Chapter 12

Akashi clears his throat upon feeling two keen eyes staring holes into his head. He shifts his eyes towards the elevator when he hears it opening, revealing a young waitress with a total of five menus in her hands.

As the young and fair maiden approached their table, she passed out the menus to their guests, and she could only hope they did not wait long enough. Asami nods her head, thanking the waitress before probing her eyes towards the unending list of different meals from different cuisines in the menu her hands held. She was busy searching over he son's favorite delicacies on the lists, causing what Akashi had said to slip out of her head.

The soft sound from the piano keys riffles and dances around the room, Asami's pair of eyes were fixated on the menu, unaware of the eyes of the man beside her that's glaring towards the person seated across them.

The poor young gentlemen had received a glare from his beloved father.

When Akashi sights his father's grim expression, he can already hear his father's harsh nagging once they'll be out of this restaurant for good. What a cruel world. He just suffered from jetlag yesterday, yet no one had warmly welcomed him at his own home, and now it seems that his family had held a grudge against him tonight.

Mrs. Saesang's warm greeting and praises from a while ago had filled that missing piece within him and from that moment on, he strongly approved with her from being a widow to being a part of their family.

With her and his adorable son around the house, it will give him enough motivation to return here to Korea on every holiday there is on the calendar. They both just might be the people he could rely on in the future upon stumbling across his family's horrible temper issues.

Akashi sighs as he nods his head back at his father. His oath to keep his mouth shut for the entire evening intensifies.

Thinking about that, he suddenly got chills as the memory from earlier replayed fresh in his mind. He shakes his head. He's sure their grandfather would be surprised as much as him if he were to witness his brother's unimaginable and oddest behavior at this time of the year.

Well, he'd never seen him so stiff and...nervous.

What are the odds? He didn't know Kai was capable of feeling flustered as he was more like a programmed bot from his lab. It's a refreshing sight to see.

At least he was able to prove his brother was able to feel normal human emotions.

Meanwhile, inside the elevator, as the cold air bounced around the dark metallic walls, the smell of both mint and disinfectant gratifies Jin's nostrils. He forced his eyes to open, but unlike the last second he had remembered before his head started throbbing, his vision wasn't as blurry as it was from the earlier incident.

Jin bats his lashes. The close-up view of an expensive cloth material he had only seen in dramas was the first one to greet his sight together with an unfamiliar manly fragrance that completely woke him up from his short yet deep sleep.

He had wondered why his head was blank when he passed out, yet he was thankful that he had opened his eyes before he'll be caught up again in another nightmare. Those short minutes were the best to happen to him in his lifetime. It was like feeling his body submerge into the water, the silence and darkness comforting him to sleep.

He had never felt so secure and safe in his life. Like when he wakes up, nothing could ever go wrong or go on his bad side. His frail body had the merit to the numbness he felt all over him. Soon enough, he was alarmed by the strong embrace he's starting to feel around his waist, squeezing, holding him firmly, and pushing his body against something hard.

He tried moving his head but failed to do so upon sensing a large and warm object sticking against the entire back of his head. He can feel his lifeless arms and feet slightly swaying from one side to another. The corner of his eyes enlarges in realization.

It turns out his body is not just pressed against something indestructible, he was also pulled and held high from the ground. The large person in front of him had carried him gently, arms tightly wrapped around him as if he was a child. When was the last time he remembered someone carrying him like this?

But that's not the crucial question right at this moment.

Where is he? Where is this person taking him?

*Ting*

Jin's ears perked up at what he heard as it was followed by the soft sound of elevator doors opening. He gasps and pushes away the person with force. When he placed his palms on the person's chest as he was eager to escape, he flinched when he felt how hard and warm it was against his cold palms, just like a heating pad.

Jin thought his arm doesn't have much strength to move, but eventually, his adrenaline helped him, though he can feel his elbows shaking.

He's panicking alright?

He can sense the unfamiliar surrounding around him. It was accurate of him to react this way. He froze when his curious eyes landed on the most expensive-looking materials trapped between his fingers.

A suit and a tie.

His eyes traveled from the man's muscular chest towards the scrunched tie around his neck. It had the same color as what he saw from the handkerchief that was offered to him from earlier before he blacked out. He gulps upon seeing how sharp the person's Adam's apple was as he watches it roll up and down.

From the looks of it, the man was clearly in good shape, ridiculously muscular than he had expected. If not, how could he have carried him so effortlessly? He knows he's heavy despite barely eating anything without his mother's eyes monitoring him.

Jin's shoulders somehow relaxed. It must be because of the adrenaline rushing in his body, he failed to notice his stomach was still hurting.

He quietly thanked God inside his head when the pain this time was only mild and since he's used to this level of suffering, he had learned to walk on his own two feet without anyone assisting him.

"I can walk on my own," Jin pauses when he hears himself sounding rude. The person barely hurt him, so the least he can do is to express his gratitude, "But, thank you for earlier," Jin's voice was meek and hoarse, more like saving him from making a fool out of himself.

He's too embarrassed to admit he passed out and because of that incident, he could no longer prove his masculinity in hopes he could intimidate his mother's lover.

He has to get back to his mother, who knows what that business magnate is plotting. They can't offer them a fortune, so what does he want with his mother?

He has yet to hear that man's answers to his questions.

In desperate and wanting to get back, the very moment Jin raises his head, one marvelous male-specie with a solid sexual appeal and refined physique greeted his eyes up close without warning. One second and two have passed Jin's lips naturally part as he was left off-guard. His docile eyes finally met his savior's two dark and cold ones, so cold like the thick glaciers nobody wants to touch in fear of dying from immense frostbite.

It's him.

A chill runs down Jin's spine when he remembers these mysterious and dark eyes that had stared into his soul back when he was in the elevator, these eyes that caught him off guard until now.

He found himself lost in words like his soul was trapped and held around the man's fingers. He was in awe of what he's seeing.

His raven black hair, perfectly trimmed and shaped eyebrows, his sharp and refined jawlines, thin lips, and pointed chiseled nose that even the Greek God Apollo wishes not to compare himself to how tempting this man is.

"You..."

"You."

They both utter in unison, baffled with the same emotions they felt inside their chest.