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Pairing: Park Serim || Allen Ma
Top: Serim Bottom: Allen
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Tags: AU, Business AU, Secret Romance, Forbidden Lovers, Mature
Warnings: Mature themes, Implied homophobia and child abuse
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Allen's POV
After years of secret meet ups, faking hatred towards each other, and having to watch our backs every time we get together, it's finally nearing the day Serim and I get to go public about our real feelings. We met at age 5, being the oldest sons of 2 of the largest cooperation's CEO's in South Korea a rivalry between our fathers was passed down to us the moment we met. The idea of us becoming acquaintances let alone friends, something that would have gotten us both in an early grave by our father's standards.
There's some irony in the way they had pushed for our hatred of each other only to end up with both of us developing feelings for each other in the years to come. It was during our first year of high school that the both of us had our biggest fight since the day we meet, a fight that lead to my rooftop confession in the heat of the moment with Serim's confession following immediately after, And it was that very same day when we made the decision to start dating in secret.
We had a plan only a few weeks into dating that we would wait until the day we had each individually became the CEO's of our fathers companies before going public, not only to ensure our safety but also as a way to give our fathers the biggest passive aggressive 'fuck you' knowing they would no longer have the power to control us. Serim had stepped up as the CEO of his father's company last year after the man finally decided to retire, and this year my own father finally decided it was his time to step down as well. At 23 years old I'm finally going to become the CEO of our company and gain the freedom of loving my boyfriend openly in the process, and the official ceremony is now less than 24hours away.
"What's on your mind love?" Serim whispers from beside me, pulling me out of my thoughts as my eyes wander to his.
"Just thinking about tomorrow is all," I reply softly anxiety laced in my eyes as I snuggle in closer to the older on our bed his hand coming up to card his fingers through my hair. We had moved in together secretly about a week ago since both of our old apartment's leases would be ending soon anyways and we could make them look occupied until tomorrow while getting to enjoy time together privately before the big announcement. The show we had turned on to watch while settling down for bed had been forgotten when my mind started to wander so Serim turned it off and kissed the top of my head.
"It's all going to be okay love, I promise, and when you give your first speech as the CEO tomorrow i'll be waiting for you in the audience just like we planned, cheering you on. Now get some rest, we have a long day tomorrow after all." Serim whispers gently as he pulls my head to his chest my eyes fluttering shut to the rhythm of his heartbeat, and the comfort of his fingers in my hair.
→ • • • • • ←
My eyes flutter open at 7am to the sound of my alarm and I immediately take note of the missing presence from beside me. I pull myself out of bed not caring that I'm only in my boxers and one of Serim's oversized shirts as I make my way to our kitchen where I find him cooking pancakes at our stove, his only attire the pair of loose gray sweatpants that he had worn to bed. I pad up behind him and gently wrap my arms around his waist my chin resting in the crook of his neck.
"Good morning sleepy head, I made us coffee, and the pancakes are nearly done. Could you take our mugs to the table for me?" Serim speaks up a lazy smile pulling at his lips as I place a gentle kiss on his neck.
"Okay," I manage to reply after a few seconds, pulling away from him to grab our coffee mugs and set them in our usual spots at our small dinning table. I pull our my phone after sitting down and scroll through TikTok's foe the few minutes it takes Serim to arrive with the two plates of fresh chocolate chip pancakes. We fall into a comfortable silence as we it, enjoying each other's presence and soaking in the short amount of time we have before we need to get ready for the day. 30 minutes have passed by the time we finish eating and washing our dishes leaving us with an hour to get ready before the 30 minute drive to the ceremony location.
I end up taking over the bathroom and leaving Serim to get ready in our bedroom as I take a quick shower and do my usual morning routine followed by event appropriate makeup and a bit of hair styling. Once I'm content with my hair I change into my attire for the day; a simple white dress shirt paired with a navy blue suit and a slightly darker blue tie. I'm slipping on my black dress shoes and the silver watch and chain necklace Serim bought me as a graduation present when Serim knocks on the door so he can do his own skincare and makeup.
I have to consciously withhold myself from drooling as he walks past in his red dress shirt, black suit and tie, and burgundy dress shoes, my eyes slipping to the gold watch I had bought for him as a birthday present last year placed delicately on his wrist. Even without any makeup and clear bedhead he managed to take my breath away but when he walks back out a while later with his makeup done and styled a rosy hue dusts my cheeks.
"You looking stunning Allen," Serim purrs as he walks up and wraps his arms around my waist to pull me in close, our noses nearly touching.
"You do as well Serim," I whisper lovingly before closing the small gap between us to connect our lips in a chaste yet heartfelt kiss. After pulling away to collect our things we make our way out of the apartment to Serim's car going over my speech together during the short walk from the complex to the connecting garage making sure I'm confident in how the day will play out before we start the drive to the venue. Still even with the comfort of my boyfriend beside me anxiety pools in the pit of my stomach during the ride and I find myself inhaling sharply as we pull into our destination.
I leave the car on my own after a few more words of support and a quick kiss from Serim making my way to where my parents are waiting to start the rehearsal the actual ceremony still another hour away. Somehow the rehearsal itself goes smoothly in spite of some bitchy comments about stage decorations from my mother and we end up with 5 minutes to relax before the real ceremony starts. I grab myself a bottle of water and down the whole thing before messaging Serim a quick 'I love you'.
The first part of the ceremony is strictly a speech given by my father and lasts an hour and a half before we finally move on to the official announcement of my new position in the company. As I'm cued to step onto the stage my eyes scan the audience for Serim eventually finding him standing in the very center of the first row of people a soft and reassuring smile on his lips as we lock eyes in a fleeting moment before I'm walking across the stage.
"And now I proudly present to you all my son Allen Ma, the new CEO of Ma Entertainment from this moment forward as I step down from my roll to enjoy my long awaited retirement. And with that I invite the new CEO to the stage for the closing speech." My father's voice booms through the microphone and seems to linger as he makes his way off the stage down to the VIP section on the far right reserved strictly for my parents and some of the company board members. As I step up to the microphone I can hear my heart beating in my ears anxiety settling in the pit of my stomach once again as I take a deep breath and quickly glance at Serim before starting up my speech. Not the speech my parent's thought I was going to give, but the speech Serim and I had planned together weeks ago.
"Hello everyone, I would like to start by thanking you all for coming out today for the ceremony, As the new CEO of Ma Entertainment I am striving to make our company one that with continue to grow and prosper for many years to come. I hope to build a company that will pride itself on being fair and kind to it's employees, a company that will continue to grow and make changes to adapt as needed. I'm sure this change comes with worries from current employees under our company and I hope you are all able to see only improvements and positive results as I settle into this new role." I pause in the middle of my speech to take another deep breath, this part had been familiar to my parents, but what they didn't know was that it is not the end.
"With all of that being said part of growing as a company starts with having a CEO who is honest and trustworthy, and as someone who wants to become a CEO you can all depend on I would like to open up to everyone here today about one of my longest kept secrets. I have been in a relationship for the past 9 years of my life with one of the most loving and kindhearted men someone like myself could every possibly dream of having in their life and I would like to take this chance to introduce him here today, Love would you please join me on stage?" I finish speaking and glance over too where my parents are standing with the board members shared expressions of shock and horror dancing across their faces, then my gaze shifts to Serim making his way through the line of people in his row and up onto the stage beside me. Shocked gasps echo through the audience and I find myself mentally smirking when I catch my parents nearly fainting from the shock out of the corner of my eye. I take Serim's hand in my own the moment he's beside me and feel him squeeze mine gently in reassurance as I calm my nerves.
"Allow me to introduce to you all my lover and boyfriend, Park Serim the CEO of our company's top competitor Park Entertainment. With all of this out in the open I'm sure many of you have a lot to process so I will end my speech here, once again thank you all for coming out today and I can't wait to watch the company continue to flourish under my care." I finish my speech with a bow catching my father's figure heading in our direction and quietly alert Serim as we exit the stage allowing him to lead me through the crowd and back to his car before my father can catch up to us as he is stopped by countless interviewers and showered with questions.
The moment we are both in the car and the doors are locked my nerves finally mange to settled and I lean over the center console to kiss my boyfriend melting into his warmth as small tears dot the corner of my eyes. Serim pulls away after a few seconds and brings his hand up to my face wiping the tears from my eyes with his thumb before placing a kiss on my forehead.
"You did amazing up there today my love, I'm so proud of you." Serim whispers lovingly as I move back into my seat. Any remaining fears and anxieties washed away and replaced with the warmth, comfort, and love radiating off of my boyfriend.
"It's okay now, no more hiding."
"Thank you Serim, I'm just glad you where there with me, I don't think I could have done all that without you." I reply softly as Serim finally starts the car and pulls out of the parking lot in the direction of our home.
"What do you want to do when we get home love?" Serim asks a few minutes into the drive with his eyes still trained on the road.
"Honestly I kind of just want to cuddle and watch movies, I feel drained after all of that and I want to just enjoy being next to you." I reply with exhaustion laced in my tone as I lean back in the seat and close my eyes.
"Cuddles and movies it is then, rest up love I'll wake you when we get home."