24 hours after his and sicheng's fight, jaehyun was still seated on one of the massive armchairs of his office, his legs spread apart, the first buttons of his shirt opened and his hair completely dishevelled. and contrarily to what it may look like, the ceo hadn't just been able to experience anything close to a nice blowjob or mind-blowing sex.

no, the ceo had just been sitting there for the past day and night, ever since sicheng had left him, in his depressed state and with his intrusive thoughts.

his office desk was still on the floor, his documents scattered everywhere around the room, and despite it being a friday, jaehyun hadn't even thought about working for a second.

jaehyun was eaten by remorse and guilt, hating what he had made sicheng endure the day before. he somehow couldn't believe it had really happened. he refused to admit he had told him all of those mean things.

he was trying to persuade himself that this was nothing but a bad dream, and that at some point, he'll wake up in his bed, feeling fully rested after a long night of sleep.

but sadly, despite the many times he had pinched himself during the day, jaehyun had never been able to wake up from this nightmare, meaning only one thing; it was painfully real.

as fearless and reckless as jaehyun tried to appear, the young ceo had a fear, and unfortunately, facing this fear was what had caused such a mess in jaehyun's life. ever since the beginning of his life, jaehyun had feared to disappoint his father.

growing up, jaehyun had been taught by him how to be emotionless, to focus on his goals and to give himself every opportunity to reach them. his father had spent lots of time training him personally, claiming that one day, he'll need to run the family business and be the best ceo the world had ever seen. however, there was one thing jaehyun hated about those trainings: his father always claimed that he could do better. perhaps was it a way to push jaehyun to try harder, the ceo had no idea, but to that day, jaehyun's father had never once said words such as 'i'm proud of you' or 'you did well'.

when jaehyun's father had agreed to pass the business to jaehyun, the young man had made twice more efforts, trying to become the greatest ceo of his generation thanks to all of the trainings he had had. but then again, this fear of disappointing his father was immense and ate him from the inside.

and it was justified, because after years of leading jung corporation, his father was threatening to take the business away from him. surely because he judged that jaehyun hadn't led it the way he wanted.

for the past week, jaehyun's brain had been haunted by his father's words over the phone.

you have a bit more than two weeks until world creativity and innovation day. after that, the 'jung' in 'jung corporation' won't be standing for 'jung jaehyun' anymore.

giving the business back to his father was the last thing he wanted. but now that they were less than a week away from world creaticity and innovation day, it seemed like it was going to be what was bound to happen. and this caused jaehyun to go completely mad.

he knew very well that this was what had caused his outburst on sicheng the day before.

the fear of not being good enough eating him from the inside and causing him to spit out mean things, just the way his father had told him business men were supposed to act. at that moment, when he was spitting mean words at sicheng, he just wished his father had been there to hear him and realise how well he had taught him. maybe, if he had seen how harsh and heartless jaehyun could act, he would have judged jaehyun to be a good ceo, and he would have let him keep the business.

but no. his father hadn't witnessed anything of what had happened, and sicheng had been the only one present at that time, receiving the waves of mean things jaehyun had been taught. and so now, jaehyun had lost sicheng... and he was about to lose his business as well if he didn't find a solution quickly.

as impossible as it seemed, there was still a small possibility for jaehyun to keep his company and make jung corporation overpass nakamotors. and so, it was still possible for jaehyun to prove his father that he was capable, and hopefully make him proud.

at that point, it was all that mattered. now that he had acted like he had acted with sicheng, he couldn't back away. losing his only friend was already painful, he didn't want to lose it all and give his business back to his father.

and so, jaehyun had to act quickly in order to get rid of nakamotors.

the ceo pulled his phone out of his pocket, clicking on a number that he had dialled a lot these past days. he placed the phone to his ear and waited for it to ring.

"hello, jaehyun." a cheery voice said on the other side of the line.

"hey." the ceo spoke simply.

"huh... are you calling. me as jaehyun, my driving teacher? or as mister jung, my boss' rival?"

jaehyun took a deep breath. "as jaehyun, the guy that cannot get enough of you." he replied.

there was a small silence on the other side of the line, surely because this remark had left taeyong speechless. it often occurred.

"do you have plans tonight?" jaehyun asked since taeyong didn't answer for a while.

"h-huh... no, nothing. why?"

"it's friday night. let's meet up and have a few drinks together."

"oh, sure." taeyong said excitedly. "i'd love that!"

"great. do you have a particular place you like?" jaehyun asked.

"i'm up for anything. i'll let you choose what you prefer."

jaehyun hummed. "i'll send you a text on when to meet and where then. see you later."

"see you!"

jaehyun hung up, keeping his phone in his hand as he sighed loudly again.

this was his last chance to uncover yuta's business secrets and to make his business crash. and this meant it was jaehyun's last chance to prove his father that he was capable.

he had a plan, a solid one, despite it being completely unethical. but his father had taught him that sometimes, it was better being unethical than admitting a defeat.

and so, all jaehyun needed to do was to open his browser and search for the phone number of the nearest pharmacy.

"hello, how can i help you?" the pharmacian immediately asked after answering the phone.

"hello." jaehyun sighed. "do you sell pentothal?"

☏

"and then, yuta jumped in and saved me!" taeyong exclaimed with a bright smile as he moved the straw in his glass, making the ice cubes collide against each other. "thank god he was there. he scolded the other ceo and so, he didn't bother me again. can you believe how awful people really are?!"

jaehyun stared at the secretary silently, taking a sip of his own drink as he studied the male's face. cheeks slightly flushed, lips curved up in a big grin, and occasional chuckled slipping past his lips. he was quite tipsy, not yet drunk, but jaehyun felt like he wasn't far from it.

it was around midnight, and him and taeyong had met a few hours ago in a bar, taking a few drinks while discussing before moving to another bar which had much better music and a dancefloor area on which people could dance and have fun together.

they were currently sitting at their table, not so far from the dancefloor. jaehyun was listening to taeyong rambling and telling him funny stories about himself, the secretary probably not realising that he was spilling out his whole life in the tiniest details to the other ceo. but at the same time, jaehyun knew he couldn't drive, which was his biggest secret, so he had nothing to fear.

"can i clear your drink?" a waiter asked, showing taeyong's empty drink.

"oh, yeah." the secretary nodding cutely.

"and would you like something else?" the waiter asked again.

"another margharita, please." taeyong said with a bright smile.

"okay, and you, sir?" the waiter then looked at jaehyun.

"i'm good." the ceo replied simply, lifting his half-full glass, allowing the waiter to leave taeyong and him alone again.

"oh, and did i ever tell you about that time..."

jaehyun stayed silent, taking occasional sips from his drink as he listened to taeyong telling him another story of his life, his eyes sparkling in joy and his lips curved up in one of the most beautiful smiles jaehyun had ever seen. unfortunately, jaehyun couldn't really understand what taeyong was saying. the music was loud, and the ceo was definitely not concentrated enough to grasp every of taeyong's words. his mind was too far away to be able to process taeyong's words fully.

the atmosphere was weird, and it somehow bothered jaehyun.

the last time him and taeyong had met was three days ago, at the seminar, and even though it had started awkwardly for both of them, it had ended up with the two of them meeting secretely to make out at every occasion possible. neither of them could remember how many kisses they had shared that day, but they were both aware that kissing each other was addictive and did them nothing but good.

however, today, they hadn't shared any kiss yet. both of them were eager to lay each other's lips on the other's that for sure, but for the sake of the people around them, they both held themselves.

this was mostly what contributed to the weird atmosphere that was surrounding them. but well, it wasn't the only thing for jaehyun.

more than this urge to lean forward and place his lips on taeyong's with every chance he had, jaehyun had a lot on his plate, and this was mainly because he knew he was close to losing his business to his father.

as hard as it was, jaehyun tried not to get dissipated and to keep in mind the real goal of that night: making one of yuta's business secrets slip past taeyong's beautiful lips, and have a way to destroy nakamotors and make his father proud. this had been why he had decided to invite taeyong out tonight.

this was the only thing in jaehyun's mind right now. trying to get taeyong to speak about work and tell him what he needed to hear. this was mostly one of the reasons why he didn't object taeyong ordering more drinks and getting more drunk with each sip he took. he knew that drunk people tended to speak out with their heart, carelessly and mindlessly, not bothering to think if they were saying compromising things. and this could be jaehyun's best shot.

"also, i used to love bubble tea so much!" taeyong continued saying random things. "but then, one day, i drank it too fast and choked on the bubbles. i haven't liked it as much ever since then. do you like bubble tea?"

jaehyun couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at taeyong's cuteness, his mind drifting away from his main mission for a few seconds as the sight of taeyong's shining orbs. the secretary looked so innocent and giggly right now, he could be making anyone's heart melt. looking at him like that, jaehyun wanted nothing more than put him in his pocket and keep him close to himself forever.

"i never tried it." the ceo explained, taking a sip of his drink and almost spitting back everything into the glass as he saw taeyong's shocked expression.

"never?!" the secretary gasped loudly. "how is that even possible?! bubble tea, seriously?!"

"well, nobody's perfect, i guess." jaehyun shrugged, trying his best to contain his smile at first, but forgetting about it quickly as he looked into taeyong's eyes.

"it's not a matter of being perfect or not." taeyong huffed. "it's a matter of education. did your parents never introduce you to the good things in life?!"

jaehyun's previous smile disappeared immediately at the mention of his parents, this single word slapping jaehyun right in the face and causing him to remember why he was here tonight.

"a margharita." a waiter announced, placing the cocktail on the table and causing tayeong to gasp happily before pulling the drink closer to him and taking a sip from it.

"mmh... i love margharitas..." the korean secretary announced in a dreamy state under jaehyun's eyes.

they stayed in silence for a while, jaehyun trying to keep his mind focused as taeyong just looked at his surroundings. it didn't last very long as the secretary suddenly stared at jaehyun with wide eyes and his mouth agape.

"oh my god, i love that song!" the boy exclaimed before jaehyun could even ask him what was going on.

and the next thing jaehyun knew, taeyong had jumped off his chair and hopped to the dancefloor where he was now dancing like no tomorrow with the few people that were already there, not caring about his surroundings and just letting his body being guided by the beats of the song he loved so much.

jaehyun stared at him for a while, his eyes somehow getting mesmerised by the way taeyong could move his body so well in rhythm with the song. it was almost as if he was alone on the dancefloor, taking all of the attention to himself. actually, he was the only jaehyun could see in this exact moment.

the ceo found himself unconsciously placing a hand over his heart, the vital organ pumping in his chest perhaps a bit faster than it should. but the businessman was quick to divert his eyes from the dancefloor and to take a big gulp from his alcoholic drink, blaming it on the alcohol in his system.

looking at the empty seat in front of him – the one that had been abandoned by taeyong a few seconds ago – jaehyun sighed. his father's nagging played in his head, making him feel somehow nervous.

what was he doing? now was not the moment to get distracted and enjoy. he was about to lose hiw business, he was about to show his father that he was right not trusting him. and this was the last thing jaehyun wanted.

jaehyun needed to make nakamotors fail. he needed to prove his father that he was worthy of being his son. and for that, he imperatively needed taeyong to spill yuta's secrets.

jaehyun turned around quickly, checking taeyong on the dancefloor and sighing as he saw the male being too engrossed in the dance to care about anything else. the ceo put his hand in the inside pocket of his jacket, pulling out something looking like a small medicine tablet from it before popping a pill out.

pentothal, also known as one of the truth serum drugs.

those kinds of drugs that caused an alteration of brain functions and made it much harder for people to think and made them more compliant to pressure and more cooperative.

the ceo stared at the pill for a few more seconds before glancing at taeyong on the dancefloor and sighing once again.

"this is the only way out of this..." he muttered to himself before dropping the pill in taeyong's glass of margharita, looking at the pill dissolving in the almost full glass.

jaehyun helped the process by moving the straw around, causing the small particles of the drug to dissipate in the liquid under his eyes until it seemed like the drink was a classic margharita.

jaehyun's eyes then diverted to the dancefloor, looking at taeyong as he was still dancing mindlessly and drunkenly, obviously not doubting that he would drink a whole dose of truth serum that would cause him to spill everything in his mind to jaehyun.

the ceo stared at taeyong as the secretary stopped moving in a perfect ending pose before giggling loudly and making his way back towards jaehyun.

it took him a few seconds to reach jaehyun's side, and for all that time, the ceo couldn't help but admire the beautiful creature in front of him, getting mesmerised by the way his hips swayed left and right with every step he took, and by the way he pulled his hair back with his hand, his smile never leaving his face.

"sorry for that, i can't just sit there and do nothing when this song is playing." taeyong explained with a giggle, still standing in front of jaehyun.

the ceo said nothing, keeping his eyes on taeyong.

he was slightly out of breath, his chest rising up and down quickly because of how intensely he had dance a while ago. small droplets of sweat were visible on his forehead, slightly damping his hair that had been slightly messed up by his hand. his eyes were once again shining, and it seemed like they always were whenever he was looking into jaehyun's eyes. and finally, taeyong's lips were parted slightly, allowing him to taking in more air after the breath-taking effort, and looking more than appealing to jaehyun who badly wanted to kiss them.

"i need to sit down now!" the secretary declared with a sigh before hopping back to his chair and plopping down on it, still with a bright smile. "you didn't join me dancing." he added after catching his breath.

"i'm not really a dancing guy." jaehyun replied flatly. "looking at you dance was enough for me."

"so, did i dance good, then?" taeyong asked, leaning over the table slightly and batting his eye-lashes at the ceo.

jaehyun's words got swallowed in his throat at the question, his mind making flashes of ta'yong's dancing appearing in front of his eyes immediately.

did he dance good? god, 'good' was an understatement. jaehyun had been so mesmerised by his dancing that he could have watched him dancing for hours without getting bored of it. taeyong knew exactly how to move his body to making him go crazy.

jaehyun was seriously wondering if the secretary had taken dancing classes or if he had just inherited this ability from his parents.

parents.

the word caused jaehyun's brain to freeze once again.

why the hell was he thinking about how amazing taeyong was when he was supposed to do nothing but follow his fucking mission and prove his own parents that he was worthy of them.

"y-yeah, very." he stuttered, trying to make his brain focus again on what his main goal was.

"thanks." taeyong cheeks flushed red slightly, surely because he was feeling shy being complimented by jaehyun. it was quite cute, jaehyun must admit. "i used to love to dance a lot when i was younger. actually..."

and here was jaehyun again, getting lost in his thoughts as he listened to taeyong's words. as hard as he tried to resit taeyong's charms, it seemed impossible. the male was too cute and adorable, causing jaehyun to be mesmerised at any of his actions.

it was bad. really bad. not that the feeling was. in fact, it was quite pleasant to have someone telling him such things and asking him random questions. it made him feel like someone was getting interested in him for who he really was and not his social position. but the finality of it was bad. mostly when he was supposed to be using him to get to yuta.

"woah, my throat is so dry, i've been doing all of the speaking again..." taeyong declared with another chuckle that made jaehyun's heart miss a beat – not that it would admit that; it was just the alcohol starting to kick in for him. "why don't you tell me to shut up sometimes?!"

jaehyun stayed silent, keeping his lips clasped together not to let out what really was on his mind; because i love hearing you rambling.

god, could taeyong get even cuter, and could jaehyun really resist his charms?

"oh, it's true that i still have some margharita!" the secretary gasped, his eyes falling onto the almost full drink from which he had taken a few sips before leaving to go dance.

as taeyong's words left his mouth, the ceo's eyes shot open, falling on the glass of margharita as well. the same glass in which he had diluted a pill of truth serum; the pill that would allow jaehyun to play taeyong for good and finally have the information he needed.

the ceo's heart missed a beat, then two, and perhaps three.

however, these missing beats weren't as pleasant as the one he had felt a while ago, when he had witnessed taeyong smiling or acting cute. these missing beats were suffocating and hurt really bad.

jaehyun was quick to gulp down the remaining of his glass of alcohol, his eyes falling back on taeyong as the secretary reached for the glass of margharita.

he didn't know why he was feeling so unwell right now. he was so close to succeeding. he was so close to have the answer he needed, those which would allow him to make nakamoto loose. those which would finally make him worthy in his father's eyes. this was everything he wanted, right? to keep his business and make his father proud.

so, why the hell was he feeling so bad now that he was about to get what he wanted.

his eyes following closely every of taeyong's movement, the ceo's breathing somehow got erratic as he saw the secretary lifting the glass of margharita to bring the straw to his lips.

and despite his mind being completely messy, thoughts going everywhere in a big nonsense, sicheng's words rang in his ears at the speed of light, acting like the last bit of sanity left in his ravaged brain.

i thought i had been able to change you... but you're still the same cold-hearted and greedy ceo that i first met.

jaehyun gulped, biting harshly on his bottom lip as his eyes continued following taeyong's actions.

you make it seem like you enjoy being an asshole

and here they were again, sicheng's words, hurting him as if a knife had suddenly been thrusted in his chest.

they hadn't hurt as much two days before, when he had voiced them out. surely because jaehyun was in such a panicked state that he had been immune to anything. but now that he had found his reason back, they were hitting harder than ever, and making jaehyun realise how much of a bitch he had been to the only friend he had ever had.

who in their right mind could even think about doing such a thing?

these last words from sicheng were an eye-opener for jaehyun.

sicheng was right. he had always been. how dumb could jaehyun be not to see that? how could he always be so blinded by his will to make his parents proud to even forget about what was right and what wasn't?

and so, the second taeyong's cherry lips clasped around the plastic of the straw of his margharita, jaehyun's hand held out, knocking the glass off taeyong's hand and causing it to fly through the bar until it crashed to the floor, shattering in billions of pieces and spilling the drugged liquid everywhere to the floor.

taeyong stared at jaehyun in confusion, his eyes diverting between the man and the shattered pieces of the glass he had been holding in his hand.

"w-why did you do that?" the korean male asked after a while, a frown decorating his pretty face.

jaehyun didn't answer, taking a deep breath before gripping on the arm of a waiter that was passing nearby to catch his attention.

"yes, sir?" the waiter asked.

"one more margharita." he stated, glancing at his empty glass of alcohol. "and two of your strongest drink."

he then let go of the man's arm, taking a few more deep breaths as he stared into the void.

he had done the right thing.

this was all he needed to care about right now.

☏

sicheng heaved out a sigh for the nth time since the beginning of his and yuta's date.

"a penny for your thoughts?" the ceo's voice broke sicheng off his daydream, making him turn his head to look at the japanese male.

"what did you say?" he asked with puppy eyes, hoping yuta hadn't noticed he had been daydreaming since the beginning of their outing.

"you seem to be deep in thought. is everything alright?" yuta replied worriedly, one of his hands finding its way behind sicheng's back to rub it comfortingly.

the two of them were currently sitting on a bench in a park after spending a nice dinner together in a restaurant that paid for the both of them – yuta had pulled his wallet out, as usual, but sicheng had insisted on paying this time, so the japanese had finally let him pay for their meal.

they were side by side, waiting for the small firework show that was supposed to take place that night. but instead of chatting about anything and everything like they usually did, they were silent, sicheng being too bothered by his thoughts to speak freely.

"y-yeah, i'm just... tired, i guess." sicheng replied with a shrug, flashing yuta a small smile.

but the japanese ceo wasn't stupid. he could see that sicheng's smile – as beautiful as it was – looked nothing like the smiles he could give yuta when he was really happy.

"do you want me to drive you back home?"

"no, no." sicheng shook his head. "you said you wanted to watch the fireworks. i don't want to prevent you to do so."

"to be honest, watching the fireworks was an excuse that i found to spend time with you." yuta explained. "but i really don't care about where we are as long as i'm with you."

sicheng's cheeks flushed red at yuta's honest words, not really expecting them. it never failed to make his heart go crazy.

"so, would you feel better if i drove you back home?" yuta asked again, his hand continuing to rub sicheng's back.

"i..." sicheng sighed again. "i-i need to tell you a secret..."

yuta's lips curved up in a smile as he looked at sicheng's face, finding the boy's worried expression adorable.

"a secret?" he repeated. "i feel like we're back to high school, discussing about very hot tea." he chuckled.

"yeah, well..." sicheng sighed again, his face not lighting up despite yuta's intended joke. "i'm not sure you'll keep laughing for long when i'll tell you."

yuta frowned at that, sensing how stressed sicheng actually was. the ceo removed his hand from sicheng's back and sat up straight to look at sicheng better.

"what is the problem, sicheng?" he asked, now sounding worried.

another sigh slipped past sicheng's lips as he fidgeted with his fingers, not looking into yuta's direction, fearing to be hurt by his reaction.

"i-i feel like we're getting closer and... and i really like you, yuta. a-and that is why i can't lie to you anymore..." he breathed out.

yuta stared at him, blinking a few times witout taking his eyes away from sicheng's face, despite the chinese male looking everywhere but in his direction.

"i-i'm not jaehyun's secretary..." sicheng admitted with a heavy heart. "i'm not a secretary at all, actually. i just..." he sighed again. "i'm an electrical technician, and i work at nano electronics."

a long silence followed, one that sicheng would rather replace by a slap or a burst of anger from the japanese ceo. but no. yuta stayed silent, causing sicheng to hear the nervous thumping of his heart in his chest.

so, here it was. the price to pay after keeping a secret. the silence forced by astonishment and deception. here it was, slapping sicheng right in the face.

the chinese male wanted nothing more than disappearing right now, if it wasn't obvious already.

"well..." yuta sighed loudly.

this little word from yuta, spoke from something which sicheng identified as desperation with a hint of anger, it killed sicheng. he wasn't even sure he wanted to hear the next words that followed. a series of profanities and curse words, spat at sicheng for deceiving him.

"i guess that i need to tell you a secret too..."

sicheng's head shot up, his teary eyes meeting yuta's smiley ones.

the chinese male gulped, his mind unable to process what was happening.

why the hell was yuta smiling after he had admitted he had lied to him since the beginning?

"w-what...?" sicheng breathed out, blinking in confusion.

"i've known since the very beginning that you weren't jaehyun's secretary." yuta stated, looking down at sicheng's fidgety hands before slipping his own larger hand between sicheng's, intertwining their fingers. "and i feel so proud of you for telling me the truth tonight."