𝙲𝚘𝚜𝚖𝚘𝚜|JakeHoon

☆17☆

So far so good. The party has been running smoothly, thanks to every higher-up who made it all possible and gratefully attended to the anniversary. Laughter is audible, no more awkwardness and most of all, precious interactions and conversations were made. Supposedly, no one should be stressing out in a party especially when its their company's anniversary; but that wasn't always the case for Jake.

Ever since he joined 4 years ago, he always brought his laptop with him everywhere therefore having the habit to check on his files every time he remembers about it. So, there he is, at the corner huddled with the laptop on his lap, rereading the document for the tenth time before he sends it to the administration.

On the other hand, Sunghoon is loving the atmosphere. He took the opportunity to meet the crew who'd be handling him and his astronaut friends in space. He enjoys talking and interacting with everyone until he remembers someone. "Have you seen Jake?", he asks Jackson who shook his head in response.

"I'll go look for someone, see you later."

"Sure."

Sunghoon looked around, acknowledging the fact that if Jake isn't by Sunoo or his friends, he would be somewhere away from people but is still present and in sight of everyone. He searched for the rooms corners and soon enough he saw the person he was looking for.

With his face so close to the screen the device might just swallow him whole, Jake sat on a chair at the farthest corner typing incredibly fast. His fingers pressing the keys and his eyebrows furrowed as he chews on his lower lip out of concentration. Sunghoon walked over, grabbing his attention.

"Hey." Jake mumbles, not bothering to look up the screen.

"What you doing there?" Sunghoon asks, as if it doesn't seem obvious.

"The administrator is here and, so is Morris. Im trying to finish a file thats due today. If that fucker sees me, my whole life is ruined, okay? So, just walk away and go mind your own business." Jake croaks a tight smile.

Sunghoon smirks from the others insolence. "Really? Im staying here then." He fights off Jake's feisty behaviour, as he pulls a chair for him to sit on and probably watch the other do his work. Jake looks at him with a blank stare and says nothing. He rolls his eyes, sighs and goes back to what he was doing; pretending that no ones in front of him staring with eyes full of mischievousness.

Suddenly, three loud taps on the mic echoes throughout the place. Seems like someones preparing for a speech, its the administrator. Everyone stops conversing; all their eyes turn to him as the room grows quiet. Everything about the administrator just screams professional; his chin high up and his stance straight and tall. Even his voice sounds professional, to the point that it doesnt even sound normal anymore, more like a robots voice.

"Good afternoon everyone, time flied so fast. We started the event at 7 am and its almost lunch time. Hopefully, everyone has been enjoying this moment as it only happens once a year." He starts.

"Great, now he's making a speech." Jake whispers, the administrator talking means that he has to stop what hes doing and pretend like hes listening. Sunghoon looks at him with a questioning look, "Do you despise him? "

"What? No!"

"Then why do you say it like youre so mad about him?"

"It's just that, the file is due in an hour and Im still making a couple of revisions."

"So? Do it then." Sunghoon asks clueless.

"But someones on the stage. I have to give respect!" Jake looks like he was about to rip every single strand of his hair off.

"Chill your ass, I'll cover you so you cant be seen." Sunghoon casually transfers to the chair in front of the latter, this time, Jake was sure the administrator wouldnt see him being distracted so he continued typing and revising. "Thank you." He mumbles and Sunghoon replies with a nod.

The speech was relatively long and Sunghoon must admit, boring. Its mainly about how the administrator was grateful for everyone and was praising him for their hard work. It amazes Sunghoon how a speech consisted of only two topics became that long; because if that was him, he might only have said a sentence or two.

Both the latter and Jake were thankful when the speech was done, or so they thought. I heard that our flight director is planning on a mission. "Can I ask, where is he? Mr. Sim Jaehyun?" Sunghoon tried his best to cover the mentioned Jake but someone who was also at the back spotted him and pointed at him. Jake is now sweating profusely, not knowing what to do, he stood up.

Jake awkwardly smiled and bowed, he then looked at the administrator hoping that he doesnt invite the latter on the stage with him, but of course, everything being against Jake, he got called to go in front. With a large amount of hesitance in him, he walked over to the stage. "Fuck.", he mumbles as he stepped up over the stairs.

He bowed for a second time upon meeting the administrator, who in return gave him the microphone. Holding the mic very tightly, Jake turned red and looked around the room. "G-good afternoon." He stutters and instantly searched for Sunghoon in the crowd.

Sunghoon made a fist and raised it half way, signaling him to continue, that hed do good. That gave Jake the motivation and confidence to speak before the eyes of everyone he practically talked to and perhaps, to some of them, scolded at. His speech continued, his words are precise and clear. The higher ups including the person beside him were impressed of his explanation of his planned mission.

It was about to end, when he locked eyes with Morris. Morris was looking at him threateningly, his stare made Jake end his speech immediately. "Thank you." Jake speaks in a lower tone and exits the stage with his head down. Despite all the claps and compliments he received as he walked back, he kept on thinking about how to avoid Morris.

Then, he bumped to someone. Morris. Jake speaks, his voice cracking just by saying that one particular word.

"Its 6 pm, I received a text from the administration saying my file didnt meet the date it is due. I thought you had it?" If they were the only ones there, Morris wouldve screamed at Jake.

"I am at it but I got called on stage." Jake replies apologetically.

"If you didnt make your shitty speech that long, you would have time to finish it!" Morris holds and pushes Jakes shoulders. "How lazy can you fucking be?!"

No one seemed to notice the argument between the two except Sunghoon. When his friend stepped down the stage, he was expecting to meet him back at the table but noticing that Jake didnt; Sunghoon took the initiative to find him and make sure hes okay. There, he saw Morris with Jake, harassing him.

"Hey." Sunghoon utters. "Got a problem there?" He asks when Morris turns around.

"Who the heck are you? Go away. "

"You seem to be shouting at my friend there."

"Do you know who I am?"

"No."

"Good, cuz if you do you might just run away from me." Morris turns back around but Sunghoon stops him by shoving his shoulder just like what he saw Morris did to Jake.

"What the fuck? Do you want to cause problems here?" Morris felt smug and approached closer to Sunghoon.

"Looks like youre the problem here. Now leave Jake and fuck off." Sunghoon makes sure to emphasize every word he said and pulled his friend away from Morris.

"Lets go." He continues and leads Jake to the front door.

"What? No, we need to finish the event." Jake breaks away and stands by the door.

"Really? Even with what happened to you, you still choose to stay with that piece of shit?" Sunghoon answers with much irritation. Either way, he again holds Jake's hand and walked over to his car. "Give me your keys." He demands and Jake obeys.

Sunghoon looked very angry and displeased at what happened, his hold on Jake's wrist was tight and the way he closed the cars door made it obvious. As this is the first time Jake saw him like this, he didn't dare to retort and followed Sunghoon's demand for his keys. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the city." Sunghoon murmurs as he started the engine and finally drove off.