→ Sosuke:

“This looks like one of those super chic, modern business buildings straight out of the movies,” Sosuke said with a whistle.

Tobias and Sosuke stood side-by-side some feet from the OMEGA Corp.’s entrance stairs. They were looking the large building up-and-down in sync, mouths agape. For a company that only made magazines, Sosuke didn’t expect the building to be so huge! The inside was likely to be a maze that the teen would have to spend some serious time getting used to as well. Just how many people worked for OMEGA?

While Sosuke’s alarm had failed to wake him up earlier, the obnoxious ringtone he’d set for Tobias succeeded in the alarm’s place. The teen nearly cursed his best friend out before the other told him OMEGA’s CEO set up a ride for them to come see the operations for themselves.

“Mm’sorry, but what?” Sosuke slurred into the phone and rolled onto his back, vaguely wondering where his Charmander Squishmallow had gone.

Tobias sighed on the other end. “I sent a text to that cell number, and she called me right after. It was totally not scary,” Tobias laughed. Sosuke understood the lady was the type to call, so Tobias was crazy to think otherwise. The CEO was old enough to be his mother, so of course she’d have a preference for voice calls!

“Dude, why the hell did you text her without me?” Sosuke groaned into the phone and reached around for his Charmander Squishmallow. He had to slap his hand around for a while, but when he eventually caught hold of the little tail, he scooped the pillow up and pressed it to his chest. Sosuke then scooted up a little, much like a cat trying to find the best position for optimum comfort.

Speaking of cats, where had his little demon disappeared to this time?

“Because business ladies are always up early and prompt and it’s already ten-thirty a.m.?” Tobias said after their brief pause, voice muffled like he was speaking around something.

Sosuke jolted upright and tossed the Squishmallow aside again. “What?!” he shoved his tangled comforter off and hung his legs over the edge of the bed. When the hell had Tobias gotten up if he’d already called her?

“When is this ‘ride’ coming? I gotta take a shower!” Tobias laughed at Sosuke’s panicked voice.

“I told them eleven for me because I’m ready—” ‘Ready,’ my ass, Sosuke thought when his best friend had clearly been eating something.

“—and then you know it’ll be another ten minutes to yours?” Tobias said and Sosuke left the bed to make for his dresser as Tobias continued to prattle. “And you’ve always been super quick anyway so I didn’t think it would be a problem.”

“Okay, okay,” Sosuke huffed, phone held up to his ear by his shoulder as he ruffled through various, nerdy T-shirts in his drawers to find something decent to wear. “Just call me back whenever you get here and we’ll talk in this taxi, I guess.” He lifted a pair of gray sweats into the air and sighed.

“I honestly don’t even know if it’s a taxi cause she mentioned something about an official driver or something.” Sosuke wished Tobias hadn’t said that because it made him feel worse. A corporate driver sounded so formal, and Sosuke had nothing fancy to wear, nor did he want to dress up in the first place. And donning the same outfit from the career fair was an absolute no-go for sure.

“Well whatever it is, I gotta hurry up and prepare myself physically and mentally, so byyyeee!”

Sosuke barely gave Tobias enough time to say bye back before hanging up the phone.

Fuck, he screamed internally and grabbed at his unruly hair. Guess I’ll just have to wear a plain sweater or something. At least it was somewhat cool in the springtime, so his warm appearance wouldn’t be too far off.

He spent all of twenty minutes in the bathroom before running downstairs to beg his mom for something quick to eat. She fussed over him at first, which included a good scolding for staying up late again, but ultimately ended in her whipping up a simple bowl of rice and tuna.

“Oh by the way, Sosuke,” Su said as Sosuke scarfed down his food. “I don’t know where you’re going, but I was serious about introducing you to some of the neighborhood singles.”

“Mum!” Sosuke groaned. He held the bowl up close to his face for easy shoveling access.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full!” Su scolded and bopped Sosuke on the head.

I was seriously hoping she would forget about that, Sosuke thought as his mom returned to the small kitchen counter and started washing the dishes.

Knowing his mother, she was likely gearing up for a huge speech about “tradition this,” and “money that,” so he was suddenly thankful for the buzz of his phone in his pocket. Good thing he set the sound to vibrate!

Sosuke got up and reached between his mother’s arms to set his bowl in the sink. She swatted at him for his rudeness, but he was quick enough to escape the smack.

“Sosuke Haneul Takahashi! You better have a good reason for your rush later,” Su shouted and Sosuke could hear the tap turn off.

He booked it out the door faster than his below-average 100-meter dash time, but skidded to a halt just outside the door when he saw that there was a literal limousine parked in the street.

So fancy! Sosuke’s jaw dropped and he had to rub his eyes a few times to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

Tobias’ head popped out of the limo’s back window and the teen waved to Sosuke a moment later. The action confirmed Sosuke wasn’t delusional, so he willed his feet to move forward.

He could feel his cheeks reddening over the fact that this driver had to see their not-so-nice neighborhood, including the beaten-up yellow Volkswagen buggy his family drove. Sosuke slapped at his face to hide his embarrassment as he approached the closest backseat door.

However, the driver had actually beat him to the door and bowed. Sosuke was suddenly glad he’d given his cheeks a good smack because they were definitely super red now, if not before. Not only was the driver very considerate, but he was dressed in a sexy male bunny suit! With his jaw clenched tight, Sosuke bowed back as his mother would traditionally have him do.

“Thank you,” he said as the tall, muscular man opened the door and gestured for Sosuke to enter. He stepped into the limo and sat down. The driver shut the door after him and returned to the front. Sosuke whipped his head to his left to fix Tobias with raised eyebrows.

“I know,” Tobias mouthed and jerked his head to the side. Sosuke looked to the front and watched the driver get back into his seat.

“What’s your name?” Sosuke said as the man buckled in. The teen reached for his seatbelt as well and caught Tobias copying the motion.

“You make your mom so proud,” Sosuke whispered to him with a cheeky grin, assuming his best friend went seatbelt-free the first half of the ride.

“Actually, I was in your seat first, so I had to unbuckle to move,” Tobias said and stuck out his tongue at him. Sosuke rolled his eyes and looked back up front, only to catch the driver’s face in the rearview mirror, watching them. Sosuke gulped and sat up straight, expression squared

“My name is Pedro,” the driver said and turned off the hazard lights. “I drive the models around when necessary, but I mostly make snacks for them to enjoy throughout the work day.”

“Oh,” Sosuke said after a moment of silence. “That’s actually really nice.”

“I am simply doing my job,” Pedro said as he switched the gear into drive, then steered away from Sosuke’s house.

“Of course,” Sosuke said, feeling a little awkward now. “I’m Sosuke by the way.”

“It’s a pleasure to officially meet you. I will look forward to working with you in the future,” Pedro said with a simple glance at Sosuke through the rearview mirror.

So formal…and presumptuous? Sosuke thought, finding it wild that the man assumed he and his friend would take the job.

The teen turned to address his bestie now that the formalities were given, only to find Tobias staring at him with thin-pressed lips and owl eyes. Sosuke pursed his lips as well and raised his brows again.

“Talk later,” Tobias mouthed and Sosuke nodded. It was hard to have a conversation when the atmosphere was so tense, anyway. At least there was free soda and the seats were super comfy!

The ride took about half an hour, during which the teens mostly spent in silence with their eyes closed (a new record for the boys), but that was what led up to the duo admiring OMEGA’s corporate building. Pedro had driven them right up to the front entryway and even opened the doors for each of them to leave the limo like a celebrity would.

“Bet it’s just as fancy inside as that limo,” Tobias said once they’d gotten over their initial shock (and Pedro had driven away).

“Definitely,” Sosuke said with a slow nod of his head.

“Come on,” Tobias said and grabbed Sosuke’s hand. “We probably shouldn’t keep the scary lady waiting.”