THE MANAGER NIM

44. OCEAN OF LOVE AND LUST

The slow yet soothing music seeping out of those giant cellos and royal piano continues to enchant the gathered crowd in the chamber. The flowy gowns of ladies smoothly glide over the dance floor as they elegantly move along with the music and their men. Despite their faces concealed behind those masks, you can see how serenely they are swaying with their respective partners, unlike you whose body is protesting to let go of the stiffness caused by anxiety, let alone dancing.

Though you grew up in the house of women who danced, your straight as a pen hip strongly objected to the idea of being flexible and precluded you from mastering the art of dancing and it eventually got added to the list of hopeless things that you could never learn in this life, along with math.

"Yaa Gomah, I feel like I'm dancing with a life-size standee, loosen up your muscles a bit. Can you?" Jungkook's whisper overlaps the soft music playing in the background and glides into your ears.

"I'm trying my best okay, don't judge me." You spat back as irritation starts to bubble up in your throat.

"Huh, I wonder! How can someone be this dumb?" he turns around with you in his hold as the tune drops.

"Yeah, says the child prodigy who scored three out of a hundred in his English test." You say in a mocking tone, sarcasm brimming in your words.

"Don't you dare to drag my scores into this conversation, if you don't want me to crush your waist bones!" his hold around your waist tightens, proving his threat.

But instead of terror, it drives a new breed of butterflies to hatch in your stomach.

To his dismay, you continue to struggle in silence instead of striking back with an irksome counter.

"For your information, this hall is filled with various potential lads in their prime age. So, how about we continue the process of finding your hidden soulmate Pokémon in this crowd?" This time he starts the conversation.

"I thought this night is not about my rule, but yours."

"It is, but why should we waste such a golden chance?" his masked face halts upon yours.

"Are you that eager to get rid of me Mr Jeon, that you won't even miss a single chance that comes in your way? I know you hate me like anything, but I don't know why it stings every time you make it so obvious." Your voice sounds monotone, laced with discreet pain.

The ache drives you to voice out the things that you wanted to conceal in the pit of your heart.

The ache was caused by your deluded self, which misinterpreted that he was jealous about your relationship with Joe when he was actually trying to find the potential bond between you and Joe to set you guys up in a relationship.

You can feel his unwavering gaze planted at your face, down his chin, but you continue to stare at those buttons struggling to keep both the end of his shirt fastened, expecting a mocking comment which might sabotage your soul even more.

But to your surprise, his slender index finger slides under your chin and lifts your face, making you face his unswerving gaze.

"The sooner you step out of my life, the better your life is gonna be", he says in a sober tone, without a trace of mischief or mockery.

His words seem simple, but your instinct says, there are a thousand concealed things that your brain can't decode without his help. More than a statement, it seems like a heads-up he is giving you to safeguard yourself from something worse coming in your way.

Your eyes try to peer into those veiled expressions beneath that mask, but only his hypnotic eyes are visible enough to distract you from your actual intention.