Zodiac Workplace

Welcome to the sequel to Zodiac University!

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Taurus’s grin widened. Virgo was a trembling, shaking mess.

“W-why are you here, Taurus?”

Sagittarius looked at Virgo with an eyebrow raised. “You know him?”

Virgo didn’t respond. Taurus took that opportunity to open his mouth.

“Yes, actually. But I have to say, I wasn’t expecting to see a familiar face among the new employees.” He smirked, not taking his eyes off Virgo. “I wasn’t in charge of the paperwork, so I didn’t know.”

“Like hell you didn’t,” Virgo muttered shakily. He was starting to sweat. But Taurus had seemed just as surprised as he was, so it was likely he really didn’t know.

“Now, now,” Taurus said, clearly enjoying Virgo’s anxiety-ridden state. “Is that any way to talk to your boss?”

Virgo didn’t even know how to respond. He felt sick to his stomach.

It was the first time he’d seen this fucker, the idiot who’d sent him spiraling into despair, confusion, agony, and heartache, and he was the boss?! Of this technology company? It sounded like a bad joke. Nobody had heard of Taurus’s whereabouts, though, so it was entirely possible.

Still, Virgo didn’t want to believe it. He wanted to believe this was a hallucination, that his mind was playing tricks on him.

But it wasn’t.

The nauseous feeling surged and Virgo clasped his lips together tightly.

“E-excuse me…” was all he mumbled as he spun around, starting to bolt from the room. But Sagittarius gripped his jacket and gave him a warning glare.

“What’s with you? Who cares if he’s someone you know? You’re not leaving a good impression,” she whispered furiously.

Virgo shook his head and removed her hand from his suit, gritting his teeth as she latched on to another piece of fabric on him. Taurus leaned back and watched this whole ordeal, never taking his eyes off Virgo. Eventually, Virgo managed to wriggle free from Sagittarius’s grip and high-tailed it out of there, heading towards the bathroom as his stomach churned like he’d gotten off of the worst rollercoaster of his life. He was moving so fast, he nearly tripped over his own feet and cursed as he pushed open the door to the men’s room. Taurus was trying his hardest not to laugh with delight.

After renouncing his family’s name and moving out to an apartment nearby, Taurus had gotten into the company using his impressive programming skills. He’d also gained several online workshop certificates, which impressed his interviewer and got him an entry-level position in the business. But Taurus wasn’t done. He wanted to get higher, to earn more. He wanted respect and prestige. So, over the four years Virgo and friends were catching up on their degrees at Admirant, he’d soared up the work ladder, earning many titles and eventually becoming the youngest manager the company had ever had.

His plan had then been to find Virgo’s location and ‘coincidentally’ bump into him, flashing his riches and position. He’d only seen Virgo once over the years—at some stupid cafe when he was there with his friends. But he’d left before Virgo had a chance to react. He had just been given the entry-position at the company and knew that any interaction with Virgo would ruin his motivation.

Taurus was proud of how far he’d come, and even prouder that his plans had come to fruition so soon. After some searching, he learned that Virgo had moved out of his parents’ penthouse but was still in the inner city. The tech company had several locations, and conveniently, Taurus had been offered several jobs at places around the country and abroad. So he was prepared to relocate after Virgo, but he was glad he didn’t have to, after all.

However, he didn’t know that Virgo was job-searching and had been hired at the same company he managed.

But it was a pleasant surprise. It was more than pleasant.

We’ll be working together, Taurus thought, licking his lips. There would be many opportunities for him to seduce Virgo. His mind already conjured up several ideas for their future interactions. He could overwork Virgo and send him spiraling into despair to the point where the raven-haired man begged him to stop…or he could underwork him and have him view him more favorably. Of course, he had to make sure the other bosses didn’t notice and put his credibility at risk. Taurus rolled his eyes as he thought of Paul, Ben, and Harriet. Those old coots. They’ve no doubt taken a liking to Virgo. I hope they didn’t tell him too much at that orientation.

Taurus had opted out of attending the cafe’s gathering under the pretext that ‘he had work to prepare for the newbies’. This wasn’t a total lie. He’d planned to get them started on basic programming tasks and to see how much talent they had, but now that he knew Virgo was among the rookies…

I’m so tempted to make him cry, Taurus thought gleefully. His sadistic nature hadn’t changed much from Admirant. If anything, he’d gotten more psychopathic, with an overly charismatic nature that hid deep, dark traits.

The memory of the sex Taurus and Virgo had had all those years ago suddenly entered Taurus’s mind. He smiled and turned to go back into his office. Yeah, he was going to make sure that happened again. He was going to leave Virgo at his mercy—

“Um, excuse me?”

Taurus paused and looked back to see a purple-haired Korean girl waving. He sighed inaudibly. Right…there were other employees besides Virgo. He narrowed his eyes as he recalled how Virgo and the woman had arrived together. Were they dating?

No. They couldn’t be.

But…what if they were?

Taurus didn’t know Virgo’s type. What if he liked skinny beauties like her? She was almost on Gemini and Cancer’s level, with those long legs and sharp eyes…

Taurus tsked, instantly in a bad mood. He spun around, plastering on his fake, charismatic grin.

“Hello. You must be…?”

“I’m Sagittarius,” Sagittarius said, nodding her head politely. “I believe I’ll be your subordinate from now on. It’s a pleasure to work under you, sir.”

Taurus nodded over-enthusiastically. “The pleasure is all mine. I hope we can get along as we strive to make this company better.”

Sagittarius studied him. He was hiding something. That cheery smile, that bubbly attitude…it seemed fake. She didn’t like it.

“Pardon me, sir, but I can’t help but notice that my other subordinate seemed a bit…agitated. Do you mind if I check on him?”

Taurus’s eye twitched a little. “I was going to head to the bathroom, soon, anyway. I’ll go see what’s going on and introduce myself. In the meantime, help yourself to some coffee. We just got a new machine.”

Sagittarius didn’t take her eyes off Taurus. “You actually looked like you were going back in your office, sir. I can check on him—I’m aware that I showed up for work early, so I’d have nothing else to do until the other employees get here.”

Taurus clenched his jaw. “Act-u-al-ly,” he said slowly, “I do need some papers sorted. I might just put you on that until the others arrive.”

Sagittarius blinked. “But sir, I—“

“It’s settled,” Taurus said in a sharper tone than he’d intended. He started for the bathrooms, gesturing towards a stack of paperwork in his office. “I’m counting on you!”

Sagittarius didn’t say anything, watching as Taurus entered the men’s room and then looking at the papers. She had quite the uneasy feeling.

Something’s off about that man, she thought.