𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 | 𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐌𝐈𝐍

𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐕

jaemin was now on his tenth cup of coffee. sipping it despite his hands shaking around the cup. in the back of his mind he knew it wasn't healthy, but he was too out of it to care. he was bored and felt a little trapped since he had been in his dimly lit office room all day. because of this, he decided to take a trip to the copy room downstairs.

jaemin's steps were staggered but he managed to make it to the copy room. judging from the stares he was getting, he just knew he looked dead. none of this mattered to the young male one bit. the only thing on his mind was renjun. nothing new.

"jaemin?" the younger turned to face lucas who flinched at the sight of his appearance. "oh my god! what happened to your face?" he yelled. jaemin wasn't phased, he just shook his head waving the older off. another colleague who was in the room turned and examined jaemin himself.

"jaemin, what did i tell you about drinking too much coffee?" the man sighed, cupping jaemin's cheeks. he observed the younger's tired eyes and sad expression. he looked as if he was in a daze.

"i'm fine, taeyong...please.." jaemin swat the older's hands away. "where've you been, anyway? i haven't seen you in weeks." jaemin asked in hopes of changing the conversation.

"i went on a business trip, remember? we all just came back today."

lucas and taeyong began their own little conversation about how the trip went while jaemin quietly slipped by them, in attempt to leave without them noticing.

"no more coffee, alright?" taeyong gave the younger a stern look as he held his arm.

"fine..."

—

"why is it suddenly so crowded today?" haechan complained as he entered their office.

"all of our workers came back from their trip." renjun answered. he was focused on how he was going to handle his interview coming soon. he knew he couldn't back out now, especially since he already changed the date. so the last thing on his mind was wondering why it was crowded.

"guys," a voice called. the two males turned to meet ten's smile as he peeked his head through the open doorway, "mr. seo wants us in the meeting room. we have a new worker joining us today." renjun and haechan looked at each other before following ten out.

"why are we getting a new worker? do you know who it is?"

"is he cute?" ten and renjun stopped in their tracks, turning to look at the tanned male behind them. "what?" he shrugged innocently. ten rolled his eyes before he continued down the hallway.

"jeno quit so we had an open position. and no, i don't know who it is." ten answered some of their questions until they made their way into the meeting room that was crowded with people.

"okay guys, some of you may know him, but for those who don't, please welcome him." johnny's voice rang throughout the room.

the three males who had just entered struggled behind the large group of colleagues. pushing past them and standing on their toes to see who the new coworker was. once the three got in a good spot, they all froze.

"wow, he's beautiful." haechan stared at the male beside johnny in awe. he was tall, pale skinned, with fluffy orange hair. he stood smiling bashfully as he bowed, introducing himself.

renjun turned to look at ten whose face was drained of all it's color. renjun even thought he saw his eye twitch as he stared at the orange haired male in front of them. "ten? are you alright?" ten looked down and met eyes with renjun. he looked as if he was going to be sick.

"hello, everyone. my name is jungwoo, please take care of me." he smiled while everyone just clapped in return. renjun's mouth hung open after the male's introduction. he looked back up at ten, who was turning back into the crowd of people to leave.

"ten! where are you—" renjun choked on his words as he made eye contact with jaemin. he was standing on the other side of the large table in the center of the room. renjun looked away quickly and acted as though he didn't see the younger, but he noticed he looked different. he was almost unrecognizable.

—

"i thought you two left off on good terms." renjun struggled to keep up with ten who was walking swiftly throughout the hallways. from going up a few sets of stairs to turning around sharp corners, the  labyrinth hallways started to make the smaller male dizzy.

ten just shook his head, "he is unbelievable..." he mumbled angrily. as ten got closer to his destination, renjun was quick to stop him after he realized what he was doing.

"stop! look, i know you're mad but there might be an explanation behind this. so don't go in there and accuse him of anything." renjun said, blocking johnny's office door. ten stopped trying to push past the younger and just stared at him.

"what kind of explanation?"

"well...uh..." renjun thought long and hard. he didn't think ten would actually stop and listen to him, "johnny has sacrificed a lot for you two, he wouldn't just do something to throw it all away. not if he doesn't have to." ten folded his arms, listening to every word. he did have a point.

"so what are you saying?"

"i'm saying it probably wasn't his choice, so it wouldn't be right for you to yell at him. just like you told me, don't shut him out completely. just listen." ten sighed in frustration, looking away from the younger. he hated that he was right.

"fine, i won't. i'll be right out." ten said, walking into johnny's office. it wasn't too long, but ten came out of the office looking as confused as ever. renjun stood to his feet, he had decided to sit outside and wait.

"so how did it go?"

"you were right. it wasn't his choice, jungwoo was hired back by mr. qian. but he was the one who didn't really want him there in the first place since he's in a relationship with lucas. so no one really knows the detail behind it." ten explained. there was something too suspicious about that. but who could they ask?

"only one person here that we know of can really answer this. so we'll just have to confront lucas ourselves."