between the devil and the deep blue sea - chapter one
pairing: baekhyun x ryu jinhee (oc)
synopsis: Ryu Jinhee is an indecisive consultant with almost no sense of herself. Byun Baekhyun is a jaded workaholic trying to find some peace and quiet amidst the cacophony of everyday life. She’s still infatuated with her first love. He’s trying to settle down with a girl he thought was the right woman. They could’ve been anything – colleagues, in-laws, maybe even friends. But somewhere down the line, they wind up lovers, finding themselves between the devil and the deep blue sea.
link: prologue
//
chapter one: drink me in
//
In consulting, they say first impressions are last impressions. Jinhee used to vehemently rejecting the notion, something honest and gullible about not judging a book by its cover, but that day, she found herself eating her words– Or drinking them.
Her glass fell to the counter with a frustrated thud. The lime-tinged tequila was burning its way down her throat, with the salt leaving faint pricks on her tongue.
A young bartender meandered towards her, his gaze flitting between her and her now empty glass. “Can I get you another Tequila on the rocks?”
“Sure,” she smiled, “keep the rim of salt, please.”
“Sure thing, beautiful,” he slurred, and scurried off to refill her choice of evening poison.
Just what she needed – a drink that tasted like cleaning fluid, more salt on her wounds, and a bartender-cum-pickup-artist who’d probably make for a shitty one-night-stand on a Monday evening. You're really hitting a whole new low, Ryu Jinhee, she thought. She’d given up admonishing herself – it was more of a prompt, a friendly reminder that she’d have to stop running headfirst into bad decisions and vicious cycles, at some point.
Speaking of first impressions and bad decisions – it wasn’t her fault. She’d only intended to get her new boss a cup of coffee as a common courtesy. How would she know that said boss and some social justice warrior she’d pissed off at a coffee joint would turn out to be the same fucking person?
He’d spend the rest of the day proving her impressions right. Whether it was nitpicking on the filters in her Excel sheet, rewording the taglines on her Powerpoint slides, or just making her arrange all the client meetings for the next three months –like I’m a fucking personal secretary– Byun Baekhyun didn’t even bat an eyelid. With the way he, in a wave of stubborn righteousness, refused her offer of a free drink, she should’ve known what to expect.
She should’ve listened to Jiwon, perhaps even fought back against her staffing assignment. After all, he had to have pissed off a good number of analysts to develop such a reputation. Some foolish, egoistic part of her thought that she was good enough to handle any project manager – three Tequilas in, Jinhee wanted to disown that girl, whoever the fuck she was. She half-hoped her new project manager would disown her first.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Jinhee pilfered it out, sucking in a breath.
12.01 a.m.
Byun Baekhyun: I put some comments on the deck. Please fix it and send it back.
Not even tomorrow morning? Jinhee held back her bile. It seemed like he had no intention of disowning her, after all. They say that revenge is a dish best served cold – apparently, it was also a dish that Byun Baekhyun intended to serve her cold, in the dead of a Monday night, probably for the next three months.
She lamely thumbed out an obedient “okay”. After all, she was just a small fry – and, for the next three months, the only small fry working under him.
Jinhee downed what was her second –third?– Tequila for the night. She waved at a hand at the same flirtatious bartender, intending to order a drink and also maybe let him ask for her number. A quick fuck would probably let her vent before she had to face that that sickening piece of–
“One Whiskey Sour, please.”
A hard baritone disrupted both her alcohol order and train of thought. She ducked down, immediately burying her face in her hands. It had only been a day, but she would have recognized that voice anywhere.
“Jinhee?”
Jinhee stifled a groan. She slowly lifted her head, putting on a forced, polite smile. “Good evening, Manager Byun,” she chirruped. “Didn’t expect to see you here!”
Didn’t expect you to ruin the few hours of solace I have before I have to spend a day handling your shit.
Her honeyed tone made her want to puke, but saccharine-sweet professionalism was a cornerstone of the industry. Something about consultants being the best bullshitters.
“Did you just finish a client meeting?” she asked, instinctively shifting a few inches away as Byun Baekhyun pulled the chair next to her.
He nodded. “Yeah, I did.”
“And they liked the preliminary scope of work?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “They wanted a couple of things altered, but we can work on it later.”
Later. Later. The word hissed through her mind like a curse. Does this fucker not need to sleep?
Then again, she was about to fuck a bartender who didn’t even give her a free drink. Ryu Jinhee knew she was no better, and would be no better. She stared at the new intruder, whose good looks would’ve made him a great prospect if not for the rounds of shit he’d put her through that day.
“So,” she continued, attempting to keep up conversation before it became too obvious that she hated his guts, “did you come on this case right from another one?”
“Yes,” he nodded again. “I came off a two week corporate due diligence case.”
“Ah!” she smiled. “Must have been a tough case.”
“It’s fine. I’m usually with the private equity practice, anyway.”
Ah. PE. The private equity practice. As consultants climbed up the corporate ladder, they would slowly divide them into different specialized practices depending on their industry of choice. The process-oriented ones would go into supply chain, the tech-savvy ones would go into digital – and the assholes who didn’t need a wink of sleep would knock themselves out in PE. Between the tough, knowledgeable clientele and projects with two-week turnaround times, the fuckers from PE were grown into a very different breed.
“Did they kick you out?” she joked – or at least, she attempted to.
He didn’t even offer her the courtesy of half a laugh. She cowered at his gaze, cold and austere. He probably thought she was a bug. “No,” he replied, “I just wanted a change of pace.”
Jinhee was back to sipping her drink, praying the alcohol would take away some of her shame. It took her every ounce of courage not to shrivel away.
“How about you?” he asked, in what was his first jab at the whole concept of reciprocal, professional courtesy.
“I was on a digital transformation project in San Diego,” she replied. “Three months of implementation in San Diego, which was initially supposed to be extended for another three until I also decided I wanted a change in pace.”
“Good choice,” Baekhyun said. “Implementation cases become repetitive. They don’t challenge your intellect.”
“Well,” she tried, “there’s quite a bit of critical thinking involved in implementing strategy too, you know. Also, the hours are better, and maybe some people want to have a better work-life balance.”
“Work-life balance,” Baekhyun chortled at the thought. For a moment, she thought she saw him sneer. “People who want work-life balance don’t stay long in consulting, do they?”
What the– Jinhee’s jaw fell for what was the second time that day. Yup. This guy is a certified asshole.
Jinhee downed the contents in her glass. “So,” she leaned towards him, emboldened by the kick of alcohol, “is that why you’re in consulting? Because you feel it challenges your intellect?”
“Yes, of course,” he replied. “It’s good training. I’m not too smart.”
Jinhee snorted. He looked at her, bewildered. “What?” he asked.
“No, it’s just,” oh, fuck it, “that’s just kind of rich coming from you, no?”
He recoiled. “Excuse me?”
Excuse you. Jinhee mentally cracked her knuckles. “You’re telling a second-year consultant that you, a decorated project manager who passed probably three rounds of promotions, aren’t too smart. Even for modesty, that’s a little much, no?”
“Well, intellect and hard work are two different things.”
Jinhee narrowed her eyes. “And what do you mean by that?”
“Take you, for example,” Baekhyun gazed her, eyes gleaming. “You had the smarts to distract me and cut my line this morning, but here you are, drinking your night away instead of finishing a deck that’s due in the wee hours of the morning.”
“You could’ve just gotten a coffee for free,” Jinhee grumbled. Asshole.
There was a small, smug smile toying at the edges of his lips. “And you could’ve gotten eight hours of sleep, had you gone back to do your work.”
Jinhee was inches away from balling up her fists and knocking the daylights out of the smirking motherfucker. Byun Baekhyun was the type of teacher’s pet who’d raise his hands in every class and rat on all the kids who played soccer during recess. He was one of those uptight, self-centered know-it-alls who would probably only have two friends and grow old with nine cats, because no human would be able to stomach his bile.
But Jinhee had to. She was a few months away from her promotional cycle, and this rude, uptight, cat-owning tattletale was probably going to decide the fate of her career.
“Alright, alright, I’m sorry,” Jinhee said, letting the alcohol coax her into amiability. “How about I buy you a drink to make up for my morning transgressions?”
“No, no, we still have a deck to finish–“
“Hey!”
Jinhee flapped her hands at the bartender, who, noticing the presence of her new male companion, seemed a little less enthusiastic. Scanning tipsily through the drink list, Jinhee tilted her head at Baekhyun. “What do you want?”
“I said–“
“I think I’ll order you an Elderflower Gin-and-Tonic,” she grinned. “That Whiskey Sour’s made you a little sour – need something sweet to loosen you up.”
“Jinhee–“
She leaned in close, shooting him a syrupy sweet smile. Two could play the game. “Why don’t you choose me a drink too?”
He threw her a dry look, before finally giving in. “Alright. I’ll bite.”
//
“What is this shit?” Jinhee spat. She was foaming at the mouth and couldn’t care less if she was going to throw up on his fuck-knows-what branded shirt. He deserved it, anyway.
Baekhyun coughed up a few laughs. “It’s a Classic Amaretto Sour.”
“With egg white?” Jinhee gagged. “Damn, you rich old people are disgusting!”
She couldn’t discern whether it was the taste of the non-conventional cocktail or the fact that she had more cocktails than she could count that sent her reeling. Her initial intention was to lighten the atmosphere, get on her new boss’s better side so she’d suffer a little less the next day, but it was turning into a full-blown one man party. Jinhee was a fucking riot.
But it did seem like she’d accomplished her mission. Baekhyun was leaning back on his seat, shoulders relaxed and lips eased into a smile – a far cry from the cold-eyed, standoffish devil’s incarnate who bossed her around for most of the day.
She reached forward for his glass, intending to swap his with hers. Fate –or her poor spatial awareness– sent her promptly catapulting onto his lap. Jinhee looked up, finding his eyes locked squarely on hers.
She swallowed.
The dimming yellow lights also seemed to illuminate his face in all the right corners, accentuating his angular cheekbones, soft eyes, and almost infectious smile. His broad shoulders seemed broader, and his already long legs seemed longer. She didn’t know how she didn’t catch it before –perhaps it was the stick he’d shoved so far up his ass– but Byun Baekhyun was quietly drop-dead gorgeous.
The alcohol was pounding in her head, giving her a sense of courage so fickle and dauntless that she was almost shaking at the seams.
“You know,” she said, coming even closer, “you’re not too bad.”
He arched a brow. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, you’d actually be quite handsome, if you weren’t such a dick.”
She could feel him stiffen with her touch. But his lips were still trained to a tight smile. “Are you trying to bribe your way out of the rest of your work tonight?”
“Maybe,” she smiled. His face was inches from hers. Fuck it.
Fuck. It.
She grabbed him by the collar and covered his mouth with hers. He stayed still, shell-shocked and stiff, probably trying to blink her into the oblivion. But she pulled herself onto his lap, and told herself that if he didn’t show any signs of reciprocating, she’d nicely fuck off.
In one, two, three–
His arms snaked around her waist, pressing her against his chest. Baekhyun’s lips parted, slowly moving against hers. She could taste the Elderflower Gin-and-Tonic and Whiskey Sour on his tongue, melding sweet, sour, spicy and sending her mind into overdrive. He tasted a little like moonshine, and Jinhee couldn’t get away. She didn’t want to get away.
But he did. Maybe.
He pulled away, leaving the air between them cruelly cold. He gazed at her, eyes so soft she felt she would melt away. “Jinhee,” he murmured gently, “what are you playing at?”
In the one day she’d known him, Byun Baekhyun had proven himself to be a lot of things – rude, cocky, infuriating, a bit of an elitist, but the quiver in his eyes told her he was much, much more.
So, before she pulled him back in, she murmured against his lips: “You.”
//
Baekhyun was sober. He was hanging on – barely.
Jinhee, on the other hand, definitely wasn’t. They’d tumbled their way out of the bar, up the lift, and into his suite, mostly because the girl couldn’t keep her balance. He had a lot to say about her bad steps, her unnecessarily clunky heels and her drunken garbles, but every time her hazy eyes met his, all he wanted to do was kiss her silly.
And so he did, their lips moving in desperate fervor. Their kisses had been sloppy and interrupted enroute to his room, but now that they were in its quiet confines, he could press her up against the wall and devour her mouth, egg-white Amaretto and all.
She laughed a little. He pulled away – but only slightly. He couldn’t bear going any further.
“My neck hurts,” she complained, even though he was the one pretty much bending over backwards just to kiss her. They were perhaps a head and a half apart, and her clunky heels weren’t really helping.
“Jesus, Jinhee,” he laughed.
He picked her up, hoisting her onto the convenient side-table by the door. Her hands reflexively found their way around his neck, pulling him back into her embrace. She smiled at him, chuckling softly with her lips less than an inch from his.
He placed his lips back on hers, pushing at the corners, like he was begging for access. She readily obliged, parting her lips and letting his tongue search the roof of her mouth. Their tongues battled in a gentle, almost familiar dance, one that shot jolts of adrenaline through his veins and burned a path of fire down his loins.
As she drew him closer, he decided to try a different strategy, moving a flutter of kisses from the back of ear to the white of her collarbones. His hands danced over her porcelain skin, tracing a path down to the straps on her shoulders. He pulled one side down, slowly kissing his way down her chest.
She mewled softly, responding by tangling her hands in his hair and wrapping her legs around his waist. She had him pressed to her in the most intimate of places, smiling devilishly as she felt him grow hard and wanting. She was going to drive him fucking insane.
He moved his face back to her lips. He slid his hands over her thighs, grasping her by the waist. “Stop playing games, Ryu Jinhee,” he growled desirously.
“But you like them,” she teased back, and for a moment he wondered if she really was drunk.
He gazed at her, cheeks flushed and hair framing her face in soft, messy curls. Her straps were pulled down to her shoulders and her skirt had ridden up to her hips, exposing her soft, pinkening skin. He’d take her in less than a second if she wasn’t going to try and stop him.
He didn’t know what was wrong with him. He didn’t do things like this. He’d gone down for one drink – one, and one that didn’t involve flirting with his young, twenty-something subordinate, kissing her to his room, and being inches away from fucking her–
He cupped her face in his hands. “Are you really okay with this, Jinhee?”
She stared back, hazily confused. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she muttered.
Her smile was gentle and willing but tinged with exhaustion. Her eyes were glazing over, in a way that nipped at his heart. He reached a hand to her cheek, caressing her softly.
“Because you’re drunk.”
She chuckled softly, tiredly. She slid her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. He could feel her breath on his nape, hot and heavy. You’re really going to drive me insane, Jinhee.
“So you’re not a dick after all, Byun Baekhyun,” she mumbled sleepily.
He felt a kiss being placed on his neck, sending shivers down his arms. She slowly slumped in his arms, her body pressed against his. He turned to her, his chin brushing against her hair, eyes falling onto her sleeping face.
Baekhyun drew his breath. He hooked an arm under her legs, trudging towards the bedroom. He kicked open the covers, placing her gently in the space between. Tugging the blanket over her shoulders, he pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
“I’m not,” he said, half-sighing and half-smiling, “but you are.”
He pushed himself off the bed, heading for the couch before the sight of her could whittle away the little left of his self-control.
You are, Ryu Jinhee, he thought to himself. You’re the devil
//
