Chapter Text
You were looking for some entry level work that would help you pay your bills. After all, you lived in the expensive city of London and you were also a uni student. You were hoping to find a job that had flexible work hours and decent pay that would be enough to at least cover a part of your rent.
With not much luck, it seemed like each job search you did felt hopeless. One job didn’t have flexible hours that would work with your university classes schedule, another one didn’t pay quite well, and one had requirements you couldn’t meet.
You gave up for a bit, you figured you’d have to search later or find another way to make some extra cash.
That was until you stumbled upon an appealing offer. You were scrolling through Instagram and just clicking through stories, mostly of your friends but some celebs here and there. You were looking at an Instagram story that was offering an editing position in London. You checked the profile of who posted.
willne
You had forgotten you still followed him. Now, you just passively followed the content he made and it had been a while since you’d seen a post by him on Instagram.
The offer seemed appealing. It was almost perfect. You were familiar with editing, you used to edit videos and stream highlights for your friends; you wished you had more opportunities to edit videos but school took up most of your time.
“Reach out if you are interested or have questions”-- attached was an email address.
You wanted to reach out for more information. You lived in London. You had experience. It was like fate. You began drafting an email, attaching a portfolio, and questions to get some more information about the position.
A couple days after you sent the email, you received a response that included more information and that you were being considered for the position. You went through some type of interview, gave some information about yourself and your situation.
After a couple weeks you were now going to be working as an editor. You were thrilled that you got the job. Will contacted you to let you know the location of the office and that he’d meet you there.
It was the middle of a frigid London winter when you met Will for the first time in person. You walked into the building, the heaters and Will greeting you warmly from the chilly afternoon as you both shook hands. He walked you through the office to a room that would be your own to work in since the other spaces were being taken up for other reasons. You noticed that he seemed a little awkward, maybe nervous, as you both talked. You didn’t think much of it, but it was different from what you saw of Will in videos or on camera.
You eventually met the other people on the team, and you had settled into your office after a few days of working.
You often worked during later hours in the office, going straight home after your uni classes and working to make yourself food before going to the office to work. You started packing baked goods you made at home to bring with you to work to have something while you edited. After a week you started bringing more to share with your fellow coworkers as they were preparing to go home or continue working.
You grew closer to Mikey in particular, mostly because he was also an editor and both of you had to communicate often for working on videos. You didn’t expect to click so well with Mikey of all people but you did. You and Mikey would often share your breaks together, since you lacked company while working in a room separate from everyone else. You worked better while alone, but you knew you needed to be social.
As you slowly grew closer with your coworkers you took notice of what baked goods you’d make and bring that each of them liked.
During one of your breaks you and Mikey were in the office kitchen. You took the opportunity to show him how to bake something easy.
Mikey began brewing some coffee. “You want me to make you one?”
You shook your head. “No, but thank you. I'm actually allergic to coffee.”
“Allergic?”
“Yeah. I'm fine with caffeine, that’s why I drink multiple cans of Monster a week. But coffee does something weird to me.”
After a bit Will began joining you and Mikey on your breaks after he finished filming second channel videos. You noticed Will seemed quieter and aloof around you, probably because you were new to the team.
There was one day in particular where you had brought some mini tarts after seeing a recipe online that looked easy enough. You remembered handing some out to the few people who were still in the office by the time you arrived for your later shifts, having enough left to spare for yourself and Mikey to have a snack while you edited.
That was until you spotted Will walking into the office. You maybe had baked a couple special ones, flavoring and decorating them a bit differently specifically with Will in mind. You noticed the bags under his eyes from afar, and how his eyelids fluttered like he was adjusting to the light in the room. You figured he was tired and had a long day, might as well offer something to cheer him up a little bit.
You dropped off the remainder of the tarts in your office and on Mikey's desk and left the special ones for Will in the container, which you brought with you as you walked back into the main area of the office, hoping you’d encounter him again.
And encounter him you did, seeing him walking to his desk.
You walked up to him, ignoring the butterflies in your stomach that fluttered up to your throat as you got closer to him. Nothing to be nervous about. He's just one of my coworkers like everyone else. You swallowed down your nerves and somehow got out a clear and coherent offer to him, holding out the special mini tarts you had saved for Will.
You remembered the way he seemed to light up when he saw you walking towards him, presenting an open container with a smile on your face. You saw how his eyes stayed focused on your face for a bit as you spoke to him before acknowledging the treats held out in front of him.
You remembered the way he smiled and thanked you in a soft tone that you hadn’t heard before. “Thank you, lass. These look lovely.” He spoke in a hushed voice as if he wasn’t meant to be caught talking with you.
You remembered giving him one last smile and closed the lid, “Just figured you need a bit of something. I'm off to editing now.”
You turned around, headed in the direction of your office. Will's eyes lingered on you until you were out of sight. He finally looked down at the little pastries in his hand that were from you. From Y/N. The thought stayed on the front of his mind for a bit before he finally took a bite, something he was slightly hesitant to do because the mini tarts looked so cute.
The first bite he took was heavenly. The mixture of the crust and the filling and the tiny chopped up fruits on top that were arranged to look like a dog head, cute, hit his taste buds that left him digging for more. He quickly gulfed down the rest of the pastry, taking in every flavor and texture.
He knew to not disturb you while you were working, resisting the urge to walk into your room and ask you if you had more. Instead, he pulled his phone out and sent a quick text to you just complimenting the treat. He knew that you’ll see it and reply later since you kept your phone on silent while you worked. He remembered when you mentioned it while talking to Mikey.
As you worked in your office, you could hear a loud whirring and popping sound in your office through your slightly noise-canceling headphones. You temporarily took one side off your ear to check that you weren’t going crazy. There was, in fact, a lot of strange and slightly worrying noise coming from the A.C. in your office.
You sighed to yourself, not the first time. And probably wouldn’t be the last. It’s been happening for the past few weeks you’ve been working here. You thought about bringing it up to Will for a while but either forgot or got too nervous.
The A.C. also would randomly shut off at random times, which was good during colder days but the heater in the whole building was still going strong. You found yourself taking off layers and sweating a bit as you worked, your room a little too warm for your comfort. Instead of actually solving the problem by telling Will or anyone else about it, you just brought in an electric fan into the room to turn on when you felt it was getting a little too warm.
After the introduction of your temporary solution of the fan, you had pushed the task of telling Will aside. Why bring it up when you’ve solved it yourself? The temperature in your office was no longer a problem.
But the strange noises persisted which finally pushed you to work up the motivation to finally bring it up to Will. You knew you had to tell someone about it in case there was something actually wrong with the A.C., but you pushed it to the back of your mind until you were laying in bed at home after working on a second channel video.
The chore of contacting Will about the air conditioner issue had plagued your mind all day, and you made yourself promise that you would contact him about it before the end of the day. You mentally scolded yourself for putting it off for so long, and it was now definitely outside of business hours. You’re probably bothering him from whatever downtime he’s having at home.
You sighed, clicking on Will’s contact and pressing the call button. Fuck. You immediately regretted your fingers working quicker than you can process the options. Who the hell calls people these days? You felt your stomach drop to your ass and bit the inside of your cheeks. Should’ve just sent a text. Or an email. Unfortunately there was no going back on what you’ve done as you sat on your bed and listened to the dial tone coming from your phone, waiting for Will to pick up.
Each second and ringing felt like torture to you. You hated making calls, like most people. But especially with people you weren’t super close with. You inhaled sharply, rehearsing the script in your head, gulping as you felt your throat dry up.
After a couple of seconds you heard a northern voice. “Hello?” Will.
“H-hi, Will. It’s Y/N. I– um, I know I probably could’ve just sent you an email or a text about this, sorry if I'm bothering or interrupting anything.” You mentally cursed at yourself for stumbling over your words. I probably sound so stupid right now.
You quickly swallowed your nerves and continued. “But, um, I just wanted to tell you about the air conditioner in my room in the office? It’s– it’s just making a lot of really weird and loud noises and I don't know if there’s something wrong with it…” You had more you needed to say but you heard him interject.
“Oh, thank you for telling me. It’s not a bother at all, I'll check it. Has it been shutting off?”
“Y-yeah, it shuts off randomly sometimes. And it does get a bit warm but I have a fan in my room now so that’s kinda not much of an issue anymore.” You fidgeted with your free hand, fiddling with your bedsheets between your fingers.
“Well, how ‘bout we check it out tomorrow morning? How does 7 sound?” Will clarified, “7 am.”
7 am? On a Sunday? “The office is open at 7?” You questioned, though you weren’t expecting a response. “I mean, alright. yeah, I’ll be there at 7.” You knew you’d have to reschedule your day and figure out the bus route for the early morning since it would be too cold for walking, but you’d make it work if Will thought it was necessary for you to be there.
“Okay, perfect, I'll see ya tomorrow morning.”
“Okay, see you.” You said quietly. “Thank you.”
You hung up first, letting out a breath you didn’t notice you were holding the whole time. you laid back on your bed, staring at your ceiling. 7 am tomorrow. Sighing, you made a mental routine for the early morning you now had the next day.
“Hey, um, where is everybody?” You peeped into your office, seeing Will standing next to your desk.
“Oh, no one’s here yet— I came in a little early, to see you.”
“Oh, okay.” You closed the door behind you, a little confused at the situation. If he wanted to come up here early then it has to be something important. “Well, I made you some more mini fruit tarts. A test run for a new recipe.” You sat down in your chair and handed him a small tupperware containing the pastries you had baked the night before.
“God, thank you…” He gratefully took them and didn’t hesitate to take the lid off. “So, we, uh, spoke on the phone yesterday. And you said the A.C. in here was randomly turning off and making weird sounds?” You watched him grab one of the mini tarts you made, you recognized it as the one you topped with just strawberries to look like a flower.
“Yeah, but it didn’t really bother me much other than the one time it got a little too warm for my liking.” You spun back and forth in your chair slightly, still facing Will.
“Oh, okay. good. then you’re fine.” Will took a bite out of the mini tart. “Oh my god.” He let out a small sigh and he leaned back slightly.
You breathed in, looking at Will with confusion. “Well, aren’t you gonna do an examination? or call someone?”
He didn’t bother waiting to finish chewing, speaking with a mouthful. “Oh, no need. These are unbelievably delicious! De– delicious isn’t even a good enough word for what they are.” Will's voice was muffled, stuffing the rest of the mini tart into his mouth. “What you do with food is… unearthly.”
“Thank you.” You fidgeted with your fingers a little as you watched him finish taking the last bite out of the mini tart and reach into the box for another one. “Then is everything okay? There’s nothing wrong with this room or the A.C.?”
“No, nothing’s wrong in here,” Will reassured you. “The A.C. is perfectly fine, this is what it usually does in here.” Will took a bite out of another mini tart. “Holy shit.”
You stared at him again, your hands gripping the edge of your chair. “Is that all you have to say?”
He paused for a second, staring directly into your eyes. Will’s train of thought broke for a moment, then scattered as he tried to figure out a cohesive thought to put into words out loud. He struggled to untangle the mess in his brain as he stared into your dark eyes, getting lost in them. He found himself staring into your eyes more than he probably should, they were like black holes so dark that he couldn’t see your pupils. He got lost in them often, it was like staring into space. and suddenly, his mouth moved out of sync with his head before he could formulate something that wasn’t blunt and made sense.
“No.” He blurted out. He clenched his jaw and held his breath for a second.
“Then what?”
He waited for a second again before responding. “Nothing.” He said slowly, now suddenly looking down and swallowing nervously. “You can… you can go, Y/N. I'll see you again at your next scheduled work hour.”
He looked away from you, and in a second he attempted to switch his demeanor. A flustered smile plastered on his face as he tried to steady his voice– though you could tell something was off. “You know, don’t hesitate to call if you any—“
“Questions or concerns,” you cut him off, immediately standing up.
“—any and all.” Will added, his casual and unaware attitude contrasting with how your blood was simmering inside you.
“Then why’d you have me come all the way in here if all you wanted to tell me was that the A.C. in this room randomly turns off at times?” You fully stood up and stepped towards him, your words spilling out with annoyance. “I had to get up early, take a bus, walk five blocks– just to hear that the A.C. randomly turning off is normal?!”
You waited for him to respond. Will stood there, mouth agape. “I have no response to that,” he said finally.
“And what time does this office normally open, boss?” You checked your phone to look at the time. “8:30–?”
“—9 o’clock,” Will quickly corrected you.
“9 o’clock? So you came in here two hours early, on a Sunday, just to tell me that the A.C. is being perfectly normal?!”
Will took a breath and spoke calmly. “Well it seems that way—” you waited, crossing your arms. He sighed, “…yes.”
You walked towards the door. “Goodbye, Will.” You were silently fuming, inhaling sharply. So much for the long journey here this morning.
He sighed, “Goodbye, Y/N.”
You instantly whipped back around to face him. “No! You know what?” You threw your phone and wallet back down on your desk.
Your fists balled up as you fidgeted under Will's confused gaze. If you didn’t already have his attention before you certainly caught his attention now by snapping. “I think you’re strange.” You said, seething, finally finding the words and looking him in the eyes.
He looked at you confused and shocked, eyebrows raised but he didn’t say a thing. Not that you would let him in that moment. There was a look of hurt in his eyes, but you were too angry to sugarcoat anything.
“And I’m not sure if I wanna keep working for you anymore because you make me uncomfortable!” You let the last sentence rush out your mouth, your voice breaking slightly with the last word. It was probably a bit more loud and heated than you intended, too irritated to care about not hurting Will's feelings.
You didn’t even think about how Will would react, or was prepared to get a response from him.
He instantly stepped towards you, frantically apologizing. “Y/N, no! I'm sorry! I am so sorry! Whatever I do that makes you uncomfortable—“ his hands flailing towards you as he spoke, unsure if he should physically comfort you.
You instinctively stepped back, your shoulders hunching at his sudden movement and his rushed speech. “You should not feel uncomfortable working here—“
“That thing! You’re doing it again!” you pointed at Will.
“What?”
“That thing! That you do—!”
“How—? What is it that I do?”
“I don't know! You– the nice-guy-talky-thing that you, just— do! You just–” You and him were now standing right in front of each other, and you felt his eyes stare into you. But you couldn’t bring yourself to look him in the eyes right now. Your eyes settled for his chest. you were looking at him, just not in the eyes. How could you? When you made eye contact you felt something strange in his stare.
You tried for a couple seconds to muster up any more words to him, but gave up, you were too frustrated with the entire situation you were currently in.
Your body tensed up as you looked Will in the eyes and huffed out through your teeth, “Forget it.”
You turned on your heels and marched your way to and out the door of your office, slamming it behind you. After taking a few steps you remembered. “Dammit,” you whispered to yourself. I forgot my phone and wallet.
Reluctantly, you marched back to your office, hoping to get in and get right back out, not wanting to face Will anymore.
Meanwhile, after you slammed the door shut, Will sighed and his shoulders dropped. He didn’t expect things to escalate like this. He fucked it up. Was it that bad that he just wanted to see you a little more often? Maybe he thought about you a little too much.
Should’ve just stayed professional. The two of you were technically just coworkers after all. Coworkers, Will thought to himself. You’re just another one of his coworkers.
Pondering what he could do next, he glanced at your desk, seeing your phone and wallet that you had thrown down.
He wasn’t planning on following you out, he figured you needed some time and fresh air, but he picked up your belongings and turned towards the door to give them back to you.
Before he could even step towards the door, you barged back in, stomping towards Will seeing that he had your belongings.
Will calmly handed your phone and wallet towards you, “Y/N, you forgot your—“ You cut him off by pulling him down to your level by gripping the front of his sweater and roughly making your lips meet.
That certainly caught him off guard. And you. It was impulsive, yes, but it somehow felt so right having his lips against yours in that moment. It was rough and stiff at the beginning but slowly both of you melted into the kiss, enjoying every second of it. Your grip on his sweater tightened before loosening as you both slowly pulled away, catching your breath and your eyes still closed from the bliss you felt in those few seconds.
You slowly opened your eyes to see Will looking down at you, his eyes soft and sincere. During the kiss one of his hands had found its way on your shoulders, then down the sides of your arms. It felt such a gentle gesture, his hand barely brushed your skin like you were made of glass and a touch too rough would break you. It had been forever since someone had made you feel this way, or had done something like that.
You were able to take in Will's features. you always thought he was attractive, though you pushed your attraction to him into a deep dark corner in the back of your mind to withhold a sense of professionalism in the office. So much for being professional. You were able to catch the color of Will’s eyes, a dull blue that you never had the opportunity to get a glimpse of from a distance.
You admired the way his eyes relaxed, instead of his usual intense gaze you were so used to. Within the close distance you could smell his cologne, tickling your nose as it brought you back to when you shook hands with Will for the first time. Or when you both stood next to each other at the coffee counter when Mikey left to grab something from his desk. Being in such close proximity to Will made you suddenly conscious of every little move you made.
You breathed in steadily and held your breath, afraid to break the tension.
For Will, it really didn’t help that you were exactly his type. 5’2. Dark hair. Tan. Asian. He admitted to feeling quite lonely the last few months. He knew he probably wasn’t subtle with how he felt about you, despite his weak efforts to hide them within the short amount of time you’ve gotten to know each other. He never intended to let his desires take action– like explicitly hit on you, but this was pure bliss for him. This was heavenly.
Will’s type had been mentioned a couple times offhandedly in a couple recent videos, but you hadn’t put much thought into it until you realized it now. The prolonged eye contact, the seemingly-random glances, the way he looked at you when you weren't looking, or when his eyes lingered on you a bit longer than they should. It all made sense now.
He admired the way you looked up at him through your eyelashes, barely tilting your head up to make your eyes meet his. Fucking doe eyes. You looked so curious, so endearing, so divine, like you finally let your guard down around him. He wasn’t blind to how short-lived eye contact was with you. He always noticed how you avoided eye contact with most people, but especially him. Will figured it was you simply being nervous and still getting used to the new environment. He secretly adored how flustered you’d look after breaking away when you locked eyes, like you were guilty of something.
Then reality suddenly hit you again. I just kissed my employer. “…Shit.” Your eyes widened and looked down to snatch your phone and wallet from Will’s hand before sprinting to get out the door.
“Woah! Woah! Woah!” Will reacted instantly, flailing to race you to the door, tripping over his feet and standing in your way of the only exit. Both of you stopped and he paused to look down at you, his hands out. “Wait.”
“What do you want?!” you blurted out, irritated again. Just let me leave, goddammit. I don't want to see you right now.
“Look. I– I wanna see you again. Talk to you–” he rambled, trying to keep your attention as you focused on the door handle to get past him to leave. “Somewhere outside of here— can we have, like, coffee together? Or something?”
You stopped and looked him dead in the eyes. “I can't have coffee. I said I'm allergic to coffee on the paperwork. What kind of employer are you?!”
“W— do you want, like, a— a smoothie or something?” Will stutter out.
You sighed, walking back to your desk and throwing your belongings onto your chair. “This is wrong. We shouldn’t be doing this.” You spilled out whatever rational thought you had left, hoping neither of you were going to do something you would regret later.
But there was no rationale in what happened next. Any logic and rationale had vanished. Because you and Will were back to holding each other, bodies flushed against each other, lips locked.
You were right: everything about this was wrong. You both knew it was a bad idea. But it felt so damn good to be bad.
You were pushed up onto whatever free space was on your desk and Will stood in between your legs that dangled on the edge of the table, your lips never separating. Your arms wrapped about his neck and his hands found its way to your waist.
Eventually there were clothes on the floor, fingers interlocked, and two people lustful and hungry for more. You held onto him like your life depended on it, and he gripped your thighs like you were made of gold.
You had long forgotten the implications of the situation you were in, the fact that Will was technically your co-worker/boss and you were an employee, but instead focusing on satisfying your desires and the way Will made you feel.
Both of you finished what you had started that morning, committing sins that were better off being left unmentioned later.
Now, you are back at your flat before your scheduled brunch with Mikey. You both had agreed to meet up to hang out and discuss editing and work. Before you left the office you fixed your makeup in the bathroom and said your goodbyes to Will.
Your brunch with Mikey went as you’d imagined: discussing videos, editing, baking, your uni experience, mundane things happening in your lives.
You spent the rest of the day catching up on homework that you didn’t do yesterday and went to bed thinking about what you and Will had done. The realization hit you that you would have to see him tomorrow at work. Fuck. You hoped that you both mutually agreed to not bring it up and pretend like nothing happened, because that’s absolutely what you wanted to do.
The thought of having to see Will and discuss whatever complications were created made you uneasy.
You sighed to yourself as you closed your eyes and hoped that you would be able to face the issue later, like you do with any other inconvenience in your life.