Work Text:
“This is the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.”
If Minghao didn’t know any better, he would probably feel bad about the dejected look Seokmin gives him in return. He’s going all out with it, after all: the full-on puppy eyes, the overexaggerated pout, and a sagging of his shoulders that is probably not as fabricated as Minghao would like it to be.
Fortunately, years of experience make it so that he does know better than to fall for any of it. It doesn’t stop Seokmin from trying his best, though.
“How can you say that?” He cries out, not an ounce of shame in his voice. “It’s your fault we’re in this situation in the first place, you know!”
Minghao scoffs. “How is any of it my fault?”
“Well, you’re the one who broke up with me when we were in college.”
“I didn’t break up with anyone. A handful of drunk hookups do not count as dating, Seokmin.”
Seokmin doesn’t even have the decency to blush at the shortfall of his boldfaced lie. “Well, I know that!” he huffs. “But still. You were the one who called things off.”
“Because you told me you went on a date with your dance instructor? And that you really liked him and wanted to be his boyfriend? Which you did become?” Minghao cannot believe he has to walk Seokmin through this all over again. “Forgive me for being a good friend, I guess!”
“That’s not relevant to the point.”
“Seokmin.” Minghao knows there has to be at least an ounce of reason left inside Seokmin’s head. Hopes so, at least. “It’s been six years. Why are you even bringing this up now?”
“Because you still owe me one for breaking my heart.”
“Oh come on—” Maybe Minghao’s been wrong in his assumptions about Seokmin all along. Maybe there’s truly no one in control anymore. His temple is starting to throb. “Mingyu, please tell him this is stupid.”
Thinking back on it, Minghao should have probably known he was wrong in his assumptions about Mingyu’s capabilities at coherence, too.
“I don’t think it’s stupid at all,” Mingyu says unapologetically from his spot at the table right next to Minghao, because of course he does. “It’s not like we actually have to do anything. Everyone thinks we’re dating already, anyways.”
Not for the first time in the past year, Minghao regrets ever having referred them both to the company he’s been working at for three now. A career in customer support is enough of a torture on its own for him to think that getting his best friends from college to join his team would do him any favors, but Minghao has never been great at self-preservation to begin with.
Perhaps that’s exactly what has led him to this.
“Not everyone,” Minghao says in one last attempt at common sense. “I honestly don’t think we should feed into Chan’s and Seungkwan’s delusions for something that’s obviously bound to fail. You know how much people talk in the office.”
“So what!” Seokmin has ditched the puppy eyes by now. In their place, a fiery glare digs holes into Minghao’s forehead instead. “We can play that in our favor!”
“‘Our’?” Minghao scoffs in disbelief. “You do realise you’re the only one getting something out of this, right?”
“Hey! Dating me is actually an honor, you know!” Mingyu cries out.
“Plus, I honestly don’t think Jeonghan-hyung would care whether I’m dating someone right now or not.”
“Exactly!” Seokmin nods, even though Minghao is not really sure what he’s agreeing with. “Plus, the ones who don’t think you’re dating Mingyu just believe you’re a prude, Minghao. You could relaunch your reputation like this.”
“I seriously don’t care what anyone in this stupid ass office thinks of me.”
“But I really like Jeonghan-hyung,” Seokmin says then, and—there he goes again. The goddamned puppy eyes, the cracking voice, the whole heart-out-on-my-sleeve fake ass demeanour. “And we all know he would never even think of dating me if he knew you and I used to have something going on.”
“Which he doesn’t,” Minghao cuts in.
“But he could!” Seokmin whines. “Unless he got distracted by you and Mingyu actually dating.”
“This is stupid.”
“Come on! Pretty please?”
It’s only after Seokmin’s rise in pitch that Minghao realises how eerily quiet the restaurant they’re spending their hour-long lunch break at has gone around them. Suddenly, he can feel the weight of people’s stares on the back of his head, as if waiting for him to break and give in.
He doesn’t get paid enough for this.
“You have to admit it’s a good idea,” Mingyu says then, all too loudly for the bubble they seem to have created around them with their bickering. “And again, it’s not like we actually have to do anything about it. Seungkwannie has already done all the work on his own.”
“I don’t understand why you’re so on board with this,” Minghao sighs, exasperated. Mingyu only shrugs.
“So? What do you say?” Seokmin asks brightly, ridding himself of the dramatic act he’s been putting on for the past twenty minutes.
It’s not the first time Minghao has seen this film. They all knew how it was bound to end since the very start, anyways.
“Oh my God, whatever. Fine,” Minghao caves, much to his so-called friends’ delight, even though he can already taste regret on the next bite of his cooling food. “I can’t stand you two, I swear.”
“I love you so much, Minghao-ya!” Seokmin squeals, attempting to reach across the table to smooch him on the cheek. Minghao just barely stops him before he sends what is left of their food flying. “You’ll be the best man at my wedding with Jeonghan-hyung, I promise.”
Next to him, Mingyu does not even say anything. Minghao sighs once again, checking the time on his phone just to see they’re due back in the office in ten minutes.
So much for a peaceful, relaxing break of the workday.
“Yeah, well,” he says, waving his chopsticks around. “Just for the record. I still think this is stupid and will not work out.”
Seokmin only gives him one of his wide, brightest smiles. It’s answer enough.
🖨️
“Thank you so much for joining this call, everyone.”
Despite the polite grin he gives Seungcheol in return, Minghao’s fist is clenched tightly around his favorite blue pen outside of the range of his corporate laptop’s webcam. On his screen, everyone looks like they would rather be doing anything but this—which, really, Minghao can understand. He definitely does.
Mingyu’s fingers fiddle with the string of his headset awkwardly, making an unpleasant sound echo in the Teams meeting. He hurries to mute himself, mouthing apologies that his mic now cannot catch, and Minghao would tease him for it if he wasn’t on the verge of throwing his laptop out of the office’s window and then follow suit.
“Yeah, thank you for taking the time out of your day to be here despite all the work you all have got on the table,” Joshua says in front of his blurred out background. “Also, sorry for making this a virtual meeting. I really couldn’t make it to the office today.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Mingyu says into his mic, glancing at Minghao from where he’s sitting at the desk right across from his. “Is… everything okay?”
Minghao wants to strangle him and then himself. They’re in a surprise meeting with just the two of them and all of their department’s supervisors titled ‘Contingency call’. Things are most definitely not okay.
“Of course,” Jeonghan smiles at them gently, as he always does. “We just wanted to touch base on something real quick, but all is fine.”
“Yeah,” Seungcheol nods at his camera. “Jeonghan and I are here as your direct supervisors, and we only asked Joshua to join so we would all be aligned.”
See, Minghao has been part of Jeonghan’s team ever since he joined the company’s customer support department, and the two of them are as close to friends as their context has allowed them to become. They hang out together when the team goes out for drinks after work sometimes, share mundane stories of their lives outside the office, and it was Jeonghan that helped him refer Seokmin and Mingyu when the position for more customer support specialists was opened by HR. Minghao had been the first to know that they wouldn’t be joining Jeonghan’s team, but that Seokmin would be assigned to Joshua’s and Mingyu to Seungcheol’s instead.
Jeonghan always tells Minghao everything first, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about an urgent meeting today. That’s why he knows something is off.
“Cool.” Minghao’s throat remains dry despite how many sips of his water bottle he’s taken in the past five minutes. “What can we help you with, then?”
“Well, you see,” Jeonghan starts when Joshua and Seungcheol remain quiet at his question, and his usual friendly chirping is replaced by the serious, professional tone he reserves for meetings. “We know this is not something that concerns us, and so we apologise in advance if this offends you in any way. It’s absolutely not what we want, so please, don’t feel burdened by it. Alright?”
“Sure!” Mingyu says, all too calm. Cold sweat starts beading on the back of Minghao‘s neck. He is absolutely terrified.
Jeonghan gives a curt nod in return. “Good. So, let me just get straight to the point. We wanted to let you know that we’re aware of your… personal, romantic relationship.” Romantic relationship. Minghao’s lungs stop working. “Of course, there’s no corporate policy against this, but we thought we’d tell you that, while we’re a hundred percent supportive of it, we hope this will not affect your teamwork performance.”
“Not that we think it will,” Seungcheol jumps in, and Joshua and Jeonghan are quick to nod in agreement. “We know you’re professionals, and we’re really happy for you and confident in your ability to separate work and personal life.”
Joshua hums into his mic. “And, if you’ll allow me… I also think it’s a really good sign that you found love in the office. It speaks a lot of how well our teams get along, doesn’t it?”
“Absolutely,” Jeonghan smiles, all seriousness gone. “As I said, we’re super supportive of you guys, and we don’t doubt this will have no impact on your work at all! And, really, I’m very sorry we had to bring it up like this, but we wanted to make sure it was all clear so no misunderstandings would happen in the future.”
Minghao’s ears are ringing with white noise, and he feels as if his body has been disconnected from his brain. He catches sight of himself on the square at the bottom right of his screen, and only finds relief in the fact that he doesn’t look half as baffled as he actually feels.
This can’t be happening. Minghao is a good person. He talks gently to customers no matter how angry they are when they call, spends his due time at the office every day, volunteers to take part in the charity projects the company participates in, and has been told to be a darling to work with in the different workstreams he’s taken part in.
It has to be a joke. He hasn’t even mentioned Seokmin’s stupid idea to anyone, nor has changed the way he acts around Mingyu at all. There’s no way something like this just happened to him at 11:16AM on a workday.
“Guys?” Seungcheol says, a worried cinch in between his eyebrows. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Mingyu answers swiftly. Minghao has to give him credit for it, because he doesn’t think he’s capable of forming words right now. “Sorry, I guess it took us by surprise, but! We’re glad you’ve let us know, and of course, you can be certain there will be no issues arising from this.”
“We’re sure of that, don’t worry,” Joshua grins. “As we said, this was something we had to do, not something all that necessary, if you know what I mean?”
“Of course,” Mingyu keeps nodding. “Really, thank you so much for your support. It really means a lot to us.”
“Myungho?” Jeonghan says then. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes.” Everything is ridiculous, and Mingyu looks so unapologetic across from him that he can’t help but start feeling anger simmering at the bottom of his ribcage. “Yeah, of course. Thank you for your support. You will not notice any differences in our performance, I assure you.”
Minghao is not sure why he didn’t admit to everything being a hoax right away, but he is sure of something now: he can’t go back on his words, no matter how badly he wishes to do so.
“We know,” Seungcheol smiles. “Let’s wrap it up, then! Again, congratulations to you both!”
“Yeah, congrats!”
“Congratulations!” There’s a knowing glint in Jeonghan’s eye that Minghao can feel piercing his heart even through the screen. “And don’t forget to send us the wedding invites!”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you!” Mingyu echoes, way more brightly than Minghao could muster. “Have a great day!”
“Bye!”
At the end, Minghao is left alone in the call, staring at his own face on the screen for a few seconds. It takes him a moment to hit the red Leave button, and his hands are trembling as he takes off his headset and takes a deep breath.
He makes a point of not looking at Mingyu, just to avoid doing something that would most likely get him fired for workplace harassment. Instead, he grabs his ID card and gets up from his chair, feeling as if every single person in the office had his eyes on him—which they most likely do, if Seungkwan’s pleased grin is anything to go by.
Minghao is already picturing in his head how he’s going to go outside the office to scream into the stairway’s wall when the annoying notification sound from a Teams group chat stops him in his tracks.
97 on the line 📞
Lee Seokmin 11:15 AM
i can’t believe my plan worked in just 3 weeks!!!
jeonghan hyung looks so hot lecturing you two i’m so jealous 😭
you two are the best!!!! fighting ㅋㅋㅋ
Minghao is going to kill him.
🖨️
“I still don’t get it.”
The salad bar he’s dragged Mingyu to for lunch today is busy around them. Wednesday is Minghao’s least favorite day to come to the office: there are always too many people everywhere, the weight of the past two days has already worn most of his patience down, and there’s still half a week of work left ahead.
That’s why Mingyu always lets him choose where to eat on Wednesdays. A little act of kindness to atone for his sins, he once said, or as close as he can get to that.
Not that Minghao thinks it’s enough, but well.
“Don’t worry too much about it,” Mingyu says, as if worrying is something Minghao does because he wants to. He picks one of the bigger pieces of the overpriced extra avocado he always adds in his bowl and transfers it to Minghao’s in a silent apology, glancing at him with a small smile. “We’ll be fine.”
“No, but seriously.” The frown in Minghao’s face only deepens around his next bite of food. “I don’t understand why the supervisors said they knew about us, even though there’s actually nothing to know.”
“Seokmin probably told someone about it, and it made it to their ears? Like, you know. Everything else that happens in the office.”
“But even if that’s true, why did they believe it?” Minghao’s temple is throbbing again. “Especially Jeonghan-hyung, who’s always so skeptical about everything. We haven’t been acting any differently than we always have. Surely there must be something else Seokmin hasn’t told us about.”
“It’s been over two months since we had that call, Minghao,” Mingyu says around a mouthful of lettuce, so nonchalantly that it irks Minghao just a little bit, “and nothing bad has happened. Just let them be. Seokmin is really happy, isn’t he?”
“Well, duh,” Minghao scoffs. “He’d better be.”
Seokmin actually is. He is absolutely delighted, if anyone were to directly ask him what he thinks of the whole ordeal.
Which Jeonghan does, over one of their now usual shared lunches at the office’s cafeteria.
“You don’t have lunch with Mingyu and Minghao as often as you used to, do you?”
Seokmin knows how to take an opening when he sees one. “I do eat with them most days! But sometimes I just give them more space, you know.”
Jeonghan smiles knowingly, all the way up to his eyes, and Seokmin’s heart skips a beat. It should be illegal to be so pretty—at least during working hours. He doesn’t understand how anyone can focus on their job around Jeonghan. “You’re such a good friend, Seokmin-ah. Are you happy for them?”
What Seokmin is, actually, is over the moon.
He and Jeonghan are on informal terms now. Have been for a while—ever since Seokmin started bringing packed lunches to the office just so he could eat with Jeonghan under the pretense of ‘giving Mingyu and Minghao their space’, nothing if not a mastermind committed to the plan.
“So happy, hyung,” he grins. “I honestly saw it coming from a mile away! The three of us have known each other since college, did you know?”
“Myungho told me, yes,” Jeonghan laughs. “Well, I’m glad you’re taking things like this. Other people would’ve been at least a little bit peebled, I suppose.”
“You think so?”
“Mhm. Your best friends getting all lovey dovey, when the three of you work so closely together?“ Jeonghan narrows his eyes, somehow mischievous. “I’m telling you not everyone would be so selflessly happy about it. You sure are a great friend.”
“Thank you, hyung.” Seokmin beams. “It means a lot to me that you think so!”
Jeonghan hums. “No need to thank me,” he says gently. “I’m actually really glad someone is keeping me company during lunch these days.”
I’m in love with you, Seokmin thinks, so loudly he’s afraid Jeonghan might hear. “Anytime, hyung,” he replies instead. “I’m really glad, too.”
“Oh, hello!”
Seungkwan stops by the table where Mingyu and Minghao are sitting, with Chan in tow carrying a tray with what must be their lunch. The two of them, like Seokmin, are part of Joshua’s team, and they’ve been working in the company only for a little longer than Minghao has.
“Hi!” Mingyu says back, full of charm like he always is and just how Minghao wishes he could be. “Ah, Seungkwannie, I love the coat you’re wearing! It looks so good on you.”
“Oh really?” Seungkwan grins, obviously pleased. “Thank you! It was a gift from my boyfriend for my birthday last year.”
“Absolutely. It suits you a lot.”
“You need to stop flattering him, hyung,” Chan grins, “or else he’ll believe it’s true!”
“Do I have to remind you who is paying for your lunch today, Chan-ah?” Seungkwan hums, always committed to the bit. It makes the four of them start laughing, and really, despite everything, Minghao is glad to have colleagues like them at work.
That’s why he speaks without thinking twice about it.
“Hey, do you wanna sit with us?” Minghao offers, out of the little goodness that’s still left inside his decaying heart, even though he should have already known what the answer was going to be before he asked.
Things always go like this lately when it’s only Mingyu and him at the table, no matter who he asks or what the state of the restaurant they’re in is: Chan smiles at them awkwardly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he glances at Seungkwan sideways.
“Thank you, Myungho,” Seungkwan says politely, a knowing smile playing on his lips, “but we’d rather let you two enjoy your time together in peace. You both look so cute, we wouldn’t wanna interrupt anything! You know, you actually remind me a lot of when my boyfriend and I were young.”
The look Seungkwan gives them is the same Minghao has noticed some people in the office send their way whenever he and Mingyu happen to go to the bathroom at the same time, or when they walk together into the soundproof meeting room they always book for their regular catch-up calls with the foreign project manager in one of their workstreams.
Minghao knows he should have gotten used to it already, with how often he’s been on the receiving end of it in the past couple of months. It still leaves him speechless, though.
“You’re younger than us,” is the only thing that makes it past his stupid mouth, because this whole fake relationship situation is rapidly chipping away at his capability to think.
“Thank you so much,” Mingyu says at the same time, his grin unfaltering. His role as president of the theater club back in high school sure keeps paying off. “We’ll see you later for a coffee break, then!”
Chan and Seungkwan walk away after that, waving at them as they go. Minghao watches them for a moment before turning to look at Mingyu again.
“I seriously—”
“It’s fine,” Mingyu smiles, placing yet another piece of avocado on Minghao’s plate. “It’s quieter like this, isn’t it?”
“I just don’t understand why everyone believes everything Seokmin says straight away,” Minghao laments, pressing the arch of his foot to Mingyu’s shin under the table as his own way of saying thank you before putting the piece in his mouth. “Don’t we let him get away with too much?”
“As long as he’s happy,” Mingyu shrugs, leaving it at that. “By the way, what are you going to wear to the company Christmas party next week?”
🖨️
The hall where the yearly company Christmas event is held is bursting at the seams with people Minghao does not remember ever having seen in his life.
Not remembering doesn’t mean he hasn’t, though. He most likely did at last year’s party, where he had the same exact thoughts he’s having now: that a year of hard work is not so easily repaid with just gathering all the employees in the country in a fancy celebration hall with a few mid-quality hors d’oeuvres and free flowing alcohol, but that he’s going to make the most of it without complaining anyways.
In the past, Minghao’s strategy to turn this awkward, pseudo-fancy night into a successful one was simple. He used to spend most of the time gossiping over shared drinks with Jeonghan and Seungkwan, and then, once he’d gotten tipsy enough not to care about appearances much anymore, he would go dancing until his feet hurt with Chan and anyone else brave enough to join them on the dance floor.
This year, however, things are different. His two best friends are in the company now, and so all that Minghao had been hoping for was to get drunk with them and make the most of a party where everything had already been paid for in advance.
But things, of course, don’t ever go according to Minghao’s plans or hopes. This much, he should have probably known.
“You know, Myungho-ya,” Joshua says, not quite managing to conceal his pleased smirk behind the rim of what is probably his fifth champagne glass as he points at them with his free hand. “For how lovey-dovey you two always are, we’ve actually never seen you and Mingyu kiss!”
It’s barely past 9PM, and Seokmin’s stupid, fruitless idea has already come to bite Minghao in the ass. The flames of embarrassment light up fiercely at the bottom of his lungs, making their way up to his ears and turning them red under the overly attentive stares of everyone in their department gathering around them.
It takes Minghao a moment to realize, much to his horror, that he and Mingyu are standing under a piece of mistletoe.
Across from them, from his spot right by Jeonghan, Seokmin looks like he’s having the time of his life. He’s grabbing Jeonghan’s arm and everything, as if he finds the situation so incredibly hilarious that he can’t even stay upright on his own. Minghao makes up his mind in a second. The moment Mingyu deflects the joke, Minghao is going to strangle Seokmin in front of everyone. He doesn’t care about the consequences anymore.
Except, Mingyu doesn’t.
“Ah, is that so?” he chuckles, turning to gaze at Minghao so tenderly that it makes his stomach turn. “Well… should we?”
Minghao’s brain shortcuts. “What?”
Mingyu doesn’t give him any time to react, though.
Before Minghao can wrap his mind around what he’s just said, Mingyu is already placing the wide palm of his hand on the small of his back and bringing him closer to his body. Everything happens in a blur after that, like in those stupid romcom movies Mingyu loves so much and Minghao only watches because he likes the look in Mingyu’s eyes when happy ever afters are granted to everyone. Mingyu tilts Minghao’s chin slightly, a gesture that feels gentle despite the way Minghao’s heart is racing, and then leans forward to press a frugal kiss to Minghao’s lips that doesn’t last for more than a second, but that sears itself into his memory for eternity all the same.
The warmth is gone from his mouth as fast as it came, only a deep blush left on Minghao’s cheeks as proof that it ever happened.
That, and the sudden screams and whistles coming from their colleagues, who seem more than content to have witnessed their public display of affection.
“Cute! You’re so cute!” Seungkwan cries out in delight. Next to him, Seungcheol nods enthusiastically, clapping his hands as if he’d never seen something quite like this before. “Again! Again!”
Next to Minghao, with his hand still on the dip of his back, Mingyu chuckles and shakes his head bashfully, waving his hand to dismiss the idea of an encore performance.
Minghao feels frozen in place. As if the world had stopped spinning, sending him off balance, or as if the Sun had decided to swallow him whole, taking away even the last remnants of his bones. The soft touch of Mingyu’s lips on his still lingers, even if barely so, along with the faintest taste of the red wine he’d been sipping on before.
It’s not a big deal, he tells himself to wake up from the daze. He and Mingyu have pecked each other on the lips before: countless times back in college, regular victims of spinning bottles and dares chosen over truths, where it never meant anything and Minghao hadn’t felt anything quite like the vertiginous rush that’s curling inside his belly now.
It doesn’t mean anything now, either. It’s all part of their game of play pretend—something they will laugh at in the future, a secret joke to be shared with the rest of their friends over drinks when they make fun of Seokmin for failing at rizzing up his pretty boss on his own. Minghao just needs to clear up his mind now, and he’ll be back to normal soon.
As if capable of reading his thoughts, Jeonghan walks up to Minghao with a glass of wine in his hand.
“Myungho! Have this here,” he says gently, giving him the smile he uses to make up for the fact that he can’t wink as he pushes the glass into Minghao’s hand. “You look like you need it.”
“Thank you, hyung,” Minghao hears himself say, bringing the wine to his lips and gulping the entire thing down in one go. “I’ll be back in a second.”
Minghao has lost count of how many glasses of sauvignon he’s already asked the bartender for when he spots Mingyu walking towards him from the other side of the hall.
Stupidly tall Mingyu, in his stupid tailored suit, with his slicked back hair and his hand in his pocket like a stupid model, and some fancy cocktail drink in the other.
Minghao has been victim to some truly terrible revelations over the course of the past hour. Right where he is standing by the bar, and in between pointless, short-lived conversations with colleagues he hasn’t seen in a year and several refills of wine, he’s found himself losing his mind, wondering how is it possible for him to have never admitted to himself just how hot he finds Mingyu to be, or how head over heels for him Minghao actually, seriously is.
Mingyu, who brings him coffee every morning and lets Minghao decide where to have lunch, who walks home with him after work despite the cold and cooks extra servings of stew on the weekends so that Minghao will have something warm to eat too.
Mingyu, who’s been there for Minghao to lean on ever since they first met each other when they were just two dumb kids in college far away from home, holding hands through rights and wrongs. Mingyu, his best friend in the world, who listens to Minghao’s concerns and helps him out with an honest heart, who puts up with his bad mood and shares Minghao’s happiness as if it were his own.
Mingyu, with his wide smile and his pointy canines, who’s waving at him even though they are within arm's reach now, looking like the protagonist of every single romantic dream Minghao can remember ever having.
Fuck.
“Hey, you!” Mingyu calls, unabashed, always warm and bright like sunshine. “How dare you start getting drunk without me?”
Minghao can’t help but smile, forever a moon to reflect his light. “You’re drinking without me too.”
“Because you disappeared on me.” Mingyu is frowning now. Minghao’s heart gives a painful tug at the sight. “Listen, I’m sorry for kissing you like that. I wasn’t sure how to get out of that situation, and I didn’t think you’d get mad at me for it, but I get it if you did! But I’m really so—”
“It’s fine,” Minghao cuts him off, and bites his lip before he can say something stupid, like “You’re so fucking hot” or how the smallest taste of Mingyu’s mouth has been enough to open his eyes to the reality he’s been too blind to see until now.
Mingyu keeps looking at him with those starry eyes of his, though, and there’s just so much Minghao can withstand before his walls come crumbling down. “You can kiss me again, if you want.”
Mingyu blinks, staring at him intently. Minghao keeps his eyes on him, valiant despite the silence. “Well?”
“Are you serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know.” Mingyu makes himself smaller, somehow. “I thought you hated to be seen with me like that. You’ve always been so against it.”
There’s guilt, and there’s desire, swirling up together inside Minghao’s ribcage, because this is Mingyu, who didn’t hesitate to hold his hand or kiss him in public despite how opposed to it Minghao had been to the entire thing. His feelings grow bigger than himself, and he’s speaking before he can stop himself.
“I don’t,” Minghao says, reaching over to hold Mingyu’s hand. “Not if it’s true. If it’s with you.”
Mingyu’s hand squeezes his briefly just as a smile makes its way into his flushed, handsome face, and it’s all downhill from there. Minghao grabs his tie, pulling him forward, and they crash in the middle like a long time coming eclipse—all tongue and teeth, needy hands and little giggles, and disappearing into a hidden corner to satiate a more-than-physical kind of thirst.
In the back of his mind, far away from where Mingyu’s lips are making their way down the side of his neck, Minghao can almost hear Seokmin scream in shock.
“Wow, they’re really going all out with the act tonight, aren’t they?”
Seokmin’s hand comes to a halt where he had been raising his mixed drink to his mouth. He furrows his eyebrows at Jeonghan, and follows his gaze until he, too, catches sight of Mingyu and Minghao making out right against one of the columns in the hall.
What?
“It must be the wine, I guess!” Seokmin laughs, hoping for it to conceal his own surprise. It sounds too forced even to his own ears.
Next to him, by the lone table the two of them turned into their own a long while ago, Jeonghan shakes his head. “They really should be thinking about pursuing an acting career then, if a little wine is enough to get them to do this!”
Seokmin’s glass grows slippery with condensation. The warmth emanating from his now trembling hands is probably making the ice in his drink melt faster. “Uh. What do you mean, hyung?”
“What do you think?” Jeonghan chuckles. “It’s obvious they’ve been faking the whole ‘being together’ thing the entire time. Although it looks like they might have found a way to change that now, no?”
“I—” Seokmin’s ears are ringing. Jeonghan has turned to stare back at him now, in his loose blazer and his white satin shirt. His long, dark hair curls around his ears, and his cheeks are slightly flushed from the few drinks he’s already had. Seokmin really needs to think of a way to get out of this situation without botching his entire plan—except he can’t think, and his plan is most likely already botched anyway. Jeonghan is too pretty, too kind and too intelligent, and Seokmin likes him so incredibly much it just makes his mind go blank.
He ends up asking the one thing he shouldn’t have. “You… knew?”
“Knew what, Seokmin-ah?”
“That they’re not…” Seokmin can’t bring himself to say it outloud. “You didn’t believe it was true?”
Jeonghan starts laughing then. “Of course I didn’t. Myungho would have told me beforehand if it was. We’re actually friends, you know.”
“But.” Something is not adding up. “You asked me about them over lunch.”
“Mhm. And you did an impressive job at pretending to know all about it. Which I suppose you actually did.” Jeonghan’s hand makes its way to Seokmin’s forearm, his fingers pressing down gently until Seokmin’s glass is placed down on the table. He hasn’t stopped smiling at all, and his tone makes it so that it would seem, if Seokmin didn’t know any better, like he’s actually flirting with him.
Which is something Jeonghan possibly cannot be doing.
“Why’d you still eat with me, then?” Seokmin asks, breathless. “If you knew I was lying to you?”
“Because you’re really fun. And hot, too,” Jeonghan’s hand sneaks under the sleeve of Seokmin’s suit jacket, fiddling with the button on the cuff of his shirt. “Can you blame me for liking the premise of your movie and wanting a little office love affair, too?”
Seokmin’s heart stops beating inside his chest. For a fraction of a second, he has a little taste of what death must be like at the hands of a beautiful siren, enchanted under a spell that bursts like a bubble when realization dawns upon him.
“Hyung,” Seokmin breathes out shakily, turning his hand upwards so that he can press his palm to Jeonghan’s. “Are you being serious right now?”
“Who knows,” Jeonghan smirks, leaning forward to whisper into Seokmin’s ear. “Why don’t you follow me to the bathroom and find out?”
(Minutes later, pressed to the wall inside a freshly cleaned stall with Jeonghan unbuttoning his nicest shirt, Seokmin sends Minghao a telepathic middle finger for daring to think his plan wouldn’t work out.)
🖨️
“Thank you for joining this last minute meeting, Jeonghan, Seokmin,” Joshua says in front of his blurred out background. “You’ll have to forgive me for not being able to make it to the office, but I already made the trip home for the holidays.”
“It’s all fine,” Seokmin says quickly, even though his voice gets caught in his throat and comes out pitched all wrong.
From his desk on the opposite end of their department’s area in the office, Jeonghan keeps flashing his perfect smile at his laptop camera. “Enjoy your time home, Joshuji!” he chirps. “So, what did the two of you want to talk about?”
Seokmin looks at his screen, where, right above the square showing Jeonghan’s serene face, Seungcheol and Joshua squirm in their seats.
“Oh, you know,” Seungcheol smiles tensely. “We just wanted to touch base on something real quick, but all is fine!”
At the top of the window, the Teams meeting’s name highlighted in bold reads ‘Contingency call’.
97 on the line 📞
Kim Mingyu 12:46 PM
loosen up, seokminnie!!
you know what they’re going to say anyway ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Seo Myungho (Xu Ming Hao) 12:47 PM
karma sure is nice sometimes 🥰
fighting! 💙
Lee Seokmin 12:48 PM
ungrateful brats!!!!!!!! 😠😫
👥
Kim Mingyu
12:49 PM
i can’t believe our plan really worked out
i’ll treat u to lunch next week to celebrate 💚
12:50 PM
deal 😤❤
👥
Boo Seungkwan
12:48 PM
Channie~
Seems I was right about Jeonghan hyung and Seokmin!!!!!
You owe me coffee 💘
12:49 PM
I hate this job so much