Payback: Reversal

2 - Fable of the Silent Son

"You're fucking late!"

A pissed-off, whining sound came out of the man standing with crossed arms and palpable irritation. The sunglasses perched on his face did not hide the scowl above the harsh black eyes.

Fortunately, it also couldn't hide the pretty visage of fair, well-treated skin and delicate features. What was lacking in height was definitely supplemented with flair, and the low voice sounded nice even while cursing.

At least, it made some eyes turn with masked and unmasked interest, if only to appreciate the man's beauty.

"Apologies, Young Master, there's an unexpected incident on the way, so the traffic—"

"Tsk!" the black eyes shot with piercing coldness as the man clicked his tongue. "You should've come here early in the first place! How useless!"

The driver bowed lower and kept apologizing profusely, although his eyes darted to observe the young man closely.

He's changed. The driver led the man into the waiting car, and opened the door with the excessive politeness of someone much lower in status. But his observing eyes betrayed his attempt in lowering himself. He's truly changed.

The man had never been designated to be the Young Master's driver before, but he heard the story. That the eldest son of the second wife was an upright, polite kid. There were times when the family driver came late to pick him up from school—either deliberately or not—yet the boy still thanked the driver with a polite smile rather than getting angry. It was to the point that the family drivers took their sweet time instead of coming to him swiftly.

A good kid, so polite and patient, the virtue of the upper class.

A pushover.

But that supposedly polite kid cursed at him for being ten minutes late. Of course, the young master was the one on the right—the driver should already be there at least an hour before the flight landing. But the driver was still influenced by the other driver's story about the pushover young master and arrived late because of dilly-dallying.

He remembered seeing the boy from afar before; a neat appearance without flaw, silky black hair combed in perfection. Now, sitting cross-legged in the back seat while grumbling, the young master's black hair had been painted blonde, and he wore expensive attire that came out of celebrity's catalog. His ears were adorned with piercings and a tattoo peeked out from his exposed collarbone.

Earlier that week, the man who had been the young master's attendant in the state came back to the mansion with a story of how the excellent, immaculate, pride-of-the-family young master had changed tremendously.

And now, the driver got to experience it firsthand.

What grief could do to even the best of man...

"Haa...fuck! You don't even prepare any refreshments? What kind of useless dirt do they send..." the young master continued his grumbling, and the driver just received it with a smile.

He was used to it. Getting shitted on daily was one of the job requirements for working for the rich anyway. If it came to it, Young Master Lee Yoohan was actually on the average scale. At least he was cursed at for reasonable excuses, like being late and failing to provide refreshments inside the car. The other young masters and young ladies would sometimes shit on the servants just because they didn't bow five degrees lower and would throw things around.

It just felt shocking because Lee Yoohan used to be reserved, reticent, and took everything quietly with patience, even the injustice from his own family members. How would the other staff perceive this, the driver wondered.