Requested by: bloopgloop

OC name: Lee Jieun 

By: ch27

The busy restaurant was even more crowded as soon as the team went in. They talked with happy smiles on each faces. When they finally found a table, they took a seat with chatters.

“I’m so glad you can make it, Kihyun-ssi” Jenna, one of the coworker, said, bowing a bit with a wide smile. The said man nodded without much word to say.

The girl retreated and went back to talk to her friends. Jieun secretly watched her cold boss from the corner of her eyes. He was sitting there, just eyeing the employees who were busy with themselves. After ordering the food, there was not much to do.

“So, we’re here because of our success in opening a new branch!” Minhyuk clapped, followed by the rest of the team. “It’s all thanks to our great boss, Yoo Kihyun!” he cheered, urging Kihyun to talk.

“Ah, it’s not just because of me, it’s because of the team’s great work” Kihyun bowed, not even a sign of smile.

“Ay, don’t be so stiff, Kihyun-ssi” Minhyuk teased, hugging the man by the neck.

Jieun smiled. The two were close even before Kihyun got the title, their friendship was already known to the whole company. She chuckled when Minhyuk pulled Kihyun by force to the conversation. It was always a mystery to her on to why two opposite people could be a best friend.

“I’m so glad our new branch received a good feedback,” Bomi whispered to Jieun. “Yeah” she smiled.

“Look at that handsome face, I’m glad Minhyuk-ssi was able to convince our boss to come” Bomi sighed dreamily, nudging Jieun, which earned a laugh from the latter.

“It was rare for him to come, I know” Jieun gave her friend a look.

Minhyuk suddenly stand up, earning the attention of the team.

“To celebrate this, let’s order drinks!” he cheered.

“Yeah!”

When midnight was almost there, the table was full of drunken people. Most of them couldn’t even lift their head from the table.

“Kihyun, did you see the stars?” Minhyuk asked, he pointed to the ceilings, his eyes half opened. Kihyun sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “All I see was drunken people” he answered, eyeing the man who giggled at his answer.

“It’s not even funny” he stated, still eyeing the man. Despite the small words from the sober man, the drunk guy continued to chuckle on his own.

Kihyun examined his surroundings, everyone was out from the world except for himself, which is the exact reason on why he didn’t even touch a single glass. Who will take care of them if no one is sober? Besides, he didn’t have any reason to drink.

With a sigh, Kihyun began to each member of the team to their taxis that he had called for each of them. He closed the door when Minhyuk was already settled in the taxi. Minhyuk waved at him with a drunken smile.

Kihyun watched as the taxi started to drive away. He looked back, seeing the only girl he hadn’t yet. With a sigh and a shake of head, he walked back to the empty restaurant.

He gently pulled her and helped her stand on her feet. She grunted and swatted his hands away. Still, he didn’t budge and walked her to a taxi.

“Who are you?” she asked in a hoarse voice, her eyes were closed.

Instead of answering, he opened the taxi’s door and putted her inside. She quickly fell onto the seat and continued her sleep. After telling the taxi driver her address, he closed the door and walked inside, not sparing another glance.

Kihyun silently praised his memory on remembering his coworker’s address. When he went in to retrieve his suit, a purse came in his view.

“Great, I forgot her purse”

***

Jieun cursed loudly when she realized it was 10 am already, which meant she was late for work. Two hours late. And it wasn’t a good impression to her boss.

She knew exactly how strict he is.

At the time she finally arrived at her office—which is 40 minutes later, she was surprised when she saw only 2 of her coworkers. It should be around 7, including herself.

“Where’s everyone?” Jieun asked as she putted her bag down, looking straight at Jenna. The girl shrugged. “Must have been very drunk,”

Jieun almost rolled her eyes. “You were very drunk too” she mumbled so only she could hear it.

When she was looking through her bag, she couldn’t find her purse anywhere. Panic started to surge within her when seconds and seconds passed without her finding it.

“Jenna, did you see my purse?” she quickly looked at her coworker with panic in her eyes.

Jenna shook her head before turning back to her monitor.

With panic, Jieun started to recall when the last time she took her purse out. She remembered didn’t hold it this morning. It should be in her bag the whole time. The last time she took it was last night, when she was at the restaurant.

“Oh no” she mouthed. It was going to be a disaster if she really forgot it there.

Without much thinking, Jieun quickly picked up her car’s key and rushed out.

“Ow!” she grunted when her body collided with something, or someone. “Oh, Kihyun-ssi” she quickly bowed when she realized it was her boss.

“What’s with the rush?” he asked.

Her eyes flitted to the man’s hand which held a familiar looking purse. She quickly gasped with wide eyes.

Don’t tell me he looked through it.

Kihyun noticed her gaze and held her purse up. “I believe this is yours” Without much words, Jieun nodded in fear. He eyed her sharply and gave the purse to her before going back to his office.

She watched him leave, waiting for something that didn’t happen. When the man was out from her view, she quickly opened her purse, and the first thing she saw was his photo. With a frustrated sigh, she cursed herself.

“Why did I put his photo in?” she whined to herself. “I hope he didn’t go through my purse, it’s going to be embarrassing” she raked her hair in frustration.

***

It was months since the drunken incident, and everything went smoothly as if it was nothing—which is maybe what Kihyun thought.

“Let’s drink to celebrate our success!” Minhyuk was the one that cheered and suggested for a toast.

The rest of the team toasted, including Kihyun. They laughed before taking a shot, not for him though. Without words, he just shoved the drink into his throat.

“Do you want more?” Jieun quickly smiled and shook her head. “I can help myself, thank you” she chuckled. The guy in front of her just sent her one of his famous smile.

Bomi nudged her friend, giving her a teasing look. Jieun frowned and mouthed her to stop it.

“Myungsoo-ssi, do you fancy this girl over here?” Bomi asked straight-forwardly, pointing to Jieun with her thumb.

“Oohhh” the team whooped, paying attention to the three immediately.

Myungsoo chuckled, shaking his head a bit. “It’s not a perfect question for a new worker like me, don’t you think?” he quibbled, offering a smile.

“Aw” Bomi leaned back in disappointment. The team laughed, leaving Jieun uncomfortable in her seat. She secretly glanced at her boss, who just like she guessed, was drinking without even caring about his surroundings.

She frowned a little. It wasn’t like him at all, to drink wildly like that. Something was wrong.

By midnight,  Kihyun was the most drunk. Minhyuk watched his friend with amused eyes. Kihyun couldn’t stop taking another shot after another, it looked like he wasn’t breathing at all.

“You’re drunk enough,” Minhyuk stopped him from taking another shot. Instead of complying, he glared at his best friend, forcing another shot.

“Yah” Minhyuk frowned, taking the glass away from the drunken man.

“Is something wrong?” Bomi asked, realizing how her boss looked like he was in a deep stress. Minhyuk shook his head. “I don’t know”

He then turned to the others. “Maybe it’s time to go home” he declared, giving his team a bright smile. “See you tomorrow!” he waved.

The team started to leave one by one. Jieun slung her sling bag around her shoulders, talking to Bomi. They laughed and started to leave when Myungsoo came beside her.

“You’ll go home with Bomi-ssi, right?” he asked her.

Jieun blinked and nodded. “I.. think so” she was confused by his sudden question. He smiled sweetly and nodded.

They immediately looked back when they heard a loud slamming noise. Kihyun just slammed his glass down, creating a loud noise. Minhyuk gave him a worried look. He tried to take the glass away, but their boss just wouldn’t give it away.

“Okay I give up” Minhyuk threw his hands in the air.

Bomi urged Jieun to move forward, leaving the scene behind. She looked past her shoulder for the last time, and she saw a sad look in Kihyun’s face. Biting her lips, she went out with Bomi.

“What’s wrong? You never told me anything,” Minhyuk frowned, feeling really concerned with his best friend. Instead of answering, Kihyun just blankly stared at the table, his eyes empty. “You never acted like this before”

“I’ll.. I’ll talk to him, Minhyuk-ssi”

Minhyuk’s head snapped up, surprised by the sudden appearance. “Oh, I thought you left with Bomi-ssi earlier” he gave her a small smile.

Jieun returned the smile, holding the strap of her sling bag nervously. She was thinking whether it was right for her to do that. Minhyuk glanced at the drunken man beside him, then glanced at the nervous girl in front of him.

“Are you sure? I mean, you’re not that close to him either..” he trailed, looking unsure. “I’ll—I’ll try, I think you deserved some rest, Minhyuk-ssi” she gave him a nervous smile, praying he would just bought her reason.

Minhyuk nodded slowly and took his suit, giving her a smile before walked out from the restaurant. When the two was finally alone, Jieun stared Kihyun. He wasn’t doing anything besides eyeing the table blankly.

“Kihyun-ssi, let’s go home,” she said gently, taking his glass out of his grip. Surprisingly, he complied. The glass was easily taken away from him.

Gently, she helped him stand on his feet and held his coat on another arm. After struggling with his weight, they finally were able to leave the restaurant. She noticed that he didn’t intend on walking on his own.

“Can you walk by yourself?” she asked, facing him.

He just shook his head.

“Then should I you home?” she asked once again. A weak nod was the answer.

When a taxi arrived, they went in. She didn’t know his address though.

“Where do you live?” she asked, even though she didn’t expect a straight and normal answer. Amazingly, he told his address as if he wasn’t drunk. Actually, he didn’t even look like he was drunk.

She started doubting whether he’s really drunk or not.

When they arrived at his apartment however, he stumbled upon trying to seat on the sofa. Jieun putted his coat near him and was about to leave when he suddenly held her wrist. She was jerked back so she was sitting beside him.

“Kihyun-ssi,” she called, afraid that he wasn’t fully aware of his actions. He turned to her, giving her a stern gaze. She immediately backed away.

“Why did you do this to me?” he suddenly asked, his voice was dead serious.

She began to panic, thinking she had done something terrible without her realizing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know if I made any mistakes” she bowed her head.

Kihyun leaned back to the sofa, saying incoherent words. His gaze turned sad as he stared at empty space.  After waiting for a few seconds, she thought it was best for her to leave. It was actually hard for her to not ask him further about it, but she realized they weren’t close in the first place.

“I’m going to leave, have a good sleep, Kihyun-ssi” she stood up and bowed before turning to leave.

Her heart grew heavier within each step. She wanted to hug him, but she was afraid he would remember the next day, and treated her differently.

Out of nowhere, she was turned around and a pair of lips collided onto hers. Widening her eyes in shock, she saw his closed eyes. It felt surreal for her, and she was sure her mind started to burn from so much thinking.

When he finally pulled away, he laid his head on her shoulder. “I don’t like it when you’re near him” he said softly.

“I..” she trailed, unable to say a word. Her mind was having a race with her heart, it was running the same speed, she was confused herself.

A soft breathing tickled her shoulder, and that’s when she realized he was sleeping. Gently, she escorted him to the sofa and covered him with a blanket she found on his room. Smiling, she brushed his hair. After giving a kiss on his forehead, she left.

It went longer than I intended to, again._. sorry but I hope you enjoyed it!