Chapter Text
Ivan probably should have known that something was off the morning after his thirtieth birthday. But in his defense, the hangover from last night's celebration with Mizi, Sua, and Luka had left him with a raging headache, so everything felt misshapen and sharp around the edges. When his fingers brushed those of the convenience store clerk as he took his bag of acetaminophen, an energy drink, and sheath of those stale powdered mini donuts that only ever tasted right when they were used as a cheap way to soak up any lingering alcohol from her, smiling absently in thanks, and he heard her squeal and say, Oh my god, he's so gorgeous, he thought it weird and rude but only looked up with a tight, polite smile and moved on. Then the train was so loud. Unusually so. Seemed everyone he brushed up against was muttering to themselves about dinner plans or upcoming meetings or whether or not they should ask out that cute neighbor down the hall.
At the station, he found a place to take a moment, down three pills and chug the energy drink, grimacing at the odd chemical sweetness of it. He ate two of the donuts to chase the taste, rolled the donut bag closed and shoved it into his messenger bag for later, dusting off his hands and moving back into the foot traffic that'd carry him the rest of the way to the office. When he turned the corner to the elevators, his mood immediately lifted when he saw a familiar figure waiting with a small crowd, hands shoved into his pockets, slouching a little, gray hair still messy with that bedhead look, teal eyes bleary.
Till.
God, he was cute, looking still sleepy and grumpy with it. One of the two elevators opened, and as people began to file in, Ivan hurried to reach them, not wanting to miss the opportunity to share a crowded elevator with the man he'd been pining over for years.
By the time he'd stepped into the elevator behind Till, he'd been able to slow back down to a normal pace, settle back into the cool, casual, and charming aura he'd cultivated and perfected since high school. "Oh, Till," he said, as if having just realized he was there. "Good morning."
Till looked up, the corners of his mouth twitching in some approximation of a smile. "Morning, Ivan."
Ivan stood beside him, smiled down at the top of his head as he bent over his phone. "Beautiful morning, isn't it?"
"Mm," Till said, scrolling.
"Are you ready for the meeting with Garner and Sons today?"
He looked up again, frowning a little now. "Yeah," he said. "I think so. Why? Has something changed?"
"No, everything's fine. I'm just making conversation."
"Oh." He looked back down at his phone as the elevator doors opened again and more people filed in. Ivan stepped closer to Till to make room, thrilled when their shoulders brushed. "Fucking hate morning people," Till said.
Ivan jerked away in surprise, looked down at him. "I'm sorry?"
"Hm?" Till blinked up at him, looking confused. "For what?"
"I didn't realize I was bothering you."
He looked politely impassive. "You're not bothering me."
"Oh, I thought—never mind." Someone jostled him with a muttered too damn crowded, and he bumped against Till again.
Ugh, why does it feel like every time I turn around, he's there.
And Ivan stared down dumbly at Till because he'd heard Till's voice clearly but his lips hadn't moved. "What?" he said.
"I didn't say anything." Would you fucking back up already?
Ivan stepped back, startled and confused. He frowned, watched Till's eyebrows raise in response. He'd heard both statements, both in Till's clear, melodic voice, but he'd watched Till's mouth move for only the first statement.
"You okay?" Till said now. "You seem kinda out of it."
He shook his head, felt the headache begin to creep back at the edges. "Yeah, I just…I guess I didn't sleep well."
"Oh." Till hitched up the strap of his bag, studied Ivan for a minute. "Uh, this is our floor."
Ivan looked over, found the elevator doors open, the rest of the occupants watching them. "Oh, sorry," he said. He turned to leave, brushed against someone's arm.
I'll wait for you anytime, handsome.
A woman's voice. He jerked his head around, found four women in the car with them, all with the identical bland expressions of people just trying to get from point A to point B.
"Move already," Till said, sounding exasperated. Except, at the same time, he also said, "Excuse me, please." And that wasn't possible, was it? For someone to say two different things at the same time?
Ivan followed him, the elevator doors shutting behind them. "Have you been taking classes?"
Till glanced over, brow furrowing. "Classes?"
"Yeah, like ventriloquism classes or something?"
Till stopped in the middle of the hall and turned to face him fully. "Why would I take ventriloquism classes?"
"I don't know. I'm just wondering how you did that."
"Did what?"
"Overlap your voice like that."
Till squinted at him. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
Oh, right. He was supposed to be normal. He took stock of himself, subtly straightening his posture, aiming for a sunny smile. "Yes, of course."
"Hm," Till said, apparently not convinced. He hitched up the strap on his bag again, let his hand slide along it to hold it at the center of his chest, and Ivan let himself follow its path in his periphery, spend a moment wishing he could use that strap to pull Till closer, bend his head down and— "Maybe get yourself a cup of coffee before the meeting," Till said. He turned, headed toward the cluster of desks he shared with the other graphic designers. "See you at the meeting."
"Right," Ivan called after him, careful to not watch his ass as he walked away. "I will. See you!"
Till waved a hand over his shoulder but didn't look back.
"Oh my god, stop looking at his ass, you perv," a cheery voice said as an arm linked through his.
Ivan startled, glancing down at the petite, pink-haired woman grinning up at him. "I wasn't!" Ivan hissed. "Shut up."
Mizi towed him down the hall. "How much longer are you gonna wait before you make a move on him?"
"We're coworkers," he said stiffly. "It'd be inappropriate."
"Bullshit," Mizi said, the word way too perky for the morning after a bender. "You're just chicken. You've been a chicken since high school."
"He had a crush on you in high school."
"And then he found out I'm a lesbian with a long term girlfriend, and he stopped having a crush on me in college."
Ivan glanced around. "I don't want to have this conversation in the office."
"Oh, right. Can't mess up the Mr. Perfect vibes, can we?"
"I'm having a really weird morning, and you're not making it any less so."
She laughed. "Hungover, huh? Poor baby." She patted his arm and let him go. "Isaac's looking for you, so grab some coffee or splash some water on your face or something before you get to your desk because he's probably going to want to over your presentation again before the meeting."
"Yeah. Thanks."
Isaac did, in fact, want to go over the presentation again. He'd apologized, laughed it off as wanting to be overly prepared, but when his elbow touched Ivan's as he reached for his coffee, he said, "Nailing this would put us over our quota for the rest of the year. God, imagine Jacob's face when I'd get to tell him that." And Ivan could even see it himself, Isaac's brother and their CEO's face blossoming into happiness, pride, and even a touch of relief, which was kind of a weird thing to imagine given he wasn't all that close to Jacob, but hey.
Ivan looked up from where he'd been sorting the handouts and gave Isaac his most confident, reassuring smile, the one he'd practiced the most in the mirror. "Don't worry. We're going to nail this."
Isaac looked surprised for a moment and then grinned back. "I wouldn't expect anything less from our best sales rep."
"Don't let Hyuna hear you say that."
"She may have the numbers, but you have the charm."
"Once we land this, she won't have the numbers any more."
Isaac laughed. "That's the spirit." He picked up his travel mug and papers. "I'll let you catch up on your emails. Thanks for indulging me. I see now you have everything well in hand."
Ivan nodded, gathering papers. "You can count on me and my team." Back at his desk, he checked the time, annoyed to find it was still too soon to pop more pills for his headache. He began wading through his inbox, shooting off quick responses to some, flagging others for later, filing more for future reference. Why the hell did so many people feel the need to cc him on freakin' everything. He leaned back in his chair, pushed it away from his desk with his heels, made a show of stretching so he could glance over at the graphic designers' area, caught sight of Till nodding solemnly up at Hyuna as she pointed at something on his computer screen.
He frowned. She wasn't trying to poach him, was she? Maybe he'd just wander over there and--
"You're staring." Luka stepped into view, blocking Till from his sight.
Ivan straightened. "No, I'm not."
"Yeah, okay. If you say so." He glanced over his shoulder, ostensibly at Till and Hyuna, turned back to Ivan smirking. "You know there's a rumor going around that they're secretly dating."
"What? Why? They're not." He wanted to look around Luka for another glimpse of the two, knew he'd be called out on it if he did and instead wheeled back to his desk and swiveled to squint up at Luka. "They're not, right?"
"Of course not."
Well, that was a relief. "This office is the worst with gossip. Why are people saying that then?"
"Because I'm telling them they are."
Ivan stared. "That's crazy. Why would you do that?"
Luka shrugged a shoulder. "Because it amuses me."
He frowned, struggled not to scowl outright. "Well, stop."
"Eh, I will eventually."
He hesitated a moment. Gave in and slid his chair back over to peek around Luka. Till was laughing at something Hyuna said now, face tipped up toward her, as she gripped the back of his chair, leaning down and grinning back at him, making a sweeping gesture with her free hand and talking. "You don't really think they're dating, do you?"
"Hell no," Luka said with such confidence that Ivan felt a surge of relief and sat back again. "I just like causing chaos."
"You need better hobbies."
"Real-life shitposting isn't good enough for you?"
"The fact that you phrase it that way says a lot."
"Whatever." He adjusted his glasses. "Next time I'll let the finance department fight to the death over who gets to tell you that you need to resubmit your expense report."
Ivan glanced around to make sure the rest of the desks around him were still empty before sliding deeper into his cube, digging the mini donuts out of his bag. He stuffed one whole into his mouth. Chewed enough to make sure he wouldn't breathe out powdered sugar before he said around his mouthful, "That sounds like it could have been an email."
Luka watched him impassively. "Apparently you're the office hottie." He lifted an eyebrow when a second donut followed the first. "If only they could see you now."
He had to chew and swig some coffee before he could respond. "I overslept. Didn't get the chance to grab breakfast." He popped another donut.
"Just eat at your desk like a normal person."
Ivan pointed at his mouth. "Whaddya thin' ah'm doin'?"
"I don't mean stuffing your face in secret so no one sees. I mean eat like a normal person at your desk. Not like some demented squirrel."
He tossed the empty bag into the trashcan beneath his desk, dusted his hands, drank some more coffee. "People don't want to see me eat."
"I'd say that you severely underestimate what some people are willing to watch you do. Though I'd argue that only strengthens my argument that most people are idiots. Besides, you eat at company dinners. It's not some great mystery."
"That's different."
"How?"
"It's expected then."
Luka waited, as if waiting for further explanation. "Okay?"
"What does any of this have to do with my expense report?"
"Nothing. I simply took pity upon you. No doubt some residual congenial nonsense from having been your college roommate. Figured I'd save you from some awkward flirting." He sighed. "I really need to learn not to be so nice. Next time I'll let one of my colleagues come over here and giggle at you."
Ivan eyed him. "You're not going to start giggling, are you?"
Luka recoiled. "Oh, god, what the hell do you take me for?"
"Just checking," he said, laughing. He stood, grabbing laptop and presentation materials. "I have a meeting I need to finish prepping for."
"Right, right, the Garner thing," Luka said, waving a hand. "I'm sure you'll kill it."
"Three months of preparation all coming down to this."
"Ugh, you sound like a boy scout."
"Their motto is 'be prepared'."
"How do you know that? Wait," he held up a hand before Ivan could answer. "Don't answer that. I want to still respect you in the morning."
"You're a strange man. How are we friends?"
"I deign to allow it," he said as Ivan started past him. "Just remember, mind in the game and not on the designer."
Ivan paused beside him. Shot him a look. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Right, I forgot. Office Ivan. Well, go get 'em, tiger. Or whatever." He smacked Ivan's ass. "Nice." Startled, Ivan shot a look around the office to make sure no one saw before he turned a scowl down at Luka, who grinned.
"You're so weird," he muttered. He made sure to bump his shoulder as he went by for emphasis.
"Not as good as Hyuna's, though. God, hers is magnificent."
He halted. Turned. "What?"
"Hm?" Luka blinked up at him, heavy lashed eyes making him look a little sleepy, deceptively dazed.
"What did you just say?"
Luka's eyebrows rose. "Go get 'em, tiger?"
"After that."
"Or whatever."
"No, after that."
"I didn't say anything after that." He picked up Ivan's lidded coffee mug and offered it. "Sounds like you might need more caffeine."
"You didn't say something about Hyuna?"
"Why would I say something about her?"
Ivan shook his head to clear it. Maybe he really was hearing things. He reached for his mug, felt his fingers brush Luka's as he took it.
Shit, did I do something to make him suspect?, Luka said. Except Ivan had been watching him. Watching Luka's lips not move. Heard his voice clear as day as he stood with his mouth closed, head tilting as his eyebrows lifted again. "Everything okay there, bud?" he asked, tone patronizing. And this time, his lips did move.
What the hell was going on?
"Yeah," Ivan said slowly, staring. "Yeah, I'm just…it's been a weird morning."
"Well, be sure to get a refill then and better get your head on straight. We need this account."
"And you're sure you didn't say anything?"
"I say all sorts of things," Luka said, dismissive. "I'm full of bullshit."
That much was true. But Luka was right. Ivan needed to get his head in the game. Get the contract, make the team proud, celebrate the win. He straightened his shoulders. "Okay. I'm off."
"Good luck," Luka called after him, and he lifted a hand over his shoulder as he strode down the hall. He noticed that Till's desk was empty now as he passed, and he sped up a little, buoyed by the possibility that he, too, might be setting up early in the conference room, and Ivan could manage to catch a little one-on-one time. But in his rush, he turned a corner too quickly and almost knocked into one of the more quiet women from marketing. They both startled back in time to keep from crashing into each other, but the pile of papers in the woman's arms went sideways and spilled across the floor.
"I'm so sorry!" Ivan rushed to say, grit his teeth a little at this loss of potential Till time, even as he set his own armload on the floor against the wall and bent to start gathering papers.
"Oh, that's okay," she said, her voice meek. Ivan couldn't remember her name, only vaguely remember glimpses of mousy brown hair and glinting glasses peeking around computer monitors. She crouched, stuffing papers back into folders where she could. "I should have looked where I was going."
"No, I was rushing," he said, mentally kicking himself. "It's entirely my fault."
"Oh, if you're in a rush, it's okay. I can clean this up."
He gave her his aw shucks smile. "Now that wouldn't be fair of me," he said, handing over the first stack of papers. "I--"
God, I just want to bite that ass.
He jerked his hand away, startled. Stared at her wide-eyed. "I'm sorry?"
She wasn't looking at him, tapping the papers back into order. "Maybe we can just agree that these blind corners are a hazard for everyone?" she said, glanced up at him and laughed a little shyly.
He had to be hearing things. Maybe he should schedule a doctor appointment after this. He mentally shook himself, bent over to sweep up more papers as he struggled to regain his equilibrium. He hesitated for a split second before offering them to her, felt their fingers brush again.
--smack it 'til it's nice and red and then rawrn - sink my teeth right into--
He snatched his hand back and the voice cut off. She'd smiled at him, but her mouth had stayed closed. Just like Luka's. He was definitely making that doctor appointment. His laugh sounded a little crazed to his own ears, hoped it didn't sound that way to anyone else's. "Well, off to my meeting." He fumbled with his own stuff, shied away when she held out a hand.
"Do you need help with that?"
"Nope! No, I got it. Thank you, though. Sorry again."
Was he going crazy? It's almost like he could hear what people were thinking, but that was insane, right? Something that only ever happened in books or movies or anime. Definitely not real life. He was so distracted, that he stopped short in the conference room doorway when he saw Till there, scowling at the projector. Relief flooded him at the sight, his world recentering just enough for him to regain some of his balance. Till didn't notice him right away, giving him time to reset his shoulders, smooth his expression, aim for bright and breezy, casual and confident as he strode into the room. "We meet again, I see." He tossed his bangs from his eyes, sent Till his best smile. "All set for the meeting?"
Those teal eyes glanced at him and then just as quickly dismissed him. God, Till could devastate him with those sharp, cutting eyes. "Trying to, anyway," he said, connecting his laptop to the projector. "Wifi's not connecting for some reason."
"Oh. Want me to grab someone from IT? I wanted to get more coffee anyway."
"No thanks. I already called down. They're sending someone up."
So much for being helpful. He set his stuff on the table beside Till's, hovered over his shoulder ostensibly watching him click and tap away but really just enjoy being near him. He'd tamed his hair some between the elevator and now, added a cardigan over his casual top, partly because yeah the conference rooms were also freakin' freezing, but probably also to make the whole look a bit more formal. Till was good at subtleties like that, refusing to be anyone but himself but allowing for small adjustments here and there just enough to match expectations when necessary. Smart and so goddamn sexy with that lean body and sharp features that it hurt to look at him sometimes. Cardigan might be a bit too warm, though, he thought as he noticed a soft flush at Till's ears.
Till stayed silent, focused on his computer and ignoring Ivan entirely. Ivan listened. Heard only the tapping of computer keys, the clicking of the mouse, the hum of the overenthusiastic a/c. Which was stupid because what was he even listening for?
But if...if he really could hear the thoughts of people when he touched them... What would Till be thinking now?
Careful to keep his breathing steady, ignoring the racing of his heart, he put a hand on the back of Till's chair and leaned over his shoulder as if studying his screen. Lifted a finger. Eased it forward until it barely brushed his shoulder.
Why is he so damn close?
Ivan reared back, shocked by the sudden sound of Till's voice, as clear and melodic as if he'd spoken aloud. The movement visibly startled Till who twisted around to look at him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," Ivan said, realized he stared at him wide-eyed. He cleared his throat, straightened his posture. "Sorry, I thought I heard you muttering?"
"No..." Till said slowly. "Pretty sure I wasn't." He cocked his head to the side, eyed Ivan with a subtle doubt in his gaze now. "You seemed a little off in the elevator, too. Are you sure you're feeling all right?"
"Yes, of course. I just..." he flailed for an excuse, glancing around before his gaze landed on his coffee mug, and he snatched it up. Was his hand shaking? "...need more coffee! Do you want some?" And then, without waiting for a response, said, "I'll get you some," and fled the conference room. He felt Till's eyes hot on him until the door closed between them.
Holy shit, he thought, standing blinking in the empty hallway. Did that just happen? Did I really just...hear Till's thoughts?
A couple people passed by the end of the hall, chatting and reminding him of where he was, and he turned toward the break room, sorting through the chaos of mind as he walked. How the hell did this happen? Was it legitimate or did something go haywire in his brain? Maybe it was an aneurysm and he was dying right now. Or maybe he was still asleep and dreaming. He'd wake up any minute now and laugh at this whole crazy scenario that felt too damn real. In the break room, he unscrewed the lid on his mug, filled it most of the way with coffee, and then took down one of the community mugs and filled it. Paused. Then pinched himself hard on the back of the hand.
Ouch. Okay, so not a dream. That left the aneurysm, the mental breakdown, or the possibility that this was somehow real. He considered the problem as he began to pump caramel creamer into his coffee. Out of all of those, the first seemed the most likely. Except, he felt fine. And didn't aneurysms usually take you out quick? Was there such a thing as a slow aneurysm?
But it also didn't feel like a mental breakdown. Surely someone would have mentioned by now if he'd been saying or doing anything outside of the norm? Other than possibly reading minds, of course. Not that he was going to tell anyone that.
He'd lost track of how much caramel creamer he'd added, started pumping in the vanilla now anyway. How could he be sure he wasn't just hallucinating voices? Wasn't there a specific term for that? Not that it mattered. Crazy was crazy. Or something. Okay. So new plan. Ignore it. Just don't touch anyone since that seemed to trigger the...whatever it was. Get through the meeting, win the account, don't let Till see him acting weird, and then he can let his mind fracture into little tiny pieces.
Right.
Travel mug full now, he added sugar, stirred. Sipped and was satisfied the subtle coffee taste in his vanilla-caramel mix. Screwed on the lid as he took the half and half out of the refrigerator, added a heavy dollop to Till's coffee. Stirred that, too, before he picked both up and headed back to the conference room. He had a plan. He could enact the plan. And he could melt down after.
In the conference room, Till and one of the IT techs had their heads bent together over the laptop. Ivan was careful not to scowl, especially when neither seemed to notice him, and rounded the table to set Till's mug on the table beside him.
Till did look up then, giving Ivan a quick, polite half smile. "Thanks."
"Any luck?"
"Should be good to go..." the IT guy said, drawing out the last word as he hit a key. The projector lit up. "Now." He beamed.
"Thanks, Todd. I appreciate the help." Till sat back, his smile more genuine and relaxed this time, Ivan couldn't help but notice. He hid his frown behind his mug as he sipped.
"Sure," Todd the too-close IT guy said. "Anytime. Hey did you happen to catch that last episode of--"
Ivan tuned him out, tried not to hate him as his gaze drifted. On the screen, the projection showed a stylized landing page with a different logo and color scheme for the product line they were presenting. Ivan turned to face it fully, studying the sharper lines, the bolder colors. "Are we going in a different direction?" he said, not caring that he interrupted the conversation behind him. No doubt Todd had better things to do then sit around and shoot the shit anyway. "If so, I really should have been informed sooner, but this is great. I like the changes." He glanced over to see Till turn around.
"What?" At Ivan's nod toward the screen, his gaze shifted over his shoulder. "Oh! No, that's just a concept I'd been playing around with." He pulled his laptop over and navigated to the designs Ivan was familiar with which were more subdued, less dynamic.
Ivan felt his brows draw together, confused. "I don't remember seeing them."
"They never made it into any of the proposals," Till said, sounding a little defensive.
"Why not?"
Till shrugged. "Freddie said they weren't what the client wanted."
Freddie, eh? Ivan'd had to talk to the manager before about not making those sorts of calls without looping in him or his team. He made a mental note to follow up with him later. Too late to pivot now.
"Really?" Todd said. "I thought they looked great!"
Ivan couldn't stop himself from narrowing his eyes for a moment at Todd before smoothing his expression. "We're so sorry to have kept you so long," he said, stepping between him and Till and clasping him on the shoulder. "Thanks for your help. We really appreciate your time." He put a subtle stress on the word 'we', hoped Todd caught it.
Cockblocker, he heard Todd's voice say, the thought bitter, though the man only smiled back and stood, and Ivan remembered abruptly this new...whatever that seemed to let him hear people's thoughts. Or was maybe the death knell of his brain. TBD. He saw Todd's eyes shift past him to Till who'd pulled out his phone and was checking messages. He's really damn cute.
Yes, he is, Ivan thought back even though Todd couldn't hear him. Or, at least, he didn't think Todd could. And you can't have him.
Considering Todd didn't react other than reluctantly turn to leave while Ivan dogged his steps to the door, he figured his thoughts at least remained safe.
"See you around," Todd called back to Till in the doorway, even as Ivan tried to be a subtle about blocking his view.
"Yeah," Till called back, and Ivan glanced behind him, satisfied to see him lift a hand absently, glance up only briefly from his phone. "Thanks again."
Gah, Todd was right. He was so cute. Which meant Ivan's new mission in life was to keep Todd away from Till at all costs. It was better for everyone, really. Todd and Till was a terrible couple name. Blech.
He pushed Todd out of the room under the guise of a friendly shoulder pat, heard an annoyed, Geez, dude, I'm going! And then got to watch Todd amble down the hall while victory swelled in his chest. He'd worked for this little bit of free time with Till, damn it. He wasn't going to let someone named Todd poach it from him. He turned, brightest smile firmly in place, ready to lay on the charm, only to have Till squeeze past him.
"I'm gonna hit the head before the meeting," he said. "Be back in a few." As their shoulders brushed, Ivan heard, Weird that he knows how I like my coffee.
Ivan felt his shoulders sag as he watched Till go the opposite direction Todd had taken and turn the corner. Well. So much for that. He closed the conference room door, trudged to the table and slumped into a seat, pulling out his phone and navigating to his texts.
Ivan nearly fumbled his phone. What the hell kind of question was that? He looked around the room to make sure no one had snuck in while he hadn't been paying attention. Not that they could. But still.
Yeah yeah yeah, Ivan thought, pocketing his phone. Story of my life. He sighed and slid back into work mode. A couple coworkers had trickled in by the time Till returned, and Ivan ignored his own disappointment for a moment, making amiable small talk as Till settled back in his seat. When the clients finally arrived, introductions were made, and Ivan realized they'd brought a few more people than planned. Every chair would be taken, but they'd manage. Every time he shook a hand, he caught a stray thought, which was a bit disorienting.
God, I hope we get through this quick. I'm starving.
That coffee better be fresh.
Ooh, hello handsome. Where are you sitting? This thought came from a woman at least twenty years older than him. His smile didn't falter, and he managed not to look at the table behind him, but he knew that there were only three seats left: his, the seat beside it that the wannabe cougar was already claiming, and the last one beside Till.
The final person to enter was a woman about his age, pretty in an understated sort of way. Ivan smiled, reached to shake her hand.
Ugh. Why do I have to sit next to the slob?
Startled, Ivan did glance at the table then, found Till stiff and a little hunched, looking as if he wanted to blend into the walls. True, the tshirt and cardigan combo wasn't the most fashion-forward, but he was far from a slob. He wondered, briefly and for the millionth time, why Till had started dressing down so much when he'd had such a strong sense of style only a few years ago.
"Oh, excuse me," Ivan said as the woman began to move around to the other side of the table. He reached over the chair beside the wannabe cougar and picked up his coffee cup. "You probably want to sit with your colleague. Please." He pulled the chair out for her, ignoring the cougar's slight frown, and then sat beside Till.
You don't deserve to sit beside him, he thought at her, flashing another of his most charming smiles. "I believe we're all here. Shall we begin?"
Thirty minutes later, the meeting wasn't going well. The clients were all frowning, albeit subtly, and he caught their vice-president lead surreptitiously checking her watch. He doggedly proceeded through each slide of their presentation, tried to add a little extra charisma to his spiel, but he could tell they were losing them. Except…didn't he have a secret weapon? Sua had said not to do anything until they could test his theory but wouldn't a quick peek now act as its own sort of test?
He paused, waited for everyone at the table to realize it, and then smiled. "I'm so sorry, I'm a bit parched. One moment, please." He stood, picked up his half-full mug, thankful for the lid that hid how much coffee he still had left as he moved toward the long table along the back wall. "Anyone else?" he asked as he passed behind people. He paused behind the VP. "Allow me," he said and leaned over to pluck up her glass, made sure to brush her shoulder as he did.
"Oh! Thank you," she said. Ugh, why are they dragging this out? I've seen too many of these boring ass designs to last a lifetime. Do all these companies use the same template for fuck's sake? I'd rather pay a high school student at this point than—
Ivan pulled away. Considered the issue as he refilled the VP's water glass, pretended to top off his own. The solution was, of course, obvious now that he knew what the problem was.
"You know," he said, as he set the VP's glass down on the table before taking his own seat. "I realized we've spent so much time on our first design option that we haven't shown you the second yet. Which is a total oversight on my part, especially given it's my personal favorite. Not that I'm trying to sway you, of course." He grinned, turned to find Till beside him staring at him outright. "If you would?"
"Um," Till said, leaning toward him and lowering his voice to a low whisper. "What are you doing? We only have the one design set."
"Show them the one I saw earlier.'
"What?" he said, sounding more horrified than Ivan thought the situation warranted. "That one was never approved."
"Well, I'm approving it."
"If Freddie finds out that you even saw it, he'll have my ass."
If anyone was going to have Till's ass—no. Not the time. And Ivan really didn't like Freddie. "I'll take care of it." Ivan widened his eyes meaningfully. "C'mon. They're getting restless."
Till hesitated for another beat and then, muttering to himself, he clicked out of the prepared presentation, and the screen switched to displaying Till's desktop image of a stylized artistic rendition of an alien-looking guitar with an eye as he navigated to the right folder.
"I think maybe we have the general idea," the vice-president was saying, pushing her chair back. "We appreciate your time, but perhaps we should wrap this up now and—oh!" She paused, as the screen now filled with Till's bold designs.
"We of course played it safe with our first design package, but we thought perhaps you'd be interested in revamping your image entirely given your new line of products. As you can see here…"
Over an hour later and another round of handshakes with stray thoughts peppered in ranging from my ass is asleep to I'd never have picked that green but it looks amazing, with most veering more like the latter. Till's designs had truly been a hit and, frankly, had saved the day. He'd had to rope Till into the details about the design when they'd had questions, and he'd seemed nervous at first but had quickly found his footing and became engaged and animated, more like the Till he'd first fallen in love with, and he'd tried not to drool while also making yeah, slob my left ass cheek thoughts at the woman who'd insulted him as she'd first looked surprised and then intrigued the more Till talked.
Mine mine mine, he thought at her and wished she could hear him.
Once they'd all left, Ivan turned to Till, who'd started shutting down and unplugging his laptop. "Why weren't any of those put up as options?" he asked again.
"I told you. Freddie said the clients wanted something more subdued."
"Obviously not considering the first designs left them bored. Those weren't yours, were they?"
Till shifted a little in his seat as he wrapped a cord around itself and stuffed it into his messenger bag. "They ended up being a kind of…collaborative project."
Meaning they had been his until someone else ruined them. Most likely asshole Freddie. Ivan had suspected it before, but this solidified it for him. Freddie had it out for Till for some reason. Had Till pissed him off in a previous life or something? Whatever the reason, Ivan was going to make it his mission to get Till away from him somehow. But he wasn't going to waste prime Till alone time on talking about his jerk manager.
Ivan moved to Till's side, casually leaned a hand on the table and found his suave smile, tilting his head so a lock of his hair fell into his eyes just so. That always seemed to look pretty cute when he'd practiced it in the mirror. "You did great today."
Till didn't look at him as he shoved the laptop into the bag, followed by a pad of paper and a couple pens.
"Your work is always really impressive."
"'Preciate it." He stood, pulled the strap of his bag across his chest.
"I didn't think the meeting would end so close to lunch. You're probably as starved as I am." He chuckled, low and casual. Good, good, he thought. Emanate the suave. Embody the charm. Be irresistible.
"Definitely going to need a bite," Till said, finally looking sideways at him.
Ivan's smile widened. "Why don't we—"
"Glad I told Hyuna what I wanted before the meeting," Till said, glancing at his watch. "She's probably halfway through hers already, so I better hustle."
"Oh," Ivan said, feeling his smile falter. "You're having lunch with Hyuna?"
"Yep." He picked up his empty mug, lifted it slightly in acknowledgment. "Thanks again for the coffee earlier."
"I can take care of that for you," Ivan said, forcing back his smile and reaching for the mug.
"No, I got it," Till said, pulling it away. But their fingers brushed and, with it, the trailing end of Till's thought, —can't stand to be around him.
Ivan felt a sharp, physical jab of pain through his chest as if he'd been stabbed. "O-oh," he said, felt the smile slipping. "Okay. I'll let you get to your lunch."
"Thanks," Till said, backing toward the door. He lifted the mug again as if toasting him. "See you."
"Yeah. See you." Ivan managed to hang on to the threads of the smile until the door closed behind Till, leaving him alone again in the conference room. He slowly sank down on the tabletop. Did—did Till hate him? They'd never been close. At least, not since high school. They'd hung out a lot their freshman year before they'd begun to drift apart, their interests and friend groups too different to provide a good excuse for it. But he never thought Till actively avoided him.
Shit. Ivan dropped his head into a hand, felt suddenly like crying. God, no. Not at the office. Instead he pulled out his phone.
Mizi practically bounced in her seat as Ivan approached the table. "Touch me! Touch me!" she said while he was still ten feet away. He noticed several people turn their heads to look at them and tried not to scowl.
Beside her, Sua set a hand on her knee. "Babe, you're making a scene."
"Don't care! This is too exciting!"
"You're embarrassing him."
"Pfft," Mizi said as Ivan slid into the booth across from them. "Ivan doesn't get embarrassed."
"I'd prefer not to draw attention right now," Ivan said and then nodded. "Sua."
She nodded back. "Ivan."
Mizi thrust her hand across the table. "Do it!"
Ivan sighed, took her hand in his.
"This is so exciting!" Mizi said, her eyes gleaming. "Tell me when you hear anything!"
"I will."
"It'd be funny if you heard something I didn't realized I'd been thinking," Mizi said. "Do you think people do that? Seems entirely possible to me."
Ivan frowned.
"Does it normally take this long?"
"No," Ivan said and let her hand go. His brow creased as he stared at her. "So far it's always been immediate."
"Huh." Mizi thought for a moment. "Did you hear anything this morning?"
"This morning?"
"In the halls outside the elevator, remember? I took your arm."
That's right. He'd forgotten. He thought back, remembered being distracted and a little confused, Mizi chattering away beside him. "I don't think I heard anything."
Mizi flopped back into her seat. "Weird. Maybe it doesn't work on women? Like, the magic only works on people you'd be willing to fuck or something?"
"No, half our client's team in that meeting were women, and I heard all of them just fine."
"Hrm…" Mizi considered the issue, tilting her head at Ivan so her pink hair cascaded over one shoulder. "Though, on second thought, I don't think that could be it because then the only one you'd be able to hear is Till. I mean, do you even find other men who aren't him fuckable? Oh, hello!"
The waiter chose that moment to appear tableside, subtly raised his eyebrows.
"Try him!" Mizi said and turned to the waiter. "Would you be willing to let our friend touch you? It'd be just a little bit and totally platonic."
His gaze skittered to Ivan, and he hesitated for just a split second before he offered a professional smile. "Why I don't give you folks a couple more minutes?" And then he was gone.
Ivan watched him go. "He's not coming back, is he?"
"We'll be lucky not to get kicked out," Sua said. She turned to Mizi, said, chastising, "You really have to think before you speak." And then she paused, looked between her and Ivan.
"What?" Mizi said. "I can see that big brain working."
Sua turned toward Ivan, held out an imperious hand. "Try me."
He sighed and took it delicately. As soon as he touched her, he heard her voice clearly, though her lips didn't move.
That tie is hideous.
Indignant, he dropped her hand, looked down at his blue and teal checkered tie. "Mizi gave this to me last year."
"What?" Mizi said, her eyes huge. "Ohmygod, did it work? It worked? What'd she say?"
"She got it in a white elephant a couple Christmases ago."
Her eyes narrowed, and she gasped, slapped at Sua's shoulder. "Did you tell him about the tie! You promised you wouldn't!"
Sua smirked a little. "Sorry. We had to be sure. At least now we know he's not dying."
Ivan held the tie out and looked at it forlornly. "I like this tie."
"I knew you would! That's why I gave it to you! The color kind of reminded me of Till's eyes."
"Yeah," he said, smiling at it now. He dropped it, smoothed it against his chest. Shot a glare at Sua. "I think it suits me."
"Well, that we can agree on," she said under her breath.
"But wait—why did it work for Sua but not for me?"
"Because you have no filter," she said. She sounded exasperated, but she smiled at her girlfriend fondly, reaching up to stroke the back of her finger over Mizi's cheek as she smoothed back a stray lock of hair. "You say everything you're thinking. At least, you do with your friends. Try again, but no talking this time."
Mizi thrust her hand over the table again.
Ivan sighed, took it. And winced.
ISN'T SUA SO CUTE? I LOVE HER SO MUCH! I CAN'T WAIT TO GET HER OUT OF THAT SKIRT AND—
"Whoa! Hey!" Ivan snatched his hand away. "PG thoughts only please! And you don't have to yell."
Mizi beamed. "It worked!"
"Seems I owe my cousin an apology," Sua said.
Ivan was busy trying to bleach his brain and wasn't paying attention.
"Why?" Mizi said.
"He told me once that sometimes virgins can hear people's thoughts after they turn thirty. Said it's actually how he met his husband. I, of course, told him he was delusional."
"Oh, that wasn't very nice," Mizi said. "Especially since I can't see Kiyoshi lying about something like that."
"We'll take them out to dinner one night to make it up to him."
"Oh, yea! Double date!"
Ivan's mind finally caught up to the conversation. "Wait—what? This has happened before?"
"Yep," Sua said, nodding. "Doesn't seem to happen to every thirty-year-old virgin out there, but congrats. Your creepy dedication to save yourself for Till has given you a rare opportunity."
Ivan felt himself blush and he fiddled with the flatware on the table. "I didn't decide to save myself. It just kinda happened."
"Right. Sure." Sua set her hands in her lap, assumed a dignified pose. "So, virgin boy. What are your intentions with your poor, unsuspecting coworker?"
"Hello again," Mizi said to the waiter who'd appeared once more at the table. "You don't have to run away this time. We don't need a guinea pig. We have everything sorted now."
Ivan put his head in his hand. "Maybe we should order lunch to go."