as the day goes by, the ceo's orders to his secretary are increasing and it was worse than before.

donghyuck can still remember how mark used to treat him nicely when they were at work, even when he had his meet-ups or letting him borrow his button-up, and of course, he can't forget about the secret that mark had told him that one night. those events made donghyuck assume there isn't any problem between them.

but maybe he was just overthinking things.

brushing those thoughts off, he finally made his way to the front of the ceo's office and was about to open the door when he heard a faint noise from the other side. sneakily peeking at the small and skinny window, he found that the older was standing not too close to the door while talking to someone on the phone.

the superior's voice was too loud that he can hear it from his position.

donghyuck remained standing outside his office until he can't hear him from the other side. the younger waited a little more before lightly knocking at the door.

when he received a small 'come in' he went in and he saw how the older's hair was all disheveled—seems like something is stressing him. walking closely at the latter's table, donghyuck saw the sight of the older loosening his tie as he brushed his fingers through his hair.

he looked away in panic. something about the small act made him feel something he can't explain.

clearing his throat, which caught the older's attention, he finally looked at his secretary, "the product that mr. park is doing," he started, and donghyuck didn't fail to notice how strained his voice is, "i need to see the details by the end of the day." 

"noted, mr. lee." donghyuck manages to reply.

bowing, he turned his heel around and walked out of the office. once he heard the door click, he released a groan before resting his hands on his hips.

"that wasn't even my job to do?" he said to himself in annoyance, knowing how mr. park himself has to show the product to their ceo yet he has no plans to complain when he looked at the time on his wristwatch.

six pm. hopefully, he has enough time to gather all of the product's details.

walking straight back to his table, he immediately dialed mr. park's number, which he got on the folder he separated to them at the meeting, to ask him specifically about the product he presented.

donghyuck managed to find out that jihoon was working on the floor just under that them, so he told him to just email it to him.

while the tanned male was busy stressing on his table, two pairs of eyes are yet staring at him from afar.

doyoung pouts as he observes the younger's actions, "i finally get what you're saying." he whispers at the older in front of that's also staring at donghyuck.

for the past few days, the two, doyoung and johnny, have been observing both their ceo and secretary. they've been noticing how donghyuck has been walking back and forth to mark's office and back to his table, and by now, donghyuck's probably piled up with work to do.

there are even some times when the three, doyoung, sungchan, and him will ask donghyuck out for lunch, but all they got was rejection from the tanned male because he said he was still busy doing something.

the two know how shy donghyuck's personality is, so they thought the younger doesn't dare to tell the ceo about his actions, so he just decided to endure all of it instead.

both johnny and doyoung don't want to assume anything, or even think negatively about the ceo's behavior, since after all, they're aware their ceo is nothing like that. so johnny made a mental note that by the time he was about to leave the office, he must visit the ceo's office and have a little talk with him.

———

the day is now about to come to an end, and almost everyone had went home. 

johnny is here cleaning his desk ready to leave and someone approached doyoung just minutes ago if he wanted to go home with some guy named yuta, while sungchan had already left the office hours ago, leaving only him. 

grabbing his bag, he sprung himself up from his seat but instead of walking towards the elevator at the left, he went the opposite direction and now made his way to the mark's office.

he peaked at the small window first and saw the younger still working on something on his computer, before knocking at his door.

"yes?" johhny heard which made him open the door and after that he greeted the latter with a small bow.

mark looked up, confused. it's kind of odd for him to see the latter still being in this office this late, nonetheless, he offered johnny a seat.

the older did as he was told and sat not on the chair close to him but on his sofa.

"do you need anything?" mark asks before looking back at the computer's screen to continue what he's doing but still making sure he had all ears for johnny.

"no, not really," johnny starts. he doesn't find any awkwardness between them as they're pretty close but has a comfortable distance between their 'friendship', "can i just get straight to the point?" he asks, not wanting to sound rude in front of the superior.

mark just nodded, "yeah, sure?"

johnny leans forward before resting his arms on his knees, "well... it's about donghyuck..."

mark's ears immediately perked up after hearing the name and averts his attention away from his work. he suddenly got interested in the upcoming conversation.

donghyuck released a sigh of relief once he saw the paper come out of the printer. this is finally the last paper he needed before he can gather all of it into a small folder. 

he massaged his neck and looked at his wristwatch to look at the time. hopefully, after this he can finally go home and get the rest he's been yearning for, he thought to himself.

picking the paper in his hands, he walked out of the printing room. he just now realized how dark the skies got when he looked at the window and at this point, his other colleagues had probably gone home.

once he was in front of the ceo's office, he took a little peek at his table from the distance just to check if his other belongings are still there before grabbing the door of the ceo's office and opening it wide, without knocking.

"i understand how dedicated you are to your work and i'm just saying this because i'm concerned for him," johnny slowly said, "but for the past few days i have been noticing how donghyuck is getting busier with his works..."

mark nods but had his brows furrowed, still not getting the older's point on this topic.

"i just wanted to ask, are you giving donghyuck unnecessary works?" he finally asks, and just when mark is about to say something he asked again, "like... piling him up with works that are not even under a secretary's job description?"

the ceo scoffs, "i love how concerned you are, johnny." mark sarcastically replies, finding johnny's tone of voice a little too protective over his secretary.

johnny waves his hand in the air in defense, "no mark, i'm not making it seem like you're that type of ceo, i know it's not that long yet but i've known you for three years now, and i know—i know you're nowhere near like that," he continues, "but is there something behind this?"

"nothing!"

the two heard a voice that made their heads instantly turn towards the door. they saw donghyuck standing with a folder in his hand.

"donghyuck?" johnny voices out.

making his way closer towards the two, he gave them first a small bow, "thank you johnny hyung for your concern, but it's fine—i'm fine!" donghyuck said, "mr. lee is not piling me up with work, um.. i-i just like to do them all at once!" he reasons out.

the taller stood up from his seat before grabbing his bag. "i see, i'm glad to hear that, donghyuck." johnny said, patting the younger's shoulders, "i guess i finally got the answer to my question then." he looked at the ceo and only saw him still paying attention to his work, but what they fail to see is the small smirk that is now growing on mark's lips.

donghyuck only released an awkward laugh and looked away as he tried to form a smile.

"i'm just here to drop this off here." he changed the topic and walked closely at the superior's desk.

"i apologize for the late conversation, mr. lee, i'll head out now." johnny said, making his way to the door.

mark just nodded and after that he took the folder into the younger's hands, opening it to check his work.

once donghyuck heard the door closed, he released a small breath. mark is expecting donghyuck to leave after johnny but he thought wrong, "mr. lee." donghyuck sternly says, catching the older off guard.

he looked back at him with furrowed brows, and noticed how donghyuck leaned down making their faces not too far away from each other. "promise me you're not going to say anything about what i did to you." donghyuck said.

"s-sure." mark smiled, actually finding donghyuck cute in this situation.

"you're not taking me seriously, are you?" he asked when he saw the ceo smiled, "mr. lee, i'm very serious. you can ask me to do everything you want just please don't—don't say anything."

"i thought we already had that conversation?" mark leaned back on his chair, "you'll be my secretary and i won't expose you all around seoul, so yes, i'm already aware of that."

the younger nodded satisfied, and here he is again, talking like he's not in front of his ceo, and the honorifics are already forgotten, "that's my only secret with you."

"there's also another one, though." mark mumbles to himself, averting his away from the younger.

"w-what?"

"i said thank you for this." mark held the folder up.