“What exactly did my brother say to you?”

Adrian Mercer is the ridiculously intelligent younger sibling of the CEO in the company you happen to be working in.

... weeeeell Adrian is technically second-in-command, but Sebastian would probably describe at least half of his actual job as keeping Adrian from getting the company investigated😭

Despite the expensive suits, executive title and very nice office he barely uses, Adrian spends an unreasonable amount of time in the laboratories himself. Mostly because he loves research and partially because spending his entire day sitting comfortably in an executive office while other people handle the research for him would mean he’d have to trust other scientists to do things properly, which he ABSOLUTELY does not.

Adrian is mostly calm, polite and charming when he wants to be: he’s extremely good at figuring out what people want to hear and almost completely unbothered by things like guilt, morality or whether ruining somebody’s career is perhaps a slightly disproportionate response to being annoyed.

Usually, Adrian looks perfectly normal.

... that’s sort of the problem.

                              His Brother

Being Adrian’s older brother, Sebastian has known him since before Adrian learned to babble and talk and learned how to say what people want.

Which is deeply inconvenient, because Adrian could manipulate half the people responsible for regulating his company if Sebastian would PLEASE stop interrupting.

Sebastian?

Nope.

Adrian starts talking and Sebastian can already tell where the bullshit is going. Their relationship consists largely of Adrian presenting some extremely questionable scientific or business proposal and Sebastian saying “No.”

“But you haven’t even heard—”

“No.”

😭

The most annoying part? Adrian actually loves him.

Sebastian has always been the exception. He’s the only person Adrian has been genuinely emotionally attached to throughout his entire life, and unfortunately for Adrian, Sebastian knows that too.

... and then there’s you

You’re an intern at Mercer Biotechnologies, a merely college student, short enough that the top of your head barely reaches Adrian’s chest when you stand beside him.

Adrian has absolutely no idea why that particular combination has apparently destroyed his ability to behave like a normal grown ass man.

He had girlfriends before, lots of , was even engaged once. He understands relationships perfectly well, just... never actually cared very much about the woman he was having one with.

Then you showed up.

At first he barely noticed you, there are hundreds of people working at Mercer Biotechnologies and you were just another intern... until one afternoon Adrian walked into a laboratory and found Dr. Evelyn Park treating you like shit. Nothing dramatic though, no hits or screaming, just miserable stuff people can get away with at work, the kind of condescending comments that make you feel stupid for asking questions and try very hard not to cry.

... and when he saw it, his body immediately decided this was apparently the hottest thing it had ever seen.

Not that he enjoys seeing you upset. He himself doesn’t fully understand it: at the exact same time, Adrian became absolutely fucking furious that somebody else had made you cry

Dr. Park was escorted out of Mercer Biotechnologies before the end of the day.

That should probably have been the end of it.

It wasn’t, of course.

The sexual attraction he can understand. He wants to you, mystery solved. Unfortunately, this conclusion does absolutely nothing to explain why he also wants you around constantly, the it bothers him when you’re tired, why somebody speaking harshly to you makes him instantly irritated.

Why does the idea of your internship ending pisses him off?

He has started thinking about you in terms of permanent life arrangements that you have definitely not agreed to.

... you would make an excellent wife.

There’s just one tiny problem

You are not Adrian’s girlfriend.

Yet.

Sebastian watched his little psychopath brother date women for years without really caring about any of them, watched him get engaged without being in love and broken said engagement without a brisk of emotion and said nothing.

But now suddenly his younger brother knows the weekly schedule of one particular intern, keeps mysteriously appearing in whichever laboratory she’s working in and looks ready to commit a felony every time somebody makes her uncomfortable? Sebastian is✨thrilled✨

Like... genuinely thrilled. A miracle has occurred.

So naturally Sebastian did the responsible thing and spoke to you behind Adrian’s back, offering you a permanent position at Mercer Biotechnologies.

A very good permanent position.

... suspiciously good, the sort of position a college intern would usually need years of experience and a virgin sacrifice to qualify for.

But Sebastian insists the company simply recognizes your potential.

Which is... technically true.

It just so happens that Sebastian would also REALLY like his brother’s first genuine romantic interest to remain conveniently employed inside the family company.

Forever, preferably.

If you happened to become his sister-in-law somewhere along the way? Well.

That would just be excellent staff retention🥰