Archive of Our Own ^beta

Namping likes his job.

Woah. That’s a sentence that very, very few people have the enormous luck to be able to say. But, against all odds, it’s extraordinarily true.

Actually, it’s more than that: Namping loves his job. What could possibly be better than spending his whole day reorganising sheets and documents, replying to phone calls by a million people, scheduling meetings and other appointments, all in the comfort of his own little office with air conditioning and a free coffee machine?

Well, actually one might think that being a secretary could be a pretty boring job. Draining even. But now, imagine doing all of that knowing that you are basically helping to manage the life of the man you have the biggest crush ever on. And that you get to see him every day at every hour he wants. And that he gets to order you around.

Namping could never trade his job for anything else in the world, because he had a mission, and it was to make Thailand’s most renowed technological company’s CEO Harit Buayoi (or Mr. Keng, as per his official nickname) fall for him.

That rainy day of mid-September, though, really threatened to throw all his efforts down the drain.

Namping woke up at 7 AM sharp as usual, the alarm clock on his phone not even needing to ring more than twice. Shower and skincare down, he put on his everyday office outfit: a nice cream colored suit and tie with a diligently ironed white shirt; then he spent the last few minutes carefully styling his hair and putting on his simple make up routine and he was ready to go. One look in the mirror got him satisfied; he wasn’t that overly confident in his looks, but he guessed he looked kind of pretty that day.

He reached the HB Companies building just in time to also make a pit stop at the café nearby to get his precious vanilla latte, which usually made surviving the long day of work much easier. A little sweetness in his mouth and caffeine in his veins to be perfectly ready for everything the day had to offer to him.

When he arrived in his office, Keng was already waiting for him, which was unusual, because the handsome CEO always got there at least one hour after him or so. But Namping decided not to overthink that too much; he was just so happy to see that beautiful face first thing first in the morning (as if that wasn’t his usual routine, the damn lover boy).

“Oh, good morning Mr. Keng!” he greeted with the biggest smile on his face, dropping his bag and coffee on the desk before quickly bowing a little in front of him. “Already here today?” he asked, hoping with all his might he didn’t sound rude with the question; he was just too curious.

Thankfully, Keng, the absolute gentleman he was, just smiled at him. “Good morning, Namping. Yes, I made sure to get here as soon as I could because I needed to talk to you about something” he replied, with that soft and polite voice of his that always caused the biggest swarm of butterflies to flutter in Namping’s belly. He really needed to get a grip.

But… wait. Talk to him about something? Was it something serious? Something wrong that he did? Was he going to get fired? Namping’s mind started racing at the older’s words, but Keng quickly spoke again as soon as he saw his mortified expression. “Oh, no need to make that face! It’s not bad news, I promise” he reassured him calmly, and Namping let out a sigh of relief, with an embarrassed smile on his face; great, now Keng probably thought he acted like a dumb scaredy kid or something, getting anxious so easily over just having to talk with his employer.

Namping wished oh so badly that he wasn’t so obsessed with the older’s opinion about him. He didn’t even know when exactly did he start harboring his crush. He had been working for HB Companies for a little more than a year, and he honestly didn’t remember a single day where he wasn’t absolutely head over heels about the handsome CEO.

When he first got hired, Keng was actually not that nice with Namping; he just liked to order him around mindlessly, sometimes even getting annoyed at him when poor Namping, who was working an office job for the first time in his life, did something wrong, obviously by mistake. But even then, Namping had to admit that his initial rudeness did things to him, because he was never the type to mind when such a hot man was a little mean to him.

That’s why Namping used to think that it was just something physical, a mere meaningless infatuation that would go away in a few weeks. But then, as they spent more and more time working together, Keng revealed himself as a completely different person. He started acting kinder. Polite. Sweet; maybe too sweet for Namping’s fragile heart. He was always attentive to his needs, never overworking him, asking him how he was whenever he looked tired, sometimes even bringing him coffee and food. And if Namping was a slut for mean boys, he was an absolute sucker for gentlemen.

So he couldn’t stop himself from quietly developing real feelings for the CEO, that were becoming stronger as each day passed by, and with which he absolutely had no idea what to do. For the moment. Hell… he didn’t even know if Keng liked men; but as long as he could keep working for him and seeing him everyday, Namping was perfectly content as he was.

“So what were you hoping to talk to me about, Mr. Keng? Is there special work that I need to get done?” Namping asked cheerfully; he was prepared for anything, if it was for Keng.

“Actually, no. It’s great news for you! Hm, she should be here any moment now…” the CEO said, looking around through the glass walls of the room. To say that Namping was confused was an understatement. Keng didn’t usually like to introduce him to any other employee, probably because he thought that Namping’s job was too important for him to get distractions of any kind. So… she? Who the hell was she?

As if on cue, the office door opened revealing a beautiful young woman.

She couldn’t have been much older than Namping, maybe 25 or 26 years old; she had shiny, long black hair and brown eyes, pretty make up on her face and an equally pretty outfit. Namping had a horrible, terrifying feeling in his guts.

“Here you are! Namping, this is Jane, she will be working with you as my other secretary. I realized that these days there is just too much work to do, with the release of our new products line and all, so I decided to hire another person to help you with everything.” Keng explained with a smile, and Namping wanted to die on the spot.

The prettiest woman he had ever seen in his life. Working for Keng instead of just him. Keng spending his hours at the office with someone else that wasn’t Namping.

Namping was prepared for anything if it was for Keng. Anything except for this.

“Good morning, Mr. Keng! Hello, Namping! I hope to work well with you!” she happily said to him with a bow, and Namping couldn’t hate her. Not yet. She looked nice and sweet; he was just a little too obsessed with Keng and couldn’t stand the idea of someone else taking his place in the CEO’s life.

But after all, he was the one that Keng had known for the most time. The one he shared the most memories with. It was okay.

He smiled and bowed back at her, polite as ever. Namping could get through this.

—

Namping could not get through this.

It was as if all of his worst nightmares had come to life. He didn’t even remember the last time he had to complete a real task for Keng; it was all Jane, Jane, Jane.

Jane who got called ten times a day in Keng’s personal office. Jane who helped Keng schedule all of his appointments and remind him of his meetings throughout the week. Jane who brightly laughed at everything that came out of Keng’s mouth. Jane who found every good excuse to get too close to him, much closer than what was considered professionally acceptable.

Namping was going to lose his mind.

Well, maybe he was exaggerating a bit with the work part; he had his fair share of stuff to do too, and also if he realized that Keng was overworking a woman instead of him he would have probably gotten very mad. But obviously, Keng wasn’t that kind of man at all. He gave them the exact same amount of work, but it just happened that Jane had to do everything that required her to be in Keng’s presence most of the time.

And of course Namping couldn’t see how they acted like when they were alone, but he observed her very well when he was present too. It was clear that Jane tried her best to get Keng’s attention all the time; she was all smiles and giggles, all subtle touches at his arms whenever she got the chance.

And Keng seemed fine with it; maybe too fine. He smiled back, his huge eyes shining as he looked at her. He didn’t even mind when she touched him, because maybe he liked that too, Namping guessed.

On the other hand, he turned invisible for the CEO. It was a miracle they even shared a word throughout the whole day, both of them being always busy with something else. Or someone else, in Keng’s case.

And so Namping was miserable; he didn’t think he could bear with this for much longer without going absolutely insane.

“Jane, I need your help with something in my office, please” Namping raised his head from the papers he was working on to see Keng’s face peeking from the door, handsome and devastatingly perfect as ever.

He wished those beautiful eyes were fixed on him, he wished that the name rolling on the CEO’s tongue was his own, just like it always had been until only a month prior.

Jealousy was eating him alive, like a parasite living in his stomach that was slowly devouring everything it could find. But on the other hand, how could he had possibly ever thought that he may have had a chance with Keng?

He was never going to be as pretty, as beautiful, as delicate, as dainty as a woman was. Namping was just a silly boy with a crush, who thought that someone being polite or kind to him might have really meant that it was requited.

But even so, it hurt so excruciatingly bad when, for the umpteenth time that month, he saw Jane disappearing behind their office door for god knows how much time, while he was stuck there trying not to crash out in the middle of the room and destroy everything in front of him.

Namping didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep on his desk.

He just felt a hand gently stroking his hair, and he wasn’t even sure if the purpose of the gesture was to wake him up or not, because of how delicate the movement felt on him.

Nevertheless, he slowly opened his eyes, greeted by the unusual darkness of the room and the hot breath of another person fanning his head. As soon as he moved, though, he sensed that mysterious figure shifting back abruptly, as if they were afraid of having been caught doing something wrong.

Namping finally raised his head, and no matter how sleepy he still was, his eyes recognized the person in front of him in a split second. It was Keng, standing next to him, his hair a little messy and shirt undone by the first two buttons, like he usually ended up after wrapping a day of work up. He looked catastrophically godly and unreal.

The younger boy immediately panicked. It never happened that he fell asleep on the job. It was absolutely unprofessional of him, and he was about to come up with at least one believable excuse to explain his behavior when the latter spoke first. “You’re finally awake. Is everything okay, Namping?” he asked with a concerned tone in his voice, and all of Namping’s worries disappeared instantly. Keng would never get mad at him for something like this. Not his Keng.

“I… I just- I’m so sorry, Mr. Keng! What time is it?” Namping asked, looking around to see if anyone else was still working. But it was dark even outside of his office, he could see through the glass walls, which meant that they were probably the last ones there.

Keng smiled softly. “It’s 9 PM. You slept quite a lot, but I didn’t want to wake you up. You looked like you needed it.”

Namping stood up, mortified. 9 PM meant that he slept at least three hours… which was crazy for him. He had a very tight sleeping schedule that he diligently kept to perfectly control every aspect of his life and routine, and a three hours nap in the evening was basically one of the worst things that could ever happen to him.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry, I made you stay here and wasted so much of your time, Mr. Keng… I’m leaving right away” he hurriedly said, trying to head to the coat rack to grab his bag and jacket, but a strong hand firmly grabbed his wrist, keeping him from walking away.

Namping nearly had a heart attack.

“Wait, don’t leave” Keng said, and even in the dimness of the room, illuminated only by a small lamp on his desk, Namping could see those beautiful big eyes sparkling at him.

Keng’s huge hand was still anchored to his wrist, with no signs of letting go anytime soon, and Namping had to keep himself from screaming out loud because the way it felt was absolutely incredible. He knew that there was a great difference of size between their figures and bodies, but seeing it with his own eyes and feeling it on his own skin was a completely different experience.

He wasn’t sure what was even happening, but his heart hammered in his chest, anxiously waiting for what was to come. “Sorry… what?” he asked in a confused tone to the older, trying to keep himself from alternating his gaze between his face and his hand on him.

The expression on Keng’s face was weird; he looked almost pained, like something really bad happened to him and he was still processing it all. Namping was even more confused than before.

“I’m the one who should say sorry. I tired you out so much with all that work that you ended up asleep on your desk until night.” Keng replied, his previously shining eyes now sad.

Normally, Namping would have melted at hearing such words from the older; but he couldn’t forget how he had been treated by him for the past month. As if he didn’t exist, as if he was just an anonymous servant who didn’t even deserve to show his face to him. Invisible. Unimportant. All in favor of that pretty girl that was better than him in basically everything, he learnt the hard way.

And the disappointment he felt was so unbearable that he didn’t even care about their boss-employee status in that moment. He really should have, but his mouth was faster than his brain.

“Well, I didn’t think that you still cared about my work that much, Mr. Keng” Namping said in the lowest voice possible, as if he was worried of the fact that Keng could actually hear him (he was). He lowered his gaze to his feet, scared of what could possibly be the CEO’s reaction, which was probably a very confused one since there were at least five seconds of silence before he finally spoke.

“I- What?” Keng asked, sounding disoriented. “Namping. Why would you say this? You’re my beloved secretary. The best one I’ve ever had.”

Namping wanted to bang his head against the wall until he was a bloody mess. He wanted to rip all of his hair off his head.

My beloved secretary. That’s all he was ever going to be. His eyes started welling up with tears, but he tried to hold up, because crying in front of the older was not something that he was going to do under any circumstances; especially this one, since Keng would have probably thought that he was crazy and insane for crying over a sentence like that one.

“Am I really? Because it seems like you don’t need me anymore. There’s Jane to be your favorite secretary now, right?” Namping let himself slip out, and that wasn’t the greatest of the ideas, because now Keng was probably going to think that he was crazy and insane for a different reason.

Keng looked at him with a bewildered expression. Namping didn’t even think he had seen this kind of look on his face ever before. He prepared himself mentally for the other bullets that were going to go straight to his heart.

“Namping, I- I hired Jane for the sole reason that I was so worried about you. I feared I was overworking you too much, and that you’d get too tired of this job and then leave. I couldn’t stand that thought” Keng confessed, as he lifted his free hand to softly caress Namping’s cheek.

Namping was about to scream. He had both of Keng’s hands on him. And one of them was on his face. He was pretty sure that no kind of professionalism allowed this type of physical contact. What the actual hell was going on with his boss? That explanation, too. Was it true or was he just making up stuff for the sake of being nice and not making Namping lose his respect for him?

The last sentence, though, is what made Namping’s heart vibrate in his chest the most. ‘I couldn’t stand that thought’. The thought of Namping leaving. Keng couldn’t stand the thought of Namping leaving.

It was all too much for him; so much that he refused to believe any of what was actually happening.

“I don’t think you’re actually aware of what you’re saying right now, Mr. Keng” Namping took a step back from him, away from both of his hands that were touching him, away from his beautiful but terrifying soft stare that felt too unfamiliar, too good to be true and not just a figment of his imagination.

Keng, on the other hand, quickly regained that meter of distance by taking a step forward. And then another one. And now they were so close that Namping could perfectly trace with his eyes all of the older’s features that adorned his face oh so prettily.

“I’m totally aware, Namping. And don’t call me Mr. Keng anymore, please. P’Keng is enough” he said with a smile, bringing both his hands to hold Namping’s smaller ones, earning a gasp from the latter.

Namping felt like he was dreaming. Nothing felt real; his hands in Keng’s bigger and stronger ones, the things he’d been saying to him, the nonexistent distance at which they were standing beside one another. It couldn’t have been real. He went to the club and someone put drugs in his drink… yes, that must’ve been it.

But then Keng squeezed Namping’s slim fingers in his fists, and the rush he felt throughout his whole body told him that maybe it was real. Maybe it was really happening and he wasn’t crazy or dreaming or under the influence of some hallucinogen substance. And maybe he deserved it all.

“What- what’s going on, P’Keng?” he asked dumbly, the sound of the older’s plain name flowing on his tongue like he was the only person in the world who was meant to say it out loud more than anyone else.

Keng smiled again, sweeter than any other smile he had ever flashed to Namping in their year of knowing each other. “I’m so, so sorry for not treating you like you deserved for the past month, for making you doubt me, for not being present. I told myself that it was just a few weeks until I finally finished this damn project, and then I could go back to see you every hour of every day. I mostly gave you work to do in your own room because I guessed it was easier and less tiring for you, since you’ve always been so diligent and perfect for me… too perfect. To the point that the only thing that could go wrong in this office actually did; I started catching feelings for you, Namping.”

Keng paused for a few seconds, giving Namping time to let that sink in; of course, it sounded so incredibly insane that at first he couldn’t even manage to do anything besides staring at him in shock, his heart threatening to jump out of his chest, hands trembling in the warm embrace of Keng’s ones – who of course realized it, squeezing them even tighter.

He let out a mix between a laugh and a sigh, shaking his head slightly. “Hell, I don’t think anyone has ever made me feel like you do. With your beautiful smiles, your constant cheerfulness that helped me become finally happy with my job again after a long time. The way you always kept your positive attitude even when I acted like a frustrated asshole and treated you like garbage during the first weeks of working here. The way you’re so damn smart and can always find a solution for every problem. And a billion other reasons, but the way you’re looking up at me so prettily with your sweet face right now is sure a new entry to the list” Keng concluded, raising one hand to cup Namping’s cheek gently.

Namping was stunned. He couldn’t speak nor think for the moment, but his eyes were threatening to spill every ounce of water that was present in his body pretty soon, so he did the only thing that came to mind to try and prevent that from happening.

He launched himself at Keng and closed the distance between them once and for all.

Keng was taken aback at first; he didn’t move for a few seconds, simply standing there as if he was frozen. And with that initial reaction Namping thought he messed everything up; he was about to pull away and apologize a million times, he shouldn’t have done that so fast, so suddenly, he was so sorry for being such an impulsive kid, he’d understand if Keng wouldn’t want anything to do with him again…

But then he felt Keng’s hand tightening on his jaw, the other one gripping his waist firmly, like he was afraid that Namping could ever leave his embrace. And Keng’s mouth crashing back against his own.

It was the sweetest kiss Namping had ever shared with anyone in his life; Keng moved his lips on him like he had been familiar with the action for a thousand years, like they were two matching puzzle pieces slotting together instantly. Namping felt absolutely euphoric; he smiled into the kiss, and Keng must have noticed it because he took advantage of that distraction to lick on the younger’s bottom lip, requesting access.

As soon as he felt Keng’s tongue touching him, Namping shivered. He had been waiting for that moment for basically a whole year; every sensation felt too much, too amplified. He was very much desperate for anything that Keng had to offer him, but at the same time the way he felt for the man was so strong and deep that everything they were sharing got him lightheaded.

But he wanted it all so badly. He wanted him. And so he finally took courage and parted his lips, letting Keng lick into his mouth hungrily, while both of his hands now possessively held onto his waist; it was messy and rough, to the point where Namping had to really restrain himself from letting out sounds that wouldn’t have been the least bit appropriate for a first kiss.

Namping felt like he was in heaven; if he had to be perfectly honest, even if he found out he was actually dead and that was the afterlife, he wouldn’t have complained in the slightest.

They continued kissing for what seemed to be hours, until they were unfortunately reminded that air was actually something they needed in order to keep on living, so they pulled away, panting and gasping as if they had just run a marathon.

Keng looked absolutely stunning. His golden skin glowing more than ever, his big eyes shining like two stars straight from the sky gifting Namping the softest expression he had ever seen on the man’s face. “So… can I take this answer as my feelings being reciprocated or…?” he smiled at him.

Namping felt his cheeks heat up from the embarrassment, but at this point he figured Keng would find him cute anyway, so he didn’t stress too much about it (and who would’ve thought that Namping Napatsakorn Pingmuang was able to not stress too much about something?).

“Oh, P’Keng… You have no idea” he said with a small pout, earning another endeared stroking of his cheek by the older. “Well, like I haven’t been obvious for basically the whole past year. It was actually pretty sad at first, because how could the most handsome CEO in Thailand fall for me, a mere secretary who’s paid to work for him? And it was even worse when I found out that you were not just handsome, but also everything I could ever hope for in a man; so understanding, so kind, so sweet. And all this time I thought that it was just because you had grown fond of me professionally, and only saw me as an employee to take care of.” Namping shook his head in disbelief, and Keng smiled even brighter.

“I probably should’ve mentioned that I have never treated anyone else who works for me like that. Or anyone else in general.” Keng reassured him, and just by looking at him in the eyes Namping felt like all those months of doubts and fears just dissolved into a black hole, forgotten forever. Now it was just the two of them, and nothing else mattered anymore.

However, Namping couldn’t lose the chance to be a little sulky… just for a while more. “Hm… and what about Jane then? It didn’t seem to me that you tried so hard to keep your professional attitude in front of her” he looked away from him, an offended expression on his face.

Keng chuckled, getting closer to him again and messing up his hair a little, which earned him a glare and another pout from the younger. “I could tell you the reason behind that, but I’m kind of scared you won’t agree to be my boyfriend if I do.”

My boyfriend… Keng’s boyfriend. Namping wasn’t sure he heard right. That simply sounded too much of a lucid dream rather than actual reality.

Then he realized the possible implications of the rest of Keng’s sentence and he looked back at him with a startle. What did that even mean? Did Keng and Jane have history together or something?

He really needed to get a grip with his jealousy, or he was going to go insane before that relationship even started. “What are you talking about, P’Keng? You’d better tell me. Like, right this instant.”

Keng smiled innocently at him before speaking again. “Well… I might have noticed how jealous you seemed ever since she began working here and so I started to play along just because you look too damn adorable when you’re mad like that.”

He couldn’t believe his own ears. What the actual hell. So Namping almost had a nervous breakdown multiple times a day for an entire month just because Keng thought he looked cute when he was jealous? Oh, he was so going to kill him with his bare hands.

“You what?!” Namping grabbed the first notebook he could find on his desk and started lightly hitting Keng, who on the other hand was laughing like a madman. “I can- not- believe- this!” he shouted between every blow, trying to look furious for the fun of it when he actually just wanted to laugh until his cheeks hurt and kiss Keng a million times more.

And Keng seemed to have learnt to read his mind at this point, because he soon gripped the younger’s wrist in mid air, just as he was about to land another hit, and pulled him closer by the waist with his free hand; and so Namping decided to give up the fight, because the man in front of him looked like a prince straight out of a fairytale, and because he also was totally, completely, absolutely his.

“You’re on thin ice, P’Keng” Namping told him in a fake threatening tone, but his eyes were long gone, alternating between Keng’s and his inviting, full lips.

“Oh yeah? Tell me about it” the CEO smirked, getting his face even closer. And Namping couldn’t help himself anymore: he simply threw his arms around his neck and finally kissed him again, as his life depended on it; and maybe it did, because now he wasn’t just kissing his boss.

He was kissing his lovely, perfect boyfriend.