“Ah Joonmyun there you are. I was about to send someone out to look for you”

Smiling embarrassedly, Joonmyun walks into the office and takes a seat across from Minseok, bowing his head as he does so.

“Sorry. I got caught up trying to help Baekhyun out with something” he lies, not about to tell his boss that he was actually comforting Luhan who turned out to be his boyfriend with whom they were having a secret relationship.

Apologies out of the way, Minseok gets straight to business. He first starts off by congratulating Joonmyun on a job well done in his most recent articles- he was continually impressing him for a guy who had only been in the industry for a few months.

“Keep it up and I can see you doing live news reports in no time” Minseok finishes and not used to praise as good as this very often, Joonmyun has to drop his head so that Minseok doesn’t see his blush and thanks him. To get praise like this so early on in his career was something Joonmyun had strived for since university and now that he was actually hearing it, it was almost surreal for him.

“I know I keep piling these reports onto you, but it’s only because you just write so well compared to other writers I’ve read from in the past. Which is why I’m proposing to you the opportunity to go and interview Choi Siwon”

“R-really?” Joonmyun asks “You think I’m good enough to do that?”

“Better” Minseok stresses “If I can trust anybody to pull off a report like this, it’s you. So, do you want it?”

Of course Joonmyun wants the interview. This- to him- is just as good as getting the opportunity to interview the biggest businessmen and women in the world! The chance to interview Choi Siwon, that’s every business journalists dream, and he was the one getting the opportunity to do it!

Leaving the office, Joonmyun makes sure that he’s by himself before he starts jumping around and silently celebrating for the opportunity he has given himself. Walking back to his desk, he looks out for Baekhyun, Sunyoung, anybody he can go brag to and celebrate with. This was surely going to be his big break!

Joonmyun gets to work straight away. His interview is coming up in just under two days’ time and he needs to make sure that everything is perfect before then. Starting at work and back at his place face glued to the laptop, he was constantly writing, changing, and deleting possible questions he could ask. His main goal was to make sure that the interview wasn’t like any other interview that Siwon had sat through before. He wanted to make sure it was different, he needed it to be perfect.

Having only moved from his laptop for toilet breaks and eating only when his stomach felt like it was about to cave in, someone knocking at his door made sure that Joonmyun finally got his eyes away from the screen for two main reasons; firstly his eyes were becoming increasingly strained and it gave them just a tiny break and secondly, who was knocking on his door at ten o’clock at night?

“What the ever loving fluff are you doing here?” Joonmyun asks when he opens the door to find Yifan stood at the entrance

“I needed somewhere to go to chill for a while, get my mind off things” Yifan replies shivering as he moves to keep himself warm.

“What? H-how?” Joonmyun asks, still not believing that Wu Yifan had voluntarily turned up to his apartment, now knew where he lived, and was seeking to come into Joonmyun’s apartment

“Oh come on Joonmyun we live in the twenty first century, it’s not that difficult to find out where you live!” Yifan replies impatiently. He tries to act like his usual, annoying self, but Joonmyun can see straight through it. He’s more agitated than usual, probably slightly paranoid that someone is following him because he keeps looking down the hall, and he’s even more jumpy than Joonmyun thinks he’s ever seen him before.

“Look can we leave the gawking and the questions for after I come in? Please? It’s really cold out here” he asks and even though Joonmyun is still profoundly perplexed as to why Yifan was even there in the first place, he does move aside to let him in.

Like a nosy little child, Yifan makes quick work of snooping around the apartment. Rubbing his hands together to help them warm up, he takes little peeks into Joonmyun’s bedroom, his kitchen, staring at the various photos Joonmyun had of him and his brother, as well as the one photo from his childhood he had kept of him and his parents before the game of favouritism came to play.

Not one for liking nosy people- especially if it was Yifan- Joonmyun would have wasted no time in telling him to mind his own business, but still trying to get his head around the fact that what he had dubbed as his mortal enemy was now roaming around his home, it kind of slipped his mind.

“What are you doing here?” he eventually asks, walking into the living room where Yifan was snooping through his movie collection

“If you’re the son of a wealthy men, guaranteed to get his fortune when he passes, and you’re slowly building a name for yourself, then this whole world is full of people who only want to know you, no exploit you, because you have money” Yifan begins bitterly.

“I go along to meet business partners because I know one day I’ll have to do what Siwon is doing. I go to build the foundations of a partnership but I can see it in their eyes the minute I meet them; they only want to know me because I have money and they’ll do anything to get it. Bratty daughters who don’t know the meaning of the word respect, rumours that I might be gay? Hey, let’s get someone to force their son to pretend to be gay then! This is why I went to Canada, this is why I hate having to put on a performance for people who don’t deserve it!”

“Why are you here? Surely if you wanted to get away from it all you’d go home, somewhere you feel comfortable and be able to relax” Joonmyun asks

“Because if I went home Qian would be there. She would want to sit me down and talk about it. There’s nothing to talk about; I don’t like the people who Siwon has to do business with, I go along for him, yet each time they manage to piss me off one way or another and I always end up walking out. Simple” Yifan replies, eyes clocking onto the sofa where Joonmyun had laid out all of his work, laptop still out on the coffee table.

“I was planning my questions for an upcoming interview I have with your father” Joonmyun explains, watching Yifan go over to have a look at what Joonmyun had written so far. What he didn’t know was that after a few minutes of being inactive the laptop’s screen would go blank and automatically lock itself until Joonmyun had typed in the password. Joonmyun feels like grinning when Yifan is met with the lock screen and sighs in defeat, but now’s not the appropriate time.

“Do you want some coffee? Hot chocolate?” he offers instead “You were complaining about it being cold”

Yifan takes him up on his offer of hot chocolate and follows Joonmyun into the kitchen where he just stands there watching him. It’s quite unnerving for Joonmyun who would actually find it more comforting if Yifan stood there making it his job to annoy Joonmyun as much as possible to get him to muck up, but he’s willing to bask in the silence whilst he still has it.

“This place is kinda small for a journalist” Yifan pipes up

“You’re forgetting that I recently graduated university and started my first real job. It’ll take a while to save a lot and get myself a decent sized place” Joonmyun replies, setting the kettle up and waiting for the water to boil.

“I would have thought your parents would have helped you find a better place” Yifan says and his comment makes Joonmyun scoff

“The only person they would rush to help is my brother. This place is all the money I saved up working over university with a bit of help for my grandparents” he replies “Besides, it’s not so bad, once you get used to the couple next door who always pick every morning at exactly seven to argue about something”

Whether he was aiming to be funny or not Joonmyun’s not sure, but hearing Yifan laugh slightly, seeing the tiniest etches of a smile is quite refreshing. It’s not the usual laugh or smile after some witty comment or a statement he’s made about himself which is sure to make Joonmyun roll his eyes at, it’s genuine and Joonmyun finds himself liking it.

The remainder of Yifan’s visit is spent with him sat in the chair across from Joonmyun, watching him work as he finishes his drink. He doesn’t say anything, he keeps quiet and let’s Joonmyun get on with it, so quiet from his usual self that Joonmyun almost forgets he’s there. The only time he does speak is when his drink is finished and he goes to leave. Though he mutters a thank you, Joonmyun hears it before the front door gently clicks after Yifan.

Seeing this vulnerable side to Yifan was something he never thought he would get to see. It was a surprise for Joonmyun; having him turn up out of the blue and yet instead of finding ways to annoy him, he just sat there drinking hot chocolate. It was certainly a side he was probably never going to see again, but Joonmyun liked this side to Yifan a hell of a lot more than the side he was used to seeing…

This is probably the shortest chapter so far in terms of content, but a lot has happened. We get the interview opportunity which sets up nicely for the next chapter and vulnerable Yifan. A side to Yifan which obviously rarely shows itself that there is one chapter where Yifan and Joonmyun aren't at each others throats.

Doesn't mean it will last. Who would I be to just take away the bickering like that?

Until the next chapter!!