Haneul woke up to the quiet buzzing of her phone’s alarm. She had got home at around 22h the previous night, only because she was that immersed in Taeyong’s report. Yet, she was able to get up at 6 a.m. today, ready to start her second day at work right after an early morning jog. Thirty minutes later, she was already at Han River, stretching in front of the riverbank, dressed in comfortable activewear, earphones plugged in.

The cool breeze of this autumn morning was enough to illuminate Haneul’s face with a sweet beam. Autumn was by far, her favourite season. The trees surrounding her were colourful; leaves dancing along with the wind. The breath of fresh air that filled Haneul’s lungs made her all the more thankful for such a sweet morning.

Haneul had been running for a good fifteen minutes until she perceived a very familiar face amongst the few morning persons at the park. Sighing, just a little out of breath, Haneul took one of her earpieces off as she walked towards him.

“Fancy seeing you here.” She tentatively said as she settled next to him on the dark green bench.

Taeyong seemed rather taken aback by her approach, and she could swear that a ghost of a smirk nearly drew upon his lips. But of course, Taeyong composed his façade immediately. He offered her a mere nod as he took in her appearance.

“I didn’t take you as a jogger.” Absentmindedly speaking his mind, Haneul chuckled at his words which only surprised her counterpart even more.

“And I didn’t take you for a morning person.” She simply said, sneaking a playful look at him.

A comfortable silence hung between them as both contemplated the horizon. While Taeyong wore his usual unreadable expression, Haneul was nothing but in awe. Her smile was the first feature that called out to him and honestly, he still couldn’t fathom how and why she would always be this jovial.

Haneul took notice of his observant nature and discretely angled herself to face him. His widened eyes said a lot but neither seemed to be able to break their sustained eye-contact. Purely innocent and rather out of curiosity, they stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like an eternity, though it amounted to meagre seconds. Haneul’s curious smirk never left her face whilst Taeyong’s darkened expression only took around 10% of warmth. Taeyong suddenly blinked which caused Haneul to laugh as she pumped her fist up on the air.

“Yay! You lost Mister.”

Taeyong rolled his eyes at her words but before he knew it, he was scoffing in amusement as well. Haneul’s pupils dilated at this foreign show of emotions from him. A longer and colder breeze swept by at that very moment, making the leaves rustle upon their branches whilst the fallen ones danced along the wind. Taeyong’s smart watch resonated, indicating 7.15 a.m. Haneul looked at her own and jumped up immediately.

“Oh, I’m going to be late!”

Taeyong got up as well, and eyed her frantic demeanour, once again, out of pure curiosity he told himself. Quite subconsciously, Taeyong noticed a fallen leaf tangled within Haneul’s hair. Unbeknownst to his awareness, he found himself reaching out to it, carefully freeing it from her locks. Haneul eyed his gesture with a questioning gaze until she saw his hand erupt with this beautiful reddish leaf. Taeyong scrutinized the leaf, a little too long maybe, which gave her an opportunity to observe him. His interest seemed to be solicited at the brown veins of the leaf, forming a stunning pattern on this piece of nature. Wanting to grab his attention, Haneul cleared slightly;

“Well I’m going to get going, I’ll see you at the office later Taeyong.”

Once again, he offered her a nod while she enthusiastically waved him goodbye. Haneul took a mental note of his short-on-words nature whilst he remained transfixed by the wide grin, she offered him yet again. ‘How does she do it?’ he thought, pondering on the only handful of times he had genuinely smiled in the past seven years.

“So, did you get acquainted with Taeyong yet?” Johnny asked as he and Haneul crossed paths at the staff’s cafeteria.

Haneul was startled by his sudden presence next to her but could only smile once she saw who it was; “Well we crossed each other a few times, but we haven’t talked business. I have a meeting with him later at 15h though.”

“It’s going to go well I’m sure.” Johnny gave her a gentle pat of encouragement to the shoulder, as he walked away. But he was back within the second, poking his head in front of the door to catch her attention once again. “And don’t forget that we are having your welcoming company dinner tonight.”

“Yes boss!” Haneul expressed, emphasising the last word with a tight grin as Johnny shook his head, finally going back to his office.

A knock resonated upon the door which brought Taeyong out of his trance. A few seconds later, a little head came floating by the frame. Taeyong’s brow raised in curiosity before he eyed the time on his MacBook; 15h. ‘Damn she’s on time.’ He thought.

“Come in.” He said simply as he tried to hurriedly, make a shift spot for her at his desk.

Haneul marched in quietly afte