The car progressively came to a stop and within a second, a door opened and closed, the occupant on that side of the seats running over to the other side, opening that door now with a pair of quick hands. The one who remained in the car heard the click of his seatbelt that had been just unbuckled and felt a hand sliding to the back of his knees and another, his neck. Less startled and more bashful, he hurriedly placed his own hands on the arms of the other male, “It’s alright, I can walk on my own.”

“That will be decided by the doctor later. For now, you’re not aggravating it anymore”, Junhyung replied sternly as he shrugged off Yoseob’s hands and continued the lifting of the smaller male from the car seat. The injured man could only frown as he placed his hands securely at the back of Junhyung’s neck, “Fine, but if you drop me, I’m throwing whatever I can get my hands on at you.”

“Don’t you always do that already,” the CEO drawled as he heaved the smaller male upwards and adjusted him in his arms, ensuring that he has properly secured him around the lower thighs and waist, as he kicked the car door close and headed into the hospital. “Might I remind you that your injury is purely due to your own clumsiness and poor vestibular sense? I’m kind enough to be carrying you, you heavy child—ouch!”

“Take it back and say you’re sorry”, Yoseob’s words came out muffled as his ring of teeth remained attached to Junhyung’s shoulder, biting into his cotton shirt. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! You’re light, extremely light, and as light as a feather in fact!”

“And??” Yoseob growled, his teeth still glued to Junhyung as he pressed them down even deeper. Junhyung winced from the slight pain he was feeling now, exasperated by the current situation, part of him highly amused by the antics of the smaller male. “And I am the sole reason for you falling down and hurting yourself! It was all my fault, I’m sorry!”

The smaller male smirked in satisfaction as he finally released his bite from the CEO’s shoulder, “Good!” Junhyung couldn’t hold back a smile as he entered the lift, watching as the proud looking smaller male continued his victory speech. “I wouldn’t have to resort to all these violence if you had been better behaved, young man.” The taller male snorted in disbelief, “You’re unbelievable. If I had not remembered wrongly, I’m pretty sure that you tripped and fell into the water all on your own.”

Yoseob glared at Junhyung in strong indignance, scrunching his nose up and baring his teeth as he yapped, “Well, I would not have been all flustered and jittery if you had not kissed—“. He pressed his lips together abruptly as he snappily switched his strong gaze on Junhyung’s eyes to the corner of the lift’s floor now. The CEO’s eyes never strayed as he surveyed the younger male, noticing how his blush starts from a light cherry hue on his cheeks, slowly rippling out to the tip of his ears. A small smile grew on his face as he continued staring, his hands subconsciously tightening their grip on the smaller male’s thigh and waist. 

Cute. 

Yoseob looked undeniably cute now as his fair face glowed, the bottom row of his teeth nervously nibbling on his upper lip, his long eyelashes shading his eyes as his gaze remains lowered and away from the CEO.

“About the kiss… It wasn’t a moment of folly and neither do I regret it.” 

The smaller male finally lifted his head, gaping at Junhyung now as he stumbled over his words, “But… I… My sister…”

“You kissed me last night didn’t you? You said that you wanted to win me from your sister, didn’t you? What if I just announce the winner immediately? From the very beginning—“

Yoseob placed a hand over Junhyung’s perfectly sculpted lips to stop him from saying anything more. Because if anything more was said, the smaller male felt that his heart might implode from the tremendously fast beating it was doing now. This was just a method to distract the CEO from falling for his sister and from sleeping with his sister before being wrongfully framed for being the father of his unborn nephew. He wasn’t supposed to be having all these…all these fluttering feelings inside him. 

Taking a deep breath, he shook his head as he tried to steady his trembling voice, “You… You can’t come to a decision so quickly. Let’s take things slower, okay? I don’t want to rush into this.”

Junhyung smiled gently, nodding his head like an obedient child, tenderly brushing his nose across the velvety cheeks of the smaller male, causing the latter to shiver from the skin contact. “If you say so, although I am quite sure who would emerge as the winner.” Before Yoseob could give a reply, the lift doors opened, and at that exact moment, the taller male had given him a sweet peck on the cheek. 

Unable to resist the pleased smile of the CEO from the peck, Yoseob’s face cracked into a smile as he once again looked downwards shyly, mumbling an insincere, “You’re such an idiot.”

“Yoseob?”

Both males turned at the new source of voice, a look of realization dawning on Yoseob’s face before he exclaimed, “Mr Yoon!” 

“Mr Yoon?”

Yoseob’s right hand released itself from the back of Junhyung’s neck as he waved it towards the unknown male, “This is my previous boss, also the CEO of Star Hotel, Yoon Doo Joon. Mr Yoon, this is my new boss, Yong Jun Hyung.” 

The air was filled with an awkward silence as a pair of sharp cat eyes scanned Junhyung, significantly stopping at the taller male’s hands that were firmly holding on to Yoseob’s small body. Junhyung eyeballs the look of annoyance and displeasure that was colouring the Mr Yoon’s face, remembering how Yoseob had mentioned his previous boss having a huge crush on him. A tad juvenile but really more possessive, Junhyung turned the smaller male away from Doojoon, excusing them by saying that Yoseob needed to see the doctor immediately. 

They entered the doctor’s room together with Junhyung settling the smaller male gently on the patient’s bed as a check on the ankle was being conducted. After a short but thorough assessment, it was concluded that Yoseob merely suffered a slight sprain and would be able to have his ankle back to its optimal condition within a week with adequate rest and no taxing movements. The doctor begun bandaging Yoseob’s ankle while Junhyung excused himself to collect the painkillers from the pharmacy for the smaller male. 

The latter walked out towards the pharmacy, completely not surprised that Doojoon was seated at the waiting area in front of the doctor’s room, obviously awaiting Junhyung. 

“So you’re the pathetic CEO that Yoseob had to leave my company to help.” It wasn’t even a question, it was a statement. The Star Hotel’s CEO’s face had no trace of humour as he eyed Junhyung.

“Yup”, Junhyung acknowledged the condescending remark unabashedly as he sat on the empty chair beside Doojoon, “and Yoseob had been such a great help not just to the company but also generally, me.” 

The cat eyed male’s fists clenched up as he glowered at the other CEO, “Yoseob is a kind person. He is generally very helpful to people, especially people with a high level of incapability. How have your hotel been doing? I heard that it hasn’t been well since your parents passed away, I wonder whose fault is it.”

There was a strong tug in the CEO’s heart as he tried to maintain a calm outlook, “Business is picking up already. I just needed some time to get use to all the departments and functioning of the hotel.”

“Or maybe you just need daddy and mu—“

“Junhyung!” The fair, wide-eyed male interrupted them as he limped out of the doctor’s room, “Have you taken the painkillers? I can’t wait to get home.”

The taller male was swiftly at Yoseob’s side, naturally slinking an arm around his petite waist, allowing the smaller male to lean on him for support. Strangely, the smaller male didn’t shy away from the close touch and even pressed closer, lips almost grazing Junhyung’s ear as he whispered, “The doctor said that I’m free to go after collecting the painkillers, let’s go and then we can get out of this place.”

Junhyung nodded, turning to Doojoon now and giving a curt bow, “Mr Yoon, it was nice talking to you but Yoseob and I have to head off soon as he needs his rest. We hope to see you around soon.” Switching his focus back towards Yoseob, he muttered lowly, “not…”

The smaller male couldn’t help but chuckle at the bitterness in the CEO’s voice, stretching his neck out to peer at Doojoon now, “See you around, Mr Yoon!” With that, the duo turned their backs to the Star Hotel’s CEO, slowly trudging to the pharmacy. Just a couple of steps later, Yoseob turned his head to the side, openly giving Junhyung a peck on the cheek, much to the surprise of the latter. 

“That’s for the buffoon to see and get upset about. He deserves it for speaking so immaturely and insensitively about your parents.” Yoseob mumbled to Junhyung as he maintained a sweet looking smile which Doojoon was sure to seethe at. 

Junhyung was pleased with the protectiveness of Yoseob and yet, had a nagging feeling in him as he muttered, “I’m thankful for all that you’re doing for me. But sometimes, I wonder if you’re only like that to me because you pity me.” As soon as the words left his lips, he felt a sharp knock on his head and the smaller male was glaring at him, “Say such stupid things again and I’ll make sure it would be a bigger object that meets your head the next time.”

Rubbing on the sore point of his forehead, the CEO snickered at Yoseob hobbling away with his right fist still tightly formed. He broke into a slight jog to the smaller male, placing his arm back around Yoseob’s waist as he apologised and begun suggesting certain anger management courses that he had heard of that were effective and really didn’t take much time.  

As the two played and joked about with one another, bodies pressed to one another’s side, a pair of jealous eyes were glued to them. Doojoon snappily his heels, all sullen and surly as he growled under his breath, “You just wait, Yong Jun Hyung. You take what’s mine and I’ll make sure you payback tenfold.”

------

Junhyung pulled up at the side of the road near Yoseob’s place, turning down the engine as