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Today is the day.
Junmyeon clenched his fist as he paced back and forth in the men's restroom, chanting the speech he would need to recite later while casually looking at himself in the mirror.
He has been waiting for this day to arrive. He and Sehun decided to choose this day because aside from it being the most convenient day not only for them but also for their colleagues, this day is also special to them.
He flinched when the door suddenly opened, revealing Jongdae, one of his friends and seatmate in the office.
“You ready?” The man asked.
Junmyeon exhaled deeply as he thought of an answer to the simple question.
“I…”
Breathe in.
“I…”
Breathe out.
“I’M NOT!”
He shrieked.
If Jongdae didn’t know him well, he would probably think that Junmyeon was being completely honest. But this is Kim Junmyeon we were talking about. The Kim Junmyeon who could defy their boss. The same Kim Junmyeon who managed to snatch the same boss’ heart’s away.
“Stop being dramatic and get your ass off of there.” Jongdae complained as he refrained from dragging his friend out of the restroom, not when Junmyeon’s wearing a suit. “Come on, they’re waiting for you.”
Before Jongdae could close the door behind him, the dramatic man he just called out stopped him. “Dae, wait.”
“What?”
“I really can’t do this.”
Jongdae, being the bestest boy that he was, entered the restroom again, now carefully closing the door to not add another worry to Junmyeon’s face. “Secretary Kim Junmyeon,” he started, “You are right hand and boyfriend to the brattiest person on Earth, of course you can do this.” He said while fixing the collar of Junmyeon’s black suit.
“Exactly.” Junmyeon widened his eyes to agree.
“If you can handle him, you can do everything. Everything, Junmyeon.”
“No, you don’t understand.” Junmyeon shook his head. “I’ll be tied with them forever.”
Jongdae then patted the non-existence dirt on his friend’s jacket. “That’s exactly the point of all of this, Junmyeon.”
“But…”
“Why say yes to him if you can’t do this now?”
The secretary stepped back a little. He hated how correct his friend was. “Hey, I didn’t say yes to him.” Offended he sounded. “He said yes to me.”
Jongdae rolled his eyes. “Of course, he never says no to you.”
“It's not my fault that I’m awesome.”
“Pushy is the better word.”
“Shut up.”
Jongdae couldn’t help it and so this time, he dragged Junmyeon, carefully so as to not crumple the suit, as he headed to the exit of the restroom.
“Jongdae, wait, I’m not ready.” Junmyeon cried, prolonging the last syllable of his sentence. It sounded fake though.
“If you won’t do this now, there’s no other chance.”
“I can just say that I had an emergency and flee after.”
“Kim Junmyeon.”
Junmyeon stopped in his tracks. Jongdae was using his authoritative voice now and a deep-voiced Jongdae is a very scary Jongdae.
“Please do this for yourself.” His friend started. He seemed pretty relaxed, contrary to Junmyeon’s judgment a while ago. “Yes, I know it’s not for the whole team. Heck, it’s not even for Mr. Oh. But it’s for you, Junmyeon. Do this for yourself.”
Junmyeon thought for a while. 10 seconds had passed and he nodded in Jongdae's direction, so now, they were both heading their way to the venue.
Before they entered, they quickly paused at the entrance of the hall and the secretary released a long, nervous sigh.
"You can do this."
"I can do this."
"You will make their jaws drop."
"I will make their jaws drop."
"You can bring home the bacon."
"I can bring home the bacon."
"You will buy me a house and lot after this."
"I will buy you a house and lo— Jongdae!"
Jongdae laughed. "What? You'll be rich after this."
"Stop, you're not helping."
"I'm just trying to make you cool down."
Junmyeon let out a deep breath as he wiped his palms on his pants. "Pray for me, Dae."
"Stop being dramatic and go."
Without saying another word, Jongdae did the honor and opened the door for his friend. "Break a leg." He whispered as Junmyeon looked at him one last time before entering the room.
There were exactly five people sitting adjacent to each other, all wearing luxurious suits and ties that Junmyeon is probably going to afford if ever he aced this one.
“Good morning, Mr. Kim.”
The secretary bowed to the gentlemen before him.
“Please take a seat.”
He took a seat in front of the panel but his eyes only landed on a particular pair that was shining in front of him.
“Are you nervous, Mr. Kim?” Asked the one in a navy blue suit.
Junmyeon swallowed the lump in his throat before answering. “I— uhm— a little bit, Sir.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t bite.” Said the one with the red necktie with a big Louis Vuitton logo on it. “I don’t know about Mr. Oh, though.”
“Oh, to be young again.”
And the rest of the panel laughed.
Well, except for Junmyeon and the aforementioned Mr. Oh. Both men were blushing at the remark of the Charmain of the appointing committee.
Said Mr. Oh faked a cough to clear the tension in the room.
“Shall we start, gentlemen?”
The men composed themselves and shifted to their professional demeanor. “Do the honor, Oh.”
Junmyeon was sweating hard. His palms were all wet and cold and the devil in front just asked the most cliché question he didn’t bother to prepare an answer for.
“How are you, Mr. Kim?”
This devil. Junmyeon hissed at himself.
“I’m fine, Mr. Oh.” He tried to sound calm and cool but then Mr. Oh smirked at him and oh, how he wanted to punch that face right now.
“I figured.”
“E-excuse me, Sir?”
“You look fine today.”
Junmyeon would definitely be charged with murder tonight.
“Mr. Kim, can you tell us about your experiences as Mr. Oh’s secretary?” The head of the human resources department butted in.
Junmyeon thought for a while.
He thought about when Sehun asked him to print so many documents in a span of half a day, making him run back and forth from Sehun’s office and back to his table just outside the manager’s office where the printer was located, only to find out that they were all the exact same document when he was finished printing the 33rd copy. Sehun then later confessed to him that it was just his subtle way to make a move on the secretary (which Junmyeon disapproved of and said that it was not making a move, it was bullying!).
He also thought about when Sehun made him work all night past his working hours because his boss didn’t want him to suspect the surprise dinner he prepared for their monthsary. Junmyeon wasn’t able to go to work the next day because Sehun feasted on a different meal the night prior.
He has a lot of experience as Sehun’s secretary but he guessed the panel wouldn’t want to hear most of them. So, he just settled on a simple,
“He is a nice boss.”
“That… well, that is saying something about Mr. Oh and not about you, Mr. Kim.”
“I believe that should say a lot something about me, Sir.”
The man with the black and yellow stripes necktie, who Junmyeon believed to be the new vice president for internal affairs of the company, raised a brow. “Care to elaborate, Mr. Kim?”
“Well, Sir, you see, I’ve been to two companies before this, and I will tell you, Sirs, without any flattery, that this is the best position I had so far.”
The panel went silent, seemingly waiting for Junmyeon to add something.
“He brings out the best in his subordinates.” Junmyeon said matter-of-factly. Almost. “He started as your junior manager five years ago, three years ago he was promoted as one of your trusted and reliable managers, and now he’s one of your candidates for the executive director. I can tell you right now, Sir, I am in my best form, in my best working condition, and in my best self because I have the best boss I could ever ask for. So if you’re going to ask about my experiences, I can proudly say that my stay here in your company as Mr. Oh’s secretary is absolutely phenomenal.”
It was not.
But Junmyeon wanted this promotion so badly and what a better way to snatch it than to lie.
Sehun wasn’t the best boss, let’s be honest about that. But he was the best boyfriend (and soon-to-be-husband) Junmyeon could ever ask for.
“And now I can proudly say that I know I can work as a junior manager even under on different supervision if you’ll give me another chance.”
Three of the men in suits nodded their heads, one writing something on his notepad. But one of them looked dubious as he leaned on his chair.
“I know what your relationship with Mr. Oh is.”
When they became boyfriends two years ago, they knew they weren’t violating any office rules by being together. But the management doesn’t allow a married couple in the same department. And since they were engaged now, Sehun suggested that one of them should either resign or change departments. And being the most rational between the two of them, Junmyeon knew better not to ruin his fiancé’s soaring professional career and decided to apply for a higher position in a different division even if it means he was going to be away from Sehun (or Sehun’s office in particular).
“Uh, Mr. Lee,”
Sehun seemed dumbfounded by the remark his colleague beside him spat. They have already announced their engagement in the office a few months ago but Sehun couldn’t help but overanalyze the situation, but Junmyeon didn’t look appalled at all. He even smiled proudly before looking at Sehun as if saying, ‘I got this, babe.’
“Oh, thanks for reminding me. You’re invited to our wedding, Sir.”