ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

"So this is your office, technically it's mine... but since you're going to be under me, I'll just have to share." Wonwoo explained as they stepped into his ridiculously large office which was clattered with files and folders, a testament of his loyalty to his work.

Mingyu's eyebrow rose as he looked at Wonwoo with a funny face, "Under you? In what way?" He questioned making Wonwoo roll his eyes, obviously irritated by Mingyu's presence.

"Why did Soonyoung tell me to hire this brat?" He muttered to himself as he walked around the office with Mingyu following behind.

Wonwoo inhaled a deep breath, to stay calm. He hated when his personal space was being invaded and Soonyoung had decided to do just that with the use of a life-size cockroach.

"Your desk is over here and I usually take care of all Soonyoung's really important documents so before I hand some over to you, to lessen my work load, I have to make you trustworthy."

Mingyu stopped as Wonwoo turned around, confused by the man's statement. "Make me trustworthy? How?"

Wonwoo put his hands on the desk behind him, leaning backwards. "Well, I don't like you and I don't trust you at all, so here's what's going to happen."

He walked towards Mingyu, snatching his phone out of his hand. "No phone usage at work and you can't carry any of the files home." He explained and Mingyu's forehead creased, his dissatisfaction evident.

"Now if you refuse to adhere to these rules, well I can't fire you but my bond with your boss is much stronger than you think... so think twice before you refuse."

Wonwoo walked off and Mingyu let out a scoff, which Wonwoo heard loud and clear stopping him in his tracks. "I'd rather you think twice, actually."

Mingyu's remark spun Wonwoo around, his eyes squinting behind his glasses as one eyebrow lifted. "What?"

Mingyu took a few steps closer this time, the gap between them hanging on the edge. "Don't forget I'm the only one you can get information about Yoon Jeonghan out of." His words came out in a whisper, climbing unto Wonwoo's skin.

Wonwoo gritted his teeth, stepping back. "There are many others." He refuted and Mingyu didn't waste any time in responding, "And yet you haven't found them... just like you haven't found Yoon Jeonghan."

His facial expression was smug and his demeanour was overconfident. Wonwoo smirked, an amused chuckle spilling out of him. "So you think you're indispensable?"

Mingyu's hands went into his pocket as he nodded with conviction. Wonwoo clapped once, a fake smile on his face which vanished as his hands went down and he uttered,

"Cute."

Mingyu heard the sarcastic tone in his voice as he headed towards the door to leave the office, "Fill the form on your desk and submit it to me." He gave his last instruction before disappearing.

Mingyu stroked his temple, fatigued as he sighed. "Yoon Jeonghan, you're lucky I actually care about you."

•••••••••••••

"We're here darling." Soonyoung gently touched Jihoon's shoulder, helping him escape from his imagination as the car halted.

Soonyoung got down from the car, rushing to the other side to open Jihoon's door for him. Jihoon stepped out of the vehicle with the help of Soonyoung, stifling a smile.

They were in public now, there could be paparazzi anywhere and everywhere. "Don't worry about anyone watching us, okay? Just have fun." Soonyoung's words rolled off his tongue unto Jihoon's neck as he whispered, the sensation making Jihoon freeze for a moment.

Jihoon took a deep breath, exhaling as he thought to himself, I can do this, I can have fun. His mind remembered the amount of times his brothers had gone out and had fun with their friends and their secret boyfriends and girlfriends over the years and he couldn't do any of that.

Now was his time and maybe it wasn't so bad to have fun with Soonyoung. It didn't have to mean anything anyways.

"I didn't rent out the theatre, I wanted us to have a normal experience, like a normal couple... if you don't mind." Soonyoung watched Jihoon's facial expression as he told him. He would rent out another theatre immediately if Jihoon wanted it.

Jihoon thought to himself for a bit before responding, "Yeah, I don't mind." Soonyoung smiled, wrapping his arm around Jihoon's shoulder as they walked into the theatre.

Jihoon truly didn't mind. For too long, he had been in the eyes of the public having his every move watched and scrutinised by the public and his father and he was sure Soonyoung felt the same, even if it was just a little bit.

Oddly enough, their lives truly weren't that different.

Maybe... just maybe, there was a possibility that not everything people said about Soonyoung online was true.

Today, he wanted to feel normal like everyone else. He was so tired of being "special". It hadn't helped him in any way.

The two purchased their tickets at the counter like everyone else would, got their popcorn and drinks and walked into the theatre.

"Over there." Soonyoung whispered as he pointed to the last row of seats. Jihoon nodded, walking beside him as they went up the stairs to the top row.

They took their seats at the end of the row with Soonyoung on Jihoon's left just as the movie began.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The sound of the loud gunshots caused Jihoon to flinch and his natural instinct made him cling unto Soonyoung's arm with an extremely tight grip.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds before Soonyoung whispered, "Darling, it's an action movie, it's not scary, don't worry."

Jihoon slowly opened his eyes, taking glances at the screen to make sure until he saw the bright looking atmosphere and the characters. It wasn't a horror movie, good.

His eyes narrowed back to Soonyoung when he realized what he was doing. He swiftly pulled his hand away, sitting on his own. Soonyoung chuckled while Jihoon covered his face which had already started to redden.

"This is going to be fun." Soonyoung crossed his legs, taking a sip of his drink before peeking at Jihoon once more and letting out a brief laugh.

•••••••••••••

"Oh, so Jihoon hyung is the one who sent you?" Seokmin glanced at his apparent bodyguard in front of him who stood with an expressionless face as he nodded.

Seokmin sighed, making a 'tsk' sound as he dragged his boxes out of the house. "But I'm going on a ski trip with my friends, friends only, my dad and my mum already know this."

Joshua, with no response, moved closer to Seokmin, taking the load away from him and dragging it himself.

Seokmin got out his phone, dialing Jihoon's number but it went straight to voicemail. He called again, but the same thing happened.

"What is he even doing?" Seokmin asked, starting to get irritated as he returned the phone to his pocket. "He's on a date." Joshua responded and Seokmin turned to him.

"He's on a date with my boss." He repeated and Seokmin rolled his eyes, stepping out of the house and closing the door.

"You know what, there's nothing I can do about it, let's just wait, they'll will be here to pick me up soon."

Joshua nodded, his face still void of emotion as he stared into the distance while Seokmin looked at him, his lips in a semi-pout as he muttered, "I hate my life."

The minivans arrived one after the other, some full already and some not. One of the car doors slid open and Jungkook jumped out.

"Seokmin-ah!" Jungkook called out, his arms wide open as Seokmin ran to him, the two crashing into a hug full of warmth and excitement. As they jumped up and down, Joshua looked at them, silently waiting for them to get into the van.

He was already tired of this job and he hadn't even spent up to 30 minutes with Seokmin. Jihoon should have told Vernon, he would've done a better job than me, He pondered.

"Wait, where's Mingyu?" Seokmin asked, wondering why he hadn't come out of the bus to see him. Jungkook shook his head in response, "He's not coming yet, he got a new job I think... he didn't tell you?" Jungkook noticed the surprised expression on Seokmin's face.

Seokmin chuckled, "He must've, I probably just forgot, you know how forgetful I am." He tried to cover up, scratching the back of his neck. Jungkook nodded, laughing, "Yeah, I do, remember in 9th grade when you-"

Seokmin immediately reached his hand out, closing Jungkook's mouth. "Let's not reminisce right now, thank you." He pleaded as Jungkook laughed, yielding as he nodded.

"You're in my van, let's put your bags in first." Jungkook proposed and Seokmin nodded, moving towards the boxes. "I'll do it, don't worry." Joshua informed them and they paused as he carried the two on his shoulders, walking straight to the van and placing them inside.

Jungkook and Seokmin, now turned around, froze as their mouths hung open. "What the fuck?" Jungkook uttered before turning to Seokmin.

"Is that your boyfriend?!" He whispered loudly and Seokmin sighed, "Worse, my bodyguard."

•••••••••••••

Soonyoung kept his eyes on Jihoon who had once again drifted off into a deep sleep in the car. He wondered if Jihoon actually got enough sleep in that room of his.

If he truly did, why would he sleep every single time they got into the car?

Besides his sleeping habits, Soonyoung had also learnt more things about Jihoon after taking him shopping. His brothers weren't entirely wrong.

He did love reading but not nearly as much as he adored music. The trunk was full of records he had bought, just today. Soonyoung didn't notice how much Jihoon loved music but now, the countless singing in his room when he thought no one was listening made sense.

He was excited to know more about Jihoon, find out more about the gorgeous man that graced his presence every single day. Jihoon was like a light that got brighter every single day. It felt like the deeper Soonyoung went into the cave, the more Jihoon shone.

And Soonyoung didn't care if he would have to go so deep into the cave to the point where he couldn't come out as long as it meant he got to see Jihoon glow.

The car started to slow down and Soonyoung looked outside to see the restaurant getting closer and closer.

He raised his hand to tap Jihoon when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out as it buzzed again, the notification popping up on top.

His eyes scanned the words quickly and once he did, the whole world felt like it had come to a stop. His eyes stayed focused on the message which faded away shortly after and his fingers which gripped the phone started for shake.

Kwon Soonyoung, Eomma is coming back.

His mother was coming back? His mother, who was supposed to be in rehab was coming back? To where? To who?

How was this even possible? This had to be a joke, a plain, stupid joke. Something to make Soonyoung scared, it was just some random person, right?

But if it was... how did they know about his mother not being around? Nobody knew that. The Kwon family had done well enough to keep her addiction under wraps.

Which meant this had to be someone close to him, or perhaps,

His mother herself.

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

Ⓒ︎𝙾𝙷𝚆𝙰𝚈𝙾𝙷𝚆𝙰𝚈𝙾𝙷
𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁𝚃𝙴𝙳 - 11•01•2025
𝙴𝙽𝙳𝙴𝙳 - 𝙽•𝙰