* * * * *

“You called for me, Mr. Zhang?” Seulgi asks upon opening the door to her Manager's office. She does not bother looking around the office, since she's been in and out from it whenever she receives her salary and heads straight to the desk where her Manager, Zhang Yixing, is waiting. He smiles upon seeing the brunette and waves a hand.

“Thank you very much for coming in even though it is your lunch break, Ms. Kang.” he says in his accented Korean, motioning for her to sit down. Seulgi bows before taking a seat adjacent to her Chinese boss. She fixes her uniform and clears in an attempt to lessen the slightly awkward atmosphere within the four walls. Yixing raises a brow and smiles. “You must be wondering why I called you here.”

“Yes, Mr. Zhang.” Seulgi nods.

“I really admire your honesty. For that, I will go straight to the point.” Yixing widens his smile, unintentionally showing off his dimpled cheek. “It has come to my attention that you have been on duty since 12 midnight. From what I know, you don't work graveyard shifts on Thursdays, so why were you on duty last night, Ms. Kang?"

Seulgi bites on her bottom lip, a habit she cannot avoid, and gulps. "I wasn't going to, Mr. Zhang, but Wendy called in sick so I volunteered to cover for her last night."

"Then why didn't you clock out on time at eight earlier? You should have gone straight home to rest."

"Well... I decided to work a straight shift." Seulgi explains. "I figured I should just finish the morning shift before clocking out at noon since Joy isn't around for her shift, too."

Yixing sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Those girls. I'll call to check on them after this but first, please clock out so you can finally rest, Ms. Kang. A girl needs her beauty rest, right?"

Seulgi blinks her eyes, unable to say a word from shock. Yixing chuckles at her reaction, or the lack of it, and nods his head in understanding. “That, Ms. Kang, is a sign that you must rest. You've been working since yesterday afternoon and I don't want my girls to overwork, especially not you. Your aunt will kill me when she discovers you've been overworking again and I don't want to go through her lectures again. You, of all people, know her when she's angry."

Despite feeling fatigue taking over her whole body, Seulgi laughs. Her aunt is, after all, Zhang Yixing's wife. "I know, Mr. Zhang. But who will cover for me?"

"Joonmyun should be here by now." Yixing stands up and pats his pants before standing straight and smiling at Seulgi. "I really appreciate your desire to help in the restaurant, Seulgi, but I am saying this both as your Manager and as your Uncle: Just go home and rest. You have overexerted yourself and to think you will need to regain your energy for Jongin's homecoming party next week."

Seulgi smiles upon hearing her boyfriend’s name. "Thank you very much, Uncle Yixing!" She gives him a brief hug and a bow before running out from his office with a huge grin on her face. 'Jongin is coming home next week!'

* * * * *

“I can't believe Jongin's back next week, Irene!” Seulgi exclaims while stepping inside the elevator of her apartment complex. She presses the button for her floor, on the 12^th, and hears Irene chuckling from the other end of the phone call. “I know right? It's as if he only left for Military yesterday but lo and behold, he's coming home already!”

“Everything is still surreal to me,” Seulgi shakes her head by habit, forgetting that they’re talking on the phone and not in person. “But what if he finds me unappealing already? After all, we haven't been together for two years! I’ve checked my waist line and I gained a few pounds, too!”

“Oh, stop being over dramatic, Kang Seulgi.” There was a short pause and shuffling sounds in the background, most likely Irene arranging the pile of papers on her desk. “I should really clear my desk. It’s like a jungle!”

“Well, you definitely should.” Seulgi chuckles. "Or else your hunk of a bachelor CEO will fire you for being a messy secretary."

“Hey!”

“Sorry, not sorry?” Seulgi gets off the elevator laughing and Irene following after a few seconds.

“Anyway, back to the main topic, I don't think Jongin will see you as unappealing.” Irene scoffs. "You are Kang Seulgi! His high school sweetheart, his best friend turned girlfriend, his anchor, his personal goddess, his-"

"I get it, Irene. I'm his everything, too." Seulgi laughs, feeling better as she takes out the key to her apartment from the outside pocket of her bag. "Thanks."

“You're welcome, hon.”

The strong smell of burnt food immediately welcomes Seulgi once she opens the door to her apartment. Despite her nostrils flaring from the strong odor, Seulgi finds herself smiling, and she momentarily forgets that Irene was still on. “Hey, I’ll get back to you later okay, Irene?”

“Of course! Just go and enjoy while I arrange my stuff and wait for the clock to…”

Seulgi doesn’t mean to but Irene’s voice fades into the background as one name bounced inside her head. ‘Jongin.’ She drops her bag and keys on a nearby table and feels her whole body shaking at the mere thought of her long time boyfriend finally coming home after being away for two years for military service. Seulgi’s heart pounds against her chest as she slowly makes her way to the source of the disaster.

‘Could it really be you? There's no one else I know who cannot cook for their life but you, Jongin.’ But when Seulgi was a step away from walking into the kitchen, she freezes and finds herself in doubt. ‘What if someone broke into my apartment?’ Her eyes shoots open upon realizing such possibility and takes one step back. ‘What if he’s a thief? What if he’s going to kill me if I put up a fight?’

Seulgi shakes her head in an attempt to throw away all of the bad thoughts coming inside her head and decides to see for herself if what she’s thinking is real or not. ‘Okay, Seulgi. You can do this. You are a taekwondo black belter and you can take a thief down for B&E and for destroying your kitchen.’

When she feels that her whole senses are ready, Seulgi exhales and runs into the kitchen. “Aaaaaahhhhhh!” She positions herself near the smoking oven and breaks out into a taekwondo -kicking machine until she stops to take a breather. When her effort merely receives silence as response, Seulgi blinks and stands up straight, assessing her place. When she finds it empty, she groans, slapping her own face in embarrassment. “Oh, god. What are you even doing Kang Seulgi? I must be crazy.”

Seulgi feels her heart constricting upon realizing that her place really is empty. Although she is glad there is no thief, she is even more hurt that there is no Kim Jongin either. Seulgi places a hand over her chest and frowns when she realizes that she didn’t use her oven before leaving for work. ‘Someone is here!’

Her instinct kicks back in upon hearing the front door open and close. Seulgi immediately pulls out her phone from the pocket of her jeans and quietly dials the local emergency hotline. After making the call, Seulgi’s adrenaline shoots up and she decides to pacify the intruder by taking him or her by complete surprise. She grabs a wooden spatula from the sink and flattens herself on the wall just as the intruder steps inside. Seulgi wastes no time and attacks him on sight.

“Get out of my house!” She screams while hitting the intruder’s arms repeatedly who is clearly male from the short glimpses Seulgi takes from time to time. “Thief!”

“Wait!” The intruder screams back, his voice shaking. Seulgi didn’t stop and only adds more strength to her hits. When she hears a satisfying whack on his forehead while groaning in pain after sliding down the wall to the floor, Seulgi grins. “Got you.”

“Yeah, you sure did.”

'Oh my god.' Seulgi’s smile automatically vanishes when her brain finally gets to process why the “intruder’s” voice is familiar. She quickly lowers her arms and gulps as she looks down at the man on the floor. Seulgi registers the familiar dark brown hair, the all too familiar looking jaw line and finally the adorable but y looking bee-stung lips. ‘What-?’

“Surprise…?” Despite feeling the ache on his forehead getting stronger, Jongin manages to flash his girlfriend that one disarming smile of this that always makes Seulgi weak on the knees. “Hi, baby bear.”

Unable to find her voice, Seulgi drops on her knees and wraps her arms around Jongin’s shoulders. "You're finally here!" They laugh, hugging each other tightly and just remain like that for some time until Jongin hears Seulgi sniffing and refusing to let go when he asks if she's okay. He knows her too much that she just does not want him to see her crying face even though she doesn’t need to hide it from him considering everything they’ve been through already. Still, Jongin smiles and wraps his arms around her, giving her one big hug. “I missed you so much, baby bear.”

Seulgi’s response came too muffled but Jongin knows she was telling him how she misses him, too. He sighs, content. "You know? This isn't the scene I thought about in my head when I planned on surprising you, Seulgi bear."

"Really?" She sticks out a tongue at him while hitting his arm. "Well you can't blame me because I really thought you were a thief!"

"And you weren't supposed to be out this early. You should still be in bed by this time! I was supposed to surprise you with breakfast in bed." Jongin counters. "Why weren't you home again?"

"I took a straight shift since yesterday afternoon and Uncle Yixing sent me home to rest. Why are you home early? I thought you were coming home next week."

"I lied. I told Uncle Yixing and even Irene to not tell you about my real discharge date to surprise you."

"You are all sneaky human beings. Hey, wait." Seulgi snickers. "You wanted to surprise me by cooking breakfast and for us to eat it in bed?"

Jongin clears his throat while scratching the back of his neck. "Well, yeah."

Unable to hold back her laughter, Seulgi laughs out loud. Jongin takes offence and crosses his arms. "I know I at cooking but I just wanted to surprise you, you know?"

"I know, I'm sorry." Seulgi says, wiping away the tears from her eyes. "I'm still too overwhelmed, that's all. But honestly, Jongin? This surprise is way better than what you planned."

"Yeah?" He asks, smiling.

Seulgi nods. "Yeah."

Jongin stares into Seulgi’s mesmerizing eyes before he trails his eyes on her face, taking his sweet time as if he is memorizing her facial structure. He smiles at the sight of her just staring back at him with a smile on her face, making her chubby cheeks go up and forming her eyes into the crescent moons that he adores.

They stare into each other's eyes now, taking in the sight and the moment of being in each other's arms again. Jongin leans in closer to Seulgi as she does the same, closing her eyes once they were only a few inches apart. Jongin reaches his hand out to place it on the back of her neck, urging her closer to him by instinct. With only a few centimeters away for their lips to meet, their moment is interrupted from forceful knocks on the front door.

"SEOUL POLICE, OPEN UP!"

Jongin and Seulgi stare at each other in shock. Jongin is the first to speak, "You called the police?"

"I honestly thought there was a thief in the apartment!" Seulgi admits, burrying her face in her hands from embarrassment. Jongin blinks his eyes from shock, taking in the fact that his adorable girlfriend called the Seoul Police up to her apartment earlier, thinking he was a thief. He ignores the louder banging on the door and places a finger under Seulgi's chin, lifting her face. "You are such an adorable girlfriend, baby bear."

Jongin quickly leans in and kisses Seulgi on the lips. She is startled at first but soon, Seulgi blushes and places her arms around her boyfriend's neck. When they pause for air, Seulgi places her head on Jongin's chest, loving the way their bodies molded like they are a perfect fit. "I love you, Kim Jongin."

Jongin smiles and kisses her hair, tightening their embrace like there's no tomorrow. "I love you more, Kang Seulgi."

"KANG SEULGI, ARE YOU IN THERE? THIS IS THE SEOUL POLICE!"

"And the moment is officially ruined." Jongin chuckle as he shakes his head. With intertwining fingers, Jongin and Seulgi walk to the front door with big smiles on their faces. "So much for the surprise breakfast in bed, huh?" Seulgi smiles at her boyfriend but then surprises him by giving him a peck to the cheek. “Thank you, Jongin.”

Jongin beams, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before staring into her eyes like a lost puppy. “What are we going to tell the Police again?”

Seulgi laughs, surprising her boyfriend again by pinching his cheek with one hand. “You are such an adorable boyfriend, Kim Jongin.”

=====

Well... just some SeulKai fluff :)