I actually had no intention of updating this week, because as of the moment, I am drowning in deadlines and school work. But everyone's comments made me so happy, I feel like I should update and post something very soon. XD Thank you for all the support! Also, this is a very long chapter, so I apologize in advanced. XD

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CHAPTER THREE

 

It was the weekend after that devastating first meeting, and Eric felt terrible. It seemed like every fiber of his soul was slowly disintegrating into nothingness, and he couldn’t do anything but just stare. He was very exhausted – both physically and mentally.

 

All the stress from work, long overdue files, combined forces of Manager Jang’s noisy admonishment, and Minwoo’s constant nagging to join him for drinks was definitely not good for his health.

 

 

Add the sudden appearance of that Shin Hyesung in the equation and you’re sure to get a half-dying Eric, struggling to keep himself barely alive somewhere.

 

 

Why can’t it be the red string of friendship instead?

 

 

Or better yet, red string of strong business affiliation?!

 

 

 

He just can’t accept it. There must be something wrong with this. He had waited for almost thirty years for this ‘fateful’ meaning, and yet all he got was confusion and mental breakdowns.

 

 

He was going crazy. He was letting this all get into his head. Actually, he was getting this way into his head that he even began seeing illusions of Hyesung everywhere. He saw Hyesung loitering around his apartment complex.  He saw Hyesung near the small grocery store near his apartment. He saw Hyesung in the elevator in his building.

 

 

And it terrified him.

 

 

 

But no, he couldn’t let this be.

 

 

He was pretty sure that there was something wrong with what was happening. There’s got to be a way to explain this. And alas, through his 4D reasoning, some very weird analysis, and a lot of solo-brainstorming sessions (which were just all storms and no brain) – he had managed to come up with only one possible explanation.

 

 

Shin Hyesung is a girl, I’m 100% sure.

I mean, how else would I be connected to him?

He looks feminine enough to pass as a girl.

 

 

 

Kind of cute one, too.

 

 

Oh wait, what I meant was,

 

It’s an obvious fact that my soulmate is bound to be cute no matter who she is!

 

 

Yup.

 

Most definitely, Shin Hyesung is a girl.

No doubt about it.

 

 

 

But His line of reasoning stopped as he realized something.

 

 

Although…

 

His voice is kind of deep for a girl…

 

 

He paused again.

 

 

But that’s okay. Maybe he’s still in puberty or something.

 

 

His thoughts were cut yet again.

 

 

And he’s flat-chested…

 

…

 

But that’s okay too, because some girls are just like that.

 

 

 

And his thoughts were cut yet again.

 

 

 

And he’s kind of almost as tall as me…

 

 

But that’s probably in his family’s genes or something.

 

 

 

But why would he pretend to be a guy though?

 

 

Maybe he likes those gender-bender kinds of rom-com Korean dramas?

 

 

Wow. What a dedicated fanboy.

 

 

Wait, why am I still calling him a boy?!

 

 

 

He spent every single second of his entire weekend hypnotizing himself to believe that Shin Hyesung is in fact, just a very tall, flat-chested, short-haired girl, pretending to be a guy, for reasons unknown. Because, how else could he explain the situation?

 

 

Possible. He declared.

 

 

How that became possible in his standards is beyond explanation. But Eric is determined to prove his theory, no matter how crazy it seemed. All he needed now was an evidence to support his hypothesis that Hyesung is just a “crazy crossdressing chic”, and he’s back to the safe heteroual land he had always claimed he’s in.

 

 

 

_____________

 

 

Come Monday, he was already on his feet to find evidence to prove his crazy theory.

 

And of course he came prepared – He had sought help from a very reliable source. He knew he just can’t go around asking people if they think there’s someone in the office who was pretending to be a guy. No, that’ll be too suspicious…

 

So whom did he seek for help?

 

Well, most definitely not Minwoo. He hasn’t even told him yet. It’s not like he can just come to Minwoo and say, “Hey I’ve found my soulmate, but for some reason, he’s a guy. But I’m pretty sure he’s really a girl, so help me out!”

 

Nope.

 

His very knowledgeable grandmother? And what? Preemptively confess that he might be possibly gay and that her hope for grandchildren could possibly be out of the window too?

 

No, not happening.  

 

 

He sought help from one of the most knowledgeable persona that ever exists.

 

 

 

Google.

 

 

Eric was that demented that he dedicated his whole Sunday streaming and watching every single Korean drama that exists that had gender bender as its theme. And to his surprise, there exists a lot. And needless to say, he had watched a lot.

 

He’d do anything to support his crazy hypothesis.

 

And so, that Monday, fully-equipped with information from fictional dramas he had watched, he began spying Hyesung for any hints. Hints of any feminine acts, feminine reactions, feminine movements – feminine anything.

 

But how could he exactly distinguish a feminine act from a masculine one? Did he expect Hyesung to cry every time that scary Manager Jang passes by? Or ogle and rejoice at the amount of his male co-workers in the office? Or maybe act all flirty with Junjin every time they interact?

 

 

 

He froze for a while to think. 

 

 

 

Whatever, I trust my masculine instinct.

 

I’d know a feminine act when I see one.

 

 

From his cubicle, he carefully scrutinized every move that Hyesung did, sometimes squinting his eyes every now and then to take a better look. He silently thanked heavens for giving him such a good eye sight and such a perfect spot to secretly spy on his prey. You’re going to get so busted, Shin Hyesung, he warned in his mind.

 

With arms propped on his desk and his chin on his hands, he stared. He saw how Junjin was approaching Hyesung’s cubicle with a cup of coffee in each hand.

 

 

I’m pretty sure Junjin’s going to give one to Hyesung.

 

It’s my perfect chance to see how he’d react.

 

Junjin’s a pretty decent guy. I know a lot of girls are eyeing on him too.

 

If Hyesung’s a girl, he’s sure to act all flirty with Junjin.

 

 

He was determined to see some action.

 

 

“Come on, flirt with Junjin. Do anything remotely flirty,” He thought as he unconsciously gritted his teeth while internally coaching Hyesung to do something.

 

 

But to his dismay, Hyesung did nothing of that sort. He just normally took the offered coffee, said thanks as normally as anyone would, and normally returned to his own work.

 

 

 

Well, maybe Junjin’s not his type.

 

 

Doesn’t matter, here come’s the second test.

 

 

He eyed Hyesung more intensely as Hyesung slowly brought the cup of coffee to his lips. His mouth formed a pout as he repeatedly blew on the hot liquid.

 

 

Well, that was cute. Eric thought.

 

 

No, that wasn't. But whatever.

 

 

Okay, this is it.

 

 

If he’s a girl, he’s going to drink from his cup with his pinky finger raised up.

 

 

He stared, with eyes wide open. Do it, he commanded, do it.

 

 

“DO IT!” he unconsciously shouted from his desk making everyone, including Hyesung, to whip their heads at his direction and stare at him.

 

 

He stopped, frozen. did I say that out loud?

 

And apparently, he did, because soon he felt shivers down his spine as an all too familiar glare locked on him.

 

“What… are you saying, Eric-ssi?” He heard Manager Jang’s flat voice, somewhere dangerously near him, and he realized it too late, that the voice came just from behind him.

 

He shifted his head very slowly to look back, and surely he saw his Manager, standing there, giving him his most terrifying glare, and so he stupidly decided to give him a sheepish smile back.

 

 

“Hehe… hi manager-nim…” He mumbled almost inaudibly.

 

 

Wrong move.

 

 

“How about you do something instead of just staring off into space?!”

 

 

 

____________

 

 

 

After Eric’s first attempt to spy that Monday (which ended up with Manager Jang just giving Eric a very long warning and a ‘blessing’ in forms of extra paperwork), Eric decided to just change tactics. Instead of looking for clues to see if Hyesung was a girl, how about looking for clues if Hyesung was indeed a boy? If he found none, then hurray, his crazy hypothesis is correct!

 

 

Besides, it’s easier for a male to spot a fellow male, right?

 

 

Tuesday came and he was wondering if following Hyesung in the restroom to check was too much.

 

 

Maybe I should just accidentally hit him in the groin and see how he’d react?

 

 

“Nah. That’s probably too much." he muttered to himself.

 

 

“What’s too much?” a voice immediately inquired.

 

 

It was Minwoo’s. The guy just came in and approached Eric a few minutes ago, but Eric didn’t notice as he was too busy spying on his prey.

 

 

“Oh I didn’t see you.” Eric quickly responded back.

 

 

“Of course you wouldn’t. Since you’re so busy staring off into space,” – came the sarcastic reply.

 

 

Eric didn’t respond but just continued to observe Hyesung, while pretending to sort out documents. He was just randomly picking up a paper, and randomly placing it somewhere while secretly doing quick glances at Hyesung.

 

 

He’s bound to take some restroom break. He’s a human too, of course he’s gotta pee.

 

 

And as if the gods were favoring him, shortly, Hyesung indeed got up and excused himself from the office.

 

“Just what are you staring at, huh? Manager Jang also caught you yester–”

 

But Minwoo was quickly interrupted when Eric suddenly stood up.

 

“Sorry, Minwoo, I’ll talk to you later.” Eric quickly said, as he took hasty steps, raced to the door, determined to catch up to Hyesung.

 

 

He was surprised though. Because instead of seeing Hyesung walk towards the restroom, he saw him, standing in some lone corner outside their office, with his back faced towards him, and a phone up to his ear.

 

 

Oh, he was making a call.

 

 

Eric was about turn back, albeit a bit disappointed, and return to his desk when he heard Hyesung speak.

 

 

“Jihye-ya…” and he spoke in such a gentle manner Eric thought was not possible.

 

 

Who’s Ji-

 

 

“Eric Mun, you come back here! I’m not done talking to you!”

 

 

And he too was interrupted in his thoughts when he heard Minwoo’s angry and excessive yelling from inside the office. He forgot how much Minwoo hates to be interrupted when he speaks.

 

 

 

____________

 

 

 

Wednesday – He decided, since spying got him nowhere, maybe he’d just go and talk to Hyesung himself. It wouldn’t hurt right? Besides, apart from the day he claimed he was constipated, he had never talked to the guy again. They’re co-workers, so they have to interact to some extent. It’s not weird to suddenly approach a guy and secretly interrogate him about his gender. Not weird at all.

 

His plan was to casually approach him, start some small talk, extend their conversation, and maybe he could fish out some information while he’s at it.

 

It’s not going to be that hard, right? All he needs to do is confirm he’s a female clad in male clothing and his job is done!

 

 

Easy.

 

If he could just ignore that blatant flowing red string that connected them, he’s sure to be able to talk to him casually.

 

And there goes the plan.

 

 

Eric eyed his target carefully from his desk. Maybe talking to him is the most effective method after all? He thought. It’s the most straightforward way, so it’s supposed to be the most effective.

 

Just ignore the string for a while, and you’ll be fine.

 

 

He coached himself as he slowly crossed the distance between his desk and Hyesung’s.

 

 

You can do this. You can talk to him.

 

Don’t say you’re constipated.

 

Don’t say anything stupid.

 

 

He stopped a few steps behind Hyesung’s cubicle and readied himself.

 

 

Okay. Now, call out his name.

 

 

He opened his mouth to speak, and he can feel his knees already shaking.

 

 

 

“Hye… H-Hyesung… ssi.”

 

 

Well as ugly as that sounded, at least he was able to say his name. And Hyesung didn’t seem to mind, since he quickly turned his head to Eric and gave him a timid smile.

 

 

. Why did you have to smile?

 

 

“Yes, Eric-ssi, do you need something?” He spoke.

 

“W-well… um…” he stammered.

 

 

Why was I here again? What was I supposed to do?

 

 

Hyesung didn’t say anything and just waited for Eric to finish what he was saying.

 

 

Oh yeah, small talk.

 

Need to start small talk.

 

 

“The weather looks nice!” He quickly said the first thing that came in his mind. He even felt kind of proud that he didn’t stammer one bit.

 

But Hyesung looked at him weirdly.

 

 

“Well, there aren’t any windows here, so I can’t really tell…”

 

 

Oh god, why was I born stupid…

 

 

“Ahaha,” Eric could only fake-laughed so awkwardly, “You’re right.”

 

 

He felt the atmosphere between them getting weirder and weirder, as Hyesung responded with an equally awkward, “Seems so…”

 

 

 

What do I do now?

 

How do I salvage this?

 

Oh small talk and just get straight to the point!

 

 

 

 

“Have you ever cross-dressed?”

 

 

 

Oh , too straight to the point.

 

 

 

“…Cross what?” Hyesung asked back in surprise.

 

 

 

No, no, no. You sound stupid Eric.

 

 

“I said…” he began as he looked for words to possibly excuse himself from such awkward conversation. “I said cross… checked! Have you crosschecked the files Manager Jang gave you?”

 

“But he didn’t give me anything.” Hyesung answered back.

 

 

Someone save me.

 

 

 

“Oh, yeah right.” he laughed so awkwardly again. “It’s me. He gave it to me,”

 

“W-well,” Hyesung started a bit puzzled, “have you crosschecked them yet?” He asked, raising a brow.

 

 

“Oh yeah! Not yet! Thanks for reminding me!” Eric rambled and attempted to cover the already awkward atmosphere with an even more awkward laugh.

 

“Well I’ll just be crossdre- I mean crosschecking there on my desk…” Eric said, taking careful steps backward as he escape the scene leaving Hyesung immensely confused.

 

“G-goodbye.”

 

 

 

____________

 

 

There's gotta to be something.

 

There's gotta to be something.

 

There's gotta to be something.

 

 

Eric repeated in his mind as he fumbled around the files on Hyesung’s desk. Yes, Eric was in Hyesung’s cubicle, looking for something, preferably of Hyesung’s possession, which could prove Eric’s theory that Hyesung is a female.

 

 

And yes, he hasn’t given up on that idea yet.

 

 

Since the talk with Hyesung yesterday ended up as a complete disaster, he decided to just completely drop the plan of speaking to Hyesung and investigate without having any contact with him.

 

That was why, as soon as Hyesung left his cubicle for his lunch break. Eric immediately scurried to his cubicle to find some physical clues.

 

 

 

Something to prove Hyesung is a girl.

 

Something to prove Hyesung is a girl.

 

 

What was he even trying to find?

 

 

An ID?

 

 

A make-up kit?

 

 

A napkin?

 

 

A tampon?

 

 

Anything as long as it’s going to prove his theory. After four days of investigating, Eric’s beginning to get desperate.

 

 

I’m pretty sure there’s something.

 

I’m pretty sure he’s a girl.

 

Because there's no way I'm gay.

 

I'm completely straight.

 

I'm only ever doing straight things.

 

And I'm only ever interested in...

 

 

 

“What are you doing?” a voice came behind him, startling the hell out of Eric.

 

 

“Straight stuff!” – came his immediate stupid reply (as usual), as he accidentally blurted out his thoughts in surprise.

 

Oh god no.

 

 

Eric stiffly twisted his body around to see, none other than the man assigned in the said cubicle himself, Shin Hyesung, wearing a what-the-hell-are-you-doing-in-my-space look.

 

 

Hyesung titled his head a bit to the side and raised a brow, “You're doing... straight stuff?”

 

 

“Oh…no! What I meant was,” he cleared his throat looking everywhere except him. “I'm looking for straight stuff... Straight things, you know... like a ruler?” He rambled idiotically.

 

 

“Uh, why?”

 

 

“Uh… because… they're…” Eric stammered again, sweat slowly forming on his forehead, “…b-b-beautiful?!”

 

He was a hopeless case.

 

Hyesung looked at him confused and let out a very flat, “Huh?”

 

 

Did he just say he’s looking for beautiful straight stuff?

 

 

And Eric, in an attempt to prove something and to save his face at least, blindly reached for anything that was remotely long and straight on Hyesung’s desk and immediately held it up for Hyesung to see.

 

“Like this one, look!” Eric exclaimed, faking astonishment as he stared at the random pencil he just randomly grabbed, “Wah, daebak! It's super straight! Complete 180 degrees! What a beauty!”

 

And there goes saving his face.

 

 

Hyesung was speechless. He just stared at Eric, mouth slightly agape, probably too shocked to digest the fact that there exists a person who was as weird as the man in front of him.

 

 

“If you don’t mind… I’m going to… uh… borrow this now…” Eric decided to continue as he felt his face slowly heating up. “Wow. So much straightness…”  

 

Realizing he had destroyed his image enough, Eric stopped blabbering (thank god) and suddenly and very akwardly bowed then immediately fled from the scene.

 

 

Not far from what was happening, Junjin immediately poked his head up to witness the scene, “What's with Eric-hyung?” he asked.

 

 

“Uh,” Hyesung hesitated, not sure if he should really tell-tale to Junjin or not. “He said he likes straight things.”

 

 

 “He even took my pencil.”

 

 

For a moment, Hyesung couldn’t help but wonder if he has ever seen a curved pencil in his life.

 

 

 

 

____________

 

 

 

 

Eric was down and depressed that Friday. He completely gave up – seems like talking to Hyesung was making him say outrageously idiotic things. He might already have the image of that ‘one weird constipated crossdressing guy who has a weird for straight stuff’ in the office for all he knows.

 

He sighed defeated. He clutched the pencil he just basically declared love upon yesterday, to the man he was supposedly fated with, and stared at it pensively.

 

 

Maybe he’s really a guy.

 

 

And maybe I’m really gay.

 

 

 

He sighed again.

 

 

 

Should I tell Minwoo about this?

 

 

But how can he explain this whole ordeal to him, when he himself hasn’t completely understood it yet?

 

By every minute that passed by, he just got more and more miserable. He closed his eyes, leaned his head back, sank down on his seat, hung his arms ungracefully down to his side, and outstretched his legs spread-eagle.

 

 

I feel like .

 

 

And he looks like one too. His eyebags has eyebags under them. His hair was unruly, and he didn’t even bother to fix his attire properly anymore.

 

 

A few more seconds in his solitude, Eric heard quiet steps slowly approaching him.

 

 

 

“Well, hello there, ugly person.” He heard Minwoo’s voice somewhere, and the smell of coffee that usually accompanied the shorter guy’s arrival.

 

 

“Ugh.” He very charitably replied.

 

 

“Hey,” Minwoo began in a whisper, “you have something you want to tell me?” he asked, nudging Eric’s arm a little.

 

 

Oh, did he notice I’m out of it these days?

 

Did he notice I’m out of it because of that Shin Hyesung?

 

Maybe I should really tell Minwoo?

 

Maybe he’ll understand.

 

 

 

But he decided, maybe now’s not the right time.

 

 

“I’m… I’m just really stressed this week.”

 

 

“You have any problems?” Minwoo asked again, with concern.

 

 

“You know… the usual… Manager Jang’s being such an these days.”

 

 

Minwoo nodded, seemingly understanding and accepting Eric’s answer. Well, Eric was not completely lying. He just comfortably left out the fact that Hyesung’s appearance was putting a very heavy toll on his very fragile mind too.

 

 

Then with an overly happy tone, Minwoo suggested, “Maybe you need a drink!”

 

 

Eyes still closed, Eric let out a short chuckle. “Maybe I do.”

 

 

“You want to go drinking then?” Minwoo inquired. “It’s been months since the last time you accompanied any of us for beer.”

 

 

That was true. It’s been months since he last tasted any form of alcohol. He slightly nodded and without really thinking he replied, “yeah, sure.”

 

 

He heard Minwoo loudly gasped, and even with his eyes closed, he can feel Minwoo extremely staring at him. Maybe he was not expecting this kind of reaction from him? But wasn’t he a bit overreacting?

 

Not really caring about anything, he meekly added. “Yeah, I’ll join you.”

 

 

But agreeing to it was probably a mistake. Because the next thing he knew, Minwoo was dashing up to the front of their office and loudly exclaimed,

 

 

 “Guys! Eric agreed to join us in Hyesung’s welcoming party later!”

 

 

Hearing this, Eric immediately shot his eyes open.

 

 

“Let’s celebrate!!” Minwoo cheered as his whole department cheered with him too.

 

 

Say what?!

 

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I just want to say my thanks again to all my subscribers, upvoters and commentors. XD You guys give me so much motivation for this fic. <3

Also, I probably won't be updating this fic until next next week, because I'm scheduled to drown in my studies until then. So I hope you could please bear with me and wait for the next update, very patiently. OTL

I hope you like this chapter! And please leave your comments, thoughts, or reactions down below~ I love reading your comments. XD

Thank you so much!!! <3 Til the next chapter!