Work Text:
Brett liked Gongjun. Ever since he had joined the Oranges Ltd, a listed company that sold organic fruits and vegetables, Gongjun had been very considerate towards him. The problem was that Gongjun was the marketing head and also his boss and probably had a boyfriend called Han-ge, which he mentions on an almost daily basis.
Like
"Ah, Han-ge has outdone it this time." Gongjun had said, rolling his eyes at the bouquet of multicoloured roses on his desk with a card that read "Happy Birthday".
And
"Oh, I need to leave early; Han-ge is not feeling that well today."
And
"Let's go for a drink, Han-ge is out of town, and I miss him."
And many more such instances.
Brett's friend Matilda, who also worked at the Oranges Ltd in the accounting department, had taken Brett out on drinks when she saw him upset.
"What's gotten into you? I told you there were no rules against fraternising in the office. Did you ask Gongjun out? Did he reject you?" Matilda asks him. Brett frowns at that before saying, "No, he already has a guy. Some Han-ge. He keeps on speaking about him on and on. Uh, I am never getting a good boyfriend."
"Wait, what is the name you said? Han ge?" Matilda asks, to which Brett nods. "You idiot! Ge is not a name! It means something. I remember hearing it when I was dating this Chinese dude. Wait, let me google." Matilda fishes out her phone and Googles it.
Chinese to English Translation
Ge 哥 -------> Elder Brother
"God, Brett! You're truly an idiot. He is his elder brother! He might be living with him here; maybe that's why he cannot stop talking about him. You should still definitely try and ask him out."
"What?" Brett doesn't believe it and snatches the phone from Matilda's hand to check it. "Oh my god. You are right. This means I truly have a chance!"
The next day Brett dresses up in his best semi-formal shirt and trousers and grabs two large coffees on his way to the office.
"Hi, morning Gongjun. Got you a coffee." Brett says as he places it on Gongjun's desk. His boss looks tired and deep into his work already at nine in the morning.
"Uh, thanks! I needed this. Have a meeting today with the department heads. Need to get this presentation done." Gongjun says, his eyes still stuck on the screen. Brett surmises that it isn't the right time and heads back to sit at his desk.
Gongjun works through their lunchtime, and Brett sees it as an opportunity to bring him lunch. Just then, Gongjun's phone rings. "Hello? Han-ge, the world will not end if I don't eat on time. I need to finish this presentation… No, don't do that. I will be ready today itself. Hmm, ok, I love you too." Gongjun says and ends the call.
Brett watches in confusion as Gongjun removes a tiffin box from his bag and starts eating. He had never been so close to his sibling to tell them I love you on phone calls. But maybe Gongjun was. He shrugs it off and gets back to his work.
Later in the day, everyone in the department suddenly quiets down when they see their CEO Zhang Zhehan walk inside the room. “Continue working, everyone!” Mr Zhang says as he heads over to where Gongjun is sitting.
Brett strains his ears to hear what he and Gongjun are speaking about in hushed tones. “Did you eat?” Mr Zhang asks Gongjun, who, to Brett’s surprise, glares at Mr Zhang. “Why? Are you here for an inspection?” Gongjun retorts. “Ah, it means you did. Good boy.” Mr Zhang says, and Brett can hear the smile in his voice. He then watches as Mr Zhang squeezes Gongjun’s shoulder and leaves his hand there while they continue speaking about the presentation.
“Wow! I mean, Mr Zhang’s wife would be really sad if she saw that!” Someone from behind Brett whispers. Brett turns towards them and asks, “Mr Zhang is married?”
“Yeah, don’t you know? In the last company retreat, he couldn’t stop speaking about his wife in every opportunity he got.’
Brett takes a deep breath at that. For a second there he thought that Mr Zhang and Gongjun had something between them, but knowing that Mr Zhang is married, makes it clear to him that Gongjun is not taken and Mr Zhang maybe just a touchy kind of guy.
Soon Gongjun takes his laptop and follows Mr Zhang out of the department, and Brett doesn’t get an opportunity to ask Gongjun out that day.
Brett finally asks Gongjun out for drinks one evening. “Uh, Sure, we can head after work.” Gongjun tells him, and Brett cannot help but smile at that, “Great, then it’s a-.” Before he can finish his sentence, Gongjun’s phone starts ringing. “Uh, I have to take this. It’s Han-ge. But see you after work, ok?” He says and walks away as he answers the call with a, “Hello baobao.”
Bao? Brett pulls out his phone to Google its meaning and types in ‘Bao meaning Chinese.
Chinese to English Translation
Bao 包 -------> Bag
Bag? Maybe he is speaking to his brother about something related to a bag. They live together so random things might come up, Brett muses.
Later that evening, Brett tries to pry a lot of information from Gongjun as he keeps on ordering them drinks. “Just because today is Friday, I am okay drinking so much. Otherwise, Han-ge would get so mad at me if he has to take care of my hangover on a weekday.” Gongjun laughs.
Apart from this personal information about him and his brother, Gongjun doesn’t indulge Brett much and keeps on asking him how he likes the company and what are his future plans.
After they are done with their drinks, both of them stand outside the restaurant, and Brett suggests that they go for a short walk. “I would love that, but Han-ge is already waiting for me. Probably I should just get going. Will see you on Monday, okay?”
Brett nods at that and watches Gongjun walk down the road, where a black SUV is parked. He watches as a man steps out of the car, and Gongjun latches himself around the man in a hug. The man, which Brett assumes is Han-ge, rubs the other man’s back in a soothing motion before opening the car door and buckling him in. Brett squints his eyes to try and make out Han-ge's face, but it is too dark to make anything of the silhouette he sees. Brett is not sure what exactly happened next, but Han-ge’s face had definitely dipped, and while Han-ge blocked Gongjun’s face, he is almost sure that Han-ge had kissed Gongjun. His own brother.
Brett thinks over this the entire weekend. Maybe Han-ge had kissed Gongjun’s forehead? Yeah, probably, he concludes.
On Monday there is a delivery for Gongjun. Brett discretely watches it from his desk as Gongjun pulls out a chair cushion and smiles at it. Brett wants to enquire more about it and as a cover, takes his laptop to Gongjun to clear his doubts.
“Oh, is that a chair cushion?” Brett asks as Gongjun is adjusting it on his chair. “Yeah, Han-ge sent it to me. He is too much at times.” Gongjun says with fond exasperation and then continues to talk about work.
Brett listens with divided attention as he also tries to rack his brain on why would a brother send his brother a chair cushion? He usually used them when he got a very sore ass, so it is very difficult for him to understand why Han-ge wanted to ensure that Gongjun’s ass was doing fine?
“Brett, are you listening? I need you and Ellie to close the press release statement with Mr Zhang. I’ve blocked our calendar for 2 pm,” Gongjun says to which Brett nods. He then clears his throat and asks, “Are you and your brother very close?”
Gongjun looks at him in confusion, “Brother?”
“I mean you and Han-ge,” Brett says. Gongjun laughs at that and declares, “Obviously.” before dismissing Brett.
After lunch Brett and Ellie are waiting outside Mr Zhang’s office, waiting for Gongjun. When it is already 2 pm, and Gongjun is nowhere to be found, Ellie knocks on the door to Mr Zhang’s office. “Just go in. They are expecting you two.” Mr Zhang’s assistant says.
As the both of them enter, they are surprised to find Gongjun already seated there next to Mr Zhang on the sofa. “Hi, have a seat,” Gongjun tells them, gesturing to the sofa next to theirs.
“Junjun, let’s instead move this section.” Mr Zhang says, pointing at something in his tablet, still engrossed in his work.
“No, this is the section which answers the problem. We need to keep it there, only then the users will read below. If you want to make it shorter then you can move this section. It has a lot of images, and will take time to load anyway.” Gongjun reverts. Mr Zhang is quiet for a moment before nodding, “ok, let’s do that then.”
“Cool, Brett & Ellie are here for your statement for the press release,” Gongjun says as he starts collecting the papers on the coffee table. Brett watches in surprise as Gongjun thrusts the papers into Mr Zhang’s hand. “Hold this for a second.” He says as he pulls open a folder and then tries to take the documents back from Mr Zhang. However, Mr Zhang holds the papers tightly and looks with amusement as Gongjun tries to snatch them from him. “Uh! Han-ge!” Gongjun says with frustration, and Mr Zhang starts laughing as he gives the papers to Gongjun.
Next to him, Ellie is also giggling, but Brett is in his own world. Han-ge? Does this mean that Gongjun is Mr Zhang’s brother? His mind flashes back to all the times Mr Zhang has visited the office and how close they always behave and how Gongjun cannot stop talking about Han-ge. He then looks at the glistening ring on Mr Zhang’s left hand and almost feels sick. They are brothers who act like a couple. He feels very sad for Mr Zhang’s wife.
-
Matilda takes him to the bar again, “I mean, that is so sick! I can't believe I ever wanted to date that man!” Brett says as he downs another shot.
“Could it be possible that they are not actually brothers? I mean - It says on Wikipedia that Mr Zhang has no siblings. Wikipedia cannot be incorrect, right? Or maybe they are stepbrothers?”
“Still! It does not make it okay! And we Googled it that day. Ge means elder brother.” Brett says with determination.
“Let me just call my ex-boyfriend. Maybe it is a common thing in their culture?” Matilda says as she pulls out her phone. “Hey, just a quick thing, is incest like - common in your culture?”
Brett can hear a loud, angry exclamation from the other side of the phone. “Ok, that’s good to hear, because this guy in our office is acting way too close to his Ge and hence I just wanted to check before we decide to do something about it. What? Doesn’t Ge mean elder brother?” Matilda looks at Brett with shock and then ends the call.
“Ge doesn’t mean elder brother! It can be used to address any guy who is older than you! You got it all wrong, Brett!” Matilda exclaims happily.
“What are you so happy about? He is still having an affair with a married man!” Brett complains.
Brett observes Gongjun’s behaviour over the next few days. He notices how happy Gongjun becomes every time Mr Zhang visits their office, or there is some delivery for him from his ‘Han-ge’. He feels sad for Gongjun because he is the second one here. Mr Zhang was his boss and will never be anything more to Gongjun in an official manner. He has seen it in his life, that no matter what, men like Mr Zhang would never leave their family or wife for their secret love affairs.
One evening, lying in bed, Brett saw Mr Zhang’s Twitter update.
“Thank you for being in my life. I love you. You truly are my person, my soulmate.” and a picture of two hands holding each other, with their engagement rings on display. Brett immediately felt terrible for Gongjun.
As if on cue, the next day, Gongjun came into the office with a pale face. “Gongjun, are you okay?” Brett asks him.
“Yeah, not feeling that great, maybe I should have taken the day off,” Gongjun says, and Brett feels his heart break for him. “Stay strong, okay. Maybe whatever has happened to you, happened for a reason. Take it as a lesson and move on from it.” Brett tells him, and Gongjun looks at him with a confused face. Brett clears his throat and briefs Gongjun about his work.
Later that day, Gongjun is having a nap on his desk. Just then, Mr Zhang walks in hastily and goes to Gongjun’s side.
Brett watches as Gongjun swats the man’s hand away and points fingers at the man. Mr Zhang looks at Gongjun apologetically as he still tries to pry the man off his chair.
Brett takes a deep determined breath and heads over to Gongjun’s seat. Just as Mr Zhang tries to pull Gongjun off the chair, Brett stands between them, with his back to Gongjun. “Mr Zhang, please leave. Gongjun is not feeling well today.”
Mr Zhang looks at Brett with wide exasperated eyes as he says, ‘I know, which is why I am trying to make him leave with me.” Before he can do or say anything else, Brett blurts out, “I don’t think your wife will like that.”
Mr Zhang looks at Brett like he has grown a second head. “Um, why not? My wife will come to like it.” He replies.
There are a few giggles around the office, and Brett is surprised as he looks at the amused expressions of people around them. Maybe he had gotten this all wrong. He had read about polyamory on the internet and knew that it was what few people preferred but-
“Stop referring to me as your wife!” A sound comes from behind Brett. He turns around and sees Gongjun complaining. “And it is all your fault! Who asked you to cook such spicy food for our anniversary? My insides are on fire because of you.”
Brett steps away in shock as he watches Mr Zhang convince his ‘wife’ to head home to rest. He makes a resolution then and there, never to trust the internet.
“Hmm.” Gongjun hums in satisfaction as he cuddles with Zhehan on their bed after taking his medication. “Han-ge, did you not think Brett’s behaviour was funny today?” Zhehan caresses his fingers through Gongjun’s head and whispers, ‘Yeah, I told you he had something for you. How dare he stop me today.”
“I think he didn’t know we were together,” Gongjun mutters as he drops a kiss on Zhehan’s neck
“Can we make it any more obvious?” Zhehan says rhetorically as he leans down to capture Gongjun’s lips in his.
Fin