017

It was nine o’ clock in the evening and some of Donghae’s employees already called it a day as they went home eventually. Almost everyone has gone home by now except for, of course, their boss ─ who still has so much things to work on. Turns out, he wasn’t the only one who hasn’t left the building yet. Sooyeon was still there and he didn’t even notice that because of too much business. Sooyeon, on the other hand, thought that it might be rude to leave without him leaving first because after all, Lee Donghae is the boss,. However, by the looks of it, the thought of going home seems to be out his mind as of the moment. She looked at him briefly and noticed how serious he was on what he was doing. He was reading some papers ─ as always ─ while he was playing with his pen, turning it around with his fingers. His brows were furrowed, almost touching each other as he tries to understand each words his eyes lay upon.

Sooyeon even thought of asking him but by just looking at the serious expression plastered on his handsome face, she backfired and just decided not to. After all, she didn’t want to cause any interruption on what he was doing. In the end, she ended up killing the time doing nonsense stuffs as she waited for him to finish.

Well, it’s not that she doesn’t want to go home ─ fine, she doesn’t feel like going home yet. She still feels like giving him some company so he wouldn’t feel so alone. Sooyeon pretended to be busy while her boss is actually being busy.

“I swear, I wouldn’t be surprised if he and that paper exchange faces,” she muttered under her breath and leaned back on her swivel chair.

Donghae has been busy all throughout the day. There are so much work to do ─ thanks to his brother, Dongwoo ─ and for goodness’ sake, it is stressing him like crazy. But it’s different having Jung Sooyeon around. At least, his stress seemed to go away by just looking at her face. After all, he swore to himself that he’s going to work hard for their future. That is more than enough for him to be motivated aside from Sooyeon, herself.

Speaking of Jung Sooyeon, he thought she had gone home but then, he was surprised to see her still around and at her desk. He smiled upon seeing her still there. Was she waiting for him? He guessed that maybe he was right. Because as far as he could remember, he hasn’t given her much work to do.

He put down his pen and the paper he’s reading, stood up from his swivel chair and walked towards her desk.

She was sleeping, her head resting on her right arm. Donghae felt a sudden rush of guilt when he saw her sleeping, obviously tired. He kept her waiting, didn’t he? He wanted to punch himself for that. He tucked the strands of hair that is covering her beautiful face to her ear and gently caressed her rosy cheek. In fear of waking her up, he decided to just go back to his desk.

However, just as he was going to turn around, he saw her move through his peripheral vision and he immediately went back to her, caught her looking at him blankly.

He find her so cute as she stared right back at him. Donghae felt like laughing because of her cuteness but then he didn’t want to offend her or something so he ended up letting out a chuckle and flashed his half-smile, half-smirk.

Sooyeon suddenly pouted like a little girl when she heard him chuckle.

“What?” Donghae asked her amusedly.

How can someone like her be so cute?

“Why are you laughing at me?” she answered with a question, still pouting.

Donghae playfully shook his head while a boyish grin formed on his face. “I wasn’t laughing,” he answered casually.

Sooyeon pouted even more and rolled her eyes at him as he continuously stared at her, finding it amusing yet amazing,

“Pout again and I swear, Jung Sooyeon, I’ll kiss you.” He told her with a smirk,

Sooyeon eyes returned to his direction, giving him a death yet confused glare. What was he saying? Is his mind actually still intact? He must’ve gone crazy. That’s what Sooyeon thinks but then maybe she’s right. Because as of right now, that’s what Lee Donghae is. He had really gone crazy, he has actually lost his mind ─ all thanks to Jung Sooyeon who never made him felt the new feeling he is actually experiencing.

“That would be too fast of you, sir.” Sooyeon fired with a triumphant smile.

“So? It’s not like I haven’t kissed you yet,” Donghae smirked again and stood up, eyes not leaving on her almost-getting-irritated face. “That almost led into something, Ms. Jung.”

Flashbacks of the past suddenly flooded her mind. That night. That night was the one she was talking about to her best friend, Taeyeon. That was the night when he almost told her he loves her but then she stopped him from doing so. Sooyeon knew about it, she just decided to stay quiet. She prevented him to say those words to her back then and heaven knows how much she regretted it now. He was in love with her. Is he still in love with her even after two years?

Because in those two years, he never left her mind nor her heart. He had always stayed with her throughout those days, weeks and months. That’s where she realized that she also love him, she just doesn’t know it at first because she was so much broken and scared of being in love again. She loves Donghae and it is such a shame it took her long enough to ing realize it.

“I’m sorry,” Sooyeon felt like crying as she finally said those two words she’s been trying hard to say to him. “I am very sorry.”

Donghae, on the other hand, had gone clueless on what she’s saying sorry for. Did she do something wrong? As far as he’s concerned, she hasn’t. Then why is she apologizing like she had done a very big mistake?

She started tearing up and in just a few seconds, tears started streaming down her face. His face had gone serious. He was standing right in front of her desk, while she cries and kept on saying sorry when he doesn’t even have the slightest idea what she’s apologizing for.

Sooyeon kept on saying sorry like it’s the only word she had learned. She didn’t know why but remembering what happened in the past made her feel guilty. Did she cause him too much pain when she stopped him from saying he loves her? Did she cause him too much pain when she decided to leave? She realized how selfish it was for her to not consider what he feels. There are way too many things to thank Lee Donghae for everything he has done for her.

“You can be stubborn sometimes, do you even know that?” Donghae asked her. “Sooyeon, for the nth time since I first met you in that pub, how many times do I have to tell you not to cry?”

Sooyeon stood up and finally had the courage to hug him. God knows how much she wanted to do that. She buried her face on his chest and hugged him so tight, she doesn’t ever want to let go. She just kept crying. Donghae was her rock, her support, her Superman who is always there for her and she’s his Lois Lane. “I missed you very much, whoever you are. So damn much.” she whispered to his ear.

Donghae smiled and hugged her back. “Can you just please tell me why were you saying sorry a couple of times? I couldn’t quite pick it up.”

“What were you trying to tell me that night when I told you I was going to leave?” she replied, still not letting go of the hug.

Donghae flashed a smile and stared down at her. He could remember it, though. Everything is still crystal clear in his mind. Is she really going to bring it back up?

“I told you to be happy, didn’t I?” he told her but the both of them knew what is the truth.

Both of them knew what he tried to say that night.

“That’s not it,” Sooyeon replied, her eyes hopeful.

Donghae chuckled again and kissed her hair. “I know,”

“If I say it, will you still be making it look like it’s a bad thing?” Donghae asked, preventing to smile.

She shook her head.

He sighed and pulled away from the hug.

Jung Sooyeon had gone disappointed when he pulled away from her. What happens now? He stared at his eyes, trying to ask him and know what he’s going to do now. She’s trying to know what he was thinking but Lee Donghae is always unreadable.

“Back then, I think…” Donghae started. “I think I had fallen in love with you. But I was really very sure of that.”

Sooyeon’s shoulders fell and Donghae saw how disappointed she was when he said that. But then, it was the truth.

“I wasn’t even sure if you also love me that time but I was half-sure, half-not that you don’t. I did think that I love you then. Maybe because I grew fond of you? Because you were always around that I get used to your presence. Jung Sooyeon, in just a short span of time, you made me feel like I’m never gonna live without you. Like I’m never going to survive a day without seeing you. It sounds gay but you made me feel something I haven’t felt before. You told me you were leaving and God knows how much I don’t want to let go because I want to keep you with me.” Donghae almost teared as he said those words to her. Those were the words he wanted to say that he kept all by himself. He longed to say those words out of his chest for him to somehow feel better. Those were the words he wanted to tell her after realizing so much in the past two years.

“You see, Sooyeon, you changed me. If you’re thinking that you’re the one who is supposed to be thankful, then you’re wrong. I am also thankful to you for changing me. No one dared to break my walls the way you did. You changed me, from my views and perspective and all. You told me you were leaving that night and so I told myself not to let go of the chance to let you know how I feel though I wasn’t really sure. My point is I just really want you to know that,” Donghae sighed as he tried to catch his breath. He didn’t even see this moment coming. Who would’ve thought he’ll be saying these things to her?

He stared deep into her eyes as he touched her cheek. “But it is different now, Sooyeon.”

Sooyeon froze. It felt like everything had stopped for a while. Everything felt deafening and she could feel her chest getting heavy as she heard those words coming out from him. This is what she’s dreading of. Those words were the words she never wanted to hear. They say that truth hurts and now, she knew how much it really hurts.

But it is different now, Sooyeon.

It’s different now.

He has point, she thought. Everything from the past is so much different from everything that is going on right now. Two years is a very long time and maybe, just maybe he got tired of waiting for someone who isn’t guaranteed to come back. She couldn’t blame him, though. The one who should take all the blame was her. If she didn’t stop him, everything right now would be so different from where they actually are right now.

She slowly loosened her tight grip on him and lifelessly pulled away from the hug.

This is one of the reasons why she hates falling in love. Rejection. But then again, this is her fault. She chose to let the chance pass. She didn’t take the opportunity that once knocked on her door. This is her prize and whether she likes it or not, she got to swallow and accept it.

She found herself walking away as she gathered her things from her desk.

“Are you seriously going to walk away just like that?” she heard him say. Sooyeon stopped for a while and glanced back at him.

“What do you expect me to do? Jump in joy?” she sarcastically questioned back.

“You could say that, I guess?” he answered with a playful smirk as he walked towards her direction.

Sooyeon takes a step back whenever he takes a step forward and when she reached the dead end, “.”

I’m trapped.

Donghae pressed his palms on the door as he trapped Sooyeon in his arms. He stared at her like she’s the most precious thing on Earth. He stared at her like his life depended on her. “You don’t walk out on me, Jung Sooyeon.” He whispered to her ear with that husky just-woke-up tone. “Don’t."

Sooyeon was close to tears. Her eyes felt hot. She was hurt and she hates the fact that she can’t blame him for causing her that. Now she knows how painful it is to be rejected and now she knows what he had felt when she decided to stop him from loving her. He was right back then. She somehow made it look like a bad thing to fall in love with even though he’s not. Both of them knew that it’s not a bad thing to fall for him.

“You left me once and I let you. Do you think I will do it again after all this time?” he asked her. “And one more thing, can you just please stay and hear me out for a while? I’m quite not done yet with what I was saying, by the way.” Donghae flashed a playful smile and dragged her towards the sofa.

Sooyeon’s head instantly lowered as soon as she sat on the sofa. Lee Donghae, on the other hand, was across her. She felt his eyes on her and somehow, she felt ashamed to even look at him. She couldn’t quite understand him as of the moment. He was acting very strange. One second, he’s rejecting her and then the other, he pulls her back to him. Is this some kind of push-and-pull scenario? Guys kind of like those stuffs, she even thought to herself as she tried to figure things out.

“If you misunderstood the last thing I said, then I’m sorry. What I mean is, the past is far more different from what is happening right now. However, one thing remained the same and only got better and stronger. Ask me what,” he smiled at her.

Donghae moved towards her and lifted her head. He sat on the wooden center table as he tried to talk to her. He knows that this might be the perfect time to say all of those things he’s been spilling out to her. He actually longed for this moment to happen. He wanted to get it all out of his chest. And doing it somehow made him really better than before.

“W-What?”

“If back then I thought I was in love with you, this is the difference I’m talking about. It’s not I think anymore, Jung Sooyeon. I am a hundred and one percent that I’m really in love with you. Madly and deeply.” He cupped her cheeks and planted a small peck on her forehead as he closed his eyes.

Sooyeon couldn’t even believe on what she was hearing from him. Sure, the talk kind of went like a roller coaster ride but then this is where the talk ends. Lee Donghae is very hard to understand when he talks to you. Very detailed, every pieces of the puzzle are mentioned even though it is not necessary anymore to mention those and maybe that’s why she kind of misunderstood the everything is different now part. And maybe the fear of the possibility of being rejected added. Sooyeon didn’t know what to do but to just kiss him.

How he missed those heavenly taste of his lips that she longed for months. She wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss was short yet meaningful and with the looks that they’re giving each other, they both know what they are now.

“You’re mine and mine alone now, beautiful stranger.”

She giggled and shrugged.

“Didn’t know my boss is kinda possessive?”

a/n

Sorry to the millionth power! It took me long enough again before I could update huhuhu :( I wasn't able to make an update last semestral break because my laptop is dysfunctional :( I'm very sorry if I rarely have time to update my story! I rarely have time because I always get ready for my quizzes and school-related stuffs. I also hate those times when I'm having writer's block and when I couldn't come up with something to post. This is alll for now. Apologies if it's kind of lame? Though, it's long. We have a four day-break so that's why I got the time to post even though I have tons of homeworks to do.

Lots of love!

Typographical errors? Sorry if there's any.