She couldn’t keep her eyes from straying off to the door where he just exited several minutes ago. He excused himself when he received an incoming call and briefly nodded to her.

That was five minutes ago and still he hasn’t come back yet. She glanced down at her watch and couldn’t help but wonder if the call was work related. From what she learned from their talk, he told her he’s been having a stressful week from the paperwork he had gotten ever since his boss was hospitalised two weeks ago.

So him coming to this event with her was a real breath of fresh air for him since he’s been cooped up in his apartment and office trying to finish his work before the deadline.

When he said that Chaeyeon found herself blushing especially when she saw the way he looked at her as if he had truly meant it. She hoped it was the latter because she had actually felt the sincerity of his words coupled with the facts that he had a crush on her back then. She didn’t know how to make of that fact but it did made her wondered.

Does he still feel the same way about her now?

Oh she didn’t miss that throughout the night that he had secretly looked at her from time to time and she’s not going to deny she was doing the same thing to him. The attraction was definitely there and it sure goes both ways for either of them.

Around her, he colleagues were discussing about….something. Chaeyeon again looked down at her watch and after a moment of thinking about it, finally decided to search for him instead.

She excused herself and walked out finding him on the hallway facing the tall glass window. Distress was clearly on his face from the way his brows drew down low from talking to someone on the other side of the line. The next thing she knew he drew his head back unexpectedly as if he heard something shocking the other person said.

She sauntered at him albeit tentatively. “Jaehyun. Is everything okay?”

Now that garnered a different reaction. He whipped his head towards her so fast he probably got whiplash from it. A horrified expression came across his face there from the way his eyes widened and lips parted.

Was he blushing? There was a faint blush on his face all the way to the tip off his ears. Who was he really talking to?

He regained his composure not long after and raised his hand as if telling her to wait before giving his back to her. Jaehyun continued to talk for several minutes before he ended it and faced her back.

“Chaeyeon. What is it?” he asked nervously.

She arched a brow. “Is everything okay?” she repeated.

“Yeah. Everything is fine. My assistant just called. Just work related” He checked down on his phone again his fingers typing away on the screen.

She didn’t believe it was work related for one second because his words just contradicted his actions. He was fidgeting a bit and avoiding eye contact with her. His ears were still a bit red.

“I see. Well I was just worried for a bit there.” For now she’ll let it slide but that doesn’t mean she won’t ask later.

***

This is such a mess, Jaehyun thought gloomily as he gulped down his drink before turning his gaze towards Chaeyeon who was talking with a petite woman next to her.

He took this time to stare at her whilst mulling about certain things.

She knew

That fact didn’t ease his discomfort as he still felt his face heating up whenever he thought back to that phone conversation he had with Seokmin. His friend had literally confessed to him that he had willingly divulged to her of Jaehyun’s crush towards her in high school and especially on the event during graduation day.

Imagine his horror and mortification at that couple with the fact that coincidentally she had approached him silently without him sensing her. Though she probably didn’t know what the conversation was about from her bemused expression which he silently thanked.

As for the reason his friend had told her of this?

“Because I owe you a debt” Seokmin had simply stated.

This clearly didn’t answer Jaehyun’s question and confused him even more. He didn’t even remember doing something that made his friend felt he owed him.

That was before Seokmin added “I don’t know about you but don’t you think this is a perfect time for you? A second chance maybe?”

Well he didn’t expect that. “A second chance of what?”

“Oh I don’t know. Maybe for you to confess to her this time around.” There was a hint of sarcastic in his friend’s tone.

Jaehyun felt himself going stilled at that statement but his friend continued rumbled on “I’m giving you a chance here. I know you still haven’t gotten over her all these times and don’t try to deny it. That was the reason you didn’t come to your high school reunion months ago. You were clearly avoiding her.”

He scoffed. “I was clearly busy at the time.” He said though it was only half the truth. Yes he was busy but he wasn’t that busy and had used it as an excuse not to attend.

However he couldn’t deny that there’s some ring of truth in his friend’s statement because as of tonight he just came to a startling revelation to himself.

People say that feeling of having a crush on someone would fade overtime as the years passed by but clearly this time around it was only replaced by something else.

It was also too soon and too far-fetched of thinking the term love applied here that he snorted to himself silently finding the thought ridiculous and absurd.

He hadn’t thought of her that much these past couple of years but during those lonely nights he had wondered what become of her.

Tonight he was pleasantly surprised how easy-going she was when they were talking and Jaehyun found himself comfortable and much more at ease around her because before she used to make his teenage self nervous.

It didn’t escape him from noticing that Chaeyeon had become even more beautiful than before. There were a couple of moments during their talk that he was mesmerized by her and wasn’t really listening much if he were to be honest.

So yeah he was still attracted to her that much he can tell.

Jaehyun sighed heavily and turned away from her before she and everyone else noticed that he was staring at her for a long time.

So she knew. What now?

Does he want something to happen between them?

Yes.

He was a little surprised by that admission coming easily.

Does he want to date her?

Yes. That feeling that he had come to realised just now was of interest. He was interested in her and wanted to know more about her.

However was it a mutual feeling?

Maybe

He’s just going to find out later when they were truly alone.

Jaehyun turned to look at her again and this time their eyes met. She smiled at him and he returned the gesture. Then before he knows it, she was walking towards him after bidding the petite woman goodbye.

She sat next to him on the table. “I take it you have a good time this time around?” he asked.

“Surprisingly yes. Don’t get me wrong but I always feel a bit lonely especially when there are literally couples around you.” He can relate on that because he too experienced the same thing whenever his company held a party.

At the corner of his eyes, he saw someone going up to the stage towards the podium. “Looks like your boss is going to make his speech now.”

He heard her groan at the side and couldn’t help but grin.