Chain Of Command Chapter 6

Chain of Command Chapter 6

The elevator ride down was dead quiet. Forrest and Robin walked silently, faces turned towards the ground. She suspected that the two were embarrassed by the ordeal on the rooftop.

Standing at the doorway of the building was Grape, the pile of cigarette butts at his feet having doubled since she last saw him. She’d bumped into him on her way up to the rooftop, and she didn’t need to look at the ground to tell that he’d been stress smoking. The boy reeked of smoke.

She’d regarded him with a click of her tongue and a small look of sympathy before rushing upstairs– she supposed hearing the words ‘Wolf Keum’ alone were already enough to give him a panic attack. Poor baby.

“What did that fucker say?” Grape cut through the thick silence, returning to his position behind Forrest as he shoved his hands into his pockets, the expression on his face making it obvious that he only expected the worst. Not that she blamed him.

“The money and files got stolen.” Forrest informed him, and Grape nodded soundlessly. Had it been someone else he might’ve made a derisive joke, but he seemed to be worried that if he even opened his mouth, Wolf Keum would swoop down like an eagle and swallow him whole. Maybe he just didn’t want to take the risk.

The four of them continued to walk quietly, before Forrest Lee spoke again. Perhaps he’d wanted to break the silence, or perhaps he’d just been waiting till they were a safe distance away from Ganghak to talk.

“So you’ll be working with that bastard from now on, huh Bambi?” Forrest glanced to the side to look at her, and she studied his face. He looked grim, though she thought she could spot a hint of relief too. He was probably just glad he didn’t have to face the Big Bad Wolf alone anymore.

“Yeah.” She slowed down as the quartet reached a bus stop, and the three boys stopped with her. Her bus was already there, slowing down as it reached the stop. “I’m gonna go now. Bye.”

She barely heard the perfect sync of goodbyes from the boys as she turned around, long brown hair swishing behind her, and stepped onto the vehicle.

It’d been about an hour since this meeting had started, and Bambi was starting to get restless. The last sixty minutes, she’d been standing behind Donald’s armchair, watching as he talked to the new client sitting across from them.

The new business partner was another wrinkly man in his sixties with a failing business, desperate for Donald’s help. The news of KHG’s big break had spread through the grapevine, and now businessmen were swarming around Donald like he was the second coming of Christ. Because of that, they’d seen a pretty large increase in their commissions. What a blessed new year.

The old man seemed to be wrapping the meeting up now, sticking his hand out to Donald, both anxiety and excitement displayed on his face at the idea of all the money he was about to make.

She didn’t pay further attention to any of the other words exchanged between the two, turning her focus instead to the clock on the wall (9pm) and both her mental and physical exhaustion. Thank God it’s finally over. Kingsley, who had stood by her side until now, followed the man on his way out to guide him downstairs, leaving Donald and Bambi alone behind him.

The room fell silent after the door snapped shut.

Bambi tapped her foot nervously.

Usually she preferred silence, but with Donald the quiet always felt suffocating. Like even breathing would make an avalanche of noise. Like there were a thousand thoughts running through his head at once, and she was missing out on every single one of them.

Donald didn’t seem to be bothered by the lack of noise though, standing up and making his way to the other side of the office wordlessly. Bambi leaned back to rest her body weight on the chair, watching as he stood in front of the large window, his hands clasped behind his back.

Perhaps to a bystander, it may have seemed like he was admiring the view. But she didn’t need to look to know that he was watching her in the reflection, his red eyes trained on her like a hawk. Staying as still as possible under Donald’s gaze proved to be a challenge, and she found herself fiddling with her fingers anxiously as she forced herself to meet his gaze in the glass.

She felt like he knew that he was torturing her with his silence– like he enjoyed her attention, enjoyed watching her hang on to his every movement, waiting for more.

After all, all she wanted was to know him better.

Ever since she first joined the Union, she’d felt an unexplainable magnetic pull towards Donald Na. It was as if he were the sun, and she was just a small insignificant dwarf planet rotating around him.

He had charisma, and what seemed like infinite confidence capable of making even her nervous. From the moment she’d first set eyes on him, she’d made it her lifelong goal to unravel the mystery of who Donald Na really was.

Plus, Donald was nice, which made it easier. Not nice in the way where he’d hold open doors for you or smile at you in the street, but where he’d make small talk and pretend to care about your personal life. Not that she was stupid enough to actually mistake this for friendship– he did this with everybody, even the executives he beat up. Just another thing that came built in with his alluring personality– but it opened up a door for her to actually know him. The person past the intimidating stare and massive displays of wealth that she now realised looked a lot like a form of protection.

She relished in the attention that he gave her, though admitting it made her feel somewhat embarrassed. It was like she’d deciphered a puzzle no one else could solve, except she was really only halfway to the answer– even after all the time they’d spent together, it still felt like she’d barely scraped the surface of who Donald Na really was. Well, she wasn’t gonna stop now.

No matter how much it went against her better judgement.

“It’s late. You should go home.” Donald had finally looked away from her, his attention turned to the streets below, and she felt a pang of jealousy. The tone he’d used was casual enough, but she knew the statement was more than a simple formality.

So, instead of saying her goodbyes, she walked towards his desk slowly, almost defiantly, fighting the urge to smile as his eyes finally left the window and followed her across the room till she was right behind him.

Dragging out the silence, she spoke slowly. “What about you?”

Donald turned slightly at her question, and his red eyes glinted, as if he was amused by her deliberate slowed pace. Often, she went so quick everybody around her found it hard to keep up. But when it came to Donald, it felt like she had to go slow, or she’d miss out something essential and never catch up. She knew he knew it too.

She stopped herself from huffing. Not her fault being around him felt like walking in a minefield. He let out a small breath of air, deadpan expression melting into a smirk. She wanted to ask him what he thought was so funny.

“I have work to do.”

Both pairs of eyes flicked down to the stack of files on his desk, and Bambi nodded in understanding. It wasn’t rare to see Donald working late into the night, a small frown on his face as he read through reports and legal documents, and who knows what else. Sometimes he fell asleep at his desk, head resting on his arms, a rare moment of vulnerability for someone as vicious as Donald Na.

“Would you like tea? Or coffee?” Bambi was already turning towards the door, though her eyes stayed fixed on him.

Donald smiled, tapping on his desk.

“Coffee will do.”

Weak Hero TMI /Trivia:

Why did Seokhyeon, Hakho, and Jihoon wear yellow armbands during the funeral service?

SPOILER ALERT

TW: grief, depression, death

DISCLAIMER: I'm not Korean, just learning about their culture.

The yellow armbands around Jihoon (Jimmy), Hakho (Jake) and Seokhyeon (Kingsley)'s arms were the sign that they were the chief mourners of Baekjin (Donald)'s funeral. It means that these three were the substitutes of Baekjin's family in preparing the funeral from start to finish: the role that his absent stepfather and/or kin were supposed to carry out.

I'll try to explain to you about their responsibilities. After reading this, hopefully you'll understand why they crumbled and seemingly grew up so fast.

Seokhyeon, Hakho, and Jihoon's responsibilities as chief mourners:

NOTES:

They didn't do it simultaneously since usually there's an agreed upon division of labor among chief mourners of a funeral;

For nos. 3, 5, 6, 7 & 18, since Baekjin, Seokhyeon, Hakho and Jihoon were minors, then per Korean laws the bank accounts that they and the Union used were under their parents' names, and the legal representative was hired under their parents' names too.

Choosing and preparing Baekjin's photograph to be displayed at the funeral hall;

Sending an obituary and/or a death notification to Baekjin's school and to the Union members/related people as soon as his time of death was established;

Hiring a legal representative to be present when Baekjin's personal effects were released before his autopsy started. Since Baekjin had no immediate family and his death was from non-natural causes where autopsy is a must according to their laws.

Being on standby to receive Baekjin's personal effects from said legal representative. Note that this must've been very VERY upsetting to them since these were the things that Baekjin wore on the night of the accident. Just imagine.

Ensuring that the legal representative from no. 3 was present to receive the autopsy reports and photos on behalf of them, usually 3 days - 1 week after the autopsy was performed. The autopsy report for an accident usually look like this:

6. Calculating and paying the expenses to register for funeral, cremation and charnel house (mausoleum) services;

7. Ensuring that everything is taken care of by the funeral & cremation services from there on, including:

The issuance of Baekjin's death certificate (it usually looks like this);

The renting of mourning clothes. These clothes usually look like this (basically what we see in the funeral episodes):

The availability of a funeral hall (complete with condolence money box, incense, floral arrangements etc). The hall is usually located at the basement of the hospital where Baekjin was taken to after the accident, and arranged by the hospital's funeral services that Seokhyeon/Hakho/Jihoon hired;

The availabillity of foods and chrysanthemum flowers provided for mourners during a 3-day funeral service, because Baekjin had no female kin who oversaw this. Note that there are usually several types of foods that MUST be served in a day on tables, like this (usually the minimum is 3 menus):

The availability of a crematorium and a fixed cremation schedule;

The allotment of a charnel house (mausoleum) space for Baekjin's urn and photos, and maybe some personal belongings. Note that for Baekjin to be placed next to his mother, the chief mourners had to notify the funeral services that then notified the mausoleum in advance.

8. Spending 2 nights and 3 days in that funeral hall for a 3-day funeral service, in the same mourning clothes (if personal bellongings, these were usually later burned or shelved, never worn twice). Note that there's usually no comfortable sleeping arrangement in funeral halls, so they must've slept on the floor on hard pillows and thin blankets for 2 nights;

9. Greeting and welcoming all the mourners during the three 3-day funeral service and ensuring that they signed the guestbook. Note that mourners usually come after school/work hours from 6-11 p.m so Seokhyeon, Hakho, and Jihoon had to finish showering, eating, etc before those hours;

10. Receiving and storing the condolence money. The condolence money is usually placed in envelopes like these:

And the box where these envelopes are stored look like this:

11. Arranging with the funeral services to ensure that there was food and drink for these mourners (since Baekjin had no female immediate family);

12. Receiving any standing wreaths that might come (probably if there was one, it would only be from Yeoil High since all of Baekjin's other contacts were made in an illegal business setting). Standing wreaths are usually only sent by organizations and look like this;

13. Going to the crematorium and attending the cremation process along with select mourners;

14. Receiving Baekjin's ashes in a container (usually an urn purchased through the final services);

15. Going to the mausoleum and attending the placement of Baekjin's urn, photos and select belongings in the mausoleum/charnel house;

16. Thanking other mourners properly on behalf of Baekjin's family.

17. Counting the condolence money and deciding what to do with it afterwards other than covering the funeral costs.

18. Paying off Baekjin's personal debts and The Union's (if there was any), and dividing the remaining money and assets (probably needing to hire a legal representative again).

Honestly learning about all of this made me sympathize with Jihoon, Seokhyeon and Hakho more. I sadly realized that in a better time and a better place these three might have been real friends to Baekjin. It's not too late for the three of them yet.