Jaehwan groaned and refused to open his eyes trying to stay asleep for a little while longer. He snuggled closer to the firm yet comfy warmth next to him hoping to ease his pounding headache. He noticed his pillow felt different today…smoother, warmer…and—

Jaehwan snapped his eyes open and felt his heart stop as he took in the sight of the sleeping man next to him. He wasn’t snuggling his pillow, Jaehwan was snuggling none other than Jung Taekwoon. Jaehwan blinked his eyes repeatedly trying to see if he was dreaming, but nope, there was his boss dressed in a plain white t-shirt and grey sweats sleeping soundly in front of him.

Even in his confused state, Jaehwan couldn’t help but oogle the man. Jaehwan slowly released the arm he was grasping and rolled over, trying to exit the bed without disturbing the sleeping lion. It was a struggle to stand up, his hangover kicking in, and he glanced down to notice that he was now dressed in a baggy t-shirt and sweats, much too large for his frame. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he took in the room around him and realized that he was definitely not in his own apartment.

He sighed with relief as he spotted his keys, phone, and wallet on the nightstand and snatched them up while quickly checking his phone for the time. 3:34am. He had to be at work by 8:00am, but thank goodness today was Friday and he only had to work half the day.

Jaehwan quietly tip-toed out of the room and stole one last peek at Taekwoon before shutting the bedroom door closed. He made his way as best he could through the pitch black apartment and luckily found the entrance without bumping into anything. He slipped on his pair of shoes and bolted out of the apartment making his way outside to hail a cab.

Once in his own apartment Jaehwan collapsed onto his bed and racked his brain trying to figure out what the hell happened last night. God, he hoped he didn’t do anything stupid. Didn’t reveal anything he shouldn’t have. Didn’t up another job.

Jaehwan rushed out of the elevator and briskly walked to his cubicle hoping that no one would notice he was 45 minutes late. He slumped into his chair with a huge sigh when he heard,

“You’re late.”

“Shove off, Sanghyuk. I’m not in the mood”, Jaehwan grumbled.

Sanghyuk simply chuckled with that -eating grin of his, “Well, I’m surprised you even showed up considering Wonsik hyung called in ‘sick’ this morning. I thought you’d be the one calling in sick after puking all over Chief Jung!” Sanghyuk cackled, “I heard about it from Hongbin. I can’t believe I missed it.”

Jaehwan slumped his head onto the desk and groaned in mortification. That explained a lot.

“It’s your fault I got so drunk! Why didn’t you help me you brat?”

“I thought you left already! You just slipped away without saying anything!”

Jaehwan muttered a ‘I told you I was going to the bathroom’ under his breath as Sanghyuk continued, “Plus, I was taking Wonsik hyung home. He got so drunk he couldn’t even walk straight. And you’re here now, so you must’ve been well enough to get home without my help anyway!”

Jaehwan scoffed, little did he know. Well at least now Jaehwan could confirm no one in the office knew he ended up in Taekwoon’s apartment. They just knew he puked all over him. Ugh, he wanted to crawl into a hole.

As Sanghyuk left him to ponder the events of last night, Jaehwan noticed a water bottle and two advil left in the corner of his desk. Sanghyuk probably put them there he thought as he tossed the pills back and gulped down the water.

When he was packing up to leave Jaehwan debated whether or not he should interrupt Taekwoon's work to apologize about what happened. Before he could make up his mind, the decision was made for him as Taekwoon’s secretary appeared before him claiming, “Chief Jung would like a word with you before you leave.”

Jaehwan’s heart was racing and he could feel the blood pulsing through his body as he was escorted into Chief Jung’s office and the door closed behind him. Jaehwan knew nothing happened between them, but what if he’d said or done something while he was drunk? Yes, he thought Taekwoon was attractive, but he didn’t actually like him. But who knows what stupid things his drunk self was capable of doing?

Taekwoon turned from where he was standing behind his desk and as he met Jaehwan’s gaze, he uttered a soft, “How are you feeling?”

“I-I’m feeling fine. Thank you very much for your help. I’m truly sorry for my behavior last night Chief Jung”, Jaehwan responded with a deep bow.

Taekwoon’s face was as blank as usual while he simply stated, “Don’t worry about it.” He then brought out a bag and handed it to Jaehwan. “Here are your clothes, Mr. Lee. I had them dry-cleaned. It would be best if you were more cautious next time.”

Jaehwan really wanted to ask what happened, how his clothes got changed, why he was at his apartment, but could only muster up:

“O-of course. Thank you very much. I apologize again. Please let me repay you, as well as pay for the damage I made to your—"

“That’s not necessary. You may leave now”, Taekwoon replied as he sat back at his desk, picked up a document, and got back to work.

Jaehwan wanted to protest, but the finality of Taekwoon’s voice made him scurry out of the office while clutching his bag of clothes. He let out a huge breath as he left the office and relief washed over him. He couldn’t tell whether or not Taekwoon was upset with him, but Taekwoon hadn’t acted any differently, so Jaehwan concluded he probably didn't do anything too embarassing and was in the clear.

A month passed by with very little interaction between Jaehwan and Taekwoon and Jaehwan’s worries quickly went away.

Later on an important department meeting was suddenly held to discuss a new project the company would be taking on. Everyone gathered in the conference room as Taekwoon gave his presentation and Jaehwan found himself zoning out until Taekwoon called his name.

“Mr. Lee and Mr. Kim, you two will be in charge of all the accounting and marketing. I’ll need you to report to me once a week so I can examine the progress.”

Wonsik and Jaehwan nodded and Taekwoon continued to distribute the tasks to the rest of the employees.

Jaehwan was nervous and hyperaware over the next few weeks as he repeatedly met with Taekwoon in his office. Jaehwan was the main accountant for the department, and considering the importance of this project, he had to be very accurate with how much money they needed from investors and how much the company could afford to spend. Everyone knew Taekwoon was very strict when it came to work, so Jaehwan found himself stressed out more than ever, not wanting to mess up. Wonsik must’ve begun to notice since Jaehwan occasionally found energy bars and snacks on his desk. Jaehwan tried to thank him, but Wonsik just gave him a confused look, so Jaehwan brushed it off at him being shy and not wanting to admit it.

Taekwoon must have noticed Jaehwan’s anxiousness as well because he began leaving Jaehwan with a curt, ‘nice work’ at the end of their meetings. Over time Jaehwan soon relaxed around Taekwoon and began to enjoy working with him, even cracking a joke now and then. He thought Taekwoon was warming up to him as well, occasionally telling him small tidbits about when he first joined the company. Jaehwan even thinks he saw a smirk the last time they were together! It also helped that Taekwoon seemed to actually listen to his ideas and suggestions which Jaehwan was extremely appreciative of.

It was the first time in a while Jaehwan was genuinely starting to get excited about work. Things seemed to be going up, well at least they were, until one day Taekwoon told him he needed to accompany him to meet with one of their investors. It was something Jaehwan had done before, but this time it was with Deep Blue Inc.

Jaehwan was clenching his fists, nails cutting into his palms and knuckles turning white, as he sat across from Park Minjun. The man that outed him to his co-workers, the man that got him fired, the man that took the promotion he had been working hard for...the man he used to be in love with.

A/N: I think I know where I want the story to go...but I'm still struggling with writing it out. Hopefully I'll have more time over the next couple weeks to write some more.

Thanks for reading!