DAMAKI
"Pops, I'm here", said Ukraine as soon as he stepped inside the house,
"In the study!", Song's voice was faintly heard.
Uk left his bag on the couch and headed to that room.
Song's face had a plaster on it, covering the place where he hurt himself during the slap marathon. He was a man who's very sensitive when it came to scars on his body, he despised them.
Uk walked in, his father's cheek being the first thing he noticed. When it came to people who were obsessed with their appearances, his father was on top of the list. The only scar he ever saw on his body was the one on the neck, and that was understandable since he was born with it, but he never really saw him with any other scar before,
"What happened to your face, man?", he asked, approaching his father's desk,
"This is nothing", he answered, uncomfortable to say anything about it,
"You're hurt",
"You call this 'hurt'? You should see my pride",
Uk gave out a brief chuckle as he took a seat,
"Did you get stung by a bee?", he kept teasing him
"Actually, I slapped myself to the point of putting a scar on my face",
"Grandma?",
"You always guess, but deep down you don't believe me. Your grandma is very different from how you see her, I'm telling you!",
"Dad, what kind of a mother lets her son do something like this to himself? Grandma is an angel, just tell me if you got stung by a bee",
"You know what? I hope she remains angelic to you till the day she dies, I hope you won't get to see the dark side of her even a tiny bit, I hope you remain closer to her just like you are now",
"Okay, let's say I believe you, what did you do for her to punish you like this?",
"I should ask you. You snitched on me son, so I took the punishment for both of us",
"Wow!", he clapped, "And the father of the year award goes to SONG PALLAR!", he mocked him, "You know damn well I had no other choice than to tell them about it. You met Kro 30 years ago and fell in love with her, but that fairytale is over now, dad. You have to come to a conclusion that the 2 of you together will never happen",
His son's reaction was sickening him,
"You rascal! Are you even man enough?", fiercely, Song finally questioned,
"I'm sorry what?",
"Have you ever, in your life met a woman like her? Think! Have you ever spared 3 of your minutes to take a good look at her?",
"Dad, lo_",
"Do you really think she's what your grandma says she is?",
Same question again.
It was haunting him. His gaze dropped, and he looked like he'd been taken back to a place he tried hard to escape
"Do you know how many times I've asked myself that question?", Ukraine heaved a sigh, "Can you tell me what your plan is dad? Maybe if you tell me, I'll know what to do, can you share some knowledge with me?",
"Why should I tell you? You're in the same team as your grandma, you'll probably snitch on me again. So, I think my plan is safe with me",
"We only have a month, actually twenty something days. If you won't decide where to put your foot on, I'm afraid I won't be able to help you. I'm currently learning more about Kro, and yes, I'm not convinced she's what grandma says she is, that's why I want to see it for myself",
"And what if you find out she's innocent, what will you do? Let me answer that for you, I think you'll then do what I'm doing right now. Y'all think I'm crazy, you look at Kro like she's the devil",
"Come on man! She's immortal_",
"And what effect does that fact do to you? She can't age, she can't die, but did she hurt you anywhere? Did she kill anyone you know?",
"Dad, grandma_",
"To hell with your grandma. I want you to do what you see is right, not impressing anyone. If you think selling out Kro to the headquarters and letting them skin her body and take out each organ one by one is right, then go ahead. I won't stop you",
His mind felt like an arena, two voices fighting to be heard. There was some sense in what his father said, the only judge left was himself.
.....
Morning
CC Headquarters
Kro's phone kept ringing, and the caller was unknown. She disliked answering calls from people she didn't know, but that caller seemed to be desperate. He kept phoning each time he got no response, stealing all the focus Kro had on her work. She would ask her PA to answer it for her, but she wasn't currently in the office. She had no other choice but to do it herself.
"Kro speaking, who is_",
"It's me, Akeshi, minister Akeshi!",
Kro had to look at the phone screen again. The number looked personal, not an office number. It was different from the one she previously saved. But the voice was exactly Akeshi's, it was him. She placed the phone back to the ear
"What do you want?", she asked, anger detected in her tone,
"Can we meet? I'll send you the address of where I'll be, I promise not to say anything offensive to you",
"Send me the address, I'll be there soon", she hung up,
She needed to get over with it as soon as possible, also making sure the minister forgets about what his guy told him. She had nothing to gain from avoiding him unless she wanted to make things worse.
Her PA wasn't back yet, and she couldn't go meet Akeshi alone. But she had no time to wait for her too.
...
Kro was in the elevator, wondering if she should ask her driver to go sit with her when she's talking to the minister, but that idea sounded too stupid to be formal. The elevator stopped at the 5th floor, meaning someone was going to get on, so she moved a few steps back.
Ukraine memorized all the orders from his team, he was the one on duty that morning
"Iced Americano for Ms. Sue, Passion tea for Kara, white chocolate mocha for Misaki, cardamom tea f_", his cramming was suddenly interfered by the elevator doors sliding open, and his eyes meeting Kro.
The old Ukraine would just go back and wait for another elevator, but he was no longer the scared man, in fact, he felt a ray of joy tingling his spine. With his chest up front he stepped inside the elevator. The ground floor button was already pressed, so he pressed the door closing button instead, ready for the awkward trip to the lobby.
She was standing behind him, having a great time observing his body language. He looked like he was trying so hard to be calm, but instead he was far from relaxed.
"Good morning, Ukraine", she decided to say something first,
"Good morning, Ms. Kro. Ho _ how're you?", facing up front,
"I'm good, how're you?",
"Just good",
"I see",
A minute of silence followed after the episode of greetings. Nervously, Uk bit his lower lip, words already escaping, he struggled to come up with something to say, since the silence was intoxicating the mood. He cleared his throat,
"It's breakfast time, are you going to eat something?", he asked,
"No, I'm going to meet Akeshi",
"What?",
He quickly looked back at her, a spark of worry suddenly invading him,
"Why are you going to meet him?",
"He's the one who wants to see me. I have a feeling he's going to apologize, but I still feel weird going alone_",
"I CAN _ I can go with you, I mean if you want me to, of course",
Kro did her quick imaginary math. Ukraine was the PA Akeshi knew. Also, he was well aware of what happened a few days ago. It would be risky to involve someone else in their messed-up world. She didn't take long to accept the fact that Uk would be the perfect companion for that urgent meeting
"Aren't you going somewhere?", she asked, wanting to make sure it won't be a problem to go with him
"I can just ask Misaki to do it, what do you say? May I escort you?",
"Let's go", she smiled,
It all seemed like a dream. He wanted to shout his relief aloud, but he dared not to. The meeting was a serious occasion, he had to act professional. He beamed as he walked behind her. The memory of their argument seemed to have disappeared into the forgotten tube of memories that instant.
....
CAFE
Misaki opened her purse to take out her card, the line to the counter being shorter than how she was used to find it every day. She had all team orders written down in a piece of paper in her hand, she had no time to memorize them all.
Upon flickering her gaze around the cafe, her eyes caught the view of someone familiar, leaving the counter with two sealed cups of coffee in her hands. Misaki remembered seeing her before, and after a second of recalling she finally realized she was the new PA, her current mission.
The lady was almost walking past her when Misaki caught her hand, the free hand holding nothing, startling the occupied PA's mind. Misaki had to shift to a friendly mode ASAP.
"Hi, I'm Misaki, we work in the same office, CC", she cleared the tension and oddness,
"Oh, hi, I'm Karina, nice to meet you",
"Yeah! Hey look, I'm actually here buying 6 cups of tea, do you mind waiting for me? I might need an extra hand",
"Sure. We're still on break, right?",
"Yes girl, we still have a lot of time",
"Thank God! I'll be outside then",
"Thank you",
Karina proceeded walking outside.
"Wow, she smells good", said Misaki, wryly.
The line went faster and in no time, she had her order in the box cup holders. Karina was still outside, waiting for Misaki, so when she saw her struggling to open the door with both her hands occupied, she hurried to assist her.
"Thanks! I wanted to push it with my butt", Misaki said,
Karina laughed,
"I noticed. So, how about I assist you carrying 2 cups, that way both of us will have 4 each",
"Yes please!",
They came up with a good method of carrying them and it didn't take long for them to do it. And the walk back to the company began. Good thing about Misaki was that she always had something to say, so it was never a dull moment with her around.
"So, I saw you yesterday for the first time, and guess what I noticed first from you?", she asked,
"What",
"Your green suit. It was gorgeous",
"Aw, thank you!",
"Welcome. So, how was the interview? Was it hard?",
"Actually, I didn't do an interview. I was recommended",
Misaki was a bit surprised to hear that. After all the fuss about the PA interview being pushed forward and all, it came a surprise when the one who got a job got it through recommendation
"Were you working somewhere else? Or are you in great demand maybe?", she asked,
"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I'm in great demand. I once worked as a minister's PA for a year, and that really boosted my CV",
"Oh wow! It must be the minister of employment, seeing how your records stand strong in this field",
"Nope, you might not see me like it, but I was the minister of Archeology's PA",
Words seemed to have chocked Misaki that she started coughing, almost dropping the cups she was holding. Misaki knew all the PA's her father had, and Karina was never one of them. If she was then she would've recognized her as the minister's daughter, but she had no clue.
From that short conversation they had, her suspicions became clearly in place
"Are you okay? Did I startle you?", asked Karina, after Misaki halted to clear her throat
"I'm fine, girl. Don't mind me!",
She disguised her shock with a smile, not wanting to blow her cover that soon.
....
Restaurant.
Akeshi was alone that day, no assistant no anything. It was just him at the table. As soon as he saw the door opening, the world seemed to stop for a second. Knowing his guests had arrived was a bittersweet experience.
Kro walked inside the VIP room where the minister was waiting for them, followed by Ukraine. They both took a seat, ready to talk business.
"Where's that guy who always comes with you?", Kro asked, after not seeing his assistant,
"I thought it'll be better if I came alone, that way I'll show you how sincere I am",
As much as Kro's presence terrified him, he could not escape the heartfelt feeling of relief that she agreed to see him,
"I can't believe you're apologetic", Kro scoffed,
"Because I was wrong",
Akeshi's face defined worry, but most importantly regret,
"What if those men killed me? Would you still feel like doing this?", she asked,
"I have an anger management problem, I can't cont_",
"Yeah, I know, Misaki told me about it. So, I'm sure I'm not the first person you did this to, did you always apologize to them when your men failed the mission?",
"My men never failed",
"And that's why it terrified you when they did",
"Yes! My daughter is disappointed in me. Ever since she got the job at your company, she became very mature", as Akeshi spoke, his eyes got teary, "Do you know what she said to me when she got the acceptance text from you? She told me that she's cutting the leash, do you know what she meant?",
"She's been more of a pet to you than a daughter",
"I want to be the father she never had; I want to change. And I'm going to start doing that by apologizing to you. I'm sincerely sorry, please forgive me. Don't fire Misaki, she's just guilty of having an evil father like me, and it's not her fault",
His words suddenly made her think back, way back. It got her thinking why she never heard those words from 'HIM', the person she despised the most in her life. Why wasn't he man enough to confess like how the minister did? All those years she tried to understand him, but from Akeshi's sincerity, she became exasperated,
"How easy was that?", she thought out loud,
"The apology?", stammered Akeshi
She shook her head, knowing she thought out loud just a second ago. She had to end that meeting soon before her past took over her and cause a mess
"I forgive you. I hope you really mean what you said. I'll be looking forward to getting feedback from Misaki",
Akeshi felt the tension leaving his body, his chest relaxing from holding his breath for a while
"You'll get it, I promise you. And this time it will be positive, I swear to God!",
"Okay",
Kro pulled the chair back and stood. She stretched out her hand towards Ukraine, who for the second time got struck by another episode of fantasy. He couldn't hesitate to take her hand, grasping it like it was a piece of treasure,
"Let's go", she said
Uk quickly pulled the chair back and got up.
"We'll be going now, minister. Thanks for what you did, I hope we become friends", she concluded their little meeting,
"Yes, me too!",
The two of them left the room, Kro leading the way, their hands still linked….
….
It was a short distance to where the car was parked, the two of them walking along the clear lake shore silently. Inside their heads, both were dying to say something first, making the walking more silent.
His father's words seemed to have found their way back to his brain again, making him think about what he said to him.
>> Have you ever in your life met a woman like her? Think! Have you ever spared 3 of your minutes to take a good look at her? <<
Ukraine took a look at Kro's hand, a perfect, soft, well-manicured hand grasping his. Automatically, a thought of how many men were lucky enough to hold that hand popped in his mind. The answer he got was a breathily gulp sliding down his throat. He quickly elevated his gaze.
The edges of her black, wavy hair moved in the direction on the breeze, effortlessly like a slow-motioned belle of the scene. It became impossible for him to resist such a graceful display. He shook his head, chasing the thoughts away, but it seemed Cupid was playing chess with his brain.
Kro was done anticipating, she turned around to look at him, startling the hell out of his face, their bodies almost bumping from the sudden halt. She fixed her eyes on him, already aware of how weird he'll think of her after that. But she still decided to say it, she'd done more embarrassing things in her life, so that was just a grain of sand in the desert.
"One of us has to be honest here, and that person will be me", wistfully, she said first,
"What do you mean?",
"Don't take it the wrong way",
"Did I do something wr_",
"I miss you!",
A sudden explosion took place in all four chambers of his chest, his heart stopping for a second after going boom! His eyes grew wide, goggling at her in total disbelief!
*****