Boss Complex

4. Quiet intern

But he had seen desperateness in his eyes as he tried to argue with his father.

He had seen something in his eyes as he tried to argue that he was innocent.

The more he thinks about it, the angrier he gets. Irrational anger. He wasn't sure why he was upset at the way that Mr. Byun was talking to Baekhyun when he himself was guilty of talking down to him as well.

Baekhyun blows lightly on his noodles and then pulls a fat knot of pale noodles up to his mouth, steam coming up in a facial that forces his eyes closed. He found that the Baekhyun he knew was insolent and bratty but the one standing in the window with noodles was much stronger and independent than he'd given him credit for.

His anger was directed at Mr. Byun, at his fiancé, but not at Baekhyun.

What a mess. He hates messes and here Baekhyun is at the heart of the mess that is stressing him a both work and at home. It's all so complicated and the broken look in Baekhyun's eyes as his eyes finally start to water makes Chanyeol's knuckles pale with his tightened grip on his steering wheel. He wasn't sure if Baekhyun was crying because the noodles were so spicy or because he was finally letting his father' words sink in, but either way, Chanyeol was sure he had to drive off before he did something irreversible like get out of his car and go inside of the store.

He could more easily bring himself to walk in and offer him a place to stay than he could bring himself to drive off.

Which is why he grits his teeth as he screws the gear to shift into drive and whirs off into the night with a painfully long day behind him.

He had every intention of being kinder to Baekhyun. He wanted to be more understanding the next time he saw him. He understood something personal and secret about him. He had planned it out but he was immediately irritated to see the intern standing in the break room, lazily stirring his coffee as if he had not a care in the world in another outfit that just barely met any kind of dress code they had implemented at the company. Tao stands in contrast at his side in ankle length khakis with red brand name loafers without socks, his black button down shirt tucked in with a black belt. He looked like he took his job seriously, he looked like he cared about what was going on in the world, but there is Byun Baekhyun at his side in a pair of tear cropped pants and a white tee shirt with grey stripes, bright blue slip on TOMs shoes looking too feminine on his small feet. The blue lanyard around his neck was the same color as his shoes, which somehow tied the outfit together in a way that irritated him more than it should.

Both of them are distracted as Tao leans in and holds his phone out for them to share, Baekhyun's eyes grazing over the interesting phone shared with a delighted interest. They whisper under their breaths for a moment until their lead strolls into the room with a bark. Though Tao jumps at the sudden words, and Chanyeol too for that matter, Baekhyun only casually looks up at his supervisor.

Ducking back around the corner, confident that Joonmyeon can handle this situation, Chanyeol starts to walk away before deciding that he should probably talk to the supervisor about the situation with Baekhyun and let him know to keep an eye on him. Walking back towards the break room, Baekhyun steps out and runs directly into Chanyeol, spilling coffee all over the fronts of their shirts.

The coffee's hot liquid soaks into the white button down, through the undershirt to scald his skin. He held back the profanity that came up and turned away to roll his eyes. With his hands fisted he turns quickly towards the supervisor before looking over at Baekhyun whose face is bright red.

"H—hot..." He whispers shaking out his fingertips, wet with the scalding coffee.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"