See, life comes with some unplanned pivotal points. They can be positive, but they can also be negative. From my humble experience, these points come in turn. You get one positive, and you get all so happy and cocky, thinking that you have it all, that there wouldn't be a time in which you'd lose life from your side. This happens because life knows how to give in abundance, be it good or bad; she's generous. So when you're on her good grace, you take it for granted. But then she reminds you at the least expected moments. She likes the element of surprise, this one. And then everything changes in a kind of domino effect. It falls and crumbles and collapses to make way for something new.

Or simply to make room for the debris left behind the wreckage.

In my case, the wreckage was so big that life decided there was no more room to rebuild. It was a violent earthquake. A natural disaster. And the cause was Kim Taehyung, who was also responsible for me being here in Jeon Jung-wo's office, Jungkook's father, who apparently had time to invest in someone who wouldn't bring him any profit.

"You wouldn't have spent a night there if I was in the country. You know me, Yoongi, I consider you like a son. I would never turn my back on you."

Big words coming from a big mouth. Big excuses. Big fucking lies. Everyone and their dog turned their backs on us when the earthquake happened. No one wants to be buried under the rubble, which is completely understandable, but also very selfish. Selfish because when the Power Pie is freshly baked and smells delicious, everyone wants a slice, but once you fuck up the ingredients, they forget how well you were at baking it.

I straightened my posture, leaned back against the comfortable leather couch and focused on the old man in front of me. His office still had that classic mahogany charm, although empty of clients, something that had changed in his life due to a pivotal point he had also experienced. The walnut shelves housed an entire legal encyclopedia. Dark green and royal blue hardcovers with gold lettering displayed their spines invitingly to the owner of the office and his visitors, but they still had an energy that kept inquiring hands away.

"Yet that's exactly what you did," I offered in a calm tenor that didn't expose the reality my of sentiment. Only God knows how far from calm I was these days, and only He knows how hard I was trying right fucking now not to show it. "You turned around and went about your business all right. I heard you're opening a hotel in Jeju. We're switching careers, aren't we, Jeon?"

The truth of the matter was that Jeon Jung-wo was one of the few who hadn't completely withdrawn from our lives after our bankruptcy. But I was lived, lived because he'd left me in that prison for three fucking months, which had forced Inaya to accept that job offer and become a model. He should have helped me after everything my father did for him. He should've been the one to bail me out, not Inaya. He may have lost his luster and credibility as a lawyer, but he still had enough money to start a new business. If he really wanted to help me, he could have. He just chose not to and was now eager to lose my valuable time with his empty pity sermon.

Not. Fucking. Interested.

Jung-Wo tensed up like a slut trying anal for the first time. He went pale, too, and I knew I'd hit a nerve. He hadn't expected me to stay in touch with the world because of my addiction and all that yada-yada. But joke's on him. I was a drunk, not stupid or, God forbid, deaf. His news flew straight to my ears and stayed there. He propped his elbows on the shiny surface of his desk and propped his chin on the bony knuckles of his hands, apparently looking for an excuse to salvage his case.

"You know I couldn't represent you even if I wanted to. It would only have made your case worse. There's no judge who wants to see my face in his court anymore. You have to understand, Yoongi, if I had known I could have done something for you, I would have done it in a heartbeat."

Apart from being angry, the old gaffer wasn't lying. Ever since the news of his corruption hit all the channels and all the news, he was ostracized by all the courts in South Korea. That was his pivotal point. It was unheard of for a lawyer to be accused of corruption. I mean, weren't they all corrupt, to begin with? Wasn't that common knowledge? But apparently, Uncle Jeon here seemed to have a knack for making it big on all fronts. He made it to the big lawyers' league in a matter of a few years by converting from a hotshot DA to lawyer at a prestigious law firm before he resigned from said firm and joined hands with my old man and took the position of lead legal advisor of P&M Holdings. He also lost everything on a similar grandeur when it became known that he had bribed judges and lawyers while he was still a prosecutor. This information led to further investigations, which showed that the bribery tendency wasn't limited to his early years in the field, but accompanied him throughout his long career. This was, of course, a scandal as big as the sun, as he was not the only one to go down, but many other judges and prosecutors did too, leading to the hatred that the legal field harbored against him.

They say all is fair in love and war. Granted, there was no love in old man Jeon's story, but the man wanted success, and that, in my books, is similar to war. This proverb should be extended to business. All is fair in love, war and business. Since I shared his drive for success, I didn't blame him for the means he took to get to where he once was; however, I did blame him for getting caught because he got caught when my father needed him the most. But then again, why would I blame the man when he had already lost everything? I knew better. I put all the blame on Kim Taehyung. If it wasn't for what he did to my sister and the way he filled her head with empty promises at the tender age of eighteen, she wouldn't have killed herself a week after she gave birth to his child.

If Kim Taehyung hadn't invaded our lives like a cancer, I wouldn't have comforted myself by being far away from home, climbing a mountain I had no business being on just to avoid looking into her tear-stained eyes and withering figure. And if it wasn't for everything Kim Taehyung had caused, my father wouldn't have had to take care of the company in his old age just to take the burden off my shoulders after the accident, and his biggest shareholder, Park, wouldn't have turned the board members against him and kicked us out.

"It doesn't matter now," I offered, my posture blazé and my voice chilling. I made a show of picking imaginary lint out of my jeans while looking down at my spread legs. "Jungkook said you wanted to talk to me about something. Do it. The talking part, not the useless excuses. I can't cash those."

"But maybe I do have something for you to cash after all." At this, my attention was piqued. I looked into his eyes, analyzing his sly grin and wrinkled face. Man, he was old. Ancient. But he hadn't lost any of his malign to the years. I gave him that. "Since you know I'm opening a hotel in Jeju, I'll get straight to business. You were a good manager before, Yoongi. I always told your father that you would take P&M to the next level. It's a shame you couldn't reach that level, but we're not here to wallow in the past." He sensed my growing curiosity and decided to ratchet up the tension, the bastard. He lit a cigarette and after taking a hearty drag that I was sure wasn't doctor-prescribed, he exhaled before continuing, "We're here to focus on the future. Our future."

I shifted in my seat and leaned forward as a frown marred my face, portraying the state of my dwindling patience. "Long description. Get to the point, old man. I've got things to do that don't include being here to solve your riddles."

He tsked. He actually tsked at me. The man who used to work for me tsked at me. What level of misery have I actually reached? I told you that life is full of pivotal points. Mine came with the loss of the power my name held. With the loss of reputation I had earned through my success and hard work. My fists clenched, but I held it in. My breaths somehow became audible, and I was sure it was because I wanted to lunge at him and remind him again of who I was. But I held it back. The anger. The humiliation. Because even I knew I wasn't the man who deserved the respect I'd been given before. Now, I was a drunk. A penniless drunk at that, who couldn't even protect his woman from an abusive boss. A drunk who pushed his woman to sacrifice herself to bail him out. An excuse of a man.

"Good things come with patience, Yoongi. I'm sure you know that. Now, back to business. I'm a man of the law. A lawyer. I have no idea how to run a business, which is why I want you to do it for me. What do you say?"

What do I say? I say that when a pivotal point occurs, and life decides it's the kind of negative that can't be salvaged, it gets worse. Aftershocks of the big earthquake. I found it funny, really. How consistent and inconsistent life is at the same time. But if you're a victim of an earthquake, you can't really be picky about the relocation provided. You should be happy that someone is offering you a new home at all. You might as well have been living on the streets after losing your house to the disaster. So I swallowed — literally — a big lump that was choking my throat, namely, my pride, and lit a cigarette. I let the smoke come out of my nose as I replayed his words in my head. I needed a house. I couldn't live on the streets because I wasn't alone anymore, my pride be damned. Inaya didn't care about her pride when she did everything she could to bail me out by sacrificing her dreams and taking a job that she knew would ruin her chances of becoming a civil engineer. Now, it was my turn to do something for her instead of just being a burden on her shoulders.

"You need a manager." It wasn't a question. I literally repeated his words to see how they sounded in my head. "What's in it for me?"

"A job, for starters," his voice sounded incredulous, as if he was asking me if I was in my right mind for asking such a question. I didn't blame him. I was in no position to negotiate, but if he came to me with this proposal, it meant he needed me, and the businessman in me couldn't overlook this detail — his vulnerability. He certainly had something for me, but I had something for him too — the help was mutual. No upper hand. "Money. The chance to give Inaya a comfortable life. What more could you want?"

Damn straight! There was nothing more to ask for. But like hell, there was. "I'm not moving to Jeju. My life is here, and so is Inaya's. That's my condition. Take it or leave it." My voice was determined. Conclusive.

"I didn't say you were going to move to Jeju. But you'll have to go there twice a week to show your face. The rest can be conducted from here." He opened a drawer, from which he pulled out a file the size of the moon. This man needed someone to explain to him the importance of digitizing files. That someone wasn't going to be me, though. He handed me the folder and said: "Here, go through this—sober —and tell me which points we should work on. And before you ask, because I know you well enough to know that you'd ask, the profit is thirty-seventy. Non-negotiable. Take it or leave it."

The way he hurled my words back at me unnerved me, but I held back. Why? Because I was sitting in the rubble of the earthquake that had shaken my life, and he was the rescue team. I'll take the thirty percent and pay for the breach of contract Inaya had signed with the modeling agency. I'll take the thirty percent and enroll her in the Harvard Masterclass she's always dreamed of. I'll make sure that when she comes back, she has a chance to launch her dream career, even if it means stealing from old Jeon or his partners, or even bribing every engineering firm out there. Like I said, all's fair in love and war.

And in business.

I stood up and took the file. I stubbed out my cigarette before walking towards the door with a smile — a hopeful smile. "You got yourself an acting manager, Jeon. Expect my call soon."

There was a lightness to my steps as I walked to the bus stop. There was a pounding headache that was drilling holes in my temples, too, but I tried to survive it until I reached mine and Inaya's house. I knew its cause. I still hadn't had a drop of alcohol in my blood since yesterday. But that would soon change when I broke the news to her. As I thought about it, I realized that we would probably go through a wrangle before she would forgive me for what I had said, which is why I thought a drink would be necessary before I knocked on her door. It would keep me grounded, more patient, and she needed my patience. After all, I had no right to snap at her. Been there, done that and it was completely uncalled for and should not be repeated.

The forty-minute journey to Myeong-dong passed in a blur. A blur filled with dreams and hope. Dreams that had nothing to do with me for a change. This measly job offer wouldn't get me to where I had been in the past. But this job would definitely make her life — our lives —easier. This job would force me to quit drinking, which Inaya had asked me to do several times. This job would help her focus on her life instead of focusing on our next meal. This job would pay for my dad's medical bills, hell, it would help us get him a nurse so my mom could get some rest. Sure, I lost the last of my pride by accepting this job, but that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Those little promises that came with this job offer revived my dead smile. I grinned as I turned the corner of the street and stood in front of the house, only a cross separating me from the door. But the smile dropped as soon as my eyes fell on Inaya and the man hugging her in front of the open driver's side of his car. I couldn't see who the man was because he had his back to me, but not knowing who he was didn't lessen the blow I received at the sight.

Inaya was hugging a man who wasn't me, in front of the house she shared with me, the house where we nurtured memories, and forlorn smiles and a simple life. Inaya was hugged by a man who wasn't me after ghosting me and refusing to take my calls.

Inaya was slipping from my hands straight into someone else's.

I stood immobile, frozen, my fists clenched so tightly that the file I was holding crumbled. The blood rushed through my veins so fast I thought they were going to explode. My heartbeat matched the intensity of my headache, which now reached a level I couldn't tolerate. Cold and hot sweat broke down my limp body and I knew at that moment that death is such a peaceful state of affairs.

And fuck, when the man finally broke free of the embrace and turned to get into his vehicle, the blood in my body froze completely, as did my ragged breaths. Something akin to death but minus the peaceful part. I was burned alive. The worst type of death.

Park Jimin?

***UNEDITED***

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