Betrothed (NoRen)

13

As his day goes on, everything feels normal again. Mr. Park has spent most of his time locked away in his office and Renjun does everything he can to avoid him.
At around nine AM a delivery person walks to his desk and sets down a bouquet of flowers.
"Are these for Mr. Park?" He shakes his head and reads his invoice.
"Renjun Huang." He frowns and thanks the man. He carefully picks through and finds a small envelope.
He tries not to but he smiles so brightly when he reads it.

Good morning beautiful,
Congratulations on your full time status.
Yours truly,
Jeno Lee

His heart skips a beat for only a moment until he tells himself not to read too much into it. He quickly sends a picture of it to Haechan, along with the picture of his flowers to see what he thinks. He puts the card back into the little envelope and tucks it into his pocket where it will be safe.
When he gets an instant reply telling him to go get his man he giggles.

"Mr. Huang? Where did you get such beautiful flowers?" His boss asks from behind him.
"I, uh. My friend. He was congratulating me." He feels a hand on his shoulder but before he can shimmy away, his office door opens. Jeno walks in. He feels the hand fly off of him in a flash and breathes a sigh of relief.
"Good morning sir. To what do we owe this honor?" Jeno scowls at him and looks at Renjun.
"Im here to speak with your secretary." Mr. Park scoffs.
"Did he do something wrong? Why would you want to see him?" He asks in disbelief.
"As it is really none of your business, I'll just say we go way back, now if you will excuse us?" He frowns but nods and slowly exits to his office.
"Hi." Jeno says softly.
"Im sorry i missed you yesterday." Renjun shakes his head and looks down.
"You were a bit preoccupied. I understand." Jeno sighs.
"Do you?" Renjun stammers.
"Well, uh. I mean you Can do what you want in your own office I guess. It is your company." Jeno walks closer, he places his hand on his shoulder and he looks up. He doesn't feel uncomfortable with his touch so he doesn't mind at all.
"You are right, I can. But the problem with that was I didn't want it. Taeyong finally let her go." His eyes are staring deep into Renjun again showing his sincerity. Renjun nods.
"Th-Thank you for the flowers. They are beautiful." Jeno smiles.
"They Don't even come close to beautiful as long as you are in the room." Renjun's breath hitches, his cheeks redden and his heart beats loudly in his ears.
"Thank you." He whispers.
"How are you liking it here? Are you comfortable?"
"I'm ok. Thank you for checking." He lifts his chin with his finger.
"Renjun, I seen the way you looked like a scared puppy when i walked in here, now tell me the truth." He swallows thickly. He can't bring himself to lie.

"Th-this morning he showed up close to my house. He said he came to give me a ride. It was weird and I was so uncomfortable and he's just touchy sometimes and I really don't like it. I don't want to cause any trouble though." Jeno nods.
"I understand. Did you give him your address?" He shakes his head no.
"Then that means he was digging into your personal information. That is against our policy here." Renjun looks down.

"I will leave it alone for now if you want but if it ever happens again you need to tell me." He gets another nod with a pout that looks so delicious he wishes he could take those lips with his own.
"I came to see if you would accompany me to lunch today?" Renjun looks up surprised.
"Oh? Well, ok. Sure." He says with a shy smile.
"Great, I'll be by to pick you up at noon. Wait for me here?" Renjun nods, smiling bigger this time. Jeno loves it.

"You know we have a spot that opened up on the top floor, we could really use a new secretary." Renjun shakes his head.
"I don't know, I just started, I should stay here until I really earn a promotion, but thanks for the offer." Jeno smiles, he knew he would say this.
"Very well, I'll see you at noon." He lingers, he can't take his eyes off of him. If only he could, he would kiss him breathless. Renjun clears his throat.
"We should, get back to work." He says just above a whisper.
"I suppose we should." Jeno replies just as soft. He slowly backs away, keeping eye contact the whole time. Renjun offers a little wave as he finally shuts the door.

Renjun sits and has to really try to focus on his work. It's almost impossible at this rate.
When noon rolls around Chanyeol saunters out of his office and leans against the wall behind Renjun.
"Would you like to join me for lunch?" He asks.
"Oh, no thank you. I'm going with someone else." Just as he says it his door opens and Jeno walks in, Renjun would swear he's glowing. He's like a literal angel.
"Are you ready?" He asks, his focus solely on him.
"Yeah." He stands and offers a nod to Chanyeol who is almost dumbfounded.

"So I want to take you uptown to this little place I like, is that ok?" He smiles shyly at the thought of going out of the building with him, and he wants to take him somewhere he likes to go.
"Yes, of course, am I dressed ok though?" Jeno looks him up and down making him squirm.
"You look lovely." His cheeks turn pink again.
"Thank you." He says quietly.

After a comfortable car ride, mostly quiet but still comfortable they get to a quaint little place that looks nice but not too upscale. He kind of wonders if this is really where he goes regularly because he seems too wealthy. He kind of figures he's doing this to make him feel comfortable but when they get inside and the waitress walks up and greets him by his first name he's pleasantly surprised.

They are seated in a regular booth, nothing special which is nice.
"What's good here?" He asks as he looks through the options.
"Hmm, honestly, anything is good but I highly recommend the blue cheese burger." Renjun scrunches his nose cutely which makes Jeno's heart do flips.
"I don't like blue cheese." Jeno shrugs.
"Then how about the American style. Cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion?" He nods with a bright smile.
"That sounds good." Jeno smiles and Renjun swears he is some form of other worldly creature. He's mesmerized. Jeno is beautiful.

"I was thinking, I would like to pick you up for work in the morning." Renjun shakes his head.
"I couldn't trouble you." Jeno softly takes his hand. He shivers as his cold fingers make contact with his own before he is flooded with warmth.
"It would be my pleasure, and if I come and get you then Chanyeol won't have a chance. Then after a while he will stop trying." Renjun thinks on it as Jeno gently rubs his thumb inside his palm.
"I guess it would be ok for a little while, but would you want to be seen in my neighborhood? It's pretty rough." Jeno chuckles.
"I Can handle it I promise." Renjun smiles and nods slightly.
"Ok, sure." Jeno smiles softly.
"I won't if it makes you uncomfortable though. I'm not trying to put you in an awkward position." Renjun shakes his head no.
"I trust you. You saved my life, paid my hospital bills and even though I was an ass about it, you loaned me money to not lose my apartment." Jeno shakes his head and tries to speak but Renjun stops him.
"Really, I am truly great full and I'm sorry for my behavior. I have been reflecting on the situation and you and your brothers were nothing but kind." Jeno stares softly at him.
"I would do it over and over again. In a heartbeat." Renjun's eyes never leave his.
"I know." He says simply.

They eat and talk a lot more. Renjun is surprised at how down to earth he is. When he laughs his eyes make pretty little crescents and his smile is perfect. Renjun can't stop himself from his feelings anymore. He likes Jeno. He's afraid he will be rejected of course but for now he will keep it to himself anyway. He tells himself it's just a work lunch but his heart loves the way Jeno treats him.
"Oh shit!" He says in a panic as he starts to stand and grab his coat.
"I'm late! It's almost been two hours. I'm going to get in trouble." Jeno chuckles.
"Calm down, you are with the owner of the company and for all he knows, we could be discussing business." He looks up with panicked eyes.
"I really need to get back." Jeno nods with a soft smile.
"Ok let's go."

He gently takes his hand to calm him and it works immediately. The feeling of his small hand being held in his is something he's longed for. Someone kind and caring. He's afraid to get too used to it but he can't pull away. Something in his soul tells him he can't let go.