a/n: Friends and aBenefits is another lose Sequel to this sequel to Date Stalkers

Did i mention having too many sequels?? no??

well ... . 

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Present

Jongdae sighs, something he had been doing all morning.

"Do that again and I'm going to end you." Chanyeol grumbles as he reads the documents Chen had brought for him to sign. "Why have you been acting as if you had lost to one of your ridiculous bets with you secretary?" he asked, and adding 'Yet again?' after a moment.

"Maybe because I have?" Chen bites back, only getting away with it because Chanyeol is practically younger than him, even if it's just a few months, and because they were cousins so it doesn't matter if Chanyeol is his boss. "It's all your fault. Why couldn't you have acted manly and went to woo Lani instead of hiding in your troll's cave and waiting for her to eventually seek you out?"

Chanyeol's head snapped up and gave Chen a disbelieving look, "You made a bet about me and Lani? How could you?!"

"Yah! You were begging for it! What with the two of you skirting over the matter for nearly a decade?!"

"It's not the point, Kim Jongdae! The point was you were bored enough to make a little game about other people. Don't you get tired of it? You and your secretary had been at it ever since high school! I won't wonder if you'd secretly fallen in love with one other, seeing that you are in constant contact."

"What?! That's ridiculous! I would never!"

Chanyeol smirks at the way Chen stutters, "I wouldn't say never if I were you. Things happen, Chen. You know that. You're always there when they do."

"Whatever, man. Just hurry that up because I really want his day to be over because I can't endure another hour with Joy rubbing salt on my wounded ego just because she won, yet again. If only you had the guts to tell Lani how you feel then I wouldn't be sulking about losing!"

"Dude, it's just money. It's not as if you're that poor. And it's not as if you've never lost to her countless times before! You're ego is so deflated it's practically inexistent!"

"Yah! Shut up before I end you, Park." Chen glares. "I won countless times too!"

"Yeah. And she had won twice, if not three times, as much." Chanyeol taunted.

Before Chen could even retort, and strangle his cousin, a soft knock got them both quiet. Lani came in, a soft smile on her lips as she walked over. "Mr. Kim, your secretary had just informed me that the new assistant director of the HR department had arrived."

"Why couldn't she tell me herself?" Chen couldn't help but scoff, foregoing to use proper work formalities since this is Lani, Chanyeol's girlfriend, not just some assistant.

"Maybe because you forgot your phone at your office and she couldn't reach you." Lani sighs, also loosening up on the formality just a little, "And what is this bet I heard about?"

Chen gulps at the narrowed eyes directed at him. He likes Lani, a lot. She's kind and understanding, a really good match for a doofus like Chanyeol, but he also knows that there's an evil streak in her that he doesn't want to get acquainted with.

"OH! You're finished! Good! Let me take that! Thanks! I better go met that new assistant director! Bye!" Chen but all snatched the papers from Chanyeol's desk and bolted for the door. He doesn't want to be the one to explain the bet to Lani, let Joy do that and face Lani's wrath!

Once he got back to his office, noting that Joy wasn't at her desk as per usual, he piled the documents neatly on his own desk. He didn't have to bring them to Chanyeol personally but he just had to take a breather from Joy's smug smirks.

When Joy came back, an unfamiliar red head following her as the two of them chatted and laugh a little, Chen thought that maybe taking that breather was a wrong decision.

"Oh, Mr. Kim, you're back!" Joy greeted with chirpy formality.

Wait… MR. KIM? Where did that come from? Joy's never this formal with him! Is it because of the new guy? Because of the red hair?

"Mr. Yuan, this is Mr. Kim Jongdae, the director of the HR department. Mr. Kim, this is Mr. Mark Yuan, the new assistant director." Joy introduces.

Chen could feel a tick on his left eyes; Joy had never, ever, introduced a new personnel with that kind of smile! "So… you're that guy from the branch in China who got promoted?"

He pats himself in the back for keeping his tone formally polite despite this inexplicable sense of agitation building up in his stomach.

Mark Yuan bows politely, accepting the handshake that Chen offered, "Yes, sir. It's an honor to work with you. Please take care of me."

Chen nodded, calling for a passing employee to please guide Mr. Yuan to his office. It didn't pass his notice the subtle pat Mark had given Joy on the shoulder before bidding them goodbye.

"Do you two know each other?" he asks Joy once they were back alone. "You already seem to be close for someone who had just met."

Joy looks up, smiling brightly. Well, that’s a first.

And Chen feels his breath knocked away for no reason. Suddenly it’s kind of hard to breathe.

"Yeah. He used to teach me how to dance back in high school. But then he'd had to go back to the States after graduating. I just found out that he went back to China a year before he graduated from college."

Chen knew that Joy dances really well, and that she used to be a part of some dance groups in high school and college. But he had never met Mark. He might have heard of him, but he can't remember. It's a little disressing since he's pretty sure he spent quite an amount of time with Joy in high school, or at least it is safe to say that the two of them had had one too many bets back then. He would have noticed if a certain Mark had spent time with Joy to bring such a radiant smile on her face as if she's a lovesick schoolgirl.

"I didn't know any Mark Yuan. And to think that I cold be his sunbae, I should have remembered."

"He went by his real name when he was still here, Yuan Yi Eun." Joy replies before going back to her work. "And I don't think you've ever met him back then. You didn't even know what dancing is. Not that I'd think you know it by now."

"Yah!" Chen glares.

Yuan Yi Eun? Now that name sparks a memory.

"Wait…" Chen mumbles as he lets himself into his office, "Isn't that the guy who had once given Joy a Valentine’s card?"

 

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