Work Text:
On a sunny Wednesday morning, Donghyuck starts his day unusually early. Finally acting on one of his new year's resolutions eight months into the year, he goes to the neighborhood Equinox at 6:30AM. He had gotten a free month trial through a referral from Jeno and he's a little intimidated as soon as he steps out of the locker room. Honestly, he doesn't really know where to start so he makes his way towards the stairmaster section.
As he starts slowly climbing the moving stairs, Donghyuck first spots him. A hottie across the room. He's in a pair of tight shorts and an even tighter tank top, his blonde hair is pushed back, and he's sweaty. Like really sweaty. Hottie is lifting weights like it's easy work. Donghyuck imagines being one of the weights, being lifted by those strong, thick arms. He wonders what his chest must feel like, probably sturdy yet soft, firm yet malleable if Donghyuck squeezes it hard enough. Donghyuck is staring, half zoned out, when the hottie suddenly looks around and they make eye contact.
Donghyuck immediately slips on his next step and flails, grabbing the sides of the machine in a panic. Finally finding his footing but beyond flustered, he looks back up and sees the hottie still staring at him.
“Oh my god,” Donghyuck says to himself. The hottie waves. Donghyuck, suddenly hyper aware of his bright red face, dripping sweat that probably doesn't look as attractive, and staggering breaths, awkwardly smiles back. He hasn't felt this embarrassed since he threw up on Renjun at a club in Ktown two years ago.
He doesn't look back again, but by the time he hobbles off the machine, the hottie is long gone.
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Donghyuck feels a lot better about his life after he gets back to his apartment, freshly showered and smelling like an Aesops store. He changes into a white tee and baggy jeans and feeds his cat Mark breakfast and by 8AM, he's back out the door for work.
The subway car isn't too packed and Donghyuck stands next to one of the doors, work backpack slung over one shoulder and wired earphones in. He's scrolling through TikTok aimlessly when he looks up to check what stop he's at. Then, he sees him. Again. Hottie.
Hottie isn't in really skimpy gym wear anymore. Now, he's dressed in a clean polo and slacks, hair now neatly styled to show off a perfect forehead. He's not even on his phone like everyone else on the train, instead reading a physical copy of last week’s The New Yorker. Donghyuck didn't even know people actually did that in real life.
Is this God giving me a second chance? Donghyuck wonders. He hasn't prayed in years, but he prays a little now as he continues to stare down hottie. What are the odds I see him twice? Thank you, amen.
Hottie doesn’t look up once from his magazine, deeply engrossed. Before he knows it, it’s Donghyuck’s stop next. Stomach churning a little in regret, Donghyuck considers going up to the hottie before he gets off but thinks against it. Because Donghyuck has anxiety and he’d honestly kill himself if he gets rejected in front of the group of high schoolers sitting down near him. He hops off the train and doesn’t look back.
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Donghyuck has a morning routine. Every other day, he goes to a small coffee shop near his office building and orders an iced matcha latte with whole milk. The drinks at the cafe are honestly kinda mid, but they’re cheap for New York City prices and the owner is eye candy.
“Thanks Jaehyun.” Donghyuck is picking up his drink when, from the corner of his eye, he sees a familiar figure walk towards the cafe. Hottie. “What the fuck?”
“Something wrong with the drink?” Jaehyun asks.
“No…” Donghyuck murmurs, too busy looking at the hottie. Is he being followed? Two times, sure, that’s kinda cute. Three times? In a row? In the span of like two hours? Donghyuck’s anxiety is starting to pick up. He’s watched true crime videos that start out like this on TikTok. He starts to sweat. “Looks great, thanks. I’ll see you next week!”
Donghyuck doesn’t even bother hearing Jaehyun’s reply, immediately bolting out of the cafe and turning around the next corner to hide. He takes a sip of his bland iced matcha latte and tries to think critically. Coincidences like these happen! The city can only be so big! It’s okay!
Shaking his head, Donghyuck straightens his back and starts making his way towards his office. He’s only a few minutes away from the building when he gets a prickly feeling and instinctively peeks behind him. Hottie is casually walking a few feet behind him, whistling.
“Oh my god?” Donghyuck whispers to himself. He starts to walk faster, iced matcha latte sloshing in his hand. “No way.”
Donghyuck makes a turn, and the hottie follows. Another turn, the same. Donghyuck is starting to seriously feel sick to his stomach.
For the first time in his life, he actually feels happy to see his office building in view. Still aware of the hottie trailing after him, Donghyuck takes out his work badge and speedwalks into the building. He taps once onto the turnstill and shoves himself through. Frantically pressing the elevator button, he looks around the building lobby suspiciously before he steps in.
“I think I'm being stalked,” Donghyuck says as soon as he reaches his desk, out of breath. Chenle, whose desk is next to his, has his headphones in, face stone serious as he types numbers into his laptop. Poor quality headphones, by the way, because Donghyuck can hear Chenle’s music leak out loudly into the office space. Ariana Grande’s “Honeymoon Avenue”. Chenle is so funny. “Dude!”
“What?” Chenle shoves his headphone off one ear. Donghyuck falls onto his chair, panting.
“I think I’m being stalked,” Donghyuck repeats. “This dude was following me my entire morning routine. From the gym up until now.”
“You went to the gym?” Chenle asks. “Wow!”
“That’s not the point,” Donghyuck says. “I’m being stalked. Why aren’t you taking this seriously?”
“You say a lot of things every day,” Chenle says. “I don’t ever know when to take you seriously.”
Donghyuck groans. He definitely feels a lot safer now, in the comfort of his office desk. A picture of Mark the cat next to his monitor stares back at him. He decides to put it to rest, at least for now.
Nearly 9AM now, Donghyuck immediately throws himself into work and easily forgets about the hottie. He grinds through several morning meetings and checks a couple things off his to-do list. The morning flies by and soon it’s noon. Chenle and Donghyuck find a booth to sit in in the office cafeteria.
“I need to get a fork,” Donghyuck says, getting up and making his way toward the counter. On his way back to the booth, a familiar feeling runs through his spine and he spins around. A glimpse of styled blonde hair in the cafeteria crowd. He can feel his blood turn cold. Holding the fork out like a weapon, he runs through the cafeteria and hisses at Chenle. “He’s here! He followed me even inside the office, oh my god?”
Chenle looks up interestedly. “He’s here? Let me see.”
Donghyuck slowly pokes his head up from behind the booth and scans the cafeteria. No glimpse of the hottie. He sits back down. “He’s hiding. I’m so scared.”
“Hmm,” Chenle says.
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After lunch, Donghyuck is so on edge that his manager Mark (the human) comments on it.
“You should take PTO,” Mark says during their weekly check-in.
“What if he follows me on vacation?” Donghyuck asks, looking around. “What will taking PTO do for me then?”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
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At 3PM, Donghyuck gets an e-mail. It’s from the director of his team, introducing a new team member whose first day is today. Distracted from work, Donghyuck curiously searches for the new name in Slack.
Jaemin Na.
Jaemin’s Slack profile picture is of a cute cat, pink nose and round eyes. A bit of a bummer, because Donghyuck is nosy and wants to see what Jaemin looks like. A fellow Asian-American in the team, that’s always a win.
Suddenly, a slack notification pops up. From Jaemin.
Jaemin: Hi. I like your profile picture. I’m Jaemin by the way, I know Johnny just introduced me to the team. Making my rounds to say hello (virtually) haha.
Donghyuck’s own profile picture is of Mark the cat. So they’re kinda matching, in a way.
hey dude! welcome to the team.
Jaemin’s funny and easy to talk to. They chat for a good half-hour before Donghyuck realizes he seriously needs to lock in so he can leave work in time.
It’s 5:30PM when he stretches and closes his laptop. He makes his way back down to the lobby and, after saying bye to Chenle, starts walking towards his subway station. There’s no signs of the hottie through his walk and even throughout his entire commute home, and Donghyuck feels relieved.
The relief disappears the moment he enters his apartment elevator. Just as it's about to close, a hand sticks its way in between the doors. And who does Donghyuck see? Hottie.
He shoves himself into the furthest corner of the elevator, fear trickling through him. He watches the hottie ponder at the floor buttons, Donghyuck’s own 8th floor already pressed. The hottie hums and steps back without entering his own floor. Donghyuck’s heart falls to his ass. The hottie turns to look at him and his eyes widen in recognition.
“Oh, from the gym-”
“Who are you?” Donghyuck screams, scrambling through his bag to take out his pepper spray. “Why are you stalking me?”
The hottie jolts back, lifting his hands in the air.
“What?”
Donghyuck shakes the pepper spray at him.
“Tell me!”
“I’m Jaemin?” he says, bewildered. “Who are you ?”
“Jae - Jaemin?” Donghyuck remembers a new name in Slack and a picture of a cat. “Jaemin Na?”
The hottie - Jaemin - nods furiously, hands still up in self-defense. Donghyuck deflates and lowers his pepper spray.
“I’m Donghyuck,” he says, equally confused. “Like, from work.”
They’re both interrupted by the elevator opening to the 8th floor. They both awkwardly step out. Jaemin looks around and then back at Donghyuck and the pepper spray in his hands.
“Donghyuck,” Jaemin says. “Did you say I’m stalking you?”
“You were at the gym,” Donghyuck rambles.
“I’ve been going there for a few days now,” Jaemin says, confused. And then Donghyuck realizes today was his first day even stepping foot in it. His face starts to flush.
“The train…”
“You take the orange line, too?”
“The cafe…Jaehyun…”
“Oh, you know Jaehyun? He’s my bro from college.”
“Work…lunch…”
“We work together, Donghyuck. I’m new.”
“What kind of person starts their first day of work on a Wednesday?” Donghyuck is mortified.
“I was out on vacation until yesterday,” Jaemin says gently.
“8th floor…”
“My unit is down the hall. I moved in this past weekend.”
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Donghyuck covers his face with his hands. “I’m so embarrassed, you have no idea. I thought you were just this hot person stalking me the whole day.”
Silence. Donghyuck peeks through his fingers. Jaemin is blushing. The fuck?
“You think I’m hot?” Jaemin asks, flustered. “I think you’re hot.”
“Huh?”
“I wanted to say hi to you at the gym,” Jaemin says. “I thought, I think, that you’re super pretty. But you looked busy and I didn’t want to be that one gym creep.”
Amen , Donghyuck thinks in wonder.
“And I don’t want to look like a creep now,” Jaemin continues. “But would you like to come over for tea? I just came back from Japan and-”
“Yes,” Donghyuck interrupts. “Yes, I love tea. Wow. Life is good. Amen.” Jaemin smiles.
As they walk down the hallway together, hands almost brushing, Donghyuck looks at Jaemin and thinks about how psycho he just acted. But he also thinks about the glimmer of hope he feels in his stomach. He thinks about how hot and kind and understanding Jaemin is. And, most importantly, he thinks about the dramatic finsta story he’s about to post later tonight about the entire day he just had. Chenle’s totally going to eat his words.
August 6th, 2025.
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