CC Headquarters
Morning
Ukraine just got to work.
The marketing department was on the fifth floor, and the president's office on the 6th. He was the only person waiting for the elevator, and right there he got the craziest idea. As soon as the door slid open, he jumped inside and pressed the 6th floor button.
"I'll just say hi to her and leave", he thought to himself.
He kept bumping his shoes like a kid, very excited about his little game.
The elevator finally stopped on the 6th floor. He stepped out and headed the CEO's office direction. He didn't mind anyone staring at him like he lost his mind, he knew what he was doing.
Now, he was a few steps to the door, his heart already going thump-thump, but it suddenly shifted to bang-bang when the door fell open and Kro walked out of the office. He quickly hid behind a pillar.
"(Please don't come this way, please don't come this way, please!)", he prayed in his head,
He heard the footsteps heading for another direction. He slowly tilted his head to take a look, and from afar, he saw her standing next to a lady in a green skirt suit. She looked shorter while standing next to Kro, and from how she nodded and obediently listened to her, it became apparent that she was the new PA.
It broke his heart that he's now replaced.
Since Kro wasn't facing that direction, it was his chance to leave. He rustled back to the elevator, luckily finding people getting in. He jumped inside, pressed the 5th floor button, and stood behind everyone, feeling hopeless in peace.
...
DAMAKI
Song wasn't expecting anyone that early, especially his mother. He was not even fully awake when she arrived, he was still in his sleeping robe.
On the right side of his neck rested a scar, big enough to assume he was once slashed with a knife. Strangely enough, he was born with it, and the more he grew the bigger the scar became. That was his greatest insecurity, the only reason why he always wore the neck-covering outfits.
He rushed from his room to go open the door for his mother,
"What took you so long?", asked the mother as she walked past his son,
Song yawned,
"I was still in bed", he pushed the door closed and followed her to the sitting room,
Grandma placed her bag steadily on the table and sat on the black sofa. It was Song's mini throne, thus never wanted anyone to sit on it, but when he saw her settling right on it, comfortably with her legs bossily crossed, he figured she wasn't there as a mother, but as the head of the mission,
"Sit down!", she commanded, and Song obeyed, "Do you know why I'm here?", she continued,
"I don't know, but I think it concerns the mission",
"Good. And can you guess why I'm here to talk about the mission alone with you?",
"No, mother, I don_",
"No boy, the person sitting in front of you is Vida, the head of this mission",
"(Okay, I'm fucked) Yes, boss!",
"Good. So, I hear there's a mission within a mission going on. Wanna tell me about it?",
He knew one day his mother would find out about that, but he was not foolish enough to tell her about it. He would rather give his budge away than say anything about his connection to Kro,
"No, boss! I don't know what you're talking about", he shook his head,
"You're saying the person who told me about it lied, correct?",
"Correct!",
"You know what I do to people who give me false information, are you saying I should do that to the person who informed me about this?",
"Do whatever you see is wise, boss!",
"Aren't you worried about him, Song?",
"Why would I be? I don't know him or anything he said",
"It's Ukraine. Your son!",
He wasn't supposed to show any reaction, he had to maintain the same expression till the end of the conversation. It was challenging with his son now involved in it. He anxiously gulped down his fear. His head now lowered; he could sense her fierce gaze fixed upon him.
"Permission to explain", he asked, hoping she'd give it to him. He needed to be in a safe spot, together with his son, even if it meant lying to her
"You may!",
"I went to Ukraine's office once, just to supervise the mission. This is the first time he's investigating a supernatural being, I know it's hard for him. The visit to the office was just my way of showing him that there was nothing to be worried about. I think he took it the wrong way, and I sincerely apologize personally and, on his behalf",
"On your knees",
"Yes, boss!",
Song knelt down, already hating his life to that point. He had no more choice than to obey.
"Slap yourself, 5 times!", harshly but calmly, she ordered him, without a single drop of pity towards him,
"Yes boss",
"And with every slap, repeat our virtues!",
"Yes, boss!",
He closed his eyes, took a deep breathe, and welcomed the most shameful embarrassment. The slaps needed to be heavy because the heavier they were the more sincerity towards the apology it showed
"(SLAP!) DUTY! _ (SLAP!) POWER! _ (SLAP!) HONOR! _ (SLAP!) FAMILY_ (SLAP!) BLOOD!",
His jaws clenched, nearly splitting apart. He hated his life, always being in a fit of pique. If only there was a way out. His cheek was now bleeding from a cut he formed from the ring he had on his finger.
His mother, with an edgy calm got off the sofa, picked up her bag and neared Song. She lifted his head by his chin, her thumb nail almost digging through his skin,
"Now, now my son. Wipe that exasperated look on your face. I want you to understand that the little exercise you did now is just for wasting my time. If I find out that what Ukraine said is true, I don't know how I'm going to deal with you",
"I know, thanks mom!",
She let him go and gracefully walked out of his house.
He almost yelled. He was almost in his mid 60s, but he still didn't want to believe that Vida was his mother. His life had never been perfect, doing everything he could to impress her, but the number of times she acted like a mother to him were countable, easily countable.
....
AZARADAN
Mid-night
The maid sneaked out of the kitchen, heading to the place she was supposed to be. She made sure no one was following her that late at night, so she kept looking back after every few steps.
There was a tree, a huge tree near the palace well, and that was the spot. Without stood before the tree and bowed. She began whispering,
"He asked her to stay with him in the shower chamber as he took a bath. Today, he only asked for a single plate of rice and small portions of side dishes, but ordered two spoons, he shared his meal with her",
She took a step closer,
"I heard them arguing about it, and she seemed to be uncomfortable with the way he's treating her. The crown prince asked her to be his friend. From what they were talking about, it's safe for me to assume they met in the afternoon, but this time they had company _ and that was Kenna", she bowed, "That is all!",
She turned around and without looking back, she rushed back to the kitchen, before anyone became suspicious of her.
A short moment later, general Qin evaded from the other side of the tree. His hands were curled into fists, anger sparkling under his hawk eyes. The one thing he never wanted to happen had already acquired wings, it was happening,
"So, I see you failed to respect me Kro! You leave me with no other choice but to be the bad man earlier than I expected!",
He strode towards the dark road. His internal, dormant beast awakening from its hibernation.
...….
Present.
CC Headquarters
"Have a good evening, guys, see you tomorrow!", said Sue, on her way out,
It was the end of the day,
"Good night, MD!",
"See you!",
Everyone was busy leaving. Misaki was ready to go, she passed by Uk's desk for their final talk of the day. They both had plans, so no dinner together for that night.
Uk just got off the phone with someone. He put the phone back in the jeans, grabbed his bag and started heading out with her,
"1 week to team dinner with the president, you excited?", asked Misaki,
"I think I am, actually!", he said, feeling confident for some reason
They got to the ground floor, already lost in their casual conversation when his eyes caught a heart-breaking sight. Right outside the glass door, they could see Kro getting in her car, her new PA standing a good distance away from her, waiting for the driver to leave so that she can do to.
Ukraine couldn't take another step forward, not wanting Kro to see him, especially with the new PA standing between them. He remained standing beside the benches. Misaki had to turn around to look at him after hearing his footsteps fading. She caught him staring somewhere else, and when she followed the direction of his eyes, she knew where his mind was,
"If you can't even face her right now, are you sure you'll be comfortable at the team dinner with her?", she had to ask, walking back to the benches also,
"It's not that. I was just making up my mind",
"And what's your final decision?",
"Remember the question I asked you yesterday? When we were having the drinks?",
"I do", Misaki nodded,
"I was talking about Kro",
"I know",
"And I think I'm about to be the worst person in this building",
That sounded scary coming out of him. Misaki had both her eyebrows popped up for that, an amused expression creasing her face,
"What are you planning to do, buddy? You're scaring me",
"I need your help, Misaki",
"Tell me your plan first, then I'll decide to help you or not",
"I want _ I want that PA to leave this office. I want her to quit or worse, fired!",
"I need you to tell me something, Ukraine. Please be honest with me, do you like Miss Kro? Wait, no, do you LOVE her?",
"What?",
"You do, right? That's why you're going to these lengths, you want to be closer to her, am I right? Or wait, maybe you're not sure about your feelings, and you want to be close to her again so as to know how you truly fee",
"Will you help me if that's my reason?",
Misaki walked closer to him, staring in his eyes intensely, like she was trying to find something, and suddenly, her face beamed,
"Of course, I will! We can try to make the PA quit, but before that, I need to know more about her, to see if she REALLY needs this job",
"Sounds good",
"And if the plan backfires, I don't know you, okay", she stretched out her hand for a fist bump,
"Okay",
They fist-bumped.
*****