^ relevant because grease ^

warning(s): wookey grease. like, that's pretty much it. also douche!howon. and a rude deliveryman.

hello! so, um, if you haven't already, please go check out our other fic, call me mr. princely because reasons. reasons we cannot provide. (shameless self promotional reasons. :D) here's another update for this fic though. this is a sunggyu-centric chapter because, okay, we've got something going on with yadong but what about our precious not so precious gyu? woohyun will not go down without a fight tbh. and here's the chapter that proves that. also... key. because we missed key. uwu

please enjoy this update! uwu

When Sunggyu came to work, he saw Howon's little grin of absolute menace and he was about ready to walk back out and call it a sick day. However, he can't, seeing as how many of his colleagues had already witnessed his groggy entry—also, he already got a direct command from his superior. .

Now, seeing Howon smile and grin has been something Sunggyu's been getting used to, for the past week, but at least he knows why he's been doing it; Howon was happy about his successful advances with the man he's fawning over—they're not boyfriends, Sunggyu notes, but they might as well be. Howon's been doing his work tirelessly and it both awes and creeps Sunggyu out. Who knew a smitten Howon was this focused at work?

But that's not the problem. It's that grin Howon has now that scares him.

That's not the 'I'm so happy I'm going out with someone' grin that Howon's had on his face for the past week. Oh, no. That's the familiar 'I've done something to make Sunggyu's life Hell' grin that Sunggyu's known ever since they first met in college. So of course Sunggyu would want to leave the building and avoid Howon at all costs. It's only fair after seeing that much warning.

“What are you doing?” Sunggyu decides to ask the younger man from where he's standing at the doorway of his own office. Sunggyu's.

“As you can see, I'm organizing documents,” Howon says with an eerie tone.

“You're not an organized man, Howon. You don't organize documents. That's not your thing,” Sunggyu says in a panic. His voice has gone a little bit high, his eyes wide with horror and his fingers shaking against his hips, “What's more, you don't organize other people's documents. You're in my office, Howon, and I demand to know what's going on. And how you got in here.”

“I have my ways,” Howon shrugs simply, closing the top drawer of Sunggyu's desk. Sunggyu eyes him suspiciously and cautiously. Howon barks out a laugh, “Calm down, hyung, it's not like you're going to die or anything.”

“Die?” Sunggyu sputters, “Is this your final warning? I didn't even mention dying!”

“The look in your eyes say that you're prepared for the worst. But I doubt you actually are,” Howon whistles innocently as he walks out from behind the desk and into full view. His hands are shoved into the pockets of his trousers and he's walking towards the door rather slowly. Sunggyu attempts to block Howon's way out, but Howon's stronger and lightly shoves past him, “Expect me to drop by your office more often, hyung.”

“Why are you calling me hyung?” Sunggyu asks in another fit of panic, “You rarely ever call me hyung! What's going on!? Am I gonna die!? You can't kill me, I have Myungsoo! Think of my child!”

“I have and this is going to benefit him well,” Howon says teasingly and Sunggyu's body is covered in cold sweat. Howon's giving him this painful sense of dread from not saying anything that Sunggyu feels he needs to say, “It might even help him live well.”

“Are you taking jabs at my parenting again?” Sunggyu frowns, “Because, I swear, there's more to me than not being able to cook, Howon, I swear—,”

“You can't even feed your son properly—,”

“Shut up, Howon, this isn't about you.”

“No, this is about Myungsoo and his future meals.”

“Oh my God, you are planning to kill me! So you can adopt Myungsoo! Oh God, I knew there was a fault in having such a gorgeous child.”

“The only fault is him having such an ugly father.”

“Same for your kids, Howon. Don't think it doesn't go the same for you.”

“I can at least feed my children,” Howon rolls his eyes, “And shut up, someone thinks I'm handsome.”

“He's blind.”

“No. The one who's blind is Myungsoo's teacher.”

“SHUT UP, LEE HOWON. DON'T YOU DARE MENTION HIM TO MY FACE.”

Howon turns his back to Sunggyu, “How about now?”

“Ugh,” Sunggyu shoves at Howon's back, forcing him out of his office, “Get out and go to your own office and do your own damn work, you infuriating jerk.”

“I love you too, hyung,” Howon says sarcastically before leaving. Sunggyu watches the younger man's retreating body until he could no longer see the man's shadow. He stands at the doorway with his arms crossed and his back against the door frame. But once Howon's completely gone, he's bolting into his office with nothing but a panicked determination to find what it is that Howon's left or taken. Surely one of those things was his purpose!

He searches through drawers, under his desk and chair, in between files in his file cabinet and under the other pieces of furniture that he has sitting around in his office. Hell, he even checks his computer's desktop and his email to see if Howon's left cryptic messages. Alas, he finds nothing, and it only makes Sunggyu worry even more.

“Oh God, what's he done this time?” He paces about, considering double-checking the entire office—and maybe the entire building, he's not sure. Howon's driven him into such a high state of distress that he almost forgets that he has to meet with a client and a few witnesses again today.

He can practically hear Howon's laughter, and Howon can probably smell Sunggyu's fear.

On impulse, or rather from a sense of second nature, Sunggyu reaches for his phone in his pocket and starts typing out a furious complaint. He takes a moment to realize what he's doing, to whom he's supposedly sending the text message to, and then it dawns on him; yes. This must be it. This must be the thing that Howon's doing to make Sunggyu's life more miserable.

Howon knows that, before abandoning all contact with him, Sunggyu would message that annoying teacher whenever he had something to rant about or if he just wanted to complain. Now that Sunggyu's unraveled his identity, the text messages have stopped from both sides and it's probably Howon's attempt to rekindle whatever kind of 'relationship' that was there.

Sunggyu grumpily huffs and deletes everything he's typed out from the message box. He turns his phone off and shoves it back into his pocket. He's outsmarted Howon. He's found Howon out. No way will that hideous gorilla set him up for a prank like that. Sunggyu's too smart.

“Whatever it is you're planning, Lee Howon, it won't work on me!” Sunggyu screams in triumph, swinging his fist into the air, “I'm smarter than you, Lee Howon! Smarter! You can't fool me! I'm not texting him ever again! You hear me, Lee Howon!? NEVER!”

“Attorney Kim, please!” Sunggyu hears the voice of a colleague from the other side of his office door. Sunggyu realizes he's just yelled, and he slaps a hand against his mouth, “I'm happy for that boost of confidence in you and all, but Prosecutor Lee's office is in the level below us and he probably can't hear you at all. But the rest of your colleagues on this floor can.”

“S... Sorry!” Sunggyu quickly apologized, flustered. He hurries off to sit at his desk, face flushed and embarrassed beyond belief.

Damn it, Lee Howon.

“What are these?” Sunggyu asks the deliveryman, puzzled.

“They're bouquets, sir,” he tells Sunggyu simply, eyes dead as he stares at Sunggyu.

“I know they are,” Sunggyu sees the face the deliveryman is making and, okay, he knows he's asked a stupid question but he doesn't have to be that condescending about it, “What I mean to say is—why are they being sent to me?”

“I just deliver things, sir. I don't ask questions,” the man rudely rolls his eyes at Sunggyu, and Sunggyu realizes that he does have a point. Why is Sunggyu even asking him what they're for? Unless they're from the deliveryman, himself, but they aren't, are they? “Just take them—and the senders told me to tell you to look at their messages in a certain order. I don't know why.”

“An order?” Sunggyu asks again, “I have to view them in order?”

“Did I stutter, sir?” Did this deliveryman have a bad day or something?

“Why are you being rude!?” Sunggyu's voice almost booms but the man seems unfazed.

“I've already been tipped by the senders, so I hold no obligation other than sending these bouquets to you, sir. Now, if I may, I will leave you to your bouquets and cards. Goodbye, sir,” before Sunggyu could even give him the scolding and nagging of a lifetime, the young man saunters off like he hasn't done anything to offend someone. But it's not like Sunggyu can do anything about it. Rudeness isn't really due for suing, unfortunately.

Sunggyu looks down at his coffee table, at the six bouquets of different flower arrangements wrapped in six differently coloured wraps. They're, oddly enough, labeled in num