At the Crossroads

Chapter 4

"Jinyoung!"

Fei, one of the receptionists, beckoned Jinyoung, who had just been back from the washroom. She seemed relieved to see him and he quickened his way to her.

"I was just about to send someone to look for you. Bring a glass of lemon juice to 9/11."

"Why me? I thought Youngjae was here just a while ago," he looked around, seeing no sign of Youngjae now.

"Well, the thing is Mr. Tuan clearly asked me to send Park Jinyoung with the juice. I'm so curious. But I'm not going to ask you anything now. Just bring the drink to him," she ended her words, with an unnecessary giggle.

"How does he even know my name?" He had no desire to deal with this businessman at the moment.

"I don't think it was difficult," she nodded at his name tag.

"Oh yeah. Shit."

Jinyoung ignored her laugh and headed for the cafe. Hadn't he made it clear the previous day that he was not at all interested in Mark?

"Come in."

Jinyoung made his way into the room and almost snorted when he had to see Mark's smirk at him. It was at such moments that he wanted to reveal his true identity so bad, and if only flirting was illegal.

"Here's the juice you ordered, Mr. Tuan." Jinyoung put the glass on the table and stood on the spot, holding the tray against his chest. "Do you need anything else?"

Mark bent forward, as he was sitting on the couch, and took the glass. He sipped the juice at his leisure, much to Jinyoung's impatience.

"Can I leave?"

"No," Mark glanced at Jinyoung, as he took another sip. "Don't you want to wait till I finish? That was what you wanted to do a few days ago."

"I thought you both didn't like to have me waiting."

Mark laid his eyes on nowhere but Jinyoung and drank the juice, ever so slowly. Till Jinyoung hung his head low, avoiding any eye contact.

"Jinyoung," Mark put down the empty glass on the table and Jinyoung approached it. "That's your name, right?"

Jinyoung ignored him and just did what he had to do. He placed the glass back on the tray and headed for the door. Somehow feeling strange that there was no interruption.

"Who said you could leave?"

Jinyoung tried to keep his composure, burying the rising anger, and turned back to Mark. "Anything you want, Mr. Tuan?"

"I was just thinking taking a bath would be nice. Don't you think so? Make the bathtub ready for me."

Jinyoung stifled a grunt. It was more than frustrating because it was obvious that Mark was enjoying his annoyance.

Jinyoung kept the tray on the table and went to the bathroom. Grudgingly, he washed the bathtub and turned on the tap.

"Make it warm," Mark shouted.

Jinyoung mixed the cold and hot water and checked the warmth. It seemed it was taking too long for the bathtub to be all filled with the water. Some parts of his white shirt were also wet and he blamed Mark for all of this.

Once the bathtub was full, he got out of there and announced, "It's ready, Mr. Tuan."

Mark stretched and barely suppressed his smirk as he passed by Jinyoung and after taking a towel, disappeared into the bathroom.

Once Mark was out of sight, Jinyoung took the tray and got out of the room, as fast as he could.

The rest of the day, all the room attendants were busy cleaning the recently vacated rooms. Some rooms had to be prepared before new guests arrived. They could catch their breath only when the guests were already here and led to their respective rooms.

Yet at the reception, Fei was there to tease Jinyoung as soon as she got the chance. Jinyoung kept insisting that it was just nothing and Mark just liked his service. But she did not seem to buy that.

"Speak of the devil," Fei leaned forward and whispered, "there's him. Oh, Jinyoung, I think he saw you."

Out of reflex, Jinyoung turned around and there really was Mark, with Kim Shiwoo and the woman. He seemed to be telling something to them and then, when the two left for the restaurant, he sauntered towards the reception.

"He's coming to you!"

"Stop, noona. You're making it obvious," Jinyoung hissed and turned his back to Mark. He counted the sounds of boots against the floor and closed his eyes, waiting for the doom.

"Jinyoung. Stop the act. I know you saw me."

"Yes, Mr. Tuan?" Jinyoung forced a smile and turned to face Mark. At the corner of his eyes, he saw Fei giggling, covering her mouth.

Mark crossed his arms and looked at Jinyoung from head to toe. "Did I say you could leave this morning?"

"But-"

"You did something against a customer's will, don't you think? I can punish you, you know?"

What the hell was he talking about? Jinyoung felt his face heating up and imagined how he was going to be teased again by Fei later on.

"Come." Mark grabbed his wrist and Jinyoung grumbled, trying to remove Mark's hand from his.

"Why? I can't."

"This is the punishment," Mark turned to Fei, "I'll take him for a while."

He did not wait for any response and dragged Jinyoung to the restaurant. There, almost everyone's head turned to them, much to Jinyoung's embarrassment.

Mark stopped at the table where Kim Shiwoo and the woman were and sat down in one of the comfy armchairs, while making Jinyoung sit in another, which was drawn close to his.

Kim Shiwoo seemed to be amused, looking at them, and that made Jinyoung want to glare at him so hard.

"I had no idea you liked playing with that boy, Mark."

Jinyoung frowned but he was not paid any attention. He felt more than humiliated.

"Well, he's a fun person to play with." Jinyoung could hear a smirk in that voice. "Serve me drinks."

When Jinyoung did not move, Mark nudged him. "There're waiters who can serve you drinks, Mr. Tuan."

"Oh, he's mad, Mark. You've found someone interesting, huh?"

"Don't challenge me, Jinyoung." Mark encircled his hand around Jinyoung's waist and drew their chairs closer.

Jinyoung grabbed a wine bottle and filled a glass. Mark smirked, amused, and clinked the glass with Kim Shiwoo's and the woman's.

Soon, they started talking and maybe, this whole situation was a blessing in disguise. Jinyoung learned that the woman's name was Junghee and she was obviously a sort of a girlfriend of Kim Shiwoo. The conversation was purely random, and much as he wished, he could not get anything much useful from it, however.