Jinyoung hung his head back against the back of the chair, to give himself a little rest, after two hours of constantly looking at the computer screen and sorting the files.
He massaged his temple with his fingers as he felt the slight headache.
"Are you fine, Jinyoung?" His co-worker, Mrs. Hirai, asked him, just sparing him a glance and then going back to her typing.
"Ah, yes, just a little tired."
"Hmm, take a break for a few minutes," she suggested and he nodded in silence.
He was the administrator of this company and during the first year, he had had to learn a lot from Mrs. Hirai, his senior. They had an office-room for themselves, and that was really a good thing, to work without any interruption.
After a moment of relaxing, an online message popped up on his phone screen, and in a sidelong glance, he could see the name 'Hoon'.
'Hey, Jinyoung, free?'
'No, what's the matter?' Jinyoung typed in a quick reply.
'Nothing, I'm just a little bored.'
'Aren't you at work now?'
'Yeah, but as of now, I've nothing to do.'
Jinyoung cracked a smile; even though they were in the different countries, they never failed to contact each other.
'Where's Mark then? Shouldn't he be beside you?'
'He's at the meeting.'
'But what about you? Not attending it as well?'
'One CEO is enough. Hey, by the way, don't you have any plan to come back here, ever for holidays? We're dying to see you!'
'Don't exaggerate. You're happy yourselves! Actually, not sure yet but I might come back after another two months.'
'That's quite a long time. Anyway, we'll be waiting for you.'
'Don't. I'm not yet sure. Bye now, I've to get back to work.'
'No way. You must come back for sure. Okay, bye. I'll call you later again.'
'Alright.'
Jinyoung put the phone back on the table. It was no more a new thing that whenever they exchanged texts or called each other, the topic of him coming back to Korea or not was always brought up.
But he couldn't blame his friends because it had been four years in total since he had last set his feet on the land of his home country. For years, he had buried himself here in Tokyo, and till last month, he had not thought of going back there.
However, since last year, his father had been demanding him to work in his company instead.
He knew when he went back there, things would be difficult for him again. Leaving Korea, he had actually run away form pain and several things he couldn't bring himself to face.
The past and the future he would have to encounter when he returned to Korea, were haunting him every single day.
No matter how he tried to focus on his work again, half of his mind was drifting far away to the past.
"Yesterday match was really amazing, Mark! Your hard work really paid off," Hoon said in enthusiasm, giving his thumbs-up to Mark.
"Well, no need to flatter me too much. I'm treating you now, aren't I?" Mark said, with a shy smile, as they placed their trays on the table, at the canteen.
"This isn't just a compliment. You really did great!"Jinyoung praised Mark, feeling his own chest rising as he said those words.
"Thanks, guys."
Jinyoung still remembered how Mark had played very smoothly in the basketball match yesterday. The whole time cheering for Mark's team, Jinyoung had realised how amazing Mark was, from the small movements to the amazing shots for the goals.
That was not, however, the only thing he had noticed; but now whenever he saw Mark or was beside him like that, his heart felt the unnamed rush of emotions, like his chest was being gripped tight and began to hurt.
He had never felt like that with anyone and all of it was so new to him that he began to feel terrified.
It might sound selfish if he claimed that he wanted to spend more time with Mark than Hoon. But that was what he really wanted.
Now it had become difficult for him to look at Mark straight in the eyes and to talk casually, without suddenly being wary of that the latter might find out his unusual feelings toward him.
"Do you want to watch a movie this weekend?" Hoon's question brought him back to reality.
"Hm, I'm okay, if you're going, I'll tag along, of course," Jinyoung said and then looked at Mark, who was thinking.
"I'm not saying 'no'. Let's go together. What about Saturday afternoon?"
"Good," agreed Hoon, his mouth full with the food.
"Okay, but," the two friends looked at Mark in confusion, but he was just taking out the tissue and wiping the sauce on the corner of Hoon's lips.
"Thanks." Hoon said quietly, staring at Mark's extended hand toward him.
Jinyoung stood up off his chair and stretched out his body, after several hours of just sitting.
Afterwards, he put the files into his briefcase and put on the coat.
"See you tomorrow, Jinyoung. You worked hard," Mrs. Hirai smiled at him.
"You too, have a good rest."
After checking everything, he left the room and greeted the other colleagues on the way to the company entrance.
While heading for the car parking, his phone vibrated with the call from his father.
"Hello, dad, I'm still on the way."
"Are you driving now?"
"No, not yet. Anything important?"
"Jinyoung, have you talked with your boss that you're handing in the resignation after two months?"
His father was even more desperate for his coming back than his friends. He had let Jinyoung leave for Japan only for studies, but the latter had stubbornly continued to live here, by working at the company.
"I've. It's alright. He was just quite upset that I had to leave so soon."
Jinyoung opened the car door and slipped inside for the driver seat.
"So he accepted alright then?"
"Yes, kind of. I'll call back later when I arrive home, dad."
"Alright, be careful on the way."
"Yes, I see. Bye."
