The Undercover Couple

Chapter 4

The Christmas office party came round sooner than Wonwoo hoped it would. Secretly, he hoped they'd have squared the whole case away by the time the party came around, meaning he wouldn't need to go. Instead, he stood in front of the bedroom mirror, tugging on a rented dinner jacket and bowtie, wishing he could be anywhere else. He mentally ran through their cover one more time; where he met Mingyu, what his job was.

"Jesus Christ, Wonwoo," Mingyu's voice came up the stairs. "We're already late."

"I'm coming," he yelled back. He gave himself one last look over in the mirror, before setting his jaw. He could do this. He thought back to the time Mingyu snarked at their instructor during Basic, and the instructor forced them both to run the obstacle course in just their underwear in the middle of the night in December. That was hell, he reminded himself. And he got through that. He could get through this.

Mingyu was standing just on the doorstep, cigarette in hand. Wonwoo swallowed. This was hell. He'd rather run a thousand obstacle courses, completely naked, in sub-zero temperatures than have to face off against Mingyu in a tuxedo, smoking a cigarette. He schooled his features into a look of annoyance.

"Come on then," he said, stalking past Mingyu and out into the cold night. "I thought we were late."

"Just settling my nerves," Mingyu said, taking a final drag of his cigarette. Wonwoo stared resolutely at the ground. He wasn't going to indulge himself, not even in a glance. His traitorous eyes scanned up toward Mingyu, catching a glimpse of the man out of the corner of his eye. His mouth dried out instantly, and he couldn't help but think about Mingyu's big fingers being wrapped around something other than the cigarette end.

"Meet you in the car," he choked out. Once in the car, he tried to steady his breathing for a few moments, rubbing the base of his palms over his eyes. He could do this.

"You alright?" Mingyu asked, slamming the car door and doing up his seatbelt.

"Yeah," Wonwoo muttered. "I'm fine. Just drive."

Mingyu didn't say anything, but turned the car on, pulling out of the driveway. Wonwoo stared out the window, refusing to look over at Mingyu. The Christmas lights on the houses glinted and gleamed in a technicolor kaleidoscope, swimming over Wonwoo's mind. He hated Christmas, he decided. It felt so wrong to be so far away from his family, unable to even be able to wish them a Merry Christmas. He longed to hear his mum's voice on the phone, to hug Bohyuk, to give his niece her gift. He wanted his mum's roast dinner with enough champagne to make him see double, to curl up and play some terrible board game no one understood the rules for. Instead, he was going to have to spend the season with Mingyu, totally alone. It took him a moment to realize the dampness on his cheeks was coming from his eyes, and he wiped away a tear that still clung onto his eyelashes.

"You alright?" Mingyu repeated.

Wonwoo nodded, biting his lip. "Just a bit shit we won't be able to see our family for Christmas?"

Mingyu let out a sigh. "Yeah. Yeah, it is. My sisters will never forgive me."

"Sisters?"

"Four of them," he nodded. "All younger than me as well. They don't really know what I do, obviously. Mum will have had to explain away my absence."

"Yeah, my brother's going to have to spin some story for my niece."

"How old is she?"

"She's five. Old enough to know I'm missing."

Mingyu nodded, sympathetically. "Listen, Wonwoo. We'll just make the best of it, the two of us, yeah? We'll get some bubbly and stick on a crappy Christmas film till we pass out."