The Escort

Jin Faces The Tribunal

Jin took a deep breath, fixing his already perfect hair, straightening his already straightened suit, before swinging Y/N's door open, walking in, and closing it behind him.

It had been an emotionally exhausting weekend. Y/N was usually good about respecting her employees' days off. So he'd spent Saturday and Sunday thinking about being confronted Monday. She didn't even have to say she wanted to talk to him, he came straight to her office.

Jimin was a mess. Jin, like the others, had suspected it. Had even asked a few subtle questions at one point to see if maybe Jimin's feelings would be reciprocated if he finally became honest with himself.

There was no chance of that happening now.

Y/N said nothing until he had stood in front of her desk for almost a full minute, hands behind his back and head bowed. He knew he'd screwed up. He only hoped she'd let him explain.

Y/N took a minute to gather herself, wanting to deal with this as calmly and quickly as possible. She finally looked up at Jin and placed her hands on the desk in front of her.

"Do you care to explain Friday night to me?" She finally asked quietly, the sense of betrayal she felt evident in her voice. Jin winced. Y/N was a good person and he felt sick, knowing he was the cause of that sense of betrayal.

"Yes, Jimin and I are friends." He said quietly, answering her unspoken question.

"I gathered that." She said sarcastically. "For how long?" Jin took a minute to count backwards. How long had they all been friends?

"I think....at least since middle school." He momentarily debated revealing that but decided continuing to lie would not do himself any favors. He'd made a mess of things as they were already. Y/N's head snapped up and her eyes narrowed.

"What." It wasn't a question, she hadn't realized how close of friends they were. Perhaps Jin could've lied and said it was recent. But he didn't bother anymore.

"We've been friends since middle school." He admitted. He saw Y/N struggling to control her facial expression. She looked like she wanted to punch him.

"And you didn't tell me this why? You both went out of your way to lie to me, why?" Jin steeled himself.

"Because....because you may be my boss but you're a good person. I knew Jimin could help you, I knew Jimin would be the best at it. I was afraid if you knew about our friendship you'd...." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "I was afraid you'd think he was telling or would tell me about your sessions, that you'd let that stop you from getting help."

"So you lied to me." Jin hung his head.

"Yeah. I did." There was silence, he could hear Y/N's wheels turning as she decided what to say next. "Jimin has never told me anything. He never would. And I didn't ask. I shouldn't have lied but....I genuinely wanted to help you, not find some weakness to exploit against you and spread your secrets to everyone." More silence. "He didn't want to keep it from you. He asked me to tell you. I was the one who was afraid, I was the one who pulled the hyung card." He added, his voice low.

"Do you have any idea how I felt when I found out the two men I trust the most in this world lied to me like this?" She finally asked. Did he have any idea how vulnerable she felt? How violated she'd felt? How embarrassed she'd felt? How she'd wondered if this was some cruel joke that she was the butt of?

"I'd like to say yes but if I'm honest, it's easier for me to trust people than it seems to be for you. So no, I don't think I can fully understand how you feel right now."

"I found out my right-hand man lied to me. I found out the man I've been the most vulnerable with lied to me. It shouldn't be that big of a deal because I pay both of you." She sighed and finally Jin lifted his head and looked her in the eye. "Technically that means I control you both. But...." She chewed her lip. "It still felt...it still feels very humiliating. You tell me you had good intentions but I just caught you in a lie. Pardon me if I'm wary to believe you." There was more silence. "You were really stupid, Kim Seokjin."

"I was."

"Lying because you wanted to help me is ridiculous."

"It is." She groaned and covered her face with her hands. "I'm bringing in an outside company to verify your numbers. Go prep for them, pllease." Jin looked at her, mouth dropping open.

This....this was it?

"Uh....what?" She uncovered her face and looked up at him again.

"Go prepare to be audited."

"You're not.....you're not firing me....?" He said disbelievingly.

"If I find your numbers are off then it shows this incident is indicative of your overall character and yes, then you will be fired." She turned towards her computer in an act of dismissal. Jin stood there, stunned. He had been prepared to be reamed out, demoted, probably fired. He hadn't....expected this.

"Wha....what about Jimin?" He worked up the courage to ask. Being audited was a pain in the ass but one he would gladly put up with if he could prove he'd made a well-intentioned mistake. It was worth it to gain her trust back.

"What about him?" Her tone was disinterested.

"Are you....can I ask....are you going to continue sessions with him?" She looked up at him with a puzzled expression on her face.

"He did what I hired him to do. I don't need him anymore." Jin nodded, briefly wondering if he should inform her of how Jimin had been this past weekend. But her and Jimin's professional relationship was very different from his and hers. He bowed deeply and then left, eager to get auditing over with.

Y/N acted indifferent but inside her heart smarted. She had a reason to keep Jin around. He was good at working. If what he said was true, he had made a ridiculous decision in trying to help her. But it had been with good motives.

Jimin might have had good motives too but she really didn't need him. He'd done his job, she could figure out the rest on her own. There was no need to continue his services. She found herself a little sad that she couldn't come up with some excuse for him but the logical part of her mind could see it was pointless. Stress relief? It would be hard to work her way back to being vulnerable with him again. If anything, his presence would now stress her out.

She felt a loss. She had hoped to be able to consider Jimin an acquaintance, a possible friend. It hurt to know the face that had sat across from her at her table, smiling with those crescent moon eyes, would no longer be in her life. It had hurt to throw out the toothbrush she'd kept in the bathroom for him, to bundle up the plain t-shirt and jeans she'd purchased for the nights he stayed over and stick them in the back corner of her closet.

Jimin had grown on her. Sometimes she had even felt safe with him. But it didn't matter anymore.