ToD: I started writing this to try and participate in a Valentine contest on Magi Amino, but it ended up taking longer and being lengthier than I anticipated. Even though Valentine's Day is over, I think we can always enjoy a funny and cute Rom-Com, and of course I couldn't resist writing about my OTP UwU

Secret Antagonizer

Magi: the Labyrinth of Magic

A Valentine's Day Office Romance AU

Judar x Kougyoku

T-MINUS 22 DAYS 'TIL V-DAY:

"Sooo...what's your plan this year, Kougs?" My colleague Pisti said between loud crunches of her salad.

I peered over the rim of my coffee cup at her with an eyebrow raised, gulping down a bit too much of my latte. "Ahem...what are you talking about?"

Pisti snickered. "Don't try to act all modest. It's almost that time of year. You know," she held up her hands in a heart and winked at me through it.

"Oh...right."

It was kind of an embarrassing subject for me at this point. Every year around Valentine's day had become somewhat of a ritual for me. I'd use the lovey-dovey atmosphere, cheesy decorations, and obligatory office gift exchanging as a chance to try and bait my crush. The only problem was, the person I had a crush on was none other than Sinbad, the CEO of Sindria Trade Corporation. I saw him on the cover of a Forbes magazine while at the beauty salon as an impressionable teenager, and from then on I made it my life's goal to work at his company one day.

I knew that, in corporate culture, it wasn't a good idea for an employee to try and have a relationship with the head of the company. It's unprofessional and can possibly damage the reputation of both parties. But I was so crazy over this man...the day I saw that magazine I stole it from the salon, framed the cover, and made a shrine in the back of my closet dedicated to him. I prayed to it every night as I put myself through grueling regiments of business studies in my senior year of high school, cram school, and college.

And now here I was, having clawed my way up the corporate ladder to the position of Sinbad's Personal Assistant. It was like a dream come true, only there was no fairy godmother to help me, and I pretty much became an evil witch in the eyes of most of my female co-workers. I was also practically disowned by my family once I put in for the internship here. My parents and older brothers run a company that is Sindria's direct competitor: Kou Enterprises.

Now my only goal was to make sure it was all worth it. I came from a wealthy family, so I didn't care about the money. All I wanted was love. Who better to be swept off your feet by than an insanely handsome multi-billionaire? And if he fell in love with me in return, maybe he'd let me quit my job and be a housewife...in a huge mansion...a mansion-wife?

I still had yet to be successful in my endeavors though. I'd used Valentines Day to drop massive hints to Sinbad the last few years in a row, but he remained stalwartly professional. Either he was clueless, or I just wasn't his type.

"Hellooooo...Earth to Kougyoku! Wake up, space cadet!"

A balled up napkin bounced off my forehead and brought me back from reminiscing.

"Ack! Uh—sorry, Pisti."

"Well? What's the scoop? You gonna try and woo Sinbad again?"

I sighed and pushed a cherry tomato around in my buddha bowl. "I dunno. It didn't work the last few times I tried. I'm starting to think this is as good as it gets. Maybe it's just too inappropriate."

"Aww, seriously? You're gonna quit on me? But your efforts always make work more tolerable this time of year! You can't give up now!"

Pisti had always been my wing-lady when it came to my pursuits for Sinbad. I think maybe she just reveled in the soap-opera like drama of it all.

I shrugged and popped the cherry tomato in my mouth. "I'll still organize Valentine's activities with the morale committee."

Pisti huffed and crossed her arms. "No way. Can't accept it. That dolt Sinbad needs a good woman, and you're the hardest working woman I know. Not to mention the prettiest."

"Aw, thanks Pisti. That's really nice of you to say. I'd gotten used to most of the women around here wanting me to drop dead."

"Pay no mind to all the thots, my girl. You're leagues above their game. All you need is a good game plan that'll earn you a home run!" She mimed swinging a baseball bat. "If you win over Sinbad, the rest of us might be able to catch a break. He works us like dogs."

I gave it some thought. It really wasn't against policy to have relationships between employees, even at the executive level. Pisti is the Director of Marketing, and her boyfriend Spartos is Director of Accounting. Security Director Hinahoho is married to Director of HR, Rurumu. Chief Operations Officer Drakon is married to his PA, Sahel. Spartos's older brother Mystoras is Audit Director, and dates Hinahoho's sister Pipirika, who is Compliance Director.

And then there was Sharrkan and Yamuraiha on the Legal Team, who tried to pretend they weren't a thing because they spend all day arguing about who argues better, but everybody knew about how they'd wind up carpooling depending on who was at who's apartment on any given night.

Come to think of it, it seemed like I was the only one who hadn't reeled in a fish from the company pool. But of course, most of these people go way back with each other to the company's founding. I was an outsider. And I was trying to catch the biggest fish in the whole pool.

Maybe Pisti was right. Maybe I just needed to switch up my bait and lures.

"Alright then. Operation V-Day is a go. Got any ideas?"

"Yas!" Pisti pumped her fist in the air, and when heads in the cafeteria turned, she shrank back down to her coy petite-ness, scooting her chair close to me and bringing her volume down to a whisper. We knew all too well how the rumor mill ran.

"Okay, so your strategy before was the secret admirer angle, right? Flowers, chocolates, anonymous poems, all that."

"Yeah. He didn't catch on despite how kind of obvious I was that they were from me."

"That's because he's a more of a ditz than he lets on. If you try to be all subtle, it just sails right over his head. You gotta be a bit more direct, but not in a way that puts your professionalism in jeopardy."

"I see...so what should I do then?"

CLANK!

We sealed our lips and jerked our heads toward the vending machine, where Chief Technology Officer and company bad-boy Judar was retrieving his peach-mango Monster drink. He quirked an eyebrow and leaned against the machine, popping the tab on his drink with an obnoxiously loud pssssht-crack.

I raised my brows at him with a half-lidded stare. "Need something?"

Judar sipped his drink, smacked his lips a bit and shrugged. "I was just wondering when you got desperate enough to need dating advice from a middle schooler, old hag."

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Wow, hilaaaarious. At least I don't have a track record of probably trying to date actual middle schoolers. I also don't come to work dressed like one either."

Judar slinked into a chair across from us. "Could've fooled me with all that junky make-up you probably copied from some little wannabe's YouTube video. And if you wanna get into dress code violations, maybe we should head over to Rurumu's office and talk about how your clothes always happen to shrink a few sizes when February rolls around."

"Begone, thot!" Pisti growled as she snatched a handful of salt packets, chucking them at Judar. He cackled and scampered away towards the elevator.

"Maybe you should get your washing machine fixed!" Judar called as he got in the elevator.

"Maybe you should hike up your gang-banger britches and learn how a clothes iron works!" I yelled at him just as the doors closed. There was a round of chuckling and jeers in the cafeteria. I was never sure who the bigger clown was when these scenes played out between me and that guy.

I huffed and plopped back down, starting to pack my lunch away.

Pisti patted my shoulder. "Like I said before, pay no attention to thots. He's just a prickly, salty sea-urchin still piddling around in the shallows. You're a badass fisher-babe, and you're gonna catch you a big ol' shark. Text me when work is out and we'll talk more about a game plan, 'kay? Happy Friday!"

Pisti packed up and scurried off while I used my remaining minutes to finish my latte. I mulled over whether or not I should still go through with my scheme, when people like Judar obviously took notice and said things like he did. He was the only person ballsy enough to say those things to my face, so what sort of things was everyone else saying behind my back?

And it's not like Judar was really being malicious. He was just one of those "frenemy" type co-workers that you would banter with back and forth to ease the tension and make the day go by faster. Sometimes people took it too seriously and he'd end up getting chewed out, but despite his behavior, he was a genius tech wizard and an irreplaceable part of the company.

If Elon Musk, Marilyn Manson, and that asshole kid you knew in grade school named "Kyle" all had a baby together, the result would be Judar. From what I knew of him, he's a protege that Sinbad took under wing when he was an undergrad in college, when the company was still a startup. When he graduated, he was guaranteed the CTO position with no evaluation. He could pretty much get away with murder and still have a job.

But man, did he know how to ruffle feathers with women. I don't envy whoever becomes the object of his affections.

I drank up the dregs of my latte and headed back to work.

Later that night, as I did on most Fridays, I went about my "spa-day" routine: a clay mask and a fresh coat of nail polish on all my fingers and toes while I watched my favorite chick-flicks and texted Pisti.

PISTI:

Men are sensory creatures. You have to appeal to more than just sentiments if you want their attention. Trust me, it took ages for Spartos to notice that I liked him too.

KOUGYOKU:

Okay, so what should I do? I've been super obvious until now! If I get anymore obvious, I'll be written up for sexual harrassment!

PISTI:

Get dolled up like you usually do, but be less cutesy and more femme fatale. Appeal to his senses with a sultry-scented perfume, and spritz his paperwork with it so that he'll smell you all day and you'll get stuck in his head. And then when he takes the bait, take a page out of his book and act a little oblivious. "Oh sorry, is my perfume too stong, sir?" :D You'll have him tied up in knots!

KOUGYOKU:

In other words, I should play hard to get? I dunno. That's not always as effective as it plays out in romance novels.

PISTI:

It worked on Spartos.

KOUGYOKU:

That's not surprising. Spartos and his family are so prudish. How is it going to work on a lush like Sinbad?

PISTI:

Look, Sinbad is one of those guys who lives for a challenge. If you're too obvious he won't bite because it's too easy. But if you seem more like an obstacle to be conquered, he can't resist. That's just what powerful men are all about. And speaking of lush, you should find a work appropriate way to get some alcohol in him. That drops his guard big time.

KOUGYOKU:

I already tried hitting on him at the quarterly office drinking parties.

PISTI:

Like I said, too obvious. Plus it's the wrong setting. Those parties are for the guys to bro out and high-five each other and for the girls to gossip. Maybe something more formal is in order. It's been ages since we had a black-tie party. Think the morale committee could budget one out?

KOUGYOKU:

Pisti, you're a genius. I love you.

PISTI:

I know. ;)

When Friday came to a close, I spent the weekend planning out my meeting with the morale committee, which I served on as vice chairman, and Rurumu championed as chairman. It was mostly women who liked to be busy-bodies and make sure everyone was in good spirits so that productivity wouldn't take a nosedive. It was a lot of extra responsibility, but it was worth the smiles.

I also took the time to re-evaluate my fashion arsenal. Normally I went to work looking like I walked right out of a shoujo manga: pretty pastels, shimmery lip gloss and flowery scents. I looked like Sailor Moon when she waved her sparkly disguise pen and said "change me into a cool business lady!"

Now it was time to pull out the big guns. Blacks, reds, stilettos, and that sultry Anna Sui fragrance that came in a fancy deep purple bottle. Top it off with some racy red lipstick, my favorite color by MAC called "Ruby Woo".

When I looked in the mirror, I looked like a woman to be reckoned with. I hadn't seen this side of me since I interviewed for my PA spot.

I finger gunned my reflection and winked. "Knock him dead, Kougyoku."

T-MINUS 19 DAYS 'TIL V-DAY:

Today was the day of the board meeting, when I announced my plan from the morale committee to all the bosses. I had met with the committee earlier that morning, and Rurumu approved of my plan.

Ja'far, the company Vice President, seemed a bit skeptical. "A black-tie ball? Why are we having another party? We just had our annual office Christmas party."

"Well, the Christmas party is always about coziness, cookies, and ugly sweaters. This party will be about dancing, bubbly champagne, and appreciating everyone's efforts for the company. Sort of like a love-letter to Sindria's workforce in the form of a swanky social gathering. It'll boost everyone's camaraderie for months to come so that productivity could be even better this quarter than our last one! Plus I have lots of fun Valentine themed activities we can do there, like bingo and karaoke!"

"I think it's a splendid idea, miss Kougyoku." Sinbad chimed in. "It's certainly a good departure from all the obligatory gift exchanging. Does the morale committee have a budget laid out?"

"Absolutely, I'll have it on your desk this afternoon. We're also going to have a company-wide fundraiser. Rather than having to buy Valentine gifts to hand out to their co-workers, our employees can put their extra cash towards the fund for the party, and come Valentine's Day, they'll have a fun event to bring their partners to, and won't have to break the bank on expensive gifts or restaurant dates!"

I flipped over a poster-board and revealed the thermometer fill-in style fundraiser poster, which I'd commissioned from one of our graphic designers to be cutesy and Valentine themed (the thermometer was heart-shaped).

"Each department will have a donations box, and we'll post these in the commons areas so that they can see the progress of meeting our goal. If we end up with a surplus in donations, we'll put the money towards charity."

Sinbad applauded, and the rest of the room followed suit. "Great work!"

I beamed.

"Hey, one question." Judar raised his hand, looking bored with his feet propped up on the conference table.

I steeled myself for the juvenile exchange that was probably going to follow. "...yes, Judar?"

"What if we don't have a date? Anything in your little plan to help with that?"

I scoffed and smirked. "Unfortunately for you, hiring an escort service using company assets isn't allowed. You'd have to pay for that out of pocket."

"I was thinking on your behalf granny, but I suppose that's fair. With all this sucking up, you're probably not gonna have time to find a date."

A sharp ahem from Ja'far cut between us. "Maintain decorum you two."

"Yes sir." I said with a slight bow. "To answer your question properly mister Judar, you don't need a date to come to the party. You can just come by yourself and have some fun with your co-workers."

"Sounds pretty lame."

"Or, you can choose not to come at all. It's certainly not mandatory."

Judar glugged on his energy drink and didn't say anything else.

When I was done presenting and sat back down next to Pisti, she quietly low-fived and fist bumped me under the table.

When the meeting adjourned and we all went back to our respective departments, I began making preparations for the event in between my usual duties of answering phones, keeping track of Sinbad's schedule, and preparing reports, slideshows, and whatever else my boss needed.

When I finally had the morale committee's proposal put together, I thought about what Pisti said over the weekend and reached into my desk drawer for my perfume. I spritzed a cloud of perfume into the air and waved the paperwork through it.

Then I put it back down on the desk to sign it, but when I reached for my pink fuzzy pen, it was missing.

Something tickled the back of my neck and I squeaked.

"How come you never make my paperwork smell nice?"

I spun around in my chair, and Judar was standing there twirling my pen around his fingers, a manila folder stuffed with papers tucked under his arm. He had his bright red, rectangular framed, blue-light blocking glasses on, which always made him look like some kind of emo hipster.

I snatched my pen back from him. "Maybe if you weren't such a pain in the ass all the time, I'd be inclined to do nice things for you too." I scrawled out my signature on the proposal.

"Where's Sinbad? He said he needed these data reports ASAP. I skipped lunch to hammer these out."

"Is that why you were so pissy during the board meeting? Well, he's in a conference call at the moment."

Judar slid onto my desk and plopped the folder in my IN basket. "I'll leave these with you then. Feel free to spray your old-lady pheromones all over 'em too."

I shoved him playfully. "Get your butt off my desk. Go eat a Snickers you cranky beeotch."

He traipsed away, but turned back to me just as he got to the door. "Oh hey, did you hear? We're getting some new interns tomorrow."

"Interesting. I'm sure you can't wait to torture them."

"And I'm sure you can't wait to try and work your cougar charms on some hapless virgin boy."

"Oh for crying out loud, I'm 25! I'm not a cougar! And you're older than me, so if I'm an old hag then you're a mummy."

"Heh heh, mummies are cool." Judar walked out of my office imitating some cartoony zombie, moaning "retuuuurn the slaaaab", which was probably some weird reference I didn't get. At least he was finally out of my hair again.

I got back to work until Sinbad called me in over the intercom to deliver his paperwork. Just for my own amusement, I spritzed Judar's paperwork with my perfume too.

I shuffled into Sinbad's luxurious executive suite. "How did the call go, sir?"

"Just fine. Kou Enterprises wants to have a business luncheon next week to discuss the market climate. I know it'll be awkward, but I'll need you there with me for dictation."

"I'm looking forward to it. Here's the morale committee's proposal, and Judar passed those reports you requested along."

"Thanks...mm what's that I smell?"

"It's called Night of Fancy, by Anna Sui. I thought you'd like the heady jasmine scent."

Sinbad put the papers to his face and breathed in. "It's lovely. You sure go the extra mile for me, don't you?"

I averted my eyes a bit to hide my blush. "Oh, it's nothing. Just doing my best."

He clicked his pen and scanned through my proposal. "I'm really glad you work here with us instead of being with your family's company, Miss Kougyoku. I don't think your talents and effort would be nearly as appreciated otherwise."

I fidgeted a little. I couldn't see how red I was in the faint reflection of his floor-to-ceiling windows, but I probably looked like I was giving off steam. "Th-thank you, sir."

Sinbad signed the proposal and handed it back to me, leaning back in his chair with his leg propped up. That power pose always drove me hysterical. If teenage me were the one standing here, she would've had an aneurysm. I mentally tampered my pulse back down and straightened my posture again.

He didn't seem to notice me being flustered, and he rifled through Judar's reports. "I'm gonna need to process these numbers and graph them out for the staff meeting tomorrow. Think you can put together the slideshow for me? I know it's a bit last minute, but you know how Judar likes to procrastinate."

"Yes, of course."

"You're a life saver." He said with a wink, and my heart leapt into my throat, so I ahemed a bit. He put his mug to his lips and I watched him sip the dregs of his coffee with bated breath.

"Be a doll and fill this up with some fresh coffee, would you?"

"Certainly!" I took it from him and totally-not-accidentally brushed his fingers. I wanted to refill his coffee forever. I spun on my heels and was about to head down to the break room.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

My hand froze on the door handle. "Yes?"

Sinbad stood up and sauntered around his giant mahogany desk towards me, edging in rather close and burying his hands in his pockets. It took everything I had not to collapse into a puddle when I could feel the aura of his body heat.

"I thought you seemed a little taller. Did you get new shoes?"

"Oh," I kicked up my heel to flash him my shiny red stilettos, "these? I've had them for awhile. I just don't wear them around very much. I like to break them out for Valentine's day though."

"They're very nice. I noticed you look really sharp today. You don't usually wear black. And I smell that same perfume on you."

Internal screaming.

He patted my shoulder. "Keep up the good work, Miss Kougyoku. You make every day here really special."

I'm going to die.

"Thank you sir. I uh...I'm glad to have such a good boss."

He smiled at me and I smiled back. There was a brief silence in which I did a full on parade complete with confetti, drumlines (which was actually just my pounding blood in my ears), and giant floats that looked like Sinbad Kougyoku wedding cake toppers in my mental landscape. Then the door was pulled open and I nearly fell to my death.

Ja'far caught me before I hit the floor. "Ah! Are you alright, Miss Kougyoku?"

I maintained my grip on Sinbad's coffee mug, but my paperwork spilled all over the floor. "Y-yeah, sorry! Er—I'm rusty with walking in these crazy heels. Eheheheh..." I bent down to scoop up my papers, and Ja'far helped me out. I sincerely hoped Sinbad was getting a bit of upskirt action while I was kneeling.

Once I recollected myself, Ja'far glanced between me and Sinbad, who was just as flabbergasted at my display of klutziness and fumbled with his necktie a bit.

"Did I...come at a bad time?" Ja'far asked tentatively.

"N-no! I was just getting our boss some more coffee. Later!"

I zoomed out of the office to save face, being careful not to roll my ankle in these ridiculous stilettos. Coffee was retrieved and then I excused myself for the remainder of the day.

Later that night, I could hardly contain my excitement as I was lying in bed and tapping out text messages to Pisti.

KOUGYOKU:

PISTISENPAINOTICEDME!

PISTI:

Gurl. Your caps lock is on. And use the damn space key.

KOUGYOKU:

Sorry! Senpai noticed me!

PISTI:

My methods worked,

huh? Told ya! :D

KOUGYOKU:

He got all up on me and was like: "you look nice today". I was freaking out. And then Ja'far came in and unwittingly helped me save face.

PISTI:

Haha, that sounds awesome! OwO Wish I could've been there to see it.

KOUGYOKU:

I was such a hot mess. I can't believe what a charm a little bit of perfume worked! What should I do now?

PISTI:

Well you got him on the hook a little bit, but you gotta reel him in nice and easy. Be patient, cuz that party you're throwing is gonna be your ticket. A little bit of booze and some tipsy Twister and BAM He's yours. Hook. Line. Sinker.

KOUGYOKU:

Ugh, that's still a few weeks away! I can't wait! TT-TT How am I supposed to bide my time?

PISTI:

Trust me hon, you got this. Do you remember that movie Clueless, where the girl likes this new guy at school, so she sends herself a bunch of gifts and flowers and stuff?

KOUGYOKU:

Oooo I love that movie!

PISTI:

Well instead of sending Sinbad gifts secretly this time, why not treat yourself and make it look like somebody else really wants you? If there's the possibility of a competitor, he'll be twice as interested.

KOUGYOKU:

Huh, I dunno why I never thought of that before. Once again Pisti, you're a genius.

I went to bed that night feeling like a giddy schoolgirl. Operation V-day was already going off without a hitch, and by the end of it, I was going to have that elusive Sinbad wrapped around my little finger.