|| Chapter 3: Only Human ||
As everyone got backstage, the ravenette praised the dancers for their hard work and performance. They returned the praises with wide excited eyes, crowding him with smiles. However, out of nowhere, someone grabbed the ravenette by the wrist and tugged him back, surprising him and onlookers. Startled, he looked over his shoulder and saw that it was Sehun. "Why..." Sehun mumbled, his grip around the ravenette's wrist tightening slightly, "Why were you on stage, Manager Kim?" Calmly, the ravenette stared at him before giving him a closed-eye smile.
"One of the backup dancers sprained their ankle during the first half of the performance," He explained while gently peeling Sehun's hand off his wrist before reassuringly rubbing his knuckles, "So-yeon-ssi came looking for me and told me about it so I had no other choice but to take their place." Slowly, he let go of Sehun's hand and his gaze turned stern. "But," His voice was friendly but it sounded strained, causing Sehun to tense up, "It's my job to fix these kinds of problems, Sehun-ssi." Swiftly, he grabbed his waist and nudged him to turn around.
"So, please go back to the others," He sternly whispered to him, causing the small hairs on Sehun's neck to stand on their ends. "Okay..." The blonde mumbled as the tip of his ears turned pink again and he nodded, understanding his words. Without another word, Sehun shuffled away from them and returned to his group members, who raised a curious brow at him. "Anyway," The ravenette hummed with a business-like smile as he turned around to face the dancers, "Good work today, everyone." They returned the words, slightly bowing their heads to him. It wasn't long before everyone went their separate ways.
VUNX, along with other idol groups, went to get seated for the award show. The managers and staff members were packing up all their belongings for when they were going to head home after the show. As the ravenette walked back to the changing room, he awkwardly greeted the staff from other companies whenever he walked past them. However, just before he could reach the changing room, his supervisor stopped him. He dragged the ravenette to a secluded hallway and shoved him, causing him to trip a little before catching his balance.
"What the hell were you thinking, Manager Kim?!" His supervisor yelled at him, his face blood red from fury as he gritted his teeth, "Did you really think it was going to be a good idea to pose as a backup dancer?! Why on earth did you do it?!" The ravenette kept his head bowed with a dull yet emotionless look in his eyes, his face was void of emotions. "I'm sorry," He quietly apologized stoically, clenching his hands so tightly that his knuckles turned white, "I heard that one of the dancers got injured so I thought-" Suddenly, his supervisor pushed his shoulder, shoving him back. He stumbled a bit but fortunately caught his footing before he could fall to the ground.
"I don't care about your shitty excuses!" He roared at the young man, slamming his foot onto the ground, "I don't care if one of those crappy dancers got injured! That doesn't mean you go can on stage as you please!" He aggressively grabbed the ravenette's hair and pushed his head more down, continuing to degrade him, "Your damn job is to be these idols' mutt! Only I can decide what people should so if something like this happens, not some underpaid shitty college brat like you!" He tried his best not to wince when he felt a burning sensation on his scalp as his supervisor gripped his hair tighter.
"Got it?!" He demanded with a deep scowl, huffing. "Yes," The ravenette calmly responded, bowing his head lower, "I understand, Supervisor Yong." He bit his bottom lip as his nails dug crescent moon-shaped holes into his palms, "I won't let this happen again." A triumphant scoff escaped his supervisor's mouth and he released the ravenette's hair before giving the back of his head a harsh slap. "Good," He sneered at him, shoving his hands into his pockets as he turned around to leave, "Don't ever disobey me again or I'll fire you, ya shitty brat." The ravenette didn't raise his head until his footsteps grew distant. When it got eerie silent, he straightened his posture with a bitter frown.
"Old bastard," He bitterly cursed with a clenched jaw, pushing his sweat-soaked hair back. "He could've at least thanked me," He mumbled as he rubbed the back of his throbbing head and winced at the burning sensations in his hands, "I stopped a scandal from happening today..." Suddenly, a loud thud was heard before a soda can rolled out from behind the corner of the hallway. His blood ran cold and his eyes widened in horror, realizing that someone overheard their conversation. Quickly, he turned in that direction and rushed towards the corner with heavy footsteps.
All he could hear was his thundering heartbeat in his head and his throat felt dry as it closed up. When he got to the corner, he peered around it - only to find nothing. "What?" He uttered in disbelief and glanced around, searching for any signs of a person. "Wasn't someone here...?" Confused, he frowned before rubbing his face with his injured hands. "I'm so tired," He admitted out loud, leaning his head against the wall as he sunk to his knees. "Then you can go home and rest, can't you?" An unexpected yet familiar voice spoke from in front of him, startling him.
Quickly, he raised his gaze and was met with a pair of familiar charcoal fox-like eyes. "Hi there," The blonde greeted him with a charming smile and crouched in front of the younger man, placing his hands on his knees. In disbelief, the ravenette stared at the blonde in front of him. "How about you and I have a quick chat while you get patched up, hm?" The man suggested, noticing the thin trail of blood flowing down his palms. "I don't need your help, sir," The ravenette immediately rejected the suggestion and narrowed his eyes at him.
"Really?" The man mused and leaned his chin on his hands in a cute yet playful manner. "Even though you're getting openly abused and harassed by your supervisor like this?" He asked with a smile, but his eyes were dark and eerie. Almost instantly, the colour drained from the ravenette's face, realizing that this man had overheard everything from earlier. "What are you talking about?" The ravenette asked, trying to play dumb and raised a brow at him, "Harassed? Abused? I have no idea what you're talking about." The older man watched how he got up and straightened his posture, hiding his injured hands from his view.
"Hmmm," The older man hummed with a strained smile, noting his obvious behaviour. "Okay," He stated, raising to his feet and neatening his clothes, "But, I still want to have a cup of coffee with you, Manager Kim." Immediately, the ravenette tensed up when he heard his work title escape his lips. "I don't take a no for an answer," He added with a charming smile as he grabbed him by the wrist, lifting his injured hand into the air, "Especially from someone who is getting verbally and physically harassed by some old man."
Silently, the ravenette stared at him with cold eyes that seemed to tremble a bit. With an inaudible gulp, he shook his hand off his wrist and stared to the side for a moment. "...If I agree to have coffee with you," He started with a bitter frown and turned to look at him again, "Can you please all of this?" He watched how the corners of the man's lips twitched upward at his absurd suggestion before a strained chuckle escaped him. "Fine," The man unexpectedly agreed to his terms, catching him off guard, "I'll forget about this incident. I promise."
Later, they were inside a fancy restaurant that was near the award show venue. The ravenette sweatdropped at his surroundings and glanced down at his attire, internally sighing. He was dressed in an expensive black office shirt and dull brown trousers with black loafers. His hair was styled to the side again and his earrings dangled from his ears. His brow twitched when he recalled how the blonde dragged him to VUNX's changing room and ordered the stylists to help him change outfits. The stylists seemed to hesitate before obeying his orders, leaving the ravenette speechless.
"I haven't introduced myself, haven't I?" The older man mentioned with a charming smile, leaning his chin against the back of his hand as he openly stared at the ravenette sitting across from him. "My name is Kwan Sang-won," He introduced himself to the ravenette, holding his hand out to him for a handshake. The ravenette glanced at his hand for a moment before grabbing it. "My name is Kim Siwoo," The ravenette introduced himself with a business-like smile, causing Sang-won's hand to tense up against his hand, "A pleasure to meet you." Silently, Sang-won kept his gaze on Siwoo's smiling lips as they slowly shook hands.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, the ravenette noticed a waitress approaching their table with a small notebook in hand. The ravenette pulled his hand away from Sang-won's hand and took out his pair of glasses from his bag. Silently, he placed the black oval glasses onto the bridge of his nose, giving him a completely different vibe. Now, he looked like a student majoring in either business or fashion. His expensive-looking watch glimmered in the restaurant's light whenever he flipped through the menu. When the waitress got to their table, he greeted her with a business-like smile, making her slightly flustered.
"I'll take a jasmine tea with honey," He told the waitress, tapping on the menu and tilting his head at her. "W-We actually have a special going with the jasmine tea tonight, sir," She mentioned with a sheepish smile and leaned closer to gesture to the menu as she moved her hair behind her ear, "When you order a jasmine tea, you can choose any dessert - the dessert is free." Immediately, at the mention of free dessert, his icy-blue eyes twinkled in delight, almost making the waitress coo at his cuteness. "Then please add a berry tart for me to that," He stated and glanced at Sang-won with a raised brow, "What about you, Sang-won-hyung?"
The said man was leaning his chin against his palm, coldly staring at the waitress with an unnoticeably clenched jaw. "A Dutch coffee and a peppermint tart," He blurted out with his icy gaze pinned on the waitress, who flinched upon meeting his gaze, "With two shots of espresso and no sugar." Goosebumps ran down her arms and she quickly wrote down their orders while leaning back, creating space between her and the ravenette. "Y-Your orders will be done in a couple of minutes," She nervously stated with a slight bow of her head before scurrying away from their table.
"What's up with her?" The ravenette mumbled with furrowed brows, unaware of the triumphant scoff that escaped the blonde's lips. "Kim Siwoo," At the sound of his name, the ravenette faced him with a raised brow. "Do you like your job?" Sang-won asked as he folded his hands underneath his chin, sending him a closed-eye smile. At his question, he tensed up before a cold yet unnerving expression appeared on his face. "I don't see how you're obligated to know that," The ravenette coldly sneered at him with veins popping out of his forehead as he squinted one of his eyes at him.
For a moment, a shiver ran down Sang-won's spine and a thrilled yet crazed smile appeared on his lips at his answer. "Well," He hummed, trying to hide his reaction to his words, "I was just curious." Siwoo didn't respond to that; his eyes remained cold and intimidating, showing that the question made his mood turn sour. "Then, do you do other jobs?" Sang-won asked with curiosity lacing his voice and he leaned forward, his eyes shining with expectations. "Yeah," The ravenette bluntly answered while gazing through the window next to them. "I work as a bartender and waiter during vacation," He revealed as he leaned his cheek against the back of his hand, his exhausted eyes softening as he watched the nightlife happening outside, "They're just for experience though."