A/N:

This is my New Year's gift to you, and as I've said, i don't think angst is actually a gift, but yall asked for it so, here you go :))

This one's more about self reflection, and the next chapter too(?). But fear not, our ship will settle their problems soon, i promise.

Hopefully i finish the next chapters soon and maybe i can give you guys a bi weekly update. There are, after all, only a handful of chapters left. And as a warning, it's not exactly angst, but it's not fluff either. You'll see heheh..

Anythomst, Happy New Year!!

D+134

Chaeyeon walks into her office looking like an absolute zombie, sluggish, dark circles under her eyes––a side effect of not getting enough sleep the night before.

From the moment she stepped into the building, her employees tried to steer clear of her way all morning. Not that Chaeyeon was eager to interact with anyone in the first place. In fact, the only person she saw the whole day had been Nako, and that was only in brief exchanges about her appointments and documents that needed signing. It was definitely for the best though. And considering her cranky mood, Chaeyeon was glad for the lack of meetings she had for the day.

Come lunch time, Chaeyeon had already gotten a head start with tomorrow’s work too, anything to keep her mind occupied.

Chaeyeon hadn’t even realized that someone was knocking at her office door. Not until the door banged open to reveal Yena, with a large bag in her hand. “I come bearing gifts, and...” Yena announces loudly, she then rummages inside the bag, only to take out a bottle of soju, “...a much needed distraction.”

Without being given any time to  acknowledge or even greet her friend, Yena had already started to make herself comfortable setting up the food on the coffee table, and opening the soju bottle too. Still sitting at her desk, Chaeyeon watches her friend quizzically. “What makes you think I need a distraction?” she asks.

Yena made a face that can only be described as amusement. “Chaeyeon, the whole building knows that you haven’t left this room for the past 5 hours.”

Chaeyeon quirks up an eyebrow. “Your point being?”

“It means we know that you’ve been doing a crazy amount of work with no breaks in between, and frankly, it makes the rest of us look like we’re not working enough when you’re on a roll like this.”

Chaeyeon lets out a short laugh. Leave it to Yena to frame her workaholic tendencies as an offense to herself. Chaeyeon finally gets up from her desk and joins her friend at the sofa. “Maybe you guys really aren’t working enough,” she jokes. 

Yena lets out a displeased tsk. “Okay, Ms. Workaholic––Just don’t let your employees hear you say that, or they might sue you for overworking them.” Yena waits for Chaeyeon to finish pouring her a glass, before she does the same and hands Chaeyeon a shot glass that she filled to the brim. 

They clinked the glasses together, but not toasting to anything.

Chaeyeon tilts her head back as she downs the whole shot. For the reason of wanting to go back to her work, Chaeyeon doesn’t beat around the bush. “So, why are you here, Yena?”

“I just brought you food, Chaeyeon, I’m here to have lunch,” Yena responds as if her intentions were obvious. But having known Yena for most of her life, Chaeyeon could see that there was an ulterior motive to her friend’s visit. Even so, Chaeyeon shrugs and lets Yena think that she believes her, saying nothing more and instead digging into her food. 

As they ate, there was an awkward silence between them that rarely ever happens when they’re together, especially in an informal setting such as this. Chaeyeon could tell that Yena was waiting for her to say something, but Chaeyeon herself didn’t quite know what her friend was expecting her to say, so Chaeyeon chose to stay quiet. Though, she may have an inkling idea of what Yena wanted from her––to vent, most likely. Chaeyeon was pretty much transparent to her best friend, it was practically useless for Chaeyeon to play dumb. But venting would mean talking about her problems, and Chaeyeon isn’t sure she wants to do that just yet.

It took about another ten more minutes before the silence became unbearable and Yena unceremoniously set down her empty bento box on the table. “Alright! I give up. I thought I could wait for you to tell me, but apparently not. So, out with it. What’s gotten you so busy now?” Yena bluntly asks.

Chaeyeon follows suit to set her food down too, all the while looking at her friend with a neutral and schooled expression. “My job,” Chaeyeon answers, though it sounded more like a question.

Yena sighs exasperatedly, all her frustration in view. “Chaeyeon, I’ve known you since forever. Don’t think you can fool me. Why’re you locking yourself in your office?”

There was a part of her who just wanted to lie and brush it off, telling Yena that she was okay and is just catching up on deadlines. Chaeyeon even entertained the idea of using her position of being Yena’s boss to get her friend to stop pestering her and go back to work. But there was also a part of her that was feeling just as frustrated––Chaeyeon knew she had a problem of not opening up until someone made her. And she also knew that if she missed this chance, then she might never open up or give herself the time to think things through.

“We had ,” Chaeyeon blurts out. 

“Oh?” Yena sputters, failing miserably to mask her shock. On any other occasion, Chaeyeon would have made fun of her friend’s ridiculously funny face, but she doesn’t this time. “I thought it meant something,” Chaeyeon confesses grimly. “But then she said we had to stop.”

“Did she say why?”

“She needed to think,” she recalls the conversation with Eunbi, “about what it meant, about what she wants. And that I should do the same and find other things to occupy myself with other than... her.”

A few seconds passed where it was just silence. Then, seemingly making up her mind, Yena nods slowly. “That’s fair.”

Chaeyeon looks up in surprise. She almost feels offended, but brushes the thought away because Chaeyeon knows that Yena was her best friend, and she wouldn’t have said anything to hurt her intentionally. “So you agree?” 

“What?” 

“You agree that I don’t have a life outside of her?”

“Honestly?” Yena