“Channie!”

You nearly visibly shudder at the high pitched squeal that filled the air, your eyes practically rolling all the way to China and back. There was just something about your co-worker’s voice that triggered such a visceral reaction and each time you heard it, you tried your hardest not to grab your pen and stab yourself in the ear. Painful, morbid and probably triggering to most people, but a valid thought that always crossed your mind. 

It wasn’t that you hated Karen - well not really. Her name wasn’t even Karen, it was Lucy, but for all intents and purposes, you called her Karen because she just reminded you of a Karen. She was way too into everyone's business and certainly way too into the men that worked with you, always throwing herself at the nearest one and she had a particular fascination with your cubicle buddy Christopher Bang, or better known as Chan. Or rather 'Channie' as Karen loved the screech every morning.

"Good morning, Lucy." Chan greeted with a warm smile and a small wave as the bleached blond skipped her way past your cubicles and into the break room just down the hall. Pausing in your typing, you looked over at Chan and raised a brow at him, snorting as he let out a heavy sigh. "Don't give me that look Y/n. I'm just being nice," he muttered, eyes scanning the small enclosure of a room to make sure no one was listening in on your conversation.

"I know that, but does she know that?" You asked with a smirk, shrugging slightly as Chan shook his head.

"I would like to think so. But I don't know anymore." he groaned and slouched in his chair, head thumping against the headrest.

"If I have to hear her horrid screech of 'Channie' one more time, I swear I will throw something at her." You looked up at the new voice, laughing as you saw Jisung peeking over the dividing wall of the cubicles. Jisung's desk was situated right in front of yours and next to his was Hyunjin's, who hasn't shown up for work yet. Though a quick glance at the clock told you that there was still an hour before Hyunjin's scheduled time to arrive.

"Shh!" Chan quickly scolded, finger pressed to his lips as he frowned at Jisung. "Come on guys, she's not that bad."  You couldn't help but scoff at that and turned your chair back towards your computer and resumed working. Or at least you tried. It was hard to concentrate when Jisung refused to lower his voice or drop the topic. It was moments like this that you absolutely loved the younger male.

"Not that bad." Jisung mocked and rolled his eyes, draping his arms over the wall. "She's horrible Chan. She is practically in love with you and everyone else with the exception of Y/n."

"Hey!" You pouted and Jisung chuckled.

"No offense, you're great, but I don't think girls are her type."

"Fair point." You waved your hand for him to continue, a small smile playing on your lips.

"I can't believe you're condoning this way of thinking, Y/n." Chan sounded truly shocked and you turned in your chair to stare at him with wide eyes.

"Are you kidding me?" You asked. "Have you forgotten what the monster did to me at the company picnic last year?"

"Uh..."

"Oh my god, she was the one who put the laxatives in your drink?" Jisung asked, his jaw dropping. You groaned and covered your face, but nodded nonetheless. "Dude that was so ty of her," he said and smirked. "Pun intended."

Chan's eyes darted between the two of you before it finally dawned on him what the two of you were talking about. "Oh my god, I remember that. The park said it was such a horrible mess." he laughed.

"Oh shut up, it's not my fault! They never kept up with those bathrooms," you whined, crossing your arms over your chest as you turned away from them. "Besides, she did it on purpose. I was flirting with that intern we had, Seungmin, and Karen - "

"Karen?" Chan asked confused.

"That's what I call her in my mind." you clarified and he nodded his head. "Anyway, Karen found out about it and in her Karen style, got all pissy that some hot guy was giving someone other than her attention. So she asked our boss for some laxatives and spiked my drink."

"I-"

"Dude, Seungmin was hot. Did you at least get his number?" Jisung cut off Chan.

"No, I didn't. Because I was rushing to the bathroom before I myself and it was just a whole ing mess and I'm sure he heard what happened and never wanted to talk to me again."

"That ." Jisung tsked with a shake of his head. "Sorry for your loss."

"You and me both."

"Lucy wouldn't do that though." Chan finally interjected and leaned forward on his desk. "She wouldn't. She's too nice."

"To you. " You emphasized.

"And me," Jisung added. "Well, any guy really.  Listen, Chan, today just kinda actually pay attention to the social interaction going on around here. You'll clearly see what everyone else can see."

Chan frowned and looked down at his keyboard before looking back up at Jisung. "Alright. And we'll see that she's clearly not that kind of person."

"Sure Chan, sure."

 

*~*

 

“No one asked you,” Lucy said as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. You stared at her, mouth open as the words died on your tongue. All you wanted to do was add input into the work discussion the small group was having. You had valuable information to give to Minho about his idea and she just outright shut you down. You honestly couldn’t believe it, but at the same time, you could. This was her typical Karen behavior. Another female enters the scene of her harem and she’s got to try to defend it like a dog marking its territory. 

“I just thought-“ You started. 

“Well, you thought wrong. Move along, we’re having a private conversation.” Lucy crossed her arms and you weren’t sure if she was trying to establish iness or tiness with the way she adjusted her arms to be under her s, pushing them up and out for everyone to see. Your eyes darted to Minho first, who stood statue-still, just blinking. He must have been in shock too. Looking away, your eyes landed on Hyunjin and Chan. Hyunjin’s eyes were rolled so far back in his head you were worried they would be stuck there but your attention was mostly on Chan, who looked dumbfounded. 

Good. Maybe now he was starting to understand. 

“Whatever. When boss man decides to yell at you for ing up, won’t be my problem.” You’re not sure where your confidence came from - probably from the years of taking her and finally being fed up with it - but you simply shrugged and walked off. You could hear her huffing behind you, but you couldn’t care. Rounding the corner, you walked into the break room where Jisung was filling his cup with juice. He paused, staring at you and you groaned lowly as you moved to lean against the fridge. 

“Karen?” 

“Karen.” You nodded and Jisung clicked his tongue, shaking his head. 

“What happened?”

“I overheard them talking about the retail account we’re trying to get and of course, she’s going on about the drivers and trucks as if she knows anything about that.” You grumbled and rolled your eyes. 

“She works in accounting, how the would she know?” Jisung asked. 

“Exactly. So, Minho gave a suggestion on how to keep track of the trucks and when they go out and all I wanted to do was to remind him about that construction contract we got and how one of the trucks he was planning to use was already dedicated to the construction contract.”

“Right…” Jisung nodded. 

“She told me no one asked for my opinion and tried to chase me off. So I told her that when she gets in trouble for what they’re about to do, she has no one to blame but herself.”

A grin broke out on Jisung’s face as he walked over, arm raised. “ing nice, Y/n!” You high-fived him with a giggle and nodded.

“Chan was there too. I’m hoping he sees what a she is.”

“Doubt it. I’ve known Chan for a while now. He’s too kind for his own good. He’ll try to justify her behavior, bet.” 

Scrunching up your face, you sighed. “Yeah probably.” You mumbled and moved away from the fridge, opening it instead to grab your lunch and warm it up. “Or he won’t address it at all.”

“That’s a high possibility.” Jisung agreed. 

It ended up being the latter of the two options, and by closing time, you were 100% sure that Chan had fully justified Lucy’s actions in his mind and didn’t want to bring up the subject again. You couldn’t blame him, it was probably for the best. The whole situation was completely stupid and whatever happened, happened. But still, it was a prime example of the bull Lucy would do and it was presented to Chan on a silver platter with a ing bow. And he’s acting like he didn’t see it. 

A devastatingly disgusting thought crossed your mind that Chan actually liked Lucy. You shuddered at the mere possibility, but it was a factor you hadn’t taken into consideration. Maybe Chan really did like her and the rest of you -talking Lucy only upset him. Or he was so blinded by his feelings that he just refused to believe it. As you paced the floor of your living room, wine glass in hand, mulling over all the options of this scenario, your phone rang. 

Pulling it from your pocket, you glanced at the caller ID, brows furrowing at Minho’s name before answering. “Hello?”

“Oh my god, you won’t believe this !” 

You were slightly taken aback, more so from the fact, Minho had called you, rather than from the language. 

“Uh…did you mean to call me?”

“This is Y/n, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so you won’t believe this !” Minho started once more and you giggled. “So after you went to the break room, Chan suggested that maybe we should actually talk to ‘big boss man’ before implementing our plans. And of course, she was all for it.”

“Of course, because it was Channie ’s suggestion, bleh.” You fake wretched and rolled your eyes, walking to the couch and taking a seat. “So what happened?”

“So we went to tell him our idea, me and Karen.”

“Ah, I see Jisung has been teaching you well.” You laughed, Minho snorted in amusement. 

“So I start talking but she interrupts me, right? Wanting to spread those peacock feathers.”

“It’s like you’re in my mind.” You said in awe. 

“And she tells him the plan as if she came up with it. She was so excited too, I wanted to puke. Anyway, so boss man brings the exact concern you had-“

“You talked to Jisung then?”

“Yeah, I always talk to Jisung. He’s my roommate and always ready to spill the juicy details.” He laughed. “Anyway, boss man was like ‘uh, what about this account?’ And her tune changed so fast! She literally told him that the entire plan was yours and that she already knew that this would be a problem and that she had figured it out.”

Your eyes widened, jaw-dropping. “Are you ing kidding me?! What would she even know, she works in accounting! I can’t believe this !”

“Oh wait, it gets better. Chan just happened to walk by the door and overheard everything.”

“Yeah?” You perked up. 

“He praised her for finding such a quick solution.”

Your heart broke. Which was stupid, it’s not like he was professing his love to this of a woman, but still. There was something about the fact he praised her after she so openly admonished you for the exact same issue you wanted to bring to their attention. It stung. What had you ever done to deserve that kind of treatment? You had gone out of your way for both of them to make them feel welcome when they first joined the company and now you felt like a social pariah. 

“Wow.”

“Yeah, and now apparently Karen and Chan are going on a date tomorrow after work.” You swore your heart stopped working for a moment. “Y/n?”

“Minho, I gotta go. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Are you-“

You ended the call and tossed your phone on the couch. It took a moment for your brain to truly process what had been said, but when it did, you downed the rest of the wine in your glass. 

“.” You choked out, followed by a dry laugh. “Because of course, that’s what would happen. I must have done some ed up in my past life to have this sort of karma.” Talking to yourself only gave you so much comfort, less this time because really, you had a thing for Chan. Well, you had things for a lot of your coworkers really. They were all good-looking people, it couldn’t be helped. But the difference between you and Lucy is that you never outwardly expressed those feelings. You didn’t want to garner all their attention. You wanted them, or at the very least Chan, to want you for you. And not because you went around shoving your s in his face. 

And now it seemed like you didn’t even have a chance with Chan. Just your luck. Life truly . 

 

*~*

 

You had thought about calling out of work, but in the end, you decided to go in. What did it matter? Chan clearly had a thing for Lucy and you just needed to accept that. And maybe if Lucy dated Chan, she would be less of a . Or maybe more if she thought you were flirting with him. It was hard to gage with her. 

The silence of the office was peaceful, and you only one of the lights, wanting to still bask in the darkness of the early morning. There was a time when you used to hate coming into the office early in the morning. Being the only person in the building to man pretty much every department until the rest of the staff arrived, it seemed so overwhelming. Now, however, you were 7 months in and you loved the emptiness of the office and the peace it brought you. And you could prepare yourself for whatever the day was going to bring and today you were sure hell was going to be unleashed in some way. 

So it surprised you when you rounded the cubicle wall and saw the vase full of purple and lavender roses sitting on top of your desk. Instinctively you looked around for any signs of who could have left them, even though you knew you were completely alone in the office. It was a small company with a moderate-sized building and a handful of employees, none of which were there at the time. Cautiously, you approached, examining the item. You spotted a little blue card sticking out and pulled it out, opening it quickly. 

‘Y/n,

I hope you like the flowers. I remembered that purple was your favorite color. You’ve done a lot of the people you work with, always so kind and caring, but also entertaining and charming. You deserve so much and I hope this gift can show how much you mean to me. 

-Your admirer’

An admirer? How the hell did you end up with an admirer? You weren’t anything special, at least not in your eyes. It was possible that someone could find you attractive, but it was just a thought that you couldn’t begin to wrap your head around. Well, as they say, you aren’t your ideal type, so it would make sense. But who would do something like this? It certainly wasn’t any of the drivers that work for the company, because you weren’t close with any of them for them to know about your favorite color. 

You were sure it was a coworker, it had to be. But who? Lucy was already out of the question. That banshee probably didn’t have one decent caring bone in her body. By proxy, Chan was also out of the picture. If what Minho said was true, Chan was totally into her, and everything you’ve said about her probably only made him hate you or something. You sighed, running a hand through your hair. So who else? Jisung maybe? No. You were pretty sure he was exclusively gay and trying, if not already, to date Minho. And Minho surely wasn’t someone who liked you like that either. 

Hyunjin? That was a possibility but Hyunjin was a natural flirt so you really couldn’t judge based on his behavior. There were a few other people that could possibly have sent the flowers, but you quickly ruled them out based on how few interactions you had with them. You were at a loss. It was a very sweet gesture, but the stress it now brought was certainly not worth it. 

“Please, all I want is a break.” You mumble as you looked up at the ceiling. With a heavy sigh, you pushed the flowers to the side and took a seat at your desk to clock in and start working. 

It was about 8:30 when your coworkers began showing upcoming in droves and filling the quiet office with an obnoxious amount of noise. Lucy was one of them, and for some reason, she seemed to have her eyes set on you this hellish morning. 

“Good morning Y/n, sleep well?” You paused in your typing, head slowly turning to look at her. You regretted it almost instantly because she was all dolled up and looking gorgeous. Despite hating her guts, you weren’t blind. She was a very attractive woman and it seemed today she had put in extra effort to look beautiful. Probably for Chan. Your mood soured even more as you tried to push that thought away. 

“Good morning Lucy.” You replied, trying to put forth your best pleasantries because let’s face it, the last thing you wanted to be doing was conversing with Karen . “I slept fine. How about you?”

“I slept wonderfully! Thank you for asking.” She grinned. “You’re so polite. I don’t know why people don’t like you.” There was a sickly sweetness in that back-handed comment, your stomach-churning. “Oh! What pretty roses!” Your brows furrowed and you turned your head towards the right end of your desk, staring at the roses that you had long since forgotten were there - too focused on work to keep stressing about who had left them. “Shucks, someone must have mistaken your desk for mine.”

Before you could even protest, Lucy snatched up the vase and brought the flowers up to her nose, giving them a sniff. You had to wonder how delusional someone had to be to believe flowers left on someone else’s desk were meant for them. But if there was one person who jumped the shark like that, it was certainly Lucy. Though lately - the past couple of hours or so - it was beginning to look like your thoughts of Lucy weren’t as valid as you initially thought. And if it weren’t for the note attached to the flowers, you would probably be more inclined to believe that logic - the flowers were for her. But as it was, there was a note with your name on it so clearly, these flowers had been meant for you. 

“Actually, those are mine.” You corrected her and reached out, taking the case back from her. She stared at you, eyes narrowed before huffing and grabbing at the vase. 

“Don’t be silly, no one would buy you flowers. No one even likes you.” That jab really stung and you were sure she was just saying things to hurt you. 

“Well jokes on you, they are for me. There is a card and everything.” You countered and reached out to show her the card, only it wasn’t there. You were positive you had put the card back in the roses, but after searching, you came up empty-handed. Lucy raised an elegant brow before giggling. 

“Oh silly Y/n, always daydreaming.” She sighed fondly. “Maybe one day someone will leave you flowers. Don’t give up hope!” The enthusiasm Lucy showed reeked of fakeness. “I’ll just take these and put them on my desk. They’ll go perfectly with the aesthetic and purple is my favorite color!” Her squeal echoed through the room as she walked away, leaving you quite flabbergasted at what just happened. 

There had been a note, you were sure of it! Pushing away from your desk, you stood and started searching the surrounding areas for the card. There was no way you had simply imagined a sweet message like that. Sure you had an active imagination and on more than one occasion daydreamed about a coworker coming to sweep you off your feet and give you the ‘happily ever after’ you’ve always wanted. But you could tell the difference between reality and imagination and that card had most certainly been real. 

Real and now missing. 

“Um, Y/n?” 

You paused in your actions, desk a mess with items tossed around haphazardly. Looking behind you, you stared at Chan, whose worried gaze only added to the anxiousness that was slowly bubbling up inside you. “Oh, uh…hey.”

“You okay?” He asked. 

“I'm fine.” He gave you a pointed look. “Just lost a really important note.” You assured him, rushing to put all the items back where they belonged. “No need to worry.”

“If you say so.” The uneasiness in his voice was just another stab in your already Swiss-cheesed chest. The awkward silence that followed only bore the knife deeper. Your brain was running a mile a minute, trying to come up with something to say to break the tension. Anything to make things feel like normal but you came up with nothing. And that was probably for the best. 

“Good morning gu - whoa, what the hell happened?” Jisung gawked at your desk and you sighed, working faster. 

“Nothing. Just lost a note. It’s fine.” You waved a hand at him. It took you another three minutes and more prying questions from Jisung before your desk was back to its original state and you could get back to work. Jisung had returned back to his cubicle finally and Chan had pretty much ignored the entire situation. The early morning rush of employees was finally settling down - a steady drone of hushed whispers and movements becoming background noise as you once more settled back into the rhythm of working. 

“Channie!!!”

The shriek had your jerking, heart racing. Turning, you watched as Lucy ran over to hug Chan, he returned it in what you thought was an uncomfortable and awkward way. But Minho’s words from last night echoed in your mind. Scoffing, you turned back around, intent on blocking out Karen and her stupid voice.

“Look Channie! I got beautiful roses this morning.” You looked back, eyes wide as Lucy showed off the vase of roses that you knew were yours. “And in my favorite color too!”

“I thought you hated purple,” Chan commented and you raised a brow. 

“Oh, well I change my mind.” She giggled and your eyes narrowed. What the hell was this? She hated the color purple but stole your roses, claiming they were her’s and in her favorite color. God, you wished you had that note now for proof. Lucy was such a dirty damn liar. 

“I see. Well, they’re very beautiful. Who are they from?”

“They’re not from you?” Lucy asked with a frown. 

“Nope.”

“Well, that’s strange. I guess that makes sense why they weren’t on my desk this morning. I knew you wouldn’t make a silly mistake like that.” She giggled. 

“They weren’t on your desk for a reason.” Jisung suddenly joined in. You looked up, watching as he leaned over the dividing cubicle wall to glare at Lucy. 

“Nonsense. It was just a mistake.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Jisung practically growled out. “Those were left on Y/n’s desk. Those are for her!” He was clearly agitated but that’s not what stuck out to you. What did stick out was the fact that Jisung knew those roses had been on your desk. That they were meant for you. Was he your secret admirer? You didn’t think so, given how his handwriting is normally sloppy and hard to read and the handwriting on the note had been very neat.  

“No, they weren't!” Lucy protested though it was clear by her facial expression she was having a hard time believing her own lie now. She was caught. 

“Yes, they were. There was even a note signed by me.”

“Your name was not on that note.” 

“A-ha!” You jumped up and pointed your finger at her. “You took the note!” It all made sense now, why you couldn’t find the note. “You took it and made me think I was crazy. Wow, Lucy, I didn’t think you would stoop so low.”

“W-wait a minute. I didn’t-“

“Lucy, were you lying?” Chan asked and she froze, chest heaving as she started to panic. “Why would you lie and say those are your flowers?”

“Well because, - I mean I, - Just look at her!” She fumbled, ing the vase in your direction. “Does she look like someone who could land a man? A mistake was clearly made and these roses -“

“Are for Y/n, not you.” Jisung interrupted. “Jesus I knew you were an attention but this is just crazy.”

Silence fell over the group and you were left standing there, unsure of what to say and do. Not that you needed to do much. Jisung and Chan were thoroughly capable of handling the situation and their scoldings were doing wonders already. Though it was garnering the attention of the rest of the office and that probably wasn’t a good thing. 

“I should report you to HR,” Jisung commented. 

“No, please!”

“That’s a little overkill, Sung.”

“Overkill? Listen, Chan, I know you got a thing for this stupid bimbo but what she just did-“

“I don’t have a thing for her.” Chan corrected with a frown. 

“What?!” You asked, your voice nearly drowned out by Lucy’s as she asked the same thing. 

“But, we have a date tonight and everything Channie, I don’t understand.”

“Date? We don’t have a date.” Chan frowned in confusion. 

“You're coming over tonight.”

“Yes, to help with the project. This is strictly work-related. It’s not a date.” 

A beat of silence passed before Jisung burst out laughing. You followed suit shortly after because it was actually hilarious to learn the truth about a situation that had hurt you so deeply the night before. You honestly couldn’t believe it. 

“She’s been telling everyone,” more giggles left Jisung as he tried to calm down. “That you’re going on a date tonight. I’m dying! Lucy, why do you lie so much?” He asked through his hysterics. 

“I’m not…stop laughing at me!” She shouted, but it only served to make Jisung laugh harder. “You’re all so mean!” And with an overdramatic huff - very Karen-like - she stormed off to who knows where taking your roses with her. You doubted you would get them back, but it is what it is. 

“Y/n.” Pulled from your thoughts, you looked over at Chan, smiling gently at him. “I’m sorry that happened.”

“Why are you apologizing?” You asked. 

“Because she stole your flowers and said some horrible things to you.” 

You shrugged and sat back down in your chair. “It’s par for the course with her, Chan.” You sighed. “She’s been a to me since I started working here, nothing surprises me anymore.”

“Still, you shouldn’t have to put up with it.”

“It is what it is.” You shrugged. “Thank you though.” Smiling, you turned then and looked at Jisung. “And thank you for the roses.”

His cheeks turned a dusty pink as he rubbed the back of his head. “Don’t mention it. I’ll buy you new ones.” He offered and you shook your head. 

“Don’t worry about it. You could buy me lunch though.” You grinned and he laughed. 

“Deal!” He grinned. “Hey Chan, believe us now about Karen?” He asked. 

“Unfortunately.” You laughed at that, shaking your head slightly. It was moments like these that made up for all the pain and suffering Lucy caused and you cherished them with all your heart.