Luhan took a few calming breaths before he pressed the door bell.

It was his first day of work and he was extremely nervous.

He’d taken forever to fall asleep the night before and had awoken long before his alarm went off: before Jongin as well. He’d gone to the bathroom and splashed his face with water to cool himself down before returning to bed. He’d managed to doze lightly, not wanting to wake Jongin before his alarm rang, but so soon as Jongin awoke, he was up again, practically bouncing off the walls. He didn't want Jongin to see his excitement, though. For some reason he felt like if he let Jongin know how much he wanted the job, he would stop him from going. It was silly, he knew, because Jongin loved him and wanted him to be happy. Still, he’d headed straight to the kitchen and started throwing together their breakfast while Jongin had a shower. Most mornings he woke up, made breakfast, ate with Jongin and, after he left, went back to bed or dozed in front of the television but today, for the first time, he also had somewhere to go.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so good, so…accomplished.

He hadn’t known what to wear, had tried on a few things deciding time and again that they just weren’t right. Eventually, he’d settled on a light-weight jacket, casual shirt and pants and loafers. Sehun worked from home so though it would technically be his workplace, he doubted that Sehun would expect him to appear in a suit and tie. And if he did require that, he had more than enough of those in his wardrobe to fill the need.

Jongin had arranged for a driver to pick him up and take him to work, unable to do it himself since he had to be at the office at 8:00 and Sehun had told Luhan to come for 9:00. The driver would be his chauffeur from now on, he’d said, taking him to and from work and anywhere else he needed to go. Luhan often felt silly, being carted to and fro like a child, but it was what Jongin preferred. For his own safety, he’d said.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and a brightly smiling Sehun greeted him.

“Luhan, hello. Come in.”

He suddenly felt shy. It was the first time he’d seen Sehun since the day he’d dropped him home, the day he’d offered him this very job. He’d regretted the way things had ended, regretted not taking him up on his offer to come in. He didn’t know why he felt like something had gone wrong that day but he did. However since Sehun was smiling, looking like nothing was amiss, then clearly he must have misunderstood the tension he’d thought he’d felt.

“Did you find the place okay?” Sehun inquired, leading him through the small foyer of the townhouse and down a short hallway.

Luhan nodded. “Yes. Luckily, I remembered the route you’d driven correctly.”

“Good.” Sehun threw open a pair of double doors, revealing a large, starkly white, brightly lit room. “This is where we’ll be spending most of our time: the studio. I set up a desk for you over there. I tried to think of everything you might need but if there’s anything missing, let me know and I’ll get it for you.”

Luhan’s excitement doubled as he looked to where Sehun had indicated. There was a large, polished wood desk – he didn’t know what kind of wood it was but it looked fancy – situated in the far corner of the room. From his viewpoint, he could see a phone, computer, printer, every type of stationery he could think of, and more. There was also a little privacy screen, currently folded, to give him privacy, almost like his own little office within the studio.

“Won’t my presence disturb you?” he asked, the thought suddenly popping into his mind. “I mean, aren’t artists usually very particular about the atmosphere they keep when they work? My being here, especially if the phone rings or something, may hamper that in some way.” It really worried him, the possibility of being more of a hindrance to Sehun’s work than a help.

However, Sehun smiled, shaking his head. “Many artists are prickly but a lot of them only act that way because it’s expected of them, or because they can. I often work with headphones on and music blaring in my ears so trust me, a little talking or a phone ringing is nothing. Once I’m in the zone… Let’s put it this way: you see how bright this room is, how many windows it’s got? It was the selling point for me, one of them anyway, because in my last apartment, there wasn’t much natural light coming into my studio and sometimes I would get so caught up in what I was doing that the sun would set without my even noticing. It’s like coming out of a haze and waking up in darkness. It’s also not very good for the eyes and like my pencils and brushes, my eyes are an important tool so this time around, I made sure to give them the best advantage possible. There’s also a timer on the overhead light. It comes on at 6:00pm on the dot. When you’re here, you can also turn the light on if you think it’s too dark. I’ll leave it to your discretion. Oh!” He blushed slightly, as if he was embarrassed by what he was about to say. “You may also have to remind me to eat. I had a bad stomach ulcer last year as a result of skipping too many meals. I do not want a repeat of that, believe me.”

Luhan giggled, raising a hand to his mouth as he looked away from his new boss.

Sehun’s smile widened and he turned back towards the door. “Let me give you a tour of the rest of the house.”

Sehun’s townhouse was considerably smaller than Jongin’s mansion, that went without saying, but Luhan loved it all the more for it. He’d always thought that the mansion was obscenely big for just the two of them but Sehun’s home was the perfect size for him, and a companion if he had one, and would easily hold a family if and when he decided he was ready for one. Apart from its size, the other startling difference between Sehun and Jongin’s homes was that Sehun’s personality was everywhere whereas he often felt like he and Jong lived in a museum. There were actually rooms in Jongin’s mansion that were unlived-in. More “galleries” for storing precious things but they lacked any kind of humanity. Jongin looked at them with a sense of accomplishment but to Luhan, they were just cold, impersonal possessions. There was nothing wrong with admiring great works of art but what good were they if you couldn’t touch or do anything with them for fear of damaging them? And he knew that that was one of Jongin’s greatest fears. They were all investments, he often said, and needed to be handled with the utmost care, which was to say, not handled at all.

Sehun’s home was casually furnished with everything you would expect to find in a typical household. The only difference was that art was everywhere and Luhan suspected they were all, or mostly, his own. The kitchen had a wide-framed portrait of a bowl of fruits with emoticon faces, which he found hilarious and couldn’t resist giggling at; the hallways were lined with small, framed black and white sketches of a myriad of things, from seashells in the surf to an old man to a pregnant woman’s bare stomach. Every room was warm, inviting and hosted more and more sketches or paintings of things that Sehun had deemed worthy of his time. Luhan could easily see himself sitting and staring at them for hours. There were quite a few that had already caught his eye.

He was a little surprised when Sehun took him upstairs, since he assumed that that was his private domain. Sehun indicated what each room was but didn’t open the doors to any save one.

“This is the day room, aka, my nursery.” Sehun chuckled. “It’s where I take naps when I absolutely can’t keep my eyes open any longer but I’m in the middle of something and don’t want to go to bed because if I do, I may not wake up ‘til the very next day. Sadly, that’s becoming a habit. If for some reason I disappear, this is most likely where you’ll find me so if you need anything, don’t be afraid to wake me.”

They went back down to the studio.

“You’ll probably find it very boring,” Sehun said sheepishly, “but I really needed someone around because I’ve been missing a lot of important phone calls when I’m tuned out and by the time I check my messages, it’s too late to return any of them.”

Luhan nodded seriously. “I won’t let you down.”

Sehun grinned. “I know you won’t. You don’t have to stay at your desk all day, by the way. You can watch TV and help yourself to whatever’s in the kitchen if you’re hungry – think I may need to make a stop in the supermarket soon –and so on. You can even take a nap if you want,” he joked. “Make yourself comfortable. Speaking of which…” He gave Luhan a head-to-toe sweep. “Are you comfortable in that? I hope you don’t feel like you need to dress up or anything. Jeans and a t-shirt is fine, shorts, whatever. We’ll be at home pretty much all day every day unless we go out for lunch, a quick shopping trip or I send you on an errand. We’ll undoubtedly have meetings from time to time but since you’ll be handling those arrangements, you’ll know what days to come dressed to impress as they say.”

Luhan’s eyes widened slightly. He would be going to important meetings with Sehun? He realized that he had thought of himself as more of a receptionist/secretary of sorts, just making notes and answering phones. He hadn’t allowed himself to consider that he would actually have to attend meetings with Sehun as his assistant, though now that he thought about it, wasn’t that what assistants did?

Swallowing thickly, he nodded. “Okay.”

Sehun placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be nervous. You’ll do well. I see great things in your future.”

Unable to respond, and praying that he lived up to Sehun’s faith in him, Luhan simply nodded again.

Giving his shoulder a slight squeeze, Sehun dropped his hand.

“Okay. Let’s get to work.”

“Good morning. Mr. Oh’s Art Studio, Luhan speaking. How may I help you?”

It was his fifth day at work and yet, whenever he answered a call he still felt the same thrill that he’d felt the very first time the phone had rung.

He wrote neatly in his notepad as he talked to a potential client: another person interested in commissioning a portrait from the golden boy of the art industry. The first few days had been slow, like Sehun had said they would be, but things had picked up ever since KBS had aired a special segment entirely dedicated to Sehun and his road to success. Though the sudden increase in activity had frazzled Luhan’s nerves a bit, it also energized him, not to mention the undeniable pride he felt in his boss for having accomplished what he had.

As the call ended, he replaced the receiver and glanced at his watch. Noting that it was after 1:00pm, he stood and rounded the privacy screen. He smiled when he saw Sehun busily shading lines on his sketchpad, humming along to whatever tune was playing in his ears. He placed a hand on his shoulder, not releasing his hold when he jumped.

“Sehun-ah. Let’s eat now, okay?”

It still surprised him how easily it flowed from his lips. The first time he’d called Sehun that, two days ago, had come as a shock to both of them. He’d gasped and covered his mouth with his hand while Sehun’s eyes had gone wide with disbelief. But then Sehun had smiled, followed by a contagious laugh, and he’d found himself responding to it. Sehun had told him that he liked it and ever since, he couldn’t stop saying it. It was like he’d always said it.

Sehun removed his headphones, switched off the music and set them aside. He stood and stretched.

“Do you want to eat in the kitchen?” Luhan asked.

“Why don’t we eat here?” Sehun suggested. “I’m still thinking this through and I want to look at it while I sort it out.”

Nodding, Luhan went off to the kitchen to get the lunch he’d prepared earlier: simple cold-cut sandwiches. When he returned, Sehun was sketching again. He smiled to himself as he set a plate down on the small table beside him, which he’d put there for that very reason. Even though he reminded Sehun to eat, getting him to actually stop working and focus on eating was like pulling teeth so he’d compromised by placing a small table on his left side so that he could sketch or paint with his right hand and eat or drink with his left.

Sehun didn’t seem to notice his arrival, though he did reach for a sandwich so he was obviously aware even if unconsciously, but Luhan didn’t take it personally. He sat on the low sofa against the wall and ate slowly, watching Sehun work. He found him fascinating, the process of creating as well, and when he wasn’t answering the phone or scheduling appointments, he would often sit and watch Sehun do his thing. He was especially captivating when he was in the zone as he put it. His hand would fly across the pages so quickly that one minute Luhan would be looking at simple lines and the next, an almost complete picture would appear before his eyes.

“Do you draw?” Sehun asked suddenly, making Luhan jump. Apparently he wasn’t as unaware of his presence as Luhan had thought.

He started to shake his head then remembered that Sehun wasn’t looking at him.

“No. I don’t think I’m any good at it.”

Sehun glanced sideways at him. “Have you tried?”

Luhan shrugged. “Not really? I did the minimum required for grade school art but that’s it. My teachers never raved about my drawings so I never thought anything of it.”

Sehun set his sandwich and pencil down and stood. He walked to a side wall, picked up a fresh sketchpad and set it up on a spare easel next to his own. He placed a low stool in front of it and gestured Luhan over.

“Come here.”

Cautiously, Luhan set his lunch aside and walked over to Sehun.

Sehun pushed him onto the stool and handed him a pencil. “Draw something.”

Luhan froze. “Like what?”

Sehun smiled. “Anything. A tree, a bug, you can even draw the pencil in your hand. Doesn’t matter.”

Luhan chewed on his lip. “I’m really not very good.”

Sehun’s smile widened. “Let me be the judge of that.”

Luhan was overcome with shyness. The thought of Sehun, a master of art, critiquing his little doodle was both flattering and alarming. It wasn’t a requirement, being artistically gifted, but he found himself not wanting to disappoint Sehun in any way, not even something as supposedly insignificant as this.

“You can do it,” Sehun assured him, turning back to his own sketch.

Luhan sat still for a moment, trying to calm his nerves. It was just a little drawing, no big deal. Once Sehun saw how untalented he was, he would drop the issue and never ask him to do it again. Of course, he would probably be a little upset about not being good enough and looking bad in Sehun’s eyes but he would get over it. He was used to being a disappointment. Eventually Sehun would catch on and lower his expectations of him.

Taking a deep breath, he raised the pencil and began to draw the first thing that came to mind.

“Wow, Luhan. This is actually really good.”

Luhan looked up at him unseeingly, blinking away the haze before his eyes focused on Sehun’s smiling face.

Sehun pointed at the sketchpad. “You did really well.”

It was the truth too. When he’d asked Luhan to draw something, he’d expected the typical amateur sketch of a tree or animal. He’d intended to give him some pointers to help him improve, hoping that it would also boost his confidence because confidence was something that his assistant was sorely lacking despite the fact that he had been doing a great job all week.

Sehun was not an art snob – in fact he was of the opinion that everyone had the ability to draw, some just needed more fine-tuning than others – but he was definitely astonished by how well Luhan had done. The first surprise was that instead of doing a simple linear shape, he’d actually attempted something relatively complex: a face. Faces were never easy, even the most skilled artists often had problems getting them just right, yet Luhan had done a remarkable job of reproducing one of his own pieces hanging in the hall. It wasn’t perfect by any means – his were off in some areas, the eyes were uneven and he hadn’t quite captured the essence of the original piece – but for someone with no training and supposedly no skill, it was amazing.

Luhan’s cheeks burned, a deep flush stealing across his face at Sehun’s praise. “It’s not bad, I guess.”

Sehun squeezed his shoulder. “It’s truly very good. You have natural talent. I knew you had it in you.”

Luhan’s blush deepened.

“Here,” Sehun said, taking the pencil from Luhan’s fingers. “Let me give you some tips.”

He showed him where he had gone wrong and how he could improve on his technique and then left him to make the changes for himself, confident that he would be able to.

Luhan was just getting lost in his work again when the phone rang. He jumped again, startled, and started to get up when Sehun’s hand on his arm stopped him.

“Let the machine get it.”

Luhan’s eyes widened. “But…What if it’s someone important?”

Sehun smiled, never taking his eyes off his own work. “That’s what the machine is for. Before I had an assistant, it was my assistant. And if you keep on doing as well as you are,” he continued with a pointed glance at Luhan’s sketch, smiling widely when he saw the improvements he’d suggested come to life, “pretty soon we may need to get you an assistant of your own.”

Luhan blushed but said nothing, turning back to his work. It took him a while to get his head back into the sketch because he couldn’t stop thinking about how good it felt to receive a compliment from someone whose opinion meant the world to him.

Later that evening, Luhan sat the formal dining table in the mansion, eating slowly while Jongin recited the events of his day.

He was only half-listening, his mind still going over his own eventful day. He still couldn’t believe how good it had been.

“So, how was your day?” Jongin finally asked. He could tell that Luhan’s attention was elsewhere and though it irked him, he wasn’t going to make a big deal about it. Perhaps something had happened that Luhan was worrying about and once he got it off his chest, he would once again be able to focus on what really mattered.

Luhan looked up at him, confusion written on his face before he finally comprehended the question.

“Um…it was fine. Nothing special happened.”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing much at first. The mornings are always a bit quiet but as the day wore on…”

He went through Sehun’s day and as he continued, he became more animated, his tone more lively. Jongin couldn’t help noticing the difference.

Luhan was sure that his admiration for Sehun was evident in the things he said but he couldn’t help himself. He did, however, have the presence of mind to skip over his and Sehun’s little interlude during their lunch break. The memory was precious to him and he didn’t feel like sharing it with anyone, especially Jongin. Jongin was also a master of art in a sense since he was a serious collector and he doubted that he would have the same open-mindedness or tolerance towards Luhan’s little scribbles that Sehun did. He would consider it a waste of both their time.

“It sounds like you’re enjoying yourself,” Jongin commented.

Luhan felt his defenses rise, automatically bracing for some kind of critical attack. “It’s okay,” he said noncommittally, hoping he sounded disinterested. “It gets boring at times but Sehun is a good boss.”

Jong twirled his wine glass. “I should stop by some day so see you in action.”

Luhan forced a smile. “That would be nice.”

They finished their dinner in silence and Jongin went to clean up while Luhan did the dishes. Luhan lingered in the kitchen and living room, finding things to straighten or clean just so that he wouldn’t have to go to bed yet. He wasn’t sure if Jongin would want to make love but he didn’t want to take the chance. He wasn’t in the mood and he didn’t think he could bear Jongin forcing himself on him. Not today. Today was a special day and he wanted to keep it that way.

When he couldn’t put it off any longer, he slowly made his way towards the master suite. Jongin was already in bed and the room was dark but that didn’t mean anything. He could be like a panther sometimes, laying in wait for his prey. Luhan freshened up, dressed in the most cumbersome pajamas he could find and then went back into the bedroom. As he climbed into bed, he held his breath, part of him expecting Jongin to reach for him as it had been days since they’d made love. When he didn’t, he finally allowed himself to relax.

Before sleep claimed him, his mind once again wandered through his day and the last thing he remembered before falling asleep was seeing Sehun’s smiling face beaming down at him and the warm feelings that had bloomed within his chest when he’d earned his approval.