"print these for me."
"donghyuck, come to my office, now."
"make me coffee."
"pick that up for me."
"uh... turn down the ac a little."
haechan groaned for the fifth time as he heard the telephone go off again.
he brushed a hand through his hair as a sigh fell on his lips and composed himself before he answers the ceo's call. "yes, mr. lee?" he said, voice started to get drained as this is the nth time that the superior has called him.
"come to my office." was the only thing the older said before hanging up the call.
donghyuck just wanted to shout at this very moment yet he managed to hold himself back. he shoots the younger in front of him a smile before saying, "give me a minute."
"sure, of course!" sungchan replied, picking up the huddle of papers off the latter's table and bringing it back to his own, "we can just continue this at um... lunchtime?" he finished, also taking this opportunity to ask the tanned male this lunch.
donghyuck nodded and smiled, "sounds good."
he now sprung himself up and went straight at the ceo's door, unintentionally making his steps heavier that caught the interns' attention—specifically doyoung's and johnny's.
johnny lifts his head up to peek at the latter in front of him before whispering, "that's like his fifth-time donghyuck is being called inside mr. lee's room in one hour."
doyoung is quick to agree, "do you think mr. lee is giving him unnecessary tasks or something? any heavy orders?" he whispers back.
this made the older lift his brows in confusion, still trying to figure out why the secretary is being called back and forth. "is mr. lee always like that?" doyoung continues to ask and johnny immediately shook his head as a 'no'.
"i mean, he's pretty workaholic and strict but i know he's not that type of person." johnny says. and by this time the two are now eyeing the small window in the ceo's office just to see a glimpse of what's happening inside.
closing the door behind him, donghyuck slowly made his way closer towards the superior. "yes, mr. lee?" he started.
mark instantly lifts his head from his work, "uh..." his eyes roam around his office. he actually has no idea why he called his secretary, his hands just did it on their own. "m-my schedule... what's my s-schedule for today?"
donghyuck's brows furrowed, confused, "mr. lee, i already told you your schedule earlier this morning."
"oh.. did you?" mark asked, as he started to run out of words to say, "i'm probably not paying attention—just say it again." he finished, averting his eyes back on his screen.
at this moment, donghyuck is slowly starting to lose patience. thankfully the ceo doesn't have that much schedule for the day so he can easily recite it. donghyuck just rolls his eyes after looking at the superior—luckily he couldn't see it because he is not even batting any attention to what he's saying.
"thank you." was all the thing the older said.
donghyuck waited for a little to see if he was going to say more, but when he didn't, he took this as a cue to leave the older's office.
as he closes the door shut, mark finally turned his attention away from the computer screen and released a heavy sigh.
he adjusted his necktie, losing it up, as he fans himself. for some reason, he felt like the air is much hotter inside his room, he shouldn't have told donghyuck to turn down the ac, he thought to himself.
"what's wrong with me?" he mumbles to himself, as he too is confused with his actions.
------
stuffing another spoonful of rice in his mouth, he continues, "like, literally?" donghyuck exclaims, "what is wrong with him? is he always like that? was he doing this on purpose—"
"okay, slow down." sungchan interrupted him, releasing a small chuckle after seeing the tanned male's stuffed cheeks. "finish your food first and you can rant all you want after."
yeah, remember when he said he wanted to have lunch with donghyuck? yes. they are having lunch right now but to be completely honest the main reason why they're eating together right now is that they were supposed to be discussing sungchan's presentation for the meeting, but instead their conversation only led to donghyuck ranting and bad-mouthing the ceo.
not that he's complaining though. his business presentation can wait.
finally gulping down his food, donghyuck took a sip of his water, "as i was saying—has mr. lee always been that strict to the point that his secretary couldn't get any work done because of all his orders?"
sungchan hums, thinking. he does notice that but he didn't think much of it, however after hearing all of donghyuck complaints, mr. lee does seem pretty harsh with his secretary.
"i do notice that," the younger started, "but i haven't—or any of my colleagues have received such harsh orders from him."
"so, i'm not crazy after all!" he slams before taking another spoon of his meal.
sungchan nods, "if it gets overwhelming for you, i suggest talking about this matter with mr. lee." sungchan advised.
"if only i can talk to our ceo without stuttering and shaking in front of him then i'll do it." the older replies, "it's only been a few weeks since i started working here, maybe i'm still not used to it." he shrugs.
"yes, go ahead and take this to my office." mark said, handing back the folder that johnny gave to him.
the taller just nodded and took the lead to go the elevator. the superior was about to do the same when someone caught his attention from the lunch area.
his brows furrowed as he squint his eyes to take a better look at the figure. and unknowingly, his stare started to shoot daggers at someone.
he doesn't know why his own feet are dragging him in that direction, but the next thing he knows is that he's already standing near their table. "donghyuck?" he calls.
at the same time, the said name finally lifts his head to meet eyes with him. mark looked around, he has no idea why he called the younger, and why he was even standing in front of them, but one thing for sure is he doesn't like seeing his secretary with someone else.
"mr. lee?" donghyuck immediately stood up from his seat as he looked at the ceo with wide eyes.
did their ceo hear his and sungchan's conversation about him? donghyuck thought to himself.
"um, uh... meet me at my office." the older said after realizing that he gad now caught other people's attention simply by his presence.
donghyuck watched him walk away while his mouth started dropping. "do you think he heard our conversation about him?" the tanned male asked in a panic.
sungchan also seemed tense in his seat, "since when did he get here?" he asked back, both not having answers to their questions.
"oh, gosh." donghyuck released a breath, brushing his fingers through his hair. picking up his bag, he pats sungchan's arm signaling him that he's going to head out first before dashing his way towards the elevator.
-----
he decided to drop his bag on his desk first, and after that, he slowly made his way toward the office. slowly but surely.
he knocked on the door and he receives a small 'come in' from inside.
as he was now in front of the ceo's desk, the younger saw the superior with his back facing him, seems like he was too busy organizing his folders, but the younger was too busy asking himself why the ceo called him to even care about what he's doing.
when the older finally looked back, he was greeted by a small smile, so fast that he barely even saw it. "oh donghyuck," he started and picked up a folder that johnny brought inside his office, "here, make more copy of these." the ceo said handing out the folder towards his secretary, before going back to what he's doing.
the nervous look donghyuck had earlier started to fade when he heard the same old orders that the ceo gave him, "mr. lee, excuse me but is this why you called me here?" did he just got him all tensed for nothing? d
the question made the older look back, as his brows furrowed. "yes, that's the only reason why i called you here." he told and started to make small steps close towards his table.
donghyuck mouth fell in disbelief, "mr. lee, this isn't part of my job description." donghyuck stated.
"you are my secretary and you are obligated to do everything i order." the ceo sternly told, and by now his feet are already walking closer to his secretary.
but it seems like the ceo's reply still doesn't make sense to him. "mr. lee, i'm your secretary, not your personal assistant."
"listen here, i order, you follow." he slowly said, walking closer and closer towards the younger with every word he says. "isn't that why you're here? to pay me back? or did you already forget about that?"
donghyuck couldn't move nor say anything. he felt small under the older's gaze. instead, the younger just slowly nodded and began cursing himself inside his head. why oh why, did he even talk back, he thought to himself.
turning around, he waddled towards the door with shaky legs.
and just when he was about to open it, another voice coming from the ceo was heard inside the room, "you're coming with me to my meeting tomorrow." mark said as he started walking to his desk.
"yes, mr. lee." the secretary replied.
"good." the older said, snickering, "because i thought you were going to talk back again."