A snowy night, silence blessed the streets and lamppost dimmed their lights, creating a warm hue. The streets were deserted yet very serene. Only the sound of snow crunching under footsteps could be heard.
11pm, his phone flashed, Eren murmured a few complain before starting a small jog up the sloped pavement. Surrounded by petite sized apartments, he blew hot air in his hands as he nearly reached his own. He knew his roommate was in, judging by the gentle orange light emitted from their windows that contrasted the rest of the sleeping streets.
Eren always felt guilty for coming back late, he mostly worked night shifts so there was no helping the boy. Without a family to his support, the poor young adult had to work as many hours as possible to bring food to his stomach and warmth to his body.
Quietly climbing the rundown stairs within the building, upon reaching the 5th and highest floor, he fished for his rusty keys and fumbled with the lock. He gently pushed the door open and quickly closed it after stepping inside, preventing hot air from escaping. Taking off his boots, he mischievously made a beeline towards a bundle of warmth, his roommate, his childhood friend, and his best friend, the blond haired boy Armin.
Too absorbed in his textbook, Armin did not hear Eren enter the complex. Once Eren collided his cold outerwear against Armin's back, the shorter of the two jumped up from his kotatsu and elbowed Eren in the face.
"Woah! W-What the," spun around and exclaimed Armin, a face full of shock. "EREN!"
Eren fell backwards, definitely did not expect the timid and weak Armin to have that much power in one blow, causing him to have a nosebleed right then and there. Slightly concerned now, Armin snatched some tissues from the box on top of the kotatsu, and brought it to the brunette's bloody nose.
"E-Eren? Are you alright?" worried Armin.
"Do I look alright?"
"Umm. No, but…you almost gave me a heart attack, you know?"
"…Yeah. Guess I deserved that one." laughed Eren behind a bundle of tissues, now dying red quicker than you can eat a boiled potato.
Pushed to the washroom to clean off the blood, as Armin lectured on Eren's prank, they then decided to take a bath together to fight the coldness of the winter. Each at the ends of the tub, they soaked and prayed that the heat would get absorbed into their bones.
"So, anything interesting happened after class?" asked Eren nonchalantly as he gently splashed some warm bath water onto his shoulders.
"If you count studying all evening as 'interesting', then I guess I had a terrific time." replied Armin. Eren squinted his eyes playfully at the blonde.
"What about you, did anything happen at work today?"
"Actually, something did happen." Eren's face broke out into a smirk and placed his left hand under his chin. "I overheard a conversation from my boss on the phone earlier today, he said something about meeting someone tomorrow, and he sounded in panic."
Armin leaned in as if he couldn't hear what Eren was saying, and nudged him to continue.
"I peaked over a crack of his office door and saw him bowing to no one on the phone. First time seeing that strict boss of mine being so meek, I almost burst out loud at the scene." cracked Eren, wiping an invisible tear from his left eye. Armin furrowed his eyebrows and gazed up, thinking of a reason for the boss' sudden change of behavior.
"Maybe your boss' boss is coming down tomorrow for an evaluation of some sort?" suggested Armin, having no clue about the details either.
"Nah, it's his own coffee shop, no one could possibly order him around."
Feeling warmed up, he got up and headed for the shower to thoroughly wash and rinse himself. Both grew up together, the embarrassment was long gone and no one thought it was abnormal, Armin just stared at Eren's back.
"Could it be, he's meeting someone from a bigger company? You know, those ruthless big corporations that dominates over smaller ones and forces them into future profits?"
"Woah Armin, why are you even concerned about this? I just told you the story for a good laugh's sake, you know, the old Weilman, it was just so funny seeing him panic like that." chuckled Eren and completely brushed off Armin's idea as he ran a foamy bath sponge over his lean and smooth body.
"It might be good for you to see if you can acquire the important person's company contact, being under paid by that old goof while working at such a fancy cafe is a joke. If they really are from big companies, you can seek a chance to squeeze yourself into their work instead." replied the Armin, eyes still glued onto Eren's flawless back,
"I guess that makes sense, but that'll happen only if gramps would let me into his office when the phone guy visits."
He turned off the shower and stepped out of the bath, allowing room for Armin to finish his shower too. Wrapping a clean, white towel around his entire body, he braced himself for the cool air to hit his face the moment he opens the bathroom door.
"I'll see what I can do tomorrow, I really hope it's just as you said, Armin. I would love an office job compared to being a waiter under Weilman." He turned the door handle. "Don't stay in there too long, you'll faint again."
...
Under the painted gold plaque with 'Weilman' engraved onto it, Eren twisted his body in the most awkward ways just to sneak a glance at his boss and the other party. Apparently they walked in when Eren was on dish washing duty and he couldn't see the gentlemen in person. Hearing from his co-worker, Petra, she described the two people who walked in as majestic and elegant. She was also practically fuming over how 'tall, dark and sexy' one of them looked. Hearing from his other co-worker, Oluo, his description was just 'dark and sexy'. Upon listening to their hype as the three of them swiped the floor, Eren decided to take a peek too. No, he had to take a peek, his curiosity was killing him!
His curiosity killed him.
The slightly ajar door swung open as Eren lost his balance and crashed into the room. The startling commotion brought everyone's eyes onto the boy whose face slammed on the floor. Shouting profanities in his head, Eren was too afraid to move. Waiting for either side to speak up again, Weilman's face screwed up into terror and stomped over to Eren. Yanking and wrinkling the boy's ironed uniform, he shouted in his face.
"What do you think you are doing? Who gave you the permission to enter this room?" his whole face was darkened by this state. "DO YOU WANT TO BE FIRED, SMALL FRY?!"
Wiping his boss' spit off his face, Eren replied weakly with a small smile. "N-No, Sir, I w-was just passing by and…umm…I-I was wondering if you would've liked me to bring you some tea…or something…"
Still hopelessly smiling like an idiot, Eren braced himself for a punch in the face. He couldn't focus clearly, but a gentlemen, standing by the fancy guest couch, chimed over and grabbed Weilman's wrist before his hand came into contact with Eren's frame.
"Oops, careful now. You wouldn't want to rough up any of your employees, now, would you?"
Eren cranked one of his eyes open when he believed that it was safe to do so, and saw a rather feminine face, accompanied by a feminine voice. He had tied up brown hair and wore a pair of sophisticated glasses. Releasing his hold after hearing the old guy whimper in the most hilarious fashion, the gentleman patted Eren's head and leaned over.
"We would love to have some tea, talking with your boss can parch us quite easily." he whispered the last few words into Eren's right ear, sending a chill down his spine.
Blushing slightly, the brunette bowed without looking anywhere else and quickly hurried out of the room. Once clear from any danger, he dashed through the long halls of the inner parts of the shop and rushed back to his workstation. His eyes darted for Petra and Oluo, grabbed them and yanked them towards a corner. Loudly whispering, Eren spilled what he saw back there.
"You guys have no idea what happened to me back there," both senior co-workers listened with intensity at Eren's story. "I was caught by Weilman," concluded Eren.
Petra's face darkened and Oluo almost gasped out of worry for Eren's safety, even though he never liked the brat. "But a handsome and sexy man helped me out though, just like you described, Petra." Eren's eyes sparkled with admiration.
"Then did you see his eyes? His intense gaze can kill me any day!" Fanboyed Oluo. "Maybe I should get a new haircut, how do you think black would look on me?"
"Black? Why black?"
"Oluo, you're just trying to copy that man, please stop it. You are too old for this." Petra looked unimpressed.
"Shut up! I just 'look' old, I am still the same age as you, so calling me old would be the same as admitting you're old as well!"
Petra fumed and Eren just laughed at the comedy duo, forgetting all about the said promised tea.
...
The man with raven hair let out a tired sigh. He walked towards his black Rolls-Royce Phantom and beckoned his subordinate to hurry up. The taller of the two hurried with a case, probably filled with paper work of the day, and opened the door for his superior.
"Levi, you should really consider buying a car that isn't black. We already wear so much black clothing, it'll make us look like the Yakuza." Complained the brunette as he closed the door.
Already sat down, the older man frowned even more than usual and clicked his tongue in annoyance towards his assistant's rude comparison. Climbed in quickly, the brunette started the car and was ready to reverse. Levi never took his eyes off the front and said in a low tone.
"Don't compare us to those underground dogs, we are proper businessmen."
Returning his head forward and ready to leave for the road, the taller one chuckled at the 'proper business men' title. If anything, Levi was the scariest businessman in the world.
"Also, do not forget to address me as President Ackerman in public, Hanji." Finally glancing towards the driver, Levi added a demanding tone on the driver's name. Hanji just shrugged, knowing Levi all too well to feel the slightest intimidation.
"Yes, yes, whatever you say, President Ackerman."
Levi's eyebrow twitched in annoyance upon catching the tease in Hanji's voice. Brushing it off rudely, he knew better than to add fuel and give in to his childish remarks.
The ride back was silent, Levi wasn't the talkative type after all. Letting out a frustrated and loud sigh, Hanji gripped the stirring wheel harder.
"If only that boy brought us something to drink. Talking to that old guy was like talking to a wall, his mind was only focused on one thing, it made me want to chug a whole tank of water just trying to explain to him our contract."
"People as simple minded as him are easy business, Hanji. Although his shop is small and not well known, his place is still as busy as always within the district. I believe we can bring his stalled business and expand it," explained Levi. "You pay him a small sum, he retires, and we take his name under our wing."
Hanji looked at his President with uncertainty. "Although I have never judged your decisions before, considering how Survey Corporation flourished under your guidance, but what's so good about this coffee shop? How can you be so sure that people would be interested this project?"
Levi smirked for the first time in his long ass day. "It's not the owner or the shop that is good. It is the atmosphere and the brew that is worth expanding. I would know a good cup of coffee when I taste one." Unconvinced, the driver pressed on.
"Are you sure no personal feelings are being played in here, President? You are a busy man, yet you did everything you can to clear your schedule and came down here personally." Levi couldn't see it, but he could almost hear Hanji's eyebrows wiggling.
"One more question and I will kick your fat ass out of my car."
Levi was sure Hanji caught on something, he cursed under his breath. One day, I will bash in that smug face of his.
Hello everyone, Shiragami here! This is probably going to be the first fanfiction of mine that'll surface the internet. In all honesty, I am not sure where this story is going so for the mean time, please bear with me. (Also, Hanji is depicted as a male in this story!) And just a fair warning, I know absolutely nothing about the business world. Heck, I've barely worked in my life so far, so please excuse and correct me if something is terrible wrong. Reviews and suggestions help a bunch! Thank you for reading~
I will be doing information updates along each chapter. So for those who got confused because of my awkward writing, you can always come to refer to this at the end of every chapter! (tinyurl / nf9b3q3) - please remove spacing. ^^
-Shiragami