Over The Seas [Kim Sunwoo The Boyz]

Chapter Sixty-Two

It's times like these when I wish it was summer again. The sun barely shows itself anymore thanks to the clouds, but I still appreciate the beauty of autumn.

These past few days have been pretty uneventful. Jonghoon and I are still in the "honeymoon" phase of being a couple. We don't really fight or argue yet, just normal conversations with hints of romance. We haven't done anything yet either. Jonghoon did awkwardly hug me one night when he was leaving me at the apartment but we haven't tried again since.

When he lost his phone on campus last week, I helped him search by calling it. I ended up finding it on the floor of one of his classrooms. It was faced up when I called it so I saw what he put me in his contacts.
Riyae <3 popped up on the screen.
If I'm being honest, it made me feel giggly inside. I hadn't thought about changing Jonghoon's contact name but it seemed like a cute idea.

Areum continues to rub it in my face that she was right for shipping me and Jonghoon the last few years. I'm sure she's more happy about me having a significant other than I am. Sewoon isn't as expressive about it, unfortunately. He's not completely ignoring us and he's talking to us more individually, but not much else has changed.

After I finished my classes for the day, I head in to work. I immerse myself in answering emails, making documents, and all that boring stuff.
I needed to print something so I quickly went to the printer room in the office. I wait for a few seconds but nothing comes out. I check the little screen on the printer and see that there's no paper.
I check beside the printer but no paper. I keep looking around until I confirm there is no paper to be found.

I go up to Yeojin and ask about the printer.
"Oh, it's been out of paper for a while." She says nonchalantly.
"How come no ones has refilled it?"
"No one wants to take the trip. You have to go all the way down to the first floor to get a box of the specific paper we use."
"So what have we been using to print stuff?"
"We just email them to other offices."

I suck it up and decide to take the journey for the sake of my job. I go down the elevator to the first floor with only the thought of retrieving the papers in mind. I walk for a few minutes until I finally reach the office supply room. There was a precaution on the door.
Door knob does not work. Do not close door.
I place a nearby door stopper at the foot of the door.

I look around for the stack of papers.
Great.
I spot them on top of a high shelf. There was no stool I could step on to reach them so I try to give myself extra height by standing on my tip-toes.
As I struggle, I see an hand move past me, reaching for the stack of papers. I turn my head to see who it is.
Sunwoo keeps his eyes on the papers as he reaches for them. His face right next to mine, close enough to smell his cologne. I feel frozen. Everything seems to be going in slow motion. He looks at me and our eyes finally meet.

The background gradually gets darker by the millisecond. Still locked in a trance, I don't noticed it's the door closing until I hear the locks click. I snap back to real time. I take the papers in his hands, quickly thank him, and make my way to the door. I turn the knob but the door didn't open. I tried a second time— the same results. Just wanting to get out of this situation, I try and try again.
Sunwoo comes by and offers his help.

We're locked in.

I try not to freak out as I hear Sunwoo struggling with the doorknob.

I'm trapped in here with him.

"I think we're stuck in here." Sunwoo says in a defeated sigh.
"Why did the door close? I left a door-stopper."
I looked down and saw the stopper on the floor across from the door.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was there."
"Did you not see the notice on the door?"
"What notice?" He asked as he examined the door.
"It was..." I became too frustrated to thoroughly explain. "On the other side."
I turned around and flung my back to the wall. I slowly made my way to the ground to sit and I set the stack beside me.

"Do you not have your phone with you?" Sunwoo asked cautiously.
I checked around in my pockets but remembered that I left it on my desk. I didn't have to say anything for Sunwoo to understand.
"Do you have yours?"
"I left it in the studio." He said with timidity. I unwillingly look at him with serious eyes.
"I'm really sorry."
"I'm..." I take a second to calm down. "I'm not blaming you. This is just an annoying position to be in."
"I agree." He says as he takes a seat beside me.

"Don't worry. The members will figure out I'm missing. I'm sure you co-workers will notice, too." Sunwoo says to me in a calm voice. Panicking will only make things worse, so I settle down and mentally prepare myself for a few more minutes in this room.

There was nothing but silence for the next three minutes or so. Sunwoo was the first to speak.
"How has work been?" He says casually.
I reply without making eye contact. "Good but kinda repetitive."
He simply nods.
"And school?"
"Nothing new."
Out of courtesy, I ask him questions in return.
"We're not as busy as we normally are." He answers. "But I like to keep myself occupied."

We continued talking just to pass time. I become more comfortable talking to Sunwoo again the more we spend time together. Still, my mind is only on getting out of here.

"And how is Jonghoon?" Sunwoo eventually asks.
"He's doing fine."
"And Areum and Sewoon? How are they?"
I wasn't sure if I should tell Sunwoo about what's going on with Sewoon. We're not that close anymore but I don't think it could hurt at this moment.

"Well, Areum is just Areum." I awkwardly chuckled. "I'm not sure about Sewoon, though. It's been a while since we've genuinely talked."
"Did something happened between you two?" I heard sincere concern in his question.
"I'm not sure. He been acting that way towards Jonghoon, too."
"But Sewoon rarely gets mad." I could tell Sunwoo began worrying. "Do you really have no idea what it could be?"
I haven't even talked about my thoughts over this with Jonghoon. Maybe Sunwoo could actually help.

I decide to open up.
"It started when he found out about Jonghoon and I. I can only assume our relationship has something to do with it."
"But you don't know the actual problem, right?"
I nod.
"You haven't talked to Sewoon about it?"
"Not yet. Jonghoon says I shouldn't worry and that it'll just pass."
"But don't you want to fix things with him?"
"Of course. Sewoon is my best friend and it sucks being in this weird circumstance."
There was a pause.
"I think you should just talk to him. You know, hear his side of the story and resolve things from there." He offered.
"Yeah, you have a point. Thanks."
"No problem." He says with a smile.
We looked into each other's eyes for a moment. I don't know what was holding my gaze on him but I couldn't stop. Was it his smile? His eyes? The fact that I'm stuck in an office supply closet with him?

I heard someone yell out Sunwoo's name at a distance. I instantly broke eye contact. Both Sunwoo and I got up on our feet, with the papers in my hand, and quickly went to the door.
"Hey! I'm in here!" Sunwoo yells out as he bangs the door.
The door finally opens. Sangyeon, Hyunjae, and Juyeon stand there, eyes wide.
"Riyae?"
"Hey, guys..." I said awkwardly, feeling immensely embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I really have to go but thanks for, you know, the door...Bye!" I immediately walked away.

I hang my head low until I reach the office. Yeojin expresses her relief when she sees me as she had began to freak out.
The rest of the afternoon at work, I couldn't get those weird moments with Sunwoo out of my head.

What was I thinking?

I walked out of the Creker building after work. To my surprise, I saw Jonghoon standing nearby.
"What are you doing here?" I joyfully ask Jonghoon as I walk up to him.
"Just thought I'd pick you up from work today."
Butterflies
"Also, my dad was wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner tonight? He accidentally bought too much ingredients from the farmer's market." Jonghoon chuckled.
"Sure, it's been a while since I've seen your dad."
We began walking down the street together to his house. Nothing else occupied my mind except Jonghoon.