for the nth time for the past 10 minutes, sicheng uncrossed his legs and crossed them again, switching the leg that was resting on the other while silently prying himself to stay calm and concentrate on anything else.

but well, easier said than done...

"why do you keep gesticulating like that, for god's sake?!" his fake-boss asked in a hushed tone, checking his surroundings to see if anyone had noticed sicheng's weird behaviour.

"i told you already! but you didn't let me go!" sicheng whined back, his teeth toying with his bottom lip as an attempt to distract himself.

him and jaehyun were both seated at the very first row in front of the stage on which yuta would be holding a presentation a few minutes from now. jaehyun had insisted to arrive in the room early so that he was sure he would get first-row seats and be noticed by the other ceo.

and so, despite sicheng's whines, him and jaehyun had been sitting on those uncomfortable chairs – well, jaehyun had been sitting, but squirming would be a more appropriate term to describe what sicheng had been doing – waiting for yuta to pop on stage and start his speech. and it seemed like he wasn't the only businessman wanting to get on yuta's good side as the rows of chairs filled at an incredible speed, allowing jaehyun to get a seat on the first row but on the very left.

"just go to the bathroom quickly!" jaehyun whispered as he nudged sicheng's shoulder.

"oh my god, thank you!" sicheng breathed out as he stood up. "my bladder was about to explode."

"yeah, yeah, you better be there before the conference starts." jaehyun added, glancing at the people behind to make sure that they hadn't heard his and sicheng's exchange.

by the time jaehyun was back to looking in sicheng's direction, the chinese male had already dashed out of the auditorium and found the fastest way to the nearest bathroom.

thanking the gods above that almost all of the cubicles were empty, the fake-secretary locked himself in one of them as he unzipped his trousers and did everything necessary to relieve himself. holding it in for this long had been so painful for the chinese male that he couldn't help but let out a small sigh, his eyes closing on their own at the pleasant feeling.

less than a minute later, sicheng had zipped everything back up, allowing him to flush the toilet and walk out of the cubicle in the direction of the sink so that he could wash his hands. the chinese male walked to the first tap available minding his own business as he placed his hands under the water quickly not to miss the beginning of the conference as jaehyun had asked. but unfortunately, the person using the sink next to his decided to make sicheng lose some time.

"oh, you're mister jung's secretary, aren't you?"

the chinese male's eyes drifted from his soapy hands to the male standing next to him and looking at him with a small smile and his head tilted to the side.

"huh... yes?" he replied, washing the soap away at the same time.

"i'm yuta's secretary, we met a while ago." the man continued. "my name is taeyong."

sicheng's face decorated with a frown as he stared at the male curiously. he may or may not have a terrible memory, and he had met so many people that he couldn't care less off today that he currently had no idea who this person was.

but knowing better than to make a businessperson feel unknown to the others, sicheng studied the male's posture and clothes in a quick glance, his mind immediately recalling where he had seen a similarly green embroidered suit.

"oh... mister nakamoto's secretary, right?" sicheng stated after suddenly remembering how this exact male had fallen into jaehyun's arms like a princess hours ago.

"yes, mister nakamoto." taeyong nodded. "i'm sorry, i keep calling him yuta but i forget that others may not know him under this name." he added with a light chuckle.

sicheng simply hummed at that, not really knowing what to say in this situation. he wasn't even a secretary for real, and he had no idea what secretaries from two rival companies spoke about when meeting. what if he ended up speaking out too much and blurting out some information that jaehyun wanted to keep confidential?

noticing that sicheng wasn't about to keep the conversation going, yuta's secretary cleared his throat again, flashing sicheng another shy smile.

"so... have you been mister jung's secretary for long?"

and here they were, the questions that sicheng dreaded so much.

he wasn't jaehyun's secretary, not for real at least, and he had no idea what to invent to make himself believable – they may have talked it out in the car while coming to the congress, but sicheng was sure taeyong would be able to find exactly the one question that jaehyun and him hadn't agreed on an answer for. and worse, if there was one thing sicheng hated more than arrogant and bitchy people, it had to be lying.

lying or not saying the truth were against one of sicheng's most important principles; honesty. he had explained it to jaehyun before, and it hadn't changed in a few hours. sicheng was uncomfortable when lying, and he was the kind of guy to speak out the truth, and all of the truth, no matter how angry it could make people. truth hurt ten times more after being dissimulated in a lie, and it was one of sicheng's priorities to avoid hurting people.

but in this very situation, once again, he didn't have the choice, and for the sake of a man that he had seen a few times on tv and who had more money that sicheng could ever dream of, he would need to lie again.

"for more than a year." sicheng answered simply.

"oh, you must know him well, then." taeyong nodded. "i've been working with yuta for a whole year now, and i feel like we do not have any secrets between us. it's very nice, we have an amazing dynamic. he may be my boss, but he feels more like a friend, you know?"

sicheng couldn't help but snort at taeyong's words.

the chinese male knew that for the sake of jaehyun and his business, he must lie and act like a good secretary, but did it really matter at that point? in a few hours, the congress would end, and sicheng would go back to his technician life, fixing optic fibres and installing tv screens, far from the corrupted and greedy business world. jaehyun would be able to pretend that he fired sicheng because he wasn't a good secretary, and no one would ever remember about him. so what was the point of holding himself from saying something that was true – and something that jaehyun agreed with.

"he feels like a friend, you say?" sicheng raised a curious brow.

"yeah, exactly." the secretary approved. "is it the same with you and mister jung?"

"well, if he is more than just a boss and can be considered as one of your friends, i would advise you to knock some sense into him and make him realise how much of an arrogant prick he is."

taeyong's eyes widened for a quick second, utterly surprised by the change of tone in sicheng's speech. the boy who previously seemed like a calm, collected and shy person had now transformed into a daring man who wasn't scared to voice out his opinion and speak up the hard truth.

it was no lie that taeyong didn't expect such a sudden violence, whether it was from the chinese male standing in front of him or from anyone else, actually. people were so scared of what yuta could do, or so blinded by their money and the potential increase in wealth that a partnership with him could bring that they never dared disrespecting him or pointing out his flaws in front of him.

but here sicheng was, voicing out what most people thought but never dared to say: how arrogant, bitchy and pretentious yuta acted – which was not a lie, yuta really acted like a pompous bitch, but this was to mask his weaknesses better; taeyong knew that deep down, he was nothing but a caring and friendly boy.

"s-sorry?" tayeong let out, still shocked by the sudden outburst from mister jung's secretary.

"i did tell him a while ago, and i'm repeating it to you again, it is not because he succeeded to today's date that it means he can make it seem like everyone around him is shit and do not reach his ankle."sicheng continued his tantrum, any sign of a filter disappearing completely as his anger took over his mouth. "everything may be good for him today, but this doesn't mean it will last forever. who knows, perhaps that tomorrow, the press will discover that the pieces used to create his fuel-less cars contribute to the oceans' pollution, and so, that a huge scandal will explode, causing his business to crash completely. you cannot be sure of anything for the future, and this should be enough for a reasonable person to understand that they should not act like they are the boss of the world because they have been succeeding for one little year."

silence took over the bathroom in which the two males were still standing, the secretaries staring at each other in the eye for a while without emiting a sound.

somehow, sicheng was thankful that no one had walked in during his little tantrum, because he could already imagine how the pitiless businessmen would have contorted the truth and made it seem like jaehyun's secretary was attacking yuta's, and how much of a shame it was.

"w-well..." taeyong voiced out after a while, breaking the awkward silence hesitantly.

"i'm sorry for this outburst." sicheng apologised flatly, hoping that his words wouldn't be deformed and repeated to the ceo of nakamortors who – judging by how he was in public – would surely not hesitate to voice it out in front of hundreds of important people. "it's just that... i didn't really liked the way your ceo looked down on mister jung, when he is succeeding in the business as much as mister nakamoto is. they may not come from the same point, but they are now on the same path."

"it's okay, i understand what you mean." taeyong replied calmly, his eyes surprisingly comprehensive and sympathetic as they studied sicheng's face while the chinese male was starting to realise that he may or may not have done a mistake being so rude and violent when talking to jaehyun rival's secretary. "yuta does act a bit... huh... provocative, and sure of himself when he's in public, but this is just for the public image of a ceo. i promise you that this is not how he is for real." taeyong continued, his eyes never loosing this sympathetic glint.

"he may not be like that, but this is how the whole world is seeing him." sicheng added, doubting the fact that yuta could be anything but pompous. people who had succeeded in such a short period of time and reached the same lever that people to generations to reach often caused them to become fat-headed, and yuta seemed to be no exception to that.

as taeyong didn't answer immediately, sicheng took his cue to leave and go back to jaehyun – the ceo would surely be angry seeing him coming after so long when sicheng had promised him to be very quick.

"sorry, i need to get back to the auditorium. the conference will start." sicheng declared, smiling at taeyong and slightly leaning his head forward as a way to say goodbye. "have a nice day." he added, heading towards the door and pulling it open to get out.

however, before he could disappear from taeyong's sight completely, yuta's secretary started speaking again. "there was one last think that i was meant to ask you..."

the chinese male stayed in the middle of the doorway, focusing on the secretary again.

"yes?" he asked, head tilted to the side in confusion, having no idea what kind of question to expect from taeyong.

"h-how does mister jung like his coffee?"

☏

swinging himself from his heels to his toes, the boy in a forest green suit sighed deeply, tightening his grip on the cup he was holding as his eyes kept diverting from the brownish liquid contained in the cup to the tall and elegant male looking completely bored in the middle of a group conversation.

yeah, here was taeyong, standing a few meters away from mister jung, a hot cup of black tea in hand, debating whether to go and give it to him or just to gulp it down and never interact with the rival ceo again.

thankfully, after what seemed like an eternity, a wave of self-confidence caused taeyong to take a step forward, but he was soon forced to stop by a voice he knew oh-so-well.

"oh, coffee!" yuta's cheery tone somehow irritated taeyong who would have already been by jaehyun's side if he handn't been stopped in his tracks by his boss. "is it for me?"

seeing as yuta was reaching for the cup in taeyong's hands, the secretary pulled it away carefully, making sure not to spill some everywhere. "no, it's not!" he quickly said. "and it's not coffee, it's tea."

yuta huffed. "tea? why tea? you don't even like tea." the ceo raised a confused brow before turning his eyes in the direction taeyong was looking at, everything immediately clicking in his mind when he saw who was standing a few meters away. "oh... i understand."

"there's nothing to understand." taeyong declared, using the sleeve of his tuxedo to wipe a small droplet of tea that had managed to escape the inside of the cup.

"you're desperately trying to have an interaction with my rival." yuta explained. "how bad of you. betraying me like that for a pretty face."

"i'm not betraying you!" taeyong added immediately. "i'm just... making the business work."

"yeah sure." yuta nodded with a smirk, completely – not – convinced by taeyong's words. "well, you should make your business work pretty quick, because it seems like they're done talking, and it's almost the end of this amazing congress day."

"oh, god!" taeyong gasped as he saw the group of men all heading in different directions and getting lost again in the crowd. but thankfully, taeyong could still see jaehyun.

speeding his pace and clearing his throat, yuta's secretary approached the ceo, his cheeks turning redder with each of his steps.

"m-mister jung!" he called, catching the attention of the ceo.

jaehyun turned around, coming face to face with taeyong, causing his brows to fall into a frown at the sight of the man. "yes?"

"i-i was worried that you might get thirsty, so i made you a cup of tea." taeyong explained shyly, holding out the green cup of tea on which nakamotors' logo was engraved beautifully in a metallic jade green colour. "i-it's black tea." the secretary added as jaehyun's frown intensified at the sight of the cup.

"huh... thank you i guess...?" the ceo let out taking the cup of tea from the secretary's hand, trying to find a subtle way to ask who the hell this boy was without seeming rude – if he was bringing him a cup of coffee, it was surely that they had met and talked during the day.

"i-it's as an apology for falling against you and hurting your nose with my forehead." taeyong continued with a shy smile, his cheeks tinging brighter as he remembered the events that occurred hours ago.

"oh, mister nakamoto's secretary, right?" jaehyun asked, now remembering the boy in a green suit as he took a sip of the hot liquid.

"y-yes, exactly." taeyong nodded with a charming smile, wondering if he shall leave right now or if he could stay a bit more, in hope that a conversation could blossom between the two of them.

"well, thank you for the tea, then." jaehyun thanked the secretary again, slightly lifting the cup in the air and giving taeyong a reason to stay.

"you're welcome." the flustered male answer. "a-and, you may keep the cup as a small souvenir. it's a present from the company." taeyong continued, causing the ceo of jung corporation to look at him weirdly before laughing.

"alright, i guess i'll keep it as a souvenir..." jaehyun stated flatly as he checked the cup once again. and before he could speak again, the sound of his ringtone cut their conversation. "sorry, can you hold me this for a second?" he asked, holding the cup out to taeyong who grabbed it immediately.

under taeyong's eyes, the ceo fished his phone out of his pocket and stared at the caller id.

"i have to take it." he informed, glancing at taeyong.

the secretary didn't even have the time to say anything else, jaehyun had already answered the call and walked away, leaving taeyong in the middle of the crowd with a half-empty cup of black tea and an idiotic smile on his face.

"you're the epitome of awkwardness when flirting."

taeyong's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he turned around to face yuta who was standing by his side with his arms crossed over his chest.

"i was not flirting." taeuong informed, his cheeks still flushed.

"yeah, well, you were the epitome of awkwardness anyway." yuta shrugged before staring at the cup of tea in taeyong's hands. "he didn't like the tea?"

"no, he had a call to take. he's a busy man, and i'm guessing he was so concentrated on the call that he forgot his cup of tea." taeyong explained, looking down at the half-empty cup of tea.

"and what are you going to do with it now? wait for him to come back to give it to him?" the ceo asked with a brow raised.

taeyong didn't answer to yuta's question. instead, the secretary looked around quickly before bringing the cup of tea to his lips and taking a quick sip.

"of course... taking a sip of tea after him when you do not even like tea..." yuta's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he stared at his secretary.

"well... i might start to like black tea, actually..."