Chapter Text
When the Lee's were mentioned people knew it was about power, authority, control. Their only son was the epitome of perfection. The type of person you felt proud of just by looking at him. When he spoke, he was heard. The way words rolled off his tongue with the precision of someone who knew how to get their attention was captivating.
Impecable in every way and yet, he felt - empty. He had every purpose but none at all. Didn't enjoy his lavish life, not the way he was supposed to. Had little to no friends, only one to be exact. Clubs were out of the question and so were one night stands. Not that any of the mentioned pleasures would bring anything positive to his life style but they were good distractions. He just wasn't curious.
Lee Min Ho balanced his life between work and more work. He was already in the market for marriage, something he wasn't fascinated by. Staying busy was the only thing keeping him from meeting other potential candidates. Work, Gym, Eat, Sleep, Repeat. His parents would force him to go out but he knew how to dodge them with grace, avoiding everyone interested at all cost.
Until, he met him.
"i said i was going, just stop screaming" he said rolling his eyes.
He walked out of his office heading to his father's. His mother needed some papers but was on a call so she had asked him to go instead. That was an hour ago. Minho was never on the top floor, unless it was absolutely necessary. It never really was. Top executives and potential partners where the ones occupying said space.
The air felt different up there. Heavy. Tense.
Charged with more anxiety than any other floor in the building. The atmosphere was electric, people were all over the place, like running from a fire that didn't exist. When the elevator doors opened the wave of loud chaos hit him in the face. He rushed to his dad's office in a frantic pace. Not looking where he was going and bumping into one of those hectic workers. The guy, an asistant, was full of papers from old files one of the managers wanted to review. Files that met the wrong fate. Everything was now scattered on the floor, mixed documents everywhere. Minho was not used to any of this.
"im so sorry" he said while cleaning up the mess
Despite his hard shell appearance Minho had a very soft heart. He was not demanding and never made anyone feel bad. If he was able to help in any way, he would. He liked talking to everyone in the company. Employees said they felt overwhelmed by his big eyes everytime they rode the elevator together. He wasn't very approachable but once they got to know him their perspective changed completely. This earned him their respect and also their affection.
"no - no i wasn't looking is my fault" the assistant argued
Neither of them looked at eachother focused on picking up their mess. Placing papers into folders and trying to organize on the spot what was now disorganized. A task that was as simple as picking up for Minho and droping off for the guy turned into a long ordeal. While trying to reach for the last piece of report their hands grabbed eachother. In a fraction of a second they locked eyes for the first time and immediately apologized multiple times, like broken records.
Hyunjin got up and with the most rosie cheeks ever, continued his way to his impatient boss. Minho just stood there looking at him, puzzled, then down at his hand and with a smile headed to his dad's office.
***
It was almost closing time, he was getting ready to leave when a knock made him stop what he was doing.
"its open"
the guy walked in, holding familiar folders.
"Hello Mr Lee, i was sent here by Mr Kim, he wants you to review this documents"
He looked at him, the assistant was still in a bowing position. Minho approached, taking the folders from his extended hands.
"You were the guy i bumped into this morning right?"
of course he remembered
Hyunjin didn't answer, he just nodded a yes, now looking at him in a straight position.
"Hi, im Minho and you are?"
The employee was confused, none of the managers or directors from his floor where..... formal?!, interested?!, nice?!, approachable?!. They didn't care about introductions or getting to know their subordinate. Plus everyone knew who he was, so was it really necessary?.
"Hwang Hyunjin, Mr Lee, i'm Mr Kim's personal assistant"
"Minho is fine, Mr Lee is my father" he gave him a hint of a smile
Hyunjin returned an understanding nod but Minho was out of the question, Mr Lee sounded more respectful and in this case, appropriate.
He awkwardly stood there, not knowing if he should go.
"Do you know what these are?" now walking back to his desk
"They found discrepancies in the numbers, something was not adding up so they want you to double check and find the source of the problem"
"i see"
Hyunjin started moving back getting ready to leave the office but
"are you going to wait for me to finish and take these back?"
It caught him by surprise, why would he ask that?, it was afterhours already. He was ready to go home and rest. Conflicted and not knowing what to do or say...... he agreed?! Against his will, he stayed. He didn't know Minho. Despite the soft smile he gave him earlier the guy felt distant and this was going to be his second first impression, he couldn't mess this up too.
"um....i- uh, i was just heading out, but yes, sure... i'll wait"
Minho lifted his gaze and looked at him from under his bangs, his laptop covering the bottom part of his face so you could only see his piercing eyes.
"Have a seat, we are going to be here for a while"
***
9pm
"Fuck me!, no! fuck him!
Who does he think he is!?.. is 9pm! 9 p m... Why did i have to agree?, why did i have to stay?, why couldn't i say no?... uuuuuuugggghhhhhhh. "
He was definitely having an existential crisis.
"Unheard of and fucking unbelieveable."
"I need a drink."
"4 hrs of looking into a wall. 4 hrs of not saying a word, just listening to the clickity clack of his key board. 4 hrs of me just sitting in a freaking sofa waiting for him to finish whatever the fuck he was doing like a box. 4 long hours of me not being able to look at his stupid handsome face because it would have sent me into oblivion. God!"
"it was torture Jisuuung" he said while whining
"i need you, NOW!... bring wine... lots of it" he demanded while on the phone with his best friend.
At last he was home. Taking everything off in a flash. Yanked his tank off his body after roughly unbuttoning his dress shirt. Trousers were gone in an instant and he was standing under the hottest shower he had ever taken in hopes to cool down his anger.
It worked, he was more relaxed now, not thinking about his unfortunate event or the pretty boy that caused it. Never in his 3 yrs working there had he ran into Minho. Not once. Not in the elevator or the hallways. Then destiny had to come and make him cross paths not once, but twice. Pure mockery if you ask him.
Jisung showed up, Hyunjin was fixing something to eat, it was already close to midnight, Luckily for him, it was Friday.
"spill"
"hngh Sungieeeeee" he said throwing his head back letting it rest on the sofa.
They were now sitting in his living room sorrounding the coffee table were Hyunjin had put their snacks and wine.
"no, dont give me that, tell me"
Han as he sometimes liked to call him was awakend by screams and curse words, but instead of asking he let him vent. Then when he was asked to come over, without answering he got up and rushed to comfort his friend.
"nothing happened he just asked me to stay until he was done with whatever paperwork i gave him and i said yes. -he had that look, the look that made you want to give him a hug- only because i ran him over with the same deadly files"
"i felt bad, plus he is the son of the owner, and my indirect boss, i wasn't going to say no"
Jisung gave him a smile
"Soooooo you are mad at the guy that you will take a bullet for. The one you've been loving from affar and owns the shrine in your closet. That same guy you work for but have not interacted with once in 3 years. The one you stalk on meetings and company outings. The guy who until today didn't know about your existence and asked you to stay knowing damn well your company was not needed. That guy?" -he takes a sip of his wine and gives him that look-
"don't" rolling his eyes "you have no right to feed my delusions like this"
Jisung laughs, that rich laugh that makes you laugh too. "i didn’t say a word, this is all you"
They kept chatting about everything and the guy until 3am. Hyunjin asked Jisung to stay the night, it was too late for him to drive back home after all they had to drink.
***
"Chan's back?" Minho asked his assistant "Yes sir, he is not in yet but he is back today"
"let me know once he gets in"
Christoper Chan, Minho's childhood friend worked with him, because why not have your best friend close at all times. He was on vacation, visiting his family in Australia. Having him back today made him very excited. Specially because he had tides to the top floor and there were questions he wanted to ask. If he used Chan it would be discreet and no one would suspect a thing.
"i heard someone was looking for me" he said standing at the door.
Minho looked up from his laptop and smiled.
"you are back!, about time. How are you going to leave me alone for so long, no calls, or texts. I felt abandoned"
They hug, and Minho melts, Chan's hugs were like honey. Warm, comforting. He wouldn't admit it but he missed those broad shoulders, cozy pecs and big arms encasing him.
"i asked you to come, and you refused saying you had a lot of work, acting like the company might not survive without you" he said walking him to the sofa with his hand on his shoulder. "anything new while i was gone?"
Minho gives him a mischievous look, one that told him everything and nothing at the same time.
"Theres someone i'd like to meet. He works on the top floor and i've never seen him before but we interacted Friday and im intrigued"
"you?, you are intrigued?, HA! never in my 28 years of life did i imagine those words would come out of your mouth"
Chan slapped his thigh and laughed "who?. who is he i need to know, who caught your attention... aaaaaaand what do you need from me?
Minho had a master plan, had the weekend to think about it and how it should be executed to perfection. Now that Chan was here, everything would be easier.
"i need you to switch assistant with Mr. Kim"
Excuse me?!, nobody wants to work with that guy!. He is grumpy and has no manners"
"exactly why i need his assistant on this floor. C'mon, you can figure it out"
Chan gave him an intriguing look
"i wont promise anything, but i'll see what i can do" he said heaving a sigh and holding the bridge of his nose.
"alright, back to work then, im a busy man Mr Chan"
Chan gave him a dimple smile in return as he walked out.
***
Hyunjin had one hell of a weekend, he was a homebody, clubs were never an option but who needed a club when you had Jisung. For years his friend had been the source of his constant happiness. He didn't need anything else, except Minho of course but for now Jisungie was more than OK.
Standing in the bathroom he looked in the mirror, his face was puffy from all the eating, and the dark circles under his eyes told a different story. From Friday to Sunday, they drank, ate and barely slept. Waking up early to work on his paintings and going to sleep late because his nights were spiced up by wine and stories took a toll on him.
"Hyunjin" a voice
“Mr. Lee's son needs you in his office, something about some documents you gave him Friday."
He panicked, of course he panicked. He wants to see him?..why? he stayed there untill 9pm. The documents were left on Mr. Kim's office before he left. What documents?
"i'll be out in a minute"
He tried to make himself look better. He really did but it was a futile attempt. Not that he looked bad but, not his best and Minho wanted to see him today, out of all days. Curse you delicious weekend, he thought while looking up at the ceiling.
"you wanted to see me" he said while standing at the door
Minho got up and walked up to him, holding his intense as fuck gaze. Hyunjin felt his knees giving out in slow motion, probably why he felt so small.
He was melting in real time.
Yes he was taller but right now he felt the need to look up. Minho felt 6'0 ft tall.
"i wanted to apologize for keeping you here till late last Friday. I was so immerse in finishing those files that i forgot to dismiss you" he said in the most soft and low voice tone he had ever register.
Hyunjin stood there looking at him in a trance feeling the heat rise to his cheeks and staying there for what felt like hours.
Minhos perfume made him dizzy and his voice.
God, his voice.
Words were stuck in his throat, he struggled to breathe.
Minho noticed it immediately.
The way Hyunjin’s lips parted slightly like he had forgotten how to speak.
The way his fingers twitched against the seam of his slacks.
The way his eyes refused to stay in one place, flickering between Minho’s face and the floor as if looking too long would ruin him.
Cute.
Dangerously cute.
And Minho — who never cared enough to notice anyone — noticed everything.
“You look tired,” he said softly this time
Hyunjin blinked like he’d just been shaken awake.
“I— uh… yeah. Long weekend.”
A lie.
Or at least half of one.
Because the dark circles under his eyes weren’t from partying.
They were from thinking about a man who stood way too close and smelled way too expensive.
Minho tilted his head slightly, studying him.
“You don’t have to look so nervous around me.”
That only made it worse.
Hyunjin gave a breathless laugh, one that sounded more panicked than amused.
“I’m not nervous.”
“Hm.”
Minho’s gaze dropped for half a second — to flushed cheeks, messy hair, swollen lips probably bitten raw from stress — before meeting his eyes again.
“Liar.”
The word hit harder than it should have.
Hyunjin swallowed.
The office suddenly felt too warm.
Too small.
Too full of……..him.
Minho stepped aside casually, motioning toward the couch.
“Sit for a minute.”
“I should probably get back upstairs —”
“You can spare five minutes.”
Not a command.
Not exactly.
But something about Minho’s voice made refusal impossible.
Hyunjin sat carefully at the edge of the sofa like he was afraid touching anything longer than necessary would get him fired.
Minho almost smiled.
Almost.
Instead, he walked back to his desk, opening a drawer before pulling out two small iced coffees.
“I didn’t know what you liked,” he admitted. “So I guessed”.
Hyunjin stared at the drink in disbelief.
Nobody on his floor guessed what assistants liked.
Most executives barely looked at them.
Yet here was Lee Min Ho, handing him coffee like this was normal.
Like Hyunjin was someone worth paying attention to.
“T-thank you.”
Minho hummed, sitting across from him now instead of behind the desk.
A deliberate choice.
And Hyunjin noticed.
Silence settled between them again, but unlike Friday’s silence, this one wasn’t cold.
It felt curious.
Minho leaned back slightly, eyes never leaving him.
“So,” he said quietly, “how long have you worked here?”
“Three years.” -the answer came too fast
“And we’ve never met before?”
Hyunjin laughed nervously.
“I think I would’ve remembered if we had.”
That finally pulled a real smile from Minho.
Devastating.
Hyunjin physically looked away.
Which only amused Minho more.
Interesting
“i wanted to make it up to you, would you like to have lunch with me tomorrow?!”
“I shouldn’t.”
Minho leaned back slightly. “Why not?”
Hyunjin crossed his arms instinctively, avoiding his eyes. “I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
It’s just lunch, Hyunjin.”
His head snapped up immediately. “Is it?”
Minho furrowed his brow and got closer resting his elbows on his thighs
“you dont have to if you dont want to im just trying not to be an asshole”
he gave in
“fine, but we are not going out, we’ll eat here in your office”
“demanding” his tone was playful now
“i’ll go back if you dont mind, Mr Kim is probably looking for me”
“about that, some changes will be made and well Chan might need an experienced assistant, the one he has will be training up there in the mean time”
“what does it mean?!”
“nothing for now, but keep an eye out. You might get reassigned”