taeyong clenched his jaw to swallow in a yawn as he scrolled down through social media on his phone waiting for a sign of life from his boss who was supposed to have arrived at office a while ago. at the same time, the secretary couldn't blame him. his own will to show up at office on a sunday morning was close to non-existent – even if the sole thought of meeting jaehyun again had motivated him immediately.

the secretary was disturbed in yet another yawn – it may be almost 11am, it was still way too early for a sunday – by a call from the reception.

"taeyong on the phone, yes?" he picked up immediately.

"hello taeyong, there's mister jung who's waiting at the reception."

"o-oh." taeyong started stuttering, straightening his back and pulling one of the drawers of his desk open to fetch a small mirror. "j-just make him come up to our office."

"okay. he'll be there in a minute."

"thank you." the secretary finished before hanging up, quickly taking the mirror in his hand and making sure he looked perfect. he slightly brushed his hair out of his face and rubbed his eyes before smiling at his reflexion.

and soon, the familiar 'ding' of the lift broke the silence, making taeyong hurriedly stuff back the mirror inside the drawer and slam it shut before he stood up to greet the businessman.

"good morning mister jung! how are you doing?" taeyong stated with a bright smile bowing slightly in front of jaehyun.

"hello mister lee." jaehyun replied as his eyes scanned over the office, his brows furrowing when he noticed yuta's absence. "your boss still hasn't arrived?"

"h-huh..." taeyong looked at yuta's switched off computer as he noted that jaehyun hadn't answered his question. "no, not yet." he chuckled. "but please, have a seat, he shouldn't arrive in too long."

the ceo of jung corporation nodded, sitting down on the very trendy transparent armchair that was placed in front of yuta's desk for clients to come and sit on while they discussed together.

"would you like something to drink while waiting?" taeyong questioned, catching jaehyun's attention.

"huh, yes. i'd have- "

"black tea." taeyong interrupted him. "i know."

jaehyun stayed silent for a second, studying taeyong's expression before offering a small smile and a nod.

"i'll be right back with it." taeyong declared walking out of the office to reach the beverage machine.

while waiting for the hot water to pour, the secretary pulled his phone out, dialling yuta's number to call him and hopefully have some news about where he was. unfortunately, after four ringtones, he reached the ceo's voicemail. taeyong tried on his personal number as well – they may be using the same phone with two chips for personal and business numbers, but yuta tended to disacivate his business number when he didn't want to be disturbed – but to no avail as he fell on his voicemail as well.

hearing a beep from the beverage machine, taeyong placed a sachet of black tea in the cup of hot water, letting it infuse for a while as he opened his conversation with yuta over messages. and well, taeyong felt utterly stupid that he didn't check those messages earlier...

from yuta

heyy, sorry for texting you so late

i won't be able to make it to office tomorrow

i'll find you directly at the car fair, i guess

you can tell jung he can meet us directly there too

sorry again, take care

the secretary huffed. why the hell was yuta still up at 4am to send taeyong this message? and why the hell hadn't taeyong had the idea to check his messages before coming to office on a sunday morning and making jaehyun come all the way to nakamotors' headquarters too?

well, as much as taeyong felt stupid about it, he could rejoice himself for something; he would be able to have some more alone time with jaehyun, and even if this time, they were in a business environment, maybe taeyong could make it pass like a non-business-related talk again.

in the other room, jaehyun was silent, his back leaning against the backrest of the expensve transparent philippe starck-designed armchair while staring at the view of all the other buildings around.

he was nervous, something he hadn't felt for a while now. he didn't really know why, though. maybe was it the fact that he was seeing his rival's secretary for the first time after having shared a dinner with him? or maybe was it the fact that he still couldn't understand what sort of spell the older secretary had put on him? but anyway, he didn't like the feeling very much.

he was used to being confident and to have people at his feet, compliant with anything and everything he asked and absolutely not giving a single damn about what he could be feeling or what he could want. and yet, here was taeyong, asking how he was as soon as he saw him, and even knowing that he preferred black tea to coffee. and these unwanted attentions made jaehyun feel weird. he wasn't used to receiving such attention from someone.

the ceo cleared his throat as he stood up again, approaching the window to look at the view from closer and hoping to brush all of these thoughts away.

he couldn't let himself get disturbed by his rival's secretary. of course not. and jaehyun shall definitely not forget the purpose of all of this in the first place; thanks to sicheng, he knew taeyong could be crushing on him, and he needed to use this to his advantage to unveil some of yuta's business secrets and later on be able to crush him and make his dad proud.

yeah, this was what he was here for. and since yuta still wasn't here, jaehyun was free to do whatever he wanted with the desperate secretary.

"mister jung?" taeyong's voice called, making the ceo turn around.

"yes?" he questioned, seeing the secretary holding the cup of tea out for him.

"here is your tea." he said with a shy smile.

jaehyun took the hot cup from his hands, careful not to spill it. "thank you."

"huh..." the secretary fidgeted with his fingers. "i just received a message from yuta. something came up and... he'll join us directly at the car fair."

"all right." jaehyun simply nodded. "nothing too bad, i hope."

"o-oh, no!" taeyong was quick to shake his head. "of course not." he added.

yeah, yuta had simply enjoyed his date a bit too much. but at the same time, taeyong could have predicted it. yuta had informed him that if he spent a good night with his date, he would surely not be able to come to office on sunday morning.

well, it seemed like yuta had had a very productive night with his date, then.

"taeyong?" jaehyun called. "aren't you drinking anything?"

the secretary blinked a few times, first realising that he may have been in a daze for a few instants, and then realising that the ceo had called him by his first name.

"t-taeyong?" he repeated surprised.

"well, that's your name, isn't it?" the ceo chuckled, wondering for a quick second if he had made a mistake on the male's name.

"yes, yes, b-but... no mister lee?" taeyong frowned.

"well..." jaehyun thought for a while. "it's just you and me... and... i mean, it's a sunday morning. we can't expect sundays to become business days, right?"

taeyong raised a curious brow as he studied the ceo's expression.

to be completely honest, he pictured jaehyun to be more of a 'every day is a business day' guy instead of a 'we can't expect sunday to become a business day' guy.

but well, it seemed like this was another thing that taeyong had been wrong about jaehyun.

"if you say so..." the secretary declared with a small shrug.

"so, you're not having anything to drink?" jaehyun asked again.

"no, it's fine." taeyong shook his head. "plus, we're not going to leave in too long. the car fair starts at 1pm and it will take us at least half an hour to go there."

jaehyun hummed, checking his watch to look at the time and smiling when he realised that they still had a few dozen minutes in front of them.

"we still have a bit of time." the ceo declared. "would you mind if i asked you a question?"

"of course not." taeyong flashed the male a smile, his heart all fluttery at the idea of jaehyun getting interested in him. "please ask me."

"how do you like your career?" jaehyun questioned, earning an eyebrow lift from the secretary. "what?"

"i thought we had switched to first name basis." taeyong replied simply.

"yeah." jaehyun hummed. "i didn't call you by your last name, did i?"

"no, but..." taeyong sighed. "i thought that we had agreed that when we called each other by our first names, it was to talk about non-business-related stuff."

the ceo suddenly hummed, understanding taeyong's unwillingness to answer his question – which could be considered business-related.

it was true, jaehyun and taeyong had somehow silently agreed not to talk about business-related subjects when they were calling each other their first names, but because of jaehyun's plan, the ceo would eventually need to find a solution to get some business stuff out of taeyong when they were together. otherwise, what would be the point of chitchatting with taeyong like that?

"well, you may think this question was business-related..." jaehyun started, taking a sip from his black tea which was getting colder every minute. "...but it wasn't. it was the type of question that you ask to a friend to get to know them more, you know?"

taeyong stared at the ceo with surprised eyes. "o-oh..." he let out, his heart now feeling completely fluttery at jaehyun's words. "s-so... we're friends?"

jaehyun had to hold in a snort at taeyong's child-like attitude. he really sounded like a toddler discovering friendship for the first time, and as cute as his big curious eyes were at the moment, jaehyun couldn't help but find the act quite pathetic from a grown man.

plus, he wasn't sure the term friends could describe the relationship between a ceo and a secretary from rival companies. but well, for the sake of his plan, he had to agree anyway.

"i mean... not if you don't want us to be." the ceo shrugged to which taeyong immediately panicked.

"no, no!" he shook his head. "oh my god, no! i'll be very glad to be your friend." taeyong continued. "well, outside of business hours, of course. because when doing business, we're more considered rivals than friends, you know?" he was quick to add with a small chuckle.

"well, then if you're willing to be my friends, and since we're out of business hours..." jaehyun looked at the secretary. "would you mind answering my question?"

the secretary thought for a few seconds to recall the question he had been asked.

"well, i... i like my career a lot. i'm very happy where i am now, and i don't think i would have been able to get something better." taeyong answered in all honesty. "but... why this question?"

"was just curious." jaehyun shrugged. "since you said the other day that you didn't like the way cars polluted and that it had been the only place you were accepted for a job."

taeyong slightly bushed at those words, hoping that jaehyun wouldn't recall this embarrassing part of his life. but he had been wrong, jaehyun paid attention to everything, and of course, he hadn't forgotten about this very piece of information taeyong had shared.

"like... it's a bit paradoxical with your persona, don't you think?" jaehyun finished, his eyes never leaving the secretary. "unless you work there for another reason which is not your love for cars..."

"huh... i'm not sure i..." taeyong paused for a second as he realised what jaehyun might mean. "yuta and i are not a thing if that's what you were trying to ask." the secretary was quick to say, looking at jaehyun with a frown.

"this wasn't necessarily what i meant, but i'll just keep this information in my mind." the ceo simply shrugged it off.

"no, really. i work here because i like the environment and the company culture, and i like my co-workers. is that bad?" the secretary wondered out loud.

"no, it's good." jaehyun assured. "it's better than working for something you're passionate about in a crumpled place where you have a shitty company culture and assholes as co-workers." he added, his thoughts unconsciously diverting to his fake-secretary who seemed to be in the very opposite situation to taeyong's.

poor boy... jaehyun couldn't help but feel bad for him.

the electrical technician was so passionate about his job to even realise how rotten everything around him was.

"so, my turn to ask a question!" taeyong's voice suddenly cut jaehyun's daydream, causing the ceo to frown.

"sorry?" he questioned, not really understanding what taeyong meant.

"well, you asked me a question, and now it's my turn." taeyong replied. "aren't we like... playing 20 questions or something?"

the ceo stayed dumbfounded at taeyong's words, wondering for a few seconds if he was serious or if he would say 'sike' in a minute before engaging on another topic.

but well, judging by the excitement in the secretary's eyes, it seemed like he was dead serious about the thing... so jaehyun had no other choice than to accept. plus, this meant he still had a couple questions he could ask and hopefully get interesting answers.

"right. what's your question, then?" the ceo asked.

"hmm..." the secretary thought for a second. "if you could have one superpower, what would it be?"

once again, the ceo wondered if taeyong was joking or not, but since the man seemed serious about this question, jaehyun had no other choice than finding an honest answer. "omniscience." he replied simply.

"ooh! interesting." taeyong commented. "i'd personally rather be able to teleport anywhere at any time. very convenient, and not polluting, you know? but omniscience is very cool."

a few uninteresting questions later, the two males agreed on the fact they needed to get to the car fair if they wanted to be on time, thus putting a stop to their little game which taeyong found really entertaining.

"i parked my car at the street corner, i'll meet you at the car fair." jaehyun informed as the two of them were in the lift on their way to the reception. "you have the address, right?"

"yeah, i do." taeyong nodded. "see you there."

jaehyun nodded as he exited the lift, heading directly towards the front doors of the headquarters to get to his car.

taeyong exited the lift behind him, looking at the businessman's back as he walked out of the building and headed in the direction of his car. once out of sight, taeyong turned on his heels, walking in the opposite direction of the entrance and approaching the back door of the building.

pressing his badge on the captor to open it, taeyong got out, doing a quick 'surroundings check' before getting on the pavement and approaching the road to check for the cars arriving.

after a few minutes, taeyong spotted a taxi at the end of the street, making a bright smile appear on his face as he held his arm out, agitating it to signal that he would be interested in grabbing the taxi.

however, the taxi just drove past him, surely because he had already been called for a service. the korean secretary could only sigh, his eyes focusing back on the end of the street, hoping for another taxi to arrive soon.

but instead of a taxi, an oddly familiar grey car pulled up next to taeyong as the window slid down slowly revealing someone the secretary definitely didn't expect to see.

"climb up."

☏

jaehyun was quick to reach his car and type the address of the car dealership in which the car fair occurred in his gps to know the directions there. in a matter of seconds, the ceo had his seatbelt fastened and the gear switched to first position so that he could start the car and ride all the way to the car fair.

following the directions given by his gps, jaehyun found himself driving in the street right behind nakamotors' headquarters. actually, the ceo didn't even pay much attention to this street until he noticed someone kind of familiar standing there and agitating his arm as a taxt drove past him.

jaehyun dropped a gear to slow down as he wanted to make sure he had recognised the male standing on the pavement with a pout on his face after being ignored by the taxi.

and of course, his intuition was right, making him stop the car and roll down his window right in front of the male.

"climb up." he declared as the secretary looked at him with wide eyes.

"i-i..."

"just climb up, taeyong." jaehyun repeated.

the boy didn't object, opening the car door and getting in before fastening his seatbelt and letting jaehyun drive away.

"calling a taxi, huh?" jaehyun asked after a few seconds of tense silence.

"i wasn't." taeyong replied instantly with red cheeks for being caught red-handed.

"i mean... it looked like it. your arm could have torn off from your body with how hard you were shaking it." jaehyun pointed out, causing tayeong's cheeks to turn even redder.

the ceo diverted his eyes from the road quickly to glance at the secretary who had fallen silent in the front seat.

"you know, if you didn't want to pollute that much, you could just have asked to ride with me." jaehyun informed to which taeyong simply hummed, his head leaning against the window.

"i'll think about it next time..." he mumbled.