Kim Sunggyu's office, conference room 4, 2pm.

“everybody get out.” The stern voice spat through his teeth as he glared the younger man in front of him.

“Everyone except you, Nam Woohyun.” Sunggyu clarified as the others looked at each other confusedly.

“But Boss-.” Dongwoo started as he stood up, cautious that Jonghyun was in the room startled and extremely nervous.

“Now.” Sunggyu spoke a little bit above a whisper, but the impact it had was grave enough that everyone knew to get up immediately and leave the room.

“I’ll get us all some coffee.” Dongwoo cleared his throat and gave his boss a nod.

As everyone cleared the room, Woohyun gave a smirk and walked up to the older, reaching out his hand to touch his lover’s shoulder.

“Please don’t, Woohyun. Why didn’t you tell me?” Sunggyu questioned as he continued glaring up at his opponent.

“You never asked.” Woohyun stated, tipping his head slightly to the left.

“You’re an .”

“So are you.” Woohyun relaxed as he saw the sides of Sunggyu’s lips tilt upwards.

“This is a conflict of interest, Woohyun. We can’t work on the same bloody case and still sleep with each other.” Sunggyu visibly relaxed but still had his teeth slightly clenched together.

“No one has to find out.” Woohyun simply stated, cheekily flipping the pages on Sunggyu’s desk, possibly giving away his opponent’s legal arguments.

“I just feel this may affect our relationship.” Sunggyu stated.

“How so?” Woohyun replied as he looked deep into Sunggyu’s eyes, taking his statement suddenly seriously.

“When I beat you in court.” Sunggyu said with a serious face.

“It’s cute how you think I’ll lose.” Woohyun chuckled and scoffed to the side.

“It’s cute how you think you have a chance.” Sunggyu shot back with a smile.

“Your chances are diminishing the longer we keep your client outside making small talk.” Woohyun reminded as he gave a small glance to the door.

“Yeah, alright. Dongwoo?” Sunggyu buzzed through the intercom.

The other associates and Jonghyun came back into the room, still confused but all carrying cups of coffee.

“Sorry about that, Woohyun and I have worked on a previous case before and had something to clarify before beginning our new case.” Sunggyu apologised as he ushered the others to take their seats again.

“Now, with settlement-“ Sunggyu started.

“We’re not settling, Sunggyu.” Woohyun retorted, passing him a document from the SM CEO that they were not interested in any form of settlement.

“I’d advise you to speak with your client – your case doesn’t seem very strong.” Sungyeol stated as he skimmed through the Sm document.

“There will be no settlement. However, I’d like to alert your attention to file number 04728. Just a heads up.” Sungjong chimed in with a smirk.

“I am very aware of the file. As I am aware, SM is too legally bound to not reveal the information.”

“There is a clause on a separate document that states there are exception to when the confidentiality clause can be broken.” Woohyun stated, handing over the said document.

“This is bull written up just before this case. You can’t just breach client confidentiality.” Sunggyu scoffed and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“SM has dated this to when the original contract was signed.” Sungjong pointed his pen towards the date at the top of the document.

“If this blows up, this isn’t good for SM either. If anything, it’s worse.” Dongwoo stated, confused at the extent the other side was willing to go.

“You win some, you lose some. Our client is willing to take the chance.” Woohyun stated, folding his hands together.

“Now, if there’s nothing further to discuss. We’ll be taking our leave.” Woohyun stood up as he pushed his papers together and finished the rest of Sunggyu’s cup of coffee in front of him with a wink.

“We’ll be in touch.” Sunggyu narrowed his eyes at his cup of coffee being drained by the younger and looked down to make a note on his notepad. The opposing counsels left their seats and bid their formalities.

Right before Woohyun closed the door behind him, he turned around and mouthed something to Sunggyu, whom he knew was watching his back as he was leaving.

‘Dinner at 7pm. Don’t forget.’

Kim Sunggyu's office, 6:30pm.

“Are we going to talk about what happened, Sunggyu?” Dongwoo asked slyly as he adopted more casual terms with his boss after work hours.

“Nothing happened. I just didn’t expect him to be my opponent.” Sunggyu waved away Dongwoo’s curiosity and teasing tone.

“Right. Because I know exactly who you’ve worked with in the past, and Nam Woohyun has certainty not been one of our opponents.” Dongwoo pointed out, shutting his computer down and putting his coat on.

“Mmhhmm.” Sunggyu disregarded his comment and pretended to be checking through his planner to see what clients he had tomorrow.

Dongwoo decided to drop the topic with a smirk and reminded his boss that he had an appointment at 10am tomorrow morning with a divorce case.

“Hey, tell Sungyeol he did a good job today. His notes are sufficient.” Sunggyu told Dongwoo before pressing the lift button.

“Maybe you should tell him yourself, it would mean a lot more to him.” Dongwoo stated, grabbing out his phone and texted his dinner date.

“Yeah, alright. Remind me.” Sunggyu said thoughtfully and proceeded to grab his phone out too to check the time. He was running slightly late to which he smirked and thought that his dinner date definitely deserved to wait alone for at least 15 minutes.

“Already wrote it on a post-it note and stuck it on your desk before we left, Boss.” Dongwoo stated, without even looking up as his boss’ surprised face.

Sunggyu shook his head in disbelief and gave a light chuckle.

“Have fun on your dinner date, Dongwoo.” Sunggyu waved as they both stepped outside the glass doors of their office building.

“You, too.” Dongwoo slyly commented before waving a cab down and disappeared into the taxi before Sunggyu could reply.

“Damnit, Dongwoo.” Sunggyu mumbled under his breath as if he even thought concealing his relationship with Woohyun would be that easy.

Julio’s Italian, 7:30pm.

“Almost thought you stood me up, Gyu.” Woohyun said with a smile as he looked up from his phone when he heard his dinner date’s footsteps.

“Almost wanted to, to be honest.” The older man grinned and took his seat opposite the brunette, unfolding his napkin and placing it perfectly on his lap.

“Are you angry?” Woohyun asked, as he filled Sunggyu’s glass with 1993 pinot noir.

“You can make up for it by paying for our meal.” Sunggyu spoke with a smile as he continued scanning through the menu, not even looking up at his date.

“Already the plan I had in mind, babe.” Woohyun laughed as he took a sip of his wine.

After eating their delicious meals, to which Sunggyu attempted to order them the most expensive dishes, Woohyun reached over to touch the other’s fingers lying carelessly on the table top. Sunggyu flinched and hesitated before moving his hand slightly back towards him, away from the other’s.

“Woohyun, we have to be more careful now. Anyone could be watching us.” Sunggyu mumbled, looking down at their hands, merely inches apart.

“I don’t care what the media thinks.” Woohyun said seriously, before reaching out and intertwining their fingers.

“We have clients who are counting on us.” Sunggyu sighed as he relaxed his fingers, allowing the other to gently them.

“We’ll see.” Woohyun smiled as he gave their hands one last squeeze and waved for the waitress to bring the bill.

Supreme Court, courtroom 6, 12:30pm.

"Your honour, it is black and white clear that this woman is incapable of looking after her own child." Sunggyu stated before the judge during the divorce settlement. His client gave a small cough in the seat next to him, giving his ex-wife a light glance of disapproval.

The defendant had un-brushed hair, eyes swollen, most likely from crying the past week, and she was biting on her nails nervously. The defendant’s lawyer gave a loud sigh, knowing full well that he had lost this case for his client.

If Sunggyu had to be honest, his client was in no way more fit to look after their child. His client was a full blown - the worst of the worst, abusive, stubborn and an alcoholic. All he had was money and a trust fund for his child which Sunggyu ensured his client inserted into the divorce settlement.

“I’ve heard enough. I see that the child’s mother is unable to satisfy the needs of a child and the upbringing of her child. I am very regretful to have to order in favour of the plaintiff.” The judge stated his judgment and resumed his papers, leaving his seat.

The lawyers and their clients stood respectfully and watched as the young child of only 6 was dragged from the seat behind his mother, his arms wailing and his voice screeching as he was forced to be dragged away from his sobbing mother.

Sunggyu stared. Slightly flinching but unseen from anyone looking at him. Sungyeol teared at his chair and Sunggyu looked towards him with a slightly agitated look.

“Sungyeol. Let’s go.”

“Hyung, you just helped rip a family apart.” Sungyeol sniffed as he gathered his papers.

“We need to do our job, Sungyeol.” Sunggyu sighed as he stared walking.

“Sonner or later you’ll learn not to feel too much, to not be too attached. Too many feelings for a lawyer does nothing but lead to your downfall.”

…and Kim Sunggyu does not lose.  

/ Thanks for all your comments! I'll do my best in finishing this - let me know what you think of the chapter!