Ji Chang Wook slowly stirs his coffee. Usually he likes it black; but tonight he had busied himself adding both cream and sugar so he could pretend to be occupied for another few minutes. For some reason tonight he feels tongue-tied and uncertain.

With his close friends, Ji Chang Wook is loud and boisterous. But, in moments when he is nervous, he is affected by that same old shyness from his days as a lonely, bespectacled boy. He’s worked hard over the years to overcome it; yet, there are times where he just can’t find the words to say.

He steals a glance at Nam Ji Hyun who is smiling and chatting with Tae Joon. His friend’s presence had seemed an annoyance earlier, but now, he was rather grateful for it. If Tae Joon had not been here he would have been left alone to deal with his awkwardness. Thankfully, his friend was holding up the bulk of the conversation while he sat silent like a dunce.

Nam Ji Hyun in turn had noticed his quietness. Was he upset, she wondered? She had smiled and looked to him when they had been talking about the unusually cold March weather. This was currently a favorite topic for most Seoulites; but, he had yet to say anything. Then, she remembered how nervous and somewhat shy he had been at the Seoul Music Awards. Ah, of course. Her heart softened even more.

“Chang Wook-shi,” she ventured “I just saw your movie Fabricated City. It was amazing. All my friends enjoyed it.  Including and most especially the guys. I’m not ashamed to admit I’m a fan of your work.”

“Ah, thank you” Chang Wook nods, slightly abashed. His ears do pick up on the mention of “guy” friends though.

“Are you a fan of action movies?” Tae Joon asks her, unintentionally stealing the conversation away.

“I am," she nods. "I definitely like many types of movies if the plot is good. But, what I also really like about your movie, Chang Wook-shi, is that the lead hacker is female. I’ve played a lot of online games myself so it was refreshing to see a different image of a gamer.”

Chang Wook smiles, remembering the long yet exciting days of filming his first movie. 

“Eun Kyung-shi worked really hard for that role. She never used a gaming console before, so it was pretty funny when the crew tried to teach her. You play?” he asks with interest.

JiHyun nods and rattles off a few of her favorites: World of Warcraft, Diablo and, for sure, Overwatch.

“How about Winning Eleven?” asks Chang Wook with a gleam in his eye

“Of course. Master League; Arsenal, 35/21/15 ”

Chang Wook nods, impressed at her record. The online soccer game had been his latest obsession and even he had not notched as many wins.

“You loaded that team kit yourself? Customized stats?”

“Yup, and I made sure my forward looked like Olivier Giroud”, she grins.

A girl after his own heart, except for the Olivier Giroud part.

“We’ll have to play sometime,” he offers.

“You bet,” she beams and the next thing he knows, they are fist-bumping.

Tae Joon joins in at that point and before he realizes it they are easily chatting as if they’d all known each other for far longer. She is a girl full of smiles, and he can’t help noticing that he himself has been grinning endlessly.

Soon they are sitting in comfortable silence, finishing off the last of their drinks. As Chang Wook is wondering how time could have gone by so quickly, JiHyun puts down her mug and looks at him thoughtfully.

“Ji Chang Wook-sunbaenim” she starts.

Chang Wook, shakes his head a little at that.

"No, I'm not a sunbae." For some reason, he feels much closer now and he doesn't like the sound of the formal 'sunbae' on her lips.

"JiHyun, we're friends now. Just call him 'Oppa'. Look, he's dying for you to say it." Tae Joon teases. Chang Wook's ears turn bright red but he doesn't quite deny it.

"Er.. JiHyun -shi," he stammers, "I, we... what I'm trying to say is that, technically you are an acting sunbae to both of us. So instead of being so formal we should, um, we should try to be closer. For the sake of the drama. I mean." He mumbles this last bit, his face reddening

JiHyun, smiles mischievously, enjoying his cute embarassment.

"Alright, Oppa" she teases, though she quite understands. It's always a tricky thing to agree to be closer in their strict hierarchical society. Usually people didn't migrate to 'Oppa' territory the first day they meet so it was no wonder he was blushing. She thought it ws cute. But, then again she thought everything about him was cute.

"Chang Wook-Oppa. You must call me JiHyun like all my friends do. You too Tae Joon-Oppa" she adds quickly

Then she remembers there was something important she had to say, before she had gotten distracted.

"Chang Wook-Oppa," she starts.

He leans forward a little, relishing quite a bit the way she says those words. 

She takes a deep breath. While they had been laughing and chatting earlier, a part of her had been examining herself and the situation, analyzing her own reactions. Her heart is sure now. While these feelings won't go away overnight, she feels certain that she is strong enough to endure. They can be friends. They are friends.

With a nod she takes the plunge. "I will do it. This project, Suspicious Partner; I would like to do it" 

Chang Wook hadn't realized how much it mattered until he felt a huge sense of relief rushing through him.

"I’m very, very honored," she continued. "It's a great script and a great character. So thank you for offering me this opportunity. Let’s work well together.”

She bows formally to both him and Tae Joon who laughs and gets up to give her a high five. At this she laughs as well and soon there are high fives all around.

Awash in a surge of happiness, Chang Wook soaks in her smile and the sound of her laugh. How amazing, he wonders. He'll be spending the next four months with her.

He feels like one lucky bastard. 

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Author's Note: Olivier Giroud, because he is french and I don't need a reason. 😍