Monday morning rolled around quicker than Jongin got a chance to fully update his drab wardrobe. Half his old shirts were stained with oil paint and, after a sudden unexpected growth spurt last year, most of his pants had ridden too high to even fall under the category of the popular above-ankle fashion. He'd spent his weekend browsing high end stores and using up his last paycheck in order to buy strangely labeled "cooling fabric" pants and shirts in order to keep up with the lousy aircon in his new building. 8am saw him roll up at the office an hour early to be shown around his new sojourn by "Mr. Lee" before starting his first shift as an information processor and online shopper for the little-known wiring brand where he had found his new vocation. 8.10am and nobody had yet shown up to the dreary office on the 5th floor where Jongin sat awkwardly on an unstable chair in some sort of one-person "waiting area" next to the plethora of same-looking, nondescript desks.

He heard the elevator whirring from a higher floor and his hopes were peaked, standing humbly to greet who he thought would be Mr. Lee. However, rather than his floor manager Lee, Baekhyun walked out of the elevator with wandering eyes which soon fixed on the younger male; the former wearing his slipper-sandals and a laid-back half-suit once more. "Kim Jongin. You're here." he announced, with a small polite bow. "And you're not Mr. Lee." Jongin retorted in a somewhat unintentional snarky manner. "Ah," Baekhyun started, expression feigning surprise, "you didn't mention in your resume that you weren't blind, Kim!?" he mocked sarcastically, clicking his tongue slightly against his pearly teeth afterwards, "Lee is caught up in 'traffic' apparently, or stuck in another domestic argument with the Missus. So you're stuck with me again, showing you how to work a ing computer.." he mused, eyebrow perked up slightly as he flounced past Jongin to an empty desk. The latter noted Baekhyun's short stature, which wasn't obvious before as the older male hadn't even stood to greet him in their first interview.

Jongin followed the other to the pokey desk, where they both waited for an old-fashioned computer to start up. Baekhyun watched closely as the taller boy removed some fresh files and post-it notes from his bag, placing them on the limited space of his new desk. The thought that Jongin had prepared so thouroughly for his first day was something Baekhyun was not accustomed to seeing, so it brought a grin to his face. His slender fingers swiftly tapped on the keyboard where he began to log in to the new account before explaining the process; "Okay, Jongin. I made your account about 10 minutes ago, so let's pray everything has already transferred. Your username is Kim123." he stated as he checked through the desktop for the necessary files. "And my password?" Jongin asked coyly, eyes unavoidably fixed upon the small freckles littered on Byun's feminine hands. "I was hoping you'd ask," Baekhyun sneered, "It's nobaekhyunnolife." he retorted quickly, in English. It took Jongin a moment to register before recognising the phrase from online game forums, and though he had only seen the version "No LoL No Life", he understood the meaning. "Mature..." he muttered, amused at the strange humour, but Baekhyun only grinned and made some quiet warning about it being the only humour in their office block. The older male briefly explained some of the key functions of the programmes used by the company before dropping a pile of un-processed sales applications on Jongin's desk and making a swift exit while wishing the latter good luck.

Slowly, workers started coming to start their job, only around 30% of such giving any sort of greeting to Jongin, who was already feeling a little overwhelmed with the pressure of processing his work correctly; though it was certain that none of the stone-faced men reporting for work near his desk would be of any help if he had a question. As lunchtime rolled around, Jongin decided to stay at his desk (being the only one who did so) in order to double check the workload he had submitted and make a few calls. His phone buzzed.

[KakaoTalk Notification!] (1.20pm) ByunBaek: How's the workload, new kid? What'd you get for lunch?!!!! (grinning bear emoji)

Jongin looked at the message, confused, before realising that the boss must have gotten his Kakao from the number he left on his resume. He somehow felt embarrassed to admit that he'd stayed at his desk for lunch, as he knew Baekhyun didn't seem the type to expect much hard work from those below him, but he decided to be honest in his reply. Though for some reason unbeknownst to himself, he waited a couple of minutes before sending the well-rehearsed response.

[KakaoTalk!] (1.30pm) Kim Jongin. : You're really asking that after leaving 100s of month-old papers on my desk? Some of these purchase requests have expired. I bet some of the guys on these receipts aren't even alive anymore, ha. I didn't get lunch, I'm trying to impress my boss, he's a real tough one.

[KakaoTalk Notification!] (1.31pm) ByunBaek: Yeah, I'm pretty tough. But you don't need to do much to impress me. PsychicBaek guessed you'd starve yourself on day one, so check in your second drawer, and don't thank me unless you wanna die~!

Jongin checked where he'd been told, and sure enough he found a box containing what seemed to be a homemade bento box. He scoffed, but was touched. As instructed, he didn't exactly thank Baekhyun, but he proceeded to download the same bear emojis and send a shocked bear, followed by a bear holding a little heart. It was his first time using such childish emojis, but it was somehow a relief on a tough first day. He noticed how much nicer Baekhyun was through text, and made a mental note to always ask questions through Kakao as opposed to in person, where he usually received sarcastic responses. "You don't need to do much to impress me" Jongin re-read, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to decipher whether this was an indication of Baekhyuns low expectations (which wouldn't be abnormal after observing how bland the other workers were), or whether it was something more akin to a compliment.

The week passed surprisingly painlessly. Though Jongin had received a pile of musty papers on his first day, this seemed to be a one-off or backlog from the previous worker, who he had heard had just walked out last month and nobody had noticed until now. For the remainder of the week, Jongin was only processing his new sales and the group figures, where he processed and presented them neatly in a spreadsheet. Of course, the slowness of workdays was somewhat more manageable with the occasional "Don't forget to eat, crazy bastard" or "The receptionist is talking about you being hot, again" notifications from the boss, Baekhyun. It kept Jongin in good spirits, as it was a far stretch from the last terrible relationship he had with a strictly religious boss who often docked the males pay for strange reasons such as "over-cursing" and "drinking problem". Jongin knew cursing wouldn't be a problem with Byun, who had a dirtier mouth than a teenage Kim Jongin.

At 7.15pm, most had already left for the weekend, but Jongin found himself sauntering around for a few extra minutes, staring at his KakaoTalk. He eventually found a bear emoji that matched his timid curiosity, as he wanted to pry on the many alcohol questions asked during his interview.

[KakaoTalk!] (7.17pm) Kim Jongin. : You said you don't drink coffee on Friday's.. (bear drinking beer emoji)

[KakaoTalk Notification!] (7.18pm) ByunBaek: PhyschicJongin?!

The elevator whirred a few moments later, and Baekhyun appeared, making a beeline for Jongin's desk where he rather excitedly took the younger in an attempt at a headlock, reaching up to ruffle Jongin's dark hair, making the latter feel like a little kid. ", someone around here actually wants to have fun!" Baekhyun stated, a slight northern accent apparent through his enthusiasm.

That's exactly how Baekhyun and Jongin found themselves at a karaoke at 2am, 8 bottles of soju down between the two, and the older cradling the microphone and belting out lyrics to Kim Bum Soo's "I miss you". The smaller stature of the boss meant he had gotten significantly more drunk than Jongin, who sat with his top 3 buttons undone, tie loosened and a wide amused grin on his face watching his superior drunkenly attempt high notes. He found satisfaction in the fact he would remember this on Monday. The previous place of intoxication was a small bar where Baekhyun obviously frequented, being that he called the owners his Hyung's and scored them a 50% discount on everything. They'd spent 3 hours in there following the few hours at a barbeque restaurant, where Baekhyun had insisted on paying for the expensive meal, and Jongin inevitably abiding, being the younger. At both previous places, their post-work chatter had consisted of Baekhyun updating Jongin on the scandalous lives of his co-workers, including divulging that the guy working next to Jongin had lived in America and left behind 3 wives and 10 kids because he fell in love with IU. It was all pretty amusing for Jongin, but he didn't know how overexaggerated these stories, littered with curse words, were; as they all seemed extremely far fetched and the guys on his floor didn't seem very open to sharing their life stories, even with the boss.

The song ended, and Baekhyun poked his head out of the door to request more alcohol. He threw a half-empty pack of cigarettes over to Jongin, who accepted them and offered his elder one before taking out his own. "I don't smoke," Baekhyun said, "I'm already sick. But I could tell you were a smoker." he grinned, before dropping another joke about his psychic ability. Jongin didn't question where the other half of the pack had gone. He watched Baekhyun pull back his mess of auburn hair, baring his face which, at this point, was glistening with the effort he was putting into ballads. His jaw was slight, and eyebrows seemed perfectly tamed. Jongin's eyes scanned the gentle slope of Baekhyun's nose, and the ratio of his side profile, before his gaze observed the older male's slender neck, which was heaving slightly with shallow breaths.

After the alcohol was supplied, Baekhyun turned to Jongin. "I know, I have feminine features." he mused, having caught out the tanned male staring at him on a couple of occasions. Jongin had been unaware that his curiosity was noticed, and he shook his head fiercly, "No! No, , it isn't that! You just look younger than me, it's crazy." he tried to explain himself. "It's okay. I'm not offended. I like it when you do that." Baekhyun murmured, his words slightly slowed with the influence of soju. "Do what?" "Stare at me." And then there was some silence, similar to the heavy quiet of their interview, where Baekhyun looked elsewhere and Jongin was inexplicitly drawn to continue observing his face. After a few seconds, Jongin had drunkenly gathered what he thought to be a coherent reply. "I like that too. I mean, I like people watching. I like people. Not all people, and not LIKE, you know? Just.." but his clouded mind had failed him, and he trailed off. "Don't you like me, Kim? After a week of knowing me, some girls have already offered me a car." he mused playfully, eyes suddenly fixed on the younger male, whose bronzed skin and rough features were quite a contrast to his boss. "Yeah? After a week, some girls are blocking my phone number." Jongin joked, a grin pulling at his plump lips, his cheeks tinged red with a tipsy flush. Baekhyun laughed, and poured more drinks for the men. "I'm still curious.. About how many bottles on a full stomach. This is your fifth." Baekhyun noted. Jongin was surprised, as he hadn't thought the older boy was sober enough to keep track of their drinks, and to make such smart comments amidst the building tension, but perhaps he had mis-judged his bosses state. "Then, I think five." Jongin concluded, with an ever-so-slightly dizzy nod of his head.

The alcohol had created a buzz in the atmosphere between the two, who continued to talk about nothings and gossip between them, running up their bill in the karaoke room without singing more songs, but the silence was somehow a nice change from the loud murmurs of a bar, and silence had sort of become their thing, Jongin thought. They finished the 9th and 10th bottles, making it a round five each. This, for tonight, was their limit. But although the drinking stopped, their tongues got looser and the talking continued. Jongin began to open up, and it went from 70% Baekhyun talking to 70% Jongin, who explained his hobby of painting and past nightmare jobs to a curious Baekhyun. The space between the two males lessened, and neither was sure whether it was being under the influence which was making them see the room differently, or whether they had unintentionally moved closer together. Either way, neither minded.

At around 6am, they found themselves walking the narrow side streets of their towns, Jongin agreeing without hesitation to show Baekhyun some of his painting work back at his apartment. The air was still warm during that summer, but cool enough to slowly sober the males up and have Baekhyun begin shivering. Jongin handed over his new jacket to his boss, who wrapped it around his small frame. Both of them laughed. The 25 minute walk seemed shorter, and they arrived at Jongin's place quickly.

"You did this?" Baekhyun asked, his slight fingers trailing cautiously over the canvas displayed in Jongin's hallway. Though he wasn't exactly sure on the specifics of what the painting represented, Baekhyun felt somewhat sad while deciphering it. "Yeah, last month. I was out of a job and pretty bored. And maybe a little heartbroken." Jongin stated, laughing softly as he took off his shoes and went inside. Baekhyun followed, unable to resist his desire to pry. "Heartbroken?" he asked curiously, while his eyes poured slowly over the other paintings displayed inside. "Aren't we all?" Jongin asked, his voice low and melancholy. "Ahh. Poetic." Baekhyun stated, a slight smirk tugging at his bitten lips, "You should make a new one titled 'I can only handle 5 bottles.. And cannot hit high notes in ballads'." he teased, turning to face Jongin. He had ceased looking at artwork, but his heart still felt the same swelling. Rather than the emptiness of the lonely oil paintings, looking at the tall, tanned male standing in his dimly lit apartment somehow made Baekhyun feel fulfilled. The realisation drew his eyes down to the ground as Jongin stepped closer, hesitantly reaching out a hand. For a brief moment, Baekhyun's breathing halted in his throat, but the younger boy only retrieved his jacket from his bosses shoulders. Then, once more, they were swallowed by a ringing white noise. There were inches between their bodies, and Baekhyun bathed in the moment of human interaction before biting down on his lower lip and looking up at the other "my apartment is only 10 minutes away from here, so I can probably just--" "Stay." Jongin whispered. And though cliche, though overused in the corny drama's, Baekhyun's heart still skipped a beat. "I have a spare room, so just stay. You think I'd take this if I expected you to walk home?" Jongin asked sheepishly, holding up his jacket.

Alcohol or not, at this point it didn't matter. The constant verbal excuses to avoid their building tension was amusing but somewhat frustrating for both males. 6.55am, the sun was rising outside the apartment complex. It was then that Jongin reached out once again, but on this occasion his rough hand cradled the frail jaw of his boss. Like all other similar moments, their eyes met, both a vision of striking brown through sleepiness. A few seconds passed of their faces being inches apart, the smell of alcohol lingering between their parted lips, and their sight focused on one another. But, unlike all similar moments, they let it pass, and both boys grinned, with a soft laugh escaping the youngers swollen lips. "Goodnight." Jongin whispered, which was reciprocated with a small nod from Baekhyun. Just like that, they parted ways into seperate rooms and fell into deep pre-hangover sleeps.