“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also harder to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say ‘My heart is broken’.”

Clive Staples Lewis

“Are you ready to go, Hyukjae-ssi?”

Hyukjae looked up from scrolling through his phone only to be welcomed by the aesthetically pleasing sight of his boss. Donghae was cladded in white open-collared shirt and crimson business coat, paired up with black slacks with his black shoulder-length hair styled to perfection. The other also sported an expensive-looking ray ban sunglasses. Overall, he looked as dashing as ever and Hyukjae did not hold back a teasing whistle.

“Oho! Looking quite good, boss,” the romance novelist playfully remarked and was left in shock when Donghae observed him back from head to toe, smirking afterwards.

“You don’t look bad either, Hyukjae-ssi,” Donghae responded and Hyukjae felt the tips of his ears getting warmer at the other’s words. He still could not fathom why his boss had this special effect on him whenever Donghae complimented his works or just simply acted nice and decent towards him.

As they walked to the parking lot where their driver for today was waiting, Hyukjae looked at his own reflection from the glass windows. In contrast to Donghae, he was wearing a black polo shirt and navy blue business coat, paired up with white slacks and his blonde hair was brushed back. Thank God he was gifted with an awesome fashion sense because if he was not, he would really look like a piece of trashy rug walking next to his boss who seemed like he could conquer even the runway.

When they arrived at the parking lot, a black convertible 2019 Mercedes E-Class Cabriolet came to sight and Hyukjae was taken aback. He knew Donghae was filthy rich but he did not know he was THAT rich. A man in his early fifties greeted them and Hyukjae recognized him as Mr. Park who worked full time as the company’s driver and technician. They interacted already for several occasions before.

“Sit wherever you like.”

Hyukjae heard Donghae muttered as the latter opened the door of the backseat. He, on the other hand, did not have to think twice and just slid in beside his boss. Donghae looked like he did not mind at all where he sat as the younger just pulled out several folders from his black attaché case.

The drive was pretty much comfortable amidst the silence with a soft classical music booming from the radio. Hyukjae just settled on enjoying the view outside as he did not want his phone to be drained. He made a mistake of placing his power bank inside his luggage case which was unfortunately placed in the car’s trunk. He would not want to take the risk of having low battery throughout the rest of the ride.

From time to time, he threw glances at his boss from his peripheral view and frowned when he saw the other still reading something. Deciding that he had enough, he faced Donghae.

“Don’t you get motion sickness or something?” Hyukjae curiously asked, carefully trying to take away the folder from the other’s grasp. Donghae did not budge making him frowned deeper.

“I don’t experience such thing, Hyukjae-ssi. I am already used to things like these.” His boss did not even spare him a glance. Hyukjae internally pouted at the hostility.

“You can just call me Hyukjae, you know?”

Maybe the other was just too engrossed to what he was reading that he did not manage to catch his words.

“Pardon?” Donghae asked, his partial attention now towards Hyukjae.

Hyukjae just shook his head. “Nothing. I said that you can drop the formalities with me, boss. You can just simply call me Hyukjae or whatsoever.” He was basically rambling whatever that made Donghae smirked at him.

“Fair enough, Lee,” his boss impishly said. He almost argued back that Donghae's surname was also Lee but the other already handed him a folder. “Anyway, here’s the schedule and syllabus for the conference. Ask me if you find something incomprehensible or if you have any questions,” he added.

Hyukjae nodded, skimming through the pages on the folder. Unlike Donghae, Hyukjae had a terrible case of motion sickness. “I’ll just go through this later at the hotel we’re staying at. Unlike you, I easily get dizzy and nauseous.”

“Okay then, but let me just give you a short briefing. After we checked in to the hotel, we have the rest of the day for ourselves but we need to attend the dinner later along with the other representatives. The symposium and the main conference would be morning until afternoon tomorrow, then we’re free for the last day,” Donghae explained and he nodded his head from time to time, answering a brief “Okay”.

A short flashback for what was happening: The following day after Donghae returned from his sick leave, he received an invitation for a conference seminar specifically set for all romance novelists in their province. Being the leading publication company, Donghae immediately accepted the invitation and since Hyukjae was now their romance novelist, he was instantly summoned and informed about the matter.

Hyukjae was ecstatic upon hearing the news because truth be told, he cannot wait to learn and understand more about romance novels, how to be an efficient writer, and the likes. Kyuhyun also told him that a conference like that was indeed fun, relaxing, and truly helpful as he, himself, also experienced attending such conventions.

If there was one thing they liked about their boss, it was his good sense and decisions in accepting invitations and offers as well as taking them to said events. It turned out that the conference wa