Chapter Text
“Go on a date with me.”
Doyoung’s hand pauses on the door handle to his office that he’s pulling closed, frozen in place by the words that cut through him like a spear. They’re coming from his left, a little ways down the hallway where his boss’s office is.
His boss, who if you must know, is one of Seoul’s most eligible bachelors. He’s filthy rich, gorgeous, he likes coffee and wine, he’s tall, and everything a mother would love for her son.
Everything Doyoung’s mom would love for her youngest son.
But there is no way Jaehyun was talking to Doyoung, so he pulls his door closed as quietly as possible and tries to sneak away from Jaehyun and whomever he’s asking out.
“Doyoung?” Jaehyun’s voice has gotten suspiciously closer, even though Doyoung tried to walk away.
He spins on his heel, ready to apologize for his poor timing and walking in on Jaehyun asking someone out on a date. He supposes it’s one of the beautiful people who work in marketing or maybe Johnny Suh from IT.
No one is near Jaehyun, which stuns Doyoung for a second before he stutters, “Hi, uh, good evening, Mr. Jeong,” he almost bows, but decides against it halfway through. It’s after hours, anyway. “I was just heading home, I’ll be out of your way soon!”
“It’s a little late for you to still be here, no?” Jaehyun is walking closer and then leaning up against Donghyuck’s desk. Doyoung remembers three weeks after his intern was hired he begged HR to find a new place for Donghyuck’s desk so the intern would stop throwing things at him through his open door, but it had been a fruitless effort. Jaehyun sitting on Donghyuck’s desk reminds Doyoung he forgot to pick up the paper airplane that had soared through his doorway and wedged underneath his desk after he got back from lunch. “It’s past 6pm.”
“I had to wrap up that report,” Doyoung says. He fumbles with his coat and briefcase, trying to glance at his watch. Ten minutes past 6pm. “I mean, I thought it’d be best to finish it tonight. It should be in your inbox.”
“I saw it, thank you,” Jaehyun’s smile is wide and Doyoung’s stomach twists a little. “But you shouldn’t be staying late, Doyoung, it’s best for you to have a healthy work-life balance.”
Doyoung swears Jaehyun winks, but that would be weird and unprofessional so it’s more likely he imagined it.
“Uh, yes, sir,” Doyoung squeaks. “It won’t happen again.”
“I am a little thankful, though,” Jaehyun chuckles. “This way I can ask you out without worrying about how your intern will spread the gossip.”
“I am so sorry, sir!” Doyoung’s cheeks flame in embarrassment. “I will talk to him about the gossip, I know how bad it’s gotten—“
Wait.
Jaehyun said…
“Ask me what?” Doyoung mutters, trying to not make eye contact.
“Ask you out, Doyoung.”
“Out?”
“On a date.”
Doyoung’s eyes snap and scan the long hallway behind Jaehyun, looking for something to make sense of what came out of Jaehyun’s mouth. There’s nothing so Doyoung’s eyes drag over to his boss.
His boss.
Technically Jaehyun is a year younger than him and he’s just the head of external relations and his father is the big boss of the whole company, but that doesn’t mean Jaehyun isn’t well on the way to being in his father’s position or isn’t already swimming in money or doesn’t have his pick of suitors.
So, Doyoung decides, there’s no way Jaehyun is asking him out. And even if he were, he wouldn’t say yes. So he says, “Ha ha. Very funny, sir. I hope you have a good night.”
He goes to turn towards the elevators and go home to a warm bowl of soup, but Jaehyun’s words stop him in his tracks again.
“I’m not joking, Doyoung, go on a date with me.”
“No.”
“No?”
Doyoung searches his brain for anything to say. “I can’t date you.”
“Why not?”
“You’re my boss!”
“No, you report to me, but you know I’m not your boss. My dad loves you. He’d fire me before he’d fire you,” Jaehyun is smiling again, closing the space between their bodies. Doyoung brings his coat and briefcase in front of his body like a barricade between the two of them.
“It’s a bad idea,” Doyoung feels his cheeks heating up and a bit of sweat starting at his hairline.
“Oh?”
“We’re not compatible,” Doyoung steps back a bit. Jaehyun doesn’t follow, but his eyebrow pops up like a challenge for Doyoung to continue. “I’m lazy! I rarely work out and when I do it’s, like, 40 minutes of cardio.”
“So? Go on a date with me.”
“I’m serious! I think the gym is gross, and it’s smelly, and—“
“I won’t be taking you to the gym,” Jaehyun laughs, and it’s from his belly. Doyoung feels his insides warm a little and he wants to yank his stomach out for even reacting a little to Jaehyun.
“Okay, but I don’t like fashion. I think it’s kinda fucked that rich people will spend hundreds and thousands on fashion,” Doyoung is kinda on a roll now. By the end of the evening, he may have not only missed out on a date opportunity with Jaehyun, but he also may be completely out of a job. “I mean, seriously, people who wear Rolex watches might as well tell the children dying of hunger that they don’t give a shit about them!”
Jaehyun smirks. “I don’t have a Rolex, but I do donate generously.”
“Oh, but what about your cologne? It’s very expensive, Jaehyun!” Oops. He might have just called his boss by his first name accidentally but he’ll try to ignore that for a minute. “Maybe you smell amazing, but at what cost?”
“I do believe my most recent bottle was a gift,” Jaehyun says. “Why don’t we talk about all of this over dinner, hm?”
“No, we can’t go out!” Doyoung feels a little delirious. “I think wine is disgusting. I mean, seriously. It has to be a running joke—right? No one actually likes wine, that makes no sense. It’s disgusting! So gross! And you want to kiss me with that mouth?”
“I’ll brush my teeth before we kiss, how’s that?”
“Kiss? Why are you kissing me if we haven’t gone on any dates?”
“Go out with me,” Jaehyun is clearly amused by the conversation and it’s driving Doyoung crazy. His boss should have been so severely insulted that he fired Doyoung on the spot.
Here Doyoung is instead grasping for any reason Jaehyun shouldn’t date him.
“I’m not one to turn my nose up at coffee, believe me, but people who care too much about coffee freak me out. Coffee is a chore in the morning, and I really couldn’t care less about where the bean is from.”
“Okay, I’ll make the coffee in the morning and you can sleep in. Let’s go out to eat, I’m getting hungry.”
“And! Rich people food is always so tiny, like there’s barely anything on my plate, it costs a million dollars, I’m still hungry, and quite frankly, it wasn’t good,” Doyoung says. He’s a little breathless now. Not dating Jaehyun is a lot of work.
“I’m not a huge of those places,” Jaehyun shrugs. “You like the burgers from the restaurant on the corner, right? We could go there.”
“No, you like the Gyro burger from them and it kinda freaks me out. Lamb,” Doyoung sighs. He steps back again, but this time Jaehyun follows. “I mean eating meat is one thing, but a baby animal? It makes me sad.”
“Hm,” Jaehyun feigns like he’s thinking about something. Then he snaps his fingers, “If it means that much to you, I can get their grilled chicken sandwich instead.”
“You didn’t like that last time. But! Here’s another thing! Your birthday is on Valentine’s Day, that’s a lot of pressure, and I’m not that guy,” Doyoung shakes his head. “There’s no way I can celebrate your birthday and Valentine’s Day properly.”
“Go on a date with me.”
“Jaehyun,” Doyoung purses his lips, crosses his arms, and lets all of his weight settle over one hip. “Have you listened to a word I’ve said? I’m saying no.”
“Alright, saying no is fine,” Jaehyun says. He smirks, “But answer one question for me. Do you know this much about the other people in our office? Their birthdays? What they like to drink, what cologne they wear, what their burger order is, whether or not they go to the gym? Or just me?”
Doyoung feels his body stiffen and his eyes unfocus slightly. Fuck.
Jaehyun caught him.
“I—“ Doyoung starts. Jaehyun raises his eyebrow again. “No, I don’t know that about others.”
“One date, Doyoung, that’s all I’m asking for,” Jaehyun says.
➖
Doyoung supposes that’s how he ended up across from Jaehyun at a barbecue restaurant a few blocks away from the burger restaurant (“We can’t eat there, Jaehyun, there’s nothing that you like other than the poor little lamb brutally slaughtered.”)
Jaehyun is chatting about something funny he saw on the street earlier while Doyoung is making a mental list of all Jaehyun’s transgressions: smiles at the waitress with dimples showing, drives to work—not eco-friendly, sits very straight in his seat so it’s hard to relax around him, laughs very cutely, nose scrunch, smacks inanimate objects while laughing (hard), recognizes Doyoung’s funniest jokes, turtle neck is a little tight around his chest, no regard for splitting the bill, walks dates home, smiles brightly and thanks them for the evening.
Wants to go on another date soon.
Does not kiss on a first date, even though he didn’t have any wine.