Xu Minghao liked his job.

He was a graphic designer at Seventeen Studios, one of the many magazine companies in South Korea. He was fresh out of college, yet somehow managed to score a spot in the firm. It was a bit odd at first— being a quiet Chinese kid at a rather energetic design firm— but the rest of the company warmed up to him quickly. His head designer, Jeonghan, was particularly kind and caring and was great at teaching him, even if he teased a lot, too. Everybody was in general really great guys, easy to get along with, and people Minghao liked being around.

Except for one.

If Minghao had the chance, he would have whacked the back of Wen Junhui's head weeks ago, maybe even around when they first met. Unfortunately, the other Chinese boy was still in some unbelievable way, older than him apart from just being his senior, and Minghao was taught to respect his elders. Although again, respect didn't come easy from him when it came to Junhui, because the obnoxiously blonde haired boy was just so ridiculously immature, as if every fiber of his being was bent on annoying the hell out of Ming—

"Haohao, you're speaking your thoughts out loud again," Junhui said, feigning a look of hurt as he stood by Minghao's desk. He patted Minghao's hair a few times and continued, "I'm not out to get you, honest!"

Minghao quickly swatted the hand away, "then stop calling me Haohao!"

"Do you prefer Xiao Haohao?"

"I'd prefer nothing."

"But you're not nothing to me," Junhui replied in a sing-song voice without missing a beat.

"Jun, stop harassing Minghao," a kind voice said from beside him. Minghao thanked the heavens that he was placed next to Jisoo, who was one of the nicest guys in the studio. He would have suffered from high blood pressure if it were Junhui. Actually, the blonde male wasn't even supposed to be on the same floor as them— he was a writer, not a designer— but Junhui was always flitting around the building that on some days, nobody really reprimands him anymore.

Junhui pouted, "I'm being serious, though!"

"Take it somewhere else, Junhui," a much sterner voice said. "Specifically, your actual floor."

Again, Minghao was glad to be surrounded by such nice people who weren't increasingly annoying. The person who just spoke was Jihoon, who was great at intimidating pretty much everybody he met, but in the inside he was a real softie. However, that cold stare still worked wonders, and Junhui gave a resigned sigh soon after. Most of them knew not to mess with Jihoon before he’s had his coffee, too.

"Fineeee," Junhui whined, and again Minghao wondered how he was a year older than him.

"Good riddance," Minghao muttered under his breath, just loud enough for the two of them.

Junhui's unwavering smile meant he either didn't hear it or just didn't seem to mind, because he patted Minghao's head one more time for good measure, earning another annoyed scowl.

"See you later, Haohao!”

/

The first time Minghao met Junhui, he actually had a good impression of him.

Minghao was whisked into the building’s lunch room shortly after arriving for his first day at work.  The rest of the current staff were already there, having been informed earlier on. He eyed a total of twelve other boys, and a smaller handful of girls, all of which were staring at him as he entered. He was introduced by Jeonghan to the rest of the company: the other designers, the layout artists, the photographers, the editors, and the writers.

They all introduced themselves with waves of hi’s and hello’s, with Minghao trying his best to remember all of their names and faces.

“You’re not the only Chinese around here, by the way,” Jeonghan said cheerily, pointing to someone near the corner of the room.

Even without Jeonghan’s pointing, the guy stood out immediately— tall, blonde, with golden tan skin that gave him some kind of Californian beach boy vibe. His summery look was contrasted by the thick rimmed glasses he wore and the grey cardigan that screamed hipster. He gave a quick smile when Minghao met his eyes, beckoning him closer with a hand.

Minghao glanced nervously at Jeonghan, who merely laughed.

“Go on, you’ll like him.”

With those few words of encouragement, Minghao scuffled over to where Junhui was chatting up one of the female staff writers. Minye— at least that’s the name Minghao remembered— gave him a smile and a quick greeting, before rushing off somewhere, probably to leave the two alone. He looked up at Junhui, trying his best not to look too awkward or too shy, wanting to give off a good first impression as well, when the other boy decided to speak first.

“Wow, you look like a puppy. Can you be mine?”

The good impression was immediately shattered.

From then on, and anybody can testify to this, Minghao had done his best to avoid Junhui whenever possible. Simultaneously, it seemed, Junhui had made it a personal mission to not leave Minghao alone. The thing is, Junhui proved to be much better than Minghao when it came to achieving what they wanted. Soon, it went without saying that wherever Minghao is, Junhui was sure to be. Thus started Minghao’s problem with Junhui. If it could be called a problem at all, that is.

The thing is, Junhui was definitely charming. He was absolutely infectious when it came to his positive outlook in life, which was always good to have around. He wasn’t exactly hard on the eyes, either. The artist in Minghao had to admit to staring at his good facial structure (for research purposes incase he wanted to draw, of course) and admiring the way the colour of his tan skin would shift according to the light. He was nice, too. A bit too forward for Minghao’s introvert tastes, but would never actually overstep boundaries.

Junhui was, sometimes, alright.

He’d leave small pastries or cups of coffee whenever he knew Minghao was going to be working late. On days Minghao forgets to bring his umbrella, Junhui is sure to offer him his even if he only brought one— Minghao never agreed, feeling quite bad about it despite himself, which would only lead to Junhui wistfully saying that one day he wishes to share the umbrella with Minghao, walking somewhere together. Minghao would promptly leave him right after.

Bold, obvious, but sometimes alright.

/

It took Minghao a moment to register that, if luck was on his side, he was actually not supposed to see Junhui for the rest of the day. Work ended in an hour for the designer team, given that they could always work at home for the most part, anyway. Things with the writers were a bit harder, depending on their work load. Junhui was mainly involved in the touristy bits of the magazine, stuff that showed off South Korea’s scenery and cuisine, but sometimes when given the chance he’d do movie reviews. He was also always complaining about writer’s block, which would just attack him out of the blue even after writing out two pages of an article.

Maybe that was why he was always flitting around, bored out of his mind, waiting for some writing inspiration to come through.

Usually, he worked with the photographer team consisting of Mingyu and Seokmin, both of whom usually spend their shifts outside the building and along the streets and other places, taking photos and what not. He was the only writer for the magazine’s international feature. That must also be why Junhui’s considerably lonely. Minghao knew (thanks to Junhui’s loud complaining) that he had an article due that day that he hasn’t finished yet, and that the writer’s head Wonwoo strictly said he can’t leave his office without it being done.

With that knowledge, and the small hope that the other Chinese boy actually stays on his assigned floor, Minghao figured he wouldn’t see Junhui anymore.

That was, until the magazine’s overall director, Seungcheol, called for him before he left.

“Yeah?” Minghao asked, popping into Seungcheol’s office He had longed since stopped being too formal with Seungcheol, as per his request. He wanted to be a cool boss, apparently. “Chan said you needed to see me?”

Seungcheol waved a hand for him in sit on one of the chairs in front of him, and he does so silently. The overall head of the firm wasn’t as scary as Minghao first thought him out to be. Originally, Minghao had been extremely intimidated by the dark eyes and how he seemed to be a walking sack of toned muscle. However soon, and thanks to everybody else’s comments, it was clear that if anything Seungcheol was nothing more than a big puppy, happy to lead and to help.

"So," Seungcheol started to say. "How's working around here so far?"

Minghao gave a polite smile, "it's been fun. Pretty enjoyable. Work’s not too bad.”

All he’s done so far were small illustrations for some of the articles or an online advertisement here and there. Usually, he’d make small comics for the advice section headed by Seungkwan. A few times he helped the layout team when they asked, knowing he was into that sort of thing as well. Nothing too big, not like he was ever assigned a full article to design himself or anything, anyway.

"Think you're ready for a full project?”

"What? Already?"

"Sure," Seungcheol gave a warm smile, but there was a mischievous twinkle in his eye that made Minghao fidget in his seat a little bit. "What better way to prep you up some more, right? It’s less design work and more on easing yourself into the company a little more. Get to know everybody else, form more bonds, you feel me?”

No, Minghao wanted to say. I do not feel you.

Instead he nods, wondering where Seungcheol was going since he was a designer and he said less design work, but he’ll take it if it meant he still gets pay anyway, “sure, boss.”

“We're hoping the magazine can feature something different, like giving a more personal feel to the tourist section so we can reach out to more people. So I'll be putting you up with a suitable team—“

Minghao hoped he didn't make his reaction too obvious when it came to what immediately came into his mind when he heard the words "tourist" and "team" in the same string of words. He was a Chinese tourist, technically, he’s only lived in Korea for a few years. Who else was Chinese? Junhui was Chinese. Amazing. He was close to losing all hope until he remembered Jisoo a.k.a Joshua Hong was from America, so doesn’t that make him some kind of tourist too despite being Korean? Does he count?

"Minghao?"

Minghao blinked, face impassive, ”yes, sir?"

“You’re doing the thing where you voice out your thoughts again,” Seungcheol said, chuckling.

A slight flush crept up Minghao cheeks as he mumbled an apology that Seungcheol dismissed with a wave of his hand, that sparkle in his eyes back and more suspicious than ever.

“I’ve had Chan call the rest of the team in already. They should be here soon.”

/

Minghao was unfortunately correct about his assumptions the moment Junhui entered the room. He thought he was safe for a few seconds; Jisoo had entered first, followed by Hansol and even Seungkwan— something about the Jeju boy needing some Seoul experience— and everything was nice and quiet. No sign of Junhui in sight. Until there was a loud crash by the door and an unfortunately familiar mop of blonde hair popped in.

“Sorry I’m late!” Junhui said as he entered. He spotted Minghao right after and beamed, “Haohao! Can I sit beside you?”

“No.”

“It’s the only empty seat.”

Minghao glanced around to see that the other boys had in fact, occupied the seats around and across him, but not the one beside him. Jisoo in particular took the seat next to that one, offering Minghao an apologetic smile even though he was clearly amused nonetheless. Maybe he wasn’t so nice and angelic after all. Traitors, all of them.
“It’s still a no,” Minghao said to no avail, because Junhui had decided to occupy the seat next to him, regardless. The other Chinese boy easily filled in the space between to them, throwing an arm around the back of Minghao’s chair, barely touching him. It was still enough for Minghao to lean forward as much as he can, suddenly terribly distracted by the heat the blonde was emitting. He went back to trying his best to focus as Seungcheol explained the project once more.

“I’ll be splitting you guys, so,” Seungcheol didn’t have to continue further for Minghao to figure out what he was going to say, but the Chinese boy listened anyway with a small glimmer of hope.

“China Team and Korea Team!”

The glimmer of hope was gone.

“This is the first time we’re working together!” Junhui exclaimed a bit too happily as he had decided to latch himself next to Minghao as they exited Seungcheol’s office together. The latter stared longingly at the direction Jisoo, Hansol, and Seungkwan had taken; he tried to switch the teams up a bit, but Jisoo claimed he would be lost without Hansol translating for him now and then while Seungkwan didn’t even need to defend himself and had wrapped himself around Hansol, while the other boy laughed, amused.

Junhui had attempted to do the same, but his arm only hovered around a meter away from Minghao before the latter glared at him, clearly not amused in the slightest. The older boy obediently put his arm down.

Minghao groaned, “they’re terrible. This is the worst.”

“It’ll be fun!” Junhui chirped in response, a slight skip in his step as he followed beside Minghao. “I can borrow Gyu’s camera for us, if you want. Would we need an itinerary? Do you think we could ask the others for help on that too? Which do you prefer, food trip or sight seeing?”

“Hansol’s team is already taking the sight seeing bit,” Minghao replied absentmindedly. “Seungkwan said his food loyalty will always remain with Jeju, remember?”

“So food, then? Great, I love the food here, it’s amazing. I could ask Mingyu about that too, I’m sure he knows his stuff— or maybe Soonyoung! I heard his mom owns this restaurant somewhere and—”

“Junhui,” Minghao said with an exasperated sigh after realizing they had stopped at his table, where Junhui wasn’t supposed to be. “Don’t you have that article to do?”

The blonde boy blinked a few times, and it took a few more seconds before his mouth formed an ‘o’ shape. He shot off quickly soon after, but not before cupping Minghao’s face with both hands and calling him an absolute angel for reminding him. Minghao barely had time to react and push Junhui away as the latter disappeared by himself. His cheeks were a bit flushed, as it always ended up being after Junhui’s not-so-subtle movements. Annoying.

“That was cute,” Jeonghan commented with a wicked grin, reminding Minghao of his presence on the floor. “You two finally getting along?”

Minghao huffed, wiling the blush on his cheeks to go down.

“Never.”

/

Normally, weekends were Minghao’s relaxation days. It wasn’t because he had no work— work never stops for a graphic designer, really— but more of because he didn’t have to go to the office. Not going to the office meant he didn’t have to wake up so early in the morning. There was no need for the morning hustle on the train and on the streets on the way to the office building. He could lounge around his apartment in his pajamas if he was feeling extra lazy, but the lack of the need to actually dress up was also pretty good.

It would have been great, if Junhui hadn’t decided to arrive at his doorstep just a few minutes after he woke up, barely awake even after brushing his teeth and washing his face.

“Good morning!” Junhui greeted when Minghao sleepily answered the door, all bright smiles with sunshine emitting from the blonde’s face (or maybe it was his hair).

Minghao promptly shut the door in his face, all traces of sleep gone from his system because what the hell was he doing here and how does he know where I live and I’m still in bunny pajamas. His first order of business was changing into more appropriate house clothes, throwing on a simple shirt and shorts. After deeming himself appropriate enough and then chastising himself for the need to impress because it was just Junhui, after all, Minghao finally went back to the door.

Sure enough, the blonde boy was still there when he opened the door a second time. He didn’t look tired at all (morning people, Minghao thought with slight disgust) but that wasn’t the only thing different. His usual hipster office attire was exchanged for something that actually fit his vibe, with a plain shirt and jeans, void of any cardigan in sight. He had a backpack on that made him look a bit too touristy, but that was acceptable compared to the rest of him. He wasn’t even wearing his glasses, and the change was a bit more than Minghao could take.

Junhui, for lack of a better term, looked good.

“Oh, you changed out of your pajamas!” Junhui noted, bringing Minghao back from his reverie and making him flush. “Too bad, they were pretty cute.”

“What are you doing here, Junhui?” Minghao said, making no move to let the other inside his apartment. “How do you even know where I live?”

Junhui grinned, “Seungcheol gave it to me. We’re a team, remember? I told him we could start today and he gave me the go signal and here I am!”

“You couldn’t have warned me first?”

“I