“I can’t believe this.” Misun mumbled and her voice came out muffled since she had her face pressed against Sehun’s shoulder blades.

Sehun held her gently and knew very well that something had been going on with Misun for the past couple of days and whatever happened has made her so desperate that she ended up doing things that even Sehun had not even thought she would do in his wildest of dreams. Even though Sehun didn’t have much dating experience, he knew well enough that girls always expect boys to make the first move. But in his case, everything happened the opposite way. Misun sought him out. Sehun quickly ran his hands through Misun’s tangled hair that resembled a sodden haystack and convinced himself that what he experienced minutes ago was indeed real. But what startled Sehun the most was how Misun could have become so daring. Misun’s personality was not that bold and Sehun knew that very well. Then what made her this desperate?

“What is it that you can’t believe?” Sehun asked, deciding that it’s better to wait for Misun to calm down before forcing out an explanation from her, which he knew she would surely be giving later.

“That you are here with me.” Misun’s muffled voice came out.

“Do you want me to kiss you again to prove that I’m really here with you?” Sehun joked. He knew that Misun was blushing hard and smirked. He could almost feel the heat emanating from her cheeks that were pressed against his skin. They stood like that for sometime before Misun pulled away from him. She instantly regretted the action because her skin felt cold as soon it left contact with Sehun. Even though Misun wanted to snuggle with him again, something told her that questioning Sehun now would be the right thing to do. He looked like he would give answers if she asked. But she didn’t know where to start.

“You look like a zombie.” Sehun said now that he has taken a proper look at Misun. He noticed how unhealthy she looked. Her skin had an unhealthy pallor and her eyes were red and puffy and the skin underneath it was a light purple as though she was recovering from a nose injury.

“I had it real bad for the past couple of days.” Misun said and her voice cracked at the end and she looked close to tears again. Sehun immediately widened his arms and stepped forward as though he wanted to hug her but Misun stepped back and pushed his hands away.

“I thought you were leaving today.” Misun asked looking straight into Sehun’s eyes.

“Leave? Where to?” Sehun asked puzzled and by the looks of it he seemed like he had no idea what Misun was talking about. But it was not enough to convince her.

“Don’t act dumb.” Misun snapped.

“I don’t want to have another row with you, okay? Can you make yourself more clear? Where am I supposed to be going?” Sehun asked in a calm voice.

Misun didn’t say anything but simply looked at Sehun as though she was looking out for one betraying expression on Sehun’s face. But none came. Misun closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down. How can he be so clueless?

“Weren’t you supposed to be going somewhere today?” Misun pressed again. She couldn’t bring herself to say ‘China’.

“I don’t understand….” Sehun trailed off, his face scrunched up in confusion for a moment. Then his voice trailed off into silence as realization dawned slowly on his face.

“Did you go through the envelope Suho gave me?” Sehun asked, his eyes wide.

“I did.” Misun replied.

“I thought you were the kind of person who thinks that going through other people’s stuff is the world’s biggest crime?” Sehun mocked with one of his eyebrows raised as though he couldn’t believe what he heard now.

“Sorry.” Misun said quickly. She wanted Sehun to open up and clear all the confusion. “Well?” Misun asked impatiently when Sehun continued to remain silent.

“Well what?” Sehun retorted.

“Are you going or what?” Misun asked and her heart started beating fast. She was a little bit nervous about what Sehun might say.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Sehun stated. It took a moment for Misun’s dull, tired brain to register what Sehun said.

“Come again?” She asked weakly.

“I’m staying.” Sehun repeated. The relief Misun felt then was so big that she felt her knees shaking. Her heart swelled with so much happiness that she half expected herself to levitate a few inches from the ground.

“But Baekhyun said that the facility is forcing people to go and that they have introduced new rules to make sure that the scientists have no choice but to accept the transfer whether they like it or not.” Misun said. “He also said that Chanyeol is leaving against his will and Yixing too.”

“Baekhyun Hyung.” Sehun rolled his eyes. “Is a drama queen. I thought you knew that.”

“I don’t understand.” Misun said.

“It’s true that people are getting transferred. But the part about them being forced to leave is a bit over board.” Sehun replied. “People who have left so far have been more than happy to do so.”

“Why?” Misun asked completely puzzled.

“Use your brains, you idiot.” Sehun said exasperatedly. “It’s China we are talking about. They are in the forefront when it comes to research. The Chinese facility is more advanced than the one in our country and people would kill to get a chance to work there. Just imagine how good our profile would look with the Chinese facility mentioned in it. ”

“But Baek-“

“Baek Hyung didn’t want to go because he is happy with how his work is here. But Chan Hyung is a bit more ambitious. You didn’t see how ecstatic he was when he got the offer.”

“But Baekhyun said Chanyeol was being forced to leave.” Misun interrupted Sehun.

“That’s a load of bull.” Sehun chuckled. “That’s Baek Hyung’s depressed self talking. He didn’t want Chanyeol hyung to leave. They are best friends aren’t they? But Chanyeol Hyung wants to go. So that’s it.”

“What about Yixing?” Misun asked.

“Well, Yixing Hyung is happy to go back to his homeland. He misses his family a lot.” Sehun replied.

“What about all those rules they have introduced?” Misun asked again.

“Well, they are bound to introduce it. Especially after the mass resignation. They cannot afford to lose more people, can they?” Sehun said, crossing his arms across his chest.

“you are not bothered by it?” Misun said.

“Ofcourse not. Those rules have given us more job security than ever before and we are beyond happy. I have no plan to resign anytime soon.” Sehun said airily.

“But none of this explains why you are still here. You also got a transfer order didn’t you?” Misun questioned.

“I decided not to go.” Sehun said and there was a hidden emotion in his tone which Misun couldn’t decipher. But she identified a slight longing in his voice as though the offer was really tempting and that it took all of his willpower to give it up.

“I thought you didn’t have much choice.”

“ Actually, I didn’t.” Sehun replied. “ But I already knew that this would happen right from the day we received  news about the Chinese facility losing their work force. So I pulled some strings and made sure that I would be exempted from getting transferred.”

“I didn’t know that you were this influential.” Misun said in an awe struck voice.

Sehun rolled his eyes again. “I’m not, but my dad is. You see, he is funding five out of ten projects taken up by the facility this year. I called him asked him to negotiate with the facility’s board of directors.”

“What did he do?” Misun asked.

“Well, he said he would cancel all contracts with the facility if they send me off to China. Now, that’s something the facility didn’t expect happening. They immediately exempted me from the transfer, becaus