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karionice · 1 year ago

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The Only Hong

Pairing: ceo!Joshua Hong x secretary!female reader

This is connected to my villain DK one-shot which was lots of fun but much, much shorter. If you'd like, strap in for some world-building.

Word Count: ~ 9.7k

Genres/Warnings: eventual romance and fluff, sci-fi au, kinda dense, tech empire au, non-idol au, robots, mentions of other svt members, skz reference from my drafts, reference to death, joshua is gentle sexy as always, reader and Joshua are about the same age, joshua is an orphan, true neutral, reader probs has anxiety, "refuge cafes" = "Plaza system", first kiss, shua's shtick with water here too

Ceo world taglist: @fabulaee, @laaylaazyy

What a lonely man he must be, you thought to yourself. Everything about Joshua Hong's home was solemn and quiet, yet also very much alive.

In every direction there was some sort of robot - little ones floating about wiping windows, larger ones scooting about sweeping the floors, little screens on each door blinking at you as you walked by...There was even a slinkier robot swinging about the ceiling rafters dusting surfaces and changing lights. One of the sweepers gave you a little wave as you kept walking until you reached a large, open doorway of polished dark wood.

You stood there in the middle of the open doors and took in the gilded, floor length windows on the other side of a large study. It was a beautiful room within an already beautiful place, but you specifically observed the motionless silhouette of a tall and slim young man. He had his back turned to you with his hands clasped behind him, gazing out the window at the glowing city outside.

You didn't know whether to make a sound or not so you stayed standing in the doorway, fighting the urge to fidget. After a couple more quiet seconds, the man looked over his shoulder and gave you a small smile. He beckoned you to come over before turning to walk over to a large desk.

With each step you felt yourself tensing up so you got yourself to breathe as you watched Mr. Hong sit down in his very comfortable looking chair. Once you'd gotten close enough in front of his desk, you bowed and greeted him plainly.

"Good to see you again, Y/N L/N.” Mr. Hong regarded you, eyes astute. “From today forward, you will be my at-home secretary. Thank you again for accepting the position."

You simply nodded and bowed again, making Mr. Hong chuckle. "No need to be nervous, I only hope to make your time working for me both comfortable and manageable." He then stood and beckoned to you again.

"Welcome to my study,” Mr. Hong exclaimed, making a wide gesture with his arm. “That desk over there will be where you will spend most of your time working."

You followed him over and he proceeded to explain some of the more unfamiliar gadgets on your desk, all of which he'd invented himself. He made note of the subtle uptick in brightness in your expression when he showed you the task managing device he'd designed for you.

"And finally, that quaint little area on the other side of the room is the refreshments corner. All of the cabinets are labeled and the refrigerator is self-cleaning - a best-seller of mine, if you didn’t know. Who knew people enjoy saving time from looking for the source of distracting odors?”

Even though you could tell that he was trying to get you to crack a smile, you still felt too timid to really do so and simply nodded at him, not meeting his eyes. At that, he cocked his head and regarded you with another small smile.

“A few of my delivery rovers have already transported your things to your living quarters, which are a little ways past the main hallway. Allow me to show you the way.”

Your shoulders relaxed a little at the prospect of rest as Mr. Hong turned on his heel and gestured for you to follow. Rather than through the large doorway, he seemed to be leading you to a smaller double door on the side within a wall of bookshelves.

As you passed the refreshments corner, the coffee machine, also a robot, waved at you.

You paused in your tracks and blinked, causing Mr. Hong to turn around to see what was happening. When he saw you giving the coffee-bot a wave back, Mr. Hong laughed. You looked back at him wide-eyed and embarrassed, only for your eyes to grow wider as Mr. Hong walked up to the robot and gave it a pat on the head.

Did that robot just giggle? You noted the shine of curly embellished letters on the back of it that spelled Shubot.

“Come now,” Mr. Hong said, breaking you from your perplexion. “There will be plenty of time to become acquainted with the rest of my creations inhabiting this home later on.”

As the two of you continued to walk, you eventually came to be walking next to him rather than behind. You looked around, taking in the elegant mix of all things high-tech and what had clearly been there for generations.

"Hong Corporations has had many rebrandings and changes in development throughout the decades, but the fact that the oldest furniture and designs in this home are from two centuries ago doesn’t change. My ancestors wanted to build things that would last for a long time, but my grandfather was the one who decided to begin a legacy of creating to adapt to an ever-expanding world. Therefore our original property is far outside of the city. My grandfather relocated the business itself to the west side of here, Sector 17, and built it from the ground up, eventually raising my father here. And now for a very important question,” Mr. Hong stopped walking and raised his head.

The screen on the beautiful door you had stopped in front of displayed a waterfall effect to reveal letters - letters that spelled your name.

“Coffee or tea?” Mr. Hong smiled, looking at you.

You swore you could feel yourself blush as you said quietly, “I usually prefer neither.”

Mr. Hong’s smile grew wider as he snapped his fingers. Before you had the chance to soak in how perfectly straight his pearly teeth are, a delivery rover approached rapidly and prompted the door to open.

As you walked into your room, you watched as the rover extended its compartments to plop a robot you hadn’t seen before onto a small table in between the bathroom and what looked to be a vanity. You then jumped as Mr. Hong snapped his fingers again and the new robot whirred itself to life.

“This is Voira, a prototype for a new model of my water filtration and dispensing line. She can set the time when she will refill herself in a sink, or you can have her do it herself whenever empty, and she has a variety of options for the quality and temperature of drinking water. She will also retrieve one of your complimentary mugs from wherever it may be herself, unless you switch that feature off too. Currently I am still working on flavor fusion options, but hopefully with the data produced from you having her, it will be completed soon.”

You had to unhinge your jaw before looking up at Mr. Hong with shy gratitude. “Thank you so much, sir.”

“Oh please my dear, no need to be so formal. Call me Joshua.” At that, you simply bowed and turned away to hide your even deeper blush.

Joshua checked his Shu-watch and tapped the screen a few times before putting his hands behind his back and turning to exit. “I shall see you for dinner in two hours, which will be followed by your first set of tasks to complete for me. Please, however, get yourself accustomed at your own pace. If you need any assistance organizing your possessions or adjusting the settings of anything in your room, there is a companion Shubot on your desk that will gladly speak with you.”

After he left, closing the door behind him, you flopped down into a large cushioned chair by the vanity and took a good look around.

Your room was a sleek yet cozy little space, or at least little in comparison to what you’d seen so far. There were floor length windows here as well, with digital, remote-controlled blinds that you recognized as those of Hong Co.’s that could turn into a television screen. Your bed was a large loft over a simple glass desk, at which you noticed several charging stations for a variety of devices. Mirroring the bathroom, next to your bed was the entrance to a walk-in closet, where all of your things had been left in a neat pile by the rover-bots.

How on earth am I going to get myself together in two hours and still have energy to work tonight? You thought to yourself. You took a deep breath and got yourself up to settle in.

To start, you decided to ask Voira to bring you a cup of lukewarm water. You then started unpacking your clothing in the closet, only to be surprised by the clothes hangers- they unraveled themselves from the shape of hangers into robotic arms similar to the swinging cleaner bot you saw earlier and began hanging your clothes for you; pants, skirts, dresses, blouses, even belts and scarves. When you placed your shoes on the shelves labeled for them, the platforms above sprayed them with a sort of odor-eliminating disinfectant.

“...get yourself accustomed at your own pace,” you remembered Joshua’s voice in your head.

After getting over the shock of it all, you decided to do a little experiment. You noticed drawers that read “socks.” You took out an armful of your socks from a baggage and tossed them all into one. To your amazement, there were digital shifting platforms that paired up and organized your socks for you by length.

At this rate, I will be done unpacking in no time. It’s no wonder how the big CEOs who can afford to have their homes like this are able to be so productive, despite being humans.

“Now,” you thought aloud. “What’s the internet password?”

“Not to worry, Miss!” You heard a voice say from outside of the closet. You rushed out and saw the companion Shubot on your desk waving at you cheerfully. “Just place all of your electronics into the appropriate charging slots and I will get them connected to the internet right away!”

Your hands covered your mouth in silent glee as you hurried to follow the robot’s instructions. Once most everything had been put away, you noted how less than thirty minutes had passed. You got iced water from Voira and sat down at your desk again, you wanted to greet your desk companion properly.

“Hello, Miss! What can I do for you?”

You giggled at the thing and asked, “I just wanted to know, what should I call you?”

“You may call me whatever you’d like, Miss!”

“Please, call me Y/N. And er, may I call you…let’s see…” The little bot swayed in place patiently as you thought about what to possibly name it.

“Ani. May I call you Ani?”

“Of course!” You laughed as Ani gave a little spin. “Nice to meet you, Y/N! I’m excited to take care of ya!”

“Ani, I have some questions, if that’s okay?”

“Absolutely, ask away!”

“Why does Joshua only live with robots?”

Ani’s head quirked to the side. “I assume you don’t know the story of his parents?”

You shook your head. “I know about Joshua being an orphan but does he really not have anyone else?”

Ani shrugged, something you never thought you’d see a stiff little robot do. “I don’t contain any data on the topic of the Hong family outside of their names and important dates. There are other AIs here who do. But I am programmed to keep anything you tell me confidential, so don’t worry! I may not have much to say but you can talk to me anytime!”

You had never thought it possible to experience awkward silence with a robot but there you sat. “Well…I suppose I just don’t know where to start around here. I’m sort of hoping I'll wake up one day and realize things have picked up and I can just work. If, uhm, that makes any sense.”

Ani nodded. “Mhm! If it helps, one of your first tasks after dinner will be to organize your schedule for tomorrow! Joshua will send me a list and then you get to add whatever you want to in my hourly calendar!”

Checking the currently blank calendar, you weren’t surprised that you could add anything you wanted down to the minute, though you did wonder how much of it Joshua would see. “Ani, I have one more thing - Should I dress up for dinner?”

“Oh! The master has specifically requested you wear this…”

“...Ah.”

The uniform wasn’t tacky by any means, you just weren’t sure if it suited you. At least it was comfortable, and you liked that the skirt wasn’t too tight and left plenty of possibilities for layering.

When you arrived where Ani had indicated dinner would be, you stopped in your tracks in shock. Even though you knew that Joshua lived alone, you were expecting something more like a large or lavish dining room, maybe even with a chandelier. Instead you were greeted with a simple kitchen and living space, separated by a counter with tall seats.

Behind the seats was a small glass table and simple chairs with tied-on cushions, almost like what a grandmother long ago would have in their home. Even larger of a surprise, Joshua was in the process of taking off an apron.

When he turned around to give it to a nearby robot to put away, he saw where you were standing and smiled.

“Come, have a seat at the table. My Cara-bots will bring out dinner momentarily.”

As you sat down gingerly, a robot similar to Voira but with a retractable tray for a body hovered over and poured wine into Joshua’s glass. He then looked at you, lifting his glass in question.

“Oh! I don’t really drink…”

Without anything said, the Shubot hovered over to you and poured something amber colored into your glass. You looked up at Joshua, puzzled.

“Try it, Y/N.”

You took a tentative sip and was immediately wowed. It’s like the robot had read your mind - you’d been craving something at this consistency, and the taste…it seemed to be diluted fig syrup, strained of seeds.

A Shubot similar to the delivery rovers but smaller set out plates, chopsticks, and soy sauce. Another one followed with a tray of kimbap.

“My mother’s recipe,” Joshua said, a tad softly. “It’s one of the few dishes I always make myself.”

The two of you ate in silence for a bit. It’s not that you didn’t want to talk and the food was really delicious, you just felt a bit…awkward. Joshua, being considerate of your shrinking posture, didn’t try to make any small talk like he had earlier. You were hyper-aware of it, especially since the situation was too reminiscent of how the two of you had met.

You had just been let off of your last job in the upper-east side of the city, where some places were filing for bankruptcy due to a recent falling through in DK Tower, that part of Sector 17’s keystone, something about a security breach causing a leak of investment funds.

You ended up in one of the city’s “refuge cafes”, which are large plazas scattered across the south side of Sector 17 that offer temporary housing for people willing to work until they find security, usually from business owners that set up there, then after workers can find more permanent options.

Unlike where you used to work, all of the businesses in the refuge cafes used Shubots for everything. The whole system is owned by the south of the city’s keystone, who’s even more secretive than Joshua.

Joshua noticed you at the business you were taking refuge in while he was in the midst of a meeting one day. A rare occurance since it's said he usually never leaves home. He’d invited you to meet with him after your shift and in the midst of the awkward silence of that encounter, you were given a new job which was currently proving to be just as daunting but luxurious.

What finally broke the ice in the present moment was one of the helper robots; a Cara came floating over with another robot that looked similar to Ani on her tray.

“Hello Sunday,” Joshua smiled at the bot as it hopped off of the tray onto the table. “Is something the matter?”

The robot spoke in a much stuffier voice than Ani’s cheerful one. “The atmosphere within a 3-meter diameter of you is rather ‘chilly’. Would you like me to play fireplace sounds over a decibel of white noise?”

The five seconds of silence that followed was deafening until it was broken by an unbidden snort from you. You quickly brought your napkin up to hide your face as Joshua’s head snapped towards the sound. Another second after, Joshua broke into loud and enthusiastic laughter.

Seeing this, you felt your face finally break into the smile Joshua had been looking for all day as you joined in.

What made you laugh even more was how you saw that Sunday was still just standing there, patiently awaiting input. It seemed the suddenly happy atmosphere was affecting him though, as the robot’s face smiled a little more while swaying in place.

“It’s okay Sunday,” Joshua finally said, still wheezing slightly. “That won’t be necessary, but thank you. Let the other Caras know that it’s almost time to bring out dessert.”

Joshua turned back to you as you drank more of your fig drink, and upon seeing that your glass was past halfway gone, he waved his hand and a robot came swinging from the kitchen to refill it.

“Thank you,” you spoke less softly than before, still smiling. “I’m sorry I haven’t said much.”

“Oh my dear, you have done nothing wrong. Besides I should apologize, I forgot to let Sunday know not to have his 'automatic ambience' setting on earlier.”

“All of your creations have so much personality…how have you made that possible?”

“This city is as transparent as it is crowded,” Joshua spoke in a more professional voice, perking your interest. “All it took was programming a Bitty bot to fly around it and gather data on human interactions, giving me everything I needed.” He looked away, wiping his face with his napkin.

“Do any of your robots continue to collect data even after being purchased?”

Joshua raised an eyebrow at you. “Of course not, but I have no control over anyone who uses my devices for surveillance after it’s out of my hands. Only if, say, a separate company volunteers to gather data for me might I entertain the idea, but even so I am still capable of getting that information myself.”

“So if I said you couldn’t use data from how I use Voira to do anything, you wouldn’t?” You were trying so hard not to find your own comment funny.

“Haha! Sorry dear, but the matter of liabilities isn’t there yet. However if you really insisted, I could have Voira be tested elsewhere, but she's a prototype and still under my ownership.”

“There isn’t anything else in this place gathering data from my presence, is there?” You asked, for no reason in particular at this point.

“Just my eyes, of course,” Joshua winked at you. That sure made you quiet. As if to save you from how flustered you felt, the Cara-bot from before brought dessert. A welcome distraction.

Your first day of work was well-paced and quiet. So much in the house was already done by Shubots that most of your tasks were completed at your desk in the study, mainly brief correspondences through an earpiece that matched one Joshua wore, and filtering through messages. Pretty much anything Joshua preferred a human do, which was what you’d expected well before coming.

Joshua was good about making sure everything was doable along with efficient breaks and meals, all while keeping a pristine friendly attitude. You quickly felt your initial fear vanish.

Your second day was more or less the same, and you concluded it by having Ani help you with finding a television program to wind down with. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d felt so…safe. Just being alive.

Your third day began with a very perplexing addition to your schedule. Joshua had the words “Field Trip, dress normally” written in the slot after breakfast, which was to be eaten with him.

You picked a comfortable dress you owned with a cute collar and layered with stockings, plus a pretty jacket. Wanting to maintain some professionalism, you detached your name tag from your uniform and fixed it to your jacket.

“Good morning, Y/N.” Joshua greeted you when you arrived. “I’m glad to see you growing accustomed to the place.”

You gave him a smile and bow. “Thank you for breakfast, Joshua.”

Before you sat down, Joshua walked up to you while reaching into his jacket’s inner pocket and pulled out a small object to show you.

It was a brooch, beautifully polished with a vintage crest decorated with opal. You noticed embossed words before Joshua read them aloud to you.

“Purposeful, Practical, and Peculiar. That has been my family motto since the very beginning. It’s why the company used to be named ‘Pianissimo’ before it was out with the old, but the rather silly motto still stands. You asked me how my robots are so expressive and I told you how but not why. The basis for such an intent has been passed down for generations, I wasn’t about to let it end with me.”

Joshua leaned in closer to you so suddenly you almost tripped, but he stopped just short so he could fasten the brooch in between the lapels of your collar.

“You look lovely today, Y/N. So I hope you don’t mind my ‘finishing touch.’ Please keep it, as a token of my gratitude.”

It was Joshua’s turn to blush as your face broke into the widest smile he’s seen from you yet.

He almost didn’t hear you thank him, the glow of your happy face made the lights illuminating it seem less bright in comparison making him step back in admiration. Joshua nodded in an attempt to hide his sheepish face as you both sat down to eat.

“So,” you began. “What is this ‘field trip’ that Ani told me about?”

Joshua raised an eyebrow at you as he took a sip of coffee. “You named your companion bot Annie?”

“Ah, yeah…I just thought he sounded like an ‘Ani’ to me,” you said, owning it softly.

“That’s really cute. Well, today I will be showing you the ‘Practical’ side of Hong Co. and give you a better idea of how my business is actually run. I know you have some degree of experience from your time at the Woozi Plaza but you will find that tech headquarters are a bit different.”

“Is it true that Hong Co. is just you and this tower?” You asked before taking another bite of your food.

“How could it not be true is the real question?”

You cocked your head at Joshua in confusion. He looked almost stunned. “My my, you must be the first person I’ve met who doesn’t know.”

“Well I always heard people talking in the plaza but I didn’t really…ingest much of it. I’m sorry…”

“There’s really no need to apologize, I promise to take my time telling you.”

He then placed his hand up to his earpiece, silent before nodding. “Mhm, thanks Sunday. And please have that package brought to the upper loft and unpacked.” Joshua looked back at you. “We’ll depart as soon as you’re finished eating.”

The center of Hong Tower was one long and sleek elevator, surrounded by a steel staircase to follow city safety regulations. Otherwise, as Joshua joked to you once you both stepped in, he wouldn’t even bother with the waste of material. You noted that this central elevator defaulted to being accessed by a biometric scan.

“My home is on the second floor through the sixth floor of this tower. My grandfather began with that and kept building up as the business grew. He had hopes that for generations to come, this building would continue to blossom from the roots he laid down. Our original estate would be a retirement place for each scion’s father to rest when we inherited the tower and well…” Joshua didn’t finish the thought as the elevator reached your destination.

When the doors opened, the most complex symphony of so many sounds hit you, and not one sounded human. When you stepped out onto a platform, you gasped at the hundreds of different kinds of robots performing so many tasks below where you were standing.

It was so fascinating how there weren’t any assembly lines or cuticles, it was just a lot of machines and holographic screens and the constant movement of work surfaces and…oh, a couple of them waved up at you. You and Joshua waved back at the same time. Then you looked at each other, causing you to giggle a bit.

“Every floor serves a general and unique purpose in the many aspects of how I have shaped the company. This is where stock is managed and maintained, receiving materials from above and below. Sunday is in charge of these factory floors, sending me any quirks for me to fix from the study. That used to be a more frequent process when I was still developing Sunday's AI,” Joshua chuckled. “But it has streamlined exponentially since I gave him the ability to control physical forms.”

Joshua led you back to the elevator where he showed you the next floors, “the flight lofts” as he called them. They were where everything from hoverbots to drones to transport pods were developed, managed by Joshua’s other AI program, Wednesday. Clever, you thought, that they were the floors that began to surpass the height of most other buildings in the city.

Since the tower was meant to always be built up, Joshua showed you that the second flight loft was the only place he had ever built sideways so that there could be hovercraft landing pads somewhere.

Your final destination for today’s little trip was a lounge floor almost completely surrounded in Joshua’s signature floor-length windows.

“This is the floor right above the last current factory floor, the upper loft. In his later years, my grandfather found that having a break location to end up in on maintenance check days was necessary. It would constantly change and rise since there could never be a penthouse, so my father inherited the idea as a tradition. It is currently of my own design.”

Joshua brought you to the other side of the lounge where instead of long couches, there were two armchairs. As you sat down in one, Joshua clapped his hands together, summoning a rover bot that placed down a round coffee table between you. A lone Cara-bot floated over with a ceramic tea set.

“I ordered the table yesterday, it’s what was in the package I had Sunday send up.”

You barely heard Joshua say that; you were too busy in awe of the view of the city.

Never in your life had you ever seen it from so high up - And goodness had you also never in your life smelled tea so good before.

Joshua laughed aloud at the face you made when you turned your head towards the teapot. “I like to keep my nicest tea leaves up here. I suppose I’ve always been waiting to share it. Let me pour you a cup.”

“Thank you, Joshua.” Your smile made Joshua blush a little again, and this time you shyly took notice. “I will be sure to savor it.”

You sat there for a bit in silence that was decorated by the sound of an electric fireplace nearby and the raindrops outside catching the neon glow of everything in Sector 17.

Despite the city always being rather dark, during the middle of the day like this it was just bright enough where you could see the towers of the other keystones. You could even see DK Tower in the far, far east, though the drizzle made it appear blurry.

“A great view, isn’t it? The City of Perpetual Dusk…” Joshua murmured, and you turned to look at him.

The look on his face was hard to read. You had a feeling that this was the most he ever truly lets himself relax, which was unnerving. His face when speaking to you was usually wise and cheerful, with rather watchful eyes.

At this moment, his whole form was none of those things, and it made him look a lot younger and smaller than you always picture him.

You watched him turn to look at you back and it wasn’t the motion that startled you, but the subtle diffusion of the glint in his eyes. In the time it took you to think of something to say, you wondered how exactly he saw you.

“If you’re always expanding up, what happens to the order of the floors below?”

“This company is constantly recycling itself,” Joshua answered simply, turning back. “We have a few floors of storage above and below ground, but I try not to have material come in too often. The average lifespan of a Shubot purchased in the city is rather short, so a certain percentage of them end up back here to be repurposed in one of the stock floors. Material left over from renovations and expansion goes back down to be repurposed.”

Practical indeed, you thought, sipping your tea.

You reached out to the Cara-bot still floating next to you and tried petting it the same way Joshua petted the coffee machine the other day, evoking a purr from the robot and a melodic chuckle from Joshua.

Two weeks later came a day where you were tasked with helping Joshua out with gadget orders that required more…personal attention than what was taken care of in the floors above.

You were in awe of how many big names appeared in the list Sunday gave you, a couple of whom you’d seen before at the refuge cafe. Though one unfamiliar name did catch your attention among the rest.

With a quirk of your eyebrow, you looked up at Joshua.

“A large order from one…Arthur Pendragon.”

To your surprise, Joshua cracked the most playful smirk as he chuckled. It caught you very much off guard, so much so in fact, that you felt your face warm up immediately, which only made his smirk wider.

“Ah, Seokmin…still ordering under a fake name after all these years. Well, what would he like this time?”

“Did you just say Seokmin? As in Lee-”

“Mhm, the city ‘bad boy’ as I’m sure even he calls himself.” Joshua interrupted gently, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t worry, he may abundantly misbehave but in reality, he can’t do anything outside of a certain perimeter. And while I’m not unfriendly with him, I always stay on my far side of the city.”

“Why do you do business with him then, anyways?” You asked as you showed Joshua your screen.

“Are you judging, dear?” Joshua raised an eyebrow, but he wasn’t fazed at all.

“Not really," you shrugged. "I just haven’t seen anything here that could be deemed, uhm, shady yet.”

Joshua didn’t answer at first, he glanced through the order before chuckling. “I never cease to be amazed at how funny Seokmin’s taste is. It’s like he doesn’t even notice that I know it’s him. No, it’s not truly shady. Reputation aside, he’s still one of the Sector’s keystones and I have worked too hard to be the only one without a single broken bridge to sour that now.”

Before he could continue, Sunday's bot hopped into view to relay a message. You just barely heard it say “Subject line ‘urgent’, from ‘Lee Jihoon.’ Would you like me to read it for you?”

Joshua’s face turned stony in an instant. “Send it to my watch, Sunday. I’ll return shortly.”

He turned to you with the complete opposite expression, startling you. “Apologies, Y/N. Process more orders to your best ability and we will continue our conversation over lunch.”

You nodded quickly as Joshua rose from his chair and left the study swiftly, holding his watch up to his mouth speaking in a hushed voice. A rover bot arrived to pick up Sunday and left too. Trying not to think on it too much, you returned to your desk and went back to your tasks.

About twenty minutes later, you looked at the time. There was still a bit until lunch, so you gave yourself a moment to breathe.

Where is this weird..feeling coming from…?

“Sunday?” You called out tentatively. You didn’t even know if it would work.

“Yes Miss Y/N, I’m here.”

You looked down at your custom task device. A wavy, holographic sphere that resembled a rising sun had emitted from the corner of your screen. This must be Sunday in program form.

“Oh wow, so I can talk to you?”

“But of course Miss, did the master not tell you?”

You decided not to answer that and hoped that said master wasn’t listening. “Sunday, I’m curious, how long has it been since another human has worked here?”

Sunday pulled up a simple visual with a series of dates. “Since the worker lifts were recycled, Miss. The building became fully automated then.”

But that’s after Joshua’s father passed… you thought to yourself.

“If you don’t have any more questions Miss, I have a reminder from the master to begin heading to the kitchen for lunch.”

“Thank you Sunday, let Joshua know what I’ve been able to wrap up.”

“Joshua,” you spoke, the moment the man in question came into view. He had just sat down and looked at you, eyebrows raised. “Will I be punished for using Sunday without permission?”

Joshua blinked hard. “‘Punished?’ My dear you haven’t been misbehaving, have you?”

It took you a second to realize he was making fun of you and you weren’t sure if you were amused or mortified. Joshua gave you another smirk, leaning you more towards mortified.

“No, you’re not in trouble. Even if it was violating a protocol, I never explicitly said you could or couldn’t talk to Sunday. If you ever do something protocol-violating around him or Wednesday, however, I would know immediately.” He regarded you with the same teasing look in his eyes as you sat down, clearly relishing in how it made you pout a bit.

“In truth Y/N, I had hoped in time I could tell you more and more, but I didn’t want to limit your parameters of interaction in the house. Though to see you can be such a daredevil, well, I’m honestly tempted to keep even more secrets.” You scoffed at the way he shone his teeth at you while putting an elbow on the table, chin up and in one hand.

“So I’m not your prisoner who will be buried with what I do end up being told?” Even with your sarcastic side-smile, you sounded just a tad more serious than you intended.

“My my Y/N, do rope in that imagination. I don’t dispose of people like lil’ Seokmin on the other side of town, nor do I encase anyone like his older brother. You’re free to come and leave however you like, we discussed as much in your contract.”

You were thankful for the food being laid out as Joshua spoke, offering you an excuse to not talk for a little.

You’d interacted with Joshua enough by now to know when he's purposely leaving out other implications to situations.

Some bites in, you finally began the expected topic at hand, letting the atmosphere grow serious.

“I was about fourteen when ‘the incident’ happened. Everyone around me talked about it for years. I was still in a District 9 facility at the time though, so most of what I know, I learned when I was sent here. I was first told that keystones are where what we need comes from, not really the CEOs yourselves. When I spent those two years at a refuge cafe though, I heard about how the huge Lee Family broke apart, all of the rumors surrounding your family, what District 9 really is…”

You had to pause for a minute there. Joshua, not taking his eyes off of you, waved for a bot to bring iced water. He nodded at you kindly when you looked up at him, as you swallowed heavily.

“There were so many people of varying levels of importance, talking in those bars every night as I worked. I heard about a lot of things that seem like they’d be underground, so I admit I’m rather afraid of what isn’t spoken about in broad daylight. But when you offered me this job, I decided that I would go in not assuming a thing. I’ve seen how it can destroy a person.”

Joshua was a good listener, his gaze was calm and revealed nothing of what he was thinking as you spoke about your life. When you were done, he finished his food before he decided to talk.

“Hong Co. is and has always been a family business. Even from the beginning it seemed that family businesses are always doomed to fail, and yet we were able to stay together through the decades. Er, mostly by trying not to have too many children. The Lees are a modern example of the third-generation curse that only grew worse over time. I grew up with the Lee brothers of Sector 17, though, so I don’t believe things would have turned out how they did if it wasn’t for, well,” Joshua didn’t need to finish that sentence.

“Know that you are not obligated to believe everything I say, though you are only hearing everything from me. When our parents were killed, Lee Jihoon and I had barely turned sixteen. Lee Seokmin came out of ‘the incident’ a completely different person, making any reparation plans they had impossible. He ran off to fulfill his own desires, which left Jihoon to take care of their youngest brother, Chan, who is now the regime’s most valued keystone. Jihoon designed the Plaza system not only to give Chan a larger and connected space to grow up in, but also to gather intel in the same way you've heard things; surface level. He particularly likes my Bitty bots for that. Many of the Lee cousins disappeared during ‘the incident’ so Jihoon has always tried to find them again.”

“Has he found any?” You asked through your hands, which had been covering your mouth for a while.

Joshua shook his head. “Every time Jihoon gets close to finding one, he gets sabotaged by Seok. I really couldn’t tell you why but it is the only thing I haven’t been able to help with. Seokmin may buy my home appliances but I have no way of hacking his own tech. He mastered stealth the best out of all of us.”

Your eyes widened at this. “Has he tried to infiltrate here before?”

“His ego is too big. Even if he did though, I mastered security the best. So I focus on keeping Jihoon from going completely insane, for now he hasn't gone farther than paranoid. His business serves as protection for the city, he sends most of the info he gathers to Chan’s side of the city where plans are made and executed. Chan was always the best with combat.”

At that moment, Joshua received a message on his watch. He let out a huff. “My apologies, Y/N, there’s been a change of schedule. I have to leave for a bit and won’t be able to have dinner with you. Continue with your afternoon tasks and I will see you tomorrow.”

“Thank you Joshua, see you tomorrow.”

For the rest of the day, you got to experience what Joshua’s home must have felt like for the past decade before you came.

It really was lonesome, even with AI to talk to. Well, more like especially with only the Shubots. No wonder they’d been programmed to be so...peculiar.

That night, dinner was brought to your bedroom with a note that said you would be allowed to sleep in tomorrow if you wanted, and to tell “Annie” when you wanted breakfast. Instead of thinking about how that meant you had no clue what Joshua was up to, you laughed at how funny it was that despite being the most organized human being to exist, he was actually not the best with names.

You thought about writing a letter to your old employer, but you weren’t sure what you could possibly send, to anyone really. Had she forgotten about you by now? All you really did back then was wait tables.

Then again, Joshua of all people had noticed you. Other than awkward, what was it like for him when you two first met? You didn’t even realize who he was until he offered you work for a place to stay.

What was frustrating you the most was that you also couldn’t think of why you were only wondering about it all now. Does it matter why now that you’re already here and know half of his life story?

After you had gotten ready for bed, you took out a keepsake box you hid in among your socks and opened it. Inside were your most precious possessions, many of which held little monetary value but they held the details of your past. The most recent addition was the Pianissimo brooch.

As you ran your fingers along the polished opal designs, you felt a small tear escape your left eye as you tried to ignore the unfamiliar sensation of what felt like a pinch in your heart.

The process of you and Joshua learning more about each other spread across the weeks. The distance between you had long become friendly and Joshua eventually programmed Sunday not to interrupt conversations with you for anything other than emergencies.

Years of only having robots and depressed business people to talk to must have piled on Joshua over time because now that he had another human around, you came to learn that Joshua wasn’t just strange but a rather silly person, too. He could be charming and watching him work was fascinating, as he constantly sketched ideas and swiped at so many holographic screens.

He was not only efficient but afforded the luxury to mess with you a bit too, in extremely high spirits. But still at the same time of maintaining an organized work environment. You pretending to feel offended by his antics only seemed to spur him on more.

Then when you asked him why none of his robots were human sized, he chuckled and said “That would be so creepy, I’d never sleep. Besides, it’s bad for business. A handful of people would splurge on something like that in one place, rather than a bunch returning every so often to buy something smaller.”

When you asked why he only ever wore suits, he said he was only choosing the “hottest attire” from a fashion company sponsor.

And when you asked Joshua why Voira was named that, he said “I think the touch of French can make even a water dispenser sound more appealing, don’t you?” and winked at you the same way he does whenever he catches you staring from across the study.

His casual flirting was what actually drove you crazy. It was almost like he wanted to keep you on your toes all of the time after you grew used to his surprisingly playful nature.

Afternoon tea time in the upper loft only happened on occasion, and it was the only time Joshua was anything but playful.

He looked somber, calculating, and a tiny bit tired as he surveyed the city outside of the windows. Only once did he allow himself to tell you of the burden he felt at times.

“Growing up, I was always the one Hong. In a world of Lees, I stand as the common ground.” And now just about everyone, good or villainous, rich or teeming; Shubots of all kinds are used by them in all walks of life.

For you, those days served as a reminder of the large world outside of everything you knew within Hong Co. You seldom left the tower to do anything, even though you knew how to take care of yourself in the crowded city due to your own background.

As you got to explore your new home, you came to realize just how much the estate was designed with the intention of housing a small family. You had no idea why the thought always came to you with a little flush to your face.

It was also during tea time that the little pinch in your chest would invade your heart more bit by bit as you got to know each of Joshua’s sides. It was hard for you to show more of yourself at times, so you appreciated the quiet days just as much as the ones with glee.

Before you knew it, you were watching light snow begin to fall outside as you sipped your tea.

Colder months meant new heating designs for Joshua to make, and according to Sunday, less conflicts between the Lee brothers to worry about.

“We basically hibernate until either Seok or Chan randomly gets up to something in Spring,” Joshua joked. “Even though I already stay out of the public eye as it is.”

“Was it always this way?” You asked, aiming to sound broad. Perhaps a month ago, Joshua wouldn’t have answered. But he spoke freely.

“My father was the least social of all of the men in my family. After my grandfather passed, he no longer had a reason to keep up appearances or go out at all, and then I and the other scions of the city were training up north. I never liked attending conferences with my father anyway, but then suddenly he was gone. I felt terrible letting all of the people he’d hired go, but they served as the foundation for Jihoon’s refuge cafes. And suddenly I had all of the space in the world to build back what I’d been left with. No one watching from the outside or the inside.”

“But no one at all except you,” You didn’t mean to say it out loud, but the look in Joshua’s eyes showed that it was something he always wanted someone to say but there never was anyone else.

“It was the only way I was able to continue my family’s work without sacrificing myself, but that didn’t make me hate it any less. I was never going to be ready to have people around again, though at some point I knew I would have to try. Avoiding how others have failed doesn’t delay your own failure.” When he said that aloud, you could tell that he’d mentally hit a wall. That was probably it for him today, or maybe a while.

You took a deep breath. “I’m glad you were able to try something new, Joshua. For the company, and for yourself.” You put your teacup down and smiled at him, allowing your arm to stretch out to him tentatively.

Maybe it was because he genuinely had no idea what else to say but his hand slowly reached yours. You could tell from Joshua’s flush that warmth was flooding through him, too.

It wasn’t just the first time the two of you touched, it was likely the first time he had touched anyone in a very long time.

Just as his fingers were beginning to wrap around yours, Sunday’s hologram suddenly appeared from Joshua’s watch in between you two, making you jump apart.

“What’s the emergency, Sunday?” Joshua smiled, though you noticed the watchfulness return to his eyes.

“Your heart rate has increased beyond 120 bpm in the past minute, would you like me to send for-”

“No, it's all fine!” Joshua interrupted a bit loudly, completely embarrassed. You doubled over laughing, only making Joshua grow redder.

“Your AI are great,” You said, wiping your eyes. “Maybe I should get a watch, too.”

Joshua scratched the back of his neck in relief that you weren’t judging. “That can be tended to now, let’s head back to the study.”

The next time the two of you touched was when Joshua was showing you how to put on a Shu-watch, since you’d never had anything like it before. He specifically touched one up so that Wednesday would primarily care for you, connected to Ani in your room.

“Now Wednesday can embarrass you too whenever she or Sunday wants,” Joshua said cheekily as he showed you some of the regular features.

The next time would be at dinner the next day, when Joshua would get a little more adventurous by pushing a lock of your hair behind your ear. Even though your legs were about to turn to jelly, you decided you couldn’t let him have all the fun.

“Wow some gentleman you are, boss,” you teased, bringing your hand up to your ears to poke his.

He caught on quickly though. “Oh forgive me, my lady,” Joshua gently took your hand before you could react. He bowed his head down to kiss it. “I was fatefully distracted.”

Forcing yourself not to faint, you met his eyes, hoping he couldn’t see right through you in that moment. “Well I suppose that makes sense since you haven’t wiped the crumbs from your face.”

Before Joshua could grab his napkin, you took your own and got up to wipe his mouth yourself.

The cocky grin on his face when you stepped back was what made you think that at this rate, you were going to physically fall for him before anything else.

The day you did faint wasn’t from a tussle with Joshua, but from dehydration.

The feeling that had built up within you was a source of stress you couldn’t stand after a while. You had finally acknowledged to yourself by then that you didn't want to leave at some point, as was agreed, even if you'd be sent off with everything you could ever need.

You realized that it wasn't what you wanted, and even if you could stay forever, your feelings for Joshua would be there too. For that you couldn't even look at Joshua, even though it wasn't truly his fault you were feeling this way about him.

Quite literally you couldn't stand it; as a distraction, you kept finding reasons to exit the study and poured yourself into tasks, ignoring alerts from your watch about your health. You knew it was wrong not taking the time to figure yourself out but whenever you tried, the feeling in your chest evolved further into a thorough ache.

When you started to feel dizzy one day, you tried to get up from your desk again for the nth time, only to stumble. Joshua noticed from his side of the study, but you shuffled away fast.

Wednesday showed at that moment that Shu-watches are (cleverly) programmed with certain overrides and beeped at you to either rest, or drink some water.

“That’s what I’m on my way to do,” you grumbled, trying to dismiss her.

“Miss Y/N, the nearest beverage machine is in the study, please pause your activity and-”

You hit the floor and vaguely registered the sound of Wednesday sending a message to Joshua about it.

When you were finally at a better state of consciousness, you found yourself in your bed with Voira next to you, holding out a cup of water. Sitting up, you saw Joshua sitting at your desk below.

He looked up at you, looking relieved that you were feeling better again.

“Wednesday, how are Y/N's vitals?” Joshua spoke into his watch.

“Back to normal,” You heard from your own watch. Joshua smiled and got up. To your slight horror, he climbed up halfway to your bed.

“How are you feeling otherwise?” Joshua asked you, his gorgeous face full of concern.

You looked away, still upset with yourself. “I’m sorry that I haven’t been taking care of myself lately.”

With a thoughtful “Hmm,” Joshua climbed all of the way up and sat right next to you, making you shrink away more.

“Are you afraid of me, Y/N?” That sure was one way to get you to look at him. Joshua's face was passive, but his eyes were filled with worry over what you might say.

“I...know that you’ve been avoiding me for a bit but I didn’t expect that you would ignore your watch. Poor Wednesday,” he added light-heartedly. Joshua waited patiently for your answer, fighting his own urge to physically reach out.

You let out a dispirited laugh at that. It was hard for you to find words, but you realized that this conversation was going to happen at some point, one way or another.

“I wouldn’t say that I’m afraid of you, Joshua…just of...the way I’ve been feeling lately. I am really grateful for everything you’ve done for me and you are a wonderful person to be around, but, well, I…”

You involuntarily reached for Joshua’s hand, and your back straightened at the feeling of his hand accepting yours. You suddenly felt so small but, for the first time, you were safe to say so.

“I’m afraid that I’ve been selfish,” you let out, mellow. “In all of this time I’ve spent around you I keep thinking about everything that makes me different and...unimportant...” You didn’t let him interrupt you there when you felt him shift.

“And I just…who am I to say that I…that…”

You felt him give your hand a little squeeze. Screw it.

“That I like you a lot? I really do care so much about you…you’re so kind to me and you intrigue me very much. I know that doesn’t mean I should feel this way at all, especially since the contract I’m under is temporary. I’m here to work, to help you, and that’s it. So I tried really hard not to think about it…”

You regretted it the moment you said it all, but it was only for a moment.

Because then Joshua used his other hand to cup your face, making you look at him, giving you a kiss on the forehead.

“Y/N, I am the one who should be saying sorry to you. I think I’ve waited too long to tell you that I want you to extend your stay here. From the moment we met I knew that I would like you, so much that I couldn’t bear to watch you leave. I originally designed a new master bedroom just for you, but then I realized that I don’t just want you to stay, I want you by my side.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. You were so stunned, Joshua looked away in fear that this time he had overstepped instead. So you leaned up to kiss his cheek, but given the height difference, it caused you to lose balance and Joshua turned quickly to catch you, and your faces were closer to each other than they ever have been, which at this point said a lot. Joshua swallowed nervously.

“Well, Y/N? Would you like to change your contract to one of marriage someday?”

You were sure at that moment most would have swooned or initiated a makeout session, but you instead laughed, giving Joshua the smile he himself had fallen for.

You had no idea where the confidence was coming from but you’d be lying if you said didn’t it come from Joshua, and just like him, you loved it. “Joshua Hong, you may be one of the most powerful people in the whole world but there really is so very much you do not know about women.”

Joshua blushed immediately, but he held his ground just as hard as he was holding onto you. “As long as it’s you, I will do whatever I can to learn. I want you here, Y/N, truly. You're family now.”

Family. Something both of you had lived so long without.

“Well call me old-fashioned but aren’t you supposed to date me first?” you both laughed and Joshua poked your nose, making you gasp incredulously.

“Darling, I’m the old-fashioned one here who was planning to take this slow, but then you fell face first before the ‘talking phase’ could even turn into seeing movies~”

The two of you kept the banter and jostling up until you breathlessly grew quiet again.

“That’s why,” Joshua spoke out of the blue.

“What?” You looked at him, and he brought his hand up to your face again.

“Talking with you, laughing with you, seeing you prove that I really am here, with you." Joshua stroked your face so lovingly you could cry.

"For so long I was alone...It was a harsh reality I never wanted to face, but no matter which way I turned it was the truth. Bringing you into my life was the most frightening thing I have ever done, but it remains the one decision I am most sure of. You make me feel like I am worth everything, and now I rest every night knowing I will see your beautiful face the next day. If you accept my offer of making permanence of this, I promise I will always be here for you, too.”

Well indeed right there you did cry. You were so choked up as he wiped your face, trying not to cry himself, that the only way you could respond to him sincerely was by closing the final bit of physical distance between you two.

You could faintly hear the sound of hundreds of the tower's Shubots in a 30 meter radius clapping and cheering as Joshua returned the kiss with passion, holding you close with both arms, your hearts pounding.

Sharing your first ever kiss only marked a pivotal point in the feelings you had begun sharing long before, which would only continue on to fill every desolate corner that could ever appear in this limitless home of yours, and everything you would continue to work for together.

a/n: "And that, kids, is how I met your mother"

Time for a trip to my dentist because my stars writing that might’ve made a hole in my sweet tooth awwwww 💕;w; At a point in this fic I realized I was expanding the world a little too much so I left out the details of “the incident” the reader and Joshua mentions to try and close a love story nicely. For you all that have reached the end of this amalgamation of my late-night writing, a year in the making, thank you so much and I do hope you’ve enjoyed this fic as much as I had writing it!

#joshua hong x reader #svt x reader #futuristic au #scifi au #ceo joshua #hong jisoo x reader #joshua hong fluff #seventeen joshua #joshua hong x you #tech empire au #sector 17 #cyber au

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