One particular day, I was called to the office at about 9.30 in the morning. It was more or less the usual hours. I figured we’d end early like always.

“That’s all for today,” Mingyu finally said. I glanced at my watch. It was 1.30 in the afternoon. I gathered my papers and notes and got ready to leave.

“Thank you, Mr…Mingyu, I’ll get these sorted right away,” I said politely, still not accustomed to calling my boss by his first name.

“Wait, hold on,” he suddenly said, gesturing me to stop.

“Would you join me for lunch, please?” he asked.

I hoped he couldn’t see my red face as I must have blushed uncontrollably. My heart was pounding so hard against my chest. If only he knew, I was waiting for this for so long now. Suppressing my feelings, I managed a smile.

“I would be delighted to,” I said.

“Great! Let’s go,” Mingyu said as he abruptly stood.

“Leave everything here,” he gestured.

“Come, I’ll drive,” he held the door open for me.

We went back to the same restaurant where he’d brought me on the first day of work.

“I hope you don’t mind the venue,” he turned towards me, “I just really love the food here.”

“Of course not,” I smiled. I really didn’t. In fact, I was hoping to go here again. I just couldn’t really afford it before.

We found our seats in the usual spot. A waitress came over and gave us each menus politely. We took our time pondering what to order.

We ordered some beef, for it was restaurant’s best, and some side dishes. Mingyu ordered a bowl of rice while I decided to give the noodles a try.

“What would you like for drinks, misters?”

“I’ll have…a glass of orange juice, please,” Mingyu told the waitress politely.

“And I’ll have…”

“A peppermint mocha?” Mingyu offered.

I caught his eyes. How did he know?

“How – well, yes,” I smiled quickly to cover my blush, “A peppermint mocha, please, thank you.”

“Your drinks will be here in a minute,” the waitress said and left.

“H-how did you know?” I asked, wide-eyed.

“You didn’t think you were the only one getting to know me, did you?” he grinned.

I felt warmth creeping into my heart. He did care after all. I smiled warmly at him and he smiled back.

“Are you free after lunch?” he asked suddenly.

“Maybe…why?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve got a place to be,” Mingyu replied, “And…I wanted you to come.”

Is he trying to ask me out? My heart raced. And my head spun. I didn’t want to think too much and disappoint myself. But it was too late for that.

Soon, our orders arrived. We finished our food in a matter of minutes because we were famished after working all morning.

“Where are we headed?” I asked curiously when we got on the car.

“I wanted to…take our minds off work,” Mingyu said, flashing me a smile.

“Relax a little.”

He some music as he began the journey to who-knows-where. Suddenly, my favourite song was on the radio! I suppressed my eagerness to sing it out loud. Unexpectedly, Mingyu was humming along to the music beside me.

“I love this song,” he commented. My heart skipped. Me too!

“Me too!” I couldn’t contain my excitement. He looked at me and smiled broadly.

“Guess we have more in common than we initially thought.”

After a 25 minutes ride, we arrived at the beach. I looked outside to see a lot commotion at the seaside. There was a large carnival going on. One that I apparently didn’t know since I only went to work and stayed in the house all the time.

“Come on, let’s go,” Mingyu said, already getting out of the car.

“I’m dying to get the load off my chest.”

Feeling excited, I exited the car and followed closely behind. The first thing to hit me was the fresh air. I took in a deep breath. I never k