And this is why I hate you

1.5

KNJ

"You seem in a weirdly good mood!" Jimin chirped as he passed me, hands full of papers printed with colored ink.

Usually, I would scold him. Using so much colored ink costs a lot of money and wastes resources. I liked it all digitally. Unfortunately, Jimin was more of an analog-type of guy. But we needed to save money to make a good impression so that I could get promoted.

I knew very well that Kim Seokjin excelled in his work and that every little bit and advantage I had needed to be pulled and used to snatch the promotion out of his greedy, crooked little hands. 

"Well, I was officially called for promotion" I grinned at my coworker, who immediately stopped in his tracks and shot me an incredulous look.

"You got promoted? For real? NO WAY! The guy from Personnel was not even considered?" 

I sighed. "No, he was. We are both considered. Performance is what matters now. So, we need to give it our all to win." I stated drily, sitting down in my thousand-dollar chair. It did wonders for my posture, and my back did not hurt nearly as much. I still fancied a visit to my favorite masseuse from time to time. Pushing numbers was more exhausting work than one could think. Especially sitting hunched over them for long, long hours.

"We are already doing our best and more! Since I got here, you have had your eyes set on that promotion and outdoing that other Kim! Rival does not even describe the situation anymore! We can't properly improve ourselves anymore!" Hoseok complained as he walked into my office. 

"Apparently, you can because you are not working at the moment," I sternly stated, glancing from Jimin to Hoseok.

"Yeah, sure! You are terrible! We are not your slaves. Plus, you are not working at the moment as well! Minnie, say something!" Hoseok nudged his coworker, and Jimin was startled to life.

"True, you are not working, boss. Besides, it is your promotion. Why do we have to slave away for that?" he tilted his head to the side curiously, nearly losing a few of the sheets he still held in his arms.

"Because, once I get that promotion, I can promote you two too to my new office, and then we all can be happy and triumphant of the Personnel idiots!" I tried to argue, leaning back and immediately sitting straight again. The flexible back of the chair catapulted me downwards, and I realized that I would be gazing up at my underlings even more, something I could absolutely not use when I was trying to make a statement.

"You are the only one who has problems with the guys from Personnel," Hoseok grumbled under his breath at the same time as Jimin exclaimed, "I don't even want a promotion! That only means you will be my boss again and make me work even more!" 

"But I am a boss that lets you call me by my first name!" I tried to argue, knowing at the same time the statement left my mouth, that it was a weak and stupid point.

Maybe I was too hard on them.

"Great, now you ruined my good mood! I was about to invite you to dinner." 

"Well, maybe I want to stay by your side forever, you greatest boss of all that lets me graciously call you by your first name!" Jimin cheered, now really dropping some of his papers on the grey-carpeted floor.  His exclamation was dripping with sarcasm, and I wanted to wince at it.

The office was sleek and a tad bit boring. Its decoration was entirely fitting for the Finances team, yet it was a pretty glum environment overall. Yet nobody tried to improve it. We did not have the time or resources (due to being as efficient and low-cost as possible) to make it a more homey place.

The only blobs of color were really the color-coded sticky notes Jimin and Hoseok preferred to work with. And I had to admit that their system actually made a lot of sense.

"Is your invitation another bribe so you can tow us into manipulating the poor Personnel guys? So that you know, I will not make a fake complaint about them again!" the taller of the two seemed quite infuriated, "I felt so bad!"

"But the look on the idiot's face was priceless!" I defended myself. I grinned as I remembered his dumbstruck look as he got cited to headquarters and realized that we were the culprits. His pretty eyes were all worried and then so angry that they seemed to burn with a particular fire. I wondered if I could roast marshmallows if I held one close to them.

"Now he is grinning that evil grin again." Jimin sighed, but I was not irritated by this. My fingers thrummed a particular beat on my expensive mahogany desk, wondering how I could upset him again to witness this fire again.

It made him so alight and turned his gentle dark eyes into raging orbs of a unique maroon color. And his nose would scrunch up, and his plump lips, usually pleasantly smiling (which seemed so fake to me), would be distorted to a fully real grimace. It was something else from the always well-behaved, robotically friendly Kim Seokjin. 

Infuriating him has been my favorite hobby since I met him, and did it accidentally for the first time. It was such a thrill. So exciting! It left me with another type of energy thrumming through my veins, rejuvenating me. Sometimes I wondered if I was a kind of vampire, but instead of blood, I needed Kim Seokjin's anger to become younger once more. 

Hoseok and Jimin continued with some chatter I could not comprehend because I was thoroughly taken by the face I conjured in my mind, painting out every detail of his anger and what it did to his features. 

As I feasted enough on this thought, I banged my hand flat against the dark table and directed my gaze at my co-workers, reentering the real world again. "Ramen or Steak?"

"Teriyaki," Jimin immediately answered while Hoseok still recovered from the noise. 

"I told you not to do this, damn it!" He shouted, with his hand placed over his heart as if he needed to take special precautions for it not to jump out of his chest. As if the muscles and ribs would not suffice.

Maybe I could get Seokjin's ears flush once more in that deep red color. It was a fascinating discovery I only made half an hour ago, as I came really close to him. That was another thing that made riling him up so much fun. I always discovered something new, always a subtle new reaction. Always a new side of him. Much better than that mechanic friendliness.

"You know, if you want us to support you against your war against Personnel, you have to buy us way more than just Teriyaki," Hobi then stated.

"Yeah, you have to treat us to lunch or dinner thrice a week!" Jimin seemed happy, and Hoseok was infuriated that his friend was content with so little payment. But before they could argue and come up with new terms, like me cleaning their apartments regularly, I hastily nodded, "Deal!" 

"But now we all need to go back to work. We can't slack off. We need to be our best. I know that he will surely charm the old man back onto his side! We can't lose to those dishonest and dishonorable actions!" 

And with that, I grabbed another file from the pile on my table and stared at it, trying to ban Seokjins face from my thoughts, as the numbers in front of my eyes were all blurry and unfocused. As much as I reveled in conjuring his anger in my mind, it was hard to get rid of him again. It always required every ounce of concentration I had. Numbers usually helped. Work helps. I lost count of how many nights I worked through in the desperate attempt for him to leave my mind again.

My friends seemed convinced I was back to work, so they wordlessly pivoted and left my office, closing the glass door quietly and moving directly into the next room, where their desks were located. Not surprised by my behavior since this happened quite regularly. 

I waited another minute, making sure that they would not come back. As if a curtain fell with the knowledge of being alone and secure, I stood up, lifted the blinds from the window, and stared at the street below, where some businessmen were crossing the road as a blush crept up my neck to my cheeks and ears.

I was so damn close to him. What was I thinking?! He smelled really nice. Why can I not stop riling him up? What the fuck was wrong with me?!