Work Text:
If you’re wondering if I want you to, I want you to
So make a move, ‘cause I ain’t got all night
-
“Good morning, you guys!”
“Good morning, boss!”
Seungcheol went around the office of their department, saying individual greetings to the other employees and checking their temperature by placing his hand on each person’s forehead.
Jihoon swatted his hand away. “Boss, deadlines. Get to work,” he says sharply, eyes never losing focus on the document he was typing.
Seungcheol tsk’d. “So grumpy in the morning, Jihoonie. You must not be feeling well. I’ll go and get you-“
“I’m fine. Go work, boss.”
“Okay, okay.” Seungcheol sighs, getting to his desk and setting down his briefcase and coffee. He actually had his own room all to himself, being the boss of the marketing department, but he got lonely there so he decided to get a desk in the other employees’ area so he could work (not really, just chat) with them. “Isn’t anyone sick?” he whined.
“Sir! We’re all the picture of health, sir!” Chan, an intern, says to him with an enthusiastic salute before handing him the papers he had just finished stapling.
“Stop wishing your employees would get sick, boss, it’s kind of mean,” Mingyu says with a laugh.
“Every time you guys are sick, it’s a step forward for my love life,” Seungcheol reasoned, earning rowdy laughter from his employees. Mingyu replies with a sneeze and Seungcheol’s scrambling out of the seat he’d just sat in and announcing that he’d get Mingyu some allergy medicine.
-
“This guy again,” Jeonghan thought as he saw Choi Seungcheol from marketing entering the office’s clinic door with a grin. He’d been working at the clinic for about five months now, and Choi Seungcheol was always coming there to get medicine. He’d be there almost every day of the week, asking for anything from cough drops to band aids. It was kind of annoying as it gave him more work to do, but he was also kind of cute and his suit looked good on him, so Jeonghan didn’t mind how much he was visiting.
“Good morning, Mr. Choi,” Jeonghan greets him with a smile. “Who’s sick in the marketing department today?”
“Good morning, Nurse Yoon,” Mr. Choi says politely. He scratches at the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry to be bothering you so early in the morning, but my subordinate Kim Mingyu keeps sneezing, his allergies are acting up again, it’s terrible, I’m really worried about him, so could I please have some medicine for that?” he rambles.
“It’s no problem at all,” Jeonghan says, moving to the medicine drawer to find the allergy medicine. He hands it to Choi Seungcheol and gets him the clinic’s logbook, opening it to the page that was last written on. Most of the entries were by Choi Seungcheol. “Please fill this out.”
Choi Seungcheol smiles at him when he’s finished writing. “Thanks so much, Nurse Yoon. I’ll get going now. Have a great day.”
“You too, Mr. Choi.”
When Choi Seungcheol has closed the door behind him and Jeonghan is alone in the clinic again, he turns the logbook towards him and reads the “remarks” section of the latest entry.
To Nurse Yoon: Thanks a lot for helping me again today. You’re the best :)
-
As soon as he enters the office again, Seungcheol leans against the closed door dramatically. “Guys, I saw an angel, the angel talked to me, and gave me allergy medicine,” he says just as dramatically as how he’s posing. Some of his louder employees, like Soonyoung, Mingyu and the interns, cheer; Wonwoo is quiet, he’s here to work and not to make friends; and Jihoon rolls his eyes. Seungcheol continues to describe how Nurse Yoon looks today, everyone has the description memorized already: how the white nurse uniform looks great on him and how his hair looks smooth and silky and how his smile can probably cure even Mingyu’s allergies.
“Just ask that nurse guy out already, boss,” Seungkwan, one of the sassier interns, whines. “You’ve been a creep for months now!”
“I can’t do that, that is unprofessional, the two of us have a purely professional relationship,” Seungcheol says seriously, going back to his desk.
“Going out to stalk nurses on a different floor during office hours is very unprofessional,” Jihoon says. Then, remembering that Seungcheol was a higher-up, he adds: “Just my opinion, sir.”
-
Jihoon makes the mistake of coughing in Seungcheol’s presence the next day and they lose their boss to the office nurse an hour after the start of their work day.
Seungcheol excitedly goes to the office clinic to find the love of his life chatting and laughing with some orange-haired guy, who looks suspiciously like a cat and even more suspiciously, is wearing a cross bracelet on his wrist. Church oppas were never to be trusted.
“Oh, hi, Mr. Choi,” Nurse Yoon greets him, his smile brighter than Seungcheol’s ever seen it before.
Orange Guy nods at Seungcheol before telling Nurse Yoon, Seungcheol’s Nurse Yoon: “Well, you’ve got work to do, so see you at lunch then, Jeonghan.”
First name basis?! Seungcheol was absolutely exploding inside when Orange Guy leaves him alone with Nurse Yoon. Outside, though, he was just staring blankly into space.
“Mr. Choi? How can I help you?” Nurse Yoon repeats.
“Is Nurse Lee Seokmin around?” Seungcheol says dumbly, devastation making him forget his excuse for coming today.
“He’ll be coming to work after lunch,” Nurse Yoon tells him. “Would you like me to take a message?”
“Uh, no thanks. It’s not that important anyway.” Seungcheol turns and walks back to his office mechanically.
-
“KWON SOONYOUNG!” Seungcheol yells as soon as he gets back.
“AYO, BOSS!” Soonyoung yells back even louder than Seungcheol did.
“COME TO MY OFFICE!”
“Oh god, what’d I do,” Soonyoung tells Jihoon panickedly before getting up to follow Seungcheol. Seungcheol never used the room unless it was for super serious business.
Seungcheol closes the door behind them, then sits down at the desk, motioning for Soonyoung to sit at the chair parallel to it. Soonyoung looks nervous until Seungcheol asks “Do you know a guy with orange hair that works here who is probably a church oppa? He looks like a cat.”
Soonyoung lets out the breath he’d been holding out of nervousness. “Ah, that’s Hong Jisoo from Human Resources. I asked for his help when I had to do that project with English phrases, he’s pretty nice, but you know how they say that church oppas are dangerous. Why, boss?”
“Is he dating Nurse Yoon?” Seungcheol wanted to know. “They seem close. I kind of not like him already.”
“So this is what this was about,” Soonyoung laughs. “I have no idea, sir. Want me to ask Seokmin?” he says, referring to his nurse bff who worked in the same clinic as Jeonghan.
“They’re having lunch together,” Seungcheol says in despair, stretching his arms out on the desk and half-lying down on it. “Yes, please ask Nurse Lee.”
“Now?” Soonyoung asks, hopeful to get time away from work.
“Not now, you’ve got work to do,” Seungcheol says gloomily.
There’s a knock on the door and Orange Guy Hong Jisoo enters with a charming smile. “Mr. Choi Seungcheol?”
“Yes?” Seungcheol says seriously, sitting up all straight and business-like. Soonyoung suppresses his laughter.
“Ayo, Jisoo!” Soonyoung greets loudly, with huge arm gestures.
Jisoo gives him a small wave before turning back to Seungcheol. “I’ve got a memo from HR regarding the company Christmas party, Mr. Choi. Please sign here to acknowledge receiving it,” he says before handing Seungcheol a pen and a clipboard with a paper on it. He thanks them with another smile and walks out the door.
“He looks like a cat, he’s definitely suspicious,” Seungcheol complains, eyebrows furrowed. Soonyoung laughs loudly.
There’s a knock on the door again and Jisoo pokes his head into the room. “Mr. Choi?”
“Yes?” Seungcheol says in his business voice again.
“I forgot to tell you that we’d received some complaints about your department being noisy. Please do tone it down a little.” Jisoo smiles before disappearing again.
Seungcheol looks dumbfounded and Soonyoung laughs but shuts up when he remembers they’d just been scolded.
-
“Why was he looking for Seokmin,” Jeonghan grumbled through a mouthful of pasta. He’d wanted the red sauce pasta for lunch but because the stupid white nurse’s uniform was prone to stains he’d opted for white sauce. “I thought he liked me. He always wrote ‘thank you, Nurse Yoon’ and not ‘thank you, Nurse Lee’.”
“Who knows, maybe they’re friends?” Jisoo offered. He’d been hearing about Jeonghan’s admirer since the two of them had first started working in the company, but it was the first time today that he’d seen Choi Seungcheol. “He seemed nice, his department’s just pretty noisy. Must be a lenient boss.”
“Is he coming to the Christmas party? Mr. Choi?” Jeonghan asks him.
“He seems like the type to attend events like that,” Jisoo says. “You should attend too! I’ll go if you go.”
“Don’t wanna. What if he brings a girl. Or asks Seokmin out,” Jeonghan huffs, wiping the pasta sauce off of the corners of his mouth. He clings to Jisoo’s arm and nuzzles his shoulder. “Jisooooooooo,” he whines.
Jisoo pats his friend’s head, sighing. “Why don’t you ask him out?”
Jeonghan sits back up straight. “We have a purely professional relationship,” he says seriously, making Jisoo laugh.
-
“Hey boss, Seokmin says they’re not dating and but I saw them cuddling at the cafeteria so I don’t know,” Soonyoung reports to Seungcheol after his lunch break.
Seungcheol lets out a sound of despair and lays the upper half of his body on his desk. “Why do you do this to me, Nurse Yooooon,” he whimpers.
Soonyoung pats his shoulder comfortingly. “Seokmin says Nurse Yoon might come to the company Christmas party though.”
Seungcheol head shot up. “What Christmas party?” he said excitedly.
“The one in the memo Jisoo gave you. Don’t you remember?”
“We are going.” Seungcheol looks determined. “HEY GUYS!” he says loudly, making the other employees look up from their work.
“Boss, deadlines,” Jihoon reminds him.
“I know, I know,” Seungcheol says impatiently. “Guys!! We’ll be going to this company Christmas party whether you like it or not!”
-
The company party is held at a barbecue restaurant. For some reason, Seungcheol’s interns are the stars of the party, with Seungkwan singing Ariana Grande songs, Hansol rapping along and Chan dancing Michael Jackson-style to Seungkwan’s singing. Seungcheol’s having fun but is also kind of embarrassed that he has such rowdy interns but at least his superiors are enjoying. Jihoon just looks embarrassed and tries to go home several times, but Soonyoung keeps pulling him back to his seat.
Nurse Yoon arrives about thirty minutes late, with Jisoo and Seokmin. Seungkwan, who has appointed himself as the night’s emcee, calls their attention. “And here we have Nurse Yoon and Nurse Lee and Mr. Orange from the HR Department,” Seungkwan says, earning laughs from the other employees. “What was your name again, Mr. Orange Hair?”
“THAT’S HONG JISOO!” Soonyoung answers loudly without being asked.
“Will the newcomers please sit with the my seniors from the Marketing Department, we would really like to welcome you! Go on, go on!” Seungkwan insists, motioning them to sit at the marketing table. Seungcheol feels eternally grateful when Nurse Yoon nods and smiles at him. He hurriedly pushes Mingyu to make space beside him for the nurse to sit down. Soonyoung greets Jisoo and and Seokmin as loudly as he can, slinging his arms around each of them and sitting at another table with more food.
“Here, eat, eat!” Seungcheol says as he shoves a little mountain of meat under Nurse Yoon’s nose. Nurse Yoon looks absolutely dreamy in a band shirt and a leather jacket, Seungcheol thinks.
Seungkwan is singing All I Want for Christmas is You and Chan’s Mariah Carey-Michael Jackson mash-up makes Nurse Yoon laugh. “Those kids are really good.”
Seungcheol smiles proudly, no longer embarrassed about his interns. “They’re my interns. They’re a lot of fun.”
-
For some reason it’s Jihoon who is really pumped about the second part of the party, which is the drinking part.
“Weren’t you whining about wanting to go home earlier?” Seungcheol asked. He turned to Nurse Yoon. “Are you going with them?”
“I think I’ll pass, I’ll go home early. Thanks so much for staying with me today,” Nurse Yoon says, bowing to Seungcheol and the other marketing guys.
“Take him home,” Wonwoo mouths at Seungcheol.
“Take Nurse Yoon home, boss,” Soonyoung says loudly. Seungcheol groans inwardly. This kid was so not discreet.
“No, I don’t want to trouble you any more today, Mr. Choi,” Nurse Yoon says.
“Seokmin and Jisoo are drinking with us,” Soonyoung decides.
Jisoo looks miffed for about a second, but smiles and says “Yeah, I’ll drink.”
Seungcheol decides he has the best subordinates and that Jisoo wasn’t so bad.
-
Nurse Yoon’s apartment is pretty near, but Seungcheol makes wrong turns on purpose to prolong their car ride together. They talk about mundane things, but Seungcheol is happy to learn more about the nurse than the two things that he already knew: that Yoon Jeonghan was a nurse and that he was a very cute one at that. Seungcheol learns that Jisoo and Nurse Yoon took a few classes together back in college and the two had remained friends, he’d decided that Jisoo wasn’t a threat.
They finally get to Nurse Yoon’s apartment and Seungcheol is surprised when the nurse asks him if he wants to stay for coffee or something.
“Yes,” he says a little too enthusiastically.
The two of them watch Titanic on Nurse Yoon’s couch, sipping hot cocoa and laughing about how Leonardo DiCaprio looked like that intern who rapped Iggy Azalea’s part in Ariana Grande’s Problem during the Christmas party (“You mean Hansol,” Seungcheol laughs).
It’s getting pretty late, so Seungcheol decides to get going (he didn’t want to look like a douchebag who would fuck on the first date, this wasn’t even an actual date yet, no he was not one of those douchebags). Nurse Yoon takes him to the door, smiling and bowing as he thanked Seungcheol.
“Before you go, I’ve got a question,” Nurse Yoon says. His hair was down and Seungcheol could melt from the sight.
“What is it?”
“Why do you keep going to the clinic? The people in your department are all pretty energetic. Loud, too,” Nurse Yoon laughs.
Shit. “Um,” Seungcheol says nervously. He scratches his face. “I, uh… They’re actually pretty sickly children despite being like that… I swear!”
Nurse Yoon looks unimpressed. “Really?”
“Um, really.” Seungcheol gulped.
“Fine.” Nurse Yoon says.
Seungcheol yelps when Nurse Yoon grabs his collar and crushes their lips together. Seungcheol never expected Nurse Yoon to be an aggressive kisser, but he wasn’t complaining, his arms snaking around the long-haired man’s waist to deepen the kiss.
“You,” Nurse Yoon says when they pull apart from each other, flushed and out of breath. “… are so frustrating. I’ve waited months for you to just fucking do something, and I haven’t got all night to wait for you to make a move.”
Seungcheol grins back sheepishly. “I didn’t know you wanted me to make a move.” He felt stupid. And not very manly for not being the one to make a move. He reaches out for Nurse Yoon’s hand and intertwines their fingers. “I have been in love with you for like, forever. Please say you’ll go out with me.”
Nurse Yoon’s cheeks are pink and he looks like a demure nurse again. “Only if you stay the night,” he says, smiling. “And, if you start calling me Jeonghan.”
-
Monday the next week, Choi Seungcheol comes to the office skipping happily and humming, giving only a quick, collective good morning to the other employees. They look at him suspiciously as he sat right at his desk without feeling anyone’s temperatures. Seungcheol took out his phone.
“Good morning, Jeonghannie, I’ve arrived at work and I miss you so much already,” Seungcheol aegyo’d at his phone’s front camera. He blew a kiss at the screen. “I love you! Have a great day, beautiful!”
Soonyoung, Mingyu and the interns reacted loudly, cheering their boss on. Jihoon gagged. Wonwoo looked somewhat amused.
“Jisoo was pretty fun when he was drunk,” Soonyoung announces, eliciting giggles from people who had attended the after party.
“Why, what happened?” Seungcheol asked curiously, looking up from Jeonghan’s one-word reply (“Gross.”). He’d have to start getting to know Jisoo soon, he was his boyfriend’s best friend after all.
“He’s pretty crazy, not the goody two-shoes he always is,” Soonyoung laughs.
-
“You owe me,” Jisoo told Jeonghan accusingly. He hung out at the clinic when he wasn’t doing anything, as the HR office was just next door. “You know I don’t drink. I hate drinking.”
“I sure do. I got laid and got a boyfriend~” Jeonghan says happily.
The door opens and Seokmin enters. “Good morning!” he says with that smile that emitted sunbeams. “Hey Jisoo, you were a pretty good kisser, says everyone!”
Jisoo groans and buries his head in his hands, face red. Jeonghan laughs and pulls his friend for a hug.