#ncjude

lee jiho, better known as jude, was conceived and born within the confines of the his father’s church.

the presence of his mother is never known, or if it was, jude simply did not remember. what he does remember is changing faces and father’s overbearing presence over his shoulder.

jude grew up in the church, education provided by a local school, though rundown and packed full of orphans (and his own siblings), his father’s reputation among the neighborhood is still admittedly friendly, a kind man who takes in orphans on the streets.

what they don’t know is what he does with the ones that don’t make it.

be it through sickness or starvation (there were simply too many mouths to feed) sooner or later, orphans that come into the church and often carried out by jude and a couple of his other siblings to be buried.

dumped, mind you. may their bones rest in peace at the bottom of the ocean floor.

after his high school graduation, jude began distancing himself from the church and his family. thriving in the face of newfound freedom, he moved across the city, got a job at the clearview, and a girlfriend to fixate on.

of course, he finds himself returning despite all that, what with the distress calls he occasionally receives from his siblings. blood he can’t ignore.

father dies a year after he finishes college; a year after he’s gotten the job at the clearview. jude returns “home” to pick up the pieces of what remains, his siblings (what’s left of them) and his father’s legacy (he burns to the ground).

then on, jude has devoted every bit of his attention into making his way up in life, raising quick ranks in the clearview (starting from clerk all the way up to manager). sure, circumstances has gotten consistently shadier as the years go, but as long as they don’t threaten the wellness of his hotel, jude is more than willing to turn a blind eye on the happenings within the hotel.

it isn’t out of the norm for jude to be awake at this time of the night. given, it isn’t always expected of the manager of an entire hotel to be clocking in overtime. but jude would not be jude if he wasn’t particular about this sort of thing. if he didn’t insist on being holed up within the security room, monitoring every bit of movement (see: exchanges, illegal activity, things that would have his hotel torn down if revealed to the public) almost obsessively.

far be it from him to have anyone else deal with it—seeing as now, now he’s been working at the clearview ever since graduation. now, he’s made a home, a self proclaimed throne, proud for all eyes to see. now, he is beyond invested.

now, if the hotel goes down—it would take him with it.

to be fair, nothing thus far has really happened.

but it isn’t to say that he should relax otherwise. that radio silence meant there was room to be lazy. to loosen up. to give in to the incessant need to rest his eyes. return his girlfriend’s texts. (said exchange includes: (messages separated throughout hours) are we still on for date night? sorry, oppa. i’m going to be late. i’ll make it up to you! hello? you’re sulking aren’t you.)  (why can’t you ever breathe?) if only for a second.

(what isn’t said is what is at stake. what threatens to take over should he fail to keep everything under wraps. what is at risk. that is, his entire life. his soul. his devotion. the only thing he’s known since he’s burned the church to the ground. what would be his point for living so should he fuck up here? granted, as you may see, the craze that took to his father—plagues him so as well.)

most times, however, there is plausible reason for worry. there is outcomes that do sway in his favor. not that we would say that jude is glad to have terrible, terrible, things happen. but it did make all this time in wait, worth it.

(and perhaps yes, he really just enjoys being right.)

but back to the scenario at hand, back to the night spent devoted to monitoring the many security cameras they have installed, back to the bit of conflict he spots out of the corner of his eye on the second floor. red specks he can tell will be a potential problem to get out of plush carpets.

“hey.” his voice filters over the radio clearly, roused with slight vexation. jude bites down a sigh, rubbing his jaw slightly as he considers the options at hand. “can you send a special cleanup crew over to the ballroom on the second floor?” a pause. “i’ll meet them there.”