Business Partners | A Novel ❖

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To say Seonghwa was uncomfortable walking into work the next morning, would be the understatement of the century.

He didn't know if he regretted sleeping with Yeosang, but he did know that it would make for an extremely awkward first encounter at work. For him anyways.

But all day, he did not see his boss, stuck with his nose in reports and on his computer screen. He'd gotten through about half his day before he'd stopped looking up anxiously to see if Mr. Kang's door would swing open, and after being told by one of the secretaries that he was busy with online meetings all afternoon, Seonghwa had stopped panicking full stop.

Instead, he worked hard on his own business proposal, pouring his heart into his work.

Ding~

Seonghwa huffed, seeing a notification pop up on his screen from Mr. Kang's secretary, asking him to fetch a black coffee from the café downstairs.

Glaring, he snapped his laptop shut and stood up, storming out of the office.

I was promoted, to work. So why am I doing coffee runs like an intern?!

Fuming, Seonghwa kept his head high as though he were perfectly unaffected. Ever since Kang and him had slept together, his boss had been hot and cold in his behaviour towards him, and it was driving him mad.

So he regretted sleeping with him? Was that it?

It wasn't exactly like Seonghwa had wanted to either... Mostly...

But even so! That didn't give him the right to be so misleading all of the time! Seonghwa felt whiplashed by his mood swings, one moment him acting completely professional, the next him pressing Seonghwa into storage cupboards for stolen kisses. And just as he thought maybe they had found a new normal, within a blink, Kang would snap and end up ignoring him altogether.

I can't do this anymore, Seonghwa thought, pressing the elevator button for the cafe downstairs.

I can't handle his mood swings.

I just want to do my job.

~~~

Whilst waiting in line to order the coffee for his boss, Seonghwa's phone vibrated in his pocket. Taking it out, he saw Wooyoung's name on the caller ID.

Answering, he prepared himself for an earful by holding the phone a foot from his head.

'Park Seonghwa! I cannot believe you have been ignoring my calls for a week! I know I said I'd be MIA, but I didn't mean for this long!'

Seonghwa groaned. 'Sorry. I've been busy. How's San?'

'San's good. He's really... good...' Seonghwa heard his voice trail off on the other end of the phone.

'You're thinking about sex again. Jesus, is anything not sex with you?'

'I'm not always about sex! But sue me for appreciating what I've had the fortune of experiencing.' He sighed. 'Anyways, it's not like you'd understand. When was the last time you were fucked into oblivion - or the other way around, whatever? I don't know shit about heteros.'

Seonghwa paused for a fraction of a moment before replying, 'mmm...' a response he thought was probably the safest response to that.

But Wooyoung was too fast to catch on.

'Wait! You didn't snap. Did you sleep with someone finally?!'

'That's none of your business, but even if I did, I wouldn't tell you.'