The Escort S2

Part 66: A river of tears

Taehyung's POV

For the last two days, I have a bit of a return to normal life, which is fleeting. Kookie and I use the weekend to come down off all the stress of the last 48 hours.

Kookie takes me to my favorite restaurant with a long stroll along the seaside, hand in hand. We sleep in on Sunday and lay around watching a few silly movies with buttered popcorn. There is no mention of work or meetings. Jin and Namjoon are out for the day and JJ and Ivory are with Lisa and Dad. God, I miss those easy days when my biggest decision was what pair of Gucci shoes to wear with my outfit.

I'm feeling refreshed and ready to go with newfound energy as Kookie and I exit the elevator at the Jeon Corporation. I'm not sure how the vote will go today, and Kookie and I haven't discussed it.

"Good morning, Tae. Good morning, Jungkook," Jae says with a warm smile as Hobi gives a soft wave.

"Good morning, Jae. Good morning, Hobi." I say, returning their greeting and taking my seat.

Namjoon is on his phone with eyes glued to his computer. Jin looks up and I smile big. Before I can speak, his head quickly drops as fast as his wisp of a smile. That's odd. We were fine when I talked with him after the meeting three days ago. Maybe I'm misreading him. Nah, I know a frosty flip off.

"Good morning, everyone," Tae Juan says. "So today we're here to take a vote on how you want to proceed. Lisa is working with Chanyeol, and I'll go over those details after our vote. We'll start in 5 minutes."

While Kookie sets up his laptop, I check my work messages. "Oh, good to see you, Mr. Tae." I look up and see my friend Tae Juan. "You're looking exceptionally lovely and well put together as always," Tae Juan speaks. "I missed you when you walked in this morning. Now how did that happen?" Tae Juan smiles and I chuckle. Kookie continues to focus on reading his emails. I must say that Tae Juan's professional, light, and pleasant manner has been a comfort. I've always known he was a valued asset to the company, but seeing him in this new light is impressive.

"Uh, can we start Tae Juan, and you do your normal fanboying of Mr. Tae at the end of the meeting?" Namjoon says with an impatient sneer.

"Thank you, Tae Juan," I say with a soft smile.

Tae Juan clears his throat and then continues. "So, before we take the vote, are there any questions or comments?

"I have more of a request," I speak. "Before we start, can you please review the question again and what it means?"

"Oh, Mr. Tae, I most certainly can." He says as I hear a sigh from Namjoon who is sitting directly across from me. Jin continues to divert his eyes downward.

"Thank you, Tae Juan," I say..

"Taehyung, I know all I need to make a decision," Namjoon says with an edge of irritation.

"Namjoon, I'd like to hear it again. We're starting over fresh," Kookie says. Namjoon sighs louder and Jin appears indifferent. "I'm ready to take this bastard down by any means necessary but we need to be fair."

"Kookie and Namjoon, would you please listen and be open?" I ask as Hobi leans forward.

"This is a big decision and, once set in motion, we can't go back. We need to take our time as Lisa and Tae Juan have advised us," Hobi says accompanying a head nod from Jae.

Kookie sounds like he's operating out of anger and revenge. This is not good. Maybe we should have talked about this more. No, I needed time away from the Triton Teoki shit show this past weekend. We'll talk it out now.