Title: Sing Your Heart Out
Fandom: Original - Young and Blessed with Potential
Rating: T
Warnings: Slash, unbetaed
Genre: General, Romance, Holiday
Pairing: Yuujirou/Naoyuki
Word Count: 5,495
Summary: It's time for the annual company Christmas party and the loopy secretary, Mina, is trying harder than ever to make things happen between her and Yuujirou. …Including inadvertently making the couple come out.
Notes: Gift for Bella1992. Thanks dearest for letting me put up your gifts!

Disclaimer: All songs used in this fiction are property of the artists and record companies, I'm just using them as plot devices.

Sing Your Heart Out

Naoyuki watched as Mina finished hanging the last garland around the Advertising Department and had to admit that she'd done a good job. Yuujirou had asked her to be in charge of decorating at the last minute, much to her dismay, and gave her a reasonable but small budget to work with. Furthermore, she was in charge of planning the annual Christmas party that would be held that night along with a number of other people in the company. After Mina finished looking over her work, Nao saw her bound over to his lover's—and his co-executive's—office and knock loudly, doing her best to get his attention.

"Mr. Takanaga, will you please come check my work and make sure everything is to your liking?"

It was common knowledge that she had a thing for the department head, but as the Christmas season and the office party neared, her attempts at flirting and initiating a romance had grown more desperate. Nao would have to keep an eye on her at the party tonight… one drink too many and she might create some problems. He had grown possessive of his lover, although he tried to restrain his jealous urges constantly. Sometimes his attempts worked, most of the time they didn't.

Yuujirou stepped out of his office looking as nonchalant as ever. He was the type to naturally be laid back as well, and he liked to come off that way as much as possible to his subordinates. He surveyed the room quietly, his thumb stroking his bottom lip for a moment before praising her work. "It's all very well done, Mina-chan. Thank you for your hard work, I know I made things difficult by assigning you the task so late."

"Oh it was no trouble at all Mr. Takanaga," she batted her eyelashes at him and smiled.

He forced a smile and looked around the room once again and set his eyes on Naoyuki leaning against his office door. Nao stood up straighter, crossed his arms, looked his lover in the eye and raised an eyebrow. It was their secret "let's go talk" look, and so far, nobody was the wiser.

"If you'll excuse me, Mina-chan. I have to catch up with Shin's team's progress," he walked over to Naoyuki and half-smiled. "Shin?" He knocked twice on the office door and continued, "Shall we?"

"After you, Takanaga," the other answered, opening the door he was leaning on and letting his colleague step inside. He sat down in his comfortable leather desk chair while Yuujirou sat down across from him and tried to get comfortable.

"Mina-chan really did do a good job," Nao murmured.

"Pff, yes she did," Yuu mocked his partner's business-like manner. "I'm sure that's not why you wanted to talk, though."

"It is but it isn't…" She's trouble, "she's far too clingy."

"She's not that clingy…" he couldn't really help it. Yuu was fairly oblivious when it came to women.

"I said that out loud, didn't I? Anyway… she could be, if you let her."

"Relax, I'm not giving her any reason to think that I'm interested."

Nao crossed his arms, and frowned, "You're not giving her any reason to think you're not interested either. Maybe you shouldn't be so nice to her."

"She's my secretary, I have to be nice to her. Besides, what are you worried about? Me cheating on you?"

"Not really, I just don't want to see her get hurt." He knew there was flawed logic in there, but frankly he wasn't about to admit that he was jealous of a girl. That much he could control.

"Alright, darling, whatever you say. I have a more important question: are we going home together or do you have a lot of work to get done tonight before the Christmas party?"

"I finished early again, actually. It's been happening a lot lately…"

"Heh. That's really strange, maybe you're just getting really quick at it," Yuu offered. Whatever the reason, it probably wasn't something they should dwell on, especially with upcoming festivities to plan.

"Could be, in any case, if you can get off early, we could have some fun before this dumb work party."

"Nao-chan… you said that out loud again," Yuu smirked and stroked his bottom lip with his thumb, watching his lover's expression turn to one of surprised horror.

"Damn verbal diarrhea," Nao-chan muttered.

Yuu leaned forward in his seat and reached for the other's hand. "We could, you know."

"Can you finish fast enough?"

He looked confused for a moment. "Was there supposed to be a double-entendre?"

"You know? I'm not entirely sure." Nao looked at his watch, "You have an hour before it's technically time for us to leave." It was only technical because the executives were often left with a large amount of work to complete before they could actually leave.

"I can be done by then," Yuu stood up and shook Nao's hand to keep up appearances for anyone who could have seen through the open blinds of the office. However, once the two arrived at the door, Yuu positioned himself so that his large frame would block anyone's view from the kiss that he gave Naoyuki. "Come by in a bit." As he opened the door, he added, "Alright, bring me that paperwork before you leave today. I should be done with mine by then too."

"I look forward to seeing your team's progress," Naoyuki turned and retreated to his office to play solitaire or talk to Yuu some more on MSN Messenger. It would probably be the former, when Yuu put his mind to something, he would only concentrate on that.

An hour later, Naoyuki checked his phone messages and saw that a text message had just arrived from Yuujirou saying: Ready for another Oscar-winning performance? Alright, act straight. Starting now. Nao laughed at his lover's antics, he has a great sense of humor.

After another "meeting," the two executives went home together and prepared themselves for the upcoming party. The ground rules were mostly the same: Naoyuki should avoid mistletoe (old rule), drink too much (old rule), or do karaoke (new rule); Yuujirou wasn't allowed to be unclear about his feelings toward Mina because she would certainly take advantage of him (old rule), he wasn't allowed to drink at all (new rule), or tell anyone that they were in a relationship together (old rule).

Just as they were leaving, Yuu plopped a Santa hat on his lover's head. "You look so cute."

"Do I have to wear this?" Naoyuki grimaced, "I look stupid."

"You look adorable," there was no disagreeing with this; Yuujirou had already made up his mind. "I think that it's only fair that you have to wear it, since you won't even let me drink tonight."

"…Fine." But only because you promised not to drink. Yuujirou had the tendency to get very comfortable around his lover when under the influence. Naoyuki wasn't opposed to his affections, just his affections in public. No matter how serious and committed they were to each other, they still at least had to keep the appearance that they were mere co-executives. Although Yuujirou said he had nothing to worry about regarding appearances and inheritances, his lover suspected that he was harboring some anxieties about them.

They arrived at the party and agreed that Naoyuki would go in first, and Yuujirou would come in later. Since the party was for the whole company, it was held in a very fine hotel, a hotel that held very dear memories for the couple. It's been a long time since we've been here…

He headed towards the hall where the party was being held and marveled at the decoration committee's—namely, Mina's—work on the decorations. The hall was festive, but not over the top, and they had set up a number of different activities in separate areas of the room. Naoyuki checked his coat and headed for the bar.

"Shin-kun, how are you?" Mr. Kannagi, one of Nao's fellow board members, greeted him, handing him an extra-dry martini.

"I'm doing well, sir. Glad to have a moment to relax this holiday season. Yourself?"

They chatted for a few minutes more before Naoyuki got uncomfortable and excused himself. He headed for a slightly more removed table and set his drink down before surveying the room again. Yuujirou still hadn't come in. He shrugged and sat down to finish his drink and wait for others to get to the party.

Suddenly, the sound of Mina's giggling broke Naoyuki's train of thought. He looked over at the double doors only to find her scamming on Yuujirou, who had apparently just walked in.

"Oh, Mr. Takanaga, you look so handsome tonight!"

Naoyuki knew he was staring but he just couldn't help but eavesdrop as Yuujirou answered, "Thank you, Mina-chan. You look quite pretty yourself." He just broke a rule! Nao turned away, not wanting to see anymore. He knew he was being unreasonable about this, but it still hurt since he knew that Mina was interested in his lover. However, he resolved not to say anything; he intended to have fun tonight.

"Mina-chan, please excuse me. I see a friend of mine who looks rather alone tonight."

Yuujirou walked over to the table where Naoyuki had sat down and patted him on the shoulder. "Hey there," he said as he sat down. "Why are you sitting so far away?"

"I didn't really feel like being with everyone else," he replied as another group of employees walked in laughing.

"How come? It's no fun if we just hang out here by ourselves."

"Yuu, you know I'm not that social…"

"Alright, alright. We'll just wait here, then. We're so attractive that people will come to us. You look really adorable in your hat."

"Pfft. I look stupid in this hat," he replied as his partner's prophecy came true and a group of office women came towards them.

"Mr. Shin, how are you?"

"Honestly, Suki-chan, I'm feeling a little ridiculous with this Santa hat on. I hope you're doing better," he smiled.

She nodded, blushing a little. "But the hat looks good on you!" The other ladies agreed wholeheartedly.

Yuujirou nodded, "See, Naoyuki?" He turned to Suki and added, "I told him he looked adorable, but he doesn't believe me."

Hmm, first name basis? I suppose that's alright. "You are all too kind. But let's be honest, this Santa hat would look better on someone like you, Suki-chan," he took the hat off and gave it to her.

Yuujirou got up after confirming that it was cute on Suki as well, saying, "I'll be right back. Gotta get a refill. Anybody else want a drink?" He kept his eyes on Naoyuki.

"Yeah, I'll have another martini, if you don't mind…"

"Extra dry, right?"

Nao nodded.

A couple of the women added their requests and watched him leave.

"You're really close to Mr. Takanaga, aren't you Mr. Shin?" Suki stared at him wide-eyed.

"Yeah, we are. We became friends after I joined the Board of Directors, and I found out soon after that he lives near me…" Well, with me, actually.

They didn't get much further; Mina had gotten a hold of a microphone and started her welcome speech. "Thank you all so much for attending our annual Christmas party. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Mina Sawada, and I was a part of the Decoration Committee." She gestured to some of the tables and added, "Will the rest of the Committee please stand and be acknowledged?" She paused and waited for applause to die down. "I would like to mention that we have created a theme tonight that we hope you'll enjoy. This year we all decided on a Karaoke Night! Please enjoy yourselves and sign up for the Karaoke tournament, which will begin in half an hour."

Yuujirou sat down next to his lover, smirking after hearing the speech. "Just your luck, huh?"

Mina walked over to the table and sat on Yuu's other side. "Are you signing up," she asked the entire table.

"Naoyuki's not," Yuu smirked again.

Everyone stared at him for a second and then looked at the other man. "You're not? How come? You sang so wonderfully at the spring picnic."

"You were part of the reason the committee chose the Karaoke theme," Mina agreed.

"I promised someone special that I wouldn't sing if there was Karaoke tonight," he smiled apologetically. "I'm sure it'll be fine, you'll get a lot of participants!"

"Wouldn't it be alright if you just sang one song?" Suki gave him a pleading look, while Mina and the other office ladies nodded.

"What do you think, Yuujirou?" Naoyuki decided to address his lover by his first name, since the other man had done the same. "Should I break my promise?"

Yuu crossed his arms. "No, definitely not. Imagine how you'd feel if your significant other broke one of their promises? Not so good, right?"

Nao nodded. "There you go, ladies. I'm sorry, but I can't betray that person's trust."

The girls gave up on him and moved on to his partner, "What about you Mr. Takanaga? Will you be singing?"

He laughed and replied, "I don't think you want to hear me sing. I'm absolutely terrible."

"Wait a minute, that's not true," Nao replied with a smirk on his face. If I'm not allowed to sing, I'm going to make him sing. Heheh. "You have a great voice!" He looked at Mina and said, "Sign him up. I'll make sure he gets onstage."

Mina was only too thrilled to have her crush go up and sing something, anything, perhaps it would even be a love song! "Alright…Thank you for participating, Mr. Takanaga."

Yuu glared at his lover and replied, "Of course. No problem."

Mina turned to her friends and said, "Mr. Takanaga looks like he's out for blood…should we get out of here?" The others nodded and stood up quickly and excused themselves, Mina claiming, "We have to go recruit other contestants, we'll sign you up Mr. Takanaga, don't you worry."

Once they were gone, Yuu smacked his lover's arm. "What'd you do that for?"

Nothing could wipe the smile off of Nao's face as he said, "I'm not revealing my master plan. I've seen too many Bond movies to do something so dumb."

"Nao-chan, you're horrible. Making me get up there, and completely sober no less."

The other couldn't stop smirking as he said, "Don't worry, it'll be worth your while. But you have to win."

Just then, Mina once again turned on the microphone and got everyone's attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, the tournament is about to begin, my fellow MC and I will explain how this tournament will work. Kanako?"

Kanako nodded and took the microphone from her. "As you may have noticed, we have four karaoke stages, all with a number of tables set up around each one. At each stage we will have a number of matches going on simultaneously. Each winner will be determined by the audience of the stage based on the amount of applause the competitors receive. The winner will, of course, continue to the next round. There is a chart with all of the competitors and we will have sing offs between two competitors until we have eliminated all but the final two. Based on the amount of competitors, we will have five rounds: 2 elimination rounds, quarter finals, semi finals, and, of course, the finals."

She handed the microphone back to Mina who continued, "Near the bar you will find the aforementioned chart with all of the competitor's names and their assigned stages as well as more details regarding the way the tournament works. Finally, we have only one set of instructions left to inform you of."

Once again, the microphone went to Kanako. "The Rules. Rule number one is that you must choose a song that is in the karaoke booklet. Rule number two: you cannot choose the same song as the other person. And the final rule is to have fun," she smiled brightly and ended with, "thank you for participating!"

"Actually, one last thing: for those of you who need liquid confidence, we have an open bar. Enjoy yourselves, and enjoy the other holiday treats we have prepared for you." As she said the words "holiday treats," a caravan of waiters from the hotel walked in with trays of Christmas themed desserts and tiny party favors for each guest.

Yuujirou got up, looked at the chart, and went to his assigned stage to face someone from the accounting department, Seiji Sano.

"I'd like to dedicate this first song to Naoyuki Shin, the man who signed me up for this contest against my will. This is for you…" He sang "I Fought the Law" by The Clash. The "law" won, indeed. Seiji sang something more romantic, but was extremely tone-deaf, so when it came time to vote, it was unanimously in favor of Yuujirou.

Up until Yuujirou got to the semi finals, the vote had remained close to unanimously in favor of him. However, once in the semi, he reached a snag. He faced off against Yuka Tanaka from Research and Development. She had a great voice and chose a song that brought out her sweet tones, whereas Yuujirou chose a popular song that didn't require many note changes. The audience was completely split, which forced the competitors to choose new songs and face off again. This time, Yuujirou chose a ballad that showed off his range and was much more romantic: "Soba ni ite" by Kazuki Kato. During prior performances, he had always kept his eyes on the crowd as a whole. This time, he caught Naoyuki's eye and sang only to him. It was his honesty as well as his expression of vulnerability that won the crowd over. He won his semi final round by a hair.

Naoyuki, after that performance, couldn't shake the desire to go up on stage and kiss him. But he held his urge in and followed Yuujirou to the final round. Since it was the final round, Mina and Kanako got up onstage to announce the two finalists.

"Everyone, gather around! Our finalists have sung their heart outs and gone through tie-breakers to get this far, therefore, give them a round of applause." The crowed obliged. "Furthermore, since this is the final round, we've decided to make things a little more interesting for our dear contestants. But of course, we'll introduce them to you first"

Kanako continued, "Mhmm! Our first finalist is the chairman of the board of directors, Mr. Satoru Shinagawa! What an honor it has been to hear you sing! None of us had any idea that you were so talented."

"Oh, thank you, Kanako-chan. I like to keep everyone on their toes and show them that I'm not too old to have a little fun once in awhile."

"Thank you sir. And our second finalist is another board member! My, Kanako, but don't we just have the most talented board of directors in all of Tokyo?"

"Most definitely, ladies and gentlemen, our second finalist Mr. Yuujirou Takanaga!" There was more applause from the audience before Kanako could continue, "Sir, how does it feel to have made it this far?" She grinned, "And you said you couldn't sing…"

"Honestly, I don't know what's come over me tonight. Usually I'm terrible at karaoke. Then again, I usually have way too much of that liquid courage in my system to be able to hold a tune."

The audience laughed; Naoyuki smiled, happy to see Yuujirou back in his element. "Well, we're very glad that Mr. Shin signed you up. Alright, Mina, how about you tell our finalists what they have to do in this round…"

"Of course! This round, each contestant will sing three songs. Two of the three will be sung by both, and are chosen by us. The third is up to you and follows the rule from before, so you can't sing the same song."

"That's right. The first song is my personal favorite, 'Be My Last' by Hikaru Utada," Kanako said proudly.

"A great song… Sung by a girl usually, so it should be interesting hearing it come from these two grown men. Please don't fire us for this!" Mina feigned anxiousness. "The second song is by Kazuki Kato and is called 'Yumehikouki.' Please do your best! Chairman Shinagawa, you're up first!"

Shinagawa sang his songs very seriously and ended with a Michael Buble song. He really was quite a good singer with a deep voice that betrayed a former dream of his to be an opera singer. He sang so beautifully that he moved most of the women in the audience to tears, a reaction that Yuujirou was unlikely to be able to match.

After Yuujirou finished his three songs, choosing "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik as his closing song, the audience was left with a tough decision. Once again, Yuu was faced with the possibility of a tiebreaker. The audience, it seemed, couldn't decide between the serious nature of their Chairman, or the playful yet vulnerable nature of the second youngest board member.

"Wow. This is tough, what do you think we should do, Kanako?"

"I…have no idea. I didn't anticipate this happening in the final round… We can't make them sing again, their voices must be gone by now."

"Agreed, but what else? Audience, if you'd like to shout out some possible solutions, please go ahead."

"Just flip a coin! They're both so good, it's impossible for us to decide," Naoyuki yelled. Even he was torn between his two fellow board members.

"How does everyone feel with that solution?" Mina visibly relaxed as the rest of the audience agreed that leaving the decision up to chance was the fairest way to go. "Hang on then, let me find a coin…"

Yuujirou pulled one out of his pocket and handed it to Kanako. She examined it to make sure that it was a legitimate coin and designated him as tails, and the Chairman as heads. It seemed luck was with him tonight, because the coin landed on tails.

Kanako announced the result to the audience and then turned to the winner, "Mr. Takanaga, would you like to know what your prizes are?"

He nodded, "Would I ever," he replied a little hoarsely.

"You win a karaoke performance from an employee of your choice and a sprig of mistletoe."

"Mistletoe?"

"Yes, sir. Mistletoe, just hold it up above anyone's head and receive a kiss from that person."

"Oh… Okay…" He remained pensive for a moment. "It has to be from someone at this party, right?"

Mina nodded, an almost pathetic look of hope on her face. "Yes Mr. Takanaga, from anyone at this party."

Yuujirou nodded and said, "I've decided who I want to hear sing…"

Kanako gave Mina a look of disgust, then smiled at the winner. "Who would you like to hear?"

"Naoyuki Shin."

Kanako smiled, "Is this payback for making you enter the tournament?"

"You bet. Naoyuki, get up here."

Naoyuki half-smiled and trudged up to the stage, muttering, "I thought you said I wasn't allowed to sing tonight…"

"I changed my mind," Yuujirou whispered back.

Kanako, who only heard the tail end of the exchange, merely tilted her head to the side and asked Naoyuki, "Do you know what you're going to sing?"

He nodded and replied, "It's a short one, though… 'The Way I Am' by Ingrid Michaelson."

The intro came on just as everyone got off the stage and sat down, Yuujirou in the front row, center. Naoyuki closed his eyes and pretended he was back in living room, singing just for his lover. He was the only one that mattered as he sang the lyrics:

If you were falling, then I would catch you

You need a light? I'd find a match

'Cause I love the way you say 'good morning'

And you take me the way I am.

If you are chilly, here take my sweater

Your head is aching? I'll make it better

'Cause I love the way you call me 'baby'

And you take me the way I am.

I'd buy you Rogaine,

When you start losin' all your hair

Sew on patches,

To all you tear

'Cause I love you more than I could ever promise

And you take me the way I am.

You take me the way I am.

You take me the way I am.

A single tear rolled down his cheek as he opened his eyes and heard all of the applause from the audience. Yuujirou was also overcome with emotion and had to quickly wipe his own tears away before he got back up on stage with Mina and Kanako.

"Mr. Shin, that was beautiful." Kanako had no other words to describe his performance, his honesty, or his passion.

"Thank you, Ingrid Michaelson is one of my favorite American singers."

Mina nodded and sidled up to Yuujirou. She turned on her microphone and asked, "Would you like your second prize, now?"

"Sure." He was grew visibly nervous as she handed him the sprig of mistletoe. He thanked her and started to step off the stage.

"Wait! You have to pick someone!" Mina looked hopeful again. Kanako shook her head, resigned to her co-worker's ridiculous antics.

"I have to pick someone now? And do it on this stage?"

"Yup!" Mina's hopeful expression turned to one of triumph as he stepped back towards the center of the stage, mistletoe in hand.

"Uh…okay…" he walked past her, to her horror, and held it above Naoyuki's head. "I'm sorry, but there is no way I'm kissing anyone else…"

There was a collective gasp as Yuujirou's lips descended upon Naoyuki's. Naturally, their kiss lasted a mere second and remained chaste. "Thanks, Yuu." Naoyuki hugged his lover quickly and then quickly pulled him offstage.

Kanako stared at Yuujirou and Naoyuki in complete admiration as they got offstage. "Well… that was interesting," she said into the mike as her co-worker nearly started crying from extreme shock. "Um, alright. Well that concludes the tournament… However, that doesn't mean that the karaoke performances have to end! Please enjoy yourselves. Haha, I think Mina-chan needs a drink…" Mina nodded slowly and walked slowly offstage, shaking her head, completely unable to string together a sentence as she tried to ask for a drink.

Naoyuki couldn't help but laugh the tiniest bit at poor Mina. Serves her right for being so conniving. "Yuu, I can't believe you actually did that. Poor girl, I think you crushed her spirit."

"It's her own fault. She put the spotlight on me. I told you before: I'm not about to cheat on you… In any case, how are you going to make winning worth my while? You said so earlier…"

"Change of plans on account of random 'outing' by your secretary."

Yuujirou was about to protest until he saw Chairman Shinagawa walked up to them looking extremely stern. "That was quite a shocker, boys."

"We're sorry about that. We never intended for anyone here to know we were in a relationship. However, we also didn't think that Mina-chan would stoop to such a level."

"Good thing I'm such an open-minded person then, eh?"

"You're not going to kick us off the board?" Nao and Yuujirou looked at each other, confused.

"Of course not. You two can be a selling campaign… Hmm, you can be our spokespeople to the homosexual community."

"Sir…?"

"Just kidding."

"You're insane, sir." Naoyuki covered his mouth in horror. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say that."

Shinagawa just laughed and looked at Yuujirou with a smile on his face. "Your father told me about you being gay a long time ago, son. This isn't news to me. And now… I think I might have to console that poor secretary of yours." He chuckled and shuffled off to talk to Mina.

Yuujirou looked at his lover and rubbed his temple. "Nao-chan… I need a drink."

"Likewise… Extra dry martini for me… and then let's go home."

Yuu nodded and went to go get the drinks. He came back with a smile on his face. "Funny story… the bartender's gay… He just told me how cool he thought I was. Said he's always wanted to come out like that."

Nao chuckled. "I'm a little worried about what work is going to be like starting tomorrow. Will people act differently, do you think?"

"I doubt it. Shinagawa has no intention of lowering our positions, so we still demand respect. But to be safe…we should get a driver we can trust."

Epilogue

Naoyuki watched as Kanako hung up the last Christmas garland around the Advertising department with a smile on his face. She walked over to him and asked what he thought. "It's really well done. You have a great eye for decorating…"

"Thank you, sir. I'm glad you like it." She still looked at him every once in awhile with that look of admiration from that night, despite the year that had passed.

Things had changed. Ever since the Christmas party three years beforehand, not a day had gone by when he didn't feel a pair of eyes watching his every move. He knew that people in the other departments would talk about him and his relationship with Yuujirou. He heard the rumors: he'd only gotten promoted to board member because he was sleeping with one of them, etc.

His department, however, was extremely supportive of the relationship and often defended them if confronted with opposing viewpoints. They had seen how talented Naoyuki was before he'd gotten the promotion and they knew that he deserved his spot on the board.

Yuujirou appeared next to him all of a sudden and slipped a arm around the younger man's waist. "Deep in thought?"

"Yeah… Just missing the old days, when I didn't receive automatic Judgment from everyone in this company."

Yuu squeezed Nao's waist lovingly. "I know… but we were bound to get found out sooner or later." He ran his fingers through his lover's beginning-to-gray hair. "If you ask me, they found out pretty late…"

Nao nodded. "Maybe I just miss being young. It feels like things were easier back then."

"Pfft! You're 33, you're still young… I, on the other hand, am about to hit 40. I'm old."

"Yeah, you are… what am I doing with such a perverted, lecherous old man?"

"Mr. Shin, you shouldn't call him lecherous!" Kanako had appeared out of nowhere.

"Yeah, what Kanako-chan said." Yuujirou chuckled and smiled at his secretary.

"He may be an old man, but 'lecherous' doesn't really describe him," she smirked, "I've always thought 'creepy' suited him well."

Naoyuki burst into laughter. The three had become a tight knit group, almost inseparable, since that fateful Christmas party. "I think 'creepy' suits him… Aww, Yuu, don't look at me like that…" He looked back at Kanako, "Is everything ready for tonight's party?"

"Yeah, Mina got voted Committee Chair this year though… Although I don't think she's going to put you on the spot like she did the last time she was Chair."

"I refuse to go," Yuujirou announced.

"I guess we'll be staying home," Naoyuki agreed. It's awkward. She still walks around like a kicked dog. Even after she switched departments and everything…

Kanako shrugged, "It makes sense after what she did… I suppose I'll tell you all about it tomorrow."

"Looks that way." Yuujirou looked at his watch for the hundredth time that day and rolled his eyes. "I want to go home." He looked at it again, then looked around the room of busy workers. "Hey, everyone! Listen up… Save your work for later and go home. Advertising is heading home early tonight."

The room clapped in appreciation and everyone got up and shuffled their things together before heading towards the elevator.

"So does that mean I can go too?"

"Yep. Kanako-chan, I can't believe you're still not used to working in this department… But yeah, go work on whatever committee stuff needs to get done." Yuujirou smiled and nudged her in the direction of her desk so she would pack up. He glanced at Nao, "You okay with going home now? I can't focus today."

"I suppose it's alright. House reruns are on tonight, right?"

"Yeah. Think House and Wilson will finally get together tonight?" Yuu chuckled.

"I guess we'll find out. Come on, my lecherous old man." Naoyuki pulled him into his office so he could grab his things.

"Your darling lecherous old man."

"Exactly." They left the office hand in hand and told their driver to take the long way home. They spent that night as planned snuggled together on the couch, watching their marathon, and simply enjoying each other's company. Their holiday wishes were simple: that they would continue to be blessed with happiness.