You sighed for the umpteenth time that morning as you idly tapped your fingers against your desk. You were supposed to be working on some paperwork that had assigned to you, but you were so distracted and numb from last night that you just couldn’t put your fingers on the keyboard and start. You inwardly groaned. This is pointless.

Abruptly, you stood up from your seat, stumbling slightly as blood rushed into your legs to propel you forward. You’d been sitting for such a long time that your limbs had become unused to being used. Hurriedly, you rushed into the bathroom, walking in and slipping into the biggest stall and locking it. With another sigh, you closed the lid of the toilet and sat on it. It was when you were finally alone that all your emotions came crashing down on you once again.

In short, you felt like .

After you forced Jongin to leave, you remembered losing hold on yourself and collapsing onto your knees. Tears had been streaming down your face and at first you refused to get up when Kyungsoo begged you to. Eventually you did what he said. You didn’t want to bother your neighbors, but at the same time you didn’t care. You wanted to wash all the pain away. You wanted to dig your heart out of your body and bury it so you didn’t have to feel the pain anymore.

He left. He actually left me. I’m all alone now…Nobody loves me…I’m so pathetic.

Those words had continuously circled throughout your mind as Kyungsoo practically carried you back inside your apartment, into your bedroom, and onto your bed. It was when your body hit the soft mattress and buried itself in the warmth of the comforter that you let yourself go. You cry-sobbed it all out. Ugly, mucous-filled sobs filled with pain and despair and disbelief.

You still couldn’t believe it.

Kyungsoo had been there with you, rubbing your back, rocking you back and forth in his arms, hugging you into his chest as an attempt to muffle the sounds, but even then you could hear your cries ringing in your ears.

“Oppa, what did I do wrong? What did I do wrong to deserve this?” You had cried into his shirt. You remembered feeling bad for ruining his shirt with your salty tears. You remembered the pain swallowing you up into a darkness in which you slept. 

You had a dream. You dreamed of the time when Jongin first asked you out. It was a mere Thursday. You had just been accepted to work at Byun Corporations and you were so happy. Jongin and Kyungsoo had prepared a mini celebration for you, consisting a scrumptious dinner made by Kyungsoo and a cake that spelled out ‘Congratulations Aeri!’ in red icing. It was after that little celebration that Jongin had asked you to accompany him on the rooftop that night. It was on your apartment building’s rooftop that Jongin asked you to his girlfriend. You remembered feeling so overjoyed and happy. That night you also gave him your first kiss, as if to seal the beginnings of your relationship together.

It was so beautiful that you didn’t want to wake up.

But, of course, you did.

And when you did, reality came crashing down on you once again making you almost cry. Numbness replaced that happiness, and it was numbness that led you through your morning routine and through breakfast, which was prepared by Kyungsoo (He had left you a note on the refrigerator saying he had left for work and was so so so so sorry he couldn’t stay with you for breakfast). It was numbness that had you calling for a cab that drove you to work and had you sitting at your desk for who knows how many hours before finally bringing you to the bathroom and sitting on a toilet.

Yep, you definitely like .

After several minutes of sitting in a locked stall while people filtered in and out of the bathroom, you figured that you couldn’t stay in here all day. Either people were going to start looking for you (or not) or you were going to get hungry.

“Aish.” You groaned, ruffling your hair. I can’t let this ruin my life. Especially my job. 

Standing up, you unlocked your stall, looking out to see if anybody was there. When the coast was clear, you straightened, looking at your reflection in the mirror and fixed your hair and outfit. Breathing a sigh of resignation, you walked out of the bathroom. You didn’t even take two steps when you bumped into someone. Stepping aside, you quickly bowed apologetically before lifting your head up.

“Omo, I’m so sorry—” You stopped mid sentence when you saw who it was and your eyes widened. “Sunbae!” 

Minah lifted her head and met your shocked gaze with a frazzled look on her face before breaking out into a relieved smile when she recognized you. You took in her appearance—she looked really tired, dark crescents evident under her eyes. You knew that she wasn’t much older than you, maybe a couple of years or so, but at that moment it seemed as if she had aged ten years in the past few days. You hastily bowed once again and asked with concern, “Gwenchana?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Actually, I’ve been looking for you.” She said, regaining her composure and looking regal and professional once again.

“Me?” You repeated stupidly before recovering quickly and adding, “What can I help you with, sunbae?”

“I need you to deliver Mr. Byun his tea for me.” She explained. “I have to deal with a paperwork problem and I won’t be able to give it to him today.”

Your heart sank in your chest after hearing her words. You didn’t feel like facing your boss today, or ever. Actually, you were hoping never to see him again. The truth was, you were completely embarrassed after last night. He had seen you at your worst and you two barely even knew each other—much less were on friendly or informal terms.

But you couldn’t say that to your Minah. Especially about your boss. Rumor has it that Minah and Baekhyun might have dated or had a fling before. Who knows that their relationship status was now. Nonetheless, you didn’t want to offend her or him.

So, instead, you plastered a small smile on your face and nodded. “Sure, sunbae.”

* * * * *

Baekhyun was sitting restlessly at his desk rubbing his temples, when his office door opened. He was especially exhausted today, his office deafening in its silence. His head was aching and all he wanted to do was to lie down and sleep. He barely looked up to see who was at the door. 

“Whatever it is, let’s talk about it later. I want to be alone, right now.” He said to the person who had entered his office. 

“We haven’t seen each other in months and that’s how you greet me?” Baekhyun looked up when he recognized the voice. He let out a tired sigh, leaning back in his leather chair, his eyes still closed.

“Right now’s not really a good time, Yeol.” 

He could hear his best friend still moving closer to him nonetheless, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"There's never really a good time to see you." He heard Chanyeol musing. "You've been extremely preoccupied lately."

"I'm the CEO of this company. What do you expect?" Baekhyun still didn't open his eyes as he heard Chanyeol sigh in front of him. 

"I expect you to at least live your life once in a while. Get a girlfriend or something." At Chanyeol's last comment, Baekhyun chuckled.

"I'll pass." Opening his eyes and straightening in his seat, Baekhyun crossed his arms. His head was still pounding, but he chose to ignore it for the moment. "Spill. What is it you want? Hurry up, I'm busy."

"Doesn't seem like it." Chanyeol muttered, earning himself a hard stare from Baekhyun, but he continued anyway. "I was wondering if you’ve heard from Miyeon lately.”

At her name, Baekhyun froze. Instinctively, his heart started to beat rapidly in his chest, but he force his face to stay calm and collected as to not reveal anything to his best friend. Unfortunately, Chanyeol saw right through his facade. Raising a brow, he commented, “I’m guessing that’s a no?”

“She’s all the way in America. What do you expect?” He snapped, his words coming out harsher than he had intended. 

“Actually…she’s back.” Baekhyun’s eyes widened before narrowing in disbelief at Chanyeol’s statement, but before he could come up with a literate response, there was a knock at the door of his office. Shaking his head to clear it, Baekhyun cleared his throat before announcing, “Come in.”

The huge mahogany door opened to reveal Aeri, her hands cradling a warm cup of tea. The smell of it drifted into Baekhyun’s nose, calming his nerves. Forgetting the last few minutes, a small smile broke out onto Baekhyun’s lips. “Miss Choi. How nice of you to join us.”

He watched as Aeri straightened before bowing slightly to show respect, but not too deep as to spill the warm drink in her hands. “Sajangnim, I’ve brought your tea.” Aeri's eyes flickered over to Chanyeol, bowing slightly towards him as well, before walking forward and placing the cup in front of Baekhyun. 

“Thank you.” He smiled at her before leaning over and lifting the cup to his lips and inhaling its bittersweet scent. 

“Is there anything else you need, sir?” Though she asked it politely, Baekhyun could sense her urgency to leave. It was then that he remembered the night before. A small smile played on his lips.

“Actually, yes there is. But, for now, you may be excused. I shall call you in later.” Aeri blinked and he took in her bewildered and slightly frightened expression in amusement.

Clearing , she just nodded her head before bowing her head to both Baekhyun and Chanyeol before whisking around and rushing out of the room. When the door clicked close, Chanyeol whipped his head around to Baekhyun with a raised brow and a low whistle. 

“Some secretary you got there.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes at him before taking a hesitant sip of his tea. He pulled away quickly, spitting out ‘!’, as the tea burned his upper lip. With an irritated expression, he said, “She’s not my secretary.”

“Really?” This time both of Chanyeol’s brows shot up in interest, his eyes wandering back over to the now closed doors. Baekhyun let out a low chuckle knowingly before shaking his head and taking another shot at drinking his tea. 

“Don’t even think about, Yeol.”

“Why not?” Chanyeol turned back to him, a whine evident in his voice. Suddenly, his eyes widened before a mischievous smile spread across his face. “Is it because you like her?”

Baekhyun choked on his tea which was unfortunate for two reasons. One, the drink was hot and was now burning his tongue off. And two, the tea was hot and caused his face to instinctively get warm making it seem like Chanyeol’s comment affected when in actuality, it didn’t.

Unfortunately, Chanyeol got the wrong impression from his burning face and gave his best friend a knowing (but really, unknowing) smile. 

“Alright, alright. I’ll back off.” He gave Baekhyun an exaggerated wink to which Baekhyun glared at him for.

“That’s not why—” But Chanyeol cut him off.

“It’s okay, dude.” He gave him a cheeky smile while slowly walking backwards. “I get it.”

When finally reached the door, Chanyeol gave him a short cheerful wave before pulling down the handle of the door and taking a step back into the hallway behind him. With half of his body still in view he said words that made Baekhyun’s tea suddenly turn cold, 

“But just so you know, Miyeon is back and she also wants to speak to you.”

Hullo hullooo my fellow subbiesss~ Long time no update! Mianhae x100000!! I will try my best to update ASAP! I am going to be a bit busier now and I'm beginning to doubt my ability to finish this before school starts but I will try nonetheless! Anywayss I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Until next time~

xoxo

Kimi [mwahh]