For a long time, Ten just stood there. Ten's typical armor, of thick silver rings and chains, dotted with black gems and skulls, flowing black silks, perfectly not done up but definitely done up hair, black nail polish, the knowledge of his tattoos underneath it all, it did nothing for him now. His usual protection was gone. 

And so was Kun's. With his shoulders slumped in, his typical suit looked silly rather than professional, like it was a size too big for him. The anxiety of it all somehow made a couple of locks of his perfectly quaffed, gelled hair fall out of place. 

If Ten thought he was nervous, the panic in Kun's eyes was tenfold his own. The tension in that lobby was so thick you could cut it with a knife. 

At least they had each other. Their usual protections gone, the other was all that was left. 

Ten usually wasn't one to rely on others, but Kun was all he had for now.

"What the is it?" Ten half whispered, half mouthed. Kun just winced and shrugged. 

"He'll see you know," the secretary calmly spoke, ushing the boys into the office. 

It was half child's bedroom, half tacky display of wealth. The CEO had never looked sillier sitting in the middle of it all, dressed in his typical tech boss sweatpants and unkempt hair. 

"Sit, please." The coolness in his voice stopped Ten's mental ridicule in its tracks. The silence felt palpable as Kun and Ten sat carefully across from the CEO's desk. 

"Boys....there's been a certain rumor."

Alright, straight to business.

"A rumor that I've been taking company funds. Wh-which is absolutely not true at all! Of course not!"

Ten barely suppressed his laughter; so Kun had been right. 

"And we have reason to believe you two are the people behind this rumor."

Ten and Kun rapidly turned to each other, eyes locked in fear. The glimpse of doubt in Kun's eyes was brief, fading to trust in a moment. Ten thanked god Kun knew it wasn't him. 

Of course it wasn't him!

"First of all, what is that reason? How would I know anything about anything; I'm in the dress up department..."

"We have reports." 

"And do these reports come with evidence?"

Ten noticed Kun staring at his lap out of the corner of his eye, breath rate climbing. It didn't look like Kun enjoyed Ten's back-talking, but there was no way Ten was going to let them get accused of things they didn't do. 

"They come from a trustworthy source. So unless you can prove that you two didn't do it, we will be forced to cut your internships short. Without recommendation."

"So there's no such thing as innocent until proven guilty at this company?" 

"I would suggest not talking back if you even want a chance of staying."

"I-" Ten started, catching his breath and pausing. He spared a glance at Kun. If it was just him....he would be out of here in a second. But as much as he wanted it to be, it wasn't just him anymore. So he sighed and fell silent. "Alright. We'll...get to work." 

The CEO eyed them both. "Good idea." He gave them a wry, unbelieving smile, and Kun and Ten awkwardly left their seats to leave, heads hanging low like school children.

As soon as they left the office, Ten's barely suppressed rage boiled back over, power walking away from the damn place. Kun trailed behind with his head still held down. 

"This is ridiculous. This is absolutely ridiculous! Like, why the would anyone think it was us?" Ten started pacing, back and forth of the middle of an empty hallway. Kun just swallowed and slumped his back against the wall. 

"How could we even prove it wasn't us?" Kun asked quietly, defeat laced in his voice. 

"They're asking us to find the culprits instead of doing their job. Which is absolutely insane and probably illegal. Not to mention that the CEO is definitely illegal already." Ten rolled his eyes at the thought. But at the sound of a thump, he turned around. 

Kun sat on the floor of the company hall, resting his arms and head on his knees, nothing behind his eyes. 

Ten's heart broke. 

"A-are you okay?" 

Kun slowly shook his head. "It's over. Having your internship get cut short...no recommendation... nobody's going to hire me. Nobody." 

"But it isn't fair! Wouldn't a future employer understand?" 

"This is the way most companies work. If you're known as a snitch..."

Ten scoffed. "That's ed up." 

"Life's ed up." 

Ten stood, leaning against the wall behind him. Part of him so badly just wanted to say it and leave, maybe throw an unkind word or two in the CEO's face on his way out, but he stopped himself. His future was at stake. And somehow more importantly, Kun's future was at stake. 

"Where do we even start? Why would we have even been accused in the first place? Who would think to accuse us? If we could get to the bottom of that, we might have a chance, but it just doesn't make sense." 

"I think I have some idea. And for them, it does make sense." Kun chuckled sadly. "Which is why it's hopeless." 

"Who? Why? But-"

Kun released a haggard sigh. "It's gotta be those guys, Ten." Ten sighed back. Kun must have meant the frat boys he used to hang around with. "How could I have been so stupid?" Kun's face fell into his arms and Ten felt his heart ache, reaching out to rub his back. 

Kun flinched. Harshly. 

"It's gonna be okay, Kun. If you really think it's those guys, we can figure it out!"

"We?" 

The hall fell utterly silent. And Ten's heart sank. 

"What do you mean?" Ten asked, unable to keep the bite out of his voice.

"Ten, I've...I've been...distracted." 

"Distracted? Distracted from what? Your work? Your school stuff? I don't think so. You've been distracted from kissing to frat bros whose dads are gonna be your future bosses, right?" 

"Ten-"

"If you hadn't been ing distracted by me, then none of this would've happened, right? You would still be in their good graces." Ten chuckled darkly. "So it's all my fault, is that what you're trying to say?"

"No, Ten, it's not your fault-"

"Then it's your fault for associating with me. For associating with someone like me." Ten stood again and walked at a slow pace, back and forth, the steps of his hard shoes reverberating through the hall. Anything to avoid looking at Kun.

Kun swallowed and pointedly looked away, his lips shut tight.

Ten just laughed. "Well, Kun, I hate to break it to you, but you are like me. Your future..." Ten laughed again. "Your future is meaningless, if that's how you want to live it. Spending your time with frat guy douchebags I know you can't stand, dating girls and pretending to love them...Kun, it doesn't matter how stable that life is, you're gonna be miserable! There's no happiness in that. And what's the point of a future without happiness?"

Kun's breathing was heavy, but Ten couldn't even stand to look at him. 

"But if that's really what you want, I'll leave you alone. It's not my ing job to show you the truth. You have to figure it out for yourself." Ten was facing Kun now, finally able to look him in the eye. This time, it was Kun who couldn't meet his gaze. Ten felt sick just looking at him; sick for Kun, sick for himself, and his heart cracked into a million pieces. 

Finally, he found the courage to walk away, his steps carrying him as fast as he could go, not sparing even a second of a glance behind him. He burst out of the front door. The fresh air whipped him in the face and he just couldn't keep it together anymore. Anger collapsed into heart-wrenching, his sobs coming out uncontrollably. 

How could he have let this happen? Ten was the one who had gotten distracted. From who he was supposed to be, from how he was supposed to live. Cool Ten, now crouched on the sidewalk with fat, disgusting tears streaming down his face. 

How could he let himself feel this way about someone who would betray him so easily? How could he let himself feel this way at all?

This was karma, getting back at him for letting himself fall for a finance hetero crypto bro. Ten's brain protested, but that wasn't who Kun was! He was sweet and funny and probably not hetero, thinking back on their hookups. 

But Ten shut himself down. It didn't matter if Kun wasn't a finance hetero crypto bro, that's who he wanted to be, and who he was going to be. Ten knew that all along, or at least, he should've known it. And yet this still happened. 

He hiccuped. .