Park Chanyeol was nervous.

This was new because he didn’t get nervous a lot of times unless during important meetings.

Well, it wasn’t new, but he was exceptionally good at maintaining his expressions so he managed to look calm. Even though deep down inside he was freaking out.

So, you could say it was a bit new because the last time Chanyeol got nervous around a woman was when Junmyeon set up a blind date for him with a woman a couple of years older than him. He was sweating bullets when he waited at the restaurant and sweated, even more, when it ended. The blind date ended badly—the woman looked down on him and tried to baby him—and he wished he stayed home instead.

(He liked being babied sometimes, but only by his close friends or the people who had known him for a long time).

Ever since that blind date, he tried to lower his expectation every time Junmyeon set him up for a blind date and that was when he stopped being nervous around women.

Until you came.

As cliche as it might sound, Chanyeol never really took a good look at you until you started working in the same company as him. Yes, he might know of you since high school because Jongin had talked so highly of you and since college too because you were a member of the student union, but he never got the chance to work closely with you—or have the chance to actually interact with you.

Yes, Chanyeol had always thought that you were sweet—Jongin never stopped praising you every time he managed to bring you up in conversation—and smart too—because if you weren’t then Junmyeon wouldn’t scout you to work together with him during college and for him too in his company. Also yes, Chanyeol thought that you were beautiful—he remembered that one time when you wore a dress to work and he literally had to stop walking to admire you.

But that was all it was. He knew of you, but he didn’t know you.

The first time he caught a layer of you was when he saw you scolding Junmyeon on the very same day you were wearing the dress. Chanyeol had a business to attend with Junmyeon but his steps halted in front of his office when he saw you standing in front of Junmyeon’s desk with your hands perched on your hips.

“I told you plenty of times before to not call me after work hours. We had a deal, remember? You can email or text me and you don’t call me unless it’s urgent or a life-or-death situation. You were the one who started the deal in the first place.” Hearing this, Chanyeol stayed rooted in front of the door and waited until you were done—that wasn’t until ten minutes later, though, when you spotted him hovering outside.

Chanyeol saw how the frustrated look across your face change into a friendlier look—there was even a smile—and that was the first time he felt something stir inside of him, but he let it side. He always pushed it aside even though it happened again a few times after that—even when he passed by your desk every time he was about to go into Junmyeon’s office or when he was in the same elevator as you in the morning.

He saw you smile a lot of times before, but until now, the sight still made him smile. Your smile—no matter if it was small or wide until it stretched to your ears—was always infectious to him.

That’s why when you were smiling at the sight of the ocean as both of you drove by, Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile to himself and feel a little proud of himself of making this decision. It was actually an impulse decision, though. There were only two places to check left and Jongdae had so kindly checked one place because it was on his way to his parents’ place. Chanyeol really didn’t make him check that place by himself and bribe him with a week’s worth of lunch at the sandwich shop near the office.

(Chanyeol totally did.)

“We haven’t arrived yet, but this place has already won me over.” Chanyeol glanced at you a few times and couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face. You were just too cute smiling while looking out at the ocean like that and if he wasn’t driving, he would have a pretty hard time holding himself back from pinching your cheeks. “The beautiful weather makes it better, too.”

The weather isn’t as beautiful as you are, though, he wanted to say, but instead, he said, “Yeah, it definitely does.”

“Gosh, when was the last time I went to a beach?” You mused out loud and missed the way Chanyeol took another glance at you.

“Should we stop by the beach later?” Chanyeol could feel your eyes on him once the question was out of his mouth. “It’d be fun. It’s been a while since I went to a beach too.” It was out of his mouth before he could properly think about it, but after hearing the ecstatic ‘yes’ from you, he didn’t regret it one bit.

It was not in the plan, actually. His plan was actually to get back to Seoul by dinner time so he could take you for a dinner at his favorite place—and probably a walk in the park around Han river, if you were willing. He had planned to buy some desserts too—ice cream or a bowl of bingsu with you, again if you were willing to do that—before he dropped you off by your door. But maybe, straying away from his actual plan and just riding the flow for once would be nice. Who knew maybe it could probably lead him somewhere he was planning to go.

Naksan beach was beautiful. That was the first thing that crossed your mind when you and Chanyeol got out of the car and finally walked to the beach.

Well, it’s already night and you couldn’t see anything besides the sand and hear the small waves crashing to the shores, but the sight of it was enough for you. There was something refreshing about the wind and the faint smell of the salty water. The wild, childish part of you wanted to take off your shoes and hike up your pants so you could feel the sand between your toes, but the much more mature and rational part of you, that told you to take a deep breath and enjoy it quietly, won.

Taking off your shoes, you felt the sand between your toes and smiled at the familiar feeling. With your shoes on one hand and your bag on another, you stood still and looked down at the sand, trying to capture the sight and memorize it.

“Oh, this is nice.” Turning to look over your shoulder, Chanyeol, too, had taken off his shoes and walked slowly on the sand. It was an interesting sight, watching him walk barefoot with his rather semi-formal attire, but the goofy smile on his face and a faint coo—your heart was about to burst when you heard it—that’s out of his mouth when he felt the sand in between his toes were even more interesting and amusing.

Once he was near, you realized that he had a towel on his hand. He laid the towel on the sand and gestured for you to sit on it. Without really thinking about it, you casually sat on the towel, but then, you felt like your heart about to leap out of your chest when Chanyeol sat next to you. The towel wasn’t really big, so he sat really close and even your thigh could almost touch his.

You didn’t expect this. Never in your life before. Your heart was racing, but you told yourself to calm down. There was no reason for you to act like a fool like this. Chanyeol was just your boss—and your friend too. Nothing to be nervous about.

“We should convince Jongdae and the entire team to pick this hotel. It’s definitely best out of the ones we’ve checked.” It was the only thing you could think of to say, to break the silence between the two of you. You pulled your legs back and rested your chin on your kneecaps, letting out a sigh.

“It’s actually a little bit over the budget we settled, but I think that can be handled. We could figure things out.” You nodded at his words, glad that he thought the same as you did.

The hotel you checked was really nice, though. The beach was only about 20 minutes from there, and there was also a hiking track that led to the mountain and the well-known temple in the area. The facilities they had were outstanding too, and you really thought it was the