A/N: I know this was in the warnings but I just want to remind you guys that there will be racial and homophobic discourse throughout this story that some may find offensive.

P.S sorry for the late update!!

-

"I think this email is fake."

-

This seems to wake Taehyung up from his tired state. The man jolts up and Jungkook takes this chance to move from his lap, feeling slightly relieved when he stands up on his own two feet.

"What do you mean it's fake?" Taehyung questions while scrolling through the email.

"Mr Parker is from Pellets Corp and their design for emails have very distinct features, much like our ones. This email doesn't have that and the layout seems rather unprofessional, almost like its a scam or it's fake," Jungkook says while pointing at the screen.

Taehyung pulls out a pair of glasses and puts them on and then takes a closer look at screen. The accessory momentarily surprises Jungkook because he didn't know his boss wore glasses. Taehyung's eyes narrow as they analytically scan the screen. The blue electric hue of the device reflects off his glasses as wordlessly scrolls through the email. An irritant tut of disapproval suddenly sounds from his throat as he pulls back from the screen. He looks over at Jungkook with an annoyed expression.

"You're right," he says, sounding notably irritated. "The email itself sounds forced. This might mean that this whole thing is fake and that someone was trying to set up a fake contract cancellation to make us look bad."

"Who would do that?" Jungkook asks with furrowed brows.

Taehyung exhales slowly and pulls off his glasses, all while maintaining a firm gaze with the younger. "Who knows," he answers rather nonchalantly, although there's an obvious bitterness to what he says next. "We've never known who it was."

This leaves Jungkook even more confused. "What do you mean, sir?"

Taehyung doesn't reply to that. Instead, he turns away from the boy and starts typing on his laptop. "I'll send this to Namjoon and get him to check it out. You can go ahead and go home today, we have an important meeting tomorrow that you'll be presenting in." With the lack of reply from the younger, Taehyung looks over at him and quirks his eyebrows up. "I'm sure you haven't forgotten about it."

Jungkook visibly gulps, making the scene look almost comical. "No, sir," he squeaks. "I-I'll be off now then," the younger says before attempting to rush off. But before the brunette can even take a step, a firm grip on his wrist yanks him back into his spot. Jungkook looks at his boss with big alarmed eyes, wondering what the cause of his sudden actions is.

"And remember, Bunny," Taehyung starts with a sly smirk.

"No stuttering."

~

"H-How much l-longer, sir?" Jungkook stutters out like an impatient child.

Taehyung looks over at the boy while exhaling an annoyed sigh. "You're stuttering."

"I-I'm just c-cold, sir," the boy excuses. It's true to an extent, the weather today seems to have truely embraced the harshness of winter and Jungkook was met with the crispy breeze of New York's first snow day.

Taehyung almost rolls his eyes at the boy because he knows that that thick winter coat he adorns would be enough to give him warmth and that the obvious reason behind his stutter was his underlying nerves, but nonetheless, he tells the driver to crank the heater up. Jungkook bounces his leg while the ride continues and looks out the window like an angsty child watching a horror movie.

When the car comes to a halt, the boy perks his head up looking comically alarmed. "We're here?" He squeaks, voice laced with fear and dread.

Taehyung merely hums before exiting the car. Jungkook takes a deep breath before thanking the driver-he was so nervous he accidentally said 'thank god' instead of 'thank you' and earned a very judgmental look from the driver- and stumbling out the car.

"Woah," Jungkook says as soon as he steps foot onto the snow-filled pavement. There, towering over him is a pristine sky-scraper, the glass structure merging in with the gloomy grey clouds and serving as a mirror for the dancing snowflakes that flutter out from the sky. Jungkook feels puny in its presence, feeling intimidated by the inanimate object that foreshdows his inevitable task for today; The meeting.

Jungkook exhales a deep breath at the thought, his breath swimming past his lips in tendrils of frosty smoke. "What floor is the meeting held on?" Jungkook finally manages to ask after composing himself.

"Top," Taehyung answers briefly before heading towards the building. He takes long strides and Jungkook scurries behind him to keep up. They make their way towards the elevator, being greeted by many professional entities on their way. Taehyung casually presses a button on the elevator and then leans back against the glass structure, his eyes taking in the sight of the snow-filled landscape that resides below them.

"How confident are you feeling?" Taehyung asks randomly as the elevator starts ascending upwards. Jungkook doesn't reply immediately, his few seconds of ponder causes his boss to turn his head and look at him with a quirked brow.

With a bowed head, Jungkook finally replies. "I'm nervous," he says meekly. Taehyung stretches his hands up and then lifts up the boy's chin with his two fingers.

"Good," his voice is firm. "Let's see how well you can work under pressure."

And with that statement in place, the elevator doors glide open, revealing the breath-taking view of a large meeting room. For Jungkook, it isn't the mahogany doors, black marble floors or the cool led lights that take his breath away, no, it's the presence of 5 suited men staring firmly in his direction that ceases the action of his lungs.

"Good Morning, Mr Kim," One of the men greets as him and Taehyung enter the room.

Taehyung nods towards the man, "good morning, Mr Smith."

Soon all of the men start greeting each other and Jungkook feels like black wool in a field of white sheep. Despite him also wearing a fresh crisp suit like the other men, Jungkook feels and looks undeniably out of place. It's this certain aura he seems to be missing; That air of cockiness, of silent scrutiny, of harmful power that lingers in the presence of all these men but is absent from Jungkook's meek form.

However, it becomes all the more intimidating when the greetings end and all those piercing eyes dart towards his direction.

"Ahh, who may this be?" A blonde haired man asks as he gestures towards Jungkook.

"That's my new secretary," Taehyung answers casually, walking back towards Jungkook. Despite greatly fearing his boss, Jungkook feels a sense of relief when the man stands back beside him.

The men in the room stare at Jungkook with patronising gazes, not bothering to hide their blatant judgement as their lips curl into mocking smirks. "What a pleasant surprise, the Kim Taehyung finally decides to get a secretary?! Why the change in heart, Mr Kim?" The blond continues before lowering his voice. "Wanted to try something new, eh?"

The men burst out laughing at that, Taehyung joining in with a chuckle of his own. Jungkook can't seem to share joy with the men and instead frowns at the underlying sexual innuendos of the statement.

"Right, anyways, shall we start the meeting now then," a brunette -Mr Smith if Jungkook can recall correctly- speaks up after clearing his throat from the chortle of obnoxious laughter.

The men all nod in agreement and take their seats. Taehyung sits at the crown of the table, submerging into the leather chair as if it is his second skin. Jungkook sits at the side next to Taehyung, feeling ever so little in the shadow of his towering presence. He glances arounds and notices the rigid faces of the men as they stare at Taehyung's position at the table. He sees the hidden pools of jealously that swims in their brooding dark eyes, covered by a shield of false chivalry.

"Mr Smith, would you like to start today's meeting? I've heard your company had a close call with bankruptcy after various scandals got leaked to the public?" Taehyung speaks up, the low timbre of his voice now resonating through the suffocating room.

The brunette haired man, Mr Smith, twitches in what seems to be agitation, forcing a crooked smile onto his lips to hide his rising anger. "Ah, Yes, our company bumped into a few scandals here and there, nothing too serious..."

"...You were breaching copy right laws and laundering money? Seems pretty serious to me." Taehyung interupts, his voice piercing through the sugar coated bullshit that was spilling past the man's lips. Mr Smith frowns, his sense of formality now slowly ripping at its seams.

"Yes," he says, voice hoarse. "But nothing we can't fix, Mr Kim. Now how about we move on to a more business side of things instead of getting political."

Taehyung chuckles, "Nothing was getting political here, Mr Smith. But yes, let's move on. Mr Right, heard you are releasing a new line of self driving cars, would you like to tell us more on that?"

The blond haired man from earlier stands up with a smile before moving towards a smart board in the front of the room. Jungkook watches in wonder as the man brings up a slideshow on the screen and starts speaking. He speaks with such ease, words gliding past his lips with precision and synchronisation. Jungkook has never been in a real meeting before, at least not a proper one as such, so being here and experiencing this is eye opening. Jungkook thought he was doing a pretty good job presenting to his imaginary audience when he was practicing but being here and seeing this man present so effortlessly makes him doubt himself.

Mr Right has only spoken for a few seconds but Jungkook is already sold. Everything that comes out of his mouth seems so convincing, so thought out yet effortless. Everything he says has no flaws to it. At least that's what Jungkook thinks.

But sitting across from him with an analytical frown on his face, is Kim Taehyung, scrutinising the blond man's word, picking out the flaws that Jungkook so clearly missed.

"Mr Right?" Taehyung calls out, making the man pause his sentence and look up.

"You said this car would focus on being environmentally friendly, is that so?"Taehyung asks while leaning forward in his chair.

Mr Right seems a little hesitant but nods nonetheless. "But you said the cost of manufacture is $5 million for industrial costs specifically. Wouldn't that equate the cost of carbon emissions from just producing the cars to the average amount produced by normal cars? How do you plan on reducing these external environmental costs?"

Mr Right looks taken aback, his neck flushing a reddish hue as he blinks in surprise at the question. "We-uh-um... we haven't quite decided that yet..." the man trails off, looking down in embarrassment.

"Well then, I don't think you're ready to promote this car, are you?" Taehyung says while pulling the cup of water resting near his hand and taking a casual sip out of it.

Mr Right stares at Taehyung for a few seconds, eyes narrowed in obvious hatred that Taehyung seems to dismiss. Jungkook watches the scene with confusion and astonishment. He doesn't really know whats happening but he can feel the rising tension in the room.

"Mhm noted, Mr Kim." The blond spits out. "I'll present another day. How 'bout we let your secretary present now? I'd like to see how this goes."

Jungkook gulps at the mention of himself. He looks up at Taehyung with wide eyes, waiting for the go signal from him. Taehyung gives a slight nod towards the boy and Jungkook takes this as a signal to hesitantly stand up. The brunette grips onto his papers tightly, trying to ease his nerves and his quivering hands as he walks to the front of the room. Jungkook stands alongside the smart board and then turns to face the other 6 men. He gulps when he meets all of their purposeful stares, eyeing him from head to toe and tearing him apart with their eyes.

Jungkook never liked being in the spotlight and this certainly is no exception. But he knows that to get something he wants, he needs to sacrifice something he has. So he lets his comfort run out the window and embraces his fear. Sometimes you have to walk through darkness to see the light. Jungkook reminds himself this as he starts speaking.

"It's a pleasure to meet everyone here today. My name is Jeon Jungkook, and as you all already know, I am Mr Kim's new secretary," Jungkook starts off, slightly cringing at the shaky tone of his voice.

"Throughout the week that I have worked at King's Corp, I have had the task to revisit past projects and gather valuable information that can benefit the future of our company."

All of the six men listen to the boy's words intently, eyes opens and ears craned. Not out of courtesy but rather with the malicious intent to pick up a slip or flaw in his speech. Taehyung is leaned back in his chair, observing the boy with that same calculating gaze of his, face void of emotions but not lacking interest.

Jungkook fiddles with a few of his papers before pulling up a report. "Through the information I have found, I have made a few conclusions on what product we may need to reinvest in. This first product was released back in 2008..."

"...Kid, do you have any pictures of the products?" A man interrupts, causing Jungkook to pause and look up.

"Uh-uh yeah I do, but I will show them..."

"...Show them now. I need visual cues to know what you are talking about," the man interrupts again.

Slightly flustered, Jungkook nods and clicks on the powerpoint, opening up a picture of a golden watch that displays on the screen.

"Ahh, the Sky Watch 300, that stuff was utter bullshit. I certainly would not make an investment in that again," the man claims as his eyes glance over the product.

Jungkook frowns and opens his mouth to tell him that the watch is in fact not the Sky Watch 300, but before he can he speak, more of the men interrupt him.

"Yes I agree with Barron, that watch was useless. It didn't get us any profits and the whole 'collaborative advertising scheme' did not work," another man say, his pink lips curling into a frown. "Move onto the next product, kid."

Jungkook looks at them helplessly, not wanting to argue with his superiors but also needing to speak up. Upon seeing their expecting eyes, he sighs and decides to move on to the next product, feeling his mind reel faster with his train of thoughts as his heart rate picks up from his first mistake.

Jungkook looks down at his paper and starts reading, trying to stop his hand from shaking. "U-Uh, the next product is..." Jungkook pauses and squints his eyes. The papers have several typos in it, and he isn't sure what the product is. He knows he should have double checked the papers last night when he was frantically typing them up but he didn't so now he's paying the price of his carelessness. "I-uh..." Jungkook stutters again, feeling his face heat up with embarrassment.

He flips the page in an attempt to move on to the next product but to his horror the entire page is blank. Jungkook feels his heart stop as he rummages through his files, trying to find the rest of the document as the hawk-like eyes devour his slip up with cunning smirks.

"Hm? A little unorganised, aren't we?" Another man asks from his seat, his falsely white teeth pulling up into a smug grin.

"N-No, it-its just.." Jungkook starts to panic as he finds himself struggling to formulate proper thoughts under the scrutiny of all those eyes. In a desperate attempt to save face, he spins around and attempts to read off the powerpoint, but his head is in such a blur that he can barely comprehend the words. He squints his eyes, hoping to read the words on the screen but fails miserably. He hears a few snickers from behind him.

"What's wrong kid?" The blond man asks. "Can't read the screen? Maybe you should open your eyes a little more," the man chuckles. The men in the room burst out in laughter and Jungkook frowns at the meaning behind his words.

"Come on, kid, we don't have all day. Make something up if you can't read. Aren't the Chinese supposed to be smart?" The man says while shaking his head in dismay.

Jungkook's frown deepens. "I'm not..."

"...Get a move on with it!" Another man exclaims, causing Jungkook to hastily pick up his files, feeling almost suffocated by the intense pressure now resting upon him.

"I-I," Jungkook attempts to speak, but his tongue is as flaccid as his brain at this point. All of the men snigger at him and start making small comments under their breath, some which Jungkook hears and others which he thankfully doesn't.

"Hired one like him thinking they'd be better, serves Kim right"

"Can't even speak properly, wonder what he did to get the job"

A low turbulent whisper cuts through the stifling atmosphere, causing Jungkook to freeze in his spot.

"Do you reckon he's one of Kim's fag toys"

Jungkook's body trembles and he feels the urge to sink into the ground. The dulling rage of anxiety tears apart his brain as he stands there like a fool, taking in all their whispers of harsh words. His breath runs short and in a desperate attempt to redeem himself he tries to speak up.

"I-I..." but its to no avail.

"I-I," one of the men mocks, causing the others to burst out into laughter. "What are you imitating a broken record or something? Oh is that what you're selling, broken CDs? Wow, Kim, you've outdone yourself this time!" The men roar with laughter, eyes crinkled in mirth and mockery.

Jungkook feels sick. He wants to curl up into a ball and hide himself from everyone. He wants to be alone because being with these people makes him feel suffocated. He's breathing air but its heavy with the lingering toxicity of their mocking remarks. Jungkook's never drowned before but he feels like this is how it feels; To slowly submerge into a burning darkness as the breath in your lungs cease. As he stands there like a helpless rabbit, cornered by the hungry lions of the lion's den, he feels like he's prey.

And its true. To them he is. He's nothing but a weak entity that they can take out with their claws. He has no escape, no choice but to give in, to be devoured.

"Gentlemen, I think it would be best if we end the meeting here. We shall reschedule it to another day. Please feel free to take your leave," that cold monotone voice finally speaks up, breaking through the tense atmosphere.

Without another word, Taehyung gets up from his chair and walks straight out the door. He doesn't say a word but Jungkook knows that he is to follow him. Taehyung walks with long strides, leaving a trail of fury and anguish with each heavy step. Jungkook follows behind him meekly, preparing himself for the wrath he is about to face.

And when Taehyung takes a stop near the corner of the building, turning to face the smaller boy, the wrath comes- it comes full force.

"What the fuck was that!?" Taehyung screams at Jungkook who has his head cowered.