Chapter 2 – Things We Don’t Know

            He really, really wasn’t blonde anymore.

            I blinked a couple times, trying to get over my slight shock.  His hand was still extended out and I could tell he was starting to get nervous at my lack of response.  I quickly shook his hand.  “N-nice to meet you Mr. Lee,” I stuttered, pulling my hand back after feeling it tingle while it was in his.  I mentally slapped myself for seeming to be too nervous.  “I’m Cho Kyuhyun.”

            “Very nice to meet you,” he said, giving me a smile.  “I’ve heard so much about you and I’m very excited to work with you.”

            “The same with you,” I muttered, looking over at a smug Heechul and Jungsu to try to compose myself, but they seemed to make me feel worse.  “Mr. Park, why don’t you show Mr. Lee around the building?”

            “Of course,” Jungsu said, gesturing for Sungmin to follow him.  “But, where should we place him?”

            “Just place him in my office for now,” I said, wondering where it would be best for Sungmin to work.  “Let’s get him his own table by tomorrow.”

            “Yes sir,” he said, winking before heading out of the room with Sungmin.

            I watched the door close behind them before noticing Heechul smirking at me.  “What was that,” he asked, raising his eyebrow.

            “Nothing,” I muttered, looking everywhere else but him.

            “That certainly wasn’t nothing,” he teased, packing up his bag.  “But I won’t push you.  I just didn’t think you liked guys in that way.”

            My eyes widened.  Was that what it looked like?  “What,” I asked.  “No.  I’m pretty sure I’m straight.”

            “You’re pretty sure,” he said, winking as he put on his shoulder bag.  “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”

            Before I could yell anything else at him, he ran out of the room.  “I don’t like him like that,” I muttered to myself as I started shutting down the power.  “He just changed my way of thinking and I’m only grateful.”  I nodded before exiting the room myself.

            “I’m sorry for barging into your office like this,” Sungmin said, looking down at the floor.

            I chuckled.  “No, don’t worry about it,” I said, smiling.  “I was the one who wasn’t prepared.  Please, take a seat.”  I gestured over to the sofa at the side of the room.

            He took a seat and I looked at him.  He doesn’t recognize me.  I mean, of course he wouldn’t.  We met once and he did all the talking.  It’s not like I said something significant.  “Do you want to see all of the designs I have planned out,” he asked, setting his bag down.

            I took my own seat before facing him again.  “Well, it’s getting late, so let’s just do that tomorrow,” I said, taking out some files.  “Plus, I need to finish up some paperwork.”

            “In that case,” he said, slipping his shoulder bag back on.  “Would it be okay if I left now?  I made some plans with my boyfriend and he doesn’t like it when I’m late.”

            I felt my breath catch onto itself as my heart slowly skipped a beat.  What was that?  I looked him in the eye and smiled.  “Yes, of course,” I said.  “I’m sorry we couldn’t do much today.”

            “No, it’s perfectly fine,” he said, smiling back.  “I’ll see you tomorrow Mr. Cho.”

            I waved before turning back to my paper works.  I heard the door slam close and I felt myself breathe again.  What’s this?  Am I getting sick?  I leaned back on my chair and slowly massaged my temples.  I think I just need more sleep.  Me only getting 2 hours last night probably isn’t helping my health.  I looked at the pile of paper work on my desk and glared at it.  I always have tomorrow.  I stood up myself and put on my jacket before leaving for the night.

            “I was having such a nice dream,” I yelled out into the open air as I slammed by hand down on my alarm clock.  I always set it up 30 minutes before the actual time I had to wake up so I could linger in my bed.  Which I did today.  But I was more wide awake than drifting on and off like usual.

            Yesterday’s meeting with Sungmin must have affected me quite a bit if I was dreaming of him just now.  In my dream, he had recognized me during our meeting and smiled.  That was all he did, but it somehow made me really happy.  Did I want him to recognize me?  No, I don’t think so.  I just want to be able to say thank you.

            I stared at my pale white ceiling.  He said he had a boyfriend.  I wonder what his boyfriend is like.  Was he nice to him?  Was he sweet?  Did he get to see Sungmin smile like that every day?  Wait, why am I thinking about this?

            I shook my head and covered my face with my blanket.  Goodness it’s freezing.  I tucked my whole body in, trying to preserve the heat.  My mind went back to what everyone kept saying yesterday.  I really have changed I guess.  I have feelings now.  I have my own thoughts.  But this all just goes back to Sungmin.  Am I feeling guilty about the fact that I haven’t thanked him for changing my life for the better?  Probably.  How am I supposed to say it though when he doesn’t even remember me?

            I think I’ll just wait until I find the right timing.  I don’t want to rush it.

            I ran my fingers through my hair as I walked into my office.  I was humming the new song by Zhoumi, ‘Love Sick’, after getting it stuck in my head.  They wouldn’t stop playing it on the radio.  I gave out a very manly squeal after spotting a body on my right side.

            “Oh my gosh,” the voice from the body said, jumping up.

            I looked over again and noticed that it was Sungmin.  I completely forgot that he’d be staying in my office.  “Goodness, you scared me,” I said, catching my breath and hiding my blushing cheeks.  I walked over to my desk.

            “I’m so sorry for scaring you,” he said, noticing his blushing cheeks. 

            “No no, I completely forgot that you would be here,” I said, putting my bag down.  I noticed his new desk, right across from mine.  “How do you like your new desk?”

            “It’s perfect,” he said, smiling as he sat back down. 

            “That’s great,” I muttered, shuffling through my files.  “Would you mind showing me your designs now?”

            “Absolutely,” he said.  I heard a bit of shuffling as I filed through my papers.  He handed me his designs.  “Do you want some coffee?  I’m about to do a run.”

            “Thank you and yes please,” I said, giving him a quick smile as I opened up the file he gave me.

            “Okay, I’ll be right back,” he said, walking out of the office.

            “Oh wait,” I started, realizing that he didn’t know my coffee order.  It was too late, he was gone.  Oh well, coffee’s coffee.  I looked through his designs.

            Wow, these are amazing.  We could really use these.  I continued to look through it, noticing all of the different light colors on the sides.  They were so elaborately drawn and you could see the work he had put in based off on the many erase marks on the sides.  “Now we just need to discuss the fabrics and such,” I muttered, putting his designs to the side.  I gathered my other files pertaining other projects and quickly looked through them, approving and disapproving as I went through. 

            By the end of the time I had approved four out of the forty project proposals that were presented.  I would have loved to approve more, but this was business and I was smart enough to know which ideas would appeal to the people based on the new trends. 

            Sungmin still hadn’t come back from his run and my eyes managed to linger on his desk.  Was he comfortable there?  Or was he, perhaps, feeling entrapped as I was just sitting a couple of feet away?  I shrugged, figuring that I could ask him later.

            The door slowly creaked open, revealing a slightly disheveled Sungmin holding two coffee cups.  “Whoa, when you said coffee run, you really meant the run didn’t you,” I said, chuckling as he handed me my cup of coffee.

            He laughed along and it sounded like music in my ears.  “It’s really windy outside,” he explained, sitting back into his chair.

            I let the coffee smell flow through my nose and drank it carefully.  Surprisingly, it tasted like my regular cup of coffee.  Chocolate hazelnut coffee with one creamer and two sugars.  Did he ask Jungsu?  “Hey, did you ask Jungsu about my coffee order,” I asked, setting my coffee down before glancing over at him.

            His eyes remained on the paperwork in front of him as he shook his head.  “No, why,” he asked.

            “Oh, never mind,” I muttered.  He must have just gotten lucky.  “Hey, I looked over your designs and I’m quite impressed.  It’s no wonder that Heechul and Hangeng chose you to represent the company.”

            I could see pink slowly form around his cheeks.  “Thank you.  I’m really happy you liked them,” he said, looking up with a smile.

            His smile didn’t fail to make me smile back.  “Now all we need to discuss are the fabric choices and we can start talking to the factory,” I said, searching through my piles of papers for the request form.

            “Don’t worry, I got a copy of the request form from Mr. Park earlier,” he said, waving the paperwork around.

            “Ahh, you’re always prepared,” I commented, putting my papers back.  “Just give it to me when you’re all done.”

            “Yes, of course,” he said, before looking back down at his work.

            The door opened again, this time letting Jungsu walk into the room.  “Mr. Cho, your 9 o’clock is here,” he said, looking at his clipboard.  “I hope he’s treating you well Sungmin.”  He winked at the boy, who blushed in response.

            “Of course, he’s been a proper gentleman,” he said, bowing his head to me as I walked past him.

            “Don’t make weird comments,” I chastised Jungsu before turning to Sungmin.  “If you need anything, Mr. Park will take care of you.”  I waved good bye before following Jungsu to a smaller meeting room.

            “I am completely and utterly exhausted,” I said, collapsing onto my chair.  Jungsu and Sungmin looked at me, amused.

            I looked over at the clock as it slowly reached five.  “You’re officially done for the day at least,” Jungsu said, patting my back.

            I nodded in agreement before looking over at Sungmin.  “Hey, since it’s your first day here, why don’t you let us treat you to dinner,” I asked.

            He smiled and nodded.  “I would love to,” he said, shrugging on his jacket.  “Would you mind if I called my boyfriend?”

            Again with the boyfriend.  My chest area seemed to throb for a second.  “No, the more the merrier,” I said, looking at Jungsu.  “Why don’t you go ahead and call up the gang too?  Hangeng and Heechul included.”

            “Of course,” he said, winking before taking out his phone.

            And that’s how the old group came together in a BBQ restaurant a couple of minutes away from my company.  And also how I was sitting across a very lovey dovey couple consisting of Sungmin and his boyfriend, who I later found out was named Kangin.  He was slightly shorter than me, however it was made up by the fact that he was quite burly.  They certainly looked good together and he seemed like a good man.  I mean, you have to be pretty nice to be a pediatrician.  Maybe I should ask him about the slight pain in my chest.

            “Thank you for taking care of my Sungmin,” Kangin said, bowing before reaching over to shake my hand.

            I shook it firmly.  “It’s really no problem,” I said.  “He’s a delight to have at work.”

            “Of course he is,” he said, glancing at a blushing Sungmin.

            “Kangin,” a familiar voice asked questioningly.  I turned around and noticed Jungsu, who was staring at the man across from me blankly.

            “Park Jungsu,” he said back, his eyes widening slightly.

            Before Sungmin could open his mouth, Heechul walked in with Hangeng, patting a shocked Jungsu on the back.  “How do you two know each other,” Heechul asked, dragging Hangeng to sit beside me.

            Jungsu shook his head to wake himself up.  “He used to be a very close friend,” Jungsu muttered, sitting on the other side of me. 

            The rest of the group could only look at the two awkwardly, knowing that there had to be something else.  But no one dared to say anything.  Except, for, you know, the other’s boyfriend.  “Is that all,” Sungmin asked, looking into Kangin’s eyes.

            Kangin looked into Sungmin’s eyes as if begging to not do this right now.  I could only watch in shock as Kangin rubbed the back of his neck.  “He’s my ex,” he muttered, quickly looking away.

            Sungmin could only roll his eyes before turning to face me with a smile on his face.  But his eyes seeming to be distracted.  “Well, the past is the past,” Sungmin declared, reaching for the soju.  “Let’s get on with this.”

            Heechul nodded in agreement and reached over to pour himself a drink.  The rest followed suit and waited for the meat to arrive.  When it did, it seemed like everything was forgotten.  However, I couldn’t help but look at Sungmin and his obvious fake smile.

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A/N: Hello everyone!  I’m so sorry that it took me a while to update this.  I had it all typed up but I had to make sure that I read it over before I posted it, which I couldn’t do until today.  I hoped you all enjoyed it though!  See you guys next time!