Walking into the office after leaving (y/n)'s home inevitably led to me, stuck in my office for the next nine days, forced to ignore calls and send one-word responses to her without a decent explanation. I spent day and night planted firmly in my chair, and if not I was in the conference room making sure everybody was doing the same. Any time I tried to sneak a moment away, Assitant Kang swiftly put me back in my office. I began to dread going to work as (y/n)'s messages changed from 'No worries' to 'Why haven't you been answering lately?', guilt eating me up despite being powerless.
I'm going on my tenth day in a row when Assiatant Kang knocks on the door to my office, keys in her hands. I wave her in, only looking up from my computer for a moment.
"I'm going to run and get something to eat, do you want me to bring you back anything?"
"No, thank you."
"Mr. Han," Worry paints her face as she gets ready to lecture me. "I understand there's a lot to do, but you can't neglect your health. I know you've been skipping meals and it's not good for you or your work."
"Fine," I sigh. "Bring me back anything. Whatever you get is fine."
"Thank you," she calls as she leaves, leaving me alone again. I take a deep breath and relax for a moment, making sure Jaehee has left before pulling out my phone, crossing the room and closing the door before clicking (y/n)'s name on the screen. The ringing went on, and I began to lose heart just when she answered.
"Hello?"
"(Y/n)," I breathe, relief washing over me. "I'm so glad you picked up. I'm sorry I haven't been around lately."
"Yeah!" She snickers, hopefully at least only half upset. "I was worried about you. I thought you'd worked yourself to death."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I chuckle, happy to hear her voice even if it was just over the phone. "Everybody in the company is working overtime to finish this project we've got with another very large company. I'm only calling you now because my assistant left for a moment and she'd have my head if she caught me."
She Oohhh's in response, a few beats of silence between us making me uncomfortable.
"How have you been though? How is your work going?" I ask, desperate to fit in as much conversation as possible before Jaehee comes in and confiscates my phone from me.
"It's been great," she answers. "My gallery show for the pieces I showed you is only a week from Thursday now. I'm getting nervous." She gives a halfhearted laugh, almost self deprecating.
"Why are you nervous?" I ask, confused. "Those paintings are beautiful. Nobody intelligent would say they're not."
"I guess," she laughs. "I'm struggling with the final piece. I haven't done a proper gallery since I did this big event in Europe, which was almost a year ago. I don't even have a dress yet."
"I'm sure it will go great. Are you displaying just the pieces you showed me or anything else?" I'm surprised by my own curiousity, considering with V I couldn't follow along with the talk of his photography for more than a few minutes before I was confused. With (y/n) though, everything she said kept me on the edge of my seat, begging for more.
"There'll be much more. I think that's why I'm so nervous, because I'm displaying a lot of pieces that are really personal to me for the first time... I actually wanted to ask you something, Jumin."
"Of course," I say; as she begins to speak, though, my father enters my office and I feel like a child caught drawing on the walls as he stares down at me blankly from across the room. "Uh, Father. One moment please."
"Jumin? Is everything okay?" (Y/n)'s voice fades as I set my phone down on my desk, not hanging up.
"Who is that on the phone?" He asks, no inflection of any sort in his voice.
"Uh," I stammer, at a loss for words in front of my father. "It's uhm- it's the woman I told you about a while ago. I was just trying to catch up with her for a moment before getting back to work."
"A woman?" His eyes widen. "Are you two seeing each other?"
"...Yes." My face is burning hot, and the fact that I am, in fact, twenty seven years old does not do anything to make me feel less like a sixteen year old boy.
"Well you better pick up the phone, son. Nobody likes to be left on hold." His smile is huge and I can tell he's clawing to fawn all over me, but I'm thankful as he gracefully exits my office, shutting the door behind him.
"Hello? (Y/n)?"
"Jumin! What the hell?" She's more than half upset now, and I quickly try and run damage control.
"I'm sorry!" I exclaim. "My father came in and needed to talk to me. What were you saying? You wanted to ask me something?"
"Yes," she sighs. "My gallery- can you make it?"
I don't know how I didn't expect it, but her request catches me completely off guard. I stammer for a moment, going over my schedule in my head.
"I'll have to check with my assistant and make sure I'm available. Can you send me the details, actually?"
"Uhm," her voice is disheartened and quiet. "Okay. I mean, Jihyun is going to be there too, if that makes a difference. I'd really appreciate it if you could make the effort to come."
"It doesn't make a difference if V is there or not. I do want to come, but it's very busy with my company right now. You have to understand." Her tone makes me feel defensive for some reason, but my excuses seem half-assed, even to me.
"Everybody is busy, Jumin." She's short, and I realize I've pushed a button I shouldn't have.
"(Y/n), don't be upset with me. It's childish." I bite back.
"Seriously, Jumin?" Her voice is higher than usual, and I'm suddenly a bit angry now too. "I'm asking you to spend one night supporting me after you've ignored me for over a week. I understand you're busy but so is everyone else and you need to make time for the people you care about."
Jaehee enters my office with an annoyed expression when she takes notice of me on my cell phone; I hold up a finger to her, definitely ready to wrap up the conversation with (y/n).
"Listen, can we finish this later?" My voice goes flat, no longer interested in arguing. "Can you come over to my house tonight so we can talk?"
"Are you kidding me?" She spits out. "I do not run on your schedule, Jumin. Figure out how to make time for me in your oh-so busy life yourself. Bye." I'm left with a droning dial tone, a strange weight settling on my chest.
"Everything okay?" Jaehee treads, placing a fragrant bag on my desk.
"Yes." I quickly answer, not interested in the third degree from Jaehee about what she might have heard. "Thank you for the food."
"No problem," she sighs, walking away. "Remember, the director from the company we discussed in the meeting earlier this week is coming in at four. Let me know if you need help preparing any paperwork."
I thank her again and she hesitantly leaves. I'm left alone with a take out meal and no appetite, my thoughts eating me up as I desperately try to focus on the work in front of me.
The hours pass by and it's around ten at night when I finalize the presentation for our partner company's meeting next week. I click send, my father the last person who needs to approve everything before we can continue. Leaning back in my chair, I take a deep breath, slowly letting the air out of my lungs before I stood up to gather my things. When I look up though, I see (y/n) standing in the doorway, her expression venomous.
"(Y/n)," I say, trying to size up exactly how angry she is. "Who let you up here?"
"Is that really the first thing you have to say to me?" She spits out, slowly closing the distance between us.
"Yes," I answered, thinking it was obvious. "Only employees for C&R have clearance to be on this floor. Whoever let you up here is going to lose their job."
"I'm going to lose my job?" My father appears in the doorway behind (y/n), a smirk on his lips.
"Father!" I began to sweat, crossing the room towards where they both stood. "You can't just let people up whenever you please. It's against the rules."
"Are you kidding me right now?" (Y/n) took a step closer to me, as if she was ready to throw a punch should she need to. "I came out here to talk to you and all you can do is bitch about breaking a stupid rule? Don't you have anything else to say to me?"
"It's not a stupid rule," I defended. "Rules are set to be followed. And I told you to come to my house, not my office. You shouldn't have acted on your own accord."
"Oh my god," she groaned, running her hands through her hair, exasperated. My father gently nudged her to the side, stepping around her and meeting me eye to eye.
"Son," he began, his expression stern. "As your father, I don't like to tell you to do anything, but I am telling you this now: acting like you are now is not as clever or easy as you think it is. I know you don't want to hear it, but I made the same mistake with your mother and it's one of the reasons she isn't here today. There is a beautiful woman standing behind me who deserves better than a workaholic who makes time when it's convenient; please don't make the same mistakes I did, Jumin."
Silence settles over the room, and my father exits after placing a firm hand on my shoulder, his eyes deep with age and secrets I'd never know. He shuts the door behind him, leaving me to face (y/n).
"(Y/n)," I mumbled, my eyes trained to my shoes. "I'm sorry for what I said on the phone. You weren't being childish, I was."
"Jumin, listen," she pleaded, filling the distance between us and grabbing my hands in hers. "I really like you, but I'm your equal before I'm your girlfriend. I'm busy like you, I have meetings and reports and calls just like you. I'm sure you have your ideas about how I live my life, but we have a lot to learn about each other still. And I want to give us the chance for that, but I refuse to stand in second place to you; if you're looking for that I might as well just leave now."
"I know," I nod. "I know. I'm just... I'm used to women approaching me because they think I have all this money and power over them. You're strange because you already have all that, so it leaves me thinking 'What could you want with me?'. That's all anyone has ever wanted me for."
"Jumin," she mumbles, wrapping her arms tightly around my waist, squeezing. "You're more than what anyone thinks of you. You can let that image go when you're with me, because I really don't care for it; I like you when you're vulnerable and when you smile, when you don't act like you're too cold to feel anything. I like you when you're you."
I like the way her words feel against my throat, and how her hair is soft beneath my fingers when I raise my hands to pull her in closer. She smells flowery as I breathe her in, and I take a while to savor the moment before speaking.
"Thank you." I speak into the crook of her neck, scared to let her go. She slowly untangles herself from me, looking me in the eyes.
"I need to get going," she takes a step away. "I have a lot I need to get ready for next week."
"Wait," I grab her wrist as she steps into the doorway, my heart racing in my chest. "Please come home with me tonight. I know you're busy and so am I but I don't want to be away from you right now."
She stares at me for a long moment, her expression thoughtful with the slightest hint of mischief. Finally, her lips curl into my favorite smile and her hand grasps mine, opening the door of my office.
"Hey, I have to get my things first," I laugh, quickly throwing on my coat and shoving everything haphazardly in my briefcase, gladly accepting (y/n)'s hand in mine as she offers it to me. I lock the door behind us and see Jaehee putting on her coat as she exits her own office, her eyes surveying the both of us suspiciously.
"Goodnight, Mr. Han," she says, giving (y/n) a leery nod before getting on the elevator and closing it well before we could meet her there.
"Who's that?" (Y/n) asks, snaking her arm up around mine, closing the distance between us.
"That was my assistant, Jaehee."
"Oh," The sounds falls from her mouth, round and curious. "She seems very serious. Even more business than you." The elevator opens up for us, empty, a solid minute before we reach the ground floor (I have counted the seconds passing many times on the way down).
"Yeah," I answer absentmindedly, waiting for the doors to meet before placing my hand against the wall behind (y/n), leaning in to kiss her on the lips, long and lingering. She angles herself closer to me, her hand pulling me in deeper by the back of my neck, running her fingers through my hair. She smiles into the kiss and I take it as an invitation to her open mouth, meeting her tongue with mine as we descended back to the ground. I hear the elevator ding and the sound of the doors pushing open, (y/n) biting my lower lip before pushing me off of her and grabbing my hand, leading the way out of the building.
"My driver is parked right there," I nod to the black car on the curb, engine running. We slide into the backseat and (y/n) places a mischievous hand on my thigh as I tell Kim to bring us home, the city streets quiet since it's a weeknight. She begins to slide her hand up slowly, but I cover it with my own hand, giving her a sidelong glance as she looks out the window innocently. When we reach my penthouse we repeat the elevator ride at the office on the way up to my suite, locking the door behind me before I led her to my bed, pushing her down as I took my coat off, tossing it on the floor. A loud meow came from under it though, Elizabeth desperately trying to nudge her way out from under it. I laugh as I pluck it off of her, her expression angry, then taking notice of (y/n) on my bed.
"Is that your cat?" She asks, her voice unusually high pitched, pushing me off from where I had been straddling her just seconds ago.
"Yeah," I reply, following her down to where she sat on the carpet, petting Elizabeth. "Her name is Elizabeth the Third."
"Oh my god," she squealed, picking up Elizabeth and sitting her in her lap, leaning down to kiss her fur. "This is the prettiest cat I've ever seen. I'm gonna lose it, Jumin."
"What?" I asked, confused.
"Jumin, this is the best cat ever." Her tone is serious, matter of fact. "I've never believed in love at first sight but I think I get it now."
"Are you serious?" I scoff, although charmed by her reaction. "What about your cats?"
"I love them too," she laughs, setting Elizabeth down on the floor, where she nudges her head into my legs, purring. "But this cat is perfect. Look at her."
"I know," I stand up, extending my hand to (y/n), pulling her close to me as she gets up. "You can pet Elizabeth tomorrow. I want you right now."
She frowns down at where Elizabeth circles between our feet, looking indecisive. I'm a little shocked that it's not me choosing between my cat and sex, but eventually (y/n) laughs and pushes us back onto my bed, straddling me as she slowly unties my tie, her eyes dark. I let her unbutton my shirt, running her fingers down my bare chest before flipping us around, smiling as I lean down to kiss her for the first of many times that night.