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Day 6: Talk to Me

Irene slapped her sullen face, still not completely normal. Need to snap out of it. Her deep eyebags showed how little sleep she had last night, and she tried to desperately cover them with concealer. She looked at her phone message again, a mixture of emotions flashing through her face.

Chanyeol:
Wednesday 11:30 PM
Hyun-ah?

Irene:
Wednesday 11:32 PM
Mmm. Still up.

Chanyeol:
Wednesday 11:32 PM
Are you feeling better? :) I wanted to check on you earlier but let it slip my mind...

Irene:
Wednesday 11:34 PM
Yes~ Sorry for making you worry.

Chanyeol:
Wednesday 11:35 AM
No… I’m happy I can worry about you.

Irene:
Wednesday 11:38 PM
Mmm. So what’s up？

Chanyeol:
Wednesday 12:20 AM
It’s just that I have run into a really big problem and I don’t know how to face this issue. I really, really don’t know. One day I think you’ll understand why I’m so troubled, because this means I have to reorganize my plans, give up on things I was sure I wanted. But as they say, this is life, right? Haha… Or maybe everything is for the best, just against my wishes.
Wednesday 12:22 AM
Haha. I hope you’re asleep by now. It’s late, I’m sorry. I just didn’t know who to to talk to. I probably make no sense.

Irene:
Wednesday 12:28 AM
I… no, oppa I’m still up. I just read what you said for a long time and don’t really know how to respond. Maybe if you tell me what trouble it is you’ve run into, I can help you solve it. If you would trust me and tell me what it is that is disturbing...
Wednesday 12:35 AM
And… we haven't known each other for that long really, but you are really important to me. I am right here with you, take it slowly.

Chanyeol
Wednesday 12:40 AM
Hyun-ah. I can tell the world but not you, do you realize how serious it is? Hahaha. Don’t be worried, trust me to take care of it well. Everything will be fine. It’s so late, go to sleep! Good night.

Irene looked at her mother thoughtfully while she was chewing on breakfast.

“What is it?” her mother eyed her closely.

Irene munched on her cereal as she debated showing her mother the texts. She decided against it. Too many possibilities. Besides, my mom doesn’t know Chanyeol. She’d probably come up with crazier theories. Irene kept herself up until 3 A.M. tossing and turning in bed, thinking about what Chanyeol meant in his text. Among her top list of possibilities, he’s transferring jobs, he’s moving out of the country, he’s calling out for help from depression, he’s in love with her…. A confession? She frowned and shook her head at that last thought. You overestimate yourself.

Her mother stopped washing the dishes and walked over. “Talk to me, Joohyun-ah.”

“Perhaps some other day, mom.” Sorry. I’m just not quite ready.

Her mother examined her for a while, then nodded and patted her head. “Know I’m always open. Talk to me when you need it.” Irene beamed gratefully at her mother, the one who always supported her, her pillar of strength whenever she needs it.

---

Irene rushed through the checkpoint, just in time to see the elevator door closing. Freaking THIS again, I feel like I’m reliving a nightmare. She slumped, resigned, waiting for something awkward to happen again while she waits for the next elevator- who is she going to bump into today? Needless to say she was pleasantly surprised to see the elevator door open immediately. Mr. Xiu smiled as he held onto the open button. His eyes twinkled a little. “Come on in.”

She bowed gratefully and slid into a spot which people had shuffled around to make: a simple action that lit her day up. “How are you fitting in? It’s already been around a week. Fast, hmm?” he asked with a kindly smile, perhaps a little too kindly, Irene noted. Sure enough, a moment of awkward pause was enough to make him spill it out himself. “Um. A couple of guys were late to dinner yesterday. Waiting to drop off an intern. That wouldn’t be you, would it?”

Irene smiled at him and shook her head. “Really?” You already know I’m the only intern.

He grinned, embarrassed. As he stepped out of the elevator, he says, “I was just making sure. Ahh, it’s nice to see youth in the workplace- you work and work and sometimes forget just how old you are,” he sighed as he cracked his back without moving. Let out a chuckle when Irene gave him a mortified look. “I’m fine- my bones are just really cracky. Age. Y’know.”

She managed an unconvinced nod. “Well, glad I can entertain you, I guess.”

“We’re just teasing, by the way… if you happen to hear rumours. It gets kinda boring around here.”

“No- no. I completely understand. Don’t sweat it.” she smiled a little. That’s rather kind of him- but she’s long since used to the teasing and the rumours. It happened in her last internship too, more in companies with a younger workforce, she suspected. People get bored, rumours start spreading like wildfire. That isn’t much to her, really. “Good luck with the stock market today,” she said as she swiped her card and held open the door for Mr. Xiu.

He stepped through and nodded at her. “Good luck with Manager Kim.”

---

On her way to her cubicle, Irene made sure to pop by Chanyeol’s. She sighed in relief when he greeted her as usual with a wide smile. She followed him to the water break room.

“You good?”

“Thank you,” he said, squeezing her shoulders a little. Irene winced a little from his strength. “But forget about yesterday~ I drank a little. Said some senseless things,” he looked down.

Irene raised her eyebrows, not completely convinced. Then decided to let it slide. “Just remember you can talk to me. You were there for me.”

She stared at him intently as she saw him waver, then regain his composure. “Thanks. Hyun-ah.” it was almost a whisper, but enough for her to catch it. Irene nodded again. She won’t push him- if there’s one thing that her mother taught her, it is to silently provide full support, but not to push a person to the edge trying to force it.

---

Irene’s heart did a little somersault when she saw Sehun sitting at his desk. She held her breath when he raised his eyes. “Morning.” Breathed out, when he let his sharp gaze drop slowly.

“Morning!” She marveled at how he always leaves her speechless. Now that she thinks about it, he really isn’t as uptight and difficult as she originally had thought. But there was still some sort of tension between them that she couldn’t place a finger on, and that left her rather uneasy.

“Lunch plans?”

An awkward pause that stretched into an eternity, into space, out of the milky way and back. Irene finally responded, “me?”

“Yes… preferably?” he huffed. Irene had a small internal breakdown. She heard the response clearly, but it didn’t really register clearly- why her?

Another long pause, and she heard him tapping his pen against the table.

“Um, I eat with… Chanyeol.”

“I see.”

—

Irene tackled the excel spreadsheet the whole morning- it was such a tough assignment that she couldn’t wait to be done with it, though she is nowhere near that for now. She hadn’t realized that time passed by so fast when she worked on the spreadsheet, and soon Chanyeol popped by Irene’s cubicle. He seemed to be back to normal, Irene noted with relief. “My food plan runs out today,” said Chanyeol as he leaned on her cubicle. “What are you planning to eat?”

“Um…” Irene began, turning to him fully and making a face, but Chanyeol looked like he had no idea what she was trying to get across. He leaned even closer to her, furrowed his eyebrows as he stared into her eyes. “Want to eat out?” She widened her eyes a little, mouthing Anything! He frowned until wrinkles came out but couldn’t a hint. “Go ahead and pick a style! I don't mind eating anything with you.” Irene sunk into her chair in despair, not daring to turn to Sehun.

Sehun snickered. “Follow me.” He paused and turned when she didn’t budge. “You’re having lunch with me. Great plan you had there.”

“Um, mind if I join?”

Sehun shrugged, so Chanyeol kept an eye on Irene as she trailed behind Sehun with slumped shoulders.

“This isn’t a good idea,” she mumbled at Chanyeol with a little frown. Idiot.

“Better than you and him alone, trust me.” Irene frowned even more. Maybe some truth in that.

---

Mr. Xiu exited the elevator with a group of older employees, who all turned to look at the trio. She groaned internally when she saw Mr. Xiu’s very entertained face. She could guess- no, she knew exactly what they were thinking at the moment: this new intern’s playing two guys at the same time. “This isn’t a good idea,” she repeated glumly when the elevator door closed. This will be another long lunch… I miss Taehyung.

---

Irene walked through the mall with two bodyguards: Chanyeol to her left and Sehun to her right. She walked rapidly to catch up with their long strides, ignoring the stares of other people as they turned to admire the attractive trio. She could swear the two kept inching close to her: at one point she’d feared for her life thinking she would be squished by the two giants. She’d held out her arms to push them both away a little, earning glares from the two. She’d pouted. How is this my fault?!

Sehun led them to a high-class chinese restaurant, held open the door until Irene stepped in, then stepped in too, ignoring Chanyeol.

“Really?” he hissed.

Irene grabbed the menu immediately once she reached the table, trying to the best of her ability to avoid awkward silences where she’d be forced to make even more awkward and pointless conversation. “I recommend the Beijing duck, the steam chicken and jasmine rice, and shumai,” Sehun drawled right before she could flip open the first page, and Irene groaned internally. It’s just as if he reads my mind, and just has to make me uncomfortable. He crossed his legs classily and calmly folded his arms, all the while looking at her. The menu laid untouched in front of him.

“Okay, I guess we’re ready to order, you can go ahead” said Chanyeol dryly.

Irene can’t help but laugh at the two who went at  each other’s throat everytime they are together. She wondered how they managed to cope with each other as roommates. She motioned for the waiter, breaking the stare down between Chanyeol and Sehun. “I’ll get the chicken and jasmine rice,” she said.

“I’ll get the same as the lady,” said Sehun, motioning at Irene.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes. “I’ll get the jajangmyeon.”

“What a bore, as expected,” commented Sehun.

“Look at yourself,” snarled Chanyeol.

“Okay, woah there, you’re acting like kindergarten kids…”

Both of them her with such intensity she shied away immediately. “Sorry. I’ll just shut it.”

“No, it’s really enough for just Chanyeol to shut it.”

“I swear…” Chanyeol hissed under his breath. Irene poked at her chopsticks and didn’t attempt to interject this time.

---

“My treat,” said Sehun, motioning for Irene to take back her purse. “My treat,” he repeated pointedly at Chanyeol when he retracted his wallet too, “for Irene.”

Chanyeol threw him a dirty look.

“You don’t have to,” she said, placing a hand on his outstretched arm. He turned his face to her with a thin smile, and she leaned back instinctively, bracing for the impact of his otherworldly features. “Oh, it’s my welcome gesture to my new cubicle-mate. Don’t worry, you’ll be returning this favour.” Irene felt her face burning and quickly took her hand off. Chanyeol looked on with narrowed eyes.

---

On the way back, Irene felt Chanyeol’s shoulder pressing against hers. She raised her eyes, met with his, and tried to read his suddenly closed off expression with concern. Back at the office, Sehun waved and headed off to his cubicle. Irene stopped Chanyeol. She didn’t say anything, just stood in his way, demanding an explanation silently.

“I’m fine, really,” he laughed.

Irene doesn’t know why she’s so aggressively seeking an explanation either. Her friends all know her as a passive person, rarely interested in anyone’s problems unless they directly seek her out. But she knows that Chanyeol is definitely hiding something, and she just can’t help but be worried about him.

“Okaaaay, you go take a break,” said Chanyeol, placing his large hands on her petite shoulders and turning her in the direction of her cubicle. He gave her a playful nudge, but Irene turned around.

“I just feel like you’re becoming more distant.” She regretted the sentence the moment she uttered it, watching as his expression morphed into a painful smile that wrenched her heart. “I’m sorry…” she gasped, turning and running towards her cubicle.

---

Irene worked on her spreadsheet until it hit 6 P.M. Too scared and perhaps prideful to find Chanyeol and apologize for what she’d said earlier, she figured she’d just wait until he came to her. Sehun is the best at driving, so he drives Chanyeol, Tao, and Taehyung home everyday. It’ll be fine, I'll just catch him and apologize, she calmed herself down. A slight tap on her shoulders, and she looked up into Sehun’s eyes. “Come on. We’ll go pick up Taehyung.” Tao waved at her warmly behind his back.

“I can walk to the met-” He shot her a sharp glance and she snapped shut grimly.

“Taehyung!” Irene bounded to V as she identified him and his eye smile.

He patted her head. “Well, come on now! I think we’re all ready to go!”

Irene paused. “What about Chanyeol?”

“He’s not coming today.” Sehun motioned for Irene to step into the elevator first, catching Tao by his collar when he tried to step in before.

“Eh?”

“Right, Irene, what’s your number? I’ll add you to our group chat. Welcome to the Hitchers!” squeaked Tao. Irene exchanged phone numbers with all of them, still confused.

Sehun looked at her closely. “Dinner plans?” he asked.

“I’ll join you guys for the weekend if you don’t mind, not today.”

He nodded. “Metro then.”

asdfgdnsj WHAT HAVE I DONE ;-; poor Chanyeol ;-;

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