It's Chanyeol's second day at work and before he entered their office, he shook his hands to relieve the tension that was built in him on his way to work. He knew why he's so nervous. Yesterday, he was told to find the culprit for Luhan's disappearance from the company. Also, yesterday, no one was friendly towards him except the team leader - Heechul. But since Heechul's in charge of yesterday's orientation session for him, there wasn't anything special at all. Chanyeol kind off expected Junmyeon to ask him out for lunch with the team but he was so busy he did not even have lunch. He was waiting for Baekhyun or Irene to even have coffee with him but they all bought theirs on their own. He did not expect anything from Jongin at all. He was even ignored when he greeted his senior along the hallway. As for Kyungsoo, he did not know what to expect. So on his second day, he planned to reach out to them first. He can try to initiate interactions between them. That's why he's nervous. What if they turn him down? What if they'll think he's being too overfamiliar too soon. But he thought he had to do this so he shrugged all the negative thoughts away and went inside.

TD7 were always the earliest to come to office. Most of the employees in Team Daylight come at 9AM followed by 1PM and the graveyard shifts at 7PM and 9PM. When he was approaching TD7's cubicle, Heechul was already there as if waiting for someone. When Heechul saw him from afar, he waved at him and signalled to come faster so Chanyeol hurried.

"Good morning, Heechul!" Chanyeol greeted as he stopped at their cubicle's entrance. "Hi guys!" He greeted the others, too. Junmyeon and Baekhyun turned their chairs around and nodded at Chanyeol. Irene followed, then Jongin, then Kyungsoo. Chanyeol beamed at them and went to his chair. They were sitting down, gathered in the middle of the cubicle while Heechul was standing up. It was time for the daily status report of the team, a day starter they've always been doing to know each member's pending tasks and plans for the day. 

"Junmyeon, can you go first?" Heechul suggested.

"Sure!" They weren't really required to stand up so Junmyeon talked while seated. "Yesterday, I handed some documents to Chanyeol for him to read. Apparently, he did not need me to discuss further so I just worked on this new project from StarTech and will just continue working on that today."

"Is he really that smart?" Irene scoffed.

"Oh... It was actually..." Chanyeol tried to explain that he was just hesitant to approach Junmyeon because he looked so busy but he was cut-off when Jongin commented, "Let's make this meeting quick. No more sidetracks." Chanyeol's jaw dropped at bit. Is he in a bad mood everyday? He thought.

"You're too stiff, Jongin." Irene disappointedly remarked. "Let me continue then. I reviewed Baekhyun's and Junmyeon's outputs from the day before yesterday. I'll be sending out review points today."

"Cool!" Baekhyun said. "Yesterday, I've started on a new project from Ynology Company. My goodness, they're vague as ! I think I'll spend the rest of the week digging through their brains." 

"We've always handed you stuff from YC. You're doing great with them!" Heechul praised him. Baekhyun can't help but giggle at the compliment.

"Let me continue." Kyungsoo said. "I've been working across development and testing teams for this existing project from Dealers. They've handed me several change requests and several teams were contacting me for consultations. So I asked Jongin to help me out on some of them."

"Right, so that's what I've been doing yesterday. Both of us will probably work on this for the rest of the week, too." Jongin narrated.

"Are you still on track with your timeline?" Heechul asked, with arms crossed over his chest.

"Yes!" All five answered.

"And how's our new hire doing?" Heechul looked at Chanyeol. Chanyeol's eyes involuntarily opened wider as all eyes were on him.

"Oh." He cleared his throat. "Since I've finished reading and grasping all the documents Junmyeon gave yesterday and I think I understand the processes Heechul taught me, too, so... I'm planning to shadow over someone, see how you guys work on your projects." He answered, he didn't notice he was fidgeting.

"Are you okay?" Irene asked.

"Yup." He quickly responded. Irene shrugged.

"Then yo-" Junmyeon spoke but Kyungsoo quickly interrupted. "You can shadow over me. Dealers' projects are pretty much good training for smart people like you."

"Are you saying StarTech's too easy?" Junmyeon whined and pouted.

"Yeah." And even with Kyungsoo's serious face, the members laughed, even Jongin smiled at him. Chanyeol thought these guys could relax, too, and he saw Jongin genuinly smile today. Suddenly, his plan to befriend them seem to be feasible.

---

It's lunch break and Chanyeol was ready to carry out his plan. His shadowing session with Kyungsoo was so quiet. They only had conversations when Chanyeol had questions. It's always one way. As soon as the clock showed 12NN, he cleared his throat and said, "Uhh... Kyungsoo, d-do you have plans for lunch today?"

Kyungsoo stopped from typing something and looked at Chanyeol. He was contemplating, Chanyeol knew and he hoped he'll give a positive response. Kyungsoo eventually answered, "None. Do you wanna have lunch with me?" He asked. Chanyeol didn't notice but he was happy with this response. But he tried to not sound too excited and responded, "Why not? Shall we?" Both of them stood up. Chanyeol reached for his bag to get his wallet while Kyungsoo took his wallet, too, and removed his eyeglasses. They both faced each other at the same time and Chanyeol was surprised at how Kyungsoo looked different without that thick eyeglasses over his eyes. Chanyeol wanted to ask if he has considered wearing contact lenses but decided to swallow it in. Maybe next time, I'll ask him he thought.

Just before Kyungsoo and Chanyeol made their way out of the cubicle, Jongin asked where they're heading and Kyungsoo merely responded, "I'm having lunch with the new hire." Kyungsoo did not even ask Jongin to come with them, Chanyeol notes. He overthinks but was distracted at how team members outside TD7 looked at them and murmured.

"Don't mind them." Kyungsoo looked straight and went straight out the office. Chanyeol followed him. 

---

The elevator ride down to the first floor was quiet and awkward. Chanyeol was intending to start a conversation but stops everytime his nervousness gets ahead of him. Chanyeol wonders why he's totally the opposite of what he was during college - loved by everyone, approached by everyone, friends with everyone. But not in this new phase of his life. Being the positive person that he is, he shrugged all negative thoughts away just in time when the elevator opened and Kyungsoo went straight out.

While walking, Chanyeol notes his steps were double of Kyungsoo's. He was like a toddler beside him and thought it's really cute. He wondered how this cute creature ended up being so quiet, it's such a waste. They just continued walking for five minutes and when Kyungsoo stopped at fastfood chain, Chanyeol didn't want to believe that they're eating there. He's totally fine with fastfood, but Do Kyungsoo? This fine man?

Kyungsoo went straight to the line when finally Chanyeol managed to talk to him, "Are we eating here?"

"Don't you eat fastfood?" Kyungsoo asked without looking at him.

"I do of course. I'm not picky." Chanyeol pouted.

"Then why are you asking me? Am I not allowed to eat fastfood?" Still, Kyungsoo did not look at him. Chanyeol notes Kyungsoo was squinting.

"Sorry." Chanyeol walked away from Kyungsoo and he noticed it. He went near the counter and took something then he went back. "Here." Chanyeol offered the menu to Kyungsoo. "Oh..." was all Kyungsoo said to Chanyeol. "You're welcome." Chanyeol said. Why did he remove his eyeglasses when he cannot even read the menu this near to the counter? Chanyeol counts the people ahead of them and there were only three. It only took them 6 minutes to fall in line and they were finally settled on one of the tables inside the establishment.

Both had their first two bites of the quarter-pounder burgers they ordered when Kyungsoo started the conversation first. Chanyeol almost choked when Kyungsoo threw the first question at him like a grenade.

"Have you figured out how to catch the culprit?" Kyungsoo sips from his soda. Chanyeol hurriedly chewed his food and swallowed before answering.

"Honestly? No..." Chanyeol was staring down at Kyungsoo waiting for his reaction. The smaller guy chewed his food, swallowed it before responding.

"When are you planning to think about it?"

"I have six months to do it so I'm taking my time."

"You sound confident."

"No. I'm not confident. I'm just ... warming up with you guys for now. I mean I need to know you, who are my teammates in the office, first before I start to think about someone who's left, right?"

Kyungsoo was somewhat annoyed, Chanyeol notes. He wanted to take back what he said but he cannot think of a better answer than the truth. He noticed Kyungsoo taking a deep breath and sighed.

"Don't take too long. Someone's life is on the line here." Kyungsoo crumpled the foil that previously wrapped the burger he was eating. He stood up and went to the wash area to clean his hands. He went back to their table to get his wallet and spoke, "I'll go ahead." Kyungsoo glanced at his watch. "You have 20 minutes left to finish your lunch. Be back in the office at 1PM."

Chanyeol couldn't stop Kyungsoo from leaving. He was frozen. Who's life was he talking about? Mine? His? ... Luhan's? Chanyeol shoved in the rest of the burger, chewed a bit, sipped his drink and wiped his hands with tissue. What have I gotten myself into, seriously. And he went out of the fastfood chain to chase his senior.