AN: I'm not very ahppy with the writing of this chapter, but in a weird way I'm proud of it because I finally did it! This is the chapter that kind of sets the story in motion as of now...

Enjoy!

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Yunho was getting restless pacing around the staff room where he was ought to meet Jaejoong, when he saw Changmin marching past. Before his brain could catch up with him, he was already in front of the manager, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

“What?” Changmin snapped, taking Yunho by surprise.

“Uhm…Whe-where’s Jaejoong?” he asked hesitantly. He’d seen his crush locking horns with the manager before, and was certain he wouldn’t be able to handle the brutal words that could escape the tall man’s lips. For all his calm and collected appearance, Changmin was a fireball that could burn you to charred oblivion simply with his words and a smug twist of lips, should you call it upon yourself. As far as he could tell, Jaejoong was the only one who could take him on without ending up in tears.

“He’s not in today.” Changmin spat out, irritated. He was in a hurry to look for Siwon, and did not want to blow up on Yunho. Despite his annoying demands, Changmin had to remember that Jung Yunho was still his boss. With that thought in mind, he swiftly tried to side-step him and go about his business, only to be stopped by Yunho shuffling in front of him again.

“What do you mean he’s not in? You told him to come in toda-”

“Yunho!” Changmin lifted one finger and slowly curled it back into a tight fist, fighting with himself to keep his temper in check. Taking a deep breath, he put his hand back by his side, straightening his posture to make his height work in his favour. He slowly turned his eyes cold, mouth in a thin line and flicked his hair out of his eyes.

“Yunho, I’m not going to repeat myself so you’d do well to pay attention. As an employee of the business I work for, I have a duty to regard you – the heir to said business - with respect and follow your wishes. However,” Changmin’s gaze bore down into Yunho’s, making the other twitch uncomfortably, “please keep in mind that you have refused to fully take on your role as my superior; making me your superior by default. Therefore, I would appreciate it, as the manager of this resort, to have some respect from my employees. I dislike having to explain myself to those it does not concern. As I said, Jaejoong is not in today. That’s all there is to it.” Yunho was struck speechless. Never in his life had he been spoken to in such a demeaning manner. He was not sure whether to admire Changmin’s confidence in himself, or be offended at being addressed so brashly. Before he could utter another word, the taller man seemed to have had enough, as he straightened his lapels.

“Now why don’t you go and get comfortable with your surroundings. I will make sure to send someone to direct you for the remainder of the day.” That was all Jung Yunho, heir to the 5TAR franchise, got from the manager of that same franchise before stepping aside once more and walking off with a purpose in his step.

It took about a whole minute for Yunho to comprehend that he had been told off.

He stood at the exact same spot, his jaw hanging open, not really sure what to do. Slowly, he shook his head. He could understand Changmin’s reasoning, he was actually surprised he hadn’t confronted him earlier about his demands. But to be actually put in place like this by someone with less power than him – even though in some ways it was the other way round – Yunho was quiet…exhilarated!

In all his life, he’d had people falling at his feet, agreeing with his misconduct and basically treating him like an untouchable entity, never to be confronted about his wrongdoings no matter how bad they were. He’d sensed that ‘no-nonsense’ aura from Changmin before, but now he was sure the man was a lot more impressive when it came to dealing with incompetent people. It suddenly made sense why his dad had been so insistent that he work in this particular branch, with the “very capable manager in tow” – his dad’s words, but he agreed wholeheartedly.

As much as he’d hate to admit it, Jung Yunho could learn a great deal from Shim Changmin. And for anyone to have brought him to that realisation, in Yunho’s opinion, they deserved his utmost respect.

Now that he’d gotten over his shock, he was back to his initial wondering. Where the hell was Jaejoong?

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“I’m telling you we’re going to need a whole army of people to pull off this ball.” Siwon puffed out, slouching in his chair. The meeting had been going on for over half an hour and they still had not reached a conclusion on how to finalise the team for the preparations. It’s not that they couldn’t, it’s just that two major events had been booked for the same day and so they had to split the Special Occasions department into two teams, if they were going to pull this off successfully. Of course, they could always approach the Manager for guidance, and there’s no question that they’d get help from other departments, too, if necessary. But for the moment, their head of department was determined to find the best solution before deciding to leave it up to the manager.

And so the meeting continued. Ideas were thrown back and forth, with the volume level rising by the minute. He would suffocate in the pressurised conditions, but he had his bright spot to keep him sane throughout the early morning droning. Speaking of, he smiled at the irony as he looked at the girl in question.

Sunny seemed to be the main one responsible for making all the noise, with wild hand gestures and eyes as large Jaejoong’s, as she stared down her opponent who was arguing against her proposal of who should be in which team. It was sad, really, to see little Rian shrinking back in her seat. Losing her confidence in her own argument as Sunny fired bulletproof reasons for why her suggestion was the best and would be most effective. Well, there was a reason she was the top ‘not to mess with’ person in their department. He couldn’t help his mouth stretching in a wider grin.

One day, he thought. One day, he’ll tell her.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the room start to get quieter and quieter. By the time he realised the shouting had died down, Changmin was already standing at the end of the table, glaring at each and every individual with a menacing look in his eyes, making most of the grown adults avert his eyes and fidget around. He was pissed. There was no questioning it. Every employee at 5TAR knew that sneering look only surfaced when he’d been tried to his limit.

Questions is: who caused it?

Siwon had a sneaky suspicion it was in some way related to his friend.

“Is this a farmhouse?” he asked with his calm – but really on the verge of murdering someone - voice.

Yup, definitely pissed. Changmin was not usually bothered by how the departments managed their business, so long as the tasks were completed to a high standard. And noise was a traditional part of any meeting in any division at 5TAR.

“I asked you a question! Don’t hang your heads like a pack of pathetic mongrels! Is this the way to carry out a professional meeting?” Again, he made the effort to glare at everyone separately, even those with their heads bowed and shivering from fright…or probably crying.

“Sir, I apologise for the inappropriate level of noise, but the debate just happened to get a little lively when you -” the head of department, Michael, tried to reason. At least he tried, even if everyone, including himself, knew that it was fruitless.

“Lively? I wasn’t aware that I had 5 year olds working here, whom had to have a lively atmosphere to get work done.” Poor Michael.

“I apologise again, sir.” He bowed his head in defeat, taking one for the team. Again. Poor guy.

With that, Changmin turned around and just before exiting the doors, demanded over his shoulder, “Miss Sunny and Mr Siwon, follow me.” No room for questioning. Both immediately rose from their seats, knowing that to delay was to goad death. On their way out, some of their friends gave them pitying looks and others put their thumbs up.

“Miss Sunny, can you go to the Customer Services department, please? Our new recruit, Yunho, is there. I’d like you to guide him through the work load for the day.” Changmin said, suddenly sincerely calm as he walked down the hallway.

“Yeah, sure. But wasn’t Jaejoongie supposed to do that? If you don’t mind me asking…?” She didn’t want to bring out his horns again, but she was in the middle of planning the arrangements for an important event and didn’t want to miss it. Their team could use every hand available. It seemed unfair for two pairs of hands to be made unavailable when they needed them most.

“Yes, that was the case. However, he’s not available at the moment. The work is all set, the documents are prepared in his office, and I just want you to get Yunho familiar with getting the documentation completed efficiently. I assume you know how to do the work, yourself?” he asked as he finally stopped walking and turned around towards the two, both a little confused as to why Jaejoong couldn’t do it.

Siwon had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach…

“Oh, ok. Will I be able to get back to my team?” she asked unsure.

“Don’ worry about that. I have heard enough of the debate in your meeting to get the gist of the problem. I’ll work with Michael to develop a thorough plan, soon. I have some reserve employees that can offer a helping hand. Any other problems?”

“Umm…no. that’s fine. I’ll go help Yunho.” She lamely uttered, a little speechless. It was uncanny how the guy could go from cold and intimidating to reasonable and understanding, in a matter of seconds.

As she made her way down the hall to get to the lift, Changmin turned to Siwon.

“Jaejoong…?” Siwon asked, hoping against hope that he was wrong in his suspicions. 

“…is in the hospital.” Changmin deadpanned.

“Oh god. Is everything ok?” 

“For now, it seems. Anyways, I came to ask you, since I owe you a day off for your overtime last week…how about you take it today? If you want that is.”

But they both knew he would take it. Heck, even if he had to take time off on a busy workday, he would! There was no way Siwon wouldn’t go to Jaejoong, especially at these types of emergency calls.

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Sunny was chewing on her lip, increasingly worried as she entered Jaejoong’s office, only to find a pacing Yunho. As soon as he spotted her, he almost ran towards her, holding her by the shoulders…almost shaking her.

“Where’s Jaejoong!?” he demanded, in an urgent voice.

Ok, Sunny was fond of Yunho, she really was. But having her brains rattled, was not something she was fond of. Especially not when she was already worried about a possibly disastrous event in their team -  even if Changmin had said he’d help, she couldn’t stop thinking about it – and more importantly, concerned about a dear friend. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, the two men were just talking loud enough for her to hear the conversation before the lift doors had closed.

With an irritated huff, she slapped his hands away, and walked towards the desk where she assumed Jaejoong or Changmin had laid the documents.

“Yah! Sunny! Where is he?” To her amusement, he sounded like he was whining with a pout.

“Joongie’s not in today. In his place, I shall teach you the ways of Customer Service”, she told him, with an exaggerated tone of voice.

“That’s what Changmin said! I get that he’s not here…I just-I mean…well, why? He said he would be coming in today…” his shoulders were drooping now, a big, adorable pout decorating his face. Damn, he was almost as good as Heechul, was the thought running through her head as she tried to not spill the details about her friend and colleague’s life without his permission.

Dammit! Grown men should not be about to pout like that! She was close to giving in, before she caught herself.

“Yunho-yah, I probably shouldn’t tell you this because it’s his personal matter, but Jaejoong’s attending to a family matter at the moment. Changmin has given him the day off, and he probably won’t be in tomorrow either.” She went back to her search for the paper work, leaving Yunho confused.

Family matter? What kind of family matter?

Is he lying so he can go on his date!?

“Wha-what kind of family matter?” he decided to ask.

“Yah! I just said it’s personal. I can’t just tell you. If you want to know, then you’ll just have to ask him when he gets here. For the meantime, let’s get on with some boring- paper work. Honestly, I don’t know how this department doesn’t rot away from boredom…” she continued to rant as she brought the big pile of red folders onto the desk, beckoning Yunho to sit down as she started to demonstrate and explain what to do.

Personal? It would make sense if he was on a date…

Family matter. Jaejoong didn’t strike him as the type to use family emergencies as an excuse to not attend work. That made him think.

In his determination to make sure Jaejoong cancels his date, it hadn’t even occurred to him that something else may cause that to happen…without Yunho’s interference in his work.

Had he been a complete douche and added to Jaejoong’s own personal problems by forcing him to have to worry about an extra day of work?

What if the date he’d been so excited about was his only comfort?

What if he had some serious problems?

How had Yunho been such a complete ? He hadn’t even considered, for a minute, that Jaejoong had his separate life outside the Resort…where he may be suffering.

As his thoughts took him more deeply down the guilt lane, he completed lost focus on the work he was supposed to be doing. He suddenly remembered his Nana always puling his ear, telling him to be more aware of people’s lives as a whole. That an employee working for their business was not to be objectified. They were regular people with lives, stories, problems and everything else that life brought to us. She told him that when he started to take on the business, he had to be aware that an employee can only dedicate so much of their life and time to their work, before life came knocking at their door.

He’d always told her he would never do that. That he would be a responsible boss that would be considerate. He was sure of it.

But now, sitting in the little office, going through documents for god-knows-what because he hadn’t been paying attention, he suddenly felt like he’d let his Nana down. That he’d failed.

Yes, there was a big chance that he was overreacting and for all he knew, Jaejoong may or may not be facing an issue. But that fact was, chance or not, he hadn’t even thought about Jaejoong’s own life when he’d told Changmin to make sure he attended work on his day off.

He should have done that…been more careful.

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AN: Drop me a comment below  - it really isn't that hard. And it makes me happy!