The next twenty-four hours passed by in a blur. Ten cried so hard that he ran out of emotion at all, passing out as soon as he got home. Not even coffee could save him at this point; in fact, the thought of eating or drinking anything made him sick. 

What else could he do but go to work? So Ten put himself on autopilot and went into Neo Culture Tech, the stares of his fellow interns just bouncing off of him in his numbed-out state. 

A few minutes after Ten arrived, collapsing into his chair, not even a moment to start his work, Jungeun approached him. "Um...the CEO wants to see you again."

And for the first time in twenty-four hours, Ten felt coherent, awake, alive. 

Was it over? Was Kun going to be there too?

Hyunjin gave Ten a supportive pat on the back and Ten followed after Jungeun. Her steps were softer, out of defeat or happiness Ten couldn't tell, let alone what they meant for himself. 

But there in the lobby, Ten's heart soared or sank, he couldn't tell. All he knew was that it did something to him, seeing Kun with his eyes downcast in a chair, radiating shame and defeat. Ten didn't even notice Jungeun leave, just slowly taking a seat beside him. Kun sighed softly, and Ten steeled himself for silence. 

"Ten," Kun breathed out. Ten turned to him rapidly. His name in Kun's voice sounded so gentle, so soft, and Ten's stomach turned with anxiety and hope he shouldn't have. 

"Ten, I'm sorry. I...things have been a lot lately, and I guess I'm just scared. But that's no excuse." He sighed again and looked away shyly. "You're right. None of this matters without some bit of happiness. And ever since you entered my life...I can't imagine having happiness without you in it. So no matter what happens right now...I'll stand by your side." 

Ten's jaw dropped, trying to find the words to possibly express his shock and happiness when the CEO's office door popped open. 

"He'll see you now," the secretary spoke. 

Ten didn't have time to say anything, but the brief look he and Kun shared, soft smiles between them, was enough for now. 

Following her into the office, sitting in the same seats as the day before, Ten's anxiety spiked. At least this time he was sure he had Kun by his side no matter what. 

"Boys..." the CEO began.  "Well, I have nothing to do here except apologize." 

Neither Ten nor Kun could hide their massive sighs of relief until they remembered this very same man's behavior from the day before. He had seemed so sure they were the culprits and he'd been such a about it too! Ten just hoped he could get the satisfaction of seeing this guy groveling at their feet. 

"We do have solid evidence this time. Solid evidence that lets us know you two had nothing to do with this unfortunate...incident. The rumor mill can be quite vicious." The CEO let out a fake laugh, and Kun and Ten shared a look. "We hope you two will look past this...oversight on our part and continue with your internships here. And look out for some more opportunities with us post-graduation." He wiggled his eyebrows as if continuing to work for Neo Culture Technology was the biggest incentive he could possibly offer. 

Ten looked over at Kun, trying to read his face. But Kun was wearing his most polite smile, eyes on the CEO. 

"Actually, I think I'll pass. Ten?" 

Ten choked on air for a second before shaking his head, looking back and forth between Kun and the R2-D2 statue behind the CEO's desk. "M-me too." 

"Hm, I'm not too sure you want to do that. Leaving an internship early could lead to a lack of recommendation." 

"Really..." Kun breathed out, leaning back in the chair. With his suit, perfectly coiffed hair, and the confidence radiating off of him, Kun was the one who truly looked like a CEO. Ten flushed a bit and looked down at his lap before willing himself to calm down. Now, if ever, was not the time to be . "What legal precedent do you have for that? Especially in the wake of such severe false accusations?" 

The CEO swallowed and sat up, looking down at the desk for a moment and scooting forward in his chair. "Understood. I just thought that you two might be smart enough to take a good opportunity when presented to you. But...I see. I'll have your recommendations sent in the next week or two." He started uncomfortably reorganizing the pages on his desk. "You can contact my secretary if you have any other concerns." 

Kun smiled and stood up. "Thank you." Ten followed, and the two silently made their way out of the office. 

As soon as they were free, all the could do was exhale massively. It was over! And they were fine! They were free!

"Let's get out of this dump," Ten said softly. 

Kun just nodded and the two boys practically ran out of the building, the wind and sunshine outside hitting their faces and erasing that cold feeling of being stuck inside those oppressive walls. They smiled at each other again and pulled themselves into a tight hug, not knowing who reached out first, not particularly caring. 

Ten felt every bad feeling within him wash away as Kun's strong arms kept him in their grip. Their breathing slowed down, taking a moment to match in rhythm. He lifted his head up from the crook of Kun's shoulder to find Kun already looking at him, something in his gaze making Ten feel shy but alive. 

He looked down at the concrete ground sharply. "I-I know you and I doesn't really make sense, but-" 

Kun lifted Ten's chin up with his masculine but soft fingers. "But it does." 

And before either of them could remember that they were in the middle of the sidewalk, right in front of their former place of employment, lips were on lips. 

God, it was different than when they were having , all quick lust and pent-up desire. Now it was like they got to take their time, for the first time, Kun's plush lips sliding softly against Ten's own. There was desire there of course, there always would be, but Ten could feel the love beginning to bloom behind Kun's kiss. And Ten could feel it in himself too. 

Of course this made sense. 

They took a moment to pause, Kun's breath fanning across his face before they were kissing again, like all that tension before was broken and now, they couldn't bear to be apart. 

"Excuse me..." 

Ten and Kun rapidly broke apart from each other, blush staining both of their cheeks, sharing shy smiles and looking between each other and the ground. Jungeun was standing in front of them, barely holding back her own laughter. 

"H-hey Jungeun..." Ten croaked out. As much as he didn't give a , it was still a bit awkward for his (now former) boss to see him making out in the street.

"I hope I'm not interrupting a moment..." 

"Of course not," Kun lied. 

"We'll be able to do that as much as we want later," Ten said, and Kun gave him a look. "So what's up?"

"I just wanted to apologize for that entire situation. The company reacted completely poorly, and I'm so glad you two had the courage to leave because of that." 

"Thanks Jungeun." 

"It's much appreciated," Kun added. 

"Can I just ask what actually did happen?" Ten asked. 

Jungeun released a deep, angry sigh. "Well....Mr. Qian, some of your former friends were in on the CEO's plans, if you know what I mean. One of them slipped up and said everything while drunk at some...college party." There was disgust in her tone at the very thought of a college party. "To cover for their friend and themselves, they came up with a plan to put the blame on you two, especially Ten. Because you...seemed likely." She made a face at the phrase, and Ten immediately knew what she meant. "When the CEO told me, asking me to keep an eye on you, I immediately knew the whole thing was ridiculous. And...perhaps I threatened to sue for blatant homophobia at the fact that you two were specifically blamed without cause...and perhaps I was let go from the company because of that..." 

"They fired you?" 

"No, I was let go," she insisted. "At least that looks better on paper."

"You didn't have to do that for us..." Kun said quietly. 

"I didn't do it just for you two. I did it for all of us at the company who don't fit into his ideal employee standard." 

"Wow..." 

"But, I realized it was pointless to try and fit myself into a company's standards when that company clearly doesn't appreciate my worth as an employee..."

"Damn right," Ten mumbled. 

"So I'm forming my own company. And I'd like to bring you two on as my first interns." 

Kun and Ten slowly shared a smile. "We would love that." 

"Alright. I'll send you the address of my new office building. You two can have the rest of the day to...canoodle." 

Ten snorted and Kun flushed, hiding a smile. 

"Will do." 

She waved goodbye and walked down the street, Ten and Kun turning back to each other. Kun reached for Ten's hand, interlacing his fingers with his own. 

"To our future?" 

"To our future." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's it! I hope you all enjoyed my silly lil story. I'm sorry it took a bit to finish but at least it got done! Please let me know all of your thoughts, they're very encouraging to me as a writer <3

What's next for me? I'm planning to finish up the twice summer camp au and ceo!jaemin nomin fic i started last summer. I hate to leave a story unfinished! If either of those sound interesting to you, you can find them here and here. After that...i could use your help. 

writing is a huge passion of mine and of course the act of writing is a major part of the joy. but i feel like fics ive recently dont have the same engagement as some of my past stuff (which im aware is probably because i dont update as frequently as i used to and that's made my quality of writing suffer) (but i dont think thats the only problem). comments are a huge motivator for me to write, so im hoping that whatever i write next will be a hit (lmao). what kind of stories do people want to read these days? what pairings? are fics about one couple or an "ensemble" of the group more popular? is a taboo or more popular than ever? please let me know!!! i will definitely take any advice into account. 

if youve read this far, i literally love you. in fact, i love everyone who has read any of my works at all, left a like/kudo, or a comment, or save/bookmarked it. it means so much to me. i remember comments/readers from all the way back when i started writing eight years ago at the age of 15. you all dont know how much you mean to me. 

have the best life ever and i hope to see you all at my next story!

sincerely, rainbowdonkeys