Work Text:
"Hah…" Go Yeongeun sighs.
Upon opening up the door to R-squad office, she sees the normal array that greets her every morning without fail.
Every week, like clockwork, she is given letters.
Most of these letters contained strange writings and delusions, along with heart stickers and… sometimes bizarre photos as if they were promoting their goods looks to her.
Her desk is not a dating app!
Anymore, Go Yeongeun can't help but think that people are trying to send her letters for that specific reason.
To make it clear, Go Yeongeun has never put herself on the market.
She is not looking for love.
She has chosen to focus on her career and get through her daily assignments. Life—living—sounds much more exciting than dating.
Her boss had once claimed that Go Yeongeun's status as the newest rookie would fade, along with the letters and gift baskets that arrived.
However, as the months went on, Go Yeongeun continues to receive the love letters and gifts.
It got especially dangerous in February.
Valentine's Day should be banned—someone should use a Wish Potion to erase it from the calendar.
Go Yeongeun truly thought about quitting her job. She stuck it out, if only for the hazard pay.
She walks over to her desk and begins to sort through the letters. She felt bad about throwing them away because her peers had worked hard on them.
The amount of crafting that went into cutting out some of the paper… The velvet craft paper alone was worth enough to buy lunch with.
Unable to throw away the letters, Go Yeongeun would place them in her bag, and then return home and place them in the dedicated boxes. They were separated by size.
Most of them were unopened.
She stopped being interested in how people felt about her after the first few weeks of the endless stream of affection.
That is probably why she feels so betrayed when Baek Saheon walks into the R-squad office with a letter in hand.
Go Yeongeun glances up from her desk, feeling a shift in the room. Her feelings toward Baek Saheon, the loyalty and gratitude she felt toward him, suddenly vanish.
Baek Saheon ducks into the office, his curly hair bouncing a little as he comes up to her with a timid smile.
Go Yeongeun wants to deck him across the face. Make him face some consequences for his horrible actions.
Why does he look so confident yet embarrassed? Who has given him that right? Go Yeongeun did not.
"Go Yeongeun-ssi," he starts.
"Baek Saheon-ssi," Go Yeongeun says, voice tense.
She tries to keep the next word out of her mouth, she really does, but she can't help it.
She's had it.
"No," she ends up saying, before Baek Saheon even opens his mouth.
Baek Saheon's smile dims in confusion. "What?"
"I don't want it."
At that, he looks completely baffled. "What?"
"Baek Saheon-ssi. We haven't even spoken to each other outside of work."
"… Were we supposed to?"
It's Go Yeongeun's turn to look completely baffled.
They both stare at each other blankly, unsure of where to go from here.
Baek Saheon's hand starts to retreat, about to pocket the letter that he's holding. "But that psycho was going to give you one…" He trails off, as if wondering to himself. "He doesn't talk to you outside of work either…?"
Go Yeongeun's blood runs cold.
There's only one person that Baek Saheon calls a psychopath. Kim Soleum.
Kim Soleum was going to give her a love letter!?
This truly might be her last straw.
As if on cue, Kim Soleum appears at the door. He scans the room briefly, to see who's in. His eyes brighten when he spots Go Yeongeun, and then immediately dull when he sees Baek Saheon.
To Go Yeongeun's horror, there's a letter in his hand as well—and worse, a carefully wrapped present.
This is terrible.
This is the worst day of her life.
The two people who she'd thought she could count on to never have any delusions about who she was, who she'd gone through enough hell with that she'd let her guard down and thought we'll never expect more of each other, we'll just be content with this—
Her mind is reeling, trying to figure out how to talk her way out of this situation (because surely it isn't acceptable to shake Kim Soleum by the collar—)
But Soleum beats her to it.
"Happy birthday, Go Yeongeun-ssi!" he says, smiling brightly.
… What.
Oh.
That was today…?
He holds the letter out for her to take. It's cute, with a cut-out birthday cake stuck to the envelope. It—really is just a birthday letter.
The relief sinks into her bones so fast.
"Thank you," she says, taking it from him with a polite nod, trying to pretend she hadn't nearly burned the building down a mere five seconds ago. "That's very nice of you."
"The hell?" Baek Saheon says, completely insulted. He points at Kim Soleum accusingly. "You don't talk to him outside of work either?"
Soleum gives Saheon an unimpressed look. "What are you even saying?"
"She said—" Saheon starts, and then remembers he's dealing with a man who he, for some reason, still believes will kill him in his sleep. "Nothing. It's nothing."
He looks upset as he puts the letter back into his pocket.
"I even used better glue," he says, almost to himself.
"You left it out to dry," Kim Soleum deadpans.
"Baek Saheon-ssi," Go Yeongeun starts quickly, before this can get any worse. "I'm sorry… I did not expect this from you." She looks up. "Either of you." She reaches out to him. "I'd love to take it."
"Oh." Saheon's eyes regain a bit of life. "In that case—happy birthday, Go Yeongeun-ssi."
He hands her the letter.
The envelope is decorated much as Kim Soleum's was. It looks a little more sloppy, but there's a charm to it.
There's a warmth in her chest as she holds the two letters in her hands.