Chapter Text
Ming Hao thought a deep voice as smooth as silk accompanied that spellbinding visage of his but was pleasantly surprised when the boy’s lips parted to introduce himself. Instead the boy’s voice was sweet as honey and pitched higher than he had expected.
His strawberry blond hair was swept up in a tasteful cowlick and bits of his fringe were left to fall over his left eye. Paired with a rather angular jaw and defining cheekbones, his strong nose created an impressive profile that went nicely with the warm charcoal black eyes and small uncertain smile.
The sort of beauty that borders upon ethereality.
Ming Hao nodded in response, grasping the boy’s outstretched hand in a firm shake, “Nice to meet you, Jun Hui. My name is Xu Ming Hao.”
Jun Hui’s face lit up at the name, one side of his lips raising slightly higher than the other. “Oh, you’re Chinese too! Are you from China?” The earlier awkwardness all but dissipated as he spoke his words now with more enthusiasm.
“Yes, I am,” Ming Hao’s eyes softened and his lips pulled back into a soft half-smile.
Hearing that, the other boy immediately switched from Korean to Chinese, “Well, brother. Welcome to PAI. Pledis Arts Institution.”
“Since you transferred in in the middle of the semester, you missed orientation. I’ll show you around campus,” he started walking and led Ming Hao out of the administration office.
“You’re in Dance, right?” he questioned excitedly to which Ming Hao only nodded silently.
“Great, we’re in the same course,” he chimed as they crossed a narrow grass patch, “I’m your senior, by the way.”
After walking past various buildings and listening to Jun Hui explaining everything he needed to know like a good junior would, they parted ways beneath the stairs leading into an auditorium. Jun Hui had excused himself to rush across campus for dance practice, emptying his entire bottle of water as he went.
Poor boy, he worked so hard explaining but Ming Hao didn’t really need someone to show him around. Since his family practically owns this institution. He should have just stopped the boy and insisted on navigating the campus himself but that light honeyed voice became more distracting than he would admit. Normally, it would be forty-seven minutes that he so unwisely wasted but, he believed this time, it was time well spent. Knowing Wen Jun Hui certainly wasn’t a waste.
Besides, he had all the time in the world.
He tucked his hands into his coat pockets, a small smile playing on his lips as he relived the moment Jun Hui started talking. He hadn’t been in school for a long time, he’d been learning by himself for most of the time he’d been out of touch with the world. He might as well enjoy whatever bits of fun now before the work assigned to him by his family begins.
Ming Hao made his way back to the administration building, gradually shifting his posture, the slight slouch of teenage awkwardness melted away. His shoulders squared and his heavy steps making his boots thud against the ground. If he’s going to speak with the director of this institute, there would be no need to pretend. He strolled out of the elevator on the fifth floor. He stopped at the second door to his left.
Nearly a beat after his boots met the ground, a low voice announced from within the room, “Come in.”
He turned the brass knob and pushed open the polished ebony door.
The voice only continued once he pushed the door shut and sat himself in a plush armchair to the side of the office.
“Seo Myungho, what a surprise.”
He lips curled in a thin smile upon hearing his name. He was irritated by it but the director didn’t need to know that. He wished the latter would put aside all the lies and pretence, he found it incredibly mundane to have a conversation as if they didn’t know what was truly going on. He stayed silent as he picked at a loose thread on the edge of his seat.
The director, sensing that he had wanted a different response, leaned back in his swivel chair and offered a more amiable smile, “What brings you here?”
He answered, slightly amused now, “I want to return to school. See how the education is like these days.” He kept a demure smile on his face, glancing through his lashes at the other man like a predator stalking its quarry. He should have known as soon as Ming Hao set foot on campus that he was being investigated. It was too early for this visit to be the usual half-yearly inspection of the family’s institutions. And, of course, if this was any normal investigation, the family head wouldn’t have sent someone like Ming Hao to conduct it.
Kangmin, dressed sharply in a black shirt and a maroon suit jacket, neatly groomed dark hair littered with grey streaks and bearing a sour frown framed with lines of age and wear. His gravelly rumbling voice would speak of virtue and discipline. Seemingly a sensible man in his late 50s. You’d think he would make a wise decision and stop asking questions or, better yet, quit acting innocent and run for his life.
“Did the old man send you?”
He finally looked up at the other man. His contempt had began to reveal itself as he flashed the other a dazzling grin. “Some respect will do you good, Kangmin,” he drawled, contrary to the face he’s making.
Kangmin stared at the boy with sterling silver hair, his expression unreadable. Maybe he was glaring at him, maybe he was simply glowering, maybe he was thinking about whatever papers he may have forgotten to sign. “How is he?” the man ended up asking instead.
You would know if you attended the meeting a week ago, Ming Hao retorted silently. “He’s fine, as usual,” he entertained the other man’s question, flicking his fingers.
The man watched him carefully then questioned again, “What will you be needing?”
He finally stopped busying his right hand on the piece of black thread poking out of his armchair and leaned forward, lacing his fingers together. His grin morphed into one with more condescension and arrogance. He was beginning to wonder how slow Kangmin truly was to not spare himself, at least, one question.
If Jeonghan wasn’t so dead set on gathering evidence to expose Kangmin, he’d already be dragging this blubbering idiot back home. He never understood why Jeonghan managed the family this way. Jeonghan wanted to ‘make an example’ of all these scumbags. They all knew what happens to those who endanger the family, what’s the point of dragging it out and giving them more time to escape when they can be offed on the spot. Right now, staring into Kangmin’s watery soulless eyes, Ming Hao was very sure. This man wouldn’t even be able to take a step away from his desk before his body hits the floor.
Neither of them moved. Kangmin’s eyes shifted quickly to look down at the table before swiftly locking with Ming Hao’s again. “Not much. Just the records of all staff and students for the past seven years,” the boy began, breaking the eye contact first by standing up and fixing the lapels of his coat.
“I’ll have someone send it to you by tonight,” the other replied after a curt nod, getting up from his chair as well.
Ming Hao bit back another acidic remark. Kangmin was making his move right now. Grabbing at straws in hopes of clearing himself of any faults. He just didn’t expect the other to do so so obviously right in front of him. Both of them knew as well as the other that this investigation wasn’t about Pledis, it was about him. By the time those records made it into Ming Hao’s hands, every irregularity would have been wiped from the documents. Sure, there are other grave errors of Kangmin’s to be revealed but the family would’ve lost their strongest point of argument to expel him. Jeonghan was adamant that this particular lead was investigated thoroughly and had to be headed by one of the elites in the family. The evidence against Kangmin had to tie in whatever shady business he had with Pledis’ students and staff, thus, an indirect link to the family but a good enough excuse to put him on the chopping block.
“Oh, no thank you,” the sweet overly-friendly nuance of his voice peeked through his similarly radiant smile as he beamed at the unmistakable rigidity that overcame Kangmin’s limbs when he wrenched open the door. “Don’t trouble yourself,” he blurted out with an sheepish little giggle, veiling himself once again with his innocuous affectation.
The trouble will find you very soon.