The morning sun flickered through the gap of the open Venetian blind, radiating a glowing pale yellow light into the office room and bringing in the warm air to mingle with the cold air-conditioned room.

Bo was sitting at his desk, taking out the top file from a stack of similar shade folders that contained dozens of proposals awaiting his signature. Being a new president was not all talk; there were many works and responsibilities to shoulder. One wrong move not only meant your own suffering but many others as well. Thousands of employees under The Wang Corporation would suffer if he were to make even one wrong move. Thus, to make sure there was no such consequence, Bo put on this best effort and committed to working extremely hard ever since the first day he got assigned to this position. Instead of coming to work late as most high-position people did, Bo went to the office even before working time; earlier than all the employees.

Just as Bo finished reading the first paragraph of the Navy Blue folder he was holding, the sound of someone knocking on the door reverberated through the silent room. He took a glance at the digital table clock on his right-hand side and realized it was already nine-thirty in the morning.

The office must be filled with people right now, he thought to himself.

"Come in," he said in a voice that was loud enough to carry his sound wave to the other side of the door before drawing his attention back to reading the second paragraph.

"Hey, cousin," said Ben as he peeked from behind the door with just his head at first.

Bo looked up from the file with a smile as he greeted his cousin back, "morning, Ben. You're thirty minutes late; you know that?"

"Come on, Bo," Ben rolled his eyes as he walked in, holding a saucer carefully as he tried to not spill the content from the mug on top of it, "just what kind of a vice president comes to work on time?"

"So, the vice president can't come on time, but the president can?" asked Bo. His tone was half-teasing and half-serious.

Ben's face dropped slightly, but he hurried to plaster a smile back.

"Okay, okay. I'll try to come on time, alright? Geez, it's been a month, and you're still as strict as ever."

"It's not me that is strict, Ben. The ministry of labor has determined the working hours for a reason. As white-collar workers, shouldn't we abide by that?"

"Please, cousin. I'm sorry, okay? Please don't lecture me early in the morning, or my brain will be drained before I even start working."

Bo shook his head at his cousin's carefree personality and laughed at the funny expression Ben was making.

"So, are you here because you need something?" asked Bo.

"Yes," Ben placed the mug and saucer down on Bo's desk before continuing, "delivering your coffee."

Arching his eyebrow in perplexion, Bo leaned back on his office chair and looked up at his cousin, "are you here to steal my secretary's job?"

Ben guffawed and pulled back an office chair next to him before settling himself down, "Nah, I just bought this new bag of coffee last night. The taste was good, and the smell, hmm...you can smell for yourself," Ben pushed the cups towards Bo, "I know you, cousin. You like this kind of coffee."

Bo glanced at the mug of coffee and took a deep breath to inhale the aroma of the smoke that was rising from the hot, dark-colored liquid into his respiratory system. Bo liked to take his coffee black, so the alluring dark shade and the nutty aroma caught his attention.

"It does smell nice."

"Come on then. Take a sip while it's still hot."

Bo put down the folder and picked up the mug, bringing it next to his rosy pink lips. He smelled it once again before carefully taking a sip.

"So?" asked Ben as he was anticipating the evaluation.

"Good," answered Bo with a nod.

"See? I know you best!" exclaimed Ben proudly.

The two cousins spent around fifteen minutes chitchat before Ben got up and left for his office.

After that day, Ben personally kept delivering coffee to Bo every day without fail; sometimes, it was twice or thrice per day, especially on the peak season, so the two could keep themselves awake and stayed late to tie up loose ends. Bo could not be more content to have such a helpful family member by his side and helped him with work. Although he was a top student back in school, all those learnings were based only on books and theory. Ben was five years older than him and had been working at the company earlier. Bo indeed needed someone with experience to guide him.

*******

One cloudy day, the sky was overcast with dark clouds, accompanied by sounds of thunder rumbling endlessly. Bo was discussing Ben's marketing strategy when he felt a pang of pain on his head as he was hit by a mallet repetitively. He reached for a cup of coffee to drink anything liquid before him, but before he could lift the mug from its saucer, the throbbing pain struck again, leaving the cup to fall from his hand, spilling the black content all over the desk.

"Bo, what's wrong? Are you okay?" asked Ben with his brows furrowed in concern.

"I'm fine. Just a little headache, that's all. I guessed the lack of sleep is taking its toll on me," answered Bo through gritted teeth, his hand was still clutching the side of his head in a firm grip.

"Stay put. I'll get you a painkiller."

Ben got up on his feet and rushed out of the room without even bother to close the door. A moment later, he arrived with a glass of water and a pill bottle in each hand. Still standing, Ben handed the things to his cousin and waited till the latter took his medicine before sitting down in front of him.

"Feeling better now?" asked Ben after several minutes of silence.

"Yeah," replied Bo with a weak nod.

"What happened exactly?"

"I don't know. I've been having this kind of headache for days," Bo massaged his temples as if the movement could help ease the pain somehow.

"You really need to take some rest. If I'm not wrong, you've been sleeping only three hours a day lately, haven't you?"

A sigh escaped Bo's lips before he nodded and murmured an agreement, "Hmm..."

Ben was about to give his cousin a mouthful of reprimand when there was a knock on the door. Adjusting his hair and suits, Bo resumed his posture as he sat bolt upright before giving his permission, "come in."

The door opened to reveal a petite woman in a tight black pencil skirt that showed her S-shaped hips clearly, and a deep-plunge neckline red blouse that exposed not only her cleavage but half of the lotus-like protruding white flesh around her breast. Her silver stilettos made her tall figure towering and compliment her sexy body to stand out more. It was beyond the standard dress code for an office woman, but Bo could not complain since she was one of his distant relatives. And a stubborn one at that.

"What is it, EnJie?" asked Bo the moment his secretary was within the talking distance.

"President Bo, there was a problem with the contract yesterday. Mr. Meng suddenly wanted a change, and he demanded it now."

"What did you say?" Bo frowned in anger.