days started to turn into a week. at this point, mark is starting to get confused.

he hasn't had a proper conversation with the younger, like how they do before. he also noticed how donghyuck will avoid any eye contact that he attempted to make with him. it's just odd.

he still remembered how donghyuck told him to pretend like their kiss never happened. and that's exactly what mark is doing. he doesn't bring that topic in front of the younger since he knows how he will react, yet why is donghyuck still acting like this?

acting like he doesn't know his own ceo.

many questions flew inside mark's mind as he leaned back on his chair, while his eyes still stayed on a certain figure he's been looking through his window.

he saw the sight of his secretary standing too close to sungchan. don't they have work to do? what is donghyuck even doing at sungchan's table? he asked himself even though he knows he won't get an answer.

his brows only then furrowed harder when the two started laughing together. he clicked his tongue before reaching for the telephone to call for donghyuck to come inside his office.

he doesn't know what he needs from his secretary but at least he's not too close to sungchan now, then everything's fine.

when he saw donghyuck already making his way inside his office through the window, he looked back at his computer screen to pretend that he's focusing on whatever he was doing.

seconds later, mark soon heard a knock on his door. "come in." he told, but didn't have any plans on detaching his eyes off the screen.

donghyuck soon revealed himself and as usual, he gave the older a bow and only stuck his eyes on the floor, "you called, mr. lee?" the younger asked.

this act made mark snickered, "coffee." the superior curtly said, "make me coffee." his secretary just nodded as a reply, not wanting to make this conversation any longer.

the younger quickly dashed his way out of the office and mark can't help but to release a bitter chuckle. "can't even say a simple 'yes' as a reply?" he voiced out and tilts his head in frustration.

while waiting, he just got back to what he was previously doing.

not even a few minutes later, mark heard another knock. he furrowed and looked at his door confused. did donghyuck already made his coffee? that's fast.

confused, he just let the person behind the door in when he said, "just come in." he stood up from his seat, expecting that donghyuck is the one that will come inside but a frown immediately made its way to his face when the person soon revealed herself.

"mina?" she greeted the superior with a big smile on her face. "what are you doing here?"

"oh, i was just here to bring you lunch!" she responded enthusiastically, bringing up a paper bag to show to the older.

mina was about to walk closer towards mark when the older spoke again, "i don't allow visitors inside my office." he noted.

"am i a visitor?" she forced out a cute laugh, "i thought we're already friends, no?"

in frustration, he ran his fingers through his hair, "leave or i'm going to call my bodyguards on you—"

the door opened once again, revealing donghyuck holding a cup of coffee that mark has asked him to do. at the same time, he saw mina standing in front of the older's desk while his ceo was standing behind it.

he hung his head low before putting the coffee down on one of the coffee table inside the older's office, "i-i'll just leave the coffee h-here." donghyuck said.

mark walked out behind his desk and was about to chase the male yet donghyuck had already turned his heel to exit the office.

donghyuck felt something inside of him that he never felt before when he saw the daughter of mr. moon inside mark's office. "what's wrong with me?" he mumbles to himself before scurrying his feet back to his office and just continue to ignore whatever he's feeling right now.

"anyway," mina clasped his hands together, "here's the lunch my dad bought you—"

"leave." mark cuts her off.

"oh, come on!" she insisted and looked up at the wall clock, "look, it's almost lunch time, so this is such a perfect time—"

the superior didn't say anything and just grabbed the telephone. next thing she knows, mark is already calling security.

———

"donghyuck hyung," sungchan calls for the older, "you're still not going home?" he asked.

the taller's voice made donghyuck snap out from his thoughts and the question made him instantly look out of the window. it's evening already and he didn't even notice. probably because something has been bothering his mind for the whole day.

"oh, i'll just fix my things." donghyuck simply replied before closing the computer screen. while he's at it, he also looked around and noticed that him and sungchan were the only ones left inside the office.

when he's finally done, he grabbed his bag, swinging it to his back, and looked at the younger who was already staring at him back, "done?" sungchan chuckles.

"yeah..." donghyuck shyly looked away when he realized sungchan was just watching him clean his desk.

"let's go?" the younger asked and he immediately received a nod from the latter.

they soon left the office with sungchan taking the lead and donghyuck tailing behind him. he just had his eyes stuck at the taller's back in front of him but as they were about to walk past in front of their ceo's office, he unconsciously gripped on his bag a little too tight.

that's why. that's the reason why donghyuck couldn't focus on his work and constantly been out of reality for the rest of the day. it's because of mark and the sight he saw earlier.

he doesn't know why mina was inside the ceo's office earlier and that caused a lot of questions to fly inside his head. he shouldn't be acting this way. he has no rights to.

a hiss fell on his lips when he felt a pain travel on his forehead.

donghyuck looked up and realized that he bumped into sungchan's back. the younger immediately looked back "are you okay?" he asked, worried, but soon chuckled as his hand made its way on donghyuck's forehand to rub his sore forehead. "you're thinking too hard, that's why."

"sorry..." was the only thing that donghyuck managed to say before the elevator door opened and they got inside.

a sigh fell on his lips while mark stared at the sight out of his window, once again.

what do you know? it was about donghyuck and sungchan being together again.

he had been working on the same page for almost the whole day and so far he hadn't done fifty percent of the supposedly five pages of the report about the product that he needed to. not only that, but he also has a lot of unanswered emails waiting for him but he just can't get out of the page that he's been working on for hours.

and mark had to admit that the reason why he failed to do such tasks is that the only thing that occupied his mind is donghyuck, and only donghyuck along with hundreds of questions inside his head.

seeing him together with sungchan doesn't help either.

he rubbed his palms on his face to try and concentrate his mind back on his work, but it just won't do. he can't force himself to just focus his mind back on work when he clearly knows he can't.

so without thinking twice, he closed his computer screen and grabbed his car keys together with his phone before making his way out of the office.

———

donghyuck furrowed his brows when he heard a knock on his door.

confused, he looked up at his wall clock to check the time. who could be knocking at his door at almost midnight?

he attempts to ignore this, thinking that maybe he was just hearing things, and instead try to distract himself by cleaning the bag of chips he left on his couch. but the knocking didn't stop and he heard it once again.

his movements halts after hearing another knock.

with shaky legs, he slowly approached his door. reaching for the doorknob, he waited until the other person knock once again, and they did.

making a bold move, he twist the knob and opened the door just a little bit to finally take a look at who's the other side.

just then, the frown on his face immediately transitioned into a surprised one when he finally made eye contact with the person standing outside of his apartment. "mark?" donghyuck started.

the older had his head hung low, looking down at his shoe, it seems like he was just waiting for the younger to open the door for him.

"w-what are you d-doing here...?" donghyuck asked in a small voice, while he held tightly to his door, slowly opening it wide.

mark finally lifts his gaze, and for the first time in almost a week he can finally meet donghyuck's eyes. "you finally looked me." he chortles.

"did you just got off from work?" donghyuck changed the topic and looked down at the older's fit. he's still wearing his office wear. "it's almost midnight, mark. you should be—"

"donghyuck, i..." mark gulps, not knowing how to start this, "i can't keep... pretending anymore."

donghyuck lifts his brows, puzzled. not quite getting what mark was trying to say.

just then, they heard noises from the hallway and donghyuck immediately knew that there were people that's probably about to pass by in front of his apartment. he just can not let his ceo be seen outside his apartment and be recognized, so he grabbed him by his arm and pulled him inside before locking the door behind him.

he released a heavy sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. "just say what you want..." donghyuck told while trying to calm himself.

"the kiss." mark simply told. he noticed how donghyuck's expression immediately changed. the frustrated look he was giving him earlier faded and dropped his gaze. he already knew donghyuck doesn't want this topic to be brought up. "i'm sorry but i just—i can't keep pretending like it never happened, donghyuck."

"mark, if you're here to ask why i did that..." donghyuck starts, "i don't think i have the answer for that—"

what donghyuck was not expecting mark to do was make him look up by his chin. "i'm not here to talk about that." he told, as softly as ever, "i'm here to talk about my feelings."

the younger's brows perked up from the older's statement.

"i felt happy after you kissed me and when you told me to never bring it up i respect that, but..." he trails his words, "for the past few days, i kept seeing you and sungchan together and it made me feel things i never wanted to feel." he's jealous. to say the least, yes, mark's jealous.

"those times, i wish i was in his position," mark steps a little closer towards the younger but this just resulted for donghyuck to take a step back until he can feel his back being pressed on the wall, "especially when you've been ignoring me for almost a week now."

donghyuck didn't know what to say after hearing those words come out of his ceo's mouth. because, at this point, it just feels like he was about to explode any minute, so instead he simply just looks at mark's face, observing his facial features.

their bodies are now drawn closer to each other and mark still has plans to close the invisible gap between them.

the older brought his other hand up to brush the younger's hair that is almost covering his eyes. oh, those eyes... "donghyuck, i..." he bit his lips, "i like you."

the younger's eyes widen as a small gasp fell on his lips, "y-you like... me?"

"was i not obvious yet?" mark breathes out a chuckle, "or were you just too dense?" he received a soft slap from donghyuck on his chest which made him shyly look down to avoid the younger's gaze. "yes, i do. i like you ever since i saw you inside the coffee shop."