Work Text:
“Sir, is everything alright? You’ve been staring at that mattress for the last twenty minutes.”
Mu Qing startled and turned his head. He noticed an elderly woman standing next to him, a concerned expression on her face.
“I’m fine. Just…particular about my mattresses. You know how it is,” he said lightly.
“Oh, I’m the same way!” she smiled. “My husband has such a bad back, but he loves a firm mattress. Hasn’t been able to sleep the whole fifty years of our marriage on anything softer than a rock.”
Mu Qing hummed and was about to walk away when an idea struck. “Say, what do you think of the firmness of this mattress?”
The lady reached out to push on the mattress and made a considering noise. “There’s a nice balance between the soft and the firm. It wouldn’t suit my husband, but perhaps a younger man like yourself would enjoy a restful sleep on such a surface.”
He blinked. “I actually prefer a firmer mattress. May I ask where you got your last mattress from?”
“We got it from that place down the street.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Oh, what’s it called again?”
“Eternal Sleep,” he growled.
“Ah, yes, that’s the one! It was fantastic at first, but after a few years of… use , we found the firmness didn’t hold up.”
“Ha! Take that, you bastard,” he muttered under his breath.
“Mm, what was that?” said the woman.
“Oh, it was nothing. Just…talking to myself.”
The woman accepted this explanation easily. “Anyway, so we’re looking at other options this time. The ones here seem quite firm, but I’m worried about longevity,” she trailed off.
Mu Qing perked up. “Actually, the mattresses at Counting Sheep are the best of the best in all aspects, including durability, proven to stand the test of time. Ah, in my opinion, anyway.”
“Oh, really? You sure know a lot about mattresses!”
“It’s nothing,” he said sheepishly. “I’m just very passionate about getting a good night’s rest. Eight hours and all that.”
“Then have you looked at Eternal Sleep recently? I’m wondering if their newer mattresses might hold up better than the old one I have…”
He scoffed. “Those mattresses are second-rate at best. You deserve better than a lumpy, sagging, oversized couch cushion!”
The woman’s eyes widened. “Oh my! Well, then what do you know about the mattresses at Smiling Rainbow?”
Mu Qing was visibly taken aback. “Sorry? Smiling what now?”
“Smiling Rainbow? Did you not hear about the new mattress store? It opened about a block away.” She gestured down the street.
Mu Qing pasted on a friendly smile, feeling anything but. “I had no idea. I’ll have to look into that.”
“Don’t be too troubled. It’s only been open for a little over a month. They’re quite popular from what I’ve heard.”
“That’s just great for them,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Isn’t it?” she mused, oblivious to his growing rage. “I do hope they continue to do well. And it is nice to have more options. You can never have too many mattresses, no?”
Two is more than enough , he thought to himself. It seemed he had some work to do.
“How are you today, sir?” asked Feng Xin’s assistant, Ming Yi.
Feng Xin gratefully accepted the cup of coffee in Ming Yi’s hand and took a quick sip. “Everything is going great. Sales are up, the sun is shining, and Mu Qing is nowhere to be seen! I haven’t run into that bastard even once today!”
“Very good, sir,” Ming Yi replied.
“Isn’t it?” Feng Xin boasted, taking another satisfied sip of coffee.
Ming Yi opened the conference room door for him, and he strode through with a murmured thanks. Inside were executives from the many regional branches. They all stood as Feng Xin took his place at the head of the table.
“Good morning, everyone!” he greeted. “Let’s get started.”
They all sat.
“First on the agenda. Sales report.”
One of the executives leaned forward in his seat. “Sir, sales this month were down at all of our locations.”
“How is that possible?” Feng Xin demanded. “Surely, Counting Sheep couldn’t have overtaken us that easily. I know how Mu Qing—I mean Counting Sheep works.”
He ignored the knowing glances all the executives shared.
“Sir, it’s not Counting Sheep,” the same executive said nervously. “It’s a new firm.”
“WHAT? WHO?”
“It’s called Smiling Rainbow.”
Feng Xin slammed his hand on the table, making everyone jump. “That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard!”
“I thought you said Counting Sheep was the stupidest name you ever heard. Sir,” the executive added hastily upon seeing the look Feng Xin sent his way.
“Well, that was before Smiling Rainbow ,” he sneered. “New agenda for today’s meeting. We need to come up with strategies to take this new company down.”
“But, sir, surely three companies in this industry cannot be any worse than two.”
Feng Xin clenched his hand into a fist. “Two is more than enough.”
Just before the elevator doors closed, a hand reached out between them.
The doors reopened to reveal Mu Qing.
Feng Xin scowled. “Where the hell have you been?”
Mu Qing raised his eyebrow. “Keeping tabs on me, are you? I’m going to start thinking you missed me.”
“I could never,” Feng Xin spat.
Mu Qing rolled his eyes but didn’t respond.
They stood in tense silence as the elevator began to rise.
Mu Qing awkwardly cleared his throat. “Actually, I was out at one of our locations—quality inspections, you know—or maybe you don’t—”
“You take that back!”
“Anyway,” Mu Qing continued loudly, ignoring Feng Xin’s outburst, “I heard something interesting. Apparently, there’s a new mattress manufacturer in the area.”
“Smiling Rainbow,” Feng Xin said distastefully. “Yes, I just found out myself. They’re taking away our profit.”
“Or maybe people are realizing your mattresses are shit.”
“Get fucked! You’d know about shitty mattresses anyway, wouldn’t you?”
“How dare —”
Feng Xin cut him off. “But that’s beside the point. Three’s a crowd in this industry, don’t you think?”
Mu Qing gave him a nasty look but didn’t argue.
Feng Xin gave him a smug smile. “So we’re in agreement then?”
“Unfortunately,” Mu Qing muttered.
There was another pause. They were nearing Mu Qing’s floor.
Suddenly, Feng Xin turned to Mu Qing. “Where are their headquarters anyway? Not this building, right?”
“You think a whole other company could fit in this building when both our offices are here?” Mu Qing asked incredulously. “Two is more than enough.”
“So we’ve said. But what are we going to do about it?”
Mu Qing whipped his head around to stare at him. “ We ?”
“You heard me.”
“Are you serious? You want us to work together ?”
“Want is a strong word. But I think it could be mutually beneficial.”
“How considerate of you,” Mu Qing deadpanned.
The elevator pinged as the doors opened. Mu Qing stepped out, but before the doors could close again, he blurted out, “If you’re serious about this, come to my office later and we can work out the details.” The doors began to shut, and Mu Qing called out behind him, “I’ll text you when I’m done for the day.”
Alone, in the elevator, Feng Xin stood frozen in shock. How did Mu Qing have his number?
At exactly 5 pm, Feng Xin’s phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw a message from Mu Qing that simply read Done.
Feng Xin huffed. Of course, Mu Qing would use punctuation.
He set his phone down to shuffle the paperwork he’d been working on. He was gathering the last few scattered documents when he had a realization.
He looked at his phone again and stared at the notification. So he hadn’t imagined it. Instead of a string of numbers, the name “Mu Qing” was displayed before the message.
Feng Xin went to his contacts and scrolled down. Yep, there it was. Mu Qing. He tapped the name and stared at the contact information—Mu Qing’s work and cell numbers, email, and even his home address (although, he already knew where Mu Qing lived. It would’ve been impossible not to, since they were neighbors and all).
When did that happen? He would’ve remembered putting Mu Qing’s contact information in his phone. And the only other person who had access to his phone was Ming Yi, but there’s no way he would’ve added it for no reason.
He shook his head. He didn’t have time for this.
After placing the stack of papers in a file, he stood and grabbed his things.
The elevator ride down didn’t take long. Then again, he was only going to the floor below.
Feng Xin approached Mu Qing’s office. The secretary sitting out front did a double take as she was packing her belongings. Her mouth dropped open when she realized who he was and she scrambled for her phone, frantically typing something out.
Before Feng Xin could knock on the door, it swung open to reveal an unimpressed Mu Qing.
“You know this whole thing is glass. I saw you come in.”
“Haven’t you ever heard of manners?” Feng Xin shot back, brushing past him and entering the office.
“ I have. Clearly you haven’t. But sure, come on in! Make yourself at home!” Mu Qing said sarcastically, slamming the door behind him.
“I will, thanks.” Feng Xin plopped down into Mu Qing’s desk chair.
Mu Qing frowned. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Feng Xin gave him an innocent look. “Making myself at home. What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Get up. Find another home. That’s my seat.”
“Touchy,” Feng Xin muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” Mu Qing demanded.
“Nothing, nothing! You must be hearing things. Maybe you should get your ears checked.” Feng Xin stood and moved to one of the chairs around the coffee table. “Anyway, we should get started. I don’t want to miss the last train home.”
“You asshole, we take the same train home,” Mu Qing reminded him, gracefully lowering himself into the now free desk chair.
“Well, then we wouldn’t want to miss it now, would we?”
Mu Qing rolled his eyes. “Whatever, now what is this brilliant plan of yours?”
“Plan? I don’t have a plan. The whole purpose of this was to come up with one together, or did you already forget?”
“I hope your mattress swallows you whole tonight,” Mu Qing grumbled.
Feng Xin gave him a sickly sweet smile. “Thanks, now can we get on with it.”
“Sure, sure. Did you have any ideas at least?”
Feng Xin leaned forward in his seat. “As a matter of fact…”
“Shit!”
Feng Xin looked up to see Mu Qing in a matching janitor’s uniform, bracing one hand on the wall to steady himself and glaring at him. “What?”
“What the hell are you doing?” Mu Qing gestured to the floor.
Feng Xin glanced down. “I’m mopping?”
“Really? Because it seems more like you’re determined to make this entire level a swimming pool,” Mu Qing hissed. “Have you never used a mop before?”
“Um, no.”
Mu Qing rolled his eyes. “I can tell. Now stop that. Luckily for you, we’re not here to mop anyway.”
“Has everyone left?” Feng Xin peered around the corner into another empty hallway.
“I didn’t see anyone else on my way back up. We’re good to go.”
“Great!” Feng Xin paused. “Now where is it we’re going again?”
“CEO’s office?” asked Mu Qing with a raised brow.
“Okay,” he said slowly, “but where exactly is the CEO’s office?”
Mu Qing opened his mouth and then closed it. He looked around for any signs that could point them in the right direction. He guessed, “Top floor? That would make sense to have the CEO’s office on the top floor, right?”
“I guess. I don’t know.” Feng Xin shrugged.
Mu Qing squinted at him. “Aren’t you a CEO?”
“Yeah, aren’t you?”
“Don’t be stupid,” Mu Qing scoffed. “But I don’t get a top floor office because some other company took the top levels of the building.”
“Well neither do I! I’m on the bottom floor of our offices!” Feng Xin exclaimed.
“And whose stupid idea was that?”
“It’s not a stupid idea! It’s smart and efficient in the event of an emergency evacuation!”
Mu Qing gaped at him. “Who even thinks like that?”
“I do, you asshole! Just you wait and see when we have an emergency evacuation. I’ll be laughing the whole way down the stairs.”
“I’m on the floor below you! I’ll beat you!”
“Shut up! No one asked you! Besides, if you care that much, why didn’t you just put your stupid offices in a different building?” Feng Xin questioned.
Mu Qing shifted uncomfortably. “Haven’t you heard of the saying ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’?”
“Sure, but what’s that got to do with anything?”
“Well, you know, you and me, we’re like….” he trailed off and gave Feng Xin an expectant look.
“Friends?” Feng Xin filled in. “Who the fuck said that?”
Mu Qing groaned. “No, dipshit, we’re enemies!”
“We’re lost is what we are!”
Mu Qing smacked his forehead and pointed down the hall. “The elevator is right there ! You know those things that go up and down? We go inside. We find the button for the top floor. We press it.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
“Then we’ll figure it out! Are you coming or not?”
“Fine, fine, yes.”
They got to the elevator with no issue. After a quick scan of the panel of floors, Mu Qing hit the button for the top level, and up they went.
The doors opened to reveal a wide open space. Glass windows lined the room from floor to ceiling.
“Well, it’s a nice view,” Feng Xin commented after a moment.
Mu Qing side-eyed him. “I wouldn’t know. You could’ve had this too if you hadn’t been dumb and chosen the fucking bottom level of your office. Idiot.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s just go in.”
Feng Xin led them to the C-suite. The nameplate on the door read “Jun Wu.”
“This must be it,” he said to Mu Qing. He tried to open the door, but it didn’t budge. “I think it’s locked.”
“You don’t say…”
“Hmm, let’s see.” Feng Xin examined the handle and nodded to himself. “Okay, I think I can open this.” He pulled out his wallet and retrieved one of his credit cards, inserting it into the gap between the door and the frame. He wiggled it a bit and slammed his shoulder against the door. It didn’t open.
“What…are you doing?”
“Trying to open the door. What do you think?” Feng Xin shoved the card further into the gap and tried again.
Mu Qing asked skeptically, “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Sort of?”
“You don’t sound too confident there,” Mu Qing observed.
Feng Xin huffed and straightened up, turning back to face him. “Well, do you have a better idea?”
“Yes, actually.” Mu Qing reached into the uniform pocket and dangled a ring of keys in Feng Xin’s face with a smug grin.
Feng Xin stared at the keys and then gave Mu Qing a disbelieving look. “You couldn’t have said that earlier?”
Mu Qing gave him a one shoulder shrug. “It was more fun watching you struggle.”
“Give those to me,” he said as he snatched the keys.
“A please would’ve been nice.”
Feng Xin ignored him and began trying out the keys. After a few failed attempts, one of them finally worked. The door clicked open, and Feng Xin tossed the keys back to Mu Qing with a glare.
Wordlessly, they entered the office, and the overhead lights immediately flickered on. The office itself wasn’t particularly special as far as C-suites went. A large desk stood in the middle of the room. Against the window were a comfortable-looking couch and a few armchairs placed around a glass coffee table.
The two immediately headed toward the other side of the desk and pulled open the drawers to rifle through the stack of files inside.
They hadn’t gotten through many of the documents when the elevator suddenly pinged. They froze, sharing an alarmed glance when they heard voices, and hastily shoved the papers in their hands back into the open drawer.
The voices drew close enough that they could make out the words.
“—shipment that was supposed to come in today.”
“The boss won’t be happy.”
“Eh, I wouldn’t worry. It’ll probably be delivered with the rest of the goods.”
“But they promised a quarter million worth of this batch upfront. He’s gonna think they’re trying to cheat him or….”
Together Feng Xin and Mu Qing dove under the desk just as the door to the office opened. They held their breaths as the talking stopped.
“Why’s the light on?”
“The janitors must’ve been in here recently.”
“Right.”
“Boss said the files were hidden in a secret compartment in the bottom drawer?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Footsteps approached.
The two huddled closer beneath the desk, practically on top of each other now. Suddenly a phone rang.
The footsteps halted, and they could hear rustling as the phone was fished out of a pocket.
“Yeah, boss?”
A pause.
“Ah, okay, on it.”
“What did he want?”
“That shipment of mattresses just came in. He wants us to go and check that the stash is there, make sure everything is accounted for and all that.”
“Oh, okay.”
The office door snapped shut, and the footsteps disappeared down the hall. A minute later, there was a faint ding as the elevator doors opened.
The two sat in silence under the desk, waiting to make sure the coast was clear. After enough time passed with no movement from outside, Mu Qing let out a sigh of relief and whispered, “I think they’re gone.”
“That’s great,” Feng Xin whispered back. “Now could you get off me?”
Mu Qing looked down at where he was practically sitting in Feng Xin’s lap and scrambled out from under the desk. He brushed off his uniform with as much dignity as he could muster, avoiding Feng Xin’s eyes when he climbed out after Mu Qing.
Feng Xin cleared his throat and said, “So drug trafficking? And a secret compartment?”
“Yes, um,” Mu Qing coughed lightly, “shall we take a look?”
Feng Xin slid open the bottom drawer and felt around the sides of the interior. Nothing.
“Maybe you should take everything out?” suggested Mu Qing.
“Maybe you could help?” Feng Xin shot back, looking up at him over his shoulder.
Mu Qing rolled his eyes but bent down to help remove the collection of files.
They stacked everything on the desk and knelt down next to the drawer to inspect it more closely. Feng Xin knocked on the bottom. The panel tilted upward on one side.
They looked at each other.
“It’s a false bottom,” Mu Qing said.
Feng Xin nodded and knocked harder on the panel, dislodging it further until there was enough of a gap to grasp the edge and lift it up.
Underneath the panel lay an account ledger.
Mu Qing’s jaw dropped. “Is that…”
“Yep.”
Mu Qing reached in and lifted it higher, scanning its contents. Feng Xin crowded behind him to read along.
“Unbelievable,” Mu Qing muttered. “He really recorded every single transaction and hid it in a false bottom. It’s not even locked! How stupid do you have to be?”
“Very.” Feng Xin leaned in closer. “So what now?”
“Now we turn it in to the police.”
“Just the police? I have a better idea.”
Feng Xin and Mu Qing were sitting in Feng Xin’s office watching the news report on one of the three most successful mattress companies in the nation. An anonymous tip provided strong evidence of drug trafficking and money laundering led by the company’s CEO, Jun Wu. The company had been shut down pending what lead detectives hinted would be a lengthy and thorough investigation.
The two reigning mattress CEOs clinked their glasses together with matching smug smiles.
“You know,” Feng Xin said, leaning back and taking a sip of his drink, “we make a pretty good team.”
Mu Qing sipped from his own drink, considering, and glanced over from where he was perched on the very edge of the couch. “And?”
“Maybe we should work together more often. You know?” He gave Mu Qing a meaningful look.
Mu Qing sat his glass down and turned to face him more directly. “Are you saying you want to…merge our companies?”
Feng Xin blinked. “Um, not quite merge our companies , per se. I mean, maybe down the line, but I was actually thinking…”
Mu Qing perked up. “Oh, you mean coordinating our strategies to drive up sales for both our companies to make up for the lost profits from Smiling Rainbow?”
“Well…not that either. But! That’s not a bad idea!” Feng Xin hastily reassured when Mu Qing’s expression fell.
“Okay,” Mu Qing said slowly, “then what were you thinking?”
Feng Xin swirled the contents of his glass around and suddenly knocked the whole thing back. He firmly placed his empty glass on the table. “I want to go on a date.”
Mu Qing’s eyebrows scrunched up. “With who?”
Feng Xin sighed in exasperation. “You, you dumb fuck!” he practically yelled.
“If anyone’s a dumb fuck, it’s you,” Mu Qing retorted automatically. Then his brain caught up with the conversation, and he jolted. “Wait what?”
“I,” Feng Xin pointed at himself, “want to go on a date with you,” he pointed at Mu Qing.
Mu Qing gaped at him. “Are you serious?”
“Of course, I am! So…will you? Go out with me?” He scratched the back of his neck.
“I…”
“You don’t have to, obviously,” Feng Xin added quickly. “You can say no, I won’t be offended or anything—”
Mu Qing’s shocked expression immediately morphed into something closer to outrage. “How could you think I’d say no? Of course, I’ll go out with you!” His face was flushed, but he looked pleased.
Whoops and hollers erupted from outside the office, startling the both of them.
Feng Xin stalked toward the door, closely followed by Mu Qing, and swung the door open to reveal a crowd of employees from both companies cheering.
“Fucking finally!” someone called out. It seemed to be Mu Qing’s secretary.
“Shi Qingxuan? What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be working?” Mu Qing demanded.
“It’s after hours!” she shouted cheerfully, slinging an arm around Ming Yi. Neither CEO knew their secretaries were friends. Was that how Mu Qing’s contact information had mysteriously appeared in Feng Xin’s phone?
Mu Qing put his hands on his hips. “I can fire you, you know,” he threatened.
“But you won’t!” Shi Qingxuan sang.
Mu Qing rolled his eyes but didn’t disagree. And because Shi Qingxuan really was such a good employee, she began herding away the crowd of people. Within seconds, everyone had dispersed, heading for the elevators and stairs.
Mu Qing chuckled and shook his head.
Feng Xin leaned over and murmured, “Should we get out of here?”
“You read my mind,” Mu Qing whispered back.
“Your apartment or mine?”
“Mine, obviously.” Mu Qing rolled his eyes. “In the event of an emergency evacuation, my unit is closer to the stairwell.” He pushed past Feng Xin, sending a smirk over his shoulder as he began walking toward the elevator.
“Not by much!” Feng Xin called after him, a wide grin spreading over his face as he chased after Mu Qing.