I stared at the fine black print on the screen, words swimming through my head. Sales for July sector this year compared to last year…percentage rose slightly…new improvements needed to counter the dropping sales… My mind spins as I think of what to write. I let out a sigh as I recline back into my chair, right hand fumbling for my coffee mug as I chug the now cold espresso down. Tastes like cardboard. I think bitterly, before my gaze snaps back to the computer screen. My fingers shake on the keyboard and I struggle to concentrate, as my fatigue threatens to get to my head. My eyelids are drooping but I know I can’t stop now. Time check. Twelve fifty-three. Exactly six hours and seven minutes to finish this damned report. I try to think of the next sentence to type but my mind is so clogged up, I can’t think.

 

 

“Oh, this !” I exclaim suddenly, closing my eyes and gritting my teeth. I can’t do this, it’s too much, I don’t know what to ing write- Tears well up in my eyes and I’m about to give up, about to call it quits and about to shut the damned computer down. But I don’t. I worked for this. I worked for this life. I can’t give up now. I can’t let everything go to waste. Get your together, Hye Soo. Well, this is the life of the Executive Director of KSDB, one of the most prestigious banks in Korea. My eyes snap back open and I feel the frustration boiling up inside me. I run my hands down my face, attempting to feel more freshened up. Okay, let’s do this. Sounds of keyboard typing fill the room.

 

 

“Finally, done.” I mutter, tired and worn out, but utterly satisfied. I send it to the chairman, Oh Sehun, before the ends of my lips curl up slightly. This feeling reminds me why I worked so hard for this position. This satisfying feeling. Time check. Four twenty five. I finished early. Time to get some rest. I leaned back in my chair, but not before I set an alarm on my phone to wake me up at six thirty. That would give me enough time to freshen up, before I start another busy day. If I’m lucky, I might even get to go home. Home. I don’t even know what is home anymore. I barely go there. Sighing, I shut my eyes, the muscles on my face relaxing as I drift off to sleep.

 

 

“Beep-“ My phone barely has a chance to sound the alarm before my eyes open and my hands swiftly reach up to press the screen, effectively shutting off the alarm. I lay there for a few more moments, trying to get a few more seconds of rest. I must be sitting in my chair for so long, that’s why it’s so surprisingly comfortable. I don’t even feel like standing up. I’m about to get up, before I realize why I felt so comfortable.  There’s someone’s blazer on me. It was dark blue and obviously for formal occasions, so it must be someone from the office. The cutting also made me confirm that it was a guy’s. But who would be at the office at such a late timing? After all those nights of staying late at the office, never had I seen someone at the office with me. Never. I frowned. How am I supposed to return the blazer if I don’t know who to return it to? I freeze in place. There’s a warm feeling in my chest. It feels nice. Maybe because no one’s shown affection towards me in a long, long time. I shake my head. You must be really lonely, Hye Soo, to be excited over someone giving you their blazer. Then I make my way to the restroom to freshen up before the meeting at seven.

 

 

-

 

You’re such an idiot to think that maybe you could go home today, Hye Soo. Yet, here I am, at one in the morning, in the office again, typing away on my keyboard, chugging down coffee. It’s almost a routine for me, with occasional breaks when I actually have more than five hours of sleep at night. But I’m used to it, and I admit, I like working like this, because nothing else matters. Nothing else but you and the report you’re about to finish. And you don’t have to think about your life outside the office, because you basically don’t have one. I like late working nights, because of the satisfaction it gives you when you’re done with what you’re supposed to do, be it a report, speech or presentation.

 

 

I wake up in the morning again, with the blazer on me again, despite how I remember clearly that I left it on my desk since the day before. Now I’m curious. Who in the world would sneak into my office late at night to put a jacket on me? As I pull the blazer off me, I take a whiff of it. It smells like cinnamon and coffee. It smells homely. I’m definitely going to find out who does this every night. Setting it down on the corner of my desk again, I continue with the day.

 

 

I could’ve gone home tonight. But I stayed, just to find out who it was. They say curiosity killed the cat. Well, I’ll just make sure it doesn’t kill me. I lean back in my chair and my computer is open to an empty document, just for the sake of it. Time check. Twelve fifty four. Now, I’ll just wait.

 

 

Silence. It’s all I hear for the next half an hour, maybe? I’m about to give up and go to sleep for real, because I can feel my fatigue creeping up to me and besides, my eyes are shut, so I could easily fall asleep. Then, the person I’m waiting for finally appears. I hear the door creak open and footsteps coming towards me. Then, I smell the familiar scent of the blazer as he sets it down onto me. I’m about to open my eyes, ready to catch the person as he closes the door, where I would go there and yank it open. But the door creaking shut never reaches my ears. I’m confused for a moment, before I realize the truth. He stays here, with me.

 

 

I can’t take it anymore and my eyes snap open, looking ahead of me to see him sitting at the couch in my office, with his laptop on his legs. He’s sitting cross-legged, with a few pillows propped up next to him. His eyes are focused intently on the screen, typing away. He doesn’t spot me for a moment, before he looks at me with a blank expression. We both stare at each other for a few seconds, before I burst into laughter. This is so ridiculous. He smiles as well, chuckling along with me. It all seems so unreal. My boss is in my office in the most casual position you would ever think of. My boss, Oh Se Hun, who is known in the company as one of the fiercest bosses anyone could get. He fires anyone who is caught slacking and he is known for being harsh.

 

 

There’s a comfortable silence between us. “So, I guess you’ve been here for the past two nights too?” I finally say, breaking the stillness in the air. He nods and says gruffly, “Well, you know all the details, looking at all this.” There’s a playful tone in his voice as he says it and I smile again, before I close my eyes again and lean back. I pull his blazer over me as I do so and he looks at me with an amused expression on his face. “Well, then remember to put your shoes back on when you leave.” I say, before drifting off to sleep. I can almost feel his smile as I speak.

 

Ever since that day, it was like an unspoken agreement. He would come over to my office, snuggle up on my couch and we would both mug the rest of the night away, before we slept in the office. Him on the couch, me at my desk. Then we would wake up at six thirty and he’ll be out of my office, as if he were never there. And almost everytime, he would hand me his blazer to snuggle into. It was always silence, but it was so comfortable, as if each other’s presence was enough and words were never needed.

 

 

One time, he finally spoke. “I guess I figured out why we’re so comfortable with each other so quickly.” He paused for a moment before saying, “We both have something in common. We both love to work until we’re about to break…then we’re happy and satisfied.” We both made eye contact and we held each other’s gaze. Then, I realized how accurate he was. How frighteningly true he was. He just summed up my ultimate reason for working so hard to get to my position. Then, we both looked away and continued with our work.

 

-

 

“Sehun, what made you want to come in and work here in my office at night?” I ask him one night, pausing from my work temporarily. Looking up at me with his dark brown eyes, he says, “I came in because I saw your light on. I never took note of it before. I came in and you looked so comfortable sleeping in your chair, as if you always did sleep there every night.” He pauses before smiling softly. “Maybe you did, but you looked so relaxed and satisfied, even though you’re at your office at one in the morning.” He stood up and walked towards me. “You…you reminded me of… me.” He leans in close to my face and I can smell the cinnamon and coffee I smell on his jacket every single time. He studies my face and tucks a strand of hair behind my face. “I wanted to…to keep you company, maybe it’s because I feel lonely too, every night when I stayed late at my office.” Then his face is impossibly close to mine. But my heart isn’t beating quickly; it’s perfectly normal and calm. I feel at ease with Sehun around. He whispers to me, “I wanted someone to be close to…and I wanted it to be you…because you were so much like me.” Then, he leans in and presses his lips ever so gently against mine. And I smile into the kiss, because it feels so right, as cliché as it sounds. It feels so comfortable, and I like it.

 

 

Maybe I’m not that lonely as I thought I was. I have Oh Sehun.

 

 

Author’s Note:

I really should be getting to my two other ongoing fics, but this was a delight to write, so here it is xD The very first of my short stories collection. I’ll be updating this whenever I kind of feel like it ahahahaha