7 years ago, 2012
"Here are the details of the trainees you asked for, sir."
"Excellent, thank you Eric. You may leave," he instructs as he's about to look through the stack of profiles on his desk, but leaves his stare lingering on his assistant as the latter seems hesitant to walk out. "Why are you still hanging around; don't you have other jobs to do?" He doesn't sound cynical, but genuinely curious on why the latter looks as if his feet are planted into the ground.
"I know this is not my place to say anything." He picks up pace as he stands before the man's work desk again. He holds onto his wrist in front, looking as if he's already convicted of being guilty without opening his mouth yet. "But is there a reason why you are interested in these particularly 9 trainees? I don't get the common denominator all of them have; their personalities seem to be very contradicting with each other, except for some. Sir, are you planning to put them in a team?"
Kim Hodong laughs, amused by his assistant's enquiry. Eric is the only assistant he has ever had who's brave in laying out these questions for him, but is it also contributed to the fact that he's the only Bifidensis board member who frequently visits the island so Eric figured that he's different from the rest? Most of the time, you may never bump into any of the Bifidensis board members on the island, because they feel like nothing is of interest once they sit here.
Kim Hodong is the only board member that is willing to go back and forth from the mainland to the island, even though it takes almost an hour of commute. He's always observing the trainees from far, as these trainees don't even know how the Bifidensis board members look like. To them, the members are only faceless people who have ultimate power over them.
He likes to visit the island almost every day because he's building towards something big on his own... and in order to do that he must select certain trainees, observe how they act, pick out their differences. The anomalies as he described, and right now, he might have just found them.
9 of them. 9 perfect candidates.
"Do you know who he is, Eric?" He takes out one profile and opens it as he lets the latter read it before his eyes rest on the profile picture.
"I believe he's your nephew."
"Correct. Kim Hongjoong, one of the special trainees I picked up. This trainee, this... this, this..." he keeps continuing until he has shown all of the profiles to him. "Do you see no similarities between them?"
"I'm sorry but no, sir. I still don't understand."
"Take a seat," he gestures towards the seat in front of him, and when his assistant remains rigid on the spot, he tries again. This time he utters, "I'm about to tell you a long story, and I don't know when it will end. You might get tired after this, so don't worry, take a seat. I don't bite," he says jokingly, but there's a grave undertone as both of them know that the other Bifidensis board members do bite.
"Very well, sir."
He waits until Eric has settled down before he powers up his laptop, projecting on the white screen a typical powerpoint of KTC's corporate profile. "Do you remember what KTC's tagline is?"
He doesn't miss a beat as the line has been engraved in every mind of the staff and trainees there, not to mention how they seem to manage to paint it everywhere where there are empty walls. "We provide you with a life, you provide us with your lives."
"And what do you think it means?"
"The trainees here are sheltered, given food, water and basic necessities; they are well cared for. So in return, they must work for the Bifidensis under a contract. Only after the contract they're allowed to be-" he pauses, thinking of the right word, "-free."
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Crescent // ATEEZ ✔
FanfictionIn every story there are heroes and villains. They play the roles of both. Crescent Cafe is a nondescript cafe located at an alley, bringing in less than around 10 customers per day. Underneath the exterior of a failing business, the building masks...