months back. It's been almost two months that he's been training under the Jeons. Is it because his dad has learned that he's having his immersion in their rival company that's why he decided on this? 

"But dad-" 

The way his dad stared at him intensely made Jinyoung cut his words and hold his tongue in. "This is what I've been telling you to do since the very start. I've made my point clear and that is if you are to be the next CEO of our company which you will be, then that only means you need to be trained in our own nest, under our own standards. I only let you have things your way because you were too stubborn and I wanted you to see how wrong your decision was. But I didn't expect you'll choose to train under our rival company. Is this your way of going against me? Is this your way of retaliating?"

"Hyungmin..." His mom's soft voice and her touch on his dad's hand seems to calm him down. Jinyoung meets with his mom's eyes and it looked like she's asking him to just follow his dad's orders.

Jinyoung could just sigh and keep his head down. "It's not what you think it is, dad." 

"Whatever it is, the bottomline is you're not training under the Jeons anymore and that is final."

"I still need to talk to them about this-"

"There's no need for that anymore. I addressed this concern to the dean and he said he'll be the one to fix this matter in your behalf." His dad once again stared at him through serious eyes. "Don't waste your time thinking about any of those anymore. Just focus on our company from this point forward."

As what his dad wanted, Mr. Han did fetch him at school right after his last class in the morning. At home, his mom and dad were waiting. After they all ate, him and his dad left but before Jinyoung got inside the car, his mom gently squeezed his hand and gave him a small smile. Jinyoung isn't quite sure how he should answer to that. It seems like his mom is relieved that he's finally listening to her and his dad but it's not as if Jinyoung really wanted to do that. It's more like he was left with no choice but to follow. He wasn't even been given the chance to talk about it with Seokjin. He decides he should still do it but maybe some other time. For now, as what his father is expecting him to do, he should focus on training in their own company.

Jinyoung is now following Ji-Hoon, his dad's assistant, towards the office where he'll be staying at. Ji-Hoon told him that he'll be staying with another intern who was also assigned to train under the Strategic Planning and Finance Department where he will also be training at. He did tell his dad that it was okay. So right after the short tour he had around the 8th floor, Jinyoung is now being led towards the office for the interns. 

"Your dad has told me that you had already agreed to this, sir." Ji-Hoon says as he grabs the doorknob when they reached the office. 

Jinyoung nods and wonders if he should ask the older to stop referring to him as sir, primarily because he's here not as a heir but as an intern. 

Ji-Hoon opens the door and gestures for him to enter first. "This will be your office, sir." Jinyoung now sees the inside of the office. The size is a bit bigger than he expected, considering there were only four desks and only one was occupied. He had taken notice of the young man about his age probably seated on the only desk occupied. "Beside this office is the meeting room where the department holds weekly and sometimes emergency meetings. Your office is placed here so the interns could observe what is happening during meetings even without actually joining it." Ji-Hoon was then gesturing towards the young man he had taken notice of a while ago and who is now standing and bowing towards him. "This is Kim Min-Jae and he's also an intern. Only the two of you will be staying here. Will that be alright, sir? Or do you prefer having the office by your self?"

Jinyoung immediately waved his hands to dismiss the suggestion. "I'm alright with it Mr. Cha. But it'll be better if you just call me Jinyoung?" The older's eyes showed surprise but Jinyoung went on. "I'll be training here as an intern. The last thing I'd want is a special treatment."

The older just nodded and smiled at him politely. "Okay. If there's anything you need, you can ask help from anyone here. As Mr. Park's only son, we still need to treat you as best as we could."

Jinyoung gave a resigned sigh and bowed in return as Ji-Hoon leaves him. When his eyes met with the other guy.. Kim Min-Jae, was I right? Jinyoung just smiled at him politely before picking a desk to sit on.

It took around two days before Jinyoung finally got to have his first conversation with Min-Jae. Maybe it was because they were too focused at work and Jinyoung needs to admit that he's not that very friendly himself. If he didn't have a hard time making the copier work, he wouldn't have the chance to talk to Min-Jae.

He found out that Min-Jae is also attending the same university as him. They're even classmates in a couple of subjects since they're of the same year but it's probably because he's too engrossed with his studies, or too involved with his cousins, he didn't even recognize the latter. "I do know you and your cousins too, but since your circle is in the upper league, it didn't seem like someone like me could just approach you and say hi." This is what Min-Jae told him when he told him that he doesn't think they ever met before. And although it didn't sound nice, it is the truth. In school, his and his cousins' circle is not the kind of group which anyone could join. That's a given. So it's understandable that Min-Jae would get that feeling. It's understandable if the students would rather keep their distance from them. 

Since Jinyoung kind of felt bad because of that, oddly... he decided to ask Min-Jae to have coffee with him during their afternoon break. Min-Jae hesitated on agreeing but since Jinyoung insisted, the guy wasn't able to say no. But as the two of them were about to ride the elevator, Jinyoung got surprised when the shaft opened and he saw Mark inside. Jinyoung froze for a few seconds and he also saw how Mark finds this encounter unexpected. He then wondered if Mark knew about him training him in their company or not.

From the side of his eyes, he saw how Min-Jae gave Mark a polite nod before the guy turned to him and ask, "Aren't we getting in?" Only then did Jinyoung snap himself back and nod. Min-Jae let him walk in first giving Jinyoung the chance to take the spot further from Mark and leaving Min-Jae stand in their middle.

The doors closed and it didn't help that the doors were made of mirrors that it allowed Jinyoung to see how Mark was staring at him through it. He didn't like to, but his mind suddenly recalled that night during his birthday. He was reminded of how Mark stared at him when he asked if it'll be too much to ask how he has been over the past months. But he wa