Hyukjae sat across Shindong with a blank look on his face. His mind was still reeling around the fact that he was about to do a presentation, not only in front of Donghae but also, in the presence of Donghae's brother, Donghae's cousin, and Donghae's ex-fiance. Just thinking of the ensemble in his head was enough to send a cold chill down his spine. He could feel his heart thumping against his chest with each passing second and the dread sinking in deeper down the pit of his stomach as he weighed the pros and cons of his current desire to jump out of the company's building window in his head.

Shindong, who has been patiently waiting for Hyukjae to snap out of his trance, easily sensed that his mind was somewhere very far away from what they needed to discuss at the moment and awkwardly cleared his throat out loud as his small effort to get the two of them back on track. 

"Uhh...Hyukjae, are you feeling okay?" 

Without uttering a word or even sparing him a glance, Hyukjae gave him a small and barely noticeable nod. Whether that was an answer to his question or a mere body reflex due to his current statue like state, Shindong had no clue. Shifting slightly on his seat, he slowly proceeded to open the folder in front of him to take a look at the notes that Hyukjae made and gave an affirmative nod at each page. He took a quick glance at it and seeing the positive projection for their fall launch, he knew there was absolutely no need for Hyukjae to worry about his presentation.

"Hey, don't freak out so much. The numbers look good and Leeteuk hyung will be in the room with you. There's a friendly face to look at if Heechul-ssi or the other partners start giving you a hard time." 

If only the presentation was the only thing gnawing at his nerves, Hyukjae would have been more than assured by Shindong's words.

The latter released a quiet sigh of breath before showing Shindong a small smile.

"Thanks Shindong hyung,but..." he paused and started nervously chewing on the inside of his left cheek. "What-...What if you do the presentation today and I'll do the next one? I don't- I don't think I'm quite ready to be in front of everyone and I don't want to embarrass you or Leeteuk hyung after all the hard work you put into this."

"We put into this," he corrected as soon as Hyukjae finished sharing his sentiment. Shindong smiled brightly at him then got up from his chair across the table to walk behind Hyukjae so he could give him a quick encouraging pat on the shoulder. "Don't get cold feet now," he said then squeezed his shoulder when he saw Hyukjae groan and drop his head back on the table. "You'll be fine. Stop overthinking it. Besides, If you get really nervous up there," Shindong leaned closer to Hyukjae's face and whispered in his ear, "You can always just imagine all of them ," followed by his usual boisterous laughter. 

Hyukjae's ears heated up as the first face that popped in his head was Donghae which lasted all but a second before he quickly changed his reaction into a horrified one as he covered his left ear with his hand and voiced out an even louder groan making Shindong laugh even harder. 

"Hyung!  That's not going to help me at all!"

Shindong ruffled Hyukjae's hair then dropped the folder he was holding in front of him on the table. 

"Stop overthinking it." He brought a finger up on Hyukjae's forehead and lightly tapped on it. "You'll just end up hurting yourself." 

Hyukjae fussed away from Shindong's grip and the second he got away from the other, started fixing the top of his hair to try and shae off his nerves. The mild annoyance he felt proved to be an effective distraction as he was now completely focused on Shindong and his crazy antics rather than the fact that he was about to be face to face with Donghae's ex-fiance and, coincidentally, his apparent boss. 

Maybe Shindong was right. Perhaps...there really was nothing to worry about. 

I mean...Hyukjae took a deep breath and slowly let out a calm even exhale. What's the worst that could happen?

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Donghae was the first one to enter the meeting room with an excited and too wide of a happy smile on his face. His secretary had passed him the memo that Leeteuk sent of Hyukjae hosting his first sales presentation to the team and he wanted to be the first person to greet him when he walks in to set up for their meeting. He thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show Hyukjae that him being "the boss" is more of a perk and that the two of them could work together a lot better than he thinks. Donghae mentally prepared himself to be as professional as he could when Hyukjae walks in. 

He would greet him profesionally. Listen to him professionally. Watch him profesionally. 

Whether or not his actions would convey his intentions, however, would be a completely different story. 

Donghae took his usual seat at the head of the meeting table, right across from where Hyukjae would be standing to show them his slides, and started practicing how to look casual but professional in front of the other. His first move was to keep his back as straight as he could with both arms at a 90-degree angle on the table. He kept that position for about three seconds before letting out a deep exhale and slouching his shoulders. Donghae cleared his throat and lightly shook his head side to side trying to get his head together and casually leaning on his right side with one arm over the side of his chair. The awkwardness of that position was too unbearable for him to keep going and quickly shifted to an upright sitting position with relaxed shoulders. He briefly moved his shoulders up and down trying to find a comfortable position to keep them on when he heard the door open. 

Donghae's instinct kicked in and before he could help himself, he was already up on his feet with a smile on his face as he turned around to greet Hyukjae...only for his smile to fall as he stared into the eyes of the person he least wanted to see in the world. 

"Jessica," Donghae uttered mildly shocked at her presence. "What are you doing here?" 

She stared into Donghae's eyes and showed a soft smile. "Long time no see," she greeted then noticed the formed bruise on his face and frowned. "What happened to you?"

Donghae's mind couldn't think of an answer and barely processed her question in his head. The only thing going through in his mind was what the hell was she doing here in Korea?! 

Jessica's frown deepened at Donghae's silence and without giving it a second thought took a step forward and reached out a hand to touch Donghae's face only to stop midway when the latter stepped away from he