#hisandhers

It'd been a few months since they've started dating, but he was wooing her for even longer. What started as a simple friendship, made him wanting to know more and more about her and the more he got to know her, the more he fell in love. It was strange, how he didn't even considered her at first - he almost felt guilty about it- but when he realized that he had started to care about her more than a friend, he decided that he had to take the risk. Jeahee felt so distant back then, he worried a lot seeing her so occupied with her work. But that had changed. Well her worrywart nature hadn't; it was also one of the reason they had kept it a secret for so long. What would everyone think? What if it didn't work? Wouldn't that jeopardize everything? He was not sure if keeping secrets within the group again after everything that had happened was the right thing to do, but he understood her concerns and decided to go along with it. And then again, she would not accept otherwise anyway so he didn't have much of a choice.

He was not sure how everyone would take the news and he thought that they'd tease him endlessly. Well, that may had been the case a couple of years earlier, but everyone had changed since then, to his surprise everything went smoothly and all of them seemed happy about it. They knew each others for many years, it was only normal. They had their up and downs and everyone had grew closer. Min-Seo appeared one day out on nowhere and they ended up twirling in unexpected revelations within the span of a few days. V's secrets brought out the best and the worst parts of all of them. Though he couldn't help but feel that his progress was a little stale compared to how the rest of them had changed.

No, it was not the time for his insecurities to kick in, not while she was so nervous. He regretted mentioning the conversation that had unfolded in the chat-room, even though she would have found out sooner or later. He thought that just knowing her friend was safe would put her at ease. But he could not blame her, knowing that Min-Seo had spent the night with the trustfund kid made him anxious too. He had caught him looking at her with a weird expression on his face before but hadn't paid much attention to it; it was Jumin after all, there was no point trying to read any of his rare expressions and he'd deny everything anyway. But it did worry him back then, seeing that stone-faced man showing even a hint of interest for a woman gave him the chills. Thinking about it, Min-Seo was way too relaxed around him and way too trusting for her own good. What if he had taken advantage of her? He was, too, a man after all, not that he would voice that out loud seeing her being so concerned about her friend and he didn't have any proof either, other than Jumin behaving weird in the chatroom.

Jaehee tucked her hair behind her ear, checking her watch. Her anxious face was also cute, he thought, though he preferred her normal expression. He touched her hand and planted his lips on them in a gentle kiss, her cheeks were immediately painted red. She was still not used to this after all this time and he was secretly loving it, it made him feel mischievous every time he was touching her and admittedly it was stimulating his lust. Placing a hand on her long neck, he smirked and, slightly sitting up, he forced a hungry kiss unable to hold back. It took her a moment to abandon resistance and reciprocate, but the moment she did, he couldn't hold back a pleased moan and he could feel her lips forming a smile while they were kissing.

He was getting more and more into it and he wouldn't mind at all a repeat of last night. Min-Seo, Jumin, the chatroom, everything seemed irrelevant while he was touching her, they didn't have many chances to be alone together so it was all he could think about. All his senses were focused on her, he felt like howling. That's why when Jaehee stood up without warning, he found himself on the floor in shock. Thinking that he had displeased her somehow at first, once he wrapped his mind around the situation he felt embarrassed to know he was too caught up in the moment to notice Min-Seo entering the room keys in hand. Jahee, looking even more embarrassed than him, had turned bright red. It was only normal, since she was not used to show her affection publicly yet. He felt responsible about that since the nature of his work was prohibitive on that matter.

Jahee's reaction was one thing, but what drew his attention was Min-Seo's confound reaction which soon turned into a pained expression. She looked like someone had drained the blood from her face. He stood up, sensing a storm coming when he saw her balling her fists, her tush softly biting the corner of her lower lip. Had she really approved their relationship? He couldn't believe that she really did, judging from that reaction. Then again, maybe she was just irritated because they were making out on the sofa in her apartment, like they had no care in the world, right after making such a fuss for her not being there. He would get a bit mad too if he was in her place.

"Min-Seo, are you ok?" "I'm fine," she replied averting her eyes. "I'm sorry I made such a fuss and worried everyone. It's just that you wouldn't answer my calls. I got worried. And… Eh? Did you cut your hair? When? You look upset. Did something happen?"

Her cutting her hair was indeed surprising, but even he could tell that her clothes were different too which was much more alerting. It was obvious even though he hadn't seen her from up close last night. If he had noticed, Jahee had also noticed without a doubt and that would fuel her concern. It was evident on her face that she was holding back not to ask for details. What in the world had happened after she left the shop? Maybe Yoosung was right after all.

"Are you really ok?" he decided to ask in her place. "How did you end up with that cat-loving bastard? You seemed nervous in the chat-room. He didn't take advantage of you, did he?" "I said I'm fine, didn't I?" she raised her voice. "Why are you so set to paint him as the bad guy?" "That was not my intention, but, Min-Seo, you can't just trust a guy that easily, even if it's Jumin." "How is that your concern? I said I'm fine… Nothing happened. Don't force your perverted thoughts on us!" "Min-Seo! Zen was just worried about you, he didn't mean to insult you. Maybe he crossed the line a bit, but you don't have to speak to him like that." "Of course you'd take your boyfriend's side!" she snapped.

Women are complicated beings, he always thought that. Standing between them, he was not sure what to make of Min-Seo's expression, not her sudden outburst. Well, he had pushed things a bit too, maybe he should have hold back his thoughts. But, looking at her, he knew that she had regretted her last words the moment they were spoken, especially when she saw Jaehee's puzzled face. For some reason, she looked more hurt than her even though she was the one who said those words. She took a step back as if she was bewildered by her own actions and averted her eyes. He hadn't seen her look so miserable before.

"Jahee… I'm sorry..." she slightly raised her hands apologetically. "It's ok," Jahee forced a smile "It was my fault too… I had no right to pry into your personal life, I apologize."

That was a bad choice of words, not what the person in front of her would like to hear and her cold tone put an end to their conversation. Despite the fact that he felt mad at her for talking to Jaehee like that, using these words and not being honest was kind of cruel on Jaehee's part too. It'd be better if she got angry at her and kept voicing her concerns.

"That's right," she sounded calm all of sudden. "You have your own life now, you should stop worrying about others. Thanks for worrying but… I'm fine. Anyway, I have an appointment today, I can't spend the day with you after all… I'll leave after I take a shower, so excuse me."

He felt the air pressure rising, it was not supposed to end like this… Something was not right. The two women had never talked to each other like that, at least not in front of him, it was like something had cracked between them. Min-Seo reappeared in the living room about thirty minutes later, thirty painfully silent minutes. The mood was ruined and the words they exchanged before she left the apartment were cold. Jaehee looked like she was about to cry. Their fight had the worst possible timing, it'd definitely cloud over her decision to move in with him. Unsure of how to handle the situation, he just squeezed her hand, his eyes searching hers as if he wanted to reaffirm her resolution. She gave him a weak smile and nuzzled her head on his chest. Of course she would not back off her word, but she would not open up about her feelings easily either.

"I'm sure everything will be alright," he petted her head. "We were supposed to spend a fun morning together. How did it end up like this?" she whined. "I should not have pried into the situation, but I was worried." "Isn't it normal? You are her friend after all, that's what you should have said. Jaehee, you should explain how you felt, she'll understand if you are honest." "I don't know, I know she cares for me as much as I care for her, but sometimes I feel there is a wall between us… How can I describe this feeling? And how… No, it doesn't matter," she pressed her face more on his chest. "...Did the fact that she ended up at Jumin's house bothered you?"

Her shoulders tensed, she hesitated to answer. Slowly, she sat up straight on the sofa, her eyes staring on the floor empty as if she was thinking over something. Then she slowly shook her head and laced her fingers.

"Not really…" she smiled. "Jumin might be strict and blunt with others and maybe a bit too eccentric sometimes, but he cares deeply about his friends. If anything, I'm glad he was with her last night. I kind of felt bad that she'd spend her day alone. You know, she said she'd spend the night with a female friend of hers but… She hardly calls anyone on her phone all this time we live together, she'd only hang out with me, the guys or a couple of our co-workers. I was a bit surprised when she said that she'd meet with a friend out of work… You know, I thought it was just an excuse to leave us alone and when I didn't fine her at home I thought that maybe something had happened to her on her way home. So I'm a bit relieved actually. I felt that she was hiding something, but if she was just going to meet Jumin, I guess it's fine…"

"But…Wasn't Jumin asking about Min-Seo in the logs and saying he was going home after he had rejected his father's invitation for dinner last night? There is no way he'd lie about that. So… She definitely wasn't going to meet him when she left us… So Yoosung's hypothesis can not be right… How did they meet? What happened? She did say that she was the one who called him, was that true? Why Jumin though? Were they that close? I'm really curious right now..."

Anervous laugh escaped his lips and he pulled her into his embrace, resting his chin on her head. He could not honestly agree with what she had said, but voicing his thoughts didn't seem to be the right choice either. What was that guy thinking anyway? He did say that he would not hold back the other day, was he referring to something like that? After all those years, he was convinced that CEO was not interesting in dating and he'd rather grow old with his cat, but maybe he was wrong after all.

"Hey, Jaehee… I was going to visit Saeyoung today…. Do you want me to stay with you instead?" "No…" she shook her head. "I'd better pack up what's left today since I have free time." "Are you sure about that?" he doubted that it'd be the right move. "Shouldn't you text her to meet up again later when you've both calmed down?" "I'm not sure about that. I think I should organize my thoughts a bit first." "Ok..." "Have fun," she forced a smile. "Ah… Yeah… Thank you."

Trying to shake off the guilt when he saw her smile, he picked up his things and said goodbye with a kiss. Truth to be told, Saeyoung had indeed invited him that day to hang out since Jahee was supposed to spend her day with Min-Seo, but he was not so eager to meet him first thing in the morning so he hadn't given him a definite answer. However, he'd like to hear his thoughts on the matter, even though the red-head was never serious about these things. Turning to Seven to talk about love matters, who'd even think about that? But it's not like he had a better option. Yoosung would definitely freak out if he'd found out about the quarrel too, so leaving him out of this would not complicate the matter for now.

While numerous kind of thoughts ran through his mind, he finally reached outside of a small shop, in a quiet neighborhood of the town; it's storefront was filled with numerous eccentric mechanical toys and plushies. His eyes fell on a mechanical gorilla displayed in the middle of it, a handwritten message promoting the -just like the message described it – super fun new entry. He took off his helmet and squinted his eyes leaning towards the front to read the rest. "Lovable Banana Peeling Gorilla Yoo", Saeyoung's handwriting was overflowing on the paperboard. "Try it with real bananas!" the fine print encouraged the customers.

Leaving an exasperated sigh, he looked up at the colorful sign. Seven Star Toy Shop, it said, he was happy that his friend had finally settled down, but every time he visited, ever since the opening day he could not help but worry about his business going under. Who in their right mind would spend money on a banana peeling toy gorilla after all? Definitely not him. Plus, the whole store was emitting such a strange aura, it couldn't help but wonder if parents really entered the place along with their kids, the whole set up and the strange pick of colors made the story look kind of fishy. Then again, maybe it just looked like that to him because he knew the ex-hacker personally. Yes, that should be it, he tried to convince his self while locking his motorbike. He pulled up the zipper of his bomber more and shuddered.

"Coooold," he murmured rubbing his hands together and putting his helmet under his arm he rushed into the store. "Hello!"

His cheery voice echoed into the shop; no reply came. He repeated his greeting once again but didn't get a response. His eyes slid left and right, the place was packed with tones of different, strange looking toys, most of them designed and crafted by Seven himself, the red-head always took great pride in them. He stood up in front of a shelve flooded his a robot toy cat modeled after Elizabeth and frowned. It was the toy-line Jumin had single-handily crowdfunded, though he was not sure if they could call it crowd-fund anymore since it reached and exceeded its goal the first day it was shared online by the donation of just one person. Jumin gained a collector's edition version as a reward yet he dismissed it the moment he got it in his hands because, according to him, nothing could compare with the real Elizabeth, or so he said. Elizabeth didn't seem to like the toy robot entering her space either, not to mention the robot was responding through an AI Seven had installed in a human-like voice and with a strange accuracy at that, which he thought was kind of creepy anyway, so he advised Jumin to just lock the weird toy somewhere and never let it out again, burying it under the ground sounded like a good idea too.

He puckered his lips and took the toy box into his hands. On it, Elly the Cat was printed in huge purple letters. Reading it, he could almost listen to Jumin's voice complaining about the name into his head. Seven re-branded the name just before the toy was released, and the CEO had made quite a fuss about it. Both of them were ridiculous and they had a lot of time and money to spare respectively. He put the box back and rubbed his index finger under his nose, just thinking about the real cat made him feel like sneezing.

"What in the world… Where is he?" he looked around.

There was not a soul into the shop. It was so quiet, it felt kind of eerie, he scanned the room in front of him and was about to call his friend's name again when he felt a strange presence and a heavy breathing. His whole body stiffen and he slowly turned his head to look behind him. His eyes widen and he gulped down his saliva the moment he came face to face with a pink horse, no a unicorn? Whatever that was, it was creepy.

"Welcome…" a strange, unfamiliar voice greeted him. "You must be Zen."

The strange creature touched him casually on the shoulder. Letting out a cry, he tried to run away, only to meet another horse faced creature seconds later. His terror turned into surprise and unable to stop his momentum his collided with it, causing both of them to tumble on the shelves and end up with a pile of toys over them. Groaning, he supported himself with his hands and shook his head to shake away the dizziness, still hovering over whoever that was.

"Oh, Zen... That's so assertive of you," the creature brought his fingers bashfully on his snout and turned its face away. "What if Jahee finds out about this?"

"What the actual f*ck, Seven?" he fell back recognizing his friend's voice. "No need to be shy now! Though I can't accept your feelings..." "There is nothing to be shy about. What the hell were you thinking?" he slapped the floor with his hand twice to show his irritation. "Hi! I'm Moon Chun-Hei, nice to meet you!" the unicorn had just introduced itself.

Not hiding his disgust he backed off a bit. Seven was renowned for his weird cosplay choices but it seemed that he had found another weird person to cater to his weird hobby too. Noticing his uneasiness, the person decided to take of the horse-mask, only to reveal her long, pink-dyed hair and big, bright, light brown eyes. Her lips formed a cheerful, welcoming smile, revealing the white of her teeth and she swept her swept with her her hand. Not loosing time, she leaned over him, cupping her chin and inspected his face from every angle while he was sitting there, stiff as a statue.

"Hm," she nodded and turned to Seven who had just stood up. "He is much more handsome in person after all."

"A-Are you a fan?" he shuttered. "Not really," she admitted shamelessly. "But I've seen you on tv a couple of times, it feels good to meet a celebrity." "I wouldn't call myself a celebrity," he scratched his nose, secretly flattered by her comment. "But it's not like I met Rob Upwny Sr. either," she continued with a hint of disappointment in her voice and Seven muffled a laugh. "Anyway…! Saeyoung! Is this how you greet your customers? You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Why? I thought it be fun… Well, I was going for a reindeer mask at first, but then I thought it'd be too cliché…"

"Reindeer…? You could just dress up as Santa or something. And remove the mask already!" "Well, aren't you a demanding customer?" he finally took it off. "Dressing up as Santa… Everyone does that. You have to differentiate your self if you want to make it in this industry. Trust me, I'm a professional," he puffed his chest proudly and the girl nodded solemnly in agreement. "Honestly, I can't see your business surviving at all if you scare your customers like that." "How rude! I have to tell you that our online orders skyrocketed his month! Lovable Banana Peeling Gorilla Yoo is a hit," he defended himself.

"So, weird people who'd spent their money on things like these do exist out there..." he stood up keeping this thought for himself. "What about your in-store sales though?"

A pause followed and they both let out a nervous laugh after staying silent for a moment and averted their eyes nervously.

"Well, pretty good I think," he blurted, obviously lying. "Y-Yes… Considering how people prefer shopping online nowadays," she added in support. "I guess, I didn't even have to ask..."

"Aaahhh… I know, what about a cup of tea?" Chun-Hei nervously changed the subject. "It's so cold outside, it'll warm you up," she disappeared at the back of the store without waiting for an answer. "So..." Zen brought out his phone. "If I check your online reviews, you pro-"

"Ahhh-AH-AH… So, Zen, what brings you here?" the red-head yanked his arm before he could touch his screen and dragged him along sitting him behind the counter. "I thought you wouldn't come after all."

"Ah, that's right."

His words reminded him the true purpose of his visit. Sighing deeply, he started recounting everything that had happened that morning, Jaehee's thoughts on Jumin and even his views. Chun-Hei had joined them mid-way but he was too absorbed to his narration to even notice. Maybe the situation was troubling him even more than he though, something did not seem right. Seven, noticing his awkwardness when he realized that he was sharing everything in front of a stranger patted his shoulder in reassurance, edging him to continue and they both sipped the hot tea from their cups.

"So, what do you think?" he asked.

"Hmm… I'm not sure… It's not like Min-Seo to react like that. Usually she is more levelheaded." "Right? And how did she even end up in his place? It's not like they used to hang out together or something." "Does she really need a reason?" the girl interrupted. "It's her life you know, maybe she just felt like it." "Eh?" he looked at her shocked. "You can't just feel like it one day..." "Well, I do agree with her..." Saeyoung folded his hands looking troubled. "But with Jumin… You just can't feel like it, I think. The Ice Prince one the other hand, he does seem to be into her… Right?" he looked at Chun-Hei for confirmation. "Right!" 'Riiiight?" the asked in unison turning to him. "Eh? You don't mean to say… Nooo..." Zen shook his head vigorously. "There is no way." "Why not?" the girl asked passionately and laced her hands together. "Maybe they found each other on that lonely night and realized that all they needed was one other and their hearts became one." "Ah, Min-Seo, you are the only one I need after all. My pet, my family, my work, not even the tons of money I have can fill this void in my heart, only you!" Saeyoung tried to imitate Jumin and placed his hands on Chun-Hei's shoulders. "Ah, Mister Han, I was waiting for you to say those words for so long..." her voice came out more high-pitched and she wiped an imaginary tear before they end up in an embrace.

"NO! No-no-no-no-NO!" he separated them furiously. "You don't even sound like them. This is so out of character! And you seriously have to work on your acting." "At least that's what happened on the New Year's Special "Melting his heart" last night!" she explained.

"Definitely based on him, they didn't even bother to change the family name again." "Riiiggght?" she could not hide her enthusiasm. "Riiiiight! I could not stop laughing."

Listening to their little exchange he furrowed his eyebrows. So that's what Seven meant when he said that he would spent his day with his employee. He had not mentioned her before. How long was she working there? The worst part was that he had managed to find someone as weird as him, he felt like that spending more time with them would put even more weird ideas in his head and they didn't even seem to take the situation seriously. Somehow, they did seem to be way too comfortable with each other, but he could not bring himself to ask anything more. Not only that, he was too preoccupied with Jumin's weird behavior to care for Seven's love life at that moment. It was supposed to be a peaceful day, Jaehee and their new start together should be the only thing he should care and think about, but his head was a mess. Visiting Seven worsen his tangled thoughts, it was not the right decision after all.

"Well, since you care so much about it, why don't you ask Jumin directly?" Seven asked. "Jumin?" "Not that he'd be happy to see you..." he added.

"It's not like I'd like to see his face either. I feel like it'll ruin my new year's luck."

"Oh, harsh," the girl commented. "It's a love-hate relationship," Seven explained. "Don't tell me," she gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "A new challenger appears to steal Mr. CEO's heart!"

"Oh, bite me! I'm out of here."

"Hey, hold on, where are you going?"

"Maybe I should go see that jerk after all," he stood up angrily

"And I thought we had something special here, you were so assertive just a few minutes ago," he hid his face in his hands.

"Cheer up, Seven, he is not worthy of you," she patted him on his back sympathetically.

"Do you enjoy acting like like asses first thing in the morning? I'm serious here!" "Hmmm..." they looked at each other. "Maybe," they said with smug expression.

"No wonder this place has no customers!"

"Now you are being mean!" she pouted.

"This has nothing to do with our customers, you know," he shrugged. "It's about you being nosy."

"Anyway..." he exhaled sharply. "I'll go find that jerk and ask him for an explanation. No point discussing it with you too," he picked up his things in a rush, the sooner he'd leave that place the better.

"Say Jaehee hello from me!" Seven called.

"Say hello from me too!"

"She doesn't even know you!" he barked. "Bye!"

He decided to do so in an impulse, but when he finally reached in front of the C&R's building he started to have second thoughts. It was the first time he visited alone and the building itself was intimidating. Plus, he was not sure how he should approach the situation. He was supposed to ask him upfront but he was certain that Jumin would avoid giving him any answers. In a strange spur of confidence he had given his name to the receptionist and was waiting for an answer, ignoring his initial hesitation. He should get over with it one and for all and avoid any misunderstandings.

"Yes, sir, I understand," the woman answered with a professional tone and turned to him with a rather cold smile. "Excuse me but Mr. Han is unable to see you right now due to his excessive workload. He asked me to tell you that you'll need to make an appointment. Since you are an RFA member… How does 20th of January sound?"

"What? And that's supposed to be a special treatment?" he exclaimed. "Mr. Han is a busy man, please show your under-"

"Ah… Nevermind. I'm sorry for raising my voice like that," he offered her his most charming smile.

He had to shallow his anger and think fast if he wanted to have a chance to confront that jerk. Who did he think he was, denying to meet him? Was he being stubborn? He may have appeared unannounced but answering like that was uncharacteristic of him, he'd usually spare a few minutes of his time even after his work hours to ask the reason of his visit and that made his behavior even more suspicious. If that's how he wanted to play the game, then he could be even more stubborn than him. His mind run through the possible courses he could take. Asking to meet him forcibly would probably bring the opposite result, with him being thrown out of the building by his security guards.

"So, how can I help you then?" the woman asked. "Ah… Oh!" she blinked. "You see… I have to leave some important RFA related documents, so since I can't meet Mr. Han, could I meet Mr. Doe at least?" "But you are not carrying any documents..." she gave him a suspicious look. "Yeah..." a nervous laugh escaped him. "It's in digital form, I carry the usb on me." "Then, couldn't you send them to Mr. Han through e-mail instead?" "Ah..." he supported himself on the counter trying to look as relaxed as he could. "You see, our IT guy said that these files are extremely confidential, so it's safer to pass them to Jumin like that. He was too busy to bring them himself, so he asked me to do him this favor. But I can not leave them to just anyone…" "I-I understand." "But I know Mr. Doe personally and he is Mr. Han's secretary so I can trust him. Why don't you ask him if he could meet me?" he encouraged her. "We've met before. His wife is a big fan of mine you know."

"Ok… Let me ask him if he can see you..." she said reluctantly. "Sure!"

Watching her every move as she was contacting Mr. Doe, he was wishing his words had convinced her. Mr. Doe was a capable yet a bit too carefree man compared too Jumin, so he was betting everything on that. They last time they had met, he was asking for an autograph for his wife and he had promised him he'd give him one the next time they'd meet, so maybe that could work like a lure too. The woman finally pressed on her hands-free looking defeated and turned to him.

"Mr. Doe will see you in thirty minutes during his break. Could you please wait for him at the cafeteria?" "Oh, I see. Thank you..." "Then..." "Sorry to ask you this, but could I use the bathroom in the meantime?" "Ah, yes of course. It's that way."

"Thanks for you time."

He left her with a smile and entered the restroom acting as natural as possible. He thought his idea had worked at first but he did not expect that Doe would ask to meet him at such a place. He was hoping it'd be his chance to enter the office without problem but in the end he had guessed wrong. At least he didn't have to leave the building. Lurking by the restroom's entrance, he waited until the receptionist's attention was away and headed for the elevator, barely managing to enter inside before the doors closed behind him.

Inside, numerous men and women dressed in suits and holding documents were looking at their clocks anxiously. Some of them were wiping their suits with the back of their hands tidying up their clothes, others were sighing deeply, laying on the elevators doors, appreciating the brief break they could take until they reach their floor. Observing them he realized that he could never do this kind of job, but scenes like that one were always useful as a reference. As people started getting off, he started to stand out more and more. Many of them were giving him weird looks; his face was definitely the main reason he had their attention but his clothes were surely the cause of the dubious looks he was getting.

Retaining his poker face, he wished the elevator would hurry up and reach the top floor. The moment he got off, he had already won. With a victorious smile on his lips, he marched directly to his fellow RFA member's office, passing by a bunch of secretaries who cried out the moment they noticed him entering without permission but did not manage to hold him back on time. Kicking the door open to make a dramatic entrance, he called Jumin's name out loud breathing heavily. His anger was growing by each moment.

Even the unflappable Jumin could not stay unfazed by such an entrance, he was just laying back on his chair, looking at something in his hand with an unusual, tender smile. His usual stolid expression looked startled for a moment and the item fell from his hand as he stood up in response. His fingers reached out to catch it, but inevitably, it fell on his desk. What was that? Zen's eyes widened at the sight, while Jumin awkwardly picked it up again and hid it in his pocket. He knew he could trust his eyes and what he had just seen was a keychain similar to the one Seven had received on their Christmas' present exchange. So Min-Seo did give him one after he had so shamelessly asked for it. The question was why the CEO was looking at it like a child who had just received the best present in the world. Especially a rich guy like him who could buy a key-chain factory or something similar with his pocket money.

"Don't tell me..." he mumbled.

His words were muffled by a bunch of employees who had entered inside behind him, anxiously and continuously apologizing for what had just happened. Seeing them, he realized that he had just become the source of a huge problem for many people, he should have thought through this better, but it was too late for regrets at that point. Jumin had regained his composure and was looking at them coldly. Getting between him and the employees was the least he could do, it was not their fault after all, it was because he stubbornly refused to meet him.

"It's not their fault. Why did you refuse to see me? Do you have a problem with me?" "Of course it's not their fault if you are dumb enough not to take no for an answer," he finally spoke. "Rude as always," he walked towards him. "Like you are one to talk. I told you I was busy."

"It didn't seem like that to me… Unless daydreaming over a keychain is considered a serious job," he continued in a lowered voice.

"...It's ok, leave us now."

His employees did as they were ordered, looking conflicted over the fact that he had not even reprimanded before asking them to excuse themselves. His expression could not hide his annoyance anymore, his fingers stiff run over the smooth surface of his desk as if to underline his mood. He turned his back to him for a moment and exhaled deeply before sitting on his chair again, trying to appear as calm as possible, yet his indifference about his presence there was evident.

"So, what was so important that you'd cause such a scene to meet me?" his tone bitter. "It's about Min-Seo..." "Did something happen to her?" his eyebrow raised, finally looking interested in what he had to say. "Dude..." his mouth agape. "Don't tell me Seven was right. You seriously like her?"

Honestly, he did not think twice before blurting out those words, but seeing him acting like that and considering everything that had lead to that point, he felt like he had connected the dots. The fact that he was so weird around her, the fact that he had followed after her when she went to bring wine creating an opportunity to be alone with her, him asking about her in the chatrooms. His mind were producing thousand scenarios and not all of them were PG-13. What had happened last night after all? Instead of denying his words, the CEO ossified on his chair, his eyes avoiding his, unable to respond like he was looking for the right words.

"Well, there is no denying that there is a certain level of fondness bet-" "What the hell, just say that you like her. Since when did you have the hots for her?" "What does that even mean?" he stood up, looking unsure if he should feel insulted by those words or not. "You fancy her, don't you?" he slapped his hands on the desk, like some underground detective cracking a case. "I don't think I fancy her," he answered calmly, putting the things that had shifted from their place from the impact back. "Why do you look so excited you? How old are you? Ten?"

"What's the point denying it now? And how can you register my reaction as excitement anyway? I'm freaking out here!" he snapped getting more and more frustrated. "I'm a man in love, you know, I know how it is, I can detect the signs!"

"Hm? So how can you tell you are in love then?" "Eh? You are asking me this..." taken aback by the question he rubbed the nape of his neck. "You know… Well... you want to be together with the person you like all the time, you can't stop thinking about them… You want to touch them and you want them to look only at you and have all these thoughts about them... And stuff like these… Don't make me say these kind of things, it's embarrassing."

"I see..." his eyes widened in surprise. "Now the most articulate answer but…" he cupped his chin looking troubled. "Then I guess I too am in love."

"Dude, no!" he cried out. "You just denied that you fancy her just a moment ago and now you're saying that you love her? There is an order to things!" "So, you are saying that I do not love her?" "That's not what I'm saying… Gosh! Why are you like this?" he threw his hands in the air rolling his eyes. "What I'm saying is… Argg… I don't even know what I am trying to say right now…" he run his fingers through his hair trying to calm himself down. "Why are you reacting like that?" "Now you are asking why? Look… God, I came here to clear up things but what I am supposed to do with this information right now?" he wondered out loud. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" "How can you change the subject like you just said the most normal thing in the world? And this is what I wanted to talk about, obviously… I still can't believe this. Hey, are you even serious about her? If you just want a flick you should look elsewhere… Why are you looking at me like you don't even know what I'm talking about?" "Because I'm not sure what you are implying."

Feeling exhausted by the conversation, he threw himself on the chair and tried to collect his thoughts. He regretted the moment he tried to confront him, but maybe, with the way that man was acting, it was safer now that he knew how he felt towards his friend. Not to doubt that Jumin was caring about them, just like Jaehee said, but the man seemed unable to recognize his feelings and follow the right procedure, so it could end up badly. It was not that unexpected, since that man grew up having everything, but that was also the most alarming part.

"Look, you've invited her to your house even though you haven't even asked her to go out on a date yet, am I right?"

He looked hesitant.

"I don't think it's the right time to ask her on a date right now. He has a lot of things on her mind."

"What is he talking about?" his eyebrows arched and he looked at him curiously but decided not to ask for details. "If she has a lot on her mind, maybe that's the best time to ask her out, it'll put her mind off things. It doesn't have to be anything romantic or sexual you know, just go out as two friends spending some quality together at first. You have to appeal to her somehow if you want her to like you back."

His eyes lighted up.

"So I have to appeal to her somehow."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"But, what if she likes another person?" he flattered. "Well, if they are not dating, you still have a chance. Better than giving up without trying," he shrugged. "I know… Just send her a message right now. Ask her how she is and she'd like to meet one of these days, test the waters..." "She said she had an arrangement today, so I don't want to bother."

"Just ask her later," he sighed deeply. "Ask her how her arrangement went and all. Just don't blow this up, ok?" he stood up.

"Are you leaving?" "Yes, I have to go pick up Jaehee later too."

"Good."

"Good? What the hell? And here I was trying to help," he turned his back to him, striding to the door, his anger out of control. "Same old jerk."

"ZEN." "What is it now?" "Happy new year." "Eh..." his face muscles relaxed. "Happy new year to you too, I guess..." he stood awkwardly by the door. "Just do as I told you, ok?" "Maybe I should follow your advice for once."

"You better do!" he waved nonchalantly before leaving the room.

The moment the white haired man left, he sat back on his chair, feeling confused. His visit not only destroyed his moment of peace and his schedule but threw his thoughts and feelings in disarray too. Love? He was avoiding to put a label on his feeling for so long and that made it even more confusing. His hand reached into his pocket again and squeezed his newly-received present. He had promised himself that he would not hold back, maybe this visit was just the push he needed.

The buzz of the intercom snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Yes." "Mr. Han, the Director would like to see you over dinner tonight. He said that he'll be waiting for you at 19:00 at the usual place."

After their last encounter, that was a meeting he'd like to avoid.

"Mr. Han?" Mr. Doe's voice sounded concerned. "Please tell my father that I'm busy today, so we'll have to postpone our meeting for another day." "But, Mr. Han, the Director asked me when your schedule opened today before we arrange the dinner, so I told him that you'll be free." "...Mr. Doe, please refrain from making decision about my schedule before asking." "I… I'm sorry, sir. I assumed that there would not be a problem since it was an appointment with your father. It will not happen again." "I hope so." "I apologize, sir." "Anyway, tell him I will be there." "Yes, sir."