stray kids hyunjin x jeongin (i.n)

new guy

whatever stopped the new guy from getting what he wanted?

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   New jobs always made Jeongin want to puke. The thought of having to introduce himself like a broken record, being talked down to by senior executives alongside their god-awful superiority complexes, and being labeled the 'new guy' - a fat, red target on his forehead, pulsing and eager for petty remarks and sympathetic stares like he was some animal off to the slaughterhouse. At least his desk was next to a window.

   And a perfect view of Hyunjin.

   Granted, everyone thought Hyunjin was the guy of the office - he was polite but blunt; witty but charming; cooperative but assertive. He could talk anyone into a deal, the manager into sliding an extra break into his manicured hands, hell, even spending days on a presentation over fucking plastic cups and succeeding in changing them to paper. Hyunjin was nothing if not determined, and Jeongin was waiting idly on the sidelines, wishing upon the stars above that those beautiful eyes would land on him.

   And don't get him started on his face, god, Jeongin was practically choking his mouse. His hair was long and flared around his collarbone, an ebony mane of rosewater and fresh cotton. His skin was glass, nose a majestic slope, eyes like dew drops off Eden grass, and lips that Jeongin was afraid would pop if bitten too hard, always glossed in a milky pink that tasted like strawberry milk - or so the younger imagined many a night.

   Jeongin remembered the first time he ever saw Hyunjin, all the while breaking a sweat over a cutesy keyboard that would end up breaking two months later. The older was leaning against his desk, perched on it while another coworker of theirs told a wild story, eliciting a giggle that could have melted icecaps. He looked heavenly, like a butterfly atop a rose petal, a hummingbird beside a lily. They locked eyes - for Jeongin had been staring for quite some time at this point - and Hyunjin waved, a sweet gesture that gave the younger a toothache. Here he was, waving back like a dork, being swallowed by this wrinkly button-down when the godsend across the room wiggled his fingers attached to an arm hidden beneath the sexiest sweater Jeongin's ever seen. It wasn't inherently sexy, it just so happened to be on Hyunjin, which so happened to have mile-wide shoulders that exposed -

   You get where Jeongin is going with this, he's been enthralled since the beginning.

   A long four months passed until the 'new guy' title wore itself out, and out with the trash was Jeongin's meek exterior. He'd had enough of longing glances and pouts reflected in his monitor, quick peeks above his bonsai just to hide back behind it with a squeak. A night in the tub, wine in hand, and romance book getting soggy between his fingers, Jeongin decided that if he was ever going to have fun at this mundane-ass job, he's got to put in the work; to hell if this was above his pay-grade, Jeongin wanted Hyunjin so bad that thinking about it too long required shot of ice water, and he'll be the first to admit they were not because of he's chronically dehydrated. If Jeongin wanted to get noticed, he'd have to make the effort to be noticed in the first place. He already blent in with every first-time apartment owner with his concerning collection of plants and orange cat, he couldn't take another day of walking into the office and seeing a middle-aged man with the same button down in his closet.

   So, on the first day back to the office after a small fall break, he struts over to his desk in brown loafers, olive green trousers, and the tightest black turtleneck he owns. Now, don't get him wrong, Jeongin was going to get risky, but nothing that didn't break the accepted dress code, for he just started this job, and finding one after college mentally drained him. This was his life now, and he's got to make it something before it turned into nothing. His puffer long discarded over his chair, a chunky knit vest to keep this modest, and over walks Hyunjin.

   "Where did you get that vest, it's gorgeous."

   Jeongin looked up, smiled with his tongue between his teeth, and said, "Oh, a friend of mine crocheted it for me! It's fun, isn't it?"

   "I've got to have the connections you do, you make me look bland."

   Hyunjin stepped back, about to go back to his desk when Jeongin slipped in a quick, "I wouldn't say bland, that shirt looks pretty good on you."

   The older paused, grinned, nodded, then sat at his desk. Jeongin was seconds away from exploding, from shame or excitement, it's up in the air. Hyunjin finally said a full sentence to him and all he did was nod. A nod, and Jeongin went through hell and back, digging out his college clothes and bringing back the style he threw away for a corporate society that barely gave him something in return. At least he put his foot in the door, right? Jeongin kept this up for months, this daring game of fishing something out his closet and praying he wouldn't get stopped on his way to the elevator, and it seemed to accomplish the very thing the younger set out for: getting Hyunjin's attention.

   Now, let Jeongin get something straight. He wasn't just going to wear his funky, loud outfits and stop there, for another evening in lukewarm, lavender water revealed something to him: he was meek in every sense of the word. He was the quiet new employee in the corner of the office, the man who could never say no to working late despite the screaming of his conscious. The timid one in the meeting room, never voicing a new strategy and blaming himself when another person said the exact thing. And don't get him started on speaking to his senior advisors; they were nasty, cruel people who only wanted to see the world suffer in the plush comfort of their cracking leather chairs. Even gossiping with his colleagues made him feel small.

   Jeongin was so tired of coming to work and hiding behind his degree when he should be flaunting it. God, he paid so much money for this piece of cardstock that when it became time to wield it, he couldn't even throw it like a playing card. Jeongin wanted to be liked, desired to be a part of the social circles at lunch, and the only way to do that was to get off his ass when Hyunjin went to get another coffee and talk. He put his foot out, and enough time had passed for the older to kick it away if he found it bothersome, annoying and childish even, but it stayed planted there, waiting and ever-so zealous.

   So, when the snow turned to slush and the trees shook off their ice like drenched dogs, Jeongin took his cardiganed self to the break room minutes after Hyunjin. After months of brief compliments and briefer exchanges about the company's steady sales, Jeongin craved something more, something that tasted exciting and new, for he was getting bored of the cologne the older usually wore. He wanted new quirks to cling to, the ones he cuddled with each night began to lose their fluff.

   "Round two already?"

   Hyunjin whisked around to find Jeongin shaking the extra droplets of tea from his mug.

   The older let out a breathy chuckle. "Well, with quarterly reports around the corner, I'm taking all I can get before a certain someone shows up next week."

   Jeongin leaned a tad closer before hissing out, "Who should I look out for?"

   The men locked eyes, and for a split second Jeongin assumed the older was going to laugh, a mocking, nasty outburst before stalking out. Hyunjin simply grinned, and a sweetness invaded the younger's senses.

   "Ms. Cho. She's ruthless, almost got Changbin fired for mistaking the correlation between our stocks and yearly revenue." Hyunjin took his mug off the espresso machine and towards the fridge. "You better have shit pressed and ironed and hang dried, just for good measure, before she even steps foot in our garage."

   Jeongin paused, haunted, before pressing his luck more; there was conversation, he wasn't backing away, he seemed interested enough - it was a conversation about work, in the break room, he's grasping at straws here.

   "So, keep doing what I'm doing?" Jeongin tried, before Hyunjin glanced up, stirring his coffee and staring back puzzled, yet expectant. "I don't really speak up, nor make presentations, just type away at my desk and submit expense spreadsheets."

   Jeongin plucked a tea bag from the bouquet of packets, spinning it around. Hibiscus, not bad.

   "I wouldn't say that's all you're doing, I've watched you in our meetings." The younger almost flooded his hand with boiling water.

   Did Hyunjin just say he was watching him, which meant he's done this multiple times, which meant that he purposely looks for Jeongin in the meetings? Jeongin was feeling faint, and the scalding mug was not doing its job very well. Quite apt, now that he thinks about it.

   Hyunjin continued regardless: "You desperately want to chime in, but hold yourself back. You deflate when your idea was said by someone else - little word of advice, these people here will betray you the second the hint of a promotion touches their tongues. Hide your notes. They're like dogs, scrambling for a bone with hardly any meat on it." He shook his head, mouth a flat line of disapproval before his mug breached it.

   Jeongin regained enough of himself to reply, albeit short of breath, "Never has someone read me that well." Looking down, he noticed his tea was done, a deep fuchsia that no doubt mirrored his cheeks. He bobbed the bag, a grounding act more than anything, for Hyunjin felt all too close yet still so far away.

   "I thought so too, until you walked in a couple months ago," Another sip, and a shameless scan of the younger that left him scorching. "Let's hope my assumption is right because I'm expecting a read along the same vein here soon, given the amount of time you've watched me."

   Hyunjin was on his way out, trying to leave Jeongin to wallow in his rose-colored stupor, when the younger called out, "My guess is you like being watched."

   The older turned, slowly, deliberately. His coffee was a dull river down his throat, the younger's tea a numbing drum along his palm.

   "Oh?"

   It was now or never.

   "Yeah, you freak. Having someone ogle at you only makes your production sales increase; I've seen your stats each month, I'm the one who calculates your percent growth, don't forget that." Jeongin ambled over, stepping just behind Hyunjin, giving enough space for an escape or an indulgence, his choice. "It's the sense of urgency, is it? Or perhaps the idea of someone as helpless as me looking up to a deity like you? To be fair, the latter option puts your looks to shame, because quite frankly, the idea of Aphrodite on her knees for you, begging for your guidance, would give you a boner."

   And like that, Jeongin left; he didn't turn around, didn't scurry away either. Just walked - as calmly as possible, for the man was losing it - to his desk, set his tea down on his crocheted coaster, and got back to work. These spreadsheets won't fill themselves!

   The men haven't spoken since, mainly because of the sheer amount of deadlines and projects and reports that needed to be finished and packaged in pretty pink bows, but for the two of them, it was because they were scared of what would come of their next interaction. Jeongin was scared of Hyunjin spitting out a 'read' cast as a hostile jab for whatever happened back in the break room; Hyunin was scared of Jeongin causing another emergency trip to the bathroom. It was true to both that something transpired in that break room; there was a tension that was created, a cloud that crackled when they crossed paths, sizzled when they sat next to each other. It was exhilarating, yet the last thing that needed to be on their minds, for Ms. Cho was down the hall as we speak and Jeongin has no idea what he is to report on. His boss said something along the lines of 'those numbers you've been crunching this month' and here's the kicker, he's been working on four different projects, all of which are done, but which one is relevant. He was seconds away from bolting out the door.

   Fantastic, Ms. Cho just entered while he was fingers deep in his shoe.

   The beginning of multiple, back-to-back, meetings started at 8 a.m., each one increasingly tense and stuffy. Colleagues were taking every advantage to leave, scrambling the moment their leather shoes struck the hardwood, yet Jeongin stayed cemented to his seat. He knew what was to come, dreaded it with every tick of the clock in the corner, yet the idea of moving sent him into a spiral. He'd surely have sweat stains on his favorite slacks, the flowy top he was wearing was not flowy enough, and to make matters worse, he spent all this time worrying when he should have been preparing because, fuck him and his luck, it's his turn.

   "So, what's the matter with our monthly expenses? I've heard rumors of my company taking a sharp left into debt?"

   Jeongin swallowed lead, breathed in too little air, exhaled virtually nothing.

   "Quite the opposite, Ms."

   The break room never looked so beautiful and enticing. He was freed from the dungeon, the dragon let him go, for he was too skinny to provide any useful energy, too gamey. His report went as smoothly as he hoped given it was his first; there was no fire breathing from Ms. Cho, no slashes at his armor from his boss, some dents in his chainmail given the inherent probability of some data, but he was allowed out without questioning. Dismissed with a nod and a tight-lipped smile. His day couldn't have gone smoother.

    Look, there goes Hyunjin and his botanical mug. Just what the younger needed after battle, a tall glass of wine.

   "Such a shame you had to miss my report," Jeongin started, leant up against the doorframe of the break room. Hyunjin flinched and didn't relax his shoulders. Interesting. "For my first time up against the woman, I walked away with nothing but a scratch."

   "Bravo, my dearest colleague." Hyunjin spun around, a stack of crackers in his hand and two between his teeth. God, did his lips look good. "Care to celebrate? We have crackers...and maybe some more, but they might be stale."

   Jeongin giggled, taking a few off the top when the older offered, hands touching briefly, though the feeling lasted minutes. "I was hoping for something bigger, I don't know, a reward even. Hell, a pen off your desk would work."

   "We're swapping pens now? Cause that wouldn't attract eyes."

   "I never said you could have mine! Besides, you would adore those eyes on you, pervert."

   "Not just anyone's eyes, dipshit, there's a handful of people I care about in this office, and you weaseled yourself on that list."

   "Weasling is my toxic trait, I must admit. Landed me this job."

   "And boy am I grateful for that."

   The men went from opposite sides of the room to a foot apart. Their hearts took control, guiding themselves towards the other like some deranged moth stumbling towards its beacon, its source, its star.

   "You mentioned something about a reward? Care to elaborate?" Hyunjin breathed out, drunk off adrenaline yet debilitated from passion.

   "You're smart enough to figure that out, pretty boy." Jeongin was getting cocky, hearing the way Hyunjin gasped at the name. He'll never get tired of this.

   "Yeah, but hearing you say it is so much better."

   Jeongin could have collapsed. Hyunjin looked so much better up close; eyebrows that could cut diamonds, a nose that had his name written all over it, lips that seemed even bigger, lusher. "Can you be my reward?"

   Jeongin blinked and they were in a bathroom stall, Hyunjin's fingers laced through his hair.

   "On your knees, Aphrodite."

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call me a chef the way i COOKED WITH THAT LAST LINE GOD WE'RE SO BACK

this one started out rough,,,but we got there eventually!

till next time <3