[12:45pm] Hannie: Wow, who did you piss off in a past life?

[12:45pm] You: Someone who wants vengeance apparently.

[12:45pm] Shua: This is all because you refuse to sleep with your boss.

[12:45pm] You: Not happening. Really wish you’d stop suggesting it.

[12:45pm] Hannie: Shua might have a point…

[12:45pm] You: Why am I even friends with the two of you? 

[12:46pm] Gyu: Shua, are you trying to get her fired?

[12:46pm] Shua: Uh, no? Clearly I’m trying to get her promoted. 

[12:46pm] Cheol: 9pm. My place. Drinks, probably not much food, dancing and poor decisions. Guaranteed to make you feel better.

[12:46pm] Dino: Awesome! Party at Cheol’s. Tell everyone!

[12:46pm] Vernon: Have you guys seen this cat pic?

[12:46pm] Shua: Subtle change of subject there.

[12:46pm] Cheol: I’m busy with reports and am not on team peer pressure our friend into ing their boss. 

[12:47pm] DK: Party! See everyone tonight.

[12:47pm] Jun: Is your boss hot?

[12:47pm] Woozi: Isn’t Kihyun your boss?

[12:47pm] You: Yes.

[12:48pm] Hannie: So you admit that your boss is hot.

[12:48pm] You: No! I was answering Woozi. 

[12:48pm] Shua: Sure Jan.

[12:48pm] Wonwoo: *popcorn*

[12:48pm] Woozi: Yeah I’m on team don’t your boss if you were wondering.

[12:49pm] You: Someone else in this group is sane. Thank you.

[12:49pm] Woozi: np

[12:49pm] Vernon: So that’s a no on the cat pic then.

[12:49pm] Seungkwan: It’s not really a question of if you should do it. You CAN’T do it. 

[12:49pm] You: Not sure if this is helpful or an attack…

[12:49pm] Seungkwan: I’m on your side ffs! I’ll disown you if you him.

[12:50pm] Hao: Still sounds a bit judgemental ngl.

[12:50pm] Wonwoo: *popcorn*

[12:50pm] Gyu: Yeah, sounds a bit like if she did do it, you’re going to shame her out of the friendship.

[12:50pm] Hoshi: I didn’t know Kihyun was your boss!  

[12:50pm] Hoshi: Can I send his gift to your office for you to pass on? Please?! 

[12:50pm] You: Hoshi, why are you sending my boss a gift?

[12:50pm] Hoshi: I was at his wedding a few weeks ago and forgot to drop my gift off.

[12:51pm] Shua: Ok maybe don’t your boss.

[12:51pm] You: Finally you speak some sense!

[12:51pm] Shua: At least not until he’s out of the honeymoon phase.

Cheol removed Shua from the group

[12:51pm] Dino: I approve.

Hannie added Shua to the group

[12:52pm] Shua: Wow. The audacity Cheol.

[12:52pm] Cheol: Fight me.

[12:53pm] Vernon: thislilfloofyguystoebeans.jpeg sent.

[12:53pm] Wonwoo: Cute.

Cut to 11pm, you’ve been dancing with your friends and drinking whatever strange concoctions Jun keeps bringing you. You only finished the ones that tasted good, disposing of the less palatable ones when he wasn’t looking. Water and fresh air began to call to your soul so you excused yourself from the hyper and tipsy group who were currently having a dance off to Psy’s ‘Gentleman’. Cheol let you go after you promised that you weren’t leaving to go home.

You made your way into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water then made a beeline for the verandah. The cool air was a welcome change to the makeshift dance floor downstairs. You could still hear the bass from the music but it was muted now that bricks, mortar and semi soundproof glass separated you from it. It had been awhile since you’d gotten to unwind like this with your friends. It was a pleasant change to the monotony of work, eat ,sleep, repeat.  You leant on the balcony and let yourself zone out as you looked at the view from Cheol’s apartment. You wished you could see the stars more clearly but that was one of the compromises city living required. 

A hand lands on your shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. The gesture was innocent but because your mind had been elsewhere you nearly jumped out of your skin from shock. A soft laugh came from behind you and you immediately knew who it was. Hoshi. “Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you.” 

You wave your hand to calm him down. “It’s ok Hoshi, I must have really let my mind wander while I was looking at the view. I didn’t even hear you come out here.”

He smiles at you, moving to stand next to you so he can look out at the view as well. “Yeah, it is something isn’t it?”

“Mmmhmm.” You hum in agreement.

“You should see it at sunset. Sometimes it looks like the entire city is ablaze… which sounds much worse than it is.” He laughs awkwardly. “I’m trying to say that it’s pretty.” His hand grazes your arm as he leans on the balcony, the action sending a fluttering feeling to your stomach. Weird. That wasn’t a feeling you ever associated with him and he was an affectionate person so it wasn’t rare for him to touch you.

You weren’t sure what was different about this touch. You wanted him to do it again, to see if that feeling was a fluke or if it would happen again. You were staring at his arm, not noticing how his gaze softened as he watched you. He decides to throw caution to the wind and call you out on it. “Hey, my eyes are up here y’know.” 

You felt your face heat up in embarrassment as you realise you’ve been blatantly staring at him. You didn’t know what had come over you but you felt like you were seeing him for the first time. Hoshi had always been in your friend group, and the two of you had always gotten along but you had never felt some type of way about him. Until now apparently. Obviously you were going to have to play it cool since he’s always treated you like family so there’s no way he would look at you and feel any type of way but familial. Which was ok. 

“Cute.” He smiles at you, poking your cheek when your eyes don’t meet his. “Hey, why are you embarrassed?”

“I’m not okay?” You huff, which only causes his smile to grow. “Shut up.” 

“I didn’t even say anything!” He grabs your chin and lifts your head, forcing you to look up at him. “But you are very cute when you’re embarrassed.” You stare into his eyes, unable to look away. He waits to see if you’ll look away but you don’t. You stare at him like you’re seeing him clearly for the first time in your life. You see the shift in his gaze as it moves from confused to curious to something more. “If you keep looking at me like that I’m going to kiss you.” Before you can begin to process his words, you feel the soft press of his lips on yours, the moment sending electricity throughout your body. You were too surprised by the action to kiss him back, and you feel him begin to pull back. Your brain finally snapped out of its daze and your lips chased his, not wanting the kiss to end. You press your lips into his, reciprocating the kiss. You feel him smile into the kiss as he realises that you want this, that you want him. 

He pulls you closer, causing a small gasp to escape your lips, and deepens the kiss as he allows himself to let go. His lips were soft and comforting but you could feel the desire that was there as well. His hand caressed your cheek before moving through your hair, down the back of your neck and settled on your waist as he pulled you closer. Your hands grip the front of his shirt, pulling him closer to you as you feel his tongue swipe across your bottom lip and you allow him access, wanting to feel more of him. You could taste one of those awful cocktails that he must have had earlier but you didn’t care.

The two of you broke apart to catch your breaths, the tension between you thick and heady. “I’m definitely not your boss, but would you like to get out of here?” He murmured as his fingers rubbed circles into your side.

“Only if you don’t mention my boss again.” You whisper.

He can’t stop himself from laughing which only sets you off as well. The palpable tension between you momentarily dissipates. “How does ramen at a late night diner followed by making out and some light groping sound?” He winks at you as he makes his proposition.

“Has that line ever worked for you?” Because you think it’s working on you. Because you think Hoshi might just charm the pants off you tonight if he’s lucky. Because you want him to keep kissing you. Because you want to see what else that mouth of his can do.

He shrugs as he waits for you to make a decision. “You tell me, this is the first time I’ve used it.”

“It shouldn’t work,” Except that he’s somehow perfected that dichotomy of silly and y. How had you never noticed before? What planet have you been living on to never notice before tonight? You could kick yourself.

“But…?” He asks, a hopeful smile on his face. How the are you supposed to deny that face? From those warm and inviting eyes to those pinchable cheeks and that endearing smile. You couldn’t say no. Hoshi has always been someone who you found inviting but until very recently you hadn’t realised that the guy was actually hot. He’d always been the cute guy with a heart of gold but something had shifted for you in the past ten minutes. You were sober at this point so you couldn’t blame a haze of liquor for this epiphany. 

You grab his hand and smile. For some reason his cheesy pick up line has worked on you. Maybe you’re hungry, maybe his lips are just too inviting, maybe the warmth of your bodies is something you’re now thinking of exploring. “Let’s go.” You say. 

Maybe the truth is that you just have a crush on Hoshi and you’ve only just realised it.

A/N: I forgot to post this here. Happy Birthday Hoshi. I had no plans on writing for him today but apparently my brain had other ideas so I hope you like it.