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The streets of Oxford were bustling with people trying to get to their jobs which they either despised or had to do because that is their way to survive an ongoing standard of living. Oxford was known for many things, especially the university. But the city became more popular because of the giant building standing proudly in the middle of the city centre.
Clark Enterprises was greatly celebrated in the entirety of England, which meddled with science, commerce, and art fields alike. The CEO and the owner of Clark Enterprises was more famous than the company itself. Selena Clark was the picture of every man and woman’s dream. She was hot-headed and blunt, some might even call her a bitch, but then again, she deemed those people as nuisances.
Capitalism is not a liked concept by many, but that didn’t stop Selena to become the youngest multibillionaire at the age of 24. One would say that was because of her famous parents, but Selena would disagree. My success is mine alone. I made this company from scratch without a single penny loaned to me by my parents. She had said that in Forbes 30 under 30 at the age of nineteen when she was finishing her masters in business management.
Heels clicked against the marble tiles of the company, making everyone scatter out of the way of the woman. “Arthur, I need the employees' record by the end of the evening.” The woman’s voice boomed across the floor, and it was enough for silence to spread across the office.
Selena was the embodiment of a ‘bitch face’ as she walked to her office. It was a typical office with huge windows facing the heart of the city. The doors that were attached to the hinges of the door frame of the room were made of oak that was stained black. The furniture inside the room matched the door. The walls were painted in the shade of obsidian.
Selena’s slim fingers pushed the handle of the door and entered the office. She approached her desk, placed her black leather satchel on the desk, and sat on the black office chair. As she was settling into her office, there was a knock on the door of her office.
“Enter.” She said loudly, sitting up properly and fixed the lapel of her blazer. The door was pushed in, revealing Selena’s long-time best friend, co-founder, and secretary, Han Jisung. “I hope you have an appetite for tea.” Han said, entering the office with two steel bottles in his hands. “Why do you bring lemon iced tea for me every morning?” Selena questioned, an amused smile played on her lips.
Han Jisung was a man of fashion. The way he carried himself always amazed Selena. He thought of her fashion when they were in business school together. Han was the owner of a fifty percent share in Selena’s office but worked as her secretary exclaiming that no one knew Selena better than him. Both were prodigies in their own way when they were in the business school at the age of fourteen.
He had his hair down as if he didn’t bother to brush it and have it tousled. His suit screamed expensive asshole the way he styled it with a Prada tie. “Because you don’t like your own tea and drink mine most of the time when we were roommates.” Jisung answered, taking a seat on the chair in front of Selena.
“Why do you still work as a secretary for me, Hannie?” Selena asked, happily accepting Han’s lemon iced tea bottle. “Haish, same question again.” Han grumbled, making a sour face and looking at the woman. “I am curious. You have the capability to make your own company. It has been like what? Eight years?” Selena asked, popping the straw of the bottle and taking a sip of the tea. She hummed in satisfaction and closed her eyes as the taste flooded her mouth. She could marry Jisung just for this iced tea.
“Because I already own a company. You remember the fact that we are half-owners of this beautiful vast business.” Han said, wiggling his eyebrows and sipping on his tea. “Well, I am glad that it’s you and not some ninety-year-old asshole.” Selena snorted, leaning back in her chair.
“We have a board of directors meeting. They want to expand our business to Seoul. A company named Bangh Enterprises wants to shift its focus here, in England. They are moving their base to England whilst Persephone Bangh handles the office in Seoul.” Jisung went direct to the business, reading from the Ipad in front of him.
“What does Bangh Enterprises have to do with our company’s desire to shift its focus to Asia?” Selena asked, switching on her computer to get a look at her schedule. “Sometimes I am baffled on how you can’t pick up on clues.” Han said, looking at the girl with a ‘wtf’ look.
“Just get on with it, Jisung.” Selena groaned, shaking her head at the man. “It’s simple, my love. They want us to invest in Bangh Enterprises. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.” Han said, rolling his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing he has ever said. Dick.
“And does Bangh Enterprises want to do business with us?” Selena asked, raising her single eyebrow. Han looked at the details of the meeting. His eyebrow creased in confusion. Why does the board of directors make decisions without them knowing anything about it? “Apparently Christopher Chan Bangh is attending the meeting himself.” Han informed, looking at the woman with thin lip dissatisfaction.
“I am gonna fire a whole lot of them today. I can’t deal with their shit anymore.” Selena growled, her hands wrecking her perfectly styled hair. “Stop messing with your hair. It’s not gonna solve the problem at our hands.” Han said, trying to calm the girl. “We better have new board members by the end of the day.” Selena said, her eyes falling on her PC where the events were laid down.
“I also need to talk to HR of the financial department, I saw some erratic changes in numbers.” Selena said, quickly typing an email to the HR of the financial department. “What changes?” Han asked, looking up from the Ipad. “Someone is trying to scam us.” Selena said, looking at Han.
Han stood up in an instant, his eyes flashing with anger. “I told him not to fuck around. It seems he needs to understand the consequences.” Han growled, fixing his tie and grabbing his Ipad. “Wait, you knew about this?” Selena asked, tilting her head a little.
“Yesterday. The numbers almost gave me a heart attack.” Han said, buttoning up his blazer. “You get ready for the stupid meeting and I will deal with the HR.” Han said, his iced tea long forgotten. He turned around and walked out of the office. Selena loved the way he walked.
A sigh left her lips, her forehead being massaged by her fingers. She was thinking about who to replace her board members with. It was not like there were lots of the capable people lying around for her to pick. She looked back at her screen and the meeting was set at twelve in the noon. She let out a childish whine and rested her head on her hands that rested on the glass table.
After going through some paperwork and some headaches of poor interns who were shitting bricks when called in by Selena. One of the interns almost ended her career by misplacing a document that was handed to her to correct it. Selena never liked to brag but sometimes she wanted the hit the interns with ‘I worked better than you when I was an intern. This is a disgrace.’ But she knew better. She knew better than demoralising the young adults in front of her.
By the time noon rolled in, Selena was ready to throw herself out of her 14th-storey office and hopefully die at the impact. “Please don’t think. It’s hurting my eyes to see those wheels turning in your head.” Han complained, banging his head lightly against the table.
“Are you perhaps a fucking mind reader?” Selena joked, wrapping up her things for the impending meeting in fifteen minutes. “I am your best friend since elementary school, I would be disappointed if I didn’t know when you‘re thinking deeply.” Han snorted, making sure he got all his points on the iPad.
“I think that Ipad is your husband at this point.” Selena noted, Han still clutching his Ipad. “Duh, she knows my secrets, the financial and personal.” Han answered, winking at the woman, who gave him a ‘please be for fucking real’ look. “Everyone knows you simp for Ryan Reynolds.” Selena laughed, watching the man turn pink.
“You can’t blame me for simping for godly looking man. Those biceps and beard. I will do anything just to grace his presence, on god.” Han fake cried, wiping away his fake tears. It made Selena scoff at her best friend. She stood up, buttoning her blazer. “I would do anything for you to shut up right now. We have a stupid board meeting.” Selena said, pointing at the grandfather clock in the office.
Selena grabbed her ‘basic facts about Bang Chan and his company’ file from the desk and motioned for Jisung to follow her out of her office. Jisung spend almost his every single minute in her office so she didn’t bothered assigning one office to him.
Jisung stood up from the chair and grabbed his Ipad before picking up his speed a little to catch up to Selena. “Are you really firing the board members?” Jisung asked, fixing his tie and blazer. “Yep, this is the third time they have done something without consulting me.” Selena said, her eyes flashing with anger again.
“Well thank fuck.” Han rejoiced, looking at the ceiling as if he had some direct connection with god or whatever he believed in. They entered the elevator that would take them to the ninth floor where the conference was situated at. The lift has no one except the two. Han tapped the elevator’s floor with his foot. He was nervous, he was not going to just lie to himself.
He searched for the owner of Bangh Enterprises and man was he hot as fuck. The doe eyes and those goddamn dimples when he smiled, and he smiled a fucking lot. Han was sure he would be jumping and tripping over the words if he gets to speak to that Korean hunk of a man. He let out a dreamy sigh as he envisioned how wonderful he would be looking at the conference right at this second.
“You have a crush on someone, Jisung.” Selena noted, almost amused by how fast her best friend crushes on people, leaving him with nothing but conflicted feelings. “So? Let me daydream, woman.” Han scoffed, his eyes avoiding looking at those piercing green eyes.
“Who is it?” Selena asked, a laugh bubbling out of her throat before she could stop it. She mentally cursed, she had a reputation to hold for fuck sake. “Ha! You broke your stoic personality. I might just get drunk as fuck on this occasion.” Han laughed, hitting the woman’s shoulder lightly.
“Don’t try to change the topic, mister. Who is it?” Selena asked, glaring at the brunette who just shrugged his shoulders. “I am not. But I am currently crushing hard on Chan. God forbid if I stutter in the meeting.” Han groaned, his eyes noticing that they were on their floor.
“Don’t flirt with the potential business partner before it's all on paper.” Selena teased the man who groaned even louder. “Stop, or else I will stutter and then I will have to jump out of the window just because I will be embarrassed out of my mind.” Han complained, he shook his head trying to physically get rid of his thoughts .
One thing Selena loved most about his best friend was her tendency to switch between his professional and personal self. You can physically notice how his heart-shaped smile would fall into thin line making him look almost intimidating. He could tear into the investor and reveal their colours without even trying to intimidate them.
And that’s what happened once they were on the side of the conference room’s door. All the playfulness and jokes were replaced by piercing stare and lips pulled in thin line. Han Jisung was an expert at intimidating looks. It faltered a little when his eyes landed on the man sitting by the Ceo’s chair. How the fuck is he even more handsome compared to all those photos on the internet?! The thought screamed at Han at the loudest volume in his head.
He managed to look stoic as he walked further into the room and sat opposite of Chan, who looked up from his file to notice the man that just sat in front of him. Oh my god. Chan’s brain muttered at the lowest volume as his eyes took in the most beautiful man he has ever seen in his entire life. Unbelievable beauty.
Selena sat on the head chair, facing everyone in the room. “Effective immediately, no members of the board of directors will retain their positions after this meeting. This meeting was out of my knowledge, which I might have explained so many times that it is just disrespect aimed towards me and my shareholder.” Selena spoke up, her voice was stern and strict.
Minho, the only shareholder and co-founder of Bangh Enterprises, was a man who could be least surprised by anything that unfolds in front of him. Someone would claim their love for him and he wouldn’t even bat an eye. But that curse broke as he felt his breath knocked out of him as his eyes laid on the CEO of the Clark Enterprises.
She emitted the aura of a queen, sitting with her fingers intertwined in front of her resting on the glass table. Her eyes definitely belonged to a siren once because those were captivating and threatened to drown him inside those emerald eyes. Her eyes made her face look like she was just a teenager who stepped into the world of tech, science, and arts. Her lips were interesting, upper lip was thin but not as thin that they wouldn’t be visible. Her lower lip was plump and soft. The matte red lipstick definitely made them more striking. Why the hell are you describing a woman when you were supposed to pay attention to this meeting? Minho scolded himself, pulling himself out of the deep thought he was sucked in.
“Mr. Bang, I was told you were interested in becoming our business partner.” Selena began the talk, her eyes were glaring daggers at her board of the directors. “Uh yes. I have been wanting to expand my business in Europe." Chan said, clearly intimidated by the woman sitting right beside him.
"What makes my company suitable for such an arrangement, Mr. Bangh?" Selena asked, now peeling her eyes away from board members, who shifting in the chair as the Selena's stare moved from the board directors to Chan. He cleared his throat and opened his files. “I have known about your company since I was in business school. It would be stupid if I didn’t knew the empress of the business world. But I heard you are looking into expanding in the medicinal world, which you haven’t done till now.” Chan started, handing his proposal to Selena. She took and her eyes immediately fell on the proposal infront of her.
“How many years has Bangh Enterprises dwelled in medicinal world, Mr. Bangh?” Selena asked, her fingers smoothing a crinkle on the edge of the paper. “Two years. My employees in medicinal sector are strictly from bio technology and medical world. They are hired after lots of screening and interviews.” Chan answered, his fingers intertwined infront of him. He was so fucking nervous talking to Selena.
“Why do you think my company will help to expand your empire here?” Selena asked, now looking at Chan. “Honestly, I have no idea. I am just hoping that you like the proposal I have to offer you.” Chan answered, his leg shaking with nervousness. Selena noticed that but chose to ignore it because it was also her coping mechanism when she would be nervous.
Selena redirected her attention to the proposal in front of her. It was clear that Chan was serious about his business as her eyes read through all the proposal offered by the Bangh Enterprises. Selena offers them a little investment and show them the ropes around the country and in turn they will help her to develop cost free vaccines for severe miatotoxin poisoning and any further development in medical field.
“It’s a deal, Mr. Bangh. We would be honoured to work with such a prestigious company.” Selena said, for the first time cracking a semblance of a smile. Minho could swear that it practically made her glow up. He was glad that she accepted their proposal because he would be lying that he doesn’t want to see her every single day from now.
“Do not bother with other meetings, you are no longer part of my board of directors.” Selena spoke up, not looking up from the paperwork handed to her by Chan. She picked up her silver with gold imprints pen and signed the paperworks.
“But-” One of them tried to defend the board of directors but was cut off by Selena’s glare. “Out.” Selena’s voice was calm, but Han knew she was shaking with rage from inside. Nobody dared to speak a word before scattering out of the room.
“I apologise for this scene, but that needed to be done.” Selena apologised to the guests in the conference room.
“I have two people in my mind for role of board of the directors.” Han cleared his throat, not afraid of talking about their business infront their new business partner. “If they are young, then shoot. If not, hold your tongue.” Selena said, looking at her best friend.
“Seo Changbin and Hwang Hyunjin. Both of them control their departments like an ace. They resolved the issues related to failure of the project in Oxfordshire.” Han said, passing his iPad towards the woman to show who he was talking about.
“And I can offer one my most promising employee.” Chan added, leaning back in his chair. “Please tell me its Kim Seungmin. That man will be a good addition to our board.” Han said, his eyes training from Chan’s biceps to his eyes. He sucked a deep breath. Oh great, He is so fucking doomed.
“Ha! You have done your research.” Minho spoke up for the first time since the meeting started and ended. “Well, I am her secretary. I need to do some of my research.” Han said, sending a wink to the man.
“Well If it’s not much of a trouble. I already have three in my mind. Elizabeth Brown, Hannah Campbell and Ben Barebone.” Selena said, writing down the names of the new board of members. “Well that’s good because they all are moving to Britain first thing tomorrow.” Chan said, flashing his iconic smile.
Han blinked a little hard at the motion and cursed internally. Why it had to be his business partner. Han thought to himself. He gazed at his iPad to see what time it was. 1:25 pm. “It’s lunch time. You two wanna join us?” Han asked, grabbing his iPad so he could talk to the candidates of the board of director position later after having lunch.
“No, It would be such a hassle for you to clear your schedules for us.” Chan denied, shaking his head. “Ah no, you are not. We usually go to eat out at restaurant. None of us can cook to save our life.” Selena joked, standing up and fixed her blazer. “Well if you insist, then why not.” Minho agreed, a small smile made its way to his stoic expression. I like him. Selena thought to herself, noticing how that man look like he was straight out of runway.
His nose was pointed and straight. His eye reminded her of cats the way they were shaped. His lips, oh god, his lips were soft and plump and Selena wondered what flavour or type of chapstick did the man use to make them look so kissable in that moment. His hair was styled with middle partition and god It looked so fucking hot. He had two piercing on right ear and a single piercing in right ear.
“Well off to Turtle Bay.” Han said, standing up as well prompting the guests to stand up as well. “I hope you have an appetite for curry goat and some pudding.” Selena said, offering a rare smile to the men in the room. “I just need food. Come on!” Han whined, pointing towards the door.
Chan chuckled at the man before deciding to agree with offer offered by the CEO standing infront of them. They followed Han and Selena outside the conference room and were led to the elevator of the office.
Chan would lie if he said that he wasn’t taken aback by how giant this building was. Almost forty storey and will expand more. This office pulled him back to the time when he was finalising his interior with Jeongin, his interior supervisor and one of the board of the directors. He wanted his office to look like this. Light coloured walled with black stained oak desks and black chairs.
“Do you like my work place?” Selena inquired, noticing the man look around in pure admiration.”I always wanted an office like this, but Jeongin said that it would gloom out my employees.” Chan said, entering the elevator alongside Minho, Selena and Han.
“My employees are actually productive in this environment and it is also aesthetically pleasing.” Selena said, shrugging her shoulders in a ‘it’s not a big deal’way.
“Lucky.” Chan chuckled, his laugh resounded throughout the elevator. Han closed his eyes, savouring such a sweet voice. Oh he was whipped. He is nothing but doomed. Minho noticed that and smirked tugged on his lip, making sure to tease his boss because he also noticed that Chan would occasionally stare at the man.
Once they were at Turtle Bay, they were escorted to VIP area and waiters disappeared after taking their orders. Chan was sitting opposite Han. He was staring at the oblivious man with such an intensity that if he was caught in the act, he was done for. Selena and Minho both noticed the tension between their best friends.
They looked at each other, a silent agreement passed between them to tease them once they leave this restaurant. “So Selena, How long have you been running this business?” Minho asked, breaking the trance between Chan and Han. They both cleared their throats and looked at Selena.
“Technically since I was twelve. Me and Han founded Clark Enterprises back in highschool.” Selena answered, looking at Minho. “Interesting. Isn’t it too young to start a company?” Chan asked, he was intrigued by the woman sitting infrony of her,
“Yes, that’s why my business became legal after I turned fourteen.” Selena said, chuckling at the naivety of the people sitting infront of her.
“She said that you co founded the company with her. Why are you working as her secretary?” Minho asked, that questioned itched inside him since he read the bio profile of Han Jisung. Either he is an idiot or he cares about his friend too much.
“Answer is very simple here. Nobody knows her better than I do. I don’t want anyone to take advantage of her. So I offered myself, because I already had everything I wanted. Staying by her side was the best decision I ever took.” Han explained, a faint smile tugged on his lip as he side eyed the woman.
“Cheesy asshole.” Selena scoffed, pushing the man lightly. Chan laughed at the scene infront of him. They seem very close.The thought gnawed on his brain and before he could stop himself, he blurted out “Are you two dating?” He internally cringed and scolded himself for asking such a private question.
“Ew no. I would never date this greasy ball.” Selena fake scoffed, a smile playing on her lips. “Definitely not dating this killer whale. My life is precious, thank you very much.” Han joked, shaking his head vigorously. The table broke into light hearted laughter as they waited for their food to arrive.