it was crazy how fast time flew by.

the last thing he remembered, jaehyun was in his night robe, looking at taeyong leaving his house after an amazing night spent together and receiving a call from his father to remind him – once again – that he needed to do something if he didn't want to lose his business. and now, it was already the d-day, april 21st, or in other words world creativity and innovation day.

jaehyun was rarely nervous. he usually was someone confident whatever the difficulty of the task he needs to accomplish. he had signed countless of big business contracts, had lots of arguments over prices or quality and managed to remain respected and feared by all of the other businessmen of the sector for the past years he had been leading this business.

and yet, here he was, hands shaking as he tried to tie his necktie in front of his body mirror.

he was a nervous wreck, knowing that it probably was his last day as the ceo of jung corporation as he had failed in the mission his father had given him. once again, he had failed making his father proud of him.

the ceo heaved out a sigh, diverting his eyes from his mirror before he headed to the bathroom, finishing his morning routine before leaving his house to get to the venue where the automobile event for world creativity and innovation day was taking place.

as he was in the queue of cars waiting to get inside the parking lot, the korean male turned towards the passenger seat, a small frown appearing on his face as he painfully noticed it was empty.

months ago, he wouldn't have minded having this seat empty. if anything, he would have been glad, because this was his precious car, and he didn't want anyone to dirty or mess with it. but somehow, something had changed.

for the past months, he had gotten used to having a fake secretary, someone to stay around him and supposedly listen to each and every of his words. and as much as he hated this idea in the first place, he had grown attached to the chinese engineer that he had selected to act as his secretary, and it seemed like a piece of his heart was missing now that he knew that sicheng probably hated him after everything he said to him.

and more than just sicheng, the other person who had unknowingly filled the void in jaehyun's car – and also in his heart – was taeyong. jaehyun had really enjoyed driving him around before he learnt he didn't have a licence, and he had truly loved their little driving lessons. they were something unique and magical, something jaehyun had never experienced before, and yet, something he couldn't seem to get enough of.

anyway, after months of having a heart-whelming presence in his car, whether it was sicheng or taeyong, the ceo suddenly felt lonely, looking at the passenger seat, hoping that someone was here with him to make him forget about everything that currently was on his mind.

in a matter of minutes, jaehyun had his car parked and found himself in the venue, surrounded by dozens of other businessmen as well as car-enthusiasts who had received invites to this yearly event.

the ceo greeted the people he knew, setting a few meetings for the next weeks with some of them, and simply discussing potential innovations with others. he had this little voice in the back of his head telling him that all of this was no use because he wouldn't be the ceo anymore after today, but the others didn't need to know that. to them, he was still the great jung jaehyun, and he had to keep pretending like everything was perfectly fine.

once he was able to have a few seconds of tranquillity, with no one rushing to his side to ask him about his next business plans or ask him for a favour, the korean ceo walked out of the big hall they were in, travelling across the corridors to the back of the stage.

he didn't really know why, but he felt utterly lonely without sicheng by his side, and he was trying to seek comfort by meeting with taeyong.

neither taeyong nor yuta were seen in the main hall of the venue, but jaehyun was pretty sure it was because yuta held a speech that day. sicheng had let slip how yuta's team had come up with a new prototype of car, and jaehyun was sure that it was going to be something revolutionary that would definitely make him secure his position on top of the business – something that jaehyun had to prevent but wasn't sure he would be able to.

the ceo of jung corporation walked backstage, looking at his surroundings and hoping to find the korean secretary he hadn't seen in two days. but unfortunately, it was completely empty of any human presence.

jaehyun sighed again as he looked around, seeing a few prototypes of car-equipment that some businessmen would surely present later on during the day. and after a few minutes, jaehyun's eyes fell on a car, a nakamotors one to be exact, easily recognisable with the silver nakamotors logo on its hood.

looking at the car more carefully, jaehyun didn't need long to understand that it was the prototype that yuta would be presenting today. and to be fully honest, the car looked good, and jaehyun was sure it would be very performant. as much as he wanted to hate his business rival, he must admit that yuta was impressive.

"fuel-less cars, huh?"

the ceo jumped slightly at the sudden voice, not expecting to see someone here.

"oh, mister hu." jaehyun let out when he noticed the familiar face of his main shareholder. "it's a pleasure to see you here."

"it's one of the first prototypes to exist." the shareholder went on, ignoring jaehyun's greeting. "and it was made by nakamotors."

"i am aware." jaehyun nodded, still looking at the car. "it's a very daring step from him. but as amazing as the idea sounds, there has to be something about fuel-less cars that doesn't fit."

"mister jung."

jaehyun was slightly taken aback by the tone used by his main shareholder, not expecting such seriousness as they were discussing. they were business partners, definitely not friends, but still, the tone used made it seem like they were rivals. this was the tone jaehyun would have used when speaking to yuta at the very beginning.

"is there a problem, mister hu?" jaehyun raised a brow.

the other man held a finger in front of jaehyun as he pulled his phone out and opened the recording app before starting to record them. "for a matter of transparency and a trace of this important conversation." he explained.

jehyun blinked, looking down at the device and knowing that the recording part meant nothing good. recording a conversation was often something businessmen did as a provisional contract until a real written contract was established.

the recording was a proof of the terms and conditions that businessmen agreed on and it made it possible to start making contracts valid even before they had to be written – which could take long. both parties agreeing on the recording acted like the signatures at the end of the contract and was what made it valid.

jaehyun coughed, looking back into the investor's eyes. "what conversation requires a recording, mister hu?"

"i want to stop investing in jung corporation." the shareholder replied, his words slapping jaehyun right in the face with such force that the ceo wasn't able to speak for a while.

the sentence kept replaying in his mind, making him wonder if he had heard it right or if his brain had just messed with him. but unfortunately, the look in mister hu's eyes was fierce, and jaehyun understood that the words he had heard had been exactly those which had been pronounced.

there was only one thing on his mind at the moment. why the hell was this happening to him? and of all times, why now?

jaehyun was already about to lose his business to the profit of his father because he hadn't been able to make it to the top again. and now, more than that, he wouldn't be receiving any more support from his main shareholder? mister hu owned almost 50% of jung corporation's shares. with nakamotors' business decisions and actions, jaehyun's father could only encourage jaehyun to sell more shares to shareholders in the company. and mister hu was always a reliable shareholder, willing to buy more shares and help jaehyun staying as high as possible on the automobile sector's rankings. but now, it was the end?

"w-what do you mean?" jaehyun questioned, trying his best not to appear stressed when in fact he felt like he was on the verge of losing his sanity.

"i don't want to be a jung corporation shareholder anymore." mister hu explained. "i am selling all of the shares i am currently owning."

jaehyun felt like he was about to faint.

this was way more than he had imagined. mister hu didn't only want to stop investing more and keep his shares. he didn't want to be part of the business anymore. he was selling all of his shares, and leaving jaehyun in big trouble. with one of its biggest shareholders abandoning him, the company's stock may fall rapidly, and this could leave jung corporation in a very bad state.

and of course, this had to happen when jaehyun's position as a ceo was about to slip between his fingers. now, his father was going to blame him and his poor management for mister hu's sudden departure. and of course, this meant that there was no chance for jaehyun to win over nakamotors now that half of his business shares had been sold to god knows who.

"w-what made you decide this so suddenly?" the ceo questioned, knowing very well that he wouldn't be able to make the man change decisions, but hoping that he could get more information on it.

"oh, it wasn't sudden. i've been thinking about it for a few months." the shareholder explained. "i just... don't feel like your company corresponds to me anymore. the business is too slacking for my liking."

"s-slacking?" jaehyun stuttered with a huff. "is that really what you think i am? slacking?"

"well, this is what appears in the results of the company." the shareholder shrugged.

jaehyun's teeth gritted at those comments. he was angry, mad angry that his shareholder was getting back at him so mindlessly, claiming that he was slacking when he couldn't even see everything jaehyun was doing to keep his business going.

"you really have no shame saying such things to my face when you know nothing about how hard i work to maintain my company in a good shape." jaehyun let out, his brows furrowed and his voice getting louder with each of the words he spat at the shareholder's face. "you definitely don't know how late i go back home every night, or how little break time i take every day. you have no idea of what i'm going through and of all of the pressure that's put on my shoulders as the youngest ceo of the sector. you do not know what it's like to lead a successful business that your ancestors built, and to fear to disappoint them one day because of one of your decisions!"

the shareholder kept his arms crossed over his chest, looking at jaehyun blankly while the ceo lashed angry words at him.

"how can you say that i am slacking when you don't even know how hard i work and how bad i try my best to be better than nakamotors! you think it is easy to see your place under the spotlight being stolen by someone?! of course it isn't. and what did i do? i fought back, as hard as i could, trying to overpass him again without forgetting about my business. you think i was happy pretending like i had a secretary to fit in when i never needed one? you think i was happy meeting with nakamoto's secretary to befriend him in hope of grabbing any piece of information on him? you think i was happy hearing my father saying he was disappointed in my performances every time? well, the truth is, i wasn't. but i endured it, for the sake of my business." jaehyun continued, his eyes staring in the depth of mister hu's eyes. "so, my business may not succeed as much as you hoped, but it is certainly not because i am slacking off."

the shareholder waited for a few seconds after jaehyun's speech, letting a tense silence surround them before he decided to speak.

"this won't make me change my decision, just so you know." he informed.

"i know." jaehyun nodded. "we've been working together for years. i know that once a decision is made for you, there is no coming back."

"i'm glad you're aware of it." mister hu gave jaehyun a polite but not sincere smile. "i wish you the best for the future then. we will surely cross paths again." he added before stopping the recording on his phone, the device letting out a small 'beep' before he switched it off and tunred on his heels to leave.

jaehyun didn't even answer. he stayed silent for a few seconds, following mister hu's frame as the man walked away, surely to head into the main hall where everyone most likely was before the presentation time.

once the shareholder had disappeared from his sight, jaehyun let out a loud groan, his anger surfacing at once and making him kick the nearest thing with all of his strength which happened to be the car prototype's tyre.

the ceo's eyes stayed on the car as he breathed heavily, waves of anger and panic hitting him square in the face each second.

he was a dead man. there was no way he'd be able to overpass nakamotors ever again. he knew it very well. even if he managed to make his father leave him as the leader of jung corporation, the second he'll learn about mister hu selling all of his shares, he'll be very mad and probably scold jaehyun like he never had before. and so, this would mean that jaehyun wouldn't be able ever again to dream about taking back the business from his father. at that point, there would be nothing he could do to make his father change his mind.

for decades, the jungs had been building an empire. an amazing company which seemed impossible to defat, and whose only possible future was to grow. and yet, jung jaehyun had managed to make it collapse completely, first by letting it being overtaken by an amateur, and then, by causing his biggest shareholder to sell all of his shares away.

it wasn't just about his father anymore. it was about his whole bloodline; all of his ancestors. with his carelessness and poor management, he had put a shame on all of them, and he had proved his father that he had made the wrong decision.

the jungs generally inherited the business when they were in their forties, and when their parents became too old to run the business. but jaehyun had insisted that he was ready at 20 years old, and after five long years of trying to persuade him, his father had accepted to hand him the business for his 25th birthday, around 15 years before his ancestors had been able to. and just now, jaehyun had shown his father and all of his ancestors that there was a real reason why they waited for their sons to be in their forties before handing them the business.

"i'm dead..." the ceo stated, his eyes staring into the void as he leant against the beautiful prototype car of his rival.

it was the end of him and jung corporation, and at the same time, the beginning of nakamotors' era. jaehyun could already hear his father nagging him, scolding him, screaming at him and disinheriting him for what he did. he already knew what he would tell him. he had the whole speech unrolling in front of his eyes like the credits rolling down at the end of a movie – in fact, they were jaehyun's credits, rolling at the end of his life.

another desperate sigh slipping past his lips, the korean ceo's eyes fell on the prototype car that he was leaning on. thinking deeper into it, there was maybe a way for his father to end up proud of him despite him making the business collapse.

the male looked around quickly, making sure no one was around before walking in front of the hood of the car and looking for a way to open it. after a few minutes of struggles, he blocked the hood open and looked at the variety of wires and tanks that were hidden under it. and without thinking for a second more, the sole idea of his father being at least a bit proud of him fuelling his desperation, his hand gripped a wire and pulled on it harshly, causing it to disconnect from the car. the ceo gulped, looking at the wire in his hand before throwing it back inside the hood and pulling onto another wire.

the automobile industry may lose jung corporation, but at least, the mission jaehyun's dad gave him would have been a success: nakamotors would lose in popularity. imagine, someone bragging live in front of many businessmen and in presence of the press about a new revolutionary innovation that would change the world, something that people thought to be impossible, only for it to fail completely in front of everyone.

not only would yuta appear as a fool for a few seconds, perhaps even ridicule himself when he'll be at loss of words, but he would also appear too greedy for innovating and being better than others, which would surely make him lose in popularity.

jaehyun could already imagine the ceo having to justify himself endlessly explaining that he wasn't trying to show off, and he could definitely picture him appearing in something resembling a scandal on the front cover of autoinfo with his secretary and-

his secretary.

lee taeyong.

unconsciously, jaehyun's train of thoughts had brought him back to the korean male that had seemed to take over his mind awfully often these past weeks. and somehow, as he was still pulling onto a few wires, jaehyun froze, his mind making him revive everything him and taeyong had been through.

their first encounter.

the first dinner they had at the italian restaurant.

the countless times jaehyun rode him back home.

the events of the leaders' seminar.

the driving lessons.

the evening they had spent at taeyong's house.

the outing at the bar.

the kisses.

the make out sessions.

the sex.

it all came back to him in a flash, suddenly causing air to lack in his lungs and his heart to hurt.

his thoughts raced a hundred miles per hour in his brain, making him connect the dots quickly and realise that by sabotaging yuta's prototype, he was not only signing the beginning of problems for nakamotors, but surely the end of his and taeyong's relationship – even before it could even start.

the same way it had caused him to lose sichang a few days ago, his obsession to make his father proud was going to make him lose taeyong and his business. in the end, jaehyun wouldn't have anything left, just his pain to endure.

and the worst part of it? he had been the one inflicting himself this pain since the beginning. if only he hadn't been so stupid and tried more than anything to make his father proud. then, none of this would have happened, and he would surely still own his business.

submerged by terror, jaehyun pulled his hands from under the hood, one of the wires still in his hands before he slammed the hood back closed, looking at the car with wide eyes.

"jaehyun?"

a cold shiver ran down the ceo's spine as his name was called, making him turn around to face the person immediately as he placed his hands behind his back, hiding the wire he had just ripped off the car.

and the second he met eyes with the boy in front of him, jaehyun's eyes widened again, somehow not believing that he was seeing things right.

"s-sicheng...?" he let out in disbelief, staring at the male in a grey tuxedo in front of him.

"yes..." the engineer replied with a small sigh. "i just... you said you needed me to act as your secretary for the last time today so... yeah..."

jaehyun blinked. once. twice.

he couldn't believe it.

after everything he had done and said, after acting like the biggest bitch to him, sicheng was still here, ready to play pretend for his sake?

"d-don't you hate me f-for what i did?" jaehyun asked, his words sounding quite unsure.

sicheng shrugged. "hate is a strong word." he replied, looking into jaehyun's eyes again as the ceo was starting to hyperventilate, all of the emotions he had been through for the past minutes getting the best of him.

"i-i..." he stuttered, trying not to tear up despite feeling completely overwhelmed. "i-i'm sorry for hurting you. i-i'm sorry for saying those mean things to you. i-i... i didn't mean them. i was so stredded because my father told me he would take the business from me and i panicked and... i'm so sorry, sicheng. i realised how awful i had been to you too late. but i really care about you, and i hate myself for making you endure this when you obviously deserve none of that..."

sicheng gave jaehyun a small smile, feeling pity for the ceo who always seemed so strong and now appeared like he was completely lost.

the fake-secretary took a step forward, opening his arms and tilting his head to the side while looking at jaehyun.

"come here." he spoke simply, and jaehyun didn't hesitate to let himself melt in the chinese boy's embrace, wrapping his own arms around sicheng and burying his face on his shoulder to let out the first silent tears that threatened to fall since a while ago.

"i figured out that your father was putting a lot of pressure on you and that this was what had caused your outburst." sicheng whispered as they were hugging. "i know you didn't mean it, which is why i'm not mad at you."

"i-i'm sorry sicheng." jaehyun replied, his voice muffled by sicheng's shoulder. "i'm so sorry for everything."

"it's okay, jaehyun." sicheng tightened his embrace around the ceo.

they stayed like that for a few minutes, sicheng rubbing jaheyun's back soothingly as the ceo calmed down, sicheng's hug acting like an efficient pain killer to all of his pains and worries. he had even surprised himself tightening the hug a few times, never wanting sicheng to let him go because of how safe he felt there – good thing there was no one around to witness all of this.

"jaehyun, what's in your hand?" the fake-secretary questioned, feeling something metallic pressing his back.

jaehyun pulled out from the hug, looking down at the wire in his hand before looking back into sicheng's eyes with a sheepish smile. "i-i... i think i messed up again..."

sicheng's eyes widened at that, his eyes diverting between the wire in jaehyun's hands and the nakamotors car behind him. "w-where does this wire go?"

"w-well..." jaehyun gulped.

"oh god..." sicheng let out, his eyes wide as saucers as he took his head into his hands.

jaehyun gulped once again, staring at the chinese male with a desperate look.

"i-i... i don't know what happened, it's just that..." he took a deep breath. "m-my father is going to take the business from me since i couldn't beat nakamotors, and then my biggest shareholder just told me they would be selling all of my shares, so my father is going to kill me, but maybe if i manage to put nakamotors in a delicate situation he won't be as mad so, yeah..."

sicheng stared at him in disbelief, staying silent for a while as he processed the words jaehyun had rapped at the speed of light.

"but then, i realised that i couldn't do this, because taeyong is going to hate me and despite my initial plan being to play him, i-i think i don't want him to see him as someone bad who sabotaged his business."

the chinese male continued looking at his friend silently, still needing some time to process jaehyun's words. and after a long nerve-wrecking silence, he finally spoke.

"so, you did really try to seduce taeyong and to play his feelings... you did really pretend that you liked him back so that you could unveil some of yuta's business secrets...?" he asked.

"w-well... yeah..." jaehyun sighed, lowering his head in shame.

"but you ended up playing yourself." sicheng continued.

"w-what?" the ceo blinked in confusion.

"you tried hard to make him fall, but you fell even deeper."

"i-i... no!" jaehyun shook his head, his heartbeat accelerating in his chest.

"you can't lie to me, jaehyun." sicheng spoke sternly, making jaehyun lower his head again. "i can see right through you."

the ceo let out a deep sigh, not knowing what else to say.

"so, you fell in love with your rival's secretary. and now that you realised your feelings and the consequences your actions could have on your growing relationship, you want to fix everything not to lose him as well..." sicheng explained slowly, studying each and every of jaehyun's movements.

"i... yes..." the ceo admitted, knowing better than lying to sicheng.

the chinese male let out a sigh, glancing at the desperate ceo before crossing his arms over his chest and frowning.

"you're lucky i really grew attached to you, because i'm risking my own relationship in helping you fixing all of this."