Minho walks down the hallway, angrily wiping his face with his hands. He had paced around in one of the building's luxurious bathrooms for a long period of time, periodically splashing ice cold water on his face. He thinks he has calmed down enough from the whole Taemin incident and calmed down enough to deal with another one of his recurring, major problems.

 

Krystal Jung.

 

Any person would think that Minho would be ecstatic at the thought of meeting up with a woman of such beauty, poise, and not to mention power. An aggressive and prominent tycoon, she has come to be labeled as the female version of Minho -- one of the world's youngest, most beautiful, most successful bachelorettes in the business community. People have started to compare the two youths, and eventually, they became to be known as Korea's golden couple.

 

But really, Choi Minho is anything but ecstatic. If anything, he is miserable.

 

After being pushed together with that woman and being labeled as the golden couple, their fathers thought up the brilliant idea that this could serve as a great chance at promoting both their companies. 'Both Minho and Krystal are up and coming figures in the business world, admired by hundreds -- or maybe even thousands -- of aspiring entrepreneurs, so why not?' -- the exact words used by both their fathers.

 

At first, Minho was actually kind of excited at the prospect of being paired with a single woman as attractive and famous as Ms. Jung; not to mention the fact that several men have been trying to get with her since her debut as a businesswoman. He felt like he was on top of the world, imagining how jealous the men all over the world would be, seeing her wrapped around the Choi Minho's arm. But then he actually met her.

 

He expected her to be the perfect girlfriend: affectionate, caring, loving and y at the same time. But she was the complete opposite. It goes without saying that she was, indeed, y. Gorgeous, even. But she was also cold, indifferent, moody, snarky, and overall y.

 

So now, every time they are forced by their fathers to go out together for dinner to provide a bit of a show for the public, Minho is always forced to slap on a disgustingly fake smile. He tries not to cringe whenever he wraps an arm around her slender waist as she unwillingly cuddles into his body as well. He tries his hardest not to grimace whenever he whispers into Krystal's ear so that the people watching them can be witnesses to their lovey-dovey public displays of affection. He is well aware of the fact that Krystal is as disgusted with this publicity stunt just as much as he is -- so they mutually agree that they are fine with spending as less time as possible with each other and that they will only go out on dates when their fathers force them to.

 

It kind of puzzles Minho why Krystal would be meeting up with him today when he hasn't been hearing any demands from his father recently to spend some time with the woman.

 

As he finally nears his office, he sees Krystal already seated comfortably on the chair in front of his desk. He lets out a big, tired sigh before pulling himself up into a more professional stance and pushes open the door.

 

"What do you want?" He huffs grumpily as he takes his seat at his desk, "I've already gone through enough today, so just--"

 

"Have you been watching the news recently?" Her arms are crossed and she has on her usual catty look.

 

They were never ones for idle chit chat. At least not between the two of them. Since both of them are already well aware that they have no interest in actually being romantically involved with the other, they feel no need to put on the facades they use on the public.

 

The man tilts his head, not knowing where Krystal is going with this, "No, I haven't really been paying much attention to the news."

 

He crosses his arms as well and gives the woman a suspecting glance, "What does that have to do with this meeting?"

 

Krystal exhales frustratedly and rolls her eyes, "Figures." Minho is about to ask her what exactly she meant by that, but she does not give him time to do so by speaking once again, "Look, people have been..."

 

Minho catches the first four words of Krystal's monologue when he is distracted by a figure walking right outside his office. It takes him quite a bit of time to realize that it is Taemin, probably having just gotten back from his own cooling-off session. The boy's disheveled appearance made it hard for Minho to distinguish him as his assistant, but upon catching sight of the long brown hair, he recognizes him quickly enough.

 

He watches as the Taemin ducks into his office as he wipes his red-tinged face from what looked to be tears. Something tugs at Minho's heart, and he realizes that a tiny, tiny part of him may be feeling a tad guilty and surprised for making someone as feisty and sassy as Lee Taemin cry.

 

But a bigger part of him convinces his mind that it is Lee Taemin's fault for thinking that he can get away with insulting and offending his boss in every which way due to his rudeness, boorishness, disrespect and barbarity.

 

He isn't even listening to Krystal anymore when he thinks, Yeah, it's all his fault. Crybaby.

 

After a few moments of rubbing the heel of his hands on his swollen eyes, Taemin picks up the phone, and Minho sees him mouth, "Hello?"

 

Minho is intrigued when he sees Taemin's lips quirk up into a small smile, acquiring a disposition so completely and beautifully different from his mood just a while ago. Minho does not catch the next words that Taemin says into the phone because the boy's pearly whites were in the way. In a matter of seconds, after a few verbal exchanges with the person on the other line, Taemin is full on laughing with tears in his eyes -- not tears of anguish like a while ago, but tears of delight.

 

Minho's blood immediately boils when he sees that the person he had just been feeling sorry for is now laughing like nothing happened. He cannot believe the audacity of the kid to call him names and walk away like a drama queen and now laugh like a maniac? To think that Minho was actually planning on apologizing to the boy, when the boy obviously does not care about anyone other than himself. The tiny, tiny part of him that actually felt guilty for the things he had said about Taemin is taken over by that larger part of him that is angry and filled with rage because nobody ever, ever, (ever) talks back at Choi Minho and laughs it off like it is no big deal.

 

So swallowing the miniscule amount of guilt that he felt for what he did to the boy, he presses the button to the intercom, just to spite him, "Yah, assistant," Krystal is rudely cut off from what she was saying but Minho could not care less because he is too caught up in getting back at Taemin and proving to him that some stupid speech from him does not change things at all. He smirks when he sees the brunette boy immediately pause in his laughter, turning his attention to the resounding intercom on his desk, "Get us some tea, will you?"

 

But then the smirk is gone when he sees Taemin's face.

 

Normally, Taemin would have reacted childishly. He would have probably squinted at Minho and his laziness in mild annoyance, but he also would have done what he was told to do. And when he gives Minho the tea, he would have probably also scolded him and told him that Choi Minho or not, he has to make use of his arms and legs from time to time. 

 

Now, Taemin does not even acknowledge the arrogant smirk on Minho's face He doesn't squint nor sigh in annoyance. He just looks at his boss with grim coldness. The passive harshness in the boy's face makes Minho want to look away, but then he sees Taemin press the button to his intercom while mumbling a last-minute message into the phone in his other hand, "Just a sec, Onew hyung. I'll be right back."  He gingerly set down the phone and walks off to get the drinks.

 

To say the least, when he registered the boy's reaction, Minho felt uncomfortable. He did not fail to notice the fact that the boy's mood immediately dampens when it was he that the brunette was talking to. But whenever the boy is talking to someone else -- specifically Onew -- there is a complete 360 change in his mood. Also, it is incredibly uncomfortable for him because he was never one to receive such a look of pure animosity. In his lifetime, he has only ever received looks of admiration and awe. Sure, some people probably hated him or were jealous of him, but no one ever really had the guts to exhibit their hatred.

 

So to see this young man blatantly express his distaste for him, the Choi Minho, made him feel quite ill at ease.

 

 

There is a knock on the door, and Taemin quietly steps inside the office, head bent down. The conversation between Krystal and Minho does not cease as he walks up to the desk, still unnoticed.

 

"... You never listen, do you?"

 

"That's one of the things you love about me, is it not?"

 

"You wish, you arrogant prick."

 

Taemin tries not to laugh when he hears the poised woman's snappy comeback. He wouldn't dare show any expression in front of his boss. Minho is the last person he would want to be laughing around. The man just the life out of Taemin. He places a porcelain cup in front of Minho, putting on his most impressive poker face, and places another in front of the woman. This time, he smiles at her as he sets down the cup on the table by her side.

 

"Thank you," Krystal's 'perfect, poised, prim and proper' guise is back on as she addresses Taemin with a smile, and Minho swears that he almost gags at the sight as she continues, "What's your name?"

 

"My name is Lee Taemin, Ms. Jung." He gives a ninety degree bow, and Krystal laughs lightly.

 

"Please," she touches his arm daintily, "call me Krystal."

 

Taemin apologetically smiles down at her replying, "My boss discourages excessively-personal interactions between business associates, so I am afraid that I cannot do that."

 

Krystal playfully pouts at Taemin, and then at her 'lover', "Why is that?" Again, Minho tries not to choke from how much the fake persona does not suit Krystal. He coughs awkwardly to stifle the violent reaction the woman's pout induced and he speaks,

 

"It's just a pet peeve of mine, (honey)," he exaggerates on the word, attempting to gross Krystal out just as much as she is doing to him and he goes on, "But I guess I can put up with Taemin calling you by your name. I do like hearing it, after all."

 

Krystal visibly cringes, but she quickly reverts back to her guise, "It's settled then!" She claps her hands together and then proceeds to take Taemin's hands in his, "Let's be friends, neh?"

 

Taemin is taken aback at the woman's forwardness but he easily smiles back at her and nods with a quiet "Neh, Krystal-sshi." For a moment, Minho is staring at his genuine smile and his crescent eyes and he realizes that it is the first time he has seen them up close in all the time that he has known Taemin. He feels himself getting captivated, but he immediately snaps himself out of it. The hell are you doing, Choi?

 

The brunette has walked out of the office by the time he has pulled his disturbing thoughts back together.

 

The discussion with Krystal resumes (Minho thinks that it is something about the press speculating on an upcoming marriage between the two, judging from the tidbits he had picked up from the things Krystal has said) and Minho finds himself spacing out again as he looks into his cup of tea.

 

He feels a strange sense of deja vu, because he remembers when he had asked for tea from Taemin a couple weeks ago, before today's incident. He had demanded for his assistant to get an order of a specially made tea from Great Britain; another one of his grand attempts in trying to make Taemin quit his job. Alas, that plan had failed, so he just decided to make the most of this foiled plan and have Taemin brew some of the tea for him.

 

Minho remembers that he was working on another stack of paper work that day when Taemin comes in with the tea. The boy's formerly pristine white button up had an obvious stain on its front. His hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, like it was tied up in a hurry. Wrapped around his right hand was a loose layer of gauze where his skin was mildly burned from boiling water.

 

"What the hell happened to you?" Minho didn't even try to hide the laughter in his voice, because in spite of the obvious injury he had sustained, Taemin looked ridiculous.

 

The brunette was far too annoyed to indulge Minho's rhetorical question, "I hope you choke on your English Tea, sir." After that, Minho watched Taemin stalk off as the brunette mumbled something like, "Damn boiling water spilling all over the place. Who drinks tea in this day and age, anyway? The man's like a freaking ajhussi..."

 

Again, Minho was too amused to be insulted by his assistant's name-calling. 

 

And now, Minho thinks about how he was unfeelingly served his tea without so much as an insult or a cruel joke; the ones that he had gotten so used to the past month.

 

What that hell are you thinking about again, Choi?

 

He shakes his head again, trying to block out the burdensome thoughts, successfully catching Krystal's voice bidding goodbye. 

 

"I'll talk to you again, okay? Please make sure to get your head out of the clouds the next time time I come over."

 

Minho does not care about the insult because he is too happy to know that the meeting has finally ended. He gives her his full attention, "I'll you out."

 

"What, another one of your clients is here?"

 

"Yep."

 

Krystal rolls her eyes and holds out her hand so that Minho could situate it at the crook of his elbow, initiating their usual position. Minho smirks at the woman as he holds open the door for her, and she gives Minho the most sugary sweet smile she can muster, noticing the famous Japanese businessman Mr. Tsukimori, watching them from the meeting room. The old man approvingly nods at them and the golden couple smile evilly. Works everytime.

 

The rest of the people on the floor watch the pair as they walk down the aisle of cubicles towards the elevator. Minho is not surprised to see Taemin diligently standing by the elevator doors, having cleared out the elevator for the couple. He smiles upon seeing Krystal approaching.

 

"It was nice meeting you, Krystal-sshi. You really are as beautiful as they say." He gives Krystal a delicate smile and the woman modestly tucks a stray hair behind her ear at the compliment, replying with a "It was nice to meet you too, Taemin-sshi."

 

Minho only stares awkwardly at the exchange. The moment he saw Taemin standing by the elevator, Minho had been subtly trying to catch his eye. But it was all no use, because Taemin is acting is if he isn't even there. He waves Krystal off -- only Krystal -- as the elevator's steel doors meet in the middle with a soft ding.

 

Minho is glad that he is a master of hiding his emotions, or else Taemin would have seen the tiny look of disappointment on his face.

 

---

 

 

I guess a lot of us love an aggressive Taemin every now and then. :> (But at the end of the day, any kind of Taemin is to die for, haha) I really love and appreciate your comments, guiseeeee! They make the author want to write more. :3 Keep ‘em coming! :>