Homosaurus

38

Eventually, the small breakroom Jaebeom had been kept in was finally opened, the sound of the metal door clicking catching his attention.

He was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted; the last thing he wanted was to deal with yet another infuriating person. All he really wanted was a warm bed, and Youngjae to cuddle him as he napped.

Instead, he was met with another unfamiliar face dressed in a nice suit. Jaebeom instantly rolled his eyes as if it were second nature; preparing himself for another frustrating and pointless conversation.

"Who are you?" He sighed out, his gaze dropping down to the table.

The man softly shut the door behind him, not coming any closer as he clasped his hands in front of him. "I'm Jackson. My boss's secretary."

Jaebeom's head whipped up. Yugyeom's secretary? Or, someone else's? Either way, he was sure this person knew more than he did; Jaebeom wanted to figure out what was going on and where his hybrid was.

"Um, secretary of who?" He curiously asked.

"Of the man who runs the foreign research company, we flew in just earlier this week." Jackson answered.

"Oh, well then, I'm-"

"Jaebeom. I know." The man's lips curled, only slightly, into a warm smile. "I've been familiarized with you."

He shouldn't have been surprised that everyone seemed to know him by now, but it was still unsetting nonetheless. "I see. As many of your staff have..."

Jackson's smile instantly faded, as if he recognized the negative tone. "...You've met Mark."

"Very unpleasantly, I have."

The man sighed, his head tilting down. "I apologize for the rough and rude handling of you and your hybrid. That is just how things worked out."

"Where is Youngjae anyway? All that Mark guy wanted to do was talk about taking him to a fancy facility overseas.

"Youngjae was first brought to the lab to do some tests, now he is in the cage we temporarily held you in. He's resting right now, but should be fine aside from a few scratches here and there from the scuffle."

Jaebeom felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his heart. Not knowing what happened to Youngjae after coming to was the most dreadful feeling he's had to deal with thus far; despite still yearning to see him to make sure he was okay himself, he was glad the hybrid was fine for now. He let out a heavy breath, his hand pressing against his chest. "Oh thank god..."

Jackson smiled, an almost automatic response to Jaebeom's relief. "I see you care about him a lot."

"I do... he's special to me..." The latter affirmed, though the thought of losing his special hybrid to greed wiped away his relaxed expression. "...but everyone is trying to keep him caged up; their own personal science experiment. All anyone sees is dollar signs, not Youngjae himself. It's inhumane."

"I'm sorry..." The secretary mumbled, his eyes focused on his feet.

Jaebeom shook his head, quickly realizing that he was ranting to the wrong person. This guy was much more tolerable than whoever Mark was, and he seemed to show empathy toward their situation. He ddin't wan to drag anyone else into his mess. "No... you're just a secretary. Just doing your job, right?"

"Still, that's--" Jackson faltered-- he had quickly brightened as if he wanted to say something, but stopped himself as if he knew it wasn't his place. He cleared his throat, regaining composure. "Um, nevermind. My boss is free now, I know you must want to speak with him, he's willing to meet you, so I'm here to bring you to him. Please address him as Mr.B."