Chapter Text
Jeongguk looks at the tall building, wishing that he wouldn’t have to step foot in there even though he knows that realistically that isn’t possible. He had been summoned to the office of the opposing CEO that morning over email. Jeongguk unfortunately knows, as well, why he was being summoned to the man’s chambers. It was a harmless joke really, just some light fun. He didn’t think that jokingly telling a few gossipers in Taehyung’s office that Taehyung was seeing his best friend Jimin would spark anything more than rumours exchanged in the hush of the shadows around the other’s building; a company joke. How was he supposed to know the media would get wind of it and run with it?
He was not expecting it to make it to live TV and for congratulations to pour in for the two of them and for Taehyung’s parents to begin planning the wedding. When he got the mildly heated email from Taehyung that morning, he was genuinely ready to have the elder chew him out for his bratty behaviour. What Jeongguk didn’t expect was for the elder to invite him over so they could talk over coffee.
Which leads him to this moment. With a tiny shake of his head, he pushes the door open and steps in, instantly being greeted by all of the employees. It seems odd that rival CEOs would have staff at the other’s building respect them in such a manner, but their relationship was never malicious. It was light and jesting. They don’t take pleasure in the other’s humiliation or their sorrow, but rather they enjoy the juvenile jokes that elementary children enjoy playing on each other. They enjoy the competitiveness that comes with the industry, always striving to outperform the other on the markets.
In fact, Jeongguk reminisces the evening that he came over with takeout for the first time. It was the evening that Taehyung truly ever got mad at him. They were young and full of rage in their early days, their rivalry more hostile, and yet seeing Taehyung shut Jeongguk out, even from their provoking comments, left a sour taste on the younger CEO’s tongue. He hated it.
Evidently, everything worked out that night, otherwise Jeongguk wouldn’t be getting off the elevator at Taehyung’s floor. His secretary, Soobin, bows respectfully as Jeongguk stops in front of his desk.
“Is Sunbaenim busy?” Jeongguk asks, tucking a hand in his pocket. Soobin looks at his monitor before he clicks around, probably looking for the man’s schedule.
“He booked the whole morning off. I suppose that’s for you?” He asks, his lips barely concealing a smile. Jeongguk chuckles as he nods.
“Sounds like his dramatic ass to book off a whole morning just to talk.” He spends another few moments talking to Soobin before he knocks at Taehyung’s door.
“Come in,” the rich honeyed voice calls out.
Jeongguk opens the door and pokes his head in. His breath catches in his throat when he sees Taehyung. Yes he’d seen the man earlier that week when he was on TV, denouncing that there was anything between him and his best friend, but the man sitting in front of him couldn’t be the same man. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail, his fringe tucked behind his ears delicately, ears adorned with expensive silver and diamonds sparkling in the light. A pair of gold wired frames are perched on his smooth nose comfortably.
As if his features weren’t gorgeous enough, the neckline of his pristine shirt was cut low enough allowing the younger CEO a glimpse at the warm ivory chest and collarbones of the man who was working away on his laptop. His neck was decorated with gold chains that stood out against his skin, glinting, teasing almost that they get to coil around the man’s throat. And if that wasn’t enough skin, his toned arms were being caressed by the golden rays that sneak in from the window creating the illusion that his arms were glowing.
“Are you going to come in or gawk at me?” The older CEO smirks, his eyes never leaving his screen. The slight quirk of his lips makes something tumble in Jeongguk’s stomach, not like he’d ever tell Taehyung.
“As if, I’ve seen better.” He bluffs, closing the door behind him as he slips in fully. The CEO stops typing and looks up at the younger, hands folding themselves under Taehyung’s chin. Long thin fingers support the man’s head as he stares at him, amusement dripping from his aura.
“Mm, I see. I think you’re quite gorgeous yourself, angel.” Taehyung winks, leaning back in his chair, hands falling to his lap as his elbows rest on the rests on his chair. Jeongguk’s cheeks fill with a rosy flush. “But I didn’t bring you here to tell you things you already know.”
Jeongguk scoffs as he settles into the seat across from Taehyung. He gets comfortable, sinking into the seat a little, legs spread. He sets his elbow up on the arm rest before propping his chin up on his fist, his right hand falls limply into his lap, fingers gently resting on his thigh, his arm supported by the rest. He’s been in this position, across from Tae one too many times to be truly afraid of what the elder had to say.
Not to say that Jeongguk wasn’t going to take him seriously, he absolutely was, because making Taehyung feel bad is not something he liked doing. On the other hand, he knew that Taehyung wasn’t going to reprimand him severely for something that was supposed to be harmless. The two have had their fair share of pranks go wrong, so meeting in someone’s office was just to over whether or not they should take those kinds of pranks off the table.
“So, I’m supposedly dating Jimin?” He asks, tone as bored as if he was asking about the weather, something mundane.
“Are you?”
“Mm, it was supposed to be a secret,” Taehyung sighs. Jeongguk’s heart drops as he hears the words come out of Tae’s mouth. Apologies are on the tip of his tongue when Taehyung fixes him with a stern look, asking him not to speak. Jeongguk bites his tongue for the time being, allowing the older CEO to speak.
“It was supposed to be a secret that I’m into someone else. But because of your albeit funny stunt, now the whole world knows that Kim Taehyung has ‘fond feelings’ for someone.” Something in Jeongguk’s chest deflates. It feels like his chest is constricting and restricting his airways. He coughs slightly and pours himself a glass of water and gingerly sips at it.
He had not seen those words written anywhere in the articles. Then again, he didn’t pay attention to the articles anyways, already feeling horrible about putting Taehyung in that kind of a position.
“So you like someone?” Taehyung nods, head cocked as he watches the young CEO process the words that were just spoken to him. “Will the thing with Jimin ruin your chances with him? If it does, he doesn’t deserve you.” Jeongguk muttered, annoyance creeping into his tone as he thinks of some stone faced, attractive man being put off by some fake rumour about Taehyung. It made him seethe to think of Taehyung with someone who didn’t deserve him.
“I don’t think it will,” Taehyung chuckles gently, “if anything, I hope that he isn’t too hard on himself.” There’s this tone in Taehyung’s voice that piques Jeongguk’s curiosity while also making him queasy. Taehyung’s voice is infinitely soft, the crispness of his voice mellowing into a smooth rumble drenched in fondness.
Something twists in Jeongguk’s gut. There’s this itch under his skin that makes him restless, like sitting in the chair was a trying task. He doesn’t understand why Taehyung being into someone felt like he was being discarded.
“Jimin hyung is a high standard to compete with,” Jeongguk laughs, the sound echoing hollow even to him. He hates it. He hates how he feels and is acting like he is jealous, which he isn’t.
“Mm, but I’m not in the habit of comparing my friends with my romantic partner who will stand by me for better or for worse.” Taehyung exhales, relaxing to allow his thumb to support his chin as his index finger curls slightly, resting on his top lip.
“That–” Jeongguk winces at the pitchy tone of his voice and clears his throat, “–that sounds like a great practice. Any tips on how to set up expectations for romantic partners?” The young CEO was internally screaming at himself. He wasn’t looking for a romantic partner, hell, since he became CEO at 23, there was little time for anyone, let alone someone he was interested in. Yet somehow he didn’t want to leave yet, he couldn’t leave yet.
“Is that your way of telling me you’re into someone?” The elder scoots closer, his elbows now on the desk as he leans forward. Jeongguk can’t tell what he’s thinking, his face is blank, eerily so. This is the time where Jeongguk should laugh it off and tell him that no, he doesn’t have someone he’s interested in.
However…
“I don’t like talking about them much, but yeah there’s someone I’m interested in.” It’s like he doesn’t know how to say what he really wants when he’s around the older man. Taehyung smiles cooly before he gets up, his shoes clicking against the wooden floor, footfalls silenced as he steps onto the carpet. A warm hand falls on Jeongguk’s nape, alerting him of the other man’s presence hovering near him.
“I see. I didn’t know that your very arbitrary and spontaneous schedule had space for a romantic interest.” Taehyung hums, gently squeezing the younger CEO’s nape in what felt like a warning.
“There's a method in my madness,” Jeongguk argues, bristling at how Taehyung thought he knew Jeongguk better than he knew himself.
“You work in the evenings, your mornings are spent lounging in one of our offices and during the day you are running from district to district to have lunches and outings with investors. Pray tell when you have time for a romantic interest?” Tae smarts, warmth leaving Jeongguk’s nape as the source of said previous warmth semi sat on the desk in front of him. It reminded the young man of how teachers and professors would sit on desks as they lectured the class.
“I do! They’re very understanding of my work hours and don’t judge me for them like you do.” Jeongguk grits out. Unlike the many times that Taehyung’s stare had elicited pleasant feelings within Jeongguk, the stare he was getting now, the absolute scrutiny of it made him feel small and like he’d done something wrong.
“I apologize. I suppose I’m a little perplexed as to how you manage to have all this time for everything.” Tae laughs to himself. “Guess they don’t call you Golden Boy for no reason.” The musings are clearly not meant for Jeongguk, so he bites his tongue.
“Sir…?” Taehyung lifts his head to look past Jeongguk at his secretary who looks to be one wrong word away from a breakdown.
“Soobin-ssi?” He frowns, his steps quickening as he gets to the door of the office room. “What’s wrong?”
“Sir, your mother is here, in the lobby.” Taehyung curses as he jogs back to his desk and grabs his pristine jacket, tugging it on over his white sleeveless shirt, before buttoning it up. The sleeves were bunched up at his elbow and allowed his forearm to show his bracelets of all sorts out in the open. It shocks Jeongguk when he sees the silver chain he had gifted the older CEO last year when he was invited to his birthday gala.
“Hurry, if my mother sees me with anyone she’s going to get us married quicker than you can say ‘wedding’.” Tae mutters, picking up his pace, boots clicking against the tiled floor. It was amusing to see the CEO of such a large corporation be terrified of his mother and the thought of marriage.
Jeongguk slows down for a second to pull his phone out to tell his co-CEO that he will be back sooner than expected. When he looks up from sending the text, Taehyung is at the end of the hall, poking his head around the corner like a child hiding from his parents…which Jeongguk supposes he is.
His chocolate irises rove over the man as he walks towards him, appreciating the way the ensemble highlights his assets. His waist is gorgeously defined and his pants are deliciously filled out with all that cake he’s carrying. Yet, it didn’t look trashy or try hard, there’s an air of elegance to him that intrigues Jeongguk and pulls him in.
“Fuck, the elevator is moving up.” Taehyung grunts once Jeongguk stops next to him.
“Just call an impromptu meeting or something. Lock yourself up in the bathroom if you have to.” Jeongguk suggests. The older CEO turns to glare at him, as if he’d said the most preposterous thing.
“I know you want me gone, but I didn’t think you wanted me gone this bad.” Taehyung glares. “I can’t just pull a meeting out of thin air when my mother comes to visit! She’ll have my head.”
Jeongguk laughs at how childish the elder sounds. It’s adorable, really.
“Why don’t you just greet her and I’ll head to one of the conference rooms. Once she’s in your office, I’ll sneak out.” Taehyung looks at the younger for a second before embracing him.
“This is why you’re the golden boy.” He teases, pushing Gguk towards the meeting rooms. “Wait 5 minutes before you leave.” Jeongguk nods before he jogs towards one of the empty rooms.
The younger leans against the table as he scrolls through his twitter feed, waiting for five minutes to pass. All the tabloids are talking about the supposed love interest of the CEO who was always praised for keeping his love life private until a few days ago.
A pang of guilt hits the younger CEO right in the gut as he thinks about how he was the reason that Taehyung was forced to make a statement about his private life. In fact. Jeongguk doesn’t even understand why he began that rumour. It’s not like he has anything against Jimin or Taehyung, he respects them both and well, it’s not like he can hate his own brother.
Jeongguk glances at the time on his phone and locks his phone. He’d waited an extra couple of minutes to make sure that everything would go smoothly. Fixing his collar, the young male steps out of the room and towards the elevators where he sees Taehyung standing with his mother. The woman has her back towards Jeongguk.
When Taehyung sees the younger CEO, he widens his eyes and tries to usher her towards his office room. Jeongguk looks around to find somewhere that he can hide but it all proves to be futile when Taehyung’s mother turns around and sees the young man floundering to hide.
“Oh, it’s the Jeon heir.” She moves closer to the male who scrambles to bow to the woman in front of him. “What are you doing here?” Jeongguk flounders for words, looking back at Taehyung for help.
The older CEO shakes his head, implying that he won’t be able to help him at all, he doesn’t even know what to say to his mother about why on earth a rival is in their building.
“Hold on,” the woman spins on her son that looks like he would rather be anywhere than there right now. “You said that you wouldn’t marry Jimin because you had someone else in mind.” She faces Jeongguk with a turn of her lips that otherwise would have been beautiful.
However, given their situation and that Taehyung’s mother seems to be implying that he is the reason that Taehyung refuses to get married to anyone else, that smile is anything but beautiful; it’s downright terrifying.
“Eomma, no. Nope, you’re misunderstanding,” Taehyung attempts to reason with his mother. She merely tuts and walks closer to the Jeon heir. Now Jeongguk is used to being sized up by people at galas, always trying to see whether or not he would be a good person to trust with their company investments. However, he’s never been used to someone sizing him up for marriage. He knew that one day he would probably have to be in the shoes that he is now, but he thought that was in the distant future.
“Nonsense, I think I see why you would want the Jeon heir. He looks very reliable, look at those shoulders,” she gasps, reaching out to pat them down. Jeongguk looks at Taehyung with pleading eyes, begging him to do something and save him from this awkward situation. “Taehyung, they’re so sturdy, you can definitely rely on him.”
The younger CEO looked like he was two seconds away from crying (well not really) and Taehyung never wants to see that, especially if he can help it.
“Yes I know,” Taehyung sighs, gently coaxing his mother away from the heir. “Why else do you think I am waiting for him to pop the question?” He murmurs, loud enough for Jeongguk to hear.
When the younger of the two had pleaded for help with his eyes, he did not mean to create a situation in which they would be lying to the whole world.
He drills holes into the older male’s back as Tae pretends like he didn’t just tell his mother a huge lie. Instead he guides her to the elevator and bids her goodbye, waving until the elevator doors close.
The moment it did, Taehyung was off, running in the opposite direction with Jeongguk hot on his heels. It didn’t matter that there were other employees and that there were meetings going on, no. Nothing mattered when the two were in the middle of some sort of prank war or disagreement. Taehyung’s rich and merry laughter wafted through the halls as Jeongguk chased after him, yelling the elder’s name.
It wasn’t long before Taehyung found himself at a dead end, blocked in by Jeongguk who slowly began stalking towards him, strands of dark brown hair falling into his face. Light glinted off the metal lodged in his eyebrow and the ring hugging the corner of his bottom lip. Tae saw the hunger in the young man’s eyes easily, the predatory stare as he quickly closed the distance between them.
“Waiting for me to pop the question, is that now?” Jeongguk smirks, pressing the older CEO against the wall. Heat from his body was radiating onto Taehyung, his cologne invading his personal space and acquainting him with the smell that will remain engraved in his mind for days to come.
“It’s not an exact lie,” Taehyung squirms, trying to find a way around the muscle bunny in front of him. However, it seems that after being around Taehyung for so long, the younger knows his habits and had made sure their bodies were almost flush, leaving no room for the man to escape without Jeongguk catching him instantly. To some degree it made him feel good. Made him feel wanted.
Jeongguk doesn’t help Tae’s beating heart when he leans in closer, his left forearm right next to Taehyung’s head as his right hand comes down to tug the elder’s waist closer to him. It’s only when the younger pulls him close that Taehyung realizes that Jeongguk had sneakily slotted his thigh between Tae’s open legs. If there had been even a microscopic chance of escaping, it was now gone; there are too many moving parts to worry about to make a clean escape.
“Isn’t it? What question are you waiting for me to ask then?” Jeongguk breathes, leaning further into the older male’s space. Their noses brushed together, lips barely ghosting each other. All it would take for them to connect is the barest tilt of heads from one of them. Hot breaths fan over each other’s lips, the heat from their bodies already dizzying without the added temptation of the other’s lips.
“Ask if you can kiss me,” Taehyung whispers, absolutely gone as his eyes drift to the inviting lips of his rival. There’s a minuscule quirk upwards of Jeongguk’s lips.
“Alright then, can I kiss you, princess?”
“Please,” Taehyung rasps.
The younger of the two tilts his head just a little to allow their lips to ghost against each other, settling into the new position they found themselves in. A whine escapes the older CEO, and deciding to not tease the man much further, Jeongguk slots their lips together.
It was a chaste press of lips, varying pressure as the cool metal presses against Taehyung’s lip deliciously, sending a shiver down his spine. His arms rise to loop around Jeongguk’s neck as he swipes his tongue over the seam of the younger’s lips. Flicking the metal ring teasingly, Tae’s lips morph into a smile as Jeongguk groans, opening his mouth to the elder and allowing him entry to the wet cavern.
There’s little finesse to the way they kiss after their initial hesitance, shyly licking into each other’s mouths. It becomes less refined, tongues pressing against each other in a playful dance, flirting and twirling around each other. The pressure of the metal piercing on the underside of Tae’s tongue was an added area of stimulation for him. Jeongguk had pressed further against Taehyung as well, the two flush against each other, Tae’s long fingers tangled and twisted in Jeongguk’s unruly curls.
The taste of coffee is one that has Tae recoiling slightly but the hands on his waist pull him even closer, daring him to try and push away. As expected, the older male tastes of sweetness, probably hot chocolate and Jeongguk is desperate to taste more and have Tae on his tongue for the rest of the day as a pleasant memory.
It’s the gentle push at Jeongguk’s chest that has him backing off the older CEO. When he looks down, a flame akin to possessiveness and pride sparks in the younger’s gut as he looks at the man with flushed cheeks and a dazed look. The film of lust clouding his eyes is something that Jeongguk assumes is present in his own gaze; hooded and wanton.
“Something wrong?” Gguk whispers as he chases after Tae’s lips again. The elder turns his head, rose petal lips and metal landing on his cheek as he exhales shakily.
“I just remembered that I have a meeting to prepare for.” The smile doesn’t reach Taehyung’s eyes when he looks back at his rival. It was as fake as the excuse that the man had uttered. Jeongguk bites back a scoff and eases off the older male. He looks down and accidentally notices the identical tents in their pants. Jeongguk feels a tug to sink to his knees and fix the problem in the older man’s pants.
“Meeting, right. I’ll…I think we should talk about what you told your mother, so can I come around later?” Gguk licks at his lips, waiting for the elder’s response. His eyes gravitate to the alluring pinkness of the man’s lips that are taunting him, teasing him, inviting him to press his lips against them again.
“Cell phones exist,” Tae laughs forcefully, a contrast to his gentle action of pushing Gguk aside. “I don’t want to ruin your time with your romantic interest since that’s the only time that you really have to yourself.” The man is already halfway down the hallway, hands tucked into his pockets.
“But what if I want to see you?” Jeongguk asks, calling out after the male dressed in purity and innocence.
Taehyung turns on his heel to look at the male. Jeongguk was wearing checkered pants from Louis Vuitton’s new collection with a simple black button-up shirt. His slightly more sophisticated black stompers adorn his feet, the colours a contrast to his silver ornaments. The few buttons of his shirt undone give a peek at the golden skin there and a silver chain. Rings litter his fingers, glinting in the light when he runs a hand through his hair. Of course there are his silver hoops and chains that hang off his ears.
A gentle ache presents itself in Taehyung’s chest. The pressure has him coughing to make up for the momentary silence which wasn’t longer than a second or two.
“Then you’re free to do whatever it is you please.”
It’s with that phrase that Taehyung leaves a perplexed Jeongguk standing in a dead end hallway, confused at the elder’s abruptness.