ATEEZ Scenarios

San- An Exclusive

You stood there petrified; the muscles in your body stubbornly refusing to cooperate with your mind that relentlessly screamed for them to move- to get the hell out of there, as soon as possible. Your throat dried up as you fought back the rising panic; your eyes widening at the sight before you. Your pupils trembled, mirroring your hand that held up your phone- which now had that terrifying scene ominously recorded in it.

Why on earth was your -ever so annoyingly perfect- coworker; Choi San, beating up an innocent -or at the very least- a man who was evidently at a disadvantage against him?

Your lips parted in utter shock as you held back a loud gasp; your eyes persisted to remain implanted on the familiar back of your acquaintance as he landed yet another punch at the weaker man.

You slowly brought your trembling arm down, instantly stopping the video recording and pressing your phone against your chest; you dragged your feet, which had -quite literally- turned into stone, as quietly as possible, in a desperate attempt to hide yourself better, away from the men's peripheral vision, behind the concrete wall- which in that very moment looked so goddamn frail as if it would have crumbled down upon the slightest impact of your body. You turned around, your back now facing the fight -or more precisely- the one-sided attack.

Was Choi San even capable of such violence? Was the person you had known for the past year and a half a mere facade? Just who was he?

You didn't know what to do; you had never imagined being in such a situation- hell, who would have ever? You cursed at the frightening scene that kept unfolding behind you -or rather- at yourself; you had to see it coming, this wasn't exactly the most appropriate place for you to have been in anyways: an abandoned subway station in the middle of the night- the sort of scenario you would always laugh at when aired on TV; especially when the female lead would heroically venture into such deserted places without any care for her own safety- you hated its unrealism- but ironically enough; here you were- doing exactly what you so earnestly despised and called dumb- and even worse; this was real life and for all you knew, you weren't a main character.

All of it was his fault; Choi San that devil. If only- if only he had shared with you the tip he had gotten- if only he hadn't flaunted about how its investigation would have landed him the perfect opportunity for a promotion and most importantly the favour of your Chief, with such arrogance.

Honestly, the only time you had given up your immaculate work ethic, in the hopes of bettering your career -no matter how ridiculously contradicting that might have sounded- did you really have to get into such a hellhole of trouble?

You furrowed your brows; a wave of anger suddenly washing over you -momentarily masking the fear- as you realized how easily this dreadful ordeal could have been avoided; if only he had decided to cooperate with you- was that too much to expect from someone like San?

Of course, the two of you weren't in the best of terms and maybe just maybe, you had the tiniest inkling that he hated your guts just as much as you did his but- weren't coworker's supposed to help one another? Collaborate?

Sure, you were both journalists and your industry was tyrannically competitive -damn,you possibly couldn't have described it any better- if you had ever seen one. And sure, in your field of work 'every man was for himself'- having to tear down anyone who stood as an obstacle to their aimless pursuit of success but- but was it really too much to hope for a little less hostility between colleagues? Had the good in human nature completely disintegrated upon the reach of adulthood?

To think that you had begged, or rather, politely inquired -yes, that was the more dignified way of defining it- to share the information with you, painstakingly trying to persuade him to understand that two brains were better than one and that all truth be told, you were more interested in landing a scoop to save your deteriorating reputation than an actual promotion. In simpler words; you were desperate, you hadn't been one bit successful with your recent articles and your boss was starting to hint at how you should 'consider another vacancy'- you could only shudder at the thought of being fired; you had worked so hard to get -whatever value of significance it may have been- to your post and you had never thought about doing anything else in life.