Chanyeol lead him down a few flights of stairs to a floor filled with offices in a comfortable and considerate silence, guiding Luhan silently into the safety of his office from all the judgemental eyes, most of whom Luhan was making up in his head. Chanyeol knew that Luhan didn't take to embarrassment as other people did, it made him uncomfortable and freeze up, which never helped him deal with it, so he sat his former classmate down in a chair, turned the lock on the door so they weren't disturbed and sat across from him.

As Chanyeol looked over at the other man, he held back a smile. 

'Finally, Luhan, we meet again. And now we can pick up where we left off...'

--

"Thank you once again for getting me out of there, Chanyeol," Luhan thanked as he stood up, sending the taller man a grateful yet bashful smile. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem, at least you know where my office is now if you want to get lunch with a familiar face, or hang out when your work is done or something." The taller shot his overly-toothy grin at Luhan, rising up out of his leather chair to cross the room with three long-legged strides, opening the office door.

Nodding, Luhan accepted the open invitation with a tiny, meek smile, proceeding to leave the room with a giggled promise of lunch some time that week.

He hopped, two at a time, up the stairs to Kai's office, but his mood darkened when he approached his boss' office, heading inside with his gaze directed at the floor.

"Kai?" He called out, his voice strained with embarrassment surrounding his actions at the meeting earlier that day.

The CFO was sat at his desk, feet up and relaxing with his eyes closed and hands crossed behind his head, his work evidently finished for the day. 

Luhan noticed, strangely, the way the sunlight bounced off of his truffle-coloured hair- it gleamed softly and it looked soft, which led to Luhan vehemently resisting the urge to step behind the desk and run his fingers through it. It probably wouldn't be the best way to get himself back into Kai's good books as, like any normal boss, Luhan assumed Kai didn't enjoy having his hair assaulted by his junior officers. Luhan shook his head, with a silent "get it together, Luhan" racketing around his brain as he stepped further into the office. He couldn't get caught up in silly things like that, it wasn't as if he could usually tolerate his boss' presence without screaming internally, after all.

Without opening his eyes, Kai responded with a languid mumble of "what do you want, Luhan?"

"I, um, came to apologise," the ashamed CRO replied. "I know I really ed up in the meeting earlier, which probably makes more stress for you and stuff-"

"Don't bother apologising. That's the first thing you need to learn here." Kai instructed, yawning as he opened his eyes, blinking them repeatedly to rid himself of the sleep build-up. "To be honest, it wasn't that much of a mistake- until you started saying sorry. It makes you look weak- no one admits their faults here. It's an unwritten rule to never admit you did something wrong." His boss looked up at him, giving him a serious look to show that he wasn't joking around.

"But isn't that, you know, rude?" Luhan deadpanned his eyebrows raised and his head tilted slightly. He was confused about the strict nature of the boardroom and how to everybody else, even the most good-natured person Luhan knew apart from Yixing, Chanyeol, being a rude dickhead and impolite to everyone seemed second nature.

"Well yes, but we're all s so no one tends to give a damn. If you show that you're weak, you'll never hear the end of it." Kai's statement was followed by a grumble that sounded suspiciously like "trust me".

"Is that why your elbow found it's way halfway into my lungs?" Luhan raised his eyebrows. "Because I was being polite?"

"No. Because you were being embarrassing." Kai retorted back at him, his matter-of-fact expression landing on Luhan once more. "Trust me, kiddo. I did you a favour."

Frowning, Luhan nodded in acceptance. "Thanks, I guess," he began, watching Kai roll his eyes at Luhan's politeness (despite the conversation moments prior), before continuing with a grumbled "but is there any work I can actually do today? I haven't done anything apart from make a fool out of myself or hide out in offices to avoid anyone and everyone."

"Well, as you're so eager, I need these files returning." Kai smirked, nodding at a box filled with ring binders each labelled with different dates that had been haphazardly dumped on the floor.

Cursing his own words, Luhan shot a glare at Kai- who he knew was messing with him- and nearly hissed out a "and where do they need to be, exactly?"

"They're Sehun's. The president's weekly reports compiled by year- they need to be taken up to his office. I'll let him know that you're on your way, hm?"

"Why should I go? This isn't my job- I'm ninety percent sure that you literally employ a guy to go around taking files and boxes and al of that stuff between departments. Why do I have to do something a ten year old is capable of doing?" Luhan grumbled, his doe eyes turning sad and his pouty lips pursing into a frown as he looked at his boss.

"Three reasons," the smirking CFO stated. "one is that my assistant is sick today so you have to fill in, two is that whatever I say, you kinda have to do because I'm your boss and three is that I think it would be really funny to see."

Luhan grumbled, yet felt obliged to carry out the task and nodded, grabbing the box and heaving it up off of the floor. "Where do I go?"

"Top floor. Can't miss it." Kai had already directed his gaze to the figures on the screen, but if he hadn't he may have seen the colour drain from Luhan's face as his expression rapidly contorted into one of terror.

Luhan's knuckles turned white as he gripped the large, plastic container's handles hard, as if anchoring himself to it, taking a deep breath and edging his way into the elevator. Blood rushed through his ears at an immense speed, dizzying him as he rested his back against the wall of the lift cage, trying hard to ignore the fact he was currently suspended a few hundred feet above ground in a box on a string. He was biting hard down onto the inside of his cheek as he reluctantly nudged his elbow against the button for the topmost floor of the skyrise. The elevator doors glided shut, sealing Luhan inside, and Luhan felt the familiar, distressing feeling of his stomach churning as the lift soared up, up, upwards towards the uppermost floor, where Luhan knew his intimidating and unfortunately attractive boss was waiting for his arrival with the files.

All in all, it in reality only took Luhan around ten seconds to reach the highest floor, but that was ten seconds too long as he bit down so hard on his bottom lip that he swore he could taste the metallic tang of his own blood on the tip of his tongue. That didn't stop him from nearly leaping out of the lift cage as soon as the little 'ding' that signalled the end of his terrifying journey was over rang out, echoing around Luhan's head as his pulse began to fall back to a normal, human rate. He hurried out of the lift cage, bringing the boxes with him before lifting his eyes from the floor to take in his surroundings.

The room was lavish, but not overly pompous; black and white furniture was contrasted with green plants dotted around the room. Shelves of files and books were covering one of the walls, each compartment labelled. The right hand wall was a large, floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over the bustling, bright city. The afternoon sun was shining, casting shadows through yet more bookcases, this time filled with objects that probably held a lot of significance to the office's owner.

Luhan took a deep breath, stepping forwards towards the CEO's desk, ready to place the boxes down and evacuate as soon as humanly possible. It would be lovely if, for once, things for Luhan were just that damn easy. But obviously they aren't. 

"...Yes, Mother. I understand that. She's probably a nice person and all, but how do I phrase this..?" A voice echoed out across the office, from the direction Luhan himself had come. "I don't like her. I don't like the 237 other women you have previously attempted to set me up with either. I also don't like you trying to force me into some marriage sham to secure the takeover of a business (which we don't need to do) because if you stopped bothering me with these brainless, draining trophy women, I could focus on doing my job. Which means I get money. Which means you get money. Do you understand, Mother? No more dates-"

The shrillness of a woman shrieking down the phone was audible at this distance, as Luhan panicked and placed the boxes of files on the floor.

"-what do you mean, 'brainless, draining trophy women'?! They're the daughters of Asia's finest companies and you're throwing them away! I didn't raise my son to turn key business opportunities down-"

"Yes, Mother, because you didn't raise me that much at all did you?" A snarl signified the end of the conversation, as the man himself strode in and angrily sat himself in his executive chair. 

Upon seeing Luhan stood awkwardly in the corner, surrounded by files, he sent a glare in that general direction. "What do you want, Mr I-Know-Better-Than-The-Boss? I don't have time to deal with your idiotic shenanigans."

"Uh, Kai sent me up to return these files to you... I didn't know where they went, but you seem kind of angry so I'm gonna-"

"You're 'gonna' what? Run away?" Sighing and forcibly calming himself, Sehun rose from his seat. He seemed a little less intense as he loosened his tie, draped his jacket over the back of his chair and stepped over. The next time he spoke, he was much quieter and kneeling by Luhan, picking the box of files up. "Kai will probably send you again now that he's managed to get you to come all the way up here once," He explained in a subdued tone. "so I'll tell you where these go." Extending his legs, Sehun stood back up to his full height (a good head and a little above Luhan) crossing his office to a locked, floor-to-ceiling cabinet behind his desk.

Sehun swiped a keycard, turning a light green and allowing the cabinet to open. "You've probably been added to the system of people that can open this, but if not, steal Kai's card. Or use mine if its on my desk, I don't care."

Luhan nodded, watching Sehun's movements closely.

"Then, you start with the earliest year first. Fill the cabinet from the back left, moving towards the front in rows, like this." Sehun's hands picked up two of the binders each, placing them at the back of the cabinet and moving across.

Upon finishing, the CEO turned to look at his subordinate, checking to see if he had understood the simple task.

Luhan nodded, mumbling a quiet "yes, sir" and stepping away. Inside, he was once again astounded by another one of his superior's good looks. This was getting unhealthy. Luhan forced himself to look away as Sehun rolled the white, silk sleeves of his button down shirt up to his elbows before running his hands through his hair.

Coughing quietly to jar himself and prevent him from imagining about running his hand through the CEO's hair, or pulling him closer by his tie, or seeing what his chest would look once he'd pulled the shirt off of him- yeah, he really had to stop. It really had been a while since he'd had silly crushes on people, but then again, it had been a while since he had been... romantic with someone."Okay, well, I better go... do some actual work and all of that."

"Yeah, okay." Sehun nodded, his eyes lingering on Luhan for a second before flitting away, walking back over to sit in his chair, leaning back and closing his eyes to relax. "Oh, and, if you don't mind- I don't know how much you heard but- could you, perhaps, maybe, not mention the phone call I just had to anyone? It's... a complicated matter and I don't really want anyone butting into it all..."

"Yes, sir. My lips are sealed. I won't mention a word to anyone." Luhan nodded, stepping back towards the elevator. "Goodbye, sir."

The last thing Luhan heard as the elevator sealed its doors, trapping him inside for another anxiety-wrought journey downstairs was a quiet chuckle of "Goodbye, Luhan."

so yeah hi there

i have been away for like a month ??? it's mainly because i'm in my final year of GCSEs so i'm revising pretty much 24/7. i don't want to ruin this story by half-assing it so i'm probably going to have periods where i don't update. also there's a lot of hassle with prom organisation and leavers and exam prep so please bless me so i survive this chaotic ordeal. anyway, thanks for reading!!!!

i appreciate every single comment and sub and everything you guys do to show that you like this fic and tbh it does make me want to write more! 

anyway, i'm looking for someone that can create a cover for this fic and i'd like it to be a reader because i feel like it would be more personal to the fic if that makes sense. if anyone is interested, just let me know- all my social media links are on my profile under 'flavours'. 

THANK YOU FOR READING, YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. I LOVE YOU AND I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY.