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Takeaway Lunch

"Have you eaten?" Ji-pyeong smiled as he read the text from In-jae.

The more time they spent together, the more he learned that this was the way she cared for him. Checking on him to make sure he ate on time and didn't work too late into the night. She was a workaholic too, so they kept each other in check by imposing a work curfew.

"Not yet," he replied.

"Good. Your takeaway should be there in a bit."

As if on cue, a delivery guy arrived and set a bag on his desk. Ji-pyeong signed for the delivery, then opened the bag to examine its contents. Immediately he caught a whiff of the food and he groaned inwardly. There was no way he could eat this at his desk.

He stood up, took the bag, and told Park Dong-Chun, "I'm leaving for lunch."

Ji-pyeong made his way downstairs to the cafeteria, sat at an empty table, then began to unpack the contents of the bag. There were way too many dishes here for him to finish on his own.

"Oh, Mr. Han! Having lunch by yourself?"

He looked up and saw In-jae in front of him with a smirk on her face. His lips slowly curved into a smile as he figured out what was going on.

"Yes, I seem to have ordered too much," he said loudly for anyone to hear, "Would you care to join me, Ms. Won?"

She widened her eyes innocently. "Are you sure? I just came down here for a cup of coffee," she said.

He smiled and gestured at the seat across him, "Please, I insist."

Ji-pyeong covered his smile as he watched In-jae put on quite the show of sighing and reluctantly sitting across him, saying, "Okay, if you insist. Although I do have quite a bit of work waiting for me. I suppose it would be a shame if all this food went to waste."

He looked around and tapped her wrist with the chopsticks, "Okay, you can stop now, no one's around."

She grabbed the chopsticks from him and grinned as she opened one takeaway container, "Ooohh yum, my favorite!"

Ji-pyeong couldn't help but laugh as he opened all the dishes in front of them and they started to eat.

They chatted about industry news, just in case anyone overheard them, when Ji-pyeong noticed a drop of sauce on the corner of In-jae's mouth.

"There's sauce--" he gestured at her mouth and tried to point it out on his face as she wiped at it with a napkin.

"Did I get it?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"I wish we were eating at home," he said in a low voice, and she smiled.

"I can handle a bit of sauce myself," she chided, using the reflection of her phone as a mirror and dabbing at the spot.

"You know how I'd get rid of it for you," he wriggled his eyebrows at her, and she kicked him under the table.

"Ji-pyeong..." she muttered warningly, fixing him with a stare even as she blushed since she knew exactly what he meant.

He looked around quickly and when he saw that the coast was clear, he said softly, "Come over tonight. You've been working so hard, I want to take care of you."

Her lips curved into a smile. "That sounds nice," she admitted, "Seven okay?"

He nodded with a smile, then gestured at the food. "Eat up. We both need to get through the rest of the day."

She nodded and they both went back to being Ms. Won and Mr. Han, discussing current events over a shared meal. But that was okay, because in a few hours, they would be ending the day together as just In-jae and Ji-pyeong.