popstar!haechan x upcomingartist!reader, angst, fluff
summary: haechan's the world's boyfriend — and yours too, i guess.
word count: 4.1k
listen to: true romance - pinkpantheress
a/n: first, sorry that its been so long...im trying to be better about writing but inspiration comes and goes,,i hope you will indulge in whatever this is!!! everytime i hear this song my mind goes to haechan for some reason sooo yeah >_< i have lots of drafts its just a matter of when or if i finish them LOL love yall tho & enjoy
•°. *࿐
tell me, do you view me the same or do you call me a stranger?
"leave a bit after me so no one sees."
haechan is popular — without a doubt one of the most popular artists of your time. everyone either wants to be him or be with him, to which you completely understand. everything about him screams someone who was born to be on a stage, stealing hearts and whatnot. with such a bright personality, it was almost impossible to not like him.
you've had the privilege of getting to watch haechan grow from singing songs he wrote in his bedroom on youtube to him performing them in sold out shows. you're a fan, of course, but somewhere along the way — with crazy luck — you've wiggled your way into his life and into his heart. the two of you were music artists wishing on every star for some kind of breakthrough to the industry (take a guess on who got it). naturally, it brought you together. you were there when haechan reached 5,000 subscribers, and you were still there when he was selling out shows to 50,000 people. you've stuck by his side for so long that you're sure that its where you fit best.
in the moment, however, you're not so sure anymore.
"leave a bit after me so no one sees."
the small smile on your face slowly disappears at haechan's words and hurt quickly settles into your chest. "...why? what would be so bad about that?"
haechan seems unable to grasp how upset you are at his words. he shakes his head with a small laugh. "it's not like that, y/n. but a scandal at this time wouldn't be good."
"a scandal?" you scoff slightly. "since when have you ever cared about that?"
he sighs and runs a hand through his hair that's still slightly wet from his post-performance sweat. "i just don't want to take any risks right now. especially since my album is coming out soon. you understand, right?"
"i fly all the way out here to see you, and you don't want to be seen with me?" you say with a trembling lip and a weak voice. you're hurt and you're angry, but can't seem to keep your tears at bay.
"i didn't say that."
"you might as well have," you spit back at him.
"let's talk about this later, okay? trust me, it would be a lot worse for you than it would for me." haechan picks up his bag and swings it over his shoulder, making his way towards the backstage exit door.
frozen in place overwhelmed with emotion, you watch your boyfriend open the door. you think he's had a change of heart when he pauses at the door and turns back to you, but somehow he's managed to hurt you even more.
"maybe you should take these too," he says, placing the bouquet you made him back into your hold. the smell of roses and sunflowers taking over your senses as more tears well up in your eyes. you hope the flowers hide them from haechan's gaze. though, you're not so sure he'd notice anyway, as he'd already let the door close and left you behind.
•°. *࿐
'cause, baby, i don't care about the fame
people talk. as an upcoming music artist, you're aware that people talk. as the (hidden) girlfriend of a global superstar, you're more than aware that people love to talk about anything and everything that doesn't concern them.
you and haechan aren't on the same level of fame — not that it matters to you. it never mattered to you, really. even as haechan grew and grew and you remained with your significantly smaller (but still decent) following, fame was never your strongest desire.
yet, now, you're wondering that maybe if you were just a bit more famous, more popular, more well known, then you wouldn't feel as far away from haechan as you do right now. even as he sits beside you on the king bed of the luxury suite he booked for this stop of his tour, you feel further away from him then ever.
"i mean, what would people say about us, y/n? about you?"
"you keep saying that, hyuck, but you're not explaining it to me," you say, growing frustrated with him. "why is it just about me?"
he purses his lips before averting his gaze to the floor. "they'll say nasty stuff about you — that you're using me for fame, or money, or something like that."
you shake your head. "but you and i both know that's not true. we've been together for how many years now? their words shouldn't matter." you take hold of his hand and rub your thumb against his knuckles. "you could have nothing and i'd still be here."
"people don't know that," he scoffs. "they'll assume the worst about you."
maybe he's right — you're sure they will assume the worst about you regardless of your long, deep history with haechan. would he start to believe them? you think it, but you don’t ask — too afraid of the answer you might receive.
"what are you so afraid of?" you ask him softly, begging him with your mind for him to look at you.
but he doesn't, his eyes stayed trained on the ground and he can only weakly squeeze your hand that holds onto his own.
"i don't know."
•°. *࿐
tell me, why i don't play about you
every song is about you
haechan finally has a short break in between the legs of his tour and he chooses to spend every waking moment of it with you.
things between the two of you have felt rocky for a while. it makes haechan ashamed to say it, but he's been so focused on tour and his new album that he's pushed everything else to the side. he's a perfectionist and he feels like he's barely made it — he wants everything to work out perfectly and is committed to making sure that happens. he's not sure how long he's been brushing off anything non-career related, but he misses you — even if you're with him.
he flys the two of you out to a small, quaint place in kyoto where he finally gets to enjoy some peace and quiet in his life. he chooses to turn off his phone, not too keen with the idea of his manager berating him about all his responsibilities he'll have to tend to when he gets back. he's on vacation and he's here with you: the one person who's been with him through every up and down.
you're laying in his arms and haechan misses you to the point where it hurts — when was the last time he laid with you like this? the revelation urges him to pull you closer, placing a soft kiss to the crown of your head as you lay on his chest. he sighs into your hair, breathing all of you in. it's silent, for the most part, until you ask a question that rattles haechan's being.
"why do you not sing about me?" you ask it so softly that haechan almost misses it.
"what? what are you talking about?" he's genuinely confused as to what you mean. who do you think he sings about?
"i know a handful of your old old songs are about me, but you don't perform those anymore," you murmur into his chest. "ah, don't mind me, i'm just talking."
you sound embarrassed and defeated and haechan wants to cry. did you really not know? how long has he been pushing you away?
"y/n, every single song i write is about you," haechan professes. "i couldn't write about anyone else if i tried."
his words shock you, even if they shouldn't. you tilt your head up to look up at him and he looks down at you with the softest gaze.
"not that i ever would, anyway," he continues, a sad smile painting his face.
"you mean it?" you whisper to him, wanting so badly to believe him.
when haechan's resolve breaks and his eyes glaze over, you know he means it. his hold on you tightens with one hand and the other comes up to caress your cheek, swiping a tear you didn't even know had fallen.
"of course," he croaks. "you're my muse, y/n. you."
this time, you're wiping his tears away as he cries and cries into your palms. you shift the two of you so that he lies in between your legs, arms wrapped around your waist and face buried into your torso, your hands running through his hair. he's apologizing over and over and doesn't say why, but you know why. you regret ever doubting haechan's love for you — even if he was to blame.
but, just as you're certain you love him more than anything, you know that haechan loves you back all the same.
"it's always been you, y/n."
•°. *࿐
and everybody’s shouting out your name
“you look too handsome to be pouting like that, you know,” you tease lightly, approaching haechan to adjust his tie fondly.
he can’t help but smile at you as you do so, his hands easily finding their place around your waist, tugging you close. “if you tell me to stay, i will.”
you sigh and place your hands upon his chest, allowing you to push yourself up to place a soft kiss on his lips. his lips trail after yours once you pull away and he pouts at you again, eyes begging for another kiss but you push him back ever so slightly.
“you can’t miss this, hyuck, you know that. this could be really big for you!” you beam, swiping a bit of your lip gloss off of his lips. “some important people might be there.”
“but you won’t be there,” he whines. “what’s the point?”
you roll your eyes playfully. “you’ll be fine. now go, your manager has been waiting.” haechan sighs and leans down to place one more kiss on your lips.
you pull away before he can get carried away. “go! and put a good word in for me with taeyong, yeah?”
haechan rolls his eyes but smiles at you, pecking you on the cheek as he bids you farewell. “no promises.”
ੈ♡˳
it’s barely been over an hour and haechan wants to leave.
normally he’s able to tolerate these sorts of things — the bright lights, loud music, snobby people all trying to one up each other. he can get by and chat with anyone as if he’s known them for years. typically, events like these breeze by for haechan. why was he hating every second of it?
it’s lee taeyong’s end of year celebration party. of course, as his junior, haechan was invited. he’s grateful that he’s made friends with lots of other artists under his company, otherwise haechan would have been long gone within the first 45 minutes of arriving. but, haechan stays, mostly because he admires taeyong and does, in fact, bring up you and your songs — which, to his surprise, taeyong says he knows you and enjoys your music.
haechan isn’t given the chance to talk more, unfortunately, due to an excited kim jungwoo who locks an arm around haechan’s shoulder and drags him away.
“ow — hyung! i was in the middle of a conversation!” haechan grits to jungwoo, lightly shoving his arm off of him.
“my bad, it looked like you needed saving,” jungwoo chuckles. “come on, everyone’s been looking for you.”
jungwoo leads haechan to a small circle of people to which haechan knows as his small circle of friends: mark, his company's beloved canadian rapper; johnny suh, one of seoul's most popular djs; and of course there's kim jungwoo, kim doyoung, and jeong jaehyun who make up dojaejung, korea's heartthrob boy group.
"yo, where have you been?" mark greets him excitedly, lightly slapping him on the shoulder playfully.
"what do you mean 'where have i been', i saw you yesterday, mark," haechan grumbles.
"woah, someone needs a drink," johnny chuckles. doyoung is quick to hand haechan a glass of champagne.
haechan takes a large gulp, hopefully to ease whatever tension he feels in his shoulders. he's trying to enjoy the party, he really is, but all he wants to do is come home to you.
"everything okay?" doyoung asks him, concerned with the way haechan seems to be downing his drink.
the younger boy sighs. "yeah, i'm fine, sorry. just stressed out."
"oh, your album is coming out soon, right?" jungwoo remembers, nudging haechan with his elbow. "congratulations!"
the rest of the boys congratulate him and haechan can only half-heartedly reply despite being very grateful.
"i'm sure it'll be great," johnny reassures him.
"saw a lot of love songs on that track list," jungwoo teases. "got a special someone?"
haechan stills at his words and he's caught in an argument with himself. does he mention you? does he say no? is this how he wants people to find out you’re together? before he can even reply, though, jaehyun cuts in.
"speaking of, i heard that kim minjeong has had her eye on you for a while, haechan," jaehyun says. he raises his eyebrows at the younger boy and haechan gulps, the rest of his friends nudging him playfully as they coo at him.
"that's the model, right? and singer?" doyoung asks. "you should talk to her!"
haechan feels like he's going to be sick. maybe he's being dramatic — its not like they're shoving him into minjeong's face and asking him to profess his love. still, he feels like he's betraying you in some way and he realizes he has to go home.
"i can talk you up, probably," mark says. "we're normally at the studio at the same time."
“i heard that shin ryujin has been talking about you, too,” johnny pipes in. “honestly, who hasn’t been talking about you? i’m surprised you’ve done nothing about it.”
doyoung hums. “she seems like your type, donghyuck! i know some people over at —“
"no! no, don't — " haechan places his champagne glass onto a nearby table abruptly and sighs shakily. "just...don't. sorry, i-i don't feel well. i should go."
confused and concerned eyes watch haechan as he rushes towards the nearest exit. he doesn't bother saying goodbye to taeyong, but makes a mental note to send him an apologetic note tomorrow. haechan sees kim minjeong catch sight of him, and he's sure she's about to make an attempt to stop him to chat with the way she looks at him with a flirty gaze. haechan is quick to turn in the opposite direction and flees out of the nearest door.
haechan's manager comes out soon behind him, frenzied after trying to catch up to a frantic haechan. he doesn't get the chance to ask the latter if he's okay, too occupied with calling their driver upon haechan's request.
"home," he chokes out. he's out of breath and he feels dizzy — whether its from the champagne or from guilt, he's unsure.
"i want to go home."
•°. *࿐
i'm in the crowd, can you see my hand?
haechan has reached the encore of his final show of his tour, yet he still feels a pressure that he cannot explain.
its not from all of his seniors and friends that attended in support of him, he knows that. it's not from the different producers and music artists that flew to seoul for him, either. its a pressure that weighs on his chest that has made him feel unsatisfied with each stage, despite putting 150% effort in everything.
the crowd is going crazy for him after he delivers his final ment, and he takes a moment to soak in it all, in hopes it would give him some peace of mind.
then, his eyes finally spot you.
you, in the back row of some random section, sitting with your manager, with a banner with his name on it and a headband with bear ears perched on top of your head. he doesn't know if you can tell that he's staring right at you, but you start waving around the banner with excitement. haechan can't help but adore you even more than he already does.
time stops for him as he realizes that you're here. through thick and thin you've always been there — what has haechan ever done for you? he hasn't given you even a sliver of what you deserve, yet you've never left him. you stayed when he was a nobody, and even now when he's been terribly selfish, you let him be.
there are thousands of other hands waving at him, but haechan can only see yours.
"actually," haechan starts, quickly silencing the crowd. "there's one more thing i wanted to say."
from your seat, you feel your heartbeat quicken. haechan is still standing and looking into your direction and you know he sees you.
"there's someone very special to me that's here tonight."
your heart stops as you realize what he's doing and you can't help but glance at your manager in a panic. fans around you are murmuring in confusion since haechan had already given a shoutout to his guests.
"they've been by my side since i was writing silly love songs in my childhood bedroom," haechan says, a fond smile taking over his features. "i wrote those love songs about them then, and i still write every love song about them now."
the gasps and shocked noises at his confession fall upon deaf ears — to you, you and haechan are the only two people in the world.
"some of you may know her — she's an amazing music artist as well. far better than me, in my opinion, but maybe i'm a bit biased." haechan sees you laugh and can't help but chuckle too.
"my girlfriend, y/n, is here tonight, and i couldn't be more grateful. wave, y/n!" haechan calls out to you. surprisingly, the camera cuts to you as you wave shyly, hiding behind your haechan banner. even more surprising, the crowd cheers loudly for you.
"isn't she cute?" haechan asks. he's delighted when he sees and hears the rest of the stadium agree.
haechan finally feels that weight lift from off of his chest and he feels like he can breathe. he's happy — ecstatic, even — now that the world finally knows he's yours.
"y/n, you once asked me what i was afraid of, and i said i didn't know," haechan recalls gently. "but i know now." he purses his lips to prevent himself from choking up.
"you've always been so supportive of everything i've done. you've done so much for me and i'm not sure how i could ever repay you." haechan sucks in a sharp breath. "i'm afraid that i'll never truly deserve you."
the crowd coos and some fans in front of you turn around to look at you. you're a mess: tears are streaming down your face, and your hands are shaking. you hide pathetically behind your banner again as your manager wraps a comforting arm around your shoulder.
"i'm sorry for making you wait." haechan puts a hand over his heart, and you do the same. "i love you."
the camera cuts to you again and haechan glances at the monitor to get a better look at you as you mouth something back. haechan doesn't even attempt to conceal his smile or to hold back his tears. there's no use.
"i love you, too."
•°. *࿐
say what you want, this is true romance
“did you really have to mention that, hyuck?”
your boyfriend settles next to you on the couch, arm draping over your shoulder, as you scroll through his recent interview with vogue korea.
you pout at him and he's unable to stop the smile that takes over his face. he pinches your cheek and you quickly swat his hand away.
"what? what did i say?" he rests his chin on your shoulder to read the article for himself.
"i mean, does the public really have to know about me crying on our first date?" you complained. you continued scrolling and laughed as you read. "in what context would you ever have to tell vogue about our matching crayon shin-chan pajama pants?"
haechan laughs and presses a kiss to your shoulder. "honestly, i don't remember half of what i said during this interview. or any of what they asked me." he tugs you a little closer to him so that you're leaning against him, laying the two of you down. "all i know is that i'm pretty sure i started talking about you so much that they just called it a day."
"you're that obsessed with me, huh?" you teased.
haechan scoffs, wrapping both of his arms around you tightly. "obviously."
he watches you open instagram and sees you check the likes on your new post. he gasps dramatically, loosening one arm around you to snatch his phone from his pocket. "you posted?! where was my post notification?" he whines cutely.
he's a little too quick to find your account and he then quadruple clicks the picture to give it a like. "babe, why are your comments off? i was about to get really out of pocket," haechan whines again.
"okay, first, don't do that, please. save some of your dignity," you scold him. "but its because people are mean," you admit softly.
haechan's eyebrows furrow together and his tone stiffens. "who? what did they say?"
you sigh. "no one specific, don't worry. some people are just not too keen about us. your predictions were right, i guess," you attempt to joke, but it only makes haechan upset.
"here, come here," haechan beckons you up with him as he sits up. you're still under one of his arms, which he locks around your neck as he tugs you into his side. you're caught off guard, but lean into him anyway, arms wrapped around his torso. haechan lifts his phone up and takes selfies of the two of you, cheeks pressed together as you both smile uncontrollably.
you're both giggling like two high schoolers fresh into a relationship and you've never felt more happy and in love in your life. haechan presses wet kisses against your cheek before you eventually push his face away. still, he steals one more kiss from you — this time on your lips — and you let him.
"okay, i'm posting all of these," haechan declares casually, leaning back against the couch.
your eyes widen and you reach for his phone in an attempt to stop him, but haechan has already dodged you and raised his hand up. "hyuck, don't."
"why not? i'm in love with you, people just have to deal with it," he shrugs. "anyone who has a problem with us can get blocked."
you fall onto haechan's chest and he gladly wraps you up in his arms again. "you're stupid, but i love you."
"good, because i just posted it."
you peer up at haechan's phone and you see that he was true to his word. all of the selfies you just took piled into one singular post to which haechan captioned 'my heart'. you watch as he scrolls through the comments and blocks anyone with anything bad to say.
"wow, you weren't kidding," you say, amused.
"'course not. these people need to learn true romance." he leans down to kiss you one more time, this time letting the kiss linger. he pulls away but rests his forehead against yours, staring at you with eyes full of love. "i love you, too, by the way."
ੈ♡˳
haechan is popular — without a doubt, he's one of the most sought after guys in the industry. he's confident, charismatic, and he's bright. he's everyone's dream guy, it's no secret.
but, above all, he's yours, and you're his as well. he has devoted his heart and life to you and its not a secret to anyone anymore.
this time around, haechan wraps you up in his scarf to protect you from the cold before the two of you leave.
"i already have a scarf on, hyuck, just keep yours," you mumble from underneath the thick fabric.
haechan doesn't hear you (not just because he literally can't) because he's too focused on zipping up your jacket and tugging your beanie over your ears.
"okay," he says as he intertwines a hand in yours. he clutches the bouquet you made for him proudly in his other arm while he carries your bag and his own over his shoulder. "let's go home!"
its bittersweet as you realize how familiar yet different the situation is. you clutch haechan's hand tighter as he tugs you towards the backstage exit door, outside where the press and his fans are waiting.
he doesn't hide you anymore. no, instead haechan shows you off proudly and wholeheartedly as if it was what he was meant to do.
CHARACTERS: lee donghyuck | nct haechan & female reader
WORD COUNT: 15.6k
WARNINGS: mentions of sex, swearing
GENRE: angst, fluff, what's wrong with secretary kim-inspired story
TAGLIST: @matchahyuck @ohmyhuenings
AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you for reading this. i had fun writing it :) please let me know what you think about this fic!
Lee Donghyuck remains planted on the expensive swivel chair, blinking at the envelope sitting quietly on top of his desk.
The envelope screams RESIGNATION LETTER in bold print, but it’s got to be a joke, Donghyuck’s sure. There’s only one person directly reporting to him despite being the Vice-President of Client Solutions, and that is you. Anyone who wants to resign would have to address their letters to their superiors, who would need Donghyuck’s approval, which would never even land on his desk because you take care of those things for him. It would be quite impossible for anything to reach Donghyuck without it going through you.
And it’s you, for God’s sake. You would never quit on Lee Donghyuck. Not in a million years. Not in this lifetime, unfortunately.
Hence, Lee Donghyuck ignores the plain, white envelope; he reckons you would take care of it later for him. Somebody must have mistakenly placed it in his office, that no one can easily access apart from you, and it’s not like Donghyuck is scared of the thought of losing you. Anyway, if it were you, then he could just say no.
Donghyuck scoffs at the thought of your audacity leaving him after seven long years of working together, dropping a stack of files on top of the stupid letter, and makes a mental note to tell this joke to Jeno later when he joins him for dinner.
He pulls himself closer to his desk, turning away from the stack of files, and brings his focus back to his computer. His e-mails are all taken care of as usual—because all e-mails to Vice-President Lee must be addressed to both Lee Donghyuck himself and his secretary Y/N, otherwise, consider it non-existent; the golden rule in SM Tech is that, if Y/N is not copied, then it never reached Lee Donghyuck.
His entire day has been taken care of as well—you are an amazing secretary; anyone would be lucky to have you—and all he really needed to do today is review the reports coming from Operations before his big presentation to a client SM Tech has been trying to win over for years. Weishen Inc. is the most sought-after partner in the entirety of South Korea right now, and everyone and their grandmothers have been trying to get a partnership with them. It’s basically a war at this point, Donghyuck thinks, because it’s all every tech company in Seoul have been working on. And considering that Donghyuck is vying for that CEO role in the next couple of years, getting this in the bag would really help him.
Which is why it doesn’t make sense to Donghyuck that it’s you who would leave a stupid resignation letter on his desk.
You have been working with Lee Donghyuck for seven years. You were an intern, Donghyuck remembers, and Donghyuck had just gotten out of college. And being the eldest grandson of the chairman of the board, it was pretty easy for Donghyuck to land a permanent job as soon as he received his diploma. Donghyuck was introduced as a client solutions program director, with an emphasis from his grandfather that he wouldn’t get a special treatment and will work his way up just like everybody else, and you were introduced as his associate. It’s safe to say that moving up towards the leadership ladder had been easy because he had you.
Resilient and intelligent, you were everything he ever wanted. Donghyuck has been in the business far longer thant he years he spent in college; he’s seen everything as a child. Hence, Donghyuck knew what he wanted when he’s given a role, and you were everything and more.
You never complained about anything at all. Lee Donghyuck wasn’t easy to work with because well, he knows he’s a brat who gets everything in a golden platter and he is well aware of how demanding he can be. You worked beyond your supposed working hours to catch up on Donghyuck’s demands, and even went above the expectations by working on most of his reports because he had other priorities. You take care of his e-mails (there has never been a day in seven years that he opened Outlook with a single e-mail waiting for him) and get him meals daily because he never has the time. For fuck’s sake, you even take care of his stupid dates for him.
Over the years of working with him, you probably know Donghyuck like the back of your hand—even better than his best friend Jeno—and you’ve been working hard with him to reach his goal of becoming CEO in the next couple of years. You know this because you call him daepyonim when you’re tipsy from the expensive wine he makes you drink on a particularly stressful Friday night, and you never call him daepyonim. You’re one of the few people who calls him, well, Donghyuck. No honorifics, no boundaries.
So, Lee Donghyuck is sure you would never leave him.
“Donghyuck, I need you to approve this.” Speaking of the devil. “It’s a request to add more manpower in Operations. I’ve thought about it. You’ll probably decline this—I’m sure—because you would think they wouldn’t need it, but since we’re working on the new project—”
Everything else fades when he sees you enter his office: you hair is tied in a bun like always, the sleeves of your dress shirt he remembers giving you years ago are rolled up to your forearms, the redness from your lipstick is a little smudged (most likely because you keep drinking from a sports bottle and not from a glass like a normal person). You walk closer towards his desk, a folder in your hand, and as you speak, you’re snapping your fingers in his direction. Why are you snapping? Why—
Oh.
“Donghyuck?” you call, and it breaks whatever trance he was in. “I know you’re tired. But it’s Thursday, okay? Let’s get through today and tomorrow, then you can go golfing with Jeno or something.”
You gently slide the folder on his desk. “Here’s the letter of request. I just need you to sign this and I’ll be on my way.”
Donghyuck signs, trusting that you’ve read through the whole thing as always, and nods towards your direction. You thank him, and suddenly Donghyuck hears the white envelope buried under the stack of things he needs to read today scream for him.
“Hey, Y/N,” he calls. You turn with a curious look. Donghyuck clears his throat. “Somebody came to my office and accidentally left a letter without consulting you. People in the place should already know that no paper should land on my desk unless it’s cleared from yours. Can you take care of it for me?”
“I don’t remember anyone coming in today,” you trail off. “But sure, let me take care of it. Which one?”
Donghyuck gets rid of his own folders and finds the envelope, handing it to you, and you look at him as though he just cracked the funniest joke.
Chuckling, you walk back towards his desk, and Donghyuck almost sighs in relief when your hand touches the envelope. Almost, because you push it back to him instead of taking it.
“Donghyuck,” you say with a smile. “This is from me.”
Well. Fuck.
Of course, Lee Jeno is laughing at him.
“This is serious, Jeno,” Donghyuck whines quietly, careful so that you wouldn’t hear. He throws the cushion towards his best friend, who quickly dodges it. “I really think the person sitting on the desk outside my office is not Y/N. Didn’t you notice anything weird before you came in?”
“I think that you’re going crazy, man,” Jeno answers, still laughing. “It’s the same old Y/N. She told me not to bother you too much because you’re busy, just like every time I come here. I don’t think she knows what I do in this company. Doesn’t she know I’m the head of IT and Development?”
“I’m serious, man. Somebody must have abducted her and replaced her with someone as good, but I’m sure that’s not her—”
“Donghyuck-ssi,” you call, the door slightly opened so he could only see you from your tied-up bun to the button of your nose. “I’ll be having my lunch. Let me know if you need anything; I’ll come running back.”
Donghyuck nods towards your direction, and as soon as you’re gone, he turns back to Jeno as if he just witnessed the craziest thing. “See?! That wasn’t her! She never calls me with honorifics. Why did she suddenly called me Donghyuck-ssi. Who the fuck is Donghyuck-ssi?”
“You’re literally overreacting,” Jeno comments. “She calls you with honorifics when you’re around co-workers because she doesn’t want the world thinking she doesn’t respect you.”
Of course. “Oh, yeah.”
“What happened, anyway?” Jeno asks, reaching for the gourmet burger you had ordered for them. “She seems fine to me.”
Donghyuck sighs. “She submitted a resignation letter.” Jeno almost chokes on his meal. “Unbelievable, right?”
“Holy shit, what have you done Lee Donghyuck?” Jeno asks soon as he recovers. Donghyuck shrugs, taking a piece of fries. “She’s finally had enough of you!”
“What do you mean?” Donghyuck retorts. “The fuck do you mean by she’s finally had enough of me? You wish I was your boss. I’m the best boss ever.”
Jeno laughs. Laughs out loud. And Donghyuck looks at him, exasperated.
“You’re not that dense, aren’t you?” Jeno chokes out; Donghyuck wishes he really chokes on his own laughter, stupid Jeno. “You’re not really that oblivious, right?”
“Oblivious about what, Jeno? You’re really annoying me now.”
“Oh, Lee Donghyuck,” Jeno laughs again. “I see why she’s quitting on you.”
“Who said I would let her?”
“I bet a new Lamborghini that she’s gone by the end of spring.”
“Don’t manifest shit like that!”
“Bet.”
“Bet I can make her stay.”
“Bet you can’t.”
“Fuck you.”
Donghyuck decides to cancel dinner with Jeno. Jeno is a bitch, anyway.
You’re seated beside him; his chauffer driving the two of you home. He sits uncomfortably beside you as you mindlessly scroll through your phone, unaware of the chaos you’ve created in his mine. The ride is about fifteen minutes away until you reach your apartment, which means Donghyuck has roughly fifteen minutes to get everything off his chest otherwise he won’t be getting any sleep tonight.
He reaches for the button on his side, closing the partition between the driver and the two of you. The sound alone makes you look at him, knowing that he probably has something important to say.
“What’s wrong?” you ask immediately as soon as the partition is closed. “Did we forget anything?”
“You’re not serious, are you?” Donghyuck asks, looking right into your eyes, because he wants you to know that he’s serious and that he’s not playing with you. “About the resignation. Because I’m not playing with you, Y/N.”
“Donghyuck,” you say in a whisper, taking both his hands and looking at him right into his eyes just like what he’s doing. You’re the only one who never gets intimidated with the way he’s looking down at you right now. “I wouldn’t joke about that kind of thing.”
“Why?” he asks.
“Did you read the letter?”
“Yes, and it’s full of bullshit.” You frown at his response. “What? It’s true? Resigning for a personal reason? Y/N, I would think you can give me a better reason.”
“It’s the truth,” you say quietly. “I have no other reason. I don’t plan to betray you by working in another company that pays better.”
“No one pays better than SM Tech,” he retorts. A fact, honestly. “And I don’t accept personal reason for resignation. I’ve never approved any resignation that says personal reason.”
“Donghyuck, I approve all resignation letters on your behalf; you haven’t approved a single resignation letter yourself in the last seven years.”
“Exactly,” Donghyuck spits. “I do not approve resignation letters. So, the answer is no.”
“Donghyuck, you can’t decline a resignation letter.”
“Watch me.”
“It’s illegal. That’s against the labor law—”
“Y/N.”
“Donghyuck, will you listen?”
“It’s final. No.”
“I’ll make my exit as smooth as possible; you won’t even notice. I’ve already put up a job vacancy online and tomorrow, I’m visiting Seoul National University with Soojung from Recruitment so we can see any potentials from the graduating classes. It’s going to be—”
“Absolutely horrendous,” Donghyuck finishes, fishing the envelope from the inside pocket of his expensive suit. “It’s final,” he says again, before doing the devil’s work.
“Donghyuck, don’t!” But it’s too late. He’s already ripped the envelope and the letter inside in half. And another half. And another one. Until it’s all torn into small pieces.
Donghyuck smiles in triumph, as if he just won a battle, and the urge to poke his tongue out is so strong that he has to remind himself that he’s still talking to an employee. He watches you sigh as you pick up the small pieces, collecting it then placing it inside your bag. You don’t say anything, and Donghyuck assumes you’ve accepted defeat. You’re not going anywhere, not in a million years, not in this lifetime. He sits back comfortably and from his peripheral view, he sees you fidgeting on your own hands—a sign that you’re upset. Well, you can be upset all you want; Donghyuck is not letting you go.
The car takes a turn into a familiar road, which means you’re two minutes away from your home. You still hadn’t said a word to him. Donghyuck is confident he’s got you wrapped around his finger. You’re not resigning. Never. Ever.
On the 25th street, right across an apartment complex, the car finally stops. You don’t say goodbye to him, but you turn to Donghyuck before leaving, saying: “You know I can print this over and over again, right?”
Which, Donghyuck hates, sounds more like a goodbye than the word itself.
Donghyuck’s known you for seven years, and when people (mostly his asshole friends who have blatantly shown interest in you) ask him what you’re like, he could say a lot of things.
The first word that comes to his mind is always kind.
When you and him were both 21, new to the company and adulthood itself, he remembers drinking with you in front of a convenience store nearby the office, right after you successfully finished your first presentation to the senior leaders. It truly deserved a celebration, that night, because it was the first time you and him had to do something big for the company. Donghyuck can’t remember much about the presentation itself or whatever feedback he received from his grandfather, but he can clearly remember how drunk you two were. He remembers taking his suit off and watching you take off yours, you and him left in your white dress shirts as you alternately take shots straight from the bottle of soju.
They say that you never truly know someone unless you see them drunk. And there you were, drunk and dazed, laughing with him about nothing at all. Donghyuck recalls an old man struggling to open the door of the convenience store and how quickly you (drunkenly) got up to help him. Donghyuck watched you enter the convenience store with the old man, later coming out, a big drunken smile on your face as you bid your goodbyes with the old man.
“Oh, Donghyuck,” you had said, tears already streaming down your tears. “I love him.”
“Y/N, relax, you literally just met him,” was his response.
“He was buying something for his sick wife,” you had rambled. “But he couldn’t cook to save his life so he got something from the convenience store. Have I told you he was counting his bills when he was paying? So, I paid for him and got him a few more things to take home. I love him so much.”
“You’re cute,” he had said (drunkenly, of course, he doesn’t mean it that way. You’re his secretary, for god’s sake.)
“I’d rather be called kind,” you had answered before tipping your head back and drinking from the bottle of soju you and him are sharing. Donghyuck wasn’t sure if he heard you. “I said I’d rather be kind than cute. Or beautiful. Or whatever. I’d rather be kind than anything.”
And Donghyuck knows this is true because like he said, he has known you for seven years now. Seven years, seven years of learning what kindness is. All because of you.
Aside from the innate kindness you have, Donghyuck thinks you’re detail-oriented. And not to be that kind of person who always talks about work, but Donghyuck reckons this is exactly why you’re his favorite person in the entire world (but no one needs to know that Donghyuck thought of you as his favorite person in the world) and he believes that this is why you and him have stayed together (at work) for seven long years, because you and him are the same when it comes to your careers.
You’re far more hardworking than Donghyuck, that one he can admit. You work long hours in the office even when he’s fast asleep in his couch or wherever his body could reach as soon as he’s home, just so you can make him look good in the board the next day. Donghyuck can’t count the number of times you saved him at work (more like saved his ass from his grandfather) and most of the time, he knows you deserve more credit than you get.
After three years of working as a director, Donghyuck was promoted as Vice-President for Client Solutions, the role he’s currently in. There was a party, Donghyuck remembers, and his grandfather invited everyone their family knew. His father had to remind him to greet each of those who will attend, as they could be potential investors and partners, and Donghyuck is great, okay? He’s one of the best in his field, not only because he’s part of the Lee bloodline, but because he worked hard for it. Donghyuck is charming, above anything else, and compliant and created and an innate leader, but one thing he is, unfortunately, not good at is remembering people.
And bless you, you knew that. The day before the party, you studied the guest list and any potential plus ones they might bring, and the night of the party, you walked arm in arm with Donghyuck, whispering the names of each guests and telling him how important they are in the business. Donghyuck could have kissed you right there and there (only because he’s grateful), because nobody in the entire world would have done that for him. When he thinks about that night and imagines if you weren’t there for him, he could have screwed up all client and investor relationships SM Tech has built over the decades. But you were there, you were always always there.
Which brings him to item number three: reliable.
Donghyuck could disappear from the face of the earth for two weeks straight and his line of business would still be running. Why, people may ask? Because he has you.
You’re here. You’re everywhere he wants you to be.
But right now—it’s difficult not to hate you right now.
Right now, if Donghyuck could describe you, right now you’re a piece of shit.
It’s been five days since the white envelope incident (as he calls it) and you have been nothing but a menace. An asshole. A literal piece of shit he wants to throw away. (Perhaps not literally.)
The first couple of days after the incident, the first thing he would see is another copy of your stupid resignation letter on his desk, and each time he would call for you, make you watch him rip it into pieces just like the last time, and you would leave his office, defeated—only to put the same stupid letter the next day like the asshole you are. You have threated to go straight to Human Resources, which you haven’t, thank God because Donghyuck doesn’t really want his grandfather to know these things, hend Donghyuck decided he would just hide from you. That way, in case Human Resources would ask why he didn’t approve the resignation, he could just say he never received a letter.
Which is why, Donghyuck has decided to work from home from this day onwards. You’ve been spamming his e-mail with the soft copy of the resignation letter, which he had ignored each time, and have been trying to call him non-stop, but he learned from Jeno that he could setup a meeting with himself in Microsoft Teams and pretend to present something so that nobody could call him and at the same time make people think he’s working because his status would tell people he’s presenting an important, well, presentation.
How long will he work from home? Well, up until you get your head out of your ass and stop asking him to approve your stupid resignation letter.
But you make it so fucking difficult. Apart from being kind, detail-oriented, and reliable, Donghyuck forgot that you’re also persistent. You don’t stop until you get what you want.
Which explains why there’s a delivery man walking back and forth from his truck to the inside of his house—because you decided to send three thousand copies of the resignation letter to his home. Three thousand copies of the same letter, all sealed in the same white envelope. Where do you even find the time to do this shit? He can’t believe you. He really can’t believe you.
He calls you as soon as the delivery person leaves his place.
“Fine!” is the first thing he says (more like screams) when you answer. “You know what? Sure, I’ll sign your stupid paper.”
“Thank you,” you reply, and it angers Donghyuck even more.
“Start looking for a fucking replacement. I don’t need you!”
“You’re upset, I understand that. You don’t have to be so mean about it, Donghyuck.”
“That’s daepyonim for you,” he retorts.
“Sure, daepyonim,” you bite back. “When can I come get my signed resignation letter, daepyonim? I’m itching to submit it to Human Resources.”
“Now,” he answers, all flared up and angry. You’re being a real piece of shit today. What’s gotten into you? “Come get it now, you ungrateful bitch.”
He hears you snicker on the other line before saying “thank you, daepyonim,” and you hang up.
Donghyuck throws his phone against the wall, and it breaks, dropping hard and in pieces down his warm, carpeted floor. He screams in frustration and pulls his hair, exhausted from whatever the fuck you’re doing. He can’t believe you’re really doing this. You’ve been with him for years; you literally grew up with him in the corporate world. He’s never heard one single complaint from you. Donghyuck’s mind runs a hundred kilometers per hour, trying to recall any memory of you expressing any intention to leave him, and it pisses him off a little that he never bothered to ask you once how you’ve been holding up over the last seven years. And he’s supposed to know; Donghyuck is supposed to know not only because this is something he should know as a leader (there was a webinar about retaining your employees four years ago but he slept through half of it), but also because he’s supposed to know you.
He supposed to know you the way you know him.
And right now, it seems like he’s dealing with a fucking stranger with how far away you are to him.
The door bell rings only minutes later. He guesses you’ve been waiting down the street after you sent 10 boxes full of resignation letters because it didn’t take you that long to reach his place.
“You could’ve just invited yourself in instead of wasting my energy; you know how busy I am,” is the first thing that Donghyuck comes up with.
“We’re not at work,” you remark. “This is your home. I can’t barge in anytime I want.”
“You barge in literally every time I oversleep and you pick me up,” he scoffs, turning to walk towards his living area with you following after him.
“Where’s my signed resignation letter?” you ask. “If I get it now and make it back to the office, someone from Human Resources can file it for me.”
Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “Relax. I’ll give it to you later. Come sit with me first.”
“I don’t really have time—”
Donghyuck turns and it’s a little too late for you to stop because now you’re chest to chest and Donghyuck has to hold your back to keep you from falling.
The first thing he notices up close is how dull your eyes look. Your eyes have always been bright, as far as Donghyuck could remember, and he knows this because even leaders from other lines of business have vocalized how excited your eyes always look whenever you’re at work. He’s heard people complimenting how pretty your eyes are, and you got voted as “Most Alluring Eyes of the Night” at the year-end party last year.
They’ve always been bright, full of sparks, passion, and warmth. But today, it’s all dull and empty, like a burnt-out light bulb barely hanging in there.
“What’s wrong?” Donghyuck asks gently, still holding you.
You clear your throat and step back, bringing the space and coldness back between you and him. “What do you mean?”
“Talk to me,” he offers. “What’s wrong? Why are you leaving?”
“Like I said in the letter—”
“Don’t give me that bullshit,” he warns. “Tell me why you’re leaving.”
“I’m not looking for a career advancement,” you say. “I swear. I didn’t get recruited from another company.”
“Tell me why you’re leaving,” Donghyuck repeats. You swallow and step back a little more, looking smaller than ever.
“Personal reasons,” you mumble. “I’ve been working in SM Tech for seven years, Donghyuck. I wasn’t even supposed to stay after my internship. My original plan was to get some experience and later on try to work abroad.”
“So, you’re not grateful that SM Tech absorbed you right after college?”
“Don’t put words in my mouth,” you interrupt him. “I love SM Tech, and you know that. I owe the company literally my entire life. I wouldn’t have been able to afford the life I have now even if I worked abroad. You pay me more than anyone would and you’ve given me more bonuses than anyone else could get in a lifetime.”
(The car you got as a bonus wasn’t really a bonus; Donghyuck wanted to give it to you as a birthday gift without being seen as an emotionally attached sap, so he made the company tell you it’s a bonus.)
“But,” you say, sighing. “I’ve given so much of myself to SM Tech that I feel like I’ve got nothing left of me.”
“What do you mean?” he asks. He watches you look down, your toes fiddling, a sign that you’re nervous. “What do you mean you got nothing left of you?”
“I don’t know myself aside from being Lee Donghyuck’s secretary,” you finally say. “I’m scared that I’ll grow old not knowing what I else I can do aside from being your secretary.”
“Do you want to be promoted?” Donghyuck offers. “I can ask my grandfather to—”
You sigh, “That’s not at all what I mean Donghyuck.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I want to get away,” you say in a small voice. “From SM Tech. From you. I’ll learn more about myself if I was far away from you.”
“Then take a fucking vacation!” Donghyuck breaks, face red. “Use all of your paid time offs. If you need more, I’ll have them give you more. Buy a fucking plane ticket to wherever you want to go. Book a stupid hotel room and use my card. Go wherever you want to go. Just don’t leave me, damn it!”
“Donghyuck,” you whisper. “Please let me leave. This is all I want.”
“Where do you plan on going if you leave?” he asks.
“I plan to take a year off from work. I have enough savings to last me a year without working. I’m not sure yet. I’ll travel, or whatever options I have.”
“I don’t understand.” Donghyuck sighs, walking towards his expensive couch, sitting with his palms on his face, his elbows resting on thighs. He feels you sit beside him, your knees touching his.
“Donghyuck, I’m turning 28 in a few months,” you slowly say, your hand on his shoulder as if touching him would make him understand what you’re trying to say. “I haven’t traveled to places I want to go. I’m grateful that you took me with you to all the business trips you had abroad, but I also want to travel. I haven’t traveled for leisure.”
“Why do you never ask?” he mumbles, words unclear because his face is still planted on his palms. “Why can’t you just request for a PTO instead of being dramatic?”
You laugh. Donghyuck finally looks at you again. “Donghyuck, you’ve never approved a single PTO.”
“You never requested.”
“I haven’t requested one since 2019, because you’ve declined each request from 2016 until 2019. And I can’t afford to go on leave these days, especially when you’re about to become CEO,” you explain. “Which is why I have to quit now before you become CEO.”
“What’s your point?” he groans, leaning back, head tilted up so that he’s looking at the ceiling instead of your empty, dull eyes.
“I’m turning 28 in a few months,” you repeat. “You becoming CEO would mean I would get less time for myself when I barely have any right now.”
“I’ll change,” Donghyuck promises. “I’ll give you a full week off every month if you want. Paid off.”
You laugh. “I’m turning 28.”
Donghyuck curses. “Why do you keep saying that? We’re both turning 28!”
“You don’t get it, do you?” you said. Donghyuck turns his head towards you, head still resting on the couch. There’s a sparkle in your eyes now that you’re laughing.
“Get what?”
“Oh, Donghyuck,” you say, leaning over him, your hand reaching towards his head, hand gently tapping his hair. “I’m turning 28 and I want to start dating and eventually get married. If I don’t quit from you now, I don’t think anyone would want to marry me when I’m 40 or something.”
“Why are you so being dramatic about it, quitting and all this shit you’re pulling?” he asks. “Y/N, we can resolve this easily—”
“I can’t date while working for you, Donghyuck. The last time I dated someone, you literally scared them away by showing up on our date, which was not cool, by the way.”
“Then we can get married!”
Donghyuck sees the surprise on your eyes, watches you swallow as soon as you hear his proposal. He smiles, knowing he can never get you to say no.
“Think about it, baby,” he says, the endearment obviously affecting you with the way your breath hitches. “We’re basically married now. We’ve been together seven years. You can still work at the company. If you don’t want to be my secretary anymore, I’ll—I’ll come up with something. The only difference will be rings on our fingers and sharing the same house!”
“Donghyuck,” you try to say. “I—”
“I’m sure we can have it arranged in a few days. My auntie owns a company that organizes weddings and events. We can—”
“Donghyuck!”
Donghyuck stops when you shout, the first time, at him. “Why?”
“I don’t want to marry you,” you drop. “It’s like… marrying my job. That’s weird.”
Donghyuck laughs. You laugh, too, which is a relief for Donghyuck. Does this mean you won’t quit?
“And besides you have a girlfriend,” you remind him. Oh, yeah. Hyunjin.
Donghyuck snorts, ready to get his phone. “We’re just dating because my mother said so. I can break up with her now.”
You chuckle as you stop Donghyuck from taking his phone from his pocket. “Donghyuck. No more games.”
“I’m not playing!”
“Please,” you quietly say, hand still on his forearm, giving him a pleading squeeze. “Please let me go. I owe you my life, and I think it’s time I live it.”
Donghyuck looks for any sign of hesitance in your eyes. Any sign of regret. Any sign of joking albeit impossible. But all he finds in your eyes is hope. Longing. And who is he to deny you from living your life?
He’s probably going to regret this, but Donghyuck reaches over his coffee table for a pen and a copy of your resignation letter. He takes it from the envelope and places the paper on his thigh, signing it with his name, before taking a good look on it, then at you.
You smile when you see him sign it, and hold his hand longer when he hands it to you. “Thank you,” you say almost in a whisper.
Donghyuck could only smile back, lip tight. You bid him goodbye and tell him you’re going back to hand it over to HR.
Donghyuck could only nod.
Donghyuck could only watch you leave.
Donghyuck could only sit in silence.
Thirty days.
Thirty days is how long you’re giving Donghyuck to accept your departure. It’s a month from now, but it feels like it’s coming by too soon.
It’s driving him insane, and he was right, he would regret signing it as soon as you left. Now, he’s in the conquest to have you retract the resignation before thirty days is over. It’s Day One of Operation: Keep Y/N—the biggest project he’s ever had his entire career. He doesn’t have a plan yet, but Donghyuck will succeed no matter what.
“Jeno,” he says through the office phone. “I need you here.”
“Man, I’m busy, what do you want?”
“I need you to help me make Y/N retract her stupid resignation,” Donghyuck answers in whisper because you’re siting literally outside of his door. “We took the webinar about retaining employees together right?”
“We took two hundred webinars together, Donghyuck. How would I know?”
“We did,” Donghyuck confirms. “But I was asleep. And you were new, so I assume you took notes. How do you retain your best employees?”
“Donghyuck, I literally cannot remember even attending such webinar,” Jeno admits. “HR does that. They have a person in charge of retaining employees who are resigning. Hand it to them, man.”
Donghyuck loosens his tie. “They don’t know Y/N like I do.”
“Then maybe you’re not trying to retain an employee,” Jeno suggests. “Perhaps you’re just trying to make Y/N stay. I don’t think you need anyone’s help.”
Donghyuck stops breathing for a second, trying to repeat what Jeno just said. Donghyuck denies it in his mind; he needs you because you work with him well. Because you and him work well together. Because he succeeds in any endeavor when you’re beside him. He’s trying to retain you as an employee. For the CEO post. For SM Tech.
“That’s not what I mean,” Donghyuck tries, but Jeno is already hanging up on him.
Well, Jeno is no use. Donghyuck reckons he can’t call his father or mother about this because then they would know he doesn’t attend all those webinars they enroll him to.
Hence, Donghyuck will ask the next best thing: Google.
Google routes him to a link to a Forbes article that’s titled: “Top Five Tips For Retaining Employees During The Great Resignation" and he figures he can start from there.
Create connection through engagement. Implement remote/hybrid schedules. Go with a growth mindset. Beef up benefit offerings. Cultivate company culture.
Huh, Donghyuck thinks. It sounds easier than he imagined.
Donghyuck sits up straight, nodding to himself as he reads through the entire article, fueled and motivated. He’s not going to let you go, not in a million years, not in this lifetime.
Operation: Keep Y/N commences.
Every year, SM Tech holds a sports event to encourage engagement, and Donghyuck sees this as an opportunity to complete task number 1: create connection through engagement.
Which is why he is here now, wearing something he would never be seen in on a normal day: a pair of red sweatpants and a white shirt. Jeno is sitting excitedly beside him at the gymnasium that the company rented for an entire day. Like Donghyuck, Jeno and everyone else is wearing the same outfit, half of the population wearing blue instead of red to manage the teams more efficiently.
Now there was one problem, how will Donghyuck create a connection with you if he’s never joined any of this bullshit for the past seven years?
You, however, joined each and every single one. Now that he thinks about it, why did you never bother asking him to join?
“There she is,” Jeno whispers, pointing towards the basketball court.
Donghyuck finally sees you after a full ten minutes of looking for you since he arrived. He has 28 days, he reminds himself. 28 days until your resignation takes effect.
“Wait, where are you going?” Jeno asks when Donghyuck stands, jumping from one stair to another, passing by the people sitting on the bleachers. “Stupid,” he shouts loud enough for everyone to hear when Donghyuck almost trips. Donghyuck fights the urge to flip him off.
He tries not to run as soon as his feet land on the covered court, but his steps are bigger than normal, as though he’s scared he might not be fast enough to catch you. You’re usually passionate about these things; Donghyuck’s sure you volunteered on something one way or another.
When you’re almost at reach, he slows down a little to catch his breath so that you wouldn’t think he came running to see you. Donghyuck realizes this is also the first time he’s seen you with anything else apart from dress shirts, slacks or skirts, or formal wear. You’re holding a piece of paper, reading it with a colleague, because of course, you’re playing and leading the team. You don’t notice him come by, and Donghyuck thinks it’s cute, the way your eyes widen at the sight of him wearing the same outfit as everyone else.
“Donghyuck!” you exclaim. “Donghyuck-ssi.” You repeat. God, you’re cute. He never realized you were this cute until today. “You didn’t tell me you’re joining today.”
“Surprise, I guess?” Donghyuck replies. Your colleagues all bow and greet him. “I’m happy to see everyone here today. Let’s all have a good day!”
The small crowd cheers, one of them pointing out that Donghyuck is on the same team as them, another saying it’s the first time he’s seen anyone beyond director level joining an event as such. You smile proudly at Donghyuck. No one needs to know his heart does a backflip (he’s not sure how else to describe the sudden rapid beating or the drastic change in his breathing) whenever you smile proudly at him. He remembers the first time he’s seen that smile: the day of his first presentation with the board of directors. He’s seen in more times than he could count, and among a hundred times he shows off what he’s got, most of it is because he wants to see you smile at him proudly.
So, he does one thing after another that he knows would make you proud.
“If Red Team wins the trophy this year,” he says. “Dinner’s on me!”
Everyone wearing red sweatpants cheers. The ones wearing blue mutter about why no one from the leadership joined their team.
“Let’s all work hard today!” Donghyuck shouts one last time, and everyone starts walking away from the small crowd to go prepare for the games assigned to them.
Donghyuck is still smiling directly at you, who’s also smiling directly at him, and his heart does that thing again when you step closer to him. “You’re cool, Donghyuck-ssi.”
Donghyuck shrugs, licking his lips, “I am Lee Donghyuck.”
You giggle and roll your eyes. “Any games you’re interested in playing?”
Donghyuck shakes his head. “My old injury still won’t let me.”
You nod, remembering right away. “Oh, yeah. I’ll see you in the office, then?”
“I’ll stay and watch,” Donghyuck confirms. “I’ll be your… Gatorade boy.”
You laugh out loud, and Donghyuck feels everyone watching the scene unfold. He could hear women muttering at how lucky you are to have interactions like this with him.
You nod and tell him to watch out for his head because the girls will be playing volleyball and the boys, basketball. He reminds you to take care and asks you gently not to get injured. Donghyuck catches the blush on your cheeks before you turn to catch your colleagues.
Donghyuck returns to the bleachers. Jeno has moved three flights down, and is sitting on the front row as the referee blows the whistle. The game of basketball starts, and Donghyuck watches, keeping his eye on you every now and then.
Red Team wins, of course, and everyone’s cheers is jaded when he sees you jump in excitement on the other side of the court. The host announces the next game: three-legged race, and he reckons this is the game you’re assigned to because you walk across the court with your teammates.
Jeno explains the game to him. Donghyuck nods, eyes still on you.
“That’s Na Jaemin from Accounting,” Jeno whispers, pointing at the tall, blonde man standing in the middle of the court. “What a gorgeous man.”
Donghyuck rolls his eyes, checking the time. The game should start in three minutes. He watches you interact with your teammates, perhaps looking for your partner who is yet to arrive.
Donghyuck feels something he can’t explain when he sees a tall man approach you, tapping you on your shoulder, and you excitedly cheering when you see the man, giving him a side hug that Donghyuck realizes you’ve never given him.
“That,” Donghyuck breathes. “Who’s that?”
Jeno snickers.
“That,” he emphasizes, like how that lady from Julliard introduced Troy Bolton in High School Musical. “Is Jung Sungchan.”
Donghyuck doesn’t know everyone in SM Tech, but he would know if there was a Jung Sungchan sitting around, looking like a fucking God, hence his surprise to see someone speaking with you so casually, making you laugh as if he’s funnier than Lee Donghyuck himself. What does he do anyway? Is he a VP like Donghyuck? VP for what? VP for Having Perfect Skin? Jung fucking Sungchan. Donghyuck already doesn’t like him.
“He works in IT and Development, under Jisung’s supervision,” Jeno answers as if he’s reading Donghyuck’s mind. “He’s new. Like he recently got regularized.”
“Who decided to regularize him?” Donghyuck confronts.
“Me, stupid,” Jeno answers. “He’s great. A potential leader in IT, if you ask me.”
“Like VP level?” Donghyuck asks. “Can he be a VP?”
Jeno laughs. “Man, you’re screwed.” Donghyuck looks at him, eyebrows furrowed, as if he’s asking him what he means. “Nothing, nothing.”
“He’s good-looking, yeah, but he can’t be VP like me.”
“Whatever you say, man.”
Donghyuck keeps an eye on you the whole time, and he hates that whenever he looks at you, he sees Jung Sungchan. He watches your teammates tighten the ties they wrapped around your ankles and knees. He hates that he has to watch Sungchan pull you close, the side of your bodies touching like magnets. He hates that Sungchan could wrap an arm around you because you’re too short and you would fall as soon as the game starts if he doesn’t hold on to you. He hates that Sungchan could hug you as soon as the game ends because you and him just won the game for the team.
He hates that Jung Sungchan sits beside you the whole time after the game, even going out of his way to get a bottle of Gatorade for you. He hates that you smile at him proudly, and that you laugh at whatever joke that man was saying. He hates that he’s sitting on the other side of the court, and that you don’t give him the time of the day.
He hates that after the game, when the team is announced as the champion of this year’s sports event, the first person you hug is Jung Sungchan.
Lee Donghyuck hates that he doesn’t understand why he’s hating all of this all of a sudden.
He skips dinner and leaves his card to Jeno.
You don’t look for him, and Donghyuck doesn’t understand why he hates that you don’t.
Donghyuck becomes obsessed with Jung Sungchan the next Monday after the sports event. It’s also 25 days until your resignation is finalized, which means, he shouldn’t be thinking about Jung Sungchan and should be focusing on the rest of what that Forbes article said about retaining employees.
Jung Sungchan, Donghyuck learns, went to the same university as you. He is a few years younger, so he probably calls you nuna. (Which makes Donghyuck think now, how do you feel about being called nuna by a good-looking man? He’s heard from his younger sister that women like being called nuna or having a younger boyfriend in general. Did you want Jung Sungchan to be your boyfriend? Is that why you’re resigning? Are you resigning so you can date him?)
Sungchan is an IT major, who’s also taking his master’s degree while he’s working. He was originally an intern like you, who was absorbed by SM Tech as soon as he completed his degree. (Donghyuck thinks you and him are probably close because he’s taking the same path you when you started with SM Tech. Yeah, that could be a valid reason.)
Sungchan is also from the same hometown you grew up in, though you never really met each other until he started working at SM Tech. Sungchan has the same schedule as you and Donghyuck (don’t ask Donghyuck how he got these information—of course, it’s Jeno) and spends a lot of time in the rooftop playing with his Nintendo Switch.
The similarities between you and Jung Sungchan are scary at this point. Donghyuck barely spends lunch time with you because even a hardworking girl like you needs time for herself, and oh Lord, Donghyuck thinks. You spent a lot of time in the rooftop, too. You and Jung Sungchan may be closer than Donghyuck had imagined.
“Donghyuck?” you call, entering his office. Donghyuck quickly closes the window showing Sungchan’s profile in the employee directory. “I’m going to take my lunch. After this, come meet the applicants, please.”
Donghyuck’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.
You smile. “For my replacement.”
“Oh,” he breathes. “That quickly? I thought you’re staying for like a month?”
You nod. “I figured it’ll be a smoother transition if we hire my replacement as early as next week, that way, they could get used to your schedule and daily whereabouts before I leave.”
Before you leave, of course, Donghyuck remembers. Of course, you’re leaving.
Donghyuck forgets about Jung Sungchan, doesn’t even think about him when he asks you: “Wanna have lunch with me?”
His heart somersaults when you smile back and say: “I’d love that, Donghyuck.”
Lunch is nothing but your sweet, soft laughter whenever Donghyuck cracks a stupid joke. It’s nothing but Donghyuck’s heart doing its thing whenever you say something encouraging or when you reach over to wipe the sauce from the tip of his lips. It’s nothing but Donghyuck thinking why he never invited you for lunch, why all meals with you all these years have always been rushed and in the middle of stacks of folders because you both had to quickly go back to work if you wanted to make it home before midnight, why stressful Friday nights were just wine inside his office, why he never took time to talk to you like this. Like it’s nothing but you and him.
You know Donghyuck like the back of your hand. Donghyuck asks himself, does he know you like you know him? He knows how you handle certain situations and is well aware of your quirks inside the office, but does he know you like how you know the pain that comes with being the grandson of Chairman Lee? Does he know you the way you know he’s never really been in love with any of the women he dated and that he’s only dating them to comply with his Mother’s ridiculous requests? Does he know you the way you know right away when he’s sick and needs a couple of days off?
You have done so many things for Donghyuck. While you’re helping him with a glass of wine, Donghyuck thinks: what has he done for you? Has he done something as exhausting as handling the date invitations and break-up procedure with his past girlfriends? Has he done something as marvelous as getting out of your way to make sure he gets the best treatment while he was on leave when he had that awful injury? Has he done something as remarkable as setting up an entire banquet dinner for his family when he forgot about his parents’ anniversary?
Has Donghyuck done something you would remember him by when you leave?
Something drops on the pit of his stomach, and Donghyuck suddenly wants to throw up at the thought of you leaving. And of course, you notice this right away because you stop eating as soon as Donghyuck froze on his seat.
“What’s wrong?”
I’m going to miss this, Donghyuck thinks, but he would rather die than admit it out loud.
“The steak is not as good as the other place,” he lies, shaking his head. “Which means, we’ll have to go there tomorrow.”
You chuckle. “Sure.”
Lee Donghyuck isn’t scared of anything, but the sight right now is pretty much the scariest thing he’s ever seen his entire life.
As promised after lunch, you took Donghyuck to the Recruitment Hub to meet the potential candidates for your post. You and him might have forgotten, but neither of you had gone through the process of hiring somebody. You have never worked for anyone else apart from Donghyuck, and no one else has directly worked for Donghyuck apart from you.
So, when you and him step inside the Recruitment Hub, and all twenty-seven candidates simultaneously stand and greet you in chorus, it startles the shit out of you both.
“Uh, hello,” you greet awkwardly. “You can all sit. We’re just dropping by.”
A woman wearing all green approaches you with a confident façade, eyes and lips shaking as she walks towards you and Donghyuck.
“Hi, Y/N-ssi and daepyonim,” she greets in such a high-pitch voice, it’s impossible someone sounds like that naturally. “I’m excited to work with you.”
Donghyuck grimaces, but nods quickly, not accepting the handshake she’s offering. You accept it on his behalf.
One by one, the applicants introduce themselves, and Donghyuck can tell most of them are rookies, with the way they were bowing too much and how their voices were shaking a little because of the forced energy they’re trying to portray. All fucking twenty-seven of them.
Thank God, Soojung, the recruiter, stepped out of the interview room and asked everyone to sit and wait for their turn. She announces that the interview with Mr. Lee Donghyuck is not until they all pass the other interviews.
You and Donghyuck leave the scene, laughing on your way back to his office, because it was downright ridiculous, the scene you witnessed in the recruitment hub. He likes that you’re laughing with him, and Donghyuck take a chance:
“Stay,” he says softly, holding your hand. “Please.”
You smile back, squeezing his hand back before holding his face with both your hands, palms warm, and Donghyuck melts. “You know I can’t.”
“Why not?” he asks innocently. “Why can’t you stay?”
“You know why,” you answer.
“The marriage proposal is still on,” he offers. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea.”
“Don’t joke about things like that, Donghyuck,” you giggle, squeezing his cheeks one last time before stepping back to leave.
“Why not?” he asks.
You don’t answer until you’re almost out the door: “I might start considering it.”
It’s twenty-two days before you leave when Donghyuck finds you on your desk and hands you a laptop from Jeno’s office—all encrypted and set-up for work—and tells you that you can work from home all week next week.
“I can?” you ask. “I never worked from home. Not even during the pandemic. I worked from your home office. But never in my own home.”
Donghyuck nods. “I figured you’ve been tired all week, with the presentation in the next couple of weeks coming up.”
“Exactly,” you point out. “The presentation we’ve been preparing for is coming up. I should be here with you.”
Donghyuck’s heart does the thing again. “And you’ve worked hard enough for it. You’ve done the research part, which took the longest, and I’m grateful you covered all that for me. Which is why I’m letting you work from home all week.”
Implement remote schedules, the article reminds him.
“Oh, man, thank you,” you say, hugging the laptop and bowing to him. “I really appreciate it.”
Donghyuck wonders why you never ask about these things. Looking at your reaction, it looks like this is something you’ve wanted for a while, but why have you never asked? He would have said yes easily.
“You let me know if you need me in the office and I’ll be here right away.” Donghyuck nods. “Thank you.”
Donghyuck goes back to his office. He figured he’ll be okay with you not being in the office.
He’s so wrong.
He’s not okay. It’s only been three working days since you started working from home and he’s already a mess. There are people knocking in his office because you aren’t there to shoo them away, and Donghyuck is not really a people-person, okay? If it weren’t for his Lee blood, he wouldn’t have made it to this position because he’s not that good with people. He’s mean and vile and rude, and his boss would probably fire him right away as soon as he opens his mouth.
Someone with the name of Chaewon is explaining something to him right now, something about logistics and about her needing him to give the sign off to another person with the name of Jiwon. She apologizes for barging in and says she doesn’t know what to do without you here. Donghyuck could say the same thing, honestly.
As soon as Chaewon is out the door, Donghyuck follows behind and locks the door.
He takes his phone and hopes you pick up because you’re probably focused on a report you’re studying since early morning.
You pick up, like always.
“Come back,” is all Donghyuck says.
You’re back in the office in no less than 20 minutes.
Seventeen days from your departure, Donghyuck is walking around Gangnam trying to find the perfect gift for his Mother. The jewelry shop around the corner is the only place his mother likes, so he buys her the bracelet filled with diamonds that she’s been eyeing on for a long time.
When Donghyuck is about to pay, a ring catches his attention. It looks great. Would look better on your hand, because, well, you have the prettiest hand. He’s going to buy it for you for no reason. Just to say thank you for staying with him for seven years.
Exactly two weeks before your departure, Human Resources finally finds a person who’s apparently fit for your job. Donghyuck doesn’t believe them at all but agrees to meet the person anyway.
You’re on the phone with someone when he steps out of his office. You look at him and point to the phone.
“Hyunjin,” you mouth. Donghyuck shakes his head and waves his hands, telling you no, I’m not here.
“Yeah, I understand, Hyunjin-ssi,” you speak. “Donghyuck-ssi has been extremely busy with the potential partner who’s visiting in a week—Oh, he didn’t tell you about? I’m sorry. He must have forgotten.”
Donghyuck gives you a thumbs up. You owe me, you mouth again.
“I assure you there’s no one else, Hyunjin-ssi,” you speak again. “He’s in his office 12 hours a day, and his driver drops him home and picks him up every day, so I don’t think he’s sleeping around.”
Donghyuck sighs. He needs to make his mother stop setting him up with other women.
“I’ll definitely have him call you as soon as he returns from the meeting he’s in,” you say, voice empathetic, probably because you’ve mastered the art of handling Lee Donghyuck’s relationships. “I heard you were in the Dior Fashion Week last month? You were so beautiful!”
Donghyuck leaves and lets you do what you do best: handle things he can’t.
He knows you know the drill by now. Seven long years, about nine or ten girlfriends in between, none of which he ever really loved.
“You’re so corny,” you had said once, while composing a love letter for one of his ex-girlfriends. “This is, like, so outdated,”
“What is?”
“This whole process!” you laughed. “Donghyuck, we’ve been doing this for over five years. You’re so corny and repetitive and unoriginal. No wonder no woman ever stays.”
“I leave,” he corrected. “And I’m not repetitive.”
You snorted. “Donghyuck, I know how each of your relationship started and ended.”
“Do you?” he challenged. “Tell me then.”
“It always starts with your mom,” you joked, but it was true anyway. “And you send them an external e-mail from your work account because you’re a piece of shit who likes to brag the VP title.”
“Right,” he agreed, laughing.
“And the first date is always at Love Always,” you continued. “Nowhere else! Besides Love Always! It’s not even a good restaurant. People go there for the clout.”
“And for Instagram,” he added. “Of course, if I take her there, she would take many pictures to post on her Instagram.”
“The second date is in your office,” you said. “And Chef Park makes the food especially for you two. And I buy a fancy flower arrangement to decorate your entire office.”
“And you have the audacity to use my card and buy yourself tulips,” he interjected. You shrugged and poked your tongue on him. “But go on, what’s next?”
You cleared your throat. “The third date will only happen if you like her enough during the second date. The criteria are as follows: did she make a comment about the security system? She should, because Jeno invented that. If she doesn’t, there’s no third date.” Donghyuck is impressed. “Did she ask you to narrate a day in your life in this very office? She should be interested in what you do, otherwise she’d only be depressed because work is all you talk about. If she’s not, there’s no third date. Lastly, did she compliment Chef Park’s food? He’s the best chef in the entire world so if she doesn’t, then there’s no third date.”
“Impressive,” Donghyuck commented. “But you missed something.”
“No, I didn’t,” you confidently answered. Donghyuck smiled.
“You missed the part where they have to be kind to you on the second date to get a third date.”
Donghyuck didn’t miss the blush on your cheeks.
“Whatever,” you shrugged. “Anyway, if it’s time for The Big Break-up, you ghost them for two or three weeks. When they start calling, La Belle Fleur is just a speed dial away. I have to get the most expensive arrangement of flowers, depending on the girl’s preference, and write in verbatim: I’m sorry I’m not enough for you. A woman like you deserves better. Please accept my apology. I will not bother you anymore.”
“Bingo!” Donghyuck confirmed. “And lastly—”
“Love always,” you said together. “Lee Donghyuck.”
(Hyunjin never got the third date, Donghyuck remembers. So, she’ll probably get the break-up flowers.)
Zhong Chenle is bright like you when he enters Donghyuck’s office. Perhaps not as bright, but good enough.
“Donghyuck-ssi,” you start. “This is Zhong Chenle. Your new secretary. He will start tomorrow. I had facilities setup a desk and computer beside mine. We’re working on his ID and credentials today, so there should be no issues tomorrow.”
“Nice you meet you, daepyonim,” Chenle greets, bowing a complete 90 degrees. “I’ll work hard.”
Donghyuck only nods, still not used to talking to other people apart from you. He sees you mouth something to him, along the words of “be kind”, but Donghyuck’s not really in the mood to being kind when you just reminded him again that you’re leaving in literally two weeks.
“Have you sent the flowers to Hyunjin?” is what he says to you, tone mean and condescending.
“I’ll have it done in a minute. I wanted to introduce Chenle first before I—”
“We’ve been introduced,” he firmly says. “Now go do your job. Out.”
You look at him in disbelief, probably biting your tongue, but nod and leave anyway.
Donghyuck doesn’t know where this sudden change of mood is coming from; perhaps when he saw Chenle, he realized it’s real. He realized you’re leaving SM Tech. You’re leaving him.
Of all people, you are leaving him.
He would think seven years would mean something to you. His feelings are still unclear, but one thing is for sure, those years mean everything to him.
Donghyuck’s suddenly bitter. Angry at the fact that you had the audacity to even bring a new secretary for him. That you had to keep coming to work and showing him the things you do for him, further making him feel like you’re trying to show him he’d go limp without you.
Fuck trying to get you to stay.
You can go as far away as you want.
“This isn’t right,” Donghyuck comments when he reads Chenle’s report.
“We’ll correct it right away,” you interject, but Donghyuck shakes his head.
“Do you expect me to accept work like this?” Donghyuck asks.
“Donghyuck, I’ll—”
“I’m not talking to you,” he spits, eyeing you before turning back to Chenle who has his head down. “You, Chenle!”
“Yes, daepyonim,” he says in a whisper.
“Talk louder,” Donghyuck commands. He hasn’t been like this in a while. During the first few years of working, he might have treated you this way, but it’s been so long that he can’t remember. “Do you expect me to accept work like this?”
“No, daepyonim,” the younger man answers. “I’m sorry. It was my first time, and—”
“And you should be forgiven? Who told you that? Whose rule is that?” Donghyuck challenges, then looks at you. “Y/N? Is that what she said? If you make a mistake, because it’s your first time, you’re forgiven? Is that it?”
You and Chenle remain silent. Donghyuck can’t read your face and would rather not look at you while he’s trying to be angry.
“Now you can’t answer?” he scoffs. “Don’t believe a word Y/N says. She’s leaving, why do you think she’s leaving? If this is such a great job, why would someone working here for seven fucking years leave? This is going to be your life every day. Rethink your fucking choices and get out of my office.”
Chenle nods, bowing before leaving. Donghyuck ignores you and goes back to his work, typing away. You, however, remain silent, just standing there watching him.
“What are you waiting for?” Donghyuck asks calmly. “Do you need me to walk you out of my office?”
“If you’re mad at me,” you say, voice shaking. Donghyuck realizes you’re about to cry. “Don’t take it out on the kid.”
Donghyuck snorts. “He needs to be tough if he wants this job.”
“I—” you start again. Donghyuck waits. But you keep your mouth shut.
Donghyuck keeps his eyes on his monitor and hears the door shut. When you’re gone, he can only watch the door, as if he’s expecting you to come back.
He reckoned it’ll be easier to watch you leave if you hate him. It’ll be easier to watch you leave when your eyes aren’t as bright and warm as they are.
Donghyuck keeps himself locked inside his office for the rest of the day. You leave a message in his inbox, telling him you and Chenle are out for lunch, then another when you returned exactly one hour later. Donghyuck doesn’t have the heart to reply to you.
Later that night, you send him another message saying you and Chenle are logging off for the day. He sighs in relief when he reads it and quickly prepares to leave as well. What he didn’t know is that, you and Chenle are still right outside his door. He stays behind the door.
“Donghyuck’s just stressed,” he hears you say. “You know, Weishen Inc is really big time. Like, if you already think SM Tech is huge, Weishen Inc is like, ten times.”
“He doesn’t deserve you,” Chenle replies. The kid’s probably right. “I don’t think I can fill the shoes you’re leaving behind.”
“You’ll be better than me!” you encourage him. “You’re already ten steps ahead with that skill in Microsoft Excel. Donghyuck had to teach me.”
“Really? That asshole has the patience to teach you?”
“Hey!” Then a slap, probably on Chenle’s arm. “Don’t talk shit about your boss.”
“You just told me ‘he can be an asshole sometimes’ literally five hours ago,” Chenle answers. Donghyuck stifles a laugh.
“Well, Donghyuck and I are friends,” you point out. “So, I guess that’s a pass to talk shit about him.”
“Fair,” Chenle agrees. “How did you even become friends with him?”
You chuckle. “I don’t know, Chenle. I guess, because we’ve been working together for seven years, we grew on each other. He was mean. Vile. He was the spawn of the devil when I first met him. But it was only because he was pressured to do well, and he can’t do well if his secretary is incompetent. I know everything I know because of him. That’s why I had to work hard, so that he could succeed in all of his endeavors.”
“So, you work hard for Lee Donghyuck?” the younger one asks.
“Exactly.”
“Well, what about you?”
“That’s why I’m quitting, kid,” you answer. “Time to work hard for me.”
Donghyuck hears them shuffle around, footsteps getting farther and farther away. When Donghyuck hears nothing but silence, he leaves.
Days go by with you and Donghyuck not talking at all. Not even for work.
It’s seven days before you leave, and Donghyuck has given up on making you stay. He doesn’t think it’s worth fighting for anyway, because you’re leaving and nothing’s stopping you. And who is Donghyuck to stop you?
Who is Donghyuck to stop you from living your life and choosing yourself?
If he was being honest, he feels guilty over the fact that you had to live all these years jailed to being his secretary, but at the same time, there’s a needle poking his heart when he wonders why you make working with him sound so miserable. Why it feels like you never wanted any of these. Why seven years suddenly mean nothing but work for you.
Donghyuck wants to ask, what about all those hours when you and him aren’t working?
Nights of drinking at a convenience store because you would rather go home than spend so much money on overpriced drinks at a crowded, loud bar. That entire week of being stuck in the US together because all flights were canceled and the next earliest flight was six days after the original departure. Days of nothing but watching movies in his office because there were no clients to worry about. Dinners with his family, dinners at his place. Weekends in Japan because you and him are stressed and you need some kind of getaway.
Did… did Donghyuck force you all those times? Did you feel like you had to say yes because you’re working for him?
He needs to drink. Donghyuck doesn’t have many friends. He has Jeno, but Jeno is in New York right now. And, well, he had you. He can’t call you for many reasons.
So, he goes alone, of course. He leaves work early, leaving a message to Chenle that you and him can go home whenever. He tells his chauffer he can take the night off, too. Donghyuck doesn’t need anyone tonight. He can take care of himself, thank you very much.
He takes an Uber home, and drives himself after dressing up. He’s planning to get drunk as shit and to get laid tonight, so of course, he needs to look great.
The club is loud when he arrives, and he convinces himself he’s never too old to go clubbing, though with the look of the women’s faces here, he reminds himself to be careful and ask how old they are if he plans to make out with them.
He opens a tab and asks for some rum and coke to start off the night. He can’t remember how many drinks he’s had when he finally gets the courage to go dance and pull a woman wearing a tight, beautiful dress from the crowd. She smells great and Donghyuck feels the curve of her hips when he pulls her close.
And she’s kissing him now. Donghyuck hasn’t kissed anyone in a while, so he doesn’t know if it feels great.
Then she’s touching him everywhere, pushing him until he’s seated on a couch and she’s sitting on his lap. Her tongue is everywhere. One second it’s in his mouth, the next on his neck, and Donghyuck is just drunk as shit and wants to get laid.
How old are you is what he wants to ask but it comes out as: “How old is the hotel?”
“What?” the woman asks. “If you’re horny, we can do it here. There’s a bathroom on the back. Let’s go.”
Donghyuck shakes his head. He’s never had sex in such a scandalous place. Sex should be done in bed. “No. Bed sex only. Hotel, please.”
“You serious?” she asks. Donghyuck nods. “Fucking loser.” Then leaves.
Donghyuck laughs at himself. Yes, he’s definitely a loser. He looks down and his dick is not even hard enough to invite someone for sex. It’s fine though, the woman she was making out with doesn’t have eyes as bright as—
“Fuck off,” he says to no one. “Get the fuck out of my mind.”
He goes back to the bar and take as many tequila shots as he can. It seems like rum wasn’t enough to get you out of his mind, because he’s here to make out with people and have sex with someone but all he can think about is your stupid fucking eyes that he loves so much for some reason he could never comprehend.
Donghyuck doesn’t remember how many shots he’s had now, but his chest starts to hurt so he convinces himself to stop. He hands his card over to the guy at the bar and tells him to give himself KRW 100,000 as a tip. Then he’s out.
Donghyuck is dizzy as fuck when the lights from the streets hit him. He’s stumbling when he reaches his car keys and presses the buttons so he could find his car. It takes long for him to simply get to his car, and Donghyuck is stupid, but he’s not dumb. He’s not making it home alive if he tries to drive now. Perhaps he could sleep in his car all night. Yeah, that’s what he will do.
So, he gets in his car, rolls one of the windows down, and settles himself on the driver’s seat, eyelids heavy.
Then—
His phone rings.
“Y/N, baby,” he drunkenly greets, eyes still closed. “Why are you calling me?”
“Where are you?” you ask, worried. Donghyuck smiles.
“Aw, you miss me, baby?” he asks, giggling.
“You’re drunk.”
“I’m not,” he hiccups. “I was trying to have sex with someone. Apparently, I’m—I’m a loser for wanting to have sex on a bed than a dirty public restroom. How am I a loser for being able to afford a hotel for a one-night stand.”
You sigh on the other line. “Why are you—What are you even, you know what? I don’t want to know. Stay there. I have your location on.”
“No!” he protests. “Don’t come! I don’t want to see you! And I don’t want you to see me like this!”
“Don’t hang up,” you warn. “Are you on the street or something?”
“I’m in my car,” Donghyuck says anyway. “But I don’t want to see you.”
“I’ll wear a face mask so you don’t see me,” you answer. Donghyuck hears you shuffling on the other line, probably driving. How did you even know he’s out tonight?
“Wear sunglasses, too,” Donghyuck suggest. “I don’t want to see your eyes.”
“Okay.”
“No, don’t. I want to see them,” he says. “I probably won’t ever look at you in the eyes sober again.”
“Whatever you want, Donghyuck.”
“I’m about to pass out,” he whines. “Please come quickly. I need to see you before I pass out.”
“I’m nearby.”
“Wait no, don’t drive too fast,” he exclaims. “I need you alive.”
“I’ll be alive. I’m around the corner. Where are you parked?”
“Guess!”
“Donghyuck, I don’t want to play games with you. Please—there you are. Wait for me.”
“I’ll wait for you forever.”
The next scenes go by quickly in Donghyuck’s mind. You help him get out of his car and take him inside yours. You promise him you’ll pick up his car early in the morning and ask him to try to stay awake until you reach his penthouse.
Donghyuck tries his best. Everything is doubled in his sight, but he plays with the tablet connected to your car, and takes out everything you have in the small compartment in front of him. He reads all the labels and even the ingredients of the products you had in there in attempts of staying awake.
And when you reach his home, he realizes how great you smell.
You help him reach his bed and get him out of his clothes because you know he likes to sleep naked. You ask him to drink a glass of water before going to the bathroom, grabbing a towel soaked in warm water.
Donghyuck is already lying on his bed, snuggled in his blankets, when you return. You don’t talk, but Donghyuck thanks you when you start dabbing the towel all over his face then down to his neck and chest.
“Here,” Donghyuck points to the skin below his jaw. “Clean it. She kissed me there.”
Donghyuck is dazed, but he doesn’t miss the way you stopped as soon as he said that. “Clean me everywhere. Because she kissed me everywhere.”
And so, you do. You clean him everywhere, and Donghyuck feels you press harder on his skin, gliding the rough side of the towel harshly.
“Where else?” you ask. Donghyuck is already half asleep. “Where else did she kiss you?”
Donghyuck weakly points to his lips, one eye open. “Here.”
He watches you leave, going back inside his bathroom, and return with another towel, a cup and a bottle of mouthwash. He does his best to get up when you help him. You hand him the mouthwash, reminding him not to swallow it, and wait for him to clean his mouth. Once he’s done, you wipe his mouth with a clean towel, putting everything on his side table, and Donghyuck you’re sitting so close to Donghyuck now.
You’re holding him so tight, face inches away from him.
“Sleep, Donghyuck,” you whisper. Donghyuck leans closer. “Please.”
“I want to kiss you,” he confesses. “Kiss me. Please.”
“Donghyuck, let’s not do something you will regret later.”
“I won’t regret it because I won’t remember,” he answers. “Please kiss me.”
Donghyuck doesn’t know why he’s surprised when you do. He’s naked and you’re sitting on his bed, kissing him. And you’re kissing him like it’s all you ever wanted. You started softly kissing him, like you’re testing the waters or kissing something so delicate, like you’re scare you would break it, but Donghyuck pulls you closer, holds you by your jaw, and invites himself inside your mouth.
The next thing he knows, you’re sitting right on top of his boner and he’s unbuttoning your shirt and kissing everywhere, biting, nipping, licking—and God, you taste good. Better than he imagined. He’s about to unclasp your bra when you stop him.
“Donghyuck,” you whisper. “Let’s do this when you’re sober, yeah?”
Donghyuck nods like a child, and his boner hurts, he just wants to bust a nut, but agrees anyway.
He doesn’t remember much after that. He passes out as soon as you kiss him on the forehead with a promise of seeing him tomorrow.
When he wakes up the next morning, he remembers everything.
Two days before your departure and Donghyuck is yet to get the courage to speak with you.
He called in sick after the incident five nights ago and has been avoiding you like plague. Today, however, is the day the folks from Weishen Inc is vising SM Tech for his presentation, and he’s nothing but a bunch of nerves all morning.
He assumes he’s forgiven for everything when you step inside his office with a chamomile tea in hand. You know he can’t present anything properly without drinking chamomile tea first.
“You’re going to be great,” you offer with a small smile. “I’ll be there with you.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m sure Weishen will agree with the partnership,” you assure. “You worked so hard on this.”
“We,” he corrects. “You did more than I have. I’m all confidence and talk; you’re the research and brain.”
“Guess this is why we’re the best partners,” you joke. “We balance each other out.”
Donghyuck chuckles. “I wish you didn’t have to leave.”
You nod. “I know.”
“Tomorrow’s your last day.”
“Tomorrow’s my last day,” you agree. “But that’s tomorrow. Today, we’ll secure your partnership with Weishen Inc.”
“We will.”
Of course, you and Donghyuck secured the partnership. You and him were the best team the world has ever known.
“The team prepared a goodbye party at the pantry for you,” Chenle says when you, him, and Donghyuck are walking back from the board room to Donghyuck’s office. “If you have nothing to do now, can we go?”
“Chenle, baby,” you say. “I don’t think you’re supposed to tell me.”
Chenle gasps. “I’m not?”
“It’s a surprise,” Donghyuck mumbles. “Jeno and his team prepared it. Chenle, you were supposed to ask her to grab coffee from the pantry.”
You laugh at Chenle’s distress. ”Nuna! I’m so sorry!"
You assure the younger one it’s okay, and ask Donghyuck’s permission if you could go, which Donghyuck agreed to, of course. There wasn’t anything else to do for the rest of the day, anyway. The only thing everybody had going on today was the business proposal presentation for Weishen Inc. and since that’s done, you were free to go.
“Donghyuck,” you call when Donghyuck was about to go back inside his office. “Please come. I want you to be there.”
Donghyuck nods. “I’ll be on my way. Just have to check something.”
You nod back, smiling, and Donghyuck feels like he’s about to cry. It’s all bittersweet, and Donghyuck wonders how he could stretch the day longer tomorrow.
He quickly takes the small box that’s been sitting inside his drawer for weeks now and runs back outside to the pantry.
When he gets there, everyone’s gathered around you, and he knows you’re crying already because he could hear Chenle teasing you.
He sees Jeno who smiles at him knowingly, and your other colleagues you’ve gotten close with over the last seven years. He even sees Jung Sungchan that he’s forgotten about now, and he’s not bothered that the younger man hugs you as you cry. Chenle pops the champagne open, and starts to pour some to as many people as he can.
It’s Jeno who raises a toast. “To Y/N, thank you for your seven long years of service with SM Tech. We wouldn’t have gotten where we are now if you weren’t with us. You literally bring us all together because Donghyuck is Donghyuck, God knows he wouldn’t work with anyone. So, if it weren’t for you, Client Solutions and SM Tech itself wouldn’t be a success. To Y/N, you’re finally free from Lee Donghyuck!”
You laugh at the message. Jeno turns to Donghyuck. “Donghyuck, wanna say something?”
Donghyuck thinks. He has a lot to say. A lot of things to thank you for, countless of things to apologize for, many things to celebrate, but very little comes out when he’s surrounded with a crowd like this.
Therefore, he says the only thing he could muster up: “You and I will always be the best team the world’s ever known.”
The crowd cheers, and you continue crying.
Donghyuck raises a glass, drinks it in one go, then leaves, the small box in his pocket heavy.
It’s you who finds Donghyuck in the rooftop hours later.
He never realized how comforting this place can be. Because he was only ever here during his first two years working when he had to smoke his stress off from his body. The sun has set, and all Donghyuck could see are the lights from the streets and the buildings around SM Tech.
“Hey, stranger,” you tell him, sitting right beside him on the bench.
He only smiles and continues to stare ahead.
“Are you alright?” you ask.
Donghyuck chuckles. “Y/N, if you’re here to say goodbye, please don’t.”
“I’m not saying goodbye, Donghyuck,” you answer. “I was looking for you. You left.”
“I,” he starts. “I can’t handle that kind of atmosphere. You know that.”
You nod. “I figured. We took pictures. I wanted you there.”
Donghyuck remains silent. He lays his hand on top of his thigh, the one closer to you, and he lays it with his palm facing the sky, open, waiting for yours. You don’t need another second to figure it out.
It’s not the first time you’re holding hands. You held Donghyuck’s hand multiple times in this lifetime, and he held yours countless of times, but this one feels different.
You hold his hand like an assurance. Of what? Donghyuck isn’t sure. But he feels warm despite how cold it is up here. Like an assurance. Like certainty.
There were many things that Lee Donghyuck wasn’t sure of; things like getting that CEO role in the next couple of years, like how he’ll be able to make it without you outside his office, like how he can ensure that the partnership with Weishen Inc will run for a long time—even things like what would happen tomorrow. He’s always believed that his life is full of uncertainties despite receiving everything in a silver platter and that his life is crazy in many ways.
But here, under the starless sky of Seoul, he’s found the only thing he’s certain about and the only thing in his life that makes sense: you.
It’s you who have been with him in the past seven years. You who holds his hand at his lowest and cheers the loudest in his best. You who have always been gentle and kind and everything the world could never be. It’s you, the one he has loved for a long time without him knowing.
And he hopes it’s not too late.
When you decided to leave, he thought that the selfish part of him only needed you so he could succeed in his goals, because you have always been with him every step of the way from the day he started. Then he realized, you quitting would mean he would no longer see you every day, would no longer have someone to hold his hand when needs it, would no longer have someone laugh at his stupid jokes and tolerate his bullshit decisions, would no longer have anyone listen to him, would no longer have anyone to buy gifts for every Christmas, would no longer have anyone smile proudly at him every day.
Donghyuck cannot imagine a life without you. And when you said you were quitting because you wanted to get away from him, it hit Donghyuck like a fucking truck: you didn’t want him more than someone you’re working for, when all he’s ever really wanted is you. He goes to pointless dates thinking about you, whether you’d eaten or not, if you like the new album from that band you and him like, if you’d seen the new Avatar movie. And you were there, thinking of him only as Lee Donghyuck, the man you work for.
Which is why he’s so bitter about you leaving. Because you weren’t only leaving SM Tech. You were leaving Donghyuck.
But you’re here now. And you’re holding his hand, and Donghyuck wants, wants, wants.
Donghyuck wants you.
“I—”
“You—”
You giggle. “Alright, you go first.”
Donghyuck shakes his head. “I’ll throw up if I go first. You go first.”
You nod. “I’m going to miss you.” You smile.
“I miss you already,” Donghyuck whines. “But, go on.”
“I’m sure you remember what happened that night that’s why you called in sick all week,” you say. Donghyuck can blame the cold for the blush on his face. “And I remember, vividly. And I don’t regret it.”
Donghyuck nods. He doesn’t know what to say. He should’ve gone first.
“Do you regret it?” you ask, hopeful.
Donghyuck shakes his head. “Not one bit. I was scared you did. So, I ran away.”
“Why did you go out kissing other women,” you breathe. “When I’ve been waiting for a long, long time now?”
It’s Donghyuck who stops breathing when you say it. And he can’t believe you’re saying this now, because how long? How long have you two been blindly pining for each other like this? Why did it have to take you leaving for you to realize it.
“It’s true what they say,” you suddenly say. “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Donghyuck, I won’t wait for that to happen for me to tell you how important you are to me. I won’t wait until you’re gone for you to know how much you mean to me. I’m sorry if I made you feel like the last seven years mean nothing to me—that’s not at all the case. I love you, and it sounds ridiculous when I say this but I’m leaving because I do. Love you. So much. You cannot imagine how much I do, and I’m scared that I might only love you because I’m with you all the time, which is why I’m leaving. I’m leaving and I’ll be my own person and I’ll still love you.”
“Y/N…” Donghyuck struggles. “I thought you were leaving because you didn’t want me anymore.”
“I’ve never not wanted you, Donghyuck,” you confess. “I can’t remember a time that I didn’t love you.”
Donghyuck’s tongue is tied. So, he does the next best thing.
The ring that’s been kept in pocket is beautiful when he opens it towards your direction. “It’s not a proposal,” he says right away.
“It’s a promise?” you ask, teasingly. “I told you. You’re as corny as it can get.”
“I’m literally going to throw this ring out there,” Donghyuck replies. “Show me some respect. You still work for me.”
“That’s hot.”
“Y/N!”
He closes the box and hands it over to you. “It’s yours. That’s my heart and it’s yours. You keep it if you want to. Put it back in my desk first thing in the morning if you don’t.”
You take it with both hands. “And if I wear it?”
“Then it means your heart is mine, too.”
Normally, you would snicker and say something along the lines of cheesy and unoriginal, so, Donghyuck is surprised when you lean over and give him a peck on his cheek. Donghyuck blushes even more.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lee Donghyuck.”
Donghyuck smiles warmly, hand finding yours again. You stand and go back inside the building. He turns so he can watch you leave, and the past few weeks, simply watching you step out of his office leaves a heavy weight on his chest, but this time around he watches you with a happy, content heart, knowing that he’ll see you again tomorrow—not for the last time; tomorrow and every day, he hopes. Love always, he hopes.
[bonus: your POV]
Your last day in SM Tech isn’t as eventful as the day before. It’s mostly handing over your access badges and endorsing everything to Chenle and leaving all the reminders to Donghyuck’s desk.
You’ve bid farewell to mostly everyone, and you haven’t seen Donghyuck yet because he came in earlier than everyone else to meet his grandfather in the Chairman’s office. The ring on your finger is beautiful, and you can’t help but anticipate Donghyuck’s reaction when he sees it.
Lunch goes by, and Donghyuck is still in the Chairman’s office. You spend the rest of the day with Chenle, ensuring that you’ve endorsed everything. Jeno stops by a couple of times, checking on you and Donghyuck.
It’s around four in the afternoon when you see Donghyuck from the hallway, speaking with another VP, and he’s dressed so prettily today, a dark suit and tie, hair pushed back—handsome. You stand as he bids goodbye to the others, and you know he’s tired from the way his eyelids are drooping heavily even from afar. And when he sees you, God, when he sees you, he sighs in relief, eyes brighter than ever, as he walks towards you.
“I’m sorry, the chairman needed all his VPs all day today, none of us expected it,” he explains as soon as he reaches you. He hasn’t bothered to look at your hand yet. “You’ve had lunch, yes?”
You nod. “Chenle and I ordered sushi. You?”
“Yeah, the chairman prepared an entire banquet for us,” he answers. “Chenle, do you mind if I take Y/N away for a minute?
Chenle nods. “She’s all yours, daepyonim.”
Donghyuck smiles and takes you hand (the one without a ring), pulling you towards his office. You see Chenle smiling teasingly back in his desk.
As soon as the door is shut, Donghyuck pulls you into a hug, sighing in relief. “I needed this. And I’m sorry. It’s your last day here and I’m supposed to be by your side but you know, duty calls.”
“It’s fine,” you say, pulling back so you can look at his face, all tired and sleepy. You reach up. “You poor thing. We can go home early, if you want.”
“Yeah, I would—” You caress his face with both hands, and there, finally. “You’re wearing it.”
You nod, “Because my heart is yours.”
Donghyuck grimaces. “You’re right. It’s corny.”
“I told you.” You poke a tongue at him. “Now, may I kiss you?”
“I need a minute,” he says and you frown up at him. He untangles himself from you and walks over to his desk. “All you access have been deactivated, right?”
“Yeah,” you confirm. “At exactly 4pm, my Outlook no longer allowed me to login.”
“Alright,” he says and types something on his computer. “I just need to send one important e-mail and we can go.”
Your phone buzzes from the pocket of your suit. You take it and look at the notification: a new e-mail from your personal inbox. You look up back to Donghyuck, and he’s walking back towards you with a stupid, handsome smile on his face.
You shake your head, chuckling, as you open the new e-mail.
I hope this e-mail finds you well. You are cordially invited for an exclusive dinner with me tonight at your choice of restaurant, with an optional (and highly encouraged) offer to cuddle at my penthouse after.
Looking forward to your response.
Love always,
Lee Donghyuck
Vice President, Client Solutions | [email protected] | SM Tech SK
a/n: sigh ,,,,, when did i become such a big sunflower also idk what this is i think its kinda funny idk haebae is just the sweetest boy
the door to your room bursted open, causing you to jump out of your skin and yelp in fear. the grip you had on your pencil quickly changed into as if you were holding a knife, but you dropped it in relief upon turning around and finding your boyfriend.
“jeez, haechan you scared the shit out of me,” you whined. your eyebrows furrowed at him after taking in his clearly bothered, frantic state. “what’s wrong?”
“so when were you going to tell me?” he asked with pursed lips, sitting himself on the edge of your bed.
“tell you about what?” you treaded carefully, confused about what had him so worked up.
“don’t act like you don’t know,” haechan scoffed, poking his cheek with his tongue in annoyance. “you weren’t gonna tell me about chenle?”
you blinked at him a few time in hopes that he would elaborate on what he was talking about, but quickly caught on to what he was saying. you couldn’t help but laugh loudly at how he was reacting. “oh, did he tell you?”
haechan huffed and gently nudged your knee with his own in an attempt to stop you from laughing. “i seriously don’t find any of this funny.”
giggling, you tried to grab one of his hands, but haechan (who was feeling petty) gently slapped it away. “haechan, you know his crush is harmless. if he felt comfortable enough to tell you about it, i don’t think you need to worry.”
“okay, but he still has a crush on my girlfriend. like, what the fuck? could he seriously not find anyone else?” haechan rambled, letting you grab his hand this time. “and also, he wasn’t even the one to tell me. jisung slipped up about it earlier.”
“okay, well my point is,” you paused to stand in front of him, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. “i’m dating you. i don’t care that chenle has a crush on me, and we both know he would never do anything stupid. besides, the crush ins’t as serious as you’re making it out to be. it’s always gonna be you.”
you could see all the tension fall from haechan’s shoulders as he sighed, wrapping his arms around your waist to pull you into a hug. “i’m the only person who’s allowed to have a crush on you,” he mumbled into your shirt.
ੈ♡˳
you had thought that haechan had gotten over finding out that chenle had a very small crush on you, but you were unfortunately very wrong.
the two of you were hanging out with the rest of the dreamies at mark’s place today. normally, you were used to haechan displaying his affection for you in front of other people, but he knew his limits and would never go overboard. today, however, you couldn’t help but notice that haechan felt especially full of love and couldn’t seem to help himself from showering that love all over you. whenever chenle walked by, you noticed that haechan would cling onto you a bit closer.
“do you want some?” haechan asked you, offering his small cup of ice cream to you.
you nodded, ready to dip your own spoon in, but haechan beat you to it. he held his spoon, ready with ice cream somehow, up to you mouth and smiled sweetly at you. you completely missed the way he side eyed chenle who was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room.
you gladly ate some of haechan’s ice cream, humming in delight at the flavor. haechan cooed softly at you and used his finger to wipe a drop of ice cream at the corner of your lips before pressing a soft kiss there, making you blush.
you heard a gag from the other side of the room, both of your eyes turning to see chenle looking at you guys with a disgusted expression. “gross. get a room.” he stood up from his seat and left to find jisung, clearly not wanting to third wheel.
you chuckled at his reaction while haechan glared at the back of his head. your boyfriend called after him, wanting to get the last word in. “jealousy is a disease, you know. get well soon, bitch!”
summary: it’s homecoming season and beomgyu would rather die than take you as his date (this is a lie).
a/n: i started this literally like 2 years ago so it might be a little...ass but!!! i’ve been wanting to release it bc gyu brainrot recently :DD also i lowkey hate this but i’ve been putting it off for wayy too long
p.s. happy valentine’s day <3333
as a senior, you valued getting the most out of your last year of high school; which is why you were so set on getting a date to your school’s homecoming dance.
you slouched over and sighed, leaning your chin into your palm. “why can’t someone just ask me already?”
ningning snickered next to you. “you can’t just wait around and hope, y/n. if you want to go with someone, then stop being a pussy and go ask!”
you frowned. “but i want a poster and flowers and all that stuff...i don’t want to be the one who has to make it.”
ningning rolled her eyes playfully. “don’t you and beomgyu flirt all the time? maybe he’ll ask you.”
your cheeks began to heat up at the thought of him. “i don’t think beomgyu sees me in that way. he’s like that with everyone, i can never read him.”
“what? that’s bullshit, he definitely has the hots for you.” ningning placed a comforting hand on your shoulder.
you scrunched your nose up in disgust. “why’d you phrase it like that? and homecoming is in, like, a week. if he did like me i think he would’ve asked me by now.”
ningning sighed at your saddened figure and shrugged. “...well, on the bright side, if he hasn’t asked anyone else yet then that means he doesn’t like anyone!”
you glared up at her. “thanks, ning, that really helps.”
as if you manifested his presence, beomgyu approached your table with taehyun and chenle behind him.
“these fries better be worth that long ass cafeteria line,” beomgyu grumbled while taking the open seat next to you. “i hope you didn’t miss me too much while i was gone.” he winked at you and laughed when you hastily looked away from him.
“why are you all down in the dumps?” chenle nudged you while shoving a fry in his mouth.
“she’s upset about homecoming,” ningning explained. your head snapped towards her, motioning for her to shut up, but it was already too late.
chenle gasped. “homecoming, you say? why? did you get rejected?”
beomgyu snickered. “you have to ask someone to get rejected, chenle. we all know y/n doesn’t have the guts to do that.”
both him and chenle laughed while you sat there, annoyed with their comments.
“i don’t see you asking anyone either, beomgyu,” you jabbed at him.
he scoffed. “that’s because i don’t want to ask anyone. i’m not a wuss like you, y/n, if i did have someone i wanted to ask i would’ve done it already.”
you shuffled awkwardly in your seat while he blatantly laughed at you. even if it was a joke, it still hurt your feelings. it didn’t help that he had indirectly confirmed that he held no desire to ask you to homecoming.
“is there someone you want to ask?” taehyun spoke up.
you shook your head. “i want someone to ask me. you know, like how you see it in the movies.”
“beomgyu, you should take y/n to homecoming!” ningning said cheerfully, shoving his shoulder roughly.
being the dramatic person that he is, beomgyu pretended to choke on his fry, grasping onto taehyun’s shoulder for dear life. you rolled your eyes at his drama queen antics, feeling your heart sink deeper into your stomach.
“i’m sorry, what? yeah, i’m gonna have to pass.” beomgyu pretended to shiver at the thought of the two of you going together. “that was a funny joke ningning, but never make it again.”
ningning glanced at you guiltily and sympathetically while you fought the urge to kick beomgyu where it hurt the most.
you snatched your bag from off the floor and stood up, bidding your friends farewell. “i have somewhere to be. i’ll catch you guys later.”
beomgyu waved you off lazily and attempted to return to his fries peacefully, but taehyun slapped him across the back of his head, making beomgyu whine.
“what was that for?” beomgyu groaned.
“that was mean, gyu, you made her upset,” taehyun pointed out. “why’d you have to make it sound like she was some sort of monster?”
beomgyu shrugged. “i was just kidding! she knows i’m not being serious, trust me.” beomgyu brushed off the concern of the younger boy and went to grab another fry but ningning slapped it out of his hand. “hey!”
“that hurt her feelings, gyu. you’re stupid if you really think she was fine,” ningning scolded him. “you better find a way to make it up to her.”
“i’m not stupid...” beomgyu mumbled under his breath. “i don’t see why it was such a big deal. homecoming is overrated, anyway.”
ningning sighed. “this is why you three are the only guys i know. i can’t be around men for too long or else i get a headache.”
the three boys watched as ningning went to go follow after you, before glancing at each other and shrugging.
------
you laid at the edge of ningning’s bed, hands rested on top of your chest while you stared at the ceiling. “i mean, you heard him, ning. he clearly does not see me in any other way than friend.” you scoffed after a few seconds. “i’m not even sure if he would consider me his friend.”
“he did say that he was joking, if that makes you feel any better,” ningning said in attempt to console you.
“joking or not, it still stung a little.” you sat up and frowned at her. “maybe he was right, i am a wuss. should i just go ask someone?”
ningning shook her head. “don’t let beomgyu get to your head. i’ll set you up with someone, i promise.”
you glanced down at her pinky that she held out to you and laughed. interlocking pinkies, the two of you smiled. “i’m counting on you to get me that full homecoming experience.”
------
ningning was tired of you being hung up on beomgyu, therefore she was very dedicated to the promise that she made. which is exactly why she found herself in the library, approaching choi soobin: a shy, kind boy that you had known since your elementary school days.
she almost laughed at the expression on his face when she proposed the favor that she needed.
“you want me to ask her to homecoming? y/n?” soobin asked, baffled.
ningning nodded at him and awaited his answer. “so? are you in?”
soobin stumbled over his words. “i haven’t talked to her in a while, though, isn’t it a little weird?”
“you guys have known each other since you were kids, it’s not weird. your parents will probably love it anyway.” ningning raised her eyebrows at him, hoping to convince him. “besides, it’s just one night. and who knows, maybe you’ll ignite a new flame, yeah?” ningning nudged his shoulder playfully, making soobin blush.
soobin chewed on his lip and tried to busy himself with his notebook in front of him. “i’ll talk to her about it. if she’s fine with it then i’ll do it.”
ningning beamed and shook soobin’s shoulders out of joy, making him yelp in surprise. “great! you’re the best, soobin!”
soobin rubbed his shoulders and watched ningning skip out of the library, confused by the interaction. nevertheless, he pulled out his phone and pulled up your contact, ready to text you asking if you wanted to meet up.
------
ningning sat down at the cafeteria next to the three musketeers with a joyful smile on her face; one that scared the three boys sitting across from her.
“...did you hit your head? why are you smiling like that?” chenle asked while stifling a laugh.
“where’s y/n?” taehyun asked.
“talking to soobin,” ningning said.
beomgyu furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “choi soobin? she still talks to that guy?”
“is that the guy she used to be friends with?” chenle asked.
beomgyu snickered. “i don’t think you could really classify them as friends.” he shoved some of his food in his mouth before asking ningning another question. “what’s she talking to him for?”
“i’m playing matchmaker,” ningning said casually, shining him a fake smile.
“you’re trying to set them up? why?” taehyun asked, curious as to why ningning decided to pair the two out of the blue.
beomgyu let out a cackle, startling his other friends. “good luck getting those two together. that’s definitely not happening.”
ningning rolled her eyes, ignoring the chocolate haired boy. “you’ll see in a day or two, hopefully,” ningning said, winking at taehyun playfully.
chenle sat there, confused. “what? why can’t you just tell us?”
“because! i want it to be a surprise! grand, if you will.” ningning glanced up when she saw two familiar figures enter the cafeteria doors. “look! there they are.”
beomgyu turned around to see you and soobin walking together, chatting as if you had been best friends your whole life. when you looked around mid-laughter and locked eyes with beomgyu, the boy gave you a bright smile and a wave. to his dismay, you didn’t return it and looked away.
“damn.” beomgyu turned back around in his seat. “i just waved to her and she flat out ignored me.”
“i told you that she’s upset with you, gyu. the way you reacted last week hurt her feelings,” taehyun said matter-of-factly.
beomgyu groaned. “i said i was joking! i don’t care about going to homecoming with her, i’m just dramatic, you know that. i thought that she’d take the weekend to cool off.”
“have you apologized to her about it? or at least done something to show her that you’re sorry, since you’re probably too stubborn to say it directly?” ningning said, crossing her arms.
“is it bully beomgyu day or something?” beomgyu mumbled to himself. he avoided ningning’s question and continued eating.
“yeah, that’s what i thought.” ningning shook her head and scoffed.
chenle spoke up. “why don’t you ask her to homecoming? like actually, as a way to show that you didn’t really mean it.”
ningning was quick to object. “no!” the three boys looked at her, confused. “i mean,” she recovered from her outburst. “y/n might still be upset and say no if you do that, gyu, i wouldn’t. just don’t.”
beomgyu glanced at her with a weird expression. “...okay? i wasn’t going to do that anyway...are you sure you didn’t hit your head?”
she punched him in the shoulder. “one of these days i’m gonna kick you where it hurts.”
“bite me.”
------
even though he acted like he didn’t really care, beomgyu could feel something itching at him from the back of his head. he didn’t really like the thought of you being legitimately mad at him, which made him consider doing something that was out of character for him: apologizing to you.
albeit, he was still stubborn, and thought that you took his joke out of context. but, no matter how stupid he thought you were being, he valued your friendship too much to let it tarnish. upon trying to figure out ways to win your forgiveness, beomgyu came across the topic of homecoming. but, ningning’s reaction to the idea made him hesitant. in search of advice, he turned to the one friend he knew he could count on: taehyun.
“i already know you’re going to laugh at me for what i’m about to tell you so if you do i’m going to punch you,” beomgyu warned.
taehyun snickered. “you couldn’t punch me even if you tried. for your sake, i won’t laugh.” he gestured for beomgyu to continue which made the older boy roll his eyes.
“i want to apologize to y/n.”
taehyun stared at him weirdly. “...why would i laugh at that?”
beomgyu shrugged and threw his hands up. “i don’t know! you tell me.” he sighed and kicked at the ground in front of him. “i didn’t finish my sentence anyway.”
“okay, so finish it.”
beomgyu rolled his eyes again, but continued anyway. “i want to ask her to homecoming.”
taehyun’s eyebrows went up in shock. “wait, like you’re being serious?”
the older boy nodded. “i feel bad about what i said and i don’t want her to think that i view her like that.”
taehyun’s lip curled up into a smirk. “...is that the only reason why?”
oblivious, beomgyu scoffed. “uh...yeah? what else?”
taehyun shook his head and the smirk dropped from his face. “nothing, i was just asking.”
“do you think that i should do it?”
“do what?” from behind him, chenle came holding his bag that he had brought to his music class.
“gyu wants to ask y/n to homecoming,” taehyun explained.
beomgyu felt himself go into a slight panic when chenle made a face. “what? is that a bad idea? do you think it’ll make her hate me even more?”
“no, it’s not that! it’s just that...” chenle chuckled awkwardly. “i think soobin is asking y/n to homecoming.”
beomgyu’s eyes almost bulged out of his head. “what? there’s no way...”
chenle shrugged. “i heard him talking about it in class just now. said he made a poster and bought her flowers and all that cheesy shit.” chenle faked a gag and shivered in disgust. “disgusting. y/n will probably love it.”
beomgyu scoffed. “it doesn’t matter what it is, it matters who it’s from. y/n only ever talks to soobin when she’s forced to, she won’t say yes.”
trying to push beomgyu’s buttons, taehyun nudged his shoulder. “ningning did say she was trying to set them up. plus, y/n said she really wanted a homecoming date, why wouldn’t she say yes to soobin? he’s known her for forever, anyway.”
beomgyu chewed on his lip instead of replying to taehyun. he knew that he was right, but for some reason part of him felt bothered by what he said. oddly enough he felt...challenged. he felt some sort of need to prove that you would say yes to him and not soobin. what did soobin have that he didn’t? sure, he had a few extra inches on him in terms of height, but so what?
suddenly, it had become beomgyu’s goal to make you his date to homecoming; he would ask you before choi soobin even had the chance.
“she’ll say yes to me. just watch,” beomgyu said smugly, desperate to prove taehyun wrong.
------
beomgyu marched home that day, throwing his backpack to the floor as soon as he walked through his front door. though he tried to tell himself that he didn’t care that much, that if it didn’t work out then it wasn’t a big deal, beomgyu couldn’t ignore the voice in the back of his head telling him to hurry.
he grabbed a piece of computer paper from his printer and slammed it down next to the markers that were scrambled all over his desk. he knew that his poster (if you could even call it that) would be less than subpar, but he hoped that you liked him more enough to the point where choosing him wouldn’t even be a second thought.
alternating from red and blue, beomgyu scribbled big, blocky letters onto the small piece of paper that made up an attempt at a cheesy romantic saying. with the cap of the marker held in his mouth, beomgyu drew hearts and smiley faces anywhere that the paper felt too empty. staring at his finished product proudly, he grabbed it and dashed back down his stairs and out his front door.
in the midst of running a few blocks to your house, the sight of a few pink flowers in his neighbor’s yard stopped him in his tracks. he contemplated whether or not he should go to the store and buy a real bouquet, but decided against it when he considered the idea of soobin being one step ahead of him.
mercilessly, beomgyu ripped a few flowers from his neighbor’s yard and dashed down the sidewalk to your house. he knew you’d probably scold him once you found out where the flowers were from, yet oddly enough the thought of you accepting his flowers in the first place was enough for him to not care.
reaching your front door, beomgyu knocked hastily while bending over and catching his breath. his poster was wrinkled due to being in his harsh grip and a few flower petals had fallen off some of the flowers. beomgyu still hoped that it would do.
you opened the door rather quickly, catching beomgyu off guard. he yelped before straigtening up and holding out the flowers to you. you flinched backward, shocked, before cautiously taking the flowers from his hands. you eyed the roots that were covered in dirt and how half of the flowers were missing petals, yet couldn’t help but smile.
beomgyu tried his best to straighten out the poster, even having to flip it right side up once he realized it was upside down. you read the ‘poster’ carefully with an amused smile on your face.
“roses are red, violets are blue,” you paused, stifling a laugh, “go to homecoming with me, please and thank you...?” you read out loud, eyes flickering back and forth between beomgyu and the poster. he had a stupid smile on his face and you could tell he was very proud of his work.
“pretty good, right? i even made sure it rhymed since i figured you’d like that more...” his fingers tapped anxiously against the paper as you continued to stare at him and his poster. “do you like it? just like the movies, right?”
you nodded hesitantly, a laugh escaping your lips. “i mean, you definitely tried?”
beomgyu’s smile faltered ever so slightly at the sound of your laughter, and suddenly he felt awkward and embarrassed. “you don’t like it?” his hands that held up the poster slowly began to fall to his sides.
you were quick to stop laughing when you saw the look on his face. you shook your head and took a step closer to him to hold the poster in your hands. “no! no, i love it, gyu. thank you, really.” you smiled when you saw him sigh softly out of relief. “but what changed? i thought that you didn’t want to go to homecoming with me?”
beomgyu felt guilt eating up at him once he realized how much his words really affected you. “i know i was an asshole last week and you really deserved a proper apology. i didn’t mean what i said, and honestly if there’s anyone i would want to go to homecoming with, it would be you.”
your breath hitched in your throat, too stunned to even respond to what beomgyu had just confessed to you. he stepped one step closer to you, gently taking one of your hands.
“i also hate when you’re mad at me. and i didn’t want soobin to take you to homecoming,” beomgyu added nonchalantly.
amused, you titled your head at him. “why not?”
he shrugged. “first he’s taking you to homecoming, next thing you know you’re best friends again and you realize you don’t need a loser like me. then you’re getting married and --” he frowned once he saw the amused expression on your face. “i’m being serious, you know. i didn’t want him to beat me to it.” he looked down at his feet, suddenly growing quiet. “couldn’t lose you like that.”
“you do know that i have a crush on you, right, gyu?”
his eyes widened. “you -- huh?”
laughing, you gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “i guess i’ll go to homecoming with you. see you tomorrow?”
he snapped out of it once he realized you were walking back into your house and shutting your door. “wait, what?”
once the door shut in his face, beomgyu touched his cheek where your lips had just been and couldn’t help the wide grin the spread across his face. he silently cheered himself on as he walked down the sidewalk, stopping when he met eyes with none other than choi soobin.
both of them stared at each other: beomgyu in the midst of talking to himself and soobin with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a homecoming poster in the other.
beomgyu, too caught up in his excitement and burst of energy, smirked smugly at soobin, crossing his arms over his chest. “ha! beat you to it, pretty boy.”
soobin, taken aback by beomgyu’s taunting, couldn’t help but laugh. even if he was slightly disappointed at the fact that he spent lots of time making his, in his opinion, very carefully crafted poster, he could see how much beomgyu liked you.
beomgyu laughed in soobin’s face before dashing down the street back to his own home, turning around one final time to flash an ‘L’ at soobin with his thumb and pointer finger; just for good measure. as he disappeared around the corner, you opened your front door once again, catching soobin’s attention.
“guess you proved me wrong, soob,” you sighed, handing him a five dollar bill. “i really did not think he would pull through like that.”
soobin gladly took the money from you shoved it into his pocket. “honestly, i was secretly hoping he wouldn’t just so that making this poster wasn’t a complete waste.”
you smiled pitifully at him. “sorry about that...” you laughed nervously.
soobin shrugged. “don’t be, it was fun to make anyway. but for future reference, have more faith in your lover boy.”
there was no use trying to hide the soft smile that appeared on your face at the mere thought of beomgyu; you were finally able to call him your lover boy.
ALSO!!!!! I WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU FOR 100 FOLLOWERS THAT SHITS WILD. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU I LOVE U ALL SM <333 new semester is starting which means writing in the library when i’m supposed to do my assignments YUUPPP :0000 in honor of tnc: temptation coming out i think i’ll post my long overdue beomgyu fic that i started literally like 2 years ago OOPS anyway
sorry i just read the panera date w mark n late night call w haechan n idk if i’m just emotional bc of the bad dream i had but!! your fics r so good n it’s great bc mahae r my two angels n i love them both sm n you wrote them n such a cute touching way like u are genuinely really good n have so much talent n i am now ur biggest fan. if u have no fans just know i’m dead like i love u sm
THIS ACTUALLY MADE ME WANNA CRY WTF. i am also very sorry about your bad dream those are the worst ☹️☹️ i hope you’re doing okay!! BUT WTFFFF u have no idea how touching this is to me i’m gonna cRRRYYY i usually just write for funsies but this motivates me to actually finish my 8 million drafts 🥹
thank u for your kind words </3 you are such a kind soul and i will continue to write mahae as the sweet beloved angels they are ^^ i’m gonna go cry now
mark lee x reader, super fluffy bc this is my literal bf and he makes me want to cry 25/8
a/n: mark brainrot has been so bad lately the delusions are getting to me
“where do you wanna go for lunch today?” you asked your boyfriend, who was currently mindlessly scrolling through his phone.
it was mark’s day off from his tour, leaving you and him to explore chicago on your own. like the lovely significant other you are, you decided to treat mark out for lunch as a way to reward him for all the hard work that he’s been doing.
“uhm,” he thought for a second before letting out an awkward laugh. “i don’t really know what’s around here.”
you thought about taking him somewhere fancy; somewhere where you could proudly treat your boyfriend to expensive ass food (even if it did leave you and your wallet crying by the end of the night) because, to you, mark deserved nothing but the absolute best. thus, you began to search for some of the more famous spots in chicago. a curious hum from your lover quickly interrupted you and caught your attention.
“johnny was talking about this one place he used to go to all the time,” he trailed off, trying to remember the name. “it’s, like, a bakery...?”
“a bakery...” you mumbled to yourself, smiling at the idea. “that would be cute!”
“i think it was called panera...?” mark sat up, ready to call johnny to confirm if his memory was correct. “yeah, i’m pretty sure that’s what it was called.”
you couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “you want to go to panera?”
mark smiled at the sound of your laughter and turned to look at you. “yeah, i’m down! i want to see what johnny was raving about.”
“it’s not all that fancy though, just a warning,” you replied. not that there was anything wrong with panera, but you wanted to treat mark to something...better than panera.
mark shrugged, moving a stray piece of hair out of your eyes. “i don’t care about that. as long as i get to spend time with you, i can eat anything.”
flushed, you looked away and stood up, pulling mark up with you. “alright! panera it is!”
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
the two of you stood aside as you browsed the menu together. you hummed nostalgically with a soft smile on your face as you took in the atmosphere.
“you know, i used to come to panera a lot when i was in high school, too,” you told your boyfriend (who was meticulously observing his different options of soup).
at this, mark turned his head to you. “really? that’s dope, i didn’t know that.” the excitement in his voice made you chuckle, finding your boyfriend extremely endearing. “okay, should i get the chicken soup, or the broccoli cheddar? what vibe are we feeling today?”
after a moment, you leaned into his shoulder. “how about the chicken soup? we can share that and i can get us a pizza to share too.”
mark nodded and placed a soft kiss on your head, silently agreeing to your proposal. he let out a sudden gasp, catching you off guard. “woah, wait, you can get your soup in a bread bowl?” he looked at you as if to get your opinion and was only met with a fond smile. he took that as a way of you saying you liked the idea as much as he did. “dude, let’s do that.”
“i’ll order, you can find us a place to sit.” you gently pushed mark, determined to pay for your guys’ meal today.
mark frowned, keeping close to your side. “what? no, no, i can order, you should go sit.”
you placed your hands on mark’s shoulders, stopping him in his place. “let me treat you today, okay? you deserve it.” after mark made no effort to move, you pleaded one more time. “please? let me do this for you.”
although reluctant, mark eventually gave into you. he placed a quick peck on your cheek before turning around to go find a table for you two. “i’m treating us to dessert after this, then.”
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
“oh my god.”
you couldn’t help but laugh at the way that mark marveled at the food in front of him. he happily took photos of his bread bowl (and the pizza, but he was more excited about the bread bowl), and insisted on taking cute photos of you despite your constant whining about not being photogenic enough. you also took photos of mark, though he was too focused on the soup to notice that you were.
mark dipped his spoon into the soup and raised it towards you, urging you to take the first bite (slurp ??). “here, taste it.”
leaning over the table, you hummed happily at the taste of the warm soup. maybe it was because of the cold weather in chicago, but the soup tasted especially good (or, maybe it was because you were eating it with the person you loved the most). “wow, that’s really good!”
mark took a napkin and wiped at a small drop of soup that dripped onto your chin before bringing the spoon to his mouth as well. leaning back in his seat, mark sighed in content, very clearly enjoying the soup. “damn,” he said after a second. “that’s some good soup. i see why you and johnny would come here all the time.”
“i think i only ever got the mac n cheese so, this is pretty new for me too,” you admitted, laughing at the look of disbelief on your boyfriend’s face.
“all those choices and you chose mac n cheese?” he teased you before feeding you another spoonful of soup.
“hey, the mac n cheese is really good, okay? and i was, like, sixteen.” you pouted at him.
“yeah, sixteen and clearly missing out on some good soup.” mark laughed at you, wincing after you gently kicked him under the table. “maybe we’ll have to come back sometime so you can treat me to this famous mac n cheese.”
smiling and reaching over to gently poke at his free hand, you agreed. “i think panera dates should be our thing whenever we come to the u.s., hm?”
mark shrugged. “that would be cool. i would eat anywhere with you, you know.” he took your hand in his and played with your fingers as he stared fondly at you.
you scrunched up your nose, feigning disgust. “you’re so corny.” mark only let out a soft chuckle and squeezed your hand that was still held in his.
“thanks for lunch today. you didn’t have to do that,” he thanked you softly, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles.
“i wanted to treat you out today. you’ve been working really hard, it’s the least that i could do,” you confessed to him. “you’re doing great, you know? i don’t think i tell you that enough.”
dipping his head down, mark let out small noises of embarrassment. “don’t say things like that, you’re gonna make me blush.” he tried to fight the smile that was slowly growing on his face, but it was no use. “thank you, y/n. i love you.”
you pressed a quick kiss to his knuckles, your heart swelling at his words. “i love you too. now let’s fuck up this food!”
anytime one of my posts gets any sort of recognition ever i genuinely am just in shock 🥹 thank u everyone for the recent love !! i am glad you guys enjoy what (very little OOPS) i upload 😇😇 i’m trying to get back into writing but forgive me if i’m slow as hell ^^; i have like 6 different drafts in the making rn but we don’t need to talk about it
“shouldn’t you be resting, hyuck?” you asked, voice clearly ridden with sleepiness.
you watched your boyfriend through your phone screen as he typed away on his pc, too immersed in his video game to hear your question.
“hyuck,” you called softly, this time catching his attention.
“hm?” he hummed in acknowledgment, finally tearing his eyes away from his screen.
“you should go to bed and rest,” you scolded light heartedly, staring at him with a fond smile.
his messy hair fell over his eyes and he quickly brushed it out of the way before pouting at you. “10 more minutes?”
staring at him sternly, haechan sighed and saved his game before turning off his pc. “alright, alright. be grateful that i love you this much to listen to you,” he joked.
“you be grateful i love you this much to still be on this call,” you joked back. “just want to make sure you’re getting the rest you deserve.”
haechan snuggled into his comforter and stared at you through the phone, his gaze softening at the sight of your eyes slowly shutting as you tried to fight off sleep. he stayed there for a little while, watching adoringly as you cuddled closer to a bear he gifted you for your birthday. he wasn’t all that tired, to tell the truth, but watching you look so at peace was enough to lull him to sleep.
“take a picture it’ll last longer, lover boy,” you teased groggily, startling haechan who thought you had already fallen asleep.
embarrassed, haechan tried to laugh it off, but couldn’t hide how his ears got red. he looked up to see you staring back at him this time, a tired smile laid across your features. “sorry, babe, you just looked too cute.”
you groaned, feigning annoyance. “go to sleep, hyuck. make a speedy recovery so we can hangout again.”
“you do realize i can just sneak you into my dorm right?”
“and risk getting my ass beat by your company again? no thanks. besides, i don’t want to get you in trouble.”
haechan hummed in response, letting out a yawn before letting his eyes fall shut. “alright, i’ll go to bed now,” he mumbled softly. “just because i love you that much.”
you chuckled and watched as haechan quickly fell into a deep sleep, wrapped up in a hoodie you gifted him that he deemed as his favorite. between his arms was a bear plushie you gifted him that matched your own; one that he brought with him whenever he was on tour to make him feel like you were there with him. snuggling with your own bear, you quickly fell asleep to the sound of haechan’s soft breathing.
y’all got me like this fr !!!!!! but fr thank you all for reading and enjoying 🫶 once midterm season ends i’ll get back into it hahahahahahaha yo just watch yo just watch i swear
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