aurora: in full bloom | hongjoong - ateez [hiatus]

⇢ ch. 2

Your POV

When the work day comes to a close, you hear a knock on the doorframe. You look up to see Seonghwa standing there.

"Hi," you shyly say.

"Hey," he smiles.

Your heart starts to beat a little faster and your stomach starts to do flips inside of you.

"I, uh, was wondering if you wanted to get dinner. With me. Now. Well, after you're done with work," Seonghwa is a nervous wreck, his voice shaking a little.

You feel like you're in a dream. Your hands start to get clammy, and your heartbeat increases even more.

You take a deep breath before saying, "Sure!"

You give him a smile and pack up your things before heading out with him.

↞—↠

Hongjoong's POV

I see Seonghwa walk past my office once more to [Y/N]'s office, and I can't help but wonder if there's something going on between the two of them.

For some reason, I feel this sense of...jealously. Like how I don't want them to be together. My stomach drops at the thought of all of this.

I hear Seonghwa knock and ask [Y/N] out for dinner.

I should be doing that because we're starting to work a lot closely now.

Why didn't I think of asking [Y/N] out to dinner?

It doesn't matter, it's not like we're going to ever be together. We're just working closely together on a project, right?

↞—↠

Your POV

"So, do you normally take the bus to and from work?" Seonghwa asks me.

You're close work friends, but you don't know such detail about one another. You think that these things just go untalked of.

"Yeah, it's easier this way. I know how to drive and all, but it's more difficult to do so in a city. And I also don't want to drive in a city...seems scary. It's like there's so much responsibility to driving in a city. I mean, there's always so much responsibility to driving in general," you ramble.

"I agree. There's so much responsibility to driving, especially in a city. I would take public transportation, but of course with me being in the public eye all the time, it's just not plausible."

"That's quite fair."

Seonghwa helps you into his car. You find it very gentlemanly.

Seonghwa has been so kind to you ever since you started working at the company. He was one of the first people to introduce himself to you, and that gave you a good impression of him.

Ever since, you've gotten fairly close with him. He's helped you adjust to the company.

You were working with him and his group on marketing overseas, which is how you initially met. He went out of his way to get to know you since he is the eldest in the group he is in.

You don't cross paths all the time, but all the interactions you've had with him are sweet.

You feel nervous at the moment, probably because you still feel like you don't know him too well. You also haven't been on a date in awhile.