Pushing her trolley down the aisle, Bongcha skimmed through the shelves of fresh produce, tapping her fingers against the handle until she reached the tomatoes section. The supermarket always had a lovely selection of imported goods, and this time they had yellow tomatoes from Spain, perfect for a nice salad. Picking out a couple that looked nice, Bongcha added them to the rest of her groceries and proceeded to the check out counter.

Bongcha took her time walking back to her flat, wanting to enjoy the fresh air. Things had been so busy at work over the last few weeks because of Mrs Park so it was great to finally be able to have a breather and not worry about replying an email or making phone calls. Reaching her building however, an unexpected visitor was waiting outside.

“Kyungsoo?” Bongcha hurried her steps. “What are you doing here? Did you wait long?”

“No I just arrived,” Kyungsoo reassured the girl. “Sorry to bother you during the weekend but I thought we’d have chat. Not as employer and employee but as friends. I’ve been loading a lot of work on you recently and I realised that I never checked with you how you felt about everything.”

“Oh. You didn’t have to go out of your way just for that.”

“I wanted to,” Kyungsoo replied without missing a beat while taking the grocery bag from her. “And I was already in the area.”

Bongcha gave him a sceptical look because she knew that Kyungsoo rarely ever was in her area, especially since he lived in the opposite side of the city. Nonetheless, she did not voice her scepticism and simply led the male inside. Bongcha uttered silent prayers of thanks to Junmyeon who had cleaned up her place yesterday before he left, so at least her flat was in a presentable state for guests. Bongcha was an organised person to begin with thoguh, so it was almost impossible for her flat to be a mess anyway.

“Do you want something to drink?” Bongcha turned towards Kyungsoo as he helped her put away her groceries. “I’ve got cold barley tea in the fridge.”

“That would be nice.”

Kyungsoo lingered by the kitchen area as Bongcha poured out two glasses of barley tea, condensation forming around the glasses due to the temperature contrast. He then took the two glasses and carried them to the sofa before Bongcha even had time to react, and thus could only silently follow him despite the fact that he was the guest.

“How are you feeling?”

Bongcha froze mid-air, leaving her hovering over the sofa seat looking like she had be caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. Kyungsoo chuckled and gently pushed her down. He then did something that took Bongcha even more by surprise: pinch her cheek.

“Relax.”

Blinking rapidly, Bongcha took a large gulp of her tea and inhaled deeply. She clenched and unclenched her fists while her eyes darted around her flat, looking anywhere but at Kyungsoo. Biting on her lower lip, Bongcha mentally slapped herself for being so nervous. It was not the first time that her and Kyungsoo were hanging out as friends, however something between them had shifted after the evening of Kai’s performance, and Bongcha suddenly found herself being extra self-conscious around the male.

“So?”

Finally, Bongcha found the courage to face Kyungsoo. The moment she saw the worry overflowing from his eyes and the tender smile that he was offering her, Bongcha found all the tension slithering out of her.

“Good?”

“Is that a question?” Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow.

“I…” Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Bongcha her lips before continuing. “I guess I haven’t really thought about it. Just been busy getting stuff done.”

“Think about it now then. Don’t bottle it up.”

Bongcha gazed into the distance as she mentally sifted through her mind, trying to organise her thoughts and emotions into neat piles and structure it in a way she could express it verbally in a simple and concise manner.

“I don’t think I’ve yet to register the whole ‘I work with you, not under you thing’ thing.”

Kyungsoo nodded but remained silent, waiting for her to further elaborate.

“I supposed it never dawned on me that things would turn out this way. I had gotten rather comfortable with the routine we had established. There’s also less risks when I’m just an assistant. As things progress now though, I’ll have more and more responsibilities, and the way I handle cases will directly affect the rep