Seungkwan shivered, his hands braced tightly on the sleeves of his puffy winter jacket. His tired eyes flicker between Chan’s blank face and Hansol’s lips mumbling the  English lyrics of some foreign song. Meanwhile the rest of his co-workers were keeping themselves occupied as they all sat around on the office floor in silence.

Just before their lunch break began, phones left and right began to ‘ding’ and vibrate as Jihoon’s mass message reached almost everyone on their floor (as well as Wonwoo and Jun). No one had a clue what they were gathered here for, but knowing their CEO it was either for something significant or so miniscule that only Soonyoung could get away with making a show out of nothing for his own enjoyment (as he usually did).

At some point, Seungkwan started to get fed up with the prolonged silence and linked his eyes up with Hansol, who’s eyes widened only because he himself had no intel about what was going on. Almost immediately, the domino effect occurred; since Hansol had no clue he looked at Jisoo, who pursed his lips and looked at Minghao, who looked at an equally-oblivious Chan, who looked at a clearly disinterested Wonwoo, who then looked at Jeonghan, who looked at...well, he continued to stare at his fingernails like he had been for the past half-hour. 

“So,” Chan starts off, lips pursed and ready to whistle away the awkward silence permeating throughout the room. Minghao groaned as Jun adjusts his head on his lap, his noggin uncomfortably digging down onto his unsuspecting crotch. He wacks the grinning man on his head, which only procures a judgemental head-shake from Jisoo. Meanwhile, Wonwoo continued to stare into the abyss while shutting out the voices of everyone around him. He had a long day of never-ending calculations and wasn't up for anymore of Soonyoung's antics.

“Does anyone know exactly why we’re huddled in a circle on the floor in our winter coats like a bunch of penguins?” Seungkwan continued, voice b with exhaustion and annoyance. There were problems with their office’s heating (funnily enough, only in their office) and everyone was forced to wear their winter jackets and share the few emergency blankets they had in the storage room (something which Seungkwan was having none of). He bundled himself tighter with his puffy winter jacket and scooted closer to Hansol’s side to take advantage of his exuding warmth.  He pretends not to notice Jeonghan’s or any of his other friend’s teasing stares and waits for an answer. Everyone stares at him and shrugs.

“Soonyoung. Announcement.” Seungkwan jumps as soon as Jihoon appears from nowhere to sit down beside him looking ever so exhausted and ready to go home. Hansol scoots over to make room and Jihoon gives him a thankful nod. Minghao groans a quiet “of course” while coursing his fingers through Jun’s scuffled hair, the older man practically purring in his lap.   

“And the reason why it’s still freezing like a mother-fuc” Jeonghan gasps and covers Chan’s mouth before he can say another word. “Watch the profanity, my child.” Chan bites down on his hand and Jeonghan let's go with an unattractive screech. “As I was saying, why is it still freezing like hell in here? I thought we called someone to fix it hours ago?”

Hansol snorts. “I’m pretty sure hell is frequently depicted as being in flames so, you know... that simile doesn't really...” Hansol mumbles amidst Chan’s complaints earning himself a jab to the gut with the younger’s elbow. 

“I called for a technician to come repair it, but their services aren’t available till tomorrow,” Jihoon explains trying his best to ignore the way Jeonghan begins to snore as he talks, “So, for now can you all please just put up with it?” 

Everyone gives him a reluctant nod and, amusingly, in perfect synchronization, all shiver as a gust of cold air passes by. Seungkwan mindlessly huddles closer to Hansol’s side and he feels his hand reel him in by the side of his waist. “Thanks,” Seungkwan whispers and Hansol lets out a small smile in return. 

Minutes later, Seungkwan begins to hear the rumbling of something moving towards them from outside their office entrance and their voices quickly disperse into a silent mumble. “What was that?” Jisoo asks.  The only person who has the slightest idea is Jihoon, who was already looking up to the ceiling with his eyes clamped shut in look of exhaustion. He lets out an exasperated breath before asking someone to open the doors. 

Chan gets up, brushes his pants, and opens the door. Once the glass doors open, the rumbling of plastic on the ceramic tiles gets louder. Then, it stops. 

“Listen up!” 

Everyone turns their heads as Soonyoung rolls into the office in a mini-convertible with a large megaphone held up to his mouth. Jihoon shakes his head in disappointment and almost everyone follows suit. His legs are spread on either side of the car and his feet struggle to keep the piece of plastic moving towards the centre of their circle. Minghao moves to the side to let him pass and  Jun lets out a yelp as Soonyoung ‘drives’ over his toe. 

“Hmmmph...mmph…” Seungkwan gives Soonyoung a look of pity as the man quietly groans trying his best to scoot over to the centre. Eventually, the ever-so kind Hansol gets up and pushes his vehicle with the back of his foot. Soonyoung smiles at him and bows his head. 

“Now!” Soonyoung presses the loud horn button on the megaphone and everyone braces their ears to protect their ear drums. Soonyoung stands up, still using the megaphone to make his announcement and potentially deafen all of his workers. 

“Due to the success of our meeting last Wednesday with our company shareholders-” Soonyoung turns his head to give both Hansol and Jisoo a grateful wink, “no doubt from the great impression left by some of our best employees- we were able to secure the funding and assistance we need to begin the development of our hotel in the States!”

Soonyoung starts up a clap and the whole floor begins to applaud. Seungkwan smiles proudly as Jisoo gives Hansol a pat on the back and the others give him a thumbs up to congratulate his work. Hansol massages the back of his neck in embarrassment and mumbles a shy ‘thanks’ in return. 

“To celebrate, our past and present partners have decided to come together to throw the grandest, most extravagant public charity Christmas party that K & W Corporations have ever held! ” Soonyoung exclaims in a grandiose manner, his arms thrown in the air for extra effect. The whole team cheers and the excited chatter begins as everyone turns to one another to clamor about the upcoming party. 

“When is it?” Chan grins excitedly while Soonyoung walks toward him to wrap an arm around his shoulders. He stares at everyone and pauses to evoke greater anticipation before putting the speakerphone up to his mouth. Everyone leans their heads closer and wait. Soonyoung coughs and clears his throat.

“It is...This Friday!”

…

Someone coughs. 

…

“Um… isn’t that a little... soon? Today is Wednesday,” Jisoo chuckles nervously as Soonyoung’s grin widens. Jihoon continues to groan with his face in his hands, sitting criss-crossed in the space near Chan’s desk. “That’s alright! I have great faith that you guys will do a fantastic job!”

Seungkwan gives Soonyoung a disbelieving look and points a finger to his chest. “Uh, what do you mean us? As in, like, us us?” Soonyoung nods peppily and gestures to the nine of them with a sweep of his arm. 

“You’ll be in charge of the catering, the decorations, the entertainment, booking a nice venue, managing the expenses... Everyone here can be given a task! It’ll be like a big team-building event! Except a bunch of important people are relying on your hard work and probably have high expectations!” 

Silence. 

Soonyoung beams and claps his hands, the tense atmosphere doing nothing to sway his energetic behaviour. “Oh! And we should host a bunch of Christmas activities for our guests! We could even get ourselves a mall Santa too!  And some reindeer! Those exist, right? Now that would be fun, don’t ya’ll think?!” 

Silence.

“Soonyoung?” Jihoon sighs, giving the man a hopeless look. The oblivious CEO answers with a happy hum and a cr