Jungkook
My fingers tap quickly on the keyboard as I type the email for a client. I still have so much to do even though I've been in the building since six in the morning, but it's nothing new because every day is the same for me.
I like to be the first to enter the building because it is quiet and no one is there except the cleaning crew. I can run into my office undisturbed and get some things done for two hours until everyone gets here.
I send off the email and open the next one. Requests upon requests arrive every day. Some we turn down because they don't add any profit at all with the proposals they bring to the table and some just don't fit into our concept.
Jimin and I are very selective about choosing clients. In the beginning, we didn't have the luxury to do that and it often happened that we were taken advantage of for deals that only benefited the client.
We didn't have a good start in the business with hardly any investors and sponsors and Jimin and I had a hard time. But now everything is going very well - more than well - and I couldn't be more satisfied. We still work with the same ambition, focus, and diligence. When it comes down to work, I'm very serious.
I check my inbox and find two hundred and thirty-two new emails there. I wonder why so many new requests are flooding my inbox all of a sudden today. It is almost impossible for me to keep up with them. I can't even type as fast as new emails arrive. Plus, I have a bunch of paperwork that I still need to sign.
But I've never complained about it before. I wanted everything that Jimin and I built, and so I don't ask any more internal questions and keep typing. But I don't get far because there's a knock on my door and before I can call the person in, Jimin is already wandering in.
I look from him back at my laptop after offering him a nod and continue with my work. In the corner of my eye, I can see that he is carrying something in his hand and when he drops onto the chair in front of my work desk, he tosses it to me.
The magazine slides over the surface and towards me. I give it a glance, but not interested any further I look up at Jimin who is staring at me.
"You look good on the cover." He teases with a smile and puts his feet up on the small coffee table in front of the chair. "And in the other pictures, too."
"Thanks," I say, continuing to type on my laptop.
Jimin is the only one with whom I have casual conversations. Even though most of my responses are always blunt and just a few words, he never minds. I appreciate that and I'm glad he understands.
He has never walked away from me and no matter how difficult I can be at times, he has been patient, which has allowed us to take our business so far to the top and keep our friendship in the process.
"Aren't you going to look at the rest of the pictures? Or read the interview?" he asks.
"I was the one who took the pictures and gave the interview. There's no need," I say. He crosses his ankles on the table and I glare at his feet. "Can you please put your feet down?"
"As you wish, Your Highness." he jokes before getting up and walking around the table to stand next to me. "Come on. You have to at least take a look. Not everyone has the opportunity to be in that magazine."
"That's why I don't understand why I'm even in it," I mutter under my breath as I take the magazine off the table and set it in front of me. I stare at the picture and the words. Hot, young, rich, successful I read.
As if these things are the only things that really matter.
I'm not even a model or anything and I still don't understand why I was asked to do a photoshoot with Vogue. At first, I declined, but Jimin insisted I do it so he's actually the reason my face is printed on the October edition.
The thought of knowing that the people who buy this magazine have my face printed big on it makes me feel uncomfortable and I can't exactly say that I felt comfortable during the photoshoot either.
I think that the reason why I got so much public attention is because of the advertisement for Hugo Boss' new collection that we worked on in spring.
I don't know why I agreed to that one too, but I ended up getting dressed in a suit from the new collection myself and standing in front of the cameras. Jimin said - yet again - that it's a good collaboration and opportunity for our business when we show how close we are with our clients.
I have to admit that it was half as bad as I thought it would be, but that was because Hugo Boss welcomed us in a very friendly and professional way. Not like Vogue.
The meeting for the photoshoot with Vogue was postponed for a few weeks because I had an incident with one of the stylists. So I didn't want to have a new one. I was getting changed when I realized in the corner of my eye how she was trying to take pictures of me.
It all ended in chaos, but the stylist should be glad I didn't report her. She apparently got fired, which I don't care about, but I wanted to cancel the photoshoot completely after that. Vogue then convinced me that nothing like that ever happens to them and they apologized.
I didn't want anything to go public or any scandals to come up, which is why I agreed to organize a new photoshoot, and here we are.
"That's probably because you went viral on Twitter at fashion week last fall," Jimin suggests and I thought I spoke quietly enough that he wouldn't hear. "With Camille Geneviève Moulin."
I roll my eyes as he says her name in a fancy way. I know how Jimin feels about my ex-girlfriend, and I can tell it's not good. The two of them didn't really like each other, to say the least.
Camille and I were a couple for about two years and because she was a model, it required her to attend fashion weeks often. And as her boyfriend, I had to sit in the front row.
I'm not sure why exactly from fashion week last fall many pictures of me went viral on Twitter, but I have to say I hated it. I wanted to sit somewhere in the back, somewhere where not every camera could capture me but ended up right in the middle of the scene.
I tried to ignore it, which didn't work, and then I had to get out for a few minutes and that was the reason Camille and I broke up. Not that I loved her, we just got along well. Still do. There were no deep feelings involved, which allows us to still talk to each other maturely.
I hate that Jimin is looking over my shoulder waiting for me to look at my own pictures. I don't even know which ones are inside, but I appreciate that they put the Korean version of my name on the cover after asking me which version I feel most comfortable with.
I keep turning the pages until the first picture of me is sitting tall on the page and Jimin hums. "You actually picked a picture of you smiling." he laughs.
"I didn't pick them," I clarify, continuing to turn the pages.
"Then who was it?" he asks curiously as he walks back to the chair on the other side of the table.
"Ms. Carlson," I reply, closing the magazine after only glancing at it.
"Mikayla, huh?" he purses his lips as if holding back from smiling.
Jimin has always addressed our employees by their first names because he thinks it forms a warmer atmosphere with them and it leads to building trust in the company. I agree, but I prefer some distance.
"Yes." I nod and stare at my inbox of remaining unread emails until I feel Jimin's eyes still on me. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I mean, I'm just a little surprised," he says and I raise my eyebrows, quietly asking him to elaborate. "You never let anyone choose anything for you."
"That's not true," I say, but before the conversation can expand further, there's a knock on my door. "Come in."
Ms. Carlson's head peeks in before she opens the door further but still stands on the threshold. "Am I interrupting? I have some papers here that need to be signed."
"No, you can come in," I say and she nods before walking over to my desk.
Her red-painted lips curve up into a smile as she quickly places the paperwork on my desk. And a red coffee cup.
"Oh, is that the new copy of Vogue?" she asks as she sees the magazine lying on the table. I clear my throat as she takes it in her hand and starts flipping through it. Her smile widens with each page she sees. "You did a good job, Mr. Jeon."
I look back at my laptop. "I tried," I mutter.
Can I just burn the magazine so we can stop talking about this all the time?
"By the way, I brought you coffee because I thought you might need it. You've been in here for hours," she says as she points to the cup she put there earlier. "I didn't know how you liked it, so..."
"Just a little low-fat milk," I comment as I stare at the cup and realize that last week before the Vogue meeting, there was a cup of coffee just like that set down on my table that I found when I came out from another meeting. "Were you the one who brought me coffee last time?"
She seems proud because she made the coffee just the way I like it. "Yes. I hope it wasn't cold when you got back."
"It wasn't," I say, bringing the cup to my lips and slowly taking a sip from it. "But next time you knock and find I'm not here, don't come in."
Before I lower my gaze back to the laptop I see her smile drop. I hear her apologize to which I nod my head. I start signing the paperwork because she is clearly waiting for it and then hand it to her.
"Is there anything else?" I ask her and she shakes her head. When I look up at her, she's already smiling again as if I hadn't just indirectly pointed out a mistake. Is there actually anything that keeps her from smiling?
"I'll be a phone call away if you need me, Mr. Jeon," she announces, and I nod before she turns and leaves my office.
After the door clicks, Jimin turns to me. "How long is Mikayla going to keep doing these things for you? She's not a secretary," he states matter-of-factly.
"I keep interviewing applicants, but none of them are qualified enough," I sigh. It's not that I want to keep anyone from the creative team, but it's not like I have a choice either. I need someone to get this all done. "She hasn't done a bad job so far."
"She is doing a good job." Jimin corrects. "But you're being a dick to her."
I raise my eyebrow. "I treat her like a boss should treat an employee. I don't see anything wrong with that."
"Whatever."
I continue to type, feeling Jimin's eyes on me."What is it?" I ask after a few minutes when I realize he's not going to leave to let me work in peace.
"You're so salty the last few days," he notes as he watches me. "By the way, I watched your 73 questions with blah blah thing."
"And?" I ask, lifting the cup of warm coffee to my lips.
"You had a boner in the first half," he informs me nonchalantly, and I almost choke on the coffee.
"No, I didn't," I deny, a little heat running up my face.
"Yes you did." he laughs teasingly. " It was looking right at the camera and you were trying so hard to hide it."
I set the cup down on my desk, maybe with more force than I should, and a little trickles out. "Well, I'm a man and it's not like I have control over something like that. It can happen at any time."
I mean, yeah, it was kind of embarrassing that it happened, but I don't think anyone noticed. It's clear that Jimin always sees things like that. And he loves to tease me about it.
"Yeah, sure." he leans forward.
"What are you trying to say?" I ask, now leaning back against my chair.
"I'm just worried about my friend. All I see you doing is working and you should have some fun." he sighs. "Go out, date someone. You haven't been with anyone since Camille."
"I'm perfectly fine on my own." I end the conversation by turning back to my emails, ignoring Jimin's renewed sigh. "I'd like to get back to work now, thank you."
He groans, throwing his head back and muttering something under his breath. Then he laughs and stands up, now running to the door. "Go get some good pussy, Jeon."
And with that, he closes the door behind him.
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I finish work a little early today, close my laptop and reach for my blazer that I had hung on the hanger to my right. Grabbing my leather work bag, I head for the door, making sure to close it.
Walking down the hall I realize how many of the employees are still here, but considering it's just after four in the afternoon, it's normal. Everyone is chatting with each other and I can see through the glass windows that some meeting rooms are full.
I walk past a group that greets me and I nod back before walking past them and on to the elevators. On the way, Ms. Carlson runs into me.
"Mr. Jeon, are you leaving?" she asks and I nod. "Do you want me to give you the report or?"
"It's fine. Let me see it in the morning." I say and she smiles at me. I stare at her to see if she has anything else to say, but she stares right back at me. I lower my eyes and then walk past her.
Since I'm out of work a little early today, traffic isn't as busy as usual and I make it back home in half an hour. I let the electric gate to my underground garage open and park my car.
As soon as I open the front door my dog Bam runs towards me barking and that brings a smile to my face. He storms me and tries to jump on me while I am trying to step into the house. I drop my bag and pet him.
I feel guilty sometimes and it feels like I'm neglecting Bam because of my stressful work. But I always make sure that during the times I am not home someone is watching him, taking him for walks, and giving him food.
He is a Doberman and even though he is already grown up he loves to be played with just like when he was a puppy. I spend most of my free time with him and he is a good friend to me in this otherwise empty, big house.
Bam and I make our way further into the house and up the stairs, where I change in the bedroom and wash my hands in the ensuing bathroom before sprinting back down the stairs.
I'm a little hungry because I haven't eaten lunch, so I decide to cook myself something satiating. Bam comes next to me and keeps me company, so I reward him with a piece of meat.
After I finish eating, I play with Bam, brush his teeth and take him to his house to spend the night there. When I lay down in bed after my shower, I stare up at the ceiling.
And it's not long before I'm awakened for the next day by my four-thirty alarm clock to repeat everything.
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A/N: Bam is so cute, I love him😭