Work Text:
“Do I have to wear a suit? Can’t I go with a tracksuit instead? I just bought a new one last week when I was shopping in Myeong-dong with—”
“Yes, Donghyuck. You have to wear a suit if you’re having an interview.” Renjun sighs, staring back at his phone.
On Renjun’s phone it reads: World’s #1 Boyfriend. A customized phone case courtesy of Renjun’s now fiancée, Yangyang— an overgrown teddy bear Renjun met when he was studying abroad in the US. They’re just so…so sickenly sweet it makes Donghyuck feel sick to the core of his stomach.
It’s simply not possible for a couple to be this attached to the hip, but Donghyuck guesses that they’ve just proven him wrong every time he meets up with one of them. The last time Donghyuck saw the pair, Yangyang was already planning their second honeymoon and he had only been engaged to Renjun for 5 days. But in the eyes of a man in love, that was far too long of a waiting period.
“Don’t forget that another rule of interviews that you shouldn’t break is that you is you can’t be late for them either.”
“But suits are uncomfortable and it’s so hot today. Perfect weather for my new Adidas—”
“Look, you haven’t had a job in months. At the very least you can wear a dress shirt so that your interviewer decides not to hire you for not taking the interview seriously.”
Donghyuck sighs, finally accepting Renjun’s advice. “Fine. You win.”
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Donghyuck counts all of the dots that represent each train station in Seoul on the watch flicker on and off as they speed by.
Some of the train station names are familiar to Donghyuck from his nights getting drunk with his roommates, yelling out his midterm frustrations and calling his professors a bunch of names he would rather not remember coming out of his mouth (for legal reasons that could prevent him from getting a job.) Other ones are names that might become familiar to him at some point in his later 30s: residential neighborhoods where families raise their kids because of the nice education escalator systems there.
Donghyuck’s never considered having a family of his own yet, he’s only 26 and just completed his military service, so he’s more focused on getting his first job. And Donghyuck’s resume isn’t that great either. Only a page counting all of the short three month internships he got during his time at Yonsei University.
Luckily Donghyuck’s alma matter’s brand name lands him an interview at a local advertising company, so he doesn’t consider himself a total loser. Just an adult with his training wheels still on.
But Donghyuck’s not entirely opposed to having a family of his own someday in the near future. He loves taking care of his sister’s kids whenever she needed an emergency babysitter and there was a brief moment in life where he considered becoming a preschool teacher had it not been for his inability to enroll in any of the practical courses his last year of university.
Those are thoughts you can have for another time, a voice in his head murmurs, and it’s a voice that suspiciously sounds like Renjun. Again. Donghyuck simply rolls his eyes and goes merrily on his way to his interview.
He’s met with the opening glass doors of his stop and taps his TMONEY card on the card reader before leaving the train station. 15 minutes later, he’s met with another set of glass doors that can hold the key to his future.
Donghyuck doesn’t want to eat cheap ramen anymore. He just wants a job that can afford him the luxury of eating out with all of his old university buddies and no longer reject Renjun’s and Jaemin’s invitations to going out and eating hotpot together like they used to when he still received an allowance from his parents.
Motionless and imagining the moment his name would be called, all Donghyuck sees are the floating numbers etched onto the elevator lights until his floor is here.
On the right side of the room, is a pretty lady with a name plaque that reads Kim Chaewon. Black curls frame her small face, and her face lightens up like a bright pop song when she makes eye contact with him. The sounds of paper overlapping rustle before she calls him over.
“Hi,” she smiles. “You must be Lee Donghyuck.”
Donghyuck bows and responds, “Yes I am. A pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” Chaewon smiles again before looking back to all of her paperwork and fingering through each sheet until she finds the one she wants. “I was just looking through every candidates’ resumes again before the interviews began, but it seems that you’re the first one to come before I got through it.”
“Is that bad?”
Chaewon blurts out, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. No! Not at all. It means that you’re here a bit early and the boss really likes it when people are early. He says that it means you have good character.”
“Really?” Donghyuck laughs, it comes out light, and then Chaewon laughs too, the infectiousness of his bright laugh coming through. “That’s good then.”
Chaewon looks back through her laptop, scrolling through the excel sheets marking down each secretary candidate that had come through. It reminds Donghyuck of a film reel, running through small lines and words of memories that will only be remembered as awkward at a future work luncheon. Well, if he gets the job that is.
“Okay, I’ll let Mr. Lee know that you’re here and he’ll call you in—oh here he is now.”
In front of them now is a man in a blue suit, dark brown hair pushed back off his forehead, and round frames that complement his large brown eyes. He looks tired, much more than Donghyuck expects him to be. Chaewon despite wearing dark plaid with hints of red looks much brighter than Mr. Lee. Freer too, despite being a position below him.
“Hi, you must be Lee Donghyuck,” Mr. Lee notes, greeting him with a small smile that comes out tired instead of cheerful. Without another utterance, he returns to his office.
“Do I follow?...”
“Oh you don’t have to,” Chaewon says, picking up her mouse before typing a comment next to in Donghyuck’s name. “You’re hired.”
Donghyuck blinks and was going to say this is very odd, but he figures that it could cost him his job.
Instead, he settles for, “I thought that I would have to interview first before I got hired.”
“Normally, you would go through at least two rounds of interviews before being considered for the position, but right now Mr. Lee wants is someone punctual and so far, you’ve been the only candidate who’s showed up early. So I guess you should consider yourself very lucky.”
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Donghyuck shows up the next morning 15 minutes early, two chocolate croissants in one hand and a hot coffee in the other. He was still getting adjusted to waking up early again from months of bumming out in his parent’s house waking up in the middle of the afternoon only to play video games, drink, and repeat the cycle.
Next to him on the elevator is Mr. Lee, who still looks just as tired as the day before.
Despite his shirt and suit being impeccably tailored and steamed with no creases insight, Mr. Lee looks far from a man who’s supposed to be the head of an advertising firm.
He just looks so exhausted, eyes threatening to close before he even gets to their floor and his hair is a mess. Not even gelled back properly and more reminiscent of a bird’s nest after waking up from a hangover.
“Mr. Lee, you’re starting to fall asleep,” Donghyuck quietly states, but it’s loud enough to break through his boss’ drowsiness.
“Ah thank you. It’s been a rough morning,” Mr. Lee apologizes, but his face breaks into a small smile. “But it’s supposed to be better today around noon.”
Donghyuck tilts his head, to express more interest. “Really? Do you mind me asking why?”
“I’m supposed to pick up my son early today for his birthday,” Mr. Lee’s smile becomes brighter.
Mr. Lee looks half-stressed and half-enamored with the thought of his son, and Donghyuck can’t help but to think that this is what sincere and pure love looks like.
“How old is he?” Donghyuck asks and he can’t help but look at Mark straight in the eye, bright and excited before piping down. “I’m sorry—I just really love kids.”
Mr. Lee chuckles, lifting his fist to his lips. “Don’t worry about it. He’s going to turn 4 today and his name is Sungchan. He’s just my entire world. I love him more than anything, so I’m trying to come home early so we can go eat out at Burger King before his bedtime.”
“Burger King?” Donghyuck laughs. “Is it because of the paper crown?”
“Yeah,” Mr. Lee smiles. “He’s in the phase where everything he likes is royalty themed.”
“I remember when my nieces were in that phase too. They wouldn’t wear anything but their tiaras and tutus and drove my sister mad because of it. But now they’re into chess and we have a lunch date coming up so I can teach them how to.”
“I’m just hoping that Sungchan doesn’t want to continue playing Monopoly. It’s been so long since I’ve played and I’m honestly a lost cause when it comes to board games. The last time we played, Sungchan left me bankrupt the first two turns.”
Donghyuck laughs, trying to imagine how badly his boss lost. Looking at Mr. Lee, it seemed rather plausible for him not to know how to play any games. Mr. Lee looked too serious to him to indulge in the occasional game of Elemento— even if it was just an educational game.
“Well I hope that everything goes well Mr. Lee,” Donghyuck says as the glass doors his body will eventually become accustomed to its mechanic rhythm open. “And wish him a happy birthday for me.”
“Will do. Thank you, Donghyuck.”
“And don’t forget to buy the cheap houses first during. Everyone has to start at the beginning.”
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“I’m surprised you haven’t been fired yet,” Jaemin notes as he pops open his soda can, slurping on the fuzzy orange drink before wiping his mouth.
He then lets the can go, using his fingers as a movie frame, Donghyuck the protagonist of his own romantic comedy. Except that in the movies, this would be the exact moment where the lead was swept away by their love interest. Sadly, Donghyuck is just surrounded by his old university roommates and they just really love teasing him whenever they had the chance.
Which meant:
that it always happened.
“Looks like Lee Donghyuck who never went to class on time is finally shaping up. Has the real world crushed Donghyuck’s individualism to conform to the collective mindset of being a responsible adult?”
Donghyuck uses the second scene of Jaemin’s narration to push him away, almost spilling the innocent orange soda off the food stall. Jaemin peers up, laughing. Renjun laughs too, wrapping his arm around Jaemin’s shoulder.
“Don’t get mad at him Donghyuck,” Renjun says, drinking from his soda can from his free hand. “Jaemin’s right. You’re finally shaping up to be a responsible adult.”
“What the—" Donghyuck starts, anger bubbling and tinting his ears pink. “What do you mean I’m shaping up to be a responsible adult? Hello, I’ve turned 18 almost 10 years ago now.”
It’s Jaemin who laughs again before responding, “It doesn’t mean anything at all. Three months ago you used to complain about having no one to watch movies with.”
“But that was because no one was free to watch with me,” he mutters, frowning and remembering how even Chenle rejected his offer to go to the movies, even when he offered to pay for everything.
“But that was on a Wednesday,” Jaemin points out. “No one is available on a Wednesday morning.”
Renjun nods before continuing for him, “And let’s not forget about the time you didn’t pay your phone bill on time despite me and Jaemin texting you about paying it for an entire week straight. And your poor mom ending paying for it in the end because you would have been charged a late fee.”
Donghyuck expels a sigh. “Fine. You’re right. I admit it. I’m finally a responsible adult that pays his bills on time. Are you finally proud of me?”
“Very,” both Jaemin and Renjun simultaneously respond.
So much for being my friends, Donghyuck thinks to himself rather annoyed with this conversation.
They were supposed to be talking about Donghyuck’s new job, not criticize his post-military self— but he had to admit there was a big difference between 25-year-old and 26-year-old Donghyuck. 26-year-old Donghyuck could finally afford video games without asking his parents help. 26-year-old Donghyuck is proud and independent, no longer the couch potato that his dad kept threatening to kick out if he didn’t help more with the rent.
26-year-old Donghyuck is now the proud renter of his own—
“Now all you need is a boyfriend,” Renjun calmly states as Donghyuck takes a sip of his melon soda.
Donghyuck spits out his drink, before a deep look of indignation settles on his face, “WHAT? What do you mean that I need a boyfriend?”
“Well,” Jaemin starts, before giving Renjun a knowing look. “You haven’t dated anyone since you broke up with Jaehyun our last year of university.”
“And?”
“Hyuck, just because things didn’t work out with Jaehyun, it doesn’t mean that things can’t work out with someone else,” he continues. “We just want you to be happy that’s all. You deserve it.”
“So do you think that falling in love could help me become the happiest person I can be? You’re starting to sound like my mom,” Donghyuck scoffs.
“No, I just think that being in love can make you feel a bit happier.”
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Now Donghyuck is left staring at his work email. It’s awkward sitting on the toilet of his workspace as someone waits for an open stall just because he doesn’t know how to respond to it.
Tired of Tinder?
Love, Ads, and Romance
Now we know that working an 8-5 job doesn’t exactly make it easy to find friends; nonetheless, find the word romance. But look around, everyone at the office is so nice! Maybe here you can begin a secret romance?
Take this survey to be matched with someone at the office and see if your soulmate is here!
(Sorry, this is Chaewon, and for this work inappropriate email. You see that we just got hired by a dating agency and we need people to test out their dating service so we can properly advertise their survey to new clients. Please fill out this survey and see who we can match you with for this project. Just FYI this isn’t mandatory, and you’ll receive a bonus for this month if you decide to participate in this project.)
The promise of getting a bonus sounds enticing to someone like Donghyuck who’s been eying to upgrading his old phone.
But what makes him hesitant is the fake dating part.
Sure Donghyuck’s not going to participate in the program in the hopes of finding true love or anything remotely similar to it— dating a coworker doesn’t sound sexy at all to Donghyuck, even though they could both complain about their work together.
He hasn’t been on a date in years, not since he got dumped by Jaehyun during his fourth year at university. Jaehyun cited that he had fallen out of love with Donghyuck their last weeks together and seeing Jaehyun fall in love with someone else had pained him far more than Donghyuck ever told anyone.
Especially knowing that Jaehyun had fallen in love with one of Donghyuck’s coworkers, Doyoung. Donghyuck believed that Jaehyun loved picking him up after his part time job at a local coffee shop because he didn’t want to miss a second of being together, not because he became infatuated with someone else instead.
Doyoung was a masters student on a well-known fellowship their university offered to the school of applied music that busked every evening when he was on break. Not only that Doyoung was always well-dressed in cute coats that made him look like he came out of a kdrama.
And it doesn’t help that Doyoung was a very nice guy either. Doyoung was so nice to Donghyuck when they were working together, always offering to take over shifts on days Donghyuck had an exam to study for and always offering to tutor Donghyuck, that he couldn’t hate the man that technically stole his boyfriend away.
How could Donghyuck ever hope to compete with someone like Doyoung?
He only dressed in Adidas tracksuits and he didn’t know what he wanted to do after graduating. He was still too scared of completing his military service right away with Jaemin despite Jaemin’s many offers to enter the same military division, and he didn’t have any jobs lined up either. Not that he couldn’t land a job, but there wasn’t one job listing that interested Donghyuck enough to apply for it.
It’s early February when Jaehyun finally broke up with Donghyuck, the four years they’ve spent dating and losing so many of their firsts together rendered meaningless in the span of two months of meeting Doyoung.
At least Donghyuck was proud enough not to look through Jaehyun’s Instagram account and cry because of all the cute couple photos he took with Doyoung (Renjun sometimes did and would find a way to dislike everything out of solidarity with Donghyuck’s broken heart.)
No, he spends the rest of his last weeks of his fall semester of undergrad partying with Jaemin and having the occasional one-night stand. None of which manages to be memorable enough to make Donghyuck fall in love again and give dating another shot.
Donghyuck knew he was attractive and had a good sense of humor, but nothing assured him that his heart wouldn’t be broken again— even if he put in all of the effort into his relationship, nothing guaranteed Donghyuck that things would work out like every romantic kdrama he’s ever seen on tv.
Unrealistic expectations about romance that Donghyuck knows he shouldn’t believe in, but still wants for himself.
But I can think about this as practice, Donghyuck’s heart tells him. Practice for when I try again. Yeah, I can call this practice dating and once I feel more confident with myself, I can go back on the dating market. Okay this works. Let’s just call it practice.
So, Donghyuck fills out the survey, wondering who he would be paired with for the rest of the evening, only to forget about what he answered until he received another email two weeks later saying that he had been paired with someone.
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You would think that being 26 years old would translate to always being on time for everything— but as it turns out, age doesn’t necessarily indicate the willingness of taking on responsibility. Not even waking up and arriving to work early every day prepared Donghyuck for being on time for his company-organized date.
And it’s not that Donghyuck didn’t try.
He did. He really did.
Donghyuck even took a bus to the subway station to make sure he didn’t miss his train. But life proved to be a much harder foe and somehow, hDonghyuck’s train ran late, and he missed every alternate route too. How was it possible for the train to run late? Of course, this had to happen to him. Who else did fate love messing with other than Lee Donghyuck?
“I’m so sorry I’m 30 minutes late,” Donghyuck huffs from running all of the ways to the restaurant the company booked for Love, Ads, and Romance. The event took place at nice restaurant deep in Seoul Donghyuck couldn’t ever imagine booking with his salary either— so now he just looks extremely ungrateful and irresponsible for arriving this late. “My train was late and—”
“Don’t worry about being late. I was running a bit late myself,” his date reassures him. “I don’t mind. Plus I’ve been late to my fair share of dates too when I was younger.”
Donghyuck lets out a sigh of relief, “Oh thank god. Mr. Lee?
Donghyuck can’t believe it. Out of all of the people he works with, he was paired with his boss? What were the odds considering that Donghyuck filled in his favorite tv show with Princess Tutu?
Mr. Lee as usual was wearing a well-fitted blue suit, but instead of having his hair gelled back, he allowed for his dark bangs to be free and lightly kissed his large sparkling eyes which Donghyuck had never noticed before. Mr. Lee’s lips are redder than pink, which only seemed to accentuate how fair his boss was— most likely from all of the hours working in the office.
But what draws Donghyuck in about his boss are Mr. Lee’s eyes. His irises flicker brightly through a myriad of colors that make Donghyuck question whether or not they were the murky brown he believed Mr. Lee’s eyes were when they first met.
Moments pass and Donghyuck finally breaks away from the realization that his boss was attractive. It must have been the glasses, Donghyuck thinks. Yeah, it was his glasses.
“Yeah it’s me,” Mr. Lee replies and Donghyuck is grateful that Mr. Lee didn’t notice him eye ogling. “I’m sorry if you were expecting someone else other than me.”
“Oh no I’m fine with everything,” Donghyuck starts rapidly rambling. “Really. Like whom would miss out on a free meal and I can’t even afford a place as nice as this on my salary.”
“Do you want a raise then? I could—”
“It’s just a joke, Mr. Lee.” Donghyuck waves him off. “I’m bad at small talk aren’t I?”
Mark laughs, “No I think it’s just me. Should I call the waitress so she could take our order now?”
“That sounds great.”
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As it turns out, Mr. Lee was a pleasure to eat with. He was funny and charming, not to mention hot, but Donghyuck left that last part to himself. He doesn’t think it’s work appropriate – even if their own company made them fake date – to voice out that he thought his boss was attractive.
“Out of curiosity, why were you late too Mr. Lee. Please I need to know. I don’t want to be the only one feeling bad for being late today,” Donghyuck pleads. “Especially when I saw you leave work earlier than usual today.”
Mr. Lee freezes for a bit and shifts his gaze elsewhere.
“Did I say something wrong? You don’t have to tell me anything. This was just a company-organized date and we’re just here to have fun and test out the dating service. You don’t owe me anything.”
He sees the color drain from Mr. Lee’s face.
“It can’t be that bad Mr. Lee. It’s not like you murdered someone and hid their body. And a murderer certainly couldn’t have been a good date.”
“It’s just—I just…well I had to pick up my kid,” Mr. Lee admits. “He’s four and I had to rearrange for him to go to my parent’s house last minute because his babysitter got sick.”
“Oh, yeah you’ve mentioned him to me before once in passing,” Donghyuck’s eyes begin to twinkle with excitement. “Can you talk to me more about him? Sungchan is his name right? Sorry if I’m rambling so much. I just love kids so much I’ve been thinking about having my own someday. Also did you know I used to dream of becoming a teacher back in undergrad until I realized I didn’t have an aptitude for teaching—”
“Wait, you’re not weirded out?” Mr. Lee interrupts him.
“Why would I be weirded out you have a kid?” Donghyuck asks very confused why would Mr. Lee having a kid being an issue. He’s already mentioned his son before and plenty of their coworkers had families too. “I don’t quite understand you—"
“Wouldn’t you rather be paired with someone else?” Mr. Lee stops him mid-sentence, looking back at the roasted chicken he just ordered. “I mean…people usually think of me as boring for being 36 and having a kid and never having the time to go out because I put my child’s education above all. Not exactly dating material if you get what I mean even if this is just a company-organized event.”
“Wait you’re 36?” Donghyuck’s eyes open wide, features becoming shocked. “I thought you were around my age. Dude you look so young.”
Mr. Lee laughs, “Do I? But you didn’t answer my question Donghyuck.”
“If I can call you Mark hyung, I’ll answer your question.”
“Deal.”
“Well then hyung, I don’t mind being paired up with you.”
“You don’t?” Mark blinks.
“Not at all. I find you more attractive now that I know you’re considerate and a great dad. It’s so obvious that you’re giving it your all here and as a dad. There’s not a lot of people I know that put their kids first and you deserve having fun even if our date is a fake one.”
“Really? But—”
“Look you’re always coming early so you can finish early and pick up Sungchan from daycare on time. And despite how tired you look, you always give it your all at work. If anything, that makes you very attractive in my eyes and I am the one who should be honored that I got paired up with you,” Donghyuck confidently affirms, and his phone pings, reminding him that the date had pretty much ended.
Because of missing his train, he had cost them half their time together and missed out on dessert too because they didn't have their main meal yet. Donghyuck taps the notification that appeared on his phone before quickly swiping it away.
“I think I owe you a second date hyung.”
“Wait, you want to go on a second date?” Mark’s confused.
“Yeah, but this time I want you to choose a time that works for you. Maybe on the weekend during the morning instead? Or maybe when Sungchan is at daycare?”
“But wouldn’t that mean that you would be using your day off to have a date with me?” Mark dumbly points out.
“I don’t mind. I do feel bad that I didn’t show up on time today and I had a lot of fun talking to you. Please say yes and don’t reject me in front of Yuta. I don’t want him teasing me when we go back to work on Monday,” Donghyuck voice comes out high pitched and whiny.
“Fine. But I’m not letting you pay.”
Donghyuck beams.
“Deal.”
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Donghyuck ponders whether or not he should message Mark about their date. He doesn’t.
And neither does Mark for that matter. Working at the same place, one would think they could easily align their schedules so that they could meet up and go out for coffee, but it seems that it only made them understand how tired they were.
Especially Mark who had to drop off Sungchan and pick him up from daycare every day.
Right now Donghyuck reappears in front of Mark, just like the first day they met. Donghyuck takes this as his sign.
“Hyung, please go on a date with me.”
God t hat sounds like something a college student would say to their senior instead of a 26-year-old secretary at an advertising firm trying to ask their boss on a friendly date.
“Oh. Sorry Donghyuck I’m really busy right now, maybe next week?” Mark offers.
“Okay,” Donghyuck replies, blushing. “Just text me when you’re free.”
“Sounds good.”
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“You look tired Donghyuck,” Mark points out, touching Donghyuck’s forehead. “Are you sick? You look kind of feverish to me.”
Donghyuck can feel his blood rushing all the way from his cheeks to his ears. Mark is way too close to him for comfort—not that he finds himself exactly minding—wait. What?
Snap yourself out of it, Donghyuck. Okay. You just noticed that your boss is hot like 5 seconds ago, it doesn’t mean that you have to act on it okay?
“Are you okay Donghyuck?” Mark repeats, furrowing his eyebrows. “Do you need to go home early? I don’t mind taking up some of your extra tasks today.”
“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Donghyuck waves him up, his voice becoming an octave higher than it usually is. Wow, I’m really embarrassing myself aren’t I? “Don’t worry about me. I’m good, really. I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.”
Mark looks at him unconvinced.
“I’m not lying I swear! My neighbor kept me up last night because he had a party and none of his guests left until 3AM.”
It’s not completely false. A half-truth. But Mark doesn’t need to know that.
One night ago:
“Oh my god yes, Taeil, please fuck me harder.”
“You’re so tight for me John—”
Donghyuck covers his precious ears with his pillow, hoping that his neighbors would stop fucking—not completely, but like ya’know, just be quiet enough for him to catch some shut eye on a Tuesday. Although Donghyuck supposed that if his neighbors fucked on a Monday, it would technically be worse, but it would at least match the bad vibes that come with the start of the week.
Back to the present:
“Don’t worry about me. I just need to catch some extra sleep tonight and I’ll be back to normal in no time.” Donghyuck tries reassuring Mark. “Trust me. I’m not the type to break my promises.”
“Well I don’t have to forget about you breaking your promise about our second date then.” Mark smiles before walking back to his workspace.
The kdrama angels fall down and start singing as Donghyuck feels his face become completely red.
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Donghyuck’s phone pings, but it’s not from who he wants it to be.
“What is it?”
“Lovely hearing that my best friend wants nothing to do with me.” Donghyuck hears Renjun grimly smiling.
“Fine. Hi Renjunie!”
“Gross. I told you never to call me that again,” Renjun complains.
“Can’t please people can I?”
“Okay fine. What’s got you so angsty?”
“Well I promised Mark I would take him out on a date because I owed him one from last time, but he’s never texted me back about it.”
“Oh Donghyuck, I think you just want to have sex with that dilf you keep talking about. He really must be really hot for you to—”
“Okay. You did not just call Mark a dilf! How could you talk about my boss like that?” Donghyuck almost screams into his phone.
“It’s not like you’re giving me a lot to work with here. You’re bothered by the fact that your boss hasn’t taken up your offer on going on a date with you,” Renjun deadpans. “Just admit it you like your boss.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do. God, you haven’t even mentioned Jaehyun once since you started working with Mark.”
“Well, that’s because I got over him,” Donghyuck retorts, “Of course I’m not going to think about him. All I think about is—”
“Mark,” Renjun finishes for him. “Looks like you have a small little crush on your boss.”
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Donghyuck hates it when Renjun’s right.
He fucking hates it.
How dare he figure out he had a small crush on Mark before he did? What the hell? Really?
But Donghyuck doesn’t think this crush would ever get anywhere.
Mark is his boss, and he has a kid to worry about— not that Donghyuck minds Mark having a child from a previous relationship. In fact, Donghyuck just finds Mark even cuter now that he knows he has an equally cute kid (Sungchan is just adorable in every pic Mark’s shared with him) and devotes all of his spare time into being the best dad for Sungchan.
And the real problem here is: why would Mark even consider Donghyuck attractive in the first place?
Mark’s someone who’s lived so much, graduated from college, gotten married, has learned how to love and love so tenderly without asking anything in return.
Donghyuck on the other hand is still figuring things out. He needs his parents’ help every once in a while, still learning how to balance his checks and barely remembering to pay his bills on time (he’s getting there though, but Donghyuck admits it’s not truly helping his case.)
Mark could probably quote every play Shakespeare’s ever written and all Donghyuck could probably quote is what came on tv that day with the occasional 80s pop reference.
They’re too different, Donghyuck decides. Even if there was the tiniest sliver of hope, there’s no way Mark would consider dating him. Donghyuck wouldn’t date himself either.
So Donghyuck lets his crush lay there in the crevices of his heart, hoping that the dust covers it completely so that he doesn’t remember it anymore. Better to fall out of this crush than get hurt over it.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Or at least Donghyuck tries to.
It’s hard doing this when Na Jaemin is his friend.
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He can’t win.
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00 + 🐣
jisung
do we have a pic of the dilf?
donghyuck
WTF? didn’t i just say not to talk about my boss like that?
jaemin:
it’s only because we love you that we want to make u realize you have a crush on your boss
donghyuck
i do not have a crush on my boss
jaemin:
that’s not what renjun told us. u just wanna 😘 mark
Jaemin has been removed from 00 + 🐣
━━━━━━━━━━━━
As it turns out, it’s hard not liking Mark. He finds it almost impossible not to have a small crush on his boss, with how cute he looked with his glasses on, and especially when he was entertained with whatever email came his way. Mark just had a way of making everything he did look like it was important as if it could cost him his entire world if he messed up the slightest bit.
He sighs for his heart is weak and bitter that he can’t have Mark, no room for any memory of his ex anymore. Though Donghyuck enjoys his small one-week vacation, courtesy of their company getting a big deal with Nintendo not once does Mark leave his mind.
No matter how much he tries, Donghyuck’s mind still manages to be filled with the idea of Mark. He even rejects a blind date his mom had set him up with, even though she kept claiming that her childhood friend’s son was such a good match for him.
It didn’t matter. All Donghyuck’s pathetic little heart could settle for is a date with Mark. Even if at the end of the day, it was just a silly little date at Paris Baguette where both of them would just talk about work matters. Yes, Donghyuck is that infatuated that he would settle for another work-related date if it meant that he could spend more time with Mark.
“Donghyuck?” Someone breaks Donghyuck from his pathetic pining session in the middle of his work space.
Donghyuck turns around, hoping that whoever called out his name didn’t notice and that he didn’t accidentally email out to their client the list of places he wanted to go out with Mark instead of the inventory list Chaewon told him to instead.
“Yes? Oh hi, Mark.”
“Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go on that date you promised me today?” Mark smiles.
“Yes!” Donghyuck immediately regrets looking too enthusiastic about Mark’s offer and lowers the tone of his voice before continuing. “Yes, of course I mean…where do you want to go?”
“I figured we could go to McDonald's? Sungchan wanted to go get a special edition Pokemon happy meal and well…he wanted to meet you too, so I figured that I could kill two birds with one basket. Are you fine with Sungchan tagging along?”
“Of course I am. But you don’t think that Sungchan minds, right? I wouldn’t want to make him uncomfortable and we can just reschedule our date for a different day.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Mark waves Donghyuck’s worries off. “Sungchan was the one who proposed wanting to meet you in the first place. He’s been excited to meet you ever since I talked about our first date.”
“Really?” The nerves almost make Donghyuck blush.
Mark’s son wants to meet him? What does that even mean? Does that mean that Mark’s talked about him to Sungchan? Before he can let himself get lost in any more thoughts, Donghyuck internally rebukes himself. Get a hold of yourself. Of course, Mark is going to talk about you. You’re his coworker after all.
“I hope you’ve only talked good things about me hyung,” Donghyuck smiles.
Mark laughs, “Of course. You’re my date after all. How about I pick you up on Saturday around 6:00 PM? Does that sound good to you?”
“Sounds good. Let me just text you my address then.”
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“You look nervous Donghyuck,” Jaemin points out but Donghyuck just finds the entire statement ironic.
“Shouldn’t you be looking up from your phone if you’re going to say that?” Donghyuck deadpans.
On his bed is a disinterested Jaemin scrolling down his phone screen, most likely going through his KakaoTalk notifications and messaging his boyfriend about their plans.
Jaemin and Jisung were approaching their 100-day anniversary soon and from what Donghyuck knew, Jisung was the one for him. For the longest time, Donghyuck thought that Jaemin would end up with Jeno, one of his boyfriends from undergrad, but it was Jisung, his childhood neighbor with who Jaemin chooses to spend the rest of his life with.
In a way, Donghyuck learns that life doesn’t work out in the way he expects it to from hearing Jaemin rambling about wanting to take his relationship with Jisung to the next level and asking Jisung to move in together.
Especially now that his feelings for Jaehyun have been quickly displaced in two months for someone he’s only ever talked to once without the topic of their conversation having to do with client emails or working out future endorsement deals.
Jaemin finally looks up from his phone and laughs, “Well isn’t this just a make-up date because you were late for the first one? I don’t think you need to be nervous. Just be yourself and have fun like the two good coworkers you are.”
“Didn’t I just tell you I’m meeting Mark’s son too? Do you think that wouldn’t make me nervous? What if Sungchan hates me?”
“Well that certainly changes everything then,” Jaemin replies. “Damn I didn’t think that your boss would actually use this an opportunity to ask you out on a proper date. He’s a sly man that Mark Lee of yours.
“He’s not mine,” Donghyuck huffs, changing his shirt again. This time an old red flannel he hasn’t worn in weeks. “And this isn’t an actual date either.”
“Do you really think this isn’t a date?” Jaemin says with a flat tone. “Do you think Mark would just introduce you to his kid if this was just a makeup date for a company organized dinner? If anything, you should see this as a sign that Mark might like you back. Mark must really and I mean really trust you to introduce you to his kid this early on.”
“Trust isn’t the same thing as like.”
Jaemin sighs before continuing, “We'll both go hand in hand. I just think that Mark asked you on this makeup date to test the waters and know you don’t mind him having a kid before properly asking you out on a date?”
“I don’t mind.” Donghyuck immediately replies. “I love kids.”
“Well, I think you have your answer then.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━
As it turned out, they couldn’t go to McDonald’s after all.
A client had kept Mark too busy throughout the day and by the time it got out, Mark felt that it was too late for them to go out and eat. Sungchan had school the next day and Mark didn’t want his son to sleep past his bedtime. It had taken Mark a while to figure out their schedule and with his parents becoming older, it was more difficult to ask them to take care of Sungchan the hours he couldn’t pick him up early.
So Donghyuck suggests having dinner at Mark’s apartment instead, claiming that it would be easier on all of them. And the bonus here would be meeting Sungchan at a place where he felt more comfortable in.
“Hi there, you must be Sungchan. Your dad told me you were a handsome boy, but he never told me you were a prince,” Donghyuck says to the little boy Mark is carrying in his arms. “I’m Donghyuck, nice to meet you.”
Sungchan looks at him, bright-eyed. “You’re prettier than what daddy told me.”
Mark instantly blushes, “Sungchan, don’t tell him about what I told you.”
“So you think I’m pretty Mark hyung?” Donghyuck smiles, “What if I told you I find you pretty too?”
“Wait—let me…let me prepare dinner before it gets cold,” Mark rambles walking towards the kitchen, but not before letting Sungchan down.
“So do you want to tell me what your dad told you about me?” Donghyuck whispers to Sungchan and the boy energetically nods.
“I do!”
━━━━━━━━━━━━
“Thank you for helping me put Sungchan to sleep,” Mark says turning off the light in Sungchan’s room. “He’s usually a quiet boy and I was really surprised he didn’t want to go to sleep tonight.”
Donghyuck laughs, “Don’t worry about it. I had a lot of fun playing with him and honestly, this was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
Mark looks at him, surprised by Donghyuck’s answer. “What? But all we did was just play games and we didn’t even talk about you. I don’t even know your favorite color.”
“Yellow,” Donghyuck replies without another second passing. “Now you know hyung. And really, I had a lot of fun and Sungchan is just so cute who wouldn’t fall in love with him?”
“I hate to tell you, but a lot of my exes after I tried dating again after my divorce.”
“Well I’m not like any one of them aren’t I?” Donghyuck crosses his arms. “I certainly think that being a dad makes you more attractive.”
Mark blushes red from ear to ear. “You find me attractive?”
“If I’m being honest and I know that this doesn’t exactly work appropriate, but I have a crush on you,” Donghyuck confesses, clutching onto his pants. “You can just forget about it though if it makes you uncomfortable. I don’t mind and I can quit too if you don’t want to see me again after this. God, why did I listen to Renjun and Jaemin? I know I shouldn’t have told you.”
“You don’t have to quit,” Mark says, face still red from Donghyuck’s compliment. “I just don’t see what you see. I have a lot of baggage compared to you. I’m much older than you and I have a kid. Even if we were to date, I would be forcing you to pick up a responsibility you don’t need to.”
“You’re not the only one with baggage,” Donghyuck admits, looking down at his shoes. “It’s been a long time since I’ve ever dated anyone. Not since my last boyfriend broke up with me when I graduated from the university have I dated anyone else.”
“Do you mind telling me—I mean you don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“I don’t mind,” he begins finally looking up at Mark. “I was with my ex for a long time, and I was stupid enough to think that things would always work out.”
“I don’t think you were stupid for thinking things would work out. My— Sungchan’s mom I mean, I truly thought that we would have a cute married life until she had Sungchan in the last years of our marriage. We thought that having a kid together would help our relationship get stronger, but that wasn’t the case,” Mark confesses. “So I think it’s normal for you to have thought you and your ex-boyfriend would be happy together. I think deep down inside, we all think the best about our relationships even if the possibility of breaking up is there.”
Donghyuck reaches out for Mark’s hand and gently squeezes on it. “Thank you hyung. That means a lot to me.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn’t have dumped you if I were your ex. You’re smart and pretty and honestly a total catch if I dare say so,” Mark grins. “If anything, I’m really happy you decided to go on this dinner date with me and my son. Usually, when I mention I have a kid, people just dump me right before getting to know me.”
“Well they missed out on a handsome and hardworking person,” Donghyuck responds, the corner of his lips curling up into a smile. “Did you know I was nervous about meeting you and Sungchan tonight? I even changed my outfit three times before meeting you because I wanted to impress both of you.”
Mark laughs, brightening up the entire apartment, “Really? But this was just a small dinner date with me and Sungchan. I didn’t even take you out anywhere fancy.”
“Well,” Donghyuck pauses leaning in and ghosting Mark’s lips. “There’s always next time isn’t there?”
“You’re right. We have next time don’t we?”