Persuasion
Drift7There was a knock at the door.
Mark felt the cold barrel of the gun rest against the side of his head. He dare not turn to look at the man wielding that gun.
"Answer it. Tell 'em you're busy" the man in the suit ordered.
Mark took a few timid steps to the door. The man followed, still pressing his gun to Mark's temple.
Mark grasped the door handle slowly, buying time to think about how to escape. The man gestured impatiently at him to open the door.
Mark cracked open the door to see Yugyeom on the other side clutching a brown paper bag.
"I brought donuts, I thought you might be hungry" Yugyeom held up the bag.
"Take the bag" the man growled.
With sweaty hands, Mark took the bag.
Yugyeom tried to peek into Mark's apartment but Mark effectively blocked him off. "Are you gonna let me in or what?"
"A-actually, I think I'm gonna take the day off, you know, like you said..."
"What, do you have a girl in there or something?" Yugyeom grinned.
Not exactly.
"No, I...I'm feeling kinda under the weather..."
"Oh..." Yugyeom looked disappointed "well, ok. Whatever you say". Yugyeom made one last attempt to look into the apartment, "If you need anything, just call"
"O-ok"
Mark watched from the doorway as Yugyeom walked away. The man in the suit closed the door.
"Sit down, relax" he ordered again. His pointed with his gun towards the couches in the living room.
Relax? How could Mark even attempt to relax when he was waving a loaded gun in his face?
The man in the suit snatched away the brown bag and bit into a donut.
"Ugh, this is too sweet" he was grimacing, but still chewing. "Jinyoung! Get in here!"
A clean cut bespectacled man in a crisp, pale blue Oxford shirt tucked into slim black slacks entered the living room from the kitchenette area. Unlike Jae Bum, his shirt was buttoned all the way up.
Mark unconsciously tugged at his own collar. He was uncomfortable just looking at him.
"Here's the garbage you always eat" he tossed the bag to Jinyoung.
Jinyoung opened the bag. "Ah, you got my favorite" he took a bite without much change in his expression. Mark had never seen someone eat their favorite food with so much apathy before.
"Put down the gun, Jae Bum. You're scaring the poor boy. He just got back from the hospital you know"
Mark's heart dropped. Was the fact that he was at the hospital just common knowledge to everyone now? First Yugyeom, now them? People he had never even met until now?
"Are you..." Mark tested the waters to see if it was ok for him to speak. "Are you the people who are trying to kill me?"
Jae Bum lowered his gun and tucked it under his suit jacket near the small of his back. He took out a pack of cigarettes from his inner pocket and poked one into his lips.
"If we wanted to kill you..." Jae Bum mumbled. His cigarette dangled from his mouth as he spoke. "You'd already be dead".
Jae Bum cupped his hand around the cigarette and his lighter. He crouched lower to meet Mark, who was sitting on the couch, at eye level. Jae Bum smirked and blew a puff of smoke in his face.
The smoke made Mark's eyes sting and tear up.
"I'm trying to quit, you know" he said, straightening up. Jae Bum took a long drag of the cigarette.
He made smoking look like the most satisfying thing in the world. Clearly, he wasn't quitting anytime soon.
"Your smoke alarm is broken, you should probably fix that"
Mark looked at the ceiling, where the smoke alarm should have been, only to find it smashed into pieces on the floor. Mark had no doubt that it was Jae Bum's doing.
Jae Bum strolled around the room. A row of figurines lined up on Mark's television caught his attention. He made minuscule, almost invisible, adjustments to the figurines before returning his attention to Mark once again.
"You really don't recognize me, Mark?" Jae Bum cocked an eyebrow to the boy sitting stiffly on the couch. There was a trace of teasing in his voice.
How did he know his name? Jae Bum looked familiar to Mark, but he couldn't put a finger on why.
"Let me help you out". Jae Bum took the cigarette out from his mouth and flashed a cheesy smile. Almost immediately his severe features brightened.
His smile made his eyes appear rather cat-like and mischievous. Mark had to admit that it made him look much more approachable.
"7 Flavors of Cheese, 7 Days a Week!" He quoted.
It was 7Pizzas' tag line.
Jae Bum made a heart with his arms over his head. He then switched to pose with a peace sign. His sudden explosion of over the top cuteness, weirded Mark out.
After a beat, Mark's eyes widened in realization "wait...You're..."
Yes, Mark knew who he was. He would be stupid not to know, because he practically saw him everyday. In commercials...on pizza boxes...on pizza menus. He was practically everywhere.
He was none other than the founder and CEO of 7Pizzas, and he was handsome enough to be his own spokesmodel.
But why did he break into his apartment and threaten to kill him?
"Don't mind Jae Bum. He treats everyone like that. When I first met him, he put a gun to my head too, you know." Jinyoung popped the last bit of donut into his mouth.
Jinyoung took off his glasses and poked his fingers through the frames. "These are fake. I'm testing out a new concept. What do you think?"
Mark could care less about Jinyoung's new concept.
Mark remained silent.
Jinyoung pouted in mock disappointment, "not very talkative I see" Jinyoung put the fake frames back on along with a serious expression, "Enough small talk, we need a favor"
"And if I don't comply?" Mark retorted.
"We're not asking you, we're telling you" Jae Bum nudged roughly at Mark's forehead with his index finger.
"Don't worry, we're nice people" Jinyoung brought out a suitcase and placed it on the coffee table in front of Mark.
"We always provide compensation"
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