9:12 A.M

Sehun wakes up freezing cold the next morning. 

Next to him, Jongin is still sound asleep with his hair sticking up in all directions and lips slightly pursed. Sehun doesn't know if he never noticed it in the commotion, but seeing Jongin like this only makes him look even more delicate, if that's even possible. Jongin also must have hogged the covers at some point during the night, which explains Sehun's nightmare of being trapped in an everlasting snowstorm.  

Even though Jongin's cheeks are no longer flushed, his eyes are still red and puffy. But Sehun barely gets a chance to think about it before a sudden noise nearly scares the living daylights out of him.

Sehun inches off the mattress as slowly as possible as to not wake Jongin, and he tip toes towards the pair of black dress pants on the floor after locating the source of the ringing. Sehun looks back at Jongin, who is still snoozing away, when he pulls out the latter's cell phone. A part of Sehun doesn't want to respond to the call, but he ends up swiping right, anyway. Because if there's anything he knows, it's that hanging up on your mother is never, ever a wise thing. 

"Hello," Sehun says, making sure to keep his voice down. 

"Heyo," a female voice that definitely doesn't belong to a mother sing-songs. She's silent for a moment. "Wait, who are-”

"My name's Sehun," Sehun quickly says before walking over and sitting back down on the bed. "I'm-”

"I'm Jungah," the girl interrupts in a puzzled tone. "And I don't know who you are but it's nice to meet you, I guess." She goes silent again. "Why're you using Dad's phone?"

Sehun blinks. It takes him way too long to make sense of what he's hearing, and his eyes automatically land on the photo on Jongin's bedside table. The pink room across the hall pops into his head, which is closely followed by the colorful, swirly drawings on the fridge. Next to him, Jongin sighs in his sleep.

Of course. 

It's not until Sehun realizes that he's been silent for perhaps a little too long that he opens his mouth. "I'm a friend of your father's," he says after racking his brain for a response. ”He's...unable to come to the phone right now, I'm afraid."

On the other end of the line, there's nothing but silence until Jungah emits a noise of confusion. "Okay, I guess," she mutters before the usual chirpiness returns to her voice. "Well, he has to come get me soon since my nan has plans with one of her friends. He called yesterday and said that he didn’t have anything to do today so you don't need to get his permission!” 

Sehun's only eyes Jongin's passed out form again. Well, then.

"She said she had to leave at around one," Jungah continues before her voice trails off. "Wait, are you in our house? Right now?"

Sehun bites the inside of his cheek. "Yeah, I am," he replies, scratching the back of his neck. The thought of Jongin's girlfriend possibly entering the apartment floods his head. "But your father has told your mother about me, I assume?"   

"Are you 'the other one'?" Jungah asks, ignoring Sehun's question to the fullest. In the background, an elderly woman's voice calls her name. "I need to get dressed now, but I'll be ready soon, okay?"

Sehun runs a hand through his hair. "I'll make sure to tell your father when I get the chance," he says.

The line cuts off, and Sehun finds himself sitting motionless on his side of the bed listening to Jongin's steady breathing. To distract himself, Sehun tries deciphering what Jungah just asked him, only to give up when his cluttered head prevents him from thinking straight. All he really wants right now is a morning smoke, but he scraps the idea when he recalls forgetting his briefcase somewhere in Jongin's car. Since he isn't expected at the office, Sehun figures that he might as well stick around until he's assured that Jongin is in a steady state to pick up his daughter.

One thought leads to another, and before Sehun knows it, all that fills his head is the crowded bar, Jongin cramming pills down his throat and the whole apartment reeking of whisky. Sehun doesn't know what throws him off more - Jongin's delirious antics last night or the fact that he went out of his way to do all of it while living with his young daughter. Nevertheless, it only makes Sehun's morning craving skyrocket until he has to stare at Jongin's sleeping face to distract himself. He low-key wonders if he's entitled to wearing one of Jongin's shirts, considering that his tie, dress shirt and suit jacket are all wrinkled beyond belief. 

Sehun's eyes land on the photo of Jungah. Her bright smile is contagious, just like Jongin's.

Next to him, Jongin hugs one of his pillows in his sleep. Sehun finds himself watching Jongin's chest rise and fall until he reaches out and brushes a lock of hair from his eyes.

Jongin mentally condemns his insomnia when he feels himself stirring awake. Even with his eyes barely open, he can tell that the blanket is pretty much on the floor, but he doesn't bother picking it back up. He's glad that he's grown so accustomed to his head being on the brink of combusting in the mornings that he's able to dismiss it. Nevertheless, the pounding threatening to make his cranium split down the middle is enough to make Jongin reach for the drawer to his bedside table.

To his irritation, he must have misplaced his Advil at some point during the night. Jongin contemplates trying to sleep until four in the afternoon, anyway, since he's got zero plans for the whole weekend. But he ends up lying awake with his eyes closed, all while he tries clearing the fog in his head. A car alarm goes off outside, which has Jongin hoping that he remembered to lock his own car before walking in the door. Come to think of it, he doesn't recall stopping at a single traffic light on his way home, but he dismisses the thought by burying his face in his pillow. At this point, he wouldn't even take himself with a grain of salt. 

Jongin opens his eyes a crack and is greeted with the sight of his cell phone on his bedside table. Despite his tendency to forget everything by morning come, he's almost certain that he left it in his back pocket when heading to bed. He forgets about it when he's struck with the idea of possibly having drunk dialed his mother for the first time in forever. The thought is so petrifying that Jongin's brain instinctively shoves it to the darkest corner of his memory bank.     

It's not until Jongin gathers the strength to lift his head off the pillow that he thinks he hears a noise. It sounds almost like something scuffling right behind him, but he blames it on his headache before resuming his everlasting challenge of getting himself out of bed. However, a sudden whiff of cologne has him halting. Because, while he may be struggling to remember today's date, Jongin knows for a fact that he's never worn cologne strong enough to make the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Jongin barely registers what happens next, but what he does register is essentially going into cardiac arrest upon turning around, only to be met with the sight of somebody sitting less than three feet away. Despite his loud, unmanly shriek only adding to his headache, Jongin can feel his system clearing up by the second as he scrambles to cover his bare chest with the blanket.

What the .

It takes Jongin way too long to deduce that it's one of his colleagues from Sales - the tall one with the annoyingly excellent people skills. It's not until Jongin notices just how disheveled Sehun's suit is that he finds himself blushing perhaps a little harder than necessary. Not to mention that his wiped out memory bank, and the fact that he's clad in nothing but boxers, is doing little to help things.

"Whattheisthis," Jongin croak-garbles. He's lucky that he doesn't end up falling flat on his face when he rips his bathrobe off its hook.

Sehun runs a hand through his bed head. "Good morning to you, too," he chuckles. "Slept well, I presume?"

"Whattheareyoudoinghere--" Jongin cuts himself off when he accidentally steps on something sharp on the floor, which turns out to be a half empty pharmaceutical package. He doesn't even recall downing any sleeping pills last night, but that's the least of his concerns right now.

"I took the liberty of taking you home last night," is all Sehun says before he gets up and stretches. "I hope you're feeling better now, though, I really do,” he adds and Jongin swears that that's a spark of pity flashing in his eyes.

Jongin ends up looking like a puzzled goldfish when Sehun goes on to remove and straighten out his tie across the room. With Sehun standing right in front of the window, the sunlight seeping into the room bathes his tall frame in a golden glow that nearly takes Jongin's breath away. His bleach blond hair almost morphs into an angel's halo, which fades as soon as he takes a step forward.

"Why do you look like that???" Jongin blurts out and fights an urge to scream when Sehun sends him a look. " it, never mind, forget it."

Sehun shakes his head. "Don't worry," he chuckles. "We didn't do anything, if that's what you're wondering."

With the adrenaline leaving his system, Jongin has to sit down when his headache crushes him like a bag of bricks. As much as he wants to down a handful of sleeping pills and fall back asleep, there's something about the look on Sehun's face that has him trudging towards the door, instead. All Jongin hopes is that Sehun won't bring any of this up on Monday, or he might as well pack up and move out of the state.

As he crosses the threshold, Jongin wholeheartedly expects Sehun to head down the stairs and out the front door without a word. To his surprise, Sehun simply follows him into the bathroom, which Jongin would have protested if it wasn't for the fact that he's too worn out to even move his lips to speak.

Jongin is just glad that his few hours of sleep successfully wiped away any physical signs of whatever went down last night. His toothbrush is sitting on the sink, abandoned and fully prepared with a stripe of rock solid toothpaste. Making sure to avoid Sehun staring at him in the mirror, Jongin grabs one of the packets of Advil lying around, seconds before Sehun says something he can't pick up. Sure enough, Sehun simply walks out the door, and Jongin hates the pang of disappointment that erupts in his chest. But then again, it's not like he can't take care of himself. Not to mention he figures that he's entitled to a few hours of uneventfulness after suffering the shock of his life.

After making a mental note to pick up some more Advil, Jongin is torn between going back to sleep and reviewing some reports under the guise of feeling productive. Instead, he finds himself trudging towards his bedroom. If there are any hangover induced scents still lingering in the air, Sehun's minty cologne is doing a terrific job at covering them up. Jongin hates how much he likes it as he fetches himself a clean shirt from his closet.

All the vertigo has Jongin plopping back down on his bed, which he regrets after laying his eyes on the photo next to his broken alarm clack. Jongin vividly recalls snapping it right after Jungah surprised him with one of her favorite Barbie dolls, which she'd neatly wrapped (for a four year old, that is) in Christmas gift wrap and handed him for his twenty second birthday. Jongin can still hear her excited squee after he suggested a trip to the local petting zoo for her thoughtfulness, but his headache makes him unable to recall where he's placed that photo.

A familiar saltiness tingles his lower lip. Jongin honestly can't remember the last time he and Jungah actually did something together as a family, but he would assume that it all started the minute his boss doubled his workload due to him growing more experienced around the office. He can't recall much else beyond taking Jungah to an origami class nearly a year ago, and he has to dismiss it before his headache can take him under. 

Since he gave up on condemning his job ages ago, Jongin opts to slide his shirt over his head. He must be awfully dehydrated, because he suddenly feels something ignite in his chest when he catches another whiff of Sehun's perfume. After nearly giving himself brain damage trying to remember, Jongin thinks he recalls a pair of supportive arms holding him at some point during the night. Jongin knows he's just imagining things, and it's not like he's going to ask Sehun about it, but he would be lying if he said that it didn't make him feel less uncomfortable than he should be about sharing a bed with his own colleague.

Putting his jeans on both legs at a time, Jongin tries not to think about all the embarrassing things he might have done with Sehun watching his every move. Knowing himself, Jongin figures that he must have crashed before they even walked in the door, so he shoves the thought aside before trudging towards his briefcase. He's down to his last cigarette, so he makes sure to make the most of it as he heads towards the stairs.

Jongin blinks when he clearly hears the sound of metal clashing against metal. His nicotine withdrawal makes him dismiss it as he continues down the stairs, only to halt when he reaches the bottom.

Sehun is stirring a steaming pot on the stove while humming to himself, as joyful as can be. The smell of food makes Jongin's mouth water, which also makes him realize that he hasn't eaten a proper breakfast in almost a month.

It's not until Sehun turns around that Jongin blinks like a deer caught in headlights. He sort of feels like a guest in his own house when Sehun goes on to gesture at the kitchen table (especially since he's wearing nothing but his bathrobe). On the other hand, Jongin is more focused on filling himself up than worrying about his attire right now, so before he knows it, he's taking a seat as far away from the stove as humanly possible.

"I hope you're alright with me using it," Sehun chuckles. "I heard chicken soup works wonders for most hangovers, so let's hope it helps," he adds, taking a small sip.

Jongin mumbles something in response as he keeps his eyes on the tablecloth. Although the smell of food is doing wonders for his headache, he still can't help but feel like he's been run over by a bus. With his only full packet of Advil being in the upstairs bathroom, Jongin opts to it up instead while resting his head in his hands.

They stand in silence, the only audible sounds being the whirring of the stove as well as Jongin's incoherent groans of agony. It's times like this that Jongin wishes that they had a pet of some sort, because he he'll never not get sick of basking in this godforsaken loneliness day after day. Jongin recalls contemplating if he should surprise Jungah with a poodle at some point, only to scrap the idea when she went on to spend most of her days at her grandmother's house.

"You know," Sehun says after nearly five minutes of silence, "I've always wondered how you keep this place so tidy."

Jongin blinks. "What do you mean?"

"It's nothing, it's just--" Sehun cuts himself off with a chuckle. "I sort of figured you must've had a wife that keeps the place spotless." He shrugs before resuming stirring the pot.

Jongin has to remind himself not to scream when his headache returns. "I mean, I don't really use it that much." Unless it's for sleeping, that is. "And I don't even have a goddamn...never mind."

"Sorry if that was random," Sehun chuckles sheepishly. He's silent for a minute. "It's just that you didn't seem like the type to have a kid, that's all."

Jongin whips his head up, eyes wide as quarters. In a sense, he doesn't know why he's surprised, because he knows for a fact that Sehun has seen Jungah's random belongings strewn about everywhere. But he still feels his gut churn when Sehun apologizes again. 

Sehun clears his throat when Jongin looks like he's on the verge of a meltdown. "She called you up this morning, by the way. I didn't want to wake you, but I promised her I'd let you know she called."

Jongin is halfway through lighting his cigarette when Sehun goes on to tell him about his and Jungah's conversation. Jongin blames the adrenaline clogging his veins, because the tobacco is doing nothing to relieve his headache. He knows that he must look like an unkempt junkie like this, but he's beyond caring at this point. All he knows is that he's physically aching to scramble up the stairs and sleep the rest of the day away, but with Sehun staring at him like a hawk, he just can't.

To distract himself, Jongin pulls out his phone and dials his mother's number. The next few minutes seem to come to a blur, and all he actually manages to lock in his head is to pick Jungah up at noon. Now that Jongin thinks about it, he isn't sure why Sehun is still sticking around. While a part of Jongin wants to kick Sehun out so that he can wallow in his own shame in peace, a bigger part of him couldn't be more thankful for Sehun's presence right now. Jongin figures that he's got Sehun's calm demeanor to thank for that, especially after Sehun places a steaming bowl of soup in front of him.

Not wanting to waste a perfectly good cigarette, Jongin makes sure to smoke up every last bit of it first until he chucks the leftovers in the sink. The hot liquid nearly sets his throat on fire going down, but he's so famished that he ends up polishing it off in under a minute. Jongin doesn't even need to look up to know that Sehun is staring at him, which only makes his urge to sink through the floor skyrocket.

"I, uh...I'm supposed to pick her up in fifteen," Jongin dumbly says while fiddling with the salt shaker. "My daughter, that is."

Daughter.

The word feels foreign on his tongue. It even sounds foreign, like he's testing out a new language for the very first time.

Sehun nods in understanding. "From what I heard, she seems like a sweet girl," he says while shoving his hands in his pockets. "How old is she?"

Jongin nods. "She's the best," he says, chest swelling with pride. "And she's turning ten next Saturday," he adds, not even realizing that he's smiling like an idiot until he sees the look on Sehun's face. 

One thought leads to another, and Jongin wants to smack himself when he realizes that he's forgotten to pick up Jungah's mochis like he promised. He might not be at risk of arriving late to his mother's house, and the store might only be a three minute drive away, but he isn't taking any chances at this point. 

"There's something I...I mean, there's something I have to do," Jongin blurts out before flying towards the hallway.

Wondering where on Earth he might have placed his car keys, Jongin goes on to toe his sneakers on while rummaging through his coat pocket. He doesn't get very far, though, before Sehun speaks.

"Where are you off to, if I may ask?" Sehun asks while sliding his own coat on.

Jongin hopes that he looks at least somewhat presentable while he eyes his reflection in the mirror. "Just the little k-mart down the block," he mutters.

Sehun seems to pick up on the anxious glint in Jongin's eyes, because he quickly reaches into his coat pocket. He pulls out Jongin's car keys, which he places on the nearest windowsill. "How about we walk, instead?" he chuckles.

Jongin blinks in awe. He wants to tell Sehun that he is, in fact, perfectly fine with driving less than a block. The pounding in his head convinces him otherwise, though.

11:47 A.M

Despite his mother's house being less than two blocks away from the k-mart, Jongin regrets not taking the car when his head continues to spin. He mentally berates himself for not stuffing his pockets with Advil when he had the chance, all while he keeps a tight grip on the paper bag in his hand.

He and Sehun haven't said a word to each other during their ten minute walk. For once, Jongin sort of wishes that Sehun would talk his ears off, because the awkward silence is only adding to his headache. Even if he can't read Sehun's mind, Jongin is a hundred percent sure that Sehun is mentally judging him. It's not like Jongin blames him, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't dying to know what Sehun thought of him right now. 

To Jongin's relief, the carefree expression on Sehun's face hasn't faltered ever since they began their short walk to the store. His suit, combined with his long coat, only adds to his charismatic aura even though he isn't saying a word. Thankfully, Jongin's envy fades when his parent's red house come into view a minute later.   

___

Jongin's mother opens the door after the first knock, almost as if she'd been waiting for them in the hallway all along. Her warm embrace briefly makes Jongin forget about his headache, and he doesn't get a chance to think about if he still smells like alcohol or not when she fills him on everything she and Jungah have been up to lately; everything from crafting origami animals to visiting the museum of modern art. All Jongin knows is that it sounds a whole lot more exciting that what he's been up to lately, but he doesn't say it out loud.

She opens to speak, only for her eyes to light up behind her glasses when she spots Sehun, who is standing politely off to the side. "I see you've found yourself a new one," she chuckles, pinching Jongin's cheeks.

Jongin barely registers his mother asking if they'd like a quick cup of tea as he shakes his head. The last thing he wants right now is for her to fawn over his ugly baby pictures in front of Sehun. "What are you-"

"We're just colleagues," Sehun politely interjects when he notices the stressed look on Jongin's face.
 

While his mother introduces herself to Sehun, Jongin takes a peek into the brightly lit hallway. Sure enough, Jungah's pink jacket is hanging on its hook while her backpack sits on the floor. A whiff of something freshly baked hits him, and Jongin figures that his mother must have treated Jungah to homemade scones for breakfast this morning. From the little he can see of the upper floor, he can barely make out the guest bedroom. Now, Jongin hasn't been up there in practically forever, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that Jungah had taken over it a long time ago.

The sound of feet scampering around fills the air just as Jongin’s mother goes on to apologize for dropping this on them so suddenly. But Jongin can barely hear her, since he’s too busy wrapping his arms around Jungah’s small torso after she nearly knocks him off his feet in a bear hug. Jongin tries not to get his fingers tangled in her ponytail as they pull apart, all while his mother fetches Jungah’s belongings from the hallway.

”Again, sorry to drop this on y’all so suddenly,” says Jongin’s mother as she hands Jungah her backpack. ”Jungah said she talked to a nice man on the phone an hour ago and was really adamant on getting going, so I don't think it should be too much of a problem.” She brushes a lock of hair out of Jungah's eyes. 

Jongin’s eyes automatically drift to Sehun, and all he can think about is the full blown heart attack he nearly suffered earlier. It suddenly hits him that he should probably say something, so he awkwardly clears his throat. Introductions have never been his strong suit. ”This is Sehun, my…uh, colleague from Sales.”

Jungah ogles Sehun like a creature from outer space before she blinks. ”You two work together???” she curiously asks.

”That’s what ’colleague’ means, sweetie,” Jongin’s mother chuckles and ruffles Jungah’s hair.

”I know that, Nana,” Jungah sighs before grinning again. ”So you do???”

Sehun nods. ”Well, sort of,” he chuckles. ”We work with different things, I work upstairs while your father works downstairs, but we work for the same company, so you’re technically right.” He sends Jungah a wink when her face lights up with fascination. 

Straightening out her backpack straps, Jungah pokes Jongin's stomach. ”You should work upstairs, too, Dad,” she says with a twinkle in her eyes that Jongin definitely doesn’t like. ”Dad always talks about how annoying his colleagues are, but he doesn’t seem annoyed with you!" she adds with a grin in Sehun's direction. 

To Jongin’s utter relief, his mother pulls him aside to ask him about his job a second later. While Jungah proudly shows Sehun the paper cranes she made, Jongin finds himself swallowing the lump in his throat when Sehun proceeds to commend her crafting talent. Jongin isn’t sure if it’s his own nonexistent people skills getting the better of him, but he can’t help but feel a pang of envy over how smoothly conversation seems to flow between them. In fact, it’s almost like they’re best friends catching up on each other’s lives rather than strangers exchanging their first words.

It’s not until Jungah says something about an origami ice cream cake that Jongin suddenly becomes aware of the bag in his hand. He isn’t sure why, but he almost doesn’t want to intervene, especially when Jungah proceeds to inform Sehun that he looks just like the main character from her favorite film.

Despite the buzzing in his chest, Jongin manages a smile as he hands Jungah the bag. The hearts in her eyes only make him feel slightly better when she immediately asks Sehun if he’d like the green tea one. Jongin has no idea why he feels the childish urge to remind Jungah that she specifically reserved the green mochi for him, but he mentally smacks himself for being so sensitive.

Jungah’s long ponytail gets caught in the wind when she whirls around to face the doorway with one of her irresistible doe-eyed looks - the one that always makes Jongin weak at the knees. ”Nana, can Sehunnie stay over for lunch?”

Jongin’s mother gestures at Jongin. ”You’ll have to ask your father, dear,” she hums. ”Although I’m sure it won’t be a problem,” she adds with a smile in Sehun’s direction.

Jongin bites the inside of his cheek. The thought never even occurred to him, but he figures that it’s the very least he can do. However, he only ends up telling Jungah off for giving Sehun a cutesy pet name when they’ve only known each other for less than fifteen minutes. Sure enough, Sehun assures Jungah that he's perfectly fine with it when she looks absolutely crestfallen, which makes Jongin envy his people skills even more.

Nevertheless, Jongin nods before his brain can catch up with what he's doing. Jungah immediately squees with excitement as she skips down the driveway while dragging Sehun along with her. Jongin's mother sends Jongin another one of her warm smiles, effectively letting him know that protesting is already out the window.