The secretary's words startled a missed beat out of Baekhyun's heart, and left an uncomfortable anxiety and loads of fearful guesses behind. He didn't expect to hear something like this, especially not today. 

Naturally, he started thinking what could have he possibly done, for CEO to be looking for him today and more importantly, at this hour. Baekhyun didn't break anything in the office, at least not as far as he remembered. He didn't have any unfinished works he was late with presenting to anyone, either. And neither he had encountered the CEO after the last time they met, which was in Chanyeol's office, unless it counted when he once saw the elder getting out of the elevator. But it probably didn't, because, well, they didn't even acknowledge each other's presence. How could have Baekhyun annoyed him then?

That's why hearing this was even more nerve-wrecking and scary. He didn't know the reason behind the elder's request.

As if he was thinking the same, Chanyeol looked just as startled and worried as Baekhyun was. And that was not an encouraging thought to the smaller at all. If even Chanyeol looks worried, something is really not right.

"I have time now," the taller said, immediately taking a step forward, and standing next to the smaller male. "I'll go with Baekhyun."

Baekhyun was actually happy to hear that proposal, he really was, having in mind that he really didn't want to see the CEO again, and much more to see him alone. But the happiness was very short-lived, and it was killed almost as quickly as it had appeared.

"I'm sorry, general manager," the secretary said, looking up to the taller sorrily. "But the CEO said he only wants to see sir Byun Baekhyun. He specified that he wants nobody else accompanying him."

Chanyeol's eyes widened, and Baekhyun frowned. Not only he wanted to strangle the old man for making them meet alone, but, even more so, who specifies they don't want to see their own son? Shouldn't he be happy if Chanyeol decided to come along?

He would be, if he was a normal dad, Baekhyun concluded. But he wasn't, and as Baekhyun watched Chanyeol bite his lip and look away, he couldn't help but clench his fists and hold back the cursewords that were threatening to spill. 

"I'll be right back," he told Chanyeol, reaching out to touch the taller's arm. It was becoming kind of a habit, touching Chanyeol whenever he wanted to soothe him. Baekhyun let his fingers touch the soft material of Chanyeol's jacket, and then seconds later pulled his hand away unwillingly. 

 Although it might have been just his own wishful thinking, Baekhyun didn't miss the way Chanyeol looked at his retreating hand - it looked as if he didn't want him to let it go.

Baekhyun had to gather all the willpower he had in his soul to leave together with the secretary, and not squish the life of the silent, overly tall and most of all, unbearably adorable boss of his.

The walk to the CEO's office wasn't long. They only took the elevator to the highest floor (Baekhyun paled when he looked out the window whilst going, and decided not to look outside again) and soon, they were walking down the hallway. At the end of it stood the dark wooden door, that, Baekhyun supposed, separated him and the secretary from the CEO's office. The girl knocked on the door politely, and only dared to open the door when she heard a lazy "come in" from the inside. They both walked in.

"I have brought sir Byun Baekhyun," she told the CEO, who sat behind his table with his legs crossed, bored expression on his face, and obviously very relaxed. Baekhyun almost held himself back from rolling his eyes at the sight. That was almost exactly the view he expected to see.

"Thanks," the older man dismissed the secretary with one lazy swing of his hand. The girl bowed at both him and Baekhyun, and then the door behind her back closed, leaving the CEO and Baekhyun closed alone.

"I see you again, Byun Baekhyun," the man smirked. "How's it going?"

"Good, sir," Baekyun replied, all the possible irony stuffed into the last word. "And you?"

"Could be better, but that doesn't really concern you," he sighed. "I believe you have met Haeun, right?"

Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes, I have?.." he wasn't sure where the elder was going with this.

"You know, she came by this morning right before work," the CEO his chair, keeping his stare plastered onto Baekhyun. " And she did it only for telling me this one thing. Can you imagine?"

Not sure if he should answer, Baekhyun just tilted his head. He really had no idea where the CEO was going with this.

"She came by to say that your voice, and your singing, is one of the most amazing things she has ever heard," the elder told him, and Baekhyun's eyes widened.
To say that that didn't take Baekhyun by surprise would have been a very obvious and stupid lie. The small male was so surprised, startled and caught unprepared, that for a minute, all he could do was stand there and gape at the man before him. Saying nothing.

He never thought Haeun would compliment him like that. She was a nice person, and they seemed to hit it off pretty well with Baekhyn,  but she most certainly didn't seem like the person who would be throwing compliments like that to every other person around. And more so, later on retelling them to the CEO, of all people.

"And normally I wouldn't care too much, if somebody would go saying things like that to me," the CEO continued. "But Haeun is one of the people I trust the most in this company, and she's been working here for a while. She heard all of our singers perform live, and their recordings, too. But she has never come up here, just to compliment any of them to me."

Baekhyun stood silent, not really knowing what to say. He disliked the man profoundly, and didn't trust him at all. Even compliments from his mouth sounded unnatural and full of some kind of hidden intent. 

"Thanks to her, I guess?.." he answered carefully. "Honestly, sir, I don't really understand where you're going with all this. Is this topic even related to my work?"

"Of course it is," the CEO shifted in his chair, resting his chin in one of his hands and staring at Baekhyun. "I'm actually thinking about transfering you to the music production department. Making you into one of our vocals."

If before Baekhyun's eyes didn't bulge out of their sockets, now they most certainly did.

"Excuse me, what?"

"You heard me," the CEO sighed again, as if he was tired and through with Baekhyun's stupidity. "I'm thinking about it. That's why I will need you to come by the music department tomorrow. Me and Yixing, our main producer, will try you out. See what you can do, and then decide."

"But..." Baekhyun lost his ability to speak. "I'm..."

This opportunity, this situation was too overwhelming for him to understand it, and think straight. Yes, he loved singing. He always wanted to be a singer - that was his dream, his aspiration. And there was actually an opportunity to seek that career, but it demanded for him to be a trainee with no pay for a year, and with his little sister and mother needing help Baekhyun in no means could do it. He needed to earn money. That's why he kept searching for a job, even if it was hard, and he did it desperately up till he and Jongin met. Up till Jongin gave him this job and saved him.

And helped him meet Chanyeol. Chanyeol, whom he liked, and Chanyeol, with whom he worked in the same office now. Chanyeol, whom he would be separated from, if his department is switched.

"I'm sorry," Baekhyun suddenly said, forcing himself to bow slightly. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I am interested in that. I prefer staying where I am."

It was untrue and true at the same time. It hurt a bit to let go of such an opportunity, but letting Jongin down and leaving Chanyeol would hurt way more. Baekhyun knew it.

"You're mistaken, Byun Baekhyun," the CEO shook his head. "You didn't understand my words properly."

Baekhyun looked at him, unable to comprehend.

"I'm not asking you," the older man said, turning to take out some papers from his drawer and cutting the eye contact with Baekhyun, as if he didn't even deserve it. "If I decide you're going, you're going. Simple as that."

Baekhyun almost scowled right at his face.

"What?"

"I have no time to deal with you now. Scoot." the CEO opened a file, and started reading, openly showing Baekhyun that it was time to leave. Not even trying to be polite.

Baekhyun wanted - oh, how he wanted - to just walk up to the table and slam his fist onto it, take those files and rip them apart. But he stopped himself (barely) on time, and turned around to walk out before anything happened. He knew that if he lets himself lose it now, it was not going to end well.

Out in the hallway, he started to boil inside.Of course, of course, that bastard would do something like this. How could Baekhyun ever think he was going to leave him alone, just because Baekhyun didn't want anything to do with him?

I hate him so freaking much, he growled inside his head, as he stomped down the hallway.

Why would God ever let such a lunatic to walk on the surface of Earth?!

He raged all the way till Chanyeol's office, and when he came inside, it sadly didn't get any better.

It got worse.

Minho was there. With the same smug expression of a satisfied donkey as always, and glaring at Baekhyun.

Chanyeol, who instantly noticed the tension between them, got up from his chair and placed his hand on Minho's shoulder.

"So tonight, Minho, okay?" he asked.

Baekhyun's heart froze.

"Yes, general manager," Minho nodded, and turned around to leave.

His shoulder bumped rudely at Baekhyun's as he passed by him to leave. Baekhyun glared at him in response, and all the anger swelling in his chest almost broke out in the form of a jab, a jab right into Minho's disgustingly proud face. A strong one. And Baekhyun was pretty sure he wouldn't regret it.

But he once again held himself back. 

Baekhyun scoffed internally when the other was gone, and stormed over to his desk, plopping down on the chair angrily. He didn't even look at Chanyeol, though he could feel the other's worried eyes on him. He was boiling inside so bad, and above all that anger was hurt that he felt knowing that Chanyeol had just invited Minho out on a date, and Baekhyun encouraged him to do that. 

Not only he lost all the chances of being with Chanyeol. He also lost to them to a bastard like Minho.

"Baekhyun, are you okay?" he heard the taller ask, and the softness and worriedness within the tone of in which Chanyeol said almost made Baekhyun lose it and cry out all the frustration he was bottling up. Yell it out, tell Chanyeol everything. Even confess his damn frustrating feelings for the taller.

And then just die from embarassment and fury, both.

"Yes," he answered instead, tone even and low, and maybe a bit harsher than he intented it to be. But wallowing in his anger and frustration inside, adding the still very much feelable hangover, Baekhyun couldn't find in him strength to care. Not then.

And probably seeing his mood, Chanyeol didn't ask him anything anymore.

They worked in silence for a while.

***

Kyungsoo sat there, not knowing what to expect, what to do, and waited. Jongin had just told him he needed to call Chanyeol, and tell him that he was not coming to work today, and stepped away for a bit. So Kyungsoo was left sitting there alone, beside the window in a coffee shop he had never visited before, and waiting for him to come back.

He didn't know why he agreed to skip work to do this. Neither did he know why he was so scared of what he was going to hear. And above all that, Jongin, who greeted him almost with a bow instead of a normal 'hi', not even daring to look into his eyes, unnerved him even more. Everything about this meeting was unnerving so far. 

But this was their last meeting, Kyungsoo thought, trying to calm himself down. It was his and Jongin's last meeting as something more than co-workers. It will all be over soon.

But somehow, that didn't help Kyungsoo feel any better.

Jongin seemed to be feeling worse than he did last night. He looked exhausted, as if he hadn't had even a blink of sleep the entire night after the two of them talked. And Kyungsoo couldn't help but feel guilty, although he wasn't supposed to. Actually, he was supposed to hate Jongin all this time, and not to give a flying about his health and happiness, but Kyungsoo knew that in the end that wasn't true. He didn't hate Jongin. Maybe regrettably and hurtfully, but he still did love him. 

And even if he didn't want to, for the same reason, Kyungsoo still cared about Jongin, too.

Shortly after a shy waitress brought their cups of coffee and left them in front of Kyungsoo, Jongin returned. He sat down, put his phone away, and reached out for his own cup of caramel macchiato. Not glancing into Kyungsoo's eyes even for a second.

"I thought you don't like black coffee," he told Kyungsoo casually, obviously trying to keep the conversation going. To avoid the uncomfortable silence.

Kyungsoo reached out for his own cup, relatively smaller than Jongin's. 

"I got used to it in the States," he answered hesitantly, whilst mixing the drink in his cup. "There's a lot to learn when you're a law student in my university. And the time for completing tasks is really short. So students usually just opt for exchanging sleep for coffee, and the stronger it is, the better."

Jongin nodded in response, and besides acknowledgement, Kyungsoo noticed some sad emotion behind the taller's gaze. That made him curious.

"What is it?" he asked.

Jongin seemed to be surprised for a second that Kyungsoo even noticed something was wrong. Then he just shook his head, trying to brush the question off. Like it was unimportant.

"What?" Kyungsoo insisted. He hated unanswered questions.

Jongin started playing with the sides of the cup, running his fingers through the smooth surface. He looked tired, and sad. Kyungsoo guessed that was why it didn't take much arguing to make him say what he didn't want to finish saying.

"It's just that you're different," Jongin finally answered Kyungsoo, as he pulled his fingers away from the cup he was playing with. "It's just that."

He turned away, looking out the window.

"Well, that was bound to happen," Kyungsoo told him. "I'm not a kid anymore, Jongin. You can't expect me to be exactly the same."

Jongin nodded. "I really can't," he glanced at Kyungsoo. "I just wish you still smiled as much as you used to before. That's it."

Swallowing the wish to scoff at him, Kyungsoo sipped his coffee, and placed the cup back on the table, pretending to be calm. Meanwile inside, he was really getting very angry.

If it wasn't for him, for Jongin, maybe Kyungsoo would still be smiling now.

"You're not all smiley anymore either, Jongin," he countered instead, not wanting fight, and sighed. "I guess it's just normal when people grow up, isn't it. We simply have less and less reasons to smile."

And some of us get our reasons taken away. 

"That's true," Jongin looked at him for a second. "I guess I too, lost mine."

His gaze lingered on Kyungsoo, and the smaller didn't know what to say back to that. What Jongin did even mean by that? 

Their stare down was interrupted by a quiet voice.

"Kyungsoo?.."

Jongin's head turned immediately to the person behind the smaller, and seeing his expression darken as he saw him, Kyungsoo followed. There, before him, stood his childhood friend, Luhan. Almost the same as he remembered him, just slightly taller, and more elegantly dressed. Looking at him with eyes so wide and shocked, it looked like he just saw a ghost. 

"Do Kyungsoo," Luhan repeated breathlessly. "Oh my god... it's really you."

All of a sudden feeling cold inside, Kyungsoo stood up from his chair, and turned to face the other.

"Luhan," he nodded in response. "It's been a while."

"Oh my god, Kyungsoo," Luhan took a step forward, grasping Kyungsoo's both narrow shoulders in his hands. "Kyungsoo, it's really you. Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

He was shaking, and Kyungsoo felt like stepping away from him. Something about the way Luhan looked at him scared the shorter male, and even more so when he was apologising like that. It made him feel weird.

"Luhan, sit down first," Jongin asked. His voice was cold, so cold, that Kyungsoo wished he could turn around and see his eyes, see what he looked like as he said it. Kyungsoo had never heard Jongin speak so emotionlessly and almost cruelly before. Ever.

What in the world had happened between him and Luhan?..

"Yes, yes.. I'm sorry," Luhan repeated again, and sat down, still unable to keep his eyes away from Kyungsoo. Maybe it was because he was so shocked and caught off guard, or maybe he naturally changed as he got older, but Kyungsoo noticed, that Luhan's sarcastic personality seemed to have lost its former bluntness. Before, Kyungsoo would have never thought Luhan would look at him like this. So shocked, so scared, and so serious. Not ironic and sarcastic at all.

Still watched by the other male, Kyungsoo shifted in his seat, uncomfortable because of Luhan's intense stare. 

"Jongin, why didn't you tell me?" Luhan asked, turning his eyes to Jongin. "Why didn't you tell me Kyungsoo was going to be here?"

"Just tell Kyungsoo the truth, Luhan," Jongin asked, not looking at Luhan's ey