Myungsoo can’t believe himself as he spends the next afternoon at work looking up fancams of Lee Sungyeol at the radio show he had been at earlier. If he wants to make his report as believable as possible, then he supposes desperate times call for desperate measures.

“I never knew you were a Sungyeol fan, Myungsoo-yah,” Soojung muses with a raised eyebrow.

Myungsoo grimaces, shrugging his shoulders. “Sungjong was raving about him the other day so I’m checking him out,” he makes up easily enough. It isn’t far-fetched, Sungjong is a fan of many things and he does end up talking non-stop to Myungsoo about them. Myungsoo may zone out, but still.

“During work hours?” Soojung clicks her tongue in disapproval as she begins flipping through some papers on her desk.

Myungsoo rolls his eyes. “Boss won’t mind, really,” he mutters. He doesn’t know why, but Mr. Lee doesn’t want him to say a word to anyone else about his assignment. It’s supposed to be top secret but he doesn’t understand. Sungyeol’s a big actor, sure, but what would it hurt the girls to know?

Or maybe it’s precisely that. He has to get something juicy out of Sungyeol’s life after all and turn it into a scandal.

“Myungsoo oppa~ Mr. Lee wants to see you,” Myungeun calls out as she pokes her head into the room. “Says it’s important.”

Myungsoo tries not to wince. He already knows what it’s about. He’s going to get asked about how the assignment is going and he’s going to make up a lie about how it’s going wonderfully and soon they’ll be a source for credible news and not just some lowly tabloid that everyone laughs at.

He stands up, pausing the video he’s currently watching (Sungyeol really is nice and Myungsoo can’t help but wish they had met under different circumstances), and he makes his way to Mr. Lee’s office.

He knocks on the door and is soon told to come in. Myungsoo lets out a quiet breath and slips into the room, closing the door behind him.

“I assume you already know what I’m going to ask you about, Myungsoo,” Mr. Lee starts.

“It’s...going well,” Myungsoo says carefully, trying to pick his words correctly. “I met him yesterday outside the SBS building and got some stuff. There’s still a whole month left so that won’t be all. You won’t be disappointed, sir,” he replies.

“Good,” Mr. Lee muses. “Good. Don’t forget, I need a report on my desk first thing in the morning. Tell me everything.”

Myungsoo swallows, nodding his head slowly. “Of course, sir.”

Mr. Lee waves his hand in a dismissal, and Myungsoo bows, soon exiting the room and shutting the door behind him.

He’s in so much trouble.

True to his word, Myungsoo leaves a two paged report on Mr. Lee’s desk as soon as he gets to work the next morning. It’s full of lies, of course, and Myungsoo had to make up one hell of a convincing story about that radio show yesterday where he swears he saw Sungyeol wink at one certain fansite owner, one he gives eye contact to quite often and he knows it just opened a can of worms but right now, he couldn’t care less.

He’s not about to go after Sungyeol again, not after their last meeting. Not if he can help it. He thinks he can get away with not seeing him for a week, trying to busy himself with looking for new jobs in the meantime. He knows his facade can’t last for long and once Mr. Lee discovers it’s all a lie, he’s done for.

It was nice working here while it lasted, Myungsoo thinks to himself as he glances around the office he and the girls are put in. He’s put in an application to as many places as he possibly can, even if they never said they were hiring. He’s desperate and he’ll work in a restaurant as a waiter if he has to, even with the bad past experiences he’s had with it.

“You’re leaving?”

Myungsoo’s head snaps up from his computer screen where he’s about to print off another resume, only to meet Jiae’s sad eyes.

“Oppa, you can’t,” she pleads.

Myungsoo frowns, grabbing her arm as he stands up and leads her to the empty break room down the hall.

“Oppa?” Jiae sounds confused as he closes the door and leans against it.

“My assignment, the one that’s supposed to be top secret,” Myungsoo begins, clearing his throat. He trusts Jiae enough to not tell anyone about this. Or at the very least, not Mr. Lee. He needs more time. “It’s to find out something about Lee Sungyeol. Something scandalous, something that’ll ruin his reputation,” he continues.

Jiae’s eyes widen, only to quickly narrow. “But he doesn’t deserve—”

“I know that, Jiae,” Myungsoo sighs. “Which is why I’m not doing it. I’ve...had a couple of not so pleasant meetings with him and I can’t do it, so I’m writing fake reports to please Mr. Lee. I’ll get caught eventually but...” he shrugs his shoulders weakly.

“W-we can help! Soojung unnie and I have your usual assignments anyway, we can trade. We’ll write your reports and you can take your original job back. Just don’t leave, oppa.” Jiae’s close to whining or crying and Myungsoo doesn’t think he can handle that.

“Yah, don’t cry over me,” he mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s alright. I was never made out for this type of stuff anyway. He won’t have any problem replacing me.”

Jiae crosses her arms over her chest, eyes narrowed again. “You’re the best photographer I’ve ever known, oppa. I think he’ll have some problems.”

Myungsoo snorts. “I’m the only photographer you know, Jiae.”

Jiae only shrugs. “So? You’re still a great one,”she points out. “But...if it’s what makes you happy, then I’ll support you. It’ll be boring with just us girls, you know,” she pouts.

“I’m sure you’ll survive,” Myungsoo says, gently ruffling her hair. “But no word of this to anyone else, alright? I can’t risk it getting back to Mr. Lee. I need time to get a new job and everything,” he requests.

“You can count on me, oppa,” Jiae smiles, raising a hand to her forehead in a mock salute. Myungsoo rolls his eyes and pats her head again. Jiae doesn’t even make a fuss out of it this time and Myungsoo can’t help but feel guilty.

They exit the room and part of Myungsoo wishes he didn’t have to leave—the whole tabloid reporter side of it aside, Myungsoo quite enjoys his job. He’s around a bunch of girls, sure, but he doesn’t mind. The last guy Mr. Lee hired only lasted three weeks, having gotten into some sort of trouble with the police and well, that was that.

Myungsoo goes back to his desk, printing a couple of more copies of his resume and placing them into his bag.

He hopes he can pull this off.

“It’s about time you got away from that ty place,” Woohyun muses as he sets a cup of caramel macchiato down in front of Myungsoo, sliding into the seat across from him. “I don’t know why you ever accepted that offer to begin with.”

Myungsoo sighs, taking a sip of his drink. “I had just graduated college and it was the first thing that came my way. I wanted to make some use of my degree,” he mutters, then clears his throat.

“Your useless degree, now,” Woohyun remarks with a raised eyebrow. Myungsoo’s eyes narrow—he and Woohyun may have been friends since they were in university, but sometimes Woohyun just doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.

“The point is,” Myungsoo tries not to say through gritted teeth, “I need a job. I’ve applied to a few places and it’s been a few days and I still haven’t heard back yet. I'm just too impatient.”

Woohyun hums, tilting his head. “How much do you love me?”

Myungsoo doesn’t know if he even has an answer to that. “Uh...”

Woohyun rolls his eyes. “I can put in a good word to the owner for you. He likes me since I bring in quite the bit of female customers,” he grins. “I’m sure you would too, if you’re hired.”

“Would you really?” Myungsoo murmurs. He’s waiting until he actually has a secure job to turn in his resignation letter to Mr. Lee and it’d be perfect if he got something now—he can just get everything over with.

“Of course, anything for my best friend~” Woohyun sing-songs and Myungsoo resists the urge to punch him.

“Thanks, I’m honored,” Myungsoo says under his breath.

“As you should be,” Woohyun points out, and he grins. “Don’t worry, Myungsoo-yah. I’ll put in a good word for you and it’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, hyung. Really.” Myungsoo smiles back.

Woohyun winks and then turns around, walking off to the counter where customers are lined up.

Myungsoo, for once, hopes Woohyun will use his stupid (and usually greasy) charm for his own sake.

Myungsoo’s playing around with Rin on his bed a few nights later when he gets a text from Woohyun. His brows furrow in confusion because Woohyun rarely ever texts him, but he opens it.

Part-time is all I can get, boss says we have enough workers anyway, but it’s better than nothing, right? You start Monday at eight in the morning until noon. Saturdays are optional.

Myungsoo bites his lower lip. It is better than nothing, but he knows five hours a day won’t end up being enough to pay for his apartment. No matter how ty of a place he worked at (in Woohyun’s words, anyway), it paid good enough money—even when he wasn’t actually working at the building. But he supposes his apartment is too big anyway, he can get a smaller one somewhere nearby.

Thanks, hyung. I owe you big time.

Myungsoo gives Rin a small pat on her head and pulls out his laptop, sighing as he opens it and begins googling for new places.

Might as well get a head start.

The first thing Myungsoo does when he gets to work is put his resignation letter on his desk. Mr. Lee does come around after everyone leaves and checks up on their desks and workspace—he apparently hates messes—so Myungsoo knows he’ll see it.

Jiae has kept her promise and hasn’t said a word to any of the other girls—although he is a bit surprised to not have a crying Mijoo or Myungeun hanging all over him and begging for him not to go, but they’re all out at the moment—so he can do this peacefully and quietly without any huge commotion.

He knows once they realize he’s gone he’s going to get bombarded with calls, but he supposes that’s better than dealing with it in person.

Myungsoo takes one last look around the office and glances at his completely bare desk. This is it. It’ll be weird, considering he’s been at that desk for a few years, but he knows this is for the best. He didn’t mind this all at first, finding out things about lesser-known celebrities was incredibly easy and it wasn’t that big of a deal because nobody cared, but now...

Myungsoo doesn’t want to find out what would happen if Lee Sungyeol’s fangirls ever found out he was the one trailing after him and trying to get information. Reporters do it all the time, sure, but he’s the one that’s at the bottom of the ladder. He’s not a legitimate reporter, he’s scum.

(So he’s heard numerous times.)

Clearing his throat, Myungsoo exits the main door of their offices, not allowing himself to look back. This means he’s free, right? He doesn’t have to do this ever again. He can find something else to do in addition to working at the cafe, everything will be fine.

He thinks the more he tells himself that the more he’s likely to believe it.

The weekend passes by more quickly than Myungsoo would’ve thought. He has many missed calls and voicemails on his phone from the girls and he feels terrible for ignoring them but he doesn’t know what to say. Sorry for leaving without telling you but I had to do it? It’s easier this way?

He’ll work up the courage eventually—maybe by then Jiae will have tried to explain things better—but for now, he starts his job at the cafe today and he’s already nervous enough as it is. He’s had experience waiting tables and taking orders back when he was in college so he doesn’t know why he’s even worried (he may have a few clumsy slip ups, knowing him, but still), but...new jobs are always nerve-wracking.

Myungsoo smooths the black button-up shirt he has on and takes one last look into the mirror. He wants to make a good impression so maybe, in time, he can be moved up to full-time. He had been spending most of the weekend looking through apartments on the internet and he’s come up out of luck. Most either don’t accept pets or are too expensive or are too far of a bus ride away. (There are also ones that Myungsoo just flat out doesn’t like, but it’s easier to blame it on other things.)

Myungsoo wonders if this is karma for following around Sungyeol those few times. He pissed off a well-known actor and karma is a , isn’t it?

He sighs and walks out to his bedroom, slipping on a pair of shoes and shoving his phone and wallet into his back pockets.

He hopes this won’t turn out to be a disaster.

I'm so sorry for the long wait, the writer's block I've had with this fic has been terrible...and this probably isn't even a good chapter either lol. :( Hopefully the wait for chapter 4 won't be as long as this one, but we'll have to see. ;;