Chapter Text
The marketing department at Hanmoon Company had exactly three constants: deadlines, coffee, and the quiet presence of Han Dongmin at the desk beside Jaehyun.
Jaehyun had gotten used to the rhythm of it over the past year.
Exactly one year today, actually.
He and Dongmin had started on the same day—two nervous new hires sitting through the same orientation, signing the same paperwork, laughing awkwardly at the same bad HR jokes. Jaehyun had assumed they would become close. They were almost the same age, in the same department, their desks literally touching.
Instead, they had spent the past 365 days existing politely beside each other.
Dongmin was… reserved. He wasn’t unfriendly, he was never rude, always polite. But conversations with him were brief and efficient, like emails.
Good morning.
Morning.
Could you send me that file?
Sure.
The receptionists loved him though. The entire department did, actually. Jaehyun had lost count of how many times he’d seen people staring at Dongmin when he walked past. The man had the kind of face that made people forget what they were saying mid-sentence.
Jaehyun personally tried not to think about it too much.
Which was why it was a little strange that the first genuinely friendly conversation they had was happening because of a new hire.
Sungho.
“—and this is the marketing section,” Jaehyun was saying as he guided the new employee between rows of desks.
Sungho nodded enthusiastically, his blond hair falling into his eyes. “Everyone’s been really nice.”
Jaehyun smiled. “That’s good. If anyone bothers you, tell me.”
Sungho laughed. “You’re my supervisor, already protecting me?”
“Of course,” Jaehyun said lightly, glancing at the desk beside his.
Dongmin looked up briefly from his monitor. Their eyes met for a second before Dongmin gave one of his small, polite smiles.
Sungho noticed him too. “Oh—hi!” he said brightly.
Dongmin nodded. “Welcome.”
Jaehyun watched the interaction and thought, not for the first time today:
Wow. He’s really pretty.
Sungho, too.
Hanmoon’s hiring department had clearly decided marketing needed more visuals.
A moment later someone from accounting called Sungho over to sign something.
“I’ll be right back!” Sungho said, jogging off.
Jaehyun sat down at his desk and Dongmin was looking at him. Then he said something that shocked Jaehyun more than any conversation they’d had in the past year.
“We should get a drink tonight.”
Jaehyun blinked.
“…What?”
Dongmin kept his expression completely neutral, but Jaehyun noticed something strange.
His ears were pink. Not just a little pink. Pink pink.
Jaehyun leaned back in his chair, slowly piecing things together.
Drink tonight.
New pretty coworker.
Pink ears.
Oh.
Oh.
Jaehyun nudged him with his elbow. “I know what this is.”
Dongmin looked at him calmly. “You do?”
Jaehyun grinned. “Yeah. You like how the new guy looks? I don’t judge.” He shrugged casually. “I think he’s pretty too.”
Dongmin didn’t react for a second. His face remained unreadable. Then he asked, quietly, “You do?”
Jaehyun nodded. “Sure.”
Dongmin looked at him for another long moment. Then he asked, “What do you think about me?”
Jaehyun stared at him. Because of all the questions he expected from Han Dongmin, that had not even made the list.
This was the same guy that half the receptionists practically tripped over themselves to greet every morning. The same guy the women in their department blatantly ogled during meetings. The same guy who had somehow remained quiet and mysterious for an entire year.
And he was asking Jaehyun that?
Jaehyun squinted at him skeptically. “Do you really not know what you look like?”
Dongmin’s expression didn’t change. “I’m asking what you think about me.”
Jaehyun chuckled. So that was it. Dongmin just wanted a compliment. It was a little arrogant, honestly. But Jaehyun couldn’t even judge him because the pink on his ears had spread down the side of his neck, and for some reason it looked… cute. Very cute.
So Jaehyun answered honestly. “Objectively?” he said.
Dongmin nodded.
“You’re very handsome.”
Dongmin blinked once. Then— He smiled. Not the usual polite smile. Or the small smirk Jaehyun had occasionally seen after someone said something funny in meetings. This one was different. It was soft and shy— almost a little disbelieving.
“Really?”
Jaehyun felt like he’d just been shot.
That was the only way to describe it. Because in the entire year they’d worked together, Jaehyun had never seen that expression before.
And suddenly Han Dongmin was the cutest person Jaehyun had ever seen in his life.
Dangerously cute.
The kind of cute that made you want to take a photo and tape it to your bedroom ceiling so it would be the first thing you saw every morning.
He realized something immediately. He needed to see that smile again— urgently. It felt like a drug. So he rushed to say something else.
“Actually,” Jaehyun added quickly, leaning on his desk, “objectively handsome is underselling it.”
Dongmin’s eyebrow lifted. “Oh?”
Jaehyun nodded seriously. “If Hanmoon ever needs to cut marketing costs they could just put your face on a billboard and people would buy the product out of confusion.”
Dongmin stared at him. For two seconds. Three.
Then— He laughed. Like actually laughed.
Jaehyun’s soul left his body. Because Dongmin’s eyes crinkled when he laughed. And his voice—Jaehyun had heard it speak hundreds of times before, but never like this. And Jaehyun could literally feel himself falling in love.
Right there. At his desk. At 2:14 PM on a Wednesday.
Jaehyun had never believed in love at first sight.
And he still didn’t. But he did now believe in love at 365th sight— minus weekends.
Which raised a very important question.
How had he not noticed this before?
Who had been hiding this from him?
How had he been living his life with the prettiest person in the world sitting three feet away?
Jaehyun leaned closer.
“So,” he said carefully, “do you still want to get drinks tonight?”
“Just the two of us.”
Dongmin looked at him with that smile again. He looked happy.
“I thought you wanted to bring Sungho?”
Jaehyun hesitated. And at that exact moment—
“Sunbae!” Sungho appeared beside them like a summoned spirit. “I’m back.”
Jaehyun nearly jumped.
Sungho looked between the two of them. “…Where are you bringing me?”
Both Jaehyun and Dongmin froze. They were both slightly red and no one spoke.
Sungho frowned. “Why do you both look like that?”
“Like what?” they said at the exact same time.
Sungho blinked. “…Like that,” he gestured vaguely. Then he asked again, “So where are you taking me?”
Dongmin finally answered. “Jaehyun wanted to go out tonight.”
“Really?!” Sungho’s face lit up. “You guys are so nice!”
Jaehyun choked. “Wait—” He quickly cleared his throat.
“Actually… can we go tomorrow?”
Sungho tilted his head. “Why?”
Jaehyun nodded firmly. “I forgot I had something to do tonight.”
Sungho shrugged easily. “That’s okay! I’m still excited.” Then he grinned. “What are you doing later then? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Jaehyun glanced sideways. Dongmin’s expression had gone completely neutral again. It was unreadable.
Jaehyun took a breath. He had seen plenty of pretty people in his life. Including the very pretty blond boy standing in front of him.
But the guy sitting beside him? That was a different situation entirely.
Jaehyun answered. “I’m going on a date.”
Sungho gasped. “Ooooh! Do you have a girlfriend?”
“No,” Jaehyun said. “First date.”
Sungho looked extremely interested. But at that moment their boss Donghyun called him again from across the room.
Sungho sighed dramatically. “We’ll continue this conversation later!”
Then he ran off.
Jaehyun exhaled and turned to Dongmin. Dongmin looked… A little dejected. Maybe.
Jaehyun wasn’t sure.
One day, Jaehyun promised himself, he would learn how to read that beautiful stoic face.
“Hey,” Jaehyun said.
Dongmin turned his eyes to him once more.
“So,” Jaehyun continued carefully, “are you free tonight?”
Dongmin tilted his head. He was slightly pouting in confusion. “I thought you had a date.”
Jaehyun nearly died on the spot. Because Han Dongmin should not be allowed to pout. That was a public safety issue.
“Yeah,” Jaehyun said. “With you.”
Dongmin froze. Then he blushed. He blushed.
He smiled and covered his face with one hand, looking away.
Jaehyun could only stare at him. Completely helpless.
After a moment, Dongmin took a deep breath.
He straightened his expression again. The pink on his ears had spread down the back of his neck. Jaehyun felt like someone was repeatedly hitting his heart with a baseball bat.
“Okay,” Dongmin said quietly. “See you later.”
Then he stood up and walked away.
And Jaehyun sat at his desk thinking only one thing.
Oh. I’m in serious trouble.
Jaehyun spent the next forty-five minutes pretending to work. It was not convincing.
The spreadsheet on his monitor had been open since 2:16 PM and had not changed once. If anyone checked the edit history, it would reveal that Jaehyun had typed the word “budget” and then stared at the screen like it might start explaining his life choices to him.
Behind the monitor, his brain was screaming. He just asked Han Dongmin on a date. A date.
Jaehyun pressed his face into his hands.
Across the desk, Sungho’s chair rolled back suddenly. “Sunbae!”
Jaehyun flinched so hard he nearly knocked over his coffee. Sungho leaned across the divider between their desks, eyes sparkling like someone who had just discovered a new reality show.
“So,” he whispered dramatically, “tell me about the date.”
Jaehyun looked at him slowly. “You came back three minutes ago.”
“And I’ve been thinking about it the whole time,” Sungho said cheerfully.
Jaehyun sighed. “I regret telling you anything.”
Sungho ignored that completely. “Who is it?”
Jaehyun hesitated. Normally he wouldn’t have answered. But something about Sungho’s enthusiasm made it impossible to be mysterious.
So he tilted his head slightly toward the desk beside him.
Dongmin’s chair was empty. Sungho followed the motion. Then he blinked.
Then he blinked again.
“…Dongmin-sunbae?”
Jaehyun leaned back in his chair. “Yes.”
Sungho stared at him like Jaehyun had just revealed he was secretly dating a celebrity.
“Wait.”
“Yes.”
“You mean—”
“Yes.”
“The super quiet one?”
“Yes.”
“The insanely handsome one?”
Jaehyun pointed a finger at him. “Careful.”
Sungho immediately covered his mouth. “Right. Sorry. Your date.”
Jaehyun rubbed his temples. “I don’t know how this happened.”
Sungho leaned closer like a gossip reporter. “How did it happen?”
Jaehyun thought back about twenty minutes.
“Well,” he said slowly, “he asked me what I thought about his face.”
Sungho stared. “…And?”
“I told him he could sell products by existing.”
Sungho slapped the desk. “That’s flirting!”
“I didn’t mean it as flirting!”
Sungho looked deeply unconvinced.
But Jaehyun continued. “Then he laughed.”
Sungho gasped— maybe sarcastically, but Jaehyun didn’t register that.
“I know,” he said weakly. “That’s when everything went wrong.”
Sungho rested his chin on his hands. “Then you fell in love.”
Jaehyun paused and answered quietly, “Yes.”
Sungho blinked. “Wait— actually?”
And at that exact moment— Dongmin returned.
Sungho straightened so fast his chair squeaked. Jaehyun looked up. Dongmin stopped halfway to his desk, his gaze moving between the two of them.
“…Am I interrupting something?”
Sungho immediately shook his head like a malfunctioning fan. “No! Nothing! Absolutely nothing!”
Dongmin sat down slowly.
Jaehyun noticed two things immediately.
- Dongmin had taken his jacket off.
- He had rolled his sleeves up.
This should not have been notable.
Except Jaehyun had never seen his forearms before. And apparently Han Dongmin’s forearms were also attractive.
He looked away quickly. This was becoming ridiculous.
Dongmin glanced at him. “…Are you okay?”
Jaehyun nodded. “Fine.”
Sungho made a choking noise.
Dongmin frowned slightly. “Why does it feel like you two were talking about me?”
Sungho exploded. “No reason.”
Jaehyun kicked his chair. Sungho yelped.
Dongmin watched them with the calm expression of someone observing a strange wildlife documentary. He quietly asked Jaehyun, “What time should I pick you up?”
Jaehyun froze.
Sungho froze.
The entire nearby desk cluster froze.
Jaehyun swallowed. “…Pick me up?”
Dongmin blinked. “Is that not how dates work?”
Sungho covered his face with both hands.
Jaehyun leaned closer across the desk and whispered urgently, “You cannot say that out loud in the office.”
Dongmin looked genuinely confused. “Why?”
Jaehyun gestured helplessly around them to three coworkers who were very obviously pretending to type.
Sungho whispered dramatically, “The marketing department survives entirely on gossip.”
Dongmin slowly looked around. Then realization dawned and his ears turned pink again.
Jaehyun watched this happen in real time. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever witnessed.
Dongmin cleared his throat. “…After work,” he said quietly.
Jaehyun nodded. “Yep.”
They stared at each other for two seconds.
Sungho whispered, “This is insane.”
Neither of them responded. Because both of them were too busy smiling like idiots.
At 5:59 PM, Jaehyun packed his bag.
At 6:00 PM, he stood up.
At 6:01 PM, half the department was pretending not to watch them leave together.
Sungho gave him a thumbs up, but Jaehyun ignored him. Dongmin walked beside him toward the elevator.
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Then Dongmin said quietly, “I’ve been wanting to do this for a year.”
Jaehyun stopped walking. “…What?”
Dongmin looked straight ahead. “Ask you out.”
Jaehyun felt his brain reboot. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
“But—why didn’t you?”
Dongmin glanced at him. “Because you’re very friendly.”
Jaehyun frowned immediately. “That is not the reason.”
Dongmin blinked, giving a clueless look.
Jaehyun pointed at him. “You.”
“…Me?”
“Yes, you,” Jaehyun said. “You were the hard one to approach.”
Dongmin looked genuinely surprised.
“I sit next to you every day.”
“And you say about four words a week,” Jaehyun shot back.
Dongmin opened his mouth. Then closed it again.
“For a whole year I thought you just tolerated my existence.” Jaehyun said as he crossed his arms.
“That’s not true,” Dongmin said quickly.
“Then why were you so hard to talk to?”
Dongmin hesitated. For a moment he looked like he was debating something internally. Then he admitted, timidly, “…I was shy.”
Jaehyun stared at him.
“You?”
Dongmin nodded once.
Jaehyun blinked several times, trying to process this. “I’m sorry,” he said slowly, “but what exactly is there for Han Dongmin to be shy about?”
Dongmin rubbed the back of his neck. His ears had started turning pink again and Jaehyun noticed immediately.
“I was nervous.”
“Why?”
Dongmin looked at him. Directly. And replied, “Because I thought you were pretty.”
“…You what?”
Dongmin repeated it. “I thought you were pretty.”
So Jaehyun’s brain shut off. Completely.
The elevator doors slid open in front of them, but Jaehyun barely registered it as they stepped inside. Because there was nowhere to go. Nowhere to escape.
It was just him— and the ridiculously attractive man standing three feet away who had just casually announced that he’d been nervous around him for a year because he thought Jaehyun was pretty.
The elevator doors closed and Jaehyun felt like someone had thrown his heart into a blender.
“Excuse me,” he said weakly.
Dongmin blinked. “Yes?”
“You can’t just say that.”
“Why not?” Dongmin tilted his head.
Jaehyun gestured helplessly at the elevator. “This is a very small space.”
Dongmin looked around the elevator like he was verifying that information. “Yes,” he agreed.
“And you,” Jaehyun continued, “are a very attractive man.”
Dongmin blinked again.
“And now,” Jaehyun said, pressing a hand to his forehead, “you’re hitting on me in an enclosed area with no escape route.”
For a second Dongmin looked startled. Then he laughed. Again.
Jaehyun nearly slid down the elevator wall. “This is unbelievable,” he muttered.
Dongmin’s smile softened. “That’s not what I meant.”
“You literally said I was pretty.”
“You are.”
Jaehyun made a strangled noise. “You cannot double down!”
Dongmin looked thoughtful. “Should I retract the statement?”
“No!”
“…Then I’m confused about the problem.”
“You’re the problem!”
Dongmin smiled again. That soft, shy smile.
Jaehyun immediately forgot how oxygen worked.
For a moment the hallway noise outside the elevator faded completely and it was just the two of them.
Dongmin looked at him.
“…So.”
Jaehyun looked back.
“So.”
Dongmin took a small breath. “Are you actually okay with this being a date?”
Jaehyun leaned against the elevator wall.
Then he said, “I’ve been okay with it for exactly three hours and twenty minutes.”
Dongmin’s smile widened.
The elevator dinged.
The doors opened to the evening city lights.
Jaehyun stepped out beside him and thought:
Day 365 was already significantly better than the first 364.