Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

November 15

Seungkwan sighed heavily as he entered the building where his office resided. He really hated mondays.

Five years ago, he got a one-year internship at the company Diamond Edge. Luckily for him and his bank account, when his contract was about to expire, he was offered a permanent position in the same sector where he worked, so he accepted easily.

Now, he could only think about how sad it was that he wasn't born as an heir to a multinational, that he wouldn't have to wake up so early because he had to catch the bus.

“Seungkwan!”

He was standing still, waiting for the elevator, when he heard the familiar voice call out to him.

Seokmin approached, panting, probably wanting to take the elevator with him.

He and Seokmin became friends in high school and haven't been apart since. They managed to pass SNU, Seokmin first for marketing and then Seungkwan for journalism. Seokmin was the one who recommended Seungkwan for the internship, by the way.

They were best friends and Seungkwan couldn't be happier with their friendship, but there was one small problem.

Seokmin was supposedly the love of Seungkwan's life.

“No need to run, the elevator is still on the tenth floor.” Boo shook him with his hand quickly, while the other panted “Aish, you're going to arrive all sweaty at the sector.”

“A great way to start the week.” Lee grumbled, fixing his own hair.

Just before starting his first year in high school, Seungkwan was stopped by a fortune teller to give him a reading. He, by himself, did not possess any kind of magic, but he loved talking to supernatural people. Needless to say, Seungkwan easily accepted the fortune teller's reading.

The woman was clearly not a charlatan, the energy in the place was quite sensitive, so at least Seungkwan wasn't being fooled.

At the end of the reading, Seungkwan knew that he would be relatively lucky in his financial life, but what caught his attention the most was the accuracy of the description of the love of his life: a boy, taller than him and an Aquarius whose birthday was February 18th.

And when he found out about Seokmin's birthday, he kinda went through an existential crisis.

Throughout the first few years, Seungkwan tried to like Seokmin in a romantic sense, he really did. But they just don't work that way. And besides, there was one last detail that stopped them.

“Where is Joshua hyung?”

“Parking the car.” Seokmin opened a smile “Hopefully, he and Jihoon hyung will bump into each other in the parking lot and we won't be late.”

Hong Jisoo, or just Joshua. Seokmin and he had met when Lee started his internship at Diamond Edge, seven years ago, and now, at the end of the month, they would have a small wedding ceremony. While Seokmin was only supposedly the love of Seungkwan's life, Joshua was definitely the love of Seokmin's life, with no room for doubt.

Joshua was half mermaid, so his beauty was stunning and his voice enchanting. Unlike his boyfriend and Boo, he had more affinity with magic, so it didn't take long into the relationship for Hong to realize that Seokmin was the love of his life. It was sad for him, Seungkwan, who always wanted to marry someone who actually loved him romantically, but it could happen to anyone.

Because of this, Seungkwan had come to terms with the possible fact that the love of his life had a love that wasn't him. The fortune teller could also probably be referring to the fact that he had a very strong connection, not necessarily romantic. Because he had that with Seokmin, if necessary, he would definitely die for Lee without hesitation.

“I won't be able to take my vacation until your birthday’s time.” Seungkwan snorted, he was looking forward to enjoying the milder weather in Jeju in January.

“But you're not going to miss my birthday, are you?” the oldest asked, now showing the eyes of an abandoned puppy.

Boo rolled his eyes.

“It will be your first birthday being officially married, I would be surprised if you left that apartment at all.” he grumbled back, heading into the elevator, which had finally arrived.

“Actually, I thought we could do something with the guys at lunch and you’d sleep at my home afterwards, just like when you were in college, you know?”

“Hmm, I'll think about your case. But if Joshua wakes me up singing again, I'll never step foot in there again.” he narrowed his eyes at Seokmin, who smiled guiltily.

Last year, shortly after Seokmin and Joshua started living together, Seungkwan slept on the couch in the apartment and they just forgot that Joshua likes to sing early in the morning, before they opened the soundproof windows.

When they realized, Seungkwan was in his underwear on the banks of the Han River on a sunday morning, when many families used to go for a walk together with their children. The couple was forced to listen to a sermon lasting more than half an hour after that.

“I promise to buy you sound isolating headphones!”

“You better, ‘cause if you don’t…”

“Good morning, Mr. Boo, Mr.Lee.” a voice interrupted them.

The duo looked forward to coming across Jeon Wonwoo and Chwe Hansol, both from the finance sector.

Seungkwan struggled to just greet them before lowering his eyes again.

He had a serious problem when it came to the financial sector, especially with manager Chwe.

Every 15th of every month there was a meeting between the three main sectors of Diamond Edge. They were: communication — Seungkwan, Joshua and Seokmin's sector —, logistics and finance. Usually only the top representatives from each sector presented at this meeting, so every meeting consisted of the same thirteen people as always.

For some reason that seemed humanly inexplicable, all representatives of the financial sector were absurdly beautiful.

The head of the sector, Choi Seungcheol, was probably the dream of half of Diamond Edge's employees — in addition to being the fiancé of their communication’s senior, Yoon Jeonghan, who always loved to highlight this fact to anyone close to them. Apparently he had lycanthrope blood, which explained to Seungkwan the frightening aura of leader he exuded, even though he wasn't in one of the highest positions in the company.

Next, manager Jeon, who perfectly fit the nerd stereotype, with his introverted personality and prescription glasses that made him even more attractive than he normally was. According to rumors, Wonwoo was a wizard with strong magic, but his specialty was unknown, as was anything related to his personal life. The man was a mystery personified.

Manager Kim Mingyu was the dream of the other half of Diamond Edge. He was also a lycanthrope, but what made him more attractive was the balance between his absurd beauty and his personality, which resembled a golden retriever. Mingyu and Seokmin were friends from their time at SNU, and Seungkwan had a small impression that the boy had a crush on his best friend, but this suspicion was dispelled when Boo saw Mingyu looking at Wonwoo for the first time when he arrived at the company.

And finally, the worst of all, in Seungkwan's view. Chwe Hansol, who, for some reason, was better known as Vernon among some employees. Seungkwan could never say that he hated him, because whenever he saw him, he remembered that he was on the verge of having a crush on the boy.

Apparently he was the son of some magical creature, but Seungkwan was always in doubt between vampire or ghost, given that the boy's skin was especially whiter than would classify him as an anemic human. Either way, it didn't matter. For Boo, Hansol could easily be the son of a nymph, given how handsome he found the other.

Hansol usually didn't talk much in meetings — the only occasions Seungkwan usually saw him —, presenting an introverted personality, just like Wonwoo. However, from what little he could observe, he must have been very close to the other three finance representatives, as it was common to see one of the three accompanying him, or talking about him in an affable way.

In terms of appearance, the only thing one needed to know was that he was Seungkwan's type. By any and all definitions, he was totally Seungkwan's type. And precisely for this reason, he avoided as much as possible crossing the line between finding him beautiful and considering him his platonic crush. If Seokmin was the love of his life and it wasn't a romantic love, he wanted to avoid breaking other hearts as much as possible.

By this, he meant that he always avoided approaching anyone as much as possible if it wasn't out of friendship or for a brief carnal thing. He didn't want to have to look at someone's sad expression when he told them that the love of his life wasn't him. And much less did he want to fall in love with a coworker, who he could cross paths with at any time in that huge company. And he knew he wouldn't settle for just a brief carnal thing with Hansol if he ever got noticed.

“Mr. Seungkwan? Are you feeling well?”

Only at that moment did he realize that he was distracted in front of the other three boys. Shit.

“Ah, sorry, Mr. Jeon.” Seungkwan smiled politely, embarrassed for having been caught rambling “I was thinking about the meeting later and ended up getting distracted.”

“Oh, that's true. Today is the 15th.” Seokmin shaked his head “Now I really hope that hyung meets Jihoon hyung at the garage.”

“Mingyu texted me earlier today, saying he hopes Mr. Jeonghan puts an end to Seungcheol hyung's hot water.” Wonwoo let out a small chuckle “It seems like we all have something in common with the meetings on the 15th.”

“That's because you are not subordinates to Soonyoung.” a fifth voice quickly appeared, at the same time that an arm was placed inside the elevator, preventing it from going up immediately.

“Jun hyung!” Seungkwan excitedly received the blonde Chinese man, who nodded smiling.

Son of a fairy and a human, Moon Junhui had moved to Korea in high school and specialized in business at college. He worked in the logistics sector and met Seungkwan and Seokmin when he was about to graduate from SNU at the top of his class.

He was probably the person Seungkwan admired most in all of Diamond Edge.

“Aigo, how cute that everyone here are my dongsaengs” the boy purposely put his hand on Wonwoo's head, who slapped him.

“I'm your age.” Jeon said with a closed facial expression.

“But I was born earlier.” Junhui clicked his tongue smiling and finally the elevator closed “Soonyoung has some news to share at the meeting today and he hasn't been holding back since the beginning of the month. It's unbearable.”

“Then I hope Shua hyung and Mr. Soonyoung find Jihoon hyung in the garage.” Seokmin sighed “In fact, I hope that all employees who have access to the garage meet Jihoon hyung so he can take a while to get to the department.”

They laughed and Seungkwan watched from the corner of his eye as Hansol gave a small, toothless smile.

Beautiful, argh.

Shaking his head, he was mentally thankful that the communications floor was the first one of the three.

“Until later.” he and Seokmin said goodbye as they left the elevator.

When he turned back, Boo thought he saw Hansol shaking his head in his direction, but the elevator closed before he could draw any conclusions.

Chapter Text

November 15

“Do you have any topics you want us to discuss at the meeting?” Jihoon asked, starting to turn off the computer on his desk.

“Can I resign?” Joshua asked without taking his eyes off his computer.

“No.” Jihoon rolled his eyes “Or you can resign and let Seokmin pay all the rest of the wedding expenses by himself.”

“I don't even have money to put gas in the car, let alone finish paying for it.” Seokmin grumbled, but when he looked up at his future husband, he emphasized “Don't even think about it, I'll call your mother in two minutes.”

“Then I'm left without a job, a husband and a mother.” Joshua looked at him indignantly “If you do that, I won’t have anything left!”

“Well, but then it will be your fault.” Seokmin stuck out his tongue towards his boyfriend, who acted offended.

“Then you guys can sort it out, come on.” Jihoon said, finally getting up from his own table “Attention sector, we will be leaving now for the monthly meeting. Anything you want to ask so we can pass it on to the other two sectors?” Lee observed the majority of the sector in silence, until he saw Park Sieun with her hand raised “Say it, Miss Park.”

“In a few weeks we need to update the website, with data renewal and everything.” the young redhead explained “If you could ask when the finance department intends to send their reports, it would be of great help, because the logistics people already reported theirs last week.”

“Of course, I'll write down the question when I get to the room.” Jihoon shook his head “Anyone else?”

Seungkwan knew his superior well enough to know that no, Jihoon wouldn't take notes when he arrived in the meeting room. Lee usually had his head full of work things, but on department meeting days, Lee Jihoon wasn't in his normal state of functioning — and Seungkwan suspected it had to do with constant contact with the head of the department. logistics.

Boo took the opportunity to grab a post-it and write down Sieun's agenda before he couldn't remember it himself.

“Seungkwan, come on.” Yoon Jeonghan started poking his arm incessantly and the youngest rolled his eyes.

Yoon Jeonghan. Even though he was the son of an angel and a banshee, Jeonghan was practically the devil incarnate. Maybe in a not so literal sense, but still. He, along with Joshua since they were best friends, were the oldest managers in the communications sector, second only to Lee Jihoon. At some point in his early years as an employee, he and Choi Seungcheol began a relationship that developed into an engagement.

Seungkwan had to admit that on the days when Jeonghan and Joshua were excited, it was hell to work in the industry. Despite this, Jeonghan was always willing to listen and advise anyone who needed his help. Seungkwan was eternally grateful for all the assistance the eldest gave in his early days.

“Seungkwanieee!” Jeonghan continued poking him, even though they were already walking towards the floor's elevator.

“Mr. Yoon, please stop poking your co-workers.” Jihoon grumbled as he pressed the elevator button “Mr. Hong, stop poking your boyfriend.”

Head of communications, Lee Jihoon. He was part of a famous clan of wizards, specializing in earth magic. They were extremely intelligent and Jihoon was no exception. Normally, the boy was quiet and always seemed to be in a bad mood, but once he felt comfortable with someone, he seemed more approachable, smiling from time to time and sometimes even making jokes.

“Aish, not funny.” Jeonghan and Joshua mumbled at the same time as if they were twins, and maybe they were twins at heart.

“Oh, Jihoon hyung, Jeonghan hyung, I have a question.” Seokmin said “Have you guys sorted out your suits yet?”

“Seungcheol spoke to a friend of his who is a tailor, everything is fine so far.” the oldest tilted his head, thinking “All that’s left is pick them, next week.”

“Mine is already resolved.” The head of the sector snorted “My only problem now is Jungchan, he doesn't like any suit he ends up wearing.”

“Tell him to go look with Shua hyung. At the end of the day, he will have chosen the suit, even if it is based on strength.” Seungkwan grumbled and Joshua opened a smile.

“I'm free on Saturday!”

The group of five employees entered the elevator and soon realized that the button for the logistics sector had also been pressed.

“Oh no.” Jihoon grumbled and with perfect timing, it didn't take long for the metal doors to open, revealing a team of four people.

“Jihoonie!” an excited voice exclaimed and Seungkwan could hear his superior's tired sigh.

“What? We’re all going in the same elevator?” Lee Jungchan, Jihoon's younger brother, asked.

“I found it a bit unhealthy.” Joshua commented, pressing himself between Jeonghan and his boyfriend.

“You find it unhealthy?” Seungkwan grumbled, pressed between Jeonghan and the metal wall.

“It could be worse, the third sector could be here too.”

“I would kill myself if they were here.”

And so they reached the ninth floor, where the financial sector was.

“My goodness, is this a field trip?” manager Kim Mingyu asked from his desk.

“Field trips are supposed to be fun, when is talking about reports going to be fun, Mingyu?” one of the logistics managers, Xu Minghao, asked, rolling his eyes.

“At least you and Seokmin have an excuse to see me!”

“Kim Mingyu, have you solved your suit problem yet?!” Seokmin asked energetically.

“Let's go to the meeting room.” Wonwoo got up and led the path that most of them already knew with their eyes closed.

“My God, so much noise in this sector.” Chan shook his head.

“As if being Soonyoung’s subordinate is any quieter than this place.” Jun sighed.

“I wonder if the head of this sector is single.” Jeonghan bit his lip as he exchanged a look with Choi Seungcheol.

“He's very well committed to an amazing fiancé, thank you.” he smiled and clicked his tongue.

Joshua rolled his eyes.

“Oh no, you’re already at it again.” he grumbled.

“Mr. Kwon Soonyoung, can you spend five minutes standing in the same place?”

“Oh, Jihoonie, do you miss working in logistics that much? You should’ve just said!”

Seungkwan watched everyone in the room talking at the same time and gave a small laugh. He had been attending the 15th meetings for three years and it was amazing how chaotic it always was, scenes like the one he observed being the most common type in the financial sector boardroom on a monthly basis. Most of them were friends or minimally familiar with each other, so the meetings always had a lighter feel.

He could say whatever he wanted, complain forever about his job, but in moments like this, he always had fun.

Suddenly he felt like he was being watched.

When he raised his head, he found Chwe Hansol's light brown eyes watching him. They stared at each other in silence, until Seungkwan couldn't take it and looked away biting his lip. He was as absurd and dangerous as Hansol was attractive.

Shaking his head, he sighed trying to focus on the meeting about to start. It was going to be a long day.

Chapter Text

November 15

“So you waited a whole week to just say that your budget form for next year is ready?!” Jihoon and Seungcheol exclaimed at the same time, but Soonyoung's excited smile remained intact.

Kwon Soonyoung. Head of the logistics sector, he was part of a rare lineage of feline hybrids, the Kwon clan. Despite being a lynx hybrid, since he was a child he had an obsession with tigers that has continued to this day. For some reason, some people in the company started calling him Hoshi and at some point, the nickname stuck.

He was energetic and often noisy, but Seungkwan was able to closely monitor how competent the boy was. Boo also suspected that his sector boss's crush on the hybrid was something much more distant and complicated than it seemed, but he didn't delve too deeply into the issue.

“Now I understand the meme about meetings that could easily be resolved with a simple email.” Wonwoo, responsible for the minutes of the meeting, shook his head in disbelief before sighing and returning to typing on his laptop.

“Soonyoung, you should have sent that damn form to the finance department as soon as it was ready!” Seungcheol complained, indignant.

“It must have just slipped my mind! You'll love the next piece of news I have to share, then you'll understand why I forgot.” Kwon remained unshaken.

“Do any of you have that damn easy form there?” Mingyu asked, after a long sigh, the other logistics representatives.

“I just emailed you a copy.” Minghao replied, still without looking up from his own phone.

Xu Minghao, logistics sector manager. Born and raised in China, Minghao also came from a lineage of mermaids, much older than Joshua's. He and Junhui had known each other since childhood and Wen was one of the reasons, as far as Seungkwan knew, for the boy deciding to come and work in South Korea.

Seungkwan wasn't that close to Minghao, but from what he had interacted with and observed him, he found him incredibly elegant and intelligent. Jun loved telling stories about when the two were children, but it was difficult to imagine that man so professional and with a majestic soul agreeing with any of the ideas coming from Junhui's subconscious.

“Okay, okay, now pay attention to me.” Hoshi's smile grew and Seungkwan saw Jihoon shake his head in silence “At the beginning of the month, I met with Mr. Han Seungsu about the company trip.”

There was a dead silence in the meeting room. Two subjects that none of them dared to talk about while they were at the company: the CEO and the cursed annual year-end trip to Busan, where all the most important supervisors were forced to spend a weekend interacting to “establish ties”.

“Exactly!” Soonyoung responded as if the silence was a question “Well, it turns out that we were going to do the organization of the trip calmly but!” the boy made a dramatic pause and Seungkwan watched Junhui roll his eyes “He said he came to the conclusion that we need to save on expenses for the trips to Japan at the beginning of the year that he and Mr. Bumzu will take. This means that, and this will still be agreed with the guys in the finance, there will be no travel this year!”

“No fucking way.” Seungkwan blurts out unintentionally, in shock, but none of his other colleagues were very interested in censoring him for his language.

“Soonyoung, if you're lying, I swear on your life that I…” Junhui's eyes were wide.

“It's all true, and it is with this news that I end the logistics sector's participation in this meeting.” Kwon crossed his arms smiling and sat down on a chair.

“My God.” Mingyu said, astonished “I'm so happy that I could kiss you, Soonyoung hyung.”

“NO!” it was Wonwoo and Jihoon at the same time and the rest of the people pretended that they didn't mean anything with it.

“Seungcheol, when he calls you to talk about this, lie that the budget is tight!” Jeonghan smiled at his fiancée on the other side of the room.

“As much as I love you very much, Mr. Yoon, I can't do that.” Seungcheol shook his head and there was a small collective sigh of defeat “But, to our happiness, the budget would really be tight if he insisted on making this trip. The usual inn increased the daily rate by fifty percent per person.”

“Oh no! That was the first place Shua hyung and I kissed, they can't do that to us.” Seokmin said, indignant and Seungkwan rolled his eyes, while Jihoon slapped the other Lee on the neck.

“Seokmin-ah, with all due respect, we don't want to know about your private lives.” Jeonghan commented boredly.

“Oh, Jungchan, Mingyu, we will look for suits for you on Saturday morning.” Joshua clicked his tongue “This is not a request, it is a warning.”

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” Jungchan asked with narrowed eyes.

Lee Jungchan. Jihoon's younger brother, Jungchan was an economics student and an intern in the logistics sector. As far as Seungkwan knew, he had always been a prodigy, so it wasn't a surprise when at the beginning of the year, Kwon Soonyoung nominated him for the internship position that had opened up in the sector. From what he had already talked to the youngest, Jungchan was in doubt between continuing in that field or focusing on the family business.

“Wonwoo hyung, save me!” Mingyu whined to the other manager, who pretended not to hear and continued typing the minute of the meeting “Hyung!”

“It's true.” Seungcheol clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the other twelve “Any other questions that don't need to be resolved with an email?”

“Stop looking at me like that, you were happy with the news!”

“Oh, Jihoon hyung! Miss Sieun's request!” Seungkwan exclaimed looking for the post-it and not finding it. Shit, it should have fallen somewhere on the path between his section and the meeting room “I had written it down on a post-it, but I can't find it.”

“Do you remember what it was? I really can't remember.” the older Lee frowned.

“Of course.” Seungkwan replied, turning to those responsible for finance while trying to hide his nervousness. He never liked to be the only one talking in the room “When the month turns, we will start organizing the annual update of the website and we need the finance department to send the reports for the months so far.”

“Oh true! Is that part with one of you?” Seungcheol asked his three managers.

“Vernon.” Wonwoo and Mingyu spoke at the same time while the youngest raised his hand.

“Seungkwan.” Jihoon called him “Can you stay in touch with Vernon about this?”

Seungkwan wanted to say no. Vernon was too handsome for Seungkwan to risk seeing him more than once a month.

“Isn't it easier for me or Seokmin? Sieun is from our division.” Joshua asked, confused, and Seungkwan almost proposed to him instead of Seokmin.

“Unless you guys want to be responsible for reporting in the middle of your honeymoon, it's better to leave Seungkwan.”

“Don't talk like that.” Jeonghan poked Jihoon “Joshua is a workaholic, he’s capable of accepting the offer.”

“I can take care of it.” Seungkwan found himself saying “It's just for a month, when you guys get back from your honeymoon, I'll pass it back to you.”

Did the prospect of constantly talking to Vernon made him nervous? No doubt. 

Would he try his best to speak to each other only through the company system? For sure.

But none of these points were more important than leaving Seokmin and Joshua carefree during their honeymoon.

“Any other agenda?” Hoshi asked and everyone shook their heads “Great, then we're free!”

“Don’t hesitate to send an email before the next meeting!”

“Seungcheol hyung, this is very petty of you.”

“Mingyu and Chan. Saturday, at eight in the morning at my house. No delays.”

“Jeonghan hyung, please stop drying Seungcheol hyung with your eyes. It's gross!”

“And I don't remember asking you a thing, Jihoon.”

“Jun, have you managed to find your way around and visited the ceremony location yet?”

“…I'll do it, I promise.”

“Just go to my house and accept a ride at once.”

Seungkwan sighed. Apparently, he would never get peace.

✧

F021898:

Hello.

This is Chwe Hansol from the finance section.

This is Mr. Boo Seungkwan's ID, right?

Seungkwan almost spat into his coffee cup.

He glanced at the digital clock on the corner of his desk.

17:42. Manager Chwe really worked, seriously. Less than 20 minutes before their workday ended and he was texting him about work, Seungkwan admired the disposition.

C160198:

Hello.

Yes, it's me.

I forgot to give you my ID at the end of the meeting, sorry.

F021898:

No problem, I asked Mr. Choi to get it from the sector list.

You need monthly reports till october, right?

C160198:

Yes, and then the november and december reports.

But the december one can be passed on to Shua hyung.

Oh, if you could do a one-page report on the company's financial performance of each month, that would be great, sir.

F021898:

Right.

You don't need to call me sir, I believe we are the same age.

You're from 98, right?

C160198:

Yes, you too?

F021898:

Yup.

C160198:

Oh, that is nice.

I met very few employees from '98.

Do you think you can send me the reports before the wedding?

F021898:

What wedding?

Ah, from Shua hyung.

Sorry, I quickly forgot.

Sure, do you prefer in print or by email?

Who in their right mind would prefer print?

Seungkwan shook his head.

C160198:

By email.

[email protected]

This is my institutional email, you can send it to it.

F021898:

Ok.

I think I can deliver the january and february reports by friday.

I'll update you.

See you later, Seungkwan.

C160198:

See you later, Hansol.

Seungkwan stared at his computer screen for a few seconds in silence. Damn, he was nervous. Chwe Hansol made him nervous.

He shook his head, he had other things to worry about.