It was a sunny morning and the birds were chirping and the air was crisp. Sehun thought it was the perfect time to go for a morning jog at the park instead of around his block. He tried waking up Chanyeol to go with him, but the other refused, simply stating that he wanted to sleep. Sehun had just shrugged him off, too used to that response and left for a jog in the wonderful weather that was provided that morning. His boyfriend has seemed to be pretty tired recently, going into work at the peak of sunrise and not getting back home until midnight. At first he thought it was a bit suspicious until Kyungsoo, Chanyeol’s coworker, told him over lunch one day that the work at their office job has been piling up. And he also didn’t want to seem like an overbearing boyfriend since he and Chanyeol have been dating for a little over a year. While, he was lost in thought he hadn’t realized where he was and ran into something, or rather a person. A nice looking one at that. One with a beautiful tan and the kindest looking eyes he’s seen. This man has him in a daze.

“Oh my! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you okay?” The stranger says, and Sehun has to shake his head to get his thoughts out of the clouds.

“Excuse me?” He asks with confusion written all over his face.

“I said that I’m sorry for running into you. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” He states slowly this time.

“Oh. no. It’s uhm, it’s okay. I wasn’t looking either. So, I’m sorry too.” Sehun says bashfully.

“So, you okay? No injuries?” The stranger asks again. 

“Yeah, I’m good. No injuries here.” He laughs then asks the handsome, tanned man if he had had any injuries caused from their small collision. The man giggles, Sehun thinks it’s the cutest giggle he’s heard, and says that he's okay and has no injuries. After that they go their separate ways.  

“I’m home!” He yells waiting for a response. And when he gets no response, he goes into his and Chanyeol’s room just to see their bed empty. He decides then to check the restroom, just to hear nothing in there too. He knocks and calls for Chanyeol, still not getting a response, he opens the door and finds it completely dark, no sign of life in there. He then pulls out his phone and dials his boyfriend’s number. 

“Hello?” He hears after the third ring.

“Hey, where’d you go?” He questions lightly trying not to sound annoying, and not upset him.

“I’m at work. My boss called me to come in earlier. Sorry for not texting you, I had to rush out. Didn’t even get to get breakfast on my way here.” He sighs out. 

“It’s fine. Just wanted to make sure you were safe and not kidnapped at random.” Sehun jokes causing Chanyeol to let out a small chuckle.

“So sweet of you to worry about me, babe. But yeah I’m at work, and probably won’t get home ‘til late again, so don’t wait up for me tonight. I gotta go, bye.” He says quickly and hangs up before Sehun can respond. He lets out a sigh slowly getting used to those quick phone calls they have now. 

    He takes a quick shower, and gets ready to head out to work. Sehun had been lucky that his grandfather and dad had built a business and left it to Sehun once he turned 28; after he graduated from college, he worked at their company for four years as a regular employee and two more years working as a “secretary” to learn how to be a CEO himself. So, he is able to work his own hours, able to go in and leave as he chooses, but still works about eight hours like most people. Sometimes, he stays later to catch up on some paperwork. 

    Once he is ready for work, he leaves the apartment, and gets into his car. He looks at his phone to check the time to see that it’s 7:45 a.m., and is glad to know that he still has 15 minutes left to get to work. He decides to make a quick stop at a local cafe, and gets an iced Americano and a chocolate croissant, he can’t live without having at least one sweet thing in the morning. As he walks out of the cafe, someone else is walking in, and he thinks that that person looks oddly familiar. He ignores it and continues on his way to work. 

    He parks his car, and walks into the building. People start to greet him as he walks by them to get to the elevator that leads him to his office. Just as he walks by his secretary, Jill, she follows him into his office, and without missing a beat announces,” You have paper that needs to be signed and and sent by 10:30 this morning. Also, you have a meeting with KIm Enterprise at noon, and then another meeting with your father right after.” She finishes, bows, and is about to leave until Sehun stoops her and says,” Well, good morning to you too, Jill. And I hope your day is going just fine.” She looks flustered and quickly apologizes, greets him properly, and leaves his office with her head bowed down. 

    As soon as his meeting with Kim Enterprise ends, he is informed that his dad is already waiting for him in his office. He tells Jill to get them tea as he enters his office, and spots his dad on one of the sofas he has. They just look at each other, not speaking a word until their tea is served. “So, how have you been?” His dad starts, and he knows where this conversation is going, they’ve had it a lot in the last few months. 

“Pretty well. Not much has changed.” He states then continues with,” I know what you really want to ask, and the answer is no. Chanyeol and I are not engaged, and I’m not planning on proposing anytime soon.” 

“Wow, son. That hurt a little. To know that you think so little of me.” He sighs 

“Come on, dad. We have had this conversation plenty of times recently, it’s kind of getting pointless, honestly.” 

“I know, but you never know. It might happen soon.” His dad sounds eager.

“I don’t know about that. I’m definitely not ready for marriage at the moment, and I don’t think Chanyeol is either.” 

“Why? You guys have been together for over a year, and living with each other for 4 months. You both should be ready at this point.” His father lets out a hard sigh.

“I just feel like we aren’t ready for the next stage. We’ve been kind of distant recently, and I’m not sure what to make of it.” Sehun slumps and puts his face in his hands.

“Well, talk to him about it. It’s not going to get solved if you just keep it all to yourself, and pull away from him.”

“I’m not the one that’s pulling. Quiet, yes. But pulling away? No. Everytime I try to talk about it with him he’s either “too tired” or just in a bad mood from work. Or he gets home super late, and I’m already asleep. I really don’t know what to do.” 

“Son, I think you need to confront him at work or ask him out for lunch. It sounds like you need to talk to him if you want this relationship to work. “

“Okay, thanks dad. I’ll take your advice on that.” His dad just ends up patting him on the back, and that conversation dies out. They end up talking for a little longer until his dad remembers that he made plans with Sehun’s mom to go stargazing in the country and needed to leave then or they would be too tired to stargaze that night. Sehun really wants a love like his parents love, just one so full of pure bliss just at the thought of each other. 

    Knowing that Chanyeol won’t be home that night, Sehun decides on stopping by a cute little family restaurant for dinner. When he walks in there is one other person in front of him, and when he hears their voice he is hit with familiarity. He tries to get a good look at the person to make sure he isn’t mistaken, and when he sees the man's tanned sharp jawbone he knows it’s the man from that morning. He decides to tap the man’s shoulder and he is glad to see that he didn’t make a mistake when he turns around. 

“Oh, you’re from this morning.” He widens eyes when he recognizes Sehun.

“Yeah, I am. Are you here by yourself?” He smiles.

“I am. Why? Are you?” 

“Yes. Want to eat together? My boyfriend isn’t going to be home tonight, and I don’t like eating alone.”

“Sounds good. My boyfriend also happens to be busy tonight, and I hate eating alone too. I’ll pay to make up for hitting you this morning.” The man smiles, and Sehun swears that if they both weren’t in a relationship. He’d shoot his shot with him, he shakes his head to rid those thoughts.

“No, I’ll pay. I was the one who wasn’t paying attention.” They bicker over who is going to pay for their meals, and tired of competing, Sehun just pulls out his wallet and pays the cashier with the cash he has even though it could be more than the amount and tells her to keep the change. 

“Not fair…” The tanned man pouts and Sehun smiles in victory. “So, man who just paid for my meal, what is your name?” He asks.

“Sehun. Oh Sehun, you?”

“Kim Jongin.” He smiles as they find a booth to sit at.

“So, Sehun, tell me a little something about you.” Jongin leans forward and rests his jaw on his fist.

“Well, what do you want to know?” Sehun lifts an eyebrow.

“Are you a dog person or a cat person?” 

“Definitely a dog person. I have two babies back at home with my parents, Vivi and Monsieur. You?” And Jongin’s smile grows wide.

“Same, I have three babies that are currently living with my sister, Monggu, Janggu and Jjangah. They’re so freaking precious.” 

    They talk more and find out that they have a lot more in common, and become fast friends. Sehun learns that Jongin is a COO at Kim Enterprise and that his brother, Junmyeon, is the CEO, and Sehun tells him that he’s the CEO at Oh Corporation. And they both like to dance or take long drives to the country just to get away from the busy city noise. Time flew past them that they ended up staying at the restaurant until it closed. When they’re about to separate, they exchange numbers, discussing of maybe going for runs together since their significant others won’t go with them in the mornings. 

    When Sehun gets home there is still no sign of Chanyeol, and he lets out a long sigh. He starts for his room, so he can take a shower. Once he’s under the water pressure, his mind starts to wander. It wanders to how his relationship feels like it’s slowly deteriorating, and where did it start to go wrong. How did they get to where they were? When other couples were together this long, they would end up getting engaged or would already be married. How come they weren’t? He loved Chanyeol, but at some point he stopped seeing a future with him.

“Sehun? Are you in there?” Speak of the devil…

“Yeah, I am. You can come in and join.” 

“No, it’s okay. I’ll just wait until you’re done.” That hurt him a little. They haven’t had any kind of physical affection in weeks, and that just felt like Chanyeol didn’t care. 

When he walks out of the bathroom, he sees Chanyeol entering the room already washed up.

“You took a shower in the guest bathroom?” Sehun questions.

“Uh, yeah. I wanted to shower pretty quickly since I'm a bit tired from work, and just really want to lay down.” He shrugs like it’s no big d