The Unexpected (Namkook)

Part 2

The attention from the girls are enjoyable yet there's a void inside his heart that always sent invitation to solitude. The endless proposal notes and innumerable roses on Valentine's day would always end up in the garbage bin of the house. Ha-jin was the only one he's been with but their first kiss marked the last for Namjoon felt each nerve of his body curling up to form a huge chunk at the touch of a foreign pair of lips on his own.

Being an academy oriented person, his parents certainly didn't have any complaint against the 22 years old law student who aspired to be a criminal lawyer like his father someday. The renowned criminal attorney Kim Do-guk was known for the strong pillars of his honesty and integrity that could never be shaken by the alluring smell of ransom.

A lonely personal life has been compensated with a loving family comprising of his lawyer father and homemaker mother. Being a single child had its own perks of being continuously pampered by parents yet the inexplicable sense of loneliness would strain his heart that cried for an answer to the enigmatic pain.

"Joon, are you home?" His mother, Sang-mi asked from the kitchen to have a confirmation of her son's return as she heard the clicking sound of door lock.
"Yes mom." She heard loud footsteps climbing up the stairs as she resumed preparing dinner.

Throwing the bag on a chair, Namjoon took off his jacket and dumped it in the closet. Changing into sweatpants and t-shirt, he sought the comfort of the soft mattress laid on his bed while hugging a pillow tightly. As the phone buzzed, he picked it up to find a reminder note for one of his classmate's birthday party that he was invited to. Booze and smoke have always been the centre of attraction to any party he had been to. It surely repels him resulting to the uncontrollable urge to avoid such parties.

It was almost 8:30 as he checked the time after parting his eyelids. The impression of the pillow case on his cheeks proved how deeply he dozed off contemplating the possible scenarios at the party. There were five to seven missed calls from different friends including Ha-jin who might have taken the chance to convince the not so happening man to come to the party.

********

The last fighting nerve of Jungkook withered in exhaustion as he was being overshadowed in each and every assigned task by an over competitive Sung-ho. He was senior to Jungkook in both age and rank but due to a series of ignorance noticed in his work, Bin had alarmed him of a grave consequence. Instead of being the responsible senior he chose to act like an immature vexing child fighting for attention from his boss.

Sung-ho made sure Jungkook was hooked to the bureau with mundane paperwork while he got the order to investigate the crime scene as mentioned by Lee Byeol. He didn't miss to parade it under Jungkook's nose showing off the intricate work he had done collecting all necessary evidences.

Life has always revolved around the bureau and the small apartment he calls home for the 26 years old who got disowned by his rich parents after coming out at the age of 21. A rejection from his best friend made him fix his mind of not having a relationship ever, although his undaunted soul would often picture himself in a so called happy setup with all the fervours.

With the submission of two completed case files, the senior office called it a day. It was almost 8:45 as his eyes fell on the wrist watch. Maybe a glass of alcohol can help him get through the rest of the evening. He started to drive off to the nearest pub that served undoubtedly the best variations of cocktails.

********

"A Sazerac please!"

The long stool at the bar counter was pulled out after placing the order of his favourite cocktail. Before he could take out his phone to check unread messages or aimlessly scroll through social media, the voice of the bartender announced the ordered drink was ready. The aroma of freshly twisted orange peel at the rim of the glass hit his nostrils producing a soothing effect on the tensed nerves of his exhausted mind.

It was exactly a two inches gap between the glass rim and his lips when someone fell on his back spilling the entire drink at the counter.

"I'm so sorry!"

Whether it was the payback for spilling coffee on his boss in the morning or adding more reasons to hate his life, was left ambiguous to the man who just witnessed his money getting wasted as not a single drop of the drink could be relished.

"It's just the drink, right?" A man fairly of same age was behind the mishap that didn't bother to apologise for a second time after finding out it was the drink that got spilled with no injury to the owner. These were the moments Jungkook wished he didn't change out of his uniform but at the moment he had no energy to put up a fight with the drunk man.

"Just get lost!" He asked in a frustrated tone. Digging through his wallet, he found there was a cash crunch and online payment was something he was not a fan of. Shaking his head to shrug off the unfortunate, he was about to get up when a new glass of sezarac was slid along the counter. Following the slender fingers tipping the body of the glass, he found the side profile of a man who just turned his head towards him with a smile dripping off pity.

"No, thanks!"
"Let's celebrate our miseries together?"