"are you nervous?" taeyong questioned, a small smile decorating his face as he looked at his boss dusting off his suit in front of the mirror.

"is it visible?" yuta immediately asked, looking up at his secretary with panic in his eyes.

"no, it's not. which is why i'm asking." taeyong chuckled.

"oh..." yuta took a deep breath. "i'm dying of nervousness to be honest."

"you have no reason to. you're going to do amazing just like you always do." the secretary reassure him, taking a few steps closer to readjust the collar of yuta's suit.

yuta didn't answer, looking down at taeyong as the male toyed with the collar of his suit and ironed a few visible wrinkles with his fingers.

the ceo had rarely been as stressed as he was right now. today was a big deal, and as much as he had learnt his speech by heart and rehearsed what he would be doing with the car prototype, he couldn't help but feel nervous, as if something wasn't going to go according to plan.

he would be talking like in front of the press and of dozens of other business men and car enthusiasts, all possible future shareholders or future investors of the brilliant innovation yuta would show them. he couldn't mess up, not today.

"think about something nice. you need to take your mind away from this, we still have an hour before your presentation." taeyong suggested, patting yuta's shoulder.

and so, the ceo complied immediately, his thoughts diverting to the man that had been the main reason behind his smiles and his giddiness these past weeks: none other than dong sicheng, the man that had become his boyfriend a few days ago.

thinking about the younger chinese male immediately made all of yuta's worries fly away, being replaced by nothing but love and adoration. sicheng was perfect in every aspect, and it was crazy how hard yuta had fallen for him at a glance when he had met him a yar ago, as sicheng intervened on his optical fiber. and now, a year later, after downloading lots of dating apps and countless failed dates in hope of forgetting the cute chinese male, yuta had managed to find him again, and made him fall for him.

never in his life yuta had imagined he would be that lucky, and yet, here he was, being able to call himself sicheng's boyfriend, and so, being the happiest man alive.

"wow... i don't know what you're thinking about, but it seems better than any type of drug." taeyong chuckled, seeing the way yuta's face had immediately brightened as he thought about sicheng.

"he's better than any type of drug." yuta let out, his smile not disappearing from his face as he continued replaying images of him and sicheng together in his mind.

"him?" taeyong pointed out. "are you talking about your date?"

yuta froze for a second, not really sure how to answer. "yes." he finally replied after a while.

"he seems to be taking a lot of your time. make sure to show him to me before asking him out. i need to approve of him, you know?" the secretary said with another chuckle, playfully hitting yuta's shoulder.

the ceo gulped, biting his lip as nervousness took over him again.

sicheng's status had already upgraded from date to boyfriend, but since yuta wasn't sure how taeyong would react knowing about it, he hadn't mentioned it. sure, there wasn't supposed to be any problem about their relationship, because sicheng wasn't actually his rival's secretary. but once again, taeyong wasn't aware of that, and yuta didn't know how well taeyong could take this information as well.

but at the same time, him and tayeong were close friends, and they didn't have any secrets between them – well, they weren't supposed to have any. so, he should be able to tell him, and taeyong should be able to accept it.

"what's with your face?" taeyong frowned, seeing how yuta's expression had drastically change after his interjection. "oh my god, he's already your boyfriend, is that it?"

"taeyong, i need to tell you something, but promise me you won't be mad." yuta stated in a serious tone, his voice slightly shaky because of apprehension.

"of course, i won't be mad, yuta. you can tell me anything." taeyong reassured him immediately.

"my date... who now became my boyfriend..." yuta sighed. "you already know him."

"i know him?!" the secretary exclaimed in surprise, immediately trying to seek through their mutual friends and acquittances to figure out who it could be.

"you do." yuta confirmed. "but please, don't hate me when i tell you."

"why are you making it seem like it's so problematic?" taeyong frowned again.

"my boyfriend..." yuta sighed, lowering his head to stare at his feet for a second before looking into taeyong's eyes again, not wanting to miss his reaction, whatever it may be. "it's sicheng."

taeyong's eyes immediately widened at this information, his mind starting to wonder if he didn't know another sicheng before understanding that it could only be jaehyun's secretary.

and so, taeyong recalled everything yuta had told him. all of those times yuta spoke about his date, it was sicheng, jaehyun's secretary. and this meant that sicheng liked him back as well if they were boyfriends. but did jaehyun know about it as well? was he aware that his secretary was going out with his main business rival?

and then, another thought came to taeyong's mind, making him gasp.

this situation was somehow very similar to his own situation. so, yuta and jaehyun's secretary was going out, and it could be considered that jaehyun and yuta's secretary were going out too with all of those make out sessions and this mind-blowing sex they had had.

so, basically, taeyong had been stressing his life to tell yuta about his date being jaehyun, fearing that yuta would hate him for having heart eyes for his rival when the japanese ceo was himself meeting with jaehyun's secretary behind his back?!

but then, this meant that yuta could understand taeyong's situation. and he wouldn't be able to get mad if he came to learn that taeyong was having an affair with his rival. so, taeyong wouldn't need to keep that secret for much longer, he could freely tell his friend about it without fearing to be fired or anything.

"and it's not all..." yuta spoke again after a long silence, making taeyong stare back at him.

"w-what do you mean?" taeyong stuttered, completely taken aback.

"he's not really jaehyun's secretary." yuta explained. "he's... he's an electrical technician at nano electronics. and he was the guy that made me start to download all of those dating apps a year ago. the wagyu beef cutie. he's sicheng."

if taeyong was taken aback before, now he was flabbergasted.

what the hell was happening? he couldn't comprehend anything anymore. how could sicheng be the guy that had put a spell over yuta a year ago? he clearly remembered jaehyun introducing him as his secretary. but at the same time, it was true that sicheng was like no other secretary taeyong had met with...

"h-how is he not jaehyun's secretary?"

"i don't know. he didn't tell me why he was pretending, but he admitted that he really wasn't." yuta explained. "but he didn't really need to, because i knew it ever since i saw the nano electronics pen he had."

taeyong suddenly recalled that scene, right after he had fallen into jaehyun's arms and helplessly fallen in love with the ceo. he recalled the nano electronics pen and the way jaehyun's secretary – well, fake-secretary apparently – had snapped at yuta after he teased him.

and so, this only meant one thing: yuta wasn't dating his rival's secretary. and since he had known about sicheng's real identity since the beginning, he never had thought of dating his rival's secretary. and this necessarily meant that yuta would most likely get mad if he came to learn that taeyong wanted to date his rival. so, there was no way taeyong could admit he had something going on with jaehyun.

"s-so you're boyfriends?" taeyong questioned.

"yes... we have been for a few days." yuta replied with a nod.

taeyong sighed. it seemed like yuta's previous nervousness and his previous calmness had suddenly been switched, as if the sole fact of saying the truth to taeyong had made yuta feel much calmed, and as if the reveal of the secret had caused taeyong to become much more stressed.

"well... i'm glad that you could find him again then, and that he could accept your feelings." the secretary stated.

yuta flashed him a sincere smile, his face lighting up at taeyong's words.

"i guess you could always look at him during your speech if you feel too nervous." taeyong continued. "i'm sure he'll be able to make you feel at ease again."

☏

"jaehyun, how many of them did you tear off exactly?!" the chinese male whisper-shouted, collecting the few wires that had been thrown back under the hood of the car.

"i-i can't remember..." the ceo replied guiltily, obediently grabbing all of the wires that sicheng handed him.

"you seriously need to do something about your anger issues. and your way to dealing with stress as well..." sicheng continued, looking around the zone under the boot to make sure there were no wires left.

jaehyun didn't talk further, keeping his words to himself as he looked at sicheng studying the car, and probably trying to figure out where each wire went.

"y-you'll be able to fix it, right?" jaehyun questioned, his eyes holding desperation. "you're an engineer, so you must know about this stuff."

"i'm an electrical engineer, not a mechanical one, for your information." sicheng sighed, his eyes still focused on the inside of the car. "i'm not sure i'm more competent that you are to do these kinds of things."

once again, the ceo stayed silent after sicheng's words, not wanting to anger the chinese male. sicheng was already here helping him when this could risk his relationship with yuta, so jaehyun had no space to complain. plus, once again, he was patiently waiting while sicheng fixed his mess, so there was nothing for him to say except a thank you and how grateful he was for the chinese male's help.

sicheng grabbed a wire from jaehyun's hands, checking its ends carefully before looking at the possible places where it could have been connected. and after a few seconds of observation, he was able to find the location where the wire went, and to connect both of its ends back to the car.

with a small smile on his face, sicheng heaved out a sigh and grabbed a second wire from jaehyun's hand.

"do you know how long we have before the beginning of yuta's speech?" sicheng asked as he connected the wire somewhere before disconnecting it and trying another location.

"he starts his speech in half an hour." jaehyun replied immediately after checking his watch.

"okay, hopefully we will make it." sicheng nodded, focusing back on the car.

jaehyun looked at him, tears almost coming to his eyes as he wondered what he had done in his life to deserve such an amazing friend.

the ceo wouldn't exactly describe himself as a saint, if anything, he was closer to a sinnar. and yet, the universe had allowed him to cross paths with the litteral angel that was dong sicheng, and it had made them grow attached to each other despite their differences. jaehyun was really lucky to have him.

"t-thank you so much, sicheng..." jaehyun mumbled, his head hanging low.

"i'm not done yet, you know?" sicheng immediately replied, groaning a bit as he couldn't find where to plug in the wire he had in hand.

"no, i mean... thank you so much for sticking with me after everything i made you endure..." jaehyun rephrased his previous words, causing sicheng to stop what he was doing to look at him.

"jaehyun, i already told you that it was okay..." the chinese male sighed.

"but is it, really?" jaehyun questioned. "i... i treated you like shit at first and... and i hid things from you, and i also said mean things to you... and- "

"jaehyun." sicheng cut him, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "you're forgetting about all of those times you came to see me at nano electronics to know how i was doing. and all of those times you defended me in front of my asshole of a boss. and you certainly forgot about letting me date your business rival and staying with him when it could have compromised your image." sicheng continued, smiling fondly at the ceo.

"well..."

"nobody's perfect." the chinese male stated. "but we should keep close those who make us feel more good things than bad ones. and you happen to make me feel and experience much more good things."

jaehyun gulped, looking into sicheng's eyes before pulling the chinese male closer to him and engulfing him in a big hug, catching the other off-guard.

"i-i'm so sorry for everything, sicheng." jaehyun said. "i promise i won't make you feel bad again. i'll never forgive myself if i do..."

sicheng sighed, a smile creeping up on his face as he hugged the other back. "thank you for saying such things, jaehyun."

the two stayed in his position for a while, only to be disturbed after a minute by jaehyun's phone vibrating in the pocket of his suit.

they pulled away from the hug, jaehyun taking his phone out and frowning as the name of another ceo of the sector appeared on the screen. he picked up the phone.

"mister jung on the phone, how can i help?" he asked immediately.

"mister jung, where are you? the photoshoot is starting in a minute. you're expected at the main entrance." the man said on the other side of the line.

"oh yes, i had forgotten about it. i'm coming right away." jaehyun gasped before hanging up and facing sicheng again.

"you have somewhere to be?" sicheng questioned.

"yes, there's a photoshoot taking place, i had completely forgotten about it..." he sighed.

"it's okay, just go. i'll try finishing to fix this." sicheng explained, motioning to the wire-job he had been doing.

"are you sure?" jaehyun asked for confirmation.

"you're a ceo, you cannot miss it." sicheng replied. "i'll be fine, just go quickly before someone comes looking for you in here."

jaehyun stayed frozen for a few seconds, his lips slowly curving up in a smile as he stared at his friend.

"thank you sicheng." he spoke. "thank you for everything."

"you're welcome..." the chinese male replied as the ceo ran away, getting ready to fulfill his duties.

☏

jaehyun swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, checking his phone for the nth time in the past minute as he wiggled on his chair.

yuta's speech was supposed to start any minute from now, and jaehyun was seating among the audience, surrounded by the other businessmen he had taken pictures with. the prototype of the car yuta would show was already on the stage, covered by an emerald green cloth, and jaehyun had no idea whether sicheng had managed to fix everything or not. he had sent the secretary a few messages as soon as he had been freed from the photoshoot – which was five minutes ago – but unfortunately, sicheng hadn't even seen them, causing jaehyun to stress even more.

"ladies and gentlemen!" a man spoke through his mic, causing jaehyun to look up only to see yuta had stepped on stage to start his speech. another lump formed in his throat as the audience clapped loudly for the young ceo.

"considering the many ecological concerns that out planet is facing, the need to drive smarter is becoming more and more important. that is why nakamotors has been trying to improve cars and make them use nature as a way to reduce the fuel needs..." yuta started speaking, walking around the stage confidently. "today, countless nakamotors cars are already sold across the world, needing four times less fuel than regular cars. but this is not all. today, i am delighted to announce that fuel-less cars are coming our way as we managed to create the first prototype of car that needs no fuel to work. today, i am presenting you the future of cars: fuel-less vehicles!" he stated, grabbing a corner of the emerald green cloth and pulling it away, revealing the prototype of car he had created, this same prototype that jaehyun had tired sabotaging, and sicheng fixing up.

the ceo of jung corporation barely paid attention to yuta as he was presenting the car and continuing his speech, his eyes being glued to his phone as he sent thousands of messages to sicheng, hoping that the chinese male would end up answering. but unfortunately, all of his efforts were vain.

"come on, sicheng..." jaehyun whispered, trying to call the chinese male with trembling hands. and once again, it was unsuccessful as he fell on the male's voicemail.

jaehyun lifted his head, gulping hard as he saw yuta opening the door of the car to start it and show everyone how the fuel-less car worked. there were lots of cameras that had been set inside the car and around it to make sure to show every detail of what yuta was doing on the big screens that were surrounding the conference room.

the ceo of nakamotors slid insde the car, still talking about his innovation at the same time. he was about to start the car, causing jaehyun to stop breathing for a second, hoping that sicheng had managed to fix everything and that the car wouldn't catch fire or anything as soon as yuta turned it on, but somehow, yuta was never able to start it, because he was interrupted in the middle of his speech.

"wait!" a voice yelled, catching the attention of everyone, including yuta whose face conveyed a slight panic at the sudden interjection.

and soon, two security guards appeared on stage right beside the prototype, holding a third male as if he was their prisoner. "we found him sabotaging the car a few minutes ago." one of the security guards said, and jaehyun's face immediately paled as he recognised the male to be sicheng. "he tore the wiring under the hood and plugged it randomly again. surely for you to ridicule yourself in front of everyone. he's mister jung's secretary."

a loud gasp was heard as yuta got out of the car with wide eyes, looking at his boyfriend who was held captive between the security guards.

loud chatter started to erupt in the audience, the press cameras making sure to film every second of the drama that was taking place to make it one of the headlines of the next day's news.

most people also started staring at jaehyun, but the ceo couldn't care less about them. in fact, his eyes were just glued to sicheng and yuta as they were staring into each other's eyes.

sicheng was on the verge of tears, his eyes often looking down at his feet to avoid the glares yuta sent him. because on his side, yuta's eyes held nothing but betrayal and anger, as if he had realised he had been deceived by the man he liked so much. jaehyun could only imagine how bad sicheng must feel, being accused of sabotage in front of the man he had grown so much feelings for.

the chinese male had risked his relationship to help jaehyun. he had been so brave, and unfortunately, he had been caught and misunderstood. and the worst part of it is that he wasn't defending himself, telling everyone what had really happened and that he was trying to fix jaehyun's mess. and so, here was jaehyun, looking at the scene unfolding, with sicheng taking the blame for something he stupidly did. here was sicheng, once again, saving jaehyun's ass when he didn't deserve it. and as he was doing so, he was losing his lover who felt nothing but betrayed.

but this time, instead of looking at the scene unrolling and his friend being hated for something he didn't even do, jaehyun decided to act. he had already lost anyway, his father would take the business from him, and jung corporation would surely crash since its biggest investor had sold all of its shares. so, there was nothing more to lose for jaehyun, and he definitely didn't want to lose sicheng again.

"he wasn't sabotaging the car!" jaehyun suddenly stood up, causing everyone around the room to become silent and look at him. the cameras also pointed in his direction, making him suddenly feel like maybe this wasn't the best decision he had ever taken.

in the audience, jaehyun's eyes fell into taeyong's as the secretary was seated just in front of the stage. the korean male was looking back at him with confused eyes, surely not understanding what was happening. sicheng had a similar look, and he kept shaking his head, as if he was telling jaehyun not to continue speaking.

but well, jaehyun wasn't ready to let sicheng take the blame for him.

"he was fixing the car, not sabotaging it!" jaehyun continued.

"your secretary was clearly found toying with his rival's car before the speech when he most likely doesn't know anything about fixing a car." one of the security guards explained, making jaehyun gulped.

"i-i know, but you misunderstood." jaehyun stated. "h-he was fixing the mess i created. i was the one to sabotage the car a while ago, but then... then he came to help me to fix it."

another loud gasp was heard among the crowd, but jaehyun couldn't care less. his eyes fell on sicheng as the male glared at him. he then looked in taeyong's direction, only to find the secretary frozen on his spot, eyes wide and mouth agape. he expected such a thing, tayeong probably trusted him...

"sicheng doesn't have anything to do with this. he's innocent." jaehyun continued. "acutally, he's not even my secretary. i don't have a secretary because i don't trust anyone with my business secrets. he's just... he's an electrical technician that was intervening at my headquarters one night, and that i forced to act as my secretary to fit in with other ceos and secretaries. but he has nothing to do with all of this."

the audience was dead silent, everybody being completely shocked by the news that they were learning. it almost felt surreal, as if it had been an act that had been rehearsed to entertain them.

but now, it was painfully real and yuta and taeyong, who had a bit more knowledge than the rest of the audience, knew it very well.

"w-why...?" yuta stuttered, looking into jaehyun's eyes.

the ceo gulped. he knew that yuta was asking about the car. sicheng probably had told him the truth about him not being his secretary. so, all jaehyun had to do now was to say the truth in front of everyone...

"i-i broke the car in rage because as hard as i've been trying to become the leader of the sector again, you always seem to be more successful than me. and i couldn't stand it anymore. so today, i wanted you to fail, so that others believed you were too greedy for fame and success and maybe start to doubt you." jaehyun explained truthfully, avoiding yuta's eyes as he spoke. he didn't even tried looking towards taeyong, knowing very well that he would find the male with nothing but betrayal and deception in his eyes. "and yeah... to tell you everything, jung corporation's biggest shareholder has sold all of his shares, and my father will take chairmanship from me tonight probably. so, as i knew i was about to lose everything, i just wanted to weaken nakamotors as much as i could."

there was a long silence. a long and painful one, during which jaehyun could hear nothing but the beating of his heart, pulsating rapidly in his chest.

"here you are..." he spoke with a sigh, looking in sicheng's direction. the chinese male was looking at him with pained eyes, knowing how hard it must have been for the ceo to speak up, but very thankful that he had done so to save him. "...all of my business secrets unveiled in front of you." he continued. "i guess i can disappear in peace now..."

jaehyun was about to leave, knowing better than staying there surrounded by people who would judge him. but unfortunately, before he ever had the occasion to do so, someone got to the stage and snatched the mic from a surprised yuta.

"this was a very sweet speech, mister jung." the man said, catching jaehyun's attention. the ceo frowned, wondering what was happening. "let me introduce myself, hu ilsung, main shareholder at nakamotors."

it was jaehyun's turn to freeze with eyes as wide as saucers. mister hu was nakamotors' main shareholder? so, this was surely the reason why he had decided to let go of jung corporation. seeing that the business wasn't doing good, he had decided to invest in something more promising. and what business was more promising nowadays than nakamotors?

"i just wanted to say a small word following mister jung's speech." he informed, flashing a smile in jaehyun's direction. "it was really sweet, and very emotional, having you unveiling all of your secrets in front of us. remarkable action." he continued, nodding proudly. "but i'm afraid you may have left one secret out... one important secret, that is."

jaehyun blinked, staring at the man on the stage who used to be his main shareholder. he was seriously wondering what more he was about to add, but well, with everything jaehyun had just said, nothing mister hu would announce could make things worse.

"yes..." he chuckled. "i believe you forgot to mention about how you played with yuta's secretary's feelings to get information about yuta and his business."