Sunmi stretched herself as she clicked “Save” on her computer. She was finally done with her work and she could finally leave early for once after the two months she had been working there.

“You’re done?” The man sitting opposite Sunmi asked and she beamed.

“Yes!! I can finally go home early for once!” She checked her watch and realized that she was half an hour earlier than usual; better than nothing, she thought.

“Well, good for you. I can finally go home early as well,” The man joked.

“Aye, stop guilt-tripping me, Byunghun Sunbae!” Sunmi whined as Byunghun laughed. He was two years older than she was, and the close age made it easier for them to talk more comfortably, considering that they were the younger ones out of everyone in the office.

“So, are you done?” Byunghun chuckled as he kept his stuff. “What do you want to eat today?”

“Hmm…” Sunmi pondered over the question as she packed. It was the same question every night that she spends her brain cells on. “I don’t know, you pick.”

“I know there’s this really nice eatery near our place that sells the best kimchi jjigae,” He shrugged and Sunmi beamed.

“Call!”

 

Other than being close in age, they lived pretty near each other as well, so usually they would go home together after dinner.

As Sunmi was supporting her stand on how cute snakes actually are (which Byunghun was scared of, by the way), they reached the eatery and sat down.

“Ahjumma, two kimchi jjigaes and one ddeokbokki!” Byunghun ordered and the ahjumma smiled, recognizing him.

“Aigoo, you’re here again! And oh,” she noticed Sunmi who quickly bowed. “Is this your girlfriend?”

The two parties blushed and Byunghun laughed. “Isn’t she pretty?”

Sunmi was shocked at his reply and the ahjumma hit his shoulder lightly. “Aigoo, really pretty! You picked well, young man!” With that, she left the two alone.

“Yah, sunbae!” Sunmi’s face was still a tad red. “Why didn’t you tell her we’re not a couple?”

“Denying only makes her more curious,” He shrugged.

 

“What else do you not eat?” Byunghun laughed as Sunmi tried to keep her pokerface but failed.

“Yah! Whatever you eat doesn’t mean other people has to eat, too.” She harrumphed but the smile was still evident on her face.

“But, carrots? Seriously?” Byunghun asked in disbelief. “They’re like, the nicest thing – ever!!!”

“So what?” Sunmi challenged. “At least I’m not the weirdo who doesn’t eat all white vegetables.” She stuck out her tongue and ate a bite of the ddeokbokki before giving one to Byunghun.

“But white vegetables have a different taste from their green doppelgangers!” He ate the ddeokbokki and narrowed his eyes at her.

“Doppelgangers? Really, sunbae?” Sunmi chuckled at his choice of words. “But you just ate a white ddeokbokki.” She pointed out.

“That’s different! Ddeokbokki isn’t even a vegetable!”

 

It seemed as though they had known each other for at least a year or two, since they were almost inseparable. Partly was because of the five-day work week, but occasionally they would meet up for late night suppers or just a day out during the weekends.

Even the people at their office noticed their growing friendship and questioned Byunghun, acting like protective fathers of Sunmi considering that she was the only girl in their small company.

“Well, in my opinion,” Suho, one of the younger colleagues amongst the older ones (he was in his late twenties as compared to the others who were in their early thirties), advised Byunghun one day as he noticed the couple playing footsies under the table. “It’s fine if you want to get together, just don’t break our precious Sunmi’s heart, or we will break your legs – regardless of how long we’ve known each other. Understood?” He ended with a smile and a pat on Byunghun’s back, which scared the latter more than just a glare.

 

It was five months into her internship with that company, and also the last. To say that she couldn’t bear to leave was an understatement. They offered her a full-time position though, and said that if she wanted to she could take up the offer anytime.

On her last day, her bosses brought everyone to eat a nice lunch as a farewell to Sunmi.

“We really hope that you’ll consider our offer of coming back as a full-time employee after your internship,” Mr Lee, her supervisor, said. “We really need the help and you get an immediate job – win-win situation, right?”

“I’ll think about it,” Sunmi smiled. Truth was, she was thinking of coming back already, even without their offer. She enjoyed her internship with them very much, and it allowed her to make so many new friends, especially Byunghun.

She looked at everyone’s faces one by one, as if trying to remember how they looked like. Her eyes landed on Byunghun, who was sitting in front of her and she paused. Her heart rate started picking up and her face was getting hotter.

Does she… like him?

She wasn’t sure herself, but her body doesn’t lie. And if she were to be completely honest, the person she would miss the most after leaving this company was none other than Byunghun. She sighed and ate her noodles in silence as she tried to cool herself down.

As the lunch came to an end, they started to head back to the office. Sunmi stayed at the back of the group and Byunghun fell in place next to her naturally.

“You know,” He started. “You should really take up their offer. I mean, can you bear to leave me alone here?”

Sunmi chuckled at his expression and shrugged. “You were fine alone before I came along, weren’t you? I’m sure you can do it again.”

“That was before! See how lonely I was before you came?” He pouted. Sunmi thought back to the past five months and laughed. The amount of times the others abandoned them alone in the office was just too much to count.

“Well, you can always call me up for dinner or supper,” She suggested.

“Mean,” He huffed and nudged her side with his elbow. “Let’s go eat something nice tonight. My treat since it’s your last day,” He paused. “Which I really hope it’s not.”

 

They ended up eating sushi that night, and as promised, Byunghun paid for everything (burning a big hole in his pocket considering how much Sunmi eats).

As they were walking home, Sunmi was too engrossed in explaining about a lizard the length of her comb she saw last night that she didn’t see the oncoming car.

Byunghun pulled her back by the wrist just before the car missed her and he gave her a look. “Couldn’t you just keep a lookout for cars while talking, too? What would you do without me?”

Sunmi smiled sheepishly and bit her lip. “Heh… sorry about that. You know how much of a klutz I am and I at multitasking.” She pouted.

“You have a reason for everything, don’t you?” Byunghun rolled his eyes.

Sunmi grinned. “Of course, I’m not Lee Sunmi for nothing.” She was about to pull her wrist out of his grasp when he tightened his grip and moved down to her hands instead, intertwining it.

She tried a few more times but Byunghun just dragged her across the road. “What are you doing?”

“I’m not gonna risk you running out on the roads like that again, so this will remain till we reach your house,” He reasoned. “Besides, if something happens to you while you’re with me, where am I going to find another daughter for your parents?”

Sunmi scoffed in disbelief and just gave up fighting; secretly she was happy with the handholding.

 

The road to her house seemed shorter that day, even though they went to a further place to eat. Sunmi turned to Byunghun and smiled. “Well, this is my stop. Call me out anytime for supper or anything, okay? Just because it’s my last day doesn’t mean we’re not friends anymore, understand?” She wagged her finger and narrowed her eyes.

“What if I don’t wanna be friends anymore?” Byunghun asked and Sunmi just faked a gasp.

“Wow, I’m hurt.” She pouted. “But sorry to say, sunbae, it’s not that easy to get rid of me.”

“I sure hope so, because I want to spend 24/7 with you – but not as your sunbae or your friend, but as your boyfriend.”

His confession caught her offguard, especially the smile that followed it, because that was her favorite smile of his – although she would never let him know how cute he looked like when he does it.

“Lee Sunmi, I’m now officially asking you: would you be my girlfriend?”

Sunmi bit her lip and threw her arms around him. “Thank you. And yes, I would like that.”

“You know, you’re actually the first guy to confess to me.”

“Really?” Byunghun pulled back in disbelief. “Of your whole 19 years of existence?”

“Yah!” She hit his arm. “You make me sound like some old spinster; but yes, of my whole 19 years of existence.”

“Well, either they don’t appreciate how good you are or I just got lucky,” He grinned.

“Hmm…” Sunmi hummed. “I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.” She laughed as Byunghun scowled.

“You still have your first kiss then, I guess?” Byunghun asked as he leaned in closer, making Sunmi blush furiously.

“Y-yeah, duh.” She stammered, holding her gaze with his.

“Then is it okay if I kiss you?” His question sent butterflies flying in her stomach and she nodded lightly. And the kiss that followed was truly a memorable and out-of-this-world first kiss for the both of them.

 

~~~~~

gah okay it wasnt as well-written as i wanted it to be but meeeeeep 

tbh this was sort of inspired by my internship that I'm having right now at a design company. It's pretty fun and I love it a lot but ugh the workload could kill T_T

anyways comments are greatly appreciated and thank you for reading!! ♡