Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Popular as ever huh, Tillie.” Hyuna teases Till as she takes a seat across from him in the breakroom. Till only rolls his eyes as he stabs his fork into his lunch, making Mizi flinch as she pulls up a chair beside Hyuna.

“Don’t tease him too much Unnie. You know the rumors are still going around.” Mizi scolds her friend gently, speaking in a hushed whisper as if the break room was housing someone other than the three of them. But Till knew better than to assume anyone besides his friends would be talking to him at the moment. Just thinking about it made him feel so mentally exhausted.

The expression on Till’s face worries Mizi, which prompts her to reach into her lunch bag and fish out a pack of Till’s favorite chocolates, sliding them across the table until the box bumps against Till’s fingertips. Mizi’s thoughtfulness always makes Till smile, a gentle reminder on why Mizi was his ex-office crush.

“I told Luka to send a company-wide email to dispel rumors. There’s no real evidence that you were involved in the embezzlement, so why are people still giving you the cold shoulder?” The eldest states, unwrapping her sandwich from its wrapping and taking a bite.

“Because,” Till drags out, fumbling with the clear wrapping from the box of chocolates. “Everyone in the office seems to think I’m some floozy omega that opens their legs for money. Not to mention I was chief Park’s secretary. It's not difficult to assume I was helping him with his little schemes, but I really had no idea, he was always so secretive about his laptop, I just assumed he had some weird porn thing or was jerking it in his office. How was I supposed to know he was stealing millions from us?” He finally gets the wrapping, shaking a couple chocolate covered almonds into his hand before offering some to his friends.

The whole situation was causing Till to feel more frustrated as the days passed by. The ex-Chief was embezzling money, and rather than tracking where all that money was being taken from, some of his coworkers thought it would be a much better idea to gossip about Till. Not only because he was the Chief’s secretary, but because he was one of the few omegas in the office. Till expected the other omegas to have his side, but ironically enough, they were usually the ones to double down on Till being the office slut.

So much for comradery.

Hyuna snaps her fingers, chewing the food in her mouth hurriedly before commenting on Till’s words. “Speaking off, they finally sent us a temporary chief for the marketing department. You won’t be having to do the Chief’s duties anymore. Luka should be wrapping up the paperwork with the new guy by now.” Till makes a display of clasping his hands and looking up at the ceiling, working in a quick prayer to whoever was watching him from above.

“Thank God, I already knew how to do most of the stuff anyways, since Choi liked to dump his work on me every Friday so he could take the interns out for drinks and dinner.” He wrinkles his nose at the thought, grateful that his days of working for someone as slimy and greasy as Choi are finally over.

“Who did they go with in the end?” Mizi asks, sneaking a couple pieces of chocolate from Till.
“Unsurprisingly, it’s the CEO’s youngest son,-”

“Nepotism,” Till sighs. How he wished he was also born into a conglomerate family. Maybe then he wouldn't have to deal with all these needless rumours.

“-so try to be on your best behavior when you’re with him Till.” The omega only nods, as much as he’d like to deny the accusation, Till is pretty self-aware of his behavior. Especially since he does have a reputation of running his mouth, but he never lets that interfere at work. Or, at least it rarely ever makes an appearance in front of someone that isn’t Hyuna or Mizi.

This makes Mizi smile happily, clapping her hands eagerly. “That’s Vannie, he’s my best friend Till. We met freshman year of high school, he really helped us out when we were short on boys in our musicals. We've been inseparable since, but he’s been working in China ever since we graduated Uni. He had mentioned he was coming back recently but I didn’t expect it to be so soon.” She smiles at the thought of her best friend coming to work with them, especially since she knew Ivan’s motivations for returning as quickly as he could. “You’ll love him Till. You guys actually have a couple things in common, so I’m sure work will go by smoothly. He is a bit…particular when it comes to a few things though.”

If his new chief has the Mizi stamp of approval, Till is sure he’s got nothing to worry about. Besides, the name Vannie has come up a couple of times whenever they have all gone out drinking together and they get to reminiscing about their pasts. And maybe he’s even seen a picture of the guy, but Till really can’t recall at the moment.

Suddenly there’s a knock on the open door of the break room, the three friends turning their attention to the young intern who greets them with a shy smile. “Sorry to interrupt sunbaes, but Luka sunbae has called everyone into the marketing team’s office. He’s introducing the new marketing chief.” The three nod and begin to collect their trash, the intern long gone by the time they have cleaned up and started to head into the marketing team’s wing.

As they find their way into the wing, Till overhears a lot of chattering among his omega and female coworkers. Not that he’s a nosy guy, but they're not exactly subtle with their comments.

“He’s really handsome..”

“You think he’s an Alpha?”

“-I don’t see a ring on his finger.”

He scoffs at their comments.

How could there be a rumor of him being an easy lay when everyone was openly fawning over this new guy. Hypocrites. But something gets Till’s attention. There’s a smell that floats around the room, prominently sticking out to Till more than the other scents in the room. It reminds him of something warm and comforting, almost familiar. Like the smell of a dewey morning after a long night of rain, but there was an underlying sweetness, something like cinnamon, cardamom or a warm cup of spiced tea, that made Till’s body relax slightly.

“Everyone,” Luka’s voice breaks Till from his thoughts. “This is the new temporary Chief, Hwang Ivan. He’ll be helping us out for the next couple months until we can find someone to permanently replace him. Please welcome him.” There’s a polite clap ensues, Till himself clapping softly before the Alpha clears his throat.

“Thank you everyone, I hope to be of help to your team-” His voice draws in the whole room, deep and commanding, but the omega really isn’t paying too much attention to what either Luka or the chief is explaining. Instead, Till lets his words act as background noise while his eyes scan the new chief up and down from head to toe. He’s got broad shoulders that are proof of either the best gene pool in South Korea or dedication to the gym that Till can only aspire to have, his suit hugging him in all the right places, especially his thighs and waist, it probably tailored to fit his body perfectly, his hair is styled up nicely with just a few strands of hair framing his face, not to mention he had aface that would bring every talent agency to their knees, and Till was certain that pleasant scent was coming from him.

Was he swooning? No, Till assures himself, just admiring and analyzing what his new boss was like. Nothing odd or out of the ordinary, especially since he would be spending most of his time with the new boss.

While Luka is droning on about some other topic, probably using this as a chance to relay some important information, Till is still looking at the new chief and apparently the new chief is also looking at him because he locks eyes with Till suddenly.

The omega feels a shiver run down his spine, but simultaneously a warm feeling spreads over his chest and stomach. The chief smiles at him charmingly, a smile that Till is sure gets him whatever he wants and when he wants it. His own thoughts have him rolling his eyes, averting his gaze to some pointless object in the room.

The sudden eruption of clapping brings Till’s attention back to Luka, watching as everyone begins to dispel from the marketing wing, though he does notice how Mizi is quick to greet the new Chief with a quick hug and a smile.

Till tries to disappear into the crowd behind him, hoping to return to his desk without drawing too much attention, but realizes that won't be happening.

“Mr. Kang,” Luka calls out, approaching him with Chief Hwang by his side, unfortunately, Mizi long gone at this point. “Show Chief Hwang around before you take him to his office, help him out if he needs anything.” Luka, ever so formal as if he didn’t spend this past weekend hungover on his living room floor with Mizi and Hyuna on each side. Still, maybe it’s not such a bad thing to be formal at work.

“Of course, it’s nice to meet you, Chief Hwang.” Till gives a polite bow but Chief Hwang is quick to chuckle and shake his head.

“No need to be so formal. I’ve heard so much of you from Mizi, just Ivan is fine.”

“Well, it would be better if you two addressed each other properly.” Luka comments, sharing a look with Till as if to remind the omega of the current incident he was still dealing with.

Till nods and with that Luka dismisses himself. Chief Hwang does give him a puzzled look, but Till would rather not explain to his new boss how there is a false rumor of him being the office slut. Instead he gestures to the hallway. “Would you like me to give you a quick tour then?” The omega offers, and Ivan smiles sweetly and nods his head.

“I’d love to do anything that involves you, Mr. Kang.” He whispers quietly, so much so that Till thinks he might have misheard him. But his ears seem to be working just fine, otherwise why would Chief Hwang wink at him before strutting off down the hall.

‘Odd..’ He thinks to himself, unsure of what to make of Chief Hwang's first impression. But he's sure the Chief couldn't be all bad if he had Mizi's trust.

... Right?

Chapter Text

Before Till knows it, it’s been two weeks since Chief Hwang’s arrival, but he’s unsure what to think of his new boss yet. Not to say Chief Hwang is a bad boss or unable to do his job, because when it comes to working Chief Hwang is efficient. His way of working might not be traditional at times, but he listens to everyone's ideas and concerns with genuine interest, and provides useful feedback. Something their previous boss was lacking, so much so that Till would often have to step in and fulfill the Chief’s duties just to meet deadlines.

All these things should be enough for Till to sing praise and assume God was listening to his countless prayers during all those late nights he spent slaving away at the office, but there was still something… off about the Chief.

He often called Till into his office and had him do silly tasks, like rearranging previously organized files in his private office, helping him move furniture or redecorate, and other tasks that were just plain ridiculous and time-consuming. But by far, Chief Hwang's most annoying habit was his ability to ask Till useless (dumb) questions. The Omega has caught himself biting his cheek more than once to suppress his true thoughts on the matter.

“What?” Till deadpans, processing yet another dumb question that Chief Hwang has hit him with. He finds himself again in Chief Hwangs private office, staring at his boss in an attempt to understand what is being asked of him. His reaction seems to satisfy something within the Chief as Till stands at the opposite side of his desk, all while Chief Hwang looks at him with a smug smile, sitting on his stupidly expensive ergonomic swivel chair. Another annoying thing about his boss was that he seemed to enjoy provoking Till, just like now.

"I asked you if you were a cat or dog person. I'm thinking of getting a pet cat. They're a bit more low maintenance than dogs, but some people still prefer the charm of having a dog." He explains very seriously, as if they were talking about the results for the quarter, which they should be since performance checks are right around the corner.

He takes back what he said about Chief Hwang’s work ethic. Clearly his boss can’t seem to focus today.

Till shakes his head and sighs, raising a hand to ease the dull pounding against his temples. He should buy an Advil bottle and leave it inside his desk drawer. He can't keep asking Luka for a pill every morning. "I don't know, my mom has a cat, so I guess get a cat?"

This piques Chief's attention as he goes through a stack of folders beside him, grabs one, and quickly checks the contents before holding it up for Till to take. Just when Till thinks they have dropped the subject and are finally getting back on track, he leans forward, grabs the file, flipping it open, and sputters in disbelief.

There are five pages of cat profiles, each containing the breed, location, age, and other random facts about the felines, as well as some annotations done around the border in blue ink.

“Is this what you were working on when you told me to tell the other team leaders you were busy? You know they were talking about this quarter’s budget, right? Something that we need to take into account for the upcoming proposal with the overseas investors.” The omega reminds Chief Hwang, knowing the Alpha was aware of all this information since Till himself relays it to him in the morning when they have a quick 1-on-1 briefing, per the older’s requests. No matter how much Till tried to convince him that the same information could be relaid via a weekly email, the Chief insisted on adding a new step into their daily routine.

“Wait, is this why you asked me how to use the printer this morning? You even printed this on glossy paper; you know this is a waste of resources, right?”

He can’t believe his new boss is so… carefree? Irresponsible? Neglectful of his duties? He can’t quite find a word to satisfy his description, but he does know he feels annoyed at how little effort Chief Hwang seems to be making today.

“Let me know which cats get your attention. I trust your judgment now more than ever since you have previous experience with cats. Feel free to write down some name suggestions while you’re at it.”

“Chief Hwang-”

‘Ivan.” He corrects, flashing him an idol-worthy smile.

"Chief Hwang," The Omega insists, not needing another rumor to spread around the office. "With all due respect, I have other work, and you do too. I came here to tell you that the CEO requested your presence in meeting room 602 on the sixth floor." This makes the Chief's shoulders slouch ever so slightly, his smile traded in for a pout.

Serves that slacker right, Till thinks as he bites back a smug grin. A meeting with his father should smack some sense into him.

"Fine. It'll be a while until I'm back, so you can just take your lunch break right now." He says, pushing himself away from his desk and he stands up. He goes up to Till and smiles softly, ruffling the omega's hair, yet another habit of Chief Hwangs.

“Chief Hwang. Your laptop.” He reminds them, his voice monotone, as the Chief combs his fingers through Till’s hair in an attempt to fix what he had just undone.

At the reminder, the Chief turns on his heel and reaches across his desk to get his laptop, the older man briefly bending over the desk, and Till is definitely not eyeing the other's ass. Definitely not, but if he were, it's not his fault Chief Hwang chose to bend right in front of him. But do all Alpha's usually have such a nice sculpted ass? Or was this Chief Hwang's genetics? Or maybe his really is that dedication to the gym…

He needs to get back on track. Maybe the Chief’s occasional poor work ethics is contagious.

Must be.

"Are you sure you don't need me to do anything before lunch?" The secretary asks, wanting to seem like he cares, but the promise of an extended lunch sounds more enticing than spending time in a meeting room for who knows how long to take notes for the Chief. Another useless task, in Till's opinion, since he suspects Chief Hwang will barely skim over the notes

"Yeah, it's fine. It's just my old man." The Chief turns to look at Till with a smirk before he walks towards the door; Till is two steps behind him as the Alpha opens the door for him. Till attempts to walk through the door first, but the Chief grabs his wrist loosely. "But I do ask that next time you decide to stare at my ass, you do it a bit less obviously. Our company really does hire the best cleaners. I could see your face perfectly through the reflection of the windows." He leaves Till, blushing and stuttering, with a smug look as he heads into the elevator. Till has yet to move from his spot.

"That fucker," Till mumbles to himself, walking into the lunch room to grab his lunch from the fridge. He opens the microwave door, haphazardly throws his lunch in, and punches random numbers as he leans against the counter with his arms crossed.

"You okay, Tillie?" Mizi's voice seemingly comes out of nowhere, and Till jumps in surprise. His Chief Hwang induced rage blinding him to the Alpha occupying the far left table.

"Yeah, I'm good. Chief Hwang is just… he's too much." He sighs, barely able to find the adequate words to describe him. Something that seems to be recurring the more time he spends with the Alpha. The microwave beeps and Till grabs the container, hissing at how hot it is, before quickly walking over to place it on Mizi's table.

Mizi smiles, always happy to share lunch with one of her friends, but the same can't be said about her wife. Sua gives Till a look that can only be associated with boredom and lack of interest. But it's to be expected. Nobody ever receives more than this from Sua. Unless you're Mizi.

“Does he have to eat with us?” She asks Mizi bluntly, as if Till isn’t inches away from her, and Mizi nods her head eagerly. Sua accepts her fate, disappointed that her private lunch with her wife has been disturbed, but knows Mizi cares about Till's well-being. Instead of saying another word, the beta leans her head on her wife's shoulder, and Mizi picks at their shared meal with her chopsticks before bringing it up to Sua’s lips, who graciously complies.

“What’s bothering you about Ivan?” Mizi asks, getting back to the main topic, but Till has to process the question a few times in his mind before replying.

“He’s not taking his work seriously today. This past week, yeah he’s been fucking with me but at least he would get his work done. Today it feels like I’m constantly on his ass about attending meetings, submitting work, reviewing submissions. Or even just starting on an assignment. You know, doing the shit he gets paid to do.”

“You’re so vulgar.” Sua notes, her nose scrunched up in disgust, but Till doesn’t care.

“He’s probably excited about his welcome party tonight. And speaking of, are you going to come as well? I’m sure Ivan would like it if you came by.” Mizi casually says, while Till shovels spoonfuls of yesterday's leftovers into his mouth.

In Till's opinion, a welcome party is a bit redundant. The Chief has already been here two weeks, not to mention that he's only here temporarily. This is probably some lame excuse his co-workers used to get drunk with company money. Still, the thought of Chief Hwang being only a temporary employee keeps Till forward, knowing that one day, Chief Hwang will be too far away to pester Till.

What a glorious day that will be.

“I’m his secretary and I’m younger than him, I have to go.” He says, usually he wouldn’t care about such dumb formalities, but he mostly doesn’t want to hear Chief Hwang whining about his lack of appearance at Monday morning’s briefing.

Mizi gives Till a look of sympathy, briefly looking down at her wedding band before sighing. Her best friend was truly difficult at times. “Just come by for a little bit, you don’t even need to drink. Ivan’s not the type to pressure younger employees to drink. I’ll be there and so will Sua.”

Till spares a glance at the beta besides Mizi and Sua only nods in confirmation. “I’m going to take care of Mizi, whenever she drinks with Ivan they overdo it. I'm not drinking.” Sua explains.

“You;ll end up drinking too, don’t act all mature, besides that’s not true..” The Alpha mumbles, pouting slightly, and Sua pulls her head away to look at Mizi and smiles softly. She retrieves a napkin from the table and wipes at Mizi’s cheek gently.

“It’s true. You overdo it when you two have your little sleepovers, whenever we go out to clubs, at dinners. I'm surprised you were both restrained at our wedding last year.”

Mizi blushes at the accusations, and this sight alone would have had Till swooning years ago. “Well I wanted to remember everything that night. You only have one wedding, you know?” The alpha says dreamily, her hand cupping her cheek as she fondly remembers the evening.

Till wishes he could say the same, but seeing your crush of four years marry your coworker is rough, so instead of committing the night to memory, the Omega takes advantage of the open bar. He remembers the reception, vaguely recalls dancing with Hyuna and Mizi’s mother, overindulging in the snacks at the dessert table, and the random staff member who helped him to the bathroom to throw up said snacks.

He cringes internally at the memory.

“We can have another one in a couple years, but I’ll propose this time.” Sua replies cooly, taking a sip of her water and Till groans. Why were all his friends in happy and fulfilling relationships? Or maybe he just needed to make more friends.

“You guys are so hard to be around.” He says jokingly, continuing to eat the rest of his leftovers as the pair in front of him fussed over the details of their next wedding. Till pulls out his phone and scrolls while he eats the rest of his lunch, using their chattering and flirting as background noise. Not that he minded. He enjoys just being in their presence.

Despite his past crush on Mizi, a crush that lasted way too long in his opinion and was doomed to be nothing but a fruitless endeavor, he can confidently say that he’s truly happy for his friend. Mizi is kind, genuine, and hardworking, and nobody is more deserving of a happy relationship than her. Getting to see her so happy is the closure he needed to close the Mizi-related chapter of his romantic( if he could even call it that) life. And hearing her talk with Sua, her voice laced with so much fondness and her gaze dripping with adoration, only furthers that quiet thrum of happiness.

He hopes that one day, he can have the same thing. To have someone who looks at him like he hung the stars himself, who listens to his words like they’re specially curated symphonies, and holds his hand so tight as if they were scared to lose him.

Were those healthy expectations of romance? Who knows, but Till can fantasize all he wants until the right person catches his eye.

“Cheers!” The clinking of shot glasses can be heard throughout the whole restaurant, and Till downs his drink in one go. He feels himself unintentionally scrunch up his nose, Hyuna and Mizi quick to tease him about it from across the table and Till can only shake his head, laughing brightly with his two friends.

Besides Mizi is Sua, who pushes a glass of water towards her wife, and Mizi insists she's okay, though the blush across her face and her slurred speech isn't helping her case. The night has been fun so far, much to Till's surprise. He half expected Chief Hwang to sit by him and annoy him the whole night, but their boss was reeled away by the other department chiefs and is currently sitting on the other side of the restaurant. From his own seat, Till can see the older man has ditched his suit jacket and has his sleeves rolled up to his forearms as he grills the meat for his table. His hair is still styled perfectly, and despite the restaurant lights being a bit dim, he can still make out the way he flashes that clean-cut smile.

Cute.

“You’re staring really hard, and really obviously .” Luka comments, and Till jumps at the sudden voice beside him. He looks up from his seat as Luka takes the empty chair beside him, clinking his beer glass against Till’s long since empty glass and reaches for the meat on his plate. Usually Till would complain, but his vision is spinning at the moment so he takes this as his chance to lean his head onto Luka’s shoulder.

He steals his food, and Till uses him as a headrest. A fair trade of sorts.

“Shut up,” He mumbles in response, probably a minute much too late since Luka snorts at his reply.

“He is handsome, I will give you that.”

“I wasn’t crushing on Chief Hwang.” He defends, and Luka makes a sarcastic sound as he takes a sip from his beer.

“Never said you were, but I’ll let you think whatever makes you feel better, wouldn’t be the first time you look at him like you’re gonna pounce on him.” This comment has Till whipping his head off Luka’s shoulder, his face scrunched up in confusion and disgust at such accusation. Though before he can get a word out, the room starts spinning at a much faster rate than before and suddenly he is too aware of how warm it is.

“I’m gonna go outside for a bit, it's too warm here..” The chair loudly scrapes against the floor, not that anyone turns to look at him since Hyuna and Mizi have taken their place on the stage at the front of the restaurant, singing whatever pop song is popular at the moment. Giving him the perfect opportunity to sneak outside for a couple of minutes without much suspicion.

He pushes the glass door open, the cool night air hitting his warm face, and blows a couple stands away from his eyes. Till takes a deep breath, satisfied at how the prickly air feels within his ribs. He spots a bench in front of the restaurant, barely out of sight from the windows, and he takes his seat while he leans against the building. The brick wall feels cool through his button-up, and Till closes his eyes to enjoy the feeling.

Till by no means is a lightweight; he can hold his alcohol quite well, but Hyuna is competitive in everything that she does. And, unfortunately, Till is no better. So he went shot for shot, beer for beer, against the Alpha before she declared it was a tie. Till was sure he was keeping up just fine with her, but Hyuna insisted they stop themselves since this was still a work function. However, the Omega was willing to bet that was just an excuse to avoid losing.

“You’re not cold? You’re trembling a bit.” Till opens his eyes, seeing as Chief Hwang stands in front of him, his suit jacket draped over his forearm as he looks ready to leave. The omega squinted up at him, the light from the nearby lamp post was a bit too bright after he had his eyes closed for so long. How long had he been outside?

Chief Hwang brings a hand up to Till’s forehead to feel for his temperature, then slides his palm down to his cheek and Till blames the alcohol for the way he leans into his hand. His eyes flutter shut once more at how warm their touch is, how the slight roughness of his hand has goosebumps trailing up and down Till’s arms.

“Here,” Chief Hwang pulls away his hand, Till unknowingly pouting at the loss as he looks up at the older man, before the Chief drapes his suit jacket across Till’s chest. He makes sure to bring the neck as high as possible, adjusting the jacket on Till’s shoulders until he’s sure it won’t slip off.

“I’m not cold,” The secretary mumbles, watching as his boss takes a seat beside him on the bench. Despite the bench being big enough for four people, the Alpha sits right besides Till, the sides of their thighs pressed together, and Till expected nothing less.

“Of course, I’m just using you as a coat stand.” Chief Hwang teases, and Till finds himself chuckling at the comment, the other man smiling softly at the reaction.

“What are you doing here Chief Hwang? Shouldn’t you be inside being celebrated or whatever.” The chief leans against the wall alongside his secretary, their shoulders brushing together and Till realizes the Chief isn’t much taller than him. Though he is much broader than Till, his chest looked good in his work shirt, not to mention the top two buttons of their shirt were undone, and he blushes at that thought as he tears his gaze away. Instead, he stares blankly at the street in front of him, his eyes following the occasional car that passes by.

“You can call me Ivan, you know? I’m the same age as Mizi.” Chief Hwang reminds, and Till shakes his head.

“You’re my boss.” Till reminds him.

“Who cares?” Chief Hwang teases.

“Plenty of people would. Especially with my current reputation as the office slut.” Till says playfully, assuming his boss has already heard them by now. Even the other floors of their building had heard about it now, and though it did bother him, it felt as if Till couldn’t do much other than joke about the situation in an attempt to reclaim some type of autonomy.

Chief Hwang furrows his eyebrows, and bumps his shoulder against Till’s to get his attention. “Who says this? You barely even talk to other people at the office, you’re always holed up at your desk.”

Till snorts at that, ready to make a joke but the expression the Alpha wears has the words falling out of his tongue before he can get the first syllable in. Instead he shrugs his shoulders and glaces away. Seeing such a serious expression on Chief Hwang's usually chipper and bright face feels odd, almost like he shouldn't be capable as such.

“If you’re asking me who started the rumor, I wouldn't know. Luka hyung tried many times to figure out and bring the person responsible forward, but it spread so fast that it was impossible to track.”

“I’ll fire them if I ever figure it out. I hate people who spread such needless rumors.” Chief Hwang reassures, and Till looks up at him and smiles softly. Maybe he wasn’t all that bad, he does seem to care at the end of the day.

“Do you even have the power to do that?” Till teases playfully, and Chief Hwang’s smile returns, causing Till to mirror the same.

That's more like it..

“You are just here for a little while.”

“Well, I may be temporary, but I’ll figure something out.” He reaches his hand out, pushing Till’s hair away from his eyes and the omega doesn’t miss the way Chief Hwang gazes at his lips. Even if it’s for less than a second, and briefly Till considers the option. “I’ll figure it out for you.”

“Well aren’t you a knight in shining armor.” The omega jests, gently swatting away the Chief's hand before he acts on impulse.

“Well it wouldn’t be the first time I swoop in to help now would it? Though I would ideally like to not repeat what happened at Mizi’s wedding. At least not the first half.” The Alpha jokes, but Till isn’t understating what they mean by it.

The confusion must be apparent on Till’s face as the chief backs away from him, which makes Till wonder when and how the distance between them had closed so much. He looks at Till intensely for a moment, and he mirrors his confusion before he looks like he had just put two puzzle pieces together. But instead of celebrating on completing the picture, the Chief sighs a bit frustrated. Though that’s not the right word, Till thinks. It’s frustration for sure, but also something similar to disappointment.

Till feels something at seeing this reaction, but before Till can have another second to debate what that feeling could be, the glass door swings open, and out walks a tipsy Hyuna and a well-composed Luka who supports most of his girlfriend’s weight. The blonde Alpha looks both ways before he spots the secretary, stumbling over with Hyuna, and then seats his girlfriend between Till and Chief Hwang.

“I’ve never been so glad to catch you two together again,” Luka says, rolling the shoulder he had just had Hyuna resting on. Hyuna leans against Till, pecking the omega’s cheek in between a fit of giggles and Till isn’t surprised by this action. Hyuna is known for being an overly affectionate drunk. Much to Luka’s dismay. “Can you guys take care of her while I bring the car around? I’m tired and she's too drunk to be here any longer.”

Hyuna is off his shoulder quicker than Till can reply and swings her weight forward, but Luka is fast enough to stand in front of her before her face can smash on the pavement. Instead, her cheek meets his abdomen as she looks up at Luka, giving him a look that Till can't see but it must be a good one since Luka’s has that soft expression that's reserved for Hyuna related occasions. He cards his hand carefully over her face, reaching into his pocket to pull out a fluffy looking hair tie.

“Where are you going, baby?” She whines, and stays still enough to give the Alpha the chance he needed to fully grab all of Hyuna’s hair. He ties the long strands of her hair away from her face, and places a quick peck on her forehead.

“I’m getting the car. We’re going home.” He explains and Hyuna shakes her head. “Stay here with Till and Ivan, and stop kissing him. He doesn’t deserve your kisses.”

Hyuna smiles at that and leans up to kiss her boyfriend's cheek and Luka walks off with car keys in hand.

“Did you guys kiss again?” Hyuna slurs out, grinning at Till expectantly, as if she’s ready to hear the story of a lifetime, but instead receives a flick on the forehead from the Omega.

“We’ve never kissed, Noona. Quit saying weird things.” Till scolds gently, letting the Alpha woman lean against his shoulder once more, missing how Chief Hwang and Hyuna exchange a look.

“But you-”

“I’m taking my leave.” Chief Hwang interrupts her sentence, as he has a suspicion as to what Hyuna’s next words will be. The Alpha stands up, tapping at his screen a couple times before Till’s own phone chimes, he pulls his phone out and sees he’s got a message from an unknown number. “I ordered you a ride home Mr.Kang, get home safe.”

“You didn’t need to, Chief Hwang. Let me send you the money.” He insists, suddenly feeling a tonal shift in his boss’ words, and he’s not too sure why it makes him panic slightly. Usually, he would scold Chief Hwang for inappropriately using the company’s system to get his number and address, but right now, he can’t seem to care about that.

Did he say something wrong?

“No, it's fine. I know you don’t drive, and I’d sleep a lot better knowing my secretary has a safe ride home.” He gives Till a polite smile, something that feels so distant and dim compared to the smiles Chief Hwang usually gives him. It would have been perfect for anyone unfamiliar with Chief Hwang, but Till can spot the difference from a mile away.

“Chief at least take your-”

“Ivannie!” Mizi yells, behind them, springing into Ivan’s arms and the Alpha catches his childhood best friend with ease. Behind her follows Sua, who despite insisting she was not going to drink, stumbles as if she’s indulged in a few far too many. “Would you mind giving wifey and I a ride home?” She asks, as Sua pulls her away from Ivan’s grasp and Mizi is quick to cling to her wife instead, leaning down slightly to nuzzle her face into the beta’s neck.

“That’s fine, I parked around the back.” Chief Hwang says as he drapes an arm over Sua’s shoulder, and regularly the beta would shrug his arm off, but after a couple of drinks and having a drunk Mizi in her arms, she decides against it and lets the Chief guide the couple away.

Watching the Chief walk away leaves Till with a weirdly empty feeling in his chest. Everything happened too fast and it felt as if Chief Hwang was swept away from him. He’s not satisfied at all with how that conversation ended, and he wants to understand what he did wrong, especially after it felt like they were growing closer just a few minutes ago. But it’s fine, come Monday morning they could clear the air and Chief Hwang wouldn’t respond to him in that cold tone again, or look at him with that overly polished smile.

He could fix this no problem.