the meeting they had was still on going with thirty minutes left till it's going to be wrapped up. the ceo sat there with his eyes intently focusing on of the the heads from his department, hearing out their complaints and trying to find out what he can do to fix and solve this issue.

but how in this universe can he focus when the secretary that's seated two people away from him is getting all his attention.

xiaojun was dozing off in the middle of the meeting.

❝i hope this will be cleared up soon.❞ hendery stood up, eyeing each one of them that had attended the meeting. he made sure to have his eyes settle longer on his secretary that's now completely asleep. ❝i'll do what i can to help in this situation.❞

he didn't even know why he had lowered the volume of his voice as he continued to speak. a small part of him was trying to convince himself that it's because of the secretary sleeping but hendery didn't want to admit that, never.

but his eyes had glared on each one of them to silence their claps, causing them to leave the room silently and if one would make a noise, they'd receive a look from the ceo.

being the last one to leave, as he wanted to tease the upset looking ceo, lucas had approached to hendery with a hand on his shoulder. ❝seems like your sugar baby is tired.❞

that caught hendery by surprise, ❝my sugar baby?❞ making his brows furrowed at how the head of finance mentioned that nickname where he also calls his boyfriend that. ❝but yangyang—❞

it then hit him like an ice cream truck, it wasn't his boyfriend he's referring to. flashbacks of how lucas had caught him and xiaojun inside the elevator that one time then made hendery understand why the head of finance was teasing him.

he didn't hesitate to elbow him by the stomach, causing for the older to groan in pain while all the ceo did was click his tongue. ❝you got it wrong.❞

even though he was being warned by the ceo, lucas still won't let him live as long as he still had more teases left for him. ❝squirming and crying out for me to go faster—❞ he whispered on to the younger's ear but only see how hendery made a swift move to have him headlocked, causing for the head of finance to grasp for air. ❝d-deeper.. hey!❞

letting go of the taller male, he tried to fix himself before giving him a panicked look. ❝how do you know i said that!?❞

he could have sworn that the older was still outside the elevator.

smirking, lucas looked like he hadn't been headlocked seconds ago. ❝i didn't.❞ he said, having his brows wiggled to annoy him even more. ❝but i probably guessed right judging by your reaction.❞

❝lucas!❞

the taller male laughed at how flustered the ceo was right now, giving him more urge to tease the life out of him but then remembered that hendery still had a sleeping sugar baby to accompany. ❝anyways, i'll be taking a leave tomorrow.❞

brows raised, ❝and why is that so?❞ he asked.

❝there's going to be an event tomorrow in little sushi's school and parents are required to attend.❞ he then answered, already smiling at the thought of spending his day with his family.

the nickaname made hendery chuckle. ❝you should really stop calling him that, he'd think that's his name.❞

lucas pouted at the younger before making his way out of the room. ❝but it's cute.❞

hendery then didn't wait till their conversation would get too long and just made a hand gesture to shoo the head of finance away. of course, lucas walked away but not without teasing the ceo about his two sugar babies. rolling his eyes, he only heaved out a sigh before finally seeing that he was alone in the room with a sleeping baby—

wait, no. sleeping baby? xiaojun is not a baby.

shaking his head aggressively, hendery scolded himself. ❝don't even think that way, that's wrong.❞

he then nodded his head after an agreement with himself and approached the sleeping male by the table. xiaojun had his back leaned on to the backrest but his head hug low. tilting his head to the side, hendery could see how his mouth was opened in agape. he held back the urge to have his lips curved up as he made himself comfortable sitting right next to his sleeping secretary.

hands fumbling inside his pocket, a phone was being pulled out the next minute. instead of scolding him for sleeping during meetings, hendery had a sly smirk as he thought of getting dozens of pictures that could blackmail his secretary.

but in the middle of taking a picture, he noticed the shorter male's head leaning towards his side.

❝oh f—❞ hendery quickly placed his phone down the table and brought his hands up just to catch xiaojun's head.

that action made the ceo widen his eyes because of how he was feeling. not only was he finding the sight quite admirable, but his heart was also beating twice the pace. he didn't want to mention anything about butterflies, but he felt it again.

❝d-dejun?❞ he then tried calling out, canceling his plans of taking a picture. he wanted for his secretary to wake up already and get his face away from his hand.

then again, it was his will in the first place to prevent his head from leaning too much to the side.

❝hm..❞ the said male stirred from his sleep, causing for him to adjust his head that made the ceo cup his face instead of making it look like he was pushing it to the opposite direction. now fluttering his eyes open at how he found his neck hurting, xiaojun had his thick brows meet in the middle as he felt his cheeks being squished.

that's when the two of them had a short eye contact with hendery simply having his eyes looking at him in awe for some reason and xiaojun feeling his cheeks heat up and face turning red.

❝w-what are y-you..❞ the secretary then pushed the man away with the swivel chair he's sitting on, making sure they'd be far apart. ❝doing!?❞

it first took hendery a good minute of looking at the flustered male before he cleared his throat and get back to his senses, running a hand through his hair stressfully. ❝that's one way to thank someone from having your neck break.❞

xiaojun then buried his face down to his palms and rubbed it violently, trying to put himself fully awake. ❝i'm sorry, but was i sleeping that long?❞ he asked with his voice muffled out.

❝halfway through the meeting, i guess.❞ hendery had no idea why he was so casual about this, it's as if it was okay for him to sleep in the middle of having an important meeting. usually, he'd scold him and warn him not to do it again.

but having his peaceful state stuck inside his head was making him go soft— which, he shouldn't be at all.

feeling the embarrassment of how he could have looked in front of everybody made the secretary let out a groan. he then whined as he said, ❝i didn't get to have proper sleep last night.❞ he rubbed his face on the palm of his hands again. ❝ah, i should have slept early!❞

❝why?❞ hendery now stood up from the chair and placed it back right next to the frustrated secretary.

❝it's going to be sian's birthday soon and i still haven't thought of what gift to buy for him.❞ xiaojun pulled his face away from his palms and unconsciously pouted because of how upset he was.

see, this is what hendery meant. that pout never affected him way before they first met. in fact, he was annoyed seeing that pout. but why now? why did he feel his heart do a flip as he saw that pout? shutting his eyes tight, he tried picturing his boyfriend inside his head and imagined him doing a pout. in that way, he'll be able to forget how adorable xiaojun's pout is.

❝hey?❞ the shorter male then snapped his fingers in front of the ceo's face, being seen as he tilted his head to the side. ❝everything okay?❞

gulping, hendery harshly slapped his hand away. ❝y-you shouldn't sleep during meetings!❞

his shout then made xiaojun flinch from his place. ❝gee, okay, calm down.❞ he stood up and stretched his arms, yawning while doing so. ❝can i excuse myself this afternoon?❞

that then made hendery scoff but that was after he eyed how xiaojun yawned, making him clutched his chest and look away to avoid himself from getting flustered. ❝you slept during meetings and now you're asking to be excused?❞

the secretary clicked his tongue. ❝i'm just going to buy a gift for sian!❞

starting to walk away, hendery first made sure that his secretary was following him. he also noticed how he was patiently waiting for his answer, making him clear his throat the next minute as they got inside the lift and his secretary pressing their floor number.

❝check if i have any schedule left for the afternoon.❞

still feeling sleepy even after what had just happened, xiaojun lazily raised a brow as he turned to look at the ceo who's avoiding eye contact with him. ❝because?❞

❝because we're going out.❞

🦋

by going out, xiaojun misunderstood it again with them having a date. but why would he have that crossed inside his head when this man clearly had a boyfriend already? well, hendery just had a heart to accompany him as they went out to buy a gift for the little one.

although, all hendery is doing is teasing him about everything. like how he fits so well while being surrounded by plushies just because he looked like a kid. also that time when he tried to reach for something up on top of the shelf and the ceo could have helped but all he did was laugh at his suffering. hendery helped in finding a perfect gift for the landlord's child though, making him also buy a gift for him. another thing that xiaojun had appreciated was the ceo paying for everything.

his face showed how happy and how much he enjoyed the day with the ceo, not knowing that hendery secretly canceled his schedule for the whole afternoon. he was busy and had another company to go to but he didn't know what had gotten to him that he even made an effort to tag along with xiaojun in buying a gift for the landlord's son.

❝he is so cute!❞ xiaojun cooed, bringing the cat plushie up and treating it as if it was a real cat by booping its button nose and his nose.

and not at the fact that hendery bought him a cat plushie just because he saw his secretary eyeing on it for quite a while. he even made an effort on surprising the male with it as soon as they got inside the car.

❝it's a he now?❞ hendery asked as he drove the car, insisting to drive his secretary home even when xiaojun told him not to.

nodding his head, the male couldn't help but hug the plushie tight with a chuckle. ❝let's name him!❞

❝you name your plushies?❞ squinting his eyes on the road while pondering, the ceo could remember the plushie his boyfriend had and the name was probably either charlie or patrick. the starfish plushie was probably patrick. then, hendery hadn't seen the plushie ever again.

xiaojun shrugged his shoulder, slumping down the seat with a frown. ❝this is the first plushie i have so might as well name it.❞

that's kinda sad, but hendery didn't want to say anything about it. he might bring up a subject that'll hit a sensitive spot. instead, he continued on driving till they met the red light that caused for him to stop the car. while waiting, the ceo glanced to his side and saw how xiaojun was admiring the plushie with that adorable smile on his face. he didn't want to say it but he looked like a kid which, he found it cute— okay, this is getting out of hand.

since when did he ever find xiaojun cute?

❝vuitton!❞ his voice then echoed inside the car, raising the plushie real high and snapping hendery back to his senses.

shaking his head, the ceo went back to have his eyes on the road and noticed the green light. he started to maneuver the car once again while also conversing with the male. ❝why would you name him after a brand?❞

❝because i remember louis, he's a cat.❞ xiaojun chuckled, quite proud that he got to think of the name but seeing the look of disapproval from his boss then made him huff. ❝how about you name him then?❞

humming for quite a good ten seconds, a name popped inside his head and he didn't waste any minute to suggest it. ❝leon.❞

the both of them grew silent after hendery's name suggestion. no answer coming from his secretary then made the ceo uneasy. it quickly caused him to find a way out so they wouldn't be in an awkward silence like this.

❝if you're not up for it then—❞

but he was cut off with a giggle, glancing to the side for a short second only to see xiaojun booping his nose with the plushie's again. ❝leon, i like leon.❞

seriously, did someone pay xiaojun to mess with him? hendery can't even count as to how many times his heart skipped because of him. it's either his gestures, actions, or simple words. ❝we're here.❞

he's just glad that the day was already over, making him free from feeling more than what he's feeling right now. but something inside him was disappointed at how they had to go on separate ways the moment his secretary would go out of his car.

seeing how many plastic bags he had to carry, hendery was about to be a gentleman after quite a while and help him carry all of it but xiaojun just rejected his offer politely, giving him a small smile as he did it.

❝it's fine. i can carry it all.❞ with leon being carried on his other arm, the secretary managed to carry the other three plastic bags with him while getting out of the car. but he didn't close it yet, bending down to get a clear view of the ceo looking like he was waiting for something. words of gratitude, perhaps? showing his bright smile, xiaojun didn't forget say. ❝thank you, kunhang.❞

that's weird, he wasn't mad. he found it natural already, which wasn't right. but he couldn't shout at him and tell him to stop messing with his name, to stop messing with him. giving a small nod, hendery looked away. ❝say hi to sian for me.❞

❝i will!❞ he shouted from the outside, closing the door.

but hendery could see him mouth another thanks and because of the tinted glass windows, xiaojun failed to see that genuine smile he had on his face.

hendery then first eyed on his secretary that's walking away while having a hard time carrying his things and it made him roll his eyes at how stubborn he can be. he could have accepted his help if he needed it. he didn't bother going out of the car and catching up to him, he just wanted to make sure that he gets inside his apartment safely.

after he disappeared from his sight and got inside a small building, the man threw his head back and groaned really loud.

this wasn't it. this wasn't supposed to happen. he wasn't supposed to feel this way. not even a slight bit. he can't accept this. dipping his hand inside his pocket, hendery tapped on the screen and caught a specific number that he didn't hesitate to dial immediately. he first waited for the first three rings till the call was finally being answered.

"ge? where are you—"

❝i love you, yang.❞

that's right, he shouldn't feel this way towards another person because he already has a boyfriend and he loves him to the moon and back. there's no way he can fall out of love with yangyang, he just loves him so much.

whatever he is feeling towards xiaojun, this has to stop.

⚊ t b c ⚊