Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Chapter 10: Destructive
Onew is sitting behind his glass table, resting his head at the back of his tall leather chair. His desktop is right in front of him, left on, with his work neglected. He really wants to do his work, to finish it as soon as possible, but her sister presence distract him. She never comes to his office unless there is something very important. And yet, it is very important, that he can leave his work to move his attention into this matter. Luckily, Taeyon is together with him to listen to his sister.
“Is he really that different?” asks Onew after he listens to her story. When he heard it just now, his life is almost gone, as the effect of fear dominates him. His heart almost stops, but somehow he managed to calm himself. Emma comes with news that he wants to hear the least, or he doesn’t want to listen at all. It is regarding Minho, and that is what he terrified the most, when his sister notices something wrong with Minho.
“Yes, he is different. I’m sad. I cannot sense any love from him anymore,” whines Emma. Onew sighs when he hears that. Lately, her sister is just too much. She behaves not like herself anymore. Onew feels the burden, but he doesn’t want the condition to get any worse. Key had said before that Emma may have self-destructive behaviour, and the effect, indeed, takes place. Emma is demanding too high sometimes. He feels like scolding her, but she is his only sister.
“Maybe it is just your feeling,” Onew says, trying to soothe her. He looks at her with his tired eyes, hoping that she will be considerate. He is hoping that they can talk about this private matter at home, not at this 40-storey office building. Yet, he is working and just came back from a meeting, hoping to finish reviewing the annual finance report. But, now she is here, and he has to give his attention to her.
“Maybe I’m too sensitive, but I’m very sure about it. It is not my feeling. The way he speaks, the way he looks at me, all different,” Emma is a little too desperate. She really wants back the real Minho.
“Emma...calm down...you and him are recovering. Maybe both of you needs time to get over the awkwardness,” Taeyon says, speaking on Onew’s behalf. She takes Emma’s hand into hers, and gives an assuring squeeze. Taeyon understands her feeling, as a girl, always wants love from her beloved. But, she agrees with Onew. She have the same thought as Onew, she have self-destruction of behaviour.
“The way you look into this matter as though it is as easy as a piece of cake, right? I know...nobody can understand my feeling,” Emma whimpers. Taeyon looks at Onew, who looks down on his table while massaging his temple. A few seconds later, he looks up at her.
“I’ll talk to Minho tomorrow okay?” Onew tries to say as gentle as he can while actually he wants to explode with anger. He is tired, and now Emma is being emotional. That only leads Onew to anger, which he very seldom feels that way. He is not a person who easily burst with anger, but somehow Emma’s behaviour managed to change him. Maybe he is too tired. Emma is giving him a severe headache.
“And then?” Emma says, still demanding. Emma’s question is a bit constrained, but he treats it with full patience.
“I’ll try to talk to him. Okay? That is the best I can do for now,” Onew says. In fact, he wants to see Taemin in case there is something that can be improved. He also wants to see the psychologist Key to talk about Emma.
“Yeah...we’ll try to sort this thing out step by step okay? You only have to wait with bit patience,” says Taeyon. She realizes that Onew is already at the verge. He can explode anytime from now.
“Both of you talk that easy right? Just imagine Taeyon...Onew looks at you with no feeling of love. Won’t you feel sad? Disappointed? You’ll turn crazy! I’m very sure about that,” Emma says. She doesn’t want to sound rude, but she just desperate. She doesn’t want to lose Minho anymore. She knows how it feels; it is better for her to die.
“Emma! Watch out your words!” Onew finds her words a bit offensive, although Taeyon doesn’t show any reactions. Emma is not respecting his girlfriend; that is one thing. But, the most problem right now is she is not respecting the elder, and Onew knows he never teach Emma to be that rude. He knows Taeyon is shocked by her sister’s words, but somehow he knows that his beloved knows how to control the whole situation. She is the best Onew ever had, as girlfriend or as secretary.
“Fine! I would rather die than live without Minho’s love. I just want him back, okay! ‘Cause you don’t know how it feels when I knew I almost lose him a few weeks ago, and now I feel like losing him again,” Emma says while a single tear already stroking down her cheeks.
Onew flinches at the word ‘die’. He doesn’t want to hear that. He almost died himself when he knows that Emma attempted suicide. He is in dilemma. He doesn’t want to hurt anybody’s feeling right now, either Emma or Taeyon, but Emma is just too much.
“Emma...I’m sorry. Whatever it is, you still have me. Please...you’re my sister and I really love you,” Onew soothes down. He hopes that he doesn’t hurt Emma’s feeling too much. His sister is still recovering from her trauma.
“Yes! Whatever happens I will still have you! Because you’re my brother! But, will you be able to give me your attention?! Will you be able to love me as Minho does?! No! Obviously not! ‘Cause all this while you’re busy with your work! Only your work!” Emma says with a very high-pitch voice, only contribute more to Onew’s headache. Onew is shocked by her sister’s words. He knows he should be blame for this.
“Emma...listen here. I’m really sorry. I just-” Onew says but he is interrupted.
“No! It’s okay...I’ll leave. You have work to do, right? It is more important, I know. I’ll deal with Minho myself. I’m really sorry for disturbing you here. I shouldn’t come in the first place. And forgive me for my rudeness,” Emma says after she gets up from her chair. She bows politely, although Onew can see dissatisfaction through her face. Onew starts to feel guilty seeing his sister leaving. He is afraid that her sister will do something out of sane again.
“Emma! Wait! I-arghh!” the moment he suddenly stands up on his feet to call after his sister, who no longer in the room, a sharp acute pain stabs his head. It is as though someone hits him really hard with a hammer or anything hard. He clutches his head and closes his eyes, unable to stand the pain. He almost passes out, if it is not because of Taeyon that realises his change.
“Onew! Oh my God!” Taeyon quickly grabs him by his arm, and helps him to a nearby couch that always is his meeting place with his business partner. Onew sits down immediately after he reaches the couch. He is still holding his head with his eyes shut. He leans against the couch and sighs, a bit panting because of the pain.
“Onew...are you okay? Answer me, please...” Taeyon’s voice sounds very worry, and to calm her down he just nods, with his another hand giving her an assuring squeeze.
“You shouldn’t be too hard on her. She is still traumatized by the situation, and you’re tired yourself. Look what happen now. You frightened me,” Taeyon says.
“I’m alright. Maybe...yeah, I’m a bit tired,” says Onew, while massaging his temple.
“Let me help,” Taeyon says, removing Onew’s hand. She defiantly massages Onew’s temple, hoping that she is able to ease the pain. It works. Onew feels a lot better. After a while, he slowly opens his eyes.
“You okay, now? Better?” Taeyon asks. Her eyes show a lot of concern there.
“Thanks,” Onew nods and thanks his girlfriend for helping.
“Wait here. I’ll get water for you,” Taeyon says and walks towards a cabinet in Onew’s office room. Onew watches her silently, taking a bottle of mineral water from a box, which is always there in case the guest is thirsty during meeting. She walks back to him, opens the cap for him and gives him the water.
“Thanks,” Onew says again and takes the bottle from Taeyon. He drinks the water, and he gets better. Then, she takes back the bottle and recaps it.
“Let’s go home. You need a rest. I’ll drive you home,” says Taeyon with care. Onew looks at her, and she really understands the look. She smiles.
“I’ll call Jonghyun, Key and Taemin to our house to discuss this. Also the ‘feelingless’ Minho. We’ll try to fix him with the help of the three whiz kids. Don’t worry. And about the annual finance report, you can leave it to me,” Taeyon says. She is really helping. Taeyon is very responsible as a girlfriend and as a secretary. Onew feels grateful. He nods.
Taeyon helps him to stand on his feet, and he takes time to avoid the dizziness. She then guides him to walk, in case if Onew suddenly faints. She informs another officer that they are going home, because Onew is not well. The officer nods, wondering what actually happened because he saw Onew’s sister stormed out from the room just now. But, anyway, Taeyon keeps everything under control.
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Taemin quickens his steps towards the given address. He was just out of his class in university when he received a phone call from a girl. He was been told that she is Onew’s secretary and she needed him. She gave him the address of Onew’s house and is needed as soon as possible. She told him it is about Minho the robot, and that made Taemin jumped on his feet. Was there anything bad happen? He is scared. Minho is his first prototype and Taemin has the urge to make it perfect because this is the ‘take-off value’ for his next prototype.
He rushed from university to the nearest subway station to catch the tube, and now his is right in front of the house, panting hard to catch his breath. He looks at huge house. Is this where Onew live? He is expecting this, since he knows that Onew is the heir of the one of the best entrepreneurs in Korea, and now he is the owner of the company after his parent’s death. He expects all this; big house, many cars and everything. The only thing is that Onew seems to be a nice person and is very low-profile.
He presses the bell and waits for a few seconds. Then, the gate is opened by itself. Without further instruction, Taemin goes in, very sure that the guard is already been informed about his arrival. He walks to the main door and steps inside since it is already opened. A maid greets him with smile and good words.
“Good evening...err...Mr. Lee Taemin?” she asks. Taemin smiles. He has never been respected like that. This is the first time stranger gives respect to him, while all this while he is only an immature child and a weirdo for most of people he met. He is happy.
“Yeah...I am Taemin,” he gladly introduces himself and politely bows to the middle age woman.
“Master told me about you. He is waiting with the others in the first living room,” says the maid. Taemin brows come to a knit. Others?
“Others?” he asks. The maid nods.
“Yes...all humble and good-looking youngsters. I’m glad that Mr. Lee Onew makes some friends because all this while he is too busy with work that his friends are only his late father’s business partners. I am happy at least he makes good friends,” says the maid while leading the way. Taemin scratches his head. He never knows that a lovable person like Onew doesn’t really have his own friend before.
“Huh? Why is that so?” asks Taemin, curious to know. He does not mean to know others private life, but Onew is too good that it is impossible for him to do not have friends.
“Well...when the old master died, Onew was really young at that time, freshly graduated from high school. The company were left by his parents and he needed to overtake it, afraid that the company will fall. He forced himself to study very hard and helped his father to run the company, and to take care of his beloved sister. He worked really hard, until now, barely have time for himself. That is why, his friends is only his father’s business partner. I’m glad that now he has some really good friends. Ah...we’re here,” the maid tells Taemin a little bit of the history of Onew and he doesn’t even realise that he is already there.
“They’re waiting inside. Just open the door and go inside,” says the maid, and he pats Taemin’s shoulder with a very motherly love. Taemin looks at her until she is out of sight before he opens the door.
The moment he walks in, he can see his beloved senior and also brother, Jonghyun, is sitting on the single-seat couch. He looks as tired as ever, but still giving his sweetest smile to him. On the two-seat couch, there is Onew and a girl that he immediately knows that she is Onew’s girlfriend, since they had met at the hospital before. But, he doesn’t have any idea that the girl is also Onew’s secretary. Taemin looks at Onew, and he could tell that Onew is not well. Based on the pallor of his skin, Taemin immediately knows that he is sick. On the other side, Key is sitting on the three-seat couch, with his girlfriend, Amber. Another seat is empty and he walks to the seat. He sits down as far as possible from Key and Amber, afraid that he will only disturb their relationship.
“What is the matter?” he asks immediately.
“We have a little problem with the robot,” says Key. Taemin turns pale as well. He cannot accept the fact that he is failing in his first try.
“Why? Is it not working?” asks Taemin. He feels scared that he actually ruins all, including Emma.
“No, Taemin. Relax. It is not that okay. We just need to adjust something. We need to upload more information into the microchip. Minho is lack of feeling,” says Jonghyun, to the boy. He knows Taemin very well, and thus he knows that the boy is really worried when this happened.
“And I’m willing to help. Amber and I are willing to help,” says Key. Amber nods.
“You don’t need to be too upset and feeling down because of this. We’re here to help,” says Amber then. The girl is quite boyish, despite her cute face. Anyhow, Taemin finds that she is very suitable for Key.
“Yeah...I’m sorry. Emma is a bit sensitive lately that she sometimes demanding too high. I’m sorry if this happens to be a trouble for all of you,” says Onew while massaging his temple. Taeyon pats his shoulder and calm him down. Onew does look very sick. Maybe his sister is really giving him a hard time, the other guess that.
“Onew, what happened to you? You look very sick. Are you okay?” asks Taemin. The others look at him. They already know the full story, which they already talked about that before Taemin came.
“It just that...I’m a bit tired...and my sister is a bit too demanding. I’m alright though,” says Onew while smiling.
“I told you before right that she might have self-destructive behaviour. You have to be patient with her. She will be a little bit too sensitive this time, but she’ll turn to her normal self by time. You don’t have to worry. But, please don’t be too hard on her. I’m afraid that she might commit suicide one more time,” Key says, with much concern.
“Yeah...I think so...My bad,” says Onew.
“She just too traumatized by that. You should just give her some times Onew. I know it is hard to see your sister change, but she doesn’t mean to change. She needs some love,” Amber says. Jonghyun looks at the girl beside Key. Slightly boyish, but Key is lucky enough to get such an understanding girlfriend as mate.
“I agree with her, Onew. I don’t want to blame anybody, but maybe she is lack of love. You know, your parents died at such young age and at that time she was still too young. You were then been busy with study and work to hold on the company. I know the feeling. I’ve gone through such things before, just in the other way,” says Jonghyun. That makes Key look down on the floor, with guilt. Taemin and Jonghyun immediately notice Key’s change.
“Key...it is not your fault,” Jonghyun says, able to read Key’s mind. He knows his little brother keeps blaming himself. Onew remembers the story, and he feels guilty too, for being ignorance towards her sister all this while.
“I’m...sorry...” Key says while Amber patting his back. Jonghyun looks at him and smile, an assuring smile, telling him not to feel guilty.
“I’m now guilty towards my sister. Maybe that is why she is to depending on Minho. I should know how to divide equally between my sister and my work,” Onew sighs. Taeyon pats him then.
“You should try your best. I’m willing to help,” Taeyon says. Taemin can see that the whole thing is a burden to Onew. He decides that he should do his best too.
He takes out his laptop from his bag and switches it on. He starts to trace Minho’s coordinate this time. He knows how to call his robot immediately to his place.
“What are you doing Taemin?” asks Key, who is amazed by Taemin’s quick work. He looks at Taemin whose fingers are dancing vigorously on the keypad.
“I’m tracing Minho. I want to know his whereabouts and send a signal to his microchip for him to be at my house at 8,” says Taemin. The other nods.
“How fast...” Onew says while he is smiling, admiring the younger’s skill.
“How do you send the signal? Which system do you hack now Taemin?” Jonghyun asks the younger boy. He knows Taemin for so long already and he knows that Taemin has high ability to hack people’s line. He is really handy with technology.
“I hack into this Internet Provider system to get a signal from the satellite,” says Taemin while grinning. He knows it is wrong, but without other options, he has to do this.
“You’re the best in this,” Jonghyun says with a smirk. The others start to laugh when they hear that. Taemin is such a genius, but in a very wrong way. Just imagine, from inventing a robot similar to a still-live human to stealing people’s line, it is all a white-collar crime. But, somehow, Taemin managed to make it so noble that people see it in a very good way.
“I know it, right?” asks Taemin jokingly, making the entire living room filled with laughter.
“Sure it is...such a talent cannot be wasted. I promised I’ll help you to have a satellite of your own robots!” Onew jokes then. He is not joking actually, he is deadly serious. But, the way he says the word easily, and doesn’t put any hope into it, makes everybody laughs even more.
Taemin shakes his head after a long and bright laughter and continues with his work. He will call Minho home, and he will settle it with Key at his house. He just needs to upload extra information on emotion and human reaction. With Key’s assistance, he is sure everything will become as easy as a piece of cake.
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