Work Text:
“Hello?” You cradle your phone between your shoulder and ear while you pull the sheets up on the bed and fluff the pillows.
“Oh, I’m glad you picked up.”
“Jaehee, good to hear from you,” you say. “What’s up?”
You can hear the shuffling of papers on the other end of the line. “Remember what you called me about earlier? Mr. Han’s lunch appointment with the cat hotel company from Taiwan was just postponed until next week.”
“Oh!” you say, passing the phone to your other ear and rolling the knot out of your shoulder. “What time should I come over?”
“There’s a reservation for the rooftop restaurant at half past noon,” Jaehee says. “I can call ahead to tell them it will just be the two of you.”
You pull the phone away from your ear to check the time. You’ve got a little over an hour and a half to get ready, then. “Sounds good,” you say. “Thank you so much, Jaehee!”
“I’m happy to help,” she says. Her voice suddenly sounds a little far away from the phone. “Oh… yes. You can put that here. I’ll get the necessary signatures.” There’s some sounds of movement and her voice is back in your ear. “I apologize; I have some more work to take care of.”
“Good luck, Jaehee!” you say. “I’m cheering for you.”
“Yes, thank you. Good bye.” Click.
An hour and a half. Time enough for a shower and some makeup before you go. You rifle through the hangers in your closet to search for a nice dress and shoes before hurrying to your bathroom to get ready.
The restaurant hostess immediately recognizes Jumin when he walks in and hurries to give him a polite bow. “Mr. Han,” she says. “This way, please.”
She leads him to a table surrounded on three sides with a stone flowerbed. Jumin admires the flowers for a moment before sitting down and requesting a bottle of wine. Hmm. It’s odd that he should be the first to arrive. And the table seems to be only prepared for two people. Perhaps the hostess made a mistake. How irritating.
Jumin turns to look for a staff member to report the mistake to when he notices the hostess returning. And following her is… you.
Jumin stands up, your name a question on his lips as the hostess nods and leaves the two of you alone once again. “I thought you were at home today,” he says, catching your wrist and kissing you lightly on the top of your hand. He’ll never get tired of seeing your slight blush as his lips touch your skin.
“Your lunch meeting was rescheduled,” you say. “I had Jaehee call me so that I could come here and surprise you.”
Jumin pulls the seat out across from his and motions for you to sit down. A thousand thoughts are tumbling in his head now. Of course you were a constant presence in his mind—not only at home, but at work and recently in his dreams, too. But to have you actually here, beside him, close enough to touch… it will be a wonder if he can get anything else done at work today.
You look breathtaking. Jumin takes his seat and immediately wishes there wasn’t a table separating you from him. You’re wearing the diamond necklace he gave you last month. It highlights the shape of your collarbone, the perfect curve of your neck that he’s memorized after so many kisses, so many nights…
“Did you order already?” you ask, looking at the wine bottle. “I hope you weren’t waiting long.”
Jumin shakes his head, fiddling with his cuff link. He wants to reach across the table and gather you in his arms, but he can’t; not here, anyway. Your foot brushes against his leg under the table and you reach your hand out to his. Your touch is so warm and soft.
“Did I surprise you?” You’re staring at his hands, tracing along the lines on his palm.
“I wasn’t scheduled to see you until later tonight, so yes,” Jumin says. He can smell your perfume from here and it’s positively intoxicating. No, he probably won’t be getting much work done after lunch.
A waiter comes and bows to the two of you. “Mr. Han, sir. Milady. May I take your order?”
You’re tracing your finger along the shelves in Jumin’s office, inspecting the photos and awards on display there. Jumin watches you for a moment, almost forgetting that he had intended to check his schedule for his next appointment after lunch. He wonders briefly if he can postpone attending until Driver Kim comes to pick you up and drive you home so that you’re not alone in his office for long.
You turn away from the shelf and catch his eye, then smile radiantly. “There’s a photo of us, here,” you say, gesturing towards it.
“Of course,” Jumin says, moving to stand by your side. “If I can’t see you in person I like to at least have your photo in front of me while working.”
Your smile grows brighter and you stand on tip-toe to kiss him on the cheek. “I’m here now, though,” you say.
Jumin opens his mouth to reply but is interrupted by the buzzing of his phone. He lets out a sigh and checks the message. A reminder from Assistant Kang that his next meeting is in five minutes. With a click to darken the screen, he puts the phone down on his desk.
“I’ll be fine until Driver Kim comes,” you say, leaning on the polished wood of his desk top. “Jaehee won’t be happy if I keep you from your meeting.”
“You’ll call me when you get home?” Jumin asks, brushing a strand of hair behind your ear.
“I always do.”
Jumin still hasn’t removed his hand from your face after adjusting your hair. What he wouldn’t give for more time to spend with you here, while you were in front of him. Your gaze drops to his lips and then slowly back to his eyes. “How about a goodbye kiss?” you ask, eyes sparkling.
Without hesitating, Jumin pulls you towards him to bring your mouth to his. Your body, so soft, melts against his own. You lean into him and Jumin is acutely aware of every part of your body that’s touching his. He wraps an arm around your lower back to hold you close.
After a moment, you pull back from the kiss. “Jumin,” you say, your breath warm against his lips, “don’t you… have a meeting?”
“There’s still a moment or two left,” Jumin says, kissing you once more. “I can’t… let you go just yet.”
You turn your face away so he can’t reach your lips. “Jumin, you… oh.” Just because he can’t kiss your lips doesn’t mean he can’t kiss your neck. He presses his lips to the hollow just under your jawbone and continues to kiss lower and lower, following the curve of your neck to your collarbone. He knows this is your weak point, and you know it, too. Your breathing begins to quicken. “That’s… cheating…”
You don’t seem to mind anymore, though. You thread your fingers through his hair and let out a long sigh as he lingers at the skin where your neck meets your shoulder. The necklace chain rests at your throat, as beautiful and delicate as you are. “It’s not cheating when you offer it to me so readily,” Jumin murmurs.
You turn your head towards him again, perhaps hoping to present less of your neck for him to kiss. No matter. Jumin greets your lips with his and watches as your eyelids flutter shut. He moves the hand not holding you to him down your body, outlining your every curve under the dress. You taste deliciously like the strawberries you ate for dessert.
You lean into him more heavily and tug at his shirt with your hand. Jumin smiles into the kiss. Yes. Yes, you can be much more greedy, he thinks. Jumin pulls at his tie to loosen it and you’re quick to pull it off and undo the top two buttons of his shirt. The next kiss has more hunger behind it, more desire. You wind yourself further into his arms and put one leg between his, pressing yourself closer. Always closer. Jumin groans as you pull away from his lips to rain kisses down on his throat, his hands pulling roughly at your shoulders to hold you to him.
Knock knock.
You gasp and pull back, sudden panic filling your eyes. The two of you barely manage to move apart when the door opens.
“Mr. Han, the meeting…” There is a very awkward pause during which Jumin picks his tie up off the floor. “Ah. Hello,” Jaehee says.
“Hello, Jaehee,” you say, and your face seems to make the air around you shimmer with heat. Jumin’s quite sure his cheeks are red as well.
“I will wait outside for you to… compose yourself,” Jaehee says, and sidesteps out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“Ohhh God that was so awkward,” you say, pressing your face into Jumin’s chest. “She’ll never look at me the same.”
Jumin gently strokes your back in what he hopes is a comforting manner. He notices a slight bruise beginning to form on your neck and can’t help but smile to himself. You let out a long sigh and pull away to help him with his tie. Jumin’s eyes are trained on the bruise, the colour already quite visible against your skin. He touches it gently with a fingertip and you pause while tying.
Your fingers overlap his, tracing the same spot. “You didn’t… oh God. Well, if she didn’t know already…” You sigh again and look up at Jumin. “You’re not… why do you look happy about this?”
Jumin realizes he’s smiling. “It’s… nice to let the world know you’re mine,” he says as you finish tying the knot in his tie.
“There are many other ways to do that, too,” you say, brushing a white hair (probably from Elizabeth 3rd) off of his shirt. “But, well… I suppose I didn’t mind too much…” You turn around and pick Jumin’s phone up off of his desk and hand it to him. “Now, go to your meeting. I promise I’ll see you tonight.”
Jumin moves to kiss you once more before leaving, but you turn so his lips land on your cheek, instead. “So impatient,” you tease.
“Driver Kim should arrive soon. Call me when you’re home.”
“I will.”
Assistant Kang is waiting for Jumin outside his office door. She seems to be pointedly avoiding his gaze. “…Mr. Han,” she says. “Perhaps it would be best, in the future, to refrain from… ah… showing your affection until your work is done.”
“I won’t make any promises,” Jumin says, the image of you standing in his office still burned in his mind. Jaehee sighs deeply.