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WARNING: CONTAINS MATURE LANGUAGES, GENDERBEND, GIRLJONGDAE/CHEN, CHENMIN SHIP. IF SUCH MATERIALS OFFENDS YOU, PLEASE DO NOT READ THE STORY. INTENDED FOR MATURE READERS.

A/N: This was a submission for Week1 on the Open Writing Club heclgehog is hosting, the prompt was the song “Sweetheart” by Seenroot. Ive done some editing according to all the pointers and suggestions I got on the comment section.

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Minseok sighed as he listens to Baekhyun and Chanyeol argue about something again, they do this - Every. Single. Day. They argue about the smallest of things, today it’s whether its better to toast a bagel or not.

He grabbed a file that was needed to be sent to accounting, he’s not waiting for the temp to do it for him, he needed an excuse to escape from this chaos of an office.

He walks away form his table and started his way down to where the elevators are located. He pressed the down button and waited for the elevator to arrive on his floor, looking at the indicator, frowning when it shows that it stopped just two floors above his.

Human Resources. He checked his reflection on the elevator door, just in case.

When the elevator started moving down towards him, he cleared his throat and straightened out his coat and his tie.

The elevator came with a “ding” and when the doors opened, standing inside, with her head buried between the folders she was holding, was Jongdae.

Jongdae is funny, smart and really pretty with a very gorgeous smile. And she’s also his “friend”. They started as trainees under the same company the same day, and got along pretty quickly and they got hired the same day six months later. Jongdae works with the HR department while he works with the IT department. 

But thats not all Jongdae is to him.  He likes her, hell, he can even say he’s in love with her.  But, and its a big BUT, he doesn’t want to complicate things.  What if she doesn’t feel the same way? Will she avoid him, or be awkward around him. And if they do go out, will they last? What if the broke up, can they still be friends? All these things made him want to stay as friends, at least he will be with her, can still hang out and talk.

But it annoys him when he sees her like this. Looking so put together like she was trying to impress somebody.

“Wow, you look really good today.” Minseok said to Jongdae as he joins her inside the elevator, pressing the floor he needed to go to.

“Thanks.” Jongdae smile up at him. Looking down at her attire.  She’s wearing a magenta colored pencil skirt, a white silk blouse, a cream colored cardigan and pumps.

“Trying to catch somebody’s attention, are we?” He inquired.

Jongdae laughed “Maybe.”

Minseok felt his eyes twitched a little at her response.

“Okay, now you got me really curious. Who is this guy? You’re getting prettier and prettier by the day. And you’re wearing prettier clothes too.” Minseok said, trying to hold back the panic in his voice.

Jongdae blushed. “Oh, just someone. But he wont pay attention to me though.”

“Is he blind or what? Come on, tell me, who is this guy? Is he good looking enough that you change this much for him?” He said incredulously, is the guy an idiot or what? He thought.

“No, he’s not blind!.” Jongdae giggled “And he is good looking, very good looking, at least in my opinion, and yes I think he’s worth it.” She smiled in a secretive way.

Minseok wanted to scream, “This is unfair!”. But he smiled and said. “Who is it? so I can check if he’s good for you or not.”

“Oh, he’s good for me alright. He just doesn’t know it yet. And its your floor.” Jongdae answered.

Damnit, Minseok thought. “Call me later, tell me more about this, he’s-good-for-me-guy, alright?” He said as he exited the box.  He stood there smiling and waving at her, waited for the doors to close before kicking it.

, , , . Shall I tell her how I feel before she get snatched away by some random guy who probably wont treat her right? I mean, I’m not bad to look at, sure, maybe I’m not as tall as that oaf Chanyeol, but mama thinks I clean up real good. He tried to reason with himself.

Damnit, damnit, damnit, this is a nightmare. He wouldn’t be able to control his anger and jealousy if he ever sees Jongdae with another guy.

Inside the elevator, Jongdae grimaced.

“Why is it so hard to confess?” She sighed. “And why cant he see me as nothing but a friend?” she scrunched up her face and said in a low voice 

“Check him out if he’s good for you.” she tried to imitate Minseoks voice.  “Who does he think he is? My brother?”

She was tempted to pull her hair out from frustration.

“Fine, I’ll call him later tonight, and maybe drop some hints. God, I hope he gets it.” She whispered as she hangs her head low in defeat.

* * *

Jongdae is laying on her bed, snuggled under a thick blanket and has been staring at her phone looking at Minseok’s contact informations with her thumb hovering on the call button, for half an hour now. She kept on delaying the call to Minseok.

She’s scared of what will happen if she did confess. Will he accept her? Avoid her? Laugh at her? Or worst pity her?

“Here goes nothing.” She said before tapping on the call button.

“Hey, Jongdae.” Minseok greeted her after a couple of rings, like he’s been waiting for the call.

“Hey, yourself.” She answered back.

“So, about this guy that you liked. Who is he really? Do I know him? Does he work in the same company as us? Which department? How old is he?” Minseok spits the questions out so fast she almost didn’t understand them.

“Whoa, whoa, hold your horses. One question at a time. Okay let see. Do you know him? Yes, you know him, quite well actually.” She said, heart on , choking her with fear and anticipation.

“What?!” Minseok exclaimed.

“Let me finish. Does he work in the same company? Yes. What department? same as yours and for how old he is, same as you too.” She said, clutching the lapels of her pajama, trying to calm herself.  Her heart is beating so fast from nervousness. Come on, get it already. She prayed silently.

Jongdae wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard Minseok cuss repeatedly.

“Please don’t tell me its that clown Baekhyun.” Minseok said, sounding defeated.

“No, not him.” She said, face falling, seriously? she thought. Baekhyun? Thats what he thought?

“It’s not Chanyeol, is it? Because I believe he’s got the hots for Kyungsoo from accounting.”

“No, not him either.” She closes her eyes in frustration, nope, he is not getting it at all.

“WHO IS IT?!” Minseok said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He can feel a headache coming. This is worst than he thought. Which one of those losers is she attracted to.

“I’m not telling.” She said with a frown.

“Why not? I just need to know if he’s going to treat you right.” And added a “And maybe threat him a little” under his breath.

“What was that?” Jongdae asked.

“Nothing. Why wont you tell me?” Minseok asked.

“Because I don’t want him to know, not yet anyway.” She answered

“Why?” Minseok asked again.

“I’m not ready. I’m scared he’ll turn me down.” She could feel tears filling up her eyes. Nonononono, I’m not going to cry, she told herself.

“If he hurts you, I’ll beat him into a pulp.” Minseok said as a promise.

Jongdae sighs. There he goes again. Acting brotherly again.

“What about you? do you like someone?” Jongdae tried to change the subject. She’s getting depressed by how Minseok is reacting.

“Uhhh, yes.” Minseok answered hesitantly.

She almost swallowed her own tongue when she heard it.

“Are you alright?” Minseok asked when he heard Jongdae threw a coughing fit. “Are you getting sick?”

“No, no, I was just surprised by your answer. You never mention anything about liking someone.” She answered, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

“It’s not like I’m going to do anything about it anyway. It’s a hopeless case.” Minseok explained, voice filled with pain.

“Does she likes somebody else?” She asked.

Minseok sighed “Yeah.”

“She doesn’t know what she’s missing then.” She tried to cheer him up, you should just look at me instead, she almost said out loud.

“Yeah, well, thats life I guess.” Minseok sighed in defeat.

“Well, this is turning into a sob fest. So I will say goodnight.” They make the oddest pair, a pair of broken hearted fools. Wanting someone who liked someone else.

Minseok laughed a little. “Yeah, goodnight Dae, sweet dreams.”

“Bye.” Jongdae whispered.  She hung up and dropped her phone on the bed.

She sometimes questions her sanity for liking an idiot like Minseok. Oh wait, thats right, cause she was a er for those catlike eyes and lopsided grin. And the should-be-illegal baby face of his. 

She dragged her blanket over her head and groaned. “What do I need to do to get him to notice me?” And yelled a “It’s you I like, you idiot.” At the top of her lungs, before kicking the blanket off of her to go get some ice cream to cheer herself up.

I need to resolve this as soon as possible, she thought as she open her freezer and grabbing a pint of ice cream, with the amount of ice cream I’m consuming from stress eating, I wont be able to fit into the new clothes I got last week, she thought to herself as she grabbed a spoon before sitting down by the kitchen counter.

She shoves a spoonful of rocky road ice cream in , swallowed then nodded. It’s decided, I’ll just kiss him next time I get him alone. That would get my point across, and he wouldn’t be able to mistake that for anything else, but me liking him.

She slumped down on the kitchen counter when she thought that there’s this slight possibility that Minseok would think that she tripped and it was all an accident. She groaned before sitting up straight and shoving another spoonful of ice cream in . And with Minseok’s track record of not getting any hint, its highly probable.

“Idiot.” She said to no one in particular before continuing to eat the ice cream.

* * *

Minseok sat on his gaming chair, starring at his phone for a couple of minutes after the call with Jongdae ended before hurling it towards his bed.

He was playing on the computer earlier as he waited for Jongdae to call him, it gave him something to focus on instead of worrying about what Jongdae would say about this he’s-good-for-me-guy that she fancy.

What a chicken you are Minseok, cant even say three little words. “I like you”. He thought to himself

He sighed before leaning back onto the chair, murmuring a “I’m an idiot. It’s you I like, Jongdae. It’s you I like.”

He stood up to go to the kitchen to grab a bottle of beer. Hoping that it will numb him enough to be able to sleep without dreaming about Jongdae with someone else.

“Just confess already, you moron.” He told himself after downing the entire contents of the bottle in one go. “Soon” he promised “Soon.”

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THANK YOU FOR READING! If you enjoyed this story please take a moment to help other readers discover it by leaving a comment. Just a few words and an upvote would really help.

NOTES:

ALL CHARACTERS AND EVENTS IN THIS STORY, EVEN THOSE BASED ON REAL PEOPLE, ARE ENTIRELY FICTIONAL.

English is my second language so if you noticed any typographical or grammatical errors, I will be grateful for the heads up!

‘Till next time!

 - Deedee