The next day, he woke up to his phone ringing. He immediately answered it, still half asleep and missed to check who the caller was. 

“Good morning!!!” A loud, bright voice stunned him.

”Hello? Yes good morning”. He answered back, still less energetic. 

“C’mon now! Were you still tired of your jog yesterday??? You’re too young to feel too old though”. 

It snapped him. Kheyo is the one on the other line. Why is the guy calling him this early? 

“Hhhh. It’s still early and a Sunday. I want to enjoy sleep to prepare myself from work tomorrow” he replied. 

He heard the man cackling from the other line. “Minseok, it’s already 11am. It’s almost noon. This time is no longer early”. 

“Oh really? I might have not noticed the time”

A few seconds of dead air happened in between. Until Kheyo started to voice out something.

”Hmm. Wanna grab lunch?” Kheyo offered. 

Minseok was caught off guard. Why is this man suddenly inviting him? Why does he suddenly act comfortably? 

“Oh my God are you falling asleep? Hello??” 

“Ah.. not. Hmm.”

”So, wanna grab lunch?” He repeated. 

After thinking through, Minseok finally agreed.

They met at a restaurant near the river. The view is nice, you can clearly see the bridge and Sunday cars. 

There was silence enclosing both while waiting for their food but Kheyo finally cleared his throat and started to talk. 

“I really like the view here. It’s my first time in this restaurant”.

”Really? This place is popular for their delicious chicken, food and nice view”. Minseok replied. 

Minseok suddenly seriously stared at Kheyo out of nowhere and the other guy gulped. Kheyo felt attacked on how Minseok’s eyes sparkle. It’s the first time he’s been impressed by someone’s eyes. His eyes shine yet mirror sadness that Kheyo can’t explain. 

The intense staring contest finally discontinued when their food arrived.

The awkwardness was forgotten when Kheyo was constantly thanking the plate, the utensils, the waiters that pass by because the food was indeed so good. Minseok couldn’t help but laugh at the cuteness. 

They ended their lunch date (or not) happily and Minseok then drove to visit his parents. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Monday. 

Minseok decided that he’ll loosen up to Kheyo so they could already move forward to the project. 

He was standing at the hallway talking and laughing with Jongdae and Junmyeon when Kheyo arrived. 

“Hi everyone, good morning” He greeted the men. 

Minseok smiled fondly and raised an eyebrow towards him. Both gazed at each other without noticing Jongdae and Junmyeon staring surprisingly at both. 

“Shall we get started, Min?” Kheyo talked. 

Both waved goodbye and entered Minseok’s office. 

“Hey Myeon, did you notice? He was calling Minseok Min? When did these two get so close?” 

“I know, right? And did you notice the way they stared at each other? I haven’t seen Minseok smiled fondly at someone like that” Junmyeon exclaimed. 

“I already like this Kheyo guy. He seems to bring out the best in Min”. Junmyeon added.

”Yeah, but we’ll see. For now, I’m enjoying how this is going” Jongdae replied. 

Minseok and Kheyo finally decided to add the interviews but Minseok insisted they will only feature 2-3 to avoid issues. Finally they met halfway and soon to officially start some editing. 

Kheyo wanted to show some clips to Minseok so they could choose but Minseok wasn’t ready to listen to single moms being hurt and crying. He doesn’t want to trigger any past memories again this time. He played it cool though so Kheyo wouldn’t notice. 

Weeks passed, turned to months and finally they were able to finalize the contents. Minseok still has not seen the clips and just let Kheyo choose instead. 

Within those months, both got so close. Kheyo was also already less awkward towards Jongdae, Junmyeon and even Yixing who casually visits the office and joins them for lunch. Minseok enjoyed this moment. Minseok enjoyed Kheyo’s company. Both also had outside the office shenanigans and often meet during weekends. Well to Kheyo, he has already considered them as dates. 

When they finalized their project they’ve prepared for months, Minseok also noticed he has finalized his feelings towards Kheyo.