warning: profanity, adult themes

Hating Byun Baekhyun is exhausting. It’s a lot of pretending.

Pretending to not be so ing riled up from the bull he spouts. Pretending to be nonchalant and casual around him because bad es stay unbothered. Pretending that the last thing I would rather do is stay within six feet of him.

And worst of all? I have to pretend that as much as I hate him—he’s not the most breathtaking human being on this planet. It’s a bold statement, but trust me—if my twin brother pulls more girls than the number of guys that bother to bat an eyelash at me, I would know.

High school was a show. Much like everything Byun Baekhyun touches. West Bridge Academy was a prep school splat in the middle of Newton, Massachusetts.

And yes, it did sound as pretentious as it sounded.

Chanyeol and I were shoved into the world of the wealthy at the fresh age of fourteen. Dad likes to call it his quarter-life crisis turned stardom. He wasn’t technically a star, but before Newton, he was dubbed as the pitiful who watched his wife turn her back on him as soon as he lost his job and spiraled into alcoholism.

Our dearest mother remarried while they were separated. She moved to the Hamptons with her multimillionaire husband, and the last I’ve seen of her was when she told me to stay out of Chanyeol’s way.

Safe to say, I haven’t spoken to her since I was thirteen. As for Chanyeol, he still tries to make her happy, and I could only give him a sad pat on the back.

Anyway, where was I? Right, Dad’s path to stardom. Dad was always someone who craved acting like it was the second coming to breathing. He dabbled in theater and broadway in college, but when he met our mother then—he gave it all up for a blue-collared job. He worked in management for a big screenwriting company right after graduate school.

But we all knew he wasn’t happy. Sure, we were comfortable. Mother always told us to be grateful because she knew what rock bottom was. Her own mother was a crackwhore, and she was born out of . Her childhood wasn’t a fairytale, but she made herself through the men she married. And in making herself, she decided that she didn’t need us.

Dad didn’t actually lose his job. He quit. It was a lifetime fight between my parents (not literal for them, but for Chanyeol and me). He wanted to be happy—not just content. She wanted stability, and when she decided her life with him wasn’t enough, she moved on to someone with bigger pockets.

Well, now she’s happy. For a year, Dad told us to give him some time. He promised that we’d never go to bed hungry again, and that came true within six months.

His small supporting roles eventually became the main lead—and then? He was suddenly an A-lister. For a year, we hopped apartments to apartments, and then, Dad bought his second home—our current extravagant home in the wealthy suburban town of Newton where housewife drugs and entrepreneurs were as common as water.

Now here’s where West Bridge Academy comes into play. Dad’s newfound fortunes got him to where prep schools for old money brats were suddenly affordable.

Chanyeol and I were enrolled at West Bridge. My brother was able to fit in like a glove. Coupled with his pretty dimples and charismatic personality, he befriended the most popular kids.

Frankly, I had nothing. I felt like nothing. My own mother abandoned me, and even though, Dad always made sure to be around—he couldn’t. He had his own apartment in LA because that’s where his acting career was.

Moving around gave me the inability to befriend anyone. Okay, I’ll admit. I’m not the easiest to be around. If it wasn’t for Chanyeol, I would have zero friends. I didn’t bother to stay in touch with our childhood friends because I’m not blind.

They merely tolerated me for Chanyeol. And now that I was suddenly surrounded by kids who were wealthy their entire lives, I couldn’t relate to “Daddy bought me a range rover when I clearly gave enough cues that I wanted a jaguar!”

Well, boo ing hoo. Those kids would have shriveled up in their own skin if they’d gone through ratty apartments we resided in for an entire year.

One of Chanyeol’s friends was indeed Byun Baekhyun. It was on sight. I hated him ever since he called me ma cerise. Bold of him to use possessives when we clearly knew nothing about each other. At first, I wondered if I was too harsh on him.

No. I was definitely not. He was indeed the scummiest human being alive. If he wasn’t sticking his tongue down someone’s throat, he would exchange conniving comments with me.

But I didn’t care about any of that. I could match his resentment just fine. I hated his confidence. He wore it like a second skin as if he could strut into any room, and everyone would fold for him. And they ing did.

He was like a ing tyrant without a crown. Everyone did his bidding. He reminded me of my own mother the way he could shred my heart apart with just a look.

I could tell you about a hundred stories of my experience in West Bridge. The bastard ostracized me like nobody did. I was never touched or was the topic of anyone’s rage due to my relation to Chanyeol. But , Byun Baekhyun made it his personal mission to treat me like I was nothing more than a gnat on his journey to kissing the sky.

He wasn’t outright terrible, but he academically gaslighted me. He stole my position of valedictorian. He made me feel as if four years of slaving away to perfect grades and being the president of almost every goddamn club was worthless. How do I know it wasn’t simply because he was smarter than me?

It was overnight. Right after I was announced valedictorian during our senior night. The next day, I was suddenly salutatorian, and if you could just see the -eating grin on his face. I wanted to take my medal and ram it down his throat as far as I could.

To top that, he made out with my then-boyfriend the night of our prom. Yes, you heard me right. The bastard not only took my number one position, but he also stole my boyfriend just to spite me.

I’d never wanted to kill him more than ever. I still do, but at least, I’m good at hiding it. It’s the only thing I have over him. The ability to control my own emotions. I will never give him what he wants. A reaction.

So, as much as I’d hoped he was some ugly troll with buck teeth and a spotty beard with gross bald spots—he wasn’t. Byun Baekhyun was the furthest thing from ugly. He was stunning in his own entirety with glossy, thick black hair, eyes that never dialed away from the constant crinkle of amusement (as if the entire world was accessible in his palms), and a smile that was so frightening that it has never failed to affect me despite my constant cold shoulders.

Baekhyun had a boy blush that made him look innocent as if he was an angel graced from God himself. It almost made me believe he wasn’t the menace to society that he was.

Almost being the keyword. Chanyeol likes to tell everyone that I’m his complete opposite. Chanyeol’s emotions were always on his sleeve. He was a happy guy in general. Me? I eat people’s happiness like it’s my day job. I made my ex-boss cry as an intern. To be fair, he was a complete dimwit who couldn’t read if his life depended on it, and he was the chief editor for ’s sake. I thank God every day that he was fired from our merge.

Speaking of our merge, it may be just the worst day of my life with the news that the company executives have decided to disclose to our staff.

Before the merge, I worked as one of the many editors we had in the editorial department of the Lucky Letters Publishing House, or LL for short. It was a small start-up with a couple of members before several of our books reached the New York Times’s Best Seller.

However, when the market took a hit, instead of finding innovations to keep up with other publishing houses, our CEO managed to fumble with the remaining money we had left and got himself in some deep . Lucky for us (see what I did there?), we had a generous amount of bestsellers to save us.

As of yesterday, LL was bought by Fresh Prince Prints or FPP. They’ve found success in expanding their business to book/coffee shop chains, and they skyrocketed to being one of the top publishing houses turned corporations.

As much as I hated corporations, I loved my job too much to forgo LL.

Half of the LL staff was let go which left me and several other people. The FPP executives told us that they could only keep people with a long list of accomplishments which was essentially the same as dividing what was once a cohesive, loving staff.

At least during my brief five years at LL, we had camaraderie among us. It kept us together. I can’t say the same for FPP. They were the complete opposite. They were like bloodthirsty sharks that capitalized off of everything. In layman’s terms, they were the s who stole ideas from unpaid interns and turned them into a billion-dollar company.

LL was homely. Though our company was a bit on the old Y2K aesthetic, we had a nice lounge area with a ginormous brown sofa for reading and relaxing. Our ex-boss focused on a stress-free environment because he said that productivity went hand-in-hand.

FPP, on the other hand, was cold. There was no human spirit. No big brown couches for relaxation. It was a corporate setting where the rich eat the poor. The place was as modern as can be with an open concept which meant no privacy. You could hear the clattering of keyboards from miles away, and you could even hear your coworker snore from the opposite side of the room.

That was how quiet and inane the editorial department was here. It was cutthroat.

And so you can tell how well it went when I watched as Baekhyun sat in the chair beside me, facing the CEO, as we both heard the words of our undoing.

“You’re both being promoted. Well. Sort of. Think of it as a test run. You’re the best editors we have, and I need to fill the chief editor position. As of right now, I’m thinking you both will boost our merging with your fantastic teamwork. Of course, we’ll have to decide on who’s better for the position by doing an assessment at the end of the year. But for now, I want to see you both work together. Let me know if this interests you. And remember, I always have others that would love to do my bidding.”

What an . Simon Mcgrath wasn’t a gentle, romantic soul like Harold Adamson. Maybe that’s why Harold’s company was bought by Simon’s. I’d heard rumors that Simon ate people’s liveliness for a living, but I didn’t fathom how much of a domineering he was until now.

Simon’s declaration wasn’t a question. It was a threat. If I didn’t accept, he’d replace me in a heartbeat. Baekhyun, per usual, doesn’t even bat an eye as he says, “Simon, you know I love a good challenge. Count me in.” Does this ever seriously contemplate anything in his life?

Probably not considering that he decided it was a good idea to make out with my ex-boyfriend in front of me.

Now, it’s my turn. Simon and Baekhyun both fixate on me, feeding onto my silence like hungry vampires. They’re pressuring me to answer.

I clench my jaw before smiling tightly. I know myself well enough to admit that I obviously deserve the position. I just hated the conditions that came with it. I lean back into my chair and cross my arms. “I’ll do it.”

My blood pressure spikes through the roof when Baekhyun smirks beside me. I had twelve months left, and from the start, it looked like this was going to be a bumpy ride.

Oh, it. I never cared about Baekhyun’s antics, so why start now?    

[a/n] hello hello i was debating whether to update cotc but you know what? i have no inspiration nor motivation to write something complicated. see. i wanted this to be lighthearted and then it got real so i guess the adult tag was realistic HAHA. but hey idk why contemporary romance is so much easier for me to write. i love me a good office romance so here we are. i'm definitely going to do more bite-sized chapters for this one. anyway we love a cocky baekhyun, don't we?