Work Text:
“Fancy seeing you here.”
I was quietly standing in front of the elevator, already late for my supposed 9AM meeting, when I heard his voice from behind me. I kind of froze but quickly recovered. I ignored him and pretended to be busy with my phone, willing him to take a hint and go away. But instead, he came up beside me and even had the audacity to poke my arm.
Every working morning of my life for the past three weeks, he’d be there and he’d always try to talk to me. I never bothered responding to him, but today of all days, my patience has somehoe reached its limit. I glared at him in annoyance, “What’s fancy about that? You know I work here, too.”
Jae laughed at your reactions, “You’re always mad when you see me. But I’m glad you talk to me now. That’s a start.”
I rolled my eyes and looked away as the elevator pinged and opened its doors. A small stream of people came out and I rushed to squeeze myself in to the farthest corner. Of course my already ruined luck for today would squish him right beside me. I tried to ignore how good he smelled (he hasn’t changed his perfume, huh?), or how warm his skin was against mine. The elevator slowly started its ascend. Just a few seconds. It’s just 26 floors until I get off.
As the elevator made its stops, the crowd has gradually decreased. I subtly tried to push him away from me to put some space between us but my sudden movement has somehow made me lose my balance. I don’t really remember what happened, but after a swirl of limbs and a curse of profanities, I found myself in his arms as he softly leaned me into the wall to keep me up.
“You okay?” he asked, too close to for comfort.
I nodded. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment as I shakily stood up and regained my composure. Everyone else seemed to be oblivious of what happened here at the back. “Thanks,” I muttered, still too embarrassed to look at him.
“My pleasure,” he sounded happy. I’m sure I’d see his smile if I look at him, but nope. Not gonna risk it. Thankfully, we’ve reached the 26th floor soon enough to not warrant another reply from me. I wordlessly dashed out of the elevator to run to my meeting.
I hurriedly tapped my access card and ran to the meeting room, mentally chanting a prayer that the meeting hasn’t started yet. Or at least they haven’t noticed my absence yet. I paced slowly as I neared the meeting room. Thankfully, the client wasn’t there yet. But my boss was.
“Good morning. Sorry I’m late,” I tried to catch my breath quietly as I sat in my designated seat. My manager just nodded at me disapprovingly. I nervously set my laptop up with the projector when I heard the door open. I stood up and turned around on instinct to greet them but I froze when I saw Jae standing at the back of Mr. Kang, our client.
“Good morning, Mr. Kang.” I heard my manager say.
“Good morning, Sir.” I nervously muttered under my breath.
“Good morning. Sorry we’re late.” He said as he took the seat opposite my manager. “This is Jae Park, my in-charge for this engagement.”
“’Morning!” Jae greeted, taking the seat in front of me. I looked up to see him cheekily eyeing me, smirking even.
My manager held his hand to him. “I believe we’ve met before, Mr. Park. But this is Ms. Arielle Kim. She’s the one in charge of this project. She should be the one in direct contact with you.”
I gritted my teeth as I also held my hand out for a handshake. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Park.”
“Always a pleasure seeing you, Aki.” His eyebrows raised as he shook my hand, waiting to see how I’d react to him calling me by my nickname.
I tried to ignore his teasing and keep my composure. I tried to pull my hand immediately but he wouldn’t let me. Not until I forcefully buried my fingernail on his hand. He flinched away, smirking. My manager curiously looked at us, probably wondering if we know each other. Mr. Kang seemed unbothered as he flipped over the contract on the table. I pulled my hand from his grasp as I took my seat.
“Let’s start?” I nervously say, kicking Jae under the table. He flinched and look at me with a creased forehead. This is gonna be a long day.
After the meeting has ended, I was tasked to work closely with Jae for the next three months or until the project is completed. Just my luck. My face surely shows how I abhor the thought of spending that much time with him (again) but Jae seemed to be enjoying this. He was sitting cockily, sipping on his water leisurely.
“Let’s try to keep this professional, shall we?” I said as soon as my boss and his were out of the room. They left us to discuss the project for the whole day.
“I am professional.” He answered, playing his pen on his fingers.
I started discussing the project details with him but for some reason, he just sat there and never said a word—a far fetch from his active demeanor earlier when his boss was around. For several times, I threw him a quick glance just to check if he was really listening. And for all those times, I caught him looking at me.
I felt my stomach turn as it swirled with a familiar emotion I only felt with him. It’s been a year since we broke up but he still has that same effect on me. Well, technically, we didn’t really break up… we just somehow lost contact? I thought I have moved on already but he suddenly showed up in the lobby of our building last month.
“Landed a new job,” he said, “I guess fate brought us back together?”
I rolled my eyes at him, “Let’s just please act like we don’t know each other, okay?”
And that’s how he started teasing me every chance he gets. He’d always try to start up a conversation with me but I would always block his attempts with my cold front.
After three years of being together in college, we just found ourselves drifting apart from each other once we’ve started this thing called adulting. He moved somewhere near his office which is like an hour away from me so we barely got to see each other. We got busy with our own lives, and we got used to not being together. We both knew it—our relationship was weighing us down, but neither of us had the courage to end it. We just somehow drifted into being ‘just friends’.
Until one day, I saw him on a date in a restaurant with a girl officemate he used to tell me about. I was hurt but more than that, I was mad. How dare he? We never talked about it though—I never brought it up. My pride couldn’t accept that he has moved on first. That he has replaced me.
I shut him out after that day. I started to turn hostile into his every attempt of reaching out to me. I guess, somehow, somewhere, he also got tired. That was when I lost communication with him. I actually never saw him again, personally or online, until that dreadful day he started his new job in our building.
“Are you listening?” I asked, trying to catch his attention as he seemed to be dozing off, staring at me. Or not.
“You look so ugly when you’re all serious,” He teased, tapping his pen on the table.
I felt my blood rise up my head in annoyance as I threw him my sharpest glare. “Excuse me?”
“But still so beautiful.” He smiled before looking down on his notebook, pretending to write something. As if he didn’t just say something that shook my composure.
I heaved a deep breath as I tried to go back to discussing the project, ignoring his remarks. He seemed to have shifted his attention to work anyway.
“I actually took this job because I know you still work here.” He muttered silently, his eyes still on his notes. I froze and looked at him in surprise, waiting for him to tell me more. “I miss you…” he whispered softly as he looked up and met my eyes. Those pitiful eyes have always been my weakness.
I stared at him at a loss for words. Truth is, seeing him again has somehow made me realize that I do miss him too. Is this worth the risk? I decided to put down my hostile mask for once and face him honestly. “Me too.”
His eyes widened upon hearing that. He reached out to my hand on the table and I let him hold it. “Really?”
“Not really.” I smiled teasingly. I felt his hand grip me tighter.
“Are you free tonight? Can we have dinner? I’ll take you home.” he asked, ignoring my answer.
I pulled my hand away from his grasp and went back to working on my laptop. “We both can’t have dinner and we both can’t go home if we don’t finish this before 5.”
“Right.” He laughed, standing up and walking behind my seat.
“What are you doing?” I nervously asked as he turned my chair to have me face him, his right arm leaning on the table as he lowered himself to my eye level.
He smiled and wordlessly cupped my face with is other hand, reaching for my lips. My eyes fluttered close when I felt his kiss. He softly nibbled my lower lip, pulling me in as close as possible, just like the way we used to be. I really missed this.
“I really missed you, ugly. I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you.”