expectancy ; jackbum

x

"Sir?"

His eyes opened with such slowness, languid movements bringing his muscles back to attention, breaths shallow and nearly inaudible. He sat up once he realised the attention was on him, knowing the feeling of pricking eyes on his skin all too well. His head felt dizzy for a moment before steadying, eyes lifting to the open door.

"Sorry to disturb you sir, but your meeting is at 12." The assistant spoke with such a high, false tone through perfect smiling teeth. It sliced his ears that had become accustomed to the sweet, dripping silence that fell from the walls of his office.

He simply nodded and looked at his Rolex-- only 20 minutes to prepare. With a sigh, he waved his hand to dismiss the woman, seconds later hearing the door shut. He was surrounded with silence again, the sound all too sweet to him. Yet at the same time, it was the thing he dreaded most-- a beautiful contradiction, he thought to himself. Eyes set forward on the bare wall across from his view, he once again repeated that his life was no longer his.

...

"You're saying that my ideas aren't worthy of listening?"

Voices rose around him, the long table seeming to go on for miles in the conference room. Too many people, too many ideas, too many yelling voices. One of the men in a suit identical to the man next to him rose his voice louder, trying to overpower the rest. It stung, causing him to wince in pure annoyance. 

"That will be enough." Jaebum spoke in a low voice, slicing through all the rest that tried to get the effect that he had so easily. They all sat back in their seats, eyes now set at the head of the table where he was sat. He leaned forward, elbows set on the table, muscular arms restrained in the expensive threads of his suit.

Everyone practically gulped when they saw his stare, his signature look that could have anyone melting in their shoes out of fear for their lives. He didn't mess around, and nobody messed with him. After all, who would mess with the richest man in the room? Let alone, in all of Korea?

"We will continue this meeting when you learn manners and your places. None of you are better than the next, you're all equal-- at the bottom on the barrel," his tone was fierce, as if he had just spat in their faces without having to actually do so, "meeting closed."

He felt the prickling eyes on his skin again as he left the room.

...

"Want the usual?"

He lifted his head only slightly out of the hold of his hand, fingers rubbing circles onto his tense forehead that warned of a migraine. His gaze landed upon the boy behind the counter, the bartender, his big brown eyes staring back with such shine. He took a moment to drink in the sight, catching glimpse of the boys smooth complexion, long eyelashes, button nose and plump lips that were glossed. The lighting of the bar was dull but that didn't stop him from shining.

Jaebum felt amused at the question, nodding in response to see if he could get the drink perfect. The boy smiled a grin of such innocence, something he hadn't seen in an adult before. He suddenly remembered, then, that this was the boy he saw every time at the bar. He was the one he listened to talk for hours on end as he drank himself into another reality, the sound of the boys voice the only thing tethering him back to earth. He grinned again, looking down to let his fingers play at his wallet as he waited.

Sure enough, he came back with his favorite drink mixed to perfection. He set down the glass, strong hands deliciously straining with veins, skin a soft tan. Jaebum placed the cool glass to his lips and let a small amount of golden liquid hit his tongue, the taste sweet and burning. The boys eyes watched intently, waiting for a review. There was a dramatic pause, "perfect."

Jaebum flicked his slim eyes upward once more, catching that innocent smile again.

...

His bed was an ocean.

An endless sea of rolling sheets, taking the place of waves as they carried him out to nothingness while he dreamt. He was without ship, a body floating on nothing but the water that cradeled him, skin chilled yet warmed from the touch. His chest rose and fell with the waves, steadily breathing before he dipped under, diving beneath the blue. He didn't want to wake up, wanting to be carried out so far that he would sink and live with grains of sand, never having to focus on his breathing again. Bubbles would fill his lungs, veins bleeding salt water.

He woke to loneliness, skin bare and tangled in sheets. Mind blank and lips numb from the alcohol that stained them the night before. He focused on his breathing for a moment, something he found himself doing often as he let out a deep breath. Another day, another knock on his door, another assistant invading his space, seeing him lay bare and hungover, sheets covering his naked body. No matter how many times he scolded and yelled for them to not come in, to not bother him-- they still came, curious eyes peering into Mr. Im's room to see him in such a way. Bare, skin on display with muscles loose and relaxed as he lay on his bed that looked so empty. He knew their thoughts and could see in the way their eyes racked his body, it was a thing that would get any man excited-- except for him. He hated the stares.

How had he got here? He often asked, but no answers arised.