Chapter 3
What a Beautiful Mess This Is
They don’t meet for the next two weeks, which Kyungsoo is thankful for. The embarrassment from last time still haunts him, automatically cringing everytime he remembers. The first Saturday, he comes home that night to a totally different apartment. The dishes have been washed and the sink is virtually spotless. Every surface is devoid of dust and every item in its rightful place. His clothes, previously littered in piles across any available surface, are now sitting on his bed, laundered and neatly folded. (Maybe he can ask him later to place them inside the drawers or hang them in the closet instead) And Jongin actually taking pains to fold his shirts just so leaves Kyungsoo feeling a little giggly. Even his bedspread is artfully tucked in the corners just like those in high class hotels.
Kyungsoo double checks to find his dirty underwear locked safely away in one of his drawers and he sighs in relief. Continuing the tour, he notes that Jongin hadn’t gotten to the windows yet but it’s insignificant to how good his apartment looks right now.
“This is how a civilized, well-educated human being should live,” he declares and for once thinks that him acting like a bumbling weirdo in front of an incredibly good-looking guy isn’t too bad of a trade-off.
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“Hey.”
Kyungsoo doesn’t bother looking up from his computer, but answers anyway, “I’m busy. Why are you even here? We have a deadline.”
“Eh, I need a break. Besides, my boss isn’t here.”
“Well mine is, so go away.”
“Rude.” Beakhyun sounds hurt but Kyungsoo knows better, so he stops typing and turns his full attention to him. “Sorry but I’m just under a lot of stress.”
“Which is why you need a break. C’mon, ten minutes won’t kill you.”
“Fine. But ten minutes tops. Mr. Lee needs this report by the end of the day.” Baekhyun nods and Kyungsoo gets up and follows him to the breakroom. A couple of employees are there milling around the water dispenser and they say a light hello. He sits on one of the unoccupied chairs and waits as Baekhyun goes to grab two mugs and pours coffee into them.
He isn’t surprised that Baekhyun knows exactly how much cream and sugar to add, watching him stir it a few times, the clink of the spoon audible across the murmurs of office gossip. Kyungsoo says a soft ‘thank you’ when Baekhyun finally hands it to him, a whiff of it relaxing him some.
"So." Baekyun starts as he takes a seat right next to him. "You seem kinda on edge lately. More than usual."
Kyungsoo side eyes him and takes a sip of his coffee before thinking of the proper answer. Oh, I hired a Greek god to scrub my toilet every week, what's there to be stressed about?
"Am I?” He looks down at his cup, contemplative. “Mr. Lee's riding us hard for this new account, I guess. It'll ease up once the acquisition pushes through."
"Hmm, I suppose," he replies, not sounding convinced. "And what of the apartment dilemma? I remember you mentioned about needing to hire a professional to take care of it?"
"Yeah, I hired someone a couple of weeks back," Kyungsoo murmurs against his cup before taking a sip, trying to be as vague as possible.
"Well, that's good," Baekhyun says and Kyungsoo stares at him, searching for any signs of suspicion, satisfied when he doesn’t find any.
Baekhyun has this weird habit of jerking his mug in a semi-circle, sloshing the coffee around before he finally drinks it. "One of these days, you are gonna burn yourself doing that," Kyungsoo warns before taking another sip of his coffee. Baekyun does it again anyway.
"Force of habit."
They spend a few seconds enjoying their coffee in silence before Baekhyun interrupts. "I didn't wanna say this then but when I was in your apartment last time, I tried to hold my breath a few times because of the god-awful smell. I almost passed out on your icky stained carpet Kyungsoo! It was that disgusting. But I’m glad you had it sorted."
Kyungsoo pretends to look offended but really, he sort of agrees with him. He stares at his mug again, debating whether or not he should tell Baekhyun about Jongin. He's bound to find out soon enough because he usually drops by unannounced. He doesn't get to make that decision, though, because his phone starts ringing, 'Boss Lee' flashing on his screen. ". Gotta go Baek," holding up his phone for the other to see. He takes one last sip of his coffee and gives it to Baekhyun before bolting for the door.
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Finally, finally Kyungsoo gets the rare chance to sleep in on a Saturday. He'd slaved well into the evening the previous day, and is rewarded with a full weekend without having to think about work, which he fully intends to spend sleeping until noon, if not for the damn doorbell buzzing every three seconds. He sits up and huffs, brain still half-asleep as he gets off the bed, managing to glance at his clock to catch the time, and stumbles to the front door like a zombie. He has half a mind to murder whoever is at his door at ing nine in the morning on a ing weekend. Even Baekhyun isn't that dumb.
"The hell do you want?!" he snaps as he opens the door, not even looking at whoever's outside. His mind is still cloudy with sleep, and it's only after a few angry breathes later that he recognizes Jongin standing there, looking both surprised and apologetic.
"I'm sorry if I caught you at a bad time Mr. Do," he says, bowing at the same time.
"Hey, no, it's fine. Sorry... for yelling at you," Kyungsoo says, voice going soft as he waves at Jongin to come inside. It should bother him that he's wearing only boxers and a rat
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