Overboard (iKON JunHwan Angst)

Chapter 22: Not Again

Chapter 22: Not Again

(Flashback)

"Please tell the CEO that I'm here." Mr. Park requested the secretary outside the CEO's office. He was scheduled for a briefing of his monthly report for his department.

"He said you can come in, Mr. Park." The lady smiled pleasingly and politely guided the director inside the huge office.

After bowing to both high-ranking officials, the secretary gently closed the door and Mr. Park greeted Mr. Koo with a bow.

"Sit down, Mr. Park." The CEO smiled and stood up from his swivel chair to sit in the office couch not far from his normal desk.

The director sat after the CEO settled himself in the soft chair.

"So, how's everything doing? I have seen your report and customer satisfaction thankfully increased by 5% compared to last month's." The authoritative yet friendly tone coated the big boss's words accompanied by a comfortable smile.

"Well, my department is constantly seeking for innovations to constantly increase customer satisfaction. We're looking great in this first half of the year." The not-so-old man delivered his words with confidence.

"Thanks to your hard work." Praised the CEO. "Oh, you're so generous with your words, Mr. Koo. I'm just doing my job." Mr. Park said.

After a couple of minutes of talking about the operations and work-related topics, both men in suits rose from their seats as a sign that the briefing had already ended. As the CEO still had a lot on his desk, the update ended almost as soon as it started. Mr. Park bowed and bid his goodbye but when he turned his back from the executive, he remembered another irrelevant report he had in mind.

"Oh, Mr. Koo. I bumped into your son—I mean, our Operations Manager. I invited him to lunch, but he turned me down saying he's having lunch with our celebrity swimmer. You know, I don't really mean to pry but rumors are starting to go around that they seem close...too close for just colleagues." He revealed trying to lighten his story with light chuckles.

The CEO's brows furrowed at the news and looked at Mr. Park in confusion.

"What do you mean too close?"

"They're always seen together eating lunch, spending their break times together... I even saw Mr. Kim with Ms. Yejin couple of times. I just thought maybe our new instructor was friends with them before he was recruited and probably why Mr. Koo personally hired him." Mr. Park shrugged his shoulders in his theory.

"I heard he was doing great in this new project by Junhoe, but I haven't seen him personally." The CEO recalled.

"Oh, I see. Well, maybe they're just close friends after all. If you may excuse me, Sir." Mr. Park smiled and bowed again before leaving the office.

Junhoe's dad started to become curious about this new guy Mr. Park was talking about. He forgot it in a while but before the day ended, he called his private investigator and asked for a background check about Jinhwan not expecting where it led him...

(Present)

Junhoe shut his eyes so hard and clenched his jaw as he was expecting another slap from his father.

Another pang of pain was felt in his cheek when a deafening sound of slap echoed the room. Junhoe could feel something dripping from the corner of his lips and as he expectedly let his tongue touched it, he savored his own blood.

"When will you stop doing this?!" The voice came out a little hoarse because of too much emotions in his dad's voice.

Junhoe felt pain in his chest due to so much tension and nervousness at the moment. He was afraid to even lift his head and look at his dad – he wouldn't even dare look at the mad man.