Chapter Five - A Dinner Destiny

Amias became frozen in place as a black BMW came speeding towards him, a womans screams filled his ears as brakes rakes screeched.  The car clipped him causing him to be knocked back. His body hit the concrete but fortunately he managed to use the palms of his hands to break his fall. Taehyun quickly emerged from the car looking horrified.

"Are you okay man?" he shouted whilst walking over to Amias.

Amias stared into space not noticing his friends figure approaching him until he felt a firm hand gripping his right shoulder.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, but I'm late, what if they fire me for this, Taehyun?" he asked his friend looking up at him, his eyes resembled that of a child and Taehyun couldn't help but take pity on his friend. 

"They won't, and are you sure that you are okay bro?" he asked again, worry lacing his serious tone as he outstretched his hand.

"Yeah, I think so." he replied still in a daze as he accepted his friends hand and stood up.

As the shock was wearing off, Amias started to feel stinging in his hands so he looked at them. There were minor scrapes from the friction, small pircks of blood on the surface with purple bruising starting to form around them but nothing that required stitches. 

"Its just a scratch dude But I get the feeling that we should probably go." he informed Amias.

They both turned their heads to the side noticing different sets of eyes on them from bystanders that had gathered. Taehyun helped his friend up to his feet before they both smiled at the strangers trying to reassure them that everything was okay.

Taehyun turned to him once the crowd dispersed "Let's get going Amias, you've got a meeting to go to." he said, before jogging back to his BMW. Amias nodded slowly as a smile spread across his face and he rushed into the lavish sports car, his muscles spasming in spurts from the shock of the fall. He slipped into the black leather seats which to his surprise, were heated. He closed the passenger side door. Taehyun put his foot down, determined to help Amias get to the restaurant on time. Amias sat in the passenger seat anxiously, he bit his manicured nail which earned him a judgmental side-eye from his friend. He shrugged it off, sweat formed across his tattooed hazel brows. He couldn't afford to mess this dinner up. Taehyun knew where the CEOs were likely to be since they went through the same routine every week. Get dinner, get drunk, get kicked out. He wanted to warn his friend but since he had to deal with their bosses' shenanigans as a rookie, it was only fair that Amias endured the same.

Fifteen minutes had come and gone, before the car came to a stop. Amias had been spaced out for most of it. Taehyun was tempted to do a detour to the hospital just to make certain that he wasn't injured internally but there wasn't any visible bleeding and he was still conscious so he came to the conclusion that his friend was stressed out and just a little startled by what had happened.

Taehyun cleared his throat but was ignored. Rolling his eyes, he punched his friends' shoulder successfully getting his attention. Amias glared at him rubbing his arm.

"Taehyun! what the hell was that for?" he snapped, emotion blazing within his coffee eyes instead of that subdued look he had before.

Laughing lightly, his friend just shrugged,

"We are here, and you weren't responding, so if you don't want to be any later then stop wasting time and get into the car." he advised Amias.

This seemed to do the trick because in a flash Amias was smartening up his clothes, fixing his hair, and checking his breath before turning to his friend.

"Thanks, Taehyun, I owe you one." he rushed out before pushing open the door and sprinting out of the car not even giving his friend a chance to respond. 

Entering the restaurant, he looked around before spotting four of his bosses sitting at a table near the window at the bottom of the restaurant. Amias approached the table trying to summon up a shield of confidence as his bosses stopped laughing with each other and watched him approach. He stopped at the table and bowed to the other CEO's before sitting down in one of the two vacant chairs, partly relived that he wasn't the only one running late. Mr Hua was yet to arrive. He looked around the restaurant. The places layout had a classy vibe to it. They sat at a circular marble table surrounded by six silver leather chairs. The blonde wooden floor shined beneathe the glow of the LED lights that were hanging from the ceiling. There were several other tables in the place with spider plants sitting in different parts of the restaurant. Ambient music played in the background; the other tables were packed with other business type people.

Mr Hua arrived, breaking his distracted gaze. Amias jumped up and bowed causing his chair to scrape loudly across the floor. A hearty chuckle was what he recieved in return. He peered up at his boss who gestured for him to sit down as he sat in the empty chair opposite from him. If Amias was honest, he felt like an idiot right now. The CEO's talked with each other, he only joined in when they talked to him directly. He was afraid to say anything that would offend them and result in him losing his job. Dishes clanking caught his attention. A variety of dishes arrived, from Bibimbap to Tteokbokki with Kimchi, and different sea vegetables as side dishes. He waited until the other CEO's were eating before touching his food. Using his chopsticks, he stabbed them into the egg of his Bibimbap with care, and slipped it into his mouth. The rest of the meal proceeded without a hitch; he had loosened up enough to crack a couple of jokes with the other men as he started to feel less on edge. Taking another sip of his bitter beverage, he allowed himself to enjoy the moment.

Empty white porcelain bowls with dregs of dark brown and translucent red littered the table. Chopsticks sat abandoned as glasses lifted from the table as they men continued to drink. He took sips of the bitter, clear liquid in front of him. He wasn't a big fan of alcohol, but didn't want to offend his bosses by refusing a refill after he refilled all of their glasses. The other CEO's gradually became rowdy and drunken. He cursed his luck for having the responsibility of making sure, all of his CEO's arrived to their respective homes safely, and in one piece.