JKDoYouLoveMe (ao3)
"I've got an idea. How about a little bet?"
"A... bet?"
"Yes. You're so convinced that our boss likes you. Why not bet on it and make the office a little bit more fun? 200,000 won. I bet I can get him to fall for me before you can."
This isn't professional. There is nothing professional about this, but Jeongguk is competitive and crushing hard and neither of those things lend themselves to thinking straight, so he narrows his eyes and nods.
"You're on."
---
"I thought I should let you know that I'm in the process of hiring your replacement."
Of all the things that Jeongguk had thought he would hear when Kim Namjoon called him into his office during the last hour of his Monday shift, this was not on the list. He'd been expecting a, 'Here are some documents that I need you to proofread by tomorrow,' or maybe a, 'I need you to work some overtime this week,' or in the worst-case scenario he thought he was going to get, 'The coffee you left me was lukewarm this morning.'
But not this.
"I- Mr. Kim, I- I don't understand." Jeongguk tries to keep calm, tries not to panic.
"How many times do I need to ask you to call me Namjoon-hyung?"
"I'm sorry, hyung." Jeongguk swallows. He tugs at his tie that seems to be tightening around his throat like a python, stealing the air from his lungs. "Are you firing me?"
Namjoon props his chin on top of his open palm and leans forward on his large desk. His silver tie falls onto the varnished mahogany tabletop, draping over the gold-plated sign that reads, Kim Namjoon, Chief Executive Officer, Bangtan Recording House.
"Technically speaking, yes."
Jeongguk's eyes prickle but he blinks rapidly, keeping his breathing even. He has worked so hard to convince everyone in this office that he's not just a desperate college student working for money, not just some kid who wants a one-year secretarial job before disappearing in a cloud of dust with a new referral on his résumé. He wants to stay here and if he wants to stay he refuses to be known as the baby-faced man who cried like a child that one time.
Despite his best efforts to look calm, though, Namjoon doesn't seem to buy it, because he laughs and leans back, posture relaxing.
"I'm just messing with you, Jeongguk. Calm down." Jeongguk can barely stop his mouth from un-hinging as he watches Namjoon take his glasses off and wipe at them with his tie. "You'd think after a year you'd know that we all like to mess with you at every given opportunity. I would never just let you go like that, Guk."
At the sound of his nickname, Jeongguk's muscles unknot and he drops his head in his hands.
"Don't do that to me, hyung. You scared me so much. I thought... God."
"You've done so much for this company, Jeongguk, and you're only a secretary. I'd be mad to let someone so hardworking go. But," Namjoon leans back over the desk again and gives Jeongguk a serious look, "I wasn't lying. I am hiring a replacement for you."
Jeongguk bites his lip and digs his nails into the leather sofa. "I don't understand."
"Jeongguk," Namjoon stands and starts to pace the room, "as I said, you're only a secretary. I'm aware that you're focussing on your studies, right now, but-"
"If this is about university, hyung, I swear I'm not prioritising my studies over work! I reduced my course to part-time so that I don't have as many units to focus on." Jeongguk speaks quickly, gulps when he realises he just interrupted his C.E.O. He bows his head, cheeks starting to flush. "I'm sorry, it's just- I promise, I'm not just here for the money. I truly want to get into the recording business and I thought any position here would be enough. I would've been happy to be a cleaner, anything. Just so I could get some experience in a real office and see how the business really works. I couldn't be more grateful to be your secretary and I have no plans of leaving, not any time soon."
