Caged Slave (MewGulf AU)

🌻Chapter 33

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'No way...it has to be lie,' Gulf thought, and shrugged his shoulders. Mew had said he was an only child, and would have confided something so important to Gulf.

'I'm just bored because Mew isn't here. I need to stop paying attention to vicious rumors.'

Mew would return from his business trip in four days. Gulf smiled, hardly able to wait to tell Mew about the crazy stories that were floating around. How would Mew react?

'Why won't he hurry and come back,' he thought dreamily, his imagination focused on his distant lover.

Mew mailed everyday about work, but in his confidential messages, he would often insert sweet nothings like 'I can't wait to come home' or 'If I talk to you on the phone, I'll just miss you more.' Gulf considered writing to him about the rumors, but he decided it would be more fun to talk him face-to-face.

Gulf smiled, typed a suitable reply, and hit send.

'I can't wait!'

At the end of the email, he had written, 'It's lonely here without you,' something he would never say in person. Gulf felt ashamed that he had spent his morning listening to rumors and writing romantic emails instead of working.

Due to the time difference, Mew didn't write back until that afternoon.

'I miss you too,' his message said. 'I can't stop thinking about our christmas together.'

Gulf's face felt like it was aflame.

"M-Mew!" he said out loud, and then quickly closed the email window.

'Mew...'

Gulf knew that he should force his brain away from romantic things and back on to work, but his thoughts kept slipping to where they shouldn't be. And thanks to Mew's suggestion, he replayed memories of their christmas together over and over again in his mind.

After their encounter in the shower, they had moved their drenched bodies to bed and made love again and again. The next morning, Gulf could barely stand. Humiliation had welled up in him as Mew had picked him up, carried him to the huge jacuzzi tub, and proceeded to wash all parts of him until he was squeaky-clean.

Although he had carefully cleaned away all the traces of the previous night, once again, Mew had forced Gulf to open for him. Gulf had pleaded tearfully, saying that he couldn't take it, but in the end, their lovemaking in the round bathtub had been amazing.

Gulf buried his face, burning with humiliation, in his hands.

'No! What should I do?'

If he kept returning to his erotic memories, he was going to have to adjourn to the bathroom. And Gulf definitely didn't want to chance masturbating at work.

Thankfully, the phone rang just then, and Gulf was narrowly able to escape his arousal.

"Okay!" he said to the member of the General Affairs Department, who requested that he come over right away. "I'll be right there."

For the first time in recent memory, he felt excited about work again. In high spirits, he ran to the General Affairs Department.

What awaited him was something Gulf could never have imagined. Until Mew came back, Gulf was supposed to work as the secretary to the president.

"Huh? Why me, all of a sudden?" Gulf asked, his eyes sparkling at the unprecedented orders.

"Didn't you hear?" the manager said, lowering his voice. "AA broke off his engagement with President Ookawa's daughter."

"Well, yes, but..."

"I guess it was a pretty messy situation. AA even lost his position."

"Lost his position?"

"Well, they're trying to decide if they should demote him or transfer him overseas, but AA will probably just quit..."

From the manager's expression, Gulf understood the seriousness of the situation. But AA was getting his punishment for thinking that he could gain power by marrying a woman he didn't even love, and it was really no business of Gulf.

"But how come I'm filling in for AA? And why just until Director Mew returns?"

"Ah," the manager said, nodding. "That was President Ookawa's order."

"He picked me?"

"Yes. Director Mew has been raving about you at dinner meetings, so President Ookawa thought he should take advantage of such a skillful secretary."

"Really?" Gulf murmured self-consciously, still unsure why he had been singled out. He wondered what kind of things Mew had been telling the president. Obviously not the whole truth, but he was still a bit confused.

"President Ookawa is 85 years old, but he's a great leader and you can be a lot of help to him. Please do your best to support him."

"I will."

"And as Director Mew's star continues to rise, yours will too, you know?"

"What? No..."

"Come on, Director Mew is going to be the next president himself!"

Once the manager's words penetrated through the haze of Gulf's praise-addled brain, he reacted. "What?"

Rumors he had dismissed as untrue drifted through his mind. And the one saying them this time wasn't a female employee who lived for gossip, but the manager of the General Affairs Department.

"Wait...why are you saying that?" he asked, hoping for an answer that would allow him to push aside all the awful thoughts that crowded his head.

"Why? Because Director Mew is President Ookawa's grandson," the manager said, shattering Gulf's hopes.

The manager's casual, unconcerned air struck Gulf speechless.

TBC