Hello guys! Here's another chapter for the story. Again, sorry for taking so long and yet receiving a crappy and relatively short chapter. I'm just a little bit too busy right now because of multiple commitments :)

So... expect the next chapter in like... I don't know. T_T I really am sorry, but promise I will finish this :)

So... here it is!

14

A week before the “big day”, as the young designer of Wings liked to refer to Pink Princess’s anniversary night. Park Jimin had been heading straight to the latter’s office daily instead of his employer’s. And even though it was a lot farther, he really did not mind. In fact, working for Pink Princess had been the most fun and most rewarding thing he had done in years.

The man was just about to enter the company building when his attention was drawn by a familiar voice. “Good morning, oppa!”

“Oh, Jihyo.” Jimin answered when he turned to face the smiling female as she was getting off a cab. “Good morning.”

“You walk all the way to here?” Jihyo asked, tilting her head to the side. “I saw you along the way when I stopped by the café near the park earlier. You were already on your way then?”

“Well, yeah.” Jimin responded as the two of them walked into the building together.

“Why are you walking, though? You live far from the office, right? You’re closer to Wings.”

“Well, for one, I don’t want to spend extra money for a cab.” Jimin answered. “I also like walking early in the morning. It’s the only exercise I get since I got employed.”

“Oh, right.” The voluptuous female agreed, nodding. “Maybe I should try that, too. I haven’t been feeling… fit lately.” She chuckled.

The two eventually reached the fabulous place that was Pink Princess’s design department. Jihyo quickly excused herself from the male in favor of rushing to her cubicle and arranging her stuff before going over to the coffee machine.

Jimin smiled. Jihyo and her addiction to coffee. Maybe that was why she literally did not run out of energy.

After greeting other people who were already in the place, Jimin proceeded to the department head’s office, where he had temporarily set up work since the start of his collaboration with Hoseok, who was dusting the windows when he entered the room.

“Good morning, hyung.” Jimin greeted the older. Said hyung turned to face the younger and smiled his usual million-watt smile.

“G’morning, Jiminie!” He slurred.

Jimin could not help but wonder—why did Hoseok look like every day was vacation day, like he was not tired at all? The young designer was almost sure that out of all of them, the older was probably the most exhausted, and yet his expression did not show any of such exhaustion. Meanwhile, Jimin basically cringed every time he faced the mirror to see the workload of the past days etched on his face.

It was not like he was that tired, actually. His face just tend to readily show how he felt.

And as Jimin started with his work, he looked outside through the glass wall of Hoseok’s office and smiled at the sight. Wheein and Hyejin had just arrived and instead of going straight to their own cubicles, they headed straight to Byulyi’s to bother the older. The bright smiles on their faces did not hide the fact that they, too, were tired, but they were enough to reassure Jimin.

Jihyo and Jeongyeon, too. They were already working, with the former standing beside the latter in her cubicle, Jeongyeon seemingly showing Jihyo something on her screen. They did not look as tired at the still-laughing trio of girls.

Jimin thought that maybe it was because of the thin layer of makeup on the two’s faces. Not that makeup was bad.

The boys were not as lively as the girls, on the other hand. But Seokmin’s smile was still contagious, as Jimin had quickly learned upon making friends with the younger. That smile was currently being directed at the youngest member of their team, Chan, who graciously received the cup of what Jimin assumed was coffee from Seokmin.

Jimin could not help but chuckle upon setting eyes at the said male. At last, someone who was a boy was shorter than him. It kind of pissed Chan off whenever they decided to gang up on him and about it, but he never really took it personally.

Soonyoung and Joshua, on the other hand, just arrived at the same time, chatting animatedly. A quick glance at the clock on his laptop’s screen made him realize that the two were actually already late by a good five minutes—like they always were, but Hoseok never made a big deal out of it the whole time Jimin was with them.

And as Jimin began his work, he let out a contented sigh. Everyone was awesome, and though it may not seem like it, he truly felt like they did not look at him differently. Like he was part of the squad.

And for that, the designer was grateful for.

The Wings-based designer was in the middle of dimensioning the layout of the venue when phone vibrated in his pocket. Quickly saving his work, Jimin fished the device out of his pants and looked at the screen to see a text from none other than his self-proclaimed best friend.

From: Taehyungie

Jiminie! How are you doing there?

I miss you!!! It’s not fun here without you!

Jimin could not help but smile at his fellow ’95-liner’s message. He easily answered the other’s text and hit send before setting his phone down on the desk to continue with his work.

To: Taehyungie

Tae… I miss you, too!

It’s fine here… We’re a bit busy, since the anniversary night is fast approaching.

Why don’t you talk to Mingyu and Wonwoo?

He certainly did not expect the reply from the taller, but it made him laugh a bit.

From: Taehyungie

THEY’RE NO FUN!!! YOU’RE 100 TIMES FUNNIER!

The only thing you lack is height. :)

“Jungkook texted?” Hoseok suddenly asked when he noticed the younger laughing on his own while holding his phone.

“Oh, no, no!” Jimin answered, waving his open palm in front of him to emphasis. “It’s a friend from office.”

“Friend?”

“Yeah, friend.” The shorter repeated. “He’s really weird, in the best of ways. He texted just to say he missed me.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet of him.” Hoseok smiled. “You two must be really close.”

“Well, yeah. Our cubicles in Wings are right next to each other. And we hang out sometimes.” Jimin replied. “Oh, hyung, you’ll love him, I swear. His name if Kim Taehyung.”

Upon saying the name, Hoseok’s eyes narrowed at the younger, causing Jimin to mimic him in confusion. Did he already know him?

“Kim Taehyung?” Hoseok asked, as if testing the name on his tongue. Jimin gave him a nod of confirmation, the same confused expression on his face still there.

“Yeah, why?”

“Nothing.” The older answered. “Such a… rare name.” He continued sarcastically, his face returning to its default bright look.

“I know right?” Jimin chuckled, agreeing. “I’m not one to talk, though. There are like… a platoon of Park Jimins out there, boys and girls.”

And Hoseok just laughed at that.

The exasperated male slammed the folder containing the document he just finished reviewing onto the tabletop, and let out a tired sigh. A quick glance to the intricately-adorned wall clock above the door of his office told the bored CEO that it was not even lunch yet.

It was not even lunch yet, and yet he was already bored as hell. He had never realized it before—maybe it was because he had not seen any other alternative to his day, but now that something different was a part of his life, he could not help but think without the whole arrangement with Jimin, his life was a lot more boring.

His default life was boring.

Just like him.

He just wanted the day to end. Going to Pink Princess’s company building, fetching Jimin, and interacting with Hoseok and Seokjin had quickly become the highlight of his daily life. The latter two were fun people. Jungkook loved talking to them about just anything, and since he was not so much of a conversationalist, it worked for him that the two just could not run out of things to say. It was overwhelming, at times, but Jungkook figured that he could get used to it.

Jimin though.

Jimin was different. In a way that it makes the young CEO feel like a every single time he says something that wipes away the smile on the elder’s face. He was way too angelic when he smiles—he was cute, Jungkook could admit. The same way that babies were cute. Just like how puppies and kittens are cute.

They were off to a very rough start. But the doe-eyed male could set that aside for a while if that meant he could keep Jimin as his friend at the end of everything.

Sighing once more, Jungkook picked the phone up from his table and started typing a message to the elder.

To: Park Jimin

Hey. How’s work so far there? Is everything alright?

“Isn’t this too casual?” Jungkook asked himself when he re-read the text, tilting his head to the side. They actually still were not in good terms since that night he unnecessarily… lashed out on the designer. He could still feel the tension between them during their ride home when Jungkook fetched the older and takes him to his tiny apartment.

And what was even more awful for Jungkook was the fact that whenever Jimin and he separate for the night, all the latter tell him was a “thank you” and a “take care”. One time he was lucky enough to receive a rather forced “good night” from him, but that was it.

“And since when did that even bother me?” Jungkook asked himself again, shaking his head at his own thoughts and proceeding to send the message even before he could chicken out. “It wasn’t like it’s entirely my fault. He was being annoying that night, too.”

Moments later, he received a reply from the elder. In the form of a selca of him smiling, with Hoseok also holding a “peace” sign in the background. Such contagious smiles.

It just made Jungkook want to meet them already even more.

Finally not being able to take it any longer, Jungkook dialed the phone number of the person he needed to talk to for the moment.

It only took two rings for the recipient to answer the phone.

“Yes, sir?” Momo’s voice sounded through the speakers.

“Do I still have remaining appointments for the morning?” He asked, tapping his finger impatiently against the table.

“Oh, wait a second, sir, I’ll check.” She answered. After a good five seconds, she continued. “None, sir. The next one will be 3:30 in the afternoon, a presentation by the marketing department.”

“Oh, thank god.” Jungkook sighed in relief. He then stood up from his chair and grabbed his things before informing about his departure for lunch and thanking the confused Momo on the other end of the line and hanging up.

He then sends another text message to Jimin before stuffing his phone back into his pocket and leaving his office to go to the basement parking lot.

To: Park Jimin

I’m going there for lunch.

 

The way to the Pink Princess’s company building was long, and since Jungkook decided to set out at a relatively busy time of the day, he was met with the heavy traffic flow of Seoul. It did not piss the CEO off the way heavy traffic usually did—if anything, he was even more satisfied with his current situation than his situation in the office. The traffic would not kill him, at least. But he was rather certain boredom would.

It was already lunch time by the time he reached his destination. Jungkook headed straight to the design department which he had been frequenting, thanks to the efficacy of his and Jimin’s plans, and arrived to see said male talking to who Jungkook remembered were Pink Princess’s design department employees.

The instant the alien CEO stepped foot into the office, what seemed like animated and loud chatters inside suddenly died down as everyone snapped their heads to the door, their faces bearing similar confused expressions. For a good three seconds, it was like that. Just when Jungkook thought Jimin would come to save his sorry awkward , Hoseok decided to do it instead.

“Hey, Jungkookie!” Hoseok shrieked as he bounded to the still frozen male. “You’re just in time for lunch! Missed your boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?” Whispers then started floating on the air, everyone commenting among themselves, trying to guess whose boyfriend the newcomer was.

“H-Hyung!” Jungkook timidly objected. Judging by the heat on his face, he could tell that he was already red as a tomato. It was not too late to change his mind about Hoseok. The long-faced man was a devil.

“Hyung, stop teasing him.” Jimin suddenly butted in, rushing to the flushed male’s side and hooking his arm around Jungkook’s. “You know Jungkookie gets flustered easily.”

“Oh! It’s Jimin-oppa’s!” Jihyo interjected, clapping afterwards and motioning to an exasperated-looking Jeongyeon with her hands, as if signaling her to give her something. Did they have a bet or something?

“Wow! You guys look great together!” Seokmin commented. The other people in the office were quick to agree to what the man said and proceeded to teasing the two.

“Omo, your height difference is adorable!”

“What a snatch, Jimin-oppa!”

“Hey, Jimin-hyung’s not that bad, either!”

“Yeah, but Jeon Jungkook’s a CEO, right?”

“It’s not like that matters!”

Pink Princess’s resident designers continued to banter among themselves about the two already-embarrassed males still awkwardly standing by the door until the department head decided that all the teasing was enough—for the moment—and gathered everyone into the conference room for lunch, inviting, or more like forcing, Jungkook to eat lunch with the crew.

“Seokjin-hyung’s eating with us.” Hoseok said to the two before heading out again and going straight to the telephone to order extra food for the additional unexpected guest.

Not long after, Seokjin arrived and quickly greeted everyone. As expected, he, too, was surprised by the presence of the other CEO.

“Oh, Jungkook, you’re here?” He asked with a smile as he took his seat between Jungkook and the reserved seat for Hoseok.

“Yeah… I got pretty bored in the office.” The younger answered.

The two CEOs continued talking with each other as Jimin scanned the people around him. As usual, everyone was engaged in talking with each other about random things certainly not related to work. But when Jimin’s eyes landed on Wheein, he could not help but feel intrigued.

The girl was staring. Again.

At Jungkook this time.

It was the same look that Wheein kept on giving him the first time he came into the office. Jimin figured that the girl maybe was always like that—she tended to stare at strangers. She was known in the office as the most observant person in the department, exceeding even that of Hoseok’s skill, but not quite that of Jimin’s, when it came to designs, seeing that he still managed to see errors in design elements previously approved by everyone prior to his arrival.

When the food arrived, Hoseok distributed the orders to the respective people, with Jungkook receiving a package Hoseok himself had picked for him.

“Try it. You’ll like that.” The department head had said to him when he handed over the food. “I think.”

Jimin loudly sniffed in the smell of his food, and smiled, knowing by the aroma that he made a good choice today. He then quickly reached for a bottled water as he continued scrutinizing his dish with his eyes, only to retract his hand when felt someone else’s.

“Sorry, sir.” Jimin mumbled when he recognized whose hand it was. He was about to reach for another bottle when he realized what he had just done.

He had called Jungkook “sir”. In front of everyone.

And everyone noticed, since they were currently giving the two of them weird stares.

And if Jungkook’s shook expression was anything to go by, Jimin knew he messed up. Real bad.

“Oh my god, don’t bring your roleplaying here.” Wheein suddenly said, causing the whole table to erupt into ab loud laughter. As expected, Jungkook began flushing a deep red once again at the implication of what the girl had said. Jimin was, too, but he was more relieved that they were not caught.

“Y-Yah, Jung Wheein! It’s not like that!” Jimin defended himself, opting to grab his spoon and try to let the topic pass.

But who was he kidding? He was with Pink Princess’s design department and its CEO. Jimin loved them and all, but they were just pure devils when it came to relentless teasing.

“It must be awkward for you to call him ‘sir’ in Wings, huh, Jiminie.” Seokjin said, smirking at the said male and wiggling his eyebrows at him for added effect. “You know, it’s kind of hard to concentrate at work when you keep on remembering the things you do outside the office and behind closed doors.”

“Yeah, must be hard, indeed.” Hoseok added, making everyone laugh out loud again. Well, everyone except for the two people they decided to bully.

“I-It’s not like that!” Jungkook whined, hiding his face in his hands, his exposed ears the only telltale sign of just how red he already was. “E-Excuse me.” He added when he could not take it anymore before standing up and rushing out of the conference room to get some fresh air.

“Oh god, you guys.” Jimin sighed, shaking his head in disapproval before standing up as well to follow the younger outside.

When he got outside, he saw Jungkook standing in front of the large air conditioning unit in the office, his very red face right in front of the vent for the cold air. Jimin could tell the younger was breathing heavily, from the way his shoulders went up and down and his chest puffed in and out.

“Such and innocent boy.” Jimin mumbled to himself before going to the still-perturbed man and giving him a pat on the shoulder.

Bunny boy visibly flinched at the contact.

“Hyuuung.” Jungkook whined when he faced the other, who only smiled at him. “I’m so sorry… I’m just not used to those kinds of talks and teasing and whatnot. I can’t even watch kissing scenes in dramas. Oh god, I’m so lame.”

“Oh come on, it’s alright.” Jimin answered as he continued to pat the younger. “You’re improving, I should say. I was worried you were going to go back to Wings just because of Wheein’s teasing.” He chuckled.

Seeing him now, Jungkook could not help but feel even sorrier for putting the two of them into an awkward situation that night. Jimin was such a nice person.

He had to apologize.

“Hyung—”

“Yah! You two!” Seokjin’s voice suddenly cut Jungkook’s words, interrupting his apology. The said male then walked towards the two. “Come on, let’s eat. I’m sorry about that, Jungkook. We were just having too much fun.”

“It’s no problem, hyung.” Jimin answered instead of the younger, who was still not a hundred percent alright. “Jungkookie’s just… shy. That’s all. He gets shy really easily when it comes to non-business things, so… yeah.”

“Yeah, you don’t have to feel bad about it, hyung.” Jungkook reassured.

“Thank god you’re cool.” Seokjin sighed before turning on his heels and starting to walk back to the conference room, where everyone else was waiting.

Jimin followed suit and started walking back to eat lunch, but he was stopped when he felt a tug on his hand. Confused, he turned around to see the younger smiling softly at him. It was a different smile. No, not different physically—it was still resembling of a bunny, but this time, it was just… different. That even though the younger did not manage to finish what he was trying to say, it was like Jimin knew.

Like Jimin understood.

And so he just smiled back and nodded, hoping that it was enough of an answer for Jungkook. And judging by the widening of his smile, it was, indeed, enough.

“Oh my god, we’re sorry, Jimin, Jeon Jungkook-ssi.” Wheein apologized the instant the fake couple reentered the conference room.

“Nah, it’s fine.” Jimin answered before looking at Jungkook, who reclaimed his seat beside him and was finally looking fine again.

“Yeah, we’re cool.” Jungkook added, smiling at the female and starting with his meal. After the first bite, he took a glance at his companion beside him, and smiled when he was met with Jimin’s eyes looking back.