Work Text:
Jongin glances up from his keyboard. It’s the eighth time he’s peered over his monitor to steal a peek at the cute colleague who sits at the desk opposite him. It’s not often that he gets to catch a glimpse of Byun Baekhyun—Chanyeol’s big head usually obstructs his view.
Fortunately for Jongin, Chanyeol’s called in sick—food poisoning, apparently. Perhaps Jongin should feel a little more remorse, considering he may have played a vital role in his colleague falling ill.
“This yours? Can I have it?” Chanyeol had asked him the day before, pointing to the lunchbox Jongin had brought in but never got round to eating.
“Yeah, go for it,” he’d told Chanyeol, well aware that the tupperware container has been sitting in the communal fridge for over a week.
In his defence, it wasn’t out of malice. Jongin had been far too distracted watching Baekhyun taking a bite out of a sub. He failed to pay proper attention to the question being asked. It hadn’t been until after Chanyeol had returned back from the toilet for the third time in the span of an hour that Jongin clocked on as to what had happened. And by that point, it was far too late to take back.
Jongin will make it up to Chanyeol, somehow. Perhaps he’ll treat his colleague to a meal when he’s back in the office. It might even give Jongin an excuse to ask Baekhyun to join them, too. Though they’re not exactly complete strangers, Jongin doesn’t feel confident enough to extend an invitation to Baekhyun without having a buffer present. Jongin lacks all courage whenever it pertains to Baekhyun.
Jongin steals another peek at him again. This time their eyes meet. Jongin—to avoid giving off creeper vibes—waves at him and mouths a “hello.” It’s better if he just passes it off as a casual interaction. Baekhyun waves back at him and shoots him a toothy grin before turning his attention back to the computer. It appears to have been successful—crisis averted.
Jongin sits back on his chair and sighs. When will Baekhyun realise he has a Big Fat Crush on him? It’s not like he’s subtle about his feelings toward his colleague. He blushes a bright shade of red whenever they engage in a conversation. And Baekhyun has caught Jongin gawking at him on multiple occasions, just today alone. Could Baekhyun just hurry up and put two and two together already? How much longer is he going to have to wait?
Jongin just so happens to look up from his monitor when he catches Baekhyun on his feet. He quickly averts his gaze back to his computer screen and feigns being hard at work. Type, type, type. His fingers are hitting the keyboard at a rate of a million words per minute. A string of jumbled letters appear on screen. He continues to type but he’s not looking at the output, instead focusing on watching his crush from the corner of his eye. He silently shifts into panic mode when Baekhyun approaches him.
“Hey, Jongin. have you got any post it-notes? I’ve run out,” Baekhyun asks as soon as he arrives at Jongin’s desk. He’s standing behind Jongin’s chair and has leaned in close, his chin almost resting on Jongin’s shoulder.
Jongin can feel Baekhyun’s warm breath tickling the back of his neck. He suppresses the urge to shudder at the sensation. “Y-yeah, one s-second,” he stutters.
He reaches for the cabinet below his desk and pulls out the top drawer. He begins to rifle through the disorganised mess, fighting the temptation to look at Baekhyun’s pretty face up close and personal. While he’s searching for the sticky notes, Jongin can feel eyes watching him—studying him. His heart starts to race and his palms have already started to clam up.
“You know, you have a very defined jawline,” Baekhyun tells him.
The comment catches Jongin off guard and he almost falls out of his chair. He doesn’t even dare make eye contact with the other. Instead, he keeps his eyes glued to the inside of the drawer. “I know I have them somewhere,” he replies, choosing not to address Baekhyun’s words. He finds a ball of elastics which he sometimes uses as a stress ball but no signs of the item Baekhyun is looking for.
“Here, let me help you,” Baekhyun says and bends over, shifting his body into a more optimal position to help with the search.
Jongin dry swallows. He takes in the sight before him, the nape of Baekhyun’s neck, the plane of his back, his eyes continue to wander… until they land on Baekhyun’s tush. Jongin knows he shouldn’t be staring but… butt. His gaze remains affixed until a set of fingers brush against his hand. The sudden touch elicits a high pitched squeal from Jongin.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you—ah, found it!” Baekhyun’s hand grazes against Jongin’s fingers again when he retrieves the pad of post-its from the drawer. He smiles at Jongin and shoots him a wink. “Thanks, you’re a life saver!”
Jongin is still in a state of disbelief and he watches Baekhyun walking away. It takes him a minute or two to regain his composure. Did he really just shriek like a coward in his crush’s presence? Is he ever going to live down the embarrassment? At least Chanyeol hadn’t been here to witness the exchange. With the ball of rubber bands still tightly clutched in his grasp, Jongin squeezes it with all of his might. When he feels his stress levels subsiding, Jongin releases the ball of elastics and closes the drawer shut.
With his eyes closed, Jongin pinches the bridge of his nose and takes several deep breaths. “Okay, back to work,” he mutters to himself. There’s a report he’s yet to complete and submit. It was due an hour ago and yet Jongin is nowhere close to finishing. His inbox is mostly likely filled with over a dozen emails from Junmyeon asking for it but his superior is just going to have to wait a little while longer.
Jongin is ready to get back into the swing of things and make good progress in his workload when his gaze falls on the back of his hand—the one that Baekhyun had practically held. He brings it closer to his face and stares at it, wondering just where exactly Baekhyun’s fingers had grazed over. There’s a strong desire to rub it all over his face, to take in any residual Baekhyun that lingers. The possibility of getting caught by someone else and questioning his actions deters Jongin from actually doing it—he would need to excuse himself to the restroom first. It’s definitely something to perform in private, away from prying eyes.
Jongin glances at the clock on the wall in front of him. There’s only half an hour before lunch. How did the time pass by so quickly? He definitely can’t submit the report after coming back from the hour-long break, Junmyeon would throw a fit. With zero time to waste, Jongin needs to have his head down—no more distractions.
His jaw drops wide open when he sees the words on the computer screen. At first it’s just lines and lines of nonsense but towards the end… it’s Baekhyun’s name repeated over and over again. It’s been on display this entire time. There’s no way Baekhyun could’ve missed it. Jongin looks up and makes eye contact with the man in question. Jongin swears Baekhyun is smirking at him.
Surely, this means Baekhyun has figured it all out by now… right?
When Baekhyun enters the office to find Chanyeol’s chair vacant, the first thing that pops into his mind isn’t regarding his colleague’s wellbeing. Instead, Baekhyun wonders if he’ll finally get a good view of the office eye candy that is Kim Jongin.
Of course, Jongin is much more than a piece of meat to gawk at. However, Baekhyun cannot deny that he does very much enjoy spending his time looking at Jongin whenever he has the chance. But there’s a problem, however. Jongin just isn’t cognisant of the clear unmissable signs that Baekhyun’s been projecting.
How many times will he have to bite down on the end of his pen for Jongin to realise that Baekhyun is only doing it to draw attention to his lips? Not to mention all the outrageous excuses to touch him. When is Jongin going to register that Baekhyun has been flirting with him this entire time?
With Chanyeol out of the picture, Baekhyun has made eye contact with his crush several times today. The first and second times are played off as coincidences. The third time it happens, Jongin sends him a cute wave. The subsequent occasions pan out a little differently. Whenever their eyes happen to meet, Jongin would immediately avert his gaze as if he were just caught commiting a crime. Baekhyun finds it endearing and can’t help but laugh quietly to himself.
Turning his attention back to the job he’s being paid to do, Baekhyun opens up an email from Junmyeon. He scans through the paragraphs of text before closing it, completely ignoring the ‘URGENT need replies ASAP’ subject matter. Baekhyun is a little too distracted to focus on his reports—who could blame him? If anything, it’s all Chanyeol’s fault. He’s grown tired of looking at Chanyeol’s messy bed hair five days a week. Baekhyun is just a simple man enjoying the pleasant change of view.
Baekhyun is almost done with his first report of the day when he receives a phone call.
“I’m totally screwed,” the person says without even so much as a greeting.
“And a hello to you, too, Jongdae.” Baekhyun peeks over his screen and makes eye contact with his best friend from across the room.
Jongdae is flipping him off.
“Well, that’s not very nice,” Baekhyun says.
“I’m not in the mood for nice. My computer has just crashed and wiped the report I’ve been working on all morning,” Jongdae tells him. “I’m so not gonna be done with this and Junmyeon has already been hounding me with a million emails asking for an update.”
Baekhyun laughs at his colleague’s misfortune. “Just delete the emails and pretend that you never received them. That’s what I do.”
“I didn’t hear that. You won’t be taking me down with you, you hear?”
Baekhyun laughs again. He doesn’t tell Jongdae that Kyungsoo had been the one to come up with the scheme.
“Can you do me a huge favour? I would be forever in your debt if you could send me a list of files,” Jongdae continues.
“Sure, why not? Lemme just grab something to write with.” Baekhyun grabs a pen and a pad of sticky notes and begins jotting down the file names. “Okay, got it.”
After the call ends, Baekhyun pulls off the note and sticks it on the side of his monitor so he doesn’t completely forget about it. He doesn’t trust his poor memory. Baekhyun cracks on with his report when his eyes land on the post-it note and an idea suddenly pops into his head. He throws his pad of sticky notes into the drawer and makes his way towards Jongin.
Baekhyun purposely leans in much closer than necessary and whispers into Jongin’s ear. “Hey, Jongin. have you got any post-its? I’ve run out.” It’s a total lie but it provides him with an excuse to talk to Jongin.
Baekhyun smiles as he watches Jongin rifling through the contents of his drawer. He’s taking in all of Jongin’s features—he’s even more handsome up close. “You know, you have a very defined jawline,” he accidentally blurts out. Sure, Baekhyun flirts with him every now and then but this is the first time he’s been so blatant about it.
Jongin mutters something about locating the post-it notes for him and Baekhyun doesn’t know if he should feel relieved or not. On one hand, Baekhyun had never meant to be so brazen about his comment and given the chance for a do over, he’d ensure he would keep his trap shut. And on the other hand, Jongin’s complete dismissal of the compliment could be construed as his complete lack of interest in Baekhyun. Growing impatient about the ambiguous state of their relationship, Baekhyun decides to amp it up.
Baekhyun bends over and offers his assistance. He makes contact with Jongin’s hand as he joins in the search—it’s no accident. Jongin yelps and Baekhyun has to bite back a smile. He spots the sticky notes and pulls it out from the drawer. Their hands touch again but this time it is unintentional.
He thanks Jongin for the post-its and is about to return to his desk when his eyes land on Jongin’s computer screen. His eyes scan the block of text but the majority of it looks like chaotic keyboard smashing but towards the end… is his eyes playing tricks on him? Baekhyun subtly takes a closer look and yup… that’s definitely his name typed over and over again.
Baekhyun keeps the discovery to himself and walks away. When he’s sat back down in his chair, he hides behind his computer screen and makes sure he’s out of sight. He squeezes his eyes shut and squeals quietly. Even after he manages to calm himself down, he can’t stop grinning from ear to ear.
When Baekhyun spots another email from Junmyeon, requesting for the report that had been due an hour ago, he drafts a reply instead of immediately deleting the message. He apologises for the delay and informs his superior that it should be with him shortly. Nothing is going to drag him down from his high right now—not even Junmyeon. Baekhyun hums to himself as he opens up the document and his fingers begin to dance over the keyboard.
Jongin might not have picked up on all of his flirting but perhaps his crush isn’t quite as one-sided as he’d imagined it to be.
Junmyeon sits at his desk and is wondering where it all went wrong. There’s no one to blame but himself, really. He’s the one who had been in charge or hiring his staff, after all. He refreshes his inbox once more—no new emails. He’s sent multiple emails to everyone asking—pleading—for updates on reports that are supposed to have been submitted over an hour ago. The only one who has written back is Yixing.
“Enough is enough,” he says to himself. “No more Mr. Nice Boss.” Junmyeon gets up from his chair and exits his office. He starts by making his rounds, checking to see if everyone is working on the job they’re being paid to do.
It’s not like he’s being unreasonable. He prides himself on being understanding and realistic about the day’s goals. He’s aware that Chanyeol’s off sick—they’re missing a vital cog to the machine. Junmyeon acknowledges it's not an ideal situation but he has high hopes that his team can band together and pitch in where needed. Besides, it wouldn’t be too much to ask for his subordinates to reply to his email, would it?
Junmyeon continues to circle around the bullpen, silently monitoring his employees. They all appear like they’re hard at work. Baekhyun’s currently taking a call and making notes. Jongin is busy typing away at a rate Junmyeon has never witnessed before. Perhaps he needs to cut his personnel some slack. His team are clearly too preoccupied with getting the job done, Junmyeon can let a few ignored emails slide.
He’s ready to return back to his office when he catches Baekhyun shooting a smirk across his desk before tossing his post-it notes into his drawer. Junmyeon isn’t sure what to make of it when he watches Baekhyun rise to his feet and shimmy his way over to Jongin’s desk.
“Baek—“ Junmyeon is about to call out the man’s name but decides against it at the very last second. He thinks it might be a better choice to quietly observe the scene unfold like a fly on the wall.
Junmyeon can’t quite catch what the two are discussing but he can tell Jongin is blushing like crazy. Baekhyun’s probably shamelessly flirting with him again. Junmyeon has warned Baekhyun against inappropriate workplace behaviour but it seems like the conversations and emails have all been in vain.
Junmyeon is deliberating whether or not he should intervene and send Baekhyun back to his desk when Jongin screams out loud. It scares the bejebus out of him along with the other workers sitting closest to the pair. His heart is still racing when he sees Baekhyun finally walking back to his desk. Junmyeon doesn’t fail to notice the pad of sticky notes—which Baekhyun did not need to collect from Jongin—in his hand. With a shake of his head, Junmyeon returns to the confines of his office.
As soon as Junmyeon sinks into the comfort of his chair, he sends out a mass email to his team. It reminds them of the rules of inter-office dating. He’s not going to have a repeat of The Incident that had occurred five years prior. An extremely messy love triangle involving three colleagues had ended in tears, and ultimately, letters of resignation. Junmyeon needs to nip any blossoming romances in the bud before all hell breaks loose again.
Before Junmyeon takes a much needed lunch break, he sends another email. This time to Yixing, instructing him to place a bulk order of sticky notes. Junmyeon makes sure to add an additional note; to adjust the quantity and purchase quadruple the amount that was ordered previously.
Jongin splashes his face with some cold water. He seriously needs to calm down. After the situation with the post-it notes with Baekhyun, he hasn’t been able to tear his eyes off him. Literally. Jongin cannot concentrate or focus on his work and it’s going to get himself fired at this rate. He takes a deep breath and checks himself out the mirror.
“I do have a pretty defined jawline,” he mutters to himself. Baekhyun addressing it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Jongin quickly dismisses it as nothing but casual small talk—not flirtation. Baekhyun’s comment held the same sentiment as if he were to have pointed out that the sky is blue.
Jongin slaps his cheeks several times to psych himself up. “You can do this, Jongin. Yes, you can. Who are you? You’re Kim Jongin,” he says to his reflection. He freezes when he hears the restroom door swing open and footsteps approaching.
“Oh. Hey, fancy meeting you here,” Baekhyun says with a warm smile.
“Hi,” Jongin greets back. Jongin doesn’t know whether he should thank his lucky stars for this chance encounter with Baekhyun or curse his bad luck because Baekhyun’s presence only serves as a taunt, a reminder of his secret pining.
Baekhyun turns on the faucet and begins to wash his hands. “So... do you come here often then?” he asks.
“Y-Yeah. Sometimes. Like when I need to use the facilities,” Jongin answers, staring at Baekhyun’s reflection in the mirror.
Baekhyun is still smiling at him. “Jongin, do you think actions speak louder than words?”
This time Jongin turns to face his crush. Jongin’s trying to decipher the expression on the other man’s face but is unable to. “I guess?” Jongin doesn’t really understand Baekhyun’s line if questioning—what is he trying to get at?
Baekhyun taps his bottom lip with his index finger. “You guess?”
Jongin clears his throat several times? “I guess?” he repeats again like an idiot. Why does Baekhyun always render him into a bumbling buffoon?
“Because clearly, my words haven’t been getting through to you.”
Jongin can’t help but stare at Baekhyun’s mouth while he’s talking. But he is the one who brought up the topic.
“So what if…?” Baekhyun continues, “‘My lips stopped talking and…” Baekhyun leans in and presses their lips together.
The first thought that pops into Jongin’s head is how soft Baekhyun’s lips are and he wonders what lip balm the other uses to achieve such smooth and cushiony lips. The second thing that’s running through his mind is… Oh, my freaking god! Byun Baekhyun is kissing me. Kissing my lips with his lips. On the lips. What the actual flying lips?
Jongin’s mouth parts open and a soft moan escape his lips. Baekhyun wastes no time seizing the opportunity to slip in his tongue. Jongin loses himself in the kiss, neither one noticing they have an audience until it’s too late.
“My eyeeeeeeees!” Minseok screams at the top of his lungs. He covers his face with his hands and quickly backs up until he crashes into the wall behind him.
Jongin tries to pull away but Baekhyun grabs the back of his head to stop him from ending the kiss. Their lips stay connected for at least another solid minute until Baekhyun finally comes up for air. “Sorry, Minseok. Didn’t hear you come in,” he says to their colleague who is still cowering in the corner with his eyes shut tight.
“Is it over yet?”
Baekhyun chuckles. “Yes, you can open your eyes now.”
With a hand still shielding his line of sight, Minseok keeps his head down and refuses to look at either of them.
“How about we go inside, Jongin,” Baekhyun says.
Jongin eyebrows furrow. “Inside? Don’t you mean outside?” he asks.
“Inside of me,” Baekhyun whispers quietly into his ear.
Jongin splutters in response to Baekhyun’s sexual advances. “I don’t think I’m ready for that,” he answers honestly. Things are moving far too quickly. He’s barely processed the fact that they’ve just kissed.”
“I’m kidding—I’m not that easy. However, if you play your cards right…” Baekhyun shoots him a wink followed by a light laughter. “But first, you can treat me to a cup of coffee.”
Jongin is too speechless to offer any words so instead, he simply nods. Before he has the chance to fully recover and slow down his heart rate, he feels Baekhyun's fingers slip into his, holding his hand as he leads the way out.
Jongin’s heart might be pounding faster than ever in his chest and his legs are weak, as if they’ve turned into jelly, but the smile on Baekhyun’s face when he looks at him more than makes up for it.
Jongin could get used to this.
“Is the coast clear?” a voice calls out when the bathroom door closes shut.
“Jongdae?” Minseok calls out. He would recognise his colleague’s voice anywhere.
The door to one of the cubicles slams open. “Well, that was awkward,” Jongdae says as he emerges from his hiding spot.
“You’re telling me,” another voice says.
“Kyungsoo?” Minseok and Jongdae call out in unison.
Another door slowly opens and another colleague appears from the bathroom stall. “And Yixing.”
They all have their gazes affixed to the floor, no one wanting to make eye contact with one another after bearing witness to what had just transpired between their two colleagues.
After washing and drying his hands, Jongdae pulls out his phone and sends a quick message to one of the many office group chats he’s part of. “It’s time.”
“So… Who had fourteen weeks?” Jongdae directs the question to the group of colleagues seated at the table.
“Not me, I bet on nine,” Minseok replies. He sighs loudly and takes out his wallet before throwing a twenty into the middle of the table. “I was rooting for those dumb kids and everything.”
“How do you think I feel? I said two weeks,” Jongdae replies. He places a bank note on top of Minseok’s twenty. “I guess I had too much faith.”
Yixing tosses several bills into the growing pile. “I was the opposite, I didn’t think it wasn’t going to happen at all.”
“Sehun?” Jongdae points to the man in question. “You’re Jongin’s bestie, surely you called it. Whst did you put down?”
Sehun stares back at him blankly. “I have no idea what everyone is on about. You guys just summoned me to the conference room but didn’t explain why.”
Jongdae clicks his fingers. “Oh, yeah. That’s right. I remember now. We thought you’d have insider knowledge, giving you an unfair advantage. Never mind. Okay, how about Kyungsoo and Chanyeol—where are they?”
“Chanyeol’s pulling a sickie and Kyungsoo didn’t join the pool if I remember correctly,” Minseok says. “But I’ll drop Chanyeol a text to ask him.”
“I still can’t believe it finally happened though,” Yixing says.
“Me neither. I was losing all hope it was ever going to happen,” Jongdae adds.
“Wait, what are you guys talking about?” Sehun chimes in again. His question draws the attention of everyone sitting at the table—all eyes are on him.
“Jongin and Baekhyun are finally hooking up,” Jongdae replies.
Sehun’s eyes widen in shock. “Since when? how come I didn’t know about this? I didn’t even know Jongin liked Baekhyun?”
“What do you mean? Everyone knew about it! They’ve been making googly eyes at each for months now—everyone could see they fancied each other,” Minseok answers.
“Except Jongin and Baekhyun,” Yixing adds.
“And apparently you, too,” Jongdae says to Senun.
“Yeah, and I had the bad luck to walk in on them making out in the bathroom,” Minseok says. He shakes his head. “And now I’ll have to live with that image for the rest of my life.”
Jongdae roars with laughter. “Well, at least we won’t have to sit back and watch the two of them dance around each other anymore. If I had to watch Baekhyun suck on one more lollipop, I swear—”
A loud ping interrupts Jongdae mid-sentence. It’s a text to Minseok who reaches for his phone. He reads the message and groans loudly and holds it out for everyone to read.
“You’re joking me,” Jongdae says.
Yixing leans in closer to read the text. “How long did you think it would take for Baekhyun and Jongin to realise that they both wanted to bone each other?”
“No, the one below,” Minseok tells him.
“Fourteen weeks,” Yixing reads Chanyeol’s response out loud. “That means…”
“Yup. Chanyeol won the bet.” Jongdae sits back on his chair. “But whyyyyyy?”
“Do you that’s why he’s off today? To win the bet?” Minseok asks.
Jongdae shakes his head. “Kyungsoo told me that Chanyeol is actually pretty sick. Shooting outta both ends.”
Minseok scrunches his face. “Oof, that’s rough.”
Jongdae beckons for everyone to lean in closer. “Speaking of—new bet. Everyone knows about Kyungsoo and Chanyeol, right?”
Minseok and Yixing nod their head.
Sehun is the only one in the dark. “No? What’s up with Kyungsoo and Chanyeol?” he asks.
Jongdae rolls his eyes at Sehun’s complete lack of awareness. His next question to the group will answer him, though. “How long do you think it’ll take Kyungsoo to find out that the entire office already knows that he and Chanyeol are dating? Place your bets now.”