Stay Stay Stay ||Choi Yeonjun||

36

With the loud shouts of jubilation, the lights turned on and in the center of my living room stood Hana, Jaehan and Jake. Their looks of glee switched to shocked, embarrassed and awkward in the mere three seconds Yeonjun and I took to untangle ourselves from each other. Hana's gasp was loud in absolute silence and I could only look down to fix my disheveled state.

"Hey guys! See Ahrin, Hana and Jaehan are back. What a surprise!... I told y'all to wait for her to return, but no! "

Jake glared at the two and they looked sheepish. Yeonjun loudly cleared his throat looking away. Jaehan ran a hand through his hair, nudging Hana who was now actively oggling at Yeonjun.

"Oh? Oh!.. Oh yeah! My babyyyyy I'm back! "

Hana rushed to me, wrapping me in her familiar bear hug. I held her close too, so glad to have my friend back. We part and I peer at her, noticing the slight changes, her face had some colour but not the glow she had once, and fine lines from stress were visible. But also she was flushed with happiness and teary-eyed. She touched my face, which made me realize I was crying too.

"I'm so sorry, Hana! I'm so... I've been such a bad friend to you.. But you are here now! "

"Yes, Rin! I'm back! And don't say that I've snapped at you so many times! I've been the bad friend.. "

We hugged again, tears not stopping as we held onto the other. Jaehan walked over to us, Jake following closely.

"How are you, Dumpling? It's been so long since I saw my sister! "

I looked up at Jaehan. He was always taller than all of us, even Jake, so he seemed like towering gentle giant.

"I'm... Great! Better than ever. "

Which reminds me and I look behind to spot Yeonjun standing away, looking a little awkward and fiddling his fingers. I beckoned him to come here.

"Hana, Jaehan I want you to meet Yeonjun, my boyfriend! Yeonjun you already know them. "

Hana squealed and shook his hand, followed by Jaehan who also gave his hand a firm shake.

"Hello, I'm Choi Yeonjun! It's nice to finally introduce myself to you guys after hearing so much about you. "

Jake still stood away, looking a little apprehensive of Hana's and Jaehan's obvious approval of Jun.

"I've wanted to meet him so much after Jaehan told me about your date! But now I realise his words didn't do you justice, Yeonjun-ssi! You are so much handsome in person-"

Hana stopped mid tirade to come and pinch my cheeks.

"And look what you've done to our Rinnie! She is glowing with love and happiness. Right, Jae?! "

I blushed at her inference, glancing at Yeonjun. I almost snorted at his smug expression, looking like a cat who got the cream. Jaehan nodded his acquiescence, patting Yeonjun's shoulder like a proud brother.

"He has definitely kept her happy. So um, why don't we all sit so we can eat the food we brought and listen all about our little Rinnie falling in love with her boss? "

I pulled Yeonjun down to sit beside me on the floor as we had the tradition of doing. Looking around, I get nostalgic transporting back to the old college days.
We open the boxes of Chinese takeouts and dig in.

"So who's gonna start? Ahrin Or Yeonjun-ssi? "

"Start what?! "

The three looked at the two of us with dumbfounded expressions.

"Well we need to catch up. Yeonjun-ssi you'd better start. Our Rinnie will fumble talking, I'm sure. She always got tongue tied in such manners! "

I chuckle a little blushing, and take a sip of cola. Yeonjun looks at me, question hanging in his gaze and I nod. I turn to keep the can down, when I notice Jake looking at us. I briefly wonder what's on his mind, but Yeonjun starts speaking which captures all our attention.

"Well, where do I start from? "

"When you first saw her! And please go into heavy details. Jake and Jaehan are always so bad at this. "

We all laugh a little, Jake grumbles but he ends up laughing too.

"It was at the interview. I hear a soft knock and I look up to see the prettiest face I've ever laid eyes on. Then soon I realize, it's not just beauty that she posseses, its also intelligence, grace and strength.

At first I tried to avoid her. On her first day, I stand by the corner of the elevator when she gets on staying silent like a mummy, but I wanted to say something so I told her best of luck and my voice cracked. I was so embarrassed, I wanted the ground to swallow me up. I was always a little nervous around her I guess until we bonded on our first work trip. "

My jaw hangs open at his admission. My eyes are the size of tennis balls seeing his flushed cheeks. Wait what—?!

"Wait ! You were nervous?! "

"Don't try to make me feel better, Rin! "

"I'm not! I can't believe this. And here I thought I was the awkward duckling around my cool boss after being in a tug of war over a pack of ramen! "

"Wait you two were fighting for ramen?! "

Hana looks incredulous a second away from laughing, Jaehan just smirks. Jake's eyebrows are so high, it would practically touch his hairline.

"In my defence, I had already put it in the basket and he was behind me, demanding to give it to him. I didn't really see who it was. "

And they erupted in laughter, all three of them.

"In my defence, I bought her chocolates and ice cream to make up for it. "

"Well, then it's fine". Hana assures him. She goes up to bring out the tubs of ice cream she got for dessert. There was only one tub of mint choco flavour and I passed it to him. Opening it up, he scoops a spoonful and hovers it over to me.

" Well I wanted to say something to you, Yeonjun-ssi... "

Yeonjun turns to Jake mid action, staring silently. Jake looks a little miffed, but continues what he was about to say.

"I'm so sorry for the way I've acted towards you. I just— I was just reeling from a bad time and then I watched the consequences of my stupidity and lost Ahrin, my best friend and the one person who was always by my side.

But all that aside, I'm really happy for you two. Thank you for doing what I could never. "

Yeonjun looks a little surprised and it makes me hold his hand under the table.

"It's... okay, Jake-ssi. I understand that life always doesn't go according to our plans and sometimes we don't take it well. "

Jake smiles a little, Hana calls for a group hug. We four huddle together, and Hana pulls Yeonjun in too.

"It has been a tough time, but we all have survived. So what's new at work Rinnie? "

I dive in enthusiastically, telling them all about the different projects and work trip.

"Now I've got another one coming. And if I ace that one I'll be promoted! "

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Hi to everyone who's reading! How are you guys?

This chap was pretty short and honestly a filler. What I wanted to say was that, the end is pretty near and soon I'll be wrapping this story up.

Your thoughts and opinions are always welcome. I honestly just want to know what you think of the story and if I'm extremely lucky, be friends with you guys who gave this story a chance!