Chapter Text
“He's staring at you.”
“He's probably just glaring at me.”
“Wow! How'd you know?”
Phainon rolled his eyes at Cyrene's sarcastic tone while trying to focus on whatever was on his computer screen, but Cyrene only laughed at him in response while continuing to linger at his cubicle. Phainon would probably consider Cyrene to be his closest friend, whom he had known for a major part of his life. They had even joined the same company for work following their college graduation. But that didn't mean she had to physically be so close to him all the time, right? Though, it was very typical Cyrene behavior to appear and disappear at her own whim.
“Is there a reason why you're still here?” Phainon heaved a sigh, clicking through various documents on his computer.
“I think Mydei is such a fun guy to be around.” Cyrene finally tore her gaze away from the distance to glance down at Phainon, who wasn't paying the least bit of attention to her.
“Everyone thinks that,” Phainon grumbled. “Everyone but me.”
“Why don't you ask him why he hates you?” It was hard to agree with the woman when she was trying to stifle her laughter at the same time.
“Like he'd tell me.” Another deep sigh escaped Phainon at the reluctant thought of a certain golden-haired man. He didn't want to waste a single one of his thoughts on that man.
“You never know.” Cyrene giggled, peeking at the documents that Phainon was perusing. Cyrene was also a part of the human resources department, so she was often found loitering around Phainon's cubicle while taking one of her many coffee breaks. “Maybe this time, he'll talk to you.”
“He barely wants to talk to me about work while we are at work,” Phainon retorted. “What makes you think he would want to talk about anything with me besides work?”
To put his position into perspective: Mydei, the CEO's son, was a very hard-working man who took his job quite seriously. He was very knowledgeable, bright, and everyone had no problems with him becoming the next CEO when it was his time to take over. Mydei was also quite polite and courteous with everyone in the company, and no one had any qualms with the man–everyone except for Phainon, specifically.
Since the moment Phainon was hired many years ago, Mydei had been treating him with nothing but rudeness. Glares when Phainon hadn't even spoken, blatant disregard when Phainon tries to greet him in the mornings, and just a half-hearted grunt every time Phainon gave him something work-related. Phainon would consider himself quite the extroverted person, and because of his job as well, he was very good at talking with others. He had tried quite hard to befriend the man, especially since they were close to each other in age, and the department Phainon worked in consisted entirely of women. But he barely made it far with the other man.
In fact, Phainon wouldn't be surprised if he actually went backwards with the man. Mydei didn't even address him by his name! At this point, Phainon was sure the man didn't actually know his real name. He ended up being nicknamed “Deliverer” because Phainon only approached Mydei to deliver documents to him. Which wasn't Phainon’s fault, because the guy didn't want to talk to him outside of work-related things anyway! Mydei didn't even want to talk to him while he was delivering work-related things! It came to a point where Phainon would just blatantly ignore Mydei unless he had to discuss anything work-related with him, and he would just have to disregard every single one of Mydei's sharp glares every single day in the office.
Unfortunately for Phainon, the human resources department that he was a part of worked very closely with the executive department, where Mydei obviously would be working in, as the CEO's son. And because of that, their cubicles and office spaces often overlapped, which also meant that Phainon had to see Mydei every day while at work. And that was where he was now, trying to focus on these new hire onboarding documents while feeling a deathly glare boring straight through the back of his head. And to top it all off, Cyrene was narrating the entire situation as if Phainon didn't already know that Mydei was staring a hole right through him.
Cyrene hummed, fiddling with her coffee cup. “There has to be some reason why he treats you so poorly over everyone else.”
Phainon couldn't help but sigh once more. How many times had he sighed already? “Just bring Castorice into this. She's the employee relations person; maybe she can go ask Mydei why he hates me so much.”
Cyrene laughed heartily at his idea. “You might be onto something, Phainon.”
“I truly do not care,” Phainon mumbled. “That guy can do whatever he wants. If he hates me, he hates me. Fine. Whatever. At least he's good at his job.”
“Don't you want another man in your life?” Cyrene giggled once more. “You work in an all-women's department, after all.”
“You are all way nicer to me than the other guy, that's for sure. I don't need him at all.”
With another laugh, Cyrene finally departed from his cubicle, muttering about some sort of plan for them to reconcile. Phainon wasn't sure exactly what she was setting up and why she wanted them to get along so much, but Phainon didn't pay the least bit of attention to her departing words. It was just one of Cyrene’s usual antics, was what he told himself.
And for the rest of the workday, Phainon was unbothered. Although it was suspicious, Phainon couldn't complain, as he had finished the most work he had ever had in his entire life. He reviewed a record number of onboarding documents, answered a record number of emails, and finished reviewing a record number of exit interviews. The rest of the day seemed to pass by in a blink of an eye, but it was when he was packing up his bag to leave for the day that the director of their department, Aglaea, stepped out of her office.
Phainon raised an eyebrow upon laying eyes on his boss. It was a common sight to see the setting sun lowering beneath the horizon beyond the large office windows during this time of day, cascading a soft, orange glow all along the walls of the office space, but it definitely wasn't common to see his boss during this hour. Aglaea was an extremely hard worker, who was usually the first to arrive in the office and the last one to leave. Despite everyone’s worries of overworking, it was hard to tear that woman away from her work. And yet, here she stood, right when the workday ended. What could she possibly want right now? She didn't have her coat or bag with her, so it didn't seem like she was planning on leaving
As if reading his mind, she glanced up at him with a smile. “Phainon, I was thinking of having dinner with all the corporate teams. Would you care to join us?”
“A corporate dinner?” Phainon raised an eyebrow. Although it wasn't the first time, they usually happened at the end of each fiscal year to celebrate something. It was the middle of some random month; why were they going out to dinner?
Aglaea nodded. “That's right. Cyrene is already heading to the other departments to spread the word. Don't you want to eat out on the company's money?”
It wasn't as if Phainon could exactly be opposed to that, and with a sigh, he pushed in his office chair and, once the rest of the human resources department had gathered together, they departed from the building together. He spotted each of the different departments reconvening outside while the heads of the executive department discussed with each other the directors.
“Phainon.” A light tug against his sleeve, and Phainon whirled his head around to find himself facing his other coworker, Castorice. She had already withdrawn her hand and was standing a respectful distance away with a curious expression across her face. “Do you know what this is for?”
“This dinner?” With a quick glance toward the other departments gathering outside the building, Phainon shook his head. “What could they possibly be trying to do, gathering an entire company at the last minute?”
Castorice frowned. “I was thinking the same. We wouldn't be able to fit so many people into one restaurant at the last minute.”
But before Phainon could respond, Aglaea was already approaching the two of them, with the vice president of their department alongside her.
“There's a change in plans.” Phainon did not appreciate the sparkle in Aglaea's eyes as she spoke these words. “Since this is so last-minute, and we cannot possibly ask any restaurant to accommodate so many people at once, we have decided to split into groups.”
“Groups?” Phainon furrowed his eyebrows. “So just… a department dinner?”
“Close.” Aglaea hummed.
“We're eating with the execs!” The VP, Tribbie, just looked a little too excited at the news for Phainon’s liking. “We get to eat with Dei!”
A cheer resounded from behind the two higher-ups, and Cyrene soon came into view. She had an all-too-pleasant smile across her lips. “I let the other department know they can pick where to eat, since they are the executive department that's paying, after all.”
Aglaea and Tribbie thanked her, and Phainon was pulled along by the rest of the group once they found out the restaurant that they would be dining at. But the entire time, Phainon's brain was too busy swirling with this new information to even react with them or process where they were going. Why was this happening? Were they even celebrating anything in particular? And they really had to dine with the executive department of all departments? As much as the human resources department worked with the executive department, it wasn't as if he particularly spoke with the higher-ups all that much. The only people he really spoke to in the executive department were the executive assistant and… Mydei, much to his dismay.
A gentle chime of a bell roused Phainon from his thoughts, and he blinked blankly at the scenery before him. He was so deep within his thoughts that he didn't notice that they had already arrived at the dimly lit restaurant, with warm lighting washing over each of the clothed tables. It wasn’t very crowded in the restaurant, but there were enough people to fill almost all of the tables that Phainon could see. To little surprise to Phainon, they were eating at quite an expensive restaurant, and the two departments were quickly led to a group of tables near the back of the restaurant.
Phainon joined the edge of the farthest table with Castorice and Cyrene. Castorice usually sat away from the group, and Cyrene just joined whichever chair was next to Phainon. Admittedly, he just really wanted the seat as far away from the executive department as possible. Although he hadn't laid eyes on Mydei yet, he wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing him anyway. And he was sure Mydei wanted to see him even less.
“You're sitting so far, Phainon,” Cyrene immediately teased the other man, plucking the laminated menu from the table with an amused hum.
“Aren't you sitting far as well?” With a light laugh, Phainon mirrored Cyrene in scanning the menu before him. And with all the elaborate dishes and extravagant prices laid out in front of his very eyes, he was truly glad none of this was coming out of his own wallet.
“I just went and joined you, you know.” Despite never taking his eyes off the menu, he could almost hear Cyrene’s smile. “Don't you want to get along with the higher-ups when you have the chance?”
Phainon cleared his throat. “I'm quite satisfied with where I'm sitting now. And it'd be such a hassle to try and move people now when we have all already settled in our seats.”
“Oh, don't you worry about that, Phainon! I can get people to move if you really want to sit closer to the executive department. It's part of my charm as a recruiter after all!”
The next few seconds involved desperate swaying of menus as Phainon quickly shot his hand out to lower Cyrene's waving one that was already held high in the air. Her cheeky grin and parted lips had already uttered a single syllable before Phainon could stop her. And it was just a single moment later before a stray menu had slapped Cyrene in the face, silencing whatever else was about to leave her lips.
Castorice watched the entire fiasco with wide eyes from across the table. Swinging arms and menus flying through the air in every attempt to silence the other person. She had heard that the two were close because they had grown up together, but she didn't realize they would outright brawl with each other.
One moment, there was a craze of limbs all about in the air, and the next second, the two were sitting back in their seats and straightening their clothes and hair as if nothing had happened approximately two seconds ago.
“You don't have to do all that just for me, Cyrene.” Despite Phainon’s appearance now tidied up once more, his breathless voice gave away what had just occurred.
“I'd do anything for my good friend.” Cyrene's unwavering smile sent shivers down Phainon’s spine.
“Please, there's really no need.” Phainon managed a laugh, glancing down at the discarded menus to try and finish his order.
Cyrene hummed, leaning back in her chair and throwing her gaze over to the other end of the group of tables. Thankfully, Cyrene didn't push the conversation any further, and Phainon was able to place his order with the waiter in peace. It seemed that something was on Cyrene's mind, but Phainon was never good at finding out what occurred inside her mind ever since he was young. It always seemed as if she were thinking ahead, thinking of other possibilities, as if she could see something that everyone else could not. Phainon had gotten accustomed to this side of Cyrene, and despite all of her teasing, it was why she was such a good person he could rely on.
It was a few more moments of speaking with Castorice and Cyrene about work, coworkers, and their hobbies outside of work, that their food finally arrived at the table. Even though it was a work day the following day, Cyrene had somehow roped Phainon into sharing a bottle of wine with her, and here he was with his salad, roasted chicken breast lathered in a rich, savory sauce, and this giant bottle of wine that Cyrene swore was worth the price.
“Do you even plan to come into work tomorrow?” Phainon laughed at the monstrous size of the bottle set before them. Cyrene had already picked up her wine glass to take in the scent that wafted from the glass.
“Why do you think I asked you to share?” With a wink of her long eyelashes and an innocent smile, she downed everything that was in the cup.
Phainon watched with an incredulous gaze as she swiped the lipstick that had stained the rim of her glass. “Cyrene, there's plenty in that bottle. It's not going anywhere.”
She batted her eyelashes in Phainon's direction. “Once you get a taste, you'll be doing the exact same thing too!”
Phainon couldn't believe she had already downed her entire wine glass without touching the food that was served right in front of her, but it was normal for Phainon not to question Cyrene's amusing behavior.
“Stop giving me that dubious stare.” Cyrene slapped her hand against Phainon’s shoulder. “Just try it!” Cyrene eagerly grasped his glass for him, shoving it in front of his face.
Frowning, Phainon waved her insistence away, returning his attention to the delicious food in front of him instead. “I'll try it after I eat a bit. You can go ahead and enjoy it as much as you want.”
Surprisingly, Cyrene acquiesced, but she made no move to pour herself another glass of the wine. Phainon figured she would get more later and didn't think much of it, so he began to dig into his own meal. The chicken breast was extremely tender, soaking up much of the sauce that it was lavished in and making the meat explode in flavor with every bite, and it paired extremely nicely with the fresh salad that he had ordered on the side. What made it taste even better was the fact that he wasn't paying at all, and he enjoyed much of his meal while exchanging words every now and then with the other two women. And when Phainon felt that the savory sauce was almost too overpowering in his mouth, his hand had instinctively reached for the wine that was waiting before him.
Staring at the red liquid swirling in his wine glass and sparkling underneath the chandelier that hung high above their heads, Phainon gently tipped the glass against his lips, letting the taste of the wine fall between his parted lips and run across his tongue. His eyes widened at the first touch against his tongue as the flavor practically washed across his being. Phainon was surprised at how sweet it was, with barely any bitterness to the wine. Strong wines usually tasted quite bitter; maybe this wine didn't contain a lot of alcohol?
“How is it?!” Cyrene's eyes were practically sparkling as Phainon lowered his glass. He had to admit it, but Cyrene was right; he had almost downed his own glass of wine right on the spot upon his very first taste of it.
“It's… good. Very good.” Phainon couldn't rip his own gaze away from the remaining liquid that sat in his cup, and Cyrene excitedly grabbed the wine bottle to fill his glass back up to its previous amount.
“Right?!” She set the bottle down against the table, pushing the glass back toward Phainon. “Have as much as you want!” Cyrene hadn't even filled her own glass despite her excitement over the wine, but Phainon could barely raise his hand before it was swatted from the air. “Don't worry about me; I'll get more wine later.”
With a light laugh, Phainon nodded and enjoyed the rest of his meal, including the wine.
“Phainon?”
The man in question laughed loudly with the largest grin plastered across his face, clumsily settling his chin into the palm of his hand. “I'm here! I haven't gone anywhere! Right?”
Cyrene stifled her laughter at Castorice's futile attempts to get the other man to respond with any sort of sane answer. “Yep, he's gone.”
After Phainon had taken his first sip of the wine Cyrene had ordered, he had basically consumed the entire contents of the wine bottle all by himself. And it was an abnormally large bottle of wine. Sure, Cyrene definitely got her money’s worth, especially since the higher-ups were paying, but she didn't expect Phainon to drink the entire bottle without anyone's help. She couldn't exactly recall Phainon being such a heavy drinker before. Was he stressed at work? Should she have warned Phainon that the wine's alcohol content was high?
Phainon held a languid smile along his lips, with hazy eyes that stared at nothing in particular. He had already finished his meal before drinking the last drops of the wine, and now he was in a state of complete disarray. Although Cyrene actually ordered the wine for Phainon, she didn't think he would enjoy it so much. But she had to hand it to herself; she really knew everything there was to know about her closest friend! Including his taste in alcohol, apparently.
Castorice stared worriedly in Cyrene's direction, who was watching Phainon with much amusement. Everyone else was beginning to leave now that dinner had concluded and the bill had been paid, and they were all parting from the tables and bidding their farewells. But she was unsure how Phainon was going to get home when he could barely answer Castorice's questions. “Do you know where Phainon lives? I'm not sure anyone here would be able to help him home.”
A devilish smile almost crept upon Cyrene's face, but she bit it back before anyone could notice. “I know someone who would be able to carry Phainon home.”
“Really?”
“Mydei!”
Castorice's face paled upon hearing the name that had left Cyrene's lips. “You–You're going to call Mydei? I thought he didn't like Phainon?”
But before Cyrene could answer the other woman, she had already locked eyes with gold. Batting her eyelashes innocently, she tilted her head to the side. “Mydei, can you help me?”
The CEO's son and one of the most reliable workers in the company approached her with an eyebrow raised. He was previously sitting at the far end of the other tables; in fact, it may have even been the farthest chair from the drunk man that was currently slurring nonsensical words together in the seat right next to her.
The golden-haired man opened his mouth only to immediately shut it upon laying eyes on the other man, who didn't seem to even notice Mydei's presence. It was very clear that the other man was drunk out of his mind, and that sharp stare that bore straight through silver hair, Cyrene always noticed there was something off about how the man stared at her friend. And she was all the more eager to find out what it was.
“Did you drink today?” Cyrene tried to assess Mydei’s stature, and besides a slightly reddened face and a tired expression, he seemed fine.
Mydei glanced at his seat before darting his eyes back toward the recruiter. “Only a glass. I don't usually drink.”
“Perfect!” Cyrene clapped her hands together with a delighted expression on her face. “Unfortunately, neither Castorice nor I is strong enough to carry Phainon home, and I really don’t want to just call a car and leave him be. Would you perhaps do us a favor of bringing him home? I can give you his address and call a car for you too.”
With narrowed eyes, the expression that fluttered across Mydei’s face for half a second didn't escape Cyrene's attention in the slightest–surprise at the request, which was expected, with a hint of nervousness and… anticipation? There was no mistaking his expression, and it only made Cyrene more curious as to what ran through Mydei’s mind when it concerned the only male worker of the human resources department.
Cyrene didn't have long to analyze his reaction, as Mydei's face quickly returned to the sharp gaze that he usually wore. “Give me his address.” Mydei sighed tiredly. “I don't mind. And no need to call a car.”
Castorice's eyes widened like saucers at hearing Mydei agreeing to bring him home, while Cyrene quickly tapped Phainon’s address into Mydei’s phone before the man changed his mind.
“He doesn't live far from here.” Cyrene turned the phone screen toward Mydei, illuminating his face in the dim restaurant with the directions to his apartment. “It's just a humble apartment a few blocks down from here.”
Taking the phone from Cyrene's grasp, Mydei nodded after studying the route for a few moments. “Get home safe.”
“Thank you!” Cyrene rushed to stand from her chair, giving Mydei more space as he easily threw one of Phainon’s arms over his shoulder.
“Thank you, Mydei,” Castorice also thanked the golden-haired man, studying Phainon's face, who appeared extremely confused at the new predicament now that he was practically leaning against some other man. They were now the only ones left at the table, as everyone had already returned home.
“Castorice?” Phainon squinted at the woman in front of her. “How are you carrying me from that far away?”
Cyrene shut her eyes in another attempt to hold in her laughter, taking deep breaths as if she were about to explode. “I hope… he doesn't cause you much trouble, Mydei.”
Mydei huffed exasperatedly, and she watched the two men hobble out of the restaurant. Phainon seemed to be talking about something that she could only assume didn't make sense at all, and Mydei silently let him talk his ears off.
She wondered how Phainon was going to react tomorrow.