Day 74.

“So which one do you think works the best?”

Kyuhyun suddenly appeared by her side, flashing his trademark smirk out of nowhere.

“What work the best? Are we choosing something?”

“Have you not been listening?”

Taeyeon tighten her scarf and awkwardly fixing her beanie. The next second she starts biting her lips, making Minho quickly turned his face before he down on his knees in the middle of quiet street of winter Seoul. And topped with surrounded by some idiots he called best friends. Big no.

“Nope, I’m sorry, I was busy arranging my class schedule. is crazy. I have three private classes this weekend and one of them being Jonghyun’s sister modern ballet class. Why does she need that at this very tight week?!”

“You do ballet?!” Suho cannot hide his wonder.

Taeyeon rolled her eyes when she caught Suho scanning her from head to toe, “I don’t. I only know the basic one. That’s why I’ve been texting back and forth why on earth suddenly she changed her thing. She could take it with other tutor. Why me?”

“So you go to their house to teach?”

“That’s how private class works, you idiot,” Kyuhyun almost didn’t believe on what he just heard.

“Private class can be done on the studio as well, can’t it?”

It’s the nature of Changmin to never back down from anything. This is including some nasty accusation from his best friend.

“Oh. That’s actually make sense.”

“Ha. Who’s the idiot now?”

“So you go to their house to teach her?” Suho who’s familiar with the never ending banter of the two fools he shares his life story with feels the need to step in and be the smart one.

“Yeah, for her I’m the one who come over. Her schedule is always in odd hour so the studio is almost always unavailable for her private class.”

“Whoa, that’s great. While you’re on it, you can spy the old dino there. Why on earth he’s not yet bustling in our office?”

“Leave him alone,” Minho as usual, being the wise one – and this time everyone’s pretty sure it’s not because he’s mature but it’s because he knows what exactly happened during this past weeks – trying to remind his friends to keep their nose for themselves, “Besides, Jonghyun’s not living with his parents anymore.”

“Why do we always stuck in boring conversation? Enough talking about my boss. Can I enjoy my life tiny for tiny bit?!”

Kyuhyun groaned and stomped the pavement of the sidewalk like a kid, much to Minho’s joy. The later cannot help but smile and this time, it’s Taeyeon’s turn to look away.

“Let’s back to our main conversation. Lee Taeyeon, which one do you think works the best?”

“Kyu, we are already 500 meters away from the first time you asked me that ambiguous question and you’re still not telling what the heck you were talking about!”

“My bad. Okay. Bumble or Tinder?”

“What?”

“I thought you don’t like playing online,” Suho got himself interested.

“Not me,” Kyuhyun dragged Changmin to his side, “For this man. He was so desperate to find a date and no one would take him.”

“No one? I’ll take you to a date, man.”

“What?”

“What?”

“What?”

Changmin, Suho, and Minho scream at the same time – for different reason, though. This girl is so dense I don’t know what to do anymore, Suho thought. How bold, Changmin still not swallowing well. Does she prefer Changmin over anybody else? For real? Minho cannot stop the train of thought line up on his mind.

“Not a ‘date’ date, but more like let’s go out for some brunch or dinner, ‘let’s hang out’ kind of date.”

“That’s better be the term or I’m rescuing myself before the bloody brother war took a place.”

Minho’s palm flees and smacks Kyuhyun right at the back of his head. With the loud ‘ouw’, Suho knew everything is restored.

“Why worried about me? It’s been a while since I enjoy bachelor life. Which turned out the thing that’s been missing out from me.”

“Well, yeah, until you bored me with you whining in our group chat on how everyone ignores you and prefer our lady than you and your pathetic single life.”

“Not this time,” he shifted himself next to Minho, “This gentleman will always available for a glass or two.”

“Not this time,” Minho then stepped forward and pushed Taeyeon inside the restaurant.

Both Changmin and Suho don’t bother to hide their surprised look. And of course, in a time like this, Kyuhyun’s smirk is the only explanation needed.

***

The bonding time with the bunch during late lunch is always nice, especially lately after everything’s getting better between Taeyeon and Minho. Gone the awkward atmosphere, as well as the cold gaze here and there. The guy is indeed a kind one, she admitted. Despite all the stern look and harsh comment during team discussion on some projects, at the end he’ll return to the one of nicest person in the world.

Like yesterday for example. Taeyeon decided to stay a bit longer at the office to fix some diagram presentation for her thesis. To avoid lazing around and being couch potato at home, she excused, but actually to not feeling lonely with the empty apartment.

Seeing her still at her desk after the clock strikes 6, Minho changed his mind and was around for a while to review some contracts and structure calculation which ended up – for his own liking – in brainstorming session about pre-final take outs of Taeyeon’s research. Much for her liking.

So these days, she’s feeling more at home during working hours. It was actually really that fun joining the team, just like the first impression she got after hours of ogling at the company website.

Changmin and Kyuhyun treat her like their own buddy. And Suho – as usual – being the best team mate she could ever ask.

“Don’t panic!”

Bora looks like she just got a call from her landlord that some fire eating her sneakers collection. This for sure making the group which just arrived back at the office quite alarmed.

“Girl, I think I would if you looked like that,” Taeyeon chuckles, but can’t help being concerned.

“Listen,” now Bora puts her hands on both her shoulders, “Jinki was looking for you earlier.”

Changmin stopped playing with his phone when he heard the words rolled out Bora’s mouth. Minho swallowed hard some invisible lump and Taeyeon almost lost balance and dropped her coat.

“You sure he was looking for her and not me or Minho?”

Suho stepped in to the conversation the same time Amber joined the scene.

“She might be dumb sometimes but she ain’t deaf. The guy was making sure everyone at the office notify her about this once she’s in sight.”

The last time Taeyeon saw Jinki was the day he decided to turn into a monster and tried to eliminate her existence in this world. He hasn’t come to the office ever since.

“When did he return?”

“Approximately ten minutes after you guys left for lunch.”

Just in time when I thought life is getting easier, she thought.

After Minho sent the new presentation they had been working on that super early in the morning, Jinki didn’t say anything. Only an email around 6.30 am with just two words in it: thank you. The man didn’t even send any text to their group chat, so this definitely took Minho to surprise.

“Where is he now?”

“Glass room as usual. I think he’s expecting you. Anytime now,” Bora’s face looks super somber.

“Whatever will be, will be. The faster he’s done with his rage, the better.”

“He won’t kill you. Don’t worry,” Amber tries to calm her down.

“Yeah. He won’t hesitate to throw his iPad to my face neither. Wish me luck, guys!”

She shrugged once again and Changmin crossed his finger above his head for some mental support. Three steps away from the gang, she feels a strong grip on her wrist.

“Where do you think you’re going without me, young lady?”

Minho then leads the way to the glass room. Her heart had never beating this rapid.

***

“Hi, Jinki,” she peeked into the room, the man behind the desk looks like he’s been waiting for this moment forever, “Were you looking for me?”

“Not her fault, by the way, Jinx. We were working on the panel of Itaewon’s hostel project so we took super late lunch. That’s why we only here just now.”

With his tall physique blocking the way in, Jinki can only half of Taeyeon’s face.

“Whoa. Acting like a true gentleman. I like this side of you, Choi.”

Both Taeyeon and Minho turned to the other side of the room and found that there’s actually another soul in the room beside Jinki.

“Hi, Taeyeon. Been a while, isn’t it?”

She was taken aback but quickly recover herself, “Oh, hi, Kibum. Didn’t see you there. How are you?”

“I’m pretty good.”

“Do you mind if you sit here, Taeyeon?”

She walked closer and took the seat across Jinki. Minho dragged the chair from Jonghyun’s desk and sits beside Taeyeon.

“First of all, big thank you, Lee Taeyeon,” he stopped for a while to shift his gaze to Minho, “and also you. The presentation went well. The board really loves the alternatives idea you guys worked on, let’s say they’re impressed with the possibilities on their land development. And the reason why I ask you to come, is to let you—Taeyeon—know, that until the end of your internship period here, I want you to focus on this project.”

She cannot believe on whatever she just heard. No more revision on rooftops design? No more backing up Suho’s job? No, no. This is too good to be true, she’s afraid on whatever came after this.

“That’s it?”

“What do you expect?”

“Well, you hulking around smashing the table and chew us alive?”

Jinki rolled his eyes to the tall man next to Taeyeon. He cro