My Lifeline - Jaywon Shortstories

Jayfia

Jay sighed.

He first saw his phone lighting up, letting him know his mother was calling him. He obviously couldn't answer now though.
Half a second later, the phone started vibrating and he quickly hid it away in his pocket.

The meeting was about to start, and even though he was the one deciding exactly when it would start, he knew his advisors were right behind the door, and he didn't want to risk revealing his identity.

After all, no one knew that Park Jongseong was one of the most powerful mafia bosses in Korea.
No. They knew him as Jay, and that was clearly enough.

Out of all of his secrets, this was the most precious one.

As soon as he felt the vibrations of the phone stop, he stood up and headed for his door.

"Come in" he said, inviting the two man with a graceful hand gesture.

The advisors were dressed in casual, yet extremely stylish clothes. Jay did like fashion, and he did not want people working for him to look bad. However, they also needed to be discrete, so casual style it was.

"Tell me you have good news" said Jay, closing the door behind them.

The first man, the one who looked the youngest sat down in one of the two chairs facing Jay's.

"We do" he replied enthusiastically.
"True" added the second one.

Jay looked at them. Officially, they were his advisors, so right bellow him in his hierarchy. What other people working for him didn't know is that they were also friends.
Even though Jay knew their names, Kim Seonwoo and Park Sunghoon, they didn't know his in return. Jay had told them that it was for their own safety.
If they did know his name, they could be tortured for the information.

On the other hand, they could be tortured for a lot of other things, but Jay didn't like to focus on that.

"So tell me" he said.
"Storm found someone" started Sunghoon.
"C'mon, I told you my name is Sunshine" replied Seonwoo.
"And I told you it's not very intimating" replied Sunghoon.
"Still better than Freeze" replied Seonwoo, making faces at Sunghoon.

"I do not have time for your silly bickering" said Jay, one second away from loosing patience. "If he wants to be called Sunshine, then let him. If you're worried about intimidation, we just have to announce that Storm had been killed by Sunshine and that I was so impressed that I nominated him as my second advisor."

Sunghoon nodded. He couldn't do otherwise anyway.

"Sorry" he said. "Sunshine found a lead."
"True" added Seonwoo, smiling at his new nickname. "I think he'll be a perfect addition to our group."

Jay nodded, he could always count on Seonwoo, sorry, on Sunshine to find the best people to recruit. He had an undeniably good sense to read people.

"Tell me more. You said he, so I'm assuming it's a man?" asked Jay.
"At least from what I know, he identifies as one, so yes" added Sunoo. "He had impeccable records, extremely smart -I had access to school records-, but mostly, he's extremely agile."
"Agile?" repeated Sunghoon. "That's a word you don't hear often."
"Maybe if you picked up a dictionary once in while, you'd realize that there's a lot of words you don't know" replied Seonwoo.

"Last warning" said Jay.

The two advisors looked down. They knew better than continue bickering. On the other hand, that's how they challenged themselves. Some would even call that a friendship, but they were too stubborn to admit it.

"He's a taekwondo athlete" added Seonwoo.
"Interesting" mumbled Jay. "I see why you picked him."
"I've seen competition tapes from his childhood, he was already good then, and I found recent videos that prove how skilled he is now" explained Seonwoo. "And mostly, he's looking into founding his own dojang."

Jay nodded, he had understood.

"Which means he needs money" he whispered.
"Exactly" replied Sunghoon. "I've gone through his financial records, and he's not at all ready to open anything."
"Unless it's an orange juice stand on his lawn" added Seonwoo.

Sunghoon looked at him and decided to ignore that last remark.

"I've been looking into a good excuse to donate him the money if he takes the job" said Sunghoon.
"Heritage?" asked Jay.
"That or betting on him on a competition and as he wins, you decide to sponsor him" replied Sunghoon. "We can do it through me, so that you're still invisible."

Jay nodded. Sunghoon was extremely smart and Jay trusted him with his life, which is why he played the public part for him when needed.

"Well, if you two trust he's a good choice for the job, then I'll meet him" said Jay.

Seonwoo and Sunghoon opened their eyes extremely widely.

"You'll..."started Sunghoon.
"Meet him?" finished Seonwoo.

Jay understood their surprise, he always planned everything from the shadows usually. Never would he reveal his face this fast to someone working for him.

"Well it's the most important job of our lives, I want to make sure I can trust him before letting him to it" explained Jay.

His argument did make sense.

Plus, if that man were to betray him, Sunshine would take care of him the proper way.

"Alright" said Sunghoon.
"Should we set up the meeting then?" asked Seonwoo.
"Yes" replied Jay. "As soon as possible."

~

Jay had had a quiet lunch by himself, watching videos from his favorite youtuber. His mother had tried calling him once more, but she would have to wait until the evening, when Jay would be home alone. That's the only moment it would be safe to talk to her, because every time they talked to each other, she called him Jongseongie, and he couldn't risk anyone hearing that at work.

A soft knock on the door woke Jay from his daydreaming.

"Come in" he said, getting mentally ready to meet the man his life would possibly depend on.

The door opened up, revealing a young and attractive young man. He was wearing baggy clothes and carried a backpack.

"Hello" he said timidly.

Jay frowned, his face was somehow familiar.

"Please sit" invited Jay, sitting back on his own chair.

The young man walked closer and sat down. Jay and him were facing each other and both of them were trying to figure out what was happening.

As Jay couldn't put his finger on it, he decided to let it go. He had a tight schedule after all.

"What did Sunshine tell you?" he asked.

This was his first test. However the young man didn't reply. He was frowning instead.

"I know you" he said slowly, apparently ignoring what kind of danger he was exposing himself to by saying that.
"Wha-" started Jay, not understanding what the hell was going on.

"Jongseong?" asked the young man.