Your smile was competing with the sun as you stepped into the office. The clacking of your heels announced your arrival long before you reached your desk and gave away the excited skip in your steps. Smooth like butter you greeted your coworkers as you passed them by.
“Hey Jack, nice jacket.”
“Sara, you look stunning.”
“Pablo, how is your family? Yeah haha you are so right. Tell your wife I said hi.”
You got some of the names wrong but that’s ok because it was the best day of the week – Monday. You sat down in your chair as you sighed in contentment at the beautiful day to come. A long time ago you used to hate Mondays just like any normal person. That was until the most handsome man on this planet joined your company three years ago. Ever since there was nothing you looked forward to quite as much as the weekly Marketing x IT meeting. There is no way your coworkers didn’t notice your drastically different demeanour on Mondays but when asked about it you would only reply with a dreamy look
“What do you mean? I’m always in a great mood.” What a big fat lie but thank God no one questions that further.
You woke up an hour and a half earlier to get ready. Every hair in your blow out sat perfectly, your face glowed and your outfit looked amazing. You even took an everything shower and shaved your whole body, just in case. Not that any of this would make a difference because the IT department insists the meetings are online as none of them can be bothered to come into the office. But you still want to look your best for the occasion.
Entering the call, you are ready to sit back and look pretty because you don’t plan on adding anything productive to this meeting or anything at all. You look around the small pictures of your coworkers and spot him. The man of your dreams, the love of your life, the father of your future children. You hit the jackpot today because instead of his usual purple LED lights, he actually sits next to a window and the clear sight of him overwhelms you. Haechan looks absolutely scrumptious. The fleece jacket he wears is the one that everyone gets as a present on their first day on the job. You threw yours away the day you got it but now you regret it as you wish you could match with him. When you look at his hair, your hands are twitching as if they feel the strands in between the fingers. What would his hair feel like? Soft and smooth? Dry and stubborn? What shampoo does he use? How often does he wash his hair? Does he wash his hair at all? Does he have dandruff? You want to know all about it.
Satisfied, you sit back and for the next hour you have a dumb smile on your face as you watch Haechan while everyone else spoke about go-through rates and adjustments in the UI. You hope he looks at your icon, too. Which is not the case based on the lines of code that reflect on his glasses. You get lost deep in thoughts while the meeting carries on.
-
It’s when you hear a chorus of “Bye”s that you realise the meeting is over and everyone’s leaving. As one picture after the other disappears, you notice Haechan is still there. This is your chance. You fidget with your mouse to turn your mike on and your voice comes on just in time before he leaves “Oh Haechan, ehm would you mind staying for a little. I had a question.” His pretty eyes look at you expectantly through his glasses. Now that his picture is fully sized on your display you can’t help but admire the small details on his face. Skin clear but with a slight stubble at his chin like he knew you would go feral over that. You follow the path of moles from his nose down to his neck which remind you of constellations of stars. And just like a shooting star, the lights shine bright in his eyes. Even his ears are pretty, this is so unfair. You remember he is still waiting for you to speak.
“Oh, ehm, yeah so, I wanted, I mean, I was thinking” Ok, it’s not that hard just finish the sentence.
“I just wanted to” You keep stumbling over your words.
You close your eyes and take a deep breathe in before the word vomit leaves your mouth.
“I just wanted to say that I had a lot of fun on Friday. The work event I mean. I didn’t know you would come because you never show up to these kinds of things haha Not that I noticed ehm my… ah yeah right my coworker mentioned that to me. She keeps track of this kind of stuff. I mean, no, she doesn’t. But yeah so I wanted to say that I had fun and you are such a great dancer. The way you did the milli rock was so cool. Maybe you could teach me one day? Maybe during lunch break? Or maybe not during lunch that would be weird, right haha. Maybe without the dancing and only the lunch, that would be better, I guess. Do you like sandwiches? For lunch, I mean. I have a 50% off coupon for the grocery store next door. You could also do your grocery shopping if you wanted. You know because I have a coupon, it’s a great deal. So yeah no dancing only lunch. Like us. Together. When we have a break. You with me. Eating lunch together? During the break?”
Good thing there was no air left in your lungs to continue this embarrassment. You open one eye to watch Haechan’s reaction. He looks at you unblinkingly. You give him a nervous smile, neck turning red while you wait for his reply. Oh no, he doesn’t want to have lunch with me, you think to yourself, I weirded him out. I shouldn’t have mentioned sandwiches, he probably hates sandwiches.
You try to save face “We don’t need to meet for lunch. Actually, I’m just realising I’m busy this week. And the week after. Oh, I’m busy until July” you pretend to scroll your calendar “in two years. Just forget I asked.”
He stays silent, frozen. In fact, not even blinking. Slowly it dawned onto you – the internet connection was gone.
“YN, you hear me? I think the connection is gone.”
Dumbfounded, you reply shortly “Oh yeah, it was.”
“Did you say something?”
His doe eyes stare into yours, warm and patient. But you couldn’t do it, all the courage a minute ago left you. So, you gave up.
“No, I was just about to log out.”
You hang up the call before you slam your face against your desk groaning loudly. Heads turn your way but you didn’t care because you just lost your chance to ask Lee Haechan out for lunch.
-
Goodbyes were exchanged as the Marketing x IT meeting ended but Haechan stayed a little longer. He waited until everyone else was gone and before you could leave the call, too, he spoke up.
“Hey Y/N, would you want to grab lunch together some day?” He waited a few seconds, no reaction. Then he noticed the connection was gone.
“YN? YN, you hear me? I think the connection is gone.”
After you both hung up the call, he felt stupid for ever even considering that maybe you would want to get lunch with him.
an – For some reason, this one was soo hard to write. Anyway, as always it’s 1am and I just want this finished so I’ll post it and I hope I’ll still like it tomorrow morning hehe
You could name about three thousand things that you would rather do than spend your Friday night at some lifeless work event.
Not that anyone would ever guess that you didn’t like these events because you flourished in them. Easy conversations, witty jokes and a professional but laid-back attitude made you practically dance around the crowd winning everyone’s heart. It is not like you did this on purpose, this is just how you are. The oxford dictionary definition of a social butterfly.
But tonight? Oh, tonight was different. Your coworker Haechan finally decided to show up for a change and the whole night, attempt after attempt you tried to get his attention. With a success rate of about 0%. Every social skill you once possessed vanished into thin air in his proximity, like you never talked to a man before. It was disheartening but you had the heart of a warrior and nothing could hold you back from your mission.
This brings you here, attempt no 15. You’ve stood next to him at the buffet for the last 10 minutes. But he wouldn’t know because you were as quiet as a cat on the hunt. If that cat would be nervous, not breathing, red in the face and too shy to turn around and face her prey. Sophie stood in front of you and with big eyes, exaggeratedly nodding her chin in direction of Haechan, signing you to finally turn around and talk to him. But the force glueing your feet to the ground was supernatural. Every muscle in your body was strained but that didn’t hold you back from enjoying this delicious closeness to Haechan as much as you can. His warmth radiating to you from the 3m distance, his smell like a 7in1 shampoo and the sound of his low voice which nearly made your knees weak. Every crumb he gave you, you ate it up. You sharpened your ears when you heard his friend Chenle talk to him.
“Your turn Haechan, show us your dance moves. You’ve been standing in this corner the whole night!”
Stuttering and slightly panicked, he answers. “What? Oh no, I can’t dance for shit. You go enjoy yourselves, I’ll just wait for you here”.
“Come on, don’t be like that. Get those rusty dusty joints moving.” His joints totally were rusty dusty, that’s why he really shouldn’t be dancing in public.
“I really don’t think that is a good idea.” But his protest fell on deaf ears as his coworkers pulled him along onto the dance floor. Defeated he surrendered to his fate, questioning who would ever put a dance floor in a business networking event.
You were ecstatic. You knew begging the event team to get a dance floor for the networking event would be a great idea. Your whole demeanour changed as your body came to life. Gone was the shy cat, replaced by a dangerous lioness. You watched your prey as he moved towards the dance floor. Oh boy, if he knew the trouble he was going to be in. Because what no one knew was that you were a star on the floor. While shy with words, your moves were bold and unashamed. This was your chance and you were going to take it.
Sophie froze. She recognised the look on your face. The truth is you really are not the dancer you think you are. She tried to tell you many times before but you always uttered something about not being able to tame the fire in your veins. Jaw on the floor, Sophie watched in horror as you slowly made your way to the dance floor and into your demise.
Moving your body to the rhythm, you became one with the beat. You swayed left and right with your arms in the air as you felt the fire spread in your veins. Like in a trance your eyes were locked onto Haechan as he milly rocked in the middle of the crowd. He demanded your attention with the swing of his hips like a snake hypnotising its target. Suddenly, he turned his head making eye contact with you. This time you didn’t shy away. You were not same YN as before you stepped onto the dance floor. With a lopsided grin and squinting eyes you put your hands in peace signs and slid them horizontally in front of your eyes. Huh, you thought to yourself, I got him. A little startled he copied your move in an effort to be polite. He doesn’t know much about dance etiquette but that seemed about right. Head down, one hand on the crown of your head, you moonwalked over to him. When you arrived, you spun five times on the spot before you thrust your hips upwards on your tiptoes, loudly screeching “heeheee”. At a loss for words, Haechan looked at you in utter shock. But there was a glint in his eyes. How did you know he loved Michael Jackson?
No words were exchanged as you two danced like two aliens pretending to be human. Knees were crossed, arms flying in every direction and stiff hips shaking like you’re trying to dislocate them. Still standing at the buffet, Sophie was in disbelief as she stared at the scene. No way did this work out, Haechan actually matched your freak. A feat Sophie believed to be impossible up until this moment. But as she saw you two moving completely out of synch, she couldn’t deny that you looked cute together, all things considered. Her eyes met yours and you gave her a triumphant smile. Sophie chuckled back. Maybe she should ask HR for a dance floor in the office, too.
-
an - Look, the beginning is a HARD read Ik but it gets better I promise! …or maybe not? At this point idk if this still qualifies as fluff or if this is just pure crack. But I’m really excited to share this hahaha Enjoy!
You’re trying to be discreet. At least this is what you tell yourself as you ogle the back of Haechan’s head like a hawk.
Sophie is talking your ear off about her asshole of a boss and you try to concentrate on what she‘s saying. You really do. But it‘s hard when Lee Haechan is right there in your peripheral vision. You genuinely try to not stare too much but the back of his head must be laced with crack because you can‘t keep your eyes off of him. His dark hair is in dire need of a trim but you like it this way. Makes him look all soft and cozy. Sometimes during your work meetings you imagine what it would feel like to run your hands through it. Not in a weird way of course. Purely professional. In the normal getting-close-to-your-colleagues kind of way. Needless to say you are not paying attention during those meetings. Just like right now.
„You know I can tell you’re not listening.“
Still daydreaming about your colleague's fluffy head you hum „Hmmm.“
„Earth to Y/N?” “Hmmm.”
She smacks you over the head. “Stop staring at this poor man like you’re about to eat him. And wipe your drool away.”
You rub your head as you side eye her. “What are you talking about, I’m not staring at anyone. And I’m not drooling!” You still wipe the corners of your mouth, just in case.
“Your eyes will cramp up from how they follow Haechan around.”
Panicked, you move closer to her, your eyes darting left and right. “Pssht, don’t say his name out loud. What if someone hears?”
“Just talk to him. This is literally a networking event and you two are colleagues.”
You slump back on your chair “It’s not that easy. I’m too shy. The moment he is in front of me I forget what I wanted to say. Hell, I can’t even look him in the eyes. His whole presence is just so…strong and dominant you know.”
Sophie does in fact not know. Calling your colleague any of these attributes is definitely a reach. It is actually laughable how much Haechan proves every stereotype of your typical IT nerd to be true. Thick framed glasses making his eyes look like they will bulge out any second. He came to this company event in a worn out hoodie and sneakers. And while Y/N doesn’t see it, his hair is way too long and messy, and not in the hot manbun kind of way. Seeing him at all is actually a big surprise because this man does not take a single step into this company building if he can work remotely.
Your best friend puts her hands on your shoulders talking to you with the honesty and brutality of a trainer moments before his athlete steps into the ring. “Girl, shut the fuck up. We’ve been thought this a thousand times. There is literally no one less intimidating in this whole room than Lee Haechan. This man can’t say two sentences without stumbling over his words. You on the other hand are smoking hot. This nerd wishes you would talk to him. So, grow some balls and walk over to him now.”
She is right. You can do this. It took you two hours to get ready this morning. You clocked out of work an hour earlier just to get ready again and hype yourself up in the mirror of the office bathroom. There is no way you won’t make a move today.
In a sudden rush of adrenaline, you stand up. “Watch the master at his work.” Where all this confidence suddenly came from, no one knows. You gulp down the rest of your water and slam the paper cup on the table as you make your way to Haechan.
You got this. You’ll just walk up to him and say hi. Casual, cool, nonchalant, just like you are. You take long confident strides. Poor, unassuming Haechan doesn’t know that he is going to be rizzed into oblivion. Smirking you whisper "Just wait till I you reach you."
You walk and walk and walk. You take a deep breath two steps before you reach him. He turns around to you just as you opened your mouth.
You tense up.
And walk right past him, eyes glued to the wall.
In the background you hear his voice „Oh hi, Y/N nice to -“ you’re speedwalking now.
You beeline into the corridor before you bury your face in your hands. What the fuck was that.
-
“- see you here.” Lee Haechan lowers the hand with which he was about to wave at you. He stares after you as you back into the corridor. Damn he really hates socialising. For once he’s trying to talk to someone outside of the IT department and they don’t even hear him. Hell, he thinks he might have actually scared you because why did it look like you were running away after he started talking. Haechan isn’t sure what he could’ve said so wrong but then again he really isn’t great with this kind of stuff. Exhaling he mumbles to himself “I miss homeoffice.”
-
“Truly a master at work, huh.” Sophie snickers as you approach her.
You sit back down with a frustrated groan “I don’t get it. Why can’t I talk to him. He was right in front of me. It went so well.” Sophie isn’t sure what part of this whole thing went well but whatever. What she is sure about though is that her friend needs an ego push right now. Or else there will never be any kind of development in her love life.
“Y/N, chin up. You are hot, funny and smart. There is no way Haechan is not into you.” Sophie looks over at said boy who is currently itching his ear and smelling his fingers afterwards. If she is honest she doesn’t think Haechan has ever as much as looked at the opposite sex. But what is not, can still become. “Yeah, he is definitely into you. We just need to work on your shyness. That stunt right there was just a small setback but you are a baaad bitch and nothing can stop you. Understood?”
Looking into her eyes, with an expression that reads anything but sexy confidence, you repeat after her in a small voice “I am a bad bitch and nothing can stop me.”
-
an - Waaah so exciting my first story!!! I honestly never wrote anything creative before this but this was so fun hehe it is currently 4am so this might be a lot less funny than I think it is but idc. Enjoy!
