Heat Wave
“You didn’t reply for a week… and I still looked for you first when you came back.”
Mingyu x Reader • office AU • slow burn • coworkers to lovers •
~5k words
genre: office romance, mutual pining, awkward mingyu, yearning, tension, food dates, emotional constipation, soft but sexy, vacation tan mingyu, glasses mingyu, making out in the files room, “I know you”, quiet jealousy, heatwave summer energy
warnings: kissing, suggestive ending, HR would probably disapprove
taking requests ♡
song rec: “Heat Waves” — Glass Animals
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The office always smelled like burnt coffee and printer paper by 9 a.m.
You and Mingyu had complained about it together for almost a year now.
It started small. Tiny conversations while waiting for the elevator. Complaining about deadlines, complaining about coworkers who used Comic Sans in presentations like they were made by a 5 year old. Then one day he noticed your lunch.
“Is that homemade tteokbokki?”
And that was basically the beginning of everything.
After that, lunch became a routine without either of you actually discussing it. Mingyu would appear beside your desk around noon, one hand in his pocket, asking if you wanted to try some new place nearby. Sometimes you brought food from home and shared it across your desks while pretending to work. Sometimes he’d send you pictures at midnight of ramen he made with captions like:
“This changed my life” or “I think I just invented something illegal.”
You liked him quietly but not in a dramatic way. Not in a staring at the moon and yearning kind of way.
Just… in the way your day felt easier when he was around.
In the way you always looked for him first when you walked into the office.
And maybe that was why the distance hurt more than it should’ve.
Because it happened suddenly.
One week, you were sitting shoulder to shoulder in a meeting, whispering complaints to each other while pretending to take notes.
The next morning, Mingyu was avoiding you.
At first you thought he was stressed, then you thought maybe he was sick, or that maybe you’d done something wrong.
But no matter how many times you replayed every interaction in your head, you couldn’t find it.
Still, things had changed.
When the company announced a huge new project, everyone immediately assumed you and Mingyu would work together. You always did. Your teamwork was almost annoying to other people.
Except somehow, he withdrew himself from it.
“I think someone else would fit better,” Mingyu had told your boss.
And that one stung.
After that, everything slowed down.
Your last message to him was left unanswered for a week.
It was literally just a dumb reel of a cat falling off a kitchen counter followed by:
“This is you trying to cook lol ”
Nothing.
And somehow that made it worse.
Because it wasn’t important, which meant ignoring you was easy.
Then Mingyu took a week off to LA.
While everyone else carried on with meetings and spreadsheets and emails, you spent every morning staring at his empty desk.
Wondering stupid things.
What’s he doing right now? Is he at the beach?
By monday morning, you were already irritated before the day even started and missing your usual bus only made it worse.
You practically dragged yourself into the office ten minutes late, muttering under your breath as you scanned your badge at the entrance.
Then you saw him and somehow you forgot how to breathe correctly. Mingyu was sitting at his desk like he’d never left. Except somehow he looked different.
His skin was golden from the California sun. His black button-up strained slightly against his broad shoulders that you definitely did not remember being that broad before.
What the hell did he do on vacation?
Bench press cars?
His sleeves were rolled up casually, exposing toned forearms while he typed something on his computer.
You hated how attractive he looked under the office lighting.
It wasn’t fair.
Before you could stop yourself, you smiled.
Mingyu didn’t notice.
Or pretended not to.
You sat down at your desk slowly, pretending to organize papers while glancing at him every five seconds.
Say something.
Anything.
Your brain, however, decided to completely malfunction. Since annoyed at yourself, you grabbed a pen and tossed it at him.
It bounced off his shoulder.
Mingyu looked up instantly but he barely reacted. It almost like he was used to it. (Which he was)
His eyes met yours for the first time in over a week.
Gosh.
You forgot how pretty his eyes were.
“So…” you said trying to casually lean back in your chair. “How was LA?”
“Nice, I guess.”
He smiled lightly.
JUST lightly.
Guess his tongue took a vacation too.
“Um… so I heard we’re not working on the new project together.” You clicked your pen nervously. “What a bummer.”
“Yeah,” he replied quietly. “But I’m sure you’ll handle it perfectly.”
Then he looked at you properly.
“I know you.”
Your stomach flipped so violently it was embarrassing.
You looked away immediately.
“Right,” you mumbled. “Well. Obviously.”
Very smooth.
***
The rest of the day felt strange.
Mingyu wasn’t exactly that distant. He still helped you when your printer jammed, still held the elevator for you. And still brought you a coffee without asking because he “accidentally ordered two.”
But something was definitely off.
Like he was carefully keeping distance between you.
And the worst part was that you couldn’t stop noticing every single move, every little thing.
Like the way he pushed his glasses up while concentrating. The way he stretched his long legs under his desk. The way his voice sounded rougher after returning from vacation.
It drove you insane.
—
Tuesday was worse.
Because now you were annoyed.
And hurt.
And confused at the same time.
You found yourself watching him throughout meetings, trying to understand what had changed.
Every time your eyes met, Mingyu looked away first.
Which was new, he used to hold your gaze like it was nothing.
At lunch, he didn’t even ask if you wanted to come with him.
You watched him leave alone and that genuinely pissed you off.
By thursday, you snapped.
Not dramatically, but just enough to try to talk to him.
Your manager asked both of you to retrieve old project files from storage downstairs.
“Of course it’s us”, you thought to yourself.
The file room was cold and dimly lit, stacked with cabinets and boxes.
You found Mingyu crouched near the bottom drawer searching through folders.
He looked up when you walked in.
“Hey.”
You closed the door behind you harder than necessary but it kind of made you feel good.
“We need to talk.”
He immediately froze. His expression shifted into something nervous.
Almost scared.
And suddenly your anger softened a little because… Mingyu looked genuinely stressed.
You crossed your arms.
-“What’s going on with you?”
-“What?”
-“Don’t do that.”
-“Do what?”
-“This weird avoiding me thing.”
-“I’m not avoiding you.”
-“Mingyu.”
He sighed quietly, so you stepped closer.
-“You stopped texting me back.”
-“It was just a reel—”
“Exactly!” you interrupted. “It was a stupid cat video. So why are you acting like I committed a crime?”
Mingyu stared at the floor.
Silent.
Your frustration melted into concern.
“Mingyu…”
His ears turned red. Then he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
“I just…” He exhaled sharply. “I needed space.”
“Why?”
Another silence
Then finally: “Because I had a dream about you.”
You blinked.
“…What?”
His face became even redder.
“Right before I left for LA.”
You stared at him.
Of every possible explanation you imagined over the past two weeks, that was nowhere near the list.
Mingyu laughed awkwardly, clearly embarrassed.
“It sounds stupid now.”
“No,” you said immediately.
He looked away.
“It wasn’t even that crazy,” he muttered. “Just… romantic, I guess.”
Your heart pounded.
“And then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
Oh.
“Oh.”
“I tried,” he continued with a helpless laugh. “I went to the gym like every day, went to the beach, went out with friends. But every time something happened, I kept thinking about you.”
He finally looked at you again.
“And when I came back, seeing you again just made it worse.”
The room suddenly felt very small.
Very warm.
Mingyu adjusted his glasses nervously.
“I know it’s weird.”
You stared at him for a long moment.
This entire time you thought maybe he hated you.
You stepped forward and saw Mingyu’s eyes widen slightly.
“You’re so dumb sometimes,” you whispered.
Then you kissed him.
He made the softest surprised sound against your mouth before kissing you back instantly.
Like he’d been holding himself back for weeks.
Maybe he had.
Your hands slid into his hair while his gripped your waist hard enough to pull you flush against him.
Gosh.
You’d imagined kissing him before, but nothing prepared you for this.
For how warm he was, how desperately he kissed you after pretending not to want to.
His glasses bumped your cheek awkwardly and you laughed softly into the kiss before pulling them off carefully.
Mingyu looked devastating without them.
Breathless.
His forehead rested against yours for a second while both of you caught your breath.
Then his eyes slowly dragged downward.
You had worn a fitted top today, because it made you feel good.
His hands tightened slightly at your waist.
“That shirt’s doing you no favors,” he murmured.
Your stomach flipped.
Then he looked directly into your eyes.
“Take it off.”
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FIRST TIME writing a mingyu ff, kinda proud of this one. I loved the tension and the ending (obviously).
Lmk your thoughts on it :)
