Donghyuck Lee defies any stereotype of a boss, secretary Mark Lee thinks.

(It's not that Mark likes reading those premium stories, okay? He wants to support writers and he just has a lot of time until 3 AM, like, every night.)

First of all, none of those stories is about your long lost childhood friend suddenly being a CEO. Mark had been the role model student with straight As, good track record and stuff. But the infamous performer who dances and sings well from his high school, Haechan, became the boss of him.

They were sharing a room for 3 years. It was a blessing in disguise since Mark couldn't cook to save his life. At first, the two didn't get along well, but then Mark got to understand that not all the best people are the people he thought were and vice versa. It became obvious later that Haechan was the best type of person who kept him above the waters which are how tough study and extracurricular activities were.

Alternatively, Mark started to develop a crush towards everyone's crush after rooming with the most affectionate person ever. What's amazing is how he managed to keep his feelings for himself for those three years, even when he'd wanted to kiss him every time he wakes up with the ball of sunshine beside him. He's told absolutely no one about how much he wants to kiss the hell out of Donghyuck's gorgeous face and plump lips.

It's crazy how life works, how his crush who'd never gotten to know Mark's feeling towards him is now his boss. I mean, give Mark a break, Lee Donghyuck used to cook the most delicious breakfast for Mark on his bed!

Anyways, Mark's been through a long road to accepting that he was less successful than a dancer, but he came to an understanding after seeing how witty Donghyuck is. It's precisely because he's so unconventional, which is the polar opposite of orthodox Mark, that he was able to find the most efficient, undiscovered way to deal with defect matters. He invents a lot of methods that proved to be revolutionary, seeing as how his company manages its way as the best recycling company.

Donghyuck manages to be a CEO of the first private trash management company he's built himself at a very young age, now a well-known establishment that goes under the name of Neo Culture Technology. Some people envy him, some people don't believe him, but after those people met him, they're filled with only positive thoughts on him. That's just how big of an impact he has, so he's rather infamous. However, not many know of about his right hand Mark Lee, who's been with the CEO dubbed King of Trash.

One day prior to the very first meeting of the few department heads, government officials, and shareholders, Donghyuck had been very nervous and anxious. Mark had tried to console him, but the newly minted boss had rejected his mollifying touch, which hurt Mark more than he was willing to admit.

"Donghyuck, you have the power to naturally draw people to you, but it will all be worthless if you reject them." He spat it to his emotionally unstable partner and regretted it immediately after leaving him alone.

Later then, at night, Donghyuck showed up on the door of Mark's cheaply rented apartment. Mark had awkwardly opened it to reveal the pungent smell of similarly cheap alcohol. The to-be-secretary hadn't planned on drowning in beer since he had really low alcohol tolerance, but he didn't drink more than he was capable of taking on.

And then Donghyuck just broke down, apologizing while forcing a deluging amount of water down his throat. Thinking back, Mark probably shouldn't have cried with him, but there's a lot of water that was on his body, okay? They had made up that night, Donghyuck sleeping over Mark's house and huddled up to him, barely avoiding the vomit Mark struggles to contain right after waking up.

Donghyuck laughed a lot at him on breakfast, and as much as Mark wants to prohibit him from eating breakfast, Donghyuck was the one who cooked it. If they had thought about the sleepover the normal way, it isn't normal. However, they were roommates of 3 years, bound by the broken heart of Donghyuck, the said man never minding about such propriety and Mark was recovering from a hangover.

The meeting went smoothly, to Mark and Donghyuck's pleasant surprise. Save for Donghyuck's chosen allies like Doyoung and Taeyong, the shareholders and government officials who seemed patronizing were captivated by Donghyuck. They had expected the inexperienced young man to be tenuous and easily swayed, well they were horribly wrong.

"As we all know, waste management had been a matter that was ignored for a long time, but has recently been recognized with the new law was omitted about the charge of processing waste per amount. As a result, the awareness of trash procession has increased alongside the development of its technology advanced.

Using these devices the people of South Korea have made, I plan on giving a hand by making this environmental engineering company. NCT is a trash processing company. I plan on extending our area of expertise to organic matters one day, but we'll focus on plastic, paper, and metal for now. As for the method... "

Mark had snorted inwardly when most of the people in the room had nodded distantly when Donghyuck was explaining to them how the trash processing worked with Microsoft Word 2007, but hey, the app just came out when 23-year old Donghyuck and 24-year old Mark had used that, and it had mesmerized the audience. If he's given the chance now, Donghyuck would've gone so far as to buy a hologram projector and have Jaemin make a 4D presentation in a makeshift cinema room.

Mark tenses as their topic shifts into people. The people in this room are mostly good at that, so it's going to be tougher than the first round. Donghyuck's visage remains powerful, but Mark can tell that his ardour had been dampened slightly.

"We have a long-term goal to value trash as a raw material for the company, all the while as a currency for the society around us. To increase the living standard of the slums around us, thus the building of the factory close by it. The factory's neighbours will be educated to bring sundry trash for us to recycle. After removing the impurities, NCT will recycle it into usable apparatus to be sold."

A question comes from the government official, Mr Lim from the environment department. "What makes you sure to think that this will work? And even if you do, what difference will it make you from a regular company? Why should the government help you to build it?"

It wasn't an unexpected question, in fact, Donghyuck had practised this earlier in front of Mark with Mark making funny expressions to distract him. So Mark couldn't help smiling in remembrance of that when he had spotted the tiniest confident curl of a smile. Honestly, Mark was just thankful that the people that were in the room weren't only disposable pushovers, which means that the shareholders and government had considered NCT as something worthy of their attention.

"When I had spoken of how the people's conscience of disposal had begun to awaken, it was still far from enough. As for the actions the government had been taking by making laws and reducing trash bins, based on the calculations displayed in this graphic-" On cue, Mark had immediately shown the graphic on the screen, capturing the eyes of the people on the room.

"It will not be sufficient to immediately recover both the environmental damage we could have prevented if this company was able to reach the earlier goal I mentioned, which is 80% recycling rate. I have heard that the waste management from this regency isn't going so well either and the mere fact that there are still many illegal garbage dumpsters should be enough to back me up."

Donghyuck didn't mean to offend Mr Lim, but Mark senses his face souring and he kicks Donghyuk's shin out of panic. The victim was surprised and yet he suppressed his yelp, staying silent only because he had sensed it too.

"I know that with a private company handling waste management, it would reduce those illegal dumpsters, and scavengers could earn more with the rise of a recyclable trash's value. But everyone can bring us trash, and it would be valued based on the following criteria," Mark has already prepared the screen before Donghyuck was mentioning it.

"Which would lead to most of the lower economic households to separate their trash and send it to us, conscience boosted with the desire to get money from their waste. Of course, we're not going to take all at once because we don't have the equipment for it, but it would greatly help if the government could help us with the subsidy as a headstart to accelerate our growth rate.

A cleaner city would solve a lot of problems, like health, tourism, unemployment rate, and you would need a lower cost to manage the trash bins and the dumpsters. The government would only need to expend a small amount of fund to make us able to monetarize trash, which would boost the economic growth too. It's a major investment that has a lot of interest, physical and not."

Mr Lim nods, and then Mr Kang from the department of labour raises his hand. Mark really couldn't hold back his smile from how the talk had been going exactly as they envisioned and practised before, so he hid it by drinking a cup of water. "You mentioned that it would solve our unemployment rate problem? How exactly?"

"Yes. A lot of manpower is needed to bring and separate the garbage, for starters. We will need office workers to maintain the sale of our products. This field of work also needs researchers, who we plan on hiring from graduated experts to monitor us so as not to damage the environment further, because the waste of the procession isn't exactly safe either. This company will take in many workers, and therefore I said that we will need many workers."

After that, it was one of the shareholders who raised his hand, Mrs Song. "Do you really think that the people of South Korea who hold high pride would use your product? And would it be beneficial?"

"Honestly, you can't expect us to return the funds you have given us in a year or so. We will focus on building the necessary power plants, large machines and other investments first which require a lot of funds, but later on we wouldn't need to replace the machine unless we were to develop it later on."

The shareholders did seem surprised at the blatant confession. They waited, however.

"But as I had mentioned before, this waste processing factory will be revolutionary towards our economy, our environment, and I'm sure it would bring much greater profit later on. While recycling isn't the most economic and practical thing to do, it allows us to reuse the material that we have. With proper procession, the quality would be at least on par with the ones in the market.

Mrs Song, you had asked whether the people of Korea would want to use the product or not. This is what I wish: to obligate people to use recycled products. Swiss had been implementing a law of recycling policy and now it imports trash from other countries. It can be us, we can be revolutionary, not only making a lot of money but also a name to ourselves. And in business, that's what's matters most."

Donghyuck had managed to convince the government and the shareholders to fund NCT to become the biggest private company that deals with trash. Mark had told him then. "You're amazing, boss."

And he knows, he knows how Mark doesn't empty praise people and that he really appreciates his hard work, so his eyes shone so brightly and Mark fell deeper.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Markie." So he said as he took Mark's hand in his, and Mark feels like he's in a Korean drama.

"Please, stay with me forever. Let's rule over all this trash together."

And he tells Mark that with such earnestness that Mark couldn't think of it as cheesy nor weird in spite of how ridiculous the plead sounded, so Mark answers, "Yeah, we'll be known as kings of trash."

Donghyuck's wholehearted laugh affects Mark in a way he's never been before, so he is now permanently stuck by NCT's CEO's side. He would never leave Donghyuck for other job offers the headhunters give him. He wants to be by his side as his boss builds his empire of trash, which is proven to be successful up until present time which is 13 years after the fateful meeting. They managed to work with major companies to use recycled products like plastic, glass, and metal. The government had also aided very much by issuing the law to reduce tax on recycled goods. Mark and Haechan had cried together in joy when it was announced 7 years ago.

As of why he's very successful, it's because he's never hesitant to attend every work and jump into a pile of trash himself. He's always keen to know what happens on the field, and he perfectly understands what's going on. Everything that goes on within the company, Donghyuck and Mark know, because everything goes through them. Although it may sound burdensome, it's actually very effective and the boss likes it that way. In that way, he can be responsible for every product that comes out of his trash recycling building.

Donghyuck is fabulous with his glorious caramel skin, huge eyes and plump lips. He's not seriously ripped, but he's lean with the perfect amount of healthy fat which he self-proclaims makes him the perfect boy to cuddle. Yet in spite all of these, he still doesn't have a lover, which Mark would eagerly be a candidate of. Mark doesn't compliment a lot of men but he's not blind.

He's also not deaf. His boss's loud, annoying, has a hell of a sharp tongue that Mark couldn't keep up with, and he pranks on his employees.

The last one had Mark seriously hating him for a while because he had an Uno replacing his credit card one day, and it just had to be the day he was going to buy his brother a very expensive Rolex but he didn't have cash on his wallet, and everyone knows he couldn't do m-banking nor shop online. He'd walked home with shame and no golden watch, and temporary resentment for Donghyuck.

But in spite of all that, his employer's also very caring for those around him. Mark knows that a lot of his underlings are infatuated with his boss because Donghyuck knows them each and gives small gifts randomly. He also knows the CEO had to reject someone or two every month. (Not like Mark didn't himself, but the point still stands.)

When he got to work and confronted Donghyuck about the Uno card, slamming his hands on the desk, the perpetrator's eyes widened and he uttered an "I'm sorry," quietly, returning it while biting his bottom lip.

It should be wrong for a boss to be that cute and if Mark weren't very ashamed in front of the unimpressed Rolex cashier (who he wanted to prove to that he wasn't poor because he'd walked in cheap khaki pants) then he would squint. But he was mad so he grabbed it from Donghyuck's delicate hand, half-covered in sweater paw. Slight guilt and endearment washed over him when he saw Donghyuck's forlorn face.

He later found out that the card was recharged with a hundred thousand won for no reason at all, and Donghyuck had given him a week's holiday. But being the workaholic secretary he is, Mark came to the office the next day, his heart almost melting at how Donghyuck's beautiful eyes widening and his pretty little mouth gaping, uttering a "you came?" like it's not his job.

Donghyuck had been clingy to him after that day and he actually properly worked without a lot of yawning in front of Mark. It's a nice change but Mark was creeped out.

Donghyuck got tired of being nice in two days. The propensity to claim Mark's body parts as his, though, lingers until now.

Donghyuck uses Mark's wallet often. He childishly asked his poorer (but still rich) secretary to buy him drinks from vending machines and other sweets. Mark had complied and then bought it by himself, complaining only upfront. One time he was given a lot of money and a long list of snacks to shop, Mark had brought two huge bags of grocery and other weird stuff with a scowl because Donghyuck was nowhere to be found.

Then he found a note on his desk saying, "you should take it back home because I don't need it." The note was annoying but Mark figured the kindness behind it. He'd then stored it in their office's kitchen cabinet.

Donghyuck likes a lot of attention. He needs daily dose of attention from his secretary, but he also pays attention very well. Mark once talked about his mom's propensities in a casual conversation even he'd forgotten, and Donghyuck had sent Mark to Toronto on her birthday with her favourite gift.

And originally straight Mark Lee had grown to really like all these aspects of him. Which is a problem, because life isn't like a Wattpad fiction.

"I need sleep, literally. Fuck." Says Mark to his Samsung phone that's displaying Sunday, 04.35