******

Sungmin's heart was erratic against his ribcage, threatening to jump out.

Those dark brown eyes seemed to have him trapped, and somehow Sungmin knew.

Sungmin knew his facade as "Hyukjae" was over.

How the other found out, he had no idea, but he could take a pretty good guess. 

Sungmin didn't know whether the hint of frustration underneath the brown liquid of the other's eyes were due to him lying about his name, or Sungmin still putting up a fight now.

Not that there was any use putting up a fight anymore-- because Kyuhyun knew.

And god knows what would happen if Sungmin feigned innocence and kept up with this whole Hyukjae thing. Something along the lines of a punch to his face seemed plausible by the intensity of the other's stare. 

"S-Sungmin." the elder stammered, his mouth dry. Get a grip! he scolded himself before clearning his throat. "Lee Sungmin."

"Much better." Kyuhyun murmured, and gave Sungmin one last smouldering look filled with indecipherable emotions before leaning back, to his relief. And a bit of disappointment, too, but Kyuhyun didn't need to know that.

"Well." Sungmin chewed his bottom lip. "I didn't intend to--"

"No need to explain." Kyuhyun interrupted, letting out a soft sigh. "We all knew how much you hated me on that first meeting. I'm guessing you didn't think someone like me deserved to know your real name."

Sungmin nodded dumbly, wondering if he was really that readable. But something about the way Kyuhyun said "someone like me" seemed to bug him.

"You're not that bad," Sungmin muttered, half hoping the other didn't hear. But the incredulous way Kyuhyun lifted his eyebrows upon hearing the statement begged to differ.

"That's good to hear," Kyuhyun kept a blank face, but the small compliment Sungmin gave him was doing wonders to his heartbeat.

A couple of seconds passed, with Sungmin reverting to nibbling his bottom lip and Kyuhyun trying not to stare.

"So now... now that you know my name, what's yours?" Sungmin decided to risk it. He knew he was treading on fragile ground, but damn, he really wanted to actually know a name to put with the face he's been thinking about so much lately.

"My name?"

Sungmin nods.

Kyuhyun's brain is going into overdrive-- something that rarely happens, not even when the fate of a billion-dollar decision rests on whether Kyuhyun signs the dotted line. In fact, the only time Kyuhyun remembers his thoughts being strained this hard was when he was competing for the third place in the world championships for Starcraft. Not that anyone needed to know, of course. 

But currently, Kyuhyun is creating mental lists in his head of the advantages and disadvantages of telling Sungmin his name now. The biggest... "concern" he has is the unpredictable nature of Sungmin's reaction-- he wasn't sure if the other would be too glad to hear his previously free-spirited childhood friend has become his dominating boss. He didn't want Sungmin to be disappointed-- he'd rather the elder have untainted, perfect memories of what Kyuhyun used to be than reveal himself now; not when he didn't even know if Sungmin had a positive image of him. 

All in all, Kyuhyun didn't want the knowledge of his present self being the same as the kid Sungmin loved so much to push the other away. He wanted Sungmin to have at least some good memories of him, and not have them wiped away once the elder learns the association. 

The day will come when he will tell Sungmin-- maybe when the other actually likes him... which won't be in the near future, Kyuhyun thought bitterly.

Like making a good business decision, Kyuhyun weighs up the benefits against the expenses (or in this case, the likelihood of the elder never talking to him again); he believes the reasons Sungmin should be kept in the blind hugely outweigh the benefits-- were there any?-- which means the obvious choice would be to simply not give the other his name. 

At least, definitely not now. Not when Kyuhyun practically forced the other to give him his name. 

"If you want to know my name..." Kyuhyun started, giving his usual smirk. "You're going to have to..."

Here he leans towards the elder again, until his lips were near the other's ear. 

"...earn it."

Kyuhyun leans back, satisfied, and mildly surprised the elder didn't back away. 

What he didn't know though, was that Sungmin froze as soon as he saw Kyuhyun's lips come towards him. He didn't see how the elder's eyes became fixated on that pair of lips, nor did he hear the frantic beating of Sungmin's heart as he felt Kyuhyun's hair tickle his cheek.

"Yah!" Sungmin decided to yell, trying to ignore the blush that's surely crawling up his neck by now.

Thankfully, Kyuhyun turned around and laughed, picking up the car keys from the bowl in the foyer.

"Well? You coming?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the elder as he opened the door.

"I'm driving." Sungmin said firmly, raising his chin to try appear taller. Hey, every centimetre counts, especially when it comes to Kyuhyun.

"No, you're not." Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes. "I don't want my leather seats crushed by your fat--"

The brunette ducked as the latest issue of Economy came flying, aimed at his throat. 

***

"Sungmin." 

The assistant lifted his head, annoyed. This is easily the tenth time the brunette has called him, and they've only been working for a couple of hours. 

And Sungmin would rather kiss Kyuhyun's than admit he liked the way his name gently rolled off the other's tongue. It started with a certain softness that melts into a husky richness that only Kyuhyun's lips seemed able to produce. And if that's how he says Sungmin's name normally, the elder can't help but imagine how his name would sound if he was moanin--

, Lee Sungmin.

"What." He half grunted, trying to get the figures he had been given to cooperate and conveniently form themselves into an appropriate graph. Obviously they didn't, and Sungmin had to painstakingly organise them so they became useful data, not random combinations of meaningless numbers.

And obviously, the brunette didn't realise how much concentration this task required, judging from his constant interruptions.

The elder man didn't know if the other felt it too, but something in their work dynamic has... shifted since the morning confrontation. The younger seemed more relaxed, and open, but also on edge at the same time. And he had a constant need to say Sungmin's name.

Sungmin's face involuntarily tinged an attractive pink as he recalled the moment his boss had placed those slightly chapped lips close to his ears and--

"I want a chicken pancake." 

Sungmin growled as he finally decided to look up at the brunette, awkwardness be damned. The elder man's eyebrows furrowed further when he saw Kyuhyun has reverted back to his usual arrogance, not even bothering to look up from his own laptop. 

"Your pancake... can wait." Sungmin snapped. "I'm in the middle of something." 

"But I'm hungry. And I want to eat now." 

The words were accompanied by incessant mouse clicking, and Sungmin was half-curious as to what the brunette was doing. Last time he checked, reading company reports was a silent activity.

"If you're that hungry, go get the damn pancake yourself." the elder huffed as he returned to his work, determined to finish organising this set of numbers before giving in to the younger's demands.

His thoughts on whether dark blue or green for the graph he was currently constructing were interrupted by a loud snap of a laptop lid.

"Sungmin." The rich velvet tickled Sungmin's ears again, making the man will himself to stop the blush he could just feel crawling up his neck. 

Sungmin decided ignorance was the way to go and continued mindlessly typing in numbers.

"Should I... remind you who the boss is here? Or perhaps give you a detailed recount of how much you drooled over my best shirt--"

"Alright, I'll go!" Sungmin stood up abruptly, cheeks flaming. He grabbed his coat and rushed out, not trusting himself to look at the amused expression he was sure now adorned the younger's face.

He offhandedly wonders what the other's face will look like when he bites into half a tub of chilli sauce.

**

Kyuhyun lets out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding in as soon as Sungmin had left the office.

He wasn't hungry at all, but this was the only way he could get the other away from him, and the room already felt less stifling.

Ever since the events of this morning, Kyuhyun had a hard time stopping his eyes from drifting in the general direction of the elder. Even when the other was doing mundane things like frowning at the computer screen, in Kyuhyun's eyes this was somehow endearing and added to the attraction he felt. 

The way the elder subconsciously nibbled on his lips in concentration didn't help, either.

Leaning back in his chair, Kyuhyun decided he needed to take his mind off Sungmin. 

And he knew just the person who will help him do that.

The person in question is always such a bundle of energy that whenever they hung out, Kyuhyun had little time to think about anything else-- which definitely proved annoying in the past, but is now something the brunette craved.

With a smirk on his lips, Kyuhyun took out his phone and scrolled down to a certain name.

It's time to fish.

***

Sungmin rested his chin on his palm, watching the pancake he has just placed on the hot plate repeatedly bloat up in bubbles before sinking back down. Somehow, watching the pancake cook had a calming effect on him, and reminded Sungmin of the life he had before the day KM Corporations decided to demolish his parents' shop. 

Sungmin sighed as he thought of his life now, practically the slave to KM's heir...

... except he now feels less and less dislike towards the other and more--

"Sungmin!" a smack grazing the top of his hair brought him back to his senses.

"You've made god knows how many pancakes, but just a couple months of not making any and you're burning them left and right!" Mrs Lee scolded, but failing to hide the amusement on her face. She was a woman who has lived many years, and could tell instantly that her son was in the early stages of being in love, although it would be a greater task to figure out the recipient.  

"What do you look so lost about?" she asked with a sparkle to her eye, deciding to try her luck.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. Busy with work, that's all." Sungmin reassured, before placing the sizzling pancake into a grease-proof bag. "I'll see you and Dad later, I've got to get back. Strict boss." he added with a roll of his eyes.

"Yah, that's the heir to KM you're talking about." Mrs Lee pinched Sungmin's cheek before shooing him away. "Now get back to work and stop distracting us." 

Sungmin was about to protest before the ringtone from his phone disrupted his thoughts. 

Monkey, the screen displayed.

Sungmin snorted. He had half expected it to be the brunette demanding him to hurry back.

"Hey," Sungmin answered, pressing the phone against his shoulder as he opened the door to the shop. 

"Yo!" the voice on the other end blared into his ear. 

Sungmin winced.

"What." Sungmin smirked. "Need me to cover for your date with Donghae again?"

"No, no! You free tonight? Donghae said there's someone he wants you and I to meet! A really close friend of his or something-- apparently he's always really busy so this will be a rare chance for us to meet him-- and I want to make sure that friend isn't hitting on my fishy!"

Sungmin snorted. "Does the friend know he'll be meeting you? You need to give the poor guy some notice, you know."

"Nope! Donghae said he wants it to be a surprise-- the friend told him he wanted to take his mind off something, so he thought the more the merrier! Besides, it'll be his first time meeting me, too." 

Sungmin grinned. Being with Eunhyuk will help take his mind off a certain brunette, too. "I'll be there. Any idea what the friend's name is?"

Sungmin could almost see Eunhyuk scratch his head on the end of the line. "Um... you know how forgetful I am-- but I'm pretty sure Donghae said his name was Kyuhyun--"

Sungmin's breath hitched.

"K--Kyuhyun?" he breathed out, voice unnaturally high, unsure whether he heard correctly.

"Yup. Pretty sure. Why, you know him?"

"Y-- I mean, no, I don't. I'll see you tonight!" Sungmin hurriedly went on before disconnecting the call. 

HUEHUEHUEHUEHUE (yet again).

I think we all know where this is heading now... (finally!)

As always, comments are appreciated, and honestly everyone's comments make me feel motivated to write more. Think of comments/subs as "payment" :D 
I definitely read each and every one of them, although I can't reply to them all. 

See you all soon! 

Side note~ While you're waiting for my next update, why not check out my other stories that I'm currently writing? :D

Raking Leaves // When Coincidence Meets Fate // The Time of Our Lives (this one's my other baby)