Once he came home, Myungsoo threw his keys on the counter and ran his hands across his face in frustration. Not even the comforts of his couch could bring any calm to him, as he laid down and kept one of his palm on his face, covering his eyes. 

No, he did not look forward to 'Guys' Night', not when Lee Sungyeol was invited too.

His senior just had to be the good-natured 'nice to everyone'-type of guy and ask Sungyeol to join out of all the people. Sunggyu didn't even know Sungyeol, who was a complete stranger to the older man. Myungsoo would have to engage into conversations now with the one person he did not feel confident in talking with. He was bounced to make fun of himself in front of the people he knew best (out of all those he met in his life), and it already happened in front of Woohyun, who loved to tease when he saw an oportunity. Myungsoo groaned in utter defeat, wishing he had not agreed to join.

He would rather dance in a green field with sheeps knocking him down, as ridiculous as it sounded.

It was a big NO to make himself appear as a laughingstock, partly to his pride but also to what everyone viewed him as. Myungsoo was after all in control of his emotions (most of the time), and to some people he was respected - even to those who barely knew him. He was not like Sunggyu, who wanted to be good friends with the entire world, nor was he like Woohyun, who cared less about people and enjoyed the strangest things. He was not like Howon, not like any of the people he knew back in the days. Myungsoo was... well, Myungsoo. The one, who didn't stutter or break a sweat. The one people would look up to and find attractive, someone difficult to read and understand.

Then there was his position in the working field. And if it hadn't been said before, it should be told now.

The company Myungsoo worked at was actually his dad's. He was The Big K's son and future successor, yet Myungsoo wasn't fond of bragging or receiving special treatment. But it would actually explain why he didn't exactly socialize with the employees and employers like any normal worker would. Mostly it was because the man was stuck for hours in his own little world (it's just his office, though, because no one else got the access to it or have it labbelled as theirs), and then there was the fact that he simply didn't find the necessary to do so.

He wasn't completely lonely, though. There were people talking to him about daily stuff that wasn't about meetings and paperwork. The only few ones that came knocking on his door were for example his manager, sometimes his dad (when the old man felt like it), and most of all Woohyun. But the last one couldn't be placed on the list, because Woohyun never knocked on the door and just barged in unconcerned. And Sunggyu, his senior, was nice to everyone, so he didn't really count.

Okay, so maybe he didn't really have anyone considered as good companions to him, who shared the same workplace.

Either way, Myungsoo didn't find it in him to complain. People were too noisy, after all, and too much noise was a one-way ticket to the realm of headaches. He did not need that at all, not when he would already be exhausted from his daily tasks. Myungsoo slipped one of the cushions over his face and groaned again. It took a while before he eventually got up and prepared dinner to himself, the sky growning darker outside with the city turning on the lights.

- - -

"Message no. 1: Son? I called you this afternoon to remind you of the interviews we agreed. Remember that they starts on Monday 10 am sharp, alright? I'll see you later at dinner. Take care."

The message came yesterday. Myungsoo smeared his face to rub the sleep out of him, but it only helped a little.

Yesterday had been a rather tiring day, and all Myungsoo wanted to do was to find his bed and sleep, let sleep consume him until all that was left was black. It was getting harder for him to wake up, even with the alarm clock and set on repeat. If that wasn't bad enough, Myungsoo could barely sleep at night either. Sometimes he'll be laying restlessly on his bed for hours, only to give up and make himself a whole jug of coffee fresh from the machine. Naturally, he wouldn't be the most buoyant person the company had ever seen in its lifetime, since Myungsoo was always cranky, when he didn't get enough sleep.

Almost everyday he didn't get the proper amount of rest he required.

His father must have noticed by now, that his son wasn't doing a very good job on the papers due to the lack of sleep. And seeing as it was becoming a bit of a trouble, he wanted to hire someone to help Myungsoo with that. The latter thought it was absolutely unnecessary, though. He didn't need someone else to do his work. He had done it himself so far after all.

Myungsoo still had the jitters after meeting Sungyeol earlier, and his mind didn't want to turn away from the thoughts of the lanky man, despite his desperate attempts to force it. He felt tired, just really tired and worn out.

He deleted the voicemail from his dad and got up, preparing to leave the building.

It was too early on the day for Myungsoo to be getting up on a weekend, just so he could drive over to Woohyun's house for some issue (which he meant most believably could wait without trouble). Myungsoo wasn't entirely a morning person, and he didn't even finish his coffee at home, when he left the building and wore a grim frown. Whatever his colleague wanted, it had to be very important. Because otherwise, Myungsoo might as well just strangle him for waking him up because of petty reasons.

Once he came towards Woohyun's front door, he knocked on its surface grumpily and cursed under his breath. Patience was not his current friend, and it never was for a sleep-deprived Myungsoo. "Coming~!" Woohyun's voice sang awfully through the door, to which the b-person raised an eyebrow at. A silly-sounding Woohyun meant something, and Myungsoo didn't particularly look forward to it.

"Ah! Glad you could come, Myungsoo!" There stood a wide-grinning Woohyun by the front door, welcoming his colleague inside.

"Did I have a choice?" The latter replied a bit crossed, while stepping into the other's house and kicking his shoes off. "You said it was important, so what is it?"

"Easy now, I'll tell all about it soon." Woohyun replied in a reassurring voice, clasping a hand over the other's shoulder and leading him towards the living room. "How about some coffee, though? I know you need it badly." With that said, Woohyun meant that coffee was somewhat an aquirement to heal Myungsoo from his crankiness, which caused the man in question to frown and shove off the other's hand.

"I'm not in mood for your razz, so let's just get it over with."

"As you wish~." The 'host' shrugged and went behind Myungsoo, kicking the door shut behind them. He started pushing him inside the living room with both hands grasping his shoulderblades. Myungsoo's eyes were attempted to roll, but he refrained and let his co-worker do whatever.

However, that was until he found out that he wasn't the only one visiting Woohyun this early of the day, and he almost wanted to straight out choke the other for not telling him beforehanded. Lee Sungyeol was occupying the comfortable red couch, and he hadn't noticed Myungsoo walking into the room, nor witnessed him freezing on the spot with a pale expression. In fact, he was actually engaged of going through some papers, and when he reached for the mug resting peacefully on the coffee table, his head raised up.

"Oh," Sungyeol looked surprised seeing Myungsoo standing there, and a smile formed on his lips. "Myungsoo, you're here too?"

As if a magical force warmed up his frozen state instantly, the latter automatically reminded himself to speak and not look too tense.

"Yeah, seems like it." He managed to utter, glad that he didn't sound at least stupid in front of the other.

"Well. I'll be letting you two chat, while I go and make some more coffee, okay?" Woohyun announced with a raised hand and left without waiting for an actual reply, going past Myungsoo and turning towards the door behind the couch. "Have fun~." Before his colleague could even as much as protest about him skedaddling from the scene, Woohyun had already disappeared from within sight. The man in distaught felt his teeth clench nervously, both of his arms glued to his sides.

'Just my luck.' He thought defeatedly, not sure of what to do around Sungyeol, much less of what to talk about with him.

The lanky male must had noticed the awkwardness forming between them, because his eyes started to shift slightly towards the side.

"So..." Sungyeol began steadily, slowly putting the papers on the table before him. "Don't you wanna sit down or something?" Myungsoo kinda wanted to hit himself for not doing something so simple earlier, instead of having Sungyeol to ask him that of all things.

"Right, sure." He replied a bit too quickly, but found that the other didn't seem to detect his little slip-off. He decided to sit down on the nearest armchair, the one standing to the couch's right, and tried to let himself relax into the soft leather, hoping he would be less jitty once seated comfortably. If this was some sort of evil joke Woohyun had decided to pull on him - to humiliate him (and in front of Sungyeol even), he was going to do more than just choking his cheeky-grinning comrade until his face got blue. Myungsoo was almost about to run his palm through his hair in an attempt to not show his frustration too much (and his nervosity), but unfortunately Sungyeol beat it to him and spoke, before he could entirely calm down.

"What's up? You seem a bit tense."

"It's nothing, -" Myungsoo said too quickly for his own taste and felt slightly flustered, having not relaxed completely yet. The other didn't look convinced, and Myungsoo could tell that he himself wouldn't be convinced either if being in Sungyeol's shoes. "Really, it's nothing. I just didn't expect seeing you here."

"Oh," Sungyeol grimaced a bit at the reason Myungsoo had come up with, as if he didn't entirely understand why that would be the huge deal to the awkward tension around them. It became quiet again, and the younger of them tore his eyes off from the lanky guy, somewhat burned at the sight. Nothing came up in his mind. No ideas came to him, so he didn't know what he should do. The silence felt so argonizing, he wanted to jump out through the window or run over to where Woohyun had gone off to (as long as he wasn't in the same room as Sungyeol). However, he heard an annoyed sigh that didn't belong to him, and Sungyeol's voice followed after.

"Am I really going to get you and make you scream bloody murder? Quit worrying already and loosen up, stupid."

The offending words caused the other to stare up with a start. He sat still, watching the annoyed look from his lifelong friend, and somehow it eased his nervous self. If it had been anyone else, they wouldn't have picked up the joke straightaway, but Myungsoo remembered that he wasn't just 'anyone', not to Sungyeol who had been his great friend ever since they were kids. He had almost forgotten Sungyeol's witty sense and snappy comments, and how often it all got him into trouble, because most people didn't understand the humor behind his insulting tongue. He found himself relaxing at last, his shoulders slacking down an inch.

He didn't know what exactly came over him to do what he was going to, his arms crossed loosely over his waist, but he attempted to shoot back a comment of his own. "Right..." Came his voice with an unimpressive sound, and his eyes stared at Sungyeol's face. "Says the one, who thought the ghosts from the movies would jump out and attack you." But the other wasn't affected by the look in Myungsoo's eyes. Sungyeol rolled his in an exaggerated manner, leaning into the backrest of the couch.

"Yeah. Because someone who wet their pants suddenly have a better opinion."

Myungsoo furrowed his eyebrows, a frown appearing on his features.

"I didn't wet my pants. It was you who spilt the water over me, since you couldn't contain your scream."

To that, the lanky one waved dismissively. "Not important. The point is, it's alright to be in denial, Myungsoo. Whenever you've pee'd your jeans or not."

Myungsoo threw in the most offended glare he could muster, and Sungyeol stared back unaffectedly. They sat like that for a moment, until the corners of each of their mouths were pulling upwards, and both were tempted to burst out in laughter. Myungsoo tried not to laugh, but he didn't manage to keep a snicker behind his already widened grin. Sungyeol was the one who laughed and had to wipe off a little tear from his eye.

"Yeah, uh..." Sungyeol looked up, his infamous radiant (beautiful) smile spreading over his mouth, making the other male fight himself to not tear his eyes away. "I'm sorry for spilling water over you, by the way. Guess I never apologized for that." Myungsoo looked at him, as if he had grown two heads.

He shook his head slightly, smiling in a reasurring way. "It's fine. That was way back in the years." was his reply, but still found it amusing that Sungyeol would even bother to apologize for it, when he so refused too the day it happened, no matter how many times Myungsoo threatened him if he didn't say sorry.

They talked a bit more before Woohyun returned with two mugs of fresh coffee, handing one of them to Myungsoo and sitting down beside Sungyeol. It turned out that the shorter man did ask Myungsoo for something important, so the thought of Woohyun trying to embarrass his colleague was surprisingly thrown aside. Just for the moment.