The CEO

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Eren

"So...you wanted to talk to us both?" The spectacled brunette cupped her hands around her steaming coffee mug. Beside her, the blue eyed bondie eyed me seriously.
"Eren...you look unwell. What happened?"
I looked at Erwin tiredly. He genuinely looked concerned, so I decided to push my own bubbling emotions down for his sake.
"I just wanted to talk about Levi." I forced the words out, my throat feeling parched.
Hanji rolled eyes "We figured. Why else would you look that down and ask us for help?"
She had a point. I looked down at my hands. Suddenly the chair I was sitting on felt uncomfortably hard.

Two weeks had passed by since I our movie night and it was grating at my heart intensely. We had talked almost every day for months, and now it seemed like we had nothing to discuss except the damn economy. He had suggested that night in my apartment that we would get intimate, but now he acted like all of that had never happened. I knew better than to pressurise him, but even I was at my limit. It hurt like a bitch every single time I said good night to him, so I had finally gathered up the courage to meet his friends. We were sitting in Euphoria on a Sunday morning. Levi was at the bank for some work, and I hoped with all my heart that he wouldn't think of having a snack in here.
"To be honest, I'm really tired of this." I said slowly, while still staring at my knuckles. "Every morning that I see him, I feel like he wants to say something. His face is always impassive, but his eyes betray him. It takes all my effort not to ask him why, because I don't want to see him in that kind of  pain again." There, I said it.
"Um, so..." I looked up at them hesitantly. They watched me without judgedment.
"This is a major breach of privacy, but what exactly happened in his childhood?"
They both paled at the same time, but only for a second, and then Erwin leaned across the table, his blue eyes intensely boring into my turquoise ones.
"Who told you about that?" His voice had become rougher, if only slightly.
"Sorry." I met his eyes "I overheard you two that night."
Of course, I could've admitted this earlier, but I always hesitated. After dinner, Levi and Erwin had left supposedly to get their cars. I had quickly retrieved our jackets from the bathroom and followed them to where they were standing outside.
It seemed like Levi had tried to hit Erwin as he mentioned his past. The way it seemed, Erwin had been holding Levi's hand in place. Just the thought of him touching Levi like that had been enough to make me walk up to them.
"Ah..." Erwin slowly leaned back and glanced at Hanji, who glanced at him. They seemed to briefly argue with their eyes.
"My apologies." I added but they ignored me.
Finally, Hanji turned to me, her expression unusually grim "Listen, Eren, I don't think we would feel comfortable telling you, because all four of us- Mike and Levi included, have a silent agreement not to talk about it. It's..." She sighed, her eyes pained "It's horrible, really."
I waited, my heart beating faster in anticipation.
"All I can say is...he lost his parents when we were young teenagers. His parents owned the bank..well, his mother mostly managed everything. We have known Levi since elementary school, so we knew her. She was kind, gentle and strong. So strong..." Hanji cleared her throat and continued in a low voice "Circumstances in their house made her look timid, but I knew otherwise. Eren, you have no idea about Levi's condition when he was in school. He studied all the time and only talked a little, and only to us." She folded her arms "That's all I can divulge for now."
"I'm sorry." I blurted out. I felt terrible poking my nose in his business and involving them in this.
"Don't be." Erwin said gently "It's only natural for you to worry. We know you two have gotten closer faster than we ever could. "
"Hah, I can't exactly support that statement, with the current situation."
"It's fine, Eren!" Hanji smiled at me ruefully "It was obvious from the start that you two were into each other, but his attachment to the company doesn't allow him to have work relationships like that."
I tried to believe her, but something else hung in the air between us. Another, more troubling reason why he distanced himself from me.
I tried not to dwell too much on it.
For now.
"Thanks a lot, you two." I got up and put the money for my coffee on the table "And sorry again."
"Eren!" Hanji chided as she blew into her cup. Erwin raised one thick eyebrow at me "Are you in a hurry?"
I scratched my nose self-consciously. "Actually, I wanted to visit him. He's working today...so, yeah."
Hanji chuckled "Gotta go check on bae, huh?"
"Hanji!" I half-shouted and hurried away before she could tease me further.
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At the table where now only two people sat, the woman laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them.
"Young love is so cute, huh, Erwin?" She sighed.
Beside her, the man gave a low chuckle "He's not a teenager, Hanji. And you better not say that in front of Levi. It will be quite troublesome."
"I won't." She said sadly.
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