"Why would you want to bring something between us?

There's nothing between us."

The morning struck eight and no one had gotten the chance to see a single shade of blue in the sky, as the clouds were draped like a fluffy blanket all over. Filled to the brim with rain and painted in dark hues of gray, hanging just above Baekhyun's head, it wasn't far-fetched to say that the weather reflected the turmoil going on within the man. His thumb aggressively pressed the red 'end call' button after a pointless fight with the lady who was saved as a simple 'Jinhee' and nothing more on his phone. Curses spewed from his lips and although he was alone in the car, the insults remained underneath his breath. Baekhyun brought two gentle fingers to his head and massaged his aching temples.

Though what he was about to see next would have awakened a new set of anger, a different one.

The office was calm when Baekhyun cooly walked through the glass doors, the flow of who had found a good rhythm in their words floated in the air along with the aroma of coffee, and his taste buds immediately longed for the bitter black drink on his tongue. His ears had become so used to the constant noise of clicking against mouses and keyboards that he wouldn't even realize he was hearing it. However, today there was one specific noise filling his head. Soon-ok's voice speaking on the phone by her desk seemed so loud in his ears, and yet she was talking in normal tones. As the name Sehun rolled down her lips the man found himself grumbling irritatedly upon remembering the scene from the night prior, his anger once again awakened.

"I'm so, so sorry Soon-ok," Sehun had cried for the hundredth time after telling the girl how something bad had happened at work and he was needed. She understood his situation and therefore couldn't be disappointed that he wouldn't be able to drive her to the hospital just this once.

"Hey, hey," Soon-ok hushed Sehun gently when she noticed how the guilt in his voice was getting unnecessarily heavy. "Sehun, it's fine, really. Don't worry." She assured warmly, letting the man hear the serenity in her voice in hopes that he would believe her and calm down. On the other side was Baekhyun settling on his desk next to hers, silently listening to her conversation.

"I'll just take the train, it's not far." She concluded and smiled when Sehun sighed in relief. Baekhyun's brows puckered into a frown as he started the computer. He couldn't really detect what she and that Sehun guy were talking about except for the fact that she had now lost her ride to a place she was supposed to visit. The man let out a little chuckle underneath his breath while he thought, serves you right.

Despite the mockery he made out of her in his mind, Baekhyun was quick to react when Soon-ok sprung to her feet and hurriedly shrugged on her jacket before walking to the exit door, the sound of her heels nicely clicking against the floor gradually became fainter. His eyes followed her figure suit while he furiously tried to fight the urge to go after her, drawing blood from his lip with his drilling teeth. It only took him a glance at her seat, finding out that the stupid woman had forgotten her bloody purse.

"Oh, for fuck's sake." He growled out loudly, drawing attention from Minseok and Chanyeol at the other side of his desk as he angrily snatched Soon-ok's purse from the chair and stormed out of the office, headed to where his car was parked. The colleagues looked at each other with matching expressions, question marks hanging above their heads.

The man was deep in his thoughts, his orbs almost unfocused as he walked with long and quick steps. It wasn't like he was worried about her, not at all.

After all, they were rivals-

Baekhyun was startled when his shoulder suddenly collided into another, earning a yelp from the other person. Eyes widened with worry, his hands had automatically flown to hold the shoulders in order to steady the shorter girl.

"I am so sorry!" Baekhyun fretted and didn't even give the girl the chance to open her mouth before he had already walked past her as if nothing had happened. Her glossed cherry lips pressed into a thin line before she threw a look over her shoulder, only to find the handsome lad already out of her sight. The girl sighed with dissatisfaction, disappointedly picking a strand of her long hair between her fingers, inspecting the impeccable shine of it.

"He didn't even blink twice to take my beautiful self in," She all but whined to herself and resumed walking towards the office. Soon enough though, the girl heaved a breath and straightened her shoulders, quickly twisting her beautiful lips into a smile.

"Next time." She encouraged herself.

***

"What the hell am I even doing?" Baekhyun sighed in huge disbelief, letting his head collide roughly against the back of the seat of his Mercedes. Eyes endlessly tracing their way to the woman's purse on the other side. The engine was powerful when turned on with a twist of his hand, his foot left the brake and the car started rolling swiftly. Without wasting any more time, the man drove in the direction Soon-ok had left. It hadn't been hard to spot her as she hadn't gotten far in those heels of hers.

Why did he even bother to follow her around? What would he gain? They had nothing to do with each other. it was a constant reminder, an echoing sound that like a fire alarm gradually grew louder the closer he got. He needed to step back, but why had it been so hard recently? One glance down at the purse and the familiar noise of tapping rain against the roof of his car was enough for him to sigh defeatedly, giving in the urge to look after her once again. Soon-ok was his rival. That was strictly and only why. He only wanted to play fair. That was solely the reason he was doing this.

It didn't take long for Baekhyun to catch up to the woman who was helplessly trying to cover herself from the cold rain. Ever so subtly, he slowed the car down right next to her, which caused the wary Soon-ok to halt in her steps with a frown on her face, eyeing the unknown car with a threatening glare. Without much thought, Baekhyun found himself drawing down the window while gesturing for her to get in, but if had Baekhyun ever considered himself to be stubborn, then Soon-ok was even more so. Her icy glare screamed refusal to whatever was about to leave his lips as she raked her eyes over him judgingly. He rolled his eyes.

"What the hell do you want?" She spat, still angry from their previous argument, which Baekhyun somehow had already forgotten about.

"It's raining, don't be silly." he gritted through his teeth, but Soon-ok didn't budge.

He sighed, "You forgot your purse too." To his dismay, the woman only extended her hand, wanting to take it, leaving Baekhyun completely flabbergasted and questioning himself once again, what the hell was he doing and why had he deliberately put himself in this situation?

"Well?" She prompted impatiently after the long silence. Baekhyun didn't want her to walk under the rain and so couldn't find it in himself to give her the purse, but it wasn't like he could say that to her either.

Suddenly, the noise of thunder resounded and that was all it took for the woman to leave her spot underneath the rain and quickly get into the car. Purposely slamming the door close, making Baekhyun want to scream.

"I'm not thanking you because I did not ask for this." Soon-ok initiated while angrily fumbling with the seatbelt, gradually growing more frustrated when it wouldn't settle. At some point, Baekhyun's hand covered hers in a tight grip, stilling her frantic movements.

"Stop being so aggressive with my car," He gritted and without letting go of her hand, clicked the seatbelt into its place. His scent as always intruded her senses with its annoyingly fresh and musky fragrance, calming her despite the raging emotions towards the male.

"Byun Baekhyun," She then called, contrasting her previous mood with seriousness. The male sank into his seat with an exasperated sigh as he placed his large palms on the wheel.

"What?" He shot annoyedly.

"Why did you come and get me? You hate me, and I hate you, remember?" Soon-ok spoke calmly and Baekhyun asked himself the exact same question.

"Because I'm angry at you." His lips moved before he even knew wanted to say. "We have to talk." He continued, prompting her to lift a surprised brow.

"But first," He stole a glance at her, "Where to?" His orbs lingered on her wet hair.

Soon-ok scoffed and nonetheless gave him the address to her hospital.

"So what exactly have I done to you?" She asked with incredulity in her voice once they were on the driveway. She couldn't help but notice the way Baekhyun's fingers tightened on the wheel at her question. Teeth drilled into his lip, he knew he was going to sound so dumb. But it was all he had.

"Didn't you say you were single?" He started right off the bat, "Then who was he?"

The reaction was genuine when Soon-ok let out a taunting fit of laughter and crossed her arms on her chest, a little too tightly, she noted when she felt her bosom sting underneath her pressure.

"Haah- Byun baekhyun, are you in love with me or something?" As she uttered so, the male looked extremely speechless and offended but soon his expression morphed into a smirk as he let one hand off the wheel to clasp two gentle fingers around her chin. The pad of his thumb caressed her lower lip slowly before settling back on her chin. "You would like that, wouldn't you, Soon-ok?" Baekhyun murmured, his voice sounding somehow heavy and gruff. Having him call her name like that felt extremely odd and all she could do to fight the feeling was swat his mischievous hand away.

"What the fuck, Baekhyun?!" Soon-ok snapped with disgust and Baekhyn joyed over his turn to smirk, mirth and satisfaction coated his sinful lips. However, the mischievousness quickly was replaced by an almost intimidating kind of seriousness, a shadow suddenly casting down his face.

"Listen, Park." He murmured darkly. "I know that we share a mutual hate, but what makes you think you have the right to use me, lie to me and make a fool out of me?" It all felt surreal and hard to grasp for Soon-ok, the fact that Baekhyun was suddenly talking about his feelings- even if in an accusing manner.

"I'm not your taxi driver." His hands tightened around the steering wheel, veins surfacing underneath his honey-like skin, knuckles a faint red as they strained and the sight sent Soon-ok's throat gulping down. The statement did not sit well with her, she was aware that the situation in the latter's head was a misunderstanding, but she still couldn't stand him making assumptions like that- and accusing her of being a horrible person.

"No, you listen, Byun." Soon-ok fought back, "You know nothing about me, firstly." Her eyes met his through the rearview mirror. Angry they were, menacing even as they pierced right through his that wavered at the truthful statement. His mouth pressed into a thin line, the air leaving his nose thick.

"Look," She sighed, softening her features, and suddenly she seemed so tired and it struck him. "Whatever is going on in your sissy head, you've got it wrong." She breathed heavily, her words held no further emotions...Almost as if she had already grown tired of him, not caring what he would do with her excuses. Whether he believed them or not, she wouldn't care.

For some reason he did, he did believe her.

"I don't know why you are always here when I'm in trouble, and as much as I hate to say it, I appreciate your help. But it has been your own choice to help me every time, so don't go whine about any taxi shit. I never took advantage of you." Her voice gradually turned lower and lower. Baekhyun did not say another word, Soon-ok had not given him any real reason to believe her, and to his dismay, there wasn't a single part of him that knew how he could win this argument when he felt no reason to question her again.

They were just rivals, and true rivals play fair. That's why he had let her into his car, demanding those things. That was what he told himself.

The pregnant woman slumped in the car seat, closing her eyes for a short moment, breathing soundly to fight the incoming headaches, missing the thoughtful gaze Baekhyun's orbs drank her in with.

The rest of the car ride was spent in heavy silence, their previous conversation still coated the air floating between the two who refused to acknowledge each other. They both knew that this couldn't go on for long. Especially since the silhouette of the hospital was now, second by second, becoming grander, clearer as Baekhyun drove with a permanent concentrated frown puckering his brows. Soon-ok could only think about how she was barely making it in time for her check-up, deep down wanting to hurry the male, but decided against it so that she could avoid bickering with him. After all, he was driving her instead of spending this precious time on his projects that would assure him a win against her. Despite the looks of it, Soon-ok only now came to realize how soft Baekhyun might've actually been.

With him pulling all of these stunts he was making sure that none of them were ahead of the other, and it didn't make sense that he wouldn't take advantage of her pregnancy to get ahead of her. The more she tried to make the situation make sense, the more confused she felt. Eventually giving up, the woman threw a glance at the driving rival. The car always felt so foreign, its walls and fabrics impregnated in its fresh scent, a fragrance decorated with tones of rain and musk, reminding her of the many times he had pulled her to his chest whenever she had for any reason stumbled.

Suddenly the woman felt her body reacting in a way it hadn't done in a very long time, she couldn't believe she was feeling heat gathering on her cheeks because of the scumbag sitting right next to her. This was not happening, it was absolutely ridiculous. The expression on her face kept shifting between horrified and offended because how dare her cheeks to blush like that? For him to see in broad daylight?

That was disgusting. She felt sick, she couldn't spend one more minute in that cursed car or she was positive she would lose her mind. Baekhyun had barely started parking the car when Soon-ok was already fumbling with her seatbelt almost frantically, her heart drumming stressfully in her chest. The male confusedly looked at his rival when he heard her seatbelt click open, the words what's wrong? lingering on his tongue, except he didn't even get the chance to ask her for she had already opened the car door when he wasn't even done parking. "You don't have to wait for me, thank you and bye!" She yelled over the noise of the engine, leaving Baekhyun completely flabbergasted, barely hanging onto what was happening.

"What the-?" Baekhyun's voice got cut off by the woman shutting his door close, at that point, if you would've measured the frustration and anger rising in the male's body, the thermometer would have eclipsed from the world's existence. Not only had she treated his precious car so violently and-

Baekhyun's jaw clenched harshly when his eyes landed on her seat. The steering wheel was as good as broken underneath the pressure of his tightening hold, perhaps someone could've been able to see the steam leaving his red ears.

Soon-ok had forgotten her damn bag, a-fucking-gain.

"That little-" Baekhyun could've erased her existence with the curses threatening to spill from his lips, the anger tingled insufferably in his legs as he finished parking and aggressively took the bag, he oh so wanted to burn with his own hands, and ran after the woman who had disappeared behind the glass doors.

The hospital was way too crowded for him to spot the dumb woman easily, it was then that he officially promised himself this was the last straw. His eyes bulged wide when he saw Soon-ok approaching the doctor waiting for her at the door frame. Without wasting another second Baekhyun took off into a sprint, making sure the "Yah! Park Soon-ok!" he had yelled would reach her. And it had when she spun around with confusion crossing her features. The bewilderment only deepened when her clueless gaze met Baekhyun's raging orbs. The man ran his way over to the woman, indecisive about whether to curse her out in front of everyone or dig a hole and disappear because of the attention he had attracted.

"Park Soon-ok this is the last time, your fuckin-"

"Oh my!" The elderly doctor exclaimed at the new presence.

"Soon-ok-ah! You didn't tell me you had a husband!" Her wrinkled eyes creased into glittering crescents, happiness showcased on her face.

"Ah no- wait he-"

"What the fuck-" Baekhyun and Soon-ok simultaneously spoke to try to clear the misunderstanding, but interrupted each other and nonetheless went unheard from the enthusiastic lady.

"Oh come! Let's get you to the ultrasound room." She simply waved away their horrified looks, giving them no choice but to comply. Baekhyun looked like he wanted to kill somebody.

"What are you doing here?" Soon-ok whispered to him as they followed suit, and the question prompted the male to take a deep breath before he would seriously lose his cool. Ripping his hair out sounded tempting.

"Your fucking bag, how the fuck do you plan on paying this visit without your wallet?!" Baekhyun had an even harder time keeping his voice low in front of the woman who constantly did nothing but bring out the worst of him. He furiously watched Soon-ok's jaw-dropping as the realization hit her. She reminded him of a fish when she wordlessly closed her mouth and hung her head in shame.

The doctor showed them into the room and Soon-ok was told to lay down on the ultrasound table. Baekhyun walked off into a corner where he wouldn't take much space. Soon-ok could barely keep a straight face upon seeing him stand there with his arms crossed over his chest and a grumpy pout twisting his lips. He resembled a punished child. The elderly woman couldn't help but let her glance dance in between the two and let out a few fond giggles.

"Your husband seems very grumpy, but he's still very cute." She chimed, knowing full well how much of a tease she was being, especially when both Soon-ok and Baekhyun blushed madly. Baekhyun's lips had parted to let out some kind of protest but to no avail.

"Lift your shirt a little please," The lady instructed while opening up a bottle of lubricant jelly, and that's what Soon-ok did, revealing her tiny yet swollen bump that hadn't been there before. Shivers went down her spine when the jelly was generously squeezed down on top of her body. Baekhyun immediately averted his eyes away from the girl as soon as she revealed the naked part of her body, but slowly allowed himself to look again when the doctor took hold of the transducer and placed it against her cool skin. A grayish image immediately appeared on the screen. The rivals were captivated as the doctor gently moved the device around her stomach to find the baby.

"There we go!" She chuckled delightedly when finding the right spot, she detached her eyes from the screen quickly to make eye contact with the two that in her mind were a couple, despite the obvious distance. "This is so beautiful," She chided and started explaining more. "You being already on the tenth week means that your uterus is right now the size of an orange. What's more exciting is that the beginnings of your baby's vital organs have already completed their very important stage of development." The doctor spoke slowly and gently, making sure that both were catching on. She then proceeded to point out the gray image on the screen.

"You see this?"

Soon-ok nodded slowly, she felt for the first time a different kind of nervousness, something absolutely crazy that she could only remark tasted like a mix of happiness, fear, and thrill. It was as if everything was falling on her shoulders once again. A certain giddiness took place in her body as if small butterflies were dancing around her baby, a lump filled her throat.

"The embryonic tail is gone and your baby is already capable of swallowing as well as their kidneys are functioning!" Soon-ok couldn't even begin to fathom how amazed she was with herself- with life in general, it couldn't be anything less than a miracle. Something so tiny, just a tiny bud in her belly, already so amazing.

"Ah!" The doctor exclaimed, earning Baekhyun's attention even more. Soon-ok was too swallowed up in the image of the ultrasound to even notice how Baekhyun's grumpiness had faded into nothingness. A soft, soft gaze had taken over his wavering orbs as he drank in the scene of his rival and her baby reflecting in her eyes, the surface of her skin slightly glowing underneath the lights.

"Look at this! Here we have the footsies! The tiny little head right here," The doctor continued pointing out and the more she told the more Soon-ok couldn't help the chuckle mixed with a sob that left her throat, her fingertips quickly going to dry the little tear that had escaped. The elder gave her a warm smile, and she felt so safe, the doctor understood her emotions.

"At this stage, the fingers and toes that were previously webbed, have now separated and are fully developed as well. Though, when your baby is resting, it holds out his arms in front of the heart, and since their legs have not quite reached their length yet, they are bowed and the feet are held together." It was all so much information at once, but it all made so much sense. Soon-ok felt closer and closer to her baby when she knew exactly how it was doing inside of her.

"Though right now, it's moving about! And just as we speak it's moving. Your baby is swinging their arms and stretching their legs, and if you look closely..." Both Soon-ok and Baekhyun leaned forward when the doctor pronounced the last words.

"You can count the toes!"

After a very educative and important moment, the lady put down the device and faced her with her whole body, stealing a glance at the very intrigued Baekhyun. Though when their eyes met, the man flinched and averted his gaze immediately.

"In this exciting period of week ten, you should be experiencing the growth of your breasts, and as well of the areas around your nipples will be developing as they get larger. That is because your body is preparing to breastfeed," She started and smirked when a cough was heard from the other corner of the room. "You will notice your skin glowing and your nails becoming longer and stronger. Those things are happening due to hormones and increased blood volume. To make sure that your baby is receiving enough oxygen." Soon-ok nodded fervently, slowly coming to terms with the changes her body was making. She was nowhere near comfortable, but for her baby, it was all worth it.

"Then that's all we have for today!" The doctor clapped her hands together and proceeded to help Soon-ok with cleaning her belly so that she could pull her shirt down again.

Just when Baekhyun thought he could finally make it out of there, the old lady had stopped him gently seconds after Soon-ok had left the room.

"Hey, come here you rascal," She playfully said and tugged him down to her short level, to which Baekhyun couldn't even react in time before she was whispering in his ear, a little set of "advice".

"You know, when your lady's bump gets larger, something that feels really good is-" Whisper, whisper, whisper.

The male sprinted- no, threw himself out of that ultrasound room as soon as the woman had been done with him. An endless blush covered his face, traveling from his ears to his neck, a frown pursing his brows that only screamed furious embarrassment. Though, he was slightly surprised to see Soon-ok waiting for him outside, with an equally confused expression on her features.

"What the fuck just happened." Baekhyun had breathed out, immersed in disbelief, and Soon-ok could only shake her head.

"No, this never happened."

"Agreed," he said and covered his face with his forearm, but Soon-ok still caught on the redness trailing across his skin.

***

"Oh come on honey!" The middle-aged woman whined to the phone pressed against her ear. "Don't be such a bore and come join our party next week, we have invited so many potential partners, you know it means so much if you are there." She raised her crystal glass and gesticulated with it as she spoke with her red-coated lips, risking to spill the alcoholic drink within it. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head upon hearing her son's annoyed sigh on the other side.

"Honey..." She pleaded...But Baekhyun hated it when she called him that, he would never fall for the artificial sugar-coating voice.

"I'm not going. Don't insist." He shut her down strictly, wanting to end the phone call before it would end with him yelling at his device, but his mo- his father's wife was not about to let him off easily.

The woman almost slammed the champagne glass down on the expensive wooden table when he wouldn't do as she pleased. By keeping the phone between her ear and shoulder, she removed her lacy gloves and frustratedly threw them somewhere behind her.

"Baekhyun." She threatened with her voice, finally letting go of the useless act of a caring mother, it wasn't like she acted much like one anyway.

"When are you going to let go of those silly dreams and come back to reality? Why would you want to work for someone when you can have people work for you? Hm?" It was always the same thing over and over again, life for them was all about success, wealth, and money. He did not want to be a part of that.

"Maybe when you stop treating me like all I'm important for is your assurance of money in the future." Baekhyun spat with his chest restricting at the bitter words that even if spoken by himself, held so much truth within them. The flabbergasted stutter leaving Byun Jinhee's lips was another confirmation."What?! How dare you?!"

"Do you really think I don't know that's the sole reason you want me to take over the company? Don't make me laugh." The son chuckled coldly, "Don't ever call me again if this is all you want from me." Baekhyun hissed, knowing full well that it was not going to be the last time.

Before Jinhee could retort something back, Baekhyun had already ended the call, aggressively throwing the phone away somewhere he wouldn't be able to see it. It was like a cursed item that brought him nothing but impetuous emotions, constant flames of anger erupting around his being, Baekhyun could barely remember the last time he had talked normally with his father. The last time he had a smile bloom unconsciously on his lips, when had his last happiness been?

The man walked over to the foot of his bed and let himself give in to the screaming of his tired muscles and slumped, falling into the softness of the mattress. Exhausted he was, and although his mind was nagging at him to go change his clothes, he felt glued onto the spot, as if his body had lost its strength.

Even if his elegant work attire was tight and uncomfortable around his body, all he wanted to do was drown within the comfort of his sheets. He wished he could have the old times back- he wished he could go back to having the scent of fresh paint invade his senses once stepping out of the room that he had, by now, outgrown. He wished that Byun Sohee would still be there with him.

His mind wandered back to Byun Jinhee, only to be overwhelmed with disbelief. Didn't that woman have anything better to do than to torment him? He wondered if everyone didn't have a dream, something they truly wished for? And if they hadn't found it, wouldn't they be searching for it? Why give that up for any amount? Money couldn't be all there was to life, he couldn't wrap his head around that ridiculous concept.

Baekhyun laughed, at himself, he was such a fool, such a contradicting fool. All of those big words crossed his mind, and for what? For what reason, when he would wake up after the night, get to work only to have a rival- a promotion at stake. Wasn't that also all about money? No matter why he wanted that promotion, a slave for money he would always remain.

"Gosh," Baekhyun breathed, wanting just to forget everything for a few minutes, his life, his thoughts, were all an ordeal from which he wanted to distance himself. And so he let his eyelids fall close with a long heave of his chest and cleared his head, blocking any incoming thoughts. Frustrated hands threaded his hair, messing it up. The worn-out gel rubbed on his fingers as he sighed heavily, suddenly having vivid flashbacks of the hospital playing before his eyes, almost as if as in a movie.

Baekhyun's mind wandered to the size of her belly, still small but growing healthily. It was swollen and yet in a much solid way, for a second he wondered how it would feel against his palm. But the thought left him as soon as he had it.

"What the hell." He grumbled to himself, curling into a ball on his bed. "Why is she annoying me even during my time off," Baekhyun grumbled, blaming his thoughts on his tiredness. Yeah, that must've been it. He was suddenly thrown into that situation, it was nothing but normal for him to reminisce about it.

Baekhyun's consciousness was hanging on a thread of deep sleep, but the man was a perfectionist and threw the chance of falling asleep just to change into his pajamas and have his teeth brushed.

***

It was a miracle that Baekhyun had managed to drive himself to work in the state he had woken up in. If he had ever fallen asleep, to begin with. The almost thirty-year-old tried to ignore the thought that such a careless drive could have cost him more than he could imagine. But the night had been a restless nightmare, and the results of the zero winks of sleep were manifesting in his brick heavy, slightly swollen eyelids and sealed lips. He doubted he would be able to work much before his body gave out, Baekhyun had to physically restrain himself from collapsing against his desk and take a nap. To his luck- or misfortune, the task became easier when he was temporarily distracted by Soon-ok's energetic antics as she spoke to Minseok and Jongin, a bright smile on her glossy lips. She looked almost great, Baekhyun found it so comical that he was the one who struggled to stay awake now.

As if a bucket of ice had been thrown upon him, the man straightened up in his seat simultaneously as the rest of the office when the chief coolly walked in, oddly enough, accompanied by a girl much shorter than him. Her hair was long, thick, and dark as it flowed behind her when she walked. Her skin was pale and her lips tinted with red gloss, she looked like Snow White, fragile. Baekhyun's eyes burned at the huge effort he was making to keep them from hanging too low on his orbs. Everyone was, to say the least, surprised- but mostly relieved when the chief had announced the new co-worker. It meant that there was no bad news, for as often as the chief would visit, it would always involve something that he wasn't happy about.

"This is Song Jinah, your new colleague. Please welcome her warmly to the team and take care of her." Chief Kim had presented the young woman with a fatherly smile that reminded Baekhyun of when he had just started working there.

The little event ended quickly, allowing the exhausted male to blink his bloodshot eyes as well as sink into his chair, the muscles on his back aching because of the previous rigid position. It almost made Baekhyun crack a smile when a simultaneous sigh resounded in the office when Chief Kim had gone out of sight.

"Nice to meet you," A sudden, unfamiliar yet incredibly soft voice had startled Baekhyun out of his thoughts. "I'm Song Jinah," Soon-ok quietly observed from her desk as the man confusedly blinked his sleepy eyes at the new girl who had extended her slender hand for him to take. It took him a few seconds to regain himself, but eventually, Baekhyun offered the tiniest hint of a smile as he gently took her hand, giving it a little shake.

"Nice to meet you Song Jinah," Baekhyun had miraculously managed to swallow the yawn that had made its way up, though everyone else had noticed his unusual gloomy behavior. Baekhyun hadn't even realized how the whole office had set their careful gazes upon him and the new girl. She had walked up to the most intimidating man in the office. Usually, new people would always reach out to Minseok or Jongin first, but Baekhyun?

"I'm Byun Baekhyun." He concluded as he quickly left her hand and placed his own in his lap. Song Jinah did no more than a little nod of her head before stalking off to her desk.

Soon-Ok noticed the way Song Jinah's eyes sparkled as smiled to herself. She couldn't help herself when she elbowed Baekhyun who instantly shot her a glare. She felt a little intimidated but ignored it as she leaned over as discreetly as possible.

Baekhyun looked more than displeased when he lent her his ear. Shuddering at her minty breath melting into the side of his neck.

"It hasn't been a hot minute and you've already seduced her," Soon-ok teased into low murmurs, "Poor girl if she only knew what a sissy you are."

Baekhyun's reaction was abrupt when he turned his head because of her provoking words, only to realize how Soon-ok had done the same. His eyes widened but the move had been way too rash to even try and prevent. The next thing he knew was that Soon-ok's lashes were fluttering against the apples of his cheeks, her eyes almost pressed against his. His nose caressed hers while their lips had somehow, out of everything, managed to connect. Baekhyun could only remark how her gloss made his lips feel glued to hers.

The rivals flinched away from each other simultaneously, their detaching mouths leaving behind a gentle smooching noise that both Soon-ok and Baekhyun prayed to God no one had heard. Even if it had lasted a few seconds, Baekhyun felt like time had slowed down for a good while.

Embarrassed and disgusted, they both wasted no time and rubbed their sleeves against their mouths. Baekhyun loudly cleared his throat after a little shocking moment of staring into each other's eyes.

"Maybe you should worry about your crush on me first, Soon-ok" Baekhyun murmured with flushed cheeks, glancing at her from the side of his eye.

"Yes, I would love to crush you," She muttered.

Song Jinah had a sad frown twisting on her glammed lips, it hadn't even been an hour and things were already falling onto her plate as she enviously watched the two send hateful gazes to each other. It wasn't like there was anything to be jealous of in their behaviors towards each other, and yet...She had watched the whole scene, not being able to help the bubbling questions filling her head as she fetched her phone up and dialed a number. Her manicured nails hit the screen with every dial. Once her device started calling, the young lady pressed the speaker to her ear as she left for a more secluded place.

♡♡♡

A/N:

Hey you guys! I hope you are doing well, and that you can have a great Monday along with this update!

Slowly we are getting to know more of Baekhyun and Soon-ok! What do you guys think is going on? How do you like these main characters? I really want to know! Please don't be shy and tell me everything in the comments, I love talking with you guys <33 It motivates me a lot!

Thank you for reading and may you have a wonderful week!

Mwah! Much love, P.

♡♡♡

A/N:

Hey you guys! I hope you are doing well, and that you can have a great Monday along with this update!

Slowly we are getting to know more of Baekhyun and Soon-ok! What do you guys think is going on? How do you like these main characters? I really want to know! Please don't be shy and tell me everything in the comments, I love talking with you guys <33 It motivates me a lot!

Thank you for reading and may you have a wonderful week!

Mwah! Much love, P.