Baekhyun woke up to a pleasant warmth cushioning his entire body.  He smiled subconsciously, wriggling under the blankets and then sighing in content. This was exactly how he had imagined his life to be. Having a job that actually made him feel happy and accomplished at the same time, but still manage to have healthy relationship with his boyfriend. Not many people were that lucky and Baekhyun was glad he didn't have to choose one. 

Back then, both him and Jongin had been hesitant about finally moving in together after a college. Not because they'd been unsure about their relationship but because they were not sure if they would still have enough time and energy to work on each other as a couple. 

Baekhyun was glad that they decided to try, because right now, he didn't know what he would do without Jongin. Sure, beginnings were tough and they fought a lot the first few months after they had moved in but after both of them had found some stability in their respective workplaces, their disagreements slowly diminished. There were no arguments about working overtime or complains about week-long business trips. No, they were past that. The couple learned how to separate their work and personal lives, learning to be more understanding and being able lean on each other. 

And in the end, it was all worth it. Six months ago, Jongin proposed to him and Baekhyun was over the moon. Their almost decade long romance was nearing to a happy ending and Baekhyun would lie if he said he didn't live for mornings like this, when he woke up with his body closely pressed to Jongin's, his lover's arm protectively thrown around his waist.

Baekhyun slowly blinked his eyes open, confirming that the source of warmth was indeed his own personal blanket in the form of a gorgeous, tan man, lying next to him. Jongin was still fast asleep, his face only inches apart from Baekhyun, and he was able to count every single lash on his eyelids. His bronze skin was glowing slightly in the morning sun and Baekhyun felt jealous. He himself was as pale as paper and Jongin's golden skin tone was something that he has always envied. 

He scooted closer to him, his eyes falling on Jongin's slightly parted lips. Baekhyun tried to resist the urge to press a light kiss against those plump lips, he knew that Jongin was a light sleeper and he would probably wake up immediately, yet, he couldn't help it. His fiance just looked so damn irresistible that Baekhyun just leaned over and pecked him once, twice, thrice...

"What are you doing?" A sleepy Jongin grumbled, smacking his lips together and Baekhyun giggled. 

"I'm kissing you." Baekhyun stated the obvious answer and got another grumble in return. 

"What's the time?" Jongin rolled on his back, blindly reaching for his phone on the nightstand. Baekhyun watched as his boyfriend attempted to read the display, squinting his eyes, his brows furrowing in concentration.

"You know, if you actually wore your glasses it would be much easier?" Baekhyun chuckled.

"I look like an owl with glasses." Jongin complained, still fumbling with his phone.

Baekhyun begged to disagree. With glasses on, Jongin looked like a hot professor he would bang anywhere and anytime. He would secretly take photos of the taller anytime he managed to force him into trying a pair of one in an optical store. He watched him struggle for a bit longer before rolling on top of him and snatching the phone out of his hands. Jongin groaned under Baekhyun's weight but wrapped his arms around his waist to keep him in place. "10:30." Baekhyun said and plopped himself down, burying his nose in the crook of Jongin's neck.

"10:30? Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Jongin questioned, nuzzling his cheek against the soft mop of hair of his boyfriend.

10:30

And just like that, the bubble of happiness burst and the color drained out of Baekhyun's face.

"OH !" Baekhyun shrieked, stumbling out of the bed, accidentally kicking his boyfriend's crotch. 

"OH GOD!" Jongin cried out in equally loud voice, palming his abused area and rolling onto his stomach to hide the tears of pain. By that time Baekhyun was already limping to the bathroom, ignoring the sharp sting in his lower back, the result of yesterday's vigorous love making and the reason why he overslept. 

"I'm so dead! I'm so dead! !" Baekhyun whined as he dressed himself hastily. Jongin was still on the bed, his head buried in his fluffy pillow, muttering something about castrating Baekhyun. 

"This is all your fault, Kim Jongin!" Baekhyun cried, on the verge of ripping his hair out. Why did he have to be late today out of all days? Just why? They were supposed to have meeting with the editors at 11:30 and if he's not going to be on time, his boss will tear him apart. If there was something that Park Chanyeol couldn't stand, it was tardiness... any maybe a thousand other insignificant things since he was the oh so prestigious - and feared - boss of W, the best selling fashion magazine in South Korea, but yes, tardiness was something that seriously rilled him up.

"It's not my fault that you can't wake up on time." Jongin defended himself weakly, his face still contorted in mild pain as he looked up at Baekhyun who was in the middle of realizing he was trying to put his pants over his head. 

"IT IS!" Baekhyun's shrill voice cut through the room and Jongin cowered his ears, grimacing. "If it wasn't for your damn drive I wouldn't sleep like a log!" Baekhyun continued screaming while pulling on his pants angrily.

His boyfriend propped himself on his elbow, his expression changing completely after hearing Baekhyun's words. He smirked, raising one of his perfectly shaped brows. "You know, you're already late, so maybe we can explore my drive even further." Jongin said, his lips suggestively. 

That turned out be a grave mistake because Baekhyun screamed like a banshee and threw himself at his unsuspecting boyfriend. He grabbed the nearest pillow and smacked Jongin's head several times. 

"STUPID. KIM. JONGIN!!!"

---

When Baekhyun finally arrived in his office, it was 11:55. He briefly contemplated whether it wouldn't be wiser to throw himself out of the 25th floor than face the wrath of his boss, before he resignedly entered the elevator and jabbed the buttons halfheartedly. 

The ride up felt like forever and Baekhyun was sure that all gods teamed up against him, because if he was to arrive late, let's be as late as possible, right? The door opened with an ominous ding and Baekhyun dragged his body out. He walked between the cubicles, ignoring the sympathetic glances his coworkers gave him. He was not in mood to interact with anyone. His life as he knows it was about to end, Mr. Park will skin him alive or even worse, fire him.

When he reached the floor length glass door of the meeting room, he had to smack his cheeks repeatedly to snap out of his dazed state. With trembling hand, he reached for the handle and opened the door slowly, trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible. As if on cue, everyone present turned their heads to him. The first person Baekhyun noticed was Kim Jongdae, the fashion editor, who was looking at him rather sympathetically. To his right was Zhang Yixing, trembling from head to toe, looking like he was in the middle of mental breakdown and Baekhyun felt a sting of guilt.

Yixing was new here, working as the second assistant of Mr. Park for less than three weeks. He was very diligent and hard-working but also forgetful and that had lead to three mild panic attacks since he has started working here. He and Baekhyun usually split the work during meetings because it was nearly impossible to keep up with the editor's and Mr. Park's demands while keeping track of all the things that had to be done before the release of next issue. Without him, Yixing probably managed to write down a good half of the things they needed to do.

Apart from these two, there was also Kim Minseok, well known and quite eccentric fashion designer, then the editors which included Bae Joohyun, Cho Miyeon, Goo June and Kim Yongsun. Mr. Park sat at the very center of the table, as always dressed in a ridiculously expensive suit and his long hair styled upwards, complimenting his features. His brows were furrowed as he slowly listed through the mock up of their next issue.

Baekhyun bit his lip, standing in the doorway awkwardly as he contemplated whether he should just go for it and pretend like he just did not miss a half of their meeting or to simply apologize and hope for the best. Eventually, he ended up going with the apology. 

"I-I'm deeply sorry Mr. Pa-" 

"Sit down." Mr. Park held his hand high, successfully silencing Baekhyun's oncoming rant without even bothering to lift his eyes from the papers in his hand. 

Baekhyun gulped, ignoring the feeling of dread as he shuffled to his chair as quietly as possible. He took the seat on Mr. Park's right side as usual and quickly pulled out his tablet so he could make notes. He threw a apologetic stare at Yixing who's whole body was shaking from head to toe. Poor thing. 

"Where were we before we got interrupted?" Ms. Park dragged out slowly and Baekhyun's breath hitched. Oh dear lord this is going to be so much worse than he had expected. Maybe he really should have thrown himself out of the window. He side-eyed his boss, watching his every move as if he expected the man to suddenly lash out and bang his head with the unpublished version of their magazine. 

"Uhmm.." Yixing started out hesitantly, all eyes turning to him. The younger wiped sweat of his forehead and continued with shaky voice. "We we're discussing the fall photo shoot with Kim Seolhyun-"

"Ahh, that was it." Mr. Park interrupted him and Yixing sighed in relief. "I see we still don't have a theme for the cover photo shoot. Are we going to publish a blank page?" The boss scanned everyone with a hard glare.

Joohyun fidgeted in her seat, taking the initiative to answer because if there was something their boss hated more than lack of punctuality, was the lack of ideas. Baekhyun was sometimes glad he wasn't an editor... sometimes. "We were thinking of something simple that would go well with Seolhyun's image. Maybe photo shoot outside. Since it's a fall issue we were thinking of burgundy and deep brown colors-"

"Burgundy and deep brown for fall? Thrilling." Mr. Park commented lazily, flipping the pages of the mock up in his hands. Joohyun looked at her colleagues, her eyes pleading for help. 

"Well, as Joohyun said," Yongsun glanced at the editor, as if searching for support. "Seolhyun has an image of a very friendly and bubbly girl and I think she suits the outdoor photo shoot the best. For the col-" 

"Is your intention today to bore me to death?" Mr. Park laid the magazine back on the table, taking a sip from his mug. 

"I think coffee theme would suit her well." Baekhyun said, almost clasping hand over his mouth when he realized he had said out loud. He resisted the urge to crawl under the table and braced himself against the dark looks the editors sent his way. Jongdae had a small smile on his lips and Yixing choked on his glass of water, coughing as he tried to catch his breath.

Mr. Park turned to his assistant, his eyes boring into Baekhyun's soul and the smaller man felt like digging himself a grave under the intense stare. 

"Coffee theme..." The boss trailed off, tapping his fingers against the glass table. "Are you suggesting we should make Seoulhyun lay on the counter in Starbuck while sipping on a unicorn frappucino?" 

Joohyun giggled and Baekhyun flushed a deep shade of red. His mind was unintentionally clouded with the image of his boss sipping on the unicorn frappuccino himself and he needed a moment to recompose before speaking up hesitantly.

"I mean. I was thinking of a simple set, inspired by the popular black and white photo shoots with just a stool, but we could turn into more of a fall mood with the use of browns and I'm not talking about the burgundy and deep browns," Baekhyun internally winced at Joohyun's hard glare," I was thinking of colors that resemble coffee; chocolate brown, tan and beige, like a foam in latte... I uhm... I'm sorry."

Baekhyun quieted down upon looking at his boss. His face was expressionless, one of his perfect brows raised high as he listened to his assistant's ramblings. Mr. Park opened his mouth to probably scold him for interrupting their meeting from the position of a mere assistant but at the same time, the door opened again and in walked a tall, young man. 

Baekhyun scowled.

Oh Sehun.

"Sorry, we were stuck in a traffic jam." The model gave them a half assed apology and Baekhyun felt like crawling over the table and launching himself at the insolent brat. There was no one, not a single person in this world, that was more stuck up than Oh Sehun. According to Baekhyun, the top-model was a bigheaded and ignorant prick who thought he was entitled to treat everybody like trash just because he was the most booked male model in whole of South Korea. Not to mention, he didn't understand how someone like him could become the most sought after model, when he was literally born with only two default expressions on his face. 

"That can happen, sit down Sehun." Mr. Park motioned to Yixing to make a space for the young model and Sehun sat down next to the editor-in-chief with a smug smile. 

Baekhyun stared at him with his mouth slightly agape, feeling rage surging through his body. Right, Oh Sehun can get away with anything. He was Park Chanyeol's best friend and their boss had never bothered to scold the model over being late or rude to his co-workers. 

The assistant glared daggers at the model, completely missing the fact that Mr. Park was talking to him. 

"E-excuse me?" He stuttered awkwardly, his eyes darting around the room in search for help.

"One would say that getting enough sleep would give you strength to focus, but I see it's not the case, Mr. Byun." His boss not so subtly hinted at his late arrival and Baekhyun wanted nothing more than to bang his head against the table... or Sehun's, because the model appeared to be greatly entertained, watching the first assistant with that lopsided smirk Baekhyun had grown to hate so much.

He swallowed a snarky remark that threatened to escape his lips and straightened his back instead, trying to not look like he was about to have a mental breakdown. 

"Uhmm." Baekhyun cleared his throat, trying to think of a suitable apology. "I-"

"Take your time, we have all day." Mr. Park leaned back in his chair, his lips pressed into a thin line. 

Baekhyun