Taehyung's pov

On Monday, by unspoken agreement, Jungkook and I don't talk about the Founders' Gala or the intimate conversation we had on the roof. Doing that would be acknowledgement of the friendship between us, tentative as it might be, something that has no place in the office.

Jungkook is as prepared for the Monday meeting as always. "You have the ten o'clock meeting with Montgomery on Wednesday. I'll send them the briefs tomorrow when the architects are done with it."

"Good. And if they're not, you have my permission to push them on it," I say. A few employees in my architect team love to ask for extensions-as if everyone didn't have to work to meet deadlines.

Jungkook nods and taps away at his laptop. His hair is sleek back today and it only enhances his features. His skin looks flawless, like smooth silk. My mind immediately wonders if it's like that everywhere-but I can't. He's off-limits.

And if there is one thing I won't do, it's become Eun Ilsung.

"Your trip to Chicago on Thursday is all set and booked, as are your meetings there. I'll prepare the travel documents and leave them in a binder on your desk Wednesday."

I doubt I've ever looked forward to a trip less, but I'd promised my dad I'd at least take a look at the project. I could ask Jungkook to come along. He'd be by my side, taking notes, listening intently. If he saw what I feared I would, his feedback might be invaluable.

"I'll be out of the office most of Thursday, but you know that," Jungkook continues. "I'll set an out-of-office message on my phone, same as on yours. I don't think we'll miss too much, but it's unavoidable."

Ah, the pitch with Terri.

There's a faint flush of excitement on Jungkook's cheeks. "How's it coming along? Working with Terri?"

"Great," he says. "I can't see how Kang-min had a problem with her. The design they worked on is sleek and fulfills the client's brief. I think the pitch will go very well."

"I have no doubt of that. You'll do great." Jungkook is competent, brave, and professional-when he wants to be. Taking Kangmin off the project had been the right thing to do. The man was talented but a damn pain in the ass sometimes.

Jungkook's eyes light up at my words. Dangerous, the voice whispers inside my head again, at how beautiful it makes him look. At how good it feels to see my words having that effect on him.

"Thank you. Is that all for this week?"

I run my fingers along the edge of the oak table. "Is my Wednesday afternoon and evening still free?"

It's an unnecessary question. I know it is.

"Yes."

"I'd appreciate your input on the opera house then. Pencil in an hour for us sometime that afternoon."

He nods and gathers his things. "Absolutely. Did the night at the museum inspire you?"

I think of his eyes, wide with amazement as I showed him the magnifying glass on the roof. The bravery and strength with which he spoke of his time at Eun Ilsung's. The way his body looked in the black outfit, the way he felt against my arm, and his cheekiness when he told Aerum off.

"Greatly," I say.

Jungkook shoots me a smile. "I'll make sure to have my notes ready for Wednesday, then."

I watch him leave my office and the door closing behind him. Risky, I tell myself. It's too risky. And still, I find myself unable to stop wanting him.

-

-

That afternoon, Jungkook's voice crackles through the intercom, interrupting my reading of an investment proposal.

"Yes?"

"Your brother Seokjin is on the phone?" It's spoken like a question-and it's not hard to imagine why. I've never mentioned my family or instructed him about who's allowed to be patched through, because no one besides Mom is insane enough to call me at work. My brother never has. I frown, my mind running through all kinds of terrible scenarios.

"Put him through."

I hear the telltale beep. "Hey, hyung."

"I don't usually call you at work, I know-I'm truly very sorry. But I need to get this finished now, and I don't want to rush you, but it's also a bit tight on time."

His cheery voice is exactly like I remember, all sunshine and scrubby knees and summers by the ocean. He might be a grownass man with his own business, but he's still my lovely hyung.

"What do you need hyung?"

"Just some tentative information about who you're thinking about bringing to my wedding. And before you sigh-don't you dare, Kim Taehyung-I'm not pushing like Mom is. I don't care who you date or don't date. You're very welcome to go stag, or with a man or woman if you've changed your preferences, or with several-no. Not several person. But you know what I mean."

I can't help but smile. "Yes, I do."

"It's the weekend after next, and the absolute final order for the caterers goes in today. So I'm just calling to let you know that after today you can't bring anyone who has specific dietary restrictions."

I snort. "What if I meet the love of my life tomorrow, and he just happens to be vegan? Or lactose intolerant?"

"Nope, no dice. You'll have to move on to the next one."

"Harsh, hyungie."

"That's me," he says, a smile in his voice. "You're staying for the full weekend, right?"

A pang of guilt flashes through me at the question. My family is so used to me coming and going, cutting family events short for business trips and meetings, that they have to double-check.

"Yes, I am. Absolutely."

"Good. I was thinking we could even have a hangout out one of the days, just us kids."

"Plus Namjoon hyung?" His soon-to-be-husband had basically grown up with us, and even if he'd been gone nearly ten years before he returned, I know my brothers consider him family.

"No. Maybe. I don't know?" He sighs. "This whole wedding thing is so stressful. I'm starting to appreciate Joonie's initial idea of eloping more and more."

"Don't you dare. I've taken two days off work for this."

His pealing laughter rings out through the phone. "Don't worry, I won't call it off. And I can fix a last-minute name card for whoever you're bringing, so don't let Mom stress you out about it if she calls you."

"Thanks."

"Of course. Do you have to get back to plotting world domination now?"

"Yes. Somehow, I have to work for it. You'd think the world would want to be dominated, with the mess it's in."

Jin hyung laughs again. "All right, I'll let you go, then."

"Take care, hyung. Try not to stress too much."

"I won't." There's a faint pause. "You sound happy, Taebear. Keep it up."

I blink in surprise at the phone in my hand. He's hung up, so there's no need to respond, but still... Jin hyung is outspoken, but I can't remember him ever commenting on my mood like that.

At least he didn't press me on who I was bringing. Before he called, I'd decided to go without a date-I had introduced very few men/women to my family, and my mom's badgering wouldn't change that-but the call had sparked an idea. The opera house is due the week after the wedding. I'd be short on time as it was, without taking four days off. I'd have to work on it while I was there. And Jungkook had already proven himself to be a great date. How efficient would it be to combine the two?

Dangerous, my mind warns. It wouldn't be wise considering my attraction to him. It would be risky. Potentially stupid. At the same time... the more I think about it, the more fun the idea sounds.

-

-

Jungkook knocks on my door late on Wednesday to work on the opera project. He's tucked his laptop under his arm, holding both drafting and tracing paper.

Everything about him screams professionalism; the tailored pants, the blazer, the set look on his features.

He starts laying his things out on the conference table. "Now, I was thinking we could go straight in with-" He pauses when he sees my expression. "Is everything all right?"

"Is it too late to cancel Chicago?"

"No. We might not get refunds, but that shouldn't be a problem." He shrugs.

"You definitely won't be popular with the company you're meeting with, though."

"Hmm."

"You don't want to go? I thought the project could be big for the firm."

I tap my fingers along the arm of my chair. "Massive."

"I don't know much about it. There aren't any files in the system. I checked," he adds sheepishly. "Who are you really meeting with?"

It's nice, talking with him like this. Sharing these things. I haven't done this with assistants before, but then again, none of them were quite like Jungkook.

"I'm meeting with investors attempting to buy up a large swath of property on the East Side of Chicago."

Dark eyes meet mine. "Ah."

"Yes."

"They're going to force out tenants and demolish the properties after the acquisition, I'm guessing." His voice has turned hard-harder than I've heard it before. He knows this process better than I expected, and he's reached the same conclusion I have.

"I expect so, yes. Forced gentrification."

"What are they planning to build there instead?"

"Apartment buildings, a mall, and a small park."

"Hmm." Jungkook is looking at the tracing paper, but there's tension in his shoulders. "It doesn't seem like a project that Kim & Ryu usually takes on."

"No, it's not. I'm taking the meeting with the investor as a favor to a friend."

He nods, and his eyes find mine again. "And what do you think? Do you think it's a good opportunity?"

"It's clear that you don't."

"Well, financially I'm sure it would be a great opportunity. But I think this firm should focus on... other projects. Like the ones we're already doing."

Prestige projects, he means. The ones where we design skyscrapers and office buildings, parks and sculptures. Choosing our projects wisely had been the only rule Rita and I had set when we joined our names and capital for the firm.

I sigh. "I don't disagree with you. The project feels... unsavory at best, and amoral at worst."

His eyes lighten. I've said something that he approves of again. I hate how alluring that is, how it makes me want to test it, to see what he wants to hear.

"Do you think you'll go through with it?"

"No. I can't see myself signing on to this project, for exactly the reasons you've outlined. But walking away will make a few people upset with the firm."

And with me.

"So you're going there to make it look like you've at least properly considered it. Very smart." He shoots me a smile. "You're turning them down gently. I wouldn't have expected it from you."

"No?"

Jungkook looks a bit sheepish again, like he's said too much. "It's just, in business, you have a certain... reputation."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "I have a reputation?"

"Yes, and you know you do."

It takes effort to stop myself from smiling at the consternation in his voice.

He crosses his legs, the light in the office reflecting off his dark hair. How would it look spread out on my pillow?

I decide to play along. "Let's say I don't. Enlighten me."

Jungkook huffs a sigh. "All right. I'm requesting permission to speak off the record here, though."

"Permission granted."

He takes a deep breath, as if gathering courage. "You can be bullish. You don't say thank you or please. Whenever someone is off deadline, you scold them, like you would a child. When you walk through the office everyone sits up a bit straighter. You don't come to any social events with the company."

"Of course not. They wouldn't want me there."

He rolls his eyes. "That might be true, but it's beside the point. It's just... you're known for being hard on people. On my first day here, I was basically told that the odds weren't in my favor-I wasn't going to last."

I frown. "Who told you that?"

"It doesn't matter," he says with a small, triumphant smile. "And have I now destroyed my shot at a career by answering honestly?"

"No. Part of what I'm paying you for is your honesty."

He taps the design in front of him. "Even if it's hard to hear? I know you hated my suggestion of adding wood."

"Especially if it's hard to hear." I rise from my desk and head to the model in the corner.

Sweeping the cover off, I'm struck again by the feeling that something's missing. It's something we're fixing now in the blueprints, with Jungkook's additions, but we have to be finished quickly enough that I can commission another model before it's due for submission.

"Why did your previous assistants end up quitting? Or were they let go?"

Jungkook's tone is teasing, and curious, sounding just like he did at the gala. It had been intoxicating to have him by my side the whole evening. When I'd dropped him off at his apartment much later, I hadn't wanted to let him go, to relinquish the intimacy between us.

"Are you asking so you can avoid making their mistakes?"

Jungkook's gaze turns amused. "Maybe. Do I need pointers?"

"No. You're doing better than all of them," I say. It's true-and it's not. Rina had been professional and highly efficient. Never spoke a word to me outside of talking shop, and I hadn't been surprised when she was head-hunted to a larger firm. Felix had been good at his job, too. But none of them had been Jungkook- and none of them had understood architecture.

He smiles again. It's not his practiced, megawatt smile, the one that shows off his perfect teeth. This is a small curve of his lips. It sets his features alight.

God, but he's beautiful.

"How did you get into this?" I ask. "Architecture?"

He shrugs, the smile faltering slightly. "I don't know, exactly. I always enjoyed building and creating as a kid. I had a great teacher at school. She saw my interest in history, particularly in old buildings, and suggested architecture. It stuck."

My mind paints the images for me. A younger version of Jungkook, bent over architecture books in a large library, studying angles and structuralism and urban planning.

"And you were good at it."

"Yes." Another elegant shrug. There's no false modesty in his gaze, but no bragging, either. "Like I'm sure you were. Now, should we get started? The deadline is only a few weeks away."

I tear my gaze away from his toward the model. The opera house.

Deadlines. It feels harder than ever to lock myself away, to become professional with him again. I don't know how he does it so easily-switches between friendly banter and work. With him around I feel like I'm constantly slipping.

"Yes. You said you had some notes?"

He nods. We dive straight into the restructuring of the opera house. Most of his suggestions are good-some I'll have to think about. It's cute, too, how he tries to be encouraging.

"This backstage area is too small, I think. If you make the outer staircases two feet narrower, you'd be able to expand the area without sacrificing any structural features." He looks up at me, as if worried he's offended me. "But it's really smart. Very well-executed."

I smile wryly. "I can handle criticism, Mr. Jeon."

"All right." Jungkook really works down the list, then. He comments on nearly every part of the structure. I make a few notes of the things that stand out to me.

He has a good eye, and he hasn't commented on things that are clearly stylistic -a good editor, too.

It's nearly nine in the evening when I notice that he's discreetly covering a yawn. I close my laptop. "I think we've gotten far enough today. The project will keep."

Jungkook stands and stretches fluidly from side to side, his body sinuous. "Will you order a new model when we're done?"

"Yes."

He comes to my side and we gaze down at the model in silence. It's a requirement for the submission-juries of these kinds of things like big, flashy showmanship. Of the eight members of the jury, four have no architectural knowledge at all. To win them you have to impress them on first sight.

"Who did you use?" he asks, bending closer to see the details. This close, the scent of him strikes me again, just as strong as it had at the gala. Clean soap and shampoo, and something faint and floral. My eyes find the back of his neck.

Left bare beneath the dark hairs, it looks vulnerable, the skin soft. How easy it would be to pull him close and trace the area with my lips.

He looks back at me. There's a question in his eyes-what did he ask me again?-but it dies as he sees the expression in mine. There's not a professional thought in my head.

Jungkook's mouth opens slightly. I should speak and put an end to this unexpected intimacy between us, but I find myself unable to.

A smile ghosts across his lips. "Another staring contest, sir?"

The sir is teasing, and I can't help the twitch of my own lips. "No. I was just wondering how you get home when you work late at the office."

I hadn't been wondering that at all, but now that I've said it, it rings true.

"The subway," he breathes. "We can't all be old, rich stooges."

"Taxis are on the firm after eight p.m."

He raises an eyebrow. "Is that a new rule?"

"No, we've had it forever."

"Liar."

I step away from the model, putting my hands in my pockets. The space feels good-my head already clearer. "Whenever you work late for me, taxis are on the firm. Doesn't matter when the rule was made."

"I can handle myself."

I frown. Does everything have to be an argument? "It's a perk. Take it."

He rolls his eyes at me-again!-and starts packing up his things. "We'll have to work on this a lot next week, after you get back from Chicago. The deadline is in July?"

"Yes."

He frowns. "Your time off is next week, right? Thursday and Friday?"

"Yes," I say again. He's speaking to me like we're a team. Like we're friends, like he enjoys the battle of wits. It's been a long time since I had that kind of connection with someone.

"We'll have to work a few nights next week too, don't you think?"

I clear my throat. "Yes. Regarding that, though..."

"Yes?"

"Do you feel up to the challenge of playing my date again?"

Jungkook's eyebrows rise. His eyes gleam with light again, the same competitive flare we share. He'll never say no to a challenge I give him.

"I take it you were pleased with my performance at the gala, then."

I nod, remembering his dry commentary. "Yes. I'm going to a wedding next weekend and I'm expected to bring a date. We'd be gone three nights, and we'd be able to use most of the time during the days to work on the project."

"A wedding," he repeats slowly.

"Yes. You'd be paid for the overtime, of course. Handsomely."

He clears his throat, a flush rising on his cheeks. "Would we have our own quarters?"

"Yes. Separate bedrooms."

"This is..."

"Unorthodox? Yes. Take some time to think about it. We can discuss it when I get back from Chicago."

Jungkook swings his bag over his shoulder. "All right, I will."

"And take a taxi home."

He nods and heads out, but pauses by the door to my office. His eyes flit back to mine. "One final question. Whose wedding is it?"

"My hyung's," I reply. His eyebrows shoot high, and I have to work to keep my face impassive. He'll have more questions for me before the week is out, that's for sure. "Good night, Mr. Jeon, and good luck on your pitch tomorrow."

"Thank you," he murmurs, the door closing behind him with a soft snick.

I release a breath, unsure if what I've just set in motion is unbelievably stupid, outrageously reckless, or the best thing I've done in years.

-

-

To be continued............

Will Jungkook agree for playing the role again??
And what turn will event take???