"Hyung, you alright?"

"What do you mean? Of course."

 

Donghae looked sadly at Heechul while strapping his seat belt. Although the older kept smiling, he knew better. Today was the day for the second meeting and to make it worse, the companies agreed to hold the agenda in the hotel. It was a lie to say that Heechul wasn't concerned but he couldn't let the others notice what he felt, simply because he was their employer so he should show his professionalism. Yet, on the other hand, he also wanted to let Jungsoo knew that he had moved on although deep inside his heart, the fading love for the latter kept struggling to break free to say how Heechul missed the CEO a lot.

 

 

 

"Hyung, can I ask you something?" Donghae timidly said, keeping his gaze on the outside.

"Go ahead."

'But please, don't ask anything about him.'

Unknowingly, Heechul's grip on the steering wheel tightened and his breathing started to be slightly uneven. He just wanted to finish his work and went back to his office, hiding from what could hurt him. After sighing audibly, Donghae looked at his boss and asked carefully, "What's wrong with you and Teuk-hyung? Don't bluff by telling there's nothing because clearly, something happened."

 

 

Keeping his composed self, Heechul laughed instead of answering his assistant's piercing question. He had to ready his shield to protect him like what he always did. He glanced briefly at his assistant and said nonchalantly, "Honestly? That damn CEO is clearly swooned by my charm. Well, I'm not surprised tho, but he just had to be very insane and confessed his feelings for me. As if I cared, he just wasted his time as well as mine."

"Hyung... You cried that day."

"And so? He had crossed the line and it scratched my pride badly. I was so tired and he chose to add my problems. My crying was the result of pent up anger, exhausted mind, and his stupid feelings. Don't imagine things because you obviously got the wrong idea."

 

 

As much as Heechul's reason sounded so believable, he still felt there was something the latter didn't share with him. And it somehow hurt him because after all these years, he, still, wasn't allowed to enter Heechul's little castle even when the older knew he had no bad intentions.

 

 

"What about your feeling, Hyung?"

Heechul snickered once again. He laughed until he teared up; no one knew the reason behind his tears.

"Listen fishy and drill what I'm about to say to your head. I've changed and you know that. I've left that dark period of mine and that Heechul has died long ago. Come on, don't make me nauseous, I could get any women if I want. They're lining up to kiss me and you know that's the fact. So, shoo away your unhealthy delusion and just focus on your own relationship with that monkey..."

 

 

As his boss explained, Donghae slowly thought that maybe he was just making things up. Perhaps, there was indeed nothing going on between his boss and Hyukjae's brother. Although it didn't ease his worry at all, he just wanted to believe what Heechul said and support him nevertheless.

 

 

 

"...and no one could guarantee if he is really sincere or just wants to toy me and then throw me away when he's bored. No one knows if he wouldn't hurt me."

 

 

Donghae's train of thought was cut abruptly as he listened to Heechul's almost inaudible whisper. It smashed his initial intention to believe what Heechul had said. He knew his boss too well and now everything made sense. Heechul was still haunted by his painful past. He couldn't confirm the latter's feeling for Jungsoo but it didn't really matter now. What hurt Donghae was the fact that Heechul hadn't moved on.

 

 

 

Heechul inhaled deeply and prepared himself mentally and physically as a familiar massive building was nearing. The memory of their lunch flashed his mind and his heart twitched a little.

 

 

 

 

 

 

][-ooo-][

 

 

 

 

 

Jungsoo's mood had fluctuated severely since yesterday. The reason was no other than the meeting with the company he was currently waiting for. He sat restlessly as he was trying so hard to be professional and put aside his problem with him. Unknown to him, Hyukjae had been observing his attitude and the younger felt concerned.

 

"Hyung, are you sure you're ok-"

"Enough. Be professional, Mr. Lee."

Hyukjae only rolled his eyes then smirked mockingly, "Good advice, Mr. Park. Maybe you could give that to my brother."

 

 

And he left the room to wait for the expected people. With all of his might, Jungsoo only clenched his fists to calm himself down. He heard a rustle and soft talking from the outside of the conference room and his heart started to pound wildly.

'Be professional, Jungsoo. Dammit.'

 

 

---

 

 

 

Each step Heechul took brought him slowly to the room where he was in. The closer he got, the more his tears wanted to escape. The thought of being professional be damned, what he focused now was how to keep his head high and not to break down in front of him. A wide double door with silver lining and elegant design was on his sight and he knew he couldn't escape. As he inhaled deeply, he followed the lead from the hotel staff.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

When the door opened, Jungsoo's eyes were trained to look for a particular man. It didn't take long for him to find him. The moment his eyes landed on Heechul, he realized how much he missed the latter. His heart was torn between beating crazily just like how a teenage girl met her crush, yet his heart also started to ache badly as if Heechul was here to break him once again.

All of the staff had entered the room and it was actually the right time for him to greet the designer, yet he was muted. Heechul couldn't even bring his eyes to look at him and it hurt him a little. After God knew how long, he finally found his lost composure and greeted him, "Good morning, Mr. Kim. Welcome to our hotel."

 

 

The calmness lacing the CEO's words was like a bullet aimed directly to his chest. The fact that Jungsoo was able to talk normally to him like that slapped him hard. It felt unfair how Heechul was hurting yet the latter seemed unconcerned. He mentally patted his back to have expelled him because he started to believe that Jungsoo was indeed insincere from day one. He dared himself to look at the man in front of him and greet back. However, the moment their eyes met, all his doubt was shattered as he felt like he could see through Jungsoo's calm gaze and he knew for sure that Jungsoo also tried his best