The heavy door closed with a loud thud that echoed against the walls of the office. Seungcheol looked around in pure terror, noticing how everything was still perfectly in its old place. He hated how he could remember everything about this room so well, from floor to the ceiling.
"Why don't you take a seat." His father walked, his chest proudly puffed, to the seat behind the desk as he pointed out the little stool for Seungcheol to sit on. No one had ever been on his side of the huge shining black desk before and mr Choi wasn't planning on letting someone on his side soon.
It was in his position to scare the people that sat on the other side and to show how he had the power over them.
Without too much doubt Seungcheol sat down, trying to come off calmly while his heart was beating rapidly against his ribcage. He relaxed both his hands on top his thighs so he won't unconsciously fidget with his fingers.
Being the son of the well known mr Choi had its benefits sometimes. He knew exactly how he could and how he couldn't act when he was around. Living under his power for the last eighteen years of his life had taught him exactly that his father was a pro at finding out a nervous person's habits in the span of five minutes. Although it still scared Seungcheol till today, he was getting better at hiding his little habits when it came to his dad.
"So.." His dad took a little break before continuing to make his words sound more powerful, leaning on the table as he clasped his two hands together. He always did things like that to leave a bigger impression on the person in front of him. "..mind telling me why you ran off like some rebellious teenager? I thought you would actually grow up and start acting more like an adult after you passed the age of eighteen. But apparently I was wrong. You're not that good at being an adult, are you?"
Seungcheol stared down at his lap, too scared to look up, knowing that a pair of disappointed eyes would meet his as soon as he gave in. "Apparently I'm not." He answered, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.
"Haven't I taught you to look at someone when you're talking to them? How rude.." Seungcheol's eyes shot up and saw how his father shook his head, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "I can't remember I raised you like this. First, you can't do anything I say because all the lessons I'm trying to teach you seem to be too hard.." The man emphasized the last two words and made a sarcastic gesture with both his hands "..and then you just decide to run off. You can't just leave this all behind. You're too involved in this shit to run the out of my house-" "-but who said I wanted to get involved in this!"
Seungcheol suddenly snapped, shooting up from his chair and colliding both his fists on the smooth surface of the desk. "The only reason why I am involved in all this fucked up shit is because of you! You're my father, so because of you, I have to automatically follow in your steps! But I don't want that! I want to fucking live my own life and make my own decisions and have the ability to make friends and love who I want to love without all this!"
A dangerous sparkle shimmered brightly in the usual emotionless orbs of the middle aged man in front of him. "Well well well, you finally found your aggressive side." With full triumph, the man leaned back in his huge leathern chair like a king, crossing his arms and looking his son up and down "I see what brought that side up in you. It's that boy isn't it?"
Seungcheol's level of anger only grew more, till it came to a point where he doubted if he could still hold himself back from not exploding right in front of him. Especially after hearing his father say the words that boy.
"Don't talk about him." He hissed in a warning tone, his eyes shooting literal fire.
"Jeonghan was his name, wasn't it?" His dad continued nonchalantly, checking out his perfectly shaped nails and he brought them up to his teeth to scratch something away from in between them. "You know, I have to admit that love at that age really is something. But how could you fall in love with a guy? Come on, I haven't raised you like that, did I?"
Seungcheol didn't answer that question. He couldn't care about the fact that his dad showed the slightest bit of sympathy, so that he could follow with another insult again.
"Seungcheol, sit back. The maids just cleaned my desk and I don't want your dirty fingerprints all over them." Seungcheol shrugged, but obeyed his fathers order as he sat back on the stool behind him, defiantly crossing his legs. "You know what? How about we make a little deal?"
Seungcheol was a bit taken aback by that. A deal? He had to admit that it seemed strangely alluring. However, a deal with his father could only end badly. And he definitely didn't want anything to happen that could reduce the opportunity of him returning to Jeonghan.
"What is it?" He answered nonchalantly, trying to push his curiosity out of the way.
"Let me show you." His dad leaned down and Seungcheol heard a drawer being opened and closed. With a loud thud that echoed the room, a metallic object just as big as his hand got placed in the middle of his desk. Although the room was poorly lit, the object was perfectly cleaned and seemed brand new.
All the air seemed to be pressed out of Seungcheol's lungs when he looked at the gun right in front of him on the table.
"No, I'm not-" "-Listen to me Seungcheol. Always so pesky, Yenna would have loved it if I given this to her. Matter of fact, i've given her hers a little while ago. Now listen clearly to me Seungcheol." His father slid his finger over the black barrel of the handgun, admiring it and taking in the hard structure. Seungcheol could see by the look on his face how much he enjoyed only the feeling of it. "I have this one job that has to be done. It's not much, but I want you to be the one who doing it. Tomorrow night I'll send you and Eric out to a gas station nearby and you empty the cash register and bring me the money."
"And why would I do that?" Seungcheol asked, still not convinced to just randomly rob a gas station without any further intentions.
"Because first of all, they stole a good amount of money from me a little while ago and second of all, I'm offering you to do this one time job so you can go back and never return to us ever again. How would you feel about that, huh? I'm offering you your so called freedom, if that's what you really want."
Ecstasy shot up in his veins upon hearing the word freedom slipping off his father's lips. Would this mean he could go back to Jeonghan by the end of tomorrow night? Would they be back together in the span of 24 hours?
But even though the offer seemed alluring, he felt like this wasn't it. It couldn't be. Knowing his dad, he wouldn't let him go so easily.
"And why should I believe you?"
"Because I'm offering you this right now. You know I still have Yenna around when you're gone, right? It's way easier to let her take care of those things."
"Then why did you take all the effort to get me back here and let me do one stupid job to let me go the day after?"
His father sighed and showed a slight spark of emotion. "Because for once I wanted to feel how it's like to be proud of my only son."
A gasp escaped Seungcheols mouth. This had been something he was desperate for his entire childhood. For his dad to be proud of him. proud. "i promse that it's just a one time thing. You can go back to Jeonghan after you're done and we won't ever bother you again."
A sigh was heard through Seungcheols gritted teeth. He couldn't turn the offer down, he was too weak for that. If this was what it took to get back to Jeonghan, to the only place where he felt loved and at home, he would do it. And.. maybe even to show his dad that he wasn't as weak as he thought he was.
"I'll do it."
"Good, get some rest now Seungcheol. We'll discuss the rest of the information that has to do with your job tomorrow."
Without spilling more words Seungcheol snitched the handgun off the table and pushed its barrel in the elastic band on the back of his pants, covering it with his t-shirt as he walked straight to the door and left the horrifying room behind.
Who would've thought Seungcheol would be in the possession of a handgun, push himself to do a job he never had the courage to and fall out against his dad, all for one person.
Yoon Jeonghan.
