A/N: Sorry that this is not much. Bear with me, alright.

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Sunny just closed the Office program in her desktop when she threw a glance at the huge window on her left. There were no more lights coming from the sky as the night had fallen, yet the moon was hidden behind the cloudy sky. On the contrary to the dark sky above, another life had started to alight. Rows of towering street lamps aligning the busy roads, not to mention the lights from the buildings below. But the most breathtaking view was the glow from the bridge that was reflected on the river.

She took a deep breath upon seeing the beautiful scene.

It has been two months since she started the internship program. During that time, she had her overtime, yet she never paid attention to her surrounding. With her urge to coming straight back home, she always tidied up her stuff hastily and left.

Now that she was given the chance to witness the night beauty of her hometown made her smile. Yet she still felt the itch to come home. So, after she took the papers she just printed, and bound it together with paperclips, she walked over to her supervisor.

“S’cuse me, here’s the feedbacks you asked me to do,” said Sunny as she was handing in her papers.

Sungmin, being so immersed with his task, didn’t look up. He just nodded to one side of his table which was not so cluttered, gesturing Sunny to put her paper there. Sunny followed his silent instruction.

“Where are you going?” Asked Sungmin when he watched the petite girl walking away.

Sunny the spot.

“Home?” She answered confusedly, glancing at the clock which short needle pointed at eight.

Sungmin followed her eyes. He looked surprise on the information.

“I didn’t notice that it’s already this late,” he muttered. “Tidy up, but you’re not going home. Wait for me once you’ve finished.”

“Er… Why?”

“You don’t ask why when a superior ask you to,” he simply replied.

Sunny threw him a disgruntled and disgusted look, yet to her luck, her superintendent did not notice. She went back to her desk and turned off her computer.

“Ready to go?” asked Sungmin a while later.

He was standing right in front of Sunny’s desk. The hem of the white thin stripes over his dark grey shirt was poking out of his black pants. He had his hands deep inside his pants’ pockets. His backpack was hung behind him like a turtle shell.

Sunny, who had done tidying up, stood up from her chair and grabbed her postman bag and slung it over her head.

“Am I allowed to ask now?” She curtly inquired.

She stared at him right in his eyes, making Sungmin’s inside squirm unpleasantly yet he found it delightful.

“Hm?” he replied.

“Where are we going?” Sunny asked.

“Aren’t you hungry?” he simply answer her question with question.

“Are we going somewhere to eat?” She asked again.

“Do you have certain preference?”

Sunny huffed. “I don’t mean to be rude, but since it is way past office hour, I apologize beforehand that I act unfriendly. However, don’t you think it is polite to ask my concern if you are going to ask me for dinner?”

Sungmin was slightly startled at her outburst, but it wasn’t unexpected. He smiled unknowingly. So, we’re back to square one. Or square minus one, since she was neutral at first? But this is interesting.

“Come on, I’m starving,” answered Sungmin, completely ignoring her disagreement. He walked away, heading to the door.

“Hey! I’m going home!” exclaimed Sunny to his back. She was still rooted to her spot.

“Hey! I said I’m going home!” yelled Sunny as she stomped her foot.

Sungmin held his chuckle and spun around. “No, you’re not. You’re having dinner with me, intern.”

Sunny stomped her foot once more, yet this time, she started to follow him to the elevator.

“Why should I obey what you say when it is not during office hour?” Grumbled Sunny. Her lips were pouting, creating a perfect impersonation of a goldfish.

To her annoyance, she was being unaware of the real nature of the guy she was tailing. Little did she know that it took Sungmin’s greatest effort to strain himself from crushing her into a big bear hug seeing how cute she was.

“Because you are an intern anyhow. And it’s your duty to listen to your senior, lest your supervisor for that,” he commented casually.

“You’re abusing your power.”

“I can. So what?”

“You’re impossible.”

“I am.”

And so they kept bantering like children as they were walking through another lot until Sungmin stopped in front of a traditional looking restaurant. The place itself wasn’t big. The exterior looked rather shabby even.

Sungmin turned around to face her. “You have to try their cooking. It’s marvelous. Now please.” He slide the restaurant door opened and led her in with a gesture like a gentleman did. Or you could say like a bell boy did.

Sunny shook her head. She wasn’t over the fact that he took her there by threat, but she stepped in nonetheless.

It was a real humble traditional Korean restaurant with mats and low dining tables where they were supposed to sit on the floor under small cushions that were place around the tables, four for each. The tables were not many, only eight. Yet when the set their feet inside, a lovely ahjumma came abruptly to greet them with certain eagerness that made them feel so welcomed, and it has nothing to do with the money they would spend.

“Sungminie. Working late again, aren’t you? Aigoo. How many times should I tell you that work can always wait tomorrow,” she lightly scolded him while patting his cheek. And when she noticed the tiny woman next to him, she commented, “And who is this lovely girl?”

“This is my colleague, ahjummoni,” Sungmin answered with a smile on his face.

“A colleague you said? Only a colleague? What a shame. She’s sweet looking girl.”

Sunny who was only standing awkwardly on her feet during the whole exchange niceties, was getting even awkward when the ahjumma address her. Yet for the sake of politeness and not to mention the natural cute bones in her body despite her casual sneering face, she smiled almost instantly and said shy “thank you”. Two crescents were forming on her eyes, and he felt his legs weakens the very time he witnessed it. It was the first time he saw it directly, and the effect almost sent him to the moon.

Get a grip, he had to remind himself.

“Ahjummoni, I’ll have the usual. Make it two, okay. Your cooking is the best in town,” he said as he side-hugged the middle age lady. “And don’t forget to get us soju as well.

Do you have any preferences?” He directed the question to Sunny, who raised an eyebrow at first.

“No. Anything will do,” she replied.

“Alright. Let’s sit,” he nudged Sunny on her elbow and motioned her to sit by the window in the corner.

The soju came out first. Sungmin opened the bottle and pour it into both of their glasses.

“Cheers for your successful internship,” Sungmin raised his soju glass high, ready to bump the lip of his glass to hers.

Again, Sunny raised one of her eyebrows as she reluctantly did the toast. “Cheers for my attempts of surviving your dictatorship,” she muttered under her breath after gulping down the searing liquid that burned .

“What did you say?” he asked.

“I didn’t say anything,” she lied.

“You did say something. I hear that, you know,” said Sungmin deliberately.

Sunny just shrugged her shoulders. “Good that you hear,” she muttered again while staring at her now empty glass.

“I hear that too,” notified Sungmin. He was grinning though.

“Whatever. I can stop caring. It’s after the office hour. I can start harassing you if I want to,” answered Sunny, now getting bolder.

“I like how that sound,” Sungmin smirked.

Sunny blinked her eyes at him, confused at first. But then realization dawned on her. “Yah! Harassing you with words I mean. Get your head out of the gutter,” she scolded.

“Hmm… On shouting terms are we now? Nice,” said Sungmin amusedly.

Sunny rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Now, now. We can leave the harassment for later tonight, if you want,” teased Sungmin. “Now tell me, is Mr. Park still flirting with female students?”

“Oh, he’s hopeless,” Sunny answered quickly, being reminded of the ert lecturer.

She jumped in comfortably into safe topics that Sungmin threw at her right after. Their conversation was unexpectedly interesting and natural after she pushed aside the border she put up and let him into her friend zone.

The food came out and they quickly gobbled it up. It was too much for two, but they finished it nonetheless. Drinks were continuously filling up in their glasses as if there was magic inside the glasses.

“You’re a good drinker,” Sungmin commented. His face was red, yet he was still sober. He silently thanked goodness that his alcohol tolerance was quite high.

“I am,” Sunny answered. She gulped yet another glassful of soju, which she had mixed with beer now. “But my mouth get looser, though. Can’t stop blabbering anything crossing my mind,” she stopped for a while, thinking slightly, “like now actually.”

Sunny chuckled and so did Sungmin.

“So that means you’re drunk then?” asked Sungmin. He was leaning on his elbow, his head tilted.

“No, I’m not. I will still remember what I did and said in the morning. But I just seem to lose control of my tongue,” answered Sunny bluntly.

“That’s as good as slightly drunk though. But it’s cute drunk,” Sungmin added hastily as he saw she was about to protest.

“Whatever you say. By the way, how much did we drink already?”

Sungmin tilted his head to another side, trying to count the bottles in front of them.

“Umm… Six bottles of soju and four beers? Do I count correctly?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Supposedly?” she commented.

“How are we going home now?”

“Walking?” Sunny laughed, mentally imagining the two of them walking and swaying along the road like two drunkards in the drama. Perhaps puking once or twice along the way.

“What?” he questioned.

“I’m imagining we are puking on the road,” answered Sunny.

“Nah. That’s unattractive,” Sungmin responded. “I’ll call company’s driver to take us home.”

“I don’t know that you have authority to use our company’s driver for your personal needs.”

“I don’t. But that’s the perks of being charmingly hot. I can borrow from our director’s secretary.”

“I wanna puke.”

Sungmin ringing laughter reverberated in that small restaurant.

“I’m gonna pay and make a call. It shouldn’t take long for him to pick us up. The driver I mean,” he added.

“Let’s go Dutch. I don’t want you to pay for me,” said Sunny.

“Then I won’t let you,” he quickly got to his feet steadily.

“And I won’t let you too,” said Sunny. She was staggering a little in the process.

Sungmin laughed again. “There is no way you call that sober Ms. Lee.”

“But I can still think clearly!” She protested.

“Whatever. Just wait here. I bet the ahjumma is on my side either,” said Sungmin. “She must insist that I pay for us.”

“Speaking out of experience, huh?”

“Perhaps,” he retorted. “Just wait.”

With that, he went to the counter and paid for their bill. Then he went outside to call the driver.

About 15 minutes later he came back inside to find her, drinking yet another glass.

“Again?”

“The bottle is just half empty. It’s a waste to leave it,” she answered. “You want? It fits one glass more.”

Sungmin shrugged. “Why not.”

He took the glass from her extended hand, and took a big gulp. Not that I’m going to let you drink more anyway. You look wasted already, although you say not, he mentally speak with himself.

He put the glass down and grabbed her upper arm tenderly,”Come on. The driver is waiting outside.”

“Why so fast?” She slurred.

“It’s near, remember?”

“Oh yeah, you’re right.”

He helped her to get to her feet, and together, they hobbled out the restaurant, headed to the waiting black sedan. After helping her settle up on the car back seat, he ran to the other door to slid inside.

“Where do you live?” He asked.

“Still at the same apartment. I haven’t finished school, you know. It doesn’t make sense to move just yet, although it gets crowded and noisier,” answered Sunny.

After Sungmin gave a clear direction to the driver, he turned to look at her once again.

“How so?” He asked, picking up the last conversation.

“Tiffany is as well as moving in. She often stays over in our apartment. You still remember that I share it with Taeyeon, right?”

Sungmin hummed as he was bobbing his head up and down, not realising that his gesture couldn’t be seen noting that it was dark already.

“Well, she doesn’t only stay over. They are banging each other every night, and they are quite loud. Tiffany though,” she blurted out the information.

Sungmin could only laugh. She really has loose mouth when she is wasted, he thought. She’ll regret saying all this by morning. Especially if the other two find out.

She blabber some time about random things, and the silent fell upon them. At first Sungmin thought that she just ran out things to say. Yet, after 5 more minutes of silence, he turned his head to peek if she fell asleep. She’s drunk anyway, however she admitted not. But she wasn’t. In fact, she was looking out of the window.

There was a somber yet alluring charm about the way she stared blankly, which was him in, pulling his soul towards hers. If he didn’t restrain himself, he would find his hand sneaking up her head and her soft shoulder length hair, and pulled her into hug.

“Are you thinking about something?” Asked Sungmin.

His question was greeted with silence. He left her be, not wanting to prod further should she had already gotten sober.

Then she spoke. Her voice was misty and deliberate. “Am I unlovable?”

Sungmin snapped his head so fast that his neck hurt. “What?”

“Why did he left me for that girl?” She asked nobody in particular.

“Sorry?” Sungmin asked in disbelief. Did he just hear her telling him something personal? Can he trust his ears?

“I can never understand why he cheated on me. Is it wrong to dream big about my career and wanting to settle down much later after we’re both stable and know what we really want in life?”

When the street lamps flashed into the moving vehicle, he saw silent tears rolling down her cheek. Sungmin was baffled. He didn’t know what to say or how to console the petite girl beside her.

“Listen, I don’t know what had happened with your previous relationship, but cheating is never about you,” he started. “Cheating is about the doer who has little regards of loyalty and commitment. It’s a coward action too, since the doer doesn’t have the courage to talk about walking out of the relationship directly to his or her partner.”

Sunny stayed silent. She kept staring outside the window until his word seemed to sink in and she slowly turned her head to see him in the eyes.

“But it hurts me. Even until now. I am broken and I don’t know how to fix myself.”

Sungmin sighed. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. He knew she won’t remember any of this talk the next morning, but he told her nonetheless, “Nobody says that separation doesn’t hurt. Of course it’s hurt as hell, especially if that someone holds a special part in your heart. But trust me that it too shall pass. The pain will gradually ease up and you’ll be happy once again. You will be whole once more.”

“But what should I do?” she asked as she unconsciously laid her head on his shoulder.

“About?”

“Someone who likes me. I don’t want to give him a false hope. I also don’t want to give him a shattered heart. It is not fair for him, and I know he is a nice guy albeit his irritating behavior. And I know he doesn’t deserve the broken me.”

“Are you talking about me?” he chuckled lightly, knowing that she too will forget this joke the next morning.

“Nobody is sure who he is,” answered Sunny. Her voice grew softer and her tone even slower.

The brief description fitted him, but he didn’t want to get cocky. It could be anyone, so he said, “Well, if that guy is being serious with you, he will wait, no matter how long he needs to wait, because he knows that you are worthy the wait. So, take your time. Everybody needs time to heal, and time will answer anything.”

When she didn’t respond, he knew that she fell asleep, noting that her head grew heavier on his shoulder. He sighed, rather sorry that she would forget this night.

He turned his head and bent lower, slowly planting a kiss on her crown, “I wish you would turn to me and let me be your bandage though.”

***

The next morning, she ran in a rush through the main door of her company. The time was tight and she nearly late. Her head seemed to pound on every step she took, but she kept pushing herself to the employers entrance. She jabbed her thumb into the fingerprint hole, only to find that she was three minutes late. Her head throbbed even more.

“Late are you?” Sungmin leaned on the archway, grinning. He hid his hands behind his back.

“It’s all your fault,” Sunny muttered. She walked away towards the elevator.

“You’re talking back now to your supervisor?” taunted Sungmin, tailing her.

Sunny stopped in front of the closed elevator door, then cocked her head towards the bulky guy. “I won’t dare, Sir,” she put sinister emphasis on the word ‘Sir’.

Sungmin could only laughed. “I love you being snappy in the morning. Head hurts?”

“As hell,” she growled.

“And it’s my fault?” teased Sungmin.

“Indeed.”

“Then let me make amend.” He brought his hands to front, and Sunny could see him holding two cups of coffee. He shoved one to her hand, “Americano. A strong one.”

Sunny sighed in relief. “I haven’t got time to buy it myself. Desperately need one I agree.”

“And someone said she’s not wasted,” teased Sungmin once again. He nudged her elbow as he was teasing.

Sunny moved aside a little, crunching her nose a second. Right at the cue, two more people joined them.

“I think I see lovebirds here. Such a beautiful morning don’t you think, Jimin?” Im Boyeon-their colleague of the same department, who reprimanded Sungmin on Sunny’s first day of her employment to keep the lethal smile to himself-teased them.

The latter nodded her head grimly. She stealthily glanced at Sunny and Sungmin suspiciously. But Sunny had again put on her façade. She acted indifferent, in hoping that they didn’t prodded further that they knew the two went out to have dinner and drinks last night.

Sungmin felt her hesitation. He moved beside Boyeon and knocked her head slightly.

“YAH!” Boyeon yelled. “You dare doing that to your noona, eh?!”

“You’re nosy, Noona,” he put emphasis on ‘noona’.

Just at the right moment, the elevator door dinged open.

“Go, go,” Sungmin said, holding the door opened with his hand and ushering them to go inside. “Get to work, all of you.”

“Where are you going?” asked Boyeon when she noticed that he didn’t come along with them.

“Out for meeting,” answered Sungmin.

“This early?” Boyeon asked again.

“Because it is this early. Don’t you ever hear saying, ‘Early bird catches the worm’?”

“And you’re not even the sales representative or some sort.”

Sungmin just shrugged his head and took his hand off the metal door.

“Don’t forget the report I asked you,” he reminded Sunny as the door was slowly closing.

The reminder was fine, but something that made Sunny shook her head and her face blushing was; he winked at her. The other two females quickly exchanged glances, and before she realized, she was left to deal with a very curious senior who demanded her to tell her if something had happened between her and Sungmin, and a furious looking Jimin, alone.

Great, she thought to herself. That stupid git, really.

Meanwhile, Sungmin walked to the awaiting car in the lobby. She doesn’t seem to remember anything she said last night, he thought to himself. Poor thing. I wonder who this guy is. Her first love or what? Perhaps it’s a good idea to talk to Tiffany. I remember she was the one who secretly tried to hook me up with Sunny last year. But now, get focused! Work, work, work!