Chapter Text
“You’ll be fine, baby, I know you’ll do well.”
Yuta stood up – ignoring the horrified look and harried protests from Taeyong – and hobbled over to his boyfriend. Ignoring the twinges of pain in his injured leg, Yuta gently cupped his boyfriend’s face in his hands and kissed him slowly.
It was obvious that Taeyong was nervous – it wasn’t often he had to act as the CEO without his boyfriend by his side. Yuta knew Taeyong could go above and beyond everyone else; his boyfriend had what the Japanese male didn’t, and that was intense ambition and hunger for success. Yuta could see it in Taeyong’s determination to stay up and finish documents months before they were even due, and how he would immediately home in on exactly how to attack a deal and reap the best benefits.
However, Taeyong never fared well when it came to engage with other business partners that he didn’t have a connection with, especially when he didn’t have Yuta around.
(They had discovered this after a truly awful meeting with Choi Corp – luckily, Seungcheol was one of the most understanding individuals ever and had quickly become a fast friend of Taeyong and Yuta)
“I …” Taeyong began to speak, anxiety clawing at his throat and causing his words to choke off. His expression turned pained and he pressed his forehead to Yuta’s, whimpering softly.
“You’ll be fine, Taeyong,” Yuta repeated, voice soft and calming, “and you know it. You don’t have any meetings today, and Doyoung will be helping you with the new intern. You’ll have Jaehyun and Sicheng with you, and I’m only a phone call away.”
“Will you … be coming for lunch?” Taeyong’s voice was nothing more than a faint whisper, but it was steady and carried some more confidence than before. Yuta hummed softly, biting his lip in thought, and he lazily draped his arms around Taeyong’s neck.
(He’d never admit that he did that to stabilise himself; his leg was just hurting too much)
“Maybe … the wheelchair they stuck me in seems like overkill, but I would like to come out and see you,” Yuta murmured softly, lips just barely ghosting over Taeyong’s. The air suddenly turned hotter, Taeyong’s hands moving to rest on Yuta’s thin waist and hold him closer.
“Call me if you end up coming.” Taeyong leant in to kiss Yuta slowly, fingers clutching his boyfriend’s sleep shirt tightly, before he slowly pulled away and finished tying his tie and pulling his suit jacket on. “I can’t have breakfast, sorry – I’m going to have to get in early and meet with Jaehyun, so he knows what to do with Johnny, and then I have that meeting with Seungcheol.”
“Don’t have too much fun without me, precious.” Yuta was teasing Taeyong now, grinning at the Korean’s deep flush, and hobbled back to the bed to flop down. Taeyong quickly snatched up his shoes and phone, kissed Yuta one last time, a fading “love you!” the only thing remaining that morning.
Entering NakaLee as a prospective intern was intimidating but entering as an actual intern was even worse.
Ten had made breakfast for Johnny that morning, in honour of his new internship, and had sent him off with a tight hug and a “good luck!”
It was like a dream – Johnny had only imagined working in a corporation like NakaLee, running a multimillionaire company that was teased to grow international. At such a young age, to have achieved what Yuta and Taeyong did … it was astounding.
“Mr Seo?”
Johnny was startled out of his reverie, nodding rather dumbly, before he finally regained his bearings. In front of him was a shorter male – (of course he was shorter, everyone was shorter than Johnny) – in an impeccable suit, light-brown hair slicked off his face and into a stylish coif. He looked every bit the polished businessman despite his baby face and the hint of laughter in his eyes.
“I, uh, yes! I’m Mr Seo …” Johnny’s words were stumbling over themselves and choppy, but he hadn’t made that much of an embarrassment of himself. He pulled himself taller, subtly clutching his bag to his side, and ignored his old leather shoes in comparison to the other’s shiny, obviously expensive ones.
“I’m Jaehyun, Mr Lee’s secretary. Follow me?” Jaehyun inclined his head to the direction of the elevators, Johnny following along and catching up just as the doors opened and people got out.
“You’ll be working with Doyoung and I throughout your internship,” Jaehyun began as he flashed a security card at the elevator and pressed a multitude of buttons ending with the 100th, the doors closing and immediately climbing up the floors. “You’ll report to myself or Doyoung, or the CEOs themselves. You won’t really engage with the other departments unless it is through the CEOs.”
Johnny nodded, taking in the information, before his head shot up and revelation dawned on his face.
“Wait, I’m … my internship is as a secretary?”
Jaehyun nodded slowly, looking rather … Johnny couldn’t decipher his expression, actually.
“Yes … what did you think it was?”
Johnny shrugged sheepishly, looking smaller than he actually was.
“I thought it was going to be in a less … important area, and not directly under the CEOs themselves. That’s … a bit more intimidating, but it sounds fun.” Johnny didn’t want to lie – he wanted to be honest – but he also didn’t want to appear as if he wasn’t qualified at all.
To his surprise, Jaehyun’s ‘tough’ persona broke and he shot the older male a winning smile, lighting up the atmosphere drastically.
“You’ll be fine, Johnny – Mr Lee and Mr Nakamoto are aware that even though you’re very qualified, you’re still an intern. Plus, you’ll have Doyoung and I, and the receptionist Sicheng will help you loads.”
Jaehyun’s switch from businesslike and imposing to friendly and warm gave Johnny whiplash, and he could only manage a shaky – but growing more confident by the second – smile in return.
“Doyoung, please, I can do this myself-”
Johnny watched in slight amusement as Jaehyun argued softly with Doyoung – Kim Doyoung, Yuta’s PA and vastly more intimidating than Jaehyun was – over sorting a very important job – Taeyong’s lunch.
Johnny hadn’t seen the man all day; Jaehyun had informed him that he was very busy as Yuta wasn’t there that day and had to meet up with Choi Seungcheol for a morning meeting.
In all honesty, Johnny was really enjoying his internship – it was weird, and Johnny had only followed Jaehyun around in the morning as he went about his work, but he was growing to like it and his company wasn’t bad. Johnny had made quick friends with Sicheng the receptionist and Jaehyun, and Doyoung seemed to be warming up to him.
“John – hey, Johnny!” Johnny’s head snapped up at Jaehyun’s call, immediately moving over to where the other males were. “Here, can you take this into Taeyong’s office please?”
“M-Me?” Johnny’s jaw slowly, but surely, dropped. Why couldn’t Jaehyun or Doyoung do it?
“Because we have to meet someone downstairs,” Doyoung huffed, and Johnny realised too late that he’d said that out loud. “We’ll be ten minutes at most, but Taeyong is huffy and he’ll want to eat now.”
“I … okay,” Johnny murmured, picking up the tray and managing a weak smile as Jaehyun clapped his shoulder gently. The two PAs immediately walked off, and Sicheng shot him a small smile and mouthed “he’s free” before Johnny finally worked up his nerve and pushed the door open with his shoulder.
Taeyong’s office looked … expensive. He had a large mahogany desk, and two couches with very expensive looking throw pillows. He had some trinkets on his desk, and a large full-length window showed an impressive view of Seoul behind him.
Still, it looked empty and very business-like – as did its owner at his desk.
Taeyong was on the phone with someone, eyebrows pinched tightly and hunched over slightly in his chair. He looked up when Johnny walked in before vaguely gesturing to his desk, moving to stand up and pace around.
It took longer than usual, but Johnny was just setting the tray of hot soup and assorted sides down on Taeyong’s desk when he heard the man speak, tone clipped and hard.
“What do you mean that you’re back?”
“Fatass, you could’ve saved us the back ache and brought your wheelchair,” Doyoung huffed, carrying Yuta on his back as Jaehyun smugly held the bag of bibimbap beside him. Yuta thumped his hip with his good leg, hissing a “respect your elders” to Doyoung, as the elevator doors opened to the office level.
“Honey, we’re home!” Jaehyun made his way over to Sicheng, a lilt in his step, and promptly had a cheek kiss to Sicheng rejected.
“Go kiss your not-boyfriend,” the Chinese receptionist snapped, Doyoung and Yuta cackling as Jaehyun pouted. Sicheng glared up at the PA, silence reigning between the two for a solid thirty seconds, before Sicheng sighed and leant up to hug Jaehyun.
“You big baby – get Yuta into his office so he can see his clingy boyfriend,” Sicheng muttered, ignoring Jaehyun’s wide grin.
(And Doyoung’s fond one)
“Is he free?” Yuta asked as Doyoung walked him past Sicheng, the man nodding.
“Yeah – the new intern is in there. I heard Taeyong talking before, so maybe they’re discussing something?”
Yuta nodded and turned his head as Jaehyun opened the doors, showing the four (Sicheng had popped his head up to see what was going on) exactly what was happening in the room.
Johnny was precariously perched on a couch, immediately shooting up when the doors opened, and he saw Yuta – Nakamoto Yuta! – alongside the two PAs. Taeyong was facing away from everyone, and a frown adorned Yuta’s face when he noticed the tenseness of his boyfriend’s shoulders.
“Taeyong?”
Doyoung helped Yuta to the couches, letting Johnny hesitate before taking Yuta’s arm and steadying the male, as Taeyong immediately turned around and visibly relaxed at the sight of his lover. He must’ve cut off whoever was speaking, biting out a clipped “I have to go” before hanging up and dragging his chair to sit across from the others.
“Hey, you came for lunch.” Taeyong’s tone was soft, and Yuta immediately relaxed at his boyfriend’s comforting presence. He gently shook himself from the others and sat down, letting Johnny and Doyoung move to stand near Jaehyun.
“Hey – boss!” Taeyong immediately turned to glare at a grinning Jaehyun, who had both Doyoung and Johnny behind him. “I’m going to take Johnny out for lunch, unless you need him?”
“No, feel free to do so. Thanks for the lunch too, Johnny.” Taeyong’s voice was soft, unlike his tense tone before, and he could see Johnny relax slightly before nodding his head in a respectful incline.
(“He’s fitting in well?”
“Yeah – I didn’t see him all morning, though. I was out with Cheol for a meeting, and then I … got a call.”
…
“Oh. Was it …?”
“Yes.”)