4:53 P.M

The crushed tablet is so dry that it nearly gets stuck in Jongin's throat going down. He ogles the pile of papers waiting to be checked over as he waits for the pill to do its magic. All he hopes is that it will do a decent job at wiping out the headache that’s been plaguing him for nearly five hours straight. But Jongin wishes that he didn’t just think about work, because thinking about work only reminds him of the fact that he has to stay back until eleven tonight, which in turn reminds him that his mother texted him right before lunch.

Since he was too busy talking to a client to respond, Jongin fishes his phone out and opens up her text message.

You’re coming by at half past five no matter what your boss says. This is getting out of hand. We need to have a serious talk. 

Jongin internally screams. He already knows that trying to convince his boss to spare him from working overtime is out of the question unless he wants to spend tomorrow morning cleaning out his office. While the thought of Jungah being alone at home makes Jongin shiver, he figures that she’ll most likely stay the night at Lisa’s, anyway.

7:03 P.M

Jongin rubs his dry eyes. The harsh light from the computer screen has been blinding him ever since one of the ceiling lights conked out two hours ago. He’s just glad that he somehow managed to make it through his twenty page report without going blind, but it brings him little comfort as he prints a copy of it. All he hopes is that his boss hasn’t changed the passcode to the printing room, otherwise he’s in deep trouble.

As he gets out of his chair, Jongin tries not to think about his mother’s unanswered text message. He knows for a fact that she’s been trying to reach him ever since five o’clock rolled around, and he found himself ignoring every single one of her calls when he eventually grew tired of spewing his usual sentence of being unable to leave early. The fact that Jungah hasn’t given him a call only proves Jongin’s theory of her not needing him back at home, so he dismisses the thought before trudging towards the printer room.

Thankfully, the passcode hasn’t been tampered with, and Jongin tries his best not to focus on how painfully dark it is while he rubs the wall in search of the light switch. The whole building being dead empty makes him forget which printer he selected, but he opts for the main one after he practically slams his hand down on the switch.

It’s not until Jongin approaches the black door to the main printer that he thinks he hears a muffled noise on the other side. It doesn’t take him long to realize that it’s the sound of papers being printed. Although he hates his mother for teasing him about his nyctophobia at twenty eight, Jongin tries to shove the idea of a possible office ghost using their printer out of his head as he contemplates scrambling out the door. However, he ends up swinging the door open when he thinks about what his boss might do to him if he doesn’t get his reports on her desk by midnight.

Except Jongin sort of wishes that the office had been haunted, instead, when he looks up.

Jongin doesn’t blame himself for looking like a dazed owl, because he doesn’t think he heard his boss say anything about anybody from Sales working overtime, let alone Baekhyun. On the other hand, the last few hours have been nothing but a blur, so Jongin figures that he shouldn’t take his own word for it.

The smell of printer ink is all Jongin registers as he watches Baekhyun smile at him from across the room. Judging by the amount of papers in Baekhyun’s hand, Jongin assumes that he must be finishing up one of his reports, too.

”Don’t just stand there, it's creepy,” Baekhyun chuckles as he motions for Jongin to close the door.

Jongin scrambles past the threshold before he can think twice. He sort of regrets it, though, because with the humongous printer taking up a third of the room, and Baekhyun standing three feet away, he can barely make a full turnaround without touching the walls. The fact that his head is spinning a thousand miles an hour does little to help.

Baekhyun’s fiery red hair sticks out like a sore thumb in the gray room, and Jongin is so busy gawking at it that he doesn’t realize that he’s being talked to.

”I said, how are things?” Baekhyun chuckles for the third time as he swipes yet another sheet from the tray. 

The muffled sound of thunder fills the air before Jongin can respond. He’s just glad that he chose to park his car in the office garage this morning.

”Good, I guess,” Jongin mutters. ”How about...how about you?”

Baekhyun’s eyes automatically drift to the silver ring on his finger, which has Jongin regretting popping the question at all.

”Things’re just fine over here,” Baekhyun hums before he says something about how he’s already looking forward to going to bed in a few hours. 

Jongin nods in agreement as he leans against the wall, as far away from the printer as humanly possible. ”I didn’t know she made you stay behind today," he says.

Baekhyun picks up another sheet. At this point, the wad of papers in his hand is nearly an inch thick. ”She didn't,” he chuckles. ”Sales is getting a new guy in a few days and Miss ordered Yeol to prepare his cubicle, so I chose to stay behind.” He presses a button on the printer. ”Siwon was the name, if I remember correctly.” 

A part of Jongin wants to smack himself silly, because he should have known it had something to do with that - with him. ”Chanyeol’s here, too?” he blurts out, to which Baekhyun responds by raising an eyebrow. 

Baekhyun nods. ”Yuppers,” he sing-songs. He goes on to condemn the terrible weather when another clap of thunder nearly shakes the walls. ”It’s so gonna storm again,” he grumbles before looking up. ”We could give you a ride home, if you’d like.”

”I don’t need a goddamn ride,” Jongin retorts with a little more bite than intended. He feels himself flush when Baekhyun blinks. ”I have my own car, it…it won’t be necessary, sorry.” 

They fall into silence, and Jongin wonders if there might be any way to escape the room without being seen when Baekhyun goes on to organize the papers in his hands. In a sense, Jongin is overjoyed, because all he wants right now is for Baekhyun to leave so that he can be alone. Not to mention being sandwiched between the wall and the massive printer is starting to drive him slightly crazy.

However, Baekhyun doesn't head for the door. Instead, he looks up with an unreadable look on his face. ”Can I ask you something?” he asks, tucking his reports under his arm.

Jongin bites the inside of his cheek. Can’t you just leave already. ”Go on,” he mutters.

Baekhyun chuckles. ”This might sound strange, but is everything okay?” He leans against the wall. ”I mean, you didn’t look too good this morning while Miss was talking, but maybe I’m just imagining things.”

Feeling his pulse quicken, Jongin swallows. ”I’m just tired,” he says. He suddenly feels exceptionally small under Baekhyun’s lingering gaze. ”Sehun told you, didn’t he?” he blurts out, clenching his jaw.

It’s Baekhyun’s turn to look blink. ”Told me what?”

Jongin mentally smacks himself. ”Nothing, I just thought he’d…never mind.”

Baekhyun turns around and grabs the stapler attached to the wall. ”Well, he hasn’t,” he says, stapling everything together. He’s silent for a minute. ”Y’know, I’d be surprised if he told me anything.”

Jongin blinks in confusion. ”What do you mean?”

Baekhyun takes his time fetching a pen before he marks his report with his signature. ”I don’t blame you since you don’t work together,” he chuckles. ”That boy doesn’t talk to anyone unless he really has to, to say the least.” He turns back around and shrugs. ”Or wants to.”

Jongin regrets not taking an Advil before walking in the door, because his spinning head is making him unable to string together a single thought. All he knows that if Baekhyun is messing around, he should do a better job, because Jongin doesn’t even have it in him to laugh at Baekhyun’s lame attempt at a joke.

”Okay,” Jongin mutters after nearly a minute of silence. ”What’s that got to do with anything, though?”

Baekhyun shrugs. ”Absolutely nothing,” he responds. ”Point is, he doesn’t really talk to anyone unless it’s work related, not that there’s anything wrong with that.” He runs a hand through his red locks. ”In other words, if you’re able to grab his attention without asking him about work for longer than twenty seconds, you’re damn lucky.”

The rest of Baekhyun’s words seem to blur one by one, because all Jongin is able to register is the warmth that rushes to his head and nearly makes him topple over. He sort of wants to run outside and into the rain before he can suffocate, but Baekhyun’s hearty laugh has him bolted to the floor. 

Baekhyun seems to read his thoughts, since his eyebrows furrow. ”Did something happen between you two?” he asks after a minute.

To Jongin’s relief, his own report seems to have finished printing, and he’s glad to be given a distraction as he swipes it. ”What are you even talking about?”

”Nothing,” Baekhyun quickly says, putting his hands up in defense. He’s silent for a minute. ”Okay, so, don’t tell Jongdae I told you this, but he said he’s caught Sehun staring at you a lot, so I just figured…y'know.”

Jongin blinks. ”He did?”

Baekhyun nods with a grin. ”Yup, that he’d stare at you during meetings and like, look up every time someone mentioned your name, for God knows how many months,” He snickers to himself. ”Y’shoudl’ve seen Jongdae’s face when he told us, it was priceless.”

For a second, Jongin has no idea what to say. All he knows is that he should probably be taking Baekhyun’s words with a grain of salt, since they’re talking about Jongdae - the one who went on to believe that Taeyeon had the hots for him for holding the door open for him last year. But Jongin doesn’t have the energy to comment on it, so he keeps his mouth shut as Baekhyun continues to giggle like a schoolgirl in love.

Baekhyun adjusts his right cuff. ”But yeah, that’s why I’m asking, I guess,” he hums before reaching across the printer and patting Jongin’s shoulder. ”Lemme know if you need someone to talk to about it, okay? I’m happy to-”

”Everything’s fine,” Jongin huffs, not even flinching when another clap of thunder fills the air. ”I mean, he seemed to be in a bad mood when I talked to him,” he mutters. ”It’s just that he’s always so happy, so I…got surprised, I guess.”

Baekhyun tosses the pen at Jongin, who catches it in mid air. ”He did seem quieter than usual this morning, but y’know how those meetings the soul out of you."

Jongin doesn’t even bother responding as he hastily scribbles out his name and today’s date at the top of his report. All he wants is to slam it on his boss’ desk so that he can leave this godforsaken place already. Baekhyun’s joyful humming is doing nothing to soothe his spinning head, and Jongin seriously wonders how somebody could be so cheerful at this hour.

”Is that your last one for today, or what?” Baekhyun asks, eyes trailing over his own report, which Jongin assumes he’s also about to hand in. 

For reasons he doesn’t even want to think about, Jongin feels something ignite at the back of his head when Baekhyun goes on to send him another smile. Five seconds later, his phone buzzes, and Jongin doesn’t even need to fish it out to know who it is. Despite it, he can’t bring himself to pick up. The last thing he needs right now is for his mother reminding him of how big of a disappointment he is.

”God, just shut up already,” Jongin blurts out before his head can keep up with what he’s saying. ”How can you be so happy all the bloody time? I don’t get, it’s irritating.”

Baekhyun automatically looks at his ring again before he smiles to himself. ”Did you know Yeol booked this old castle in Manhattan? I’m taking Monday off to go check it out for myself, but they sent us these photos and it’s flipping gorgeous.” He doesn’t get a chance to reach for his phone, though, before Jongin slams his hand down on the printer. 

”You think I want to see that?” Jongin whisper-hisses, ignoring the searing pain in his palm. ”Could you just...God, for just one second, could you shut up about that goddamn wedding for once?”

Baekhyun blinks as he takes a step back. ”Bad day?” he chuckles, even though Jongin easily notices the spark of flashing in his eyes.

Jongin grits his teeth. ”Sorry,” he mutters, ignoring the nausea filling his throat. ”I just don’t get how you can be so hung up on a single day of your life, it’s…weird, don't you think?"

For a second, a shadow of annoyance flashes across Baekhyun’s soft features, before the usual chirpiness returns to his voice. ”Like my friends keep saying, you’ll learn once you’ve been hopelessly in love.” He reaches out to pat Jongin’s head, only to take a step back when Jongin slaps his hand away. ”The is it with you?”

Jongin fights the urge to remark that, while Baekhyun might be three years younger and freakishly established at just twenty five, he’s still the oldest under the roof right now.

Baekhyun’s voice wavers with irritation when he speaks. ”Are you sure everything’s fine?” he huffs. ”Cause everyone’s been picking up on your crabbiness lately, just to let you know.”

Jongin bites the inside of his cheek. ”I already told you everything’s fine,” he growls, ”I’m just bloody tired--”

”Then try being happy for once,” Baekhyun scoffs. His tie is close to coming undone as it sits loosely around his neck. ”You should try it sometime instead of wasting your energy on being such an uptight prick 24/7, just a thought.”

”Oh, shut the up,” Jongin swears, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. His face flushes in irritation when Baekhyun rolls his eyes. ”You probably won't get it, but everyone’s actually dead ing sick of hearing about the goddamn wedding, so do us all a favor and just shut the up about it already.”

Baekhyun's upper lip twitches in irritation as he runs a hand through his hair. ”Everyone’s always so wired up around here," he murmurs, "they don’t need your constant hissy fits making things worse."

"Last time I checked, you weren’t my goddamn counselor,” Jongin growls. The rain slamming against the roof briefly makes him worry that the whole office might flood. ”You’re just some-”

"I mean, you’ve noticed it by now, right?” Baekhyun interrupts. ”Everyone’s always trying to be nice to you, yet all they ever get back is that ing face of yours.” He shakes his head. ”And that’s hardly my fault, is it?”

"That's not it,” Jongin growls, ”it’s-”

”And please don’t tell me you’re planning on getting married anytime soon,” Baekhyun says in a tone so sarcastic that Jongin nearly screams, ”cause I doubt any woman is going to want to put up with your insufferable whining for longer than five minutes. Or Sehun, for that matter.”

Jongin doesn’t even hear half of Baekhyun’s sentence, since he’s busy trying to tame the raging thumping in his chest. He has to fix his eyes on the ragged carpet, since it’s all he has to distract himself from that godforsaken sly smirk on Baekhyun’s stupid face. Somewhere outside, a clap of thunder fills the air, which is closely followed by a lightning strike. 

”Wasn’t planning on it,” Jongin mutters. ”At least I don't walk around thinking I'm the just 'cause I'm getting married to some freak,” he adds, hoping he isn’t tearing his report to shreds as he clenches his hands into fists.

Baekhyun’s eyes drift to the ceiling. ”Lower your voice, moron, Chanyeol might hear y-"

”Don’t say his name,” Jongin exclaims, ignoring Baekhyun glaring at him like he’s grown a second head. ”God, just shut the up already.”

The smirk on Baekhyun’s face only deepens. ”So that’s what this is about?” he asks. ”That you don’t want everyone else knowing that the stubborn and mighty Kim Jongin is all bark and no bite?”

Jongin tries moving his legs to leave the room, only to stumble when he realizes that his thighs have gone numb from standing upright for so long. He honestly couldn’t bring himself to worry about the insults Baekhyun might throw at him, because all he can think about right now is getting out of this room and into the rain before he explodes. 

”I can see why Yeol keeps talking about how much he hated being your mentor,” Baekhyun mutters. ”And last time I checked, he never got as much as a thanks in return,” he adds with a shake of his head. ”You’re honestly pathetic, you know that?”

Jongin growls in irritation. ”Sorry to offend, but-"

”I honestly couldn’t give two s about what goes on with you,” Baekhyun interrupts. ”But the minute you let it affect everyone around you is when I have an issue with it.” He’s silent for a second. ”Especially Yeol.”

Jongin can only pray that his trembling legs keep him vertical. ”And what’s that supposed to mean?”

"Man, you really are thickheaded,” Baekhyun mutters before he throws his hands in the air. ”You probably haven't noticed, but Yeol’s been rushing around everywhere lately while stressed to pieces, just to make sure everything will perfect for the wedding-”

”You don't know anything about-”

”-so the last thing he needs right now is your insufferable griping-”

”Then how do you think I felt with his goddamn kid inside of me?” Jongin exclaims before he smacks both hands over his mouth, eyes wide as dinner plates, seconds before Baekhyun promptly goes silent.

They fall into silence, all while the storm threatens to rip the roof off. Jongin's phone vibrates for the nth time, but his arms are so stiff that he’s unable to fish it out.

It’s not until they’ve been basking in the sound of the printer whirring for nearly five minutes that Baekhyun breaks the ice. ”What?”

Another clap of thunder fills the air, but Jongin can barely hear it over the loud hammering in his chest.

”There’s--” Jongin blurts out, so quietly that he barely even hears himself. ”There was... it, there's something I need to tell you.”