Sungmin glanced over at the clock on the wall and sighed when he saw it was already eight-fifteen. The pile of reports on his desk were still piled high and it felt like no matter how many he read, the number never went down. His stomach let out an angry growl of protest when he realized the last thing he’d ingested was coffee, around three in the afternoon. Leaning back in his chair, he let out a long, low groan.

“Is this a bad time?”

Sungmin immediately sprang forward so quickly, his chair nearly slipped out from under him. Haruki stood in the doorway with a bemused smile on her face and a paper bag in her hand. “Hey,” she said softly. “I knocked, but I don’t think you heard me.” She nudged the bag towards him. “I brought you Chinese takeout.”

“Thanks.” Sungmin quickly stood up. “Uh, come in, if you want.” He was feeling extremely uncomfortable. It was the first time since Haruki and Donghae had started dating that he had been in close proximity to either of them.

Haruki set the bag down on his desk and looked over the pile. “You planning on finishing all of this before you go home for the night?”

“I have to,” Sungmin said grimly. “I’m onto something, I just know it. Why are you here so late?”

“Same reason,” Haruki replied. “Just finishing a few things up. Do you want some help?”

“You don’t have anywhere to be tonight?” The tone of the question was nastier than he had anticipated and he quickly bit his lip.

“No, but if you don’t want me to-”

“I didn’t say-”

“I know you’ve been avoiding me, Sungmin,” Haruki said quietly. “I know we haven’t really talked in a while and things have been awkward since I was in the hospital, but if I’ve done anything to hurt you, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not you,” he replied. “I’ve just been really busy, and…” The words sounded lame, even to his own ears. He felt a pang of guilt as he snuck a glance at Haruki’s concerned face. “Sure, have a seat.”

She sat down across from him and took the notebook he handed her with a nod. He watched as she skimmed through it, smiling at the rise and fall of her eyebrows as she read. “It’s an interesting case,” was her only comment as she reached for the nearest file and opened it.

It was so easy for Sungmin to think about all that he could have done to have her end up with him and not Donghae. If he’d told her earlier, if he had talked about other things besides work…

But, no. Their relationship was confined to work. It wasn’t anything he’d done or anything he’d failed to do, he realized that now. For the first time, he realized how much he’d missed having her around, just as a friend. Apparently, she’d missed him too, since she made the effort of approaching him first.

A loud rumble interrupted his thoughts and he looked up to see Haruki looking embarrassed. “Was that your stomach?” he asked.

“I’m an idiot,” she replied. “When I got takeout for you, I forgot to get myself something to eat.”

Sungmin opened up the paper bag and took out two boxes, handing one to her. “I can’t eat this all myself.”

“Thanks.” She smiled as she took the chopsticks that followed.

The thought of her being with Donghae still hurt, as it probably would for a while. But instead of brooding about what he would never have, Sungmin thought it was probably better to focus on rebuilding the friendship he’d lost. He held up the tiny carton and tapped it against hers with a smile. “Cheers,” he said.

“Cheers,” she replied, and they settled down to read the remaining files in comfortable silence.