Archive of Our Own

Lee Haechan would not call himself a cocky man but he would call himself confident, which is why when his friends band together to give him the stupidest dare, he simply can't resist. 

It starts like this.

Haechan and Jeno graduate from university and both land jobs at NCT Corporation. Or rather, Jeno lands a job. Haechan lands an internship. Haechan can’t find it in him to be mad about this however, because Jeno had interned at the corporation the summer before while Haechan had spent it rendezvousing around Europe. Does Haechan regret his decisions? No. But it does feel strange to know that he is not on equal footing with his friend. Still, the fact that they work in different departments means he hardly runs into the other anyway. 

It’s one Friday after work, lounging in his shared apartment with Jeno with their friends all holding a beer in their hands, that things go horribly wrong. 

“You guys would never guess what Hyuck did today,” Jeno starts, his lips curving up into a shit-eating grin that can only mean trouble. 

Haechan takes a moment to think back over his day: he got everyone their coffee, made copies of all the meetings notes from the day, learned how to work the payroll software, and listened to Jungwoo talk endlessly about his dogs. “I worked,” he says, once he’s confident that today there was nothing he did that could be taken out of context. “Like I do every day.” Or, most days anyway.

“He was hardcore checking out my manager.”

Haechan almost spits his beer out. “I most certainly was not ,” he sputters after an intense coughing fit that is only resolved by Jaemin pounding on his back - with a little too much enthusiasm, Haechan might note. “I don’t even know who your boss is.”

“Bullshit,” Jeno counters, his grin growing. “You’ve been looking at him since your first week on the job.”

Haechan would very much like to tell Jeno that he’s full of shit, but the problem is that Jeno is right - as he so often is. Jeno doesn’t speak much but he is incredibly observant - too observant for his own good, Haechan would say. 

“Your silence is telling,” Jisung says with a smirk, high-fiving Chenle as the other boy laughs.

Haechan loves the youngest member of their little group, but right about now he’s getting the urge to strangle him. “Say Jeno is right,” Haechan starts.

“I am,” Jeno interrupts. “I’m always right.”

“Say Jeno is right,” Haechan repeats, trying to act as if he wasn’t just interrupted. “Who cares? There are plenty of hot people in this world, and I can’t help it if Jeno’s manager just so happens to be one of them.”

“Something isn’t adding up,” Renjun says from his spot on the couch. He’s looking at Haechan with narrowed eyes and Haechan swears he can hear the cogs turning in the younger’s mind. “Why hasn’t Haechan told us about him? He always mentions hot guys.”

“Because I am professional, duh,” Haechan counters with a roll of his eyes. “Why would I talk about how hot one of my seniors is? I wouldn’t. I like to keep work and play firmly separated.”

“Which is exactly why you made out with Xiaojun two summers ago despite him being your boss,” Jaemin supplies.

“That doesn’t count!” Haechan practically shouts, ignoring the way Renjun snickers beside him. “It was the end of the summer and lifeguard season was over. He wasn’t my boss anymore.”

“We still had a week left of being guards,” Jaemin counters. “And you guys were both drunk. Sounds a lot like mixing work and play if you ask me.”

“Then it’s a good thing no one is asking you,” Haechan says sweetly.

“I can only think of one time Haechan didn’t tell us about a hot guy,” Renjun continues, his lips pulling up into a smirk that has Haechan on the edge of his seat. Besides Jisung, Renjun is easily the quietest member of their friend group - he is also the most dangerous.

“Do tell us,” Jeno pipes up, his grin mirroring Renjun’s.

It’s at this moment that Haechan knows he’s extremely screwed. There is only one reason Haechan won’t gush to his friends about a hot guy, and the knowing smirk playing on Renjun’s lips has Haechan spiraling into a pit of despair.

“Do you guys remember Ten?” Renjun starts.

Haechan wants to disappear.

Jisung’s lips curl up into a broad grin, his brown eyes lighting with recognition and delight. “Of course, hard to forget,” he says. 

“Haechan kept quiet about Ten for an entire week. Do you remember why?”

Haechan looks over at the door and contemplates running - would he make it out the door in time to spare his own ego? Probably not.

“If I remember right,” Jisung starts, and now Haechan really does want to strangle him because when doesn’t Jisung remember things, “Haechan didn’t breathe a word about Ten because Ten…ignored him.”

Jaemin lets out an audible gasp and Haechan can’t resist the urge to punch his arm.

“Ignore is a strong word,” Haechan sniffs, crossing his arms across his chest as if that can save him from the wave of humiliation crashing over him. “He talked to me.”

“Let me rephrase,” Chenle pipes up, grinning so broadly his cheeks are rounded and his eyes are nearly closed. “He didn’t flirt with you. He didn’t attempt to get in your pants. He did not recognize you as someone equally as hot as himself.”

“I actually liked it better when you said he ignored me,” Haechan mutters, his cheeks growing hot. He knows that not everyone will find him attractive and that’s fine - he doesn’t find everyone attractive either - but hearing it so bluntly stated wounds his ego more than he would care to admit.

“This can only mean one thing,” Renjun says dramatically, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the tops of his thighs. “Jeno’s manager hasn’t noticed Haechan.”

“Of course he hasn’t,” Haechan groans, placing his beer on the floor so he can bury his head in his hands. “He isn’t in my department, you doofus. Not to mention this isn’t lifeguarding over the summer. This is a serious job, okay? Of course the head of the marketing department isn’t going to be looking at the new intern.”

“A serious internship,” Jaemin amends, seemingly unfazed by being punched by Haechan just moments ago. “It’s an internship, not a job.”

Haechan shoots him a glare that - predictably - doesn’t bother him.

“Well, he’s not the head of the marketing department,” Jeno chimes in after finishing the bottle in his hand. “That would be Taeyong.”

“Well he’s high up, isn’t he?” Haechan questions.

Jeno shrugs. “High enough, I suppose. Higher than me and most definitely higher than you.”

“But is he high enough to matter?” Jaemin questions.

Jeno raises an eyebrow at that and Haechan turns to look questioningly at his friend’s boyfriend. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, is he high enough to matter?” Jaemin repeats, his lips curving up into a sly grin. 

Haechan suddenly feels uneasy, his stomach turning as he notices the sparkle in Jaemin’s eyes - he doesn’t know what the younger is planning but he knows that it can’t be good.

“Would he be in serious trouble if he, I don’t know, slept with an intern?”

“Jaemin!” Haechan shouts, trying desperately to ignore the way Chenle bursts into laughter.

The problem with Jeno and Jaemin - despite the fact that they are a disgusting couple whom Haechan hates to be left around - is that they encourage each other in the worst ways.

Jeno’s eyes light up with delight and he grins, leaning closer to where his boyfriend is sitting on the floor. “He might get scolded, but that’s about it,” Jeno says. “Besides, the whole company loves him. There’s no way they would actually do anything to him over it.”

“Interesting,” Jaemin responds, drawing out the word.

“Nothing about this is interesting,” Haechan says. “I say we change the subject entirely. Renjun, bore us all with your talk about library school or whatever. Tell us how you catalog shit.”

“Everything about that was wrong and deeply offensive,” Renjun responds with a frown. “Suggestion overruled.”

“It wasn’t a suggestion, it was a demand.”

“Get Mark Lee to notice you and I’ll buy you coffee for a week,” Jaemin says.

Haechan rolls his eyes. “You’re on, Na. That’s so easy I can do it in my sleep.”

“Then do one better,” Chenle says, smirking at Haechan. “Get him to fall in love with you.”

Haechan scoffs. “Who wouldn’t fall for me? Also easy.”

Chenle’s brown eyes glimmer with amusement. “Then do it.”

“Fine,” Haechan says - and what the hell are the words coming out of his mouth? “Bet I can make Mark Lee fall for me in thirty days.”

Jeno whistles. “You’re that confident in yourself, Lee?”

“Just you wait and see,” Haechan says, narrowing his eyes. “Mark isn’t going to know what hit him.”

And that’s exactly how Haechan finds himself standing before the doors to NCT Corporation on Monday morning terrified to walk inside.

Jeno walks up beside him and claps him on the back, his grin far too wide for Haechan’s liking. “Go get ‘em, hot shot.”

“Fuck off,” Haechan says weakly, shrugging his friend off and walking inside the building.

Haechan - ever in his attempt to get on the good side of his supervisors and hopefully score a job offer at the end of his internship - is known for arriving early. Fortunately for him, so is Mark.  

He walks into the office with his usual tray of coffee in his arms, plus one, and hand-delivers coffee to each member of his department before steeling himself for the most important delivery of the day. Haechan walks out of the human resources department, desperately trying to ignore the bewildered look that Doyoung is giving him, and makes his way towards marketing, praying that he looks more confident than he feels.

“Mark-sunbaenim,” he calls lightly as he pushes open the door to the marketing department. He finds Mark just as he’d hoped that he would, sitting alone in the office staring resolutely at his computer screen. 

Mark’s eyes flicker up in surprise, his brown eyes wide as he takes in the cup of coffee that Haechan is gently placing on his desk. “Is that for me?” he asks curiously.

Haechan nods, flashing Mark one of his signature smiles. “I noticed you tend to come in early as well, so I wanted to get you a little something.”

Mark smiles back and Haechan files that away as a small win, choosing to ignore the fact that Mark smiles at literally everyone. “Thanks, Haechan-ssi.” He takes the coffee happily and drinks it with a small hum of appreciation.

“I wasn’t sure how you liked it, so I added just a little bit of cream and sugar,” Haechan says nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “But if you let me know how to get it made I can bring you a cup more often.”

Mark’s brown eyes widen slightly in surprise and he peers curiously at Haechan before smiling again. “This is fine,” he says, tilting his cup slightly. “Don’t feel obligated to get me anything though. I know everyone over in HR seems to need coffee to function, but I can go a day or two without it.”

“I think the sales team needs it more,” Haechan snorts without thinking. “They’re all addicted to caffeine.”

Mark laughs in response, the sound bright and louder than Haechan had expected. “You’re not wrong,” he agrees with a grin. “I don’t think Johnny can go a day without coffee.”

Haechan doesn’t know much about Johnny other than he’s a tall, slightly intimidating figure from sales, but he finds himself nodding in agreement with Mark nonetheless. “Too bad none of them get here early,” he quips. Buying a coffee for Mark is now a necessary expense, but buying coffee for the sales department is not on Haechan’s to-do list - he doesn't think his wallet could handle it even if it was. 

“They might if they hear about your generosity,” Mark muses.

Haechan pales. “Then maybe we should keep this our little secret,” he jokes weakly.

Mark grins at him and Haechan catches a glimpse of something in his eyes - amusement? mischief? - but it’s gone as quickly as it comes. “Sure,” he says lightly. “If they haven’t caught wind of you buying coffee for your department then they certainly won’t hear about this.”

Haechan can’t quite shake the feeling that Mark is toying with him but he flashes the older a smile regardless. “Thanks,” he says brightly. “Better get back to work. I’ll see you around.” He waves before making his way out of Mark’s office, letting out a sigh as he makes his way back to the human resources department.

Doyoung raises an eyebrow at him and Jungwoo waves enthusiastically from his seat - Haechan isn’t sure when Jungwoo made it into the office but clearly talking with Mark robbed him of the only quiet time he would have gotten for the day. “Hey, Doyoung-ssi,” Haechan starts.

Doyoung sighs before Haechan even finishes his question.

Haechan pretends that he doesn’t hear it. “Do people know that I get coffee for our department?”

“I really don’t understand why that’s important,” Doyoung answers.

Unhelpful as always.

“Of course they do,” Jungwoo pipes up.

Ah, Jungwoo - Haechan’s unlikely savior. “Who knows?”

“Literally everyone,” Jungwoo answers, giving Haechan an amused look. “Johnny has started saying that the sales team should hire an intern so that they can get free coffee every morning, too.”

Either Mark had been lying to him about the sales team not knowing or he was oblivious - something in Haechan makes him want to believe that it’s the latter but he’s honestly not sure.

“Why do you want to know?” Doyoung questions. He sounds vaguely interested in the answer and that makes Haechan nervous - Doyoung never cares enough to ask follow-up questions.

Haechan shrugs and falls into his seat, trying to look as calm and collected as possible. “Just curious,” he says lamely.

Doyoung stares at Haechan for a moment too long before shaking his head. “That’s never a good thing,” he concludes, turning from Haechan and facing his computer again. “Jungwoo, have Haechan start on job listings.”

Haechan has never been so happy to do a boring administrative task in his entire life.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽∞☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

After getting Mark coffee for three days - and tea one day, because Jeno tells him that Mark also likes tea - and Haechan feels no closer to getting Mark to fall for him. 

“I don’t understand it,” Haechan sighs, chewing on the end of his straw. He’s tucked into the corner of his favotite booth at the very coffee shop that he gets his morning coffee at, the cafe a small slice of comfort that he can always count on. Renjun sits across the table from him, his lips pulled up into a smirk. “How has he not been wooed by my charms yet?”

“Haechan,” Renjun starts, using his straw to stir the iced latte in his hands. “I don’t know how to break this to you, but making small talk with him every morning isn’t going to woo him.”

Haechan groans and lets his head fall forward on the table, too distressed to care about the concerned looks he’s sure he’s going to get from the people around him. “It’s not like I can flirt my way into his heart. I’m at work, Renjun, not a bar.”

Renjun nods at this despite knowing that Haechan can’t see him. “Maybe you should have thought about that before you took Jaemin and Chenle up on this little bet,” he says lightly.

Haechan looks up only to glare at his friend from across the table. “It’s a little late for that, isn’t it?” he replies bitterly, raising an eyebrow. “Besides, you know I couldn’t have said no to them. It wasn’t a bet, Injunnie, it was a challenge. I couldn’t look weak.”

“Heaven forbid you look weak in front of Chenle,” Renjun scoffs with a roll of his eyes. “The world would really come to an end, wouldn’t it?”

“You’re not helping,” Haechan pouts, finally sitting upright again and taking a sip of his americano. 

“I don’t know why you thought that I would.”

“Because you’re my friend,” Haechan whines, emphasizing the word friend. “I knew I should have invited Jeno.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Renjun counters, his brown eyes widening as he places a hand over his chest. “This is our place. Invite Jeno here without me and our friendship is over.”

“And you call me dramatic,” Haechan grumbles, but he concedes nonetheless. He and Renjun had found the cafe by accident during a particularly rough week in undergrad and they had been frequenting the cafe together ever since.

“Like you wouldn’t do the same if I brought Jisung here without you.”

Haechan doesn’t respond because Renjun is right and the silence is all the other needs to assume victory.

“Anyway, you need to find a way to spend more time with Mark,” Renjun says matter-of-factly, resting an elbow on the table so that he can cup his cheek in his hand. “This small talk is going to get you nowhere.”

“I don’t know how,” Haechan groans. “Marketing and human resources don’t interact with each other outside of our all department meetings.”

Renjun shrugs. “If there’s a will, there’s a way!”

“My will to strangle you is pretty high right now,” Haechan deadpans. “I would watch out if I were you.”

Renjun merely smiles back at him and continues sipping his latte, watching as Haechan groans in despair and lets his head hit the back of the booth behind him. 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽∞☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Haechan’s saving grace comes in the form of seven words. 

“We need to run a hiring campaign,” Doyoung announces.

Haechan looks up from his computer screen, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “Isn’t that what I posted all those job listings for the other day?” He had spent hours posting listings to different job boards - that was partially because Jungwoo wouldn’t stop talking his ear off, but that was beside the point.

Doyoung shakes his head, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. “That was part of the start of the campaign, I suppose,” he allows. “But what I mean is we need to actively reach out. We need to let people know that we’re hiring.” 

He looks at Haechan as if waiting for the younger to put the pieces together but Haechan merely stares back at him. “I’m not following.”

“We need to advertise, Haechan,” Doyoung explains. “Which means we need to reach out to-”

“Marketing!” Haechan exclaims, the pieces finally clicking. 

Doyoung nods. “Marketing,” he confirms. “I was thinking you could work on this with me, Haechan. I thought it would be a good way for you to experience a cross-departmental campaign. You can see the process we go through when we work with other departments.”

“I’d love to,” Haechan responds quickly - maybe a little too quickly judging by the way Jungwoo looks at him, but Doyoung doesn’t seem bothered.

“Mark is the one who works on HR campaigns, so we’ll be working with him,” Doyoung continues. “I’ve already set up the initial meeting and will add you to it.” Doyoung pauses and looks at Haechan, his lips pursing in thought, before nodding to himself and speaking again. “In some odd way, you have a way of connecting with people,” he says dryly, ignoring the way Haechan’s lips twitch as the man tries not to smile. “I think that’s a skill that would lend itself well to cross-department collaboration. I’m putting you on this project because I want you to learn, but also because I want you to learn to lead. By the end of this project, I want you to be taking charge on the human resources side of it, not me.”

Haechan may have his eyes set on his goal to make Mark fall for him, but he's level-headed enough to remember that his main goal in interning at NCT Corporation is to get a job, which is why it doesn't go unnoticed by him that Doyoung is offering him an opportunity to prove himself. “Thank you, Doyoung-ssi,” he says seriously, a break from his usual joking manner. “I won't disappoint you.”

Doyoung hums as he turns back to his desk but he doesn't move fast enough to stop Haechan from seeing how his lips curve up just slightly. “I hope you won't,” he says lightly. “I'll send you information from our last hiring campaign so you can get an idea how they work. I want you to have an active part in our brainstorming on Wednesday.”

Two days. Haechan has two days to review past campaigns enough to impress both Doyoung and Mark - he’s going to need a lot more coffee.

Tuesday night finds Haechan doing the one thing he always swore he wouldn’t do - bringing work home with him. He sits on the couch balancing his laptop on his knee and stares at the screen with furrowed brows, mumbling to himself about things that could have been done differently for their past campaign.

Without warning a warm mug is being gently pushed into his hands, his laptop being set aside as a warm body sits next to his own. “You’re working, Hyuckie?” comes Jeno’s warm, low voice. “It’s kind of late, isn’t it?”

Haechan mumbles something affirmative as he takes a sip of the tea that Jeno made for him, sinking into the couch and letting out a grateful moan. “How did you know I needed this?” he sighs.

Jeno lets out a low chuckle and moves closer to him, resting his head on Haechan’s shoulder. “Because I know you,” he says simply. “You’re not doing this just for Mark, are you?”

“Absolutely not,” Haechan confirms, setting his mug down on the table in front of him so that he can stretch. “This is important for my status, Jeno. If I do well on this then I just might get a job offer.” He stretches his arms up above his head and lets out a groan, rolling his neck from side to side and eliciting a few satisfying cracks. “I will also look smart, which will help me in winning Mark Lee’s heart.”

Haechan doesn’t need to look at Jeno to know that the younger is rolling his eyes. “I’m sure it will impress him,” Jeno agrees. 

“I need to do more than impress him. Jeno, help me,” Haechan whines, sinking back into the couch and letting his head drop on top of Jeno’s. “You spend more time with him than I do.”

“He’s one of my seniors,” Jeno chuckles. “I ask him about the best ad copy tactics, not about what he’s looking for in a partner.” Haechan whines again and Jeno shakes his head, leaning forward to grab Haechan’s mug off the table and push it back into his hands. “What are you looking at, anyway?” he asks, grabbing Haechan’s laptop and dragging it towards himself. 

“The last hiring campaign,” Haechan mumbles tiredly, more interested in his tea than the numbers on the screen.

Jeno hums in answer, scrolling through the documents that Haechan has open, and he smiles at his friend. “Let me help you understand this, Hyuckie. Tomorrow you’re going to blow their minds.” 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽∞☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

For all of his bravado, Haechan is not convinced he’s going to blow anyone’s mind. His hands are shaking and it has nothing to do with the six shot iced americano he ordered at the coffee shop this morning - much to the barista’s concern. Despite the fact that he had gone over the previous campaign with Jeno - who had been very helpful, not that he would ever admit it - Haechan still worries that his ideas aren’t what Doyoung or Mark will be looking for.

He follows Doyoung into the small conference room where Mark is alredy sitting. Mark smiles up at them from behind his laptop screen and offers a small wave. “I was excited when I heard you’d be joining us,” Mark tells Haechan as he and Doyoung get seated.

Haechan’s eyes widen in surprise and Mark laughs.

“Someone new means new ideas,” Mark says with a shrug, answering the question Haechan never voiced. “A new perspective. It’s always good for our campaigns, isn’t it Doyoung hyung?”

Doyoung nods in response but doesn’t seem particularly invested in the conversation just yet, sipping on his coffee as he waits for his documents to load. “New ideas can be good,” he murmurs in agreement.

Mark grins in response, seemingly amused by Doyoung’s lack of interest, and turns back to Haechan. “So, Doyoung told me that he sent you the reports from our last hiring campaign. Before I ask for any new thoughts, what did you think of our last campaign?”

Haechan tries to remind himself to breathe. “It got a lot of traction,” he says, remembering the mess of numbers that Jeno had patiently explained to him the night before. “The reach was honestly impressive considering you guys didn’t do much digital advertising.”

Mark nods and Doyoung hums in response. “We want to change that this time,” Doyoung says, finally looking up from his laptop screen. “Take a more digital approach.”

“Is that why you had me create all those job listings?” Haechan asks.

Doyoung nods. “That’s why we had you create so many. We always do some. We’re trying to expand our reach digitally, though. And that’s going to extend to our actual campaign.”

“What would that entail?” Haechan asks, his gaze sliding over to Mark.

“Digital advertising,” Mark says. “Think social media ads, YouTube ads, advertising on website. That sort of thing.”

“We’re going to do all of that?” Haeachan asks, eyes wide.

Mark shrugs. “Depends on the budget, really. And what our aim really is.”

Haechan turns to Doyoung at this, his mind already spinning with everything Jeno had explained to him and how the pieces fit in with the meeting he finds himself in. “Who is our target for this campaign?” he asks, raising an eyebrow. “I noticed that the last campaign was very formal. I mean, very, formal. It seemed there was an emphasis on highly qualified applicants, and you focused on a lot of print advertising.”

Doyoung looks mildly impressed and he leans forward in his seat as he nods. “We were searching for a few department heads and assistant managers,” Doyoung explains. “We needed to make sure we were selecting top talent. This campaign is going to be different. We’re hiring for entry level positions.”

Hopefully not in the human resources department, Haechan thinks to himself. He’s got his own eyes set on an entry level position there.

“And new grads are online more often than not,” Haechan murmurs, to which Doyoung nods.

“Exactly. Which is why we want to do more digital marketing.”

“I imagine social media ads are a must, then, right?” Haechan says, looking up at Mark and Doyoung. “Everyone is on social media.”

Mark nods in agreement.

“What do you think about still using print efforts, Haechan?” Doyoung asks curiously, cocking his head to the side.

Haechan tries not to choke on his own spit. “I think investing in any newspapers might not be the best use of your money,” he says slowly, nervous to offend Doyoung. Doyoung doesn’t look phazed by his answer however, merely curious, so Haechan continues. “I saw that last campaign you advertised on public transportation, though. Bus and train ads? I think those could be useful. A lot of people use public transportation.”

Doyoung nods in agreement, leaning back in his seat. “I was thinking the same.” He looks over to Mark and nods again. “I’ll go with your judgement on social media ads, Mark. I agree with Haechan on public transportation ads. What do you think about radio ads?”

Mark and Haechan both shake their heads sharply. “Not enough people listening,” Mark answers easily. “Definitely not worth your money. Especially not for this type of campaign. You’re looking for leads, Doyoung, not just reach.”

Doyoung hums in response, frowning slightly but nodding nonetheless. “Alright, makes sense,” he allows. “I’ll send you both documents with our budget. We’re going to want new photos and videos since we’re targeting younger people. Mark, make sure to add Haechan to the emails when you send over creative ideas.”

“Will do,” Mark murmurs, already typing away on his laptop.

“I think we can regroup when you send some creatives our way. With the budget documents I’ll send you some information on the specicfic departments we’re looking to hire in so you can pick your creatives accordingly. We can set up a meeting after we’ve picked creatives to talk about language for the ads.”

Mark nods. “Sounds good to me. I’ll bring our old ad copy to the meeting as something to go off of.”

Doyoung nods and stands, prompting Haechan to do the same. “Jungwoo will be happy to have you back in the office,” he tells Haechan with a grin as they gather their things.

“He can’t have missed me that much,” Haechan mumbles in response. “We’ve been gone for twenty minutes tops.”

“That’s enough,” Doyoung answers with a smirk.

Mark chuckles as he rises from his seat to follow the two out the door. Before they part ways to go to their respective offices Mark leans closer to Haechan. “Congrats on surviving your first campaign meeting,” he whispers.

Haechan represses a shiver and smiles at Mark over his shoulder. “Thanks. It wasn’t too bad,” he adds with a wink. He giggles at the surprised look Mark gives him in response and makes his way into the office, trying harder than he’d admit not to look back over his shoulder.

“So, how’d it go?” Jeno asks later that night as they slurp ramen at their shared kitchen table.

“Good,” Haechan says slowly, but it sounds more like a question. “I think it went well.”

“Way to sound confident,” Jeno snorts.

Haechan kicks him under the table. “You don't work with Doyoung so you don't get it,” he groans. “He is so hard to read. Seriously! I don't understand him at all. We were on the same page about some stuff he asked me though, so I think that's good.”

“Sounds good,” Jeno agrees through a mouthful of ramen. “Any closer to getting Mark under your spell?”

“No,” he replies bitterly, lips turning down into a scowl. “He did congratulate me for surviving my first campaign meeting.”

“Typical mark,” Jeno answers with a nod of his head. “Nothing surprising there.”

“I winked at him.”

Jeno chokes on his ramen. “You what?”

Haechan grins. “I winked at him,” he repeats casually, as if he’s talking about the weather. “It’s not that big of a deal. I wink at Jungwoo all the time.”

“That’s because he’s Jungwoo,” Jeno counters with a roll of his eyes. “You wouldn’t wink at Doyoung.”

“He is literally the director of human resources, of course I wouldn’t wink at him.”

Jeno holds back a laugh at this. “Fair enough,” he concedes. “You wouldn’t wink at Yuta.”

Haechan looks up at Jeno, ramen noodles hanging limply from his chopsticks. “I value my life, Jeno. Yuta looks like he eats men for breakfast.”

“He eats Doyoung for breakfast,” Jeno snorts, laughing in delight as Haechan chokes on his ramen. He raises his eyebrows in mock surprise. “You didn’t know they’re a thing?”

“Could’ve gone without knowing that,” Haechan grumbles. 

“Maybe you should talk to Yuta,” Jeno hums. “He’s the one who approached Doyoung, afterall. Maybe he could give you tips on approaching Mark.”

“I’d much rather die.”

“I think he’d get a kick out of it.”

“I am going to kick you if you don’t shut up,” Haechan responds, but they both know it’s an empty threat. Haechan goes to bed wondering if maybe he should talk to Yuta.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽∞☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

It’s Friday morning and Haechan has decided that no, he definitely should not talk to Yuta. He’s sitting in one of the only shared working spaces in the office and attempting to peer discreetly at Yuta from over the top of his laptop. He’s not sure if he’s as subtle as he thinks he is or if Yuta simply doesn’t care about him - likely the latter - but the sales team member stands in front of the counter and pours himself another cup of coffee while chewing his lower lip, seemingly lost in thought. 

“Staring at him won’t get him to talk to you,” Jeno murmurs from beside him. 

Haechan rolls his eyes and focuses his attention back on his laptop screen, trying to think more about the presentation he’s working on than potentially asking Yuta for help. “I haven’t decided if I want him to talk to me or not,” Haechan admits in a low voice. “He scares me.”

This pulls a laugh from Jeno but before he can respond Haechan spots a new figure walking into the open space. It’s as if the god’s have been listening to Haechan’s prayers.

“Time to talk to someone else instead,” Haechan sings. He doesn’t wait for a response from his friend before he picks up his laptop and walks towards the figure facing away from him. Haechan walks around the table and falls into the seat in front of Mark, sending him a blinding smile. “Good afternoon, Mark-ssi.”

Mark’s eyes widen in slight surprise but he smiles at Haechan nonetheless. “Haechan-ssi,” he responds, cocking his head to the side. If he has a problem with Haechan choosing not to call him sunbaenim he doesn’t show it.  “I didn’t know you worked out here.”

“Sometimes the office is just too stifling,” Haechan answers honestly, opening his laptop. While getting Mark to fall for him is priority number one right now he knows that he has to at least look like he’s working. “What brings you out here?”

“Same thing,” Mark admits with a small chuckle. “Gets too tight in the office. Besides, there’s windows out here,” he says, gesturing towards the wall of windows to his right. “It just feels a lot better out here sometimes.”

To say Haechan is surprised would be to put it mildly. Of everyone he had talked to, it felt like he and Jeno were the only ones who cared to use the coworking space. Everyone else in the company - everyone older, anyway - seemed content to stay cooped up in their offices all day. The only exception that Haechan could think of was Jungwoo - and now Mark, apparently.

Mark speaks again before Haechan can think up a response. “I actually came out here to work on the hiring campaign,” he says, his lips curling up into a small smile. “I was going to sort through different images for the campaign. Want to see what I was thinking?”

Haechan nods and Mark slides his laptop around so that they can both look at the screen. He pulls up a stock photos website and clicks through various images, stopping to explain his thought process to Haechan as he goes through them. Haechan watches with wide eyes, asking questions when he has them and giving his opinion on images when prompted by Mark. 

“So, this is your job?” Haechan asks, his voice tinged with awe.

Mark looks up from his laptop screen in surprise, a faint blush coloring his cheeks - Haechan takes that as another win. “Y-yeah,” he stutters. “Well, part of it anyway. It’s a fun part, I’ll admit that,” he says with a chuckle. “Marketing has some creative parts.”

“I see that,” Haechan murmurs, finally looking away from the screen and at Mark. A comfortable silence falls over the two and Haechan realizes that he finally has the perfect opportunity to put his plan into motion. The first rule of getting someone to fall for you is to get to know them. More importantly, it’s to make someone feel like you want to get to know them. “Is that why you decided to go into marketing?” he asks Mark, cocking his head to the side.

Mark shakes his head and lets out a small huff. “Not exactly,” he admits. “I guess it’s part of why I ultimately chose marketing, but I chose my major based on what my parents wanted.” He scrunches his nose as he says it and Haechan gets the feeling he accidentally touched a sore spot. “They wanted me to go into something that would make money. Marketing was a business degree so it sounded good enough.”

“Good enough to appease the parents and it still has room for creativity,” Haechan hums. “Sounds like a good compromise to me.”

Mark shrugs, a smile back on his lips. “I suppose so,” he allows. “What about you, Haechan? Why did you go into human resources?”

Haechan grins. “Well, I was initially thinking of going into communications because I have a big mouth,” he says, pleased to find that Mark chuckles at his comment. “One of my professors suggested human relations, actually. He said that I have a way of bringing people together.”

“I can believe that,” Mark murmurs, much to Haechan’s surprise.

“You don’t sound surprised by that.”

“I’m not. It seems pretty obvious.”

“Doyoung seems surprised by it,” Haechan notes, raising an eyebrow. “How can the director of human resources seem surprised by it but you don’t?”

“Doyoung isn’t actually surprised by it,” Mark says with a roll of his eyes. “He just needs to give you a hard time. It’s his personality. He functions very differently than you do, Haechan-ssi. He is amazing at his job for many reasons, but I think you fit the position for different reasons. Tell me, Haechan-ssi, which area of human resources are you interested in?”

“I’m surprised you know there are different areas,” Haechan answers, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair. Mark stares back at him, his smile turning into an amused grin, and Haechan decides he should actually answer the question. “Team building,” he murmurs, feeling a bit embarassed to admit it, “with a focus on learning and development.”

Mark nods in response. “Yeah, that feels about right.”

Haechan scoffs and rolls his eyes. “As if you would know,” he says, but his tone is light and teasing. “You don’t even know me.”

“Not yet,” Mark says easily, smiling across the table at him. “But if you keep coming out to work in this space then we just might get to know each other.” He rises from his spot and winks at Haechan before turning to leave. “Working hard, Jeno?” he asks the younger as he passes by, ignoring the way Haechan stares after him with his mouth opened wide in shock.

“Always, Mark hyung,” Jeno murmurs in response, his eyebrows furrowed as he stares at his laptop screen as if he hadn’t just been watching the pair. He waits until Mark has left the room to look over at Haechan, his lips curving up into a grin. “You might want to close your mouth, Hyuckie. You’ll let flies in.”

Haechan snaps his jaw shut and glares at Jeno, grabbing his laptop and hurrying to his friend’s side. “You don’t understand what just happened,” he hisses.

Jeno raises an eyebrow at him. “It looked like you were doing work to me.”

“He winked at me,” Haechan says, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Mark fucking Lee just winked at me.”

Jeno stares at Haechan for a moment, his own mouth dropping open in surprise, before he tips his head back and laughs. The sound is loud and fills the room, earning the two of them more than a few curious and confused looks. 

“Shut up,” Haechan hisses, hitting Jeno’s arm. “Would you shut up? You’re being too obvious!”

“Mark Lee winked at you. I’ll be damned,” Jeno says through a laugh, being mindful enough to lower his voice. “The guys are going to love this.”

“The guys aren’t going to find out,” Haechan says through grit teeth. 

Jeno simply smiles at him and Haechan knows that he’s doomed.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽∞☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

It’s a Saturday night and the group opts for a restaurant rather than Haechan and Jeno’s shared apartment. It’s a rare occurrence, but as they all huddle around the table and grill meat they can’t help but agree that going out for barbeque was a much better idea than ordering in. 

“I’m tired of hearing Jaemin talk about his rude ass customers at the coffee shop,” Renjun announces, cutting Jaemin off mid-story - it earns him a glare from Jaemin but it’s clear that he doesn’t care. “I want to hear something more juicy.”

“What could be more juicy than a customer literally threatening to fight me?” Jaemin asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“We all know you had it coming,” Renjun answers with a roll of his eyes. “You’re a menace.”

“Not at work I’m not!”

“I know what Renjun wants to hear about,” Chenle interrupts, a smile playing on his lips. “I want to hear about it too.” He turns to face Haechan and the older swears he can feel his stomach drop at the look that Chenle is giving him. “It’s been a week and a half. How is seducing Mark going?”

Haechan chokes on his water. “Seducing is not the right word,” he splutters, trying desperately to catch his breath. “That’s too sexual.”

“Whatever,” Chenle answers, waving his hand dismissing him. “11 days down. You’ve only got 19 left to go. How’s your progress?”

“It’s just the first week,” Haechan sniffs. “And like I told Jeno, I’m doing this at work not at a bar. This is going to take time.”

“So nothing has happened,” Jisung says as he flips over a piece of meat on the grill. “I have to say, I’m a little disappointed. I expected more from you.”

Haechan glares at the youngest member of their group. “It seems someone hasn’t heard of the long game,” he sneers. Being made fun of by Renjun and Chenle is one thing - it’s uncalled for and it’s undeserved, but it’s expected. But being made fun of Jisung? Haechan takes that personally.

“Do you really have enough time to be playing the long game?” Jisung counters, entirely unfazed by Haechan’s tone. “You kind of have to speed run this one after all.”

“You call 30 days speedrunning?” Haechan asks incredulously. “I’ve made guys fall for me after one night.”

“After one night in your bed,” Renjun counters, pointing his fork at him. “But you said it yourself, you’re doing this at work not at a bar. You’re not going to get him in your bed.”

Haechan frowns at this, something in his chest tightening at Renjun’s words. He knows that his friend doesn’t mean any harm with what he says but there’s something about the underlying implication that makes his stomach turn. “I don’t need to get him in my bed,” Haechan says sullenly. “That’s not the only way I can get a guy to fall for me, you know.”

“It’s certainly the fastest,” Chenle says through a mouthful of meat.

Haechan can’t argue with that so he doesn’t, resorting to pushing his meat around on his plate instead. Jeno chooses that moment to speak up, shooting Haechan a slightly worried glance before speaking. “Don’t sell him short. Hyuckie made some progress yesterday.”

Jaemin turns on his boyfriend, eyes narrowed and his lips set in a straight line. “Haechan made progress and you didn’t tell me about it?”

Jeno smiles sweetly at him. “This is Haechan’s story to tell, not mine. You don’t get any updates from me.”

“So much for boyfriend privileges,” Jaemin mutters under his breath. 

Haechan rolls his eyes as Jeno pats his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Well, I winked at him on Wednesday.”

“Typical Haechan behavior,” Renjun says, nodding his head.

“Not the interesting part of the story,” Jeno chides.

Haechan glares at Jeno but continues. “And he winked at me yesterday.”

“Which is not typical Mark behavior,” Jeno adds helpfully.

Jisung’s eyes go wide and Renjun grins. “Okay, you are making progress then,” Renjun says happily. 

“Was it a sexual wink?”

“No, Chenle, it was not a sexual wink,” Haechan deadpans, giving Chenle the meanest glare he can manage. “It was in the office coworking space for fuck’s sake.”

“Hey, we don’t know what he’s in to,” Chenle counters, ignoring the glare that Haechan sends his way. He waggles his eyebrows as he speaks again. “Maybe Mak is into some kinky shit.”

“Please don’t make me think of him that way,” Jeno begs, his face going pale. “I have to work with him.”

“Sounds like a personal problem,” Chenle says with a shrug. He turns back to Haechan. “So, what’s the next step? How do you keep this moving?”

“I already started step one,” Haechan muses, tapping his fingers against his chest. “I got him to think I’m interested in learning more about him. I’ll keep that going. Step two is to give him special attention.”

“Are you sure that isn’t step one?” Jaemin counters with a raise of his eyebrows. “You’re been getting him drinks in the morning. That’s special attention.”

Haechan blinks back at Jaemin for a moment, too stunned to speak, and then slowly nods. “Okay,” he says, slowly letting out a deep breath of air. “I guess step two is making him think that I’m interested in his life.”

“So what’s step three?” Jisung asks.

“Step three is to find out what he’s passionate about,” Haechan says with a grin. “And then become passionate about that myself.”

“You’re going to fake being interested in something?” Renjun asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“Renjun,” Haechan sighs with a roll of his eyes. “It’s not faking. If I’m interested in Mark then naturally I will want to learn more about what he likes.”

“But you’re not interested in Mark,” Renjun deadpans. 

Haechan shrugs. “Minor details. Chenle wanted to know step three. That’s what it is.” He turns to Jeno, a smile playing on his lips. “Jeno darling, what does Mark like?”

“I don’t know,” Jeno answers around a mouthful of food, ignoring the way that Haechan is batting his eyelashes at him. “I told you, I don’t talk to him like that.”

“But you call him hyung,” Haechan pouts.

“Mark will let almost anyone call him hyung,” he answers. “Give it like two days and I bet he’ll let you say it too.” Haechan purses his lips, thinking. Jeno narrows his eyes at him. “I know that look. It’s never a good thing. What are you planning?”

“Me?” Haechan asks, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. “I’m not planning anything. I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re horrible at acting innocent,” Jisung scoffs.

“I’m not acting. I am innocent. I’m not thinking anything!”

“While that statement might usually be true, it’s not this time,” Renjun says with a smirk. 

Haechan balls up a nakin and throws it at him. “My head is full of many thoughts at all times, thank you very much,” he lies. 

“Well, whatever you’re planning I hope you know that you have my full support,” Jaemin says with a sweet smile. Jeno pushes his boyfriend but Jaemin pays him no mind. “I’m excited to see where this goes.”

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽∞☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Monday morning finds Haechan walking into Mark’s office with a tea in hand. He places it down on Mark’s desk and smiles at him. “Good morning, Mark hyung,” he sings. “Is it okay if I call you that? I just thought it had a nice ring to it.”

Mark blushes slightly and Haechan bites the inside of his cheek to stop himself from grinning in victory. “Sure, Haechan-ssi,” he says after taking a sip of his tea. “If you want to call me that then feel free.”

“Are you comfortable with it though?” Haechan asks, leaning a little closer to him. “I won’t do it if you’re not comfortable or if you don’t like it.”

“No, no, no. It’s fine Haechan, I promise,” Mark assures him, waving his arms in distress. “I don’t mind at all.”

Haechan’s answering smile is bright. “Perfect! Thank you Mark hyung,” he sings, walking out of the office with a little wave.

“You’re not as smooth as you think,” Jeno mumbles as he passes by his friend.

“Smooth as butter,” Haechan whispers, winking at Jeno as he makes his way back to his desk. 

While he might be one step closer to Mark he still doesn’t know what the other likes, and he’s not quite sure how to figure it out without being suspicious. Haechan considers asking Jungwoo but decides immediately that’s a bad idea - Jungwoo is nearly as nosy as he is which means he’s bound to have the answer, but it also means he’s bound to try to figure out why Haechan wants to know. He doesn’t even consider asking Doyoung, not wanting to give him any ideas - he was still amused by the fact that Haechan had started bringing Mark a morning drink and Haechan did not want to give him anything else to ponder over. Asking Jeno is about as helpful as talking to a wall and Haechan doesn’t know anyone else in the marketing department. He’s stumped.

Help comes in the unlikely form of Johnny from sales. The older slides into a seat across from Haechan as he sits in the open workspace. Haechan looks up from his laptop in mild surprise.

“Haechan, right?” Johnny asks, a broad smile on his lips.

“Depends who’s asking,” Haechan jokes, smiling back at him. 

Johnny grins. “Johnny, from sales,” he says, holding his hand out for Haechan to shake. Haechan does.

“Haechan, from human resources,” Haechan responds. “But it seems like you already knew that.”

Johnny nods and hums in agreement. “Most people do,” he says casually, like this sort of news doesn’t shock Haechan to his core. He continues speaking before Haechan can respond. “I see you’ve taken a liking to Mark.”

“I’ve done what now,” Haechan splutters. He can feel heat rising to his face.

Johnny grins at him again. “Or you’re trying to get close to him to look good. Since you’re working on a campaign together and all,” he says, waving his hand dismissively. 

“I’m…no, that’s not it,” Haechan protests weakly, stumbling over his words. “I think you have the wrong idea.”

“I don’t,” Johnny answers happily. Amusement is clear in his tone. Haechan wants to hide in the nearest closet. “I came to help me.”

“You… you came to what?” Haechan asks incredulously. “Why would you do that?”

Johnny’s smile softens and he chuckles. “Honestly? There aren’t a lot of people here that are Mark’s age. I think it would be nice if he became friends with the people who are.”

Haechan’s brain short-circuits. “A lot of people who are…what?” he asks dumbly.

Johnny looks back at him with an equally confused expression. “His age,” Johnny says slowly. He watches as the confusion doesn’t fade from Haechan’s face and then he laughs, tipping his head back and letting the sound fill up the room they’re in. “How old do you think Mark is?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

Haechan flushes. “I-I don’t know,” he stammers. “I never really thought about it. But he’s been here longer than both me and Jeno. He has a decent position in the marketing department, doesn’t he? I…I just thought…” he trails off, trying not to grow more embarrassed as Johnny continues to laugh.

“That’s a fair line of thinking I guess,” Johnny answers once he’s managed to stop laughing. “But uh, no. He’s not that much older than you. He just graduated early.”

“Graduated…. so he’s smart?” Haechan says blankly, all interest in the presentation he was working on now gone. “Like, really smart?”

“He’s pretty smart,” Johnny allows with a chuckle. “And he likes watermelon.”

“What?”

“Watermelon,” Johnny says again. “And Spider-Man. He really likes Spider-Man. He likes sports, too. Being active in general, you know?”

Haechan stares at Johnny, his mind trying to process everything, and Johnny smiles at him. 

“It was nice to meet you,” Johnny says with a smile, standing up and walking away before Haechan can say anything. 

“Watermelon,” he murmurs to himself, trying - and failing - to bring his attention back to his work. “Watermelon.”

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽∞☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The next day Haechan slides a small container of watermelon across Mark’s desk along with his tea. Mark looks up at Haechan, his brown eyes wide and his lips parted in a small ‘o’. Haechan smiles at him. 

“I may have heard through the grapevine that you like watermelon,” he says casually.

“Through the grapevine,” Mark repeats, a mixture of disbelief and awe in his voice.

“Mhm,” Haechan answers with a nod, smiling at Mark. “Hope it was true.”

“Very much so,” Mark says with a chuckle. 

Haechan nods again. “Good to know I have a reliable source,” he says, prompting Mark to giggle. 

“And do I get to know who this source is?”

“The grapevine, Mark,” Haechan says with a smile. “Keep up, Mark hyung.”

“Right, right of course,” Mark answers quickly, not even trying to hide the amusement in his voice. “My aplogies.” Mark wears joy like it’s an accessory, showcased in the way his eyes sparkle and the way his words speed up. Haechan can’t help but find it cute. “Well, the grapevine seems like it’s a reliable source.”

“I should hope so,” Haechan says seriously, and it’s not a facade - he really does hope that Johnny is reliable. “I do have a work related question, though.”

The smile doesn’t fade from Mark’s face as he nods. “Shoot.”

“The campaign,” he says slowly. “The ad copy you sent over… why?”

Mark blinks slowly, confusion rippling across his face. “Why what?”

“Why that?” he asks, cocking his head to the side. “Doesn’t it seem too similar to what you put out last time? Don’t we have a different target demographic?”

Mark smiles at this and points to the empty chair at the desk beside him. “Let me show you,” he says.

Haechan stares at the seat with wide eyes and Mark chuckles. “Come on,” he says, his smile never fading. “Let me show you.”

And he does. Haechan only leaves the office half an hour later when a man named Jaehyun comes into the office and looks a bit confused at the fact that his chair is missing. He smiles at Haechan and waves as the younger hurries out of the office, followed only by the sound of Mark’s giggles floating out of the office.

Doyoung arches an eyebrow when Haechan walks back into the office and he suddenly regrets all of his life decisions. “You were in there for a while today,” Doyoung says nonchalantly.

Haechan knows it’s anything but. He wants to disappear. “We were talking about the campaign,” he says, hoping to god that he doesn’t sound as defensive as he feels. “I was asking about the ad copy.”

Doyoung looks interested at that. “Ad copy?”

“Yeah,” Haechan says with a shrug, falling into his seat. “I was curious why he kept it so similar to the copy from last campaign.”

Doyoung peers curiously at Haechan before turning to face his computer with a huff. “Mark Lee better not think he can steal my intern. You belong in human resources, Haechan, and I mean that as a compliment. Don’t run over to marketing - you’re better than that.”

It’s one of the first times that Doyoung has outright complimented him. Haechan doesn’t even bother to hide his smile.

On Friday Haechan brings Mark a bento box. Mark looks up at Haechan in utter confusion, not even moving to grab his coffee. “Haechan, what is this?”

“You know exactly what that is,” Haechan says with a roll of his eyes. “Open it!”

Mark doesn’t move. “Okay, yes I know what it is. Why on earth is there a bento box on my desk?”

“Mark, are you intentionally asking dumb questions?” Haechan deadpans. “I bought it for you. Now please open it before you hurt my feelings.”

Mark shakes his head a little, in disapproval or disbelief Haechan isn’t sure, and pulls the box towards him. He looks up briefly at Haechan before looking back down at the box and opening it.

Haechan instantly thinks that the money he spent on the box is worth it. In fact, Haechan thinks that he will buy a thousand more boxes if they’ll make Mark react like this. His brown eyes go impossibly wide and his mouth opens into a small ‘o’ before his lips curve up into the most blinding smile that Haechan has ever seen. 

“Where did you find this?” he asks, the excitement noticeable in his voice. Any reservations he had about the box seemed to have flown out the window once he saw what it held.

“I can’t reveal my secrets, now can I?” Haechan hums, delighted.

Mark finally looks up at Haechan and laughs. “A Spider-Man bento box,” he says fondly, shaking his head again. “Who told you that I like Spider-Man?” Haechan merely shakes his head and puts a finger to his lips, causing Mark to roll his eyes. “Are you really not going to tell me?”

“Where would be the fun in that?” 

“I want to know who I should thank.”

“You should thank me,” Haechan says with a pout.

Mark chuckles but nods in agreement. “You’re right. Thank you, Haechan. Thanks to you lunch will be the highlight of my day.”

It’s a simple statement. A small, silly statement. But it makes Haechan’s heart skip a beat and he’s not quite sure why. “You’re welcome,” Haechan answers, pretending to flip hair over his shoulder. “Enjoy your lunch, Mark-ah,” he sings as he walks out of the office. If it seems like he’s walking faster than normal he won’t admit it, just like he won’t admit that the sparkle in Mark’s eyes makes him feel warm inside. 

He eats lunch with Mark later that day. He won’t admit it to anyone, but watching Mark get excited about his box for a second time makes his heart flutter with a feeling he refuses to name. “I have a question for you,” he tells the older after swallowing a piece of kimbap.

Mark looks up at him, his cheeks full of food, and waves in a way that Haechan understands means for him to ask. 

“Johnny told me that we’re the same age. He said you graduated early… how the hell did you manage that? And how the hell did you get here and land this job? Inquiring minds want to know. And by inquiring minds, I mean me. I want to know.”

Mark laughs after he swallows his food. “I got college credits in high school. And I worked my ass off in college. That’s all there really is to it.” He shrugs.

“That doesn’t explain how you got the job,” Haechan says with narrowed eyes. 

“It was an entry level job,” Mark says with a smile. “I started out just like Jeno. I’m just…good at what I do. And I graduated early, so I’ve already been here for a year. I got promoted.”

Haechan stares back at Mark. He’s silent for a moment, processing everything that Mark told him. “That’s all?” he asks dumbly. “There’s really nothing else to it?”

“There’s nothing else to it,” Mark confirms with another laugh. “I promise.”

Haechan sighs. “You’re just too good for the rest of us, Mark,” he sighs dramatically. “You really are.”

Mark gets flustered and tries to deny it, and while Haechan believes every word that he’s saying to the older he only pushes it for the sake of bothering him. He giggles in delight when Mark gives up and resigns himself to eating his food and rolling his eyes at Haechan’s antics. He worries that he’s enjoying it too much but tries to pay it no mind - that thought can be a problem for future Haechan.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽∞☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon - day 15 of the bet, to be exact - when Haechan suspects that things are going terribly wrong.

“This may have been a mistake,” Haechan announces to no one in particular as he walks into the living room of his shared apartment.

YangYang looks up from his phone in mild interest while Jeno completely ignores him, too engrossed in the game he’s playing to pay Haechan’s theatrics any mind.

“What may have been a mistake?”

“The bet he agreed to,” Jeno mumbles, his eyebrows furrowing as he stares at his phone. 

YangYang abandons his phone, seemingly content to lose whatever game he’s playing in favor of hearing all about Haechan’s misfortune. “No one has told me about this bet,” he says, looking between the two of them. “I need someone to fill me in. What’s happening?”

“Chenle and Jaemin bet Haechan that he can’t make Mark fall in love with him in 30 days.”

“Who the hell is Mark?”

Jeno grins, finally looking up from his phone as Haechan groans and throws himself onto the couch, letting his head fall in YangYang’s lap. “Mark is in my department at work,” Jeno explains. “If you had come to hang out with us two weeks ago when I invited you, then you would have witnessed this bet happen in real time.”

“I was busy,” YangYang says with a scowl, absently moving to run his fingers through Haechan’s hair. 

“Busy playing video games I’m sure,” Haechan snorts, earning himself a flick on the forehead.

“Not this time. I was working on music with Kun.”

“Kun, our favorite SoundCloud artist,” Haechan says dreamily. 

YangYang rolls his eyes but otherwise ignores him. “Why did you agree to the bet, anyway? Office fling? That sounds messy.”

“Who said anything about a fling?” Haechan shrieks. “I’m not going to do anything with him! The bet was that I can get him to fall for me, not that I can fuck him.”

YangYang shrugs. “Okay, but fucking him seems like something that you would do.”

“You don’t even know him.”

“Just feels like a Haechan thing to do.”

Haechan scowls but YangYang remains unaffected. 

“Anyway, why is it a mistake?” Jeno asks, raising an eyebrow. “It seems like you two are getting closer. I’m pretty sure by day thirty you’ll have him. Seems fine to me.”

“We are getting close,” Haechan mumbles. He doesn’t know how to explain that that is exactly the problem. The closer that he gets to Mark the more he realizes that Mark is…well, a person. A very kind and dorky person with feelings, and Haechan doesn’t want to hurt them. Maybe Haechan doesn’t want to hurt himself by ruining his chances with said dorky- 

Wait.

“Is Haechan developing a conscience?” YangYang gasps, pulling Haechan out of the mental spiral he was moments away from.

Haechan pushes himself off of YangYang’s lap and punches him, ignoring as he whines about his arm. “I’ve always had a conscience!”

“Someone with a conscience does not agree to a bet as stupid as that,” YangYang counters.

“His pride was being threatened,” Jeno says helpfully. “Chenle and Jaemin baited him. He didn’t have a choice.”

“Thank you, Jeno,” Haechan says dryly. “I can always count on you to help me out. To make me look good in front of others.” Jeno gives him a thumbs up and Haechan rolls his eyes. “You’re part of the problem, you  know. You encouraged your boyfriend. You two are bad for each other.”

“I guess I did do that,” Jeno allows with a small nod.

“I can’t keep this up,” Haechan moans. “I can’t do it anymore.”

“And let Jaemin and Chenle gloat?” YangYang snorts. “Yeah, we all know you won’t let that happen.”

Unfortunately, YangYang is right - a stunning accomplishment, Haechan thinks. He doesn’t say that, however. Instead he merely groans and buries his head in YangYang’s lap again - it’s all the confirmation that YangYang needs to smile smugly.

“Don’t worry, Haechan,” YangYang says happily, somehow managing not to be comforting at all. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out somehow.”

“Thanks,” Haechan responds, his voice muffled by the fabric of YangYang’s pants. 

Haechan is sure that he won’t figure this out. 

Monday morning is a disaster. Haechan spills coffee on himself on his walk to work, he doesn’t have a spare shirt, and it rains when he’s halfway to the office. He walks into the office in soaked clothes with an americano stain gracing the right side of his shirt.

Doyoung takes one look at him as he enters the office and grimaces. “This has not been your morning, has it?”

“Not really,” Haechan grumbles, setting Doyoung’s coffee down in front of him. “Luckily your coffee survived the mess.”

Doyoung takes a second to look over the tray of drinks that Haechan is holding and looks up at Haechan with a sympathetic frown. “The drink that spilled was yours, wasn’t it?”

“Unfortunately,” he sighs, setting Jungwoo’s coffee down on his desk. “At least Jungwoo will come to his desk and find an iced americano waiting for him.”

“At least,” Doyoung echoes, watching as Haechan trudges out of the office and makes his way to the marketing department. 

Doyoung has stopped asking why he brings a drink for Mark as well, having decided to drop the subject entirely and let Haechan do whatever he pleases; after all, it’s Haechan’s money being spent, not his.

Haechan makes his way to the marketing department and gently places Mark’s coffee on his desk, trying not to cringe as Mark looks at him in concern. “It’s been a morning,” he says quickly before Mark can say anything.

“Yes, I can see that,” Mark answers. There’s not a note of humor or pity in his voice, which are either of the emotions that Haechan had expected to get from him. “Want another shirt?”

“What?”

“A shirt. Need one?”

Haechan stares blankly at Mark, beyond confused. He looks down at his own soaked and stained shirt and then looks slowly up at Mark. “Of course I do,” he answers. “I was thinking of running to the store.”

Mark shakes his head in response. “Don’t bother doing that.” He rises from his seat and walks towards the small closet in the office. “I keep extras here just in case.”

Haechan’s brows pull together as watches Mark pulls a white button-up out of the closet and holds it out for him to grab. “What if it doesn’t fit?”

Mark shrugs. “Then I guess you have to put your shirt back on. It can’t hurt to try though, right?”

Haechan supposes he’s right so he takes the shirt with a murmured thanks and rushes to the bathroom to change. Much to his surprise the shirt fits surprisingly well. The shoulders are a bit broader than he needs, but in general the shirt doesn’t fit too bad. He’s startled to realize that the shirt smells like Mark and embarrassed to realize that he’s taken notice of what Mark smells like. Haechan hazily throws his blazer back on and is pleased to find it’s nearly impossible to tell that the shirt isn’t his own. He walks back to the marketing department with a bright smile on his face.

“It fits!” he announces happily. “Mark, you’re a lifesaver!”

Mark laughs. “I’m just glad I could help,” he chuckles. “Make sure you run that stain under some cold water though. Coffee stains are a pain to get out.”

“Oh boy do I know that,” Haechan groans. “All the cold water in the world isn’t going to help, Markie. This shirt is done for.” He doesn’t mean for the nickname to slip off his tongue. In fact, he doesn’t even know where it comes from. He immediately looks to Mark, an apology readying on his lips, but Mark doesn’t seem bothered. A faint blush dusts the tops of his cheeks but he doesn’t say anything, simply smiles back at Haechan.

“Probably,” he agrees. “Hope you have more where those came from.”

“I have a few,” Haechan answers with a wry smile. “Thanks again.”

“It’s nothing,” Mark says with a shrug, waving his hand dismissively. “Just don’t steal my shirt.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Haechan says quickly, laughing nervously. It’s a lie.

Doyoung raises an eyebrow when Haechan walks into the office sporting a new shirt but Haechan just shakes his head as he walks to his desk. He catches Doyoung smirk and feels heat creep up the back of his neck. 

Just before lunch an iced americano is delivered to Haechan. He looks up from his desk in surprise and turns his gaze to Doyoung, who shakes his head so hard Haechan worries it might fall off. “Don’t look at me,” Doyoung says quickly. “Now that I see it I wish I had been that nice, but I was focused on our upcoming training all morning. That wasn’t me. Did Jeno get that for you?”

“I love Jeno, but there is no way he went out of his way to get me a drink just because I spilled mine this morning. He laughed at me when he saw me this morning.”

Jungwoo tries - and fails - to disguise a laugh as a cough. “A great friend.”

“He’s something,” Haechan mutters.

“I can take a guess who got it for you,” Jungwoo says with a smirk. 

Haechan tries to ignore the way his face heats at the unspoken implication. Doyoung leans back in his chair, a smirk spreading across his own lips. “I might be able to take a guess too,” he says smoothly, his gaze never leaving Haechan’s face. “Can you think of anyone else, Haechan?”

“No,” he answers a little too quickly. “Did you look at the presentation I sent you, Doyoung? I attached some suggestions for development activities, too. I think they might go well with what the company has done in the past. Really enhance things, you know?”

“Sure, Haechan, sure,” Doyoung says slowly, staring at him for a moment longer before turning to face his computer again. “I’ll look it over after lunch.”

Jungwoo snickers beside him and Haechan resits the urge to glare at him, sinking lower in his chair and keeping his gaze trained on his computer. He tries not to think that maybe a certain member of the marketing department got him the drink because that would imply one, that said member cares about him and two, that said member knows what his favorite drink is.

Haechan spends the rest of the day trying - and failing - not to think about Mark.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽∞☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

He returns Mark’s shirt the next day, cleaned and folded, and tries not to blush when Mark’s fingertips brush his own. 

“Glad to see you made it without spilling your coffee today,” Mark jokes with a grin as he puts the shirt back in the closet. “Hope you enjoyed the americano yesterday.”

“A-ah, yeah, it was good,” Haechan murmurs, unable to stop his lips from curving up into a small smile. “How did you know that’s what I get?”

Mark’s smile turns sheepish and he rubs the back of his neck. “Ah, I asked Jeno,” he admits. “I know you two are close, so I figured he would know what you like.”

Well, that answered that question for Haechan. “Resourceful,” Haechan notes with a chuckle. 

“I try to be.”

Haechan turns to leave, readying some sort of goodbye as he does so, but Mark is speaking again before he can get any words out.

“Are you busy after work?”

Haechan stops mid-turn. “After work?” he asks slowly.

“Y-yeah,” Mark says, his gaze dropping to the floor. “Some of us get together after work and go play soccer at the park. Just for fun! Nothing too serious.”

“Who goes?” Haechan asks curiously.

“Uh, everyone, actually. Well, everyone except you and Jeno.”

“I’m surprised Jeno’s never gone,” Haechan snorts. “Sounds like something that he would enjoy.”

Mark shrugs. “We asked him when he first started here but I think maybe he was a little shy. But I think it would be fun if you came. I-if you both came,” he amends. His face flushes a bit but he continues talking. “You don’t have to play if you don’t want to. Taeil has a habit of standing off to the side and critiquing us, honestly. And Doyoung doesn’t always join.”

“I can’t imagine him playing at all.”

“You don’t understand how competitive he can get,” Mark says seriously. “It’s kind of scary, honestly. But anyway… you’re invited to join us if you’d like.”

Haechan hesitates. “I don’t have anything to change into.”

Mark smiles nervously again. “I have extra clothes… but no pressure! And remember, you don’t even have to play. Just… think about it?” he asks hopefully.

Haechan takes one look at Mark and knows that he’s doomed. “Sure,” he says weakly. “I’ll think about it.”

Haechan brings the topic up to Jeno during their lunch break. “You want to do what?” Jeno hisses after he’s finished choking on his food. 

Haechan belatedly realizes that he should have waited until after his friend had swallowed his food to bring up the subject. “Mark wants me to go,” he practically whines, leaning into Jeno’s side despite his friend’s best attempts to shake him off. “He invited the both of us, really.”

“He invited me as an afterthought.”

“He said he invited you before and you didn’t go!”

“I guess that’s true,” Jeno grumbles. “I didn’t know anyone yet! I didn’t want to go and make a fool out of myself… I still don’t want to make a fool out of myself!”

Haechan thinks back to the time Jeno hit himself with a tennis racket and nods in understanding. “Yeah, that’s very fair. The last thing we need is for you to try to kick the ball, miss, and end up landing on your ass.” He ignores the glare that Jeno sends him and continues to talk. “But Mark said we don’t have to play if we don’t want to! He said we can just watch.”

“Well that’s lame as fuck.”

“What are you going to do, Jeno? Go kick a soccer ball in your slacks?” Haechan deadpans. 

“Are you?” Jeno counters.

“Of course not,” he says sweetly, pressing further into Jeno and batting his eyelashes. “Markie said he has a spare set of clothes I can wear if I want to play.”

“Markie? I think I’m going to throw up.”

“It’s not my fault you’re jealous,” Haechan sniffs. “Anyway, come with me. Please. I don’t want to go alone. I can’t go alone! Do you want me to win this bet or not?”

“Not really,” Jeno admits, earning him a punch from Haechan. “Ow! Fine, alright. I’ll go. But you owe me!”

“Whatever you say,” Haechan says happily, finally removing himself from Jeno’s side and focusing on his food.

Come the end of the day Haechan’s stomach is in knots. “I think I’m going to throw up,” he whispers to Jeno, who’s stiff as a board by his side. 

“This was your idea,” he whispers back, his tone making it clear he is less than pleased with him.

Mark comes over to both of them, blissfully unaware of the crisis they’re both going through. “I’m glad you guys are coming. I promise it’ll be fun.” He sends them a smile that Haechan thinks could melt ice in Antartica and suddenly he feels a hundred times more nervous.

“Can’t wait,” Haechan answers, flashing Mark his own smile. 

Mark nods and motions for them to follow him. They fall in step behind him and Haechan tries to ignore the elbow that Jeno digs into his side. 

“What the fuck was that?” he hisses.

That. The forced smile that Haechan gave Mark seconds ago. The way that Haechan isn’t as relaxed as he usually is. The fact that Jeno is too good of a friend who can pick up on the smallest differences in Haechan’s body language. That. Haechan knows he only has one option: to lie. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The problem is, Haechan isn’t always the best liar.

“Bullshit. Why are you acting like that?”

“Like what?” Haechan hisses back. “I’m not acting like anything. Stop with the whispering, you’re going to worry Mark.”

“Since when do you care?” Jeno asks incredulously, turning to look at his friend with a confused look on his face.

“Of course I would care,” he says, faking a pout. “Why do you think I wouldn’t?”

“Because I’ve known you for years.” Jeno narrows his eyes. “Something’s up.”

Haechan scowls and sticks his tongue out but otherwise ignores Jeno’s question. “Are you playing or are you watching, Mr. Observant.”

Jeno is silent, taking a moment to peer at Haechan before he answers. “Watching.”

Haechan was afraid of that. “Me too,” he says, trying to seem not fazed. He has a much harder time trying not to seem fazed once the game starts. 

Jeno and Haechan stand on the sidelines next to Taeil, who has decided to sit this game out.

“They’re very competitive,” Taeil tells them with a smirk. “Doyoung and Yuta are usually put on different teams because when they’re together things get…messy.”

“Messy how?” Jeno asks, watching as Doyoung evades Yuta’s attempts at stealing the ball.

“Messy for everyone else,” Taeil clarifies. “Look at the energy they have going against each other. No one stands a chance when they come together.”

Haechan can understand why. The two are an unlikely duo, both overflowing with energy that feels entirely different from each other’s. Doyoung’s energy is focused, like a knife cutting through butter. Yuta’s energy is wild and unrestrained, intent on devouring absolutely everything in its path. 

“Johnny doesn’t seem the type to get competitive,” Haechan notes, watching as the lanky man laughs as he runs just behind Doyoung, watching his team mate and trying to shake Mark. 

“Johnny is a lot more laid back,” Taeil agrees. “But don’t underestimate his desire to win. He wants to have fun above everything else, but as the game gets closer to being over you’ll see a switch in him. He loves to win.”

“And Mark?” Haechan dares to ask, finally letting his gaze travel to the smaller man. 

Taeil laughs. “It depends whose team he’s on. When he’s with Yuta he’s on the field just to have fun. You’ll find that Yuta has a huge soft spot for Mark and literally can’t stay mad at him - it’s practically impossible for him. So Mark doesn’t worry too much about performing his best when he’s with Yuta.”

“But when he’s on Doyoung’s team?”

“Rarely happens,” Taeil says with a grin. “But when it does….well, let’s say that’s the only time you’ll see Mark completely focused.”

Haechan decides instantly that he needs to see what Mark looks like when he plays with Doyoung. It’s a need, not a want. He doesn’t know what to think of the fact that his very being is practically vibrating with the need to see a focused Mark. “How do we get them to switch teams?” he asks seriously.

Jeno turns to look at him in confusion. “Why do you want them to switch?”

Haechan shrugs. “I want to see what it’s like.”

Jeno stares at him for a moment before understanding dawns on him. His lips curve up into a broad grin and Haechan instantly knows that he’s fucked. “You kinky bastard,” Jeno breathes, delighting in understanding what Haechan is looking for - who he’s looking at. 

Taeil looks between them in confusion. “I feel like I shouldn’t make the switch happen.”

“No, no,” Jeno says, turning to look at Taeil. “Make the switch happen. Please.”

Taeil looks between the two of them and sighs like he knows he’s going to regret his life choices, but he turns to the four on the field anyway. “This is too boring!” he bellows, getting their attention. 

“If you’re bored then get your ass on the field and play,” Yuta shouts back, sounding and looking unamused.

Taeil isn’t bothered by the jab. “We have an audience. I want them to see something interesting.”

“This is interesting,” Yuta counters.

Johnny, however, seems to understand exactly what Taeil is getting it. He laughs and nods at no one in particular. “No, Taeil is right. We have to show them a competition.”

Mark understands immediately and shakes his head. “No way. I just wanted to have fun tonight.”

“Are you saying you don’t have fun when you play with me, Mark-ah?” Doyoung asks, raising an eyebrow. 

Mark pales. “No, of course not. I would never say that.”

“Switch teams, Mark hyung!” Haechan shouts encouragingly, shooting him a smile. “I want to see what it looks like when you guys are serious!”

Haechan watches as the reservations melt off of Mark’s frame, his entire body relaxing in a way that subtly screams defeat. “A-ah, I guess we can do one game like that.”

Johnny pumps his fist in the air as Yuta groans and switches spots with Doyoung. “I was just trying to have fun, too,” Yuta grumbles, but his words have no real bite.

Taeil looks over at Haechan with a bemused expression, his gaze switching between Mark and Haechan. “Interesting,” he hums with a small smile, returning his attention to the field. 

Haechan quickly regrets his decision. Focused Mark, he decides, is a dangerous Mark. It turns out that Mark is quite good at soccer when he decides to seriously play and Haechan realizes that he wasn’t prepared to see Mark like this. The older is full of nothing but determination, trailing Johnny up and down the field easily despite the fact that Johnny is taller than him. He’s quick on his feet, changing directions without warning and letting loose bouts of laughter whenever Johnny isn’t able to move as abruptly as he does. Sweat beads on his forehead and Haechan thinks that he might start sweating, too.

“Don’t forget to blink,” Jeno tells him with a smirk. 

Haechan barely resists the urge to hit him. By the end of the game Doyoung and Mark have won, apparently to no one’s surprise. The group walks over to join the three of them on the sidelines and Mark throws himself on the ground beside Haechan, smiling up at him from where he’s lying down. 

“You and Jeno should join us next time,” he tells Haechan. “I think it’d be fun to go 3 on 3. We haven’t done that in ages.”

“Tell Jungwoo to come by and maybe I’ll get on the field again,” Taeil says as he tosses Mark a water bottle. 

Mark catches it easily and Haechan tries to stare at anything other than Mark’s neck as he gulps down the entire bottle. “I think Jeno would trip over his own feet.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” Jeno says dryly. 

“I would do great, though.”

“Actually,” Jeno pipes up. “Haechan seems to be easily distracted. I don’t think he’d be able to focus on the ball.”

“What would he focus on then?” Mark asks, raising an eyebrow.

Jeno grins broadly and Haechan panics. “The ball,” Haechan says quickly, pushing Jeno before he can say anything damning. “I would focus on the ball. Don’t listen to Jeno, he’s just jealous. And scared I think, because he knows that I would kick his ass.”

Jeno makes a noncommittal noise but otherwise says nothing - he doesn’t have to. Haechan can feel his smugness hanging in the air like a blanket that drapes itself over his shoulders. He’s fucked.

“We’ll have to see about that,” Mark challenges, a smile still playing on his lips. 

“We will,” Haechan agrees weakly. 

As they walk back home Jeno grins at him. “So operation make Mark Lee fall for you in thirty days… how’s that going for you?”

“Please Jeno. Kindly shut the fuck up.”

Jeno cackles loudly. “That’s what I thought.”

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽∞☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The gang meets on a Sunday, everyone sitting in the apartment like they belong there. Jisung lays across the couch with his head resting on Chenle’s lap. Renjun sits on the floor beside Chenle’s feet, his head tipped back against the couch in the perfect position for Jisung to lazily run his hand through his hair. Jeno and Jaemin share the loveseat, as always, which leaves Haechan with the option of sitting on the floor or dragging a chair out from the kitchen. 

“You guys never leave me somewhere to sit,” Haechan whines from his spot on the floor. He’s pulled a pillow off the couch to give himself something to rest his head on. “It’s my apartment. How do I end up on the floor?”

“It’s called being a good host,” Jisung responds, not bothering to open his eyes to look at his friend. “It’s the price you have to pay.”

“Jeno gets a seat!”

“Jeno’s seat is my lap,” Jaemin scoffs. “That hardly counts.”

“Disgusting,” Haechan grumbles. 

Jeno rolls his eyes. “You’re just jealous. Bet you wouldn’t mind if Mark was your-” He’s cut off as Haechan throws his pillow at his face, but the damage is already done. 

Jisung immediately sits up and looks at Haechan with his mouth hanging open. Jaemin sports a similar expression. Chenle starts laughing maniacally where he’s sitting and Renjun merely smirks. 

“It’s day 23,” Renjun says smoothly. “How’s your plan going?”

“Perfect,” Haechan lies. “It’s going great. He’s putty in my hands. I’m practically already there.”

“That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard.”

“You should have seen him on Tuesday,” Jeno announces. “He watched Mark play soccer and I thought I was going to have to wipe drool off of his chin.”

The room erupts into noise.

“That’s dramatic,” Haechan grumbles, but it falls on deaf ears.

“How the fuck did you end up watching him play soccer?” Jisung asks, staring at Haechan like he’s grown a second head. “That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“Nothing in this world makes sense,” Chenle says cryptically. Jisung ignores him.

“Mark invited him to play,” Jeno answers with a smug smile. 

“He invited you too,” Haechan grumbles. 

“Yeah, as an afterthought! He really wanted you there.”

“So technically operation make Mark Lee fall for Haechan is working,” Jaemin muses, resting his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “There’s just been an unexpected turn of events along with our original goal.”

“There hasn’t been any turn of events,” Haechan protests, but it’s no use. No one is listening to him anymore. And honestly, he doesn’t blame them. They can all tell when he’s lying, anyway.

“I can’t believe Haechan has actually fallen for someone,” Jisung sighs. “I truly never saw this coming. This is insane. I thought Haechan would just try to fuck him.”

“Why does everything think that?” Haechan cries. “YangYang said the exact same thing! Why do you all think I’m incapable of dating someone?”

“We don’t think you’re incapable,” Chenle says softly. Haechan knows he’s being serious because he almost never pulls out the gentle voice. “It’s just not something you do often, Hyuck. It’s not something you let yourself do often.”

Haechan lets out a breath and relaxes - he hadn’t even noticed how tense he was. “I guess,” he murmurs.

“You’re very loveable, you know,” Jisung adds with a smile. “Very annoying, but also very loveable.”

Haechan sticks his tongue out at the younger but deep down he’s grateful for the reassurance. He’s glad to know that his friends think more of him than his hook-ups. Glad to know that his friends think he is capable of something more - that he’s worthy of something more, because sometimes he isn’t so sure.

“What do you plan to do on day 31?” Renjun purrs, steering the conversation back on track.

Haechan stills. “W-what?”

“Day 31. You get him to fall for you in 30 days…and then what?”

And then what - it’s the question of the hour, the very question that Haechan has been asking himself for the past week. He shrugs. “I’ll figure it out when I get there,” he says, waving a hand dismissively. He aims to come across as nonchalant but the smug look on Renjun’s face gives Haechan a pretty good guess that he’s failing.

“Right. I’m sure you will.”

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽∞☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Haechan doesn’t get there. He breaks on day 24.

He walks into the marketing department as usual and places Mark’s coffee and bento box on the desk before dragging Jaehyun’s chair in front of Mark’s desk. 

“We need to talk,” he announces. “You’re going to hate me and I’m sorry.”

Mark’s eyes widen - in confusion or fear Haechan isn’t sure, it could be either - but he nods, shifting so that his computer monitor isn’t blocking his view of him. “What is it?” he asks softly. He sounds nervous and Haechan’s hurt squeezes in pain.

“I agreed to a stupid bet,” he starts.

“This is how all good stories start,” Mark interrupts. Haechan frowns and he goes silent again, but not before murmuring a hushed apology.

“I agreed to a stupid bet,” Haechan says again, his gaze dropping to the bento box that was sitting on the desk. “I bet my friends that I could make you fall for me in 30 days.”

He chances a glance up at Mark to find him peering back at him in utter confusion. “How do your friends even know who I am?”

“They don’t really. They just know of you. That’s a longer story,” Haechan says with a shake of his head. “But Jeno and I both work here. Your name was bound to pop up eventually. You literally work in the same department as Jeno.”

“I guess,” Mark hums. “Is that why you started bringing me coffee?”

Haechan nods.

“And the bento boxes?”

“That explains the first one,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I figured getting you a Spider-Man bento box would be a good way to speed up the process.”

“And getting me random bento boxes throughout the week?” Mark asks, cocking his head to the side. “That’s a lot of money to spend just for a bet. What were you going to get out of it?”

Haechan feels heat rise to his face. “U-uh, nothing. I wasn’t expecting you to look so thrilled when you got the first one. I, uh… I just wanted to keep seeing you get excited. That’s why I kept buying the bento boxes.”

Mark looks surprised at this, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks, but he doesn’t comment on it. “Is today day 30?” he asks instead.

“Huh?”

“Day 30, of your bet. Is that today? Is that why you’re telling me?”

“Oh. No, today isn’t day 30. It’s day 24.”

Mark raises an eyebrow. “Then why are you telling me?”

Haechan stares blankly at him. “Why don’t you seem mad?” he asks, ignoring Mark’s question. 

“I’m just confused,” Mark murmurs. “And a little hurt, honestly. But I’m not mad.”

Haechan’s heart breaks. “I’m telling you because I can’t do this anymore,” he says quietly. “I-I don’t care about a stupid bet.”

“What are you saying, Haechan?”

Haechan wants to shrink until he’s too small to be visible - until he’s too small to matter. He wants to run out the door of the office, run out of NCT Corporation, and keep running until he has nowhere left to go. But he can’t do any of those things, so instead he takes a deep breath and confesses. “I like you,” he says, his voice coming out steadier than he thought it would. “I took a stupid bet that I could make you fall for me in 30 days, but I ended up falling for you.”

Mark is silent for a moment, staring at Haechan like he can’t believe the words that just came out of his mouth. As much as Haechan wants to run or tell Mark not to worry about it, that he’ll disappear from his life entirely if that’s what Mark wants, he manages to stay quiet. When he finally does speak, Haechan is baffled by the words that come out of his mouth.

“Can’t believe you’re the one who made the bet but I somehow got you to fall for me in 24 days. I must be good.”

Haechan stares at Mark, his jaw hanging open, and finds Mark smirking back at him. “Less than 24 days,” he manages to say. “I just confessed on day 24.”

“Even better.”

“Mark-”

“You’re an idiot, Haechan,” Mark says simply, but he’s still smiling. “A complete and utter idiot. Do you know that?”

“Yes.”

Mark’s answering smile is blinding. “Good. Come watch me play soccer tonight?”

“Huh?”

“Soccer. I’ll play on Doyoung’s team again so you can drool over me as I run across the field,” he says with a smirk. 

Haechan’s face goes red. “YOU WHAT?”

“You’re not very subtle, Haechan,” Mark giggles. “Luckily for you, I don’t mind.”

“I’m gonna-”

“Kiss me?” Mark asks, his voice hopeful.

Haechan’s brain short-circuits. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“In the office? Markie, what if people see?” Haechan gasps.

“They won’t be surprised,” Mark answers with a roll of his eyes. “Kiss me.”

And who is Haechan to say no?