Notorious ⊷ Haechan

15 ⊷ Anything

that time Haechan was fangirling when he got to meet Taemin </3

⊷ 15

Renjun couldn't take his eyes off his friend. Even as they walked into the lobby and up to the reception desk, he looked at Haechan only. 

While Jugyeong quickly checked whether or not the CEO was in a meeting or otherwise occupied, Renjun leaned closer to the other one. 

"Are you sure that you are fine?" he asked in a whisper first, then criticised that, "You shouldn't have left the hospital so early." 

Looking at him only from the corner of his eyes, Haechan nodded at the question before reacting to his follow-up statement by saying, 

"I didn't get hurt that badly. Also, I don't want to just sit around while the rest of you work hard." 

Meanwhile, Jugyeong had finished checking. She smiled politely at the two. 
"You are free to visit CEO Lee," she offered. "You know the way?" 

"Yes, thank you." 

After all, Haechan had been there quite a few times now. Though still unfamiliar with the overall layout of the building and not quite certain where which departments were located, he had an easy time finding the CEO's office.

"Jeno said the company has been quite busy," Renjun mumbled. 

"Someone close to their CEO has gotten into an accident," Haechan pointed out. "The stock markets are easily influenced. The sooner Ji-yoon recovers, the better." 

Renjun ran his eyes up and down the boy. "You are nervous, aren't you?" 

But Haechan didn't bother looking back. "She jumped in front of a car for me. How could I not?" 

Soon after that, they arrived at the office. Two knocks, a short wait and a quick 'come in'. 

By now, the room felt somewhat familiar just like the man that sat on the desk at the end of it.

The buckets of natural light, the squeaky clean surfaces, the pictures and personal items that made the room unique and gave it character. It was all like it always was, yet it felt surprisingly strange to Haechan. He didn't know the lack of her presence would be so noticeable to him. 

"Agents Lee and Huang," Taemin greeted the two boys happily, motioned them to sit down on the sofa as he got up to join them. "It's a pleasure to see you." 

"No need to be so formal, Haechan is fine," the younger of the two said as they took a seat. Given that Taemin wasn't bothered by them using his first name, Haechan figured he should return the offer. 

"Gladly," Taemin said with a smile. "I was surprised to hear that you were here. Shouldn't you rest some more?" 

Renjun was quick to nod in agreement. He leaned closer to Haechan as he mumbled, 
"Even he says so." 

But Haechan dismissed it. "I'm alright. How is Ji-yoon?" 

At the question, the CEO's smile dared to drop. The corners of his lips fell down a bit as he took his time to think of a proper reply. 

Polite. Kind. Professional. Taemin was good at presenting himself in a certain way, barely ever allowing the situation or the people in it to throw him off. 

But when it came to her, he easily hesitated. 

"She is getting better," he said eventually. "She woke up the morning after the surgery. Still, she is asleep more often than she is awake. I didn't make the good news official yet, though. I assume that the driver of the car targeted you, so I don't think her condition matters much to the attacker. I still wanted to wait and see what you had to say though."