CHAPTER SIXTEEN; TWINNING.

"Is it wrong that I don't want to let you go?"

"Good morning, what pleasure do I owe to seeing the two of you coming in together?" Hani perked up and jumped out of her seat to greet Changkyun and Somi as they entered the building together. Somi groaned at Hani and Changkyun smiled, waving in response to Hani's enthusiasm.

"Morning Hani"

"Good morning you didn't answer my question" Hani smiled tightly, threatening them with her wide eyes that bored into their souls.

"Because we can Hani," Somi told her and Hani's eyes squinted in an even more threatening smile that said Somi's excuse wasn't good enough of an answer to feed her curiosity.

"Somi was my ride to work today" Changkyun explained and Hani grinned at them, shoulders shrugging.

"Oh, isn't that sweet?" She mused, winking at Somi as Changkyun made a turn for the elevator, pulling her along with him.

'It's not like that' Somi mouthed, swatting a hand at Somi as Changkyun dragged her into the elevator. She changed her swatting hand to a wave and Hani's eyes crinkled, arm waving at them as the door shut and the elevator ascended on its trip to the top floor. When the doors opened they both hesitated, but knowing the doors wouldn't stay open, Changkyun looked at Somi with a sile and clasped her hand tightly in his, causing Somi to flinch and look at him with wide eyes.

"Come on, people probably won't even notice the change" He was obviously just as nervous as Somi, and seeing this, Somi knew she couldn't let him down when he was pushing his own fear away for the sake of encouraging her.

"Let's go" She nodded and they exited the elevator.

"Oh my gosh, you two look so cute in your couple outfits, I didn't know you were dating" Somi internally groaned at the chances of running into a cheery Solar as soon as they stepped out into the hall. 

"We're not a couple!" Changkyun exclaimed but he didn't let go of Somi's hand, too scared to walk down the hall on his own when he could see his coworkers milling around.

"Oh, well you kind of look like you are" Solar looked the pair up and down and Changkyun sighed, lowering his head.

"Really? Hadn't noticed" He quipped as Somi smiled shyly, waving to Solar.

"Morning Somi" Solar smiled softly at the shy greeting before striding away, singing about hustling as Changkyun and Somi watched her.

"You lied" Somi looked at Changkyun blankly and Changkyun scoffed at her blunt tone.

"She said we look like we're dating, not that we're dressed differently to how we usually are" Changkyun corrected and Somi grumbled, pulling Changkyun forward by their joint hands.

"Yeah because that's great" Somi grumbled and Changkyun shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't think it's a bad thing," He told Somi as he followed her to Hyunwoo's office and Somi narrowed her eyes at him.

"So what if we're compatible?" Changkyun asked her, and not having an answer, Somi huffed out a breath and knocked on the door to Hyunwoo's office. Dread filled the both of them again and Changkyun clasped Somi's hand tightly, almost causing the woman to wince at the strength in his grip as if she wasn't already aware of the fact that she shouldn't doubt him and his strength.

"Come in!" Hyunwoo hollered and Somi pushed the door open, entering the room that they were all spending more time in recently.

"Oh good morning Changkyun, good morning Somi" Hyunwoo greeted both of them individually and they bowed. Somi's eyes widened as she looked up to be met with Hyunwoo's props team all looking at them. Somi tried to pull her hand out of Changkyun's but it only made matters worse when he whined and scooted in closer to her.

"Sit down, I'll be with you two in a moment" Hyunwoo pointed to his leather couch and Somi nodded, pulling Changkyun again who shuffled to stay close to her before casually flopping down on the couch, trying to look like he wasn't internally screaming anxiously. Somi gently sat herself at a safe distance from Changkyun and pulled her phone out of her pocket, responding to emails and messages that she had received all within the time it took for her to get to work.

"What are we doing here?" Kihyun asked her and Somi grunted, typing an answer that she let Kihyun read on her phone before she erased it and continued writing her formal email.

'Reporting to chief Hyunwoo'

"I see" Kihyun chuckled as he went back to absentmindedly drifting around the room. Soon after the props team had left Hyunwoo's office and he was walking towards them. Somi looked up at the sound of Changkyun swallowing thickly and put her phone away, sitting up straight as Hyunwoo pulled up a chair so that he could be looking at both of them.

"Look at that, you two are matching" He began by making a point and Somi looked down at their outfits, reminding herself that they had in fact dressed the same way for the day.

"That's cute" Hyunwoo chortled and Changkyun grunted.

"It's not" Changkyun crossed his arms over his chest as Somi looked between the two of them.

"Says the ones clinging to each other on the way in here" Hyunwoo retorted, keeping the atmosphere light between them.

"Excuse me but that was a one sided thing" Somi argued, making Hyunwoo laugh as Changkyun gaped at her for throwing him under the bus as soon as she got the chance.

"Fine, fine, I think you both look good. I'm relieved knowing that you won't go around overheating under my care" He told them seriously and Changkyun and Somi lowered their gazes.

"Ok, now that I've seen you the both of you can piss off, don't let me catch the two of you frolicking around together" Hyunwoo went back to his desk and Somi and Changkyun shot up out of their seats, leaving Hyunwoo in his office without retorting what he had said.

"They're always in such a hurry to leave me" Hyunwoo sighed in dismay as he looked at the door being pulled shut, being able to hear the pair bickering between themselves already.

Kihyun smiled from behind Hyunwoo's desk. The photo Hyunwoo kept of them was one of his favourite, a memory that stuck out to him amongst others as being some of their best times. His eyes travelled to the calendar of motivational quotes next to the photo that was a gift from Hyunwoo's mother. Kihyun reached out and grit his teeth, turning the page. The sound alerted Hyunwoo who turned instantly. His actions made Kihyun jump, accidentally knocking Hyunwoo's pen from his desk. Hyunwoo approached to investigate and Kihyun scampered away, jumping through the wall to follow Changkyun and Somi.

Hyunwoo picked his pen up from the ground and looked around his desk curiously, checking for anything else that could have been out of place. He noticed his calendar one day ahead with a different quote to what he had read that morning.

And again today, you're doing a good job.

"I don't know what's a coincidence and what's not anymore" Hyunwo sighed to himself, he went to change the calendar to the right date but pulled his hand away when he decided against it, allowing himself to be faced with the same quote for two days instead of one.

------------

"Hello, do you have an appointment scheduled?"

"No, I need to know if there's a Han Somi working here"

"Strange, a few people have been asking the same thing these past few months," Hani mumbled to herself before pulling her professional smile back on her face, "would you like for me to call her down?"

"That would be great" Hani spun in her seat and picked up the phone on her desk, hitting a couple of numbers before putting the phone to her ear and toying with the cord.

"Hello, there's someone down here to see you... No, I didn't ask for a name, it's some guy" Hani looked back over her shoulder before covering with her hand and whispering something.

"Ok, I'll let him know, bye" She hung the phone and spun around in her seat once again.

"She said she's on her way down, you can take a seat over there until she arrives" Hani pointed to their seating area.

"Thanks"

The elevator doors opened three minutes later. Somi stepped out and walked over to Hani who had her nose buried in her work again. When she wasn't noticed, Somi rung the bell by Hani's ear and she jumped up onto her feet with her hands covering so that she wouldn't curse. Hani stared at Somi with horror in her wide eyes and Somi smirked, stifling her laughter. Hani didn't move, paralysed by fear.

"You said someone's here to see me?" She pointed out and Hani slowly took her hands away from .

"Do you want me to cry?" She whispered in an accusatory tone and Somi shrugged her shoulders, letting a giggle out. There was the clearing of a throat behind her and Somi spun around, surprised by who she was seeing.

"Oh, Hyungwon" She greeted, Hyungwon held his hand out and she looked down, blinking in confusion at what she saw.

"You left this at my place, Moonbyul will make assumptions if I don't give it back" He explained bluntly, in his hand was one of her headbands that had been pushing her hair back from her face the day they had all gone to Hyungwon's house.

"Oh, I didn't realise" She took the headband, keeping her eyes on it as she turned it over in her hand, again and again, clearly displaying her discomfort.

"Ok, cool" Hyungwon nodded and turned to leave the building, but the elevator doors had opened and Changkyun walked out with Hyunwoo, who perked up at the sight of Hyungwon.

"Yo, did you come to visit us?" He asked as if he wasn't going to get some snide remark from Hyungwon as he tried to make his escape.

"Clearly not," Hyungwon told him. Changkyun looked between Somi and Hyungwon, wondering what was happening and Somi shook her head, dismissing his curiosity for a better time.

"Then what doesn't explain why you're here, in our place of work, that I happen to run" Hyunwoo snarked back and Hyungwon rolled his eyes, jabbing his hand towards the headband Somi was still twirling.

"That was left at my place, causing trouble because its rightful owner left it behind" Hyungwon looked Somi up and down and her grip tightened on the headband, ready to throw it at Hyungwon who had done nothing but irritate her since she saw him.

"Wow, things that rough for you?" Hyunwoo mused, forcing his arm over Hyungwon's shoulders, eliciting a reaction of disgust from Hyungwon.

"We're heading to lunch with Jooheon, tag along and take your mind off it for a bit" Hyunwoo forced Hyungwon towards the entry of the building as Hyungwon grumbled curses at him.

"Aww lunch out of the office and I wasn't invited?" Hani pouted as Somi and Changkyun went to follow.

"You want to come and see Jooheon?" Somi mused and from her tone, Hani gathered that she didn't want to go and see Jooheon.

"Is that the one that's inked up?" She asked for clarification and Somi nodded.

"I'll stay here then" Hani slouched further into her seat and Changkyun snorted.

"Come, or he'll leave us behind" Changkyun nodded in the direction of Hyunwoo enjoying the pain he was causing Hyungwon.

"Yeah, who wouldn't want to miss out on this car ride?" Somi scoffed, surprised once again when Changkyun made the first move to hide her under his arm and pull her to his side casually, a form of contact that was forbidden until recently.

"Won't you off and leave me alone?" Hyungwon snarled.

"Not when I'm considering this pain payback for the pain you put us through" Hyunwoo mused but the tightening of the grip around Hyungwon's frame told the lanky man that Hyunwoo was deadly serious and nothing less.

"This hurts" He wheezed, succumbing to whining as he threw his head back and his hair bounced around his face.

"Then I'm doing my job"

------------

"What are you guys doing here?" Jooheon looked like a child on Christmas at the sight of his friends entering his workplace. He dropped the templates he was holding and jumped on the closest person. Changkyun stumbled back and Somi sniggered, hiding behind Hyunwoo while Changkyun dealt with the surprise of the weight of a second person.

"So this is where you work?" Hyunwoo looked around.

"Would you look at this, this is where Jooheon works" Hyunwoo directed Hyungwon's head that was trapped in a headlock and Hyungwon grimaced, slapping Hyunwoo's back.

"Alright, alright!" Hyungwon hissed. He pushed away from Hyunwoo and Hyunwoo letting him go, giving him a few seconds without being pestered.

"Please get off me" Changkyun pushed against Jooheon but the hug was too tight to escape from.

"Hey Jooheon" Somi smiled, waving at Jooheon who turned to her, still looking like he was just told he was going to the moon.

"Somi" He turned for her and released Changkyun who gasped for the air he was being deprived off.

"I'm so happy to see you guys here," Jooheon told them and Somi hummed, patting Jooheon on the back.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked them again.

"We've come to take you to lunch" Somi informed him and Jooheon's grip on her tightened before he pulled away.

"For real?" He asked pulling away and looking at all of them. They nodded and Jooheon gleamed at them.

"I'll go and put my stuff away," He told them, going back to the papers that he had dropped at their arrival. Somi helped him pick up the ones that had fallen to the floor and he ran off to his little private room to get himself ready to go.

"You guys are his friends then?"

"We are" Hyunwoo nodded as Somi returned to his side like a child that had strayed from their parents.

"That's nice," Hyunwoo nodded, pursing his lips as it became quiet.

"Sorry to make you uncomfortable, I just didn't think he had any friends" The guy behind the desk commented and Hyungwon snorted as Hyunwoo cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry?" He asked and the receptionist shrugged.

"I mean he never engages with the other artists much and he doesn't have much to say about his personal life, so I figured he didn't have anyone to talk about"

"I see" Hyunwoo answered. Jooheon's feet stomped down the hall and he beamed at his friends, holding his wallet and his phone in each hand.

"Where are we eating?" He asked as they left the building, leaving Jooheon's nosy coworker behind without Jooheon saying anything to him.

"Where do we want to eat?"

"What's god around here?" Somi asked Jooheon who knew the area like the back of his hand.

"There's this awesome ramen place just a couple of blocks away, we could go there?" He suggested.

"Sounds good to me" Somi agreed, looking at Changkyun for his opinion.

"Yeah alright" He nodded and Somi wrapped her arm through his, smiling at his response.

"I'm happy with that" Hyunwoo agreed, pulling Hyungwon along to walk with them.

"I think I can walk myself," Hyungwon told him and Hyunwoo clucked his tongue.

"That doesn't mean I trust you to walk in the right direction"

------------

"Did you see our messages in the group chat?"

"No I'm at work I wasn't looking at my phone" Minhyuk retorted.

"Then why are you answering my call?" Jooheon asked and Minhyuk cleared his throat. Somi sat down, her plate had been cleared away int eh time that she had gone to the bathroom and Hyunwoo pushed her stuff towards her again now that he didn't need to keep it safe for her anymore.

"I would like to plead the fifth for my privacy"

"You can't do that here" Jooheon reminded him.

"Why do we have Minhyuk on the phone?" Somi asked, confused by Jooheon talking the phone that replied with Minhyuk's voice in the middle of the table.

"We're chatting" 

"What are you doing tonight?" Jooheon asked him as Hyungwon groaned in irritation.

"Marking papers" Minhyuk replied.

"But you work with kids"

"Yes, because I'm a teacher" Minhyuk explained slowly for Jooheon who glared at his phone.

"But their little kids"

"Exactly so it'll only take a couple of hours, what are we doing?" Minhyuk immediately asked.

"Sleep overnight at Somi's," Jooheon told him.

"We're what?!" Somi gasped.

"Having a sleepover at your place" Minhyuk answered through the phone.

"Do you have snacks?" Hyunwoo asked and Somi shook her head.

"I'll have to go food shopping"

"Any good movies at your place?" 

"I just got Netflix" 

"Oh, sweet" Jooheon perked up.

"What time are we going there?" Minhyuk asked.

"You decide, I'm gonna go pay" Hyunwoo waved his card as he stood up.

"No, let's split it" Somi argued, ignoring Minhyuk's question.

"It's on me today, you can shout as the snacks" Hyunwoo assured her, pulling Somi's hands away from his shirt so that he could go and pay.

"Sounds good to me" Minhyuk chimed and Jooheon ended the call.

"What just happened?" Somi asked.

"We finalised the plans," Changkyun told her and Somi turned to him.

"You were in on this too?" 

"Your apartment is nice" Changkyun shrugged his shoulders and Somi groaned.

"I have work tomorrow"

"Oh stop it you can work from home" Hyunwoo chided as he came back to the table.

"Ha, and he's your boss so you have to do what he says" Hyungwon scoffed.

"Why do you find that funny?" Somi asked him and Hyungwon shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever" He waved the subject off and Somi raised a brow.

"Yeah, that was real smooth"

"Can we go now?" Changkyun asked them and they all stood up to leave the restaurant.

"Come on" Hyunwoo clamped a hand down on Hyungwon's shoulder and Hyungwon rolled his eyes.

"You're my ride back to the other side of town, do you think I'm gonna walk off?" He asked and Hyunwoo hummed.

"I wouldn't eliminate the possibility"

"You have no faith in humanity"

"You have no joy for the company of old friends"

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"Did you actually have to come to?"

"Do you actually have to keep bickering?" Hoseok snarled, cutting Hyungwon off as he glared at Hoseok.

"Look at him! He's being all bitter and making this shopping trip so much harder than it has to be. Who doesn't have a movie snack that they like?" Somi waved a hand in Hyungwon's face only to have it slapped away.

"I do" Hyungwon snapped.

"Then go and get it," Somi told him.

"No"

"Why not?" Somi pried as Hoseok pushed the shopping trolly away and continued to shop.

"Because I don't want to" Hyungwon told her as he followed Hoseok slowly.

"What do you mean you don't want to?"

"I don't want to go and get my ice cream because the freezer section is too cold" Hyungwon snapped and Somi stopped walking.

"It's ok, they're gonna get you of here"

"And you too, silly" Their lips had lost colour for a while now, Somi was too cold to move but she crawled closer to Hyungwon who put his head on his freezing knees.

"I don't know about you Mimi, but this is the worst school trip ever" He breathed out and Somi wrapped her short arms around him, clinging to him in attempt to share some body heat.

"At least we can say we did something no one else did on our trip"

"No one has getting stuck in a freezer on their bucket list though"

"I'll go and get it then," Somi told him dismissively and her heels. Hyungwon's mouth fell open and his feet hesitated before he followed after Somi as Hoseok told them to be quick.

"You don't even know what flavour I want," Hyugnwon told her, stopping at the freezer section as Somi continued down the aisle. Seeing her do so with no hesitation made Hyungwon feel small. If she wasn't scared, why was that time still a memory for her? How did she still know why he wasn't going to get the ice cream himself?

"Then you'll be happy with whatever I get then," She told him, but she was getting so far away that Hyungwon could hardly hear her. Hyungwon's clenched his hands in fists at his sides, his lips pursed in frustration as he watched Somi look through the freezer doors, able to see all the ice creams and frozen desserts that he couldn't see.

Somi didn't hear him when he stomped over to her. She jumped back in surprise at the way he jerked the freezer door open and grabbed a tub of ice cream from the shelf.

"I want this one" He grumbled, slamming the door shut and rushing off again. Somi followed him with wide eyes as others in the aisle turned to them in curiosity of the disturbance Hyungwon had caused. Hyungwon looked down at what he had grabbed and frowned. Choc mint, it would have to do.

"Good job" Somi muttered in a small voice, ut Hyungwon still heard her as she walked ahead of him, giving no further condolences.

Why was he here? More to the point why was she here and why wouldn't she go away?

Why were any of them giving him a friendship he was running away from?

Hello! 

Sorry that the update is so late in the evening, I had other things that were stopping me from posting.

But we're about to see everyone together again!

Also, we're rising in subs a little bit so thank you for subbing and reading, I appreciate the comments that are being left for me to read so thank you for that too!

I'm gonna see how next chapter turns out before I officially decide when this story ends, but it's really close now, maybe by the time chapter eighteen or nineteen arrives?

 I don't have anything else to say besides thank you, so I'll see you in the next chapter :)