Kyungsoo arrived to work that day feeling uncharacteristically anxious and jittery. It was embarrassing to admit, but he actually struggled to sleep the previous evening at the thought of having dinner with Bongcha. Sure, it was not the first time they ate together, but it had never been labelled as a ‘date’. Consequently, he spent hours surfing the Internet in search for a birthday present for the girl. This morning he had even ditched his usual work outfit and opted for fitted khaki pants matched with a navy button down shirt. Most importantly though, he did not wear a tie.

Holding tightly on the door handle, Kyungsoo inhaled deeply, wondering what Bongcha would be wearing, his expression b in anticipation. When he pushed the door open however, instead of the familiar sight of Bongcha preparing the morning coffee, he was greeted by Joy’s bright smile and twinkling voice.

“Good morning Mr Do,” Joy greeted her boss.

“Morning,” Kyungsoo responded, looking at what she was holding. “You made the coffee today?”

“Yes,” Joy admitted, noting the subtle disappointment hidden in his eyes. “Sorry, I know you prefer Miss Kim’s coffee, but she’s on a call now and I know you arrive around this time so…”

“No need to apologise,” Kyungsoo reassured the girl, taking the cup of coffee from her. “Thank you for the coffee.”

The door to Bongcha’s office opened in that moment, and Bongcha stepped out in her usual office attire.

“Oh Joy you made the coffee? Thank you.” Bongcha smiled at the girl while placing a file on Joy’s desk. “Please go through this document and summarise the key points for me by the end of today.”

“Yes.” Joy nodded her head, bringing a cup of coffee to Bongcha as well. “My coffee-making skills are no where near as good as yours, please go easy on me.”

“It just takes practice. Before you know it you’ll surpass me.”

“You’ll forever remain the master of coffee,” Kyungsoo quipped, giving Bongcha a long stare.

“You look great not in a suit Mr Do,” Joy quipped, noticing what he was wearing.

Kyungsoo felt the tips of his ears growing read, and he gave an awkward smile before shutting himself inside his office.

For the remainder of the day, Kyungsoo barely left his desk. Bongcha and Joy both worried whether something had happened to him, but in reality, the male attorney was sulking at how the day at started off completely differently from what he had expected. Had he possibly heard wrong about it being a date? Had he raised his expectations too much? Looking down at his outfit, Kyungsoo suddenly felt rather self-conscious and overdressed.

・・・

Inside her own office, Bongcha spent the day constantly staring at the clock on the wall, counting down every passing second. She recalled the way Kyungsoo looked in his attire and she smiled widely, amused by the extra effort he went to get dressed for tonight.

“Cute.”

Bongcha’s eyes darted towards the bag sitting under her desk, the heels poking out. She had checked the weather forecast in the morning, and was glad to find out that the temperature was going to be rather warm, meaning she could wear a dress without any issues of being cold.

Finally, after what felt like a series of excruciatingly slow hours, Bongcha shut down her computer and pulled out her date outfit. Removing her cream blouse and light blue pencil skirt, Bongcha slipped on the  navy spaghetti strap skater dress with lace details and the keels. Staring at her reflection in the front camera of her phone, Bongcha added a vibrant peach lip-tint and played around with her hair. She had contemplated on letting her hair loose, but at the same time, she wanted to boldly show off her tattoo, and thus she tied her hair in a loose french braid, letting the tail fall over her left shoulder.

Satisfied with the finalised look, Bongcha grabbed her purse and exited her office at the same time as Kyungsoo, taking each other by surprise.

“You guys look great!” Joy squealed, clapping her hands in excitement. “And you’re matching as well.”

Staring at Bongcha, Kyungsoo swallowed loudly, realising that indeed, Bongcha’s navy dress and heels were the same colour tones as his shirt and khaki pants. Joy was wrong about one thing though, Bongcha did not look great but absolutely gorgeous, and he was glad that she had not come to work dressed like that, or he would not have been able to concentrate on work at all.

“I reserved the Italian restaurant not far from here so you can walk there,” Joy chirped. “Now hurry off and enjoy your date!”

Gawking at the assistant, Bongcha and Kyungsoo both let out a helpless chuckle. Kyungsoo offered Bongcha his arm, knowing full well that the girl did not enjoy walking in heels. Unlike the time at the ballet’s performance where Bongcha had not hesitated to wrap her hands around his arm, this time Bongcha’s touch was shy. Noting that, Kyungsoo pulled her hand towards him firmly and nudged her along.

As Joy said, the restaurant she had booked was within walking distance o