when sungyeol was seven, he fell in love with a book. it was written by an old woman who had already passed away but that didn’t matter because sungyeol didn’t fall in love with the author, he had fallen in love with the book. it was the tale of peter rabbit that had won the seven year old’s heart, not only because he loved bunnies but because every night sungyeol’s mother would read him the book and every night he would bug her to read him the book too. he had fallen in love with a fictional tale about rabbits sneaking into gardens and wearing sweaters and picking berries to make into pies. it’s one of those things that you love as a child and when you grow up you realize there are other things to love too and yet you still somehow carry at least one precious childhood memory with you wherever you go. he didn’t care if the story wasn’t as deep and meaningful as the ocean could be, it was just something he loved.

loving the book didn’t make him want to be an author because with his grades in school and love for literature (which wasn’t even existent) he had already known that writing story books for a living was not going to be a dream he would seek. instead, when he was in his last year of highschool and going over career options with his homeroom teacher, sungyeol had made sure to notably write down, “editor of majestical children’s books” to which his homeroom teacher slapped him on the backside of his head and told him to be a little more realistic. what wasn’t realistic about being an editor? or maybe his teacher had meant that it was unrealistic for sungyeol.

“go to college first and then settle for a desk job, someone like you could pull that off.”

and sungyeol had been placed as ‘incompetent’ by his homeroom teacher and was dismissed easily without getting a counter argument, which he’s good at.

fast forward into five years and he’s been proven as competent now (“take that homeroom teacher!”) as he files paperwork into a cabinet labeled as, “december deadlines”.

woollim publishings is a rather small building, having only been open for three years and still struggling to make it into the big leagues, sungyeol was accepted after seven applications and two out of three failed interviews. college had been hell and sungyeol had paved through and he had applied at bigger places, but of course was rejected with his minor degree in english and no real work experience. at least until woollim finally accepted him, finally. and it was for one sole reason that he was accepted.

“i’ll do anything, i just want a job here!” had been his exact words when being interviewed by nam woohyun, one of the top editors in the company.

“anything?” woohyun had inquired, slightly grinning and it was then that sungyeol should have suspected something but he was too engrossed in the idea of getting a chance that he only shook his head in agreement.

and that’s where we are now, sungyeol filing paperwork and being tall enough to reach the top shelf without a step ladder. this had been what he signed up for (literally, it’s in his contract) but this isn’t what he had wanted to do. close enough to his dream job, but yet still so far away, he concluded. he got the job at woollim, but he wasn’t an editor for children’s books, he was more like an assistant editor - actually, an assistant to the editor. if he thinks back hard enough he can remember the first time he met the editor and chief of the children’s book’s department; kim sunggyu. woohyun had given a brief tour of the floor to sungyeol before dispatching him in sunggyu’s office and grinning at the older male, “hyung, i found you the perfect secretary.”

sungyeol thought it was a joke, how could he have agreed to be a secretary? (“well you did say anything,” woohyun still argues with every single day of sungyeol’s work life) it isn’t like he often complains though, even though he should because his superior is a complete slob.

“how do you even live like this?” he asks daily but sunggyu only shrugs and goes back to re-reading the same manuscript over and over.

and saying that sunggyu lives in his office is nothing short of an understatement because sunggyu practically does live in his office. sungyeol understands that working as a publisher isn’t an easy job and that it takes hours and hours and much dedication and motivation to be in this field of work, but he doesn’t understand why sunggyu can’t take a shower between eating and sleeping on his little desk chair.

sunggyu is a male shorter than sungyeol but only slightly taller than woohyun. he has beady eyes and round cheeks which over time can become a field of luscious brown stubble if he doesn’t shave for a few days (which is more often that nought). sunggyu doesn’t wear a suit to work and only comes in wearing sweats with baggy t-shirts and sometimes worn out hoodies that are missing the cord locks or zippers. he can spend days in his office without leaving, except to go to the bathroom but other than that he can be found working, sleeping, or snacking on sugary treats that do his fluffy exterior no good.

sungyeol’s basic line of work include: cleaning all the trash sunggyu doesn’t seem to be able to toss into the wastebin, filing all the misplaced documents he forgets to put away, bringing in coffee for sunggyu every morning, and occasionally taking calls. sungyeol definitely is a secretary, whether or not he agrees to it.

“can’t i get a promotion or something?” he furrows his brow and speaks to charlie, the sad little bonsai tree that sits on the windowsill of sunggyu’s window. “it’s like you’ve got a better job than me. all you have to do it sit here and be pretty.”

“is that the kind of job you want? to look pretty for me?” sunggyu asks when he walks into his office and sees sungyeol talking to his bonsai tree which has apparently been named charlie by sungyeol.

sungyeol only colors a little because it’s embarrassing to be caught talking to a tree, “that’s not what i meant!”

“woohyun said you would take any job and this was the only job available it seems,” sunggyu sighs and slumps down in his desk chair, the only thing sungyeol has ever seen sunggyu take more care of than manuscripts.

“but this isn’t what he specified,” sungyeol mopes and sunggyu sighs.

he only gives sungyeol a sympathetic look before slouching over his desk and taps a finger over his empty coffee mug. sungyeol sighs and asks, “should i get you some coffee?”

sunggyu smiles a little, “could you, please?” and sungyeol knows he adds in that ‘please’ to sound cute, which is totally gross because sunggyu isn’t cute.

“of course, sir,” he answers with though and picks up the porcelain cup before turning the corner towards the break room.

sunggyu takes his coffee with a lot of sugar and milk and he has claimed sungyeol to be the only curator of creating the perfect blend between the two and sungyeol is stupid and gets all proud over it, so he always always always makes sunggyu coffee in the end, no matter how annoyed he becomes.

when sungyeol returns, sunggyu is already in work mode and is typing away on his keyboard with a serious expression that’s always looked funny to sungyeol.

“your coffee, sir.”

sunggyu only mumbles a thanks before sungyeol places the mug down and resumes his filing of last month’s documents that had somehow ended up lost during new year’s. it isn’t until two hours pass that sunggyu gives up on life and the letters, “rtttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttb” show up on the screen as he rests his head against the keyboard.

“sir?” sungyeol asks when he realizes that sunggyu is out cold. he only sighs and sets down a manilla folder before walking over to sunggyu and rolling his head off the keyboard. sungyeol makes sure to only turn off the monitor (looks like some sort of important e-mail?) as he opens a drawer from sunggyu’s desk and pulls out a pillow, placing it under sunggyu’s head and then returning to his work on filing.

“sungyeol?” sunggyu mumbles in a sleepy stupor.

“yes, sir?”

“will you go out with me?”

sungyeol drops a folder in his hands and the papers fall ungracefully on the floor as sungyeol tries to process what it is exactly sunggyu is asking of him. he can’t possibly know sungyeol is attracted to the same gender, because of the very short list of things that sungyeol and sunggyu discuss, uality is not one of them. he only squints his eyes and looks at charlie who in turn does not offer much of an explanation so sungyeol has to ask, “excuse me?” then he adds a ‘sir’ into it to show that he isn’t one bit frazzled by sunggyu’s sudden question.

sunggyu rolls his head to face sungyeol and he only pops open one eye to look at the other, “tomorrow night. go out with me to the conference showcase for lee sungjong.”

and oh. sungyeol turns his head away and picks up the fallen papers as quickly as he can because he suddenly feels a little stupid for thinking otherwise and why would that bother him anyways? if anyone else had asked a question like that then he would have just immediately said no, but maybe because it was sunggyu (his boss. his lazy, sloppy boss.) that had asked the question which made sungyeol feel incredibly weak in the knees. of course he understood what sunggyu was talking about now though, every time an author released a new book, it would result in a press conference or showcase of some sort and lee sungjong (a young and fresh new author to the world of children’s books) was definitely one for fancy little gatherings held in expensive hotel ballrooms.

“sungyeol?” sunggyu asks once more, his eyes closing again as he gets lulled by the everlasting thirst for sleep.

“sure, i’ll go.” sungyeol answers, “but why me?”

sunggyu would probably shrug if he could, “dongwoo says it’ll be a nice experience for you.”

it isn’t until the next night that sungyeol discovers the real reason for sunggyu asking him to accompany him to the conference. sunggyu is terrible around alcohol and what’s worse is that he doesn’t even try to stop himself from consuming the tall flute glasses filled with pink colored champagne. what’s even worse is that he keeps clinging to sungyeol (it’s a little creepy if sungyeol thinks logically but he hardly ever does so) and even more worse is that sungyeol’s cheeks won't stop from heating up whenever sunggyu gives him a drunk little smile.

this also officially marks the first night that sungyeol has ever seen sunggyu dressed for the occasion. his hair is actually styled and trimmed neatly, while the suit he drones is a simple black and white one but it fit’s sunggyu’s slim figure well and even makes him looks somewhat handsome. thank goodness drunk people have never been all that attractive to sungyeol because he shouldn’t even try to cross the idea of finding his boss to be attractive, especially when sunggyu just won’t stop smiling at sungyeol.

“he’s always a handful whenever there’s alcohol around,” howon laughs when he sees sunggyu teetering towards the restroom.

sungyeol stands in the hall watching him carefully, “should i go in with him? will he be alright? god, it’s like taking care of a baby.”

“and to think he’s older than all of us,” howon’s grin is toothy and sungyeol likes the way his canines show, “he’ll probably be extra bossy tomorrow.”

“what?” sungyeol stops admiring howon’s smile, “he can’t go in to work tomorrow. he’s totally wasted.”

“that’s never stopped him before. he doesn’t believe in break days or even sick days, that man is dedicated to his job.”

sungyeol thinks that’s absolutely silly and the general concern for sunggyu’s health only rises up to 110% in sungyeol’s mental system so after the conference is over, sungyeol makes sure to ride along with sunggyu in the taxi cab. it wasn’t discussed between the two; if sungyeol was given permission to take care of sunggyu out of work hours, but sungyeol decides that sunggyu getting safely into bed tonight and staying in bed all day tomorrow is just as important as handing sunggyu a cup of coffee every morning. it’s his first time seeing the place where sunggyu actually lives at and he’s had the address engraved into his memory (sunggyu has him make online deliveries for him) but seeing the place is a whole different story.

kim sunggyu may dress like he lives in downtown seoul but his apartment is clearly in the upper side and his apartment room is obviously labeled as ‘penthouse’. it’s a place much too fancy and elegant for sungyeol, he feels so out of place carrying his knocked out superior through the glass doors which are held open by a doorman who bows at him and doesn’t say anything at all. sungyeol rides silently in the elevator with sunggyu hanging onto him and when the light ding of the elevator bell rings, sungyeol is greeted by a spacious and modern style apartment flat when the doors slide apart.

“holy-” the words don’t all come out as he stares gobsmacked at the place that is written down as sunggyu’s home.

the floors are a pristine marble and there’s a large chandelier hanging in the middle of the living room. all the ts are a shiny gold color and the furniture is white and untouched, completely tempting sungyeol to write on them with a black marker. he has to remind himself that this is sunggyu’s ‘home’ though and so he opens five doors before finding sunggyu’s bedroom and getting the older into bed. sunggyu is dead asleep and so rolling him onto his back and tucking him in isnt a problem for sungyeol, it’s probably one of the easier jobs he’s had to do for sunggyu.

but it’s after getting sunggyu into bed that he realizes the walls are lined with books. even more so, the books are all children’s books. sungyeol has always been aware that sunggyu is an editor for children’s books, that he’s the top editor and is in charge of the entire department, but he had never expected to see so many of these books in the bedroom of a twenty three year old man, much less kim sunggyu.

there are really simple seven paged books and even fairy tales and much to sungyeol’s surprise, a few manhwa’s aimed for kids. certain books have little post-it notes stuck to their spines and sungyeol reads a few of them indicating strange things that he figures must all be notes on the things sunggyu likes most about the books. he finds the little mermaid and in sungyeol’s head, this book wouldn’t really classify as a children’s book, but the copy sunggyu has is and the little note only says two words.

“dream and bubbles?” sungyeol says in a whisper.

sunggyu groans in his sleep before grumbling out, “what are you doing?”

“looking at your collection,” sungyeol answers without turning to look at sunggyu, he’s still immersed in all the books lined up in front of him.

sunggyu seems to fall back asleep after that and so sungyeol scours the shelves for the only book that really matters to him. after an hour of personally invading sunggyu’s room, he doesn’t find the book he’s looking for and instead falls asleep on the floor by the closet which sungyeol notices only has dirty clothes in it.

he’s woken up the next morning to the smell of coffee being made and a warm sensation runs through his body as he pulls a fleece blanket closer to himself. that’s when he realizes he’s no longer on the floor, but rather on the living room couch and then he can hear sunggyu humming a song and it’s sunggyu making coffee and it smells really heavenly to sungyeol right now.

“wow, howon said you’d be extra bossy today with a hangover, but you seem much more energized than me.”

sunggyu stops what he’s doing and squints his eyes, “howon said that? i see…”

sungyeol feels like he may have gotten howon into some trouble, but who does he care? he pulls his phone out of his pocket and notices that it’s already half past seven and if sunggyu was planning to go to work at all today then he’d have left an hour ago.

“sir, are we not going in today?” sungyeol asks when sunggyu hands him a cup of coffee. black.

“first of all,” sunggyu starts and takes a seat and the end of the couch where sungyeol’s legs are, “no one gave you permission to sleep over.”

“sorry sir,” sungyeol sips at his coffee.

“i’m thankful you thought it was your responsibility to take me home, but you didn’t have to do that either. calling a car would have worked out perfectly fine.”

sungyeol simply replies with another apology and sunggyu gulps his own coffee down, “sungyeol.”

“yes sir?”

“it’s okay to drop the formalities for now,” sunggyu sighs and he doesn’t meet sungyeol’s eyes, “we can take the day off today.”

“are you sure that’s okay?” sungyeol asks even though his original intent was to keep sunggyu at home today anyways because he had been expecting his boss to be nursing a headache but that doesn’t seem so.

“it’s okay,” sunggyu smiles at him and it’s like all those cute little drunken smiles have returned.

“alright then, s-” sungyeol stops, “-sunggyu… hyung?”

“just… sunggyu,” the other stifles a laugh and sungyeol feels like kicking him off the damn couch.

“you told me to drop the formalities here! i wasn’t sure what to call you. this is so awkward.”

“you can go home if you like then, i’ll just be staying here all day anyways.”

sungyeol straightens up, “actually. i’m somewhat worried about more of what howon said. i’m pretty sure the second i leave, you’ll drive off to work or something and lord knows what you’ll do then if i’m not around to watch your every move. you might set your office on fire.”

“excuse you, i’ll have you know that i’m perfectly capable. who just made you coffee? and put you to sleep on the couch?”

“yeah, after i put you to bed first.”

sunggyu chuckles a little, “i was able to survive before you came along anyways!”

and sungyeol joins in on the laughter, “barely alive, lord knows what kind of diseases you could have contracted from the mold on your office ceiling.”

sunggyu’s laugh is sounds like the chime of bells and his face screws up in this un-adorable way where his eyes disappear and his his cheeks only seem to get bigger. he’s grabbing onto one of sungyeol’s legs and the other doesn’t complain because he’s laughing too. it feels both strange and nice to be freely joking with his boss while not having to constantly call him ‘sir’.

“you’ve got such a tongue on you,” sunggyu comments, “no wonder you and woohyun are always arguing.”

“yes, well you and i don’t walk into those waters that often especially since you’re the one who pays me.”

sunggyu hums a little, “hmm, how would you like to be transferred then? i could you send you off to work under dongwoo and then you and i can banter all we’d like.”

“that actually sounds great, i’ll make round trips to have a daily discussion with you and woohyun over the pronunciation of ‘tomato’. that’s if dongwoo isn’t making me his secretary too, then i’d be real busy.”

“what? you aren’t busy enough with me?” sunggyu asks but it’s a hollow question. “seriously though, what if i transferred you over to dongwoo’s department? i don’t think he needs a secretary either, you’d get that promotion to become an editor.”

sungyeol laughs but it’s short lived because he realizes that sunggyu has a serious facial expression, “you’re still joking right?”

“i never was.”

“just for that? you’re going to transfer me just so we can talk freely? that’s ridiculous.”

“well, you’ll also be getting promoted. isn’t that what you wanted? to be an editor?”

and sungyeol doesn’t know how to answer sunggyu. it is true though, that is what he really wants, but for some reason the back of his mind is being pulled by an afterthought. a sane sungyeol would immediately agree and take the job, because it’s what he wants after all, what he had originally wanted anyways. now, he isn’t sure what he wants at woollim publishings anymore. he wants to be an editor, but he’s become so comfortable with being sunggyu’s secretary. he shouldn’t even have to be bothered with this question, he should be able to just answer it, but if he does take the job then he knows he’d be much too busy to even drop by sunggyu’s department and that means he wouldn’t even get the time to see sunggyu.

maybe it’s some strange form of separation anxiety, because for seven days a week, sungyeol has to stay by sunggyu’s side for twelve hours a day and he has already formed this weird routine and he’s never afraid to try new things and to break a routine, but this time he feels like he can’t do it.

“i,” sungyeol hesitates, “i don’t know anymore.”

sunggyu raises an eyebrow at him, “what do you mean?”

“i’m not sure if i want that- i mean, i do. i really do. it’s what i came here for, but…”

“but?”

sungyeol wants to say it isn’t because of sunggyu. “i think i’m fine with my current position.”

sunggyu sighs and then looks over at sungyeol, “are you sure?”

“i am, sunggyu.”

the other grins, “i try to do something nice for you like give you a promotion, but you turn it down. don’t expect any other freebies from me.”

sungyeol snorts because so far today sunggyu has done nothing but nice things for him. putting him to sleep on the couch, wrapping him in a blanket, making him coffee, and giving him the day off too. he feels like sunggyu would probably give him plenty more freebies without him even having to ask.

“besides, what does dongwoo’s department even work on?”

“i’m not too sure on that,” sunggyu shrugs, “it’s a mystery with that guy.”

“you know, i wanted to publish children’s books. that’s why even though i agreed to take any job, i was so insistent on your department.” sunggyu watches as sungyeol’s eyes go starry, “i really love the collection you have going on in your room. it’s creepy, but it’s nice too.”

sunggyu chuckles, “maybe i should just give you a job in my department then? you can have howon’s, that little gives me too many migraines.”

“you wouldn’t really fire him, would you?” sungyeol looks a little concerned.

“nah,” sunggyu smiles fondly, “his assets are beneficial.”

“your department’s full though, isn’t it?” sungyeol says and he knows it’s true. he does sunggyu’s paper work afterall.

“i could squeeze you in.”

sungyeol laughs at that, “wow, with all this special treatment you’re giving me, i’d say you have a little crush on me.”

sunggyu only remains silent and then sungyeol begins to slightly panic over the fact that he may have crossed some hidden line between their ‘free’ talk.

but then sunggyu purses his lips into a straight line, “you could say it’s something like that.”

sungyeol can only manage to blink rapidly at his superior and question how someone like sunggyu could feel something towards someone like sungyeol. it’s actually really something of a mystery (like what dongwoo does for a living) and a part of sungyeol feels this heated spark while the other half of him hopes to god that sunggyu is joking.

“you’re… what?” sungyeol asks lamely and his head because he’s having a hard time trying to register sunggyu’s sudden… confession?

“i like you,” he says a little more properly now, “for a while now actually.”

“oh.” sungyeol doesn’t know how he’s supposed to take that. “why are you telling me this now?”

for as long as sungyeol has been working under sunggyu, he’s never seen the other so tense or nervous before but he can feel the anxiety slipping out through sunggyu’s form.

“sungyeol, i’m serious about helping you find a position at the company that you want. i know you don’t particularly want to be my secretary and i know you have what it takes to handle any job given to you. frankly i think you’d be a fine editor.”

“sunggyu, that doesn’t answer my question… like, at all.”

“oh, right,” sunggyu clears his throat, “i like you. i don’t want to have the person i like do a job he doesn’t enjoy doing, even if it means that i won’t get to see you as frequently. i’d much rather prefer you to be happy and besides if my sudden confession makes you uncomfortable then maybe you’ll accept my offer to transfer you.”

“you’re trying to scare me away?” sungyeol questions, his insides feeling like jelly, “that’s just ridiculous.”

“is it?” sunggyu asks and that sharpness has returned to his voice.

“well, i mean… yeah. it’s gonna take way more than some confession to scare me away, you know?”

“sungyeol-”

“and besides, who said i didn’t enjoy working for you? sure it isn’t my dream job and sure you can be an sometimes, but have i ever complained? do you really think i dislike it so much? do you really think i dislike you so much?”

“i don’t- i don’t know.” sunggyu looks down at his hands and sungyeol bites his bottom lip.

“i like you,” sungyeol says it just like sunggyu had, “i like you too, i guess.”

the older isn’t sure if he’s hearing correctly so he squints his eyes up at sungyeol and waits for affirmation but sungyeol only rolls his own eyes and reaches out for sunggyu’s hand. he slowly snakes his hand across the fleece blanket and lightly rests his fingers on top of sunggyu’s once their skin meet.

“don’t make me say it again,” sungyeol says with a tint of red to his cheeks, “i don’t know how to deal with this stuff, okay?”

sunggyu only grins at him though, “okay.”

---

“god this suit is itchy,” sungyeol groans as he tries to straighten his tie.

“well, i told you not to go with that brand,” sunggyu sighs into his hands, “let’s go, it’s freezing in here.”

“myungsoo left the ac on, that’s why. he’s so air headed sometimes.”

“he’s your best friend.”

“hey!” sungyeol is about to protest but then stops, “yeah, i guess.”

sunggyu laughs as he takes sungyeol’s hand into his own and laces their fingers up together, nice and snuggly. “seriously, we’ll be late if we don’t leave now.”

“alright,” sungyeol takes one last glance in the mirror before walking out with sunggyu, their hands still tightly pulled together.

sunggyu takes his car and drives them over to his place, way up high in the penthouse and as soon as they step into his living room, there’s an explosion of ‘congratulations!’. sungyeol is surprised and the gummy smile on his face shows that he’s pleased so sunggyu pulls him in and grins.

“wow,” sungyeol gasps when they sit down in sunggyu’s room after the surprise party, “i thought we were going out for a fancy dinner but you sure got me there. i did not expect this at all, kim sunggyu.”

“of course not, i’m a genius. it’s to be expected, really.”

sungyeol elbows his boyfriend, “oh please. i almost thought you were stupid though. going to my place to pick me up and then ‘forgetting your cell phone’ so we had to go back to your place.”

“it was the perfect plan,” sunggyu chuckles.

“right.”

sunggyu lays down on the bed and pulls his own tie off, sick of the thing after wearing it for so long. his body was not meant to be wearing suits, only sweats and baggy t-shirts. “hey, do me a favor and read me a story, yeah? i mean after all, you are now the assistant editor for the department of children’s books under woollim.”

“yes, thank you for reminding me of my glorious title,” sungyeol laughs, “though it isn’t as grand as yours, i’m working my way up on my own.”

“sure, it has nothing to do with the fact that i’m still in charge of your paycheck.”

“shut up,” sungyeol bops sunggyu’s forehead, “what book do you want?”

“this reminds me of those long ago days when you were still my secretary and would do whatever i asked of you.”

“i’m seriously just going to read whatever i want if you don’t pick,” sungyeol says as he’s already scanning through all the books along the shelves.

“go ahead,” sunggyu watches from his bed, “pick your favorite.”

“you don’t have my favorite,” sungyeol answers, “i’ve already checked.”

sunggyu only hums in response and doesn’t offer anything else so sungyeol just decides that it wouldn’t hurt one last time to look for the book he’s always cherished since childhood. it takes him a while but eventually the book does turn up and how did he find it this time? labeled on the spine of the book with a hot pink sticky note that has sunggyu’s favorite thing about the book written down, is sungyeol’s name.

“god, you’re worse than woohyun.”

sunggyu only smiles, “i remember you told me that you liked it.”

“i can’t believe you.” sungyeol sighs but the huge smile on his face is anything but annoyed. “you even wrote my name down on the post-it note.”

“well, it is my favorite thing about the book.”

sungyeol walks over with the book in hand as he leans down and kisses sunggyu.