HEARTBEAT | VKOOK - Chapter 15: Chapter 15

"Did he sign it?" Taehyung scoffed at the voice resonating through the device in his surprisingly tight grip held over his ear. The aforementioned male closed his eyes for a brief second and took in a deep breath in hopes of regaining his previous composure and not lash out his anger on the not-so-innocent boy who pretended to be innocent in the name of helping his friend by betraying the first one. Oh what a genius plan he must say.
"Oh of course he did like the dumb fucker he is. And You know what's funny? The HR department made an accord so he's tied to my company for three years! Three fucking years, Park Jimin. Congratulations, you ruined our friendship successfully. Now, never call me again, get it?"
"Listen I'm sorry for what I said but why—"
"I don't need your pathetic apologies! Throw them to someone else who actually believes you. He might be incredibly stupid to believe you but I'm not. Maybe he never figured out clearly, did he? What do you think? He'll never know? And what if he does one day? You'll lose him too, Park Jimin."
"I know you're mad and I've nothing to say. I've my own reasons to do this. That poor boy has been suffering from depression for the past—" His words only infuriated Taehyung further, a vein throbbing painfully on his neck as he clenched his jaw tightly.
"I don't care if he's suffering! I don't give a fuck about his pathetic existence! He's a nobody to me. What I cared about was our friendship that you ruined so easily. I trusted you, and you broke it. And now, for you, I'm fucking tied to that peice of shit for the next three years! You ruined everything!"
"I-I—" Jimin attempted to speak up again, his voice wavering, signifying that he was beyond shocked and petrified at the sudden outburst of Taehyung which was pretty predictable but he hadn't thought that it would extend beyond his expectations.
"I don't wanna hear your bullshit. Delete them now. And never expect me to talk to you again. Must I remind you of our years of friendship and how it all began? Do you have any idea that you ruined a special bond for a cheap little bastard who's been with you for a span of three years? Contrasting to our years of friendship since childhood. I thought better of you." Taehyung muttered through gritted teeth, "And you say why I push you guys away? Because you're all pathetic, every single one of you."
"T-Tae please—"
"I suppose our friendship seemed like a mere concept of no particular importance to you. It's pathetic of me that I failed to see it. However, unfortunately now, it's over. All I ask you now is to delete those videos kindly and never call me back again. The least I hope is for you to keep your words, Jimin."
Taehyung hung up instantly, not bothering to spare a chance for the blonde boy he once called his 'friend' to clarify himself or possibly explain his actions. Taehyung didn't plan to either. He made a promise to himself to never confront that boy ever again.
It was his new assistant who was worthless. He didn't deserve the love and care Jimin showered him with when it actually should be Taehyung in his place.
Taehyung wouldn't admit it verbally, however, a rapid surge of jealousy overcame the man hearing Jimin talk so sweetly about the boy he despised with all his being, as though the boy meant a lot him more to him than anything and seemingly as if he had known him since forever.
Stupid. Taehyung couldn't seem to control his salty thoughts about the boy, that seemed to ruin his life already from the day of their first encounter.
Taehyung presumed that the bratty bunny like boy attracted trouble like a magnet, and would somehow drag him into his own mess if Taehyung possibly ever thought of giving him a chance, (which he knew he won't, however thought of an unbelievable possibility.) and Taehyung couldn't afford that to happen.
Taehyung would never understand how people seemed to like the boy on their first encounter, and pretending as though they had known him since forever. He would never understand the absolute jealousy burning in the depth of his heart thinking of the way his own son, Minjun admired him, seemingly as if he prioritised that mere street boy more than his own father.
The burning sensation in his heart of craving to strangle the boy in his thoughts didn't seem to leave his mind any sooner. His thoughts only infuriated him further and developed his hatred more for the boy who seemed to snatch his closest people away from him just by his mere presence.
Taehyung never once in his life found himself hating someone, most likely a stranger, beyond his belief— aside his father who seemed to be on the top of the list of people he hated with all his might, which weren't exactly many since he barely ever cared about anyone or took their words deeply in his heart.
Taehyung was too distracted by his thoughts to catch on the continuous knocks on the door, too occupied in his fantasy of different ways to kill the boy in his mind slowly yet painfully.
It was only then when the door twisted open, did he snap out of his daze, like an invisible glass that trapped him in his mind shattering into peices the moment he looked up from his desk and locked eyes with the male he wished to see the least at the moment.
There stood Jeongguk in all his glory with a poker face and a stack of file in his arms, dressed in a formal office attire and hair styled neatly, allowing the bangs to cover his forehead on the sides, exposing a small part of it.
Jeongguk pursed his lips, seemingly annoyed and perplexed and slightly uncomfortable under his boss's intense gaze, who only seemed to snap out of his trance the moment a sound of someone clearing their throat disrupted the silence of his office.
Taehyung creased his eyebrows together in utter exasperation as he shared a look with his assistant, "Have you ever heard of knocking?"
"Of course, eight times in a row, I presume my boss is deaf too considering how you didn't hear it." Jeongguk's lips tugged upwards into a smirk when he saw the frown on the man's face deepening.
"Is that how you talk to your boss?"
"Is that how you treat your employees, Mr. Kim? By making them wait outside your office for ten minutes straight without a response?" Jeongguk shot back, attempting to suppress his smile of victory by morphing his face into a sombre expression as he approached the desk and placed the stack of files in front of the man.
"If you continue to behave this way, you won't last even a day. Don't force me to fire you, Jeon." Taehyung grumbled, glaring at the boy through the glasses resting over the bridge of his nose.
"Unfortunately, you can't. The agreement clearly states that I'm bound to be your assistant for the next three years and you've no right to fire me till then. Unless I've done something awfully wrong and absurd, of course." Jeongguk shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "Besides, you've done this to yourself. If you hadn't been a bitch and fired your assistants thrice a month, the HR department would've been more merciful to you and I wouldn't be here."
"Who are you calling a bitch, Jeon?" Taehyung leaned front, resting his elbows on the table and intertwining his fingers, voice deeper than usual which sent a tingling sensation down Jeongguk's spine, much to his utter confusion.
"No one," He mumbled, gulping nervously at the way Taehyung scrunitized his face, an awful silence dawning over the two which made Jeongguk shift uncomfortably in his position.
"I hope you know your position, Jeongguk. Although I can't fire you, I could still punish you. Or even cut off your pay for all you know."
"I've checked these files and they're perfect in my opinion. If you want, or if you suspect, you could try checking them on your own for your confirmation." Jeongguk substantially ignored the older's previous statement and continued.
"I've arranged a meeting room like you have said, and I have also prepared the files of the profits of the last few years of our company. As for your schedule, I must say you're a really busy man. And your patience is beyond belief considering how stressful it may be to handle a business." Jeongguk muttered, amusement evident in his voice as he looked down at the files again, attempting to avoid his boss's cold gaze.
"It'd be very much appreciated if you get straight to the point than ramble pointlessly. Hand me the schedule and type those out by tonight," Taehyung gestured to his left with a finger, Jeongguk following the direction only to gasp at the stack of folders placed on the other table, which was comparatively smaller in size compared to Taehyung's desk.
"What the hell? Why so many? How do you expect me to finish them tonight anyway? They'll take a whole damn week to finish or probably even more!" Jeongguk complained, an utterly perplexed and shocked expression embedding on his face as he glanced at his boss who cocked his head to the side and simply rose a brow.
"I don't see a problem with that. You could stay up all night. And perhaps if you want, I may consider another two nights. Finish them in three days and bring them to me." Taehyung shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, as though it wasn't even a matter to think about.
"Three days? Are you kidding me?"
"Look, Jeon, I don't allow anyone to possibly talk back to me. I'm saying again, know your position. You wouldn't want to face the consequences." Taehyung smirked, eyeing the boy from head to toe, which caused Jeongguk to squirm uncomfortably in his gaze. His eyes found Jeongguk's again, before the younger looked away quickly.
An inaudible sigh left Jeongguk's lips as he gazed at the direction of the table before approaching it with a dejected look, substantially  ignoring the eyes following him and secretly checking him out, as though he was being subtle enough. What a fool.
"Anything else, Mr. Kim?" Jeongguk queried as he picked up a file and peeled the cover open, eyes scanning the informations typed on the pages.
"Bring me a cup of tea on the way," Taehyung muttered, resuming to work on his computer again, earning a glance at his way from Jeongguk followed by a nod as the male looked down at the file in his hand. "Why not coffee?" Jeongguk frowned to himself, before shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. However, it didn't go unnoticed by Taehyung.
"I don't like it." Taehyung replied, causing Jeongguk to glance at him with wide eyes and slightly parted lips signifying his shock at the sudden reply before looking away abruptly and contemplating his thoughts. Did I actually voice out my thoughts?
"You may leave, Jeon. I don't have all day for you." Taehyung called out, causing Jeongguk to break out of his thoughts before nodding vigorously and picking up the stack of files with much difficulty and stalking out of the office. Taehyung looked up at the door for a brief moment before dropping his gaze to the computer screen afront him.
It wasn't long before a knock resonated on the door again, grasping Taehyung's attention as a sigh broke through the silence of his office, eyes flickering down to his computer screen again. Taehyung nicked his head to the side, attempting to ease the pain on the sides of his neck as he voiced out, "Come in!"
The door twisted open, revealing his assistant with a tray in his hands, striding into the office wordlessly before placing it on the desk, acknowledging the eyes glued to him as he did so.
"Enjoy," Jeongguk was heading for the door when a voice called him out from behind, causing him to hault in his steps and draw his brows together in utter confusion.  Whipping his head back at the older, his eyes caught Taehyung's who leaned back in his seat and took a sip of his Earl Grey.
"I do not expect a mistake from you in this meeting, don't let me down."