"Then prove it to me. Prove yourself worthy."

The boy furrows his eyebrows, "h-how so, Sir?"

The raven-haired man leans back against his leather chair. "Introduce an idea to me, something that is new and innovative."

The boy widens his eyes. "R-right now, s-sir?"

The man nods.

Jungkook bites his lip anxiously, "u-uh... s-sir- I-I... I!" This is ridiculous! How is he supposed to introduce a whole new idea on the spot without any planning at all? Jungkook bows his head down, silently telling the man that he is incapable of accomplishing the task.

The older man analyzes the boy for a bit, his cold eyes glancing over his cowered form. Then he looks back up at him and scoffs, causing the smaller boy to tense in his spot.

"You can barely speak without stuttering but you think you can manage being my secretary?" He sneers. "That's quite laughable, Mr Jeon."

Jungkook widens his eyes. "N-no, I can s-speak properly- it's just- I," he looks down, feeling sweat accumulate between his brows as his nerves increase. The other man stares at him with an amused smile before he gets up and slowly walks towards him.

"It's just what, Mr Jeon?" He asks as he circles the boy like a predator cornering its prey. "It's just your nerves, right? The job interview jitters? You're stuttering because you're under pressure?"

The brunette boy nods meekly, not knowing what else to say.

"Well imagine this," the man starts, staring down at the boy.

"A client asks you to give them a rundown on an unannounced product." He walks towards the boy and Jungkook takes a step back, gulping down the lump in his throat. "You haven't prepared any material, have no data, no information, nothing."

He takes another step closer and Jungkook feels his hands start to tremble anxiously.

"You're out in the open, under the scrutiny of many eyes, all of them awaiting your response. You feel your nerves hit tenfold, the pressure making your throat tighten up..."

He takes one last step towards the boy and Jungkook feels his back hit the desk behind him. The boy wants to shrivel up and let the ground consume him but all he can do is lower his gaze from that penetrating stare and anxiously wait for him to speak.

"So what will you do then? Will you blame it on your nerves? Will you stand there and crumble under their obnoxious laughter? The man husks, his head tilted in a questioning manner that doesn't fail to make Jungkook intimidated. Jungkook gulps, not knowing what to say.

"You may have the qualifications..." he continues. "But you can't survive in the business world if you don't know how to deal with people. If you can't adapt, if you can't improvise, you'll be nothing but a laughing stock." Mr Kim says as he takes a small step back, finally letting the boy breathe.

"People like you and me, we're rabbits in a lion's den."

At this, Jungkook looks up, slightly bewildered. He can see why he would be a rabbit but Mr Kim, the king himself? How is he a rabbit?

"But the difference between me and you is that you squeak, making it obvious that you're just a mere rabbit. But me? I learnt to roar. I learnt to improvise. I convinced everyone that, I too, am a lion. So that's why, Mr Jeon, you will never be suited for a job like this. Not even with these marvellous college degrees of yours. You're simply just too weak."

Jungkook deflates. He's worked years and years to even get the qualifications for a job like this. But now, because of his pathetic social skills, he's being denied. No...no. He can't be denied. He won't be denied. He's so close to achieving his dream job, he can't give up now. Jungkook clenches his fist at this newfound determination before looking up. "But sir, y-you said it yourself."

The man looks at him with a questioning expression. Jungkook lifts his eyes, daring to meet the soulless gaze of the older. "Y-You used the term 'learnt'. You didn't k-know how to improvise until y-you learnt how to do so. S-So maybe, if you give me a chance, I-I too can learn. I'll learn to speak better even when I'm...um under pressure."

Jungkook immediately looks down, his palms sweating from just staring at the man. There's silence for a few seconds before it is disrupted by a deep chuckle. Jungkook looks up to see Mr Kim laughing joyously. He feels his cheeks flush with embarrassment. There goes his so-called confidence.

"Okay," the man finally replies after he stops his obnoxious laughter.

Jungkook nods, looking rather sad. "O-okay, I-I'll leave now-" but then the words properly register in his brain. Did he just say 'okay'? Okay to what?

"U-uh- Okay?"

The ravenette nods. "Yes, okay. It's only fair if I give you the chance to learn as well, isn't it? I'll be fair. I'll give you a chance."

Jungkook slightly gapes his mouth open in surprise. "Y-You mean, you're giving me the job?!" The man simply nods in response.

Jungkook's eyes widen with joy. "O-oh my god, th-thank you so-"

But the ravenette cuts him off. "Don't be so joyous, Mr Jeon. Being my secretary isn't as glorious as it seems."

~

Jungkook feels like a mouse standing in the middle of the empire state building. He is seated at his desk that is already stacked with piles of papers and is drowning with the weight of files. Mr Kim's office is colossal. It lays on a luxurious marble floor and is acquainted with an abundance of lavish furniture. When he looks out the windows he doesn't see the streets, he sees the sky, reminding him once again of just how tall this building is. This office alone seems to flaunt the riches of this world-renown company, reminding little Jungkook of just how lucky he is to have been hired for this job.

But the alluring office room isn't why Jungkook feels so small, so intimidated. No, instead, it's the man sitting a few metres away. Seated on his posh leather chair, Mr Kim looks ever so nonchalant as he types away on his laptop, completely ignoring Jungkook's presence. The man isn't doing anything extreme but Jungkook already feels the nervous trickle of sweat run down his back. It's this aura he exudes; One of utter confidence and authority. Just getting a whiff of it turns Jungkook into a nervous mess.And rightfully so.

Because here he is, sitting across one of the most influential people in the world and what is he doing? Not jackshit, that's what. Ever since the CEO had oh-so-kindly ushered him to his new work station, he has been sitting here like some dumb anime girl who's waiting to be fucked by her senpai.

But sadly, that dumb anime girl probably has more purpose than he does. He's just sitting there awkwardly, occasionally adjusting his suit and then looking around once again as he waits for his boss to give him some instructions.

At first, he wanted to ask what he is supposed to do but then the nerves caught up to him and he clamped his mouth shut and decided against it. So now he's forced to sit there, suffocating in the awkward atmosphere while wishfully hoping that he will soon get something to do.

"Jeon," and his wishes are granted as that deep soothing voice snaps him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, sir?" Jungkook replies instantly, willing himself to not stutter.

"Come here."

Jungkook does so, getting up from his desk and walking over to the man. He stands in front of his desk but then the ravenette gestures for him to come and stand next to him. Jungkook gulps and tightens his fist as he walks around and stands next to the man, feeling his whole body tense up the closer he gets.

Taehyung pays no mind to the boy's nervous antics and instead points at his screen. "You see this?"

Jungkook nods while he scans over the screen.

"This is the accumulated data from the product surveys we conducted a few weeks ago. It has the results from over 50 products, a total of roughly 3000 surveys. What I want you to do is put this data into a spreadsheet and once you're done, write a page-long summary on the most valuable products and then send a detailed product description to our buyers on those recorded products."

Jungkook nods, feeling relieved that he finally has some work to do, even though it's quite a lot for his first task.

But then Taehyung smirks, his dark eyes scaring the younger ever-so-effortlessly as he opens his mouth to say, "I want this done by tonight, Mr Jeon."

His smirk only grows when he sees the boy widen his eyes, looking even more like a bunny than he already does. Taehyung knows he won.

You see, Taehyung never wanted a secretary. In fact, if he could do all the work in this company by himself, he would. He doesn't like working with people, he simply finds them annoying. Sure, having a secretary might take some of the workload off of him but he'd rather work into the pits of the night drinking copious amounts of coffee than have to constantly interact with another human being.

He didn't want a secretary but his older brother, Kim Namjoon, heavily pestered him into getting one. Since Namjoon is one of the very few people he can tolerate, he begrudgingly complied to his request. But he's still going to get his way. He always does.

He might not be able to get rid of the boy but it won't be his fault if the boy decides to leave himself.

"Yes, Sir." The boy states, interrupting his thoughts. Taehyung looks up, feeling rather surprised by the younger's lack of complaint or hesitancy.

Huh, he really thinks he can get all this done by tonight?

Taehyung smirks, knowing damn well how hard the task will be for a newbie like him.

I'd like to see you try, bunny boy.

A/N: New book!! Hopefully, you guys are liking it so far. Thank you for reading ❤️