The Architect of Fear

Chapter 1

Chapter Title: Fear that results in more problems
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What is fear?

Some people would say fear is an unpleasant natural emotion a human being could felt caused by a belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

To some, fear is simply an obstacle...limiting them to grow further.

But...

Is that what true fear truely is?

No one knows aside from the creator himself...

Who?

The Architect...
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Seojun is a 20 years old guy, working under one of the biggest entertainment companies in South Korea, JYP Entertainment, as an assistant manager of the Nation's Girlgroup, Twice.

It sounds amazing, right?

But the responsibility lies behind his position was everything but amazing.

It was exhausting, stressful, and hectic. Not even single second of rest is allowed.

As an assistant manager, Seojun was the one who always do the heavy works while the head manager will be the one to do the paper works.

Unfair...but that's life for you.

In this world, position defines everything.

May it be work, school, politics...you name it.

And so, Seojun can't do anything but to comply. And he did...he always do.

Seojun is a guy who is hardworking on everything that he does. And even how stressful his day was, the smile on his face never fades.

Why?

Because he's happy.

He is beyond contented on what he has on his life.

He got a stable job...hard but manageable, he manage to buy a house, manage to buy a car, his parents are healthy, his little sister's medication and hospital bills are being handled by his father just fine, his girlfriend is doing good on her career as an idol.

Everything he hope to achieve in this lifetime are being accomplished one by one.

He is more than happy.

He really is...

...but not for long.

One night, after a gruesome day at work, Seojun entered their house with the usual smile on his face...not until he heard an argument happening in their living room.

It was his parents, Kang Hyemi and Kang Jun Oh.

After a tiring day at work, what Seojun ever wanted is to wash his body with warm water, eat his meal, and go to bed.

But not everything goes as planned.

His plan of relaxation for the night got interrupted by a bad news.

A very bad one.

The money that was supposed to be used for his little sister's medication and hospital bills are gone.

But that's not all, this news happened already several months ago. Seojun and his mom only got the news today after his dad confessed everything to them.

Apparently, his dad got scammed.

Jun Oh, Seojun's father, always made sure to pay for his daughter's hospital bills on time every month using the money, his very own son, gave to him.

Not until a very peculiar email from the hospital came. And to his surprise, the payment for 5 straight months that is suppose to be used for his daughter's hospital bills have never been received by the hospital.

And now, the hospital demanded them 100 million won in under a week or his daughter's chemotherapy will be delayed.

Jun Oh knows that whatever happen, he can't let his daughter's chemotherapy to be delayed because it might worsen her condition.

But what made everything even worse is that, Jun Oh never told his wife or his son about it. The thought of disappointed faces of both his son and wife filled him with dread. His fear and guilt caused by his own mistake and ignorance gave birth to another problem.

Hoping that he can make everything right, Jun Oh tried his luck in gambling and failed miserably.

And now, aside from 100 million won depth in the hospital, he gain another 60 million won debt in the casino, having a total debt of 160 million won or 134 thousand dollars.

Seeing that his last hope failed, Jun Oh immediately confess everything to his wife, fearing that he will make another mistake, resulting in their argument in the living room.

After his father's explanation, everything was quite. Only the tick sound of the clock could be heard inside the house.

160 million won...

Even how hard he try, Seojun can't come up with a best solution to resolve the problem aside from selling their properties.

Saying that he was mad at his father was an understatement of what he was feeling right now.

He was furious.

But what's done is done. Even how mad he got, nothing good will gain from it.

But even so, even how furious he was to his father, the guilt and pain painted on Jun Oh's face is enough to soften his heart and calm his nerves.

Seojun: *sigh* I will sell the car and ask an advance payment to my head manager tomorrow. It won't cover up for everything but we can start from there.

Seojun said, breaking the silence.

Hearing their son's words put a bitter smile on Jun Oh and Hyemi's faces. Even though they knew how Seojun worked hard for his car, they can't also disagree to his words.

After all, Seojun is all they got.

They both don't have a stable job. Hyemi being a waitress in a nearby cafe and Jun Oh being a small time electrical mechanic.

Both with a small wage, not enough to even cover up 1% of the depth they have.

The only thing that the couple can do is to take extra hours to their jobs, hoping to make extra money to lift Seojun's burden even just for a little bit.

Dad: Seojun-ah, I'm really sorry. I really didn't know. I should have talked to you about the scam thing but I just made everything worse...

Jun Oh felt so guilty about what happened. He knows that it was his own ignorance that causes more trouble to his family.

Seojun and Hyemi didn't say anything and instead, they both put Jun Oh in a tight embrace.

They both know how hard it is for Jun Oh to see that his family was in a very tight situation because of him. After all, he should be the one to resolve these kind of problems given the fact that he was suppose to be the head of the family.

But all he did was make things even worse. That feeling of uselessness is one of the worst thing a father could felt in his lifetime.

Hyemi and Seojun knows too well about it, and they don't want to worsen things by throwing all the blame onto Jun oh.

They need to stick together, and find a way to make it work.