“Don’t agree to him. It seems like he is compromising but I’m pretty sure that he is taking a step back now only to catch you off guard and hit back at you. Insist on your point.” Yoseob mumbled softly from the corner of his lips as he pretended to busy himself with the files of documents that were scattered on the table in front of him. 



Junhyung gave an almost unnoticeable nod as he cleared his throat and rose from his seat, leaning casually on the table whilst he stared right into the eyes of the challenging head of the finance department, “It does seem like a really rosy idea of giving monetary rewards to certain staff that had been committed to this hotel so as to boost their morale in working here. However, it does seem pretty unfair to raise the salaries of just those who are of higher ranking. Like I’ve mentioned just now, the employee of the month award shouldn’t have too stringent a criteria. Anybody who is officially hired by the company gets to participate. They will compete against one another in their own department, regardless of their experience and statuses.”



“But the experienced staff would feel terribly unjustified and maybe even under appreciated if the newer staff gets the award instead of them!”



The CEO merely rolled his eyes and crossed his legs in a haughty manner as he replied lazily, “Well then, if they do not get the award, it means that they are not performing up to expectations and if that’s the case, doesn’t it show that they do not even deserve to have their monthly salaries that are significantly higher than the new staff? The award selection's criteria is focused on the work output and has nothing to do with my own, possibly subjective, decision. 

      Therefore, it does not make sense why the staff would take it personally and think that I am not appreciating their efforts enough. I do, which is why I'm awarding the best employee such rewards. It's just a formal recognition... Of deserving and worthy staff.” His eyes were fixed on the nervous, trembling orbs of the head of finance who obviously had plenty of thoughts reeling in his head, trying to figure out how to counter Junhyung’s remarks. 



His shifty eyes immediately came to a standstill as a small grin formed on his face, “Well, your parents obviously thought that the experienced staff are definitely worth the salaries they are getting, I mean… After all, they were the ones who promoted them, weren’t they? Are you telling us that your parents are horrid decision makers or are you so quickly forgetting them after just a few months?”



Yoseob slammed his hands on the table as he shot up from his seat, glaring at the finance head, “That was low!” He swung his arm with the intention to throw the pen on his hand right at the forehead of the foulmouthed chap but found that Junhyung’s fingers were encircled around his wrist, stopping him from his usual, some would say, mildly violent reactions. He parted his lips and was about to get the CEO to remove his hold on him but the latter had already spoken. 



“They were promoted by my parents and I have no doubt that they were indeed capable and deserving of their promotions. However, ever since my parents have passed on, the hotel’s occupancy rate has been on a significant decline. The possible reason would be that with my parents’ departure, their spirits and commitment to their jobs had also left.” Junhyung’s eyes were downcast, his fringe covering them from everyone as he spoke slowly but surely. "And I definitely have not forgotten my parents and will never forget them." He whispered softly, audible enough for Yoseob to hear, sad enough for Yoseob's heart to sting.



A snort was heard as the finance head was not willing to back down, “Or, the most significant change would be the hotel’s leadership. We could also say that ever since you’ve been a CEO, the hotel has not been doing well. Don’t you have to claim some responsibility then?” 



“I am but one person while the experienced staff cannot be counted with my fingers and toes. If I remembered correctly, my first few weeks here were solely under all your guidance and decision makings were done by everyone’s agreement. That obviously did not work out as that was how the hotel took a downturn.” The CEO adjusted his tie, loosening it as he sat back down on his chair, leaning against it as he took long, deep breaths. 



Yoseob’s hot-blooded energy has sizzled down as he glanced at the CEO before pursing his lips in serious thoughts. Pushing up his glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose, he grabbed a file from the messy pile and opened it. “Especially you, Mr Lee. As the head of finance, you should have been conscientious in the department and their accounting. There were plenty of expenditures that are not accounted for and although, we have very little people coming to our hotel, it isn’t a ghost town. However, the monetary amount from guests do not seem to tally with the amount of guests that stayed. I wonder why there is a deficit.”



The ears of Mr Lee has turned bright red as he seemed to huffing out hot air now, “Are you accusing me of mishandling the money or keeping it to myself?”



“Yes.”



Just as he was about to throw a retort back to Yoseob, the smaller male had continued, “Recently, I’ve gotten the finance department, your department by the way, to provide me with the list of guests who seemed to have deferred payment. It seems that these guests are not in the knowing that they would need to make any form of payment. Which was really strange because why would someone stay in a hotel and assume that there was no need for any payment?



As I probe and probe, I soon came to a realisation. It was because someone had promised them with free stays in the hotel! Would you believe that? I wonder who would have made such promises.” Junhyung couldn’t resist a smirk at the sarcasm dripping from the smaller male’s words as he looked at the head of finance department, trying to see how he’s going to counter the new information. 



Yet, Mr Lee was unrepentant as he snarled, “Are you accusing me for that?”



“I told you already just now didn’t I. Yes, I am.” Yoseob deadpanned as he begun flipping through the documents in a casual manner, “Says here that you even signed them up for our fine dining courses and again, no payment is made. Your name is listed for all of such cases, so can I presume that you would be making the payment for this list because these people are not present or potential business partners and neither were these approved by the CEO himself. There doesn’t seem to be any business related reasoning for their free food and lodging.”



“And what if I do not pay back?” Mr Lee spoke through gritted teeth, clenching his fists as he glowered at the smaller male. “What can you do about it?”



“Oh that’s really not up to me, you see,” Yoseob replied calmly, shaking his head mildly as he smiled sweetly at Mr Lee, obviously mocking him, “I’ll have to discuss this with the legal department of our company. They will decide what we can do about it and of course there’s also the Human Resource department that has to help in telling us what we can do about you.”



“I’ve been working here for more than twenty years—“



“So naturally you would know what you can do and what you cannot do. But instead, your vision and thoughts of this company and the rights we gave you has been heavily fogged up, probably clouded as your position gets higher and higher. I would really love to continue speaking to you…” “Yeah right”, Junhyung mumbled in amusement, earning a soft and harmless whack on the shoulder by the smaller male. Yoseob resumed his speech, “But honestly, it would be less embarrassing for you if you would just admit to your mistakes and pack up. The security guards will do a check before you leave so please do give them a ring or it might be very unpleasant to have them tackling you at the entrance of the hotel. Also, our lawyers will get in touch with you regarding the payment matters.”



As soon as he finished his words, Yoseob turned to Junhyung expectantly and the CEO caught on quick enough as he stood up and closed the meeting. Nobody else in the room dared to make a single noise as both of them stepped out of the meeting room, closing the door behind them. 



The moment the door was shut, they both stared at one another, guffawed behind their hands as they gave each other a high five. Walking back to Junhyung’s office, Yoseob pointedly walk a step behind the CEO to continue portraying the image of the respect he gives the CEO. That was one of the things that Junhyung appreciated about Yoseob. As much as they both knew that the CEO was not confident of himself and that Yoseob was hired specifically to help him, the smaller male still gave the due respect to Junhyung as a CEO and as a friend. 



Of course when the doors of Junhyung’s office closed and both men were left in their own comfort area, things were slightly different. 



“That guy was such a prick, I swear if you had not stopped me, I would have flung a whole book to his face.” 



Junhyung smiled wryly at the smaller male, “I’m glad that I stopped you then. Yoseob ah, keep your violent tendencies between us or you might just get into trouble. How did you not get into any trouble with your previous boss and company with all your violence?”



“Because my boss had this huge crush on me,” Yoseob stated matter-of-factly like it was the most normal thing. The CEO, however, was not as calm as he tried to sound like he didn’t care while asking, “Oh really?” 



The smaller male didn’t seem to have noticed the slight pitching of the CEO’s voice and just nodded his head nonchalantly, “Yeah, you should have seen him when I told him that I’m quitting. It was like the end of the world for him. I did feel a little bad, just a little, mind you. Truthfully, his advances were getting pretty annoying and overbearing at times.”



“I see…’ Junhyung replied, slightly lamely, as he really did not know what to say in reply to that. The somewhat violent male shrugged his shoulders coolly, “Anyway, I’m sure some of this company’s employee serious needs some knocking on the head. Especially that Mr Lee. That was so low of him to mention your parents. The whole company knows how sensitive you are whe—“. Yoseob pressed his lips forcefully together as he realised that he might have once again reminded Junhyung of his parents’ death. 



The CEO frowned, tracing Yoseob’s tightly pursed lips with his thumb, “Don’t do that. You might end up bruising your lips.”



The smaller male sighed and sat on an empty chair, looking like a child who has just been grounded, “I just hate it when people starts using personal matters, and matters that they know would stir some hurt in others, against people.”



“It’s alright, I’ve learned to cope with everything that came along ever since my parents passed away.” 



Yoseob gave a little whine and pouted, swinging his legs in a childlike manner. “Nobody would ever be able to cope with everything. And especially not when it has only been months since the incidence. In fact, you didn’t even have the breathing space and time to mourn for your parents since you had to assume the role of a CEO almost immediately. I will not stand down if anybody tried to pull such lowly stunts again.”



The CEO stared at the smaller male in bewilderment, astonished with Yoseob’s words and touched, that the male was so thoughtful. He always knew that behind those throwing of pens and smacks on the head and tripping of his balance, there was a genuine and kind man. True enough, Yoseob was the first person that was this empathetic of his situation. His heart swelled at the thought of the smaller male who was protective of him even.