"jung corporation, united states subsidiary, i'm listening?"

"good morning, ceo jung on the phone."

"oh, good morning mister jung. it's a pleasure to have you on the phone."

"yeah, cut the crap, thank you." the ceo cut the employee's rambling, his tone harsh and cold.

this was typical jung jaehyun.

cold, heartless, too honest for his own good and very strict. but at the same time, what did you expect from a traditional ceo?

"so, i heard that we were having a few problems with sales in america, is that so?" the ceo started speaking again, placing an elbow on his office desk craved in noble wood.

"well... yes. actually, the sales have been drastically decreasing after another automobile corporation implanted. it's as if they were taking all of the sales we had..."

the ceo barely paid attention to the male's words, as his eyes scanned the email he had just received from the reception, claiming that his client had arrived.

"okay." he spoke quickly, typing skilfully on the keyboard to invite his client to come to his office. "write me a report about that. and i'd appreciate a market analysis to know what scope this new company is covering."

"sure, and about- "

"perfect, goodbye." the ceo finished before he hung up, not letting the time to the other to finish his sentence.

heaving out a sigh, the ceo readjusted his tie and the collar of his shirt, making sure that he looked neat before his client arrived.

this was an important meeting that he had set up a few months ago, and he wanted to miss it for nothing in the world. actually, this very meeting could either help him to get to the top or make him sink to the bottom of the business. he would need to appear professional and serious in order to impress this client and make him invest in his business.

a knock on his office door made him take a deep breath before standing up.

"come in." he declared loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear.

the door was pushed open, revealing a lady wearing a dark blue tailor skirt matching with her suit jacket and her high heels. additionally, her make-up was flawless and her hair gelled back in a neat bun, as it would be expected from a woman working in such a prestigious and traditional company.

"mister hu." the woman declared before stepping aside and allowing a tall male in a dark tuxedo to come inside and the lady to close the office's door behind them and go back to her own work.

"good morning, mister hu." the ceo of jung corporation voiced out, holding his hand out for a professional handshake as the other man approached him.

"mister jung." he nodded his head, taking the hand that was stretched out in front of him to shake it. "this is a lovely office you have here." he added, looking around at the old-fashioned and yet classy office, made of noble wood, expensive paintings and golden details.

"it's a nice environment to work in." jaehyun gave the man a thin-lipped smile. "please, have a seat."

the two men sat down, one on each side of the office, staring at each other in the eye as the tension thickened around them, both wanting nothing more than to make money.

"so, mister hu, i heard that you were holding more than 30% of the company's shares to this day."jaehyun stared.

"33% exactly, yes." the man nodded. "i invested a lot on this company, and i expect it to grow bigger. i believe this is an interest that is common to both of us."

"it sure is." jaehyun approved immediately. "which is why i have a proposition to make."

"of course, tell me." mister hu crossed his legs, leaning back on the expensive armchair on which he was sitting.

"my ultimate goal would be to outperform our main competitor which has been growing very fast for the past years. but for that, we need strong investors."

"hmm." mister hu hummed. "i can find that for you, no worries."

"having you and others investing massively in jung corporation would be amazing, and in the end, it could help us getting rid of nakamotors."

"no problem." mister hu nodded immediately. "i can find you a couple of people that would be interested in buying shares of your automobile corporation."

"we could maybe organise a nice lunch all together to discuss about this matter when you gathered enough potential investors." jaehyun suggested, pulling open his agenda and checking the availability.

"of course. would you please give me the number of your secretary so that i could reach them to communicate our availabilities?"

"oh, contact me directly." jaehyun replied. "i don't have any secretary."

mister hu stayed silent for a few seconds, blinking a few times as he stared at the ceo of one of the biggest automobile companies in the world.

"you don't have a secretary?" mister hu repeated, completely stunned. "you're dealing with such a huge company all by yourself? without a secretary?" he continued. "why?"

"because in this world, for matters as important as earning money, you cannot trust anyone but yourself. and so, you can certainly not trust a secretary."

mister hu frowned, tilting his head to the side slightly. "why not?"

"because if my secretary ended up being corrupted, mister hu... can you imagine how bad things would become as all of my business secrets would be revealed to the world?"

☏

"nakamotors, united states subsidiary, how may i help you?"

"good morning, it's yuta on the phone."

"oh, good morning yuta. it's a pleasure to have you on the phone. how are you?"

"i am good thank you, i hope you are too."

"yes, very good, thanks!"

"that's good!" the ceo smiled at the employee's good mood, his tone friendly and warm.

this was typical nakamoto yuta.

warm, joyful, always calm and caring and very friendly. but at the same time, what did you expect from a modern ceo?

"so, i heard that we were performing very well in america, right?" the ceo started speaking again, placing an elbow on his glass office desk.

"exactly! the sales have been drastically increasing despite other automobile corporations being already implanted there. it's as if we were taking all of their sales!"

the ceo listened carefully to the male's words, as his eyes scanned the email his secretary had just received from the reception, claiming that his client had arrived.

"that's perfect!" he exclaimed before covering the mic of the phone for a second. "can you get the client for me please?" he asked to his secretary who immediately nodded and walked out of the office. "okay, so... would you mind writing me a quick report about that?" yuta asked to the person on the phone after placing it back to his ear. "it would be nice to have a clear market analysis and see what this other company is covering."

"of course, we'll send you that very soon."

"perfect, i'm sorry, but i have an important meeting right now, so, i'll need to hang up." the ceo explained, a smile decorating his face.

"no problem! have a nice day yuta!"

"have a nice day!" the ceo finished before he hung up.

heaving out a sigh, the ceo dusted off his shirt and leather pants, making sure that he looked neat before his client arrived.

this was a meeting that he had set up a few days ago, without putting much thought into it despite the fact it could be an important meeting. this very meeting could surely help his company grow bigger but was it really necessary considering how much it had grown the past years? anyway, he would just need to have a nice discussion with this client who had surely invested a lot in this business.

a knock on his office door made him smile brightly.

"come in!" he happily exclaimed.

the door was pushed open, revealing a man wearing a pair of tight jeans paired with a black satin shirt and white sneakers. additionally, the depth of his eyes was intensified by a thick trait of eye-liner and his hair was slightly messy but made him look friendly and openminded, as it would be expected from someone working in such a prestigious and modern company. "ilsung has arrived." the man declared before stepping aside and allowing a tall male in casual clothes to come inside, soon followed by the male.

"good morning, ilsung." the ceo of nakamotors voiced out, standing up and holding his hand out for a handshake as the other man approached him.

"yuta, it's nice to see you." he smiled, taking the hand that was stretched out in front of him to shake it. "this is a lovely office you have here." he added, looking around at the modern and yet classy office, made of glass, artistic picture frames and multiple plants.

"it's a very nice environment to work in." yuta approved. "please, have a seat. and you can come have a seat with us." he added, smiling at his secretary.

the three men sat down, getting comfortable in their swivelling chairs before they could start their talking.

"so, ilsung, i heard that you were holding a good part of the company's shares to this day." yuta stared with a proud look. "it's nice to know people as motivated as you are trusting my business."

"well, you're a self-made man that succeeded." the man nodded. "and you give off this nice vibe which pushes me to trust you. and it seems like i was right, because you and i are still both growing."

"oh, you were." yuta chuckled lightly. "but it's not completely done yet. we still have competitors that may jeopardise our position on the market as you know."

"of course." ilsung nodded. leaning back on the chair he was sitting on. "and do you have any solutions in mind?"

"well... i wouldn't say it is our top priority for the moment, but it would be very nice in the next few months to work towards outperforming our main competitor. we've been getting closer to that, but we didn't succeed yet." yuta explained, letting his eyes glance at the screens he had next to him on which he read the market's performances.

"maybe having more investors could help you with that?" ilsung suggested.

yuta looked at him deep in thought, biting the inside of his cheek. "this could be a good idea. and it definitely could help up outperform jung corporation."

"i may know a few people that could be interested. would you be fine if we organised an afterwork all together to discuss this matter? or a dinner if you prefer."

"an afterwork would be perfect. it's always better to be standing and talk to everybody rather than sit around a table and converse with only the three people that are around you." yuta explained with a nod, checking his schedule on his computer.

ilsung nodded, pulling his phone out of his pocket to put a reminder to himself.

"would you like me to contact you when i found a date and time for it?" the invertor asked, looking at the ceo.

"oh, you can directly see with my secretary." yuta replied, flashing the third male around the table a smile. "he knows everything."

"oh, okay." ilsung turned towards the male. "would you mind giving me your number so that i can contact you?" he added, handing his phone on which a new contact number had been created.

yuta smiled as he watched his secretary typing his number on the inversotr's phone.

"you two seem to have a nice relation. it's pleasant to see companies in which secretaries are not completely crushed and overworked by their bosses." ilsung stated, pleasantly surprised.

"yeah, here the hierarchy is barely even felt." yuta explained with a shrug. "i prefer it like that rather than having everyone calling me 'mister nakamoto' and stressing whenever i need to talk to them. my company is very chill as you may have noticed, and it's so much more pleasant..."

"it sure is." ilsung nodded. "both for you and for your employees. i believe your secretary can agree."

the secretary nodded with a small smile as he handed back his phone to ilsung.

"yes, he can." yuta nodded. "taeyong and i always work together so well. there are no secrets between both of us. and this is what is best for the company."

☏

secret(ary)

jaeyong & yuwin

☏

hello lovelies! i am so happy to be back after a long wait with a new story <3

this plot first came to my mind years ago, after my managerial challenges teacher said those words that have been stuck in my mind ever since:

"if you ever want to have a way to put pressure on a ceo and become important in a company, make sure that you are friends with the secretaries. because secretaries are secret holders; they are always there, listening to everything the ceo may share, whether it is business-related or personal. so, keep that in mind. and always beware of what you say when your own secretary is around."

so, thanks a lot to @munusunu1234 for requesting an office au when this plot had been on my mind!

also, i decided to make my update schedule a bit different from my other books since i hate the long unactive wait between the publishing of two stories...  so that way you won't have to wait as long for my next markhyuck book (that i am just starting to write) to be published after this one.

so, for secret(ary), i will publish 3 chapters a week, on tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays 

all i have left to say is enjoy the long-ass ride that will be secret(ary) lovelies!

take care of yourselves, and lots of love <3<3<3