Dinner was followed by a full course of cuddling on the couch. 

"Come here," Chen had huskily said, pulling Hyejin down on the sofa with him. She fell on top of him easily, and he shifted so they were both squashed onto the sofa, side-by-side. He cradled her in his arms, and she snuggled into his warmth. 

The two of them lay like this, not saying anything for a long while, Chen playing with loose strands of Hyejin's hair and Hyejin falling asleep in his arms. She was tired, and it felt so impossibly comfortable and warm to be pressed against him like this all she wanted to do was fall asleep together and remain like this the rest of her life. 

She didn't know how much time had passed when she felt herself being lifted from the couch by Chen. He had one hand on the bottom of her thighs, and another tightly wrapped around her torso. Hyejin was breathing in the scent of his neck, and it smelt of something amazing, something only Chen could have. 

He put her down gently on the bed, and then made sure the pillow was comfortable under her head, and then tucked her in until the blanket reached her chin. Then Hyejin didn't feel anything else, and was about to whine for him to get into bed together with her (although yes, she had said she didn't want that just now), when she felt the bed beside her sink slightly, then a warm presence nestle close to her. His hair tickled her nose. His nose was buried in her collarbone. His arm hugged her waist. 

She loved everything about it. 

Hyejin stirred the next morning only because she felt ruffling on the side of the bed. It was probably the best sleep she had ever gotten, and she didn't ever want to wake up. 

"Jasmine," she felt a whisper by the side of her ear, tickling her cheek. She furrowed her eyebrows and curled up into a ball, but Chen only held her tighter. 

"We have to wake up for work," Chen said next, and Hyejin groaned. She refused to open her eyes — she couldn't, not when it was so cozy right now. 

"Wake up," he tried again, his lips brushing her ear with every word spoken. "Or I'll kiss you." 

As if that would get her up. She tucked herself into the crevice of his chest and arm, and she realised her hand was enveloped in his. It seemed like it had been this way the entire night. Then she felt a wet kiss on her neck. It tickled, and sent electricity up her spine, and she had to admit, she was pretty much awake. But she wasn't going to get up, not then. 

Another kiss landed on her jaw, then on her cheek, and the one on her nose was nothing but a little flutter. She smiled. 

But then her hand felt cold because Chen had removed his hand from hers. And the bed sprung up slightly, and her side felt overly exposed because he had gotten up from the bed. She whined softly, finally opening her eyes to little slits. Chen stood at the side of the bed, looking extremely endearing in his messy bed hair and oversized shirt. 

He chuckled, then held out a hand. "Let's go wash up," he said gently, and Hyejin considered it for a moment. But she took his hand immediately when she saw it was going to retract and let him lug her to the washroom. 

Hyejin retrieved a new toothbrush for Chen to use, and he applied toothpaste on both their toothbrushes before giving Hyejin hers. Then they brushed their teeth in silence, together, and there was something so domestic about it that it made her heart swell. 

Chen gargled the toothpaste out of his mouth, and when he was done and all cleaned up, inched closer to Hyejin and rested his chin on her shoulder, watching her brush her teeth from the mirror's reflection. 

"Call me honey," he suddenly said, looking up at her with the most childlike expression ever. 

"Hmm, no," she hummed, then proceeded to wash up. He got up from her shoulder and proceeded to wrap his arms around her waist instead. 

"Then sweetheart, or love, or something." 

"Calling you Chen is like calling you that already. I'm the only one who calls you that, and I'm the only one who can call you whatever pet name you want me to call you, right? So it equates." 

"No," Chen whines, his lips pouting slightly. Cute. 

"Yes." She washes her face again to conceal the smile on her face. 

"It's different." 

"I don't want to. It's so chees– AAHHH!"

Hyejin felt herself being swept off her feet and wrestled to the ground by Chen, whom she did not know was so strong. His arms were tight around her and he hugged her so firmly she felt literally squished. 

"Chen!" She squeezed out in breathless laughter. 

"Still no? You're going to die in my arms today." 

"No!" She exclaimed, just to spite him, but he only squished her harder, and her body was trapped in his embrace, not even being able to wiggle. (It was warm though. Pretty nice to nap in.)

"Hurry and call me honey." 

"My honey." 

Then she felt her sides being freed up. Chen let go of her and inched away slightly, all smiles.  

Hyejin couldn't help but laugh at how absurd this entire situation was. "Geez." 

"Honey," Chen repeated like it was the best thing he had heard his entire life. "I'm your honey now. And you're my sweetheart and my love and my baby and my jasmine and my Hyejin." 

And then still lying on the floor beside her, he leaned in to close the small gap between them, and kissed her fully on the lips, the both of them smiling uncontrollably into the kiss. 

The subway ride to work felt all-too familiar, and more comforting than ever. It was amazing for Hyejin to have someone hold her by the waist again and make sure she doesn't fall anywhere, especially not onto the burly businessman next to her or the old lady in front. She resisted snuggling into Chen's shoulder right there and then — they were so close, and he smelt so good, and he was holding her; it was difficult for her to resist. 

But she did, anyway. They were in public and she knew how people cringed at the arms wrapped around her in a backhug, and his face in her hair which was pulled up into a simple low ponytail. She could literally feel people avoiding looking at them. And, wait — 

People avoiding looking at them? 

That was when she suddenly was hyper-aware of the lips softly brushing against the side of her head. She swerved her head away in shock. 

"Chen! Not here!" 

He whined softly, but stopped anyway, then drew his lips into a small pout. But then his eyes brightened like he suddenly remembered something good, and he looked excited. 

"Jasmine," he chirped. "Do you remember my friends, the three whom we played basketball with? Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo?" 

She nodded. "Yeah, why?" 

"Can I bring you to meet them after work?" 

"I've already met them," she laughed, although she knew what he meant, really. 

He poked her lightly on the nose. "Dumbo, I mean, like, go out with them. To have fun." 

"Sure," she said nonchalantly, then cocked her head at him. "But... Aren't you busy? You were working without break all the way until you left." Hyejin tried not to visualise the exhausted and completely stressed out look Chen had on his face all the way until he got fired. Speaking of it, it seemed he was a lot more relaxed now. 

His face looked genuinely bright as he shook his head. "I don't know why either, but I'm not! It's funny because I thought I would definitely get even more busy when I returned, considering I left a lot of work undone, but it didn't happen. In fact I think the pace at which work is coming at me has slowed down a fair bit. It's so strange." 

"Huh," Hyejin said, slightly confused as well. "But it's good, then." 

"Mhm," he nodded, and the conversation drifted on to other topics slowly, as the train sped its way to WS Building. 

After work, Chen turned up at Hyejin's table and entwined his hand in hers, obstructing her packing up, but she didn’t shake him off. He looked outside for a while, as if to check if anyone was there, then when he made sure it was all silent and private, he dropped a kiss at the tip of her jaw. It tickled. 

Then they went to meet Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo via the subway, even though Kyungsoo had offered to pick the both of them up at the office. Their idea of fun was apparently making a mess out of Chen’s home. 

“Hyejinnnn!” Chanyeol squealed as the door unlocked, dashing to welcome her as if he was the host. Hyejin laughed and waved. The living room was already a mess of snacks and drinks and a questionable half eaten burger. 

“And whose girlfriend is she?” Chen said, swinging an arm around her protectively. He waited for her to remove her shoes, then kept his arm on her shoulder. Baekhyun grinned at Hyejin and gave her an enthusiastic wave from the sofa. 

“The audacity of you all to completely ignore my existence,” Chen muttered, making it intentionally loud enough for everyone to hear. 

“Hyejin, do you want some of these biscuits? They were in Jongdae’s cupboard. They’re really good,” Baekhyun said, offering a packet to Hyejin. 

“Byun Baekhyun!” He exclaimed, appalled. 

“Come, Hyejin, sit down here, there’s lots of good stuff to eat.” Baekhyun tugged Hyejin by the wrist lightly to the sofa, leaving Chen alone and extremely disgruntled. 

“Hey!” 

“Kyungsoo’s in the kitchen preparing dinner. I think Jongdae’s going to get mad when he sees the mess in the kitchen later,” Chanyeol informed with his mouth full, plopping himself beside Hyejin. From the corner of his eyes, he watched Chen dash into the kitchen. His lips curled into a satisfied smile. 

“Finally,” he breathed, then winked at Baekhyun. 

“Interrogation time!” Baekhyun said, his hands splayed. He looked too excited for this, way too excited. Hyejin playfully narrowed her eyes at the two of them. She still felt a little awkward, she had to admit, but this was already counted as extremely comfortable for Hyejin given they had only met a few times. Hyejin would be Hyejin. But one thing’s for sure, she genuinely liked their company.

Chanyeol cleared his throat. “Promise us you’ll answer everything.”

“Hmm.” 

“Promise, quick! Jongdae’s gonna be back anytime and that’s bye-bye to our plans because he’ll whisk you away,” Baekhyun whined slightly, and Hyejin stifled laughter. This was why they were best friends, she guessed. The whining was so similar it was funny. 

“Fine.” 

Baekhyun’s expression changed into one of glee, in a matter of a split second. “Yay!” He cleared his throat (just as Chanyeol did), and stared straight into Hyejin’s eyes, seriousness evident. “What are you planning to name your fifth child?” 

_____________________________________________________

A few months later, when spring had come and gone, and new trainees came in for the summer. 

Chaeyoung her table almost lovingly, it now being rid of the pink bunny shaped balls of fluff she kept on it the entire year. She slumped back in her chair and watched as the other trainees cleaned up the last of whatever was on their desks. 

Jinkyung’s, which was neat, and organised, and always full of documents, seemed especially off being completely void of anything. 

Taehwan’s looked better. Just because it was cluttered initially and no one could stand it besides Jongdae, which was the only reason he didn’t clear anything off. (“Jongdae backs me up! Right buddy?” He would shout over to Jongdae’s table, where he nod his head tentatively, then dismiss him with a swat of the hand.) 

Hyejin’s just looked out of character. Hyejin didn’t have particular quirks about her table. It was just... her. Chaeyoung couldn’t describe it. Human, she guessed. She liked it. A lot, in fact. 

The next day, they would report to their new work stations. They wouldn’t come back to the small office and greet the small man at the desk who always gave them a smile that resembled a kitten. They wouldn’t have to run everywhere doing menial tasks. They wouldn’t have to be so afraid of the seniors working upstairs. They were going to be the seniors. 

Chaeyoung, she couldn’t believe it herself, was going to Publicity — small, squeaky Chaeyoung! She was honestly a little proud of herself; this meant she was no longer seen as the unnoticeable girl who couldn’t do anything but administrative tasks. She was going to publicise things! Honestly, she felt she had come a long way. 

Jinkyung would always be a high flyer no matter where she went. She was assigned to join Research and Development, seen as the elite department by many. Rumours went around that she would be called in as a team leader the next year, and no one doubted it much, really. 

Taehwan was to join Human Resources. Which was a perfect match for him, a people person who loved to interact with others. It seemed only right for him to be assigned there. Employee engagement would be no problem for him. And Chaeyoung only saw the welfare of everyone at WS going up with Taehwan’s addition to the team. 

And Hyejin was assigned to Food Marketing, which, Chaeyoung thought was also an amazing match, simply because it was Jongdae’s original department, and he was going back there as well. And...

“Okay, Hwang Hyejin. It’s our last day here, and tomorrow on we’re not going to be on the bottom of the company hierarchy anymore. So now you gotta confess something,” Taehwan boomed as he thumped the last of his boxes onto the floor. “Jongdae, could you come here for a second as well?” 

Hyejin groaned. “Let’s not make it challenging for me on my last day.”

Jongdae walked up to the trainees, slightly amused. “Yes?”

Taehwan stepped back slightly, then lightly nudged both Jongdae and Hyejin closer together, much to the shock of Hyejin. Then he pretended to think while Chaeyoung giggled at the back, and Jinkyung try to hold back a smile. 

“Hmm... a good match, aren’t you?” He teased, and Hyejin’s face flushed red with embarrassment. Jongdae just looked bemused. 

“Mhm,” Jongdae suddenly said, tugging Hyejin closer to him and holding her by the waist. Chaeyoung and Jinkyung doubled up laughing at the back, while Taehwan looked pure, pure excited.   

“Please kiss,” Chaeyoung squeaked from the back, unable to hold it in. 

And they did. 

________________________________________________

One more year later, when Jinkyung was a team leader of her own, Chaeyoung had found her own love, and Taehwan was especially popular among the female trainees, heavens know why. 

Hyejin and Jongdae were on their usual lunch date at a coffee shop, club sandwiches both in front of them. (“They’re not just lunches,” he insisted. “These are dates.” Then he held her hand in his.) Jongdae watched as Hyejin sipped from her coffee cup, and immediately his mind ran on a track back in memory, where he bought sandwiches from the vending machines in the lobby, and Hyejin couldn’t operate the coffee machine in the office. 

They had upgraded loads, he thought. 

But some things still remained the same. Hyejin still was deceived easily when Jongdae trolled her. Her esteem still attacked her sometimes. He still had days where he was stressed out and tired. And throughout all these, they still were there for each other. 

“I’m so going to marry you,” he blurted, sipping his drink as well. 

“Okay. When?” Hyejin asked, surprisingly composed. 

“Right now. Let’s go get a ring.” 

“Okay.” 

“I love you, jasmine. You know that, right?” 

A giggle. “Mhm. Love you too.” 

[a/n: the end!! thank you thank you thank you for sticking by even after crappy chapters and lousy storylines,, and sorry for posting this last chapter so late oh no i was in shanghai the last ten days and it is a beautiful city but the wifi there doesn’t let me access google and asianfanfics so :(((( hope this story made you smile at least for a bit! thanks once again for giving this your time it’s been a pleasure writing <3 p.s. do y’all want an epilogue/special chapters?]