Chapter Text
Soshiro glared at Narumi as the man moved the thermostat’s little, grey sliding tab to settle at the 72°F mark, or 22°C for the rest of the reasonable world. The younger man stared down at Soshiro, daring him to move the tab back, knowing he’d be able to overpower him with ease. It was downright disrespectful, considering Soshiro was both two years older and his senior at the company, with three more years of experience under his belt. Narumi had only worked there for four measly years, while Soshiro had been there for seven.
“Turn it down,” Soshiro said, hands perched on his hips as he stood his ground with a withering stare.
“Why don’t you drink some ice water?” Narumi calmly suggested, tilting his face ever so slightly to the side with a mocking expression.
Does this man ever have emotions besides anger and annoyance?
All of this was because Soshiro preferred a pleasant, crisp 68°F, and Narumi preferred it on the warmer side. However, Soshiro occasionally got hot flashes, so drinking ice water wasn’t enough. He could hydrate all he wanted, but that just made him pee a bunch, and peeing a bunch meant he couldn’t dissociate while focused on tasks, so that he couldn't skip to the end of his workday.
“Why don’t you wear a sweater?” Soshiro suggested, like he suggested every day. “It’ll keep you nice and toasty, Gen-Chan.”
“Don’t call me that,” Narumi said with a disgusted look on his face.
Soshiro plastered on a fake smile. “I’ll do that the day you call me with proper honorifics, as the respectful team lead you are.”
“Soshiro-san,” Narumi said in a deadpan voice that somehow came across as sarcastic, “go fetch some ice chips, my dear subordinate.”
“You little shit…” Soshiro cursed under his breath, talking through his teeth. He reached forward, swatting at Narumi’s hand until the younger man stepped away, letting Soshiro change the temperature to 68°F. Soshiro rocked back on his heels, satisfied.
And then Narumi changed it back to 72°F.
“Reno-san, please hold me back,” Soshiro requested, “because I’m going to throttle him.”
“Please don’t,” Kikoru entreated from her cubicle, sounding very done.
Reno got up and corralled Soshiro back to his seat. “Calm down. Stop scrapping like cats.”
“I get hot flashes!” Soshiro defended himself.
“What are you, in menopause?”
Technically, yes…
“Ugh,” Soshiro groaned. He shot a glare towards Narumi, who was settling into his cubicle like nothing had happened. “I hate him.”
“So do I,” Kikoru responded, “but he’s the best analyst in the building, so we keep him around. Remember?”
Soshiro pinched his temple and nodded.
“Tragically.”
“I heard that,” Narumi called out across the room.
“Okay!” Soshiro called back, annoyed.
Reno leaned over to speak to Kikoru after the latter sat back down in her adjacent cubicle. “I’d say Hoshina-san is more of a cat. Narumi-san is a scary dog.”
“Let's all just work, please?” Soshiro reminded the group. Then, to Narumi, “You win today.”
“I win every day.”
Soshiro stood up, and Reno rushed over to shove him back in his spinny chair. Soshiro drifted in his chair, rolling on the shiny tile, miffed.
“I should put in my two weeks,” Soshiro muttered.
“Please do,” Narumi said at the same time the two underlings said, “Please don’t.”
At least some people liked Soshiro.
♡♡♡
Later that day, before lunch, R&D Team B received the results of their performance evaluation from the previous quarter. Overall, they scored well, with Narumi receiving a glowing review, but one of them was singled out with a mediocre evaluation: Hoshina Soshiro.
The reason for his mediocre review wasn’t because he was a mediocre worker, but because he’d rejected the sexual advances of the supervisor for R&D. His name meant “keeping prosperity,” but apparently, the only prosperity he kept was his own, considering he was now trying to take Soshiro down a peg.
He hated that it worked, too. Soshiro had no recourse and no proof that he was being retaliated against, and there was no way to be reevaluated because Mr. Prosperity was the sole supervisor for R&D’s teams: A, B, and C. If Mr. Prosperity wanted to, he could make Soshiro’s life a living hell, so Soshiro had to hope this was the worst of it—just something that Mr. Prosperity did to get his embarrassment out of his system. A little revenge, petty as it can be, could be healing. Soshiro understood that, even if he loathed it.
Of course, the others didn’t know the additional context, but they did know the evaluation wasn’t fair. Soshiro was a good worker, and they were ready to protest in his defense, but he told them to stand down. Well, Narumi likely wouldn’t say anything, but the two underlings were prepared to cap some knees.
“It’s so unfair,” Reno muttered to himself as they all walked to the cafeteria. Narumi had left long before them, since he’d worked part of his morning in the field. Kikoru walked with them, texting someone on her phone.
“It is what it is,” Soshiro sighed, defeated. “Just leave it be.”
KIkoru closed her phone and tucked it in her pencil skirt's in-line pocket. “You know something we don’t.”
The hairs raised on the back of his neck. How was she so dang perceptive?
“It doesn’t change anything,” Soshiro said, admitting there was more to the story.
Reno scoffed. “If you say so, boss.”
“Stop calling me boss,” Soshiro said. “You make me feel old, and Narumi-san is your boss, not me. I stopped being your boss years ago.”
“You still have seniority. And you are older at least,” Reno pointed out all benign-like.”
“I am four years your senior,” Soshiro said with a flat look. “You act like I’ll turn to dust any second now.”
“Oh, you won’t? Crazy,” Kikoru muttered.
He laughed, and the two subordinates chuckled with him. They chatted idly as they entered the cafeteria, going their separate ways because while they liked each other, they didn’t want to spend every waking minute of the workday together. Kikoru picked up a latte and pastry from the cafe next door, Reno ordered something in the cafeteria line, and Soshiro ate the homemade lunch he made each Sunday as part of his meal prep. Narumi always ate junkfood, but never in the cafeteria. Soshiro saw the evidence on his crummy fingertips later in the office.
Soshiro ate his ravioli, but there was a problem with it. They were in a creamy sauce, but it split, and it was both too oily and too watery. Confused, Soshiro picked at his food and eventually opted to throw one third of it out, heading to the bathrooms instead of lingering in the cafeteria.
After finishing in the bathroom, Soshiro walked back to Team B’s office. He grabbed his water bottle and headed to the kitchen to fill it up, waiting as the slow trickle of water from the fridge filled it up. They really needed to change the dang filter on this thing…
Narumi was sitting in the breakroom, eating a bag of chips, alone. He was playing a mobile game on his phone with the volume up.
“Could you be any louder?” Soshiro asked, sitting down across from Narumi for some unknown reason to himself. Sometimes, he just felt like annoying the guy, he supposed.
Narumi chewed loudly with his mouth open. “Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of my deafening chips and waifu game.”
“Degenerate,” Soshiro sighed. He laughed and leaned on his elbow, “What game is it this time? Are you blowing your salary on a new gacha game?”
“No!” Narumi became offended, which meant Soshiro was onto something.
“Did you hit hard pity?” Soshiro asked. “Once? Twice? Three times in a row? Come on, tell me.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Narumi groaned, putting his head in his hands. “I just wanted to win her new cosmetics! But she’s an S-rank, not SS, and there are three other S-ranks in this cosmetic draw, and I’ve gotten all of them but hers!”
“Pity,” Soshiro sighed. “Well, have a good rest of your lunch, if you can call it that.”
“Why are you back early?” Narumi asked, changing the topic. He put his phone aside, and it continued playing the theme song. Ah, so it was an idle game.
“No reason,” Soshiro lied. “See you in twenty.”
♡♡♡
One month ago, the R&D department hosted a dinner. Soshiro reluctantly sat with the other team leads and the R&D supervisor, while the rest of the team members sat on the other end of the long table, intermingling. Out of that group, Narumi was closest physically to Soshiro, Mr. Prosperity was on his other side, and the team leads of Team A and Team C sat across from them.
Mr. Prosperity. Kept. Touching. Hoshina. Soshiro.
Soshiro squirmed closer to Narumi—something that made him uncomfortable as well, but it was the lesser evil. He leaned into his side, pretending they were closer than they were, and it became easier the more drinks Mr. Prosperity pressured him to have. They had beers, they did bomb shots, and then soju became the liquor of choice later. Soshiro tried to keep up, but it was too much; there were too many drinks, and eventually, he just wanted to go home. However, he was a team lead, and that meant he had to wait it out until everyone on his team left.
Shinomiya Kikoru, unfortunately, really liked to drink. Ichikawa Reno stayed with her, enjoying the woman’s chaos, further fueling Soshiro’s theory that they were secretly seeing each other. Why else would they always sit next to each other?
Except he always sat next to Narumi. Or Narumi sat next to him. Or both. Soshiro didn’t know—he was almost blackout drunk. But anyway, they sat next to each other, and they weren’t dating! They hated each other! Proof.
Ha.
But then there was an unwelcome sweaty hand on Soshiro’s thigh, and a mouth near his ear breathing hot, gross air against the shell. Mr. Prosperity kept asking questions that Soshiro didn’t want to answer, so Soshiro pretended to fall asleep on Narumi’s shoulder, and that’s when Narumi stood up, plucked Soshiro up out of his seat by grabbing him under the armpits, and gave some bullshit excuse for them to leave.
He shoved Soshiro into a cab, getting in the other side, and saw the drunk man home. If Soshiro cried on his shoulder, then, well… neither of them mentioned it. Neither of them mentioned any of it, so it might as well have never happened.
Still, Soshiro hated Narumi a little less after that night. Just a little, teesy-tiny, smidgen less, and that was enough for him. There was no parallel universe in which they liked each other, so Soshiro doubted he’d ever like him any more than he did in that moment. After all, wasn’t protecting someone from sexual harassment the bare minimum?
Except most people would pretend they hadn’t seen anything, so… maybe not.
Soshiro tried not to think about such things.
♡♡♡
After lunch, Soshiro, Kikoru, and Reno were thankfully alone in the office. Soshiro took solace in Narumi’s absence. However, his feeling of contentment was obliterated when his phone vibrated in his pocket, announcing a text with a particular ringtone for his supervisor.
Mr. Prosperity (Supervisor): Can we talk after work?
Soshiro felt sick to his stomach. He mentally begged Mr. Prosperity to leave him alone.
Soshiro: I’d prefer to communicate through company channels on company time, thank you. It is a matter of efficiency, because phones are distracting. Could you contact me by email next time?
Soshiro: And no, thank you.
Soshiro didn’t receive a response to that. Instead, he received an email from Mr. Prosperity, asking Soshiro to come to his office immediately. Soshiro agreed reluctantly, telling his coworkers where he was going, and then got up to meet Mr. Prosperity.
On his way there, he bumped into Narumi, who was returning from the field test sites to type up his report during the last hour of work. As usual, he was extremely punctual.
“Where are you headed?” Narumi asked, unexpectedly stopping Soshiro. “You look weird.”
Soshiro’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”
“You look anxious,” Narumi amended, and Soshiro lowered his hackles.
“Well,” Soshiro began, realizing he was pretty damn anxious, “I’m heading to our supervisor’s office.”
Narumi gave Soshiro a long look before he declared, “I’m coming with you.”
“Huh?”
“I’m coming with you,” Narumi repeated in an almost robot-like fashion. He sounded so stubborn, and Soshiro knew he was. “I saw what he did at the last company dinner. It was pretty obvious.”
“Dial down the judgment,” Soshiro said, his eyebrow twitching. “I can handle this on my own.”
“Is he calling you for a legitimate reason?”
Soshiro swallowed. “Um.”
Narumi took off, his long legs carrying him in the direction of the elevator. Soshiro stood there, stunned, before he realized the elevator doors were closing and he was about to be left behind. Soshiro sprinted down the hall, but the elevator shut before he could reach it. Narumi had been spamming the “close door” button.
Bastard.
By the time Soshiro got to the supervisor’s floor, Narumi had entered Mr. Prosperity’s office and locked the door. It was closed for a good five minutes before the door opened again, and Narumi exited.
He left, not saying a word to Soshiro.
Soshiro popped his head in the doorway and asked Mr. Prosperity, “Still need to talk to me?”
“No,” Mr. Prosperity said, smiling pleasantly, although it was a strained expression. “Have a good day!”
“... Okay,” Soshiro agreed, not wishing him the same. He left promptly, heading back to his cubicle to get some much-needed work done.
When he got back, he wanted to ask Narumi what he’d said, but the man had sound-canceling earbuds in. Soshiro just looked at his broad back and frowned.
It wasn’t every day that Narumi went out of his way to do something kind for someone else, much less Soshiro, the subordinate that he hated. It made Soshiro wonder why he’d done whatever he did.
Maybe it was to make sure all the performance evaluations were fair from now on, because one lower score affected the group overall. That was it. It had to be, right? Why else would Narumi stand up for him, unless he had some strong sense of justice?
Hm.
An hour later, Narumi did something weird again.
He turned down the AC.
“For tomorrow morning,” Narumi said, “since I’ll be in the field.”
Soshiro blinked up at him. “Oh. Okay.”
Narumi left without further acknowledgement, but still, the small, thoughtful action made Soshiro’s mind reel.
♡♡♡
A month prior, at the R&D department dinner, Gen had planned on drinking a few glasses of beer to be polite, pretending to eat the occasional bite of food, and then ditching the joint after an hour—maybe an hour and a half—if the atmosphere was tolerable or if he couldn’t escape. Tonight, however, was unbearable for more reasons than Gen could count.
Beyond the usual reasons of the smoky, burning smell of people forgetting meat on the grill and the acrid scent of something he couldn’t identify (but he suspected it was cleaning supplies they used on the table between guests) was the fact that their supervisor, Mr. Prosperity, was groping Hoshina.
Gen tolerated all the leaning into his side that Hoshina was doing, allowing him to violate his personal space. However, with each centimeter Hoshina put between them, Mr. Prosperity moved ever so slightly closer, invading his personal space. Therefore, Gen deemed his pain to be negligible compared to Hoshina's, though he was getting fed up with the situation.
If he intervened, then Mr. Prosperity would likely retaliate against both of them, but he’d be particularly vicious with Hoshina. Gen knew of two people who switched out of research and development entirely because of this supervisor, chased out by his unwanted advances and fleeing so they wouldn’t ruin their careers. As much as he disliked Hoshina, his work was impeccable, and he would hate to lose the convenience of having him on Team B—not that he’d ever tell him that. Hoshina didn’t deserve an inflated ego.
Still, Gen realized he had to do something because Hoshina was on his third glass of liquor after many beers and bomb shots (a dumb, messy drink that wasted good alcohol in Gen's opinion), and he wasn’t going to last much longer. He theorized that Mr. Prosperity would try to take Hoshina home, stumbling and drunk, under the guise of being a kind supervisor. It made Gen sick to his stomach, and he refused to watch anymore.
“Excuse us,” Gen said briskly, getting up and picking up Hoshina by the armpits and sliding him out of his seat. Standing against Gen was a generous phrase, because it was more of a dead-weight lean. He shuffled the two of them outside and to the curb despite the protests of the other team leads, calling him a bummer. Gen didn’t care. All he cared about was getting Hoshina out of there.
“You have the survival skills of a houseplant,” Gen grumbled as he got into a cab alongside Hoshina. “Why don’t you tell him to fuck off? Be aggressive. You’re like a viper with me.”
Hoshina's eyes were barely open. He let his head slump in Gen's direction before he straightened up, but then Hoshina slithered down the window side and stared at him.
“Because,” Hoshina said, smacking his lips, “that’s stupid. You’re stupid, Gen-chan.”
“Stop talking.”
“No,” Hoshina responded petulantly before deflating. He shivered. “I feel… gross. I feel gross.”
“The only gross one is him.”
Hoshina shook his head. “I’m gross. I let him touch me.”
Gen took a deep breath. How to navigate this…?
“We’re not working through your issues in a cab, but it’s not your fault. You didn’t let him do anything. He’s the gross one.”
Hoshina teared up, nodding. “I’m not disgusting?”
“You’re not disgusting.”
Hoshina let out an honest-to-god giggle, followed by a hiccup. “You’re pretty nice, Gen-chan.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“Gen-chan, Gen-chan, Gen-chan,” Hoshina muttered like he was reciting a sonnet. “I like your name.”
Gen wanted to beat his head against the window. Unfortunately, he had to get this drunk bastard home safe. So, he tolerated Hoshina's drunk rambling and dragged him back to his home, stumbling the whole way because Hoshina kept wanting to stop and look at things abruptly. He was so out of his mind that Gen strongly suspected something had been slipped in his drink.
Practically strangling the man to get his apartment key code out of him, Gen picked Hoshina up and threw him on the bed. Hoshina starfished, and upon feeling and smelling the familiar sheets, began to cry.
Gen left promptly. He hoped Hoshina remembered nothing.