a/n the following chapter will be rated T just to let you know! don't expect too much though lol.

Time seemed to tick endlessly; at least that’s what her ears was accustomed to.

The wall clock in the living room continued to tick as her eyes searched his for any signs of amusement. There was surprisingly none, and only the intense look he gave her remained. Wendy gulped. This was definitely when Mr. Tuan was at his most dangerous moment.

“You’re kidding.” Her words came off as a hushed whisper instead.

The man shook his head, and his hands lingered awkwardly by his side. Mark had wanted to hold her by her hands, telling her that he was serious and that he has never felt this way before. However, he didn’t wanted to come off as forceful, and the man waited patiently for her answer. Although he had held her hands before, he knew he had to give her some time to think without letting any exterior factors affecting it.

“When?” Her already wide eyes widened some more.

“H-Huh?” Mark didn’t understand what she was trying to say.

“Since when have you liked me?”

He pursed his lips, letting the question settle in his mind. It was obvious that the question would come his way sooner or later. He slouched a little, resting against the couch as he contemplated for an answer.

“It’s… complicated.” He settled for that at last.

“We have time.” Wendy looked on nervously. “I mean, if we’re going to talk about this… at least…”

“So where should I start then?” Mark sat crossed legged, making himself comfortable.

If someone told Wendy a month before that the mysterious President of Velvet & Co was going to be sitting in her home – too comfortable for her liking, actually – she would have laughed and told them that there were funnier jokes that they could have come up with.

The girl inwardly sighed as she waited for him to continue.

This was why she hated talking to men sometimes; they didn’t know where to start their stories. Growing up with Jackson her whole life proved this.

She wasn’t ist of course, definitely not, but sometimes she thinks that men were more long winded than women had been.

“Do you remember the first time I met you?”

Wendy nodded her head, secretly wondering if his story really dated that far back.

“When I first saw you, I really didn’t like you.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “As if that wasn’t obvious, Mr. Tuan.”

“Seungwan.” He raised an eyebrow. “It’s Mark.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Anyway, getting back on topic.” Mark frowned. “When I first saw you, I thought you were the devil reincarnate.”

On the contrary, Wendy giggled to herself, I thought you were an angel.

“What’s so funny?” The man eyed her suspiciously, thinking she had snickered.

“Nothing, nothing.” She turned red. “Sorry, you can continue.”

“Well yeah. You were the devil.” Mark sighed. The image of her standing awkwardly with her hands clasped together were still ingrained deeply in his mind. “Very beautiful, but definitely the devil.”

“U-Um…”

“Anyway, I thought God played a funny joke. Here I was, at the peak of my career, and they send a beautiful distraction right into my office.”

“Distraction?!”

“Obviously.” The man said it as a matter of fact. “How am I supposed to concentrate on my work if my personal assistant was that beautiful? I’m still a man you know.”

“I… really am not-” Wendy turned even redder and tried to protest.

Deep down, she did know that she was pretty. A girl has got to have some self-confidence. It was a little bit unnerving for her, however, hearing how Mark talks about her. It was almost as if he worships the ground that she walks on, and any girl would have turned embarrassed at being treated in such a way, right?

“Thankfully, though, you turned out to be a little weird.”

“Hey!”

“It’s a good thing.” Mark chuckled. “It proved to me that you weren’t exactly the devil.”

“I never was one in the first place.” She huffed.

“Seriously. I couldn’t count how many times you called me an annoying jerk.”

“T-That’s because you never gave me any work! And it didn’t help that you were so cold towards me.”

“I had to be cold towards you.” The man explained. “If I was any friendlier, who knows what I would have done in that enclosed office.”

Wendy was absolutely positive that her face was now as red as a tomato. This was definitely not a side to him that she had seen before. How long had she been longing for him to at least be a little nicer to her?

To think that he was actually holding a decent conversation with her; much less flirting with her!

This was completely astounding.

“I guess my feelings became stronger when I started to realise the little things you did when you were unaware.”

Mark continued. “Like when you bit your lips whenever you’re stumped with something I said. Or when you started humming, in relief I might add, when I sent you somewhere that’s not the laundromat or the coffee maker.”

“That’s…”

“Or!” He added with a glare. “When you hide behind Jinyoung whenever there is an awkward atmosphere.”

“Y-You were scary, okay!” She defended herself. “I had to do what I had to do in order to survive.”

The man only rolled his eyes at her so called defense. If anything, he knew that she simply had trouble looking at him in the eye. Her shyness was after all part of her appeal.

“By standing behind Jinyoung?”

“He was the nicest man in the company. It made sense, when we compare him to you.”

“Whatever.” Mark refused to accept Wendy’s inner mind. Jinyoung? Nice? How fooled was everyone, really? “When I started to notice these things, it really took a toll on me. I would remember how my day went when I went to sleep.”

He then turned over to her excitedly. “You know, I’ll admit that it wasn’t really until today that I realised I really do like you.”

“Oh gee.” Wendy scowled. “It just had to be the day where my underwear shows, huh.”

“I told you that I didn’t see it!”

“Sure.”

“You know.” The man narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “I always knew you had a sarcastic side to you but I didn’t know it was this bad.”

“T-That’s-”

“It’s okay. Every part of you is appealing, of course.”

“I didn’t realise you were such a huge flirt, Mr. Tuan.” Wendy frowned. “I mean, Mark. You know sweet words won’t really get to me, right?”

“Of course. Says the girl who can’t even look me in the eye.”

“I-I can!”

“Prove it.” His eyebrow raised in amusement. “Look me in the eye then, Wendy. All you’ve been doing since we’ve been talking was looking way past me. I mean, there was that one time just now when you were looking right at my chest…”

Wendy gasped, horrified. It was one thing to be flirting with your superior, but it was definitely another issue to have him take subtle jabs at you while he was flirting.

This man is good.

“Fine!” She huffed. Just look him in the eye, Wendy. You can do it. ”T-There.”

Mark laughed. “I didn’t realise my eyes were below my nose.”

. “W-Well, as much as your eyes are beautiful, your lips are too.”

The man laughed harder, clutching his stomach. It was so easy to see how flustered the girl had become at his sudden remarks. He shook his head and scooted closer, much to her surprise but when she had fumbled back, the man only came nearer.

“My eyes, Wendy.” Mark grinned as he pointed towards them. “They’re here.”

This time she looked him straight in the eye, and realised that although the seriousness was still there, the man pretty much seemed amused. There was a hint of playfulness in it and the girl unknowingly gulped at the situation that she had put herself in.

“D-Don’t you think you’re too close?” She managed a sentence out, still entranced by the look in his eyes. “Very close… Too close…”

“Do you not like it?” This time it was Mark who had glanced towards her lips and Wendy felt her body shudder at the sudden raw electricity that travelled between them.

“I-I don’t particularly mind.”

He felt his heart leap at her words, but reminded himself to stay grounded. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t feel the sudden intensity between them, and he had wanted to make sure that what was between them was feelings of love; and not simple lust.

At least, he hoped that Wendy wasn’t only feeling lust.

The man shook his head, and retreated backwards; though his hands brought her to sit upright again. He could see the disappointment in her eyes, but he remained resolved to not let his instincts get the better of him.

“A-Anyway!” Wendy laughed awkwardly. “I-I did it!”

“Yeah.”

She was surprised to hear how coarse his voice had become, as if there was a part of him that was holding back. A part of her had wanted to ease his worries, but a part of her was also worried at diving into things too quickly.

This was her superior, for goodness sake.

No matter how friendly they’ve become, it was still dangerous to do things without thinking.

“S-So,” She managed a sentence out. “I assume you liked me from the very beginning then?”

“Definitely.” His shoulders slumped in relief, glad that she didn’t make things more awkward. “Now that I think about it, it was really difficult not to like you. Do you know how many guys in the company had a crush on you?”

“Please. It was only because I was the new girl.”

“Give yourself some credit.” Mark shook his head. “There weren’t as many guys that went goo goo gaga when Seulgi first came in.”

“But that’s because Jinyoung had dibs on her, right?” She giggled, recalling how Seulgi would often tell her stories of when she was the sole woman working in the building. “It’s no wonder guys don’t approach her.”

“Except Jaebum of course.”

“Jaebum approaches everyone.”

“Except Irene.”

Wendy scratched her head sheepishly. “I’d rather not know that.”

“Anyway, you should have seen the guys that were after you.”

“I can’t really recall anyone.” The girl frowned. “I guess Yugyeom did asked me out to dinner that one time.”

“He did, did he?” It was Mark’s turn to scowl. “I should have seen that coming. But that only proves my point that guys were after you.”

“I-Including you?”

“Definitely me.” He chuckled. “You really know how to make a man go crazy, Wendy.”

She pursed her lips together, wondering how to react to such a statement. What could one possibly say in such a situation?

Of course, Mark.Thanks?

“I guess that makes the both of us then.” Was what came out of instead.

“What?” He smirked. “I make you go crazy too?”

“W-When you don’t give me any work!”

“That’s all?”

She gritted her teeth in annoyance. “And when you’re being flawless like you are now.”

“Flawless enough for you to like me?” Mark tried again, as he took a deep breath in.

The conversation was going nowhere; they both knew it. It was only a matter of time before one of them stuttered something stupid again. It was up to him, he thought, to make things flow naturally. After all, it did seem as though he was the one with more experience here.

Wendy furrowed her eyebrows together.

Did she like him?

She who had once scoffed over how ridiculous Seulgi had been pairing them up together? Mind you, this was also the same girl who had also dreamt about them getting together from time to time.

Wendy didn’t know if she liked Mark, but she knew that a part of her was attracted to him, somehow. Were they the same things? Did they hold the same meaning?

“I… like you.” She muttered at long last.

It was as if her words had slipped past him, as he continued to look at her blankly. The man blinked continuously, before coming closer to her again.

“Sorry, did I hear what I think I just heard?” Mark asked in disbelief.

“I… I like you.” Wendy repeated herself. “I like you, Mark.”

“H-How much do you like me?” He felt his heart leap in joy. Was it wrong to want her to like him as much as he had liked her? The feelings seemed to overwhelm him for he realised that he too had stuttered at her words. “A little? A lot? Enough? Just right?”

“I guess… it’s… a lot?”

“A lot as in,” He continued excitedly. “- If I kissed you, you wouldn’t mind – a lot? Or – I don’t mind having with you right now – a lot, OR – I want to get married to you – a lot?”

“W-What nonsense are you babbling about?!” Wendy felt her face flushed with embarrassment. Why do things always have to move fast with him? “I just really like you a lot! Period!”

“Oh.” It was to her relief that Mark didn’t seem dejected at all, for he was still grinning from ear to ear. “I guess that works too.”

“So yeah.” She felt herself grinning too. “I guess you like me and I like you.”

Mark’s hands finally went out to reach hers, a moment he had been waiting for. It left him with much joy when she hadn’t flinched at his touch as per last time, and he took the chance to squeeze them a little tighter.

“Then let’s make it official.” He gazed over her fondly. “Wendy Son, will you be my girlfriend?”

“Yes!”

“Will you also allow me to kiss you?”

“Y-You-”

His lips had grazed over hers quickly, and she felt comforted by the fact that it was a light peck. Funnily enough, Wendy had felt a little dejected when he moved away; much to the amusement of the man before her.

“You’re frowning.” Mark teased. “Was the kiss not enough?”

“I…” She panicked. “I was just disappointed at not being able to see your eyes up close, that’s all!”

“Oh right. My beautiful eyes. The ones underneath my nose, right?”

“You…”

“I must say, though, Wendy.” Mark widened his eyes in mock horror. “I didn’t know you like to kiss with your eyes open. You didn’t strike me as the dominant type.”

“M-Mark!”

“Still appealing, though. No worries.”

“I’m not dominant!” She cried out exasperatedly. “I mean… I’m… Ergh! You make me crazy!”

“You’re fun to tease,” The man laughed. “Sorry, Wendy.”

“Well…” Wendy narrowed her eyes. “It’s okay. I mean, you can barely call that a kiss, after all.”

“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow. “Tell me, then. What is a kiss?”

“It’s when, uh… your lips… tongue… I mean…”

“Uh-huh. Keep talking.”

“Intertwined…” , you just had to talk did you, Wendy. “Deeply… I mean… Tightly? I… Oh my god. Kill me now.”

He brought his face closer to hers; close enough for her to feel his warm breath on her skin. She could feel his hands sliding down to her waist, pulling her closer to him. Mark made no move to close the gap between them, and Wendy immediately realised that he was actually teasing her. Her eyes lingered on his lips, before darting back to return his gaze.

“Tell me, Wendy.” He whispered, his lips barely grazing hers again. “How does one actually kiss?”

When she made no answer, Mark had tilted her head so that her lips placed nicely on his. Wendy parted her lips in sheer hunger, realising that she had wanted him all along. He kissed her aggressively, tasting the taste of what she had to offer all at once. When she had kissed him back with the same amount of vigour, Mark quickly parted away from her; cheekily letting her know that he still wanted an answer.

Wendy breathed in slowly, her mind still processing what had just taken place. Mark, however, didn’t leave the girl any time to think for she soon felt his fingers trail softly down her back. She winced at his touch, but her hands had grabbed on to his shirt for support.

She could feel the warm breath of his lips now on her ears as he purred. “You still have yet to answer, Wendy.”

She couldn’t answer again, of course, when he had nibbled on her ear softly; before his kisses travelled all the way down to her neck. Wendy squirmed, but the man paid no attention as he continued his lingering affections for her. When she had let out a small moan, Mark realised that he didn’t want to wait for an answer.

He kissed her again on her lips, this time with more passion than before. She felt their tongues intertwined as she struggled to keep up with him.

Mark was definitely a good kisser and the girl was left panting by the time he was done with her.

Before he could continue – much to Wendy’s relief – her phone had rang amidst the silent, intense atmosphere.

“I need to get that.” She reached out for her phone but quickly turned embarrassed when Mark had instead pulled her closer to him.

“Not really.” He drawled lazily. “You can return the call next time.”

“Mark, it could be important.”

When he realised that she was insistent in getting the phone, the man had reluctantly let go of his new girlfriend; and he pouted as he crossed his arms.

Wendy’s eyes widened in surprise as the name appeared on her lock screen and she hurriedly answered her call.

“Jackson?” She asked. “Are you okay?”

--

It was a short drive back to Velvet & Co, for it barely took them 5 minutes to get there. The first thing they noticed when they walked into the building was a frowning Jaebum; and both Seulgi and Jinyoung had turned to each other worriedly.

The man paced about awkwardly at the reception counter, and the pair noted that he seemed to have been searching for something.

“Jaebum?” Jinyoung approached the man warily. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh!” The man finally seemed to notice them. “It’s you guys… Hey, where did you put the paperwork that BamBam passed the other day?”

“What paperwork?” Seulgi looked on confusedly.

“The one he said were faxes from Irene.”

“I’ve passed it back to her.”

“Seriously?!” Jaebum frowned. “That witch told me that we’ve yet to pass it to her.”

Seulgi panicked, quickly running over to the counter. She rummaged through her files, making quite a mess of the place. When she hadn’t found the papers, the girl turned to both men in dread.

“It’s not here.” She started biting her thumb. “Those are really important to participate in this December’s fashion show.”

“Are you serious?!” This time it was Jinyoung who panicked. “We need to find those. Hurry, call BamBam or something.”

“I just did.” Jaebum too was despaired. “He was sure he passed it to you.”

“He did.” Seulgi nodded her head, but took some time to think. “And I’m sure I’ve passed it to her when she came today morning.”

“Ergh.” The former groaned. “I’ll ask her again. Meanwhile, can you guys keep an eye out for those papers?”

The pair nodded their heads at his words and watched him head back to his office. When he was gone, Jinyoung started taking his phone out and Seulgi had eyed him suspiciously.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“Calling Mark.” Jinyoung explained. “Maybe it’s with him.”

“Definitely not! We can’t let him found out that we’ve lost the papers.”

“But this does concern him, though.”

“Look.” Seulgi pleaded. “Let’s wait till Jaebum calls us back, okay? If it’s really not with Irene, we can give the man a call.”

The man reluctantly agreed.

What else could he do at a time like this? He too, didn’t want to face the wrath of the demon, for he proved to be scary when associated with work.

Jinyoung only prayed that Irene was the one that had forgotten.

--

When Jaebum first walked to his office, the man had seen that his lights were switched on. He froze, wondering who it was that was in his office. He was pretty sure that he had the lights switched off when Irene had told him over the phone that the paperwork weren’t with her.

He subtly took a peek at his watch and realised that it was a little before 4.pm.

Good. Ghosts don’t come out till’ 6.

The man contemplated in rushing back to Jinyoung but with a slight cough, he manned himself up and started walking towards his office.

When he had seen long, black hair dangling by the corner of his office, the man had let out a voiceless scream; one that came from his throat.

 The owner of the hair turned, startled, and she placed her hands on her chest in relief.

“Geez, Jaebum.” Irene scowled. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What the hell am I doing?!” He stomped into his office. “What the hell are you doing?! In my office?!”

“I came to tell you that the faxes were with me.” She pointed to some papers on his desk. “But I need you to sign them. We’re lacking your signature.”

“Oh.” His shoulders slumped at ease. “I’ll sign them now then.”

He took out a pen from his suit pocket and proceeded to sign the papers that were on his desk. When he was done, the man had shoved the papers back into Irene’s hands. He noticed that her eyes were fixated on something, and the man quickly realised that it was on his pen.

“That pen…” She trailed off.

“Oh, this.” He scratched his head sheepishly. “Uh… Yeah.”

Irene couldn’t believe her eyes. This was the very same pen she had gifted him on his birthday - the Classic Century Cross Pen – right before they started dating officially. It was surreal to see that he was still keeping it close with him, even though they’ve already broken up.

“You still kept it with you.”

“Yeah.” Jaebum twirled the pen awkwardly. “It’s a nice pen.”

“R-Right.” She stuttered but joked right after. “I thought you had no money to buy new pens or something.”

Much to her mortification, the man didn’t joke right back as he continued staring at the pen on his hand. He gave an awkward laugh, placing the pen right back into his pocket.

“I don’t know why it’s still with me, either.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess, uh, I’ve never really had time to think about it.”

He continued honestly. “It’s quite precious to me, though. It was a present from the Wicked Witch of the East, after all.”

Irene frowned. How stupid of her to think that a part of him was actually decent!

“If I’m a witch, then I assumed you’re the Cowardly Lion?”

Jaebum frowned.

“I mean you were screaming for whatever reason just now.” Irene raised one hand in sarcasm.

“I screamed,” He narrowed his eyes at the girl. “Because I thought you were a ghost with your long hair dangling at the corner of my office.”

“I didn’t know you believe in ghosts.”

“I do believe in a witch after all.” He snarled. “Nothing is impossible, honey.”

“Aww,” Irene placed a hand on her chest mockingly. “I really did miss you calling me honey.”

“Surprising. Anything else you missed, oh great Wicked Witch of the East?”

The girl glowered, snatching the papers from Jaebum’s hands. It was one thing to entertain the said man, but to continuously put up with him was really taking a toll on her.

He proved to be really tiresome.

“Yeah,” She then pointed him the middle finger. “I missed the time where I didn’t know you existed. Piss off, Jaebum.”

Before she could walk out from his office, she felt strong hands grabbing her by the waist. The girl froze, and soon realised that she was in the man’s embrace. She could hear the heavy breathing of Jaebum’s breath and she swore she felt his heart pounding quickly as well.

Jaebum rested his chin on her shoulder, holding on to her tightly. It was as if she couldn’t move, for the girl only remained frozen in her spot.

“What are you doing?” She whispered in disbelief but he only hugged her tighter.

“Don’t.” There was a hint of sadness in his voice. “Don’t go away again.”

Irene took a deep breath in as she tried to make sense of the situation. A part of her had wanted to pinch herself, but a part of her also knew that this was real.

“I don’t think I can take another moment of you walking away from me.” He choked and she felt something slip down her neck. Was it his tears? “I’m sorry.”

Her hands almost reached his, but she stopped midway. “You’re the one that pushed me away, Jaebum.”

“I know.” He sniffled. “But it was hell without you. Me and you, we were never really good at these things. People probably thought of us as being best friends rather than being a couple.”

“Definitely.”

“We always fought with each other, but in a good way. I guess I just didn’t know when to cross the line the other time round. When you said you wanted to transfer out of Velvet & Co, I felt almost betrayed.” Jaebum spoke slowly. “Me, Mark and Jinyoung… we’ve built this company from the start. And for you to leave us at our most crucial moment felt like a stab in the back. It was even worse for me because you were my girlfriend.”

He continued. “And yet even after we broke up, you didn’t leave. I was just so mad and confused. It felt like you were playing me.”

“I wasn’t.” Irene finally grabbed his hands. “It’s true that I did want to leave to work at another company. But like you said, Velvet & Co weren’t as big as we are now. I couldn’t just leave three men stranded, now could I? No offence to you and Jinyoung, your designs can barely be called fashion.”

“I’m not an artsy person.”

“I know that.” She sighed. “Even so, Mark needed someone who knew how to handle making new designs. He pleaded with me and told me all about his future plans. I was so impressed by then that it really did change my perception of him. I respected him as a designer and chose to work under him.”

“So why didn’t you work with us? Why did you work in the other building instead of coming back with us?”

“It wasn’t easy.” The girl admitted. “We’ve already broken up by then. I couldn’t possibly work under the same roof as you. Mark noticed this, and started mass hiring people. Well, he ordered Jinyoung to do that, actually. He purchased a new building in Gangnam and ordered everyone to work there instead. Didn’t you find it weird that only the executives worked here?”

“I guess.” He pursed his lips together. Has Mark really been trying to take care of him, of Irene? “If these are true, well… He could at least have said something.”

Irene frowned. “It’s not his fault, or Jinyoung’s fault in that matter. They don’t show it, but I know they care about you. Putting us to work together would have probably made things worse. The company was crucial after all. Besides, they’re both very simple men; simple but honest.”

“Different from me, I guess?”

Irene laughed, her nails digging deeper into his palms. She felt almost afraid, as if Jaebum would be gone if she had let go for even one moment. The man didn’t mind the pain, for he too couldn’t lose her once again.

“Definitely different from you. You’re too much of a sweet-talker and you always have underlying intentions.”

Sensing the amusement in her voice, Jaebum had spun the girl around to face him. He looked straight into her eyes, still holding her hands while he was at it. He took a deep breath in as he readied the words he had wanted to say for a long time, but was afraid to.

“Irene?” He asked, his whole figure emanating sincerity. “If I asked you to be mine again, would you say yes?”

“Depends.” She teased. “Will you still call me the Wicked Witch of the East?”

“Definitely. But you can call me the Cowardly Lion if you want.”

“And yet the Cowardly Lion is asking me to be his again.”

“Ironic isn’t it?” Jaebum smiled. “Though, maybe this time we should reconsider getting married instead.”

She widened her eyes in disbelief, wondering if she heard the man right. The girl froze, and before she realised what was happening, Irene had already jumped in ecstasy as she hugged the man.

“Im Jaebum!” She practically shrieked. “Are you asking me to marry you?!”

“Is it too sudden?” The man chuckled. “I mean if we’re going to do this, might as well be serious and go all the way, right?”

“You…”

“Will you marry me, Irene? I promise we’ll take a look at the rings later.”

“Yes!”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

Jaebum picked her up into his arms and swung the girl around in joy. He was still hesitant at first, wondering if this was the right way to go or if it went too fast. After all, he and Irene did break up because of a little fight they had with each other. He wondered if he would able to stand through more fights with her or if they will still last in the first place.

The man had pushed those thoughts aside and decided that having a future without Irene was much, much scarier to fathom. After all, he did experienced hell for the past one year.

No woman he flirted with ever did gave him the same satisfaction as being with Irene.

After all, you either go big or go home, right?

“Speaking of rings,” Jaebum pondered thoughtfully. “Do you think Mark will let the company sponsor us? I mean, we are one of their best employees after all.”

“Oh Jaebum.” Irene grinned. “You mean we’re their best executives?”

“Exactly. If we leave, the company will .”

“I’m not really sure about that, though.” Irene scrunched her nose cutely. “After all, we do have Seulgi and Wendy with us now.”

“Oh yeah, those two.” Jaebum rolled his eyes. “How could I forget?”

“Which reminds me,” The girl frowned. “I heard you were interested in Seulgi, weren’t you?”

“Oh… uh…”

Outside, a man that had been eavesdropping into their conversation had walked away quietly, making sure that no one noticed him.

He had been worried when Jinyoung had given him a call about the lost faxes and had immediately gone to Jaebum to reconfirm the situation.

Seeing how happy the two lovebirds were, he realised that the faxes were no longer important and that it must have already been resolved by then.

He did wonder if there would ever come a time where the two will leave Velvet & Co, though.

BamBam shook his head at that thought. If it ever happens, he shall be the first one to plead them to stay. But for now, there were other things to do; like consoling a worried Jinyoung and Seulgi.

--

Wendy’s eyes widened with disbelief, and the girl started running towards her front door. When she had opened the door, it revealed a handsome looking young man who immediately brought the girl in for a hug.

Mark tensed, wondering who their new companion was.

He saw the man took a step in, and right behind him, another young woman that he’d never seen before walked right in too. Wendy welcomed the pair with excitement, and upon realising that Mark was standing awkwardly at their new company, she laughed.

“Mark.” She pointed to the new pair. “Meet Jackson and Sana.”

The man waved awkwardly and noticed that Jackson was eyeing the man warily.

“I’m Mark.” He extended his hand for a handshake and the latter had received it graciously. “I’m Wendy’s boyfriend.”

Wendy sighed in relief, glad that Mark had cleared things up easily. If it was up to her, the girl would have probably stuttered and made things more awkward.

Oh hey Jackson, this is my boss turned boyfriend Mark. Nice, huh?

“I’m Jackson.” The man gripped his hand firmly. “This is my fiancée, Sana. I assumed you’ve already heard about me from Wendy?”

“Oh yes. Best friends, right?”

“Yeah,” Jackson eyed him again. “Did you say your name was Mark? Because if I remembered correctly, there’s only one Mark that she knows of-”

“Oh yes, nice.” Wendy interrupted him. “He’s that Mark. Okay, moving on. Why are you here Jackson?”

Mark wondered if Wendy was hiding anything from him from the way she reacted. Could it perhaps be more ungodly nicknames?

“I came here to take that last box I’ve missed.” He seemed lost in thought.

“Oh, it’s still in your room.”

“I’ll take it!” Sana offered as she went up the stairs. “It’s the one on the left, right?”

“Oh, Sana.” Wendy laughed. “Like you can’t remember.”

Sana blushed profusely, muttering an excuse me as she hurried up the stairs. Wendy had urged the man to go up with her but he remained in his spot as he continued to assess the unfamiliar man before him.

“Hey,” Jackson’s words had them tensed up. “You’re that evil boss that Wendy talks about, right?”

“I… uh, I guess?”

“Damn.” He started chuckling. “I thought you must have looked like a real demon or something but you’re actually quite good looking!”

“Thanks?”

“Oh, Wendy. You got a good one this time, really. Good looking and rich!”

“Oh My God Jackson!” Wendy hid her face in her hands. “Don’t be embarrassing!”

“What?” Jackson muttered defensively. “He’s a total upgrade from that guy you brought home the last time round… what was his name again? Kim, was it?”

“His name was Kai.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Him.” The man recalled a face to the name. “I mean he was good looking too, but you guys lacked chemistry, if you know what I mean.”

“Jackson!”

“Fine, fine.” He started making his way up the stairs. “I’ll see how Sana is doing. I hope she’s not stuck anywhere.”

“Shoo.” Wendy shoved him towards the stairs.

When the girl had turned back towards her new boyfriend, she found that he had been stifling in his laughter; much to her chagrin.

The girl pouted as she stomped towards him. It was obvious Mark wouldn’t let that moment go any time soon.

“Say it.” She grumbled. “My best friend is a wacko.”

“He’s a wacko.” Mark whispered into her ears, so that Jackson wouldn’t be able to hear him. “Not a bad thing though. He’s exactly like you.”

“Ergh.”

“I have questions though.”

“What is it?”

The man gave a teasing look as he brought her nearer to him. “What kind of names have you been calling me behind my back?”

“The demon, very obvious by now.”

“Is that all?” He continued whispering in her ear, his fingers now twirling her lock of hair. Wendy found herself embarrassed by the sudden intimate moment. After all, Jackson and Sana were both right upstairs. “No other funny nicknames?”

“Definitely not.” She managed a sentence out.

“Fine.” The man moved away and Wendy felt disappointed. “Moving on. Who’s this Kai you guys speak of? An ex-boyfriend?”

“That’s… a complicated story.”

Mark raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “If he’s not your ex, then is he your first… well… you know…”

“D-Definitely not! I’m a !”

“Oh-ho.” The man chuckled and Wendy flushed again.

Damn him.

“She’s a .”

Jackson suddenly appeared from the stairs, a laughing Sana right behind him. The man wiggled his eyebrows towards her, leaving the girl to playfully smack him in his chest.

“Anyway, I got my box.” Jackson nodded his head towards the box he was holding. “I guess we’ll have dinner sometime soon?”

“With Mark of course.” Sana smiled politely towards the other man in the room, and he gave her a thumbs-up.

“We’ll talk about the leasing soon, okay?” Jackson turned to Wendy. “Once you’ve find a place to settle down in, of course.”

“Sure.”

Mark and Wendy waved their abrupt companions goodbye, and they had sighed in relief as they closed the door shut.

“So what’s this about leasing?” Mark turned to Wendy.

The girl groaned and started making herself comfortable on the couch again, her arms now wrapping her knees tightly. She frowned, wondering where to even start.

“I’m planning to get a new house.” She answered. “It’s a little weird to be staying here.”

“Weird?” He took a seat right next to her. “Why weird?”

“Well, this house was originally mine and Jackson’s. When he moved in with Sana, I couldn’t help notice that it was empty and I got lonely and I honestly just want a new start.”

“Ah, I see.” Mark nodded knowingly. “You like him.”

Wendy flailed about cutely, cupping her cheeks afterwards. He admitted he was envious, to see how much impact Jackson still had on Wendy.

Of course he does. He’s her best friend.

When she had calmed down, her hands had reached out for his, and Mark remembered being surprised at her sudden contact.

“Since we’re together now,” Wendy uttered seriously. “I’ll tell you everything about me. I’ll start with Jackson.”

“So you do like him.”

“It’s hard not to. We practically grew up together.” She pursed her lips tightly. “I’ve had the biggest crush on Jackson for as long as I can remember.”

“Did he know?”

“Of course. We even started dating at one point of time, but we both mutually felt that it couldn’t work out and remained friends.” Wendy then continued. “It was too late, by then, because we already moved in together. This house was supposed to be ours, shared like a couple, you know?”

“What happened then?” Mark felt Wendy gripping him tighter and he gave her a small yet reassuring squeeze back.

“We were still good friends, of course. Things just got… awkward, at having to see each other at home. And then, one day, out of the blue, Jackson started to date a new girl. He was so much in love with her. That girl turned out to be Sana, obviously.”

She sighed. “But while he had already moved on, I was still stuck in the same place. I couldn’t tell him that, because I wanted him to be happy with Sana. When he told me he was serious and wanted to move in with her, I told him that I met someone new too.”

“Let me see. Is it this Kai you guys talked about?”

“Oh yes.” Wendy laughed. “Kai was a college friend and obviously we were just friends. He agreed to help me out because it would be weird if I brought someone home and ended up not being close to him in the first place. With Kai, the plan seemed to succeed.”

“But I couldn’t just tie him down like that.” The girl scratched her head sheepishly. “We pretended to broke up and ever since then Jackson hadn’t really been kind to him. I felt sorry towards Kai, but the guy was cool about it and was even the one to suggest moving places, since this house reminded me of Jackson anyway.”

“And Jackson doesn’t know this?” Mark scrunched his nose in annoyance. “I mean, he’s supposed to be your best friend. Surely he would have noticed…”

“Oh, trust me, Kai was really convincing that night.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“Of course.” She giggled. “But yeah. I didn’t really meet any new people afterwards, even though Kai kept bothering me too. I just felt like I wanted to concentrate on school and it wasn’t until I started working in Velvet & Co did I notice the many good looking guys around me.”

“You obviously mean me.” He smirked, but was shut off.

 “Well, you’re obviously good looking. It’s hard for a woman not to notice you. But there were the others, of course. Jinyoung was really nice until I noticed that he had a thing with Seulgi.”

“Oh, who else were there?”

“Youngjae.” She confessed meekly. “He treats me really well.”

“So you liked him?”

“Not really.” Wendy shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “I guess… I was kind of interested in you by then?”

“Oh.” Mark turned smug again. “Why’s that?”

“Seulgi.” She frowned. “She puts weird ideas into my head and I just catch myself thinking about them whenever I’m face to face with you.”

“What kind of things?”

The girl huffed sideways, hoping Mark wouldn’t noticed how embarrassed she had suddenly become. He did, obviously, and started to poke her at her cheeks.

“Come on, Wendy. What kind of things?”

“R-Really weird ones. God! Do you even need to ask?”

Mark sniggered, before squeezing her cheeks affectionately. “Like the things we did just now?”

“Oh my g-”

“We can always make your fantasy a reality again.”

“Stop!”

The man chuckled and brought his face near hers again, catching her off guard. When she hadn’t moved, he pressed his nose lightly onto hers, smiling right into her sight.

“But do you really want me to stop?” His low voice suddenly brought chills again.

“M-Mark…”

“However.” He suddenly pulled away and crossed his arms in thoughts. “It’s a real turn off to be kissing you in this house, no offence.”

“O-Oh, why’s that?”

“This was obviously yours and Jackson’s right? I feel like I’m being watched here. Not exactly a great start, I think.”

His eyes suddenly lit up really brightly. “Hey! You’re searching for a new place to live in, right? What about moving in with me?”

“In your penthouse?”

“Yeah.” He nodded his head thoughtfully. “It’ll be great idea. I can see you at work and at home.”

Wendy shook her head in disagreement. “Yeah, all’s good when you’re in love. Let’s say you’re sick of me one day and we break up. I will have nowhere to go.”

“I’ll never get sick of you, Wendy.”

“That’s because you like me right now.”

“I don’t see the problem.” He frowned. “It’s not as if we’re going to break up, right?”

“Things can happen, and besides! Don’t you think we’re moving too fast?!”

Contrary to Wendy’s belief, Mark had thought that they were moving in a rather slow speed.

“Fine, fine.” The man relented. “But at least let me find you a nice apartment.”

“I…”

“It’ll be fine. We can find one together, if you insist on being annoying.”

Putting his words into her mind, Wendy finally agreed with the man and got excited at what new apartment she’ll have all to herself. She didn’t really mind the location; it was the decorating part that was exciting. Going building hunting and furniture shopping with Mark felt almost surreal.

Like we’re going to be married.

She felt her face flush again and gave a quick slap to stop it from turning an obvious red.

“Are you thinking of something naughty again?”

“Y-You wished!”

Mark chuckled, before pointing to his lap. “Come here.”

“W-Why?”

He thought it would be obvious enough to why he wanted her close with him. The man was amazed; she couldn’t be this naïve, could she?

By now it had to be this simple; Wendy Son definitely had a bad habit of asking stupid questions. Mark started narrowing his eyes in sheer amusement.

“Why else would I ask you to come here Wendy?” He mused. “If you’re that uncomfortable, you can sit here.”

He pointed to the space in between his legs and Wendy realised that the man just wanted an excuse to hold her. She reluctantly moved towards him, her body now sandwiched in between his legs. She felt his hands on her waist and braced herself for more touches, although all he did was to place his face on her shoulder.

Wendy relaxed against his touch, letting herself settle comfortably against his chest. His hands intertwined with hers, and she found herself tracing his fingertips. The touch between them wasn’t as aggressive as before, and it was definitely more lax and soothing. They said nothing, but the silence itself had been comfortable.

The girl could definitely get used to quiet times like this in the future.

“You’re really nice to hold.” Mark rubbed his cheeks against her neck. “I can fall asleep at this rate.”

“Right now?!”

“Yeah.” The man hugged her tighter. “I’m getting sleepy already.”

“It’s barely before evening!” Wendy panicked. “Let’s at least have dinner before you decide you’re having a sleep over at my place.”

“Dinner?” She heard his coarse chuckle by her ears. “Can I have you for dinner?”

“M-Mark!”

“Ease up, Wendy.” He forcibly, yet lightly, pulled her to lie against him. “We’ll have dinner when we wake up. Let me sleep, please.”

“You…”

“Lazy days like this don’t come around very often. Please?”

She relented, quickly going into a lying position. Mark spooned her, pulling her really close to him. It wasn’t very long until she heard him fall asleep.

The girl could feel his consistent breathing on her neck, and snuggled closer as she tried to fall asleep as well.

I can’t believe we’re just sleeping on our first date, Wendy thought sarcastically. Well at least it’s better than nothing.

It was also a few minutes later when she too had fallen asleep; and the happy thoughts of being in a relationship with the demon Mark Tuan filled her mind.

--

The last thing Youngjae expected as he was exiting the company building was to see both Jinyoung and Seulgi dozing off at the reception counter. The man hurried his pace towards them, and sneakily took out his phone for a picture.

He managed to take two; one of them together, and another that consisted of his selfie with the unsuspecting duo.

The man grinned, knowing that he had more than enough blackmail evidence if the two ever put him in a difficult position again. After all, life as a Velvet & Co Executive had been difficult ever since Wendy came to work with them.

He not only had to double as an executive, but he had to become a cabinet-carrier, a date-planner and an emergency “Plan D person”- whatever that was. The man was certain that those things definitely do not fall into his daily responsibilities as a fellow executive of Velvet & Co.

If it wasn’t for Seulgi, Jinyoung (and the occasional Yugyeom and Jaebum), Youngjae would have liked to think that his past one month could have went better.

“Good morning, Mr. Tuan!” Youngjae shouted randomly, knowing that it would leave the two in a panicked mode.

As expected, the pair that had been dozing quickly stood up and straightened themselves out; standing as still as a rock.

“M-Morning, Mr. Tuan!” They both shouted simultaneously.

When their eyes had finally refocused into sight, the two realised that the demon was actually nowhere near.

Their gaze then fell upon to a certain young man who was already clutching his stomach at the funny scene before him.

“Mr. Tuan’s not here, is he?” Seulgi finally took notice of the situation.

“Youngjae…” Jinyoung glared towards the other, who already had his hands up in defeat.

“You guys are too funny.” Youngjae laughed. “Seriously. What would have happen if it really was Mark walking in?”

They realised that Youngjae had a point; and with much reluctance, decided to take a seat at their respective places again.

“How long more are you guys staying here?” Youngjae tilted his head in confusion. “You do know that work hours are over, right?”

“Really?” Seulgi took a glance towards the wall clock. “Oh, wow. It’s already 6 in the evening?”

“Yeah, everyone else already left. Jaebum left the earliest by the way, but I’m not going to be the one to snitch on him.”

“You kind off already did.”

“Whatever.” He shrugged them off and waved goodbye. “You guys better get an early night. We have an early meeting tomorrow, don’t forget!”

Jinyoung continued sighing as the man disappeared from sight. “How can we forget? We’re the ones that have to get the materials ready for tomorrow.”

Seulgi nodded her head in sympathy, for she too knew how that felt. Just earlier, Jaebum and Irene had walked off hand in hand; with Jaebum mentioning that he’ll leave the rest of the meeting materials to them.

While they had been happy with his progress with Irene – BamBam seemed to know something but didn’t want to tell them – they were also saddened by the fact that they were the ones that had to handle the workload.

“This .” Jinyoung muttered at last. “Both Jaebum and Irene went off doing God knows what and Mark and Wendy are probably doing each other and we’re being forced to work.”

“And it’s our first day as a couple too.” Seulgi added regrettably. “Our future’s looking really bleak.”

“We can’t say such things!” The man placed his hand over . “That’s really bad luck, you know!”

“asdfghjl.”

“Huh?”

“ASDFGHJKL.”

“What?” He looked on in confusion before realising that his hands were still cupping tightly. “Oh, sorry. What is it?”

“I said, it’s okay if our future is bleak.” Seulgi gave a small smile. “At least we have each other.”

“Seulgi…” Jinyoung stared at her in awe. “Did I ever mention that you’re the best girlfriend ever?”

“Only about a dozen times since we went official.”

“I’ll say it a million times more. You’re the best girlfriend ever!”

Unlike the past couple of times when she blushed, the girl only gave him a thumbs-up before plopping back into her seat. She stared at the numerous papers before her and wondered if tomorrow’s meeting would go as well as they imagined it to be.

“I know.” Seulgi rested her face on her hands, overwhelmed by the many papers. “The things I do for you, Jinyoung…”

“But you love me anyway.” Jinyoung quickly gave her a peck on the lips before bringing his chair closer to hers. “Now, let’s see… what have we not covered yet?”

Seulgi gave a small smile, soon busying herself into the paperwork that had to be done. She had already seen it coming from being Jinyoung’s personal assistant and now his girlfriend as well. The girl was thankful that they both weren’t as workaholics as they seemed to appear.

She only hoped that the awful workload will end when the fashion show in December finishes as well. If not...

Well, I guess there’s always Wendy to help me talk to Mark.

And with that, both Jinyoung and Seulgi continued on working full into the night.

a/n and that marks the end of ineffable man! thank you so much for reading! it's been a real blast writing this and I hope to see you guys in a new story soon! :D

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haha joke. please do carry on to the short epilogue after this (: