「 do I look lonely? i see the shadows on my face 」
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Like hail on a glass pane, the drumming of Jeno's fingers were as relentless as it was loud. Each click of his freshly trimmed nails on the table echoed the tumultuous thudding of his heart beat. His face, rigid with tension, belied his youthfulness, making it seem as if he aged a decade in the past few hours.
As he flipped through the medical reports, he sighed, ruffling his hair. This was not what he had expected when he first started digging up on Mark Lee. He just wanted to have some dirt on that boy, but what he got now...damn.
He blew his cheeks out, reaching for his phone and lowering the screen of his laptop. His fingers typed a series of numbers he'd memorized for emergency's sake but never really called, and hit the dial button, then pressed the device to his ear, waiting for the person on the other side to pick up.
"It's 3 in the damn morning. Who the fuck?"
"Hey, Taeyong," Jeno breathed out. "It's Jeno. Can I cash in a favour?"
↺
"Mr Park, you're early."
All the reasons to just walk out and proceed with their initial deal came flooding into Chanyeol's brain, as if his body chemistry just sent them a blanket invitation.
He forced a close-lipped thin smile at the White Lady, then glanced at the blank-faced Seulgi standing behind her, heart sinking. Of course she'd be here. He's expected this. But why did his tongue suddenly feel so heavy-
"Things are going well, I hope. Have you minimally made plans yet?" the White Lady's gaze on him was steely, pointed, like an axe, but an easy smile graced her lips. "You don't have much time left afterall. Your time is running out."
Alarm bells rang in Chanyeol's head, but his placid expression did not falter. "I'm afraid the deal cannot be carried out further, Ms Kim."
For the first time since he sat down and she came in, Seulgi properly looked at him. A flicker of something the Park heir couldn't quite catch flashed in her obsidian orbs as she side-glanced her adoptive mother, then looked towards him.
For a whole bated breath second, the entire den was quiet. The noise of ongoing traffic outside being the only sound that filled the suspenseful silence.
"That's a pity, Mr Park."
The feigned disappointment twisted Chanyeol's stomach. She expected it. He honestly didn't know if he had the rights to even feel half as offended as he did. Perhaps what Seulgi had told him was true, his word meant nothing.
