kim seokjin | p a r t o n e

< k i m s e o k j i n >
[ 11 / 07 / 2017 ]

SEOKJIN REACHED FOR the front door to the condo he lived in, swinging the glass door open as he stepped onto the marble floor inside.

The prestigious building stood tall, considered as one of the best condominiums in all of Seoul, only celebrities and rich businessmen inhabiting it.

Secretly, Seokjin never liked the idea of living in such an over the top building. It made him feel as though he were flaunting his father's money in peoples' faces. But it couldn't be helped, he wasn't to live with anything of less. His father wouldn't have it, once again reminding him that he belonged under his father's authority and the image of the company to him.

Shrugging the thought aside, he entered the building and walked to the elevator, ignoring the looks he got from the lounging businessmen sitting on the leather couches in front of the reception.

Seokjin pressed the button to open the elevator doors and waited, faintly hearing the conversation happening between the men sitting behind him.

"Hey, isn't that that kid? Kim Seokjin? You know, the son of the chairman of Kim Hyuk Corporation?" Seokjin heard one whisper not-so-quietly to the other.

"As in the one that was ranked highest Samsung distributor company in Korea? Yeah, I remember overhearing that he's supposed to be the successor. That'd make him the youngest chairman to be on the board." Another voice whispered in awe.

"Well, shit. I didn't know he lived here. Maybe if we introduce ourselves, we can--" At that point, the elevators dinged as they opened and Seokjin stepped inside, pressing the close button, ignoring the deflated looks received as the doors closed.

"They were for sure going to try kissing my ass if I stayed any longer, as if that'd make me invest in whatever companies they worked at," Seokjin sighed as he pushed the button to his floor. "Typical."

Seokjin leaned back against the metal elevator wall, scratching the back of his head as he waited. He didn't care for the looks and the sudden propositions of investing in businesses. Deflecting middle-aged men who let go of their pride in order to claw their way up at the top; it'd become a second lifestyle to him, really.

김석진 | kim seokjin

The elevator dinged as the doors opened, making him snap back to reality. Seokjin exited through the doors and walked down the carpeted hallway, to his room.

Reaching the door, he pulled out his ID card out from his wallet and swiped it against the lock above the knob. When the light turned green, he swung the door open and entered, closing it shut behind him. Seokjin took his shoes off at the entrance, wearing his inside slippers. He walked down the wooden floorboard floor and entered the living room, nonchalantly placing the notebook aside on one of the small tables.

He walked out of the living room and down the hallway to the kitchen, his sights set on the fridge. Seokjin peered inside for any left overs from the fast food place he went to last night. In the empty fridge remained nothing but a few bottled waters in the door shelf and a single, half-eaten burger messily wrapped in the wrapping paper.

Seokjin pulled out the burger and brought it close to his nose, gagging at the smell. This is definitely old, he thought annoyedly, airing the air around him. He sighed heavily as he walked to the garbage can and threw out the half-eaten burger.

Seokjin never liked eating fast food junk — in fact he loved cooking, it was one of his favourite hobbies and pastimes. But due to his packed schedules running on ungodly hours, all he ever seemed to eat was fast foods and on-the-go snacks from the convenience store. Of course there were the company dinners, but they were not as filling.

Just as Seokjin was about to fish for his phone in his pocket to call any open delivery food services he could think of open on a Sunday, he felt his pocket vibrate. He reached inside and pulled out his phone, the caller ID flashing the name of his work friend, Shin Ki-woon.

He smirked as he tapped accept and brought his phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Seokjin, finally! Thank god. I've been trying to call you forever. Man, you gotta get here quick, Man-sik's on a rampage!" Ki-woon's voice sounded breathy and slightly wheezy as if he had been running a marathon.

Seokjin wanted to point out why he was so comically out of breath, but decided against it. Instead, he began his quest to look for any snacks that may be lying around in one of the cupboards.

"What hyung? Slow down, I don't understand half of what you're saying," he joked as he opened every cupboard, finding nothing, just as he'd expected.

His eyes landed on the drawers. Maybe there's a bag of chips in one of these, he thought hopefully as he opened them one by one.

Seokjin could hear Ki-woon heave a heavy sigh out of annoyance, muttering something incoherent under his breath, barely audible on the phone line.

Of course, Seokjin ignored it just as he did the many times before, his focus mostly solely on his mission to find the bagged chips.

Opening the last drawer, there lay a clipped bag of half-eaten potato chips. Seokjin grabbed them, almost jumping in excitement. "Oh yeah!" he exclaimed as he practically fist bumped the air.

"What — you know what, I don't even wanna know." Ki-woon sighed again for the nth time.

Seokjin placed the phone between his cheek and shoulder as he walked to the living room, one hand down the bag of chips as he grabbed a handful and stuffed it into his mouth. He tried to speak, but the chips made his words sound gibberish, as he plopped down on the brown leather couch in front of the flat screen TV, propping his legs up on the coffee table in front of him, hands still digging around in the bag of chips.

"I'm not joking around here! You need to come in to the company now!"

Seokjin's forehead creased as he wondered if it was not in fact his day off and went to his calendar schedule on his phone. Confirming he was right all along, Seokjin eased back into the sofa, letting out a sigh of relief.

Rubbing his hand clean of crumbs on his pants, Seokjin took a hold of his phone, setting it on speaker phone and put it beside him on the couch. He went to grab the TV remote, turning it on. "Why so I have to come right now? It's Sunday. I don't work on Sundays. You know that." Seokjin lazily argued as he aimlessly flipped through the channels.

"And anyways," he looked over at his potato chips in hand. "I'm having dinner."

"I know what day it is, but you gotta come in now. There's a dinner — probably a nicer one than you're having right now — thrown by the second section tech. group and Man-sik's gonna have my head if you aren't there." Before Seokjin could protest any further, Ki-woon yelled into the phone, "So just come!"

With that, the phone call ended.

Seokjin sighed as he turned the TV off and got up from where he was leisurely sitting, making his way to his bedroom, muttering something incoherent under his breath about not getting his "mandatory TV time". Upon entering, he went straight to his closet, opening it wide open to reveal a selection of highly expensive, tailored suits and collared shirts. He flipped through the the hanged clothes, finally deciding on a standard white collared button up and dress pants.

Pulling out the clothes and carrying them in hand, Seokjin went to his dresser and pulled out a drawer, skimming through the many designer ties his father had gifted him (despite him already having more than enough), he pulled out a normal black tie.

He set his clothes before him on the bed and began stripping, throwing the clothes on the floor. As he wore his clothes, Seokjin couldn't shake the familiar feeling of dread settling in his gut whenever he attended the company dinners. Instead of a dinner between workers of the same workforce, it was more of a battle field than anything else, filled with business ploys and ill-intentions. Seokjin always had to be on his toes, but more so during these supposed bonding event.

When he finished, he raked his hands through his hair, nicely combing it into a side parting.

And boy do I look good. He smirked at his reflection.

What others called "vain", he called "just appreciating true art". It just so happened to be his face.

And with that, he left the room, grabbing a coat, and his things on the way out. He reaches the front door and wore his shoes, tapping his feet lightly against the wall to fit.

Seokjin turned the light off and exited out the door, leaving the red notebook lying on the counter behind him, forgotten.

[The promise we made together disappeared somewhere with time.]
[ 함께한 다짐 어디로 시간과 함께 사라지고. ]