"Cheers!" everyone yelled, clinking their glasses together in the middle.

"Here's to Director Devil's retirement!" Yoondo exclaimed, raising his glass once again getting some more cheers.

They all laughed and took big sips of their drinks, immediately digging into the food that's been sizzling on the grill in front of them for a while. Eunwoo had gladly volunteered to manage the grill along with Jin.

"Who do you think the new director will be? You don't think our division will get cut off or split right?" Chaeyoung asked with a mouth full, her eyes widening at the sudden realization.

Their team was formed because of some higher-up's idea. They thought that bringing together a group of young individuals could help them better analyze to the younger demographic. They were a marketing team and were to compete with the other three divisions to get a hold of the bigger projects or collaborate with them.

Sure, they've had their fair amount of success but compared to the other teams, they were just average. And their team was formed a few years ago when they were young and fresh, and well now they're still young but... It was very possible the head director wouldn't find them needed anymore and just sprinkle the bunch into the pre-existing teams.

"Who's still in the Lee family that's not in the business?" Jisoo asked as it obviously will be another person getting in because of family connections.

"The President's second daughter's son? Park Jimin, I think was his name. He's probably the only one old enough right? He's lives in the US, is he out of school?" Yoona said, but tilted her head not so sure of all the information.

Jinyoung nodded. "From what I've heard, he took a few years of break to travel around the world then returned to school because he was forced to or something. But should've graduated this year."

Jin snapped his fingers. "It must be him then. Damn, traveling the world. Must've been nice."

Jeongguk frowned. "Forced to? I worked my butt off to just get into college! With our luck, I'm praying he's not some kind of spoilt brat."

They all shrugged or sighed and continued eating. Jeongguk shoved a piece of pork into his mouth, the biggest one he could find then gulping it down with all his beer. The last thing he needed now was a rich brat ordering him around. At least the old director took her work seriously.

"Do you think you'll get a promotion?" Eunwoo asked Jeongguk.

"Hmm?" Jeongguk hummed, a little confused on what he's done to deserve one. Sure he's worked his ass off but so has everyone.

"Yeah, I was wondering that too," Jin added. "You've been Mrs. Lee's secretary all along, what if you're promoted to be an actual member of the team. What if this Jimin guy want to hire an secretary himself?"

Jeongguk smiled, imagining not to have to run around like a madman after someone with their things. "That'd be wonderful."

Chaeyoung snorted. "What if he's a douche and wants a hot girl secretary he can fuck?"

"God Chae, you need to stop reading those erotic novels," Jinyoung said with a tsk. Chaeyoung only rolled her eyes and took another drink, mumbling some more about the said hot assistant.

After a couple rounds, Jeongguk was left to watch all his colleague's drunk out of their mind. He had the most alcohol tolerance in their group. He was feeling a little tipsy, eyes heavy and head bopping randomly, but he was very much aware of his surrounding and conscious.

Sometimes he'd purposefully chug bottles on top of bottles to get to that fucked out feeling knowing damn well he won't be able to get out of bed the next morning just to forget about everything for a bit. Maybe dance around with no care in the world or spurt out stupid shit.

"Gguk," Eunwoo slurred our, raising the head that had fallen to the table to look at Jeongguk. Jeongguk nodded in response, telling him to go on.

There was a pause of silence. He lifted up the phone to show a picture of three men looking very serious posing for a photo at some kind of high-end party. Jeongguk could only recognize the President and his son-in-law, otherwise known as Lee's' Chief Financial Officer Park. His attention went back to Eunwoo.

Eunwoo blinked his eyes, lips in a pout as he momentarily forgot he had called out Jeongguk. He finally remembered what he was going to say. "Park Jimin's so fucking hot!"

Yup, spurt out dumb shit he won't remember saying the next day like that.

Jeongguk's brows raised, his eyes quickly glancing back to the picture to confirm that Park Jimin was indeed very hot. Before he can question Eunwoo's intentions of telling him this, the man's head had slammed right back down.

Jeongguk sighed. He looked around the rest of the table, everyone was in a similar state. It was time to call it a night. Jeongguk called everyone a taxi and made sure everyone got into one as getting everyone home was a job he took into himself.

"Please bring him home safely!" Jeongguk said to the driver who smiled back in reassurance. Jeongguk clapped. That was the last one. He walked over to the bus stop and took a seat, his bus should be coming in about 10 minutes. He was trying to save as much as he could so no taxi for Jeongguk.

Jeongguk pulled out his phone and opened up his browser. He typed into the search box "Lee's Park Jimin". He had become curious after their short discussion about him. If he was going to really he their new team head, he better find out as much as he could, especially if he still had to be a secretary.

Not many things popped up. Jeongguk was able to find the article that Eunwoo got the picture from. It was from the company's 30th anniversary party. He was also able to find an article interviewing Mr. Park where he spoke a bit about his family.

"My son, Jimin, is a free-spirit. I'm hoping he develops interest in this field but of course I'll leave that up to him. He's young and still has time to mature. Then there's my daughter, Jihyo..."

Then he goes on about his daughter for much longer than needed. You could clearly see who was the favourite here. And Jeongguk could only hope that he'd definitely matured.

He scrolled through more and finally found something useful. He had to go through some accounts, but in the end he got to the his Instagram account. It was mostly filled with sceneries from all the places he's been to or selfies of him and his friends. Jeongguk eyes widened as he stumbled upon a picture.

He found his finger reacting faster than him as he pressed on the picture to enlarge it. The caption read:
My soulmate turned 26 today, wish him hbd or else 😠
Love you lots Taehyung Kim 🤪♥️! Saranghae~~

Jeongguk hit the translate button to see what was written, and he could make sense of most of it. He couldn't help but have the thought of are they dating pop into his mind first. That caption was very suggestive. He checked if there was a tag or any replies from the said birthday boy but as he had guessed, there wasn't.

From all the people in the world, it had to be him. Jungkook locked his phone and shoved it into his pocket. He really needed to stop doing that. Just as he did so, his bus had arrived. Jeonggguk sighed as he remembered he'd have to take the bus to work again tomorrow as his baby was left there.

Soon enough, Jeongguk got his way to his apartment. He punched in the code and got in, his eyes squinting in suspicion as he saw all the lights turned on. He could've sworn he'd turned them off in the morning. He took off his shoe and carefully entered, taking in his surroundings. As he approached his couch, he could see the two heads doing their best not giggle.

Jeongguk crossed his arms and watched. "I can see you," he said with a laugh.

Hoseok's head peaked out first with his radiant smile. "Surprise!"

"Surprise," Sooyung echoed also revealing herself.

Jeongguk smiled as he shook his head and took his satchel off. He didn't know if he regretted giving Hoseok his apartment passcode or not. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We were bored and came to bother you," Hoseok replied as if it was obvious.

"We ordered chicken," Sooyung said pointing at the empty boxes. She then frowned and added, "but you never came."

"Did you work overtime?"

Jeongguk shook his head. "Had a team dinner. My boss is retiring."

Hoseok's brow raised. "She gave you guys a treat?" He'd heard many rants about the said woman, he already knew there was no way that happened.

"Of course not. We went out to celebrate ourselves at that barbecue place near work. Keep forgetting what it's called."

Sooyung snickered but groaned. "I want barbecued pork now. Gguk, you got any drinks?"

Jeongguk loosened his tie as he entered his kitchen to check. Luckily, he had a few cans of beer left. He made a mental note to stock up on those. He grabbed the plastic holding them all together and gave it to the couple. Jeongguk changed from his work clothing to something a lot more comfortable before he joined them.

"So, I could've sworn you two broke up the last time we saw each other," Jeongguk started off.

Sooyung rolled her eyes. "Yeah, then he came begging right back to me."

"No I didn't! I just apologized because I realized I was at fault."

"Yeah yeah," she mocked. "You realized how much of an ass you are."

And that's all it took for the two to start bickering. It'd begin with them throwing insults at each other, getting defensive, then slowly start to laugh at their own stupidity, then get closer and closer before a whole smooch fest began.

Jeongguk rolled his eyes at the on and off again couple. He didn't understand how they could be like that. Didn't get how their relationship could be so dysfunctional but going great at the same time. He almost envied what they had. Almost. Maybe he just envied that they had something at all.

"Anyways, are you two staying over?" Jeongguk asked, setting his drink down so that he could grab the leftover fries to munch on.

Hoseok hummed. "If it's alright with you."

"When is it not?" Jeongguk retorted back.

"When you got guys you're fucking over," Sooyung said with a smirk. "What happened to that last one? The blond."

Jeongguk shrugged. "Never saw him again after that. Plus, he was scared shitless people would find out he's gay. Wouldn't have been able to actually even date him. His friend called once and he forced me to talk in a high pitch voice and pretend to be a girl."

Hoseok visibly cringed and sighed. "You need to stop going to that sketchy bar and meeting these weird-ass dude."

"Oh shush. And I haven't been there in a while. Too busy."

"You should start actually meeting people and not just having one-night stands. Being in a relationship and in love is something so different and it'll change you as a person. You're already 26 and still lonely and single," Sooyung began.

"Which I'm totally fine with!" Jeongguk replied with an airy laugh. Jeongguk knew this was all just a plan to bring up that blind date with her one gay colleague that was so not his type.

Sooyung shrugged and dropped it. They continued to drink in silence for the next few minutes before Hoseok cleared his throat.

"I heard from Kumi that Taehyung's in Korea."

Jeongguk's hand froze mid-sip. He took a moment to recollect himself and continued as if he had heard something he couldn't care less about.

"Oh, they still keep in touch?" Jeongguk asked back casually.

Hoseok nodded. "He was on a modelling trip in Japan or something and they met up. I guess they've been talking since then. She told me Taehyung comes frequently to visit his dad."

Jeongguk nodded. "That's nice."

He pursed his lips thinking about how there could've been a chance in all these years for them to meet, but it never happened. It irked him for some reason. Jeongguk always knew what he'd do if he saw Taehyung in the street or somewhere. He'd make eyes contact and walk right past his as if he had no clue who he was. His ultimate form of revenge for something he too was partially to blame. Sometimes he'd hope that'd happen.

Jeongguk felt the atmosphere get tense and awkward whenever he was mentioned. Jeongguk chuckled. "Who would've thought he'd be a model."

Hoseok laughed along. "I know right. Well, he is ending his modelling days now. Maybe he'll run for president."

Sooyung laughed at his terrible joke. Jeongguk couldn't even think about that as what that article's title read had just been confirmed.

There was only one thought preceding that: maybe they'll finally tear down that stupid banner so Jeongguk could go to work in peace.

•—•—•

"What do I write in the card? Welcome new nameless director!?" Chaeyoung questioned to no one in particular, just hoping to get an answer out of someone. Everyone was too frantic running around the office trying to get everything prepared.

"Guys, the flowers came in!" Jeongguk walked into the office with a large bouquet.

"Great," Jinyoung commented, shoving a box of something into a closet. "Chae, just welcome should be fine."

Jin stopped cleaning his desk and huffed out loudly. "I don't get why we can't know who he is!"

"Because," Yoona began to explain again, repeating the words of the higher-ups. "His placement hasn't been confirmed yet and they don't want to start anything with the press, which I don't even know why they'd get involved."

"Damn them, just cause their related to the CEO doesn't meant they deserve a King's treatment," Jisoo said, aggressively wiping the windows. "And why aren't the custodians doing this!"

Yoondo rolled his eyes. "We're all done anyways. Let's just stop here and go down."

Eunwoo sprinted into the office. "Just got info that they're almost here."

And that was the cue for everyone to go down and get ready to greet their new division director. Everyone straightened out their outfits except for Jeongguk who was stuck with holding the flowers. He tried to sneak it into the hands of Eunwoo but the guy was much smarter than that.

They all took place at the entrance of the company as a few other directors and officers stood to also welcome whoever this grand person was. What surprised everyone was that the CEO himself was also waiting out, his secretary holding a bouquet of his own.

Finally, the black van came rolling in to the entrance. Everyone approached to see if they could get a peak through the tinted windows. First, the secretary came out, then the doors opened to finally reveal who this much expected person was.

Jeongguk looked at him for some time, he couldn't really process the face. He just kept thinking he's seen him somewhere before. And no, this man was not Park Jimin.

The CEO gave him a tight hug and the flowers, which the man gratefully accepted and passed onto his secretary. He shook hands with a few other people before he was at where Jeongguk was.

Now only Jeongguk realized why his mind refused to accept the very familiar face. His mouth dropped and eyes began blinking rapidly. The only thing he could be a little glad about was that the man's reaction was the same as his. Both shocked, frozen in place, staring at each other wondering if it was all a dream.

Chaeyoung from the side nudged him with her foot so that no one could see and Jeongguk finally snapped back. No, this was not a dream and indeed reality.

Jeongguk closed his mouth and swallowed the lump in his throat. He stretched out his hand. "Welcome," he said quietly, doing his best not to let his voice crack.

It took the other a few extra seconds to react before he finally took the flowers, holding onto them for longer than necessary. Jeongguk put his head down but he could still feel the gaze of the other. He could then hear his secretary call out to him and finally the man moved on. Jeongguk released the breath of air he'd been holding on to.

Once he went through everyone, the man returned to where his van stood. He bowed. "Thank you for the warm welcome. I would like to properly introduce myself. I am Kim Taehyung and I look forward to working with you all."

Jeongguk felt sick. That banner wasn't looking like that big of a problem now and so much for his grand "revenge".

—•
Shorter chap but I just really wanted to update skksnfbrjens
I wanted it to be out for Chim's bday but it took a bit too long. BUT STILL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR ADORABLE MOCHI UWU

I HOPE HE HAD A WONDERFUL DAY 🥺🥺💕💘💗💓💘💕💘💗💓💞💘💘💖💗💓💞💖💕💖💓💞💞

Bye<3