She remained still, gazing at him with unsure eyes.  He sighed, cursing himself for this ridiculously angry voice he kept unconsciously using whenever he was around her. 

‘I said get in, it’s cold out.’ He told her, with only a slightly less angry tone than before. 

Turning to face the front, he caught Jungmin’s raised eye’s in the rear-view mirror and told him heavily, ‘Don’t say a word.’ Slowly, Jungmin put the car into gear and took off. 

Chanyeol could see from the corner of his eye she had not attempted to put on her seat belt, and for some unknown reason he panicked that she was about to throw herself out of the car.

‘Put your seatbelt on.’ He told her, aiming for kind, and missing by about a thousand miles.  He swallowed back his moronic words as she huffed about, putting on the seat belt, then crossed her arms and legs angrily.  She was cute when she was angry.  She didn’t have the size to really pull it off and it made him irrationally laugh loudly at her, only seeming to fuel her anger at him. 

‘Is that how you are all the time? Legs and arms folded and irritated?’ he asked her as a joke, though it sounded like he was mocking her. 

‘Do you think you’re some kind of King hijacking someone else’s driver?’ She threw back at him, making him giggle more.  She was really mad, and his reaction was to laugh.  He knew she wouldn’t appreciate it, but after all his angst, all his worrying, his interactions with her made him want to laugh until he cried.  Clucking at him with her tongue, he tried his best to hold in his laughter, desperately not wanting to piss her off any more than he seemed to be.

He chose not to speak anymore on the short drive back to the building.  She did not try and speak anymore either.  They pulled into the basement, and before Chanyeol even had a chance to register they had stopped she had her seatbelt off and had thanked Jungmin for waiting for her. 

‘Tell me how much I owe you Jung and I’ll send it tonight ok?’ Chanyeol told him, talking about his days work waiting around for Alex.

‘No problem Chan,’ Jungmin smiled back at him.  Alex stepped out of the car and strode over to the elevator’s as fast as her little legs would carry her.

‘You better go after her.’ Jungmin told Chanyeol gently.  Chanyeol nodded and then laughed, ‘Don’t worry, I knew my long legs would come in handy one day.’ He winked exiting the car, and walking at quite a pace behind her, so he didn’t miss the elevator doors closing. 

She stepped in, obviously hoping he wouldn’t make it in time, and he had to laugh at her for trying. 

‘You weren’t going to wait for me?’ He tried being funny, but it was still coming out wrong.  ‘How rude.’  What is up with me? He cursed every time he spoke.  Why do I sound so weird all the time?

Alex didn’t bother to respond, as he expected her not too.  He leaned against the wall, casually as she stood stiffly in the back corner with her arms folded tightly across her chest. 

He stifled his giggle at her fury and tried again.  ‘You should at least respond to me, we’ll be working together soon enough.’ His voice was changing, though if it was changing into the charming Chanyeol he was trying to be, was another question.

‘If you didn’t want to work with me you should have made it clear to your bosses,’ she shot at him.  That took him by surprise.  Firstly, that she had even spoken, secondly that she would think such a thing.  He immediately laughed, a nervous laughter this time, something he rarely did when he felt nervous, what was she doing to him?  He managed to get his giggle under control and then realised he needed to make this clear to her, that he did want to work with her. 

Her eyes were glued to the floor in anxious fury.  Her eyebrows contracted together and a cute scowl on her face.  Sighing he moved to stand in front of her, taking a deep breath to stead himself, so what he wanted to say would come out right, ‘I told my bosses you were the one.’ It was more controlled, a lot calmer, and he was hoping a tiny bit sincere.  However it sounded to her though, it must have worked, she slowly drew her eyes up to his, every time more breath taking than the last, he smiled down at her, trying to convey with it that he was kind, and he wanted nothing less than to fight with her. 

The elevator stopped, and she strode out past him before he realised.  Automatically he stepped out and grabbed her back, turning her to face him, he wasn’t ready for her to leave yet. 

‘Don’t touch me,’ she squeaked.  Her voice was icy, as she jerked herself out of his grasp.  He was baffled at her reaction, why did she do that?

‘Please – don’t,’ he said, though he wasn’t sure what he was saying.  Where he was going with that sentence, he just wanted her to stay.  It was intended as soft, a plea, but it came out too threatening in his deep voice. 

She did