a secretive smile,

a discreet wink.

a serious (and hot) expression in instructing their new interns on how their regulations work—

"i'm losing it," chaewon breathes out, squatting next to the tall plant inside yena's office.

the office owner shoots her a disgusted look. "bring your sappy somewhere else," she curtly says, lips pursed even more like an offended duck. "you're distracting me from my work."

"what? i can't get out," chaewon shakes her head, eyes wide. "i might encounter her out there and, and—"

the door opens and yuri pokes her head in, ignoring chaewon's surprised yelp. "yena-unnie? boss kang wants you in her office, bring the folder she gave you yesterday."

"oh ." yena pulls out a black folder from the drawer under and stands up, almost knocking over the desk lamp. "i'm going to die."

"don't be dramatic," yuri huffs, "you'll be fine. i'll be there with you too."

"that's one good news, at least."

"wait," says chaewon, springing up to stand. "let me come too."

"i dooooon't know," says yuri, lifting an eyebrow, "i saw hii around just now, passing by this very room—"

"never mind i'm building a blanket fort here. yena-unnie, do you mind a blanket fort?"

yena looks at her like she's grown three heads. "i don’t store any blankets here. just—sit in my seat and chill out a bit, my god. you look like you're about to have a meltdown."

chaewon obliges, dutifully going around the desk and plopping into yena's comfortable chair, the cushion under her still warm from yena's presence just a while ago.

"well then we're off," says yena, approaching the door to follow yuri out, pausing by the doorframe and throwing a concerned glance over her shoulder. "don't set anything on fire."

"would it count if i'm burning my own—" yena shakes her head and slips out of the door, closing it, refusing to hear the rest of the sentence. "rude."

now left to her own devices, chaewon doesn't really know what to do. she closes the drawer yena's left open, then fiddles with the edge of the silky tablecloth. the fabric is coloured in pastel pink, which throws her back to the image of pink hair cascading ellegantly upon a pair of shoulders, framing a beautiful face adorned with a fierce expression—

the door clicks open, and like a horribly-timed comedy, the person in her mind materializes into reality through the crack of the door, slipping into the room without as much as a permission. chaewon doesn't even get to scream.

how apt, chaewon thinks as she swallows, it's not like she asked for a permission when she barrelled into my heart the first time around, either.

the door closes. "yuri said you'd be inside," the figure says, soft smile gracing already soft features. chaewon unconsciously wheels the seat back a little. "i've been looking for you the whole day."

"that's scandalous," chaewon rasps, throat dry. "also—yuri, you said? ing traitor."

a melodic chuckle accompanies the steps nearing in towards her. "have you been avoiding me?"

the back of her chair hits the wall. "i don't know what you're talking about."

"mmmhm." the clacking of heels against the floor halts, and the fragrant smell of vanilla sends chaewon's heart speeding and crashing down. warm palms rest on the crest rail of the chair, at the either sides of chaewon's head, and the smile on red lips widens slowly like a flower in bloom. "hello."

"i've seen this scene in one of hyewon-unnie's manga," chaewon blurts out, eyes wide. she resolutely keeps her gaze on the amused twinkle in her captor's eyes instead of the mint-coloured business coat that fits the figure above her in the most illegal way possible, "this would be, uh, katsudon—"

"kabedon."

"i'm sorry i'm not japanese—"

"it's okay," comes the reply, voice rich with amusement. "that's what you keep me around for."

"this isn't appropriate, hitomi," chaewon exhales, cornered and stressed. "also would you mind standing back a little, i can't breathe—"

"hmmm," hitomi drags out, lips pursing playfully as she leans in further, "and if don't want to?"

"holy you're going to murder me,"

"with love?"

"please," chaewon helplessly chokes out, "you can't do this, hitomi, you're already married—"

"to you, you dork," says hitomi fondly, before finally closing in and kissing her with a gentle dip of her head.

*

when they part, chaewon lets out a dismayed noise, chasing her lips with eyes still closed, and hitomi chuckles, chastely kissing her again before stepping back, releasing her hold on the chair.

chaewon opens her eyes, her lips like she's trying to memorize the warmth. "why are we stopping?"

"because making out during work hours isn't exactly appropriate," hitomi teases, reaching out to tap her nose.

"that's coming from someone who came here and attacked me with kisses just now,"

"i can't help it, you're too cute." as though to emphasize what she means, hitomi slowly cups chaewon's cheeks, giggling at the confusion she receives, "yena-unnie kept complaining about you malfunctioning, and demanded that i should take care of that."

"well—!" she can't believe she's surrounded by traitors. "i can't help it either, you know. like have you seen yourself? how is it okay to look that good—"

hitomi laughs, releasing her hold. it's almost embarrassing how chaewon's chest immediately squeezes at the loss of warmth—what has she become, a whipped radish?

"so do you like it?" hitomi asks, looking down at the mint business coat she's wearing. she puts her hands into the pockets and twists to the side slightly, striking a pose.

"are you kidding me," chaewon gapes, rapidly breaking down under the various looks hitomi is doing to the invisible paparazzis (how is she not a model, how is she real—) "stop that, you're killing me—don’t move your eyebrows like that, do you know how close i am to just pulling you into a closet?"

as though she's accepted her role as the devil reincarnate, hitomi smirks and pulls her hands out of her pockets, smoothly moving to wrap an arm around chaewon's shoulders—

lightly settling into her lap.

chaewon suffers.

"what did you say?" hitomi breathes seductively into her ear, "something about pulling me into the closet, and then what?"

chaewon exhales, heat pooling low in her stomach. she grasps at the mint fabric and tries her best to not give in to the urge to rip them off,

"later," she says, promises, almost immediately taking her words back at the anticipating gleam in hitomi's eyes (oh how she wishes that later is now). she swallows and continues, "at home, later. i'm going to make you scream."

"mmm," hitomi traces the white collar of chaewon's hem, smiling at her through half-lidded eyes, "might want to consider that the other way around also applies, chaewonnie."

and then one of them is tugging the other closer, they aren't sure who, and it doesn't matter anymore a beat later because they're kissing again, breaths hot and restrained as fingers entangle with strands of hair—

"okay, whoa, time off!" a voice yells from the direction of the door.

hitomi pulls away almost instantly, fingers slowly loosening their grip around chaewon's shoulders. chaewon stifles a groan, hands falling away from hitomi's hair, resting them on the other's hips as though unwilling to let her move away just yet.

"again, minjoo?" it's the fourth time this month, might as well crown her as their resident er at this point.

their interrupter only stares at them, unimpressed.

hitomi clears , still in chaewon's lap. "i'll return to, um, our assignment in a minute."

minjoo sighs ruefully, shaking her head. "i should've known that introducing you to chaewon-unnie five years ago was a bad decision. she has corrupted you—"

“excuse me?” chaewon lets out an offended gasp, "i'm literally the one getting attacked in this room—"

hitomi chuckles, moving to stand up; happily ever after is officially a myth. "it is my fault this time around," hitomi confirms, glancing at chaewon with soft fondness in her eyes. "well, not that she's ever a mistake, if i have to be honest."

minjoo fakes a devastated sob, "you weren't this gross when we first met—"

chaewon ignores her, too engrossed in the fluttering warmth hitomi's words have evoked within her chest. "i love you so much," she confesses, resisting the urge to immediately pull hitomi back into another kiss. they still have work to do. she sighs and pulls up a weary smile, "i'll meet you after work."

"of course we will,” says hitomi, amused, “we ride the same car and live in the same house—"

"i'm so lucky," chaewon wholeheartedly exclaims, not even trying to hide how deep she's falling.

hitomi chuckles, bending down slightly to drop a kiss to her forehead. she melts.

"good luck with work," says hitomi with the sweetest smile, stepping away. her eyes give out a glint, "don't forget about your promise later." the deliberate wink is the final twist to the knife stabbing chaewon in the chest, really, the very reason why she's been hiding in yena's office in the first place—

minjoo gags from the door, probably thinking that later is some corny dates or something equally innocent instead of a—chaewon slams that train of thought down, mutely nodding and waving her hand back at hitomi's parting bye. she watches as hitomi disappears from the office, bringing with her chaewon’s heart (not that she hasn’t had it for a long time already).

god.

she will need to bury herself in paperwork after this, to quell her thirst, but that’s fine, that’s swell, because after that would be a pleasant ride home and an even more pleasant time to—

paperwork, her mind screeches, hands rigidly reaching out to pull all kind of files on yena's desk towards her while her mind tries to bury all the rated thoughts she has for several more hours.

(pray for her, to be quite honest.)

[ ♡ ]