seated on a chair in the middle of the stage, right next to the prototype of car he had been accused of sabotaging, sicheng couldn't help but let out a long and desperate sigh, hoping that things would get better soon.

world creativity and innovation day had come to an end. actually, it had for sicheng, yuta, jaehyun and taeyong the second secrets had been unveiled, but for the others it had kept going on for a while, the businessmen simply ignoring the existence of the four males who were completely torn apart, each in their own world and surrounded by their own worries.

as the audience had left the conference room after the drama to head to another segment of the day, sicheng had stayed there, knowing that no one would be bothering him.

the chinese male had pulled a chair on stage and sat down facing the prototype of fuel-less car that yuta had come up with but that he hadn't been able to present.

he was sure yuta had prepared cool things to show with this porotype, but well, everything that had happened had prevented sicheng from being able to witness the future of the automobile industry. he trusted the ceo though, if yuta was so certain that he was able to create a fuel-less car, then it had to be true. yuta was someone very talented, and the idea he had had as a kid had revolutionised the sector, but sicheng knew it wouldn't stop there, yuta would go much further, and contribute to saving the planet from human pollution.

but well, after what occurred today, sicheng hoped he would still be able to be by his side when the japanese ceo would succeed for real.

"the event is over, you should go back home." a voice resonated across the wide and empty room, causing sicheng to turn around on his chair immediately.

there stood yuta, arms crossed over his chest as he stared at sicheng from the entrance of the room. he looked much less angry than a while ago, during their last conversation in front of everyone, but sicheng knew tht even if those few hours had allowed him to calm down, it wouldn't take a lot for his anger to resurface.

"i-i can't go without talking to you..." the chinese male admitted, standing up and walking in yuta's direction slowly.

the ceo sighed, taking a few steps forward as well. "same, which is why i'm here."

somehow, sicheng felt slightly relieved by those words.

yuta didn't want to leave the venue without having a talk with sicheng. at least, this meant that despite what had happened, yuta was still willing to hear from the boy, and that he wouldn't force them to part ways and to never cross paths ever again.

to be honest, sicheng wasn't sure he'd be able to endure it if yuta came to erase him from his life completely. it was crazy considering how much he hated yuta at first, but well, it's not for nothing that they say 'the more you hate, the more you love'.

"so... i believe you want some explanations..." sicheng started speaking, glancing shyly into yuta's eyes.

"i want to understand what had you keeping this secret from me." yuta replied, tone cold, back straight, and eyes piercing into sicheng's.

the chinese male gulped. "i-i..." he stuttered. "t-this wasn't something for me to share. as jaehyun's secretary i couldn't go around spilling- "

"really now?" yuta snorted. "using the secretary excuse? you're not jaehyun's secretary."

"okay, not secretary, but he's my frined." sicheng justified himself.

"and i'm your boyfriend, sicheng." yuta tackled back immediately.

the chinese male gulped, diverting his eyes from yuta's hurt ones.

yuta did have a point, there weren't supposed to be secrets between boyfriends, but could sicheng have immediately told him such a fucked up secret a day after getting together? he couldn't, spilling such a big secret would have ruined their relationship before it even started...

"can you realise what you're making it seem like?" yuta questioned after a while. "like you were encouraging him to play with taeyong's feelings. like you found his ways completely normal and respectable."

"i didn't!" sicheng immediately replied, tears forming in his eyes.

"then how could you stay by his side and say nothing for months. how could you keep acting normal and getting closer to me when you knew he was playing it dirty with my friend?!" yuta asked, his voice getting louder with each of his words. "is it because you were planning on doing the same? playing my feelings and getting some business secrets out of me to repeat them to your dear friend?"

"no! what are you even saying?!" sicheng's eyes widened at yuta's words.

"was i nothing but a joke to you? were you planning to tell me one day that you were playing me since- "

yuta's words were cut short by a harsh slap from sicheng. the chinese male's open palm reached for the male's cheek with force, the sound resonating across the empty room, and yuta's head facing sideways, trying to process what had just happened.

his hand found its way to his cheek as he turned around slowly, looking into sicheng's completely teary eyes.

"h-how can you s-say such things...?" the engineer stuttered, his heart crumpling inside his chest, wondering if this was how little faith yuta really had in him.

"i don't know what to expect from you anymore, sicheng."

"my feelings are genuine. they have always been, for your information." sicheng replied immediately, his eyes burning holes into yuta's despite them being full of tears. "and i never thought about getting closer to you for your business secrets, even if jaehyun asked me to do it. i'm not like that, and i'm honestly hurt that you don't seem to know that after everything we shared."

yuta stayed silent, looking back at sicheng as he spoke out the truth.

he didn't know what to say, his mind was clouded by doubt and anger, and as much as he loved sicheng, he knew that he would be hurting him if he let himself speak up and reply. so, he kept his mouth shut, letting his boyfriend let out everything he had on his chest and try to come up clean.

"i didn't know he was playing taeyong's feelings. i discovered it a week ago. and that day, jaehyun and i had a fight because of it. i scolded him and insulted him for what he did, and i left him." sicheng explained. "i had no idea before that of what was happening between him and taeyong. and i found out after it had been done. and well, i was devastated that after all of this time spend by his side, i hadn't been able to make him a better man than he was when i first met him."

the ceo stayed unmoving, still listening to sicheng's words carefully.

they weren't helping him calming down. if anything, he just wanted to hurt jaehyun even more, hearing how he purposely involved himself with taeyong to play him.

"when i discovered about his secret, i thought that i hadn't been able to change him. but today, when i met him again, i realised how much he had really changed. i know it's not my place to tell you, but i won't keep any secrets from you anymore, yuta, even if they're not concerning me." sicheng stated, giving yuta a sincere look. "he truly likes taeyong. while trying to play with taeyong's feelings, he ended up playing with his own, and discovering how nice it was to feel loved and wanted. he had been trying to ignore his feelings for long before finally accepting them. so, trust me when i say that even if his initial plan was to play with taeyong's feelings, he was genuine when they were together."

"i don't know if i want to trust you." yuta replied, seaking for the first time in a while and causing sicheng to gulp. well, he wasn't expecting yuta to come back running into his arms, but still, this wasn't exactly the answer he was envisioning.

this time, it was sicheng's turn to stay silent, having to idea what to answer.

the words were stuck in his throat, refusing to go out in fear of getting rejected. what could he even answer, yuta was a grown man, and if he was willing not to trust sicheng, there was nothing the chinese male could do.

"you know, before being a businessman, i'm a man who studied mechanical engineering." yuta stated since sicheng didn't argue. "as you may know, i didn't become a businessman to be rich or famous. i did so because i was an engineer with a successful idea, and that it was the path to follow to put this idea to application in the world and make it come to life. but now that i'm here and succeeding, i don't care whether i am first or second or even last. what i want is for my idea to inspire others and help the world."

sicheng nodded slowly. "i know..." he replied, having figured all of this out as yuta had explained to him how he had gotten where he was now back when they were in tokyo together.

"so, you should have known that i wouldn't have cared leaving the 1st place in the industry to jaehyun if this was what he truly wanted. it may not be what i say out loud in front of others, but it doesn't change anything to me. whether jaehyun or i is the leader in the business." yuta explained, his voice much calmer than before as he stared at sicheng.

the chinese male sighed at those words. "it's not just about being the first to jaehyun. i'm not sure it matters to him, anyway."

"then what is it, sicheng? what caused him to ruin everything?" yuta raised a brow.

sicheng thought for a while before sighing again.

"it's his father." he spoke truthfully from what he had understood of all of their conversations. "he has been putting a lot of pressure on jaehyun to succeed and become the leader of the sector again. and all jaehyun wanted was to make his father proud of him. that is what caused him to be so determined to crush nakamotors. and to do so, he believed that searching answer from your secretary would be a good solution."

"there were hundreds of better solutions." yuta declared with a huff.

"i know." sicheng nodded. "and i would have pushed him to choose any other if i had been aware of it."

yuta hummed, not exactly knowing what to answer to that.

actually, he didn't exactly know what to think about this whole situation. he needed to confront taeyong about it first, but the secretary had ran away so fast, and yuta had no news of his ever since.

he had sent him a few messages, asking where he was or how he was doing, but taeyong hadn't even seen them. yuta didn't really blame him, he surely wouldn't want to be bothered by his phone in this situation either.

"y-yuta?" sicheng called, making the ceo lift his head questioningly.

"hhm?" he let out, his mind lost in the drama.

"d-do you trust me?" the chinese asked barely above a whisper, his voice shaky in fear.

yuta's response came long seconds after.

and if the silence hadn't already put sicheng in a state he never believe he'll find himself one day, the ceo's answer finished killing him.

"i'm not sure..."

the chinese male slowly nodded, trying his best to swallow back his tears.

what he feared was on the verge of happening. now that he was finally happy, now that he had found a significant other, now that he had a boyfriend... everything crumbled again, bringing him back to a miserable life. and why? because of the decisions he had made.

"i..." yuta sighed. seeing sicheng's expression conveying nothing but sadness and despair, yuta felt the urge to pull him in a hug and whisper soothing things in his ear. but he wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. he couldn't think straight right now, not when he didn't know how taeyong was doing, not when he hadn't spent a while reflecting on all of this.

he needed time. and pulling sicheng in a hug to comfort him would prevent him to take the time he needed to figure everything out.

"i'm sorry, sicheng..." the japanese male spoke in a low voice. "b-but... i think we should take our distances for a while..."

sicheng looked up into yuta's eyes, barely able to see the male standing right in front of him because of how teary his eyes were. but well, it was expected, so he stayed strong, didn't let out a sound and just nodded like a miserable kid.

"i need some time to think." yuta continued. "and i believe you do too."

the chinese male barely moved, clenching his jaw as his lips trembled in sadness.

"i'll..." yuta lowered his head, pained by the situation he was putting himself in, but knowing that it was the only solution. "i'll call you."

and these were yuta's last words before he turned on his heels leaving the room in a magistral silence that sicheng's sob broke as soon as yuta was out of sight.

and so, as he cried miserably, crouched to the floor with his head hidden between his arms, sicheng couldn't help but wonder what he had done wrong in his life to deserve to be so happy and then for his happiness to slip between his fingers so hurtfully.

if only he had been able to refuse pretending to be jaehyun's secretary from the start, none of this would have happened.

but at the same time, at that point of life, he couldn't imgine what his life would be without jaehyun and yuta. they had played such a big role and helped him discovering so many things. he wasn't sure he wanted all of this to never have happened.

so, in the end, it may hurt now, but it didn't necessarily mean it would forever, right?

at some point, he'll receive a call from the ceo, and things would get better, meaning sicheng would be happy again by yuta's side, right?

☏

"just get out of the damn car, stupid." jaehyun muttered under his breath as he was still seated on the comfortable leather of the driver's seat, in his car that had been parked for around half an hour now. he was in front of his parents' mansions, seeking the courage to just put his hand on the handle and get out of his vehicle to knock on his parents' door and visit them.

after all, what worse than what had happened today could happen to jaehyun?

ever since the male had left the venue were the automobile world creativity and innovation day event was taking place, jaehyun had tried his best not to check the internet and see how bad the situation was.

but well, after pulling out in his parents' driveway, the ceo – who would surely be losing this title any second from now – hadn't been able to resist. he had opened the latest news on the automobile sector, only to realise that his popularity had – unsurprisingly – drastically decreased. and well, a second later, a glance at the company's shares was enough to make jaehyun realise that more than being the end of the 'jung jaehyun ceo' era, it was the end of the 'jung corporation' era.

let's be honest, he didn't exactly want to face his parents right now, already imagining what they would tell him and how humiliated he'll feel. but well, he still needed to know what his father would do with the business, so he'll eventually have to confront them.

and better do that today, when his day had already been shitty. no need to make the pain last, and hopefully, these few hours he'll spend there will be so stressful for him that he'll be able to stop thinking about taeyong for a while.

taeyong...

jaehyun had no idea what had happened to his after he had disappeared on the endless road driving yuta's car. he hoped he had been able to drive safely despite his state.

he had tried sending him countless of messages, and even calling him, but taeyong had never answered. at the same time, in this situation, jaehyun was probably the last person taeyong wanted to talk to, which was surely the reason why he wasn't answering.

the ceo heaved out a sigh as he realised he was thinking about the korean secretary again.

and so, the weight of the unknown paining his heart so bad, jaehyun decided to take his mind off him and confront his parents about what happened today.

helped by a wave of determination, jaehyun opened the car's door and jumped out of his car, rushing to the front door of his parents' house before his mind decided to make him get back inside his car and drive away.

the young male gulped as he slowly lifted his hand, his finger reaching for the doorbell. and after a few seconds standing frozen with his finger a centimetre away from the bell, jaehyun pressed it firmly and stood in front of the door with his back straight.

a few seconds later, the door was opened by his mother who had a bright smile on her face. however, her smile faltered as he caught a glimpse of jaehyun.

"w-what are you doing here?" she asked, quite shocked by the sudden visit from her son.

"i thought dad would want to have a talk with me." jaehyun replied simply.

"oh..." she hummed. "yeah, we've been watching the live..."

"who's at the door?" jaehyun heard his father speaking from the living room area.

"it's jaehyunnie." his mother replied.

"of course, it's him. tell him to come!"

jaehyun sighed, walking inside the house and taking his shoes off before heading inside the living room with his head hanging low. he had rarely been this scared, but right now, walking inside the family house after all of the drama that had taken place in the afternoon, jaehyun couldn't help but feel terrified.

he couldn't even imagine how bad his father's scolding would be for everything that happened. not being able to overtake nakamotors... losing his biggest shareholder... trying to play with his rival's secretary's feelings... there were hundreds of possible comebacks to what he had done, and he knew his father would find a way to use the worse ones.

"jaehyun! welcome home!" his father exclaimed as soon as he saw the younger walking inside the room. "go grab a glass of champagne for him as well." he added, speaking to his wife who left towards the kitchen.

jaehyun frowned at the words that had left his father's words. he was offering him champagne? and not scolding him first?

the ceo of jung corporation lifted his head worriedly, trying to look at his father's face to study his expression and know how bad the situation would be for him. but well, as soon as he had lifted his head, he found two people sitting in the living room with half-empty champagne flutes in their hands. and he was horrified when he recognised the second person sitting opposite his dad.

"m-mister hu?" he stuttered out with wide eyes. "w-what are you doing here?"

"come on, no need for formalities. just call him ilsung." jaehyun's dad informed before clinking his glass with jung corporation's former main investor.

"w-wait, what?" jaehyun stayed frozen on his spot in disbelief, looking between the two males.

"your champagne, sweetie." jaehyun's mother handed the younger a flute before going to sit down by her husband's side.

"w-what... what's the meaning of all this?" jaehyun asked perplexed, gesturing to the glass of champagne he had been handed.

"you should take a seat first." ilsung stated, patting the space next to him on the couch.

jaehyun's frown intensified as he headed to the spot ilsung invited to sit on, making himself comfortable before looking between his father and ilsung.

"so." jaehyun's father started, making everyone look at him. "you're aware that ilsung had sold the shares of jung corporations that he owned, i believe."

"y-yes..." jaehyun stuttered, glancing at the former investor for a second as the male was flashing him a smile. "d-did he tell you?"

"not exactly." jaehyun's father shook his head.

"oh... you probably saw that they were for sale..." jaehyun then gulped, somehow waiting for his father's outburst.

"not either." he shook his head. "actually, it was my idea for him to do that."

jaehyun blinked, staring at his father intensely.

"y-your idea?" he repeated. "but why? y-you... you're killing jung corporation..."

"well, ilsung and i have had this little... huh... how to say..."

"partnership." ilsung completed the other's words.

"partnership, exactly. we've had this partnership for more than a year."

"but dad, our partnership is way older than that. he has been a shareholder of our company for years already." jaehyun tried understanding his father's words.

"i'm not talking about mister hu and jung corporation there. i'm talking about a partnership between ilsung and i."

the younger male stared at the two adults, trying to process what was being said, but not understanding anything. it was all so confusing.

"what kind of partnership?" he questioned.

"well, you see, as nakamotors appeared in the business, i knew for sure that they were going to overtake jung corporation and become the leader of the industry." jaehyun's dad explained. "so, ilsung and i quickly understood that it would be the end of jung corporation and the beginning of a new era. this is when our partnership started, around a year ago, as nakamotors was growing impressively fast."

"we invested massively in nakamotors then. the same way i did with jung corporation, i bought more and more shares from that company and soon became one of the main shareholders." ilsung continued telling their story, often meeting eyes with jaehyun's dad and smiling at him.

"and all we had to do was to let time pass, so that jung corporation would lose in popularity to nakamotors' benefit. and this is how our investment grew as well."

jaehyun stayed frozen for a few seconds as he listened to the two adults' words.

he couldn't believe his father had kept such things from him, he couldn't believe that nakamotors' sudden rise was partly possible thanks to his father and ilsung's investments in the company.

and so, as jaehyun was struggling ruling his company and trying to stay on top of the ranking, his father and his main shareholders were securing their money in the rival company. in the end, jaehyun's father had never trusted him to lead the business. it was as if he knew that jaehyun would end up killing it, and as if he had used this opportunity to earn more money somewhere else...

"y-you never trusted me with the business..." jaehyun let out.

"no, you're right." his father spat the words at him so violently that jaehyun felt something break inside of him. "actually, i was planning to take it back from you after a few years, when the sales would have decreased and when we would start being threatened by the other actors of the business. but i never imagined a completely new actor would appear. and so, as nakamotors grew so fast in the business i changed my mind, and decided to keep you as a ceo to be interviewed, talked about and seen everywhere as i worked on my plan hidden."

he couldn't believe it.

how could his father say stuff like this so naturally? how could he speak about his son that way so openly? how could he make it seem like it was necessary and best for him to act the way he did?

jaehyun had only been used as a puppet in all of this, a pretty thing put under the spotlight to divert the attention while the big thing happened in the shadow.

he had been played so bad. and worse, by his own father.

"i'm guessing you watched the live and know what happened today." jaehyun spoke after a while. "what are you going to do now that jung corporation is basically dead?"

"to be completely honest, it was part of our plan." ilsung replied with a shrug.

"excuse me?" jaehyun gasped.

"well, we were planning on selling the shares to minor investors who wouldn't be able to deal with then correctly, and with that, cause the company to go bankrupt slowly..." ilsung continued. "but today happened, and it only made things easier for us!"

"yes, you were amazing today. you allowed us to skip a few steps of our plan." his father added. "because of what happened today, all of jung corporation shareholders will sell their shares to get nakamotors ones. and this means a lot more growing for nakamotors, and so, a lot more profit for us."

ilsung and jaehyun's father laughed together before clinking their champagne flutes again and simultaneously taking sips from them.

"y-you are monsters..." jaehyun let out after a while, eyes completely horrified as he stared at the two happy businessmen.

"quite rich coming from someone who played his rival's secretary's feelings for confidential information." ilsung pointed out, earning a glare from the ceo, recalling how he had been the one to intervene on stage and play the recording that had caused the biggest drama to occur.

"business is all about profit, jaehyun. and any businessman would do anything to maximise it." his father added. "see, this is why i couldn't trust you. you're not profit-oriented. and you cannot lead a business when you're not profit-oriented."

"i have always been profit-oriented! that's how you taught me to be!" jaehyun exclaimed, now glaring at his father.

"you're not. and what you did to that secretary it the proof of it." the adult continued. "you didn't play him for money. you played him for information. but information has no value in the business world. mostly when they come from someone as low on the business social ladder as a secretary."

jaehyun kept staring at his father with venom in his eyes, his teeth nibbling at his bottom lip in anger. he couldn't bear being around them any longer. he couldn't bear hearing what stupidities they had to say. he couldn't bear the way he felt like he was suffocating.

"i believe it's my cue to leave." the jung son declared, placing his untouched flute of champagne on the table before standing up. "if non-profit-oriented people aren't welcome here."

"just think about it, jaehyun. and you'll realise how right i am." his father explained.

"i'm afraid the only thing i'll realise is how i was born in the wrong family." jaehyun tackled back.

the younger male took a few steps towards the front door, but before he could leave fully, he stopped in his tracks, keeping his body facing the door as he remembered something his father hadn't stopped telling him for the past two weeks.

"one last thing..." he spoke loud enough for his father to hear him from the next room. "when you said that you gave me until world creativity and innovation day to fix everything, did you really plan on letting me keep the business if i succeeded."

"let's be honest, there was no way you would have succeeded, jaehyun." his father replied from the living room, sending another dagger right into jaehyun's heart. so, despite how hard he tried, his father never had any faith in him. "but if you want the truth, i only said that to make you feel more pressured and maybe mess up, actually exactly the way you did! i never intended on stepping up as a ceo again. not for such an old-fashioned company at least."

and it's with those words that jaehyun left his family house, slamming the front door behind his back and immediately going to his car, getting in, turing it on and driving through the night all the way to his own home.

and once he was parked on his spot, right in front of his mansion, he allowed himself to break down completely, screaming out in frustration as he pulled on his hair and as tears left his eyes.

he had decided to deal with all of his problems during a same day, hoping it would allow him to relativise and maybe feel sad once for two different matters, but now that it had occurred, he couldn't help but realise how much of a stupid decision it had been.

because one, if he was already feeling like shit before meeting with his parents, he was feeling even worse now.

and two, he hadn't managed to get taeyong out of his mind.