A/N: Misaeng (The Incomplete Life) verse. Sort of.

So many of you have been requesting this pairing that I just had to.

Biting into his apple, Sungjong scrolls down the list of share prices on his iPad when there is a slight rustle in front of him and a chair scraping the tiled floor and voila – someone is sitting opposite him, grinning widely.

“Hello, beautiful.”

Sungjong is so surprised by the fact that someone – one of the interns - is actually sitting with him that he doesn’t even have time to wonder at anything else.

From day 1, he has been an outcast at this office. And it has been his own doing. Knowingly, he has done exactly the things that he knew would make the other new interns hate him. Talented and skilled, Sungjong is the most ambitious person these young adults have ever met. From the first hour, he’s gotten into the bosses’ good books, proved his intelligence and skill, and shown how prepared he is for the job. Consequently, he has made the other interns look inept and lacking compared to him, thus losing any chances of making friends.

But it suits him just fine because he has always been a loner. The elevator that carries people to the top only holds one and he isn’t in the habit of backstabbing his friends. So the best idea is to not have friends and he has lived by this rule for all of the 24 years of his life.

The other interns don’t make a show of liking him – they hate him openly. He never talks to them, or they to him, unless it is absolutely necessary. For example when they were assigned to do a presentation in pairs, he has had to do it with the horrible horrible Lee Taemin who has the plastic smile of a serial killer and presentation skills of a foetus. It didn’t go well at all. Plus, Taemin has also spread strange stories about him after that which has caused his notoriety to increase.

Therefore, it is absolutely incomprehensible why Seo Kangjoon, the most popular new intern, has decided to sit opposite to him this fine lunch break. Sungjong is good at deduction but this right here is a complete mystery to him.

Watching him speechless, Kangjoon laughs, and says, “Cat got your tongue? Let me do the honors instead.”

His body shivers with disgust as he sleazy voice hits his ear drums.

Seo Kangjoon is the complete opposite of Lee Sungjong. He’s cheerful and vibrant, makes friends too easily, smiles at everyone, and has the cheesiest manners, which according to other people, are his charms.  They even have different physiques – even though they are both tall, Kangjoon has ripped muscles all over his body, biceps that could choke a python, and a good-natured smile whereas Sungjong’s slender body hides a delicate S line under his loosely fitted dress shirt and slacks and when he chooses to smile, it’s something out of the world.

“I’m jealous of your clothes,” Kangjoon randomly says, still smirking.

Sungjong glares the question back at him.

“Because they are touching your body and I’m not.”

The toast he’s had for breakfast threatens to burst out through his mouth.

The other intern lets out a nasty cackle, presumably amused by Sungjong’s disgusted expression. For the rest of the 50 minutes, Kangjoon keeps smirking while eating his packed bulgogi, interjecting with one or two sick jokes that make Sungjong’s stomach turn. He is sure they are both the same age – he remembers when all the interns had first introduced themselves to each other -  so no one could hold it against him if he just punches his pretty face right here and now. However, fighting in the office cafeteria is hardly the best way to get into his boss’ good books, so he holds it in, with difficulty. After some time, he is able to block the other man out completely, immersed in his stock prices, and thus misses the moment when Kangjoon leaves.

To his great annoyance, the next day as well, Kangjoon takes the seat opposite to him, grinning from ear to ear, and drawls, “I need to have you arrested for stealing my heart.”

Sungjong takes patience from the flitting image of him puncturing his jugular with his fork. He convinces himself that he is above it all. Whatever reason Kangjoon has for sabotaging his lunch time, he’s not going to let him get to him.

The tall intern tries to make small talk, which Sungjong don’t dignify with responses. Finally, when he looks at his wristwatch impatiently, Kangjoon says, “Are you late for going back to heaven?”

Sungjong is about to say something packed with curses but reels it in at the last moment and only continues to chew his lunch aggressively – he knows it’s a bait to make him rise and he’s not going to fall for it. That gives rise to a slew of cheesy ‘angel’ jokes which only ends when their lunch break is over. Sungjong is curious as to what the other interns think about their ring leader spending time annoying him, but then he realizes maybe Kangjoon is doing this to impress them. No one has dared to do this before; maybe this is Kangjoon’s way of showing he’s cooler than them all. It shouldn’t be a point to prove since everyone knows it anyway, but Sungjong has no time to analyse the idiocy of others.

The next day, the routine continues, Kangjoon plops down in his usual seat, causing bile to rise up Sungjong’s throat. Extending his cellphone towards him, he says, “You know Sungjong, there’s something wrong with my phone.”

It looks like he wants Sungjong to take a look at it but he knows by now that anything Kangjoon says is twisted.

Proving his intuition right, Kangjoon whispers, “It doesn’t have your number in it.”

Maybe Sungjong’s hand just slipped and all the pasta on his plate somehow ended up on Kangjoon’s face? How unbelievable would that story be?

“Come on, we should have each other’s numbers,” he insists. “Well you’re missing out. You could have this hunk,” he points towards himself in a self-important way, “as your booty call.”

That statement is so ridiculous that Sungjong completely loses his head and laughs, a bit of pasta and mushroom spluttering out of him mouth.

For the tiniest moment, Kanjgun is fazed by Sungjong’s reaction. But soon enough, his smirk widens and he says victoriously, “Now that’s a sweet smile, would be golden if that was all you were wearing.”

Sungjong responds with a cold glare that should have dried up the other male’s heart but the intern doesn’t seem deterred at all. Sungjong wonders how long this joke or bet or whatever stupid thing this is would last.

A week later, Sungjong devises a cunning plan – at lunch break, he climbs up a flight of stairs to the rooftop. True, there are no chairs or tables but he is sure he would have a much more comfortable lunch despite. He hasn’t been to the rooftop in a while – he doesn’t smoke and the white walls and ceilings of the lower floors of the office building gives him a sense of security that this open space can’t.

Putting down his lunch box on a small raised square towards the edge of the rooftop, he walks up to the railings. The sun is hot and just above his head and he feels the first beads of perspiration appear under his suit. Feeling the heat, he takes off his suit and throws it down beside his lunch box. Sometimes it’s all too much for him but he doesn’t let himself go there because so many people have predicted that he’s heading towards a meltdown and he wants to prove them wrong.

He must have spaced out for a moment because a few minutes later, he is shocked by a presence behind him but has no idea how it got there.

“What’s long, and hard, and right behind you?” a slimy voice whispers in his ear, causing every cell in his body to shrink. To his devastation, Kangjoon is standing right behind him, their bodies touching. How he has managed to enter the rooftop and make his way all the way to him noiselessly is a mystery on its own.

For a second, he ponders if he should elbow him hard or kick him in the shin. They are both tempting and it’s all a question of what would be more effective in getting his body away from his. In the end, he decides on both together but before he can do anything, the other intern moves away and instead comes to stand beside him, elbows resting on the railing, his expression smug.

“Is it already time for you to ascend to heaven?”

Sungjong is ready to walk off when Kangjoon grabs his arm with surprising force. He lifts his eyes to the other’s face, rage burning in his eyes.

“Just wanted to see if you’re real or not because you seem like a dream.”

Mustering all his strength, he shakes Kangjoon off of him with a force that even surprises the other male. Collecting his coat and lunch box, he clears off the rooftop as quickly as possible, gnashing his teeth with hatred.

“What are you doing tonight beside me?” Not being able to pester him during lunch break as Sungjong slips off and goes to a different café every day, Kangjoon has taken to appearing at his seat when his bosses are not around to drop an innuendo or two.

It’s infuriating but at least Kangjoon takes care to lower his voice. Just when he thinks this will never stop, it does. Kangjoon doesn’t bother him anymore during lunch or any other time. He doesn’t even make eye contact in the elevator and Sungjong returns to the cafeteria with no hassle. 

The seemingly endless slew of “Nice pants. Can I test the zipper?” and “Your lips look so lonely, would they like to meet mine?” ends just as abruptly as they started. It’s relieving but also a bit unnerving since Sungjong now has no idea what that was about.

As he sits munching his lunch by himself, he thinks of Seo Kangjoon. He’s famous for having chocolate brown eyes but Sungjong thinks they are more the shade of warm caramel infused with coffee and honey and…he hates to admit it but he kind of misses the other man. He was a nuisance all along but he was also the closest to company that he has had in this office.

It’s irritating because the truth is, he does spare a couple of minutes or maybe even more thinking about the other intern. He has also found himself being absentminded during work, which is unacceptable. He wishes he knew it was a joke or something, not knowing is not his forte.

“Woohoo, our Lee Sungjong is actually daydreaming for once!” A loud obnoxious voice fills his ears as he springs to his feet. It’s a reflex – he’s so used to identifying his boss’ voice. The man in questions stands near him, back from lunch no doubt, with the assistant manager beside him.

“Sir,” he says. Lee Howon, the assistant manager slurps his coke while his eyebrows danced in amusement.

“It’s alright, it’s alright, young people like you needs to daydream once in a while,” his boss guffaws, slapping him on the back.

He has been working under Lee Joon for almost three months now but he has been unable to grasp his character. Sometimes he is so serious that he has been dubbed as ‘Batman’ by other workers. At other times, he jokes with his subordinates endlessly, teasing them and making them do annoying chores. Since he hasn’t been able to get any response from Sungjong before, he usually leaves him alone. But today it seems he is in a mood to toy with him.

“Yup,” Howon agrees, slurping his coke some more.

“I wasn’t daydreaming sir,” Sungjong manages as politely as he can.

“It’s okay Sungjong, we know.” Howon has a wonderful set of eyebrows that seem to move on their own accord. These wriggly creatures now start to samba on his forehead as his Cheshire cat grin widens.

Lee Joon also looks meaningfully at him, smirking at an inside joke that only the two of them seem to be aware of.

“I’m sorry sir, know what exactly?”

“Don’t be shy, fella.” Howon’s eyebrows continue the exotic dance. “You’re the talk of the town. Garnering so much jealousy…”

It is true that when the new interns had started, Sungjong had been praised so much that he was the talk of the town with all the other interns jealous of him, but that has died down a long time ago. What could have happened newly that has put him on the map again? Nothing he is aware of, anyway.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about sir,” he says calmly in his no-nonsense voice, which is the only voice he has actually.

“Come now, all the ladies and the gents are so disappointed that the hot intern has been taken off the market and it’s all your doing,” Lee Joon recites nonchalantly.

Sungjong is speechless and maybe even motionless. With one last pat on his back, Lee Joon slouches back into his office with Howon following closely behind, his eyebrows dancing a parting ballet.

For thirty whole minutes, he thinks about what his boss could have possibly meant. The hot intern obviously refers to Seo Kangjoon – even the bosses secretly call him that. But how is it his doing?

That night, he has to stay late, thanks to him being distracted during the day. He also doesn’t want to leave work so that he can drown in the letters and numbers in front of him instead of thinking about a certain brown-eyed nuisance.

Once he has typed the last letter of a report he has been writing, he stretches his back, yawning. All the cubicles around him are empty.

“Ah, I want to treat you like you treat your work - slam you on the table and do you all night long.” 

Sungjong freezes momentarily. That sleazy voice is sickeningly familiar. His gut grumbling, he turns around to find Seo Kangjoon, in a white shirt, sleeves rolled up, tie loosened up. When he draws closer, he notices the prominent veins in his hands.

He’s surprised that Kangjoon has decided to approach him after the short break but he is even more surprised that he has stayed back at the office to do so. His hair that was styled in the morning is now limp but he thinks it looks better this way. His eyes are brown under the fluorescent light but all Sungjong wants is answers.

So when Kangjoon makes a move to grab his hand, he reacts faster, gripping him by the arm and twisting their bodies, so that the back of Kangjoon’s shins hit the edge of his desk with a clang.

There is a look of shock on the other man’s face – this is not how he planned it to be. But it’s 10.30pm, no one’s around, Sungjong is not going to let this chance slip.

“Why are you here? Why are you doing this? What are you doing?”

The staccato of questions hit the already confused-looking Kangjoon, making him shrink.

“Come on, I haven’t gotten all night,” Sungjong fires. His eyes are burning holes in the face of his opponent and he can see him think about how to reply.

Finally, Kangjoon sighs, as if giving up, and says, "Um, well, I'm here because I am trying to…er, to...woo you," he looks and sounds embarrassed.

It’s so preposterous that it gives him no feelings.

“To woo me?” Sungjong’s gaze is as piercing as ever. He doesn’t believe him.

“I swear!”

Normally, he doesn’t believe in promises but the way Kangjoon says it is dripping with sincerity that stops Sungjong in his tracks.

Scrutinizing the other’s face, he asks, "That's what you call 'wooing'?"

"I don't know. I really like you and I wanted to tell you eventually but – I didn’t know how to approach the cold intern who’s only focused on work, okay?” he admits, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. He looks honestly mortified.

“Oh well…” Sungjong lets him go, unsure of what to say after this. It’s a big revelation, one that he can’t say hasn’t had any effect on him. His heart may have fluttered for an infinitesimal moment; after all, Kangjoon’s eyes are really gorgeous and he has a thing for veiny arms. “You-er can go now.”

They are both embarrassed and they don’t know where to look; Kangjoon recovers faster.

“So…your place or mine?”

He is astounded by his gall. He has had enough of this style of ‘wooing’.

“Really?” he asks incredulously.

“Sorry.” Kangjoon scratches his head, mortified. “It’s become a habit. Um…coffee tomorrow?”

He stares at him for a couple of minutes before turning back to his work. He starts gathering up his files, not answering. He’s actually thinking – does he really want to break his own rules and date someone at the same office? In fact, he’s too busy now, concentrating on his work and career; it’s not a time for distractions.

“Is that a yes?” Kangjoon asks tentatively.

Against his better judgment though, he keeps on thinking that it wouldn’t hurt. Besides, he probably will hate him if he spends enough time with him. And yet…

He takes his time gathering up his belongings and when it’s all done, he turns around and sets the other male with a piercing gaze.

“Lunch tomorrow. 1 sharp.”