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Too Much Time Together

genre: best-friends-to-lovers!au, childhood-friends-to-lovers!au, indie rock band member!Yuta, corporate worker!reader (fluff, slow burn, angst with a happy ending, a lot of pining from Yuta in the first half, frustrating office environment (jungwoo’s parents are really crazy in this)

pairing/s: Yuta/Reader (I use fem pronouns for the reader), Jungwoo/Reader (for a solid portion of the story), ft some of the nct kids

word count: 29k+ I wasn’t kidding when I said this was gna be long

tw: misogyny in the work place, toxic behaviour in jungwoo & reader’s relationship, uhh there's like 1 f word in this HAHHA, mild swearing, they drink in this too taglist: @infnteen (do let me know if u want to be tagged in my future stuff)

a/n: hello!! this is something I had a lot of fun writing so I hope you guys enjoy it :) I too wanted to k*ss Yuta while I wrote this.... but yes. this is also based on the song ‘too much time together’ by san cisco! so u cld listen to that to get some of the vibes~ anyway, enjoy! happy Friday everyone... read this on ao3

Seven in the evening. Your favourite time of the day.

When you were younger, you always thought your town was calmest during this time. When the sun had started to set and everything was just a mix of blues and greys. When the stars weren’t visible yet and you could see the faint pink of the clouds lingering in the sky. When the wind was just the right amount of cold and the roads were almost empty save for the few cyclists or family vans.

It wasn’t common in your town for people to work late. By 5 o’clock, you’d be able to hear the light clinking of cutlery and see the glow of warm light shining out from the houses and laughter echoing from diners in your street while you were on your way home, the occasional couple or dog-owner taking a walk around the neighbourhood.

But that wasn’t why you liked it so much.

“Oh my god, look at what my mom just sent me.”

Yuta struggled to contain his boisterous laughter, clutching his stomach as he shoved his phone in front of you, frankly not being bothered to line it up with your vision with how hard he was laughing.

Grabbing his wrist to pull his phone towards you, you squinted at his phone, raising the brightness level only to see a group photo taken with Yuta’s mom’s old film camera on the day of your very first soccer lesson, a sweaty, red-faced Yuta with his long hair sticking to his forehead like glue as he glared at you, who was kneeling in the front row with a bright smile on your face.

You couldn’t help yourself from laughing, cooing at the image, “We look like babies! Why are you even glaring at me like that?”

“It gets better, swipe to the next picture,” he sighed, bringing his palms up to dab at the tears forming in his eyes.

You did as he told, swiping only to see another film picture of you and Yuta taken on the same day, except this time, it was a rather furtively taken photo of the both of you in a McDonald's booth, with you holding out your ice cream towards Yuta, the next picture showing him now with your ice cream in his hands, smiling at you as though all wrongdoings were forgiven.

When you were just turning eight, your mom had decided to sign you and your cousin up for soccer classes. Though your cousin had quit after two lessons, Yuta was somewhat the reason you stayed. You didn’t like soccer that much, frankly. Well, not as much as Yuta did, at least.

What you liked about it was that seven in the evening was when soccer practices ended and your parents would bring you to hang out with each other, be it dinners at each other’s houses, or ice cream at McDonald’s, or picnics at the park.

The added bonus of the both of you living in the same apartment building was just something you always thought was fated, as if the universe was just conveniently helping you spend more time with your soon-to-be best friend.

In high school, seven was when Yuta would end soccer practice and show up at your apartment with his beaten-up second hand textbooks and dog-eared exercise books, taking his place in your room (usually on your bed) to study with you.

Most times, you’d start to doze off in the middle of quizzing each other, or you’d simply not be able to tolerate studying when it reached a certain time in the night, adjourning to your balcony to enjoy the quiet town and gentle breeze as you talked each other’s ears off about anything that was on your minds. It didn’t matter what you talked about; it could’ve been about a teacher you didn’t like or a movie you watched recently or ranting about the school’s soccer team. Sometimes, either of you would be too pissed off to talk that you’d just sit there in silence or argue with each other until you both got tired and decided to make-up, but that was what was so nice about it.

You could talk about anything with Yuta, you could be your truest self around him and you loved it. Puberty or not, it was almost like you’d had an agreement that together, you’d navigate all that your adolescence could possibly throw at you.

In college, Yuta and his friends started a band, (we’re experimenting with genres, he would always insist) and it seemed that he’d started to become someone not just admired by you (if you were to use a mild word to describe it) but by the majority of people in your school. As ridiculous as it seemed, it was true.

The lead guitarist of the band, his gigs were awfully crowded, swarms of students crowding around the stage of whatever venue they were playing, while you… preferred to take a seat further away from the crowd.

Yuta didn’t mind, he knew you didn’t come for the music anyway.

That was your first year of college. Whenever the evenings rolled around, if you weren’t at Yuta’s gigs, you’d be meeting him after classes for dinner and late-night study sessions where he would stay in your dorm past curfew.

“People are talking about us, you know. They think we’re dating,” you would tell him, especially after you were approached too many times by Yuta’s fans who were desperate to hear you tell them Yuta was single and available.

To which he would simply smile at you, no remorse whatsoever detected in his expression as a mere ‘oops’ would leave him.

“What do you mean ‘oops’? It’s bad for you, you know. You’re ruining your chances at a relationship.”

He would always giggle whenever you reminded him of that.

“And yours too,” he sing-songed.

Looking back now, you figured you should’ve known Yuta meant what he said. Because in your second year of college, that was when Jungwoo had entered your life, and it was like everything had shifted.

It had happened like something out of a movie.

Jungwoo wasn’t your typical college student. He was the son of an (all too wealthy) conglomerate owner, with a perfect GPA even while doing a double degree in mechanical engineering and business administration, and a disposition accompanied with a certain gentle boyish charm that had won your friends and family over instantly, yourself included. The only person that wasn’t exactly ‘won over’, was your now best friend, Yuta.

Ironically enough, you’d met him at one of Yuta’s gigs.

Sat on the balcony of the bar their band was playing at this time, you were surprised to say the least when you’d felt a tap on your shoulder halfway through the band’s cover of ‘She moves in her own way’ (which Yuta would never admit was a song that made him think of you).

Turning to see your classmate from your English Literature module, Mark Lee, you almost didn’t notice the tall boy standing beside him dressed in a plain black t-shirt and cargo pants that looked just slightly too baggy to be his, long brown hair hanging over his eyes that he shook aside when greeting you with a nod.

“Yo, what are you doing here?” Mark asked incredulously, realisation washing over his features almost instantly after the sentence had left him, “Wait, nevermind, I think I know why. Yuta?”

You could only return a nod as a small burst of chuckles left you.

“Are you guys staying for the rest of the gig? There’s no one sitting here so we could share a table, I doubt anyone else here would be keen on sharing.”

Mark’s relief was all too obvious, nodding gratefully as he’d slumped into the seat next to you, his friend sitting down next to him and glancing between you and the drink you were holding.

Exchanging a look with his friend (who looked rather expectant, if you may add), Mark sputtered, pursing his lips and poorly containing his smile, “Oh, right. Not that he needs any introduction but this is Jungwoo. Jungwoo, this is Y/N.”

Raising your eyebrows, a tight-lipped smile on your face, you’d nodded, “Nice to meet you.”

If Jungwoo was surprised at how calm you were, he hadn’t shown it. He did a once-over at your appearance, from the loudly coloured sweater you were wearing to the ripped jeans adorning your legs, not to mention the accessories adorning your ears, neck and fingers, Jungwoo couldn’t understand why he was so drawn to you. Maybe it was the genuine smile you’d given him, he hadn’t been at the receiving end of those in a long while.

Truth be told, he just wasn’t used to seeing people react so calmly to his presence (especially since he’d been met with nothing but stares and gossipy whispers ever since he’d walked into this dingy place).

“Are you a Sophomore too?” you asked, running the pad of your finger in a circle on your glass absently, collecting the condensation only to rub it off on the piece of tissue next to your hand.

Jungwoo’s eyebrows perked up, nodding his head with a smile, “Yeah, I am. I’m quite sure I haven’t seen you around before, though.”

There was something delicate about the tone of his voice, a stark contrast to Mark’s harshly pronounced words and schoolboy slang that littered his speech.

You had to stop yourself from wondering how he would sound saying your name.

“Me neither.”

Mark sighed, his leg bouncing along with the music, a small giggle leaving him as Donghyuck, the band’s lead singer, had muttered something unintelligible into the microphone after forgetting the lyrics.

“Is that a gin and tonic? Mind if I have some? I’m super thirsty,” Mark eyed your drink, Jungwoo’s attention unwavering as he continued to observe you while you entertained Mark.

“Sprite. But go wild,” you pushed the glass towards him, using your elbow to prop your head up on the table as you softly hummed along with the music, knowing almost all the lyrics having heard Yuta play them all too often.

“So, uh, what do you study?” you asked, leaning closer so you could hear his answer over the sound of Yuta’s too-loud guitar solo.

Mark seemed to be too eager to answer on behalf of Jungwoo, gulping down the sprite in his mouth with a wince, “Dude! He’s crazy. He’s doing a double degree.”

Mark beat at his chest (probably the after effects of chugging a carbonated drink), oblivious to the embarrassment that seemed to overwhelm Jungwoo, who had shook his head dismissively.

“It’s not that big of a deal, Mark’s just exaggerating,” Jungwoo seemed bashful, shaking his head as he looked down at Yuta’s band playing, wondering if he was hallucinating the way Yuta was practically glaring at him.

“So, you’re not doing a double degree?” your mouth curved into a smile, a teasing lilt to your tone as you raised your eyebrows at him.

Jungwoo’s lips parted, his hand coming up to run it through his hair, his bangs falling back lightly against his forehead.

“I- well, I mean. Yeah, I am,” he huffed, scrunching his nose up, “Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration.”

The words had seemed so foreign coming out of his mouth, as if you hadn’t expected such heavy majors from someone as unassuming as him.

How did Mark even get to know this guy?

“Wow… that’s… something. What are you planning on doing with that?”

Mark’s eyes went wide, looking at you almost incredulously.

“Wait, dude, you don’t know? Jungwoo’s dad—” Mark had been cut off halfway by Jungwoo clearing his throat loudly.

“It’s nothing impressive. Just an office job, you know?” A nervous laugh had left him, making Mark’s expression go blank, staring at Jungwoo as if to ask if he was seriously going to try to hide his background as if the whole population of your university (and maybe even the city) didn’t already know.

“Oh,” was all you could muster.

You were never one to be drawn to the life of nine-to-five office jobs, especially after hearing so many stories from your relatives and seniors about how ‘it’s not realistic to get a job you’re actually happy in and passionate about’. You guessed the ‘rational’ choice just didn’t seem appealing to you.

Mark had excused himself to go down to the bar and get another drink, leaving you and Jungwoo alone (much to Yuta’s dismay. The boy was finding himself rather annoyed at Jungwoo’s presence at your table. Especially since that meant you weren’t paying attention to his performance).

“You’re not getting a drink?” you asked, earning a shake of the head from him.

“Not really a fan of sprite,” he joked, making you roll your eyes.

“Not a fan of alcohol either?”

He nodded, a simple ‘yep’ leaving him.

“So are you just gonna like…” you fiddled with your straw absently, raising your volume as Lucas’ drumming had only gotten louder, Jungwoo leaning in slightly in an attempt to hear you better, “you know, start working at your uh, ‘office job’ after you graduate?”

He nodded, shrugging, “Yeah… my parents have already kind of discussed it with me.”

His parents… you swore you heard Mark mention something about his dad, yet something about Jungwoo’s tone (and the fact that it was only your first meeting) made it seem like it was too soon to ask.

“Is there something wrong?” Jungwoo hummed, seeming to have noticed the way your face fell at his words.

Quick to dismiss him, you shook your head, “No, it’s just… do you like it?”

Jungwoo’s breath hitched. It was a normal question, sure, but something about it seemed to trigger emotions in Jungwoo that he’d been trying hard to repress.

“Huh,” he breathed, a soft smile playing at his lips, “the mechanical engineering part, yeah. I really like it. But, the business administration… not so much.”

“Guess you can’t have the best of both worlds,” you shrugged, leaning back in your seat, almost diverting your attention back to the song the band was playing now before Jungwoo had cut in.

“What about you, then? Are you studying something you like?” he tilted his head at you, the soft gaze he was giving you only encouraging you to share more.

Giving Jungwoo a shrug, you nodded, “I guess… I’m majoring in Human Resource Management and Journalism.”

Jungwoo hummed, nodding slowly as his lower lip stuck out slightly in a pout.

“What made you choose human resources?”

You shrugged, “I didn’t want to… honestly. But, you know, everyone’s telling me it pays better. And I’m pretty sure if I get a job at one of those big companies I'm basically set for... life. So, there’s that.”

Jungwoo nodded, a soft sigh leaving him.

“I totally get that…” he rested an elbow on the table, supporting his head on his palm, looking at you with an unreadable emotion to his gaze, “mind if I ask what it is that you really wanna do?”

You huffed, “Publishing.”

Jungwoo nodded, “That sounds interesting, why specifically publishing?”

You shrugged, “I really like it, the idea of being able to work with authors to get their work out, just… feels interesting to me, thinking about all the great stories that haven’t been discovered yet.”

The smile Jungwoo had given you accompanied with the look in his eyes had served to comfort you more than you knew you needed.

“Who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to find a job that gives you both stability and happiness.”

You couldn’t help the chuckle that left you, “Slim chance. Is that your plan?”

Jungwoo shrugged, a little giggle bubbling out from his lips, “I’d like it to be, but who knows how things will turn out. You know, with everyone telling me to make the ‘rational’ choice. Most people I know end up having to sacrifice one or the other.”

You gave him a smile, pleased by how it seemed that the both of you had some sort of similarity in your experiences and thoughts.

You liked how positive Jungwoo was, most of all.

But like you said, you didn’t like making the rational choice.

Jungwoo was the perfect, rational choice on paper and from how he behaved when you met him. He was kind, funny, and he was gentle. Looking at him, you figured maybe the rational choice wasn’t so bad after all. So you made it.

You’d only found out later on that night from a very passive aggressive Yuta that Jungwoo was the heir to a corporation you’d only ever seen or heard about in the news.

Office life? He was practically born for it.

“Yuta?”

“What.”

“What do you wanna do in the future?”

Yuta snorted, “God, I don’t know. Why are you asking all of a sudden? Are you planning on switching majors or something?”

You shook your head, not knowing how to explain your thought process after your conversation with Jungwoo.

“Nah, I was just wondering, you know. Since I was talking to Jungwoo just now... sort of seemed kind of scary that we’re just supposed to decide what we wanna spend the next big chunk of our lives doing now, you know? Like, taking into consideration salaries and starting families and getting married and whatever,” you rambled off the top of your head, oblivious to the curious look Yuta was giving you.

“You talked about all that during my gig?”

Yuta wondered momentarily if he should stop letting you sit in for band practices to keep you in suspense.

“What were you doing with that Jungwoo guy, anyway?”

“Oh, do you know him?”

Yuta rolled his eyes, “Do I know him? Shit, of course, I know him_._ The whole town knows about him. His dad’s the owner of Z Global Enterprises. I mean, I know I always say you live under a rock but I didn’t think it was actually true.”

You scoffed at him. You remember that night because it was the first of many of Yuta’s tirades against Jungwoo’s family. Not that you’d listened to him, anyway.

“What does the Z stand for anyway?”

Yuta huffed, spitting his words with unconcealed venom, “Zeus. Talk about a stupid name.”

You, on the contrary, had simply giggled, “Zeus? That’s funny. I can’t imagine someone as gentle as him living up to that kind of reputation.”

“Y/N,” he gave you a pointed look, “I’m warning you. You shouldn’t put it past him.”

You remember scoffing at him, so insistent that Jungwoo wasn’t all that bad.

“You don’t even know him. Why are you being such a hater?”

“I’m not being a… hater,” Yuta shrugged, “I just hate everyone around him. Well, except Mark.”

Maybe he really just hated the way Jungwoo had taken your attention away from his performance, or the fact that he’d never seen you so smitten with anyone in his life yet the sight of it annoyed him more than he would’ve expected it to. _Sure, Yuta was annoyed, definitely. _

And that wouldn’t have been an issue on normal terms, you and Yuta would just talk it out like always. But what was different about this time, was that he didn’t think he could tell you the reason behind his annoyance. Not when it all pointed back to wanting to be the one you were smiling and laughing at and being all smitten with—Yuta figured he’d better unpack those feelings first.

“Oh, right,” You added, “I can’t come for your next gig.”

Yuta wondered how you could mention that so casually, especially when it was so out of the ordinary for you to bail on him. You weren’t a very social person, _maybe it was a group project or something. _

“Which one?” Yuta asked, narrowing his eyes at you, hoping that his disappointment wasn’t too obvious.

“The one on Thursday evening.”

“Oh… why? Night class?”

You shook your head, a giddy smile on your face, “Jungwoo asked me out.”

Yuta shot you a look, a very skeptical look.

“You’re really gonna go out with him,” he said, more of a statement than a question.

You nodded, staring at your phone as you read your text from Jungwoo that had come in.

Kim Jungwoo 9:23pm -my schedule’s pretty packed usually, so my free time is mostly in the evenings, hope that’s alright with you :)- 9:23pm -anyway, was nice talking to you just now. see you on Thursday, y/n-

When seven in the evening was no longer just protected time for you and Yuta, Yuta figured there was nothing else he could do than to support you.

“Fine. Whatever, enjoy your date.”

===

Twirling his pen in his hand for what seemed like the thousandth time as his leg bounced impatiently, Yuta glared at the clock, following the second-hand with his eyes, counting down for when the time for his lunch break would come.

Yuta had barely even noticed the customer that came in with a measly bouquet in her hands that definitely wasn't from this shop. He'd only snapped out of his trance staring at the clock when said uniform-clad girl slammed the bouquet down on the table accidentally (or not, now that Yuta was thinking about it), looking at Yuta with nothing but adoration on her face. She adjusted her uniform as she waited for his response, glancing out the glass doors at her group of friends who were waiting expectantly for her.

She was a regular here.

"Yes?" he murmured as he ran his hand through his dark brown hair, one hand fiddling with his necklace as he carefully maneuvered his phone screen with his free hand, working on getting his cup pong aim perfect so he could beat you and your 2 measly cups left.

“What do these flowers mean?" her voice held an expectant tone, which probably turned to annoyance once she realised Yuta really wasn’t paying attention.

Yuta glanced at the flowers, a crumpled looking small bouquet, making him furrow his eyebrows in confusion because what am I a flower dictionary? He tilted his head to face the girl with his eyebrows raised.

"This isn't a tarot card reading, miss. Why don't you go ask the person who gave them to you?”

She scoffed, mouth opening and closing in disbelief, mostly at the fact that Yuta couldn’t tell that she was only here to see him.

"I mean, this is a flower shop, shouldn't you know?"

Yuta huffed, shrugging nonchalantly as he moved to pack up his things, disinterested in the conversation after having made his opinion on the flowers clear. Yuta’s phone chimed signalling a notification from you.

bestie 11:56am -how r u so good at this game :( - 11:57am - also im here wru- 11:57am -oh right i forgot u were working i'll just get us a seat first-

Yuta was about to punch out a reply on his phone when he heard a voice (and a rather annoyed one at that) snap him out of his daze.

“Hello?” the high school student’s voice was scratchy, taking on a rather impatient undertone.

Yuta, with his bag already slung over his shoulder, had mentally cheered when he saw his co-worker Doyoung walk into the store, bells jingling to alert the shop of his presence.

Yuta shot one more look at the girl who was still waiting for his answer before finally deciding to look closer at the flowers, noting that the flowers were lilacs, stock flowers and forget-me-nots. They all had something to do with love, if Yuta remembered what his grandfather told him correctly.

"I don't know. They look ugly. Maybe they hate you." Yuta told her with a sickly sweet smile before he left promptly, leaving Doyoung with a pat on his back, the keychains on his backpack jingling softly as he stepped out.

“Where’d you go before this?” Yuta asked you, nodding politely at the waiter as she served you two your food.

“I had work before this, idiot. I’m not that free,” you huffed.

Yuta feigned shock, giggling at the annoyed expression on your face as he’d sipped his coffee happily, “Right, forgot you were working with the almighty children of Zeus. How’s that going, anyway?”

You scrunched your nose up in distaste, biting into your burger angrily.

“It’s almost been four years, Yuta, stop pretending like you don’t know that. But it’s the same as always, nothing worth talking about.”

Yuta sighed, sarcasm laced in his tone, “Well, you sure sound happy.”

You shrugged, shifting in your seat to cross your legs, the pencil skirt you were wearing not doing much to aid your movement.

“I mean it’s not like it’s a bad job. I’m good at what I do, I like my office space, I’m getting a hell of a good pay—”

“I’m sure you and your boyfriend are practically drowning in money now,” you didn’t miss the way he’d pronounced boyfriend particularly harshly,

“Of course, you want some?” you teased, sticking out your tongue at him.

“Oh, speaking of which,” Yuta hummed, “the shop just got a new batch of chrysanthemums. Do you want some for your apartment?”

You really, really wanted to, but you knew the impending earful you would get from Jungwoo’s mom if you did. She always went on and on about the useless decor in your house.

Whatever, she doesn’t have a key to your shared apartment anyway.

“Okay. I can drop by after work to get them.”

Yuta shook his head, “That’ll be too late. And plus, I have band practice tonight.”

Your smile had widened at the mention of band practice, as if only just noticing then the way Yuta was dressed, a flashy printed button down shirt and ripped jeans, with a multitude of accessories on him, not to mention the biker jacket hanging from the back of his seat. Oh, and his freshly dyed red hair. All part of his ‘rocker’ image.

You sighed, “Wish I could sit in… it’s been ages.”

Yuta shot you a look, a teasing smirk playing at his lips as he twirled his pasta around his fork slowly.

“Miss me that much?”

You rolled your eyes, a wistful sigh leaving you, “not so much you as the idea of doing something as mindless as listening to your band practice the same setlist fifty times.”

Rolling his eyes, Yuta couldn’t help the smile that lingered at his lips, though it didn’t reach his eyes like it used to.

Staring at you with an unplaceable emotion in his gaze, he watched as your attention was diverted by a text message from your department’s intern Jaehyun asking when you would be back from lunch, apparently needing help with a talent review you were working on together.

You wouldn’t have noticed, but as Yuta was looking at you, he thought of how much you’d grown since you started dating Jungwoo, hating how that feeling he’d gotten when he’d first seen the two of you together hadn’t disappeared.

Looking back at him, your eyebrows raised in question, suspicion raised by his silence.

“What?” you nodded your head at him, eyebrows furrowing as you brought your glass up to your lips to take a sip, glancing at the time on the watch Jungwoo had gifted you for your birthday as you did so.

You didn’t have much time left for lunch, you were supposed to meet Jaehyun to help him with preparing the Chairman’s speech for the next dinner to celebrate another amazing milestone the company had reached.

“Take a break,” he murmured, “you look tired.”

Your gaze softened at his words, something about the gentleness of his tone stirring a sense of comfort within you.

Clearing your throat softly, averting your gaze elsewhere, you nodded, “I know. I will.”

Changing the subject just as quickly, you’d asked Yuta how the band had been doing.

“Pretty well, actually. We’re gonna be in town for a while, since we don’t have any gigs out of town for now.”

“Really? That’s great,” you breathed, somehow relieved at the knowledge that Yuta was here not just temporarily, but for ‘a while’. You weren’t sure why the sound of that was enough to bring happiness to your heart. Maybe you didn’t realise how much you missed him.

“Uh-huh,” he grinned, “we’ll be able to hang out more now. Remember how I told you Hendery left ‘cause he was migrating?”

You nodded.

“We found a replacement for him,” Yuta told you, awfully resembling a cat with the way he looked at you. The sight alone was enough to draw a smile from you as well.

“Who?”

His eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, clicking his tongue at you.

“Guess!” he insisted, the smile returning to his face, eyes widening and eyebrows lifting.

You thought hard, laughing to yourself at the name that popped into your head.

“Taeil?”

Yuta rolled his eyes, “C’mon, Taeil’s married. Think harder.”

You scoffed, trying to stifle your laughter, “What? Married men can’t be in a band?”

“Okay, fine. I’ll give you a clue. We both love him and he’s friends with Jungwoo too.”

Staring at him blankly, you did a quick run through of your list of mutual friends before your eyes widened in realisation, a soft gasp leaving you.

“Mark?” excitement was practically dripping from your tone, making Yuta scoff playfully at you, giving you a nod in affirmation.

“Uh-huh,” Yuta leant back in his seat, running his hand through his hair before folding his arms across his chest.

“He told me to ask you when you could meet up, kept saying he needed to introduce you to someone.”

You scrunch your nose up, “Not another Zeus employee hopeful, I hope.”

Yuta snickered, shaking his head, “Pretty sure it’s the girl he’s been seeing.”

Your eyes widened, “Alright, I’ll text him… Do you know if he’s met with Jungwoo recently?”

Yuta’s eyebrows lifted, an incredulous look in his gaze, “You’re asking me? You’re the one dating the guy… and plus, I don’t think Jungwoo’s met with any of his friends outside of the office in years…”

You sighed, “it’s not that bad… he still meets with Lucas sometimes…” you shrugged.

“Lucas’ birthday doesn’t count, we were all there.”

You brought a hand up to wave him off, “Whatever, he’s busy. I’ll just talk to him about it when he’s free.”

“You literally live together,” Yuta deadpanned, his statement going ignored by you who had chosen to think about Mark again.

Not that you would ever admit you avoided thinking about Jungwoo; you knew it was kind of overdue for you to have a proper talk with him, most of your conversations these days were all too brief and superficial to belong to a couple who were supposed to be on their path to marriage.

You slouched in your seat, an arm resting on the side of your chair as you propped your head up with your palm, excited at the thought of Mark joining Yuta’s band.

“That’s so cool… I always thought he’d make a good guitarist.”

Yuta never missed an opportunity to tease you.

“Not as good as me, of course, right?”

You rolled your eyes, though you couldn’t help yourself from playing along.

“Yeah, yeah, totally.”

You didn’t bother to notice the silence that fell just momentarily between the both of you. The way Yuta looked, just the slightest of redness tinting his ears as he pretended he wasn’t flattered by the subtext of your sarcasm. You were almost reluctant to leave that little moment you were sharing with him, giddy smiles and warmth in your chest reminding you of how much you missed spending time with your best friend.

Yuta, however, was drawn back to reality first. His gaze flickering sharply to your phone as it began to buzz, the caller id spelling out Jaehyun’s name big and bold across your screen.

Knowing what that meant, your shoulders sank, Yuta receiving everything he needed to know from your expression alone.

Of course you felt bad, it was the first time you were able to meet with Yuta for months and now you couldn’t even enjoy that little time together. But what else was there left to do when you missed your best friend but your schedules hated each other?

You opened your mouth to speak.

“I’m sorry Yu—”

“It’s okay,” Yuta shook his head, a soft smile on his lips, “I understand. Work is work, love.”

You purse your lips, picking up your glass and downing whatever remained of your drink, already beginning to sling your purse around your arm and stand up.

“Put it on my tab—”

“It’s okay, I got it.”

You frowned, “Just put it on my tab.”

Yuta’s smile stayed unwavering, waving one hand as he used his other hand to wave you off, “You can get our next meal.”

Suppressing the happiness that bubbled in you at the thought of the next time you’d get to meet Yuta, you smiled, waving before you started your hectic journey back to the office.

===

With the gust of cold wind from the air conditioning that hit you when you passed through the equally harsh black marbled walls of the lobby, the only thought that was in your head was to quickly drop off the cookies you’d bought for Jungwoo on the way back to the office and figure out what Jaehyun was so urgently texting you about. None of which you assumed was going to be easy.

Ignoring the way people were staring as you walked through the corridors to the lift lobby, you gripped the handles of the paper bag tighter in your fists, holding it behind your back as you waited for the lift numbers to reach the ground floor.

You’d barely noticed the tall figure next to you until you’d felt a sudden force of a hand on your shoulder, surprising you with a yelp. The tell-tale burst of laughter that followed was all you needed to know who was responsible.

“Not cool, Johnny.”

Calming down from his laughter, the said man gave you an innocent smile, “Couldn’t help myself. And plus, it’s fine, there’s no one else here.”

You raised an eyebrow at him, using your gaze to gesture to the other people at the lift lobby.

“Okay, fine. Correction, no one else I know here.”

You huffed, the elevator doors finally opening to let a few people out, some of whom you recognized to be from the legal department, knowing they were especially busy with the company President’s plans for an acquisition.

“Just had your lunch?” you asked, earning a satisfied sigh from him, who placed a hand over his stomach to rub at it.

“Uh-huh, ate with Jaehyun,” he murmured, “oh, hope you don’t mind that we used your office, by the way.”

Your lips parted, though you didn’t make any move to reprimand him. If anything, you were glad you still had a friend like Johnny in the office to remind you that not everyone here was a walking machine.

“It’s fine. Not like I don’t know you guys do that often, anyway.”

You didn’t miss the way Johnny’s lips pressed into a firm line, poorly stifling his sheepish smile.

Reaching your hand out between the two people standing in front of you and Johnny, you pressed the floor to Jungwoo’s office, not missing the way the people had turned to see who exactly was pressing the button to that floor, especially since the only thing on that floor was Jungwoo’s office and the rest of his team’s cubicles.

“Oh?” Johnny raised an eyebrow at you, making you roll your eyes, the smallest of embarrassed smiles lingering on your features as you trained your gaze to the bag in your hands.

“Thought i’d drop something off,” you lifted the bag to show him, his lips parting.

Johnny sighed wistfully, “That man does not deserve you,” he shook his head, gaze flickering to the floor number when the lift had dinged.

“That’s me. See you around, Y/N.”

You nodded in response, letting the elevator slowly filter out as you went higher and higher in the building, leaving just you alone in the elevator until you reached his floor.

The lift doors opened to reveal dark black marbled floors and an equally elegant-looking receptionist desk, someone you recognized to be Jungwoo’s secretary seated behind the desk typing furiously at their computer.

“Hey! What can I do for you?”

You greeted Chenle with a smile, “Is Jungwoo in? Wanted to drop something off.”

Chenle’s bright smile was unwavering, giving you a nod, his eyes quickly glancing over the bag in your hands.

“Food? Thank God, he refused to eat lunch today. Said he had no time.”

Your eyebrows knitted in worry, a small pout on your lips, “Can I leave it here? Is he busy with something?”

You missed the glint of mischief that flickered in Chenle’s eyes, seeing him shake his head, lifting one hand to gesture towards the tinted double doors of Jungwoo’s office.

“Head right in.”

Strangely feeling nervous, you missed the added murmur of ‘he needs it’ that came from Chenle.

Straightening out your blouse, you stalked towards Jungwoo’s office, pushing the heavy door open and scanning the room, your gaze landing on a figure seated on the sofa, laptop perched on one of his legs and the other hand draped over his stomach, snoring lightly with his head against the back of the sofa.

Chenle totally let you in on purpose. You knew about Jungwoo’s little ‘no guests during lunch’ rule.

Carefully making your way to where he was, you were about to pick up the blanket from the recliner in the corner of the room when it seemed the rustling of your paper bag had woken him up.

Hearing him inhale sharply, your stare was wide-eyed as you looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights, watching Jungwoo’s head lift from the back of the sofa, blinking slowly at you before a small smile graced his features.

A hand coming up to loosen his tie, he ran a palm along the side of his hair in a lazy attempt to fix it.

“Surprise?” you uttered weakly, giving up on your light footsteps and walking over to the sofa, slumping down on the seat next to him with a sigh.

Jungwoo took in a deep breath, angling his body on the sofa to face you, bringing a hand up to rest his head against.

Something you’d noticed over the past year together with Jungwoo, the second year of his term as Vice-President of the company, was that you still managed to catch glimpses of the Jungwoo you’d fallen in love with once in a while. Such times were times like this, where he was still half-asleep, looking at you with a soft smile on his face.

“Bought you cookies,” you pushed the bag towards him, taking the liberty of opening the bag and feeding him a cookie, which he’d gratefully opened his mouth to accept in his tired daze.

“Thank you,” his voice was barely a whisper, knowing that it was too hoarse to go any louder at the moment.

However, the moment was gone as quickly as it came, his phone buzzing with a text message from his dad, the name reminding him of where he was, what he was doing (or maybe, what he should’ve been doing).

Immediately, he’d turned away from you, clearing his throat and adjusting his tie, scanning the screen of his laptop as if making sure nothing was lost in his slumber.

He cleared his throat again softly, not bothering to take his gaze off the screen as he spoke, his tone curt and clipped, the gentleness from before long gone.

“You should go.”

You frowned, there was the Jungwoo you’d grown used to seeing.

Unsure if it was some sort of Yuta-possessed part of you, but you spoke before you could help yourself, “Can’t even spare me five minutes?”

Jungwoo seemed unfazed by your snarky tone, lifting his gaze from his laptop to cast an apathetic glance at his watch, “Your lunch break is already over. Go.”

You huffed, a small mutter of “whatever” leaving you as you began making your way out.

“Oh, Y/N?” he spoke, your eyes widening as you turned (a little too quickly than you’re proud to admit), hoping he would say something sweet to ease the sting of his harsh words.

“I’m not coming back for dinner, I’m having dinner with the directors.”

“Don’t drink more than you can handle,” you murmured, a grunt leaving him as you let the doors close behind you, stalking off before Chenle could ask any questions.

That night, when Jungwoo stumbled through the door to your apartment, rushing to the bathroom to hurl his stomach’s contents out, you bit your tongue and did what you supposed a good partner should’ve done. You sat with him, patting his back and giving him water when he needed.

“You could just… politely decline when the directors offer you drinks, you know?” you murmured once Jungwoo had showered and climbed into bed next to you, feeling him drape an arm around you to pull you close, your head against his neck.

“It’s not that easy,” he retorted, his thumb rubbing the skin over your ribs gently.

“They can’t force you to—”

“Yes, they can. Don’t push this, Y/N. We can talk about this another time. Let’s just go to sleep, okay?”

“Whatever.”

===

You checked the time. 7:06pm.

You let out a deep sigh as you rest your arms on your knees, legs propped up close to your chest as you let the wind blow your hair into disarray, shutting your eyes as you almost let yourself lie back onto the grass beneath you. Though you couldn’t bear to close your eyes, the sunset was just that pretty.

You weren’t sure when you first discovered this place, at a park next to a river just outside the city. As cheesy as it sounded, it was the only place in this city that reminded you of home. So, needless to say, you didn’t feel the need to tell anyone about it, not even Jungwoo. Only Yuta.

It wasn’t as quiet as home, there were families and couples having picnics and exercising or maybe even just cycling past you, not to mention how the sheer number of cars in the city sent the pollution going crazy, but you guessed you owed the beautiful colours in the sky to that (as messed up as it was).

The way the wind brushed through your hair and through your blazer, sending a shiver through you, you’d almost forgotten why you’d come here. Almost.

Jungwoo wasn’t coming home for dinner again, not after the little spat you had when you said you didn’t want to join his parents for dinner, not after the shitty day you had.

You were allowed that much, weren’t you? Just a quiet evening by yourself, away from the scrutiny of his mother’s eyes and the sharp words from his father. That was all you were asking for, yet he made it seem like you’d spit on his grandfather’s grave.

Your phone chimed, an incoming text from Jungwoo. It was then that you saw you had a text from Yuta as well, a picture of the sunset.

Kim Jungwoo 7:06pm -when you’re done being childish, text my mom to apologize. I told her you weren’t feeling well.-

Leaving his text message on read, you set your phone back down, prepared to screen the incoming call before you noticed the little emoticons next to the caller id.

“Hey,” you sighed, hearing Mark’s laughter accompanied by Johnny insistently trying to say something in the background (you swore you could hear Lucas shouting about something you weren’t able to make out).

“Guess what?” Yuta sounded excited.

“What?”

You didn’t think Yuta was perceptive enough to notice the hint of fatigue in your voice, but then again, you shouldn’t have underestimated the amount of attention he paid to you. Which was, well, a lot.

“What’s up with you?” Abrasive was what his tone would have sounded like to anyone else, but this was just how Yuta was.

You shook your head, one hand going next to you to pick at the long grass that was almost flattened by the wind.

“Yo, did you tell Y/N yet?” Mark asked, sounding awfully close to Yuta.

You took in a deep breath before speaking, “Nothing, just… kind of tired.”

Yuta frowned, holding a hand up to Mark as he excused himself from the restaurant, standing in the empty alley so he could hear you better.

“What happened? Work?” Yuta prompted, hearing you hum, not denying it but not affirming his suspicions either.

“You know what? It’s okay, we don’t have to talk about it—”

“C’mon, don’t give me that shit. You can tell me anything, you know that.”

You took in another deep breath, realising it had become almost instinctual for you to keep your burdens to yourself. It wasn’t like you had the privilege of time with your best friend recently, and it wasn’t like Jungwoo even let you talk about work things or just personal things in general for a while now.

“It’s just… I don’t know. It’s not specifically related to work or anything… just…”

“Trouble in paradise?” Yuta attempted to stifle his giggle, though you could practically hear his smile through the phone.

You rolled your eyes, “Do I even wanna know why you sound so happy about that?”

Yuta scoffed.

“Well, it’s not a secret that i’m not Jungwoo’s biggest fan. Anyway, what did he do this time?”

“This time? When you say it like that it makes it sound like he’s always upsetting me,” you frowned.

Yuta shrugged even though he knew you couldn’t see him.

“There is truth to that, though…” he paused when he hadn’t heard any response from you, “okay, forget what I said, now tell me what happened.”

You let out an annoyed groan, “You know how we have dinner with his parents pretty often, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, today… I don’t know, I just had a really tough day at work and I told him I didn’t feel up to going for dinner with them and he got really pissed off at me,” you shrugged, huffing as you recalled Jungwoo’s attitude.

“Pissed? Why? What’s there to get pissed over?” You could tell by his tone that Yuta was already annoyed, though you didn’t mind.

If you were being honest, It felt nice to have someone be angry with you (since everyone else you knew found Jungwoo absolutely flawless).

“That’s exactly my point. He kept talking about how it wasn’t ‘respectful to his mom’ or whatever, I really don’t care. It’s not like his mom even wants me there in the first place,” you scoffed, biting out your words bitterly.

Yuta sighed, “Never liked that woman.”

You couldn’t help the huff of laughter that left you, “You don’t like a lot of people.”

“Except you, of course,” he felt the need to add.

You rolled your eyes, “Yeah, sure. As if that’s important information right now.”

Yuta’s tone remained serious, not hesitating before giving his reply, “It is.”

It was pathetic, really, how less than 10 words from your best friend could make you feel better than the less than 10 word quota Jungwoo had for conversations when you were both together at home.

A small pause ensued.

“Jungwoo’s an idiot.”

You clucked your tongue at Yuta’s words, not knowing that Yuta truly was angry at Jungwoo, but for a reason he couldn’t bring himself to explain to you, not with all the possible consequences that would follow.

“Don’t say that, Yu. He’s still my boyfriend.”

He scoffed, “Am I wrong? You know if this happened like five years ago you wouldn’t have reacted like this.”

You sighed, “Yeah? Then how would I have reacted?”

Yuta didn’t miss a beat.

“You would’ve bitched back at him. You should, in fact. I’m watching from an outside perspective but I should know best that you’re letting him get away with shit he shouldn’t be let off so easily for.”

You huffed, unsure why you were pursuing the topic, but a part of you knowing that it was because you’d just wanted Yuta to say what you were too afraid to.

“How do you know that?”

“Because if it was me doing what Jungwoo’s doing, you’d talk to me about it. Not… whatever you’re doing now.”

You let out a soft sigh, nodding even though you knew Yuta couldn’t see you.

“Anyway, what was the thing you called me for?”

Yuta let out a hum of confusion, “Oh, uh, it’s nothing actually… nothing important.”

It wasn’t like he could tell you now that his band was finally going to release the song he’d written (about you) from your college days. It didn’t feel appropriate, especially given your current situation.

“Nah just, wanted to ask if you wanted to get dinner on Thursday after my gig,” he lied, “that is, if you’re not working late.”

You hummed, going through your mental schedule as quickly as you could, “Thursday... yeah, Thursday sounds good.”

“Great.”

You huffed, the smallest of smiles playing at your lips, “Great,” you echoed.

“Should probably go, the guys are getting impatient…”

You’d be lying if you said you were a tad bit disappointed, but the promise of Thursday was enough to sustain you for the time being.

“Alright, see you—”

“Oh, and Y/N?” Yuta winced, regretting his slip of the tongue, panic washing over him.

“Yeah?”

_I missed you. _Yuta wanted to say, but he couldn’t. _Snap out of it! She has a boyfriend! (though albeit not a very good one). No, Yuta told himself, it wouldn’t be good. For him and for you. _

Yuta inhaled deeply.

“Get home safe.”

Your smile widened, nodding yet again, “Thanks, I will.”

When you’d gotten home, Jungwoo was already there, seated on the sofa in the living room, dressed in a plain shirt and sweatpants (evidently looking ready to go to sleep), a glass of water in front of him on the coffee table as he watched the news, casting you an unreadable glance when you’d entered the house, the sound of the automated lock echoing in the otherwise silent apartment.

No greetings were exchanged. You were still angry at him and he knew that. So you went into your bedroom first, setting all your things down as you took your blazer off, running a hand through your hair with a sigh.

Walking into the bathroom, you’d taken a long shower with the hope that the water would wash away the heaviness in your mind. Once you were done, you changed into your sleeping clothes and tossed your towel into the laundry basket, opening the door, the steam from your shower drifts out into the cold of your apartment, a shiver running through you as your skin met the cold air.

Walking out of the bathroom after washing your face and brushing your teeth, you’d gone to your little dresser in front of your bed, busying yourself with your skincare products as you ignored the sound of house slippers shuffling getting louder until a pair of arms had wrapped around your shoulders, Jungwoo’s chin resting gently on your shoulder, pressing a kiss to your neck.

“You still mad?”

You frowned. He always did this. You could already predict how this would play out; you’d try to talk to him about it, he’d say ‘let’s not talk about it’ and ask you how he could make it up to you instead.

“Yes.” You shrugged his arms off though he didn’t seem to budge, so you carried on applying your skincare products, ignoring the way he was pressing kisses to your collarbones and your _oh-so-tense _shoulders.

“C’mon, what do you want me to do, hmm? How can I make it up to you?”

You thought back to what Yuta said, knowing he was right. You would’ve never let Jungwoo get away with what he was doing now if he’d done it when you’d first started dating.

“You can’t ‘make it up to me’. You flared up at me for no reason,” you huffed.

Jungwoo huffed, “Alright, alright, i’m sorry, okay? You know how my parents are...”

“Okay, now will you get off me?”

Jungwoo had let go of you in an instant, going back to the bed as if nothing had happened, getting under the covers and picking his ipad up again, as if you weren’t even there.

You let out a deep sigh.

You were a simple person, you would like to think. All you wanted was someone you could love and be comfortable around, someone you could have fun with, share your joys and struggles with. Someone who didn’t brush your feelings off, or make you feel like it was wrong to have bad days. Simple cuddle sessions where you could talk about your day without feeling like you’re walking on eggshells and avoiding the ‘wrong thing to say’.

“We should get married soon,” he murmured, as simple as if he were telling you what he had for breakfast.

Your heart sank.

Day by day, it was like you were growing to feel like Jungwoo just… wasn’t that someone for you.

“Huh?” was all you could manage, the unsettling feeling in your heart growing.

“You know,” Jungwoo shrugged, eyes never leaving his ipad, “my parents brought it up during dinner, and it’s true… we’re both getting older, it’s about time we start thinking about it… we could get our own house so we don’t have to rent this one anymore cause the landlord kind of sucks… we could go to work together since I won’t have a reason to hide our relationship, ‘cause i mean, if the public knows we’re married then we won’t really have to do that anymore…”

You couldn’t have been misreading it, those things had nothing to do with marriage. Well, at least, not to you.

“So you want to get married so things will be more convenient for you?”

Jungwoo’s eyebrows furrowed, as if wondering why you were getting angry.

He huffed, a small smile on his face, “Well, yeah. That’s part of it, isn’t it?”

Your frown deepened, “Part of it? It sounded like the only reason why you wanna get married.”

“What are you talking about? We’ve been together for ages, isn’t that enough of a reason?”

You let out a frustrated groan, getting up and facing him, only getting more angered at the sight of him lying on the bed with his ipad still in hand.

“Jungwoo—” you stopped yourself short, exasperated.

The boy you were looking at was definitely not the same boy you met in the bar that night during Yuta’s gig.

You brought your hands up to your face, wiping harshly at your eyes which were beginning to grow warm in your frustration.

Jungwoo frowned, getting out of bed and walking towards you, his hands finding their way to your face, “Hey, hey, it’s okay.”

His words did nothing to soothe you, not even when he’d cupped your face to press a kiss to your lips, pulling away and searching your expression as though that were supposed to rid you of your worries. You already knew what he was going to do, find a simple statement that was supposed to appease you so you wouldn’t pursue a fight with him.

You didn’t want to marry Jungwoo.

“I think you’re stressed. Let’s just go to bed, alright?”

That night, you figured the less exhausting option was to just go to bed.

===

The bells hanging over the café door had jingled loudly when you entered, the warm lighting and multitude of plants and flowers within the little space putting a smile on your face, which had only widened when you spotted the boy in the far end of the café grinning at you.

“Yo,” he drawled, “Long time no see, dude!”

You wrinkled your nose as you laughed, seating yourself on the plush chair facing him, sighing as you let yourself melt into the velvet material, enjoying the change from the usual stiff office chair you were on for most of the day.

“Oh, damn, now I feel kind of underdressed,” Mark joked, making you roll your eyes.

“This is nothing. If anything, i’m the inappropriately dressed one at stupid z global.”

Mark raised an eyebrow at you, “Feels like there’s a storytime behind that.”

“A lot.”

Mark giggled, “Wanna order first?” He’d beckoned the waitress over, the both of you voicing your orders quickly in anticipation of the conversation you were about to have.

“So, you were saying? Stupid z global?”

“Everyone there dresses like they're in ‘Men in Black’. Isn’t it already enough that the building has no colour whatsoever? But they still feel the need to dress like they’re trying to blend in with the building,” you rolled your eyes.

“Yeah, Johnny told me about that before,” Mark chuckled, “I’ve seen the building a couple times but never gone inside. Kind of curious to see what it looks like, though. I heard they got this famous architect to do the design.”

You shrugged, “Well, yeah, it looks nice, definitely. Really chic and modern and shit, but it feels horrible. It’s like walking into a box everyday. Or a spaceship.”

Mark giggled, “I would think spaceships are pretty cool.”

You shot him a patronizing smile, “I was going for suffocating but sure. If you wanna work in Zeus go ahead, i’d trade places with you anyday.”

“I’ll pass,” he wrinkled his nose, gladly receiving the drinks from the waitress and taking a sip as soon as it was in his hands, one hand pushing your glass towards you.

“You’re not getting anything to eat?” Concern was laced in Mark’s tone, and you almost felt bad, but it was true, you didn’t have much of an appetite at the moment.

You shook your head, “Nah, had a pretty big breakfast this morning. Don’t think I can stomach lunch before the stupid meeting later.”

“Oh, yeah. I saw that article about the Art Gallery opening, how’s that going?” Mark asked, pulling his plate of food towards him (trust him to get a burger in a place that specialised in their fancy pasta) and it was then that you were reminded just how ‘high profile’ Zeus Global Enterprises was, for everyone in the city to be sent scrambling with the company’s every move.

“Yeah, that’s actually what the meeting later’s for. Honestly, just… kind of been dreading going to work these days. We’ve got a few meetings coming up for the opening of the Art Gallery since we need to prepare for the exhibition and all that, and that means dinners as well, and I don’t know… I’m just… not looking forward to being in that setting.”

Mark scrunched his nose up. He saw enough on the news and heard enough from Yuta to understand your sentiments.

“The meetings or the dinners?”

A huff of laughter escaped you, taking another sip from your glass as you used the pad of your index finger to draw shapes in the little droplets of condensation building.

“Both,” you huffed, a sheepish laugh leaving you.

“You’ll be the emcee for the dinner, right?”

You nodded.

“Just focus on that, then. Don’t pay attention to the rest of them, it’ll only piss you off more.”

“That’s very true,” you laughed, “honestly, I'm just glad I get to prepare the speeches and newsletters and everything. At least it makes me feel like i’m doing some sort of writing.”

Mark’s eyes lit up.

“That reminded me, I keep telling Yuta, my friend would absolutely love you.”

You raised a questioning eyebrow at him, not having expected his ears to grow red and his smile to turn bashful as he mentioned said friend.

“Who?” you prompted, his smile causing your lips to curve into a small smile of your own.

“She’s uh… this girl I met—”

“Girlfriend?” you teased, Mark’s reaction only proving your suspicions of him having fond feelings for her.

He dismissed your teasing smile with a wave, shaking his head, “She’s editor-in-chief at this publishing company I signed with recently. I told her about you, and showed her some of your stuff, she’d love to have you in her company.”

You grimaced, leaning your head back with a groan, “Don’t tempt me, Mark.”

Mark giggled, shaking his head at you, “Seriously, though. It’s a good company, and the work culture there is nothing like Zeus. She really likes you… said to just let her know if you’re willing and she’ll take care of everything.”

You shot him a look, letting him tell you more about the pay and the job, each word of his leaving you more and more on your toes, feeling as though you were a runner at the start line, simply waiting for the gunshot to go off.

“I’ll… I’ll think about it.”

Mark grinned, “That’s all I needed to hear.”

A small silence ensued, Mark was absolutely itching to ask how things were between you and Jungwoo. Especially since he’d overheard the phone conversation you had with Yuta when you fought with Jungwoo the other day. But Mark’s motive in wanting to know was a little different, a little different because he knew the meaning behind the song they’d just released.

As if you read his mind, you straightened up in your seat, taking a long sip of your drink.

“Hey, anyway, I heard someone’s the new guitarist for the band?”

Mark flushed, nodding.

“You’re doing really well! You have no idea how excited I was when I saw that you guys released the studio version of ‘Too Much Time Together’,” you gushed.

Mark’s eyes widened, “You… you like that song?”

You nodded with a smile, sipping your drink with pure nonchalance written on your features, “Uh-huh, it’s one of my favourites, actually. On second thought, maybe it is my favourite. Really gotta thank whoever Yuta was crushing on back in the day ‘cause without them I wouldn’t have the song.”

Mark sputtered, his reaction eliciting a raised eyebrow from you, though he was quick to brush it off, choking out a, “Went down the wrong pipe.”

“You guys have a gig on Thursday, right?” you asked, earning a nod from him, his eyes lighting up as he gave you a smile.

“Are you coming? Please tell me you’re coming. It’s nice having a familiar face in the crowd.”

You scoffed, “Oh, so I’m just another one in the crowd now?” the teasing lilt to your tone made him scrunch his nose up, his giggle bubbling out of him as he waved his hands in front of him.

“Of course not. Definitely not,” and most definitely not to Yuta he’d wanted to add but stopped himself in time.

“Yuta?” you hummed. Or at least he thought he stopped himself.

“Huh?”

“You said ‘most definitely not to Yuta’,” you mimicked his tone, making Mark squint at you, trying his best to contain his nervous laughter.

“What? No, I didn’t.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, expression almost mimicking his as you sipped on your drink, shocking yourself when you’d sucked in air through your straw, a small pout forming on your lips at the realisation that you were done with your drink.

Taking his opportunity while you were distracted, Mark swallowed the food in his mouth with a wince, “Anyway, you were saying? The gig on Thursday?”

You held his gaze, still finding it weird that he’d singled out Yuta that way. Maybe it was because you hadn’t been to their gigs in a while, and you knew Yuta wanted you to go.

“Yeah… anyway,” you shot him a look, rolling your shoulders back with a sigh, “yeah, I was saying I’ll be going for the gig on Thursday. I figured I might as well attend it ‘cause I’m not working late that day and I’m getting dinner with Yuta afterwards anyway.”

Mark’s lips parted, realisation washing over his features before his mouth grew into a smile. So that explains why Yuta mentioned he had dinner plans that could ‘absolutely not be interrupted’ by the band.

“Oh? Bestie time?” was all Mark could muster.

Yuta was hopeless, really hopeless.

You rolled your eyes despite the smile on your face.

“Yes,” you huffed, “bestie time.”

Mark chewed on his lower lip, debating within himself whether the information in his head was worth revealing to you (not like he had much control over it, he was horrible at keeping secrets).

“You can tell he misses spending time with you,” Mark blurted, eyes widening in shock before he tried to play it off, clearing his throat.

You frowned, “I know… it’s my fault, honestly. I was so busy with work and moving and Jungwoo—”

“Hey, uh, how is he, anyway?”

You purse your lips, unsure what sort of answer to give him.

Mark couldn’t help the little prick of pity from stinging his heart. _Guess Yuta wasn’t lying when he said things were rocky, huh. _

“He’s… swamped with work,” you began, fiddling with the straw between your fingers as you fumbled for an answer.

Frankly, you didn’t know how he was doing because he never told you how he was. Another Zeus thing his dad had ingrained into him was to just avoid all sorts of emotion and communication about said emotions, apparently, to your significant other as well.

Mark could sense your discomfort, choosing not to prod further, “It’s okay, forget I asked. It’s been a while since we’ve contacted each other anyway.”

You took in a deep breath, forcing yourself to come back to your surroundings, telling yourself over and over again that you were okay, and that you definitely couldn’t afford to spiral into such thoughts over Jungwoo right before a conference meeting with him.

“Could you try? You know, like, getting into contact with him? It’s just…I don’t think he’s met any of his friends in a long while...” you mustered enough courage to ask, exchanging a sympathetic glance with Mark who was kind enough to nod.

“Of course,” his tone was gentler now.

This was why you loved Mark. He may be clumsy and naive at times, but maybe it was his days practicing his writing that made him just so good at reading people and emotions. You were especially glad he possessed such an ability because at times like this, a thousand words were being exchanged without a single one needing to be uttered.

Your phone buzzed.

Reminder: head back to z to prepare for the meeting now!

“Hey, I’ve gotta head back to the office now. I’ll see you on Thursday?” you asked, Mark’s smile doing everything to boost your mood.

He nodded. “Think about the offer, okay?”

You gave him a wave as you made to walk away, “Trust me. Now that you’ve put the thought in my head, it’s gonna be hard to think of anything else.”

===

You guess you spoke too soon.

Because as you sat, in the uncomfortable, hard leather chairs of the carpeted conference room, you’d wanted nothing more but to strangle the Head of Human Resource.

You’d forced yourself to rejoin whatever conversation they were having now, catching on to mentions of Olympus and the gold themes that could be developed on.

You leant over to Johnny who was (fortunately) seated next to you, your tone harsh and clipped, “Didn’t they already curate the art pieces? Why are they suddenly changing the theme?”

The said Head of Marketing seemed just as baffled as you were, “I only heard about it this morning but I didn’t think it was real. Not when it’s so close to the date of the exhibition. But from what I know…” Johnny sighed, “Chairman’s orders.”

You almost rolled your eyes, you should’ve known he just wanted another excuse to rub Zeus into everyone’s faces. Probably explains why Jungwoo looks the least shocked.

As if sensing your distress, Johnny’s eyebrows furrowed, “Nobody told you?”

You huffed, shaking your head as you let your arms fold over your chest, “Not a single soul.”

You cast a pointed glare at the Head of Human Resource, the middle-aged man who was laughing without a care in the world.

Your leg bounced soundlessly on the grey carpeted floor, your gaze wandering over to your prepared documents, the initial theme staring at you almost mockingly in the special design you’d spent almost hours perfecting. The boisterous laughter from the other members present in the meeting almost served as a cherry on top.

Paracosm. It was a greek word. The detailed imaginary world created inside one’s mind. Humans, animals, things that exist in imagination and reality. How you could imagine all the beautiful art that could come out of that. In fact, you’d already seen some of it, and they were meant to be appreciated.

But Olympus? The theme had been recycled for ages and everyone knew that.

“I’m sure it won’t be a problem, right? For HR to make necessary preparations according to the new theme? Y/N?” A faceless voice had asked, a frown taking over your features as you made to answer, only to get interrupted by your boss.

“Of course, of course. I’ll handle it. After all, I’ll have my pretty head cheerleader by my side.”

As if. You wanted to hurl. You knew that after the meeting it’d be all left to you to figure out on your own. He’ll handle it? Please.

Johnny was visibly disgruntled by the connotations behind ‘cheerleader’ in this case, his friendship with you and Jaehyun letting him know just how little your Head actually did for events. Not to mention what a classic example of a predator he was, relishing in how his department just so happened (as if he isn’t swayed by this) to be a group full of young, societally-deemed gorgeous women (and men, if you included Jaehyun).

But what put you off the most was the way your boyfriend had simply laughed, the sweetest of smiles on his face.

“Definitely, definitely,” he agreed with your boss.

Blame your own hopes that Jungwoo would make some (or any) effort to defend you. He knew about the reputation your boss had, how uncomfortable it made his staff, yet nothing could be done to punish him because he was one of the Chairman’s drinking buddies.

Vice-President or not, the Jungwoo you’d met in college wasn’t a coward. Not like the one you were looking at now, too afraid of damaging his reputation and his relationship with his subordinates to defend his own girlfriend.

“Y/N, ready to present?” your boss spoke, the shock that jolted through you causing your eyes to widen, lips parting in shock. You remembered very clearly that it was supposed to be done by your boss, not you. _And if anything, how could you prepare for something you had no idea about? _

Johnny leant over to inspect the documents in front of you, a confused knit to his brow, “What is he talking about?”

You knew it wasn’t the first time you’d been thrown under the bus like this, and you could already hear your boss’ voice ringing in your ears. _‘Grow up, Y/N. This is an office, not a playground’. _

“I have nothing to present,” you let out an exasperated huff, fists clenching and unclenching as you met the gazes of the 8 other people in the conference room.

“I have nothing to present,” you said, louder this time.

You locked eyes with Jungwoo, who looked at you as if you’d grown another head, frowning at you.

“What did you say?” the Vice President, one of Jungwoo’s cousins had spoken up, the glare in his eyes more evident than Jungwoo’s.

You stayed nonchalant in response to the murmurs that had started, echoing around the otherwise empty room. The way the conference rooms were built, the panelled white walls and unnecessarily large black tinted glass table placed smack in the middle of the room. It was like every sound seemed to echo through the room, so you knew they heard you.

“The materials i’ve prepared are for the previous theme.”

You inhaled deeply, resisting the urge to hug your arms to yourself, the room almost growing colder than it already felt.

Oh, Mark. Sweet, naive Mark. If only it was that easy to ignore how much this company made your blood boil.

“Are you kidding?” Your boss scoffed.

Johnny straightened up, setting his coffee cup down on the table harshly, a frown etched onto his face, “It’s not her fa—”

“I apologize,” you muttered through gritted teeth, “I wasn’t informed of the changes until attending this meeting.”

Your boss didn’t feel any need to spare you, and you could tell from the look on his face that he was intent on saving his face before even giving a second thought about yours.

“In the first place, you should’ve been on top of things. How is it that everyone knew about the changes aside from you?” He stood up from his seat, pointing an accusatory finger at you, “I don’t know what you take this place for but we’re trying to run an organization here, Y/N. Do you really expect everyone to be giving you updates twenty-four seven? Do you expect everyone to treat you like a princess here?”

You cast a sideways glance at Jungwoo, who seemed as though he were oblivious to the entire situation, simply tapping away at his phone, disinterested in the fact that you were getting humiliated in front of the whole planning committee.

Johnny rolled his eyes, a deep sigh leaving him, “That has nothing to do with it. Half of us weren’t aware of the changes either—”

Your fists were balled at your sides. How was it that even Johnny was easily trying to defend you when Jungwoo was acting as though he didn’t even know you. You understood professionalism, don’t get me wrong. But there was something different about Jungwoo’s ‘professionalism’, something in the pattern of his behaviour that portrayed it as more of a convenient sense of apathy as compared to professionalism.

Just like that, it was like a switch had flipped in your boss, turning to the rest of the room with a forced smile on his face.

“Well, if no one else has any input, i’d say we can end the meeting here. Mr Kim, anything else?” he asked Jungwoo, earning a quick shake of the head from said man.

“Nope, I think that’s all.”

Hoping that was the end of your humiliation, you began to pack your things, almost jumping at the echo of your boss’ next words, “Y/N, stay behind.”

Exchanging a knowing glance with Johnny, you’d felt him lean over, lowering his voice to a murmur as he said, “Good luck. Text me if you need anything. I’ve got soju in my cubicle drawer.”

Letting out the little huff of laughter that was all you seemed to be able to muster at the moment, you inhaled deeply, letting out a shaky sigh as you made your way to where your boss was sitting, one ankle propped on his other knee as you stood before him, hands clasped in front of you and your head bowed.

You could almost laugh. Never would you (or Yuta) have imagined that you’d ever be rendered so passive, but you guessed that was just what Jungwoo’s family did to people.

“What the hell was that shit about? You ‘have nothing to present’? Are you trying to get me fired?” his tone was more cutting and spiteful compared to how it was just minutes ago.

“No, sir. I’m very sorry.”

“You’re sorry? Darling, if a simple little sorry fixed everything why don’t you just go tell the Chairman sorry for not doing your job properly?”

You chewed on your lower lip, averting your gaze and letting it fixate on the coffee cup next to his hand.

“Whatever your relationship with the Chairman’s son is, it doesn’t excuse sloppy behaviour.”

You inhaled deeply, your fingers grasping tighter on each other, as if that was the only thing holding you together from a mental breakdown; maybe it was.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you,” he bit out.

Forcing your gaze away from the coffee cup, you looked at him. He didn’t even look that angry. But then again, you didn’t think you looked as angry as you felt either, because on the inside you were absolutely fuming.

“I’m sorry. I’ll do better at the next meeting.”

Your boss stood up, “For some reason… that answer doesn’t satisfy me…” he trailed off, giving you a once-over that was enough to make your skin crawl.

“What?” he suddenly spat, your eyes widening in response, a questioning squeak of a hum leaving you.

“You look like you have something to say, so say it,” he continued, folding his arms in front of him.

“Uh… Sir, I uh… I didn’t think it was very appropriate for you to refer to me as a…” you refrained from wincing, “head cheerleader just now…”

Watching his expression intently, you were at a loss when he’d started to laugh, though a bitter one at that. It was as if you were stuck in place just watching. Watching and watching, your body was unable to form a response quickly enough as you saw him pick up his coffee cup from the table, staring you dead in the eye before emptying it over your head. That was definitely an untouched cup of coffee.

This counted as workplace abuse, right? He wasn’t allowed to do this. Your first thoughts were enough to send you reeling. More than the fact that your hair and clothes were now covered in freezing coffee.

“Wake up, Y/N. You’ve been getting cocky because I haven’t bitched at you in a while. So take this as a reminder. This isn’t any piece of shit company. This is Zeus. Whatever shit you think you can pull here, it’s not gonna work.”

Without another word, he’d gathered his things and stalked off, the door shutting loudly behind him.

Black coffee dripping from your hair and clothes, your body moved like clockwork. Gathering your things, you’d made your way out of the room, beginning your long journey back to your office tower.

If you were fuming before, you were utterly numb now, wanting nothing more than to just get to the confines of your colourless office and cry.

Maybe this time you were glad the office was so plain. As you were walking through the corridors, you’d let the brown coffee drip off of you, staining their precious white tiles, the clicking of your heels a mere punctuation to the trail you were leaving in their spotless office.

You didn’t care that you could hear the staff murmuring about you, or that you were on the receiving end of their scandalised looks. You wanted to yell a big screw you to this office and everything it stood for, especially its chairman. But you guessed for now, that ‘screw you’ would be in the form of the coffee leaking off your hair and clothes. You hoped they saw you like this.

Walking through the walkway connecting your office tower to the main building, up the sleek black stairs bringing you up three stories, you spent your time observing the surroundings you’d entered.

The floors had changed, the victim of your dirty coffee shoes now being the black marble floor tiles, the white walls and bright lights irritating you to no end.

You always thought there was something wrong about this place, but now you were feeling it. It was cold and it was heartless.

In short, that was the moment you decided maybe Mark’s offer was worth accepting.

Finally reaching your office, you’d kicked off your heels once you walked through the black tinted doors, doing away with the ‘my door is always open’ policy just for now as you made your way to your desk, fishing underneath for your spare change of clothes.

Trying to find a towel, you’d let out a frustrated groan when you’d found nothing of the sort, deciding to just get out of these clothes first.

Already beginning to undo the clasp of your skirt, the sight of the coffee on your legs eliciting a bitter huff from you, you heard the doors open, your head snapping around only to see Jungwoo shutting the door behind him, eyebrows furrowed and letting out a frustrated sigh.

Upon realising it was him, you couldn’t help but scoff, turning away to resume changing your clothes.

“Hey,” you heard him speak, “what got into you just now?”

You tilted your head, lips pursing, your grip on your skirt tightening. Your heart sank at the feeling of warmth building at your eyes, the tears you thought you’d done well containing on your journey here threatening to spill over.

“No ‘are you okay’?” you dumped your clean skirt onto your desk with a harsh thud, “No ‘can I get you a towel?’ Not even ‘what did that idiot do to you’?”

“Look, I’m sorry but there was nothing I could do—”

“Nothing?” you bit harshly at your lower lip, wiping haphazardly at your tears with your palms as you struggled with the zip of your skirt that got caught on the fabric, the blurring of your vision rendering it almost impossible in addition to your already high-strung state.

“Yes,” he folded his arms over his chest, leaning on the recliner at the corner of your office, looking around the room as if now was the best time to scrutinise your sense of interior design, “Nothing.”

Your lower lip quivered as more tears had spilled over, groaning at your inability to take off your skirt. You didn’t even know if you wanted to look at him right now, not with how overwhelmed you were.

“You didn’t even try to defend me, you know? Even Johnny was doing more than you so don’t tell me there was ‘nothing you could do’.”

Jungwoo let out an exasperated sigh, seemingly frustrated at the way you were behaving towards him.

“It wasn’t my place to get involved,” he told you simply, the words he’d heard so often from his father, as if that was his trump card that ended all discussion on the topic.

“Then what is your place, Jungwoo?” you hiccupped, coughing out a choked sob, “Johnny got ‘involved’ because of his ‘place’ as my colleague and my friend. What the hell is your place? If not my boyfriend, or my superior?”

You knew the answer to that without him needing to say it. His place was always as his parents’ son. You guessed you had to learn that the hard way.

Struggling to maintain your volume, you shook your head when you were met with silence.

“Get out of my office. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

Passively, he did as you told, leaving the office without another word.

Seconds later, you heard a knock at the door, your annoyance getting the better of you.

“I said I didn’t want to fucking talk right now, Jungwoo.”

“Woah, woah. Not Jungwoo. Jaehyun and Johnny,” you could practically hear Johnny’s muffled giggle of ‘someone’s in trouble’ in the background.

You sighed, poking at the zip of your skirt.

“What do you want,” you sighed.

“We come in peace. It’s almost time to get off work. Get changed and let’s go for dinner.”

You gladly obliged.

===

How was it that you were starting to find it hard to answer Johnny, when the answer to his question should’ve come easy to you?

“When’s the last time you and Jungwoo said ‘I love you’ to each other?”

It was fine, right?

You’d just ended a (very short) phone call with Jungwoo, mainly involving him asking where you were and that he was going to bed early. In other words, not to get back too late and that he wouldn’t wait up for you, the lack of ‘couple niceties’ (as Johnny put it) making the two boys cast questioning looks at you.

You shrugged, “We’re fighting. Does it look like I wanna tell him I love him?” you let out a bitter huff of laughter, though Johnny seemed to be able to see right through you.

“You’re being evasive,” he told you with a pointed look.

You scoffed, “Fine, I can’t remember. But that doesn’t matter! I know lots of couples that don’t say that often, but it’s alright ‘cause... it’s not like they have to say it to know they’re loved.”

Strangely, you weren’t convinced that you and Jungwoo were one of those couples. And it seemed that Jaehyun (and Johnny after Jaehyun filled him in on his conspiracy theory) wasn’t either.

“I’d believe you if you sounded more convinced yourself,” Jaehyun snickered around his mouthful of noodles.

You sighed, your lack of an answer doing nothing but confirming Jaehyun’s suspicions further.

“He came to talk to you, right? Before we showed up.”

You nodded, reaching over to flip the meat on the grill, Johnny quickly reaching over to take the tongs from you, insisting that he do it instead.

“Well?” Jaehyun prompted, “what did he say? You sounded pissed just now.”

“Said he didn’t defend me because there was ‘nothing he could do’,” you made air-quotes around Jungwoo’s words, your eyeroll punctuating the sentence. Pausing to take a sip of your cold water, you continued, “that it ‘wasn’t his place’ to do anything.”

Jaehyun scrunched his nose up in distaste while Johnny simply stared at you, lips parted in shock.

“It’s not the first time it’s happened either…” you murmured, “whenever we have dinner with the Chairman and his wife, it’s like he just chooses not to hear what they say to me.”

“Have you tried telling him how you feel?” Jaehyun asked, earning an earnest nod from you.

“Many times. He never wants to pursue it,” you sighed, pressing your lips into a firm line before letting out a breath you were holding, “Always blames it on me being stressed and shit like that.”

Johnny sucked in a sharp breath.

“That’s… different.”

Jaehyun snorted, “You mean unhealthy?”

You raised your eyebrows, offering a meek shrug, “Yeah. Different, that’s for sure.”

“You mean unhealthy,” Jaehyun repeated.

You scoffed, not being able to help but laugh at your pathetic situation, “Yeah? What do you think I should do, then? I already wanna quit my job, should I just break up with him too while I’m at it?” you joked (or at least you hoped it was a joke, you weren’t sure how much of your words you were ready to admit were true).

Jaehyun and Johnny nodded, eliciting wide-eyed shock from you.

Jaehyun winced, nodding slowly, “I mean, you already said it yourself. He doesn’t support you or listen to you. He basically gaslights you whenever you try to talk things out… he’s too caught up in whatever game his parents are playing that—”

“Okay, can we stop talking about this?” You blurted, letting out a shaky breath you didn’t realise you were holding, your heartbeat thumping rapidly in your ears at the thought of Jaehyun’s words.

Johnny had nodded, smoothly interjecting and changing the subject to talk about Mark’s best-selling book.

You were glad for Jaehyun and Johnny’s company, nonetheless. They’d managed to distract you and cheer you up until it was time for you to make your way home at one in the morning in the backseat of Johnny’s car.

yuta 1:11am -u still out w jae and john? Need a ride back?- 1:11am -also any song requests for thursday? Setlist is looking kind of boring according to Jeno-

You huffed, a small smile playing at your lips as you replied to his message.

1:11am -since when did you listen to jeno?- 1:12am **-and yes johnnys sending me home now … were u nearby?- **

Yuta 1:12am -you’re right but still, the kid got to me, now i’m wondering if its really boring or if hes just messing with me- 1:12am -good text me when youre home- 1:12am -anyway, really no song requests?-

You hummed, your eyes lighting up in excitement at the song that came to mind, hurriedly typing out your reply.

1:12am -too much time together is a must!!!!-

Yuta’s fingers froze over the keypad of his computer, not knowing how to respond to your selection. You obviously didn’t know the meaning of the song if you liked it that much.

Yuta 1:14am -u like that song?-

Your reply came quickly.

1:14am - LOVE it…-

Yuta fought to contain his smile, nodding slowly as he replied to you.

Yuta 1:14am -alright, i’ll add it-

“We’re here,” Johnny yawned, your head snapping up to take in your surroundings, almost forgetting what time it was.

“Thanks, Johnny.”

He cast you a glance through the rearview mirror before turning his body to face you, watching as you gathered your things, “It’s fine. Get some rest, alright?... You had a... tough day.”

You huffed, giving him a smile, “I’ll be fine. Drive safe,” you got out of the car.

“Oh, and Y/N?” he spoke before you could shut the door, a hum leaving you.

“I know i’m speaking from an outside perspective but… I’ve been in a similar situation before and… it might help if you just spend some time thinking about what you do want in a partner, you know?”

You smiled, the comfort slowly stirring within you relieving you to an extent, knowing he was right.

“Thanks, I will.” You shut the car door behind you as you made your way to your apartment building.

Unlocking your apartment door as softly as you could, you shut it behind you, shivering at the temperature in your apartment, almost reaching for the thermostat but deciding against it. You knew Jungwoo liked the temperature like this.

Setting your things down on the sofa, you’d gone to take a quick shower, padding softly around your room so as not to wake Jungwoo.

Finally settled down, you’d eased yourself under the duvet, somehow having woken Jungwoo with the rustling of the covers. The boy had rolled over, habitually draping his arm over you to tug you closer to him.

“What time is it?” the frown was evident in his tone.

“A little close to 1:45,” you murmured softly, not being able to find as much comfort in his embrace as you used to.

“Jungwoo?” you dared to whisper after a while, a soft hum leaving him.

“Remember how I met up with Mark that day?”

He let out another soft hum, snuggling closer to you with a tired sigh.

“He was telling me about this job offer at the publishing company he’s signed to… and he explained to me all the benefits and everything… I’m just… I was thinking of taking up his offer… you know, to work in the publishing firm,” you kept your gaze fixed onto the ceiling, the darkness of the room almost swallowing you whole as you awaited his answer.

“I think you’re just stressed from work. Let’s not make any rash decisions, okay?” his tone was gentle, soft, but his words had only hit a nerve.

“But i’ve been really thinking about it, I think i’d be much happier there,” you told him, trying again.

Jungwoo sighed, “You have a good job now, Y/N. I really think you’re just tired and stressed out, you know, with the art gallery opening preparations and everything… don’t let Mark put ideas in your head that you’ll regret.”

You inhaled deeply, shutting your eyes. Jaehyun was right, even if he didn’t say it out loud, you knew what he was thinking, yet now you could only agree.

You weren’t in love with Jungwoo.

===

Sitting at the bar that Yuta’s band was performing at, dressed in comfortable clothes and sipping your sprite as you watched Yuta show off in front of the sweaty, starstruck people gathered in front of the stage, you almost felt like you were in college again.

Locking your phone after saving the picture of the sunset from the rooftop of the bar that Yuta had sent you half an hour ago, you looked up when you heard Haechan’s voice in the microphone.

“By special request, this next song is dedicated to…” Haechan announced into the microphone loudly, one of his legs clad in overly ripped black jeans kicking at the wire of his microphone.

You missed the urgent glare Yuta sent Haechan’s way, too distracted by the way Mark’s giggles had verberated through the bar.

“To a special someone,” Mark offered.

“Uh-huh,” Haechan drawled, “very special someone.”

Lucas had giggled softly as well, his shoulders exposed by his sleeveless shirt shaking with laughter, one hand clasping his drumsticks between his fingers coming up to cover his mouth though his smile was simply too contagious to contain.

Jeno’s played a few notes absently on his bass guitar, voice was just barely caught by the microphone, a soft teasing murmur of, “Wonder if they’re here today.”

You glanced at Yuta, who had run a hand through his freshly dyed black hair with little neon green highlights running through it. He looked good, you had to admit, even if he was busy glaring at Jeno.

“Okay, okay, let’s just get on with it,” Yuta dismissed them quickly, guitar pick pinched between his index finger and thumb as his hand came up to touch his earring.

Once they started the song, you sang along, smiling more than you had in a while as you watched the band perform, the way Yuta made eye contact with you while he performed reminding you of the first time he’d led sports day in high school and told you that he only looked your way whenever he spoke in the microphone because it helped his nerves.

Though it was as if you were the one growing anxious, a large chunk of the song lyrics remind you of Jungwoo.

“Your touch used to feel loving, now it just feels smothering. Something’s changed, no one’s to blame, I’d try to talk it out but I don’t think you want to,” Haechan sang, the tone of his vocals making you wonder what Yuta sounded like singing the song.

Sure, you’d heard him sing other songs countless times, but each song was an experience of its own. You were getting distracted.

“We spend too much time together, I wanna be with you forever but we need space,” you sang along, “you should stay at your place.”

Yuta sang together with Haechan, his stare almost unnerving you as you started to think about the lyrics more deeply. “We spend too much time alone, when we’re not together we talk on the phone. Yeah, we need space.”

You stopped singing, gulping down the rest of the sprite as you sat in a pensive silence for the rest of the gig.

Something was definitely wrong. It was wrong because as much as you knew this song was probably written for one of Yuta’s lost college loves, now you couldn’t stop thinking of the song in the context of yours and Yuta’s relationship. You didn’t know which was worse, when it reminded you or Jungwoo or Yuta.

You shook your head (as if it would help clear your mind of such thoughts), nodding along to the rest of whatever song they were playing until the gig was over, the crowd dispersing after a while which you took as your cue to head out and wait for Yuta.

Hearing a sharp-toned shout of your name, drawn out like an excited little child, you’d turned to spot Yuta bounding toward you, the rest of the band trailing behind him and chatting happily, still riding on their post-performance buzz.

“Ready to go?” He grinned.

Your eyebrows raised in question, tugging your coat tighter around yourself as a sudden shiver went through you, “They’ve already decided on where to go?”

Yuta shook his head.

“Thought dinner could be just us,” he said, deciding he’d spoken a little too quickly, his gaze flickering to your surroundings as he shrugged, “you know, so we can like… just chill.”

You couldn't say you were disappointed. Sure, you loved the band, but you had to admit that the sound of hanging out mindlessly in Yuta’s cozy studio apartment with simple food for dinner sounded awfully enticing.

“Alright, let’s go,” you smiled. (You tried to ignore the dramatic yells of mock disappointment from the rest of the guys as you and Yuta walked off).

After much bickering and entertaining distractions at the supermarket, Yuta and yourself had decided on just making instant noodles for dinner, too tired to think of putting any actual effort into preparing anything more elaborate.

Ripping the noodle packet open, you hadn’t noticed the way Yuta was staring at you, leant against the white marble countertop with his arms folded over his chest, debating on whether to ask you about what he’d heard from Johnny.

“Are things better?” He began, hoping you didn’t notice how he’d momentarily forgotten what he was about to say when you turned to look at him, humming as you gave him a small smile.

“What things?” You plopped the noodles into the little pot.

“You know,” a small huff of breathy laughter left him, “in… paradise?”

You scoffed, “Don’t know if you can call it paradise but… I guess it’s alright. Oh, I managed to meet up with Mark.”

Yuta smiled, nodding, his hand coming up to unclasp the metal chain around his neck, “Yeah, he was really happy about it. What did you guys talk about?”

You fiddled with the packets of powder. “He was telling me about his girlfriend’s publishing company. He was saying how she wanted to offer me a job there as an editor—”

Yuta almost squealed, accidentally smacking you on the arm in his excitement. “That’s a really good opportunity! Why don’t you just take it? You hate your job at Zeus, anyway. Plus, you’ve been wanting a job in publishing for so long, I heard his girlfriend’s company’s pretty good. Why not, you know?”

You’d almost faltered, thinking about how differently Jungwoo had reacted compared to Yuta’s excited rambling. You could only manage a deflated sigh as you looked at him, empty powder packets clenched in your fist.

“What’s stopping you? Is the pay shit?” he’d asked, a more serious tone taking over him. It would’ve made you laugh under normal circumstances if you weren’t so busy thinking about how understanding and supportive Yuta was, two of the things you didn’t seem to be receiving from Jungwoo.

You huffed, not being able to stifle the smile on your face, shaking your head at him, “No, the pay’s perfectly fine actually… it’s just…”

“Just?”

“No, I was just a little shocked, that’s all… your reaction was really different from Jungwoo,” you huffed.

“You guys managed to talk things out?” Yuta’s eyebrows lifted in surprise as he fidgeted with the hem of his black singlet, since he’d recalled Johnny’s story not having ended very well.

You weren’t sure whether you should tell Yuta about yours and Jungwoo’s situation. Sure, you’d told him before, but a part of you felt almost embarrassed to tell him about how badly your relationship was doing. After all, he’d been the first one to warn you about Jungwoo’s family.

But it was then that you’d remembered Yuta’s words from before, that promise that you didn’t have to trod on eggshells when it came to talking to him, a wave of relief washing over you.

You shook your head, leaning against his fridge, your lips pursing before a small shrug left you.

“We don’t usually get to… ‘talk things out’.”

He shot you a knowing look.

“Okay, I know what you’re gonna say, that ‘it’s not healthy’ and ‘_you need good communication in a relationship’ _and yes, I know that. But it's just… difficult to talk to him about work things, he gets really defensive and like… practical about it.”

“What kind of work things?” Yuta asked.

“Well...firstly, things like switching jobs, and like stuff like what happened the other day.”

Watching Yuta’s confusion heighten, your lips parted in shock, features pulling into a frown, “Oh, I didn’t tell you?”

Yuta giggled, shaking his head, “Okay, hit it.” He glanced over at the noodles, urging you to step aside since the noodles were done.

“Wait, don’t hit it yet.” he picked the pot up and just like clockwork, you’d adjourned to his living room, setting the pot onto a magazine on the coffee table. The two of you settled down on his comfortable rug, Yuta scooping some noodles into a bowl and prompting you to start.

“Okay, so i’m assuming the last I told you was regarding the anniversary dinner, which I was already pissed off about because the idiot asked me to draft the speech for Jungwoo even though it was assigned to him, and then…” you continued in your tirade, stopping every now and then to eat your noodles.

“... oh, yeah! I almost forgot, and then- wait actually, let me give you some context on that first, so since we recently had an acquisition of this startup…” you continued, Yuta patiently listening to you as he ate, his eyebrows raising and a small smile on his face as he watched you talk. He almost felt like he was back on your balcony in high school, sharing comfort after a long and tiring day. It’d been a while since he’d gotten to feel that way.

“I guess that’s why it’s tough to talk to him about this stuff, you know? Since he’s involved in a lot of it. I don’t know, what do you think?”

Yuta had a strange look in his eyes, a smile slowly appearing on his face, as though he were in some sort of daze, “I have no idea about half the things that just came out of your mouth,” he confessed.

A gasp left you, followed by a groan, “Why didn’t you stop me! I could’ve explained it better.”

Yuta shook his head, a small insistent sound of protest leaving him.

“This is fine, I just wanted to hear you talk. Plus, you looked like you needed it.”

You glared at him, ignoring the way you’d softened at his words. It was always like Yuta to be casually sweet like this, especially when you didn’t expect it.

“Fine, I understood the parts about Jungwoo, okay?” Yuta lied, it's not like he wanted to zone out while you were talking, he just… couldn’t help it, you’d lost him when you’d brought in the acquisition. And plus, he was trying to understand how someone could look so pretty while they were angry.

You let out a tired sigh, “I know I can’t blame him, because he’s in a tough position himself. You know, having to lead the company and not go against his parents' wants for the company, but it just kind of sucked to see how much he changed because of that. He’s… not as sensitive or optimistic as before… he’s a lot more avoidant and… cynical.” It’s like we're still together for the sake of still being together. You wanted to add, but stopped yourself short, glancing cautiously at Yuta.

Yuta pressed his lips into a firm line, setting his bowl down on the coffee table to lean his side against his sofa, facing you.

“I can’t say i’m surprised… I heard enough about Zeus to know that his family was capable of being so cold but… I don’t know, a part of me was always hoping that Jungwoo would prove me wrong,” you murmured, fishing around in the pot to see if there were any noodles left and coming up short, setting your bowl down as well.

Yuta shook his head, a disgruntled sound leaving him, “It’s not your fault, the jerk had everyone convinced he was an angel. Well, except me, of course.”

“Don’t say that, Yu. He’s still my boyfriend,” you sighed, unsure if you were just saying that out of habit now, the meaning behind your words having gotten fuzzy overtime.

You sighed, leaning back against his sofa, your eyes shutting as you tried to understand why your heart rate seemed to be picking up. If you could describe what you were feeling, it was almost as if you wanted to empty out your innermost thoughts to Yuta, as if something in you was feeling compelled to just vomit everything you’d wanted to tell him. Every joke you’d archived and made a note of ‘I should tell this to Yuta the next time I see him’, to your thoughts on all the shows you’d binged while he was touring, to even your frustrations over the past few months that you couldn’t tell Jungwoo about. The biggest of all those thoughts was weighing down on you and making you feel like you couldn’t breathe. Getting it out would obviously be a better option, wouldn’t it?

“He asked me to marry him,” you blurted out, shutting your eyes even tighter as you anticipated his response.

You were only met with silence, what felt like solid minutes of it.

Forcing your eyes open, you stared at the painting Yuta hung on the wall you were facing, something he’d painted himself, you noted. It was loud, complex, messy, yet beautiful all the same. His art tended to mirror him, somewhat. But now, he was quite the opposite, the only sound in the apartment was the sound of your breathing and the low hum of traffic from downstairs.

“Why are you so quiet?” you muttered, wishing you could melt into his sofa, heavily unnerved by his lack of a response.

You were expecting a huff of ‘marriage?’ at least, or maybe an off-handed comment about not wanting to be the florist for your wedding. Not… this.

“What do you want me to say?”

You bit the inside of your cheek, your hands clasped in your lap, “I don’t know.”

Yuta’s expression was serious, “You don’t know?”

You nodded.

“Do you want to marry him?”

You frowned, “What kind of question is that?” your defensiveness got the better of you, making Yuta scoff.

“It’s a question anybody could ask you. And if you’re leaning towards a no, then there’s your answer.”

You dared to meet his gaze, “Do you want me to say no?”

Yuta’s answer came so quickly you’d almost thought you’d imagined it, “Do you think I want you to say yes?”

His gaze was unwavering, a hint of restraint in his actions, his gaze searching yours in what you almost labelled as desperation.

“It’s not my decision to make, Y/N. It’s your marriage. Your love life. Even if I say no, if you…” Yuta swallowed, “love him, who am I to stop you? Nothing I say is supposed to make that decision for you,” he told you firmly. He almost sounded frustrated.

And the truth is, he was. He was frustrated. Of course he didn’t want you to marry Jungwoo. He didn’t understand how even after all the stories he’d heard from you, Johnny and Jaehyun that you’d still cared so much for Jungwoo. It just didn’t seem mutual to him.

Of course he wished he could just tell you not to marry Jungwoo, tell you how he felt, but he didn’t want to be selfish. It wasn’t right for him to expect you to love him when you already had so many things in your own love life to deal with. Loving him was probably the least of your worries, he figured.

“I know,” you shrugged, “just thought I'd tell you first. You’re my best friend. Of course, your opinion matters to me.”

You weren’t sure why the thought had suddenly come to mind, but was it appropriate for you to be spending time with Yuta like this? Sure, you were friends but… why did it feel so inappropriate? It wasn’t like you had feelings for Yuta, right? Maybe that song was right. As much as you wanted to be with Yuta forever, you were spending too much time together. The more time you spent with him, the more you didn’t want to leave. You needed space.

Curse the stupid song for putting you through so many ridiculous thought processes.

“I know you, Y/N. And knowing you, you’ve probably already made the decision and you’re just waiting for that push to say it.”

Your eyes widened, lips parting and shutting again, knowing fully well that he was right.

“When’s that art gallery thing opening? Mark won’t shut up about it,” He changed the subject smoothly, which you had to admit you were thankful for, that conversation seemed to have reached its end.

“Next week, it’s a really tight deadline… you guys are free to come for the opening if you want.”

“Really? Pretty sure Mark would die if I told him that. He keeps talking about the architect that designed it,” he laughed, earning an insistent nod from you.

“Yeah, totally. It’s free admission, you guys are more than welcome.”

Yuta nodded, shifting so he was sitting on the sofa now, “I’ll make sure to tell him that. Wanna watch something?”

Angling your body to face the television, you nodded, seeing him already start to browse through the movie selection.

You had a better evening than you had the past week, choosing to be away from work (even though you knew you’d come back to a storm of emails from your boss) just for one evening. Though you didn’t regret it, it felt nice, to just relax in Yuta’s comfortable apartment, being in each other’s presence but not feeling uncomfortable. You liked that.

Just as you were starting to feel even more relaxed, cozied up in Yuta’s sofa with a blanket draped over you, a fluffy pillow comfortably nested beside you, you’d checked the time. You figured you should check on Jungwoo, hoping he wasn’t working late.

9:48pm - where are you? -

Kim Jungwoo 9:48pm - having drinks with some clients.-

9:48pm -will u be back late?-

Kim Jungwoo 9:49pm -yes-

9:50pm -please don’t drink too much- 9:50pm -and come back safe-

He didn’t reply. You and Yuta had continued to watch spiderman, waiting till the credits to decide to call it a day.

“It’s pretty late. I’ll drive you home,” Yuta murmured softly, getting up from the sofa to retrieve his car keys from his bedroom.

“Right, forgot you had a car,” you smiled, unlocking Yuta’s front door to put on your shoes first, the said boy strolling up behind you, plastic bag in hand.

“From my mom,” he told you simply, holding up the bag to show you, unsure why he was flushed from embarrassment. Get yourself together, Yuta, it’s no big deal, it’s just fruits.

“Tell her I say thanks. Somehow, eating the fruits I pick myself isn’t nearly as nice as eating the ones she picks,” you sighed, walking in a tired silence down with him to the parking lot of his apartment complex.

“You’re working tomorrow, right?”

You nodded.

“Don’t sleep too late,” he yawned.

“What about you? Are you working tomorrow?” you asked, getting into the passenger seat of his car, yawning as well.

Yuta nodded, “I’m covering Doyoung’s shift tomorrow ‘cause he’s moving, so i’ll be at the shop the whole day.”

You hummed in acknowledgement, “Oh, that reminds me. I really like the flowers.”

“Really? You’ve managed to keep them alive till now?” he teased, starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot smoothly.

“Shut up, I’m not that bad,” you rolled your eyes, “can I drop by tomorrow during lunch?”

Yuta let out a huff of breathy laughter, a small smile on his face. You had to stop yourself from staring. “That’s funny... that you’d want to visit tomorrow of all days.”

You frowned, “What’s so funny about it? It’s just a Friday.”

“It’s the first day of spring,” he grinned, letting go of one hand on the steering wheel to run it through his hair, “but sure, you can come. You’ll be especially welcome if you’re bringing lunch.”

Rolling your eyes, you’d watched with a small sense of disappointment as he pulled over to the sidewalk next to your apartment complex.

“Y/N?” he suddenly spoke, his tone gentle, as if testing the waters.

“What?” you fished in your bag for your apartment keys, the rustling somehow giving Yuta the confidence to continue.

“I’m not gonna say that ‘whatever your decision is, i’ll support you’ shit because that’s… not true. You know, ‘cause if you’re gonna make a bad decision, I obviously wouldn’t want you to do that. But… where I was going with this was that I just want you to know that I trust that you’re smart. You’ve always known what you want, even if you’re scared to do something about it. I mean, you know yourself best… what makes you happy and what doesn’t.” Yuta sighed, “so I just wanted you to know that I’ll still be here, supporting you, because I know you want to be happier, and I want that for you too.”

His gaze was unwavering, looking at you as though it would help his words be heard better. You’d felt as though your heart had stopped, as though you were looking at yourself from outside your body. Something about Yuta’s words had made a way into your heart and solidified your thoughts. That push you were waiting for, the one he’d spoken about in his house. That was it and he knew that from the look in your eyes.

A small pout formed on your lips, nodding at him. “Thanks, Yuta.”

Just like that, all seriousness was gone as he gave you a tired smile, “Goodnight, love.”

===

You would’ve normally understood why you were receiving stares and hushed murmurs followed you wherever you walked around the office, but on days like today, something just felt off about it. You hadn’t managed to catch the news in the morning because of how soundly you’d slept, and Jungwoo had left the house long before you’d woken up.

You’d realised after your morning meeting when you’d been approached by a rather sympathetic-looking Jaehyun, who’d practically shoved you into your office and almost gave you a concussion with his mini ipad.

Your hands on his shoulders to stabilise yourself, you’d grabbed his wrist, holding his ipad far enough for you to read comfortably from it, the headline almost making your blood run cold.

There at the top of the article in mocking bold lettering, it read: ‘Trouble in Paradise?: Suspected Affair of Kim Jungwoo’s Long Time Partner’

You had enough of hearing that stupid phrase.

“Give me that,” you took the tablet from Jaehyun, walking over to your desk and slumping down on your chair, your gaze darting from line to line, scanning the article for what it wrote.

‘Lead guitarist of up-and-coming band’.... ‘Sources say the couple are rumoured to be engaged’... ‘Pair were spotted heading out from a bar after the guitarist’s show’... ‘photos taken by an unnamed source show the two sharing an intimate conversation in a car’.

“There's photos?” you gasped, the horror on your expression only being met with Jaehyun’s grim expression, nodding at you.

“I wish they weren’t clear but… it’s really obvious that it’s you and Yuta.”

You scrolled further down to see the photos, feeling sick when you saw how clear they were. You could already imagine what was awaiting you if Jungwoo’s parents had already seen the article.

“Shit,” you leant back in your seat, already feeling a headache coming on. You handed the ipad back to Jaehyun, who had looked on in concern.

“What are you gonna do?”

You huffed, burying your face in your hands, a muffled, “I wish I knew,” coming out.

You decided to take your phone out, going to Yuta’s chat.

10:16am - i don’t think i can come to the shop later-

Yuta’s reply came quicker than you expected.

Yuta 10:16am -im guessing u saw the article…- 10:16am -its fine, i understand. I’ll just have the flowers delivered-

You heard a knock at the door. The door opening to reveal the very woman you weren’t hoping to see, not until the opening of the art gallery.

Jaehyun became stoic in an instant, bowing deeply, “Good morning, Mrs Kim.”

You’d stood up slowly, giving her a bow as well, “Good morning, Mrs Kim. Are you here to see Jungwoo?”

She laughed, sharp and a little squawk-y, kind of like a bird. Or maybe an eagle, in this case, especially from the way she was looking at you as though she were about to eat you alive.

“No, no. Actually, I was hoping to have a little chat with you?” she cast a sideways glance at Jaehyun, “privately.”

Quick to excuse himself, Jaehyun had left the room quickly, mouthing a ‘good luck’ before disappearing behind your tinted office doors.

You watched, wide-eyed and anxious as Jungwoo’s mom had made her way to your office desk slowly, taking a seat in front of you, her hands clasped in a relaxed manner around the handle of her handbag that was perched on her lap delicately.

“Y/N,” she smiled, albeit forced, “my Jungwoo always used to tell me that you’re a good girl. And I understand, how many can fall for this… charm of yours, whatever it is.”

“I just need you to remember that so long as you’re together with him. So long as the public associates the two of you together as partners, whatever you do reflects on him, and on the company,” she told you.

You struggled to maintain your composure. It scared you, almost, how her words and tone could be so spiteful even with that smile plastered on her face.

“Frankly, I don’t care what you want to do in private. But if it hurts my son… if it hurts the reputation of the company my husband and I have worked so hard to build. Just know that you will bear the consequences for that.”

Your lips parted, “I-I’m sorry, Yuta’s just a friend of mine, we’ve been friends since—”

“I don’t,” she clipped, her tone bordering on angry before she’d reverted back to her smile, “care, if the both of you were forced in that car together against your will. The public does not know about your relationship. They believe what they see, they will believe what the media tells them.”

You nodded, “I’m sorry, I’ll try to get the article taken down.”

There it was again, her laugh, mocking you as you sat there dumb on your office chair.

“You think this is about the article? We’ve been monitoring you for a while, Y/N. We knew about your friend a long time ago. Zeus Global Enterprises isn’t run by a child, you know? If we wanted to, we would’ve taken down that article long ago. In fact, we could’ve decided whether or not that article even got to see the light of day,” she giggled, standing up and picking up her handbag.

“This was a message from me to you. Especially because my son wants to marry you, you have to be careful about what you let the public see, dear. Take this as a warning,” she focused her gaze on you, before flashing you another smile, turning to leave your office.

Leaving you, mind reeling and absolutely dizzy from the interaction you just had, you got a message from Jaehyun.

Jaehyun 10:22am -coast is clear? Can i come back in now?-

You gave him a reply of a thumbs up emoji, seeing said boy walk into your office not long after.

“I was thinking about it while I was hiding in my cubicle, something about this feels planned.”

You nodded, lifeless as you stared at your laptop, open on an excel sheet you weren’t even reading, “it was.”

“Like if you- wait, it was?”

You nodded, “She told me they knew about Yuta for a while already, they knew I met up with him. But they only chose to publish an article about it now. Why? Because Jungwoo told them we’re getting married and they don’t like it.”

“God,” you groaned, bringing your palms up to rub at your eyes, “I don’t know why I didn’t figure it out sooner.”

“Figure out what? That your in-law’s are crazy?”

“Not my in-laws,” you clipped back quickly, shocking yourself with how smoothly it’d come out of you, the low whistle that came from Jaehyun only serving to make you regret saying it.

Jaehyun shrugged, and you only noticed the laptop in his hands now as he brought it over to the recliner, sitting down and setting it on his lap, “Honestly, if I were you, I’d be mentally preparing myself for the art gallery opening dinner.”

You could only manage a groan, a notification for your email popping up at the corner of your screen.

Your eyebrows furrowed, “What did you send me? Is it the finalised speech?” you exited the excel sheet and swiping over to your email to see what Jaehyun had just forwarded to you.

“I have to give it to her, that woman’s smart. Now all eyes will be on you,” he shrugged, nonchalant in his behaviour as he continued typing away at his computer.

Opening the email, your eyes flickered to the attachment first.

Resignation Letter Template.docx

You could only laugh in spite of yourself, “Very funny, idiot.”

He nodded, a hand to his chest as if he was very moved by your statement, his eyes shutting and a shit-eating grin on his face, “You can thank me later. I wish I could use it too.”

“You’re literally an intern.”

“I know, isn’t it tragic?”

===

As unaffected as you chose to portray yourself for the rest of the day, you couldn’t deny that you needed some time alone, away from the scrutinising gazes of your colleagues and the nagging anxiousness within you as you wondered how Jungwoo would react, or why he wasn’t reacting, for that matter.

You glared at the pink waters of the river you sat at, the reflection of the sunset on the waters should’ve calmed you. Maybe it would have, if you weren’t too busy trying to entertain each and every one of your million thoughts.

If you resigned now, people would definitely think it was because of the article. I mean, that was part of the reason, wasn’t it? How suffocating it felt being under Jungwoo’s parents’ control all the time. That wasn’t how you imagined you’d be living your adult life, and it wasn’t how you wanted to be living it either. Unhappy and too afraid to do anything about it.

You would have to tender your resignation for two months, anyway, so you guessed you’d still be able to complete whatever it was you had left to do before you were finally able to leave.

You felt a sudden gust of wind brush against you, the grass and trees beside you rustling at being tossed by the wind.

You glanced at the time on your phone, ignoring the texts and social media notifications that bombarded you, 7:06pm.

Strangely, as you looked at the expanse of open field on the other side of the river, you couldn’t help but feel comforted. If you squinted, it looked just like the park in your hometown. In that realisation, there was a sense of reassurance that came over you.

The reassurance was similar to the words Yuta had shared with you in his car. Maybe you had already decided on what you wanted to do. You were just waiting for the right time to make the decision official.

Jungwoo was the rational choice you made in college that ended you up in this position, that had shaped your character into someone capable of working in an environment like Zeus. You guessed you had him to thank for that. How optimistic he was when you met him, wishing that you would be able to find a job that could give you stability and happiness. Admittedly, at Zeus you did have stability and for a solid four years for that matter. Happiness… not so much.

Jungwoo would understand, right?

This reassurance you felt was dangerous, you had to admit, it made you feel brave enough to stand up to his parents, something you would’ve done four years ago if you had known all the things they would put you through, perhaps moreso because it made you feel brave enough to take your life into your own hands again. You liked that.

You sighed, fishing in your bag for your notebook and pen, beginning to draft your letter of resignation. Maybe you will thank Jaehyun when you see him on Monday.

===

“Zeus!” you heard one of Jungwoo’s clients practically hooting at him as he was walking past them, the name almost making you flinch as you stood at the podium, waiting for Jungwoo to come up and give his speech.

Stepping down from the podium carefully, you’d gestured for Jungwoo to take his spot at the makeshift podium, not missing the way his hand had grazed your waist as he avoided stepping on your dress, a small mutter of thanks leaving him as he took his place.

You took that as your cue to join the rest of the crowd, taking your place next to Jaehyun, who beckoned you closer as if he wanted to tell you something.

“Jungwoo couldn’t stop staring at you when you were up there,” he teased, earning an eye-roll from you.

“Yeah, it’s called being respectful, idiot.”

Jaehyun scoffed, “You look great, though. It’s a really pretty dress.”

You hummed, “Really? Jungwoo bought it for me a few years ago.”

An impressed pout on his lips, Jaehyun nodded, “Man’s got taste, gotta give him that.”

You directed your attention back to Jungwoo, his tone gentle yet firm as he read the words you’d so carefully prepared.

You looked around the room, the sound of Jungwoo’s voice flowing through that section of the gallery, spotting Mark and Yuta standing behind Johnny, scanning the area behind them to see that the rest of the band were there as well. You almost giggled at the (endearing) amount of effort they’d put in to dress well, a stark contrast from their usual attire while performing.

“I’d also like to thank the creative team and Mr Lim from HR for helping to make this opening possible, I’ll definitely go to you for future events,” he spoke, your eyes darting up because you knew you did not include that in the speech.

You didn’t miss the way your boss, said Mr Lim, had gushed, shouting back, “my cheerleaders will be here if you need them!”

You rolled your eyes, tuning out the rest of the speech as you glared at your boss’ back. We’ll see how his ‘cheer team’ does once you resign.

“...may this be the start of a fruitful partnership between us, thank you.”

The sound of clapping and cheering had directed your gaze back to the stage. Jungwoo stepped down from the podium, meeting your gaze with a small smile on his face as he walked towards your table, though he was stopped halfway when his father had beckoned him over to his standing table with a few other friends of his.

“Zeus!” one of the men had greeted Jungwoo, “where’s Hera?” they joked, making Jungwoo laugh, shaking his head.

“She’s over there with her department.”

“Well, call her over! I’d like to meet her,” they insisted, Jungwoo trying to meet your gaze so he could beckon you over.

Finally making eye contact with you as you were finishing your glass of champagne, he’d waved you over, making you set your glass down quickly, starting to make your way over.

Jungwoo’s father leaned over, “How’s the Marketing department doing? One of my friends here was talking about a pretty good marketing strategy, you should set up a meeting with him and your marketing team. It’d be worth your time.”

Jungwoo waited for his dad to get to his real point.

“Did you see Chairman Jung? He brought his daughter. She’s a very sweet girl… it’s not easy making it to where she is, especially at such a young age. She’s only twenty-two and she’s one of the best prosecutors in the city.”

Jungwoo shook his head, keeping his expression stoic in front of his father, “I already told you, if it’s not Y/N, i’m not getting married.”

His father clucked his tongue in distaste, watching as you grew closer to the table.

“Why are you so stubborn about this? You’re not getting any younger, you know? The least you could do is try to meet some of the girls. Knowing you, you’ll keep dragging it out until you have no more options. You’re wasting your time on people you could do much better without,” he murmured harshly.

“Y/N’s a good girl, dad. I’ve been with her for a long time now. I mean it when I say I don’t see myself getting married if it’s not to her,” Jungwoo murmured, the polite smile on his face making it look as though he and his father were having the best time talking.

You wondered what they were talking about, especially as you’d reached the table and been welcomed by the men so quickly, all of them gushing over your dress and telling you how gorgeous you looked.

“There are many ‘good girls’, son. Don’t knock the idea just yet. In my eyes, you’re single unless you’re married.”

Jungwoo straightened up, his hand finding your waist quickly, his thumb rubbing your waist soothingly.

“Zeus, if I was with such a gorgeous young lady, I would’ve sealed the deal a long time ago,” one of the directors had chuckled, making you laugh nervously.

“He’s planning to soon, right son?”

Jungwoo nodded, “That’s right.” He cast you a glance, the calm, confident smile on his face making your thoughts spiral.

You weren’t sure what bothered you more, the presumptuous comments from the directors or the way Jungwoo was acting as if you were already engaged.

“Smart move, I can imagine how many suitors she has. Young, sweet girl. It’d be nice to work with a woman like that supporting you,” another man had added, Jungwoo giving your waist a small squeeze, almost making you shy away from his touch.

“I’d be more than happy to have someone like Y/N supporting me as well,” Jungwoo smiled.

“You’re a lucky girl, doll,” one of the directors had told you, “Bet there’s a thousand girls who’d kill to be you.”

You wanted to puke. If anything, you would love for them to take your place, you doubt you could tolerate Zeus’ work environment much longer, each word from the Chairman’s friends making your stomach churn.

You’d followed Jungwoo to walk around and greet the other guests, spotting Mark and Johnny retrieving more champagne from one of the waiters.

“Hey, can we go say ‘hi’ to Mark? You haven’t spoken to him in a while right?”

Jungwoo shot you a look as if asking if you were serious.

“He’s with Yuta, I don't think it’s a good idea,” he murmured gently.

“Oh,” you tried not to sound disappointed, understanding that it would’ve caused more gossip to surface if the three of you were seen together.

So you’d continued. As the night went on, Jungwoo’s hands had never left you, as though he were trying to show that you were his partner. Ironic, it was, considering he barely acknowledged you at work.

The more people you’d greeted, the more you’d felt like the person you were with just wasn’t quite Jungwoo. The fake smile plastered on his face and his readiness to entertain their inappropriate jokes about you, not to mention the way it seemed like his name had become almost synonymous with ‘Zeus’. It was all making you uncomfortable, and you’d wanted nothing more but to simply go home.

You reached out a hand to tug on Jungwoo’s fingers, his head leaning down to hear you better.

“Can we get going soon? I’m kind of tired,” you told him, a small yawn leaving you just as you said it.

Clearly enjoying himself in such a setting, Jungwoo almost looked disappointed, but nodded nonetheless, already beginning to guide you towards the exit.

Meeting his chauffeur outside the gallery, you’d exchanged a passing glance with Yuta, the boy simply staring as you were pulled towards the car by Jungwoo.

Once you’d entered, you slumped in your seat, shutting your eyes and already getting comfortable for the moderately long drive home.

“Could you put the partition up, please?” Jungwoo muttered, the low whirring sounding until there was a small click.

“Thanks,” you murmured, tensing up when you’d felt Jungwoo pull you closer to him.

Leaning down, you heard him murmur, “It’s been a while since you wore this dress.”

You hummed in acknowledgement, too tired to form a proper response.

“Made me realise how much i’ve been neglecting the fact that I have such a beautiful woman with me,” he huffed, and you felt him press a kiss to your cheek, another one at your jaw, trailing down to your neck.

“Jungwoo,” you began, interrupted when he’d pressed an urgent kiss to your lips, one of his hands at the back of your neck.

It felt weird. You knew you enjoyed the giddy feeling you would get when you kissed Jungwoo, or well, you used to at least. But there was none of that in the kiss you just shared, it made you feel yucky, the situation itself was uncomfortable. Something about it wasn’t right.

Pulling away, he’d trailed kisses down your neck.

“When’s the last time I kissed you? Maybe I should do it more often.”

“Are you just saying this because of what the directors were saying?” you sighed, opening your eyes to cast him a pointed look.

Jungwoo scoffed, smiling at you, “Of course not, just thought we could both use some stress relief. Especially since all that’s over,” he told you casually, his hand making its way to your thigh, slipping under the skirt of your dress and massaging the skin at your thigh.

Your hand moved to grab his, trying to halt his actions.

“That’s all this is? Stress relief?”

Jungwoo looked confused, speaking between kisses, “What else do you want it to be?”

You sighed, “Of course, I want it to be more than ‘stress relief’. This is ridiculous, you don’t acknowledge me at all in the office and then suddenly now just because you’re in front of your stupid friends—”

“There are people listening, Y/N,” he warned in a low tone, making your frustration build.

“I don’t care if they’re listening. They can transcribe this conversation for all I care. Don’t you see how suffocating it is to always have to put on a front for everybody? That’s including you, you know? I can’t even tell you how I feel without you trying to make everything PC,” you were frustrated now, Jungwoo’s hands on your thigh and his kisses halting, seeing him eyeing you with a thoughtful look in his gaze.

“Well, you don’t seem very suffocated, with all your outings with Yuta.”

Your eyebrows furrowed.

“Why are you bringing that up? You told me you never had a problem with it.”

Jungwoo scoffed, “that’s because it was never a problem until now!”

Glancing outside the window, you could faintly see the buildings on the corner of your street.

You shoved his hands off of you, folding your arms and waiting for the car to pull up at your shared apartment, with you stepping out first and Jungwoo quietly following after you. You’d both continued trudging in silence to your apartment, the shutting of the door and the whirring of the automated lock echoing in the narrow walkway.

“We’re not finished talking,” you told him sternly, seeing him making his way to your bedroom, your statement making him walk back out to meet you at the kitchen counter.

That was when you noticed it. The absence of a vase on the counter.

“What did you do to my flowers?” you murmured.

Jungwoo shrugged, “I threw them out.”

Your features pinched with annoyance, “Why would you do that? They were lasting so long,” you groaned.

Casting you a skeptical look, “You want my honest answer?”

“Well, obviously I don’t want you to lie to my face, do I?” You snapped, Jungwoo almost taken aback by your words.

It’d been a while since he’d seen you like this, the last time being when you’d gotten into a fight with one of Yuta’s soccer team upperclassmen that was giving him shit. Again, Yuta.

“Fine,” Jungwoo raised his hands in surrender, “I threw them out ‘cause I was mad.”

“Mad? Mad about what? The article?” You frowned, “You of all people should know who was behind that.”

“Yes, I was mad about the article. I was mad that one night with Yuta was all it took for us to start fighting again. Was that why you’ve been acting so weird recently? You haven’t been yourself at work, and don’t think I didn’t see your resignation—”

“You were looking in my bag?”

Jungwoo let out an exasperated sigh, “Yes. I was, because I can’t trust you these days. Not with how you keep giving me reasons not to trust you.”

He knew it wasn’t him talking at this point, he’d learnt it best from his parents. How manipulative they had been, turning everything that possibly went wrong against him.

You were at a loss for words, unable to comprehend how things managed to get so ridiculous so quickly.

“Admit it. It’s because of Yuta, isn’t it?” He prodded, his words prickly and irritating you to no end.

“No, this is about you. This is all about you. It didn’t take just one night with Yuta, Jungwoo. It took four years with you to realise It’s about how you’ve been treating me like shit ever since you let your parents and precious Zeus groom you into this… into this asshole.”

Your fists were balled at your sides, the fabric of your dress starting to make you feel as though you couldn’t breathe, your vision starting to blur as you felt that wave of reassurance take over you again, already opening your mouth to speak.

“I want to break up.”

You slumped down onto the floor, your back against the wall as you let yourself cry, immense relief flooding you that you'd finally managed to get that off your chest. Jungwoo’s eyes had glazed over, sitting halfway on one of the counter stools, his fingers fidgety and his mind full of thoughts.

You weren’t sure how much time had passed, and neither was Jungwoo. But the traffic downstairs had grown quiet and your tears were dried on your face by the time Jungwoo had chosen to speak, his voice slightly hoarse, “Me too.”

Jungwoo stood up slowly, making his way over to the fridge and taking out two cans of beer, walking over to you and handing you one, sitting next to you with a sigh. This time, you’d gladly let him drape an arm around your shoulder, feeling his head rest against yours.

“I’m sorry,” his voice was barely above a whisper.

“I was thinking about it,” he continued, bringing the hand holding his beer up to wipe his tears with the back of his hand, “and I realised, I was just scared of what my parents would do… you know, if we really did decide to break up. I mean, you were someone I got to choose myself, without their interference. You were someone I was comfortable with, and cared for me even when I was acting like a dick. I just… didn’t want them to just pawn me off to one of their business partner’s daughters, so I… tried to force us to work. Even if we did… you know, stop working a long time ago.”

Your lips pursed, trying to contain your tears.

“I’m sorry about what I said about your resignation when you asked me that day. I mean, I mostly said it because I knew my parents weren’t gonna take it well if they found out but… I’ll make sure they don’t try anything on you. I’m… just, I’m just really sorry for letting you take their hits on my behalf.”

Your lower lip had started to quiver as the rate of tears spilling from your eyes had increased, “apologize for Mr Lim too.”

Jungwoo let out a small huff of laughter, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Are you kidding?” you brought a hand up to swipe at your tears, not being able to help yourself from laughing either, “of course, I am.”

You were sure if anyone else had seen the two of you, they would’ve had many questions, maybe even disbelief that Jungwoo would be willing to apologize and see what he did wrong. But you knew Jungwoo, you knew how he dealt with conflict. All he’d done to you were just manifestations of how his own parents dealt with him. Maybe that was why he’d chosen to avoid it for so long, because he knew that he was stuck in a loveless relationship too, and that there wouldn’t be any saving it when push comes to shove. You didn’t deserve that, no one does.

Before today, whenever you’d pictured what it would be like to break up with Jungwoo, you’d always imagined that you’d finally be able to dramatically tell him about all the times he’d done you wrong, every little incident that pricked at your heart till the day itself. But strangely, there was no urge to do that now as you sat with him, nursing your beer. You were just glad that it seemed you were both on the same page for once.

You’d continued to talk, relishing in one of the first proper conversations you were able to share with him in a long time. Even if you both looked like absolute wrecks, you had to admit, it felt good. And Jungwoo thought so too.

“Can I ask you something, though?” Jungwoo asked, his cheeks already flushed from the beer (he’d always been a lightweight).

“Yeah, go ahead,” you shrugged.

Jungwoo pressed his lips into a firm line, “What kind of uh… you know, what do you look for in a partner?”

You giggled, “Why? Are you trying to matchmake me already?”

Jungwoo shook his head, flustered as he smiled, “Just describe it, I’m curious.”

You hummed, “Well… I’d like someone funny, that I can have fun with… someone who’s considerate, who I can talk to freely and who isn’t afraid to communicate when we fight… someone who supports me… it’d be nice if they have some of the same interests as me? Like shows or whatever, it’d be fun to watch things together...I guess, someone who pushes me to do what makes me happy too?” you cast a sideways glance at Jungwoo, the look on his face making you feel embarrassed, “I don’t know, okay? I’ve never thought about this before.”

One hand coming up to cover his mouth, Jungwoo had poorly stifled his smile, the sight of his amusement only making you even more flustered.

“What’s so funny?” you scoffed.

Jungwoo shook his head, “No, it’s just… don’t kill me for saying this but you kind of just described how Yuta treats you.”

“Did I? No, I didn’t.”

“You totally did.”

You huffed, “Let me just enjoy tonight peacefully, I’d rather not think about that right now.”

“It’s not a bad thing, you know,” he told you simply, “I mean, It’s not a secret that he’s someone you can depend on. I’m sure he’d treat you a lot better than I ever could.”

You frowned, a small pout on your lips.

“Don’t say that,” you frowned.

Jungwoo shook his head, “It’s okay, It’s true.”

You let a short silence fall between the both of you, the sound of Jungwoo’s fingernails tapping against the metal can filling the absence of words spoken.

“Just… think about it, okay? Literally anyone can see that he’s into you.”

You grimaced, “This is weird, I feel weird talking to my ex about my best friend.”

Jungwoo rolled his eyes, taking another long sip of his beer.

“That’s life for you.”

You’d gotten a text from Yuta then, Jungwoo peeking over your shoulder to read it.

Yuta 12:20am - r you ok? u looked rly tired jn- 2:19am -im guessing ure sleeping now but if u need anything just text me-

“Told you,” Jungwoo shrugged nonchalantly, making you roll your eyes.

You sighed deeply.

“What are we gonna do now?” you let out yet another sigh.

“Stop sighing, we’ll be fine,” Jungwoo told you with a laugh, “I can move out of here, get my own apartment… you can keep this one.”

You scrunched your nose up, “Sounds about right, it’s under my name, anyway. But what about you? Aren’t your parents gonna try to marry you off as soon as they can now?”

Jungwoo shrugged, “Probably. But I don’t think I will get married… just, not really interested.”

“You’d better make that clear to them. Knowing them, they’ve already got a list of brides lined up,” you laughed at the horror in his expression.

Standing up with a grunt, Jungwoo held a hand out to you, “Let’s go wash up. We’ll settle all the details tomorrow.”

You nodded, taking his hand and standing up as well, Jungwoo shocking you when he’d pulled you into a hug.

“Thank you, you know, for being so patient and understanding with me… I know I didn’t deserve it,” he murmured softly.

You huffed, nodding, “I would say you got lucky, but I know you’re being serious. So, yes, I know.”

That night, when you were both in bed, this time you were lying on your backs and trying to sleep while knowing fully well you couldn’t.

Jungwoo sighed, hoping you were awake.

“Y/N?” he tried, relieved when he heard your hum of acknowledgement.

Jungwoo pursed his lips, “Again, I know sorry won’t change the fact that I hurt you, but I really am sorry that I didn’t stand up for you… all those times when I should have.”

You nodded, turning to look at the blue moonlight peeking through the curtains and casting shadows on your bed.

“Jungwoo, just…” you spoke suddenly, “stop letting them step all over you. Zeus is almost yours for God’s sake, if you don’t want to be their puppet then stop acting like one.”

Jungwoo smiled, “Yes, ma’am.”

===

When do you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with someone?

You didn’t assume it would happen in an instant, much less when you were squeezed in the middle of the sweaty crowd of a music festival.

As cliché as it sounded, it came when you least expected it. And you meant that in the most literal way. Because you’d never expected that it would be when you were standing there, gaze fixed on a smiley Yuta, hair recently bleached blonde and sporting a dark haired undercut, teasing the crowd as he played a riff of ‘Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer’, Haechan catching along and singing a quick bit of the chorus.

You didn’t know that looking at him having fun on stage, his smile exuding pure happiness, would be what made you realise that you wanted to be around him for as long as you were alive.

Performing in front of fifty thousand people wasn’t easy, but he made it look like it was with how easily he engaged the crowd. His happiness, and those of the rest of the band, was infectious, so much so that you allowed yourself to let loose, enjoying yourself fully even despite Jaehyun’s constant effort to remain chic next to you and Jungwoo trying not to get shoved around by the crowd.

“He’s really good,” Jungwoo shouted over the noise of the crowd while Yuta was singing, earning a giddy nod from you.

“You should tell him that yourself!” you told him with a smile, making Jungwoo laugh, stumbling at a sudden push from behind him.

“I’d like to, but I have a feeling he still doesn’t like me very much.”

Maybe Jungwoo was right, because once the festival was over and you had all gone to find the band, Yuta had shot you a grin when he’d spotted you, only to revert to a glare once he’d seen who was walking behind you.

Giving you a hug in greeting, Yuta let one of his arms drape around your shoulder.

“What’s he doing here?” he was practically glaring at Jungwoo, who stood awkwardly before Yuta.

“Yo, dude you made it!” Mark called out from behind Yuta, coming over to greet Jungwoo.

“Sorry, hope you don’t mind that I invited him,” Mark told his very disgruntled band member with a sheepish smile.

“Jungwoo has something he wants to tell you,” you shot a pointed look at Jungwoo, raising your eyebrows as if telling him that now was his cue.

Yuta took his arm from your shoulder, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at Jungwoo with evident contempt in his gaze, “Uh-huh, sure.”

Jungwoo smiled, “I wanted to tell you that you played really well just now, your singing is really good too,” he let out a little laugh in his anxiousness.

“Yeah, I know,” Yuta muttered, apathy in his tone.

You nudged him in the side harshly, “C’mon, don’t be mean.”

Yuta gave you a skeptical look, lips parting in shock.

“You’re seriously defending him?”

Mark let out a low whistle, “Someone’s jealous,” stopping his giggles quickly at the glare Yuta sent his way.

Noticing the knowing look Jungwoo sent your way, you shook your head, thankful that Yuta was just as eager as you to change the subject.

“Whatever. I’m hungry, let’s go for dinner.”

After your realisation during the music festival, it was like something had shifted. It was like the weight of the words you’d told Jungwoo when describing the qualities you wanted in a partner had grown stronger and were being revealed to you, slowly but surely.

You hadn’t felt it as strongly before, but it was as if it had made you hyperaware of your heart, the way its beats would quicken when Yuta would lean over you to grab something from the far side of the table, or the way it slowed down nearing the end of the dinner when you leaned your head on his shoulder in your little food coma, or the way it stirred when he took his jacket off to drape it over your shoulders just as you thought it was getting a little too cold.

“Are you excited?” Jeno had asked you as you all waited for Haechan to settle the payment, his sudden statement making you glance around you, wondering what it was in your environment that you would’ve been excited about (It was your fault for not paying attention to the conversation, you were too busy watching Yuta finish the maze on the kids menu), “you know, it’s like what… less than a week till you end your job, right?”

Oh, that.

You nodded, “Yeah, it is. I mean I am excited, definitely. A little nervous but your girlfriend’s definitely been a very big help,” you shot a look at Mark, who visibly flushed.

“She’s not my girlfriend…”

“Yet,” Lucas chimed in with a giggle, enjoying the sight of a flustered Mark.

Yuta was leant against the corner of the booth, looking at you with a small smile on his face as the boys had discussed a congratulatory party for your career switch, Jungwoo chiming in and saying that he could help to arrange it.

You were glad to see him starting to connect with his friends again. Though it’d been almost two months since the both of you broke up, it was nice to see that he was actively working on himself, seeking help and trying to be a better friend and leader (even if it’d taken him a month to set ground rules with his mom, one of which included letting him attend therapy sessions). Though he had definitely changed over the years, and some things were less likely to change, like his business mentality and his cynicism, you figured you were still glad that he was trying for everything else.

Turning to Yuta in the midst of all the discussion, you raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why he was looking at you like that, the slow smile he gave you and the unreadable look in his eyes was almost...endearing.

“What? Are you tipsy?” you glanced at his cup, seeing that he was indeed not drunk, his glass still a quarter filled with coke.

He simply shook his head at you, “Nope. Just… happy for you.”

You smiled, trying to ignore the way your heart had swelled with happiness, urging yourself to snap out of it.

“We should write a song for you!” Lucas chimed in excitedly, almost knocking over his glass with his abrupt movements.

“Let’s ask Yuta, he’s got plenty of experience, right Yu?” Haechan, back from making the payment, had drawled, eyeing Yuta with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Your eyebrows raised in surprise, “Experience? Dammit, I knew you dated around.”

Yuta scoffed, “I didn’t ‘date around’.”

“You totally did! Or well, at least you had crushes.”

Mark snickered, and you missed the glance he exchanged with Haechan. Jeno pretended to be nonchalant as he started to hum the tune to the chorus of Too Much Time Together.

Yuta stood up abruptly, casting a sideways glare at Jungwoo when a poorly stifled chortle had escaped the said boy, “We should start heading back now.”

You’d walked beside Yuta as the group of you made your way out of the quaint restaurant, Yuta’s car parked next to Jungwoos.

“Y/N, do you need a ride home or..?” Jungwoo asked you, only to get interrupted by Yuta, who’d squeezed himself in between the both of you with an unapologetic smile on his face.

“I’ll send her home, thank you very much.”

You rolled your eyes, trying to ignore the way Jaehyun had snickered, his tone almost identical to Mark’s as he drawled, “Someone’s jealous.”

“Shut up, Jaehyun,” Yuta clipped back just as quickly, taking your hand and beginning to pull you towards his car, leaving you to wave your goodbyes quickly before practically being shoved into the passenger’s seat, the boys sending teasing statements Yuta’s way.

“You’re insane,” you laughed, earning a grunt from Yuta.

“I’m sorry, what? Can’t hear you, too many crazy people outside the car,” Yuta feigned nonchalance, already beginning to drive out.

“Hey, can I hang at your place for a while? Don’t really feel like going home yet,” you yawned, seeing him nod.

“Yeah, of course you can.”

You leaned over to switch the radio channels, eventually deciding on going without the radio since it was a short drive to Yuta’s apartment.

“I still don’t believe that you didn’t date around,” you voiced out your thoughts, amused at the groan Yuta had given you in response.

Yuta rolled his eyes, “Is it that hard to believe? I was pretty focused on my studies, okay?”

You couldn’t help but laugh, your laugh cut short at the sharp turn Yuta had taken as he entered his street, “drive carefully, idiot. But yes, I don’t believe you. C’mon, not even like one relationship?”

He shrugged, “Nothing serious, at least.”

You looked at him in disbelief, Yuta too focused on parallel parking to pay you any heed.

“You’re kidding… so you’re saying that since college the furthest you’ve gone is a talking stage?”

Yuta nodded.

You gasped, “Well, who did you like the most? Wait, wait, no don’t tell me. I wanna guess myself…” you hummed as you thought out loud, “who were you the most whipped for?”

Yuta rolled his eyes, putting the car into park and stepping out, waiting for you to get out of the car as he walked into the lobby, pressing the lift button and shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Can I have a clue, at least?”

Yuta snorted, “Yeah, she’s pretty clueless.”

You hummed, “Oh, I don’t know many girls from college that we know… most of my friends knew you but I don’t think they actually talked to you…” With how seriously you were considering it, you would’ve thought you weren’t trying very hard on purpose, a part of you not wanting to imagine Yuta with one of your friends.

“Uh… is she my age? Have you ever written a song about her?”

Yuta stalked past you, unlocking his apartment with ease as you trailed behind him in your pensive silence.

“Yes to both questions,” he held the door open for you and you walked in, though this time, you saw the way he’d fiddled with the thermostat, making it slightly warmer for you.

“What are you doing?” you asked, momentarily distracted from your guessing game.

Yuta hummed, confusion written over his features before he saw you pointing at the thermostat, his mouth forming a little ‘o’.

“Oh, you don’t like the cold,” he said simply, walking over to his fridge to pour you and himself a glass of ice water, handing one to you before going over to his sofa.

Letting out a breath you hadn’t known you were holding, you shrugged off his jacket, hanging it at the coat rack and removing your shoes, meeting him at his sofa.

“Oh my God, I know. It’s definitely the girl you wrote ‘Too Much Time Together’ for,” you suddenly announced, a eureka moment of sorts that made Yuta sputter around his mouthful of water, “I mean, you said you wanted to be with them forever. If that doesn’t show that you were down bad, I don’t know what does.”

Yuta had an unreadable expression on his face, wondering if this was the universe’s way of giving him an opportunity to make his feelings known to you.

“Yeah, it was her,” he told you simply, hating how breathless he sounded.

You cheered, enjoying your momentary triumph, “Okay, so… you definitely met her in college.”

“Met her long before that.”

“You did? Then why didn’t you do anything?” You were momentarily distracted, taking your newfound information and sending a text to Lucas to ask if he remembered any girls Yuta hung out with during college.

Yuta shrugged, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from you to stare into his cup, shrugging, “Missed my chance. Didn’t realise I had feelings for her until she started dating this asshole so I figured I shouldn’t get myself involved.”

Your eyes widened, “No way, do I know the asshole?”

Yuta’s eyebrows raised, unsure whether to be amused that you had no idea you were talking about yourself.

Nodding, he pressed his lips into a firm line in a poor effort to contain his smile, “Yeah, you know him. Behaves exactly like Jungwoo.”

You’d straightened up at that, your thoughts temporarily diverted from Yuta’s college crush, “About that. You should try to understand Jungwoo more. Stop being so mean to him, you can tell he’s really trying to improve.”

“I’m humbling him,” Yuta shrugged, switching channels as he tried to find the movie he wanted you to watch.

“Yuta, I’m being serious,” you said, a little more firmly this time.

Yuta halted his channel surfing, setting the remote down next to him before narrowing his eyes at you, “You’re seriously defending him? You can’t be serious. What are you, his mom?” he scoffed, making you roll your eyes.

You clucked your tongue in annoyance, “I already said I was being serious. Yes, yes, I'm ‘seriously’ defending him. Take just now, for example, you could’ve just said thanks when he complimented your performance, but you were being a total dick about it!” you frowned.

Your persuasion seemed to have struck a nerve with Yuta, the boy’s eyebrows knitting into a frown as he bit the inside of his cheek.

“Why are you so protective over him?”

You scoffed, “You’re not actually gonna pull that ‘what about me?’ bullshit now, right? I know the guys were saying that you were jealous but are you actually jealous? Just because I’m asking you to be less… abrasive with your words towards Jungwoo?”

Yuta let out an exasperated huff, figuring that even if it wasn’t the universe giving him signs, he couldn’t stop himself from his next words.

“So what if I’m jealous? You already know I don’t like him. Maybe I’d even go as far as to say I hate him, but it’s not because of what you think, that’s for sure.” he started, taking in a deep breath and letting out a sigh.

“Okay, fine, why do you hate him so much, then? His family? What his company does?”

Yuta poked his tongue in his cheek, shaking his head, “Y/N, I really couldn’t give a shit about his job, or his family, or his money, or his million connections on linkedin. I hate him because I hate the fact that for four years he had you to come home to every single day, and even though he had that, he wasn’t good to you.”

Yuta’s gaze was intent, even as he watched a flash of realisation in your eyes, your lips parting slightly.

“I can’t forgive him for that… at least not yet. Do you think it was fun to watch? How you were always second guessing his feelings for you, how he would hurt your feelings and you would just suck it up and say it ‘wasn’t him talking’. Because it sucked.”

You huffed, “You weren’t there for the worst of it, anyway… you were on your exchange trip in college. We barely managed to align our schedules to call each other. The only contact I had with you was that letter and postcard you sent me.”

The look on Yuta’s face was purely incredulous, not knowing whether to laugh or grab you by the shoulders and shake some sense into you.

“You haven’t figured it out, have you?” he huffed, the frown on your face only serving to surprise him more. You really were clueless.

“Figured out what?” you clipped back in annoyance.

“When do you think the song was written?”

You furrowed your eyebrows, not understanding where he was going with this, your mind still reeling from trying to figure out whether you actually wanted to know who the song was about. You didn’t think you’d be able to like the song much afterwards.

“You said you wrote it when you were on exchange, right?” you frowned.

“Yeah, our second year of college. C’mon, just think, Y/N. What else happened to you that year?” he prompted.

“I…” you began, not being able to think of anything momentous that happened to you that year, “I can’t think of anything. All I know is that that’s when I got together with Jungwoo…”

You stopped yourself, your heart sinking when you realised. That was when you’d started dating Jungwoo.

As if guided by divine timing, you’d received your reply from Lucas.

Lucas 9:39pm -??? He literally only hung out with you and the band LOL, and johnny ig-

“So…” you paused, trying to find your words as you only managed to blink dumbly at him, “Jungwoo’s the asshole?”

Yuta stifled a laugh, nodding.

“You don’t seem shocked,” you blurted, immediately regretting your words, finding no logic behind them.

Yuta’s eyebrows raised in question, smirking at you, “Should I be shocked about my own crush?”

You couldn’t describe what you were feeling. You wanted to say you were glad, but should you have been glad that he wrote a song about you? Especially a song like that?

“But you got over it, right? Did you?” you dared to ask.

Yuta scrunched his nose up, shaking his head, “Don’t kill me for saying this but… I thought I did, but… I don’t think I really… did.”

Your lack of a response had only made Yuta sigh.

“If you’re worried about the state of our friendship, it’s fine, we can just pretend nothing happened and that I never said anything—”

“No, no,” you cut him off, wincing at how you’d done so a little too quickly, “I mean. I’m not like… worried. Okay, maybe I am, I don’t know. I’m feeling a lot of things right now.”

Yuta, calm as ever, had simply rested his arm on the back of his sofa, supporting his head with his palm as he looked at you, a hint of amusement in the curve of his lips. “Like what?”

You opened your mouth to speak only to shut it again just as quickly, tilting your head as you averted your gaze, “... For some… odd reason… I feel… I’m kind of glad you still feel that way.”

Yuta nodded slowly, “You are?”

You nodded, flushing in embarrassment, “Yeah… because… I don’t know, I think… I think I feel the same way too, but I’m not sure.”

It wasn’t as if you could press a confirmation button on your feelings, could you? You didn’t mean that. You knew you liked him. You’d just so happened to have grown to become more passive in your speech, something Yuta realised was an after-effect of working at Zeus.

“I take that back, I mean—”

Reaching out a hand to grasp yours gently, Yuta let out a small huff of laughter, “So, you’re sure? Or you’re still not sure?”

Giving your hand a gentle tug, you were surprised with the way you’d moved so fluidly, letting Yuta pull you towards him, so you were balanced on your knees, with his face barely inches away from yours.

“Do you need a confirmation?” he murmured, his gaze flickering between your eyes and your lips. You were almost embarrassed from what you were feeling.

Something about the warmth of his touch, to the way you’d felt sick but in the best possible way, the anxious beating of your heart as you wondered just how you’d ended up like this, yet not regretting it in the least bit.

It was like your body was moving on autopilot, judging from the ease with which you’d let your eyes flutter closed when you felt his hand gently cup the side of your face, his thumb softly rubbing your cheek and eliciting a soft sigh from you.

You could only manage a nod, Yuta not wasting any time to let one of his hands find its way to your hip, supporting you as he leaned forward to close the gap between the both of you.

It started off slow, delicate, as though the both of you were trying to exercise a certain level of restraint. Though you felt it almost impossible, not with the way his kiss made you feel like it was your very first, not even minding when he tucked your hair away from your face, the warmth spreading through your cheeks and making them feel hotter than they already were.

Your hands rested on his shoulders, the fabric of his too-big muscle tee sliding down to expose his collarbone with your movements. A small sound of surprise left you when he’d let his teeth graze over your lower lip just slightly, one hand coming up to move your hand resting on his shoulder to bring it up to cup his face, deciding to take the liberty to run it through his hair, the stirring in your heart only worsening when you’d felt him smile against your lips.

Feeling one of his hands move from your hip to touch the skin of your thigh, you’d finally pulled away, breathless and giddy, his forehead resting against yours while you caught your breath. Separating just slightly as you tried to gather your thoughts, his smooth caressing of the skin on your thigh making your head spin.

That was more than enough of a confirmation for you.

“I was stupid…” Yuta began, his tongue peeking out to lick at his lips as you absently ran your hands through his hair again, the smile on his face after you did so almost affirming you for your actions, “to think that being friends with you was enough.”

“Was that why you wrote that in the song? That you wanted to be with me forever?”

He nodded, a zoned out look in his eyes as he looked at you, giddy with love for you as well, “And I do, I really do.” You’d felt his other hand move from your waist to your hips, finding your hand to interlock your fingers absently as if he’d done it a million times.

And he has, but this time was different.

“Not platonically?” you asked, though it came out as more of a statement than a question.

The smile he gave you in return was all you needed.

He shook his head, “No. In the most romantic way possible.”

===

You ended work early today, considering it was your last day of work. Parties and going-away dinners from previous days having tired you out, but in a good way. You’d spotted Jungwoo’s parents while you were on your way out from the office just now, and though they barely acknowledged you, it felt good not to be acknowledged by them for once. It just made the reality of you finally leaving this office feel a whole lot more.. well, real.

Johnny was a wreck, to say the least, claiming that now he had no one to share his ‘desk soju’ with (much to Jaehyun’s dismay), but it was fine, it wasn’t as if he didn’t hang out with Yuta’s band every other weekend.

Somehow, in the process of trying to get used to the fact that you wouldn’t have to walk through the cold, unwelcoming walls of Zeus Global Enterprises anymore, you’d let yourself wander back to the little park that you’d grown fond of overtime, finding yourself seated in the middle of the grass enjoying the cold for once (even though it made goosebumps rise on your skin).

You glanced at the time, just a little over seven in the evening.

Perhaps the reason why you liked this time of the day so much was because it was like an ending of sorts. When things slowed down, your heart slowed down along with it. It reminded you of when you would finish soccer practice, and your heart would be thrumming wildly with all the running you done and excitement you’d felt, the only thing on your mind being the hope that your mom would show up to pick you up.

And whenever you saw her, that was just how it was. Your heart slowed down, an overwhelming sense of relief would wash over you. All from the promise of comfort.

Yuta just so happened to come along with it.

“Excuse me, ma’am. You’re not allowed to be within 2 metres of the river, it’s not safe.”

Jumping at the sudden intrusion, you’d turned quickly, relaxing when you’d spotted none other than Yuta, picnic basket in hand and his phone in the other that waved at you.

“How’d you know I was here?” you laughed, watching as he’d laid out an unnecessarily big picnic mat next to where you were, holding the edges down with his shoes and phone.

“Of course I knew where you’d be. You’re my best friend,” he smiled, beckoning you over to sit on the mat.

“C’mere, your clothes will get dirty.”

Sitting on the mat, you pursed your lips as Yuta sprawled himself onto the mat, bringing his arm up to support his head as he lay on his back.

Looking in the picnic basket, you’d wanted to laugh at what you saw. Gummy packets and Yuta’s favourite snacks, bottles of soda and a single can of beer.

Yuta held a hand to cover the opening of the picnic basket to get your attention, “I haven’t done groceries for the week yet, take it or leave it.”

You scoffed, fishing out a bag of gummies and tearing it open, mentally debating whether it would be a good idea to lie with him.

As if reading your mind, he’d huffed.

“You can still lay by me in public, you know. It’s not like it’s gonna kill you.”

You relaxed visibly, leaning back against the inclined patch of grass, enjoying the sunset as it started to change colour.

“What’s the special occasion? Is it ‘cause it’s my last day?”

Yuta shrugged, “Partly... But, I just… felt like being here with you.”

You couldn’t help the smile from your face.

“The sunset is really pretty, I can understand why you come here so much,” he murmured.

“Do you remember? When we used to hang out after soccer practice?” you prompted, “kind of reminds me of that… the sunsets back home were always so pretty.”

Yuta nodded, a small smile making its way on his features.

“You know, I don’t know when it started, but… whenever I saw a sunset like this, it made me think of you,” he confessed, lost in the way the sky had begun to turn purplish.

You smiled, thinking back to all the pictures of the sunset he’d sent you from his times in exchange, from when he was touring, even on normal days, how much comfort it brought you. That was it, wasn’t it? The comfort you found in something as simple as colours in a sky that was so far from you, yet so close to your heart.

“That’s very touching,” you teased, turning to watch as Yuta scoffed.

“Fine, I take it back. I just thought you were a nerd for sunsets.”

You laughed at that, Yuta turning to you with a smile of his own, feigning annoyance before he pulled you closer to him, letting you rest your head on his chest.

Like you said, you loved this time of the day, this sky that brought you comfort. Most of all, you loved Yuta, who just… happened to come along with it.

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