On his way to work with a coffee in hand Jiyong swears he isn’t going to talk to any of his friends today. Not only is he incredibly embarrassed about yesterday but he’s angry, too. He had every right to be. Who are they to judge a man with an innocent, slightly obsessive crush on someone he knows he’ll never even meet, let alone stand a romantic chance with? He walks through the reception grunting his hellos to the receptionists and stomps his way up the stairs, angrily grumbling against the rim of his coffee cup before taking a lengthy sip. He feels a little better now his throat isn’t so dry but he’s not looking forward to having to sit next to his traitor of a best friend for the entire of his 8-hour shift. As soon he’s in the room he immediately regrets leaving his bed at all today.

“Hey man!” Youngbae is bounding towards him a coffee in each hand.

Jiyong froze, his bag slipping off his shoulder and landing with a thud. Youngbae places his coffee down on the table before bending down to pick up Jiyong’s bag and put it back on his shoulder. “Don’t touch me.” Jiyong mumbles and Youngbae looks a little taken a back. “You can’t be serious, right? You’re still mad about yesterday?” Jiyong feels his blood begin to boil, closes his eyes and counts to 10. He’s barely been in the office for all of 5 minutes and he can’t afford to do this right now. “Yes Youngbae, I’m still mad about yesterday.” It’s said through gritted teeth and Jiyong doesn’t have to have his eyes open to know that Youngbae is laughing at him right now and that’s what breaks him.

“Laugh it up, !” Jiyong almost shouts but he catches himself just as his voice is leaving ‘inside voice’ volume territory. “I’m so embarrassed, how many people did you show those stupid, intrusive pictures to before you put them on my desk, huh?” Jiyong shoves at his friend’s chest, his bag dropping to the floor again, “I can’t ing stand you sometimes.”

Youngbae scrunches up his nose and furrows his brow at the scolding he just got in front of all their co-workers, who were starting to stare. “Woah, okay Little Miss Touchy, they wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for your roommate taking the damn things so maybe you should try directing all this anger where it’s deserved.” He picks up both coffees off the desk and storms off to his desk, looking over his shoulder to throw a glare in Jiyong’s direction. Jiyong stands there for a while and tries to calm himself down. Who does Youngbae think he is telling him where to direct his anger? Does he really think Seungri is getting off easy with this? That last thought has a smile playing on the corners of Jiyong’s lips. He hopes Seungri enjoys his lunch today.

“Great! Thank you, have a nice day.” Jiyong is just about to end a call with a customer when he feels something hit his head. His nostrils flare and he turns to Youngbae in the neighbouring cubicle ready to scream at him but was stopped in his tracks when he sees Youngbae writing down notes and numbers for the call he was currently in. What the ? Jiyong scans the office to see if any of his co-workers look particularly guilty but he’s at a loss. He searches his desk to find whatever is was that was thrown and at him and finds it behind his calendar. “It” is a scrunched up piece of paper and Jiyong isn’t sure if he wants to open it.

He tosses the paper between his hands contemplates to throwing it straight in the bin. He knows it’ll just be something stupid like ‘Jiyong ♥s Seunghyun’ which shamefully enough Jiyong had enough of scribbled down on various pieces of paper and in notebooks. He’s about to spin his chair around and throw it away but when he tries his chair just won’t budge. He twists around to try and figure out why and groans when he sees Youngbae’s hand on the back of his chair, keeping him still.

“Get off.”

“Whatcha got there?” Youngbae blatantly ignores Jiyong and reaches forward for the paper in his hands. Jiyong snatches it away just before Youngbae can grab it and shoots him a glare so sharp if he’d have been any closer he’d be bleeding right now. “Come on man, sharing is caring!” Youngbae’s laughing while he plasters himself to Jiyong’s back but Jiyong is having none of it. “And I don’t care!” He shoves Youngbae off him and makes a show of him throwing the paper away. Youngbae sinks back down into his own chair with the face of someone who just had their puppy kicked. Jiyong lets out an exaggerated sigh and slumps forward on his desk, banging his head on it in the process, but he doesn’t seem to care. Youngbae opens his mouth to say something but before he gets the chance another piece of paper flies past his face and hits Jiyong square on the back of his head.

“Are you serious, Youngbae?” Jiyong mumbles against his desk, he doesn’t move, just sighs again.

“That wasn’t me!” Youngbae holds his arms up with open hands and raised brows in the classic ‘wasn’t me!’ pose. “Who else could it have been, idiot?” Jiyong slowly turns his head and rest a cheek on his folded arms, not quite ready to sit up just yet. Youngbae rolls his eyes at the insult and points in the direction the new paper ball came from. “I think it came from that direction.” They’re both stood now and they share a suspicious look before leaning forward into their cubicles. They peek as subtly as they can over the back ‘wall’ of their respective cubicles to see if they can spot any suspicious behaviour but again, there’s nothing. Youngbae’s thoroughly confused but Jiyong just hangs his head, fed up of today and he wasn’t even half way through it yet.

“Read it.” Youngbae nods his head at the paper and Jiyong sighs, again.

“Fine.” What has he got to lose?

Jiyong picks up the paper and sits down before he unravels it and once it’s flat he smooths it out against his desk but covers it with his hands. “I don’t care what is on this paper, why am I doing this?” Jiyong is looking in Youngbae’s direction now but Youngbae’s not paying attention to him, too lost in his new ‘detective’ state of mind. “Oh, you’re talking to me now?” Youngbae teases. “Shut up and look, I don’t wanna see this.” Jiyong pulls Youngbae into his personal space by a firm grip on the fabric of his turtle neck jumper that covers his neck and forces him to look at the paper and turns his own head to ceiling to avoid accidentally looking at it. There’s a long pause and it makes Jiyong a little nervous but he just keeps telling himself he doesn’t care and continues to count the ceiling tiles.

“Soojoo’s back!” Youngbae literally jumps with joy and runs from Jiyong’s desk over to the other side of the office where Soojoo’s desk resides, but it’s still empty. “I don’t understand?” Youngbae has a hand at the back of his neck and he turns to Jiyong with puzzled look on his face. Jiyong doesn’t have a single clue about what the hell just happened and he has a terrible feeling the only way he’s going to find out is if he looks at the stupid piece of paper. He takes a deep breath, mentally tells himself to man up and slowly brings his focus to his desk.

The paper has a very badly drawn stick people couple on it, innocent enough Jiyong thinks, until he inspects it closer. Left stick man, which Jiyong is assuming is himself, is so much shorter than Right stick man that his badly drawn hair only reaches his knees. Right stick man, which Jiyong is assuming is Seunghyun, has ridiculously big ears and a third leg between his other two. Suddenly Jiyong can see Youngbae’s reasoning in thinking this was Soojoo’s doing.

Jiyong looks up and sees Youngbae waving him over with a frantic hand motion reluctantly pushes himself away from his desk and heads over to him. Once he reaches him Jiyong slips his hands into his pockets and swings on his heels trying to look all nonchalant as Youngbae riffles through Soojoo’s desk for any sign of life or recent activity. Youngbae as the majority of her drawer’s contents strewn across her desk and now it’s Jiyong’s turn to be confused. He steps closer to make sure his eyes aren’t deceiving him and that there is in fact a Hello Kitty colouring book and a lifetime supply of ketchup sachets in front of him. “Who needs that much ketchup?” Jiyong’s voice comes out high and squeaky and he’s about to apologise for whatever the hell that was when there’s sudden, raspy laughter, and it’s not coming from Youngbae.

Youngbae jumps at least 5 feet backwards in shock when Soojoo rolls out from under her desk. She’s clutching at her side as if her laughter is threatening to literally split her in two and Youngbae drops to his knees to help her up into a sitting position but she just pulls him down with her. Jiyong can’t believe the scene that’s unfolding before his eyes, his two work friends are in fits of giggles on the floor while there’s an unrealistic amount of ketchup on the desk and all their co-workers are starting to stare, Jiyong swears he heard someone say something about a no drinking during work hours’ rule and he supresses his laughter. He stands there for a little while longer while his baboons of friends stay on the floor, he glances at his watch which tell him it’s 12:17 and decides he’s going for his lunch break.

“Okay well I’ll leave you two to get reacquainted,” he turns on his heels and makes a mad dash for his desk. He grabs his jacket which had fell from the back of the chair onto the floor and picks up his bag and runs out the door before anyone can even think about stopping him.

Jiyong’s eyes slip shut with the first drag of a much needed cigarette and when he exhales the smoke he feels some of the stress him, too. He leans back against the building’s wall and revels in the peace and quiet he’s found, that is until he hears 2 set of footsteps heading up the stairs to the rooftop where he was currently hiding. He hurriedly stubs his cigarette out on the wall and pushes himself off against it and prepares to be scolded by the building security. He knows he’s not supposed to be up here but it’s so peaceful and he’d take all the peace he could get right now. He watches with anxious eyes as the handle of the door that’s separating him and probably another warning form security twists, he scrunches his eyes closed and his lips are a tight line, a look of guilt.

“Why do you always run away to up here? There’s so many stairs and you know how unfit I am.”

Jiyong’s jaw drops.

“C’mon, I haven’t seen you in a week and that’s no way to say hello!” Soojoo stalks her way forward until she’s towering over Jiyong, he’s looking up at her with wide eyes and she has a glint of mischief in hers. Jiyong tries everything in his power to shrink in on himself in hopes he’d just disappear but he just ends up hunching his shoulders and scrunching his eyes that little bit tighter. Youngbae’s giddy laughter makes Jiyong more nervous than Soojoo’s looming presence but before he can yell profanities at his best friend Soojoo’s lanky arms wrap themselves around Jiyong so tightly he’s struggling to breathe. She’s giggling just as much as Youngbae now and for such a skinny girl she’s unnaturally strong. She picks Jiyong up with his arms squished to his side and his face squished into her pointy collarbones.

“Put me down!” Jiyong’s kicking his legs in in protest but he’s careful not to actually kick Soojoo, as much as he’d like to right now.

“Be a darling and get the door will you, Bae?” Soojoo’s voice sounds sweet, like butter wouldn’t melt and that infuriates Jiyong further. “The door? You’re going to carry me down 3 flights of stairs?” Jiyong’s legs are kicking with earnest now and he’s trying his hardest to wriggle his way out of Soojoo’s grip but it’s just not working. “I’m going to try if you’d stop flailing for just a damn second.” Soojoo isn’t phased in the slightest by Jiyong’s obvious discomfort and stops just before the reach the first flight of stairs to hoist him up a little further and secure her grip on him. “Where are you guys taking me?” Jiyong stills in Soojoo’s arms and she takes that as a sign he’s given up and accepted his fate.

“To lunch!” Youngbae chirps up from a few steps behind them.

A long, drawn out sigh comes from Jiyong and he lets his head fall and hang over backwards over Soojoo’s arm.

“I hate you both.”

Soojoo continues to carry Jiyong through the reception with Youngbae happily marching along behind them earning them some very questioning looks, surprisingly Jiyong doesn’t try to wiggle free but the hushed ‘I hate you’ and ‘after you’ve fed me don’t even think about talking to me ever again’ that come from an angry Jiyong have a smile playing on Soojoo’s lips.

Once they’re outside Jiyong is finally placed on the floor and trusted to walk on his own, or so he thinks. He smooths the newly formed wrinkles out from his shirt and goes to put his hands into his pockets but they’re caught just before he can. “What the f-“ His left hand is squeezed painfully hard before he can finish what he was saying and he turns to see who the culprit is. His brows furrow when he realises it’s Youngbae that’s holding his hand, that one anyway.

“Why?” Jiyong waves they’re linked hands in Youngbae’s face.

“It’s a sure fire way of making sure you don’t run away.” Youngbae smiles and Jiyong scowls.

“I’m not a child, let go of me!” Jiyong stomps his feet and shakes his head for added effect.

“Wow, stop acting like one then.” Soojoo links her fingers with Jiyong’s on his other hand and he whines so desperately it even shocks him.

“Shut up, we’re taking you to that bakery you love just down the street.”

“Oh!” Jiyong suddenly sounds chipper, straightens himself up and begins to lead the way, hand in hand with his friends.

“How come you’re back so early, Soo? I thought you were supposed to be away for 2 weeks?” Jiyong’s decided to drop his mood and actually talk to his friends now, his ‘hissy fits’ never really last long anyway but the promise of pastries from his favourite eatery in the city softened him a little earlier than he’d have liked, but he’ll deal with how easy he is at a later date.

“Oh! We got banned from all the clubs and figured it wasn’t gonna be fun anymore so I came back.” She laughs and shakes her head as she explains.

“Wait, what?” Youngbae leans forward so he can see past Jiyong and look at Soojoo to see if she’s being genuinely serious or not. “You got banned from every club in Ibiza in 4 days?”

“Not every club, just every club within drunken stumbling distance from my hotel.”

Jiyong’s gaze joins Youngbae’s and they’re both looking at her incredulously and Jiyong’s not sure if he wants to high five her or slap her beautiful face, maybe it’s a good thing both of his hands are otherwise occupied, he thinks.

Jiyong is listing off all of his favourite pastries and cakes from the bakery they’re headed (in no particular order) but freezes just after Glazed Cinnamon Roll. They’re opposite the bakery and the through the window that takes up majority of the front wall Jiyong can see someone sitting at a table enjoying coffee and a cake. But it’s not just anyone. It’s Seunghyun. Jiyong doesn’t quite believe it and he watches as Seunghyun wipes the cake crumbs from his mouth. It’s definitely him, Jiyong’s watched that mouth for countless hours so he’s confident he’d know it anywhere. Jiyong has to try and play it cool, if he tells his friends they’d do something fatal and embarrass him in front of his dream man. Except he’s not just Jiyong’s dream man anymore because he’s real and he’s right there and Jiyong thinks he might explode any minute now.

Youngbae and Soojoo had been talking amongst themselves while Jiyong’s internal freak out was happening and for that he is beyond thankful. He risks a brief glance at each of his friends faces and watches them talk as they cross the street (Jiyong hopes Seunghyun stays as focused on his cake as he was before because he’s still hand in hand with his friends) but it doesn’t seem like they’ve noticed Seunghyun and Jiyong breathes a sigh of relief.

“You coming in?” Soojoo asks Jiyong and it’s only then that he realises he’s been stood outside the door to the bakery, just staring. “I’m uh, I’m gonna smoke before we eat.” Apparently that’s reason enough for his friends and they both drop his hands and head inside. “Was it a cinnamon roll you wanted?” Youngbae asks and Jiyong nods and wipes his sweaty palms on his jeans. He pulls a crumpled packet of cigarettes out from his pocket, flicks it open and places one between his lips. He lights it up and takes a hefty drag hoping to god that this helps calm his nerves.

Youngbae catches up to Soojoo who’s already queuing and eyeing up the wide variety of delicious cupcakes. “Do you see him?” Youngbae whispers excitedly into Soojoo’s ear, his tip toes struggling to keep him up for much longer. Soojoo turns around and leans down a little to help her tiny friend out. “Over there, table by the window,” Youngbae throws a thumb over his shoulder in a subtle attempt at pointing out the guy he wants Soojoo to see and he assumes she’s realised who he’s talking about with the inhumane squeaking sound that leaves her.

“Order for us, I can’t pass up this perfect opportunity.” Soojoo slams her purse into Youngbae’s chest and makes her way over to the table by the window.

“Hey! You’re Seunghyun, right?” She has a hand on her hip and smile that’s so fake Seunghyun would be offended if she wasn’t so beautiful. He picks up a tissue from the table and wipes his mouth with it, nodding before speaking “I am, do I know you?” Soojoo huffs out a laugh and smiles a little more genuinely at him “You don’t, but my friend over there knows you.” Soojoo points out of the window to a pacing Jiyong and Seunghyun turns his head to look, he’s no lip reader but he’s pretty sure he can see the boy is chanting “” over and over again. “Oh? He doesn’t look familiar to me, I’m sorry.”

Youngbae finishes paying, grabs the bag of goodies and heads over to Soojoo and Seunghyun.
“How’s it going?” Seunghyun shoots Soojoo a cautious look. “How’s what going?” He raises a thick eyebrow to show he’s clearly not impressed with whatever is going on here. Youngbae sighs and passes Soojoo her purse and the bag of food and takes a seat opposite Seunghyun. “What my wonderful friend here was trying to say is, that boy outside wanted us to give you his number because he’s interested in you.” Seunghyun’s faces goes from obviously uncomfortable to pleasantly surprised. “Oh!” Seunghyun’s voice come out high and happy and he’s smiling so much his eyes have disappeared. Youngbae shoots Soojoo a look that says ‘was this such a good idea?’ and she just shrugs.

Seunghyun turns around to get another look at Jiyong, he’s not pacing anymore but he’s still swearing and for some strange reason Seunghyun is endeared by him. “Sure, I’ll take his number. He’s very cute and I’ve been having a particularly dry spell…” Soojoo makes a noise of disgust, “Weather puns? Really?” Seunghyun laughs this weird, dorky laugh at his own joke and Soojoo rolls her eyes so hard it’s almost painful.

Soojoo and Youngbae share a look.

“You’re perfect for him.”

I am SO sorry about leaving it so long between updates on this fic but I already have some of chapter 3 written up so hopefully it won't be half as long until it's updated again! 
A huge shoutout to Das for believing in this fic and giving me the motivation to actually keep writting, I love you ;3; ♥
I hope this makes sense and ~flows~ as well as I think it does? Let me know what you think, it'd be greatly appreciated 

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