Bond Made in Hell || A TAEJIN STORY || Arranged Marriage

16

Jin

I stare dumbfounded at the empty pen-stand, my brain going a million miles a minute and my heart beating fast under my chest. Where the hell has that audio recorder gone?

I look wildly around the room. No other pen-stands present that I could have confused this one with. Not a single one in sight. It was definitely this one I put it in.

And it's just gone. Disappeared into thin air. Missing. Vanished. Vamoosed.

I turn to Jungkook, who's reappeared at the door with Namjoon at his heels. He's dictating orders to him already, Namjoon nodding intelligently at his every word. 'Uh...Mr Jeon?' I don't think addressing him as Jungkook in front of a subordinate would be too professional.

'Yes, Seokjin?' The two of them look at me. I stare back, not exactly knowing what to say.

'Uh..' I stutter, my words failing me miserably, 'Uh..the meeting...Mr Kim?'

'Yes?'

'Well, uh, I was wondering if...if someone else came into the room when you had the meeting.'

Jungkook scrunches up his forehead, then shakes his head. 'No, I don't think so. We were alone for the entire half-hour. You can rest assured, Seokjin, the conversation was strictly private.'

'Uh...' he's not getting the point! And how can I possibly ask him in plain words? How can I ask him where an audio recorder I had slipped into the room where a private conversation was taking place is gone? 'Uh..okay, then. Thanks.'

I feel Jungkook staring at my back for a moment as I turn away, my fingers still fumbling with the damn pen stand. A sudden chill strikes me in my heart. What if Jungkook found the audio recorder and took it? What if he saw me slipping it into the pen stand when I thought no one was looking?

Of course he did it. He was the only one who could have done it.

I feel so terribly embarrassed. Guilty. He's not showing it, but I'm sure he's disgusted at me.

I can almost feel, hear, know the thoughts going in his brain: how could you do this, Seokjin? Did you really think you could spy on me like this? How can you be so unethical? You do have a right to know about what your husband said to me but is this the way to handle things when you are unable to exercise that right? I am so disappointed in you.

I feel horrible. I get away from the table and run towards the door, my face flaming. Jungkook puts out a hand and stops me, looking surprised. 

He's feigning it. I can see it in his face.

'Where you going, Seokjin?'

'Nowhere,' I can barely look at him as I say the words. I feel his and Namjoon's concerned stares on the side of my head. 'Just...uh...bathroom. I'll be back in a moment.'

I run out of the office without looking back and straight into the men's washroom. I lock myself into a stall and start tearing up. My first day at work, partnering with Jungkook, the gentleman of my dreams, and I've already proved myself a loser.

I hate myself.

.......

I manage to get through the day, somehow. Jungkook seems puzzled about why I'm acting so strange, but I know he's faking it. I guess he doesn't want me to feel worse than I'm already feeling.

How, how, how could I have been so stupid to have the idea of putting an audio recorder in the room secretly? Was that conversation really that important to me? I wish I could go back in time and just break that damn recorder into pieces.