Kongpob POV

Arthit , my new subordinate, had just refused a salary raise.

Well, that was not quite exactly what had happened, if i had to be totally honest.

Let's rephrase it.

Arthit Rojnapat my new subordinate, my favorite coworker; the one who wasn't just a hot piece of ass, but who had also helped me close two very successful business deals only in the past month; the one who always followed my orders promptly and perfectly and wasn't afraid to let me know his honest opinions, or call me out on my mistakes; the one who worked with me like a well-oiled machine (not physically, duh) , and looked heavenly while doing so... had just refused a salary raise.

And he'd done it to accept instead a promotion that would drive him away from my team and my entire section. He'd be working on an entire different floor starting next month. For all that it meant for me and the projects my team was developing, he might as well have left the company. And, yes, I'm furious.

I'm not sure what angered me the most:
the fact that i really thought we had something special going on, even if it was just in the most professional sense of the word, or the fact that, even though he was still working under me, he'd waited until the weekend to refuse my offer via email, instead of in person.

It was a cloudy December morning on the weekend, with the company's Christmas dinner just around the corner. I was visiting a Christmas market with my sister Pim and her two children when I'd checked the email and had seen Arthit's message. It had immediately made my blood run cold.

With my hands trembling, I'd rushed to text his secretary asking for his personal address and, as soon as I'd gotten the information i wanted, said your goodbyes to my sister and called a cab to his apartment.

Did he really think he could ruin your weekend like this? That I'd be soothed by the time Monday came around? No. He couldn't do this to me. I wouldn't allow it.

The door to his apartment opened to reveal a petrified looking Arthit in very loose clothing you could have never imagined him wearing.

His usually properly gelled hair was falling over his eyes in messy dark bowl cut. He looked completely caught off guard, frightened, even, as he eyed me up and down just as intently as i was eyeing him, and it was his fault for behaving like an absolute coward.

"It's always good to see your coworkers outside of the office." I spit.

Surely, the way i had my hands on my hips and quick tapping the floor with the tip of my pointy boots would not help in making him feel any more at ease. My entire presence screamed I want an explanation, and I want it now.

Arthit gulped.

"Mr Suthiluck !" he greeted me with the fakest smile I'd ever seen on him.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Oh, I see you're in the mood for jokes." I snapped back.

I walked past him and entered his small apartment uninvited. I looked around quickly, too busy with other thoughts to entertain its size, the Christmas decorations, or whether or not he had a dog. I didn't live in a palace yourself either.

"I hope that's what the email I just received was. A JOKE."

I turned around again to look at him directly in the eyes. He had the decency to look absolutely ashamed, and i soon began to feel how the need to crack his skull open with the back of my heavy boots was slowly vanishing. I was so weak to those puppy eyes. God damn it.

"It... it was not a joke, Sir. I'm really accepting Mr. Thanaporn's offer."

I clicked my tongue, and then sighed deeply in frustration.

"Can you make some tea? I want to talk to you about this... at length."

"At your orders, Sir."

He disappeared hastily into the kitchen and only then i took my time to look at my surroundings.

Indeed, Arthit's apartment was small, but sunny, and the views from the window in the living room seemed pretty amazing if i ever felt like taking a look. It probably was expensive, too, especially in this part of the city. And, much to Arthit's credit, it wasn't even half as messy as I'd expect from a single guy who lived alone. My own apartment looked much worse most days.

Walking into the living room, i took off your coat and my shoes, and draped them over one side of his sofa. Then i walked back into the hall to check myself in the mirror and began retouching my lip gloss and carefully arranging my ruffled hair. It wasn't usual for my coworkers to see me with my hair down or in a pair of jeans, so the least i could do was make sure you looked good while I'm at it.

I walked into the kitchen, startling him, who was rummaging in a cabinet, looking for a couple of cups. I leaned on the backrest of one of his chairs as i watched him prepare the tea.

"It'll be ready in a minute." He said, nervously looking at me out of the corner of his eye, as i continued to fluff my hair. I stopped in my tracks when you noticed a pair of golden rimmed glasses perched atop his nose.

Oh. Cute. You'd never known he wore glasses.

"You can wait in the living room if you want." He added.

"I'm going to stay here to make sure you don't try to escape through a window." I replied.

From the noise he let out, it seemed his laugh was almost a sincere one.

"So," i began, once i sat down on his sofa, two warm cups of tea on the small table in front of me. "Let's talk. I thought you liked to work in my team."

Arthit had taken a seat on a chair on the other side of the small table, and wasn't looking as tense as i thought he should. Strangely enough, he had some sort of sad smile on his handsome face, and i'd be lying if o said it didn't irk me at least a little bit, as much as it intrigued me.

"And I do." He agreed, nodding with a compliant gesture. Then he fell silent, racking his brains in search of the proper words to express himself. "It's just that I've realized... that the situation I'm in... is not an ideal one."

I frowned, finding it impossible not to glare at him.

"And just what does that even mean?"

There were many things you liked about Arthit , the clarity with which he usually expressed his thoughts being one of them. Today, though, he clearly didn't feel like it, since he just grimaced and let out a nervous laugh.

"It really isn't easy to explain, Sir." He said, sitting back on his chair and looking down at the cup of tea in his hands.

I sighed deeply. I really should have planned this conversation more carefully if i really wanted to guilt trip him into staying in my team, but I had come here in a rush, and now speaking without really thinking, letting my feelings get in the way of my business, talking to my subordinate like I'd talk to a friend. A huge mistake on my part, but there was something about Arthit that made me act like this.

"Arthit, I really don't understand." I said, almost even whined. "I believe my initial offer was generous enough, but even if you don't think so, it can be discussed further, and you know this! So money shouldn't be an issue. What is it that you want? I thought you didn't want more responsibility at this point in your career. Have you maybe changed your mind?"

"No, no...!" Arthit scratched the back of his head in a sheepish gesture. "It has nothing to do with any of that!"

"Then what is it? Is it any of your teammates? Do you feel uncomfortable working with any of them? You know I'll fire anybody for you. Just tell me their names."

"No, Mr. Suthiluck , believe me, if I could explain why I'm choosing to do this then I wou-"

"Is it because of me?"

Arthit shut up immediately. He looked at me with his eyebrows raised, and his eyes are very open, and quickly shook his head, except he didn't say a word.

I left Arthit apartment in a fury hours later, after not having managed to make him change his mind, and having found exactly zero reasons why he'd want to leave my team. Only vague answers and "It's hard to explain" over and over.

Bullshit.

I clenched my teeth and fisted on my way to the ground floor on the elevator to try and calm myself down, to little use. The pressure I was feeling in my chest wasn't something nice or usual for me to experience. No one would believe me if i told them i was this upset about an employee leaving, but what could i do about it? It was the truth. I was going to have to hire at least two more people just to even try and cover half of the work he did. And that was if i were lucky.

Either way my team's productivity would just inevitably plummet, all because he couldn't be bothered with trusting me with the reason why he was leaving.

God, everything about this was so inconvenient. I even almost felt like crying.

I tried my best not to be an asshole towards him during the following weeks. I dryly congratulated him on Monday, when he announced in front of everybody that he wouldn't be coming back to the office after New Year's. I even accepted his peace offering in the form of a cup of coffee, although i refused the cookies he shared with everyone else.

As i took a sip from the bitter drink in my hand, i watched Arthit's bright smile as he talked to his soon-to-be former teammates and felt a stinging in my chest. It wasn't just that he was an excellent colleague and the main reason why my team had been so productive these past months. He was also the life of the office. His smiles and his jokes brightened my mornings, his cute bubble butt gave me something nice to look at on long, boring Monday afternoons, and the cute emojis he added on his text messages helped me forget that me were in a serious environment sometimes. Work was going to become unbearably boring without him.

On the evening of the company's Christmas dinner, as i stared at my attire options for the party, i still hadn't forgiven him for his betrayal, so i decided to succumb to temptation.

He was leaving my section. What the hell did it matter if i discarded my very office-appropriate navy blue suit in favor of equally conservative but slightly more tight fitting black jeans ?

Granted, none of my outfit screamed fuck me on top of my desk, since i were used to shopping with a practical mindset, and that included being conscious of the fact that most of the parties i attended involved clients and coworkers, but with a little delicate balance between subtle seduction and classic elegance, i quickly managed to put together an outfit that would leave Arthit breathless while avoiding a scandal at work at the same time.

Of course, as it was to be expected, when i met him at the restaurant later that evening, he proceeded to not notice any of the hard work that had gone into my outfit.

Why was I even surprised? Men were fucking stupid. I received honest compliments and poisonous looks from different girls and women in my section, but not a single hint that he appreciated my elegant updo, my lipgloss that was half way more shinier than my usual or my classy earrings . This had to be the last fucking time i wasted this much time for a man.

I knew it was a lost cause when the dinner ended and most of the attendees moved to a nearby karaoke bar. As soon as Arthit grabbed a microphone he always stopped paying attention to anything else, so i resorted to quietly drinking my soju shots in a corner while chatting to anybody who happened to take a seat near me. Soon my frustration started to slowly turn into melancholy, and i'd want to blame it on the fact that Arthit wouldn't stop singing sappy ballad after sappy ballad, but, as i let out a trembling sigh, i realized it was a mix of alcohol plus the knowledge that, once hr left, i wouldn't get to hear his beautiful singing voice again.

And now my mood had been completely ruined, so i stood up with a sigh, and tapped on the nearest person's shoulder, a girl from my section. Rising my voice over the music so that she'd hear me, i announced i had a headache and you would be leaving now.

"Ohh, Sir, But we're having so much fun!" She whined, and i made a noncommittal gesture. "Do you want me to call you a cab home?" She offered.

"Thanks, I'll walk instead. I have to pick up some stuff I forgot at the office. See you on Monday. Say goodbye to everybody for me, will you?"

I smiled and waved goodbye to her, and then exited the private karaoke room and walked over to the register at the entryway of the bar to pay for everybody's drinks. I was just done fastening my coat when i heard a familiar sound of steps behind me.

"Mr. Suthiluck !"

I turned to look at Arthit's alarmed face.

"It's dangerous to go alone at this time of the night! What were you thinking!? Let me walk you home." He said, putting on his coat.

"I'm only going back to the office to pick up some stuff." i replied.

That was a lie I'd told to my coworker earlier only because my office building was just a couple blocks away, and i didn't feel like having people ask me why i preferred to walk instead of taking a cab, but it seemed appropriate to repeat it in this moment. Like hell you'd be walking home with HIM.

"Well, then let me walk you to the office." He said.

I rolled my eyes.

"Do whatever you want." i replied.

It wasn't only dark outside, i realized once i'd walked ten steps in the direction of our office building. It was also fucking freezing, and, in my very stylish designer shoes i wouldn't have lasted 5 blocks before having to call a cab home in the middle of a lonely street, for fear of my toes freezing off. Two blocks was a safe distance to walk without dying from hypothermia, i figured. I could actually go inside the building and try to warm up as i waited for a car to arrive... Except it was taking me longer than expected because tonight, of all nights, was when Arthit had decided to be a gentleman and he'd wrapped an arm around me to, presumably, protect me from the cold as we walked together.

Thou I was startled by this closeness I appreciated it that he didn't do anything more intimate. And also if he asked me permission I'm sure I wouldn't approve this gesture between us.

"Were you planning on leaving without saying goodbye?" He said, his laugh barely audible from the strong wind.

"Maybe so." i grumbled. I wasn't in the mood for jokes."I have a headache and your singing voice is way too loud."

He whined.

"Mr. Suthiluck , how can you be like this!? In less than two weeks time we won't be working together. I wanted to properly say goodbye to you and you were going to leave just like that!"

Maybe he had a point, i guessed. He had been my favorite coworker, after all. I shook his arm from my shoulders and stepped away from him to look him straight in the eye.

"Well, now's your chance." i said.

Arthit cleared his throat.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me during these past months. I will be forever grateful to you for allowing me to gain very valuable experience by working with you. I'm grateful for the respect with which you've always treated me, and the way you've always listened to my suggestions and allowed me to grow as an employee of this company by giving me space to develop my own projects. I've learned a lot working by your side. Again, thank you, ma'am." He finished his speech with a bow.

I just stood there, fighting the conflicting feelings that arose in me. I still didn't understand why the hell such a good employee had to quit like that.

Arthit eventually straightened up again, and, judging from the expression on his face, he must have been feeling uneasy about my silence. He protectively grabbed my shoulders again, trying to pick up the conversation where I'd left it.

"Have I been a good team member, Sir ?" He asked.

I snorted.

"The worst. You still haven't told me why you're leaving."

He released my shoulders and put his hands into his pockets.

"Ah... c'mon..."

"C'mon! I soon won't be your boss anymore. You should be telling me all the things you hate about me, like how I keep ordering you around..."

He actually went and scratched his head with a somewhat sheepish expression on his face at that.

"There aren't many things I don't like about you..." He said. "And I like it when you order me around."

That made me laugh.

"C'mon, it's too late to be a sweettalker now!"

"I'm telling you the truth!" he explained.

Our office building finally came into view, and i decided to ignore his antics in favor of hurrying up to escape from the cold.