It felt way too bright so I begrudgingly opened my eyes despite the fact that I still wanted to sleep more. I blinked a few times and realized this wasn't my bed, was I still dreaming? I lifted my head and looked around, finding Han Min-Jun standing next to me, fully awake while he was tidying his stuff on the desk. That’s when I realized I'd been sleeping bent over my table and I clutched my head with both hands.

'Damn it! I've never had anything like this happen to me before.' I thought in anguish as my eyes shook. We looked at each other for a few moments after Han Min-Jun spotted me. I was now fully awake; the way he was looking at me felt intruding. I trembled and averted my eyes, attempting to escape the painfully heated gaze.

"Good morning Mr. Baek-Yang." Han Min-Jun said cheerily, as he eyed my hands that I quickly retracted from my head, “Does your head hurt?”

‘God, so bright! He's brighter than the rays of the office light that woke me up. Why are you so handsome right after waking up?? I really might not be quite awake yet since I think I see flowers behind him.' I averted my eyes further to shield them. It's a relief that the other employees hadn't arrived yet, or else I would've died from embarrassment.  

"N-no it doesn’t? And good morning to you too Mr. Han Min-Jun." I replied while trying to respond to his blinding smile. I stood up awkwardly to stretch my stiff, aching muscles and felt how a weight slid off my back. Quite literally. I sighed in satisfaction and noticed how a blanket laid bunched up on my chair. ‘Where did this come from?’ I turned to face Han Min-Jun, I raised my eyebrow in a questioning manner but the other man just smiled at me as he picked up a note from his desk.

"Oh... they were here already." He muttered to himself, sounding like he was dissatisfied with something. The soft smile disappeared from his face as he looked up from the paper and towards the door.

"What is it?" I tried to see over his shoulder what the paper said.

Han Min-Jun crumbled the note and put it in his pocket so I couldn’t read it. "Nothing important, Mr. Baek-Yang."

"Oh really?" Because it looked like it could be.’

"Mmhm. Shall we go home once before everyone comes b-, arrives at the office?” Han Min-Jun said, swiftly getting ready to leave.

"Okay." I agreed. 'I'll let you off this time… besides, I could really use a quick shower and some clean clothes.'

Together we left the company and went to buy some drinks to start the morning with, hot chocolate for me and coffee for him. Han Min-Jun kept looking at me like he might cry if I tried to refuse him again so I ended up going along with it. 

"Do you like the hot chocolate, Mr. Baek-Yang?" He says, sipping his coffee as we walk together.

"Yes, it's good. Thank you for buying it for me, Mr. Han Min-Jun." I said grimacing inwardly as I finished my sweet drink.

"You’re welcome, Mr. Baek-Yang; did you get enough rest last night?" He continued with his questioning, a mischievous smirk on his face.

'What the heck is this jerk's issue that he has to tease me so early in the morning?’ I keep my irritation with him to myself, and I refuse to fall for his taunting. "No, not really. My position was too awkward so it kind of hurt, how about you?” I said as I rubbed the back of my neck. "I guess you slept just fine, being so chipper even with a shirt sleeve crease printed on your face." I taunted him with a blatant lie laced with heavy sarcasm. 'Actually the jerk didn't even have a hair out of place. Is he even human?'

Instead of being irritated with me, the other man was beaming uncontrollably. I glared at him so he quickly explained himself, “I'm sorry if you didn't have a good night's sleep, Mr. Baek-Yang, but this is the first time you've teased me!"

"Well who says you're the only one who can do the teasing, Mr. Han Min-Jun?" I retorted back sarcastically, belatedly realizing how I spoke my true thoughts out loud.

Before I could apologize to keep up with my appearances I heard him chuckle. "Yeah, you're right, Mr. Baek-Yang." He easily acknowledged, seemingly happy. Guess it was okay to talk back a little?

After that, we resumed our silence as we walked. When we got on the street where we both lived on, I immediately said my goodbyes before running into my own home.

I groaned when I got inside and immediately went to my bedroom to throw myself onto my soft bed. I hugged Ms. Bae, my plushie, while looking at the ceiling. "God, I'm so tired and the day only just started!" I thought about last night and how Han Min-Jun helped me finish my work.

"You know Ms. Bae, do you remember the guy I talked to you about? Or did I tell you about him?" I asked Ms. Bae. ‘People would think I was crazy if they saw me talking to a stuffed animal like this, but whatever, they can think what they want. At least this helps me organize my thoughts.’  "He's annoying, bothering me every chance he gets and I don't know why. My opinion of him changed a little today. Maybe he’s a better guy than I thought... Still annoying though."

‘I'm thankful for his help and all, but my debt to him keeps getting bigger and bigger. Soon I’ll have to spend the rest of my life paying it all back! Ah, I don't know anymore!’

After rolling around on my bed for a bit, I reluctantly got up to take a shower and get changed for work. I opened my fridge and surveyed the sparse interior before getting a couple of chicken bulgogi wraps out to heat them up. I had purchased them from a convenience store earlier that week and they were the only quick to eat food I had around so they'd have to do for breakfast.  After I finished eating, I patted Ms. Bae’s head as a goodbye before leaving the house. She could dutifully guard the house when I was away.

I had just locked my door when a car honked behind me. I frowned and turned to look back. "...Who?" I saw Han Min-Jun peeking outside from behind the car's window. 

"Shall we go back together? I'll give you a ride."

‘Wow, I didn't know he had a car! Why does he walk to work when he could drive there? The car looks rather expensive too.’  "Ahm... okay?" I was too tired to walk back to the company again anyway, so just this once.

Han Min-Jun reached over the passenger seat to open the car door for me. "Did you eat breakfast already Mr. Baek-Yang?" He asked me while I slipped in the car and onto the seat.

"Yeah, I already ate."

"Ah, okay. That's good." He sounded a bit sad. No doubt he wanted to get me deeper in debt by getting me something to eat too. Like the hot chocolate wasn’t enough for today already.

I grab the seat belt and buckle it around my waist as Han Min-Jun pulls the vehicle out of the driveway. I noticed how the seat seemed to be gradually heating up. 'What the hell, how rich is this bastard?? There are so many random buttons and switches too-- what do these all even do?' I thought as I started to fiddle with the controls I could reach. In my reverie of the fancy car I must've pressed something unintentionally as my seat suddenly pulled backwards, me with it. I yelped and began my furious battle with the car seat controls since the seatbelt was still restraining my movement. 'Oh crap, did I break something?!' 

I was already irritated when I heard Han Min-Jun giggle, witnessing my predicament from the corner of his eye. “Could you kindly help me?" I asked dryly as I gave up and laid down, succumbing to my fate.

  "Sorry, Mr. Baek-Yang." Came the flat apology, as he reached over to click something on the side of my seat, causing it to return to the original upright position.

“Thank goodness I didn't break anything or I'd have to pay for it...” I mumbled silently to myself, and to hide my shame as well as to avoid Mr. Han Min-Jun from talking to me again I started to pay closer attention to the changing scenery outside.

"Do you want us to listen to music, Mr. Baek-Yang?" He asked, oblivious to the fact that I don't want to talk to him again, while he kept his eyes trained on the road.

"It’s all right, no need to ask me, it's your car Mr. Han Min-Jun." I said, stubbornly staring out the window.

"Okay, so what type of music do you usually listen to?" He prompted once again, as the vehicle came to a halt due to a red light.

"I am happy with anything that is available, Mr. Han Min-Jun." I responded again, my tone flat and uninterested.

"Well that’s also fine, I’ll just choose something then." Han Min-Jun decided, and I heard him click the music player to start playing.

I perked up upon hearing the first notes of the song, turning to look at Han Min-Jun. He had started to whistle along to the tune, driving the car forward once the light turned green. The song that was playing was from one of my favorite anime series that got me hooked, I especially liked this one.

"I didn't know you were into anime, Mr. Han Min-Jun." I said carefully, trying not to sound offensive.

He merely laughed at what I said, "Actually, I wasn't into anime, but my younger brother and sister forced me to watch some with them."

'Well done, younger brother and sister!' I thought to myself, mentally applauding them for a job well done.

"Is it difficult to have a younger brother and sister, Mr. Han Min-Jun?"  I offhandedly asked him.

"Not really, having those rascals around is enjoyable." He chuckled.

After that, we resumed our silence, and I tried not to hum along to the music playing inside the car. 

We arrived quickly as the drive took less time than it would have taken for me to walk and the music made the trip feel more enjoyable. 

Han Min-Jun smoothly proceeded to the company's underground parking garage, quickly locating a parking spot for his vehicle. I wrangled the seat belt off of me and stepped out of the car as soon as the hum of the motor died down.

"I'll leave first, thank you for the ride Mr. Han Min-Jun!" I said, closing the car door and speed walked towards the company entrance elevator before he could say anything else to me. 

When the elevator arrived at my floor, I exited and proceeded to the office. "Ahem, Mr. Su Baek-Yang!" I looked up as someone called for me.

It was Ms. Chang Jieun, one of my officemates and she was smiling in a way that made my skin crawl ever so slightly. "...Yes, Ms. Chang Jieun? How can I help you?" I asked her as I set down my briefcase and shrugged off my coat.

"Well it’s nothing really. I just wanted to know how your morning was, Mr. Su Baek-Yang. Did anything good happen perhaps?"

The question in itself wasn't weird or out of the norm, but the glint in her eyes was giving me chills. ‘Let’s see; I had spent all night in the office with Han Min-Jun and we fell asleep here and now my neck hurts. To summarize the experience; it sucked.' I grumbled inwardly to myself, 'But you don't need to know any of that.'  "Ah, my morning has been good, Ms. Chang Jieun."

Her smile was about as wide as Han Min-Jun’s when I agreed to treat him. "Good, that's great then, Mr. Su Baek-Yang. I bet someone was quite happy this morning because of the little gift I sent over to his inbox." Ms. Chang Jieun snickered behind her hand. 

"What do you mean, Ms. Chang Jieun?" I frowned and tilted my head slightly. I didn't get any messages, at least I think I didn’t?

She just laughed at me. "Oh no, once again I spoke my inner thoughts aloud. Don't worry, it was nothing. I should get back to work. ...heheheh." She giggled and finally returned back behind her own desk.

Well that was... Weird?

"Mr. Su Baek-Yang, can you help me with this one?" I shifted my attention back to work when my name was called again, pushing my thoughts of the weird interaction from my mind.