Work Text:
“Why are you still here?” asks Kyungsoo.
Jongin looks down and pretends to play with the fabric of his slacks. Chanyeol waddles around the table and attempts to hide the bottle of wine behind his back, lips pulled into a tight-lipped smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. Sehun remains poker-faced but his fingers are wrapped around Jongin’s wrist under the table, tapping him nervously.
“I said, why are you guys still here?” Kyungsoo repeats, now approaching them in slow but steady steps. His round eyes are narrowed, scrutinizing them one by one. His walk commands nothing but full-attention of everyone else in the room, his aura evoking a silent yet powerful charisma that is only befitting of someone his status as the president of the company.
It’s been roughly two hours past their work cut-off but Sehun and Chanyeol decided to loiter around some more to chat over wine. Meanwhile, Jongin spent that time to work on some last-minute deliverables for the day.
Chanyeol is the one to break the silence.
“We were just bonding over some..” He glances at the bottle in his hand, “..apple juice.”
Kyungsoo quirks an eyebrow. “Apple juice, alright.” Then, he turns to Jongin, causing the latter to sit up straight. “And you?”
Jongin swallows the lump in his throat. “I was working on a few documents, sir. ”
Kyungsoo frowns, thick eyebrows knitting into a tight line.
“You two can go ahead,” he says without taking his eyes off of Jongin’s form. “Jongin, follow me into my office.”
Jongin closes his laptop and does as he’s instructed. Chanyeol and Sehun scurry away from the room but not without sending him salutes and reassuring smiles. They do nothing to help ease the lurching feeling at the pit of Jongin’s stomach.
Jongin trails after Kyungsoo and enters the latter’s familiar office, sitting in the leather chair across the table when Kyungsoo makes himself comfortable in his executive ergonomic chair.
The president’s office is bare and spacious; his oak table surrounded by soft, black, leathered couches that Jongin has grown to love. On his desk are the usual stack of documents and folders that every senior in the company is expected to have. There’s nothing much in the room that show traces of his hobbies and interests, sans the clapboard-styled digital clock standing next to his laptop, which now blinks ‘8:00 pm’ at him; and the scented candle, which Jongin knows Kyungsoo lights up to help ward off a headache because the scent of bamboo always helps him relax.
“Why are you not following my rule?” Kyungsoo asks, stern eyes looking straight into him. Jongin tries not to fidget in his seat.
“W-what rule?” As an afterthought, he hastily adds, “Sir.”
Kyungsoo leans back in his chair. “The four pm cut-off. I thought I made myself pretty clear that you’re not allowed to accept job requests past four pm.”
Jongin tries to clear his throat. “I was just fixing some minor revisions, sir.”
Kyungsoo’s frown deepens. “ Minor revisions? Minor revisions that would have lasted you a few extra hours? Minor revisions that would have made you panic and caused you unnecessary stress again?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Don’t lie to me. I was copied in the email.”
Jongin grimaces, pouts, and starts to fiddle with the fabric of his slacks again. He understands Kyungsoo’s only concerned, but it wasn’t really that bad tonight. He really just needed to finish a few deliverables and then he’s done for the day.
“Look at me, Jongin.”
Jongin looks up, meeting Kyungsoo’s eyes. The frown has already faltered, but his eyes remain filled with worry and concern, coupled with a hint of tenderness in between.
“I don’t want a repeat of last week.”
Jongin balks at the thought, remembering the incident, but he nods in understanding. Last week had him getting rushed to the emergency room on a Wednesday due to an insanely high fever, right after he worked an extra six hours to accommodate urgent client requests given to him on that day. He has fully recovered now but the experience had been traumatic for both him and Kyungsoo.
Kyungsoo has prohibited him to work overtime ever since.
If he was an ‘ordinary’ employee, Jongin would have thought that the rule is quite too personal and imposing even if it came from the president of the company because to his defense, that was the first time that he got sick from overexerting himself at work. But he knows that no matter which angle he looks at it, his relationship with Kyungsoo is not something anyone would constitute as ordinary.
They maintain a healthy working relationship as boss-employee. Jongin delivers what is expected of him and beyond, makes sure to keep his colleagues and the bosses satisfied with his performance. He personally reports to Kyungsoo’s office every now and then, careful not to bypass any of the president’s policies, afraid to tread outside boundaries.
Beyond that, he and Kyungsoo have quite..a frivolous relationship, if he dares say so himself. They’re not just friends because he’s certain friends don’t simply bend you over at their marbled countertop and fuck you senseless whenever you stay the night at their penthouse apartment, but they’re not exactly lovers either because there’s no emotional investment in this. At least that’s what he thinks.
Kyungsoo spoils him in private, bringing him to expensive restaurants that offer dishes with names he can’t pronounce and a price tag that could cost him his entire paycheck. He buys him branded clothes and jewelry too, reasoning out that Jongin’s beautiful figure deserves nothing less than the best of the bestest. One time, he offered Jongin an all-expense paid trip to Maldives when he was feeling tipsy and extra generous and while the offer had been very tempting, Jongin felt like it was too much, even with their circumstances.
For the most part, Jongin feels like Kyungsoo’s boy toy, a person whom he gets to spoil and fuck as much as he pleases in lieu of a trophy wife. Kyungsoo possesses everything that would have made it easy for Jongin to hate him — money, power, and prestige. His net worth alone is probably enough to sustain an entire family of three for the rest of their lives. He had everything Jongin lacked but he could not bring himself to hate him in the slightest even if he tried.
That one night six months ago had been enough proof. It happened during an intimate company dinner that Kyungsoo himself had organized, held at the rooftop deck of one of the restaurants he owns in Gangnam. The company won a multinational FMCG account — their biggest one to date — and the management thought it was only right to treat their employees to a night of free-flowing boutique wine and artisanal cheese as a way to give thanks. Jongin ended up having had too many to drink; his mind was clouded in a haze of lust and impulse when he completely lost his mind-to-mouth filter and bluntly said I want to kiss you to Do Kyungsoo, the president and owner of the company he works for.
In retrospect, it was a bold move that could have costed him his job and his entire reputation. He wasn’t even sure back then if his boss had the slightest interest in men; the guy had always struck him otherwise, even though he catches the way Kyungsoo stares at him sometimes. But even if he had that knowledge with him already, hitting on his boss is was still a behavior uncalled for.
Fortunately, Kyungsoo didn’t chastise him for his lack of professional conduct and fired him right then and there. Instead, Kyungsoo licked his lips — strengthening Jongin’s urge to kiss his plump lips even further — and raked his eyes over Jongin’s body, openly ogling him with a heated gaze that sent shivers down his spine and made his heart thrum in excitement.
What’s stopping you? is the hushed reply that came a beat later, so quiet that Jongin almost missed it if he hadn’t been so close. He wasn’t dumb and tipsy enough to kiss Kyungsoo square on the lips in front of everyone else, but he was turned on and impulsive enough to come with Kyungsoo to his luxurious apartment where they spent the rest of the night fucking until they were spent.
Fast-forward to six months later and this is where they are now. For the most part, he feels like a young billionaire’s boy toy, but sometimes — just sometimes — he also wonders if there’s something else , with the way Kyungsoo takes care of him and treats him with a kind of tenderness he’s not sure he deserves.
He repeatedly tells himself that Kyungsoo is only doing his job because as the president of the company, it’s also his responsibility to ensure the welfare of his employees. But then, Kyungsoo looks at him with those eyes, talks to him like this and he’s left wondering where the line between their professional and personal lives start to disappear.
“That won’t happen again, sir,” he answers, “I promise.”
A sigh escapes Kyungsoo’s lips. He stands up from his chair and walks around so he’s standing in front of Jongin, peering down at him.
Kyungsoo tilts his chin, forcing him to stare at his eyes. “You know I don’t like seeing you get stressed.”
Jongin nods, pout still evident.
“I’m not mad, okay? I’m only concerned.”
Jongin glances away. “I know.”
Kyungsoo leans down until he’s eye-level with Jongin. He holds Jongin’s face and Jongin barely has a moment to close his eyes before he feels the familiar press of Kyungsoo’s lips on his, kissing him softly.
It’s different from the heated kisses they have shared in the past at the beginning of this relationship. Jongin discovers he likes it just as much — maybe even more — easily finding himself returning the gesture and kissing Kyungsoo back with the same gentleness the latter loves to give him these days.
Jongin throws his arms around Kyungsoo’s back by reflex, pulling the other man lower and closer to him.
When Kyungsoo pulls away, he licks his lips, just like how he did several months ago when Jongin first popped the question. But now in replacement of want, Jongin only sees fondness etched in his eyes, feeling it for himself as Kyungsoo slides his hands down his sides. It makes him want to melt in a way he hasn’t felt before.
“Jongin,” Kyungsoo says, thumb caressing his cheek, “When they told me you passed out, I almost thought I lost you. I was so scared. I don’t want that to happen again.”
Jongin nods, leaning into Kyungsoo’s touch. He feels the tension in his body slowly fade.
“I just want you to always be healthy and happy. Plus,” His lips pull into that smile that makes him look even more attractive and comforting, “You know I’m not just your boss, right? You can come to me for anything. "
"Anything?"
Kyungsoo takes his hand and plants a kiss on his knuckles. "Anything. I can't promise I always have the solution to your problem but I'll try to help you as much as I can.”
Jongin smiles and plants a quick peck on Kyungsoo’s lips.
“Just don’t ask me to have babies, because I can’t magically father some.”
Jongin chuckles.
Kyungsoo stands up, pulling Jongin onto his feet along with him. “No more overtime, understand?”
“Yes, sir. No more overtime.”
Kyungsoo snakes a hand around his waist. “Where do you to want to go for dinner?
Jongin tries to fight back a grin as he pretends to mull over it for a second, knowing deep down that there’s only one option he turns to once he’s given the chance. “How about some Chicken and Beer? You won’t mind some greasy food for a change, won’t you?”
Kyungsoo laughs, giving Jongin a light and playful shove on the chest. “I do enjoy greasy food. Though not as much as I enjoy you . Let’s go now before we run out of tables. I’m hungry.”
Jongin giggles, noses Kyungsoo’s hair while leaning into the other’s warmth. He thinks he couldn’t have asked for a better boss and for a perfect way to end the work night.