Jeonghan sat to Mingyu's right as they waited for the whole board to show up at the meeting room. He'd called for an immediate meeting the minute they'd landed back in Seoul, it didn't matter that it had rolled over onto Saturday, Jeonghan was not going to wait until morning. Mingyu had stayed surprisingly calm during their flight back but Jeonghan knew the younger man was fuming. He'd seen Mingyu chewing on his lower lip so vigorously that the man drew blood, this was not something the younger man had ever dealt with. He'd been left in charge and suddenly their company lost all their money, Mingyu was definitely blaming himself.

"So," one of the executives cleared his throat. "Why have you called us all here?"

"Why?" Jeonghan scoffed. "You're asking why? Our company just lost forty billion won, how the does that happen?!"

"You can't possibly be accusing us, are you Jeonghan-shi?" Another one of the executives narrowed his eyes. "I've been working at this company a lot longer than you have, I know where my loyalties lie."

"I'm not pinning the blame on anyone...yet," Jeonghan said. "I just find it funny that people who are so hellbent on making profit weren't the first ones to tell me about this. I found out through the CEO's secretary, don't you think that's a little odd?"

"We're busy people, Yoon Jeonghan," the same executive who was pushing for the venture into the western market leaned back in his chair. " You assume we did nothing while you were galavanting around in Japan."

"Galavanting? You think I've been ing around?" Jeonghan gritted his teeth.

"Well, you haven't exactly been pulling your weight here at the office," the older man accused.

"That's a rather bold assumption coming from someone who hasn't shown their face at this office all week," Mingyu suddenly chimed in. "We've required your signature on three separate ocassions yet you were never in your office."

"Health issues are prevalent when you're in my age bracket, your father is in the same boat is he not?"

"You look perfectly fine to me," Mingyu frowned.

"Let's just cut to the chase, gentlemen," Jeonghan stood from his seat and began circling the table. "I'm going to make this clear, I don't trust any of you at this moment. I don't care about how long you've worked here or how loyal you claim to be to this company. To me those are just cheap words coming from even cheaper mouths. I've worked with you, I know what kind of you're all capable of and I know that monetary gain is your only initiative. The CEO hired you all knowing it would be risky but he did it because he knew you all could give results, he's been more than generous with his treatment and you all get a pretty hefty sum in your bank accounts every month."

The brunette came to stand at the other end of the table.

"I'm going to say this once," the brunette kept his composure, his eyes zeroed in on each of the ten older men. "We're going to find out who is responsible. You can either speak now or you get yourselves ready for the storm that's about to happen."

There was a deafening silence in the room. Jeonghan was met with several cold stares while the remaining few showed a slight sign of distress, there were a few drops of sweat and quivering pupils. Jeonghan smirked, he'd struck fear into the weaker ones, that was all he needed. You strike paranoia into at least one person and it will slowly infect another, it was a fear mongering tactic he'd learnt from Kim Sanghoon himself. Create discord in a group and slowly they'll turn on each other. Jeonghan just needed to wait.

"There are some rather severe penalties for those who are guilty of theft on this grand of a level," Jeonghan continued. "Jail isn't the best place for people your age, gentlemen. With most of you being so close to retirement I wouldn't want your resting place to be in a cell, not a great place to enjoy the rest of your days."

"We have nothing to hide," another executive said with a smug grin.

"The police are in the process of receiving search warrants, you'll be hearing from them shortly," Jeonghan headed back to his seat. "All projects are on hold, we're ceasing operations until this is solved."

"You do realise that we have places to be, don't you Jeonghan-shi?"

"That'll have to wait," Jeonghan said coldly. "I'm sorry if this debacle is hindering you from your pretentious weekend games of golf and squash but I really don't give a flying ."

"Be careful of your language when you're speaking to your seniors," one of the men sneered.

"I wish I could but I don't want to, " Jeonghan shot back, his favourite past time was challenging authority -- a dangerous hobby but a hobby none the less. "You're all dismissed, all are required to stay in Seoul until we get to the bottom of this."

"Good luck trying to find the culprit," one of the men taunted as he left.

Jeonghan gritted his teeth, his fist clenched inside the pocket of his trousers. Once he and Mingyu were left alone, Jeonghan loosened his tie and undid the top button on his shirt. He felt like he was going to burst into flames, he knew he worked among snakes but he never imagined they'd stage an actual Coup d'état against their own CEO. He closed his eyes and tried to think of a solution but his anger made it almost impossible to think straight.

"I can't believe this," Jeonghan shook his head. "They're conspiring with one another."

"They must've been planning this for a while," Mingyu said. "It can't be a coincidence, my dad gets hospitalized and suddenly our company loses this much money? It all points to foul play."

"We're dealing with some of the shadiest people in the business, they know how to cover their tracks," Jeonghan folded his arms over his chest. "I talked a big game just now but I honestly don't know what to do from here. I don't want your dad to come back to this mess."

"I don't get it," Mingyu started biting nervously at his thumb nail. "They've been with this company for so long, why're they acting up now?"

"Because the head honcho is missing in action," Jeonghan concluded. "They definitely don't respect me or you so of course they'd do it when the boss isn't around."

"Bad blood between you and them as well?" Mingyu asked.

"Let's just say they don't agree with my way of running the office," Jeonghan halted Mingyu from biting his nail. "Things have been rocky since I took over."

"How so?" Mingyu furrowed his brow.

"I suggested a pay raise for our employees as well as paid leave for new parents," Jeonghan replied. "They've hated me every time I mentioned anything that would take away from them pocketing extra cash. They wanted to spend as little on labour as possible and keep all the money within the top one percent -- the rich get richer and the rest work for practically peanuts. My push for changes in the office didn't sit well with our board since it didn't benefit them. I was a major downgrade from the last COO in their eyes."

"So you're the one who made the change to our employee salaries," Mingyu smiled fondly at his lover, for a moment he forgot about their ed up situation.

"Happy employees are loyal employees," Jeonghan reasoned. "Give the people you lead good reason to stay and they'll happily follow orders, why do you think we had such a large growth in the last one and a half years?"

"I really like seeing this dominant side of you," Mingyu commented. "I like seeing the fire in your eyes."

"Come on, let's get out of here," Jeonghan ran a hand through his hair. "I'm exhausted and so are you, you're still recovering and all this stress isn't doing you any favours."

"You care about me that much?" Mingyu teased as Jeonghan held the door open.

"I'm in love with you, you palm tree," Jeonghan reminded the younger man. "I'm supposed to care."

"You know, as much as I hate the situation we're in I'm glad you're here with me," Mingyu reached down to intertwine their fingers. "Not because I want you to suffer with me but because you make me feel like everything's going to be okay. You're the problem solver, the brighter lightbulb, all the qualities that make a leader great."

"You've got me, Kim Mingyu," the brunette tightened his grip on Mingyu's hand. "You don't have to do any more chasing."

"I'm not saying these things just to kiss up to you, hyung," Mingyu bent down so their foreheads touched. "I mean every word, without you here I'd be like headless chicken. I was about to have an actual breakdown in that meeting room just now. You managed to stay calm and take control when I couldn't. Thank you for being here."

"Come on, we'll go back to my place tonight. I'll draw you a nice bath and feed you," Jeonghan tip-toed and gave Mingyu a gentle kiss on the lips. "I'm here for you."

Jeonghan rubbed his tired eyes as he sat alone in his living room. Despite his best efforts it was impossible for him to fall asleep. The brunette stood up and walked over to his bedroom, he leaned against the door frame and stared at a sleeping Mingyu sprawled out on the pastel blue sheets.
The toned lines of the younger man's sunkissed body was a stark contrast against the light fabric. His lover looked so peaceful, it was a shame the younger man had to wake up to such a messed up reality. A part of him wanted Mingyu to stay asleep until everything was okay again, he didn't want to see his lover be crushed under any more weight.

As Jeonghan turned to head back to the living area, the door to Dokyeom's room opened. Jeonghan prepared to greet his sibling but was met with a sleep dis