“Luhan?” Sehun sounds worried, walking over while reaching out to touch the shorter to see if he was alright. But Luhan flinches away, his face paling at the sight of his boss. His mind was still reeling from the truth – he couldn’t deny that what the two gossipers were saying made awful sense, but he wasn’t ready to accept it, not until Sehun or Kai told him himself – and he hadn’t had enough time to prepare for the inevitably of being near Sehun again. All the memories of their time together, when they were more than employer and employee, more than -buddies, more than friends.

“Uh-” The words were stuck in his throat, his eyes refusing to look Sehun in the face.

“Is everything okay?” asked Sehun, moving even closer to place the palm of his right hand on Luhan’s forehead. Immediately, he felt his whole body burning at the contact, the memories of the younger’s touches flooding him.
"Err... Uhm... Y-yeah, I'm fine," Luhan stutters, going hotter under the other's hand. If Sehun noticed the change in temperature, he said nothing. He slowly removed his hand, but not once did his eyes leave Luhan’s face. Silence lapsed over the two, and Luhan retracted back into his thoughts, back to the conversation that the he had just heard.

‘Well, apparently, they're both asking for a divorce.’

Those words had struck him, right in the heart. It didn’t sound like the two were lying, but it didn’t make sense. Not to Luhan at least.
"Why is he being so kind to me? I'm supposed to be something on the side that was easily disposable. And what exactly did they mean when they said that Sehun and Kai were asking for a divorce?" he thought to himself. “It’s not exactly something I can just ask them… Imagine, ‘Hey, Boss. Is it true that you’re getting a divorce? And if it is, is it because of me?’ It sounds stupid even to me. And if it did happen, how do I respond to that? Take him back?” And of course, that tiny voice came back, whispering ‘Yes’.

"Hello? Earth to Luhan." At the mention of his name, he snaps out of his thoughts and finally notices Sehun waving his hand right in front of his face, trying to get his attention. The younger coughed lightly, satisfied that he had gotten the other’s attention; Luhan, on the other hand, coughed as well, but more out of embarrassment.
"Yeah, sorry I was thinking about- about something..." he muttered, looking down at the ground in front of him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" asks Sehun, his voice gentle. Luhan looks up in surprise, caught off guard.
"I- no, sir. You're my boss. We should maintain professionalism..." he had almost slipped, almost admitted everything. Every single thing that he had heard just a while ago, every emotion that he had felt because of the younger, every single bit of pain that had stabbed him. But luckily, he held it in. Just.

Sehun's forehead creased for a millisecond, hurt distorting his handsome face. But it was quickly masked and Luhan wonders if he just imagined it.
"Of course." All of the kindness had left his boss’ voice, a cold tone instantly replacing it. Luhan had flinched at the sudden change, but he said nothing, understanding the other’s reaction. Sehun quickly walks away without another word, and Luhan follows, realizing that too much time had passed and it was already time for the meeting to review the progress of the project at its halfway stage of implementation.

Just like the last time, Luhan was mesmerized by the way Sehun controlled the meeting, everyone’s attention completely focused on him. But today, he was unable to concentrate fully, although it was in fact his job to be taking down notes for his boss. His mind was still lingering on Sehun though, just not his job. It was about that divorce. And about the last thing that he had heard.

‘They'll attack the company by saying that there is an internal conflict between the two families. And then investors would jump ship.’

It wasn’t just about them, Luhan knew that much. No matter how much he was willing to forgive Sehun, to take him back without a moment’s hesitation, should he? It was no longer to protect himself, but to protect the younger. If it really is true that Sehun could lose it all, how could Luhan bring himself to be the one to be the cause of it?

This time, Luhan was resolute. He would stay away from Sehun. No more hesitating, no more wishful thoughts. Sehun belongs here, he thinks as he looks around the room, Sehun closing up the meeting with small smiles and handshakes, he deserves to be the CEO after working so hard. And I’m not going to let something as lowly as me take that away. I’m not going to be greedy…

-

The last two weeks of the project flew by. At first, Luhan had thought that it would be difficult to keep himself away from his boss, but the task proved to be quite easy, without much effort on his part. Due to all the deadlines that needed to be met, all the finishing touches to tie up, Sehun was kept bust till the late hours. To be honest, Luhan was finding it more difficult to stop himself from trying to get closer to the younger. Now that he knew, it was as if the initial attraction that he had felt for the brunet returned, much stronger than before. Knowing that Sehun had suffered so much, all that pressure on his broad shoulders. It was enough to drive him insane, knowing that Sehun might love him too, that it was never a lie. He was going crazy with the thought of having to stay away from the one person that had made him feel happy; but if it was for that person’s own well-being, then Luhan would do it. He really would.

It was already the day of the big unveiling, the whole office given a day off to prepare for the ceremony that would be held that night. Luhan and Xiumin had been left in charge of preparing it; everything from the venue, seating plans, food and even music, everything had to be perfect. The last few days had been the worst, since all the RSVPs had been received and they had to make sure that they sat people according to groups, preferably where there would be no trouble between rivalling companies. To make sure that it would go as planned, Luhan went into the office that morning, to pick up the seating plans that they had finally finished the night before. What he didn’t anticipate was that Sehun would also be there, looking through a few documents of his own, probably the speech that he was obliged to give as the head of the operation.

At first, Luhan had planned to tip-toe out of the office without the younger noticing him, but that immediately failed when he stubbed his toe against his desk, Chinese swear words rolling off his tongue.

“Luhan?” Sehun peeked outside his office, stifling a laugh when he noticed the older clutching his right foot, hopping around as he hissed like an injured animal.

“O-Oh, morning, Mr. Oh,” stuttered Luhan, instantly standing still although his face was contorted slightly due to the lingering pain. “Gosh, how much more embarrassing can I be?” Luhan chided himself. However, the smile on the younger’s face made him feel better, knowing that he had managed to bring a little laughter to the other’s busy schedule.

“What are you doing here?” asked Sehun, motioning for Luhan to follow him back into the office. The redhead hesitated, but when he was called once more, he decided that it would be okay to just go this one time.

“I needed to pick up the seating plans for tonight,” replied Luhan, standing by the door instead of going into the office completely. Sehun hummed, nodding his head in approval. “I should get go-”

“Can you help me get ready for tonight?” requested Sehun before Luhan could say anything else, looking up with a childish grin. “My parents told me that I was old enough to pick my own suit.” His face flickered as he mentioned his parents, but his invite was still light and teasing.

“Uhm…” Luhan really didn’t know what to do. Although he wanted to help, his efforts of avoiding his boss would be lost.

“Aww, c’mon, my secretary needs to help me right?” At Sehun’s words, the mentioned released a sigh of relief (although it simply masked the sting that had invaded his mind)

“Okay, sure…” Luhan just hoped that he wouldn’t regret it.

My editor is mean, she makes me upload the chapter myself ;; Had to get my mopey out of bed :(

I joke, I love my editor <3 Anyways, leave your comments and feedback below~

I've made a LiveJournal account, not for any special reason, but I'm thinking of posting future oneshots on there and keeping any chaptered ones here on AFF. Feel free to find me there ^~^

*edit(again)* I'm so silly, forgetting to give my LJ profile (and then giving a wrong link -.-) >< Here it is -> akatcuties