Atem turned onto his side with a heavy sigh. He couldn't get comfortable and he couldn't seem to fall asleep. He couldn't get the thought of Yugi's attitude out of his head. He knew it had been days since he had been kicked off of Yugi's doorstep but something about the way Yugi spoke to him drove Atem to tears.

He grumbled and sat up, looking at the digital clock on the nightstand. 1AM. He clicked his tongue in frustration. He figured tossing and turning wouldn't do him any good, so he hopped out of bed and made his way to the large kitchen downstairs.

As he approached the spacious island, he heard voices coming from a different part of the mansion. Quietly, he left the kitchen and tiptoed up to a tall wooden door, pressing his ear against the wood, hoping to make out some of the conversation.

"You can't transfer Atem just because he's difficult, Mokuba." Kaiba's voice was firm and demanding. "You'll need to apologize to Atem in front of your employees. From the way he tells it, you made it look like he was sleeping his way up the corporate ladder," he said with a light chuckle.

Atem's eyes widened and he listened closer. Maybe he wouldn't be stuck in Japan after all.

"I made it look that way? I'm sorry did you two not date for like several years? How many times did you ask him to marry you again?" Mokuba asked, his voice was full of static and muffled through the video chat.

Atem gritted his teeth. There were many reasons for him saying no to Kaiba's proposal. The main reason being that Kaiba was an impulsive asshole.

Kaiba sighed loudly. "Why are you mad about that? You never had an issue with Atem until about two months ago. What changed?"

"Seto, I just feel like we've given Atem so much. The least he could do is his job, don't you think?" Mokuba asked, his voice much softer than it was initially.

"I understand, Mokuba. But, if you want him to behave like a normal employee, you have to treat him like one. If you had done what you did to someone who wasn't Atem, we would have a lawsuit on our hands," the older Kaiba brother explained gently.

Mokuba clicked his tongue loudly and sighed. "I know that but I won't have him back here until he learns to follow protocol. He's always talking about wanting to do special projects. If he can complete a special project through your branch and follow procedure, I'll let him come back to the US," he negotiated carefully.

His heart beat loudly in his chest through the sudden silence in the office. He knew he could handle anything Kaiba threw at him but he didn't know if he could handle the added pressure of his job being on the line.

Kaiba chuckled dreamily. "Alright, Mokuba. You have yourself a deal. I've had a project in mind for a while now and I think Atem is the right person for the job."

"Good. Just email me what you have in mind. I've gotta go. My lunch is here," with that, the call ended.

Atem stood up and slowly backed away from the door and into the kitchen.

"Eavesdropping?" Salem said from behind him.

Atem yelped and turned to face the young woman. "Shh! I wasn't! W-what are you even doing here?" Atem questioned, trying to keep his spying out of the topic of discussion.

Salem grinned wickedly and leaned against the island. "I live here," she said with a simple shrug of her shoulders.

Atem blinked at her stupidly as he tried to process her words. "You don't. Kaiba would never-"

"Calm down, Tem-Tem. It's only while I'm in Japan. Think of it as a 'waifu test run.'" Salem explained, stretching and yawning dramatically.

"So, what, if Kaiba thinks you'd make a good wife, you get...married?!" Atem yelled, stepping closer to the smirking teenager.

"Atem, what's gotten into you?!" Kaiba growled, running into the kitchen and separating the two smaller humans with his own body.

Kaiba glared at Atem before turning to Salem and tenderly tucking a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. "Are you alright?" He asked softly, gingerly taking her hand in his and kissing her soft knuckles.

Salem gazed up at Kaiba innocently and nodded sheepishly, smiling warmly and staring at Kaiba with the softest, kindest eyes Atem had ever seen. "I'm fine, habibi. I woke up and you were gone, so I came down stairs to look for you," she murmured sweetly.

Atem narrowed his eyes. There's no way Kaiba's wrapped around this girl's finger, he mused, scowling at the back of Kaiba's head.

Kaiba kissed the tip of Salem's nose. "Wait for me upstairs, please. I won't be long," he shooed Salem out of the kitchen and waited until she was out of ear shot before speaking again.

He glowered at Atem. "If you're going to stay in my house, stop antagonizing my-"

"Your prey? Because she's a child. That makes you a predator Kaiba," Atem retorted gruffly. He'd had enough of being scolded by everyone around him.

Kaiba rolled his eyes and tossed his bangs out of his eyes. "She's a legal adult. That's the last time we're going to talk about that," he barked, going into the fridge and pulling out a bottle of sparkling water.

"Whatever, Kaiba." Atem mumbled, watching the blue-eyed CEO unscrew the cap and guzzle down half of the clear liquid.

Kaiba set the glass bottle down on the island with a small thud and sighed in satisfaction. "I spoke to Mokuba," he stated nonchalantly.

"Oh?" Atem said, pretending that he didn't just hear Kaiba's private conversation. "And, what did he say?"

Kaiba wiped the condensation off of the bottle absentmindedly. "He'll have you back at the US branch after you successfully complete a project for my branch," he explained.

Atem smirked at Kaiba cheekily. "A special project? You mean like the kind of projects I was supposed to do but then Mokuba changed my job description?" He asked, playfully putting his hands on his cheeks, feigning surprise.

"Don't push your luck, Atem. This is your last chance. I can't stick up for you anymore," Kaiba said, gazing in the direction of the staircase. "I'm trying to move on and I can't do that with you always needing favors from me," he finished, crossing his arms.

Atem mimicked Kaiba's body language. "I wouldn't need favors if your brother knew how to treat me, but fine. What did you have in mind for my special project?" He wouldn't be thrown by Kaiba's attitude. He was a hard worker and there was nothing Kaiba could say that would make him unsure of his abilities.

Kaiba licked his lips and smiled smugly. "I've been meaning to acquire a piece of property for a while now. You'd be the correspondence between the current owner and me while we sort out a price."

Atem scoffed and puffed out his chest. "Is that it? In the US, I'm known as 'the closer'. I can close any deal, any sale, and I can sweet talk anyone into signing a contract. Who's the owner and what's the building called?" he asked, his confidence soaring.

Kaiba put a hand on his hip and jeered. "Mutou Yugi of the Kame Game Shop."

Atem's heart sunk into the pit of his stomach and his jaw dropped. He was in disbelief. Kaiba wanted to buy the game shop?

Kaiba yawned. "Can't wait to see you work your magic Mr. Closer," he said, walking out of the kitchen and disappearing up the stairs.

Atem glared down at the bottle of sparkling water and cursed under his breath.

"Fuck," he growled furiously.

I'm going to lose my fucking job.


OOF. Drama!

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Editor: prettiugli