It had already been a long day. They had opened the party at noon but of course they had been at the venue from around 8:00 a.m. onwards to supervize the final set-ups and organisational parts of their charity event. And even if they were heading closer and closer to midnight already, there had still been a lot of guests to take care of. MC had really proven to be a worthy member of the RFA and on top of that she had turned out to be one hell of a guest coordinator. So many people had showed up because of her hard work and it was simply amazing that she had rocked her new position even given the fact that she was a complete newbie to the organisation, did not have a proper introduction into the history and structure of the RFA, nor a traineeship in event coordination and only around seven days of time for perparing the guest coordination. MC had been a jackpot and this showed ever so clearly whenever the guests talked about the lovely correspondence they had with her and that it had been a shame that she was not able to attend herself. And Zen, Jaehee, Yoosung and Jumin could not agree more. It was indeed a shame that MC and Saeyoung were not there with them. But on top of that it was unsettling. They all had constantly been worried about their two friends. Throughout the entire party none of them had switched their phones to silent mode. And none of them was able to not check said phones every other minute.
„I hope they are ok...", Zen thought to himself while putting on his best attention-face for one of the guests who went on and on about the fabric he was going to use for the main piece of his upcoming winter fashion collection. Zen's acting skills sure came in handy in this situation as he had put a lot of effort and work into keeping the guests entertained and happy throughout the day, as he had in a way become MC's surrogate by holding the opening speech. Zen felt responsible for the guests and so he had basically talked to each and everyone at least three times that day, just to make them feel appreciated and welcome. On top of his acting skills he could of course also rely on his good looks and natural charm in this regard. Especially with the ladies. However, Zen had difficulties to really focus on the conversations he had with the party guests, which was not really surprising as he was extremely exhausted due to a lack of sleep, his heavy thoughts about MC's and Saeyoung's whereabouts, his frustration over V's behaviour and moreover his constant worries about Jumin. The guests might not have been able to see it, but Jumin had not been his usual self the entire day. He still behaved like the confident and charming businessman that he was and managed to use his words so wisely that he twisted the guests he talked to around his little finger like it was the easiest thing to do. But if you knew him well enough you could tell that he had difficulties pulling himself together, a condition Jumin desperately had tried to drown in more and more wine.
Zen had observed Jumin for almost the entire day and with every glass of wine Jumin had emptied throughout the afternoon Zen had become more and more concerned. Jumin had drunk so much that Zen had already stopped counting the glasses. Had it been ten? Twelve? Or even 15? He couldn't tell. „How could Jumin still form somewhat comprehensible sentences let alone stand straight?", Zen wondered to himself which made him both impressed and alarmed at the same time. Zen himself had decided not to drink anything alocoholic during the party as he wanted to stay sober for being able to help close the party and clean up afterwards. But being sober was not really helpful with regard to how Jumin behaved. In fact, Zen's only relief had been Jaehee who of course did not fail to notice Jumin's condition and had thus started monitoring her boss as good as she could after he had finished his fifth glass of wine. Jaehee discreetly had tried to keep Jumin from drinking more and asked him to try to shuffle of his sorrrows at least for today as they and especially MC had all worked so hard for the party. She even told him that his reasonable and cool way of behaving was essential to the successful outcome of their charity event, which is why the RFA needed him to pull himself together. However, Jumin had never been know for being a person who lets other people tell him what to do especially not his secretary. Thus, the later it got and the more wine Jumin had, the harder and harder it became for Jaehee to keep Jumin in check.
It was true. Jumin had still been able to form comprehensible sentences but it had been the most basic sentences known to the human language and the fact that he was still standing straight was on the one hand impressive but on the other it was just a sign that he simply wasn't able to walk properly anymore and thus had decided to just not move at all. He was on the edge of his phyiscal abilities to pass as a sober person. Therefore Jaehee had decided to not leave her boss's side anymore as she was too nervous that he would do something that could seriously damage his and the RFA's image.
But then it happened. One of the guests Jaehee and Jumin had been talking to asked them about the photographer whose pictures had been put up for auction at the last party organized by the RFA. This was when something in Jumin's brain snapped and he bursted out into loud and uncontrollable laughter. And while the guest who had asked the question couldn't stop staring at Jumin with severe confusion Jumin had also managed to caught the attention of every single person that still had been in the room. Jaehee was speechless and for the first time that day even she did not know what to do. She quickly glanced at Yoosung and Zen which made both of them come to the rescue. Zen quickly moved onto the stage and Yoosung advised the lighting crew to dim the light in the room and put a spotlight on Zen. No sooner said then done!
„Ladies and gentlemen may I have your attention please!" And it worked. Even if Jumin was still laughing the guests now had their eyes on Zen only. Jaehee and Yoosung took this chance to lead Jumin out of the hall and into one of the staff rooms next to it. They could still hear Zen talking to the guests: „It had been an amazing event so far and we would like to thank you again for your attendance. It is your effort and your generosity that we celebrated here today. We cannot thank you enough! However, as they say, at some point all good things come to an end. And so does this event as well. Our donation booths will close in twenty minutes. We hope you enjoyed your time with us. Thank you so much for coming and have a safe trip home!" Everyone clappped and cheered for Zen and only half an hour later Jaehee and Zen had begun seeing off the guests at the entrance of the venue.
Yoosung meanwhile had been the one taking care of Jumin who had finally calmed down by sipping on yet another glass of wine which Yoosung had not be able to deny the C&R company heir. Jaehee was so close to lose her temper when she and Zen came back to the staff room and saw Jumin drinking again. You could tell by the look on her face that she desperately wanted to scream at Jumin but in the end he still was her boss and she knew that she could risk her position by scolding him. Yoosung felt guilty for not having been able to keep Jumin from drinking even more.
„Jaehee... I... I am sorry, I just wasn't...", Yoosung started but Jaehee interupted him.
„No, don't worry. This is not your fault. You did your best. I know that. However, we need to get him home now otherwise it will probably get worse."
„You know I can heaaaar you, Assis... Assistant Kang!", Jumin said his voice sluring, which was a sound neither Yoosung nor Zen had ever expected to hear from Jumin. Like never. Jaehee acted as if she didn't hear Jumin and continued.
„Unfortunately his driver had to go back home already. Family issues. It was really short notice so I did not manage to organize a replacement. I would rather not put him in a taxi. He will need someone to help him once he is home. Not just help I guess... supervision as well. To keep him from drinking more and so forth."
While Zen listened to Jaehee he started feeling very sorry for her. He knew that she would suggest going with Jumin herself as she was a really responsible person and when it came to Jumin she was also the most loyal and perfect employee as well. But looking at Jumin and how he behaved right now Zen could not just let Jaehee take care of him herself. Jumin probably would be a big asshole towards her if she were to go with him and Zen did not want anything like that for her. The same went for Yoosung who was to young and to little of a match to Jumin to really be able to stand an emotional chance against him.
„I'll go.", Zen interrupted Jaehee which led both Jaehee and Yoosung look at him slack-jawed.
„Don't worry. I'll go. Plus I didn't have any drinks so I can also drive him in his own car. Just tell me where to go." Jaehee was speechless as she could not believe that Zen, who was well known for not really getting along with Jumin, suggested to go take care of him now. However, she was also happy and relieved that she would not have to go instead, as she knew that this would probably not have ended well for her. She explained to Zen how to get to Jumin's apartment, where to park and how to open the highly secured door. On top of that she gave him some allergy medicine that she always carried around in case someone would react to the insignificantly little amount of cat hair Jumin carried around on his clothes. Jaehee assured Zen though that being in Jumin's apartment would probably not be a problem allergy-wise as Jumin's housekeeper really did a good job at keeping everything almost clinically clean.
When everything was set and they had finally managed to put Jumin on the backseat of his car, Jaehee took Zen to the side one last time.
„Jaehee, don't worry. Everything is gonna be ok We're talking about Jumin here. I will...", and without even being able to finish his sentence Jaehee suddendly hugged Zen tightly. Zen, even though surprised, returned the hug when he heard Jaehee quietly say „Thank you". Zen could not help but smile softly at Jaehee's reaction. Moreover it was this exact reaction that also helped Zen calm down again for although he had told Jaehee that everything was going to be ok, he himself had not been entirely sure about this.
