Chapter Text
[Jumin Han has entered the chatroom.]
[9:40 a.m.]
Jumin Han: Hello?
Jumin Han: Ah, no one is here.
Jumin Han: Assistant Kang, If you see this before you get to the office, I wanted to tell you to pick up coffees for the meeting before you come in.
Jumin Han: Well...I guess I’ll go now.
[Jumin Han has left the Chatroom]
[9:46 a.m.]
[Jaehee Kang has entered the chatroom]
Jaehee Kang: …
Jaehee Kang: Why didn’t he just call me and tell me!?
[Yoosung has entered the chatroom]
Jaehee Kang: Hello, Yoosung
Yoosung: Hello!
Yoosung: That Jumin...I don’t know why he always tells you things over the messenger when he has your number T_T
Jaehee Kang: I often wonder that too
Jaehee Kang: Well, I suppose I better get going to pick up the coffee so I won’t be late…
Yoosung: Good luck, Jaehee!!
Jaehee Kang: Thank you. Goodbye.
Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom
Yoosung: Well there’s no one else is here so I may as well go too...LOLOL is calling!!
[Yoosung has left the chatroom]
---
[9:58 a.m.]
“Mr. Han, are you ready?”
Jumin slanted his eyes upwards and away from his phone; he had been catching up on the chat room logs he missed. At least Assistant Kang had gotten his messages in time, he supposed he could have just called her to tell her about the coffee instead. But really, he heard her voice all day at work, and the messenger was just more comfortable to use, it was less...personal.
“Yes, I am ready. Is my father here yet?” He wasn’t absolutely pleased with his father’s visit today, but for whatever reason unbeknownst to him Mr. Chairman had decided to sit in on today’s meeting.
The man...Jumin couldn’t remember his name or position, said, “Yes, he just arrived. He’s waiting in the boardroom for you to start the meeting now.”
“Alright, I am still waiting for Assistant Kang to bring the coffees as requested. But I suppose I can start the meeting and without her since we’re running behind.”
Jumin started toward the boardroom, still anticipating what, exactly, his father wanted. It was rather unusual for him to attend low scale meetings such as this, they were the director’s job, not the chairman’s. The answer would come in time, he supposed. His father did many unsavory things, but keeping secrets was not one of them.
---
[10:05 a.m.]
[Jaehee Kang has entered the chatroom]
Jaehee Kang: UGGGHHHH
ZEN: You okay, Jaehee?
Jaehee Kang: The meeting started at 10…
ZEN: …
ZEN: You’re late?
Jaehee Kang: YES
Jaehee Kang: I left my house around 9:50...and this line at the coffee shop is ridiculous
Jaehee Kang: If only Mr. Han had told me about the coffee earlier…
ZEN: ಠ_ಠ
ZEN: that jerk!
Zen: doesn’t he realize how busy you are?? couldn’t he get someone else to pick up the coffee?
Jaehee Kang: Thank you, Zen...but I am his assistant
ZEN: yeah...his CHIEF assistant...couldn’t he have gotten one of the interns to do it?
Jaehee Kang: I guess you’re right…
ZEN: YEAH
ZEN: He’s such an inconsiderate JERK
[707 has entered the chatroom]
707: HEEEEYYYY
707: HEY HEY HEH HEH HYE HEEEYY
ZEN: …
Jaehee Kang: ^^;
Jaehee Kang: Hello...Seven
707: GOOOOD MORNING PEOPLE
ZEN: dude...calm down lol
707: JAEHEE!
Jaehee Kang: ...yes?
707: ur like a corporate slave lol
707: can u get me some coffee too?
Jaehee Kang: (¬_¬)
Jaehee Kang: NO
Jaehee Kang: I’m already running late and I’m STILL in line
ZEN: Cheer up, Jaehee!
Jaehee Kang: Thank you, Zen. hopefully I can get this coffee and get back to the office before the meeting’s over …
ZEN: even if you don’t, it’s that jerk’s fault! I swear he does everything he can to make other people’s lives harder.
707: Zen...you sure do talk about Jumin a lot lol
ZEN: ????
ZEN: yeah, because he’s a douche!
707: are u sure it’s not for some...other reason?
ZEN: ...like what?
Jaehee Kang: seven...if you mean what I think you do...just dont
707: JUMIN AND ZEN SITTING IN A TREE
707: K-I-S-S-I-N-G
ZEN: DUDE WTF
ZEN: NO
Jaehee Kang: … ^^;
ZEN: that would NEVER happen...what the hell’s the matter with you?
707: a lot lol
707: ur being so defensive
707: maybe you’re…*gasp* HIDING SOMETHING?
707: ( ﾟoﾟ)
ZEN: dude...stop
707: oh no...Mary Vanderwood 3rd is here...she’s gonna yell at me if she sees me texting and not working I have to go!!
707: Bye !!
[707 has left the chatroom.]
ZEN: seriously...what is wrong with that dude
Jaehee Kang: That is a very good question
Jaehee: Oh! It’s almost my turn in line, I have to go!
ZEN: goodbye Jaehee! try to have a good day!
Jaehee Kang: You too! Talk to you later.
[Jaehee Kang has left the chat room.]
[ZEN has left the chatroom.]
---
[10:13 a.m.]
It was getting quite cold out, and the trees were slowly shedding their leaves. Jaehee was glad that at least there was no snow, at this point she didn’t need any more obstructions getting to work. It was already nearly 10:15, this was the latest she’d ever been to work in the two years she’d worked at C&R.
Mr. Han is going to be so angry with me...but Zen was right, it was his fault for asking me so late in the morning to pick up the coffee. If I’d known I would’ve left earlier! She let out a frustrated huff, here she was, hurriedly walking to work in the freezing cold with two tray fulls of coffee. She really thought this might be hell. She’d attempted to contact a few other C&R assistants not currently in the meeting to have a company car come get her...but no one was answering. This day really couldn’t get any worse.
---
[10:02 a.m.]
“Jumin, come sit down next to me.” Mr. Chairman gestured at the seat beside him with a smile.
Jumin eyed him curiously, he had a sneaking suspicion that he’d been right about his father coming here with some kind of intention. “Yes, father.” He wasn’t the one leading the meeting discussion today, he and his father were merely observers to a few of the employees giving progress reports on their respective projects.
“Where’s that assistant of yours? I hardly see you without her lurking behind you these days,” the chairman said with a laugh.
“She seems to be running late fetching the coffee.”
His father raised an eyebrow, and for whatever reason, Jumin decided to be lenient “I did ask her to pick them up rather late in the morning, so I expected this.”
The chairman gave him a peculiar look, “Hm, that’s rather unlike you.”
“What is?”
“Making excuses. Or rather, admitting your fault in something.” He paused and chuckled, “Oh, don’t give me that look. It was a compliment, really.”
Jumin hadn’t the slightest clue how to react to that, “Ah...okay.” And then, “Father, it seems we’re holding up the meeting with our conversation.” All the other board members had just been awkwardly shuffling their papers and waiting to start.
“Oh! My apologies, go ahead whenever you’re ready, Mr. Choi.”
“Yes, thank you sir.”
The rest of the meeting was a blur to Jumin, he was usually much more attentive but his mind was glued to the mysterious presence of his father. He still took notes and interjected when he needed to, but his mind was far away. It was a good thing he’d spent his whole life developing his poker face, no one could tell a spacey Jumin from an attentive Jumin...no one besides his father, that is.
When the meeting finally ended, he hardly even noticed. While everyone was packing up his father reached out to him, “Son, can you stay after a minute?”
He’d expected this, “Yes, father.”
“You were quite out of it during that meeting, weren’t you?” His father said with a small smile.
“Yes...just a bit. I suppose your presence distracted me a bit.”
“Sorry about that, son. But I need to talk with you about something, and it’s next to impossible to catch you anywhere but work these days.” Jumin really couldn’t argue this, he was a workaholic to the core.
“What did you want to talk about?” He said, keeping his facial expressions in check.
The chairman chuckled, “Right to the point as usual. Alright,” he paused, “Don’t look so stiff, Jumin, it’s not bad news. You know how me and your mother have been split up, right? Well, we’ve talked it over and have spent some time together the past few weeks and we’ve decided to try and make it work again.”
Despite his best efforts, Jumin’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. This was not what he’d been expecting but indeed it was not...bad news. He let out a small, rare smile “That’s good, father. I’m glad you two are figuring things out.” It was better than his father having another girlfriend, he supposed.
His father chuckled, “Glad to hear you approve.”
“Of course, father. You know you don’t need my approval for anything.”
The chairman gave him an odd look, “I suppose not, but I like having it. I care about you, of course you know that. I like having your approval, Jumin.”
Jumin took an intake of breath, flustered, “Of course father, I appreciate that. I care about you too.”
Smiling, the chairman put his hand on Jumin’s shoulder, “I really wish you’d show your emotions more often, son. But just hearing you say that makes me happy. Come on, maybe we can squeeze in some lunch together today-”
He was interrupted by a loud crash, and screams coming from the next room over.
“What the hell was that? What’s going on-”
A loud crack sounded through the air, and then there was chaos.
---
[10:39 a.m.]
Dammit, dammit dammit DAMMIT! Jaehee thought, she’d finally caught a taxi, and then gotten stuck in traffic, at this point the meeting was most likely over. She’d never been this late before, let alone missed an entire meeting.
The driver could tell she was getting antsy, she was shaking her leg and constantly huffing while checking her phone. Still no calls or texts...that’s a bit weird. The meeting should have ended by now, there wasn’t much to it, really. She paused in her train of thought to steady the-now cold-coffee in the seat beside her. Mr. Han is going to be so angry...and now all this coffee is cold so it’s a total waste.
Sighing, she logged into the messenger, it seemed 707, MC, and Yoosung were all on and she decided to check in for a bit.
[707, MC, Yoosung]
[Jaehee Kang has entered the chatroom]
Yoosung: Really? I didn’t know cows really made different flavors of milk, I thought that was just a myth lol.
MC: yeah...like Luciel said, if its a brown cow, chocolate milk, and a pink cow is strawberry!
707: cool huh?
Yoosung: yeah!...though i’ve never seen a pink cow before lol
Yoosung: you guys are so smart! No wonder ur the perfect couple lol
Yoosung: OH! Jaehee’s here, hello~
MC: Hello Jaehee ^^
707: hellllooooooo ms. corporate slave !!!
Jaehee Kang: ...hello, everyone
MC: How’d the meeting go, Jaehee? Did you get there okay?
Jaehee Kang: Well...about that
Jaehee Kang: I’m still not there yet, I’m stuck in traffic
Yoosung: OMG really?
Jaehee Kang: Yeah, I’m sure I’ve already missed the meeting entirely
MC: Oh no...that’s awful ;;
Jaehee Kang: oh we’re finally almost there! I wasn’t here long but I have to go!
Jaehee Kang: Also, Yoosung...
Yoosung: yea?
Jaehee Kang: They were just messing with you, there are no such things as different flavored cows
Yoosung: …
Yoosung: DAMMIT, SEVEN
Yoosung: why do I fall for it every time T_T
707: HAHAHA HAHAHAA
Jaehee Kang: Well, goodbye
MC: bye!!
707: wait... WAIT JAEHEE
[Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom]
707: dont go to C&R!
707: dammit...she left
MC: what’s wrong?
707: I just got a call….
---
[10:43 a.m.]
Those tricksters Seven and MC...they really do make the perfect couple, though. The taxi finally turned the corner to C&R, and the scene in front of her didn’t make sense.
What...what the hell is this? There were police cars and ambulances everywhere, a crowd of confused people were milling around the building.
“...Is this where you want dropped off, m’am? Looks like something bad went down here.”
Jaehee blinked, hardly hearing the driver’s question.
“M’am?” He prodded further.
“Y-yes. I’ll get out here, I...work here.” She rifled through her bag for the driver’s pay and then climbed out of the car.
“Well...alright m’am.” He eyed the building and the chaos, “stay safe.”
“Yes...thank you.”
As he drove away, she stood shell shocked in front of the building. People were running out of the building, and she observed that some of them were...bloody. Eyes widening, her heart dropped to her knees, no, oh no...what happened? What about Mr. Han? Is he okay?
She wanted to ask someone, anyone, what was going on. But she felt frozen in place, unable to think. This...this couldn’t be happening.
At that exact moment, she realized she’d forgotten the coffee in the taxi. That coffee...might have just saved my life.
---
[10:04 a.m.] [39 minutes earlier]
Cracking filled the air, and for a moment Jumin couldn’t comprehend what it was. Lightning, or... fireworks, maybe? But when he looked into his father’s eyes, he knew. For the first time in a long, long time, Jumin Han was paralyzed with fear.
“Is that...gun fire?” He asked, but his father was already at the door, locking it and closing the blinds.
“Stay back, Jumin.”
“Father…”
“Shh, we have to be quiet. Get away from the door and try to hide.”
Ah, yes...this is why I respect my father so much. He always knows what to do. While I’m here, stricken with fear like a coward, he’s taking charge. “But...what about everyone else? The employees?” That was unlike him, worrying about others in a dire situation? He felt like a coward, while he was hiding there was an unending barrage of gunshots and screams and...pleading just outside the door. It had all gone to shit in a matter of minutes.
His father’s eyes softened, “There’s nothing we can do, son. Now please, be quiet.”
Jumin was startled by a voice just outside the door, “Where are they?” It was gravelly, and the man sounded absolutely pissed.
“W-who?” It sounded like a terrified employee.
“Stop fucking around! You know who! The Hans. We know they’re here.”
“I-I...Don’t know…”
The man paused, and Jumin could only imagine what was happening outside the door. “Alright...I’ll give you until the count of three. If you don’t tell me by then, I’ll blow your fucking brains out, sound good?”
The employee was silent.
“1…” The man paused, “2…”
“Okay!...okay. I’ll tell you. They’re...in that room right there.” His voice wavered, “God, I’m so sorry...please spare me.”
“You’ve been real helpful, thanks. But y’know...I don’t like snitches.” A thunderous crack echoed, followed by the wet thump of a body falling to the ground.
Jumin felt like puking, it felt like every emotion he’d ever suppressed throughout his life was surfacing in this exact moment. The fear and anxiety were suffocating him; this was the first time in his life he’d been truly terrified.
“Son, get behind me.” His father moved in front of him, making himself a shield. Jumin’s heart clenched, no...I don’t deserve this.
“MR. HAAANN! I’M COMING IN!” The man practically sounded joyous. One kick, two kicks, three kicks...and the door was down. The man who entered from it looked rough, his hair was shaggy and his facial hair was untrimmed. He was Caucasian, and he looked as if he was dressed for war, combat boots, body armor and...a gun.
Jumin had never been interested in guns, especially considering how strict gun laws were in South Korea. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined having one pointed at him, or at the person he cared about most, his father.
“Ahhhh, there you both are. Let me tell you, it has been so hard to get you both in the same place. But,” he gestured with the gun, “It all worked out in the end, eh?”
“What do you want?” The chairman’s voice didn’t even waver, “Money? I’ll give you whatever you want.”
The man with the gun looked at them and smiled, a small, vicious smile. “Hm...cute, you’re shielding your son. What a caring father you are.” He ignored the chairman’s questions completely.
Two more man with guns entered the room, and the first man, presumably the boss, asked them, “Everything taken care of?”
“Yes, sir. Most of the employees on this floor are dead, the rest in the building escaped.”
“Hm, good. We only need these two.”
He sauntered over to the the chairman, gun hanging loosely in his grip with confidence. Without warning he grabbed the chairman by the face and slammed his head into the wall.
“Father!” Jumin made a move to stop him, but was met by a gun aimed directly in his face. He froze.
“Ah ah ah, stay still, kid. I’ll get to you later.”
The man leaned down to meet the chairman’s eyes, his fingers still entangled in his hair, “You asked what I wanted.” He brought the chairman’s head away from the wall and slammed it forward again, this time letting him drop to the floor afterwards. He grinned widely, but it didn’t reach his eyes; they looked dead and ruthless.
“What I want,” he said, “Is for you to suffer.”