His secretary, Kwon only stood there wordlessly. Kwon was an old colleague of Jason's around the same height, fair-skinned with dark navy hair parted in the middle and a pair of rectangular spectacles adorning his face. They studied at the same college and attended the same internship. Once Jason was able to sell his app idea to the same company and later become his own brand, Kwon decided to work along with him. While he never regretted that, having Jason as a boss was a whole other anomaly. Eccentric was an understatement.

“What exactly are you planning now? What did I do this time? Did you even listen to my report?”

Jason sighed, sitting back in his chair. “Not you.”

“That’s kind of extreme. Though I wouldn’t put it past you, but why memories?” Kwon was never one to hold back his criticism.

“Hm...” His boss pouted. “…my beautiful wife doesn't even look at me anymore. I miss that bright, warm smile.”

“Hm. Must be tough.” The navy haired responded in the most apathetic, flat tone.

Jason eyed him. “You wanna keep your job? Maybe I can use you as a test subject.”

“Did I fail to mention you are an overly dedicated and obsessively loving husband?”

“Exactly.” Jason accepted proudly, his chin held high.

“Emphasis on the overly-dedicated and obsessive part.”

“Just leave.” Jason shooed him away with a hand.

“And the report?” Kwon flagged one more time, the file still in his hand.

“Oh yeah.” Jason’s mood was stumped, but work was work.

“But may I ask, why memories? What good will that do? They'll forget everything then. Isn't that worse?” Kwon couldn’t help but speak out of curiosity while he handed over the folder.

Jason didn’t answer right away. “…I don’t care about that. I can start over if I need to. I'll learn from my mistakes, but this way, they'll forget everything I've done.”

“Yeah... couldn't be me. But I'm sure you have a lot of skeletons in your closet.” He fixed his glasses once, a glare of light shimmering over them.

“Your mouth talks too much.”

“It’s a privilege...and a curse, I guess. Anyway, the report.”

"Alright, I can take care of those minor details. I’ll see you later.” The secretary gathered the paperwork and aimed for the exit.

“Have fun.” Jason called out from behind.

“You too, sir.” He shut the door and walked down the hall, his thoughts retreating to their earlier conversation. Kwon shut his eyes for a brief second. ‘I’m actually not surprised. It was going to be like this sooner or later.’ Kwon had only met Max a few times, and from what he’d seen, the blond was a very friendly social person. Very likeable and easy to get along with. Kwon saw him stop by the office a number of times, and every time he would bring the staff some donuts. The first time they were introduced was at a business networking convention as Jason’s fiancée.

Regardless of the limited personality of Max he was aware of, Kwon would still confidently blame Jason for whatever turmoil in their relationship. Jason was unusual and unpredictable at times. Though his conclusion mainly comes from that one time Kwon stopped by the other’s home.

Kwon was invited inside by Max after recognizing him at the door and requesting that he stay until Jason returned. The secretary was misinformed and thought Jason was home, as he needed to pass along a very important contract. He waited in the living room, where Leon, who was around one to two years old, crawled as well. Max fixed him some tea in the meantime.

"Oh, thank you. I don’t mean to be a burden.” Kwon apologized.

“It’s totally fine~” Max smiled. “It’s not bad to have visitors sometimes. Jason doesn't like company too much, and I guess we're kind of stranded in this big manor, so not a lot of people come over. But then again, with baby Leo growing, I guess our hands are full anyway." He went on with a sheepish laugh.

“Yeah look at him, I think it's my first time seeing him in person. Jason shows me pictures all the time and has plenty on his desk. He seems like the quiet type."

The blond hoisted the baby up. "Yeah, he is. I think he takes that after his daddy.”

“Is it okay if I hold him?”

“Sure!” Kwon stood up and Max brought the child over. The child barely had any reaction as he was transferred to a complete stranger. "Wow, he’s not hostile at all—I don’t know much about babies, but all my nieces and nephews cry every time they see me. The blond chuckled in response.

That’s when the main door opened, and Jason walked in. Max didn’t notice the other walk in, but Jason did when the blond wasn’t there to greet him. He walked into the house and ran into them. Jason halted dead in his tracks, his eyes unable to leave the sight before him. Kwon was holding their child in his arms, while Max was patting the kid’s back smiling. Smiling. The warm, welcoming, loving smile that was only reserved for him.

The blond picked up his gaze first, and his expression lit up, trudging over to him. “Jason, welcome back.” However, Jason didn’t respond at all, and his eyes were looking past him, towards Kwon and Leon. Max appeared puzzled and called out to him again. When the steel, turquoise eyes glided down to his level, looking him straight in the eye, Max shuddered at the intensity.

“Hey, you’re back, finally.” Kwon annunciated, putting the child down. Jason stiffly grabbed hold of his lover’s elbow.

“What are you doing? Seriously, why are you here?” The lavender-haired dragged Max along with him, who was beginning to appear more and more nervous just based on Jason’s sudden change in tone. Even the secretary picked up on that, especially when he was holding his arm like that, but it wasn’t his place to say.

Meanwhile, Jason’s blood was boiling seeing those two together and a man in their house near Max like that. He could care less if the man was someone he’d known for years—that didn’t exclude the chances of them cheating.

“Ahem, I needed some documents that needed urgent review, and you left the office, so I assumed you’d be home."

“Why didn’t you call me?” The lavender haired posed.

Kwon gave him a flat expression. “I did.  Did you think I would just show up like this?”

“You still did.”

“You’re not doing this right now…”

“That still doesn't warrant you stepping inside the house when I’m not even here. How long have you been here?”

‘This ingrate…’ Kwon's brow was twitching.

“Jason it’s fine, I asked him to wait inside… It hasn’t been that—” The blond finally found his voice.

“I didn't ask you.” Albeit the lavender haired cut him off. “You.” He turned to Max. “Go wait in the bedroom for me.” It was more of a command than a request. The blond didn’t want to make a scene, so he obliged and left. Kwon frowned as he watched the blond exit the room. “Why are you looking at him?” Jason spat. “All four of your eyes should be on me.”

Now Kwon was speechless, staring at him with wide eyes. “What is your problem all of a sudden?  You’re overreacting!”

“How long were you here with him?”

"Geez, listen to yourself. Would I really make a move on your partner? I have better morals than that. I'm offended.” Kwon fixed his glasses. “I deserve a raise now.”

“Answer the question.”

The navy-haired heaved a sigh. There was never no winning with Jason. “Hardly twenty minutes.”

“That’s twenty minutes too much.” Jason crossed his arms, Kwon’s temper resisting the urge to explode as well. “You left the documents right? Now leave.” He noticed the files on the living room table.

“You’re insane.” Kwon resorted to shaking his head and walking away. He couldn't be bothered any further, and his boss was highly unpredictable at times. (The last thing he needed was to be impulsively fired.) As he walked out, Max’s fearful face flashed in his mind again. ‘Why did he look so scared? Maybe I’m ruminating... That’s still his partner at the end of the day.’ From what he’s witnessed, Jason always bought stuff for Max from their trips or even on his way home. In the office, he’d call him several times a day and even call the driver to go pick him up. He had a picture frame of Max on his desk as well, which only pointed towards him. With that in mind, there was no way he’d do something terrible, right…?

Kwon snapped back to reality as he was nearing the first floor. ‘What could he have done to push someone to that extent? And worse, it doesn’t seem like he’s holding any regret either…’ 

Meanwhile, Jason continued to sit in his chair, leaning back and looking out the glass windows pensively. The skies were bleak gray, and small, silent rain drops showered down the glass windows on both sides. His side, and on Max's side as well, as he listelessly sat across the window back at home.