city lights ༆

XVII

It had been less than a week since Junhoe had apologized and even though Jinhwan hadn't fully accepted the younger's apology yet, their relationship was on the mend.

However, they rarely got time to talk to each other since their schedule was so busy. With the company's finance difficulties and the problems with their connections in China, things were tough.

They were on their way to a public speaking and Jinhwan was frantically going over things on the way. He couldn't afford to make any errors at this time. The company's reputation was one the line.

Even though Junhoe was staring out the window to ease his nerves since he was the one who had to speak in front of the public, he could still sense Jinhwan's growing anxiety.

He glanced at the older to see that he was starting to sweat a little. He always did this when he got overly nervous. It was a sign that Junhoe had picked up on during their time together.

"Hey," Junhoe spoke softly, placing his hand on Jinhwan's and pushing the iPad down a little so that Jinhwan would focus his attention on him instead of the iPad.

"Everything is going to be fine. Don't worry." Junhoe reassured.

"What if it's not?"

"Then I'll fix it. But please stop stressing yourself out so much." Junhoe said. He was worried about Jinhwan's health. He always got worried when the older would over work himself.

"But-"

"Everything is going to be fine." Junhoe repeated trying to reassure the older.

Jinhwan bit his lower lip and nodded. He tried to think positively, if not for himself then for Junhoe at least. He knew the younger was hiding his nervousness in order to calm him down.

Jinhwan's eyes shifted to Junhoe's hand that was still resting on his hand. Noticing, Junhoe quickly took his hand off the older male's not wanting to make him uncomfortable. He then averted his gaze to the window once again.

Calm down.

That was what Jinhwan told his heart when he felt it beat rapidly. And he knew it wasn't because of his anxiety.

••••••••••

They had arrived at the city center and were now getting ready for the public speech. Jinhwan was going over the topics Junhoe had to mention in the speech when a female staff member opened the door and poked her head in.

"You're up." she told Junhoe before leaving again, closing the door behind her.

Junhoe took a deep breath and looked at Jinhwan.

"Wish me luck?"

As usual, Jinhwan went on his tip toes and fixed Junhoe's tie. Fixing the younger's tie seemed to have become a normality to Jinhwan.

"Good luck." Jinhwan said with a reassuring smile on his face as he stood up straight.

Junhoe smiled nervously before leaving the room. Jinhwan took a deep breath to calm his nerves. For some reason, he felt second hand anxiety from Junhoe. He just hoped the younger would do well.

A few minutes later, Junhoe stepped up on to the podium and adjusted the microphone before glancing at Jinhwan who was standing to the side.

Jinhwan nodded reassuringly as if telling Junhoe that he could do this. Honestly, it felt different for Jinhwan to be the one trying to reassure Junhoe, but it felt nice.

Junhoe cleared his throat before speaking. The public speaking continued for a bit over half an hour, but once it was over the air was filled with clapping and cheering. Hearing the positive response from the people made both Jinhwan and Junhoe feel reassured.