Baekhyun was a man with plans, and that was something which I had always noticed about him. I think most people easily saw him as playboy, jester and class clown who carried his antics with him to his adult life. 

Two years ago while we were window-shopping at the electronics stall, I had a good laugh at Baekhyun when he stood in front of a TV for two straight hours to finish an animated cartoon that was showing on the TV that was on display. He barely blinked, and I couldn't help but about being a dork. 

Yet during dinner that night, he told me that he wasn't being childish at all. The cartoon was the product of an animation company that had approached him for a potential business opportunity, and Baekhyun was assessing the quality of their works. In those two hours, he had mentally counted the percentage of kids who would stop by and be attracted by the animation. 

"If I'm standing there and crowd psychology doesn't kick in for the kids, then this animation is not worth the investment at all," Baekhyun had said as he calmly ate his plate of alfredo. 

He eventually did not go through with the business deal, and two months later that very company was exposed for its understaffed situation and financial problems. 

Baekhyun was a man with a plan, and he's always thinking steps ahead. Like how he foresaw I would forget about  my parents' departure flight terminal so he checked online beforehand; like how he bought them foot relaxation taps for their feet's relief during the long-haul flight. My parents' stay in Seoul had finally ended on a teary note when we sent them off at the airport together. With that, our lives returned to its normal pace. Baekhyun reclaimed his bed, and I did with mine. 

Although not every part of our lives had returned back to its original state. For one, Baekhyun's date nights never returned. There was no more WWs or FFs in our household. Just a lot of overtimes on both our parts to finish the work that we had accumulated over the past few weeks. Otherwise it was either of us lazing at home, making full use of our Netflix family subscription or catching up on sleep. All these meant that I've barely seen Baekhyun, given our efforts to get our lives back on track. Despite living in the same apartment, our increasingly irregular work hours were in the way of any common time to interact at all. 

The ominous words that mum left me with after our outing remained swirling in my mind for the rest of week, with me having no opportunity to confront my housemate on it. 

Like the coffee that's swirling in my office cup. I'll regret this when I couldn't fall asleep tonight, but right now the caffeine is much needed. 

"Stirring it any more is not going to make it tastier, Manager-nim." 

Taeyong's amused tone brought me back to my senses amidst the craze in the Monday office. My coffee had gotten cold with the constant motion I administered. 

"Need a dinner session tonight to rant?" Taeyong enquired as he helped me sort out documents and reports for our upcoming project. "You look like you need a break."

"Lee Taeyong, don't get ahead of yourself," I said in a tone that matched his, "it's not a good thing to ask your superior for dinner when she knows you have more work due this week." The defeated sigh from the young male was only too audible against paper flipping in my office. 

"You've been reporting home for dinner a lot lately." 

Maybe I needed more caffeine in my system or I needed to get my ears checked, because I thought I caught a hint of clear disappointment in his voice over the simple observation. 

"Of course I go home to eat," I replied, not sure why I was clarifying myself to the sincere gaze Taeyong was throwing at me, "I stay there." 

Taeyong's lips pursed into a line, something that I observed he did whenever he tried to remain courteous in a situation he wasn't entirely comfortable with. I'd observed it over a couple of company dinners and client meetings with him, but I tried to dismiss it. I just had the slightest inkling that I might be the one making him feel uncomfortable currently, and I had no idea why that might be the case. 

"Lunch?" The boy certainly did not know how to give up. I nodded without hesitation. 

"Who else?" I thought the corners of his lips twitched with my reply. Honestly though, he's been my lunch buddy a lot lately, simply because the two of us were a working unit for several projects. One of those wonderful things about eating with Taeyong was the comfortable atmosphere. The boy often offered the most interesting conversational topics and more importantly, good food. I'd worked in the area for a much longer period, but the boy sure knew a lot more about the eateries nearby. Recently, though, he'd been bringing lunch to work. And because he figured that I was bound to be the occasional workaholic that I was, he'd packed me some too. 

Munching on the kimchi fried rice in his anime lunch box (which I found extremely funny), the thoughts about Baekhyun's mysterious lunchboxes drifted back into my mind again.

"Taeyong, have you ever cooked for a girl?" I blurted out of the blue as I thought about my meals with Baekhyun over the past few years. It felt like it's been forever since we've eaten together lately, given our work. Even when my parents were here, we took turns accompanying them so that we could rush our work at night. 

"I have," he said after a momentary pause. "Just one." 

I presumed my question caught him off guard, and probably because it was a bit rude to ask. I had to suppress every bit of my inner gossip queen to press on with that interesting answer that he had just given. Sometimes I had to remind myself to act properly around Taeyong. Maybe it's the fact that he often acted more mature than his own age, but he certainly brought out the worst in me sometimes. By that I meant I was always too relaxed around my younger colleague. 

"Sorry that was coming out of nowhere, I was just curio-" 

"- it's the lunchbox you're eating. Actually, all the lunchboxes you've been eating." 

Our gaze locked for a fraction of a second, and suddenly I was very sure that the morning caffeine was definitely working. I would have to be dumb to not understand the connotations that statement. I turned my gaze back to the food on my lap before stabbing another piece of cauliflower and putting it into my mouth. The cream that wrapped the vegetable was smooth and fragrant, and I was more cognisant of that taste more than ever before. 

"Aye, is that how young people get girls nowadays? Pack some nicely done meal in an anime lunchbox?" I chewed on another piece of carrot, aware that Taeyong was still looking at me. This was certainly not the way I had planned the conversation, and I was no genius like Baekhyun to round such moments up nicely. 

"Taeyong, before you talk funny again, finish your food quickly. We have a meeting to prepare for," I said hastily. The boy finally returned his attention to his food. 

The rest of lunch lapsed into something unfamiliar between the two of us - an awkward silence.

~~~

"Jisoo-noona, do you have a few minutes?" 

Taeyong was standing at the doorway of my office, and if it wasn't for his voice bringing me back from the depths of my work, I wouldn't have noticed that I had, once again, unconsciously worked beyond the hours again. The office looked empty except for us. 

That might have explained the term of address. 

"Sure, what's up?" I genuinely thought I was cool feigning nonchalance. Undoubtedly I had not done it well, because Taeyong still looked nervous as he approached my desk to take a sit before me. I could hardly recall a moment when the confident Taeyong was ever this nervous. He barely flinched when we were presenting the new business case together, nor did he seem anxious on the first day of work. Yet he was, chewing his lip as he struggled to find the right words. 

Much to my liking, he went straight to the point, "were you uncomfortable with what I said in the afternoon?"

I hesitated a reply, but eventually I gave him a weak smile before shaking my head. Was I uncomfortable? No. 

If I were to say I was uncomfortable, I would have been offended, and that was definitely not what I felt about the encounter with Taeyong. The boy was, if anything, one of the most respectful younger colleagues I'd seen in this field. 

Yet to say I was unaffected would be a lie too. I had been extra efficient work in my work upon return, simply because work could put my mind off the exchange in the afternoon. It was a very strange form of struggle - I didn't want to be complacent and read into the connotations of his reply too much, but I felt that my hunch wasn't too far from the truth that I was trying to avoid either. 

"Sorry what did you say?" I snapped out of my momentary mind battle with