Business Partners | A Novel ❖

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Seonghwa hadn't laughed this hard in a long time. He had no idea whether that was because this was his fourth drink and he was starting to get quite tipsy, or whether he just hadn't actually been in a social place like a pub in years. Either way, he was having fun.

By this time, the pub had become quite busy and the two had been forced to move their chairs closer. Knees bumping together, Seonghwa listened to the story Hongjoong was telling about his teenage years and the wild things that he had gotten up to.

Seonghwa half wished that he had his own stories to tell.

However as the bar became busier and busier, they were asked to move along to the seated areas further away from the bar to allow for others to order.

'Do you know where they're talking about?' Seonghwa asked, grabbing his suit jacket and drink as they stood up.

'Yeah sure do. There's booths at the back. Fun fact. This bar that is a bit of a nightclub now, actually becomes a five star café for business meetings during the day.'

Seonghwa raised an eyebrow as he followed him to the back corner of the dark pub and dance floor. 'Wow. That's kinda cool. How do you know?'

'A lot of my business meetings are held here.'

'Ahhh, I see.' Managing to slip into the last free booth; his head spinning a little, Seonghwa looked around, impressed. The table had a single seat in the shape of a U around it and there was a screen that pulled down between booths for privacy, as well as a half length curtain that kept the wild lights out from the dance floor.

It was quite cosy, and as Hongjoong moved all the way around to sit near the head of the table, Seonghwa shuffled across next to him so that they could still hear each other speak.

'So tell me about yourself! How long have you been in China?!' Hongjoong sipped on his vodka and raspberry as he watched and listened, a friendly smile on his face.

'About...' he looked at his watch. 'Five hours.'

Hongjoong's jaw dropped. 'You've been here for five hours? In China? For five hours?'

Seonghwa laughed at his incredulous expression. 'Yup. Work transferred me last minute. So yeah.'

Hongjoong started laughing.

'What?'

'Nothing... It's just the situation. I guess I wasn't expecting it...' He looked up at him, giggling a little to himself, and Seonghwa wondered what was going through this curious person's head.

But then their eyes caught, and Seonghwa didn't know what he was supposed to be feeling. The laughter sizzled out strangely, and suddenly he realised just how close they were. He could just about feel Hongjoong's breath on his neck, and suddenly, he realised that he was wearing cologne too...

Seonghwa's eyes flicked from Hongjoong's just for a split moment, and he didn't realise that they had wandered down just a little -

Suddenly, a massive commotion erupted outside and a girl came crashing into the room, conveniently ramming straight into Seonghwa and pushing him directly into Hongjoong, and his very plump, puckered lips-