"we still have 20 minutes before your speech." taeyong informed, stepping closer to his boss who was seated on a sofa backstage, his boyfriend perched on his lap.

"perfect." yuta hummed, checking his watch quickly before wrapping his arms again around his boyfriend's waist, pulling him closer.

"yuta, you're going to wrinkle my suit..." sicheng protested, tugging on his boyfriend's hands to make him release his tight grip.

today was one of the rare days sicheng wasn't wearing his nakamotors uniforms – those ugly ass orange shorts and shirt which hadn't changed in dozens of years. today, sicheng had preferred taking a day off from his electrical technician work to be fully focused on what was about to happen.

since him and yuta had heard about ilsung and jaehyun's father plans around two weeks ago, they had secretly put into action their own mischievous plan, and sicheng couldn't miss it.

and so, that is why the two boyfriends were waiting expectantly for yuta to go on stage and for the moment when ilsung would realise he had lost to come.

"can't you guys tone down the flirting a bit?" taeyong asked with a sigh, staring at yuta and sicheng bickering like teenagers – but well, he had to admit it was very cute and he would want someone to bicker like that as well.

"you don't see me asking you to tone down your dating and to get back with jaehyun, do you?" yuta tackled back with a brow raised.

taeyong didn't answer. there was nothing to answer anyway, he knew yuta was right and he was just being too much of a scaredy cat.

it had been two months since sicheng had suggested that he gave a sign of life to jaehyun. but well, as much as taeyong had assured he would do it, he had never dared reading and answering to one of jaehyun's letters or sending him back something.

a whole year had passed since the day jaehyun's secrets were unveiled. 12 long months during which jaehyun had never ceased sending taeyong proofs of love. 365 painful days during which taeyong had tried taking his mind off jaehyun, but failed miserably. because yes, after a whole year of being separated, taeyong was still helplessly in love with the former ceo of jung corporation.

"at least stop kissing each other." taeyong stated again after a while. "you wouldn't want to appear on stage looking like your lips have been caught in the pipe of a vacuum cleaner."

"mmh, sad..." yuta pouted before leaning forward quickly to place a peck on sicheng's lips. "but right." he added with a giggle.

taeyong shook his head at the sight, a small smile creeping on his face as he felt happy for his boss who had finally found the man of his dreams. he loved their relationship dynamic, and seeing them together every now and then somehow made him miss jaehyun. sure, the man had lied to him, but when taeyong was still oblivious about all of this, their relationship was so wholesome and perfect.

the secretary let out another sigh after pulling himself from his daydream – another few minutes he had spent staring into the void as he recalled how amazing things were a year ago, when he was still with jaehyun – and focused again on the two lovebirds that were sitting on the sofa all over each other.

"you did what we had agreed on, right?" yuta spoke in a hushed tone, looking into his boyfriend's eyes.

"i did, don't worry." sicheng replied on the same tone.

"and- "

"what did you two agree on?" taeyong interjected before yuta could speak again, making the two boyfriends look up at him with wide eyes.

"nothing important, don't worry." yuta flashed him a sheepish smile.

"nothing important?" taeyong repeated sceptically. "keeping secrets from me, i see..."

sicheng's eyes widened more as those words left taeyong's lips.

he knew how bad taeyong had suffered before because secrets had been kept from him, and well, he didn't want the korean male to have to go through so much pain again.

"n-not secrets." the chinese male stated. "it's more of a surprise..."

taeyong frowned. "a surprise?"

"yeah, a surprise." sicheng nodded in approval, looking at his boyfriend and signalling him to say something.

"exactly. we planned a surprise and this is why you can't know about it." yuta competed his boyfrien's words. "but don't worry, as soon as the speech will start, you'll be aware of it."

taeyong hummed, shrugging it off before checking the time on his watch.

"i'll go grab the mic for you. i'll be back in a minute." taeyong informed as the speech was less than 10 minutes away.

the two boyfriends watched the secretary walking away before running together towards the side of the stage, where they could catch a glimpse of the audience from backstage.

"can you see them?" yuta spoke in a hushed tone, keeping his head has hidden behind the curtain as possible while trying to peek at the people sitting in the audience.

"yes, on the right. third row." sicheng replied. "ilsung probably decided to sit next to the alley for when you'll call him on stage."

yuta followed his boyfriend's instructions and located the men immediately.

"and so, this is jaehyun's father." the japanese ceo hummed, looking at the male that seemed to be engrossed in a discussion with ilsung.

"yeah. it seems so." sicheng nodded, glaring at him.

yuta sighed, letting his eyes focus on the rest of the audience and checking if he saw other familiar faces. just like the year before, there were lots of people who had accepted the invite, and the press was there as well, ready to broadcast everything live.

"there are even more cameramen than last year..." the japanese declared.

"well, after what occurred last year, they all made sure to get an entrance ticket for this year in case something similar would happen." sicheng retorted. "and they won't be disappointed this year."

"that is if he shows up." yuta pointed out, his eyes still looking through the crowd. "my speech starts in a few minutes and i still can't find him."

"he'll be there, don't worry."

as the two boyfriends were too busy peeking at the audiencre from backstage, they missed taeyong coming back with the mic and in-ear for yuta's speech and questioning what they were doing.

the secretary looked at sicheng and yuta sceptically, knowing that they were hiding something from him. he sincerely hoped it wouldn't be something that would ruin him the same way last year's speech had.

but well, he definitely wasn't ready for what was about to happen...

☏

"we all remember quite vividly the events of the past year. well, let's first say that i hope this year's presentation won't be as chaotic as it was last year. and hopefully, i'll be able to expose my project fully this time, without being interrupted by any drama."

the crowd slightly laughed at yuta's first words, most people present in the room knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"anyway, so, this year's presentation will focus on the future of the company, and the major innovation plans that me and my team are developing. rest assured, there is no prototype to be shown this year, because apparently, prototypes tend to be sabotaged before the presentation starts."

the crowd laughed again at yuta's words, causing the japanese male to smile brightly.

a few steps away from him, standing on the side of the stage, was taeyong, his posture straight and a thin-lipped smile plastered on his face as he looked at his boss while he did his speech.

sicheng wasn't on stage with them, but taeyong had caught a glimpse of him among the audience, standing in a corner of the room as if he didn't want to be noticed.

the secretary had no idea what was about to happen, but recalling sicheng and yuta's words a while ago when they were still backstage, he couldn't help but feel slighty nervous. he didn't know what to expect, but at the same time, yuta wasn't a man of surprises, so something had to be off.

taeyong listened carefully to yuta's speech as he spoke though a few slides, showing the audience the guidelines of the next years' innovation plans. still nothing weird or uncommon had happened, and taeyong was seriously starting to wonder what yuta had planned.

"now, ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm applause to mister hu ilsung, probably the most important nakamotors shareholder." yuta declared, looking at the said male sitting in the audience. "please, come on stage with me, ilsung."

under yuta's command, the crowd clapped loudly, allowing the shareholder to stand up and bow slightly before heading towards the stage and getting up on it using the small staircase on the very end of the stage.

once ilsung was by yuta's side, the two men shared a formal handshake while the audience clapped again.

"so, as a main nakamotors shareholder, ilsung has a very important role to play in the future of innovations at nakamotors." yuta explained, flashing the other businessman a smile. "would you perhaps like to say a few words?" he added, handing him the mic.

"thank you." ilsung replied, grabbing the mic before facing the audience.

ilsung said a few words that taeyong didn't pay much attention to, thanking yuta for having him there on stage and talking about their close collaboration which truly benefited to both of them.

taeyong didn't need to be too focused on it to realise that it was some conventional blabbering which mostly aimed to make him look like an interesting man in the eyes of the audience, and maybe get some of them to ask him to invest in their businesses as well.

so, instead of focusing on ilsung's bragging, the secretary decided to focus on the audience, and most particularly sicheng – well, sicheng's absence.

the chinese engineer who had been standing in a corner of the room since the beginning of yuta's speech was now nowhere to be seen, whether it was in his spot in the corner of the room, or seated among the audience.

with a frown, taeyong turned towards yuta, catching his attention. since they were on stage, he simply mouthed 'sicheng?', hoping yuta would understand his question.

and he did. the second taeyong mouthed his boyfriend's name, yuta's eyes diverted to the corner of the room where sicheng had been standing, finding it empty which caused the corners of his mouth to rise.

"i'll let yuta go on with his speech now." ilsung finally declared, catching yuta's attention again as the ceo grabbed the mic.

"thank you ilsung." yuta flashed the man a wide smile, one that he tried to make appear as real as possible despite the animosity he felt for this man who was trying to kill his business. "please stay a few more minutes with us on stage, you may want to intervene again later on."

with a small nod from ilsung, yuta cleared his throat and started speaking again, reciting perfectly the speech he had learnt the past weeks.

he spoke about the sustainability and ecological matters regarding the cativities of the company before switching to the financing of the innovation projects he was conducting, mentioning briefly about ilsung's investments.

and then, the critical moment arrived.

"actually, while we're talking about money and investment, i believe there is an important thing i must add." yuta declared, looking in ilsung's direction and making taeyong frown as he didn't recall such a thing being part of yuta's speech. "as the ceo and owner of nakamotors, i made the decision to switch the company from a public to a private one. that means that from now on, nakamotors will be a private company that won't be listed on the stock exchange."

a loud gasp was heard among the crowd, everybody being shocked by such statement, but that was nothing compared to the one ilsung let out, staring at yuta wide eyes as wide as saucers.

"y-you..." he stuttered. "a-are you serious?"

"very serious." yuta nodded. "i don't want nakamotors shares to be traded anymore."

"b-but..." ilsung's whole face turned red in a mix of anger and confusion. "t-the shares i have- "

"well, you might want to sell them back to me. or you're losing them." yuta shrugged, an innocent smile appearing on his face. "that is up to you."

the shareholder had his jaw clenched, teeth gritted as he looked into jaheyun's father's direction, seeing the man as lost as he was. except that compared to his business partner, ilsung was on stage in front of hundreds of people – and live on tv – so he couldn't just lose his stature.

"y-you have no right to do that. i refuse!" ilsung raised his voice slightly. "as nakamotors' biggest shareholder, i will find a way to make nakamotors go public again!"

yuta snickered, smiling fakely at the man in front of him. "i know that you have the power to do that. which is why i decided to delist nakamotors. and so, with the death of the company, you have no more leverage on it."

the crowd gasped a second time, perhaps louder than before, courtesy of yuta's unexpected words.

no one in the room could believe what had just been said. not only would the company be switched to private, something that caused companies to lose a lot of influence because of the monetary flows it required, and right after, the company would be delisted, meaning that it wouldn't exist anymore. basically, yuta was saying that he was killing nakamotors, a promising and successful company from the automobile sector which still had a lot of room to grow.

taeyong was completely lost, perhaps more surprised by his boss' words than the rest of the audience. he couldn't believe yuta had hid this from him, and he couldn't believe the ceo had made it seem like taeyong would have a pleasant surprise while being on stage.

this was nothing but a pleasant surprise. it was a nightmare. with this statement, yuta declared that him, taeyong and all of the other nakamotors employees were losing their jobs.

this couldn't be happening, not when they had so much plans for nakamotors in the future.

"y-you don't expect me to believe you, i hope." ilsung scoffed, half-panicking.

"well, you're going to have to." yuta replied. "nakamotors won't exist anymore starting tomorrow."

"so, you're just killing your business and leaving yourself without a job. what for?" ilsung snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"who said i was leaving myself without a job?"

taeyong's eyes widened slightly at that, wondering what yuta had behind his mind.

it seemed like ilsung was as curious as him as he raised a brow at yuta's statement, waiting expectantly for the ceo to start speaking again. the crowd was listening carefully as well, and the cameras were fixed on the stage, not missing a second of the drama that was occurring.

it seemed like world creativity and innovation day was a yearly rendezvous for drama.

"i'll be selling all of nakamotors' activities to another company. one i created and one of which i am the co-ceo of." yuta declared, under ilsung and taeyong's bewildered eyes.

"w-what?!" ilsung exclaimed.

"well, yeah." yuta smiled. "so, starting from tomorrow, nakamotors won't exist anymore, and all of its activities will shift to my new company." he explained, looking at the audience and making sure that everyone could clearly hear what he was saying. "please welcome on stage jung jaehyun, former ceo of jung corporation, and co-ceo of our new company; jungkamotors."

and the previous gasps of the audience were nowhere near as loud as this one was.

☏

"i was scared you wouldn't show up."

"sicheng, you literally cried on the phone yesterday to beg me to come." jaehyun replied with a huff, letting his chinese friend pull him backstage by the sleeve of his expensive shirt.

"did i?" the chinese male questioned with red cheeks.

"yes, so can you please tell me why you asked me to show up at world creativity and innovation day in a tuxedo one year after ruining everything?" the former ceo questioned as sicheng kept dragging him.

"i can't." the engineer shook his head. "but you'll know soon."

"you know i trust you, right." jaehyun stated, looking at sicheng sceptically.

"what a good decision from you." sicheng smiled brightly.

"but i still have a few doubts about your boyfriend."

"you shouldn't." the chinese male simply said. "i'm always making sure he's making the right decisions. and today is no exception."

sicheng finally came to a halt when they reached the side of the stage, a few steps away from appearing under the public's eyes. from where they were, jaehyun could see yuta and ilsung on stage, and he could even catch a glimpse of taeyong who was looking at the audience at the other end of the stage.

jaehyun's heart didn't fail to miss a beat at the sight of the korean male that had been running on his mind ever since the past year. he looked as handsome as ever, and it was taking all of jaehyun's self-control not to just run towards him and pull him in a hug.

writing letters and notes was a nice way to show someone your love, but it certainly didn't help you stop longing their touch.

"don't tell me i'm going to be stepping on stage." jaehyun muttered after a while when he put the pieces together.

"why would i ask you to wear a tuxedo if not for that?" sicheng huffed with a brow raised.

"i'm not going." jaehyun immediately replied.

sicheng grabbed his wrist, making sure that the former ceo didn't leave. "yes, you are."

"sicheng, what in the world is happening? is yuta even aware that i am here?! i can't just barge in on stage!" jaehyun spoke in a hushed tone.

"he is the one who asked me to make you come." sicheng assured. "now just shut up and listen, you'll understand why."

and before jaehyun could protest again, his ears caught yuta's words.

"as the ceo and owner of nakamotors, i made the decision to switch the company from public to a private on. that means that from now on, nakamotors will be a private company that won't be listed on the stock exchange."

jaehyun's eyes widened like saucers as his hand slammed over his open mouth, a powerful wave of shock going through him as he processed yuta's words.

"no..." he let out. "he didn't just say that, did he?"

"he did." sicheng nodded next to him.

"but... this means that the shares of the company will need to be sold back to him." jaehyun was quick to point out.

"precisely."

"but what is he doing?!" jaehyun blinked. "this cannot prevent ilsung from pushing on the legal part and make it a public company again. and he'll still own the shares and perhaps have the power to just overtake yuta."

sicheng cut his rambling by lifting a finger, causing jaehyun to squint at it. and after a second, sicheng's finger pointed towards the stage, signalling jaehyun to listen to the next words.

"i know that you have the power to do that. which is why i decided to delist nakamotors. and so, with the death of the company, you have no more leverage on it."

jaehyun couldn't help but snicker at that, a small chuckle slipping past his lips at ilsung's reaction when those words left yuta's mouth.

he was somehow proud of yuta for having thought about this solution, which certainly was the best thing to do to get rid of ilsung's grip. if nakamotors was delisted, there was no way for him to get the shares back and he couldn't have any leverage on yuta and any business he might create afterwards anymore.

"he created another company, didn't he?" jaehyun put two and two together, leaning towards sicheng.

"i see you still have your business knowledge." sicheng smiled back at him, confirming jaehyun's words.

"who wouldn't guess that at this point?" jaehyun raised a brow.

"well, me, if i wasn't part of the plan." sicheng replied truthfully. "you know damn well that except plugging wires in the right places, i don't know much."

jaehyun snorted at his friend's words, lighty slapping the back of his head. "what kind of nonsense are you spitting again? you know very well that- "

"you might want to hear yuta's next words." sicheng interrupted jaehyun before standing in front of him and ironing a few wrinkles on his tuxedo. "and you're awaited on stage in a second."

"so, starting from tomorrow, nakamotors won't exist anymore, and all of its activities will shift to my new company. please welcome on stage jung jaehyun, former ceo of jung corporation, and co-ceo of our new company; jungkamotors."

and that being said, before jaehyun could even realise the meaning of those words, he was pulled on stage by sicheng, placed right by yuta's side as all eyes and cameras diverted to him, giving him the spotlight for the first time after a whole year of laying low.

the former ceo's eyes widened slightly, looking at the crowd worriedly before turning around to meet yuta's eyes, the ceo flashing him a comforting and friendly smile – something that had very rarely happened between them. jaehyun's eyes then switched to the male standing a few meters behind yuta, the boy he had helplessly fallen in love with, but with whom he had ruined anything.

taeyong was there, standing on stage with his back straight, looking at him with his mouth agape and his eyes wide, probably not aware of sicheng and yuta's plan.

"so, as we are all here together, let's take this opportunity to hear what jaehyun might have to say."yuta declared, wrapping an arm around jaehyun's shoulders in a friendly way, as if the two of them had been the best of friends for long.

jaehyun's eyes diverted from taeyong to yuta's, looking at the ceo with worry.

"a few words from the soon-to-be co-ceo of jungkamotors?" yuta raised a brow, his lips curved up in a smile as he held the mic out for jaehyun to take.

and seeing all eyes on him, jaehyun reached for the mic with a shaky hand clearing his throat before approaching the object from his mouth.

"i-i..." he stuttered, nervously looking around the room and finding no comfort in people's eyes. he then glanced at yuta, the japanese male giving him a small encouraging nod while he patted his shoulder lightly with the arm that was still around his shoulders.

jaehyun took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second to concentrate and remind himself how it used to be, being under the spotlight, standing in front of cameras, and speaking out what people wanted to hear.

but he was a changed man now, and even if he wasn't really sure what this whole thing meant – nakamotors being delisted, jungkamotors beign created, him becoming co-ceo – he was sure of one thing; he needed to stop acting as people wanted him to act, and start doing what he wanted.

and right now, he kenw exactly what he wanted.

"a-all i want to say is that..." jaehyun paused, leaning forward slighty to catch a glimpse of taeyong who was still frozen in the same spot, looking at jaehyun as if he had seen a ghost. "...that even if it may seem hard to believe, it's been a whole year since my life became a nightmare, and... and for this whole year, all i could think about was how stupid i was not realising how much i truly loved taeyong." he declared, his eyes never leaving taeyong's as he spoke.

the room was completely silent, no one daring to whisper or move. it almost seemed like they weren't in a conference room, surrounded by people and cameras.

"i love you, taeyong. from the bottom of my heart, even after one year spent far from you."