Sehun watches his girlfriend as he leans against the door frame. He had intended to just call through the intercom, but he decided that it wouldn’t hurt to just get off his and walk out to see his girlfriend. However, when he did, the sight of his girlfriend concentrating intently on her work had him stopping and staring.

He watches on with a gentle gaze, a slight tilt of his lips as he crosses his arms over his chest. He watches the way she frowns slightly and presses her lips together every time she comes across something she doesn’t quite understand, or something difficult to do. He watches the way her expression would then relax, her eyebrows raised as she nods to herself before she continues her work. He watches how she would sometimes just stare at the screen in front of her for longer periods of time with her eyes jumping left to right on the screen as she keeps rereading something.

“Hey, love,” he calls out when he realises that he would end up standing and staring at her the entire day if he didn’t move now. You turn away from your work and look up at your boss and see him leaning against the doorway of his office. You smile at him as he walks over to your desk.

“Hey, Boss. What do you need?” you ask him. Sehun tells you what he needed as you quickly note everything down your computer, nodding every so often as he speaks so he knows that you’re listening and keeping up. “Alright, I’ll get all that done for you by this evening.” You look up at him again once you’re done organising everything and tilt your head to the side.

Sehun stays where he is, with his arms resting on the top counter of your reception desk as he gazes at you. You observe him. He’s been acting strange for a while now and you’re not sure why. But you have no doubt that it had to do with his father’s visit not too long ago. For the sake of it though, you ask him, “Is everything alright?”

There’s slight hesitation in his eyes when he hears your question. You hadn’t asked him if he was alright, but rather if the situation surround him was alright because you knew that if you had just asked about him, he would have brushed it off. Sehun sighs and shakes head. You wait for him to say something. He doesn’t. Instead, your boss walks around your desk and pulls you out of your seat. Sitting on the edge of the desk, Sehun then pulls you close so you are standing between his legs. He brings a head up and caresses the side of you face, the back of his fingers dancing along the apple of your cheek.

“After you finish what I’ve given you just now, you’re done for the rest of this week and the following week. Turn your phone off, relax and do what you want. Go home afterwards, alright?” he instructs you, avoiding your eyes. You wait for him to look at you but he doesn’t, instead pretending to busy himself with the stray hairs framing your face which couldn’t be tied up in a ponytail. You want to know why he’s sending you home so early. So, you ask him. Sehun gives up his act and drops his hands to rest on your hips.

“I have some things that I need to sort out alone,” he tells you reluctantly.

“Then I’m meant to help you. It’s my job.” You frown when Sehun doesn’t respond. He just wraps his arms around your waist and rests his forehead against your chest. Usually he would be able to rest his head on your shoulder but you’re currently in your heels so it’s given you an extension in height.

With a soft sigh, you gently wrap your arms over his shoulders. “What did your father want?” you finally ask him. You had avoided asking because you didn’t want to interfere with any family business, but now it seemed clear that the issue involved you, more so than you initially thought.

Sehun pulls away from you and rests his hands on your shoulders, squeezing them lightly. “I’ll tell you when the time comes. Just trust me to deal with this, please?”

You observe the man in front of you for a moment. “I need to get back to work, is there anything else you need?” you ask instead, not wanting to respond to him. Sehun purses his lips together and shakes his head.

With that, you take a step away from him, letting his hands fall back to his sides. If Sehun thinks that you can’t handle knowing something that clearly revolves around you, then you’re going to leave it up to him. That doesn’t mean that you’re happy to do so.

“If that’s all that you wanted then I’ll be getting back to work now, Boss.” You turn away from him and sit down in your chair, ignoring the man sit seated on the edge of your desk. You feel his eyes on you for a while but you pay no attention to him. Eventually, you hear a soft sigh from him before he moves off the desk and makes his way back into his office. Once the door is closed and you’re sure he won’t see or hear you, you heave out a sigh of your own and lean back into your seat.

¤

It was a little past 5 in the evening by the time you had finished all the tasks your boss had assigned to you. You had just stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby of the building, ready to make an exit when something, or rather someone, caught your attention.

You walk past the security gates that you’ve walked through countless times. You wave to the security guards that stand by the sides with a polite smile and they return your greeting with a bob of their head and a salute. Your attention returns to the people entering through the front doors of the building.

An unsettling feeling rises in you, so you decide to walk to the side and observe the people walking in. A group of well-dress people walk through the doors, and you notice how everything about their outfit is impeccable, from the way the ends of their hair is styled all the way down to their pair of shoes. The person that catches you off guard, however, is the sight of Sehun’s father. A scoff escapes you. It doesn’t take a genius to narrow down the possibilities of what they’re probably here for, and what Sehun had been trying to hide from you.

Standing rooted in your spot, you contemplate if you should go up and find out what the woman was here for. It’s a choice of taking 15 steps out the door, or walking back to the elevators to take it up to the top floor. Deciding on the former, you turn around and walk out the building. Since you had arrived to work today with Sehun this morning, you walk out till you reach the edge of the curb and raise your hand to call an oncoming taxi.

Once you’re in the taxi and have told the driver where to go, you slump back into the seat and close your eyes. The driver must have sensed your unease because he decides to turn on some music at low volume, just enough for you to hear in the background, but not loud enough as to disrupt any of your thoughts. You open your eyes and turn to look outside the window to see many car packed close around each other, all barely moving. It’s been a while since you’ve gone home at this time, so you had forgotten about the peak hours of traffic.

Not minding the heavy traffic and the fact that it will probably eat up an hour of your time, you take out your phone and decide to go through your emails. Half way through responding to an email for a colleague, you get a notification indicating a message from Junmyeon. You quickly finish the email and send it before opening Junmyeon’s text.

Kim Junmyeonie

> Did Sehun send you home early?

< Yes

> Why?

You stop yourself before you type down anything irrational. Even though Junmyeon had grown into a brother figure to you since your transition into the company, at the end of the day he still works for Sehun. Before you can reply, another notification pops up to show that you’ve received another message, this time from Baekhyun.

Byun Baekhyun

> You're finished for today, right? Let’s go out for dinner~

> Chanyeol’s paying :)

You grin, knowing that Chanyeol himself probably doesn’t know about his generous offer. Regardless, you accept his offer before switching back to Junmyeon’s message.

Kim Junmyeonie

< I’m not sure. He just told me to finish my assigned
tasks for the day and head home once I was done

Once you’ve sent the message, you nod to yourself. It’s probably better to act like you know less than you do, not like you know much anyway. If Sehun truly thinks it’s better for you not to interfere then you won’t.

< Are you coming out for dinner? Baekhyun says
that Chanyeol’s paying

> I’d much rather go home to my lovely fiancée after
I finish the piles of work I still need to go through

< Oh, I’m so jealous.

< Alright then, maybe next time

You close Junmyeon’s message thread and switch over to Baekhyun’s.

Byun Baekhyun

> Sweet. Let’s go to the place we usually go to

> I’ve already got a table down for 7pm under my name

> Chanyeol already knows to meet us there

You respond to his messages confirming that you’ll be there to meet them after you drop off your stuff at home and freshen up. Locking your phone and putting it away, you turn your attention once again to the world outside. The previously lively colour of blue is slowly merging into the warmth of orange hues.

There was still quite a distance to go till you would reach your place, but luckily the traffic has slowly started to clear up. Eventually, you manage to arrive safely in front of your apartment complex. You pay the driver, making sure to give him a little extra for tip before climbing out the vehicle. You wave the driver goodbye before you walk away and head up to your apartment for a quick shower.

It's amazing how a place previously thought to be home suddenly no longer feels completely like home, as if there’s a huge chuck of the place missing, leaving you bare. You glance around the apartment as you step inside and fling your heels off your feet. Everything’s in place, but why does it feel so different?

Shaking your head, you place your things down and head into your bedroom to pick out something to wear to meet up with the other guys. You don’t think much of it, simply grabbing the first items that catch your eyes. You throw them onto the bed, as well as a fresh pair of undergarments, before tying your hair up in a bun so you can take a quick shower. You contemplated whether you should wash your hair today but you decide against it. You’ll wash your hair tomorrow.

¤

“Look who finally showed up!” Baekhyun calls out as soon as he sees you approaching the table. Chanyeol also with him and he greets you with a smile while he pulls out the chair beside him for you to sit on. “Come and sit down,” he says.

Once you’ve settled down and given the menu to look through, you ask, “So why the sudden decision to meet up?”

“Indeed. Why the sudden decision to meet up?” Chanyeol parrots you with a sour expression on his face. You chuckle, knowing fully well he’s still a little displeased that Baekhyun had volunteered his wallet for sacrifice tonight. When Baekhyun grins and pats his friend on the shoulder, Chanyeol rolls his eyes and jokingly shoves Baekhyun away.

“There’s no harm in wanting to step out of the office to enjoy some delicious food and wonderful company,” Baekhyun responds easily. He then calls over a waiter to order some of the usual and you also some extra dishes that caught your eye.

When all the food and drinks had arrived and all of you were finally able to relax and talk freely, you grab the bottle of champagne and pour the other two a glass before pouring yourself one. “So, what’s the real reason you wanted me here?” you ask as you watch the bubbles in the drink dance in the in your hand. You lift it up to your lips to drink, staring at Baekhyun as you wait for an answer.

You catch the smirk that Chanyeol gives to Baekhyun. “I told you,” you hear him mutter. Baekhyun sighs and loosens his tie. “I figured you’d want a way of distraction. We don’t know for sure, but we all have a pretty decent guess of what Sehun’s father is planning to do.”

“Do we though?” you question, taking another drink from your glass. Silence follows. “Listen, I’m grateful that you thoughtful of me, but I wouldn’t have minded relaxing in a bubble bath, catching up on some shows,” you assure them. You quickly add with a cheeky smile directed at Chanyeol, “The free food definitely is a big bonus though.”

Chanyeol reaches over and lightly pinches you cheek, whilst Baekhyun laughs. “You’re lucky you’re adorable,” Chanyeol grumbles as he sooths the area he’d just pinched with his thumb. You flash him one of your wide, closed-lipped smiles which caused your cheeks to puff up. You used to do them a lot when you and Chanyeol first came good friends.

Having not seen it in a while, Chanyeol can’t help but lean over and pinch your cheeks again. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you smile like that,” he comments. “Though I’d prefer not to see it again, not matter how nice it may be.”

Baekhyun turns to Chanyeol with a raised eyebrow. Chanyeol shakes his head in reply while you dig into your food. As someone who prefers not to express most of your worries, you find yourself unable to hold back your expressions. So when Chanyeol used to ask you if anything was wrong, you would simply shake your head and smile them away. It worked on for a while until he had realised it was full of crap and had to sit you down for a proper talk.

The screen of Baekhyun’s phone lights up, instantly grabbing the attention of all three people at the table. You quickly look away from it because you don’t want to intrude on his privacy. Chanyeol, however, does the complete opposite by leaning over to his friend’s side to get a clear look. Baekhyun doesn’t seem to mind from the way he just ignores Chanyeol and continues checking his phone.

“Gorgeous,” you hear Baekhyun call. You glance up at him, also feeling a little weird to be answering to such a nickname since it seems a little up there. But nonetheless, you tilt your head as you wait for him to continue talking. “Do you happen to have your phone on silent tucked away somewhere?”

Hearing that, you immediately take your phone out of your bag. You had turned your phone on silent as soon as you got home and forgot to turn it off since. But in your defence, you were told to turn your phone off, so…

Oh Sehun

> Hey, I know it’s a bit of short notice, considering what
I said earlier but can I come over later?

> There’s something I need to tell you, is it alright?

> Everything OK, love?

Checking the time stamps on the messages and the missed calls, you see that Sehun had started calling you soon after, most likely assuming something had happened to you. You’re wondering if Sehun’s planning to finally tell you what you wanted to know earlier this afternoon when Chanyeol interrupts your thoughts.

“Does this mean you’re leaving soon?”

“Probably? Maybe? There’s some stuff we need to talk about,” you shrug. Both men nod in understanding, then drop the topic and decide to enjoy the rest of the night.

Sehun had eventually arrived about an hour later and the two men managed to convince him to join them for a while longer. By the time the two of you make it back to your place, it’s already past midnight. The drive home had been quiet, with Sehun focusing on driving and you focusing on the streets as the car drove by.

Unlocking the door, you step into your apartment and step side to allow Sehun to enter as well. As soon as you close the door, and turn around, you’re pulled into an embrace. Your body immediately settles against the toned chest, your head resting against his shoulder, taking in the subtle scent of his cologne.

Sehun’s able to tuck your head under his chin because you’re not wearing your heels, like you usually do at work. “I missed you,” he murmurs as he tightens his hold on you.

“You just saw me earlier today at work.”

“No, I saw my trustworthy, hardworking secretary earlier today. I missed my girlfriend,” Sehun answers before pressing his lips against the top of your head. He then unwraps his arms around you and holds onto your arms, massaging them slightly, “Are you feeling OK? Did you have a lot to drink?”

“No, I’m fine,” you shake your head. “The other two did most of the drinking. Do you want anything, by the way?” you ask him, gesturing towards your kitchen. Sehun doesn’t answer. Instead, he just his head to the side and raises an eyebrow at you. You stare back at him until you see a smirk appear on his lips.

“Just you,” he finally answers. You narrow your eyes at him, a smile of your own appearing. You press your lips together to try and stop it from forming but it’s clearly unsuccessful when you Sehun chuckles, satisfied that his reply had amused you.

“Alright then, let’s go wash up,” you announce. “Are you staying over tonight?”

“If you’ll have me.”

Holding out your hand, you wait for Sehun to grab hold of it before pulling him towards the bathroom with you.

Half an hour later, you’re now sitting on top of the covers on the bed while you wait for Sehun to finish drying his hair from his shower. You have your arm wrapped around your legs, chin resting on your knees whilst you’re checking your emails out of habit, when Sehun finally enters the bedroom. You set your phone aside and smile at him as he walks over to the bed. Instead of going over to his usual side of the bed, he walks over to yours and sits in front of you.

Spreading his legs out, he then places a firm grip under your knees and pulls you closer to him until your thighs are resting on top of his. You let him pull you closer and cross your ankles behind his back.

You’ve also wrapped your arms over his shoulders when Sehun gets right to it. “My father wants to replace your position at work, that’s what I’ve been trying to deal with today,” he tells you, eyes staring right at yours.

“I see,” you respond. Sehun looks at you, a little confused. “That’s not much of a reaction…” he comments. You shrug.

“I’m not too concerned,” you admit.

“Why? Because you have me?” Sehun raises an eyebrow. You narrow your eyes and lightly slap his arm.

“No, because I’m great at my job and whoever your father thinks will do a better job than me, most definitely won’t.”

Sehun leans forward and kisses you, his hand cradling the back of your head to deepen the kiss. “Crap, I love it when you’re like this.”

“Like what?” you ask when he finally lets you go.

“Just you. So sure of yourself, so confident in yourself. I love it and I love you,” he answers before leaning in again to kiss the tip of your nose.

The both of you spend the next hour discussing ways to resolve the issue. Sehun may have majority of the control over the company, but it doesn’t change the fact that any input from the former CEO is more likely be favoured by other employees in the company, since he’s definitely worked longer and has more experience in comparison to Sehun. And for you, who cares a lot of the reputation of not only your boss, but your boyfriend, as well. You tell him about who you had seen them enter the building as you were making your way out, much to Sehun’s displeasure.

“So what resulted by the end of the meeting with your father and the group of potential new secretaries?” you ask, your hand absentmindedly playing with Sehun’s hair.

“We’re putting them all on trial, the whole lot of them. It’s so annoying,” he sighs, resting his head on your shoulder. You hum and think about it for a moment.

“What if I was there?” you suggest. “I could handle the entire process, critic them and everything.”

“How would that work?”

“Well, I need to know what and who I’m up against. What better way than to be right there in front of the action?” you shrug. “I’ll be able to handle and watch over everything. If there is truly someone who is able to handle the job better than me, then I’ll just have to work harder till I’m better than them by 10 folds.” You take a while longer to discuss it with Sehun until he eventually agrees.

“Should we start it tomorrow?” he asks.

You scoff. “I think not. You gave me a week off and I’m going to use it. A lady needs some quality time alone every now and then.”

Sehun bumps his nose against yours and laughs. "Alright then, whatever my love desires," he says with a smile before you tackle him onto his back.

A/N: Hello, lovelies! It's been, what, 3 months? How have you all been? Despite the lack of updates, there were still new subscriber and i'm so grateful. Hello! Welcome! I miss writing so much. I've been going through some things so once uni ended, I pretty went into hibernation for recovery but now I'm back! And I've got some ideas for other stories so check them out in my profile if you want!

OK QUESTION: Would you guys be interested in the next chapter being a sort of bonus that focuses only on OCxSehun? or would you like me to just continue on with the plot of the story?

p.s. i'm sorry if the whole text messaging layout is confusing, i'm still playing around with different ways to display them better. Anyway, till next time!

Much love,

aekcso