Strictly Business / Minsung

six -

Saturday morning arrived along with possibly the rudest awakening Minho had ever had. He couldn't remember the last time his father had awoken him but judging by the way it happened that morning, the situation was probably so traumatic that it had left his mind.

The bright lights in his room had come on first with an aggressive click of the switch outside, then his door had flung open hitting the wall the other side because of the force. "Get up now, we have a dinner with the Han's and one of our business partners today, you have to be there as the heir to the company and you will speak to Mr Hwang about the prospective deal. We cannot lose this," his father had all but yelled before leaving the room abruptly. He left silence behind him that was only filled by Minho's heavy breathing and his pure confusion.

After a few moments where the Lee heir simply sat in shock whilst trying to get his heartbeat down to a normal rate, he picked up his phone and sent a quick text to Jisung asking if he had any knowledge of the night's event. The confirmation that this was a last minute plan came a few seconds later with Jisung just writing 'I had no idea until 2 minutes ago.'

So to say Minho's morning had been awful would be a huge understatement, it was positively one of the worst morning's he'd ever had. Of course, there were small benefits to the dinner (seeing Jisung, talking to Jisung, staring at Jisung etc...) but after his conversation with his father just a few days ago, the boy wasn't entirely sure that casual conversation would be possible.

When he sat for breakfast that morning with his mother, Minho was whining into his cereal almost ten times more than usual. "Why is it always the Han's he competes with to get the deal?" he groaned, "why not the Kims or the Bangs? Even the Yangs? I like their son he's cute and he always sings trot songs at our Christmas dinners."

The woman next to him just shook her head fondly and smiled, "you get to see your friend more though if this deal goes through," she pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Minho asked immediately as he all of a sudden felt a lot more open to the idea of the business deal going through.

"Didn't your father tell you? He's so annoyed because Mr Hwang wants the two companies to collaborate on the product," she explained and suddenly his father's blind rage made so much more sense, "he said the companies both have great ideas but they can become even more great if they work together."

Minho scoffed, "doesn't he know that dad and Mr Han are not the best of friends."

"Of course he does," she all but smirked, "don't you think it will be funny to see them pretend to be friends tonight?"

Minho laughed for a short second, "I think it's gonna be great."

Despite his now excitement for the dinner, Minho spent quite possibly the longest time he'd ever taken to get ready. Luckily, he'd planned for the fact that it would take him double the time to choose clothes and apply his light makeup. Obviously, this difference was due to his want to impress Jisung but Minho's self awareness had meant that he thankfully wasn't late. Yet, his father was still far from impressed when his son walked down the stairs in tight black trousers with a black shirt and black jacket.

"Are you going to a funeral?" the man commented bewilderedly.

Minho looked down at his outfit and shrugged, "would I be wearing pink lip gloss and sparkly earrings if I was going to a funeral?" he questioned.

The room was plunged into silence for a few seconds before Mr Lee sighed loudly in response and left the room with a shout of, "just do what you want." The dancer looked towards his mother across the room and she just shrugged lightly.

"I think you look nice, I'm sure Jisung will think so too."

Minho had never blushed a darker red.

They didn't travel with their usual driver that night. Mr Hwang was the owner of a multinational car company so it was only natural that he sent a car to collect the family. In fact, Minho knew little else about the Hwang's other than the fact that they had a son around his age.

Hwang Hyunjin was nothing if not elusive, Minho could've walked past him in the street and not known who he was. It was certain that he would not be meeting the boy that night, the Lee's had been to dinners at the Hwang's house every 3 months since Minho could remember and never once had he seen the boy.

Besides, it's not like it mattered. Minho wasn't sure that the son of someone like Mr Hwang could be a good person anyway, at best he was a tyrant so the Lee heir held out very little hope that the elusive Hwang Hyunjin would be different.

When the Lee family finally arrived at the house, Minho was barely surprised to be greeted by a whole host of the Hwang's house staff ready to take their coats and escort them inside. It made him feel awkward really, the maids they had in their house were few and their only duties were to clean and even then Minho found himself helping them out when he got bored. Of course, he knew that that was their job and they were paid to do it but he was the one who had made the mess most of the time and it only seemed fair that he should clean it up.

Mr Hwang spoke as soon as they made their way into the dining room, he came across almost too friendly and to Minho that just made him all the more terrifying, "ah Lee please take a seat next to me across from Han here and Minho, it's lovely to see you if you wouldn't mind taking a seat across from Jisung just next to your mother," he motioned to the seat.

The second Minho sat down he felt Jisung's shoe softly kicking at his leg to get his attention. Raising his head immediately, Minho saw a bright smile on Jisung's face and if it caused the older boy's heart to beat a little faster in chest then no one needed to know.

It continued like this for a while. The two boys seemed to be able to amuse each other without even speaking. Whether they were kicking each other under the table (Minho was sure that he kicked his mother but she didn't say anything) or whether they were pulling weird faces at each other behind their father's backs as they spoke, it didn't matter. Jisung's smile after every strange face that Minho pulled made even the most daring of risks seem worth taking.

Yet, like always, good things have to come to an end and Minho witnessed this first hand when his father turned to him and both he and Mr Hwang glanced expectantly at him. "What are your future plans Minho?"

It caught him off guard.

He'd thought about it, who hadn't? If he was allowed to follow his passion, Minho would already be in a dance group somewhere or maybe he'd have even become an idol. He could've been touring the world by now, dancing and performing before thousands of adoring fans and living the life of his dreams. Instead he was in the present, staring at the stony face of Mr Hwang who had had to wait a second too long for Minho's obviously rehearsed and blatantly false answer.

"After my gap year this year, I'll be going to university and studying business with international relations. I intend to work my way up the business like any other employee would until it's time for it to be passed down to me," the boy smiled kindly as he lied through his teeth.

"And you Jisung? What do you intend to do?" Mr Hwang turned his attention to the younger boy.

"Largely the same," Jisung spoke confidently but with a tone that Minho had never heard from him before, "it is my dream to study abroad maybe in the UK but I will study business, I also wish to work my way up the company to know the employees and the company itself through and through before I take it over."

The dancer was shocked by Jisung's confidence but with the grimace the boy shot him only seconds after, it was easy to see that this was a facade. Minho knew it all too well, the fake it until you make it mentality, and he knew that Jisung knew he could see right through his act too. It was another thing that made the boys so close, their similarities meaning that they knew almost everything about each other without even trying. Minho had never seen himself more in someone than he did in Jisung.

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hi!!! i really really hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!!

i'm gonna be updating a day early next week because i'm dedicating 90% of my time to streaming when in life drops sldjkd <33

tysm for reading this it means so so so so so so much !!!!!!!!