Chapter Text
Kim Mingyu blinks once. Twice.
He stares incredulously at the small envelope sitting atop his desk.
Jeon Wonwoo, Letter of Resignation.
That’s not right, Mingyu thinks, Secretary Jeon wouldn’t quit.
The man had been with Mingyu since the beginning. They spent 7 years together at SVT Corporations. Promotion after promotion, the two stuck together and worked together (although it was a lot more Wonwoo working for Mingyu) until they got to the position they were in now, with Mingyu as Vice President of the company.
There was no way Secretary Jeon would quit on him.
Would he?
Mingyu, still somewhat in a state of shock, presses the buzzer at the edge of his desk to call in the man occupying the cubicle right outside his office.
A small click is heard as said man enters the room and carefully closes the glass door behind him as to not disturb his boss. He gives a thin smile and a shallow bow. “Did you need anything, Vice Presid-”
“Who entered my office before I came?” Mingyu leans back on his chair with fake relaxation and stares down his secretary, eyes squinting ever so slightly with suspicion.
“Just me, sir. I came, as always, to-“
“No,” there’s a slight edge to Mingyu’s voice as he grows impatient, “Someone else entered and left something to prank me. Who?”
Secretary Jeon’s eyebrows draw themselves together slightly, “Mingyu, I can’t recall anyone except for me entering your office this morni-“
“Then recall harder until you can!” Mingyu groans and stands up, exasperated. “It was Seungcheol, wasn’t it? Geez… is it payback for that time I changed the sugar in the executives’ break room into salt? He’s got to let that go. That happened, like, three days ago.”
A light sigh is heard (Wonwoo couldn’t keep it in, and better a light sigh than the scream he so desperately wants to let out right now), and Mingyu turns to look at his secretary, whose eyebrows were still furrowed.
“Someone tried to prank you, sir? If I may ask, what was it? I can ask around t-“
Mingyu walks over to return to the desk and all but throws the supposed resignation letter towards Wonwoo. He misses, however, and the envelope lands on the carpeting on the secretary’s left.
The black-haired man blinks once, and then crouches to retrieve it and neatly places it atop Mingyu’s desk once more. “Sir, why are you giving this back? You haven’t read my resignation letter ye-“
Mingyu raises a hand to signal the secretary to go silent. He nears the man and glares.
“You’re telling me,” he starts slowly, “That this isn’t a joke? You actually want to resign?”
A small nod. “Yes, I’ve started drafting the job posting to find a suitable replacement. Rest assured…”
Mingyu drowns the deep voice of his secretary out as he retrieves the letter of resignation. He pauses to look at it, actually look at it, and proceeds to let out a bark of laughter.
His secretary pauses his dialogue (although it was more a monologue with Mingyu not paying attention) to stare at his boss who was bending over with high-pitched laughter. Before he could inquire what the joke was, however, Mingyu walks towards him with the envelope in hand, and roughly rips the the piece of stationery in two.
“No.” He looks at a wide-eyed Wonwoo with a smug expression. “My answer is no. Now leave.”
Mingyu could swear he sees Secretary Jeon’s jaw tighten as the older man turns his back to him, but he writes it off as a figment of his imagination. He’s the one who should be upset, after all. His secretary wanted to quit a perfectly good job with a perfect boss. If anything, Wonwoo should be thanking Mingyu for knocking some sense into him.
Mingyu smiles smugly as he looks at the spot on the carpeting where the two ripped halves of the envelope landed earlier. Wonwoo had thrown them away before he left, of course, to appease his boss’s neat freak tendencies. But it’s the thought that counts when Mingyu looks at the patch of flooring victoriously as if to say, I beat you. I stopped Secretary Jeon from quitting.
Needless to say, the events that happened inside Mingyu’s office earlier do not stop Secretary Jeon from quitting.
In fact, there’s newly fueled determination in his body as he writes a new letter of resignation, typewritten this time (Who has the balls to rip a handwritten letter to shreds before reading it? Kim Mingyu apparently.) to submit to his boss once again.
Wonwoo wouldn’t lie and say that he didn’t think of reporting the aforementioned incident to HR. He was pretty sure that ripping an employee’s resignation letter and telling them that they weren’t allowed to quit their job broke some bylaw in the company’s handbook.
Alas, he remembers the last time he tried to report Mingyu to the Human Resources Department (Mingyu threw a hissy fit when he saw his secretary typing the report and did only the exact opposite of what Wonwoo would instruct for the rest of the week. Safe to say, Chairman Kim was not at all pleased at the behavior of his son, and Wonwoo spent the weekend consoling his boss using comforting techniques he found on a child-raising forum, which, in all fairness, actually worked on the tall man-child.) and decides not to do so.
He’s on the second to the last paragraph of the letter when the company’s Chief Operating Officer casually rounds the corner and comes to view.
Wonwoo immediately stands up and bows in greeting, which elicits a warm smile from the executive.
He straightens, “COO Choi. What brings you here?”
“Secretary Jeon,” Seungcheol gives a respectful bow of his head, “I’m here to see Mingyu, we’re going to eat lunch together. I apologize for not informing you earlier.”
Wonwoo’s eyes widen ever so slightly, and he quickly shakes head.
“You have nothing to apologize for. You’re the Vice President’s friend, you don’t have to inform me whenever you two are hanging out. Do enjoy your lunch.”
Seungcheol lets out a lighthearted chuckle, “Same to you.” He enters Mingyu’s office and the two casually greet each other before Seungcheol flops on the leather sofa and makes himself at home.
Wonwoo doesn’t give this a second glance as he’s seen it all before, he’s simply content that he was able to have a conversation, no matter how short, without being cut off every time he speaks. He allows himself to show a small smile as he continues typing.
He’s at the last paragraph of the letter and is thanking the company for the support and opportunities that were given to him over the duration of his employment. In particular, he thanks Vice President Kim as he was his primary superior.
A long sip of coffee.
Wonwoo savors the bitterness of the drink keeping him awake, and arguably sane. He tries not to dwell on the fact that he had to wake up at 4 am this morning to drive to Incheon in order to retrieve a tailored suit for Mingyu to wear at the business dinner later today. It didn’t help that his boss had arrived at the office building late, and called his secretary a “workaholic worry wart” during his morning briefing, and then later ripped his resignation letter in half after treating it as a joke.
Said secretary all but releases a deep breath as he types in his thanks to his boss for being a good and responsible superior.
For supporting and respecting me throughout our time working together.
For genuinely caring for his employees and actively helping them further themselves.
Another long, long sip of coffee.
For treating me well and allowing me to learn an incredible amount.
(Of patience, perseverance and self-control.)
The digital clock to his right reads 12:30pm. Secretary Jeon stands, grabs his valuables, and exits the floor for his lunch break. He thinks he sees COO Choi looking at him as he gathers his belongings, but he’s met with the executive’s back facing him the next time he looks.
On his way out, he passes by the break room to grab a sandwich. Wonwoo nibbles on the snack as he proceeds to head to the bank.
“Is he gone?”
“Yup.” Seungcheol makes sure Secretary Jeon has completely left their line of sight before turning to Mingyu. “So… are you going to tell me why you called me here?”
Mingyu finally looks up from the documents he was pretending to read and squints at Seungcheol.
“Did you try to prank me?”
Whatever Seungcheol expected to hear, it wasn’t that. He furrows his eyebrows and tilts his head. Did Mingyu find out about the whoopee cushion he had placed in his seat in the executives’ break room? He releases a nervous chuckle.
“I… don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“Did. You.” Mingyu nears Seungcheol with wide, scary eyes, “Convince. Secretary Jeon. To. Give. Me. A. Fake. Resignation Letter.”
“OK LOOK! I-“
A pause.
Seungcheol blinks.
“…Secretary Jeon wants to resign?”
“No.” Mingyu says in a fake friendly tone, “You tried to convince him, or forced him. Whatever. To pretend to resign. But I’m clever and I figured out your little scheme.” He points an accusing finger at his friend. “And it wasn’t funny. Don’t do it again.”
Seungcheol looks at Mingyu, confused.
“Mingyu… I didn’t do that. If Secretary Jeon gave a letter of resignation it means that he actually wants to resign. Fuck. He wants to resign?”
Mingyu furrows his brows, crinkling his forehead. Wonwoo actually wants to resign? That’s not right. That makes no sense.
“Why though? Aren’t I a good boss? Aren’t we a good company? There’s no reason for him to resign. Zero. Nada.”
Seungcheol gives the younger man a pointed look, especially at the words “good boss”.
“I don’t know, ok? You should ask him yourself. I just can’t believe he’s resigning, I can’t imagine you without your secretary by your side.”
Mingyu snorts. He doesn’t want to admit that he’s thinking the same, that imagining himself without Secretary Jeon makes his stomach churn and head spin.
Instead, he says, “Yeah, right? He’s been with me for 7 years, it’s kind of late to call it quits now.”
Seungcheol immediately sits up straight, “7 years?”
“Yeah,” Mingyu looks at him, confused by his friend’s reaction, “7 years.”
Seungcheol snaps his fingers and leans into the sofa, “That’s it. I’ve cracked it. That’s why he wants to resign. You guys are hitting the 7-year strain.”
“The what now?,” Mingyu deadpans.
“Look, ok. I have no idea if it’s true but people say that relationships, not only romantic ones mind you, strain when it hits the 7-year mark.”
“So…” Mingyu’s trying to make sense of Seungcheol’s words, “According to your grandma’s logic, this is a normal thing?”
The older of the two looks offended, but chooses to simply nod, “Something’s bothering Secretary Jeon, and it’s straining your guys’ relationship. Maybe. Just ask him, dude.”
Mingyu gives a defeated sigh and nods, “Fine.”
Seungcheol claps his hands, delighted. “Great. Now, can we please eat?”
When Secretary Jeon returns to office premises, he looks much lighter. As if a burden has been lifted from his shoulders.
(Which isn’t far at all from the truth, he’s happy that his loan has finally been paid for in full, and it isn’t weighing on his conscience anymore.)
He sports a small, barely there, smile as he prints 3 copies of his resignation letter, politely greeting everyone passing by the printing room.
“Hyung!” Hansol comes to view and gives him a bright smile, “You look happy today. Are you ready to go out?”
The two are having lunch together today, as per Wonwoo’s request, as it’s been a while since they’ve last caught up. Despite working in the same company under the same boss, the two rarely work together. Which is a shame, as Wonwoo is very fond of the other, whose laidback personality is a breath of fresh air compared to his overbearing responsibilities as Mingyu’s executive assistant.
“Ah, is that so?” There’s a hint of a smile in Wonwoo’s voice, “I just took care of something important. It’s been bothering me for a while, too, so it’s a relief that it’s not really a problem anymore.” He gathers the now printed documents and neatly place them in his suitcase.
Hansol nods and follows the other to one of the restaurants nearby the office. They spot a few other SVT employees and give them a wave.
“What did you have to take care of?” The younger of the two takes a seat in the Bibimbap place they frequent.
Wonwoo sits across him and orders their usual, “You know how I’m the one supporting my brother because… you know.”
An understanding nod.
“Yeah,” Wonwoo shows a toothy grin, “I just paid off the last installment of Bohyuk’s tuition for law school. I feel so free.”
Hansol returns the grin, “That’s great hyung! I’m so happy for you.”
The twinkle in the older man’s eyes only strengthens when their food is placed in front of them, its strong, aromatic scent makes the pair’s stomachs grumble.
The two mix their bibimbaps and Wonwoo gives Hansol a look as he chews on his food.
He swallows. “I do have something else to tell you though.”
The brunet cocks his head to the side adorably, urging his friend to continue.
“I’m resigning.”
A pause.
Hansol wipes his mouth and raises a brow, “You,” he says thoughtfully. “The Great Secretary Jeon who hasn’t filed for a vacation leave since God knows when. Is resigning.”
Wonwoo nods.
“Finally!,” Hansol laughs, “You deserve a break, or a less demanding job, at least. Sometimes I see you outside of the boss’s office, and it looks like you’re running solely on coffee. Or red bull. And it’s not like it’s a new sight to me. It literally was me in college. But seriously, I never did think this job was good for you. Quite frankly, I don’t think it’s good for anyone.”
A dark chuckle.
“Something tells me my resignation is going to take a long time to be processed, though.” Wonwoo thinks back to the morning with Mingyu
“No. My answer is no.”
Mingyu is, under no circumstances, allowing his secretary to just leave.
He eyes Secretary Jeon, who’s knotting his tie diligently under his dress shirt. The latter looks as prim and proper as ever, elevating his neat and elegant charms by donning a crisp gray suit that broadens his shoulders.
He tries to read the raven-haired man’s eyes which are cast downward, with long, dainty eyelashes covering them. Mingyu frowns. He doesn’t know what’s going on in his Secretary’s head and can’t, for the life of him, figure out why the other man wants to quit his job. Or if he really wants to. Mingyu’s still not sure whether or not it’s one big joke.
Secretary Jeon finishes with the tie and reaches for Mingyu’s suit jacket. He helps the taller man put it on, and helps adjust his boss’s engraved cufflinks so that no extra fabric would bother him later on in the night.
Mingyu looks at the other, eyeing the features he's grown so accustomed to over the years: Secretary Jeon’s high cheekbones and dainty fingers, his smooth, pale skin, and thin frame elongated by what he was wearing. The more he thinks about it, the more he’s convinced the whole “resignation” situation isn’t real.
(He isn’t good with confronting his feelings, and he refuses to even entertain the fact that someone else might be doing this instead of Secretary Jeon should the other be serious about resigning.)
He huffs.
Secretary Jeon rearranges Mingyu’s hair. He has a calm tone as he says, “Is there something wrong?”
Mingyu looks at him sharply, “Yes. You.”
Wonwoo blinks slowly, and then gives a tight smile, “Excuse me, sir?”
“You can drop it now. It’s not funny.”
“Is this about my resignation?” Mingyu can’t see the secretary’s expression from behind him, but there’s a tightness in his voice. “Because it isn’t a joke.”
He pats Mingyu’s shoulder twice to signal he’s done, and checks his wristwatch.
The two hear a car honk.
Secretary Jeon is calm as he motions Mingyu to head downstairs. They were to attend a business dinner with YMMD Holdings, one of their closest partners. They couldn’t afford to be late, much less unprofessional. This fact prompting Wonwoo to say,
“Let’s take about this later, ok?”
Mingyu gives him a long side glance, a single, groomed brow raises pretentiously. “Honestly? You’re just confused about this. You don’t actually want to quit. But whatever. Brief me about tonight’s agenda in the car.”