"Hey, don't make me repeat myself." The joyful look he had on when he arrived in the office had morphed into a cold one. Between him and Fei Huangjin, he may be the more sociable and seemingly happy-go-lucky brother, but he was still his father's son. He had an ugly side to him too, though he didn't always show it.
The secretary was startled and took a step back. However, he had no choice but to inform Fei Haocheng of Fei Huangjin's absence. He was the whistleblower for this piece of news in the company group chat. His boss certainly needed to know about it, too. Especially since Fei Haocheng was to take over Fei Huangjin's matters for today. "But s-sir," he gulped, "The CEO is taking the day off, and I was informed to forward his work to you."
The glare on Fei Hoacheng's face froze in an instant. Fei Huangjin? Taking the day off? That was certainly unheard of. He shook his head, and then immediately started laughing. "Oh you… you really know how to joke.�� He proceeded to laugh, but ultimately stopped when he saw the scared but unchanged look on his secretary's face. "You were joking, right?"
The man across him bowed twice. "I apologize sir, but no sir, I was not joking."
Fei Haocheng stilled, not knowing how to react to that. "Get out. Lock the door behind you."
"Yes, sir!"
He dialed Fei Huangjin's number. If his secretary wasn't pulling a prank on him, perhaps his brother was. Since when did Fei Huangjin ever take a break from work?
It took more than just a few rings before the man in question answered.
"Brother Huang!" Haocheng was ready to bombard his older brother with "I know what you're up to" and "I can't believe you're pranking me," but the man quickly cut him off before he could say anything.
"Haocheng, I'm not coming in to work today. Ying Yue has e-mailed your secretary with my schedule for the day. Handle all my affairs. Don't miss the lunch meeting -- that's an important one."
There was a slight pause on Haocheng's side before he could react. "Wait! Wait! Brother, you're really taking the day off??" His eyes were as wide as saucers.
"I already said so, didn't I? Now if there's nothing else--"
"But why??" Fei Haocheng sat up straight as his eyes landed on the pile of documents which were added to his desk this morning. It was going to take forever to go through all of those. And did he say not to miss the lunch meeting? Hold on -- a lunch meeting? He had a long-awaited date with his darling Lina at lunchtime! "That lunch meeting -- I can't, brother Huang! I have another important lunch meeting today, too!"
Fei Huangjin sighed as he pinched the space between his eyes. "I'm getting married today. I want to spend it with my wife. And don't give me sorry excuses. That lunch meeting is the most important thing that you should attend to."
"Oh, it's important, I see, that's great." He remarked sarcastically. And then there was silence. "Wait, you're getting married? To Secretary Ying? Today?? Does mom even know?"
"Not yet."
He scoffed. "Are you really getting married?"
Fei Huangjin pursed his lips in exasperation and growled over the phone. Didn't he already say that? Was his younger brother deaf or just plain stupid?
There was a look of grave disbelief on Fei Haocheng's face. He couldn't fathom how his cold and calculating older brother could be getting married before he was!
"Don't forget the lunch meeting. It's with the local representatives of our overseas partners."
The call ended with a beep and he blinked a few times. "No, wait, brother Huang what about my lunch date with Lina??!!" He yelled into the phone, even if he knew his brother wasn't going to hear it.
Fei Haocheng didn't know whether he should laugh or cry at his situation right now. My darling Lina… He slumped on his chair like an exhausted little piglet.