I don’t think… I'm not in love with you 

Opening e-mails from your best friend can be both pleasant and annoying, depending on the context. But, for Donghae, it is more of the latter choice. Waking up on his twenty-seventh birthday is supposed to fun (or at least start off with a pleasant feeling), but there is this constant reminder that he’s getting old and before he know it he will be a wrinkly prune left in the sun for too long. Donghae cringes at the thought. And Hyukjae's e-mail just confirms his own deadly theories of growing old as he sits beside his computer desk and opens the thread.

To Donghaekkk,

Happy 27th bday! YOU OLD MAN! Haha, just kidding, I love you lots even if you’re all wrinkly like you’ve been soaking in the bath for too long ^^ Don’t tire yourself out and stay healthy! As a kind and compassionate best friend, I worry about you for you (since you’re so forgetful kkk). Being old is not the scary thing. The frightening part is being chased by ‘age’! Therefore, we should all be prepared to age and welcome it with open arms ;)

Below are just some symptoms of old age, don’t stress too much if you fit the majority of the criteria! Everyone ages at some point and you just tend to be part of the early pre-aging groups ;D

1.The events happening nearer the time are always forgotten, and the past is resurfacing your mind again in succinct detail

2.Either by your bedside, desk or computer, there are some mind-enhancing products like mint sticks and different types of oils to bring out your concentration to focus

3.When sat down, there is a small layer of folded fat around your waist

4.Waking up early in the morning naturally for no apparent reason

5.Watching dramas on TV whilst lying across your sofa and falling asleep within the first half an hour…

Donghae immediately shut the e-mail tab, preventing more of the atrocious words from leaping into his mind and making a nest in there. The male puffs his cheeks, feeling irritated from the signs, probably because he fits most of the points (like Hyukjae had said, ugh, that devil). He has been quite forgetful lately; leaving his washing out for two days and a rainstorm had caused him to re-wash those hanging on the washing line in the garden. And, he did forget that important document and ended up calling his dad to drop it in at his company.

Taking a swift glance towards the jumbled assortment of oils and head balms, the brunet quickly gathers everything and shuffles it underneath his desk, eyes wide as if Hyukjae is watching his every move. Once he’s calm, Donghae's mind races back to the other points. Peeking sideways to make sure nobody is watching, especially his parents since he is still living with them, Donghae glances down at his stomach. So far, so good. There are no signs of ripples of layered fat, considering how hard he trains at the gym every week or whenever he has free time. But, he has been waking up exceptionally early in the morning recently without requiring the help of his alarm clock, which is extremely abnormal seeing that Donghae treasures his sleep more than anything. Perhaps I'm just tired from work and stressed, nothing to do with me aging, Donghae reassures himself mentally, before moving on to curse his best friend. Stupid idiot Lee Hyukjae, making me even more worried. Can't he send a normal happy birthday greeting to me? Oh wait, he's not normal anyway, I shouldn’t be too hard on the poor soul. He snickers.

Before Donghae could entertain himself further with the thoughts of degrading Hyukjae, he gets up and logs off, turning off his computer as he goes to the bathroom to shower and get ready for work. Once he is finished, Donghae pulls on a shirt, then a blazer and suitable trousers, giving his overall attire a semi-formal look. If only he was a normal office worker, then he wouldn’t be fretting over what to wear. But no, he just had to go into the fashion industry. Actually, his fashion sense was close to non-existent before he decided to be marketing manager. Spending years of hard work, blood and sweat into this career have raised Donghae's fashion taste up a notch. Now, choosing an outfit for diverse occasions is as easy as counting from one to ten.

The male decides to skip breakfast — it’s not his first time doing this, despite how much Hyukjae is against it — and go to the nearest coffee shop and get a cup of caramel macchiato on his way to work. After paying for the beverage and walking out of the small, cosy shop, Donghae precedes to continue walking to his work place, which honestly isn’t far away at all. Maybe a fifteen minute stroll (if he doesn’t stop at the coffee shop each morning).

“Excuse me mister!” A young, vibrant voice travels to Donghae’s ears, and on turning around, a picture of a handsome male charging towards him invades his vision. The marketing director allows his sight to linger on the youth running his way; multi-coloured hair flapping like wings in the air, lanky arms and legs uncoordinated as he stumbles through the crowd of people. Finally, when the boy — yes, boy, because he looks no older than 22 years old — reaches the elder, Donghae beams expectantly. He observes the boy close up; milky white complexion, dark almond shaped eyes, high nose and slim brows, complementing his thin lips in the most bewitching way.

“Yes?” Donghae finds himself speaking politely.

“Mister, you’ve left your folder back in the coffee shop.” The youth grins, arms straightening out as he hands back a navy folder, containing his important notes and improved sketches in colour with detailed annotations. Without the sheets of paper, Donghae can pretty much say goodbye to his job (exaggeration, but he has an important meeting with the head later in the afternoon requiring those notes, and he would be placed in an extremely awkward position if he left that somewhere and went into the meeting without it).

“Oh my goodness! Thank you so much!” The birthday male quickly takes the weight off of the boy, bowing his head slightly to show his gratitude. The other smiles back warmly, puffy cheeks bunching together as he bows formally before taking his leave, whilst Donghae continues to work, realising he is slightly late.

***

“Sunny, please explain your final design ideas for the autumn brief. I believe the task was given to you two weeks ago.” Siwon, the ‘head’ of this department (not the CEO, just in charge of this sub-section of their massive company), says as he takes a front seat, eyes crinkling in secret adoration on seeing his girlfriend look so cute up front. Meanwhile, Donghae attempts to not roll his eyes and scoff. It hasn't even been a full year, twelve months, since their breakup and yet, already, a new girlfriend and lover? What a dickhead.

“Thank you, Siwon.” Sunny clicks a button on her laptop and a slide appears. On it, are various types of suits, differentiating in colour and texture with one main link to it: the colour brown and other earthy colours used. There are a total of nine designs, and Donghae couldn't help but find all of them mundane and, well, to put it simply, plain. He doubts they would sell well in the market, and he would know since he is the marketing director. It would take a lot of alterations in the design and composition of materials itself for people to spare a glance at it. Nevertheless, Sunny continues.

“The design concept for this autumn is men’s wear — but specifically, aimed for boys reaching the adulthood. After researching in great depths and having my co-workers to create questionnaires and asking for opinions, I have gathered all of that knowledge on this slide, showing the rough drafts so far.” She clicks the button again, and the next slide focuses on the two designs, with the front and back sketched and coloured.

“Out of the many initial ideas I have conjured, I decided to settle with these two designs. The first one is a deep magenta overall, with its inside covered in black silk so it is easy to wear and wash. The trousers are ankle trousers, as they are currently in trend, coming in second in popularity with skinny jeans being first. As you can see, there are darts on the trousers so the fabric will wrap around the thighs more, creating a ‘slim’ and long legs image. I believe...”

Donghae zoned out immediately, trying to yawn with his mouth closed. It isn't working, but at least his not listening to the annoying high-pitched vibrations in the air. The design isn't bad, because Sunny has done her research, however, it isn't good enough. And Donghae isn't being a prick about this because she's Siwon’s girlfriend, no, he isn't that despicable and prejudiced (and boy is he laughing his arse off as someone else falls for the charms and tricks of the old horse), but he is a workaholic and perfectionist — whatever success striving people are labelled as nowadays — therefore it is natural that he would want the best out of everybody. And certainly Sunny has the potential to do better than this.

“I don't like it.”

Donghae looks around to see who has read his mind, but on finding the surprised faces in his direction, he realises that it is himself. He turns to his right, and sees Siwon’s thick brows almost reaching his hairline. That is funny, and Donghae would laugh if it isn't for the silence and the rudeness of his words earlier. Oh well, too late to take it back now. So, on clearing his throat, he speaks.

“I don't like it.” As if once isn't enough, Donghae repeats his words slowly. “Because the designs are too extravagant for our target market to purchase, bearing in mind that we are talking about boys in their late teens to early twenties and-”

“How do you know it is unaffordable?” Taeyeon, Donghae’s opposing rival states like the little annoying stain she is. You know, those people who are only alive because it is illegal to shoot them?

Uh, because I've got this thing called a brain, duh. Instead, Donghae says, “Taeyeon-sshi, we are suffering from an economy collapse all over the world right now, do you think students who are still in their universities with part time jobs and heavy tuition fees are able to afford such a high quality product?” If you are still ing struggling to understand, then why don't you go back to school and see for yourself if it's true or not, .

That shut her up and Donghae has the satisfaction to shoot Taeyeon a smug look.

***

After the meeting, Taeyeon had the nerve to roughly bump into Donghae accidentally, brushing off the matter with a sarcastic “Sorry, didn't see you there.” Yet Donghae’s mood couldn't be any higher (or so he thinks) because it is another victory for him. He heads back to his office, and nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees a person standing there.

“Gosh, don't scare me like that, Jessica!” The large and bloated woman smiles sheepishly, kind of like she was woken up abruptly (but Donghae thinks he’ll keep his own opinions to himself because a pregnant woman is more scary sometimes than an apocalypse).

“The intern I've been telling you since last week is here.” She says, taking a seat opposite Donghae’s desk. She has been a friend of the male since he entered the company, so she is very honest and herself in front of Donghae. That one time of eating together was a mistake Donghae does not want to repeat, for Jessica may be dainty and feminine on the outside, she eats like twenty hungry warriors (and she only eats the expensive, or it seems whenever she demands him to treat her. Read: demands). How her husband Yunho finds her attractive will forever remain a mystery to Donghae.

The latter forces his mind to join the present time, “Oh really? Where is he?” Taking a glance around his room and sweeping it down the corridor, he couldn't really see anyone. Even the office opposite his only had a worker inside it, her reflection on the glass walls of Donghae’s office.

“I sent him to register something for me down in reception. But I need to tell you something.” She looks like she is about to burst in tears of happiness. Donghae only raises his eyebrows, cueing Jessica to go on with her monologue.

“He. Is. So. Freaking. Handsome! And your type as well!” Jessica squeals louder than any fangirls, hands waving around and her voice high and sharp; piercing his eardrums. Donghae sighs, he doesn't really want a new intern with him right now, because he is busy and he believes the intern will probably have a much brighter future if Donghae isn't his ‘boss’. Normally, it is Jessica’s job to take interns under her wing and teach them knowledge and life valuable skills, but she just has to be pregnant at this stage. He remembers Jessica telling him that the intern is very hardworking, diligent and intelligent. Oh, and also seven years younger than himself.

“How old is he again?” Donghae reminds Jessica kindly.

“Um, 20? Why?”

“Jess darling,” the girl pulls a face and complains under h