Allurement: Friends

The next day came with a usual busy schedule but an unusually quiet Namjoon. (Y/N) could not help but steal subtle glances at him from time to time, he was engrossed in work, but she could tell that he was not quite himself. Namjoon was an almost indecipherable man, but she was learning to read him. The real him. The deepest, darkest of him- she had no choice but to learn to read him.

Perhaps it was her intuition, or perhaps her understanding of Namjoon, but she knew that there was something different about the tenderness he had shown her the previous night. Namjoon was tender with her, but there used to be something unpredictable and daunting about his tenderness ever since she came to know his true nature. But the previous night, she felt more like an anchor to him than the object of his affections.

He was mechanical in his tasks, not his creative self today. (Y/N) realised as she skimmed through the documents. But she dared not say anything, instead, edited them on her own.

.

.

“How is the blueprint coming up?” she could not help but ask as they packed away their files into the cabinets. It was time to go home.

“Fine, done with the SOW?”

“Yes.” she paused before continuing “I was considering if I am to attend the Board Meeting for this project as well?”

To her surprise, Namjoon nodded immediately- on a closer inspection, the far off look in his eyes never disappeared, if anything, it was more apparent than before.

Not able to contain her concerns, she placed a hand on his shoulder “You are not yourself today.”

Finally, Namjoon looked at her “I’m tired, Jagi.” and indeed he seemed so. He appeared more than tired.

(Y/N) nodded silently “Let’s go.”

Namjoon walked away in silence.

——–

“Did the company send a response to my mail?” (Y/N) asked Hana, her assistant while her fingers worked on typing.

Namjoon was, thankfully, not present in the office. He was at Mr Min’s cabin and had been there for hours. (Y/N) did not want her assistant to have any funny theories after all.

“Yes, Ma’am, a response via email was sent, I have printed it out, you can look through it and sign and stamp it.”

She hummed before dismissing the girl. The day was just as busy as any other, and on the surface, there was not much of a change in Namjoon, but (Y/N) just knew that beyond the surface there is a storm brewing.

She had been in constant touch with Jimin through the burner phone he had provided her, all that she needed was to make sure that the phone or any sign of suspicion stayed far away from Namjoon’s eyes. She did not even wish to imagine what step would he take if he ever got even a hunch about what was brewing within.

But more than Namjoon, she needed to be cautious regarding Min Yoongi- the man had eyes and ears everywhere. And if he even had a suspicion, she was as good as caught. And (Y/N) knew that it was Jimin and Doctor Choi who would have to pay the price. And she could never do that to Jimin, nor to Sejun. They risked it all for her, they looked out for her. The least she could do was not shield them from Min Yoongi and Kim Namjoon’s radar.

The landline on her desk rang into life, snatching her attention back to the present. It was her assistant on the other side, (Y/N) had immediately assumed the gisl had missed something while she had been there. Juggling a college life with work was not easy- she had been there herself, and she empathised with the girl.

“Ma’am, Miss Choi is here. She has just left for the elevator.”

“Choi Ara?”

“Yes Ma’am, Sir’s wife.” 

The last part gave her the much-anticipated sting but (Y/N) was learning to look past it. Not that it would matter in near future anyway. She would be far away from the place, from the people here, from Namjoon. She gulped as her hands turned slightly heated.

“Didn’t you inform her that Mr Kim is at Mr Min’s cabin?”

“I did, Ma’am, but Miss Choi insisted that she ould wait in his office. I had no choice, Ma’am, sorry.”

“No, not fault, okay, just order some coffee and dessert from the nearby cafe.”

“Right away Ma’am.”

(Y/N) nodded to herself and put the phone back. It merely took a couple of minutes for Choi Ara to reach the office.

“Hello there, (Y/N).” Choi Ara was just as immaculate as she had seen her last time. And the last time had been on her wedding day, months ago.

(Y/N) smiled at her, rising from her chair and welcoming the woman, she was a Kim now, after all. Besides, Ara had not given her any reason so far to be cautious of her. Yet, that was, strangely, the very reason that (Y/N) had her guards up, always. She was, after all, Choi Wonshik’s daughter.

“Good afternoon, Ma'am, honoured to have you here.”

(Y/N) received a radiant smile from Ara in return as she took a seat in front of her. She picked up the phone in order to inform Namjoon. Why else would she be there?

“Let me inform Mr Kim—” 

“No need of that (Y/N), I came here to see you.” Ara put her hand on the phone, ceasing (Y/N)’a actions

“Me?”

Ara nodded with a smile “Also, Ara would be fine.” her tone sounded genuine, and her smile did reach her eyes, enhancing her beauty.

“Did…Did something happen that I should know of?”

“Girl, all you should know of is who is your friend and who pretends to be.”

(Y/N) only smiled at her, so she continued.

“And I want us to be friends. Good friends.”

“Oh, okay…” (Y/N) stretched her smile slightly, though she was still confused as to why would Ara be interested in befriending her.

She still remembered her piece of advice though- not to become a pawn. Yet, at the moment, she was not sure if Ara was genuinely interested in her friendship or was playing a puppeteer herself.

“I understand your concern, (Y/N), and your lack of trust…And this is a good thing to have.” her smile waned slightly but her eyes remained on her. “It’s a hard world, and we need friends to look out for each other in times of crisis.”

“Cannot agree more, but it is not my world.” 

“Of course it is, you are Kim Namjoon’s woman, you are an integral part of the world.” she paused and reached for (Y/N)’s hand “Whether you want it or not, (Y/N), you are a part of this world, an important part. And you must realise your importance and accept your role.”

(Y/N)’s gaze dropped, feeling a strange pit in her stomach.

“It…It must have been so hard for you.” Choi Ara sympathised. But (Y/N) found herself shaking her head and looking away.

What would she understand of her tight plight? Ara seemed to read right through her.

“Trust me, girl, being born a woman itself in this world sets our struggle for survival in stone. No one has it easy here- and definitely not the women. We are mostly viewed as pawns and trophies…So if one wants to survive and win, having friends is important.”

She felt Ara’s hand squeeze hers gently, her eyes warm and empathising.

“The first time I saw you, I immediately knew that you do not really belong here, and neither do you want to. But Namjoon was determined to have you, to keep you. He sees it safer for you to be legally bound to him.”

“You–how do you know about it?” she was baffled

Ara passed her an easy smile and tilted her head slightly “It is important to keep an eye on your foes, but absolutely necessary to know what your friends are up to.” she leaned slightly closer “And Namjoon is a very important friend.”

She leaned away slightly, relaxed but sighing softly 

“He left the mansion in a haste that night, and had not been in contact since.”

So it was something to do with the  Kim Estate.

“He appeared a bit tense.” (Y/N) added hesitantly.

“I do not worry about him, I know you will take care of him, I worry about the cause. He seemed perturbed.”

“I have been surprised too, the all-powerful Kim Namjoon appeared tense.” she could not help but muse out aloud.

“He is not all-powerful (Y/N), not yet at least- just more powerful than he had been before his father’s demise.”

(Y/N) stilled, Mr Kim’s demise had been a complicated matter so far. Namjoon never liked to be approached with the matter, and as far as (Y/N) knew, he was not very fond of his father, or other relatives.

“He is not very fond of his uncle either.” 

“He keeps me away from his family affairs.” (Y/N) looked away, slipping her hand from Ara’s hold and choosing to fiddle with the ring she wore all the time. The precious gems gleamed under the daylight flooding the gigantic office.

“Really? That is not done, you are supposed to know. You, out of all people.”

(Y/N) simply passed her a smile, Ara was a pleasant lady, but (Y/N) had a lot of the ability to trust easily.

“Coming to his family, I suppose his soured mood could be associated with his soured family ties- I meant, they were already sour…Mine isn’t that great either.”

This made (Y/N) look up, meeting Ara’s gaze once more.

“I want us to be friends, good friends,” she emphasised, leaning closer again, while (Y/N) nodded in a daze.

She did not know what else to do. Ara passed her another pleasing smile 

“Are you actively involved in the Board Meetings?”

“Uh, I am just Namjoon’s secretary,”

“In their eyes, yes, but you are much more than that, you know this right?”

“I believe Mr Min is already doing a great job in influencing the board.”Choi Ara had always been friendly with her, but she still could not let anyone know about her newfound interest in the Board.

“Oh, yes, Min Yoongi- he has eyes everywhere.” Ara rolled her eyes and leaned away. “He likes to keep tabs on people he deems important enough.”

(Y/N) pursed her lips at the memory of how it took only minutes for Yoongi to find out about her meeting with Jimin, his warning still rang in her head. It was him she needed to be careful of for the time being.

“You know Mr Min?”

“Of course, I know him.” she scoffed “He is Namjoon’s closest associate after all.” she added after a moment.

(Y/N) hummed. 

The door of the office opened and Hana walked in. While (Y/N) had been expecting the girl, what caught her off guard were the two figures trailing behind her- Namjoon and Yoongi.

“I just came to know that my secretary is entertaining Miss Choi without informing me.” Namjoon’s smile was cold and sharp, mirroring his tone.

“I came here, Namjoon, quit blaming this poor girl.”

“And why is that?” Yoongi questioned this time.

Choi Ara only smiled as she rose from her seat, turning to (Y/N), she shook hands with her “See you around, (Y/N).”

With that, she walked out of the office, leaving the tension hanging in the air.

“What was she doing here?” It was Yoongi who cut through the thick silence.

“She was checking up on Namjoon, she is worried that he appears tense these days.”

“Oh really, and she walked away without a single question when I walked in?” 

Of course, neither of them would buy it.

“Hyung, kindly close the door before leaving?”

“See you tomorrow now, Namjoon.” with that, he walked out of the door, leaving her alone with Namjoon.”

“Why was she here.”

“She said she wanted to be friendly.” (Y/N) blurted out dumbly, earning a snigger from Namjoon.

“And you believed her? She is Choi Wonshik’s daughter. You ought not to trust anyone but me here.”

“Oh really? Even after everything?”

“Even after everything.” he pressed

(Y/N) shook her head with a resentful, she was not surprised, just disappointed.

“What was she talking about?”

“She said she wanted to be a good friend of mine…And that you have been on edge lately.”

“Really?” Namjoon put his hands on his hips.

“You have been tense, lately.” his eyes stilled and locked with her gaze as he heaved a sigh.

“And you care about me?”

Her mouth opened and closed but nothing came out, yet there was so much to say and so little to believe.

“I’m tired of fighting.”

(Y/N) stood stunned, not by his words, but his eyes, the kind of softness and vulnerability she had witnessed in his eyes the other night- when he returned from his ancestral home.

“What are you tired of?”

“I’m tired of trying to prove how much I love you, I’m tired of clashing with you…I want us back, just the way we were? I want you to trust me!” he stepped closer and cupped her cheek.

“You know I cannot do that, thinking about the past only hurts me,” she whispered back. 

She could never be the girl she used to be, not after what had happened.

“It hurts me too.” his voice was low, heavy and suppressed.

She said nothing, only let him kiss her after that. She knew he needed it.

****

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