When the mobile phone next to his hand pings with a new text, Taekwoon almost falls off his chair in surprise.

It’s been four days since he signed up to the Songbird’s website and two days since the Songbird sent him a message in which he thanked Taekwoon for signing up and asked for his Kakao ID so they could chat there. The message was full of unnecessary emojis and tildes, and ended with an “xoxo, your Songbird”, forcing Taekwoon to stifle a hysterical laugh.

He gulps down some of his now cold latte to calm himself and takes the cheap, bad quality smartphone—a tool he was given to execute the investigation—into his hand, swiping up with a clammy finger to unlock the screen.

~Songbird~
hi Leo~~

He squints at the cheesy alias he’s chosen to use (if this person is a Songbird, Taekwoon might as well be something big and scary that would eat a ing bird for dessert), and looks around in the office to see if someone is looking. Sanghyuk, on his right, is immersed in a video of weird game characters instead of actually working, so he takes a deep breath and replies.

Leo
hi

~Songbird~
is something wrong? :^(

Leo
no, why do you think something’s wrong?

~Songbird~
just the simple hi :/
i hope my message didn’t upset you, i was actually so surprised by your emotional letter~ hehe

Leo
oh I was just… ugh
I might have got a little carried away with that letter

~Songbird~
it’s okay it was really cute :3
i really liked the part where you wrote you’d like to take me out for a nice dinner and kiss me goodnight afterwards^^
you seem so sweet ♥

Leo
thank you

~Songbird~
are you by any chance replying to me in such short sentences bc you’re shy? haha

Taekwoon puts the phone on the desk and drags his hands over his face, hating how his stomach is in knots from this whole thing. He’s never been a good communicator, neither has he been good at texting people in a smooth way, especially not if he was supposed to sound flirty. Maybe this is the point where he should hand the phone over to Sanghyuk to dig into the Songbird's ID specifications, or maybe he should just drop the phone into the toilet, possibly attempt to drown himself in the sink afterwards, but he sniffles instead and drinks the rest of his awful latte before taking the phone into his hands again.

Leo
I’m not very good at texting people
talking to you like this makes me a little flustered

~Songbird~
OMG so cute!!
u don’t need to be flustered sweetheart
you’re doing great! :)
would it be better if i sent u a kiss?

Taekwoon all but chokes on his own saliva and Sanghyuk glances at him from the corner of his eye, ignoring him anew and going back to his video when Taekwoon stops coughing. His fingers are trembling on the screen when he types up his answer.

Leo
I giess
*guess

More than a minute passes without a new text and Taekwoon feels all the blood leaving his body to creep up into his cheeks, making him blush furiously. He shakes his legs nervously under the desk and his heart is going crazy and he’s just so ing angry with himself for being such an anxious piece of —he might even be a little excited and it just makes him all the more annoyed.

~Songbird~ sent a video

The small clip shows a pair of pretty, plush and very pink lips that are pursed and they get as close to the camera as possible, a very loud smacking sound coming from the speakers of the phone. Taekwoon mutes the damn thing as fast as his jittery fingers let him, and when he looks back down at the screen, he sees the lips parting, revealing snow white teeth as the Songbird smiles sweetly.

And Taekwoon is mesmerized.

He replays the video three times, trying to imagine how the Songbird looks like, but he’s lost and all he can think of is that genuine smile and the little air kiss.

His legs stop shaking.

~Songbird~
better now?^^

Leo
it was
cute

~Songbird~
honestly you’re so adorable~~
I hope you’d still wanna kiss me after that dinner date

Leo
yeah, I would
your lips are pretty

~Songbird~
aww thanks
i gtg now but i’ll get back to you soon
sweet dreams honey ♥

Leo
good night

Another night ends with Taekwoon headbutting his desk.