utopia | markhyuck

22

— Chapter Twenty Two —

Donghyuck woke up with the biggest headache of his life the next morning. He surely had missed his friends and so did they. Hence their hours-long conversations in which Donghyuck told them everything except for maybe that he had sex with Mark. His friends were smart enough to piece it together on their own as they all had given him smirks every time he spoke of Mark. Or maybe it was because he talked about the man as if he was his boyfriend which was not good. He shouldn't, especially now that it was all over.

Speaking of Mark, Donghyuck hadn't talked with him, be it on the phone or in person. He was going to change that obviously, now that he went back to work.

The first day of work however was a little different than he imagined. Akira welcomed him with her warm smile and gifted him a bouquet of flowers.

"You shouldn't have." he told her, accepting the bouquet nonetheless.

"Oh but we have to celebrate your promotion." she replied with her same warm smile. Donghyuck's eyebrows furrowed for a brief moment. Right, he was the CEO now.

"Just please know that this won't change anything. We will still be working as normal and if you feel overworked, you tell me." he requested of Akira. The young woman nodded and then walked to her desk while Donghyuck, for the first time in months, stepped into his office.

Not much had changed, only his desk was tidied neatly and another bouquet of flowers had been placed on it. Whether because of Donghyuck's return or his promotion, the man didn't know.

First thing he did was signing a ton of documents. Renewals of contracts, his own promotion, the new contracts that his father had made during his 'vacation'.

It didn't feel much different than his job before, just now he didn't have his father telling him what to do all the time. And Donghyuck very much appreciated it.

Next thing he did was call Mark's company. He got directed to a secretary who upon hearing it was him redirected him to the CEO, Mark's father.

"Hello Mr. Lee. I'm Lee Donghyuck, it's nice to finally meet you." Donghyuck introduced himself formally, feeling a bit awkward.

"Hello Donghyuck, am I allowed to call you that?" Mr. Lee asked, his voice sounding just as smooth as Mark's.

"Of course, sir. I don't mind." Donghyuck assured him. He could hear the older man's chuckle and again was reminded so much of Mark.

"I didn't call because of business reasons, I just wanted to know whether your son is doing okay." Donghyuck got straight to the point. He heard the man on the other side of the line pause briefly before saying "He is, thank you for asking. Your father inspired me to go into retirement as well so I'll be giving my position to Mark soon. I'm sure you two would be happy about that."

Indeed Donghyuck felt himself cheer internally. He would absolutely love working with Mark.

"Do you think there is any chance for me and your son to talk personally?" he asked.

"Oh no. My son is in Vancouver with me and my wife. He will stay here for a little more." Mr. Lee replied. Donghyuck's smile fell a little, he had hoped to speak with Mark in person.

"Ah, I understand. Sorry for bothering you." he said.

"No worries, it was nice finally talking to you after all the stories I heard from your parents. They're nice people." Mr. Lee said. Donghyuck knew he only said it for business purposes but he still felt grateful.

"Thank you. Goodbye, Mr. Lee." Donghyuck said and then hung up. He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. All he wanted was to talk to Mark, he needed the man. It didn't matter if they were fighting or whatever he just wanted to see Mark's face, wanted to hear his voice, wanted to talk to him.