He Is My Sin - Hyunho

05. One Of The Team

Monday arrived again. It had been almost a week since their first meeting with Hyunjin. Minho looked at the calendar, marking the days of his mundane life.

Hyunjin agreed to come to the office as a senior associate, for a trial period of six months. After that, both sides will consider extending their partnership, again. It was something that Minho set as condition to Seungmin and he reluctantly relayed it to Hyunjin. But the latter accepted, saying that he understood Minho's reasoning behind it.

The excitement was palpable all around, especially among the young female members of the design team, who swooned at Mr. Hwang's presence - discreetely of course because Tina was watching them like a hawk ready to crush any sign of unprofessionalism. Seungmin on the other hand, rolled his eyes listening to them trying to guess who might catch his interest. 'There is no chance.' He wanted to tell them but it was none of his business. He shrugged. They would discover for themselves that a professional and a gentleman like Mr. Hwang never mixed work with pleasure.

He should know. But let's not let Jeongin find out about that...

He accompanied Hyunjin to the office space they had prepared for him. "I am so glad you joined us!" "Me too, Seung." The blond smiled at him warmly. "Though Mr. Lee doesn't seem particularly fond of the idea." He added with a slight tease watching his friend frown in responce. "Oh, don't mind him. He's just going through a rough patch. He'll come around." Hyunjin raised an eyebrow questioningly but Seungmin did not elaborate. Again, none of his business. Better to keep things professional. Even though he had known Hyunjin for many years, still Minho was his friend since high school and so was Yeji. He wasn't going to gossip about them with anyone, not with Hyunjin, not even with his whining partner in life.

"Is everything to your liking?" Minho joined them quietly. Hyunjin lifted his gaze from the computer screen, where Seungmin was displaying and explaining how things were ran in their practice. "Of course." He smiled. "I hope I can make a positive contribution to your firm and we have a fruitful partnership, maybe even extending beyond 6 months." His smile never faltered. He exuded calm confidence almost all the time. 'Does this man even have a pulse?' Minho thought. 'He doesn't seem to get upset about anything.'  It kind of unnerved Minho even though he hated emotional outbursts and was very reserved himself. "Is there anything else?" Hyunjin asked, as he lingered by the doorframe. "No, I'll let Seungmin fill you in. See you later." He left, huffing annoyed at himself. He wished he could pinpoint what exactly made him skeptical of the blond man. Hyunjin glanced at Seungmin who just shrugged.

The next couple of days went smoothly as Seungmin brought Hyunjin up to date with their current projects and the ones the firm aspired to acquire. And today they had their first meeting with Hyunjin as part of the team.

"Would you like to be the one to prepare the preliminary drawings for the new housing project?" Minho asked him as they sat around the conference table, going through the daily briefings. "We have some ideas, Jeongin can walk you through them but, you can either work with them or come up with your own." He added. "What?" Jeongin protested. "I thought I was..." Seungmin kicked him under the table. "It will be an great opportunity to show us your approach to the project." Minho continued unbothered by Jeongin's outburst. "I'll be happy to work with Jeongin and further develop whatever he already has, with him." Hyunjin replied, sensing the younger man's discomfort. "Still, I am interested to see your take." Minho didn't budge. "Of course. Will the upcoming Monday be okay? I can prepare something by then. I do have some ideas, myself." He accepted the challenge, unflinching. "Come on, you don't have to spend the whole weekend working!" Seungmin protested. "It's no big deal. We have a deadline to meet." Hyunjin replied calmly. "Exactly! We have a deadline to meet! Why change our course now?" Jeongin voiced his objections. Minho was now confronted with the angry questioning look of the younger one, the exasperated one of Seungmin and the intrigued one of Hyunjin. The latter seemed mildly amused by the dynamics unfolding at this conference table. "If Hyunjin thinks he can do it, then I'll be very interested to see his proposal on Monday." Minho finally said to Jeongin's dismay. "Right! That's my cue to get to work!" Hyunjin stood up and bowed his head slightly before leaving the room. Behind him, an irritated Jeongin continued to protest while Seungmin tried to calm him down. Minho got up after a while. "Jeongin, Monday is only a few days away, it won't throw us off schedule." He said firmly. "It will! If he completely changes the core idea!" "I guess we'll have to wait till Monday." He walked out as well. "There is nothing wrong with what we have done so far!" Jeongin shouted annoyed. "Feel free to continue working on it, then. If we decide to go on with your idea, then all is well." Minho replied over his shoulder. Jeongin fumed at Minho's words. "I'm not going to work in vain!" Seungmin threw him a dirty look and went to find Hyunjin.

"Please forgive Jeongin. He has invested a lot of time in this project." "Don't worry. I understand. And I like his idea. I can use it as a starting point and not make major changes." He looked at Seungmin who frowned skeptically. "What are you thinking?" "I think though... that Minho wants to see from you a different approach." Seungmin pointed out. "Ah, yes..." Hyunjin looked at him thoughtfully. "Well, I guess I'll do both. I'll develop Jeongin's idea and come up with an entirely fresh approach as well." He smiled as always, calm and collected. "That is a lot of work, Hyun!" The blond smiled at Seungmin. "It is a challenge, Seung. And I accept it." He winked at him and went to his office, to start working. Jeongin stood by Seungmin's side, seething. He caught that wink. Seungmin rolled his eyes and went about his business followed closely by his partner, who was on the verge of starting another round of objections.

Minho went to hide inside his office. He watched the blond going to his own work station with long strides. He sat down at his desk and seemed completely immersed in his work within seconds. Jeongin and Seungmin continued to walk  back and forth in the hallway, talking - or bickering? - in hushed voices until Seungmin went inside his office and closed the door in Jeongin's face. "Don't you have work to do?" Minho asked while going to the lounge area for another cup of tea. Jeongin looked at him sheepishly. "Yes..." he mumbled getting inside his own office space and ducking behind the computer screen.

I guess they can continue their bickering at home... Minho thought, shrugging. He, on the other hand, will go back to the same polite indefference, the silence, the loneliness in the presence of someone. He seemed to always be lonely but not alone. Just lonely.

How cruel is that?