❝ i delivered your message, ❞ he says, voice stable and more resounding. ren is part of this, however small of a part that is, and he intends to keep his focus. he will not falter, he will not sway, and yet under the man’s direct gaze, he cannot help but feel pulled apart. this man will kill me, he reminds himself. it doesn’t matter what he says, or what he promises. he knows everything about me. how long before he sees me as no more use to him. i can run shining! by the old man’s standards, but i don’t anything about joon-gi. i know nothing. he straightens his tie, looking as professional as ever, and attempts to casually push his bangs aside. does he appear more aloof than he really feels? eyes flicker back to the dark figure at the door, the same shadow that has now seeped into the very wood of the walls that keep shining! afloat in an ocean of boats along the rocky current of the red sea. joon-gi seems to part the waters, stepping through so easily that it seems effortless. maybe it is for him. ❝ he said he’s interested. he said he wants to hear what you have to offer him, and that he’s willing to consider it. after i relay back to him, he said he’ll respond in a week, but not through me. through ... someone else. or, something else. i’m not sure. maybe he’ll send you a letter. ❞
the last part is meant to sound as disingenious as it is. ren really has no idea how these things work past the shallow ground, feet planted firmly between the separations of the divide / of the deep vastness of a world he thinks he can enter within / without in his own leisure. he needs to learn, and he will.
❝ but i have questions, too. more pertinent to the direct running of things, not just to the money being made at the top. we bring in that money. how does that help us? will we see bigger cuts of this doubled profit margin, or not? will we get better drinks? better supplies? more boys to host? expansion is ... desired, but has remained stagnant. i want to know what progress looks like —— or is that too much to ask? ❞ / @mugunghwc