Boss Complex

39. The Runner

Mr. Wu twists his tie in a circle between his fingers with the ghost of a smirk touching the corner of his mouth. This is the moment he's been waiting for. The grand and final lethal blow. Victoria is where he wants her now, desperate for her lover and breaking under the weight of her crumbling life. As he breaks each pillar, he relishes her tears, her scorn, her heartache. This is the vindication that Zhoumi needed. This is the disaster that he had prayed her life to be. The miracle that he was present when Chanyeol was searching for a new secretary. That he was able to push her to the top of the pile, point out flaws and overemphasize minute inadequacies for the other candidates. Chanyeol and his efficiency are easy to coerce. This was a simple enough thing to do, making sure that she was offered the position, and then playfully bitching about the fact that Chanyeol chose her in the end just to ease suspicion. He planned this, carefully, finding out little details about her and nitpicking them, tearing at the threads of her life slowly, watching gleefully as she her unraveled. Tao had been hard to crack though.

Huang Zi Tao was used to a certain lifestyle. He wasn't a spoiled rich kid growing up but when money came in, he quickly altered himself. He knew exactly what he wanted in this world, and causing a scandal for his parents or his girlfriend was simply out of the question. But YIfan was patient. He played it up slowly. First he approached him in private, coming on to the man at a club, speaking to him in vulgar chinese that turned his cheeks with color while his Korean friends were left wondering what was going on. Then he followed it up by praising Tao's work at the office in front of Chanyeol. Tao's pink cheeks were endearing and he knew that he would be able to go through with topping this. When he finally coerced a hard kiss from him, the man had reacted violently. And after 48 hours of dead silence, 48 hours of leaving the man to wonder, to worry, giving him the opportunity to confess to his girlfriend... He came back to Tao and found that he had kept their secret.

And from there, he kept all of their secrets. Each and every one of those stolen moments they had strengthened his revenge against Victoria. For a while, he was consumed with this plan, letting it run his business travel plans, aiding in the plan of his wardrobe and the frequency that he worked out. Everything was a reflection on this plot. Everything was moving surprisingly smoothly and he couldn't have hoped for a better distraction for Chanyeol to get at a better time. Fighting off a lingering side relationship with one of his own associates while planning a merger and wedding? This literally could not have been better orchestrated.

He sees Tao enter the room before the kid realizes he's early, he's fidgety the way someone is before they see the person they like. He's fixing his hair in the mirror, touching his eyes, adjusting his jacket and Yifan basks in his hold over the kid, relishing how perfect it feels to finally be on top.

He slides his thumb over the unlock button on the screen of his phone and quickly texts the boy, beckoning him over to their place by the window, overlooking the Seoul cityscape below.

"What took you so long?" He growls with an irritated expression, but Tao doesn't seem to be bothered by it.

"I'm early and you know it."

He orders a green apple martini and they wait quietly, patiently for the waitress to bring it over.

"How have you been?" He asks, remapping his plan to ask Tao to move to China to be with him, playing it out a few times before deciding that a subtle guilt trip at the beginning would be the best course of action.

"Great, actually. I'm doing better than I've been in a long time."

"That's disappointing to hear." Yifan says lazily, swirling his glass, ice dancing with the motion.

"You would say that, wouldn't you?"

"Don't you miss me?" Yifan scoffs and leans forward, uncrossing his long legs to rest his elbows on both knees.